“Blaine! I told you already, if you’re going to paint, at least change into some old clothes. I’d hate to see that shirt ruined.”

Blaine chuckled and left his brushes on the floor before getting up. He stepped into the bedroom and pulled an old white t-shirt from the drawer. He took his shirt off quickly and changed into the t-shirt before making his way out and to his painting spot on the floor of the living room.

They had moved the couch and the sofa around so he’d have space to paint on the floor whenever he got tired of painting on his easel – the easel Kurt had bought for him a few days after he’d started staying at his place. Kurt had even placed a small table by the window behind the couch where Blaine could keep all his drawing and painting materials. He had made clear from the very beginning his desire to give the younger boy a nice, well-lit space to work on his art. Blaine had refused to let Kurt pay for all those things at first but the only thing that Kurt had asked in return had been drawings and paintings signed just for him. At the end, Blaine had no other choice but to accept the deal.

It’d been almost three weeks since he started living with Kurt and so far it had been perfect. Sure, it had been crazy what with Blaine having to study hard on school, work part time at Carole’s diner and practice on his portfolio for college. But, even if he was tired and had a lot on his plate, even if he still felt a pain in his chest whenever he thought of his father, he couldn’t help but feel happy whenever he was with Kurt. Their new sort-of-a-couple status had been the most amazing thing that had happened to Blaine in quite a long time. Mornings starting with gentle kisses, drives to school filled with lively conversation, and nights of cuddling and sweet love making.

Blaine smiled to himself. It was so easy to just forget that Kurt was still reluctant to the idea of love. The way he treated him, the small actions spoke louder to him than a thousand words. He was almost certain that Kurt felt something – something strong – for him and that was enough to keep his mind at ease. Most of the time.

But it didn’t last forever. As much as Blaine loved Kurt and was satisfied with whatever he showed him, however he’d let him know he cared, there were still those small moments when Blaine would start doubting. When his insecurities and worries about this relationship – if one could call it that – would surface and make him feel so trapped, like he would slowly drown or go insane.

It had started a little over a week ago. Kurt had started arriving home late, looking tired. Sometimes he even smelled like cigarettes and alcohol. Blaine had spent those nights waiting for him and falling asleep on the couch. On nights like that, he would be woken up gently and guided to their bedroom where Kurt would wrap his arms around him and let him fall back asleep on his chest. That was what was driving him mad. The little things. How Kurt could come home late, reeking of alcohol after doing god knows what and yet, he’d still take Blaine and cuddle him up, making him feel loved and protected. Even if he wasn’t sure if that’s what Kurt wanted him to feel.

And the worst part of it all was knowing that he couldn’t say anything. Well, he could but he’d rather not. Every time he heard the door of the apartment open in the middle of the night he just wanted to jump and question Kurt. Ask him where he’d been, with whom, what had he been doing. But he didn’t. He held it all in because he felt he had no right to ask those questions. He had been warned and he’d accepted regardless. Even when it felt like he could be eaten up alive by his own thoughts, he had made a decision he now had to live with.

He was pulled out of his reverie by Kurt kneeling down next to him and eyeing his painting over Blaine’s shoulder.

“What are you painting today?” he heard Kurt ask as he handed him a glass of water.

“Something abstract?” It sounded more like a question. He took a sip of the glass and left it on the table. “I-I don’t really know, I was planning to just… go with the flow.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that,” Kurt said playfully as he pecked Blaine’s lips and got up. He sat on the couch and started going through the designs for the next issue of the magazine. Blaine looked at him work for a moment before returning his attention to the canvas in front of him. He took the brush he was planning on using before Kurt asked him to change his clothes and he smeared the brush with red paint. Just as he was about to start, Kurt spoke casually.

“Oh, Blaine? You think you could come home after work on your own tomorrow? I have some, uh, things that I have to take care of so I can’t come pick you up.”

There it was again. The monster trapped inside Blaine’s gut had awakened at Kurt’s words. It twitched inside him, begging him to ask what sort of things Kurt had to do on a Monday that prevented him from picking him up after his shift at the diner. But he silenced it. He breathed deeply to steady his voice before answering with an indifferent tone.

“Sure.”

Kurt lifted his eyes to see him, something flashing in his eyes momentarily. Something Blaine couldn’t quite name. He tried to smile reassuringly, to make Kurt see that he was truly okay with that. He must have been convincing because Kurt smiled back and dove his attention on the designs in front of him.

Blaine returned his stare to the empty canvas. Sighing, he settled on the floor and started tracing lines.

The next day, Kurt dropped Blaine at school at the usual time. He got out of the car and inside the building as his eyes searched the crowd for his blond best friend. Upon spotting her, he walked her way and covered her eyes with his hands.

“Blaine,” Quinn said knowingly, grabbing his hands and spinning around.

He pouted. “You’re supposed to not know who I am!”

“Oh, please! You’re the only person I know who does that.”

They laughed and made their way to their lockers. For some sort of reason – fate, Quinn liked to call it – their lockers were always close, if not next to each other’s. When they got to there, she grabbed the lock nervously and turned to face him.

“YouthinkIshouldinvitePucktothewinterdance?” She mumbled quickly.

“Come again?” he said as he took his books out and stuffed them in his messenger bag.

Quinn sighed. “I just – I keep thinking… Should I invite Puck as my, uh, my date for the – you know – the Winter Dance?”

Blaine’s eyes shot upwards and his mouth formed a perfect ‘O’ at her words. McKinley had organized its first ever Winter Dance as a way to bring the high school students closer together, no matter what grade they were in. It was also a sort of pre-prom party for the seniors. It was to be held on the last day before winter break, meaning it was only four days away. He’d completely forgotten about it, since he didn’t plan on going.

“Eh… Well, yeah! That’d be a great idea! I bet he’ll be delighted to be your date.”

Quinn blushed a little. “You think so?”

“I know so.” Blaine reassured her. She smiled and turned to take out her books from the locker.

“How about you?” She asked, “Are you planning on asking Kurt?”

He closed his locker. “Nah… I’m not in the mood for a dance. Besides, it’s not like Kurt would say yes, anyway. He’s been… busy.”

“Oh, come on! You have to go! We always go to school dances together! You can’t break the tradition,” she replied and made her puppy eyes at him. Neither of them could stand each other’s puppy eyes. They always gave in.

“I-I… Ugh, fine! I’ll go.”

Quinn squealed and clapped her hands excitedly. “But now you have to ask Kurt!”

“What? No! No way. Bringing him with me would be coming out to everyone; which is something I’m sure not many would see with kind eyes. Besides, I don’t – I’m sure he wouldn’t want to goto a stupid high school dance. Especially if it’s held in here,” he said thoughtfully, remembering Kurt’s nasty experiences in this school.

Quinn frowned confused at that last comment but let it go. “Okay, but say Kurt agreed to come… Would you still go through with it? Or are you really against coming out in front of the entire school?”

“I-I… No, if he said yes I wouldn’t give a rat’s ass what the others thought.”

“Well, then ask him! You’ve got nothing to lose. But hurry, you’ve only got four days to convince him,” she said with a wink before they made their way to their classes.

At work, Blaine had more time to think about what Quinn had told him. Should he invite Kurt to the dance? He didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, especially since the place held horrible memories to Kurt. He sighed, he could at least try. The sound of the bells indicating the arrival of a new customer brought him back to his task at hand. He turned to the door and found Finn walking towards him, smiling broadly.

“What’s up, bro?” The taller man said, bumping his fist against Blaine’s.

“Nothing much. What can I get you, big guy?” he answered as Finn took a seat on one of the stools.

“The hamburger special, with extra fries and an extra big milkshake. Man, I’m starving!”

Blaine rolled his eyes playfully. “You’re always starving,” he said as he placed the order by the kitchen window and returned to where Finn was.

Finn smiled at the boy. They’d gotten really close during the past few weeks. Finn could easily consider Blaine his best friend, even with the age difference. They were really similar and liked the same dorky stuff. And it was physically impossible to not like Blaine. The kid was like sunshine, always happy and smiling, even when life threw rocks at him, he’d see the bright side in it. Besides, Finn still wasn’t over the fact that he’d proven his parents and Rachel wrong by showing them that Blaine was Wonder Boy when it came to Kurt. The nickname had stayed inside his family ever since his parents noticed the way Kurt acted around him.

As he saw the boy delivering orders and attending tables, he remembered the reason he’d drop by. Although it was always good to stop and say hi to his mom, today his visit revolved another issue entirely. When Blaine delivered his order, Finn grabbed his wrist and looked at him, his expression suddenly serious.

“Hey, dude? I need your help with something. Something big.”

Blaine frowned and nodded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. It’s just – I… well,” he sighed deeply, mustering courage to say the words that had been stealing his sleep out loud. “I’m planning to pop the question to Rachel soon.”

Blaine’s eyes widened, filled with a bright spark. His smile was so big and it brightened his entire face in such a way that the simile of him being like a ray of sunshine suddenly made much more sense. He sighed dreamily.

“Oh my god! That’s so awesome! I’m so happy for you guys! But what do you need me for?”

Finn laughed at the kid’s enthusiasm. “Well, I’m planning on making it in front of everyone and I want it to be perfect. And I need the ring to be perfect too, but I suck at picking out jewelry. And I heard your mom tell my mom the other day that whenever you got her something like that, it was always awesome. So I thought I could use your help.”

“Well, I don’t know if I’m that good. I just sort of paid attention to what she stared at when we went to the mall and then I’d ask my – my dad,” his voice faltered for a moment but he cleared his throat quickly, “for uh, money and well, that’s it.”

“That’s exactly what I need you for, then! My mind is always wandering so I never get to truly pay attention and if I do, I forget. So I was thinking we could maybe hang out, you know? You, me, Rachel and Kurt and you could help me check out what she likes.”

“Oh, yeah! Totally, I’d love to help!” Blaine said excitedly.

“Awesome!” Finn said as he proceeded to eat his meal.

Blaine nodded and went back to taking orders. He smiled as he recalled how Finn had basically asked for a double date. Like if Kurt and him were truly in a serious, committed relationship. Just like Finn and Rachel.

Kurt arrived at the apartment past midnight. He shrugged out of his coat and just as he was about to put it in the couch like he usually did, he noticed that the bedroom light was still on. He cracked open the door and found Blaine reading a book. When he heard the sound of the door opening, Blaine looked up and smiled at him.

“Hi!” he greeted him happily, setting his book open on his chest.

“Hi. What are you doing up?” he said as he loosen his tie and came to sit on the edge of the bed next to the boy’s lying figure, placing his hand on the other side of Blaine’s legs.

“Oh, I need to finish reading this for a pop quiz I have tomorrow. And I wanted to talk to you about something.”

He sat down and placed his bookmark on the page he was currently reading before leaving the book on the night-stand.

“It’s something really silly. You have every right to refuse. I know it could stir up some old, unwanted memories and I get that! So, you know, I’m not forcing you or anything. I’m just doing this because Quinn forced me, she gave me the puppy eyes and I just couldn’t – “

“Blaine.” Kurt said softly, “You’re rambling, baby. What did you want to ask me?”

Blaine didn’t miss the term of endearment in Kurt’s phrase but figured he did it unconsciously. It didn’t stop his heart from swelling up a bit, though. He inhaled deeply and smiled.

“I’m sorry. It’s just – it really is something silly. The school is organizing a Winter Dance and Quinn wanted to ask Puck to be her date and she asked me to go too and well, I was wondering if you’d like to be my date.”

Kurt seemed surprised at the proposal and licked his lips as he thought it over. Before he could answer, Blaine started talking again.

“Like I said, if you don’t want to, it’s okay. I mean – I know you must not want to go back there after… the, uh, what happened and the, uh, memories and everything.” he cleared his throat loudly, “So I totally understand if you don’t want to go. I just thought I’d ask and see what you – “

Kurt’s lips silenced Blaine’s rant. He pulled away smiling and rested their foreheads together.

“You’re adorable when you start rambling.” Blaine blushed deeply at the comment and lowered his gaze.

“Sorry.” He mumbled and Kurt laughed softly.

“As much as I’d love to go with you to a party full of drunk, stupid teenagers, you’re right. I’m not sure if I’d like to actually go back inside that school. But I’ll tell you what; I’ll think about it, okay?”

“Yeah, totally. There’s no pressure, really. I know it must be hard. So just – yeah, take your time.”

Kurt smiled and leaned in for another kiss before standing up and changing into his pajamas. He slid next to Blaine as the boy resumed his reading. Once he was settled, he pulled Blaine onto him like he usually did and let him rest his head on his chest as he continued reading. He started stroking his curls when Blaine placed the book down again.

“And, uh, what did you have to do that kept you out so late today?”

“Hmm? Oh, you know, work things. Nothing important.”

“Oh, okay.”

Kurt continued stroking his curls and Blaine pulled the book and tried to pick up on where he’d left off but he could still feel the uneasiness tugging at his chest because of Kurt’s vague answer. Was he telling the truth? Or was he just covering up one of his affairs? Had he cheated on Blaine yet? His head started spinning at the thoughts and he forced himself to stop. He had promised himself he’d trust Kurt until he actually found something that proved he’d been cheating or fooling around,

‘Let it go, Blaine.’ He thought to himself as he focused his attention back on the words from the book before him. ‘Let it go.’

Friday came and Kurt had still not given Blaine a concrete answer for the dance so he figured Kurt wasn’t going. When he’d told Quinn, she immediately started going on about how she’d cancel with Puck and go with him instead.

“No way! Puck would kill me!” he had told her. “Besides, it’s not a big deal. I’ll just go, dance a little, talk some more and then go back home. It’ll be okay.”

Quinn hadn’t been too convinced but at least he’d stopped her from standing Puck up. Santana had also offered to be his date but he could tell she wanted to go with someone else. He’d seen her spending way too much time with her fellow Cheerio, Brittany. He knew there was something weird going on there, even when Santana hadn’t told them anything. He refused her offer and told her to ask whoever she truly wanted to take. He didn’t mind arriving dateless to the dance; it wasn’t like he was going to stay long after all.

Carole gave him the day off so he could get ready, so he arrived home early and took a shower. He then started getting ready. He slicked his hair in his usual hairdo and fixed his tux. He stared at his reflection on the mirror and nodded, satisfied. He looked quite dapper. He smiled to himself and got out of the apartment.

He’d promised his friends he’d meet them at the entrance so they could all go in together. When he got to the school, he found Quinn and Puck were already there. He greeted them and they settled to wait for Santana and her date. Blaine was almost certain it would be Brittany and when they arrived, he wasn’t disappointed. She tried to get away under the excuse that he’d rejected her offer and every other guy had been taken so they had decided to go together as “friends”. Quinn and Blaine shared a quick, knowing glance but didn’t say anything.

Once they were all set, they entered the gym and were surprised at the beautiful decorations. Everything was covered in fake, white snow. Silver and white dominated the scene and there were paper snowflakes hanging from the ceiling. It looked like a winter wonderland. There were already people dancing, with some others talking on the sides or seated at their tables.

They all made their way to one of the empty tables and took their seats. Blaine felt a little uncomfortable, being the only one without a date but he shrugged the feeling out and went to get a drink. Quinn followed him.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I just don’t want you to feel awkward or left out.”

Blaine took a sip of his drink before answering. “Quinn, I told you, it’s okay. Look, there are a lot of guys and girls here that seem to have come without a date. I’ll be fine.”

Just as Quinn was about to protest, the song changed, moving on to one with more beat. Blaine left his drink on the table and turned to face her.

“You think Puck would mind if I steal you away just for this song?”

She smiled at him. “Not at all.”

He grabbed her hand and they made their way to the dance floor. They started dancing, making silly moves and laughing at and with each other. The song was almost about to end and Blaine spun Quinn around. He pulled her close and hugged her. When he was about to pull away, she gasped loudly. He looked at her with a concerned expression but she wasn’t looking at him. Her eyes were fixed at something behind her. He turned his head around to find Kurt, dressed up in a black suit and purple tie, standing in the gym’s entrance.

Blaine inhaled sharply and felt himself being dragged away from the dance floor by Quinn. Once they came out of the sea of people, Kurt was able to spot them. He made his way towards them, earning quite a few curious glances from the rest of the kids. He stopped in front of Blaine. Both were so immerse in each other, they failed to notice Quinn making her way to their table, a big smile on her face.

“Kurt,” Blaine breathed.

“You came.”