"Yes… Oh god, yes!"

Rachel laughed and put her hands over her mouth as the tears that had been pooling in her eyes began to fall down. Finn smiled broadly and as he was lifting himself up, Rachel wrapped her arms around him. He placed his arms on her waist and pulled her up with him, lifting her from the ground and twirling her around as both laughed and everyone around them cheered and clapped.

Blaine was incredibly happy for their friends; they really were in love with each other and deserved to be happy. He sighed, he'd give anything to someday be in a situation like that – surrounded by the people that matter the most to him, staring into the eyes of the man he was in love with, hearing him say he felt the same and that he wanted to spent the rest of his life with Blaine.

As his mind wondered through those thoughts, he turned to see the one man that he wanted to be with in that scenario. He was standing right next to him, their arms touching each other. They were so close and yet, Blaine felt Kurt was miles away. His eyes were fixed on the couple in front of them. Blaine knew that if Kurt was so against love, marriage was definitely out of the question for him too.

And yet, once again, Blaine couldn't help but hope.

He stopped his thoughts once Finn and Rachel pulled away and everyone made their way to congratulate them. Blaine smiled to Rachel and hugged her, whispering in her ear how happy he was for them. She thanked him and kissed his cheek tenderly. When he came near Finn, the taller man hugged him and lifted him up. Blaine was shocked at first but started laughing almost immediately. When Finn put him back down, Blaine looked at him curiously.

"What was that for?"

"For being the amazing friend you are and for sticking around! I just love you, bro!"

Blaine smiled and patted Finn's arm affectionately.

"I love you too, man."

In that moment, Finn was dragged by his mother, who was already in tears and Rachel was with her dads, showing them her beautiful ring. Blaine turned around, looking for Kurt. He found him in the corner, eyeing the scene with an unreadable expression. Blaine's stomach did a funny turn. He hated seeing that look on Kurt's face. It was the look that told him the older boy was closing himself up, the coldness in his eyes returning. Whenever any grand, romantic gesture happened in front of him, that's what would happen with Kurt.

Blaine approached him cautiously. He tried to grab Kurt's hand but then decided against it. He knew not to push Kurt whenever he had that look on his face. So he just stood next to him, close enough to let him know he was there but still, keeping his distance. Their arms were inches away but Kurt still had that distant look on his face so they never touched.

Blaine's hand had never felt so empty.

School started soon enough and the first days were horrible for Blaine. Everyone would throw him curious or pitiful looks on the hallways or murmur as he passed by. The guys responsible for his attack were there as well and things got incredibly tense whenever he had to walk by them on his way to class.

Luckily, he had his friends to help him get through it all. Quinn and Santana never left his side and he had even gained some sort-of-friends from the football team, other players who had not liked what their fellow teammates had done to him. He was grateful for their efforts to "protect" him but sometimes he just wished they would all go away. Having six-foot-tall, burly jocks around him from time to time just made it more difficult to forget what had happened.

As days went by, though, things returned to normal. He got less and less looks thrown his way and the jocks that had made their task to look after him started to back off a bit, still watching him from the distance. Once he had space to breath, he realized he quite liked those guys. It had been really nice of them to follow him around and stand by his side instead of taking the easy route and giving him a hard time like his bullies. But now, he could actually put the incident behind him and worry about other things.

First, it had been to talk to Santana about Brittany. The girl had been reluctant to talk about it at first, but he had finally managed to make her talk. Apparently, she had liked Brittany for a long time but wasn't comfortable with coming out so she had kept it to herself. After what had happened to Blaine during the Winter Dance, she had been afraid of what would happen if she and Brittany officially started dating. That had caused some friction between the girls until Santana finally mustered the courage to properly ask Brittany out. The blond girl had agreed and they were now officially an item. At school, of course, they just looked like close friends and fellow Cheerios but they hung out after classes were over and soon enough, Brittany was there for every meeting at the dinner, making her the newest member of that weird, large, sort-of-family they had all become.

Things with Kurt had also gotten back to normal. He had been weird and distant since Finn and Rachel's engagement and Blaine didn't push during those days. It killed him and made his insecurities resurface but he was determined to let Kurt deal with whatever he had to deal on his own time and way. In the end, his patience had paid off. Kurt had gone back to being as affectionate as he could be with him and his worries had somewhat lessened out.

The only thing keeping him up at night by the end of January was college and acceptance letters.

He had sent his paperwork and portfolio days before the official date. He had done everything right and now came the worst part: waiting. He knew he had the talent and the brains to get in so he just had to remain calm and positive.

Out of the trio, Quinn was the only one who could breathe regarding that matter. She had already been let known that she had been accepted into Yale. When she had found out, she had called Blaine, babbling incoherencies and screaming in delight. Blaine had needed to spend half an hour asking her to calm down and repeat her words over and over again until she was finally calm enough to let him know the good news.

Blaine had almost cried of happiness.

He had screamed just as loud as Quinn had, scaring the crap out of Kurt. He had been granted the biggest, most terrifying glare he had ever seen Kurt cast on someone. But at that moment, he didn't care. He was so happy for his best friend, he had immediately pulled together a small party at Carole's dinner in her honor. That had been a fun night.

Quinn had come with her parents, making Puck almost choke with his drink and spent the entire night trying to make a good impression. It had been endearing and a little bit creepy, watching the tough guy acting like a gentleman all night long. Quinn had been so touched by his efforts to win over her parents that she had finally given in and kissed him. Puck had been so surprised and dazed Finn had to step in to check if he was still breathing.

Yes, it had been a crazy month so far.

As Blaine reminisced through the things that had happened, his homework momentarily forgotten, he felt a pair of arms slide through his shoulders and down to his chest. He smiled and dropped his pen, turning to look at Kurt.

"What's up?"

Kurt pouted. "You've been here working on your homework and ignoring me for far too long. I demand some Blaine time now."

Blaine laughed loudly and stood up.

"Okay," he turned to close his notebook, "I'm all yours."

Kurt smirked before lunging forward and kissing Blaine. The younger boy moaned and smiled against his mouth as they stumbled into the living room. They broke apart and Kurt began pulling Blaine's blue polo shirt up. Blaine lifted his arms and the piece of clothing was tossed aside into the floor. Their lips connected once again as this time, Blaine fiddled with the buttons on Kurt's shirt. He ran his hands all over Kurt's chest, earning a wonderful moan from him. They finally made it to the couch and laid down. Kurt pulled away from Blaine to unbuckle his belt. Blaine shifted so he was seating and grabbed Kurt's face, crashing their mouths again as Kurt tried to get rid of Blaine's jeans. He had finally gotten rid of the belt and was on his way of unzipping his jeans when Blaine's phone rang on his left pocket.

They both groaned loudly and Kurt sat between Blaine's legs, running a hand through his hair and letting out an exasperated sigh.

"I think someone might actually hate me up there."

Blaine snorted and tried to control his erratic breathing as he took the phone out and glared at the caller ID. It was Finn. Blaine may love the guy and consider him his closest guy friend but right now, he hated the man's guts. He took a deep breath and answered.

"You better have a really good reason to be calling or I swear I'll kill you next time I see you."

"Whoa, dude! Chill, what did I do?" came Finn's confused voice.

"You interrupted – never mind. What's up?"

"OH MY GOD! Did I just – Shit! I'm sorry, I-I... Oh, god… Now I have really disturbing images in my head…"

"Finn, just tell me why you called…"

"Oh! Right… Damn, now this is awkward… Um, well, I was wondering… I already asked Kurt since he's my brother and I love the man but I also wanted to ask you, too."

Kurt groaned loudly again and Blaine just mouthed 'Sorry' as he waited for Finn to carry on.

"Will you be my best man?"

Blaine's mouth almost hit the floor. He let out a laugh.

"What? Are you serious?" he asked excitedly.

"Yeah! I want you, Kurt and Puck to be right there next to me when I get married. You're pretty awesome, dude and I don't care if I'm older than you by six years, you're one of the best friends I've ever had."

"Finn, you're such a girl… But, fuck yeah! I'd be delighted to be your best man!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kurt huff and roll his eyes but he ignored him.

"Thanks, man! Well, I guess that's all I wanted to talk about. You can go back to, eh, whatever you were doing…"

Blaine blushed as he said goodbye and hung up the phone. He turned to see Kurt, who was sitting as far away from Blaine as possible. He still had that annoyed look on his face. Blaine pulled his arm but Kurt didn't move. Blaine sighed and shook his head trying to keep the smile from tugging at his lips. Kurt was such a spoiled brat sometimes. He crawled towards him, sitting on Kurt's lap.

"Sorry?" he offered and Kurt huffed.

Blaine couldn't help it, he laughed. Kurt turned to glare at him but the moment his face was right in front of him, Blaine leaned in and kissed him. He heard Kurt sigh into the kiss and smiled before pulling away.

"You didn't tell me Finn wanted you to be one of his best men."

Kurt shrugged and replied harshly. "It was pretty obvious he'd ask me, I'm his brother."

"Right..."

Blaine sighed inwardly. Kurt was always annoyed or indifferent whenever Finn and Rachel's wedding came up. Ever since they had settled on the date – March, 28th – and had begun the real planning, it had gotten worse. Kurt couldn't understand why they were so eager to "sign their death sentences." Blaine knew it wasn't like that. Rachel had been scared that once Blaine, Santana and Quinn graduated and went to college, it'd be more difficult for them to settle for a date when everyone could be there, so she and Finn had opted for a small, simple wedding that would allow them to have everyone they loved there. Blaine thought it was something really nice and sweet to do, especially considering Rachel's spotlight addiction. The fact that she had turned down the opportunity of a large, magnificent wedding for the three young friends was incredibly touching.

But Kurt just thought it was stupid. He knew Kurt was not happy with it, not because he wasn't happy for them but because it just wasn't something he was into. Not anymore. Blaine wished more than anything that he could have gotten the chance to meet the Kurt that was in love with weddings, instead of having to deal with the cranky Kurt he was now facing.

"Well, the mood has obviously been killed so I guess I'll go finish my homework," he said as he zipped his jeans and picked his shirt from the floor and putting it back on.

When Kurt didn't say anything and instead made his way to the bedroom, slamming the door, Blaine just shook his head and sat down at the table, resuming his work.

He was beginning to believe that, despite his efforts, Kurt just would never change. And even if he didn't want to accept it, he was losing his patience.

And he was terrified by that.

February settled in and with that, the craziness of Valentine's Day. The halls of McKinley were filled with red hearts and couples walking hand in hand. Even Santana had gotten into the mood and spent her time throwing loving glances at Brittany. Blaine was a hopeless romantic, but even he had to admit so much romance in the air was suffocating.

Still, he couldn't complain. Even if he and Kurt had had some tough times recently, the older boy had been a bit more caring and affectionate towards him. They had even made plans for homemade dinner that night. Blaine was excited. It was always nice to have those lovey-dovey things to do. It gave what they shared a feeling of realness.

It also made him think that Kurt really did love him, in his own way.

Kurt returned from his lunch break and sat down at his desk. He stretched his arms and moved his head sideways. He was tired. Work was tough these past few weeks and with the February 14th craziness, there was even more to do. And work was not all that invaded Kurt's mind. He and Blaine had been through a rough patch. It wasn't like they fought a lot; he would have been less worried if it was only that. No, they were just… distancing. He knew he was to blame with his sort of childish reactions to his brother's wedding but he had tried. He had tried to get used to the idea of weddings and marriage and love. But he couldn't. Memories of his notebooks full of hearts and doodles of his name after he'd marry Karoksky rushed back, followed by memories of the blows to his face and the taste of blood on his mouth as dark, cold eyes bore into him from the doorframe.

So, even if he tried his best to put on a smiling face and get into the wedding bells spirit, he couldn't. And that pushed Blaine away, even when it wasn't his intention.

But he would do something to change that. He had come up with the idea for dinner tonight to make up for the past weeks. He opened up the bottom drawer of his desk and took out a small package. He smiled. He had gotten Blaine an art book with works from some of his favorite artists. He hoped this would improve things between them. Even if he wouldn't admit it, even to himself, he didn't want to lose Blaine. He placed the gift back in the drawer and returned his attention to work. He needed to hurry.

He had a date tonight.

Around 5 pm, Kurt's phone rang. He checked who the caller was and arched his eyebrows in surprise. He picked up and started talking with his caller. As the conversation progressed, his frowned grew and grew.

"Right now? I-I can't… I have some, uh, things to do tonight."

"Kurt, this is important. You want the spot or not? It's your chance to bring the clothing line to New York. That's what you wanted, right?"

"Yeah, but – "

"Then you have to come right now. I'm sure your other 'things' can wait."

Kurt sighed. This was going to go terribly wrong but he needed his New York plan to work. He had worked so hard for that and it was almost there. Blaine would understand, right?

Who was he kidding? Blaine would obviously understand, even if Kurt didn't give him the details. But he would be hurt. He'd be hurt but wouldn't show it, because he'd feel he has no right to feel that way. And that would make Kurt feel like shit.

But what could he do?

"Kurt?"

"Yeah, alright. I'll be there."

He hung up and rubbed his eyes. He hated what he would have to do next. He took a deep breath and grabbed his phone again.

"Kurt! Are you coming already?" Blaine's cheerful voice greeted him after the second ring.

"N-no… Blaine, something came up. I-I won't – I can't make it tonight."

"Oh…"

"I'm so, so sorry. It was a last minute thing and I couldn't say no and I – "

"It's okay, I get it."

Kurt closed his eyes.

"I really am sorry, Blaine."

"I know, it's okay, though. Really."

"I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Don't worry about it. I don't know what they're making you do but… Go kill them, tiger!"

Kurt gave a weak laugh. "Yeah, thanks."

Blaine hung up, leaving Kurt with the sound of the dead line piercing his ear. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He looked at the drawer that held Blaine's gift. Great, now when he gave it to him it would look like a sorry-I-screwed-up gift.

Slowly, he got out of his chair, grabbed his coat and walked away from his office.

Blaine left the phone on the table, looking at the candles he had just placed. He knew it was cheesy but he had wanted the classic, lit by the candles, type of dinner. Well, that was not happening now. He sat down in one of the chairs and ran a hand through his gelled-free curls. It really didn't matter if Kurt had something going on at work. But that was the thing, Blaine didn't know for sure that it really was something work related. He hated himself for thinking it but he couldn't help it. What if the real reason was that he just needed a night out like he used to have? What if he was growing tired of Blaine? What if he was with someone else right now while he had been stupidly waiting for him?

No. Kurt had done nothing to make him think he was cheating. He had to trust him. He had promised himself he'd do that. And yet, his mind wandered back to these past weeks. They had been talking less and less. Kurt had been distant and Blaine had gotten exasperated by Kurt's actions more often than not. There were still nights when Kurt would get home pretty late and Blaine would swallow his complaints. What if Kurt had finally had enough of life as a couple? What if Blaine's efforts had been for nothing?

Kurt's words came back to haunt him, like they had done so many nights before.

"I can't promise anything, not even monogamy… I will probably still want to go out and fool around…"

He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes, willing himself not to cry.

Why did loving someone had to hurt so much?