It wasn't because Blaine didn't like his brother, because he really did. He loved hanging out with him and he loved their time together when they geeked out over musicals or action movies or comic books – or anything else for that matter.

Still, Blaine hadn't left his room for two days. That was since his mom had driven him out to Cooper's place in New York and left him with the promise that everything would be okay, she just needed some time to work things out with his dad.

But nothing felt like it would be okay. Everything felt like it was on the edge of Armageddon.

Kurt had called him like he promised. He even texted him a lot, which was very unlike him to do. Yet, Blaine felt like a big hole was eating him up inside – he was missing Kurt to no ends.

"Come on, baby brother. You can't hang around here all day. I was thinking we could go out and do something together," Cooper said Tuesday afternoon when he came to Blaine's room.

Blaine didn't even look at him but sighed heavily, still facing the window where he could hear the sound of the city outside. He loved that city, but even though it was blooming spring somehow it all felt cold and gray.

"Thanks, Coop, but I don't really feel like it," he shrugged monotonously.

He felt bad. He hadn't talked much to Cooper lately, and usually Blaine visited him quite often, but he hadn't had time lately and Blaine hadn't felt like leaving Ohio. Which was; Blaine hadn't felt like leaving Kurt. Now that he was there he should get himself up and hang out with his brother instead, but he was depressed and didn't want to bring him down.

"Blaine, I gotta say – I'm worried about you. It's cool that you have this guy that you really like and stuff, but you can't let that take over your entire life. You should be able to be apart sometimes," Cooper sighed and sat down on the bed. He brushed a hand caringly up his brother's leg and Blaine turned around face him.

He really did look worried. Blaine wasn't sure he had ever experienced Cooper worried. He sure knew how to be an arrogant douche from time to time, but Blaine had always admired that optimistic flame in him that made him see a positive turn just around every corner.

"I know. I just miss him so much. And I'm scared. What if dad disowns me or something?" Blaine muttered, for the first time vocaling the biggest fear that had been pressing ever since this chaos had fallen upon them.

"Hey – I know dad can be a grumpy old meanie sometimes, but as much as he doesn't understand I don't think he could ever disown you," Cooper said and fell down to lie on the bed next to his brother.

Now they were lying there; two brothers staring into the ceiling with a dark shadow hovering over them. The Andersons sure knew how to party.

Neither of them said anything for a while, but when Blaine's stomach started to growl they stared at each other and burst into laughter.

"How about I take you out for pizza and then we can go see a movie?" Cooper suggested and sat up, staring at Blaine still lying on the pillows.

"Alright. We could do that," Blaine agreed and sat up, realizing he still had his phone clenched in his hand.

Cooper jumped enthusiastically off the bed and headed for the door when he turned around.

"But Blaine – this is not a date, dude."

Cooper winked with that teasing glance in his eyes that he always used when he was trying to cheer him up and Blaine couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"Didn't plan on it. I'm a taken man," he grinned and got to his feet himself.

He grabbed his hoodie off the bedpost and zipped it up so he could follow Cooper out the door. It really was nice to hang out with his older brother again, being an only child when he was at home wasn't always fun, but could sometimes border on lonely.

xXx

"I still can't believe you never nailed Tina. She's so hot," Cooper commented as they were eating their pizza on the edge of a fountain in town.

"Usually gays don't nail girls. And I don't nail my friends in general," Blaine chuckled and choked down a mouthful of soda with an uncomfortable image of actually touching a girl like that spooking in the back of his mind, chills running through him by the mere suggestion.

He tried pushing it away and took a look around the city surrounding them and felt it fill his veins – it was always overwhelming the way it crept under his skin, and he always felt like this surely was his second home.

They continued to chat about high and low. Cooper told him about his auditions and Blaine told him about school and friends. He didn't tell him about the mess with The Warblers, but smiled a little to himself at the thought that Nick and Trent had actually texted him when he didn't show at school Monday.

After their pizza they went to see The Avengers and on the way home they were loudly discussing the effects, the fights, the explosions and everything else. It felt like old times and Blaine was comfortable about being back. He could sense that he had needed it.

When they were back home Blaine found that his phone had run out of battery so he flicked it on before taking a shower. When he came back he had four missed calls and a bunch of texts. One message from Tina asking him to call her when he felt like it – the rest from Kurt.

One missed call: Mom

Kurt: "Hey gorgeous. Are you feeling any better? xxxx"

Kurt: "I miss you. Like a fucking lot."

Kurt: "Has the big apple eaten you?"

One missed call: Kurt

Kurt: "Blaine? Are you okay?"

Kurt: "Okay, I'm starting to get worried now."

Two missed calls: Kurt

Kurt: "I'm sorry if I said something. Blaine please don't put me on ice. It's fucking torture that you're gone."

A sting dug through his heart. He felt guilty, he didn't want Kurt to feel like he was ignoring him, and it had been a few hours since they had talked together. Around four and a half hour, actually.

Blaine went to say goodnight to his brother in the living room and Cooper told him that he had already spoken to their mom. She didn't have any news except that their dad had stopped cursing over the situation which they all agreed was a big leap.

As soon as Cooper had told him goodnight he went to his room. He pulled off his pajamas, suddenly the fabric felt too strangling now that he had got used to sleeping in his underwear, or less, whenever he was with Kurt. When he was settled under the covers he called up Kurt. The phone beeped four times, and Blaine started to think he had gone to bed when it was picked up.

"Blaine? Oh my fucking god, I was so worried about you," Kurt blabbered out the moment he picked up. He sounded distressed and Blaine's jumped a little by the thought that Kurt cared so much about him.

"I'm alright. I just went out with Cooper. No need to worry," Blaine assured him, and he could hear Kurt sigh relieved.

He shifted a bit on the pillow and watched the lights from the city outside his window dance in patterns around the ceiling.

They talked a bit back and forth about their day and Blaine told Kurt about his evening with Cooper and how he had actually worked himself up to leave his room and have a little fun. Kurt was happy to hear that and told him about his day as well.

Kurt told how he had spent the days working hard at his dad's tire shop and drinking beers with Puck. He had kept going to school, though, because he knew Blaine would disapprove if he didn't. Blaine didn't say, but Tina had told Blaine that Kurt had asked her in school if he knew how Blaine was doing to make sure he wasn't staying brave for him when he asked himself.

"Babe – I really fucking miss you. I miss you like hell," Kurt sighed and there was a thump sound like he was punching into a pillow or his mattress. He sounded exhausted and Blaine wanted to curl up around him instead of around his blanket.

He turned his head to see that rain was drizzling down the window and he couldn't help feeling like the world was laughing at him and this goddamn situation he had found himself stuck in.

"I miss you too, Kurt. But only a few more days and it should all be good, alright -" he tried and had to force his voice to be steady, something that was a bit harder than one would have guessed.

"Blaine I... I wanna be better for you. When you come home? I don't wanna pick fights anymore, I don't wanna end up arguing with people over stupid nothings... I just want you to come home. To me – if I hadn't been so damn reckless when I knew your parents were home you would never have had that fight with them and you wouldn't have had to leave," Kurt said in a broken voice.

The words were cutting through Blaine like a razor. Kurt sounded frustrated and heartbroken. Not for one second had Blaine even considered that this could be Kurt's fault.

"Leave me..." Kurt ended and his voice cracked.

"Kurt – baby. I didn't leave you. I never could. Just take it easy and we'll figure this out. Maybe you should take some time to take a little care of yourself while I'm gone, baby. Then we'll be together before you know it," Blaine said and had to bite his knuckles to not break down himself.

There was a while of silence with nothing heard but Kurt trying to keep his breathing in check before there was a slight rustling of fabrics.

"Alright. I can do that – just... don't forget me when you come across some hot guy, alright?" Kurt chuckled, that hollow sound Blaine knew so well from when he cocked his chin and tried being tough. But Blaine also knew him well enough by now to see right through his act.

"Kurt, just go to sleep. We'll talk in the morning. I love you," Blaine sighed heavily and hoped that Kurt would actually go to sleep and not beat himself up too badly.

"Okay. Goodnight then. I love you, sexy -" Kurt said and Blaine knew that he was smiling.

"Goodnight, beautiful."

xXx

The next few days Blaine got out of bed in the morning and started exploring the city – that of it that was close enough to Cooper's apartment that he wouldn't get lost, at least. He went with Cooper to a few auditions and they pretended to be tourists and went sightseeing to ask the guides silly questions in weird accents.

Blaine had a really great time and was happy to be reminded of all his good times with his brother. Only thing that upset him a bit was that Kurt was being a bit distant because of his work at the tire shop and because of glee club rehearsals.

When Friday morning came his mom called him early before she had to go to work. She told him that she had sent him a ticket home but wasn't sure when it would arrive, but it should fit so he could fly home Sunday.

The news were good and he was eager to go home to hear what she had worked out with his dad, even though his mind was mostly focused on the fact that he was going to see Kurt again.

Since Cooper was getting ready for an audition he had in the afternoon Blaine offered to go to the deli and pick up bagels for breakfast. He was ecstatic and singing all the way down there, even dancing a little around while he was in line. For once it felt like nothing could go wrong.

He hurried back to the apartment and got the table ready while Cooper was in the shower. It wasn't until the door to his room opened that he noticed that someone else was in the apartment.

"You're awfully chipper today," Kurt said with a smirk and rested against the door frame. He looked different, with his usual pair of black skinny jeans and a button-down shirt in army green and beige dots, a black waistcoat over it, but still his faithful studded combat boots.

"Kurt – what are you doing here?" Blaine beamed and threw himself into his boyfriend's arms, expressing a squeal that he would probably not have been too proud of his brother hearing.

"Mhm, I wanted to surprise you – couldn't stand being at home without you," Kurt said softly and tugged Blaine tighter with his face hidden against him and his lips ghosting over Blaine's neck.

They released each other and Blaine immediately let his hand drift into Kurt's, not planning on letting him go for a second now that they were reunited. They walked to sit at the dining table and it was hard for Blaine to not simply attack him with his lips.

"Well, what actually happened was that I was asked to bring you something," Kurt told and pulled an envelope from his pocket.

Blaine opened the paper and pulled out two plane tickets from New York to Ohio.

"What? I'm not sure I -"

"Come on – your mom came to my house and asked me if I wanted to bring you your ticket home. In return I would be able to stay with you in New York over the weekend and we can fly home together on Sunday. We already talked to your brother about it and he let me in while you were out," Kurt explained with a devious smile, clearly happy that their plotting had been complete news to Blaine.

He was speechless. He couldn't believe that his mom and his boyfriend had teamed up to make him happy that way. It felt like there was something different about Kurt, a different glow around him.

When Cooper came from the bathroom they had breakfast and talked. It was strange to hold Kurt's hand in front of his brother, but Blaine was proud to do so and happy that Kurt was being polite and chatty – he hardly even swore.

Around noon Cooper got up to leave for his audition and the boys were left to themselves in the small apartment. It was an awkward feeling to have Kurt in his brother's home, since it had always served as a sanctuary for Blaine since he was a kid when Cooper moved there. It was where he had come to get back to being a kid and forget the world and the troubles of being a teenager, on his way to being a grown-up, and suddenly his boyfriend was there with him.

"Is this where you take me out and show me the town?" Kurt smiled and turned on his heel from where he had been taking in the view of the street from the living room window. His face was wearing a coy smile and it seemed as if he was waiting for Blaine to take charge.

"I can do that – well, I don't really know the town myself. I'm always afraid I'll get lost, but I can show you what I know," he agreed and walked closer to put his arms around Kurt's waist where he pressed his lips to Kurt's in a soft humming.

To hold Kurt in his arms again was like falling in love all over again. His sense made him drunk with the feeling and scent and taste of Kurt. He couldn't decide whether he was most eager to drag Kurt all around town to show him the world and to show the world that Kurt was with him, or if he would much rather drag Kurt to his bedroom so they could melt together on the bed and make up for the lost hours of kisses and caresses they hadn't been able to have over the days they had spent apart.

After a few moments of holding each other Blaine went to his room to pick up his keys and phone so they could leave. He had no idea where he wanted to take Kurt first, but in reality it didn't matter because even if all they did was walk down the street it would be good enough, because Kurt would be there to see the place he used to run away to before he had Kurt's arms to provide him safety.

xXx

Blaine had always loved New York. To him the city was magical and beautiful, and it was like he had stepped into a movie and could play whatever role he wanted when he was there. Usually when he was spending time at Cooper's place and he would have time alone he would through town and pretend that he was someone else and make up stories in his head of his new persona and their story – but with Kurt holding his hand he simply was Blaine, and he didn't want to be anyone else.

He had always wondered if the gay couples he saw holding hands or showing affection on the streets of New York weren't nervous because of the hate crimes that was so often heard about in the media, but now that he was with his own boyfriend it felt like the most natural thing in the world; that this was the only true way it should be, because why shouldn't they be able to show the world that they were together?

They had walked down the street and looked at stores. Then they had spent an hour in a music store looking at records and Blaine singing random lines from various songs in Kurt's ear when he walked by him between the shelves.

Now they were sitting on a bench in a park with sandwiches they had picked up at a café across the street. The sun was hot down on them and for a moment Blaine considered to ask if they couldn't just stay there and never go back to Ohio. That they could get jobs and find a tiny apartment together where they would do nothing but love each other.

"I wanna live here one day," Kurt said. He crumpled the paper from his sandwich up and threw it to land perfectly in the trashcan on the other side of Blaine before he leaned in to put a wet kiss to Blaine's cheek.

"Me too," Blaine smiled and dried his fingers in a napkin before throwing his own trash out.

"One day we can live here together," Kurt said and swung his one leg over Blaine's thighs so he could lie down on the bench with his head on the armrest.

"That's gonna be in a long time. I still have one more year of school, remember?" He responded, a little annoyed that one single year could mean so much. Sometimes it was bordering on painful for him to think about Kurt graduating soon and after that he might end up leaving home to do something crazy like other high school graduates without a college plan do.

"Do you really think I wouldn't wait for you?" Kurt asked softly and traced his fingertips over Blaine's naked arm so the hairs twitched and his skin tickled for a firmer touch.

"I would never ask you to wait around for me like that – to put your own life on hold for my sake," he sighed and wished that it didn't have to be as complicated as such.

"I know you wouldn't. That's why I wouldn't ask but just do it. I've thought a lot about it lately – and I think I wanna stay and work in my dad's tire shop for the next year. Then when you're done with school I will have to saved up a lot of money and you will have your freedom – and we can run away and do exactly what we want," Kurt told.

He really had thought a lot about it. Blaine could hear it in his voice and see in his eyes that he meant it. They had only been together for a couple of months, but still Blaine felt like this was the right way for things to go – this was a future he could see himself with.

"Are you sure? A year is a long time of working for your dad."

He needed to make sure Kurt wasn't offering this as a sacrifice and turning other things down, just so they could be together.

"Of course I'm sure. I love my dad, and I love working for my dad – and I love you. As long as I can see you one year will be a breeze," he assured him and rushed to sit up so he could folded his arms around Blaine's waist.

He stretched his neck slightly and let his eyelashes brush lightly over Blaine's skin before he leaned in to kiss him. Blaine supported him with a hand on the lower of his back to make sure he didn't fall and he could feel Kurt smile into the kiss.

"I love you too. If you're sure then I am sure. A lot can happen in a year – but I've never been more sure of anything in my life than I am of you," Blaine grinned and kissed the tip of Kurt's nose.

xXx

They spent the evening with Cooper telling embarrassing stories about Blaine from he was little. Such as the story about how he had started crying when he was 4 because a boy in kindergarten called him a girl because he liked dancing, and the story about how he had been afraid to kiss Tina for a play at the local theater when he was 13 because he was afraid that he would do it wrong – because she was a girl.

Kurt naturally found it all incredibly amusing, Blaine only finding refuge in hiding his face in a cushion while listening to his brother and boyfriend bond over his childhood humiliations.

It was nice, though. To know that Kurt fell so naturally in with his family, and that there wasn't any awkward silence between them. If only they found more appropriate subjects to discuss he could easily do this forever.

However, he didn't get to. Around midnight they all agreed that it was late and they should go to bed. At first Blaine wasn't sure how Cooper felt about him sharing bed with Kurt, but when he shot him a wink and wiggled his eyebrows at him before saying goodnight he felt his face shoot into flames and guessed that was his green light for them to share bed for the night.

To feel his body melt back to fit perfectly with Kurt's was like coming to a fire after being in a blizzard. Suddenly he could feel that he had been tensed and was now relaxing deeply. The way Kurt's fingers were sliding around his back and his lips were sprinkling his face with gentle kisses were enough to make him feel like he was dissolving into the sheets.

They didn't talk or make the slightest sound, except for small giggles when one was accidentally tickled by soft fingertips or a surprised sigh from cold fingers on hot skin. They kept kissing each other and enjoying being back together until they finally fell asleep, Blaine with a smile he had nearly forgotten he could manage.

xXx

Saturday mirrored Friday.

They started out by having breakfast with Cooper, but since he hurried out the door for an audition they hurried to the shower. The niche was much smaller than the one at home so they didn't have any other choice than to be very close – nothing either of them had any complains about.

They didn't have sex, but held each other close with the water running down over them and hands sliding around each others bodies. Blaine was pretty sure that there soon wasn't a place on Kurt's body where his lips hadn't been, but he made a mental note to make sure he had the pale skin kissed over again – just to be sure.

After showering they got dressed. To Blaine's surprise Kurt went for a pair of light gray jeans and a white blouse with a cardigan consisting of black fabric, but a broad, knitted dark gray strip down the front at the zipper.

Apparently he was changing his look these days.

They continued their exploring of the city from the day before. Blaine was happy to find that he could lurk Kurt into going shopping with him and couldn't help notice that Kurt was nearly as excited about looking at bowties as he was himself – that he had not seen coming from Kurt.

They had fun and joked around. They watched some kids showing on their skateboards in the park while discussing whether or not they would ever be able to do anything like that themselves.

"I was a cheerleader, you know -" Kurt revealed in his quest of convincing Blaine that he could learn to do anything he wanted.

Blaine's eyebrows rushed towards his hairline and his eyes grew huge in surprise – how had he never known that? And now that he did he had no idea what to do about this new information.

"What? That is – no, I can't really grasp it. That needs explaining, I hope you know that," Blaine stammered truthfully.

He knew that straight guys had an obvious thing for cheerleaders – girls in short skirts doing promiscuous dance moves. But he had never considered the possibility of having a thing for cheerleaders himself. He had seen the cheerleaders in McKinley; red polyester stretched tightly over slim bodies. He wanted desperately to picture Kurt like that. Not to mention Kurt dancing the way they did.

"It's a few years ago. Obviously. My sophomore year. I was confused and an attention-whore. Mr. Schue didn't indulge my need for being the spotlight so I went behind enemy lines and got myself onto the Cheerios," Kurt shrugged and played with the lid on his take-out-coffee mug.

Blaine was still left with questions filling up his brain. He needed to know everything – hopefully there would be videos and pictures.

"But... I'm guessing you didn't exactly wear the skirt they use," Blaine stuttered with a picture of Kurt in the usual Cheerios uniform fighting his brain, but he needed to get it out.

"Are you insane? Of course I didn't! I wore pants and a t-shirt, thank you very much, Mr. Bi-curious," Kurt exclaimed and pinched his thigh lightly, making Blaine express a shocked "Auch!"

Kurt turned around to throw his coffee mug into the trashcan next to their bench before he was on his knees and leaning close to Blaine. So close that his breathing was moistening his ear and his hand on Blaine's thigh was dangerously close to his crotch for a public place with kids nearby.

"But I did some impressive moves. I can bend in ways you won't even imagine – I'll let you pound your dick into my ass in positions people won't believe the human body is capable of," he whispered and let the tip of his tongue travel up the shell of Blaine's ear, sending chills down Blaine's spine and a rosy color filling his face.

And just like that he was back to sitting on his ass next to Blaine like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He was gazing innocently over the park and smiling randomly at strangers walking by them.

"New York is really beautiful. Wasn't it cool to come here so often when you were younger?" He asked and waved at a little girl who was watching them from her spot on a blanket next to her nanny and a dog that was nearly twice her size.

"Yeah. I like it. I've always felt sort of free here. More free than in Ohio. But I haven't been here for a long time. Something – someone – was holding me there. Someone I'd much rather spend time with than being in New York," Blaine smiled and leaned in to place a kiss on Kurt's cheek. To his amusement he could feel his cheek go a bit hotter under his lips, something that only made him smile broader.

"Can I... you never really talk about it, but I wanna know. If I can. How were you before you became – like you are now?" Blaine asked carefully. He knew this could potentially be an open invitation for screaming and shouting, because Kurt was just that much against talking about his past. That didn't change how much Blaine felt like he needed to know to be able to understand Kurt better.

"You mean before I became a loser?" He asked and lit up a cigarette, not even looking at Blaine now.

"Kurt, don't call yourself that. You're not a loser..."

"I was silly. An attention-whore. All I ever did was waste my time on trying to be popular. I was so into fashion, like I thought it would make me a better person to wear nauseatingly expensive outfits. I always competed with Rachel in glee club and when she started dating Finn I hated her guts. Because I was stupid enough to like him," Kurt told and pulsed on the filter of his Lucky Strike, looking like he was doing his best to recall as much as possible.

"Then my dad got sick, this fucking bully kept tormenting me at school and no one did shit about it – then one day I was on my way home and some other bully, not as bad as the others; he pushed me into the tool shed and pulled my pants down. He got his own off down to his underwear and was starting to... you know – when there were people talking outside and I started screaming. Then he ran off like the bitch he was."

"What happened?" Blaine asked, his voice nearly inaudibly in terror. Suddenly it felt like the sun wasn't quite as hot as it had been two minutes ago, and the laughing from the playing children seemed to have disappeared.

"I was on the floor for three hours after he left because I didn't dare to move. I was afraid he would come back to finish the job, but I was to scared to do anything. After that I didn't come to school for two months or something. I can't remember how long it was. I just remember that my dad did everything he could to have the guy punished, but all that happened was that he transferred schools. I swore to myself that if I ever saw him again I would kill him – so I took up self-defense, Japanese battle sports. Now I could kill him with my fingers if he came across me again."

He fell silent and kept his eyes locked on a squirrel dancing around the roots of a big tree. Its red, bushy tail kept flailing around it and its tiny paws kept grasping at the roots of the tree. The thing was abnormally adorable for the feelings currently up Blaine.

"I'm sorry. I – Kurt, you know I won't ever let anyone hurt you again, right? If he ever comes back I'll kill him myself. Or at least beat him up or something," Blaine said softly and let a hand trying onto Kurt's shoulder.

That wasn't what he had meant. He hadn't to dig into such deep and disturbing memories as that. He had often wondered what had happened that had caused Kurt to fully change, but he didn't want to ask since he had a feeling that it was severely traumatizing, and he didn't want to stir up in anything for Kurt. All he had been curious about was what he had been like before. His friends, what music he liked, what he liked to do outside of school. But apparently this was something Kurt had needed to tell him.

"Blaine. Don't fucking pity me. I don't want your pity. I'm still alive, and I can kill the bitch myself if it ever comes to that," he snapped and threw the cigarette butt in the trashcan and blew out of a huge cloud of dark smoke that slowly drifted off with the spring breeze.

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but no! I am allowed to feel sorry for you. You're my boyfriend – I love you! I'm allowed to be horrified that someone would ever do something like that to you, and I am allowed to swear that I won't ever let it happen again," Blaine hissed and wrapped an arm around Kurt's shoulder so he could close the space between them.

"You can't promise that. Saying that is just lying to you and to me to say that. It's not like you can follow me around all the time – and you're the size of Gizmo. A jock would curl you up and use you for decoration," Kurt said and rolled his eyes with a sigh before he snuggled into Blaine's embrace.

"But you're cute for trying. You're like my trophy wife who gives boosts my ego whenever you get sick of listening to me," he grinned and kissed Blaine's jaw.

"You're hopeless, you know that?" Blaine chuckled and squeezed a little tighter.

"I try."

xXx

For dinner the boys went back to the apartment to eat with Cooper. After cleaning the table and the kitchen he said that he was going out and winked at them before getting ready to leave.

As soon as he was out the door Blaine got an idea. He told Kurt to get ready to go out, but make sure to be able to stay warm since they would be outside for the evening. Kurt raised an eyebrow from the mysterious message but pulled on a heavy-looking army green sweater.

They took the train to mid-town. Kurt kept asking where they were going, but Blaine kept refusing to tell him. It was already starting to go dark on the sky over them, but the city was still lit up by neon signs and billboards on the tall buildings around them.

"Times Square? Are you fucking kidding me? That was why I had to leave comfy, warm apartment?" Kurt asked sarcastically.

"Yes. It was. Because it's beautiful, and you're beautiful – and I wanna dance with my boyfriend in front of the world," Blaine exclaimed and grabbed Kurt's hand to drag him over in front of the middle aged, black man wearing a six pence and dark sunglasses while he was playing his saxophone.

"Come on, Blaine – I'm cold," Kurt complained and pouted his lips while tripping a little nervously around the tile he was standing on.

"That's why I told you to dress warm. Here. Take my jacket then," Blaine smiled and put his jacket around Kurt's shoulders. To his wonder Kurt blushed from the gesture and tugged the jacket closer around him.

Blaine grinned from the sight and let his hands slide around Kurt. He rested his hands on Kurt's shoulder blades and pulled him closer. Kurt kept his arms curled around each other, resting between their chests so he could bath in the feeling of Blaine's arms around him. Slowly Blaine started to move his feet, swaying around and Kurt couldn't do anything but move with him as he rested his head against Blaine's shoulder.

They kept dancing, moving slowly around to the tunes of the slow jazz melody erupting from the saxophone next to them. People were staring at them just as much as they were staring at the saxophonist, but they didn't care.

The evening was cold, but Blaine didn't want to let go of Kurt just so they could go back home. Bringing him there was the best thing he had done for a long time, and the sense of them belonging together was strong from the public display of them being together without caring for viewers or simple by-passers.

"I love you," Kurt whispered as he moved his face closer to Blaine's neck, making his words being breathed out and branded into his skin.

"I love you too," Blaine assured him and squeezed a little tighter.

Suddenly Kurt backed away, but only enough for him to be faced with Blaine but still be wrapped in his arms. His face had a pensive, but melancholic gloom over it, and Blaine's heart did a little uneasy jump.

"I meant what I said, you know – about wanting to be better for you. I'm trying so hard. I am so afraid that I'll mess things up with you. I know what it's like living without you, Blaine. I don't wanna do that again," Kurt sighed, clearly knowing that he was repeating the fears he had uttered over and over again.

"I know, Kurt, I know – I'm sad that you're so scared all the time, because you can't push me away. You are doing better. You came here, right? After talking to my mom – that's pretty insanely cute," Blaine chuckled and kissed the tip of his nose, noticing that the skin on Kurt's face was freezing.

"Let's go back to Cooper's place, baby. You're freezing, and we have to get up early for the airport tomorrow."

He closed his jacket a little tighter around Kurt and made his hand around his shoulders so he could hold him. They smiled and waved at the saxophonist who return their gesture before they walked back to the train.

As soon as they were back in the apartment it was still only around nine so Blaine lit the feverishly many candles around the apartment and wrapped Kurt in a blanket while he made tea. As soon as he was back they snuggled up on the couch with their arms and legs and tongues tangled in each other. Fingers were running through hair and hands were running with sweet caress under shirts and over exposed skin.

"You got a scar," Blaine mumbled after having watched Kurt's face for a long time.

Kurt's head was lying softly against the backrest of the couch and his eyes were closed, making him look peaceful and angelic as the flames of the candles flickered around his face to paint orange and red heated patterns of dancing on his pale skin.

When Blaine had first seen him when he had arrived at Cooper's apartment it had looked like all evidence from his fight with the Warbler had vanished without any traces than their memories of the event, but now that he had time to really take in the picture of his beautiful, usually flawless features he noticed a little red scar was forming on his upper lip.

"I know. It looks disgusting, right?" Kurt groaned and lifted the side of his upper lip where the scar was located.

"It should. I should find it terrible. But actually – I find it kind of sexy. My boyfriend got battle scars for defending me. That's pretty romantic," Blaine mused and stretched his neck to put a kiss to the slightly pink mark.

"That's sappy," Kurt grunted and opened his eyes so he could roll them at Blaine.

He let his forehead fall down onto Kurt's chest when he felt a kiss to his hair.

"And sweet -" Kurt cooed and brushed a hand over Blaine's curls. When he looked up he was met by twinkling eyes and a sweet smile.

"You're turning soft," Blaine chuckled and teasingly pinched his side.

"Only when I'm with you. It's your bad influence," Kurt objected with a slight giggle.

"I love it," he grinned and nuzzled his nose into Kurt's chest.

"I love you."

"And I love you."