The Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations are announced next week and odds-makers put Kurt Hummel solidly in the lead for one of the Best Supporting Actor nods. While Kurt has been perhaps better known for his dating life in recent months, the spotlight is about to shift back to his considerable acting talents, where it belongs. If he does receive the expected nominations, he will be the youngest openly gay actor to do so. While he doesn't yet have the number of roles under his belt necessary to truly showcase his versatility, he is two-for-two when it comes to box office success, and nominations for the major industry awards may be all that is needed to open the flood gates and send offers his way for the types of prestige roles that his talent seems to warrant. — TheHollywoodInsideDish, December 12th, 2018.

=^..^=

The day after their Disneyland adventure Blaine declared his intention of telling Bev that the boyfriend act had become reality. While Kurt didn't necessarily share the need for such honesty, he understood where Blaine was coming from and agreed. They invited Bev out for lunch to a small restaurant known for its discretion and privacy and waited nervously for her to appear.

After the flurry of cheek kisses that followed her arrival, Bev settled into her chair and watched with a vague expression of amusement as Kurt and Blaine stumbled over ordering with the waiter. Once they were alone again she turned to them and demanded that they spit out whatever it was that was on their minds.

Kurt swallowed audibly and gripped Blaine's hand under the table. "Bev, we…I mean Blaine and I…we have something we want to tell you. We're…umm…we're dating now. For real. The two of us."

Bev stilled in her seat, her eyes, which bounced back and forth between Blaine and Kurt, the only part of her that was moving. "Blaine, could I speak to Kurt alone for a second?"

Blaine rose from his chair reluctantly. "I'll just go to the…the…I'll just go." He sent a sympathetic look Kurt's way before kissing his hand and making a quick getaway.

Kurt watched him go helplessly before turning back to face an unhappy Bev.

"Do you want to tell me how this happened?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her sternly.

Kurt suddenly felt like a five year-old child being chastised by a parent. "No, not particularly. It just…did."

Bev took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Kurt, I just don't even know where to start. I didn't get you a bodyguard in order to act as your dating service and I certainly wouldn't have hired Blaine if I had known he would do this."

"What? Make me happy? Because he does." Make that a sullen five year-old child.

"He was hired to do a job and he can't do it if he's too busy staring goofily into your eyes," Bev spat across the table.

"We aren't that bad."

"Please. I've already seen it. I think we need to replace him."

"No! Absolutely not!" Kurt realized he had raised his voice when a waiter across the room glanced his way, so he hunched forward, speaking lower and grabbing Bev's hands in his. "This will work. Trust us. It's not like we're in a war zone with constant danger or anything. We'll make this work." Bev still looked unconvinced, so he tried again. "Please. This job is what's keeping him in L.A. If he has to find another one who knows where he might end up? Please? For me?"

Bev tried to keep her glare in place, but was powerless against his pout. "If I agree to this then Steve is going to be accompanying you to more events and I'd better not hear any complaining."

"Agreed." Kurt's smile stretched so wide his teeth showed and he clasped his hands together in joy.

Blaine poked his head back into the room and Kurt beckoned him back, pulling him into his seat and joining their hands together.

"Bev," Blaine said seriously, looking her straight in the eye, "I promise this won't affect how I do my job and —"

"Don't make promises you can't keep," she interrupted. "This whole situation makes me question your professionalism and I expect that I'll be having a discussion with your company about this soon. I'm allowing you to stay for Kurt's sake, but you'd better watch your step."

It was clear from his stricken expression that Blaine didn't like hearing that from Bev, recognizing the truth of her words. He was mostly silent for the rest of the meal, though Kurt was bubbly and brimming with excitement over the turn of events.

As they were leaving the restaurant, Bev pulled Kurt aside, just out of Blaine's earshot. "I don't think I've ever seen you look so happy."

"That's because I never have been."

=^..^=

It was a week until the nominations and Kurt could feel the pressure getting to him. He told himself over and over that nominations and awards didn't matter, that finding meaningful roles that touched people and fulfilled him as an artist was really what it was all about, but screw that, he wanted those nominations. He tried to hide his anxiety, but Blaine, now more in-tune with Kurt's emotions than ever before, saw through his act and set about distracting him whenever he could. His methods of distraction were highly approved of by Kurt, but it wasn't possible to spend all of their time in bed (no matter how hard they tried), so Kurt was thankful to have a few other things to occupy him.

When Kurt had first moved into the new house, he had asked to get permission to paint the living room and finally the go-ahead had been given. He enlisted Blaine as his home decorating assistant and pulled out his d�cor scrapbook to scour for ideas. They bickered playfully over color selection (Blaine seemed pathologically unable to recognize the beauty and simplicity of Dior gray, which caused Kurt to momentarily re-evaluate their relationship) and which supplies to use, but finally came to an agreement. Kurt ordered the supplies online in a rush order and they were delivered later the same afternoon.

Kurt woke Blaine bright and early the next morning, delighting in the languorous stretching and sleep-fogged confusion that was part of his waking routine. Before he could get sidetracked from the job at hand, he dumped a neat stack of painting clothes he had raided from his own wardrobe on Blaine's head and slapped his butt before singing out that work would commence in half an hour. He only made it a step away before strong arms encircled his waist and he was pulled back onto the bed. Okay, make that an hour.

Two hours later, Kurt stood in the living room ready to begin. The first order of the day was to disconnect all of the electronics and move the furniture into the center of the room. They would then cover everything with plastic and tape off the windows and doors before starting the actual painting. Most of the furniture was no problem and soon all they had left was the large and rather solid bookcase that took up most of one wall. They carefully tipped it to put sliding pads under the corners, then worked together to inch it into the dining room, where it would be out of the way. Kurt's job was to pull and steer from one end while Blaine pushed from the other, but his attention kept being diverted by the play of muscles under Blaine's skin and the slow drip of sweat down his neck and across his chest.

"Kurt, I'm happy that you find me so irresistible, but unless you want to visit me in the hospital after my hernia operation I really need you to do your part here."

A wild blush broke out on Kurt's face. "Sorry."

"Or," Blaine's voice dropped low and seductive, "we could forget the painting and return to more…adventurous pursuits."

"You're just bitter that I didn't pick the paint colors you wanted. Painting first, then sex."

The rest of the preparation went smoothly and they broke for a quick lunch before starting the painting. Blaine cracked open the cans of primer and gave them a quick stir, while Kurt plugged his iPod into the docking station and selected his playlist of current favorites. After several minutes, Kurt began to softly sing along with the music. The delighted smile Blaine sent his way egged him on and he began to sing at the top of his lungs to the next song.

He was so caught up in his performance that he nearly dropped his brush when he heard another voice chime in. He spun around in surprise to find Blaine belting out the lyrics from his position on a ladder in the corner of the room. It was the first time he'd heard Blaine sing. It was a shame that his school hadn't had a more pop based singing group like glee club, because Blaine's voice was perfect and it was a shame that he had been limited to stuffy old-school choral songs.

Blaine finally noticed that he was the only one still singing and he shrugged self-consciously when he saw Kurt watching him. Kurt waved his hand to indicate that he should continue and was pleased when Blaine did so. They sang together on several songs before Blaine jumped off the ladder to refill his paint container. Once on the ground he began to dance around to the music, using every cheesy boy band dance move Kurt could think of. When he finished up the song by jumping up on to the plastic covered end table and singing into his paint brush with great depth of feeling, Kurt had seen enough. He turned calmly around to put the lids back on the cans of paint and placed his brush and the roller in a waiting pail of water. He purposefully walked over to a puzzled Blaine and held up one hand to help him off of the table. The second Blaine's feet hit the floor, Kurt tackled him to the ground, silencing his squeak of surprise with his mouth.

They decided to finish the painting another day and once again tried to push the limits on how much time could be spent in bed.

=^..^=

It wasn't all fun and games, though. After months of haranguing by Lynn, Kurt had finally decided on a cause to put his support behind and he spent the Monday before the SAG nominations filming an anti-texting and driving PSA at a local school. It wasn't the most glamorous of causes, but it was one that Kurt had a personal history with, so he was fully behind it.

He rose early Monday morning and carefully selected an outfit that was simple and low-key (well, low-key for him), since he would be wearing his own clothes for the shoot. At the last minute he reached into the back of his jewelry box and selected a hippo head broach that he hadn't worn since high school. He looked at it with indecision for a few seconds before pinning it to his jacket lapel. Blaine quirked an eyebrow when he saw the broach and just nodded his head in appreciation (Kurt knew Blaine didn't always get his sense of fashion, but he never, ever criticized it or made Kurt feel self-conscious, which he greatly appreciated).

The car arrived and they hopped in, saying "hi" to Bill and to Steve, who was accompanying them per Bev's instructions. It took them about 30 minutes to reach the school, during which Kurt filled Blaine in on his old friend Quinn and the major accident she'd had due to texting and driving. She'd been paralyzed for several months and had continued to have some health problems due to the accident. She had given him permission to tell her story in the PSA, saying that if it helped prevent even one kid from being injured or killed for such a stupid reason, then it would all be worth it.

The PSA was being filmed at a grade school, since it was at that age that texting habits started. Students from a local high school, who had created a short film about the dangers of texting and driving in their film class (wow, only in Hollywood), had won the right to be in the PSA along with some citizenship award winners from the grade school.

When the car pulled up in front of the school, Kurt could see the kids milling around the set excitedly, asking questions of the crew as they set up and (of course) texting to their friends. Seeing the kids of their phones reminded Kurt that he hadn't Tweeted in a while, so he pulled out his phone and sent off a quick message.

About to film something near and dear to my heart. Quinn, this one's for you. #GladYouAreStillHere

The shoot proved more difficult than he had anticipated. The actual filming went fine; it was when the cameras were off that turned out to be the problem. Some kids who weren't part of the filming had come out to watch and it seemed that a few of them weren't happy that they hadn't been selected to participate. They hurled abuse at several of the kids on set, but directed most of their jabs to one kid in particular, who was dressed a little shabbier than the others, though Kurt could see that his worn clothes had been carefully pressed and his scuffed shoes shined. He glared at the bullies and asked a PA if anything could be done to remove them from the area. Unfortunately, since they were on school grounds there wasn't much that could be done without a school representative, so an assistant was sent off to find one.

In the meantime, Kurt read his lines, acted his part, and tried to make the bullies' heads explode with his mind a la Scanners (he had Finn to thank for those images being indelibly seared into his memory), but to no effect. The director called lunch and Blaine came loping up to give Kurt a big hug. They grabbed boxed lunches from the catering table and went off to find a tree to eat under, thankful to have Steve around in case anyone tried to interrupt.

"You look upset," Blaine observed as they spread out their little picnic.

"It's those little creeps that keep yelling." Kurt reached out to take the sandwich Blaine offered him. "They're just…bringing back bad memories I guess."

Kurt didn't usually talk about his past experiences with bullying except in the most general terms, but he laid it all out for Blaine: the locker slams, the verbal abuse, the fear, the feeling that no one cared that a piece of his soul was being chipped away on a daily basis. Blaine listened quietly, his hand holding tight to Kurt's, reminding him that all of the harassment was in the past (well, as long as you discounted Twitter). When he was done, Blaine moved to sit behind him on the grass and leaned up against the tree trunk. He pulled Kurt to sit between his legs and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist (a blatant violation of PDA rules four and seven, which were technically still in place, but Kurt would let it slide just this once). With Kurt leaning back slightly, Blaine was able to rest his chin on Kurt's shoulder.

They sat like that for a few minutes before Blaine began to speak. He told Kurt about a savage attack on himself and another boy during his freshman year of high school that had stripped him of his confidence, his faith in people, and his ability to take a deep breath for three months. Kurt could tell it wasn't a story he told very often. The halting way he spoke while searching for the right words, the crack in his voice when he talked about how sometimes he still dreamt of ribs and other bones breaking, told Kurt more than anything else.

When he finished they were both quiet. A tear slipped down Kurt's cheek and Blaine caught it on the tip of his finger. The comfort that they had both longed for in the past was now available. Late, but somehow also just in time.

They were roused by a call from a bullhorn asking everyone to return to set and they trudged back, determined to make the rest of the day better than the morning had been. Thankfully, a school official had been located and the bullies had been taken off to the office, hopefully to receive some kind of reprimand.

Filming finished up at a fast pace and within an hour the director declared a wrap. Kurt thanked the cast and crew for their work, signed a few autographs for the kids, and headed off to remove his make-up. When he was finished he poked his head out of the trailer and looked around, expecting Blaine to be waiting nearby. When there was no sign of him, he glanced over at Steve, who jerked his chin in the direction of the adjacent basketball court that was barely visible behind the production vehicles. Kurt headed towards the court with Steve following closely. Once he was past the trucks he saw that a group of kids was playing ball and right there playing with them, was Blaine.

He watched from the sidelines for a while, clapping when one of the kids scored and cheering loudly when Blaine did. Finally, the game wound down to its final minutes and Blaine lifted the smallest kid on the court (who must have been a kindergartener or first grader) up onto his shoulders so that he could make the winning basket. The rest of the team let out an elated cry and tackled Blaine to the ground in a time-honored sports dog pile.

Kurt had never wanted kids (a resounding "no"), so the sight of Blaine lying on the ground, covered in wiggling, laughing little bodies shouldn't have affected him like it did. He had no explanation for it (and would definitely deny it if asked), but he felt like his heart had melted into a little puddle and was now swirling about in his shoes. With his heart pounding, he reached down to pull his messenger bag closer, a little bit of extra armor against all the emotions bombarding him.

"Okay, Michael Jordan, it's time to go," he called out over the din of the player's voices.

Blaine waved and bid goodbye to his teammates before jogging over to Kurt's side. As they crossed back towards the car Blaine bumped his shoulder against Kurt's and chuckled. "Michael Jordan? Now that's an old reference."

"It's basketball, Blaine. I'm surprised I even had that name in my back pocket and that's only because of those Hanes underwear commercials he did."

Blaine laughed even harder. "Trust you to bring everything back to fashion."

=^..^=

It was mid-December and the SAG nominations were due to be announced early (really early, like "Oh god, what the hell am I doing up at this time of day" early) Wednesday morning. From a lifetime spent watching the interviews of past nominees, Kurt knew that most people claimed that they hadn't watched the nominations live or that they had forgotten about them entirely, so he purposefully decided not to watch. He could, of course, watch anyways and just pretend later that he hadn't, but he figured he had already tip-toed to the edge of bad karma with the boyfriend lie, so he didn't want to push his luck. So Tuesday night he set his alarm for seven o'clock, by which time the nominations would be long over, and crawled into bed beside Blaine (despite earlier decisions, they had been fooling themselves that he would be sleeping anywhere else and the room that they had been so determined that Blaine keep for himself was now just a glorified closet), determined to sleep through the whole thing.

Things did not go entirely as planned.

Kurt's eyes popped open at four thirty-three the next morning and he was as awake as he would have been after drinking two cups of coffee. There was zero chance of going back to sleep. He squirmed under the weight of Blaine's arm, trying to find a comfortable position where he could at least lay quietly and not wake Blaine up. He pushed his legs straight out then pulled them back in, wishing that he had been the big spoon. He wiggled a bit until he was lying on his back, but that wasn't comfortable either, so he turned over the opposite way to face Blaine. No position felt right and he was so restless that he thought he might go a little mad if he didn't move right away.

"I can hear you thinking."

Blaine's voice slid out of the silence of the room and Kurt dropped his head forward until their foreheads met. "I'm so sorry. I'm too keyed up to sleep." He turned around and swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "I'm going to go out into the living room so that you can sle—" Strong arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him back to the mattress and he found himself looking up at a now very much awake Blaine.

"You told me to use any means necessary to keep you from turning the TV on before seven o'clock," Blaine said, his voice still rough from sleep.

Kurt sighed and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, tugging until Blaine's arms gave out and he collapsed, his body covering Kurt's from chest to toes. "I did say that, didn't I? Well, far be it for me to cause you to disobey direct orders from your employer."

Blaine proceeded to use just the right means of distraction.

=^..^=

The sound of a phone ringing finally penetrated Kurt's lust-filled brain and he froze. The sound must have reached Blaine also, because he slowly raised his head and looked over to the bedside table where Kurt's phone sat. It took four more rings before Kurt had the wherewithal to reach over and answer it. He brought the phone to his ear and said a timid "hello", almost afraid to hear who was on the other end.

Through the drumming sound of his heart and what seemed to be an entire sheep's worth of wool stuck in his ears, Kurt heard Bev scream out that he had been nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award. He gave a dazed nod to Blaine, who let out a loud whooping noise and jumped to his feet on the bed to dance a little jig. Kurt listened as Bev listed out the other nominees in his category, several of whom were icons of the acting world. She then told him that two other cast members from Defiance were up for individual awards and that the whole cast had been nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble. He didn't remember the rest of the call (he hoped he had at least said goodbye and not just hung up on her) and the next thing he knew he was jumping on the bed with Blaine like a couple of five year olds.

Suddenly, Blaine stopped jumping and hopped down from the bed. He held one finger up to Kurt to indicate that he should wait and then disappeared out the door. Seconds later he returned carrying the largest bouquet of roses Kurt had ever seen and wearing a grin so large and goofy that his eyes scrunched up to the point that they almost disappeared. Blaine set the vase down on the table and reached a hand up to help Kurt down off the bed.

Once back on solid ground, Kurt launched himself at Blaine full force and wrapped his arms around his shoulders tightly, never wanting to let go. He felt Blaine's arms encircle him in return, one hand sliding up his back to rub and scratch lightly.

"How did you…when…?" Kurt was so touched he couldn't form a coherent sentence.

Blaine dipped his face into the curve of his neck and placed a kiss on his clavicle. "Kellie delivered them and put them in back while we were out yesterday then I hid them in the gym while you were showering last night."

"But…what if I hadn't…?"

"That was never going to happen," Blaine stated firmly.

The words were said with such confidence and unwavering belief that they brought tears to Kurt's eyes. Outside of his dad, he didn't think anyone had ever believed in him so much or been so absolutely sure that he deserved every good thing that could possibly come his way. Emotion threatened to overwhelm him and he was sure he was about to do or say something completely embarrassing when his phone trilled to indicate the arrival of several text messages. He reluctantly loosened his arms and moved away from Blaine, reaching down to pick up the phone. The word on his nomination was out and the whirlwind of the Hollywood publicity machine was about to overtake him. Plans were made for him to go to Lynn's office for a series of interviews, so he dressed in a jacket that made him feel extremely confident and headed off to face the onslaught.

The interviews were plentiful and repetitive. Kurt had been in Hollywood less than a year, and known for only half of that, but he could already predict with alarming accuracy what questions were going to be asked in each one. He related the story of how he had gotten the part in Defiance about 10 times and told the (much sanitized) anecdote of how he heard about his nomination that morning at least double that. He never understood why the reporters didn't at least make an attempt to ask different questions. The best way to get people to read or watch an interview was to get new information out into the world, right?

In between interviews he checked his email and Twitter. He sent out a Tweet thanking his fans for their support and then began sending heartfelt thanks to his friends and family who had contacted him.

=^..^=

The whole ordeal was repeated the next morning for the Golden Globes. Kurt announced that he had started a personal tradition (Blaine was quickly corrected when he called it a superstition) by not watching the SAG nominations, so he once again asked Blaine to help keep his attention focused elsewhere the next morning as he waited for a call. Blaine was only too happy to oblige.

He was in the middle of worshiping the enticing spot where Kurt's collarbone jutted out slightly when the phone rang. Blaine sucked in a deep breath and rolled off of Kurt, trying to get his passions under control, as there would probably be no more 'distracting' for the day, no matter what news Bev had to relate. He watched Kurt answer the phone and knew immediately that the news was good. Within moments Kurt was off the phone and excitedly telling Blaine about his second Best Supporting Actor nomination in two days. All of his words were running together, but Blaine was able to make out information on the other nominations for the movie, including that of Best Song for the new number that had been added to the movie for Kurt's character.

There were congratulatory calls and texts and more interviews were scheduled. While Kurt sat on his bed with his laptop open, his phone in one hand and Blaine's in the other, Blaine padded off to the kitchen to whip up a breakfast that would sustain Kurt until dinner, if necessary.

As he waited for the skillet to heat up, Blaine reflected on the past two weeks. After an admittedly rocky start and the few tentative days after it, he and Kurt had come away with a new paradigm for their relationship. Blaine tried to be a little less protective when they were out and about, knowing that Steve was there to take on that role, and Kurt was more apt to dig his heals in and protest about little things that bothered him. The unspoken sexual tension had been replaced with an easy rapport that made him wake with a smile each morning. One thing that hadn't changed was the enjoyment they got out of being in each other's company and the sense of understanding and being understood that filled him whenever they were together.

Though the charade that they had perpetrated for the press and the resulting spotlight had been a challenge, he was thankful for it now. It was hard enough starting out in a new relationship; he couldn't imagine what it was like when you had to simultaneously get used to the paparazzi and the challenges of dating someone in the entertainment industry. At least he had been able to acclimatize himself to all of that without the heightened emotions he was now experiencing.

Blaine tried to keep out of the way of the interviews as much as possible. He wasn't needed in an official capacity, since Kurt was safely tucked away again in Lynn's office and the in-person interviews were being carried out only by correspondents from well-known publications, but he had been told by Kurt, in no uncertain terms, that he was needed there in his role as real-life boyfriend.

Now that the reporters had had a day to find (and create) stories for the various nominations, the tone of the interviews changed a little. While Blaine still heard Kurt answer the same questions over and over (he was amazed at how Kurt made each repetition of his answer sound like it was the first time he had ever told it), he now saw a narrative unfolding that made him grit his teeth in frustration and wonder why people couldn't just let good things happen to good people.

Many of the reporters were implying that a rivalry existed between Kurt and Don Hampton, another actor nominated for Best Supporting Actor, who was an outspoken conservative and had made a few anti-gay comments in the past year. Odds-makers were naming Kurt and Hampton as the front-runners in their category and the press was circling the potential tension like sharks that had just smelled blood, willing to manufacture a story if one didn't really exist.

Kurt just smiled at the reporter's attempts to start a feud and replied that he was happy for all of his fellow nominees and was looking forward to meeting them at the various events. Blaine knew that Kurt couldn't allow himself to get upset at their questions, so he did it for him.

He was able to keep his cool, though, until confronted with an extra touchy-feely reporter who felt that his job allowed him to hug Kurt. Blaine could see how uncomfortable Kurt was with the invasion of his personal space (seriously, Blaine had never seen anyone with a more obvious 'do not touch' vibe than Kurt) and wanted to show the reporter some of the moves he had for subduing attackers. Instead, he tightened his grip on his emotions and just leaned casually against the wall and crossed his arms, allowing the muscles in his arms to flex, thankful that he had worn a short-sleeved polo that day that allowed for maximum visibility. He must have made some impression on the man holding the microphone, because the arm wrapped around Kurt went slack and he backed up a few steps before clearing his throat and haltingly asking his next question.

The rest of the day continued without incident, just more of the same boring questions. In the middle of the last interview scheduled for the day (which thankfully was over the phone and not on camera, because it looked like Kurt was down to his last nerve), Blaine watched as Kurt pulled out his phone. A few seconds later Blaine felt a buzzing in his hand and he looked down to see a message.

Help, I'm being bored to death by pedestrian and repetitive questions. Get me a university trained journalist, stat!

After a few more minutes he felt another buzz.

So hungry :(

Then finally

Feed. Me.

Just as he read the last message he saw Kurt's boot enter his line of sight.

"Feed me now or lose me forever," Kurt breathed into his ear.

Blaine reached out to rub the worry lines on Kurt's forehead. "If you're going to quote Top Gun I think I prefer the original version of that line."

Kurt leaned into the massage, the tension dropping away from his shoulders. "First things first. Unless you feed me there will be nothing left of me to take to bed. Come on, I hear a pizza calling my name."

They found the pizza in question and devoured it, along with breadsticks, soda, and dessert. As he watched Kurt scrape up the last remnants of his New York cheesecake with strawberries, Blaine couldn't contain a small chuckle. "I always thought actors only ate celery and salad."

"I'm a stress eater," Kurt said with his mouth full. "I'm frankly surprised I didn't weight 500 pounds in high school. Just don't tell my dad about this. I'm all over him to eat better, and I usually try myself, but sometimes grease and sugar are the only things that will satisfy."

"The only things, huh?" Blaine gave him his best sultry look, lowering his head and looking up at him through his eyelashes, which he knew drove Kurt crazy.

"Blaine…" Kurt leaned forward across the table. "Take me to bed or lose me forever… But give me a hickey and I'll never have sex with you again. I mean it. I have a photo shoot the day after tomorrow."

=^..^=

Kurt's people had been contacted by Entertainment Weekly the month before about him doing a photo shoot for them that would involve some spicy recreations of scenes involving iconic movie couples, only with two men instead of the original man and woman. The photos were going to accompany a major article that was being written about gender roles in the cinema and the increasing acceptance of gay romance.

Kurt had an early call time, since the photographer had at least 7 different scenes in mind to recreate. Like his previous photo shoot, this one was being held in a studio, so it was decided that Steve wasn't needed and it was only Kurt, Blaine, and Lynn who were dropped off at six o'clock a.m.

After he was introduced to the photographer and the rest of the crew, Kurt was hurried into make-up and wardrobe for the first set-up, a recreation of the kissing in the rain scene from The Notebook. Kurt had to swallow back a gulp of fear as the photographer described what they would be doing. Luckily, it seemed that they weren't going to do the actual kiss, but instead the moment just before when the couple was staring into each other's eyes. He had never had a romantic scene with a man on camera before and here he was about to re-enact an iconic one with a model he had yet to meet. No pressure.

Kurt was going to be playing the part of Noah in the photo, so he was dressed in dark jeans and a white shirt that he knew would become see-through when the water hit him. He made his way onto set and was introduced to Antonio, the model he would be shooting with. From Antonio's looks, it was obvious that they had tried to cast someone that resembled Blaine. He was about an inch shorter than Kurt, with dark hair and hazel eyes, but the resemblance was shallow at best. His features were perfect and chiseled, but Kurt preferred the imperfect beauty of the original, from the slightly too-wide nose, to the triangle shaped eyebrows that often resulted in a quizzical expression, to the deceptively strong arms and tiny waist.

The shoot began, but Kurt was uncomfortable and he knew it showed in the photos. He felt overly self-conscious every time the water began to pour down and he lifted Antonio into his arms. He could feel frustration rolling off the photographer in waves, but he just couldn't seem to let go and give him what he wanted. Kurt felt like a failure as an actor and couldn't figure out why this was such a problem for him. As he picked Antonio up one more time and tried to gaze passionately into his eyes he silently took back every judgmental comment he had thrown at the contestants of America's Next Top Model when he was younger; modeling with another person was much harder than it looked.

After a quick break to repair make-up and re-adjust costumes, they tried again. As he picked Antonio up one more time he saw a glint in the other man's eyes, but wasn't sure what it meant until he felt their lips touch. He was so shocked that he didn't react until he felt a clammy tongue trying to force its way into his mouth. He yelped and opened his arms so abruptly that Antonio crashed to the ground at his feet. A production assistant rushed forward to help a cursing Antonio off the water soaked floor as Kurt stormed over to Lynn, who was just coming in from outside, her phone in one hand.

"I'm trying really hard not to have a diva moment here, Lynn," he ground out.

"Why?" she asked, looking past him to watch the PA scurry for a towel. "What's wrong?"

Kurt crossed his arms and flicked his head back towards the set. "I think Antonio there is having a hard time remembering which of our mouths his tongue belongs in."

The murderous expression on Lynn's face made Kurt take a step back and his eyes followed her in awe as she stormed over to the photographer and magazine representative. Kurt watched the angry pantomime that followed, unsure of what they were saying, but positive that Lynn was coming out on top.

Finally she turned away with a triumphant expression and returned to Kurt's side, pausing for just a second to give Antonio, who was by then wrapped in a towel and sulking in the corner, a glare colder than a fresh cherry slushie.

"I took care of it," she reported as she rejoined Kurt. "Antonio's out."

"Uh, these are supposed to be iconic movie couples, right? Who am I going to partner with now?"

Lynn looked over Kurt's shoulder and he turned his head to follow her gaze to Blaine, who was in the make-up room chatting with the hair stylist about styling products. He obviously felt their eyes on him, for he looked up and gave them an unsuspecting smile. Kurt looked back to Lynn with a conspiratorial grin.

Blaine protested at first, adamant that he wasn't the right choice for a modeling job, but some sad pouting and a whispered promise from Kurt of a hand job in the car on the way home finally convinced him.

Thankfully, since the model has been Blaine-esque in size the stylist thought that all of the wardrobe would fit with only some slight adjustments. Antonio was stripped of his blue shirt while being escorted out of the building and the stylists swarmed around Blaine to get him dressed and into make-up.

Blaine joined Kurt on set, and though Kurt could see that he was nervous, he could also see complete trust and faith that Kurt would help him through everything. With Blaine now in the mix, the photographer changed the plan, telling them that he wanted to now capture the moment of the famous kiss itself. They took their places and the water began to fall. Kurt picked Blaine up in his arms and Blaine wrapped his legs around Kurt's waist. The photographer gave the go-ahead and Blaine leaned forward to grasp Kurt's head lightly. Their lips slammed together and the camera flash fired.

Needless to say, the rest of the shoot went smoothly, despite Blaine's unfamiliarity with being in front of the camera.

After they had dried off and been re-styled, their next assignment was to channel Rhett and Scarlett from Gone with the Wind. Throughout the day they bounced back-and-forth across the decades and centuries as they became Fred and Ginger, Johnny and Baby, From Here to Eternity's Milton and Karen (though fully clothed, thank you very much), and Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.

The final set-up of the day had Kurt laughing out loud. They sat at a table covered with a red and white checkered cloth and each held the end of a piece of spaghetti in their mouths.

"I can't believe I'm sitting in a photography studio recreating a scene from Lady and the Tramp," Kurt tried to enunciate while keeping ahold of the pasta. "I'm not sure this is how I envisioned life as a star when I was a kid."

Blaine tilted his head towards Kurt a little and tried to give "those big heart-eyes we always see from you" as directed by the photographer. "What did you expect?" he said, as the flashes popped.

Kurt smiled, his eyes nearly crossing from looking at Blaine from so close. "Shrines erected in my name, designers dedicating entire seasons of work to me, a hag for every day of the week, men covered in baby oil lounging by the pool. The usual."

"Well, I can't help with the clothes or the hags, but I've got a bottle of baby oil in my bathroom."

"Promises, promises."