Kurt Hummel may have not come away with the Globe on Sunday, but he was certainly best dressed in our book. Sharp and oh-so-sexy in a Tom Ford blue suit that fit him to perfection, Kurt put every other man on the carpet to shame (with the possible exception of Blaine Anderson, his equally yummy bf). Best of all, his eye-catching pin, which suddenly made all of the other suits on the carpet look unfinished and boring, was a gift from Blaine for Christmas. Swoon. Oscar nominations are tomorrow, so we will know soon enough if we have yet another opportunity to see this stunner all decked out in his formal wear. The Oscars warrant a tux, right? — HollywoodStyleMachine, January 14th, 2019

=^..^=

The rest of January was kind of a whirlwind.

Though Kurt's Oscar nomination was kind of a foregone conclusion after his SAG and Golden Globe nominations, his heart still stopped when the phone rang and it didn't start again until Bev confirmed that he was in the running for Best Supporting Actor and that his song from the movie had also been nominated.

Blaine had another flower bouquet waiting for him (no roses this time) and he spent the day floating from interview to interview with an obnoxious grin on his face. In bed that night, sated from a monumental round of congratulatory sex, Kurt lay splayed out like a starfish with Blaine curled against his side. Blaine bent a leg up over him and began circling his belly button with one finger. "You realize that for the rest of your life you will at least be referred to as 'Academy Award nominee Kurt Hummel', don't you?"

Kurt tried not to squirm, but he wasn't quite successful. Damn that man for knowing all of his ticklish spots. "I never for a second thought that it'd be like this. At least not outside of my wildest dreams. I'm just a kid from Lima, Ohio. How in the world did this happen?"

Blaine granted him some mercy and abandoned his navel in favor of rubbing his chest. "Because sometimes good things come to those who actually deserve them. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen."

Kurt knew that if he tried to speak he would embarrass himself by blubbering like Tina Cohen-Chang trying to sing a love song, so he just rolled over the kissed Blaine instead. He hoped that though no sound passed through his lips, they might still be able to communicate everything that he was trying to say.

=^..^=

Kurt's audition for the X-Men movie was just a week later. He had all of his sides memorized and told Blaine that he was as prepared as he possibly could be. He was confident in his physical ability to do the role, thanks to Blaine's help, and knew the timing was perfect, since he was now 'Academy Award nominee Kurt Hummel.' If he didn't get the part it wouldn't be because he was unprepared.

They didn't want to bring Kurt's personal life into the audition by having Blaine accompany him into the production office (especially after some recent articles that had made it sound like Blaine was somehow exerting some undue influence over him), so it was decided that Blaine would wait in the car while Bev went in with him.

Blaine passed the time by calling the police for yet another update on the stalker case and doing some more investigation himself online. He had found a Twitter account that kept sending messages about Kurt that used some of the same language as in the stalker and he wanted to take a closer look.

A few hours later Kurt emerged from the office with a huge grin on his face. He slid into the backseat beside Blaine and began excitedly describing the audition. He had met with the producers and the director of the film and a few of the actors who had already been cast. He talked with them about his thoughts on the character and how he might portray him, performed some scenes, and then showed off his physicality with some work with the stunt coordinator. He wasn't sure what their decision might be, but he thought the audition had gone better than he had ever hoped.

Kurt chattered on and on about the details of the movie and the production schedule. "It'll film on location in Tokyo for a month, then London for 3 weeks starting in April. London, Blaine. London! Do you know all the things there are to see in London? Of course you do, you lived there for a few months, didn't you? You'll have to show me around. I could probably spend years there and still not see everything…"

He kept talking, but Blaine tuned him out a little. Kurt seemed to imply that he thought Blaine would be coming with him to London, but Blaine had his doubts. He knew that even if the stalker case wasn't resolved, Bev wasn't going to want to employ a 24/7 bodyguard indefinitely. And if it was resolved? He shied away from that thought and tried to concentrate on what Kurt was saying, making sure to smile and nod as if he wasn't waiting for his world to fall down around him.

=^..^=

The day of the Screen Actors Guild Awards arrived and Kurt was trying hard to keep a handle on his excitement. He kept telling himself not to get his hopes too high; after all, he hadn't won the Golden Globe.

The hairstylist had just left and Kurt was slipping on his shoes when he heard Blaine call from the other room. He took a quick detour to the bathroom to give his hair one last burst of hairspray and then hurried down the hall. Blaine was standing in front of the mirror in his room, glaring at the bow tie around his neck.

"I can't get this thing straight. Can you help?"

Kurt slipped his fingers into the knot of the tie and pulled the ends free. "I thought you'd decided on the other shirt and the regular long tie," he said as he pulled the ends of the material even and began tying it again.

"I changed my mind," Blaine responded absently as he watched Kurt work. "Bow ties remind me of you and I thought it might bring good luck."

Blaine seemed unaware of how utterly adorable he was, so Kurt bit his lip and continued the task at hand. They would never get to the red carpet on time if he did what he wanted to do right then. He blinked rapidly to chase away the warning pressure behind his eyes. Red eyes didn't photograph well and if there were going to be tears tonight they would be after the winner was announced.

He and Blaine passed the time in the limo by guessing who would be the best and worst dressed based solely on their Golden Globe gowns. The line of cars waiting to stop at the end of the red carpet was long and Kurt resorted to turning his fashion eye towards Steve to entertain himself. He caught the "help me" look that Steve shot Blaine and pouted about how no one understood his genius. Blaine kissed away the pout just as the car stopped and the door opened.

They were slowly making their way down the red carpet when a clump of publicists and assistants parted and Kurt saw Giles mugging for the cameras. The odious man had thankfully been missing from the Golden Globes, but Defiance had been nominated for the Best Ensemble SAG award and unfortunately that ensemble included Giles.

He knew the exact moment that Giles spotted him. He had nowhere to go however, so he gave a wide smile is response to Giles' slimy one and patiently posed for some photos with his heinous former co-star.

"Congrats on the Henry Homemaker," Giles said spitefully, while trying to keep a smile of his face for the cameras.

Kurt couldn't even begin to guess what bile Giles was trying to spew now. "What are you talking about?"

"Your little man candy over there. You must have him on quite the leash. The gossip columns make it seem like it's the other way around, but they obviously don't know you. If anyone is the boss in that relationship it's you. I don't blame you for keeping him chained to your side, though. I'd be afraid to let him out of my sight too, given how many better looking and more talented men there are in this town. If he knew he had so many options he'd probably be already gone by now." Giles clapped Kurt on the back as if he had just said something nice and strode over to the next pack of photographers.

Kurt watched their expressions as Giles walked up and had to swallow a grin when it seemed as if none of them recognized him.

It took an hour, but finally he and Blaine made their way inside the ballroom and found their table. They sat down to eat and Kurt had an opportunity to catch up with the other Defiance actors that he hadn't seen in a while.

Before he knew it, his category was being called. And as if that excitement wasn't enough, he nearly fell out of his chair when he realized that David Tennant, the tenth Doctor himself, was one of the presenters. Blaine, who was well aware of Kurt's obsession with the actor, grabbed his hand and mouthed an overly-exaggerated "Oh my god" with his face turned away from the watching camera.

The nominees were read and Kurt held his breath as David broke the seal on the envelope.

"And the winner is…Kurt Hummel."

Kurt heard his name called and knew what he was supposed to do next, but there seemed to be a disconnect between his brain and his body, for he was unable to move. He just sat in shock, staring up at the stage. He felt Blaine's lips press against his cheek and his hand on his arm prodding him to move. Then his body seemed to be operating on autopilot as he lurched to his feet and walked up the stairs to the microphone, where David handed him his statue and the envelope that held his name.

Kurt hefted the statue in his hands and stepped up to the microphone, looking out over the applauding audience. "Oh my God, I just met David Tennant. I had such a crush on him in high school." He turned to David who was standing off to the side of the stage. "You have no idea how close you just came to a Halle Berry/Adrian Brody moment." David laughed and rushed up to Kurt and gave him a big kiss on the cheek before retreating off to the side again.

Kurt fought to catch his breath and turned back to the microphone. "No offense to the Screen Actors Guild, but that just made my night." The audience laughed and Kurt's mind went blank. "Wow, so now I'm really regretting not writing down a speech. I guess I'd just like to thank everyone involved with Defiance, with special thanks to Rob Ireland who was also the director of the stage show and for some strange reason thought that the skinny kid in the back row with the floppy hair would make a good Drew. I expect tomorrow I'll wake up back in my bed in Lima, Ohio and find out that I dreamed all of this, but until then, thanks." He turned away for a second before realizing he had forgotten the most important people. "Oh! And this is for Dad, Carole, and Blaine. I love you all. You'll never know how much."

Kurt began to walk offstage with Miss Golden Globes and the presenters and in a spur of the moment joke gave his 'Queen of England' wave that he sometimes used in interviews. The crowd laughed again and Kurt wrapped the noise around him like a comfy blanket. God, he missed having a live audience.

Steve met him as he stepped backstage and accompanied him to the press room, where his brain finally re-engaged with his body and he remembered everyone that he should have thanked. After doing some mea culpas in his interviews to those he had forgotten, he returned to his seat just in time for the Best Ensemble award. He leapt to his feet and gave Blaine a big hug when Defiance was named the winner. Carolyn, the star of the movie kissed him on the cheek as they headed to the stage and he held her arm to steady her up the stairs. As she made her way to the microphone to give the speech for the cast, Kurt made sure he was standing on the opposite side of the group from Giles. One picture with him was enough for one night.

A half an hour later, Kurt toppled into the back seat of the limo clutching his heavy little statuettes, one in each hand. He groaned and laid his cheek against the cool leather of the seat. "I can't believe I forgot to thank Bev and Lynn and…everyone. I forgot almost everyone. I don't want to jinx anything, but I'll definitely be writing down names to remember for the Oscars, just in case."

"I can't believe that the first time you tell me you love me is in front of thousands of people and a live television audience," Blaine commented, a slight frown on his face.

The blood drained from Kurt's face. "I-I-I…No, I —"

Blaine's stern expression broke and he laughed as he reached out to straighten Kurt's tie. "Just breathe, Kurt, I know you didn't mean it like that. I was only teasing."

The limo came to a stop at the after-party location and the door opened with an explosion of camera flashes before Kurt could formulate a response. Of course he hadn't meant it like that. He'd just gotten caught up in the moment and things had come out a bit wrong. He felt really close to Blaine, but it wasn't love. At least not yet. Was it?

=^..^=

The party was loud and the crowd boisterous. Even those who hadn't won an award that evening seemed to be sailing high on a wave of champagne and vodka. Blaine sat a table in the back, watching as Kurt giggled and basked in the attention being given him and the award he was proudly showing off. Blaine was keeping an eye on the Ensemble statue and trying to stay out of the way. Bev and Lynn had been sitting with him earlier, but they were both long gone, leaving him feeling a little bored, but he wanted to let Kurt revel in his well-earned congratulations, so he sat tight.

Kurt had been whisked away by some of the other Defiance actors as soon as they had arrived at the party. He'd had barely enough time to thrust one of the statuettes at Blaine before he disappeared into the crowd with Steve following closely behind.

That had been three hours ago.

An explosion of laughter from the back told Blaine that Kurt wasn't coming back any time soon, so he pulled out his phone to occupy himself.

"Well, that didn't take long."

Blaine looked up to see Giles ooze his way onto the chair beside him, a half-empty glass of champagne in his hand. "What?"

"Only four hours after his win and you've already been relegated to the status of statue babysitter and table holder." Giles finished off his drink and tossed the empty glass down. "Do you suppose Kurt even remembers that you're here?"

"Isn't there a film you need to go coerce yourself into?" Blaine asked dismissively.

"Oh, give up the act. You can't stand it that he's not over here hanging on your every word, telling you how his success would mean nothing without you." Giles looked him up and down insultingly, sneering as if his Calvin Klein suit was a burlap bag. "You'd better enjoy your moment in the spotlight, because Kurt is sure to drop you as soon as he finds someone who can advance his career. I mean, there's nothing you can do for him, right? As soon as he figures that out he'll be gone so fast you'll have footprints up your back." Kurt's distinctive giggle drifted over the crowd and Giles narrowed his eyes in that direction. "Matter of fact, it's probably starting as we speak," he smirked. He shot Blaine a mock pitying glance before standing up and shuffling off in the general direction of the bar, his body tilted distinctly off-center to the left.

Through the crowd, Blaine could see Kurt with the arm of an extremely good looking man around his waist. The man, who Blaine recognized as one of the Best Actor nominees, had his lips close to Kurt's ear and was whispering something very fascinating, if the expression on Kurt's face was anything to go by. He felt a tiny flare of resentment build inside of him. It had been three hours since Kurt had even looked in his direction. He felt stupid for letting Giles get to him, but maybe the sneaky little weasel was right. Maybe Kurt was looking to trade up now that was an official award winner.

He didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't get Kurt's reaction to his joke about the speech out of his head. Blaine knew the "I love you" had been just a slip of the tongue and he hadn't taken it seriously, but the fact that Kurt had looked so horrified when he'd brought it to his attention had stung a bit.

Blaine continued to stare at Kurt, hoping that he would sense him and look up, but there was no such luck. A waiter passed by and Blaine swiped a champagne glass from his tray. He lifted it towards his mouth and hesitated. This was an extremely bad idea. Drinking on the job was unprofessional as hell and would probably get his ass fired, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to care. Steve was with Kurt, so he wasn't in any danger and Blaine was tired, so very tired, of keeping up his perfect fa�ade.

He lifted the glass the rest of the way and emptied it in one swallow.

=^..^=

Kurt was so happy that he thought he might float away like a balloon at any moment. His cheeks hurt from smiling and his throat was slightly sore from laughing so much. SAG winner. He was officially a SAG award winner. Him! As soon as he had entered the ballroom he'd felt a difference in the air. Everyone was looking at him and people were seeking out his attention who wouldn't have given him the time of a day only a few weeks before. He'd been congratulated so many times that he'd lost count and he kind of hoped that no one else slapped him on the back as they spoke to him, as he was starting to develop a bruise.

He was in the middle of an in-depth conversation with one of the Best Actor nominees about which directors they would most like to work with when he noticed that the crowd had thinned out quite a bit. He glanced at his phone and was surprised to see that he'd been at the party for over three and a half hours. He felt guilty over having left Blaine alone for so long, but at least he had Bev and Lynn to keep him company. The last he'd seen them, they'd been admiring one of his statues and trying to determine the best place in his house to display it.

He broke away from his conversation as soon as was polite and hefted the heavy award up onto his shoulder as he headed back in the direction of Blaine's table. Blaine wasn't there, though, and neither were Bev or Lynn. Instead, his Ensemble award sat abandoned in the center of the table surrounded by a few empty glasses. Kurt looked around, worried that something had happened. Blaine wouldn't just leave the award behind. He'd just started to panic when he saw a flash of familiar dark hair out on the dance floor.

With a confused look at Steve he walked towards the dance floor, where Blaine was dancing with a guy that Kurt didn't recognize. Blaine hadn't noticed Kurt's approach and was boogying his heart out, shaking his head and wiggling his butt in a way that garnered him more than a few admiring looks from the other dancers. Kurt handed his statues to Steve and stalked out onto the dance floor. "Blaine."

"Kurt!" Blaine threw himself in Kurt's direction and thankfully Kurt caught him before he toppled into the couple that was slow dancing next to them. Blaine smiled up at him, unfazed by his near miss. "Hey everyone, it's award winning Kurt! Isn't he amazing? He was so good in that movie they should give him another award next year for it too."

"Are you drunk?" Kurt asked in disbelief, glancing around to see who was watching them.

"Nah, just one glass, I swear. Oh, hey! I love this song. Come on Kurt, dance with me!" Blaine grabbed his arm and tried to pull him further out on the floor.

Kurt shook off Blaine's hands and gestured to the exit. "No, it's time to leave."

"No, no, we're dancing. Come dance with us. Kurt, this is Fabrice." Blaine put his arm around the shoulder of the man he'd been dancing with earlier and drew him in closer. "He's French. Isn't that amazing?"

"Amazing," Kurt answered flatly.

"Fabrice is a choreographer, so he was teaching me some moves." Blaine stumbled a bit, but kept shaking his ass and kicking out his feet.

"I'll just bet he was." Kurt shot a glare in Fabrice's direction, who had the good sense to look embarrassed as he made a quick exit.

With a little bit of coaxing Kurt convinced Blaine that it was time to go home. As he poured Blaine into the limo, he hoped against hope that they were no photographers around. Well, at least Blaine was a happy drunk.

Blaine kept up a running commentary on their way home, bouncing from complimenting Kurt's hair to pondering a career as a stunt man. They were almost back home when Blaine leaned over and tried to kiss him. Kurt shot Steve a glance as he tried to evade Blaine's lips, happy to find that the other man was looking pointedly away from them out the window. "Blaine, not now."

Blaine thrust his lower lip out and scowled. "But I want to kiss SAG award winner Kurt Hummel." He leaned forward again and Kurt pushed him back. "But I guess SAG award winner Kurt Hummel doesn't want to kiss plain old bodyguard Blaine Anderson."

"You're drunk and I don't kiss drunks," Kurt snapped.

Kurt said a silent "thank you" to the spaghetti monster in the sky when the car pulled in through the gate and dropped them off. Kurt waited for Blaine to step inside the house and then he closed the door and went directly to his room, not looking to see what Blaine did or where he went. He put his awards down on his dresser and sat on his bed as he loosened his tie. What on earth had happened? He'd never seen Blaine like this and frankly, he never wanted to again. He tried to hold down his anger, because he was determined not to fly off the handle again, but it was definitely a struggle. Blaine had taken one of the most important nights of his life and tainted it slightly.

He took in a deep cleansing breath and headed into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Maybe an extra-long shower would restore his good mood.

The next morning, Kurt padded into the kitchen and found Blaine slumped over at the table. He looked up when Kurt banged a cabinet door shut and winced. "God, Kurt, I'm so sorry, I —"

"Save it." Kurt slammed a box of cereal on the counter and stormed over to the fridge for the milk. "I don't want to hear it. Do you know how important yesterday was to me? What a big deal that was? It was shaping up to be the best day of my whole life and you almost ruined it. "

"I know, I —"

Kurt poured cereal into a bowl, not even caring when some spilled. "I can't believe you would embarrass me like that. What if a reporter saw you or someone took pictures? You were drunk! You were drunk when you were supposed to be protecting me. Do you know how scared I am about this stalker? Sometimes that only thing that keeps me from becoming a hermit with really long Howard Hughes-like fingernails is knowing that you're there in case anything bad happens. But what if something bad had happened last night? What would you have done? Tried to incapacitate him with your breath?"

"Steve —"

"Don't you dare justify this by saying that Steve was there. I count on you and you let me down," Kurt said, disappointment coloring every word.

"God, I know, I know." Kurt felt his anger lessen a little in light of how miserable Blaine looked. "Giles said something and I let it get to me. No," he shook his head at Kurt's questioning look, "it wasn't worth repeating. He just struck a nerve and… I'm a total light-weight and I know it. That's why I never drink and I can't believe that I did this. I have no excuse. I won't blame you if you want to fire me."

"Of course I'm not going to fire you. I am going to ask you to promise not to do it again, though. At least until after this whole stalker thing is over." Kurt grabbed another bowl from the cabinet and filled it with cereal. He set it down in front of Blaine along with a cup of the coffee that had just finished brewing. "You'd better hope that Bev doesn't get wind of this, though, or you might have to use that back-up plan of becoming a stunt man."

Blaine blanched at the mention of Bev and then looked confused. "Stunt…?"

"You seemed mighty confident that your parkour skills would be high in demand. And if not, you could always fall back on being a bow tie model. You thought you'd be amazing at it. Steve was very impressed."

There was a thump as Blaine dropped his head back down to the table. "Oh God. Just kill me."

Kurt sipped his coffee, his good mood restored. He was going to enjoy rubbing this in Blaine's face for a while. Payback was a bitch and sometimes, so was he.