XXIII Olympic Winter Games - Pyeongchang, South Korea - February, 2018

Kurt wiped a tear away as the American flag was hoisted up high into the air of the ice skating arena and the first strains of the national anthem filled the air. He watched with pride as Santana mouthed the words to the song, the gold medal hanging around her neck throwing off sparks of light from the camera flashes going off in the crowd.

The anthem ended and Santana and Finn held their flower bouquets high as they waved to the crowd. They then invited the silver and bronze medalists up onto the top of the podium for a group bow. Kurt laughed when Santana "accidently" bumped Kitty Wilde, from the second place British team, on the forehead with her medal. She wouldn't be Santana if she didn't take the opportunity to rub her victory in the loser's noses.

Brittany and Sam had finished in fifth place, much higher than they'd been expecting, so the Olympics had been a good one so far for the U.S. skating team. The Similar Pairs competition was set to start the next day, but Kurt had been adamant about coming to watch the Mixed Pairs finals. Luckily, Blaine had understood and was happy to push their scheduled practice back a few hours.

Blaine cheered beside him and whooped loudly, the little American flag temporary tattoo on his cheek wrinkling as he grinned. Kurt pushed away the desire to reach over and run his thumb across the decoration and instead picked up his little flag on a stick and swung it over his head wildly.

Though his actions the last night of Nationals had been based in very real feelings, he wasn't yet ready to think too long on what exactly those feelings might be. His embarrassment over what he had said and done, coupled with Blaine's complete, if well meaning, rejection, had made him want to bury his head in the sand like an ostrich. He'd been thankful when Blaine agreed not to bring up that night again.

His need to suppress it all wasn't because he'd been angry about what had happened after Blaine had left his room (though it did rankle a little that Blaine couldn't, or wouldn't, see Sebastian for the backstabbing, manipulative meerkat that he was), but because he was terrified that even if he was sober and swore that he was long over Adam, that Blaine might still reject him. Maybe someday he'd be ready to examine their relationship and be willing to risk the wonderful thing they had for the possibility of something even better, but that day had not yet arrived.

The medal ceremony ended and the crowd began to file from the arena. As they moved toward the VIP exit, Blaine reached over and grabbed Kurt's hand to keep them together as they pushed in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic, much like salmon going upstream in the autumn. Kurt looked down at their intertwined hands and pretended that the tingle moving up his spine was just from anticipation of the coming competition.

=^..^=

As another pair's music began to play throughout the arena, Blaine took his place next to Kurt in the holding area. An official came up and told them it would be just ten minutes before they were expected to take the ice for their short program. Blaine smiled his thanks and reached down to grab Kurt's hand and give it a reassuring squeeze.

Just then, the curtain was pulled aside and Sebastian and Chandler entered the room. Kurt's hand tightened reflexively in Blaine's when he saw them.

"I hear you boys have spiced up your programs. How sweet," Sebastian mocked as he stopped in front on them. "I'll guess we'll see soon if it was enough. This should be fun." He winked at Blaine suggestively and then walked away, the arrogant tilt of his head showing that he wasn't worried.

"I hate that guy," Kurt spit out as he glared after Sebastian, obviously trying to eviscerate him with his eyes.

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand again comfortingly. "Just ignore him. He wasn't held enough as a baby or something."

Kurt snorted. "Or was held too much and now expects all attention to be on him." He pulled his hand from Blaine's. "I've got to go…"

"Ah, yes, the pre-skate pacing ritual. Go." Blaine shooed him away with a laugh. "At least it's a better superstition than the not-shaving thing they do in the NHL during play-offs. I looked like a sasquatch by the end of the first week."

Kurt grimaced and rubbed his hand protectively over his face and Blaine got a sudden image of him teasingly rubbing his beard against Kurt's cheeks as they kissed. He turned away from Kurt and walked to the refreshment table to grab a glass of water, anxiously hoping that his expression hadn't betrayed what he'd been thinking. Kurt still didn't seem ready to talk about their relationship and he didn't want to push him.

"Uh, hi, Blaine?"

Blaine looked up at the quiet voice to find a tall, good-looking guy wearing a midnight blue skating costume. "Yes?"

"Hi, um, I'm Eli. I just wanted to say good luck out there. I saw you skate at your Nationals last month and you were so great. I can't believe you've only been skating for such a short time. You're amazing," Eli gushed as he moved to stand a little closer. "I saw you over here and I knew I'd hate myself later if I didn't take the opportunity to tell you."

Blaine lifted his head a little higher, pleased with the unexpected flattery. "Thanks, Eli. You're on the Canadian team, right?"

They talked for a few minutes about their programs and skating until another official appeared and told Blaine that it was time to head out to the ice. He thanked the woman and held out a hand to Eli as he said goodbye. Eli shook his hand, but let the grasp linger, stroking his fingers lightly over Blaine's when he eventually pulled back, a sultry smile and an unspoken offer on his lips.

Flustered, Blaine hurriedly walked away, not wanting to give Eli the false impression that he was interested in return. He joined Kurt, who was waiting silently by the door and then Eli was forgotten in the excitement of what was about to happen.

They stepped out onto the ice, doing a quick warm-up while the previous pair got their scores. As soon as they moved to take their places for the beginning of the program, Blaine could sense that something was wrong. Kurt seemed abnormally tense and wouldn't meet his eyes. As the opening notes of their music began he fervently hoped that whatever the problem was it wouldn't affect their program.

They began to skate, and while they were technically perfect, the energy and chemistry that they'd worked so hard on over the past year was missing. When they finished the program and took their bows, the slightly muted reaction from the audience told Blaine that they had noticed the difference too.

When the scores came back it was obvious the judges agreed that it hadn't been their best performance. Blaine looked up at the scoreboard and saw their names slide into the third place position. The top two teams were still to skate, so it seemed as if fifth place would be the highest they would rank going into the long program.

Blaine knew that Kurt must be beating himself up about what had just happened, so he tried to grab his hand as they left the Kiss and Cry area with Isabelle, but Kurt evaded him and headed over for the press line for their post-skate interviews.

"You guys seemed a bit off out there. Anything we should know going into the long program?" the first reporter asked as she held her microphone out to them.

Kurt usually took the lead in their interviews, so Blaine waited a second for him to respond, but when nothing was forthcoming he slapped on a charming smile and answered instead. "No, everything's great. We didn't get the scores we were looking for tonight, but we'll come back ready for a fight on Saturday. We've got a great long program that we've worked really hard on improving since Nationals. I think we'll blow some socks off."

"Ah yes," the reported smiled, "we've heard rumors of a new surprise element. Can you give us any hints?"

Blaine grinned flirtatiously and bumped his shoulder against Kurt's. "Do you want to get me in trouble with this guy? I can't give any hints, but I will say I'm really proud of it and—"

"We're not doing it."

Blaine blinked and looked over at Kurt, unsure that he had heard correctly.

"Kurt?" the reporter moved the microphone over in his direction.

"We've increased the difficulty of the program, but we're not doing the new element. We only had a few weeks to work on it and it isn't ready." Kurt gave the woman an absent smile and moved on down the line to the next reporter.

Blaine somehow managed to finish up the interviews, but he wasn't quite sure what he ending up saying. He was too busy trying to wrap his mind around the bomb that Kurt had just dropped. They weren't doing the lift? Since when? They'd been performing it seamlessly for over two weeks.

They finished up with the press and Kurt veered off towards their dressing room. Isabelle had stopped to give a TV interview, so Blaine followed him alone, thankful to find that no one else was in the room when they arrived.

"Kurt, what's wrong? Why did you tell that reporter—"

"I'm sorry about what happened out there," Kurt said in a monotone as he shrugged his Olympic team jacket on over his costume and sat down to unlace his skates. "I don't have any excuse."

The door opened and Santana stomped in, her gold medal swinging around her neck. "Hummel, Anderson, what the hell happened out there? Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman had better chemistry than that."

"We saw Sebastian before the skate and I think Kurt let it rattle him," Blaine observed quietly.

"This is all your fault," Santana cried as she rounded on him.

"Wait, you're blaming me for this." Blaine said incredulously. "But I didn't do anything."

"You let that snake into your hotel room," Santana snapped. Blaine couldn't hold back his look of surprise and she smirked at his reaction. "Oh yes, Kurt told me all about that night. And the next morning."

"But nothing happened and Kurt knows that."

"Irrelevant. You fraternized with the enemy. Little Blainey just had to have some validation that someone still liked and desired him after Kurt threw him out. God, men are all alike. No wonder I switched teams."

"We're supposed to be professionals!" Blaine raised his voice, finally losing his temper. "All Sebastian did was walk by and toss off a little mild trash talk. He tried to throw us off our game and Kurt let him. He got out onto that ice and gave up."

"Oh, you are so about to get your lily white ass handed to you—"

"Santana, leave him alone." Blaine had never heard Kurt sound so tired or so defeated. "It wasn't about Sebastian. He's nothing. I saw another guy flirting with Blaine backstage and I-I don't know, I guess I was jealous or something and I let it affect my performance. I think I was just looking for an excuse to throw it all away." He continued to put his things in order and slipped on his shoes, still not looking at them. "You know, I've been doing this for so long because it's what my mom wanted, but I never stopped to wonder if it was something I wanted. I've sacrificed so much for so long and now I've ruined everything." He turned to Blaine, eyes glistening with tears. "No matter what happens in the long program, I've decided to retire after the Olympics. Isabelle will agree to keep coaching you, if you want. She'll help you find another partner. Someone who can be what you need. What you deserve." With that Kurt slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out the door, leaving stunned silence in his wake.

=^..^=

Kurt avoided Blaine the rest of the day and all of the next except for during their final practice session. When Blaine tried to bring the subject up out on the ice, Kurt just said that they needed to concentrate on their skating and refused to talk.

By the time they were getting ready for their long program, Blaine was so frustrated that he thought he might scream. He'd stayed up late the night before, sitting in the dark in his room and thinking long and hard about what it was he wanted from life. He'd opened the Pandora's Box that held his feelings for Kurt and to his surprise what emerged hadn't been scary at all.

They had arrived late to the arena, so they went directly out onto the ice for their warm-up session and then headed backstage to wait for their turn to skate. As soon as they left the ice, Kurt went to talk to Isabelle, forestalling Blaine's attempts to talk to him. For ten minutes they stood there, surrounded by coaches and other skaters as Blaine fidgeted, his need to speak out nearly overwhelming him.

Then an official came to lead them to the ice and Blaine knew he could keep silent no longer. There was no way he could step out onto that ice without telling Kurt how he really felt.

"Kurt, we need to talk," he insisted as they walked through the crowd.

"Later, please?" Kurt pleaded. "I don't want to fight."

Blaine tugged on Kurt's arm, swinging him around until they were facing each other. "No, I need you to listen to me. Now. We've spent too much time pretending that things between us haven't changed and I'm done. You came into my life with the force of a hurricane and changed everything. You gave me something to live for, something to look forward too and your friendship has meant so much to me, but it's not enough anymore. All my life I've been looking for something and now I realize that it's you, Kurt. I've been looking for you forever. I love you." Kurt stared down at him in silence, his eyes giant in his face. The skating official pleaded for them to take the ice, but Blaine shrugged him off. "Please say something."

Kurt stood frozen in the middle of the bustling activity. A passing coach bumped his shoulder, knocking him off balance a bit, but he didn't react, his unblinking eyes never leaving Blaine's, a cavalcade of emotions playing out over his face. His eyes began to well up and Blaine wondered for a second if he'd made a mistake. Were tears a good sign?

Then Kurt shook his head as if trying to throw off some cobwebs and met Blaine's gaze again, this time wearing a blinding smile. "We've got to get onto the ice," he whispered, a tear slipping unnoticed down his cheek. "We're about to become the first Similar Pairs team to do a double twist." Kurt spun around and quickly removed his skate guards before stepping through the opening in the boards and out onto the ice.

Blaine quickly followed him. "What? No, Kurt, I didn't say all of that to get you to do the lift. You were right, we're not ready. If you got hurt out there, I—"

Kurt pressed a fingertip to Blaine's lips to quiet him. "I won't."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I trust you."

A warmth filled Blaine's whole body and he was glad for the weight of his skates or he might have just floated away. He grasped Kurt's hand and they took their places. The music started and they began to move. Right way, Blaine knew that it was going to be the best skate of their lives. They were so in-tune with each other that it was like he could read Kurt's thoughts. The audience obviously felt the electricity also, applauding wildly for their every move.

They made it through the intricate footwork sequences, the side-by-side jumps, and the complicated spins until finally all that remained was the lift. They both swiveled until they were skating backwards and Blaine placed his hands on Kurt's waist. Kurt grabbed ahold of his wrists and planted his toe-pick into the ice, springing up as Blaine lifted him over his head and threw him into the air.

The crowd gasped as they realized what was happening.

Kurt spun tightly around, completing his two rotations and, as he came down, Blaine caught him again around the waist. Kurt landed perfectly facing Blaine, a grin splitting his face as the audience exploded in applause.

They floated to a stop, perfectly in time with the last note of music, Kurt draped over Blaine's arm in a low dip.

"I can't believe we just did that," Blaine gasped, every nerve ending in his body tingling.

"I can," Kurt said serenely, smiling up at him.

"Why?"

"Because I love you, too."

Blaine searched Kurt's eyes, looking for any hesitation, any sign that Kurt was just saying what he thought Blaine wanted to hear, but all he saw was pure, unreserved love. He swallowed around the sudden lump in his throat and hoped that the TV audience at home, who was probably looking at their zoomed in on faces right at that moment, would attribute any tears to relief over their performance.

He slowly lifted Kurt up from the dip. The roar of the crowd faded and the camera flashes became muted, almost like twinkling stars. He wrapped his arm tighter around Kurt's waist and pulled him in closer until their bodies were pressed together. He reached up with his other hand to cradle Kurt's cheek and felt Kurt's fingers thread through his hair. Then Kurt tugged until their lips met.

This time, Blaine didn't pull back. He sank into the kiss, pulling Kurt in tighter until there was no space between them. He forgot about the cameras and the audience, the coaches and the other skaters. He even forgot about the judges. The scores didn't even matter. He had won the best prize of all already.

Okay, so maybe they mattered just a little bit.

=^..^=

Welcome back to NBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics. The Similar Pairs competition came to a dramatic end yesterday, when the team of Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson turned in the performance of their careers and came away with the gold medal, beating the favorites, Ryder Lynn and Jake Puckerman of Canada, by the slimmest of margins. Though the pair had a somewhat disappointing short program that left them languishing in fifth place, their long program electrified the sold-out crowd at the ice skating venue and garnered them the highest marks so far in these Olympics.

Not only did Hummel and Anderson perform a technically superb program with high artistic value and deep emotion, but they also became part of skating history by becoming the first Similar Pairs team to perform a double twist lift, which was previously thought to be impossible for two men to complete successfully.

The pair, which was not known to be romantically involved before last night's competition, finished the program with a passionate kiss that had the audience buzzing. Though they sidestepped questions about their relationship in their post-win interviews, they delighted fans today by appearing hand-in-hand and looking very cozy at the Ladies Singles Short Program competition.

Though there had been rumors that Hummel was thinking of retiring after these Olympics, coach Isabelle Wright told reporters today that when the pair returns home after the Closing Ceremony they will begin preparing for the World Championships next month. During her interview, she praised the team for their willingness to take chances and go beyond the status quo of the sport and said she hoped that their work would inspire other generations of male skaters to consider the still relatively new sport of Similar Pairs.

Hummel's former coach, Sue Sylvester, and Sebastian Smythe — a member of the other U.S. Similar Pairs team which finished fourth in the competition after Smythe suffered an uncharacteristic fall during side-by-side triple jumps — who have previously been outspoken critics of Hummel had no comment.