Blaine felt like the biggest fool in the universe. He'd gotten caught up in the stupid idea of a fairy tale romance not once, but twice in a row. He'd been waiting for a dom to sweep him off his feet before his first Sickness. And then when that hadn't happened, he'd thought he could convince the random guy who had happened by and helped him to fall in love with him. He was an idiot. Maybe he'd fall in love in college, or in his twenties, or at least by the time he was thirty, though that felt very far away. But nobody falls in love in high school. Not for real.

He wasn't in love with Kurt, he told himself. He was just infatuated after having sex with him. It was laughably common, and he should have seen it coming. The intimacy of submitting to a person, being vulnerable in front of him, being naked with him and trusting your body to him ... of course it created an emotional attachment. A misplaced emotional attachment. Something that he had learned all about in sex ed class and promptly forgotten, thinking that he would never be so stupid. That it would never apply to him, because he'd be in love before he ever even had sex.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. It was like Trent had said. Sex was necessary, and it didn't have to be romantic. He needed to find someone, enter into an informal arrangement, and not get caught up in stupid, inappropriate feelings.

It didn't help that Kurt was so unfailingly sweet. He'd called Blaine last night, after their big ... Blaine wasn't sure what to call it ... not a fight. Disagreement. Talk. Whatever. Kurt had wanted to make sure Blaine was okay. He was his charming self, doing everything he could to help Blaine feel better, unaware that every nice thing he said made Blaine feel worse about the whole thing.

Blaine opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out the folded paper he'd stashed there. He'd hoped to be able to forget about it entirely, but now was the time to face reality. He unfolded it and laid it down on the desk, smoothing out the wrinkles with one hand. There was an alumni networking reception on Thursday, right before Christmas break, and the men Wes had listed in the "local alumni" section were sure to be there. He read over the list, memorizing their names so he could recognize them by their name badges at the event.

Just an arrangement. It didn't have to be true love.

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Blaine needn't have bothered memorizing the names. His fellow Warblers were the ultimate unwanted wingmen. Wes grabbed him by the arm as soon as he walked into the reception on Thursday evening and walked him straight over to a tall, dark-haired man wearing a gray suit.

"Blaine, this is Baxter Cody, Dalton class of 2003. He recently made partner at my father's law firm. Baxter, this is my dear friend Blaine Anderson. I've just been telling him about how you will sometimes help young Dalton men out in certain situations."

Blaine turned bright red at Wes's completely non-veiled innuendo. He shook the hand that the man offered. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Cody."

"Likewise," Baxter said, looking Blaine up and down.

Wes clapped his hands together delightedly. "I'll let you two get to know each other," he said, darting off to the drinks table.

Baxter took a sip of his drink and winked at Blaine. "Wes is a nice boy, but not subtle at all."

"He's a good friend. Just trying to help out." Blaine twisted his hands together in front of him. He hadn't even had time to pick up a glass of soda to hide behind.

"Indeed. Listen, Blaine, I'm happy to help out, as it were. Especially for a good-looking boy like you. I'm sure you have a lot of options, so I'll sweeten the pot. I'm in charge of intern hiring at the firm. If you're a good boy, there might be a summer job in it for you as a reward."

Blaine was appalled. Rewards were cuddles and kisses and praise, not jobs or, god forbid, cash. This was the sleaziest thing he had ever heard, and it was delivered with a gleaming smile as if nothing were amiss.

"That's an interesting offer, Mr. Cody. I ... see an old friend over there across the room that I really must catch up with. If you'll excuse me."

"Of course."

Blaine fled as fast as he could into the thick of the crowd. Once he caught his breath, he looked around and happened to notice a familiar nametag. Before really thinking about it, he introduced himself, and within seconds, he was trapped in an excruciatingly disturbing discussion about avian taxidermy. He couldn't get a word in edgewise, not even to make his apologies and leave.

Sebastian appeared by his side like magic. "Pardon me, Mr. Madding, but my dear friend has not even gotten a drink yet tonight, and he's looking a bit tired. I'm going to escort him over to the bar to get a coke, before he has to cut the evening short."

"Thank you for that," Blaine said after they were out of earshot.

"I got stuck talking to him at last month's reception. It was miserable. Couldn't let you sit through that torture." Sebastian walked up to the bartender. "Glass of coke for my friend, and a cranberry juice for me. And how about putting a splash of vodka in mine, honey?" He winked at the woman.

She snorted at him, obviously underage in his Dalton uniform, and handed him a glass of plain cranberry juice.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "You're kind of a douche, you know that?"

Sebastian scoffed. "Come on, tell me you don't love it."

"I don't love it."

"See? You're already obeying my every command."

Blaine tried to hide his grin by taking a sip of coke, but Sebastian's smile told him he'd seen.

"Come on," Sebastian said. "I'll introduce you to Jack."

Jack had been Sebastian's tennis coach at the country club when he was a kid. He was Dalton class of 2007 and was so tanned, even in the middle of winter, that Blaine thought he must live in California, not Ohio. He was muscled and blonde and had the cutest nose Blaine had ever seen. He was so enthralled, staring at the guy, that he barely heard Sebastian say straight-out, "Blaine's looking for a dom."

Blaine almost spat out his drink, and ended up coughing horribly.

"You all right there, kid?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir. Sorry about that, I must have swallowed wrong."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Better work on that. Swallowing is a good skill for a sub to have."

Blaine tried not to think about what his face must look like right now, because it certainly was nothing like polite.

"Oh god, don't tell me you're the blushing virgin type," Jack said. "Sebastian, why are you wasting my time with this? I bet he won't even take it up the ass." He turned back to Blaine. "Will you?"

"I ... um ... I have to go."

Back upstairs in his room, Blaine crossed three names off the list.

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Kurt told himself that he called Blaine every night because he was concerned. He felt guilty about leaving Blaine in a bad place. He wanted to make sure Blaine wasn't taking it too hard.

All that was true. But really he called Blaine every night because he liked talking to Blaine. His biggest fear after what had happened was that he'd lose Blaine's friendship. Kurt wanted to make it clear, through his actions and not just his words, that Blaine was still entirely welcome in his life.

So Kurt called on Sunday and reassured him. And then he called on Monday, and he sounded a bit better. Tuesday and Wednesday were practically back to normal. But on Thursday, Blaine sounded sad again.

"Is something wrong?" Kurt asked.

"I'm just tired," Blaine said. He did sound weary, but Kurt wasn't convinced.

"If something is bothering you, I'm always happy to talk. Or just listen. Or help, with whatever." If only they were in the same room together. If Kurt could reach out and hold Blaine's hand, or touch his shoulder gently, to reassure him that he was serious about this ... but they weren't.

"It's really nothing. I had to go to this alumni party thing and it was crowded and I talked to a bunch of people, and I'm just tired."

"Should I let you go to bed, then?"

"No ... let's talk a little bit longer, if that's okay," Blaine said shyly. "You always help me feel better. Calmer."

Kurt smiled, even though Blaine couldn't see it. "I'm glad to hear that."

"I'm going home tomorrow night. Christmas break, two weeks. Will you be around?"

"Yes ..." Kurt hesitated, trying to phrase his question in a way that would leave plenty of room for Blaine to say no. "Would you like to get together sometime over the break, or will you be busy with family stuff?"

"Oh, I definitely want to see you," Blaine said, his voice eager. Kurt relaxed a bit. "I need to do some last minute Christmas shopping. Could we go to the mall together on Saturday, maybe?"

Kurt groaned. "It's going to be impossibly crowded the weekend before Christmas. Could you wait until Monday?"

"Sure ... but maybe we could get together on Saturday and do something else?"

Kurt felt light all over. He'd been so worried that Blaine wouldn't want to see him much, or at all, but here they were setting up two times to get together already.

"I'd love that."

When they saw each other again, they fell right back into the way they'd been acting before. It wasn't by anyone's design, but they ended up seeing each other every single day. It just felt right, even knowing they were nothing more than friends. But it meant that they were constantly having to tell other people that they weren't dating.

It began on Saturday right after lunch, when they settled on the couch at Kurt's house to watch A Muppet Christmas Carol. Kurt tried not to be annoyed when Finn plopped down in the armchair five minutes into the movie. They were just friends hanging out and watching a movie together. Why shouldn't Finn join them?

Somehow Finn's presence didn't stop them from scooting closer together, then joining hands, then leaning against each other with Blaine's head on Kurt's shoulder and Kurt's other hand softly stroking the hair at the base of Blaine's neck. It had happened so gradually, so naturally, that Kurt hadn't even realized it until he noticed Finn was staring at them.

"What?" Kurt asked, defensive.

"Nothing," Finn said quickly. "I'm just not used to it."

Kurt narrowed his eyes. "Not used to what?"

"Like, I know you're gay, man, and I'm good with that. I've just never seen you be gay with someone before."

Kurt glared at him coldly. Finn nonetheless seemed not to understand that he'd said anything objectionable.

"Don't worry, little brother," Finn said in a friendly tone. "I'll get used to it. I'm really happy you got a boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," Kurt said.

"We're just friends," Blaine said at the same time.

"Whatever dudes. Boyfriends or not, you're still being totally gay all over that couch." He quickly added, "And that's awesome! Yay team gay!"

Kurt gritted his teeth. "Finn, I think you'd better leave now."

Finn flashed a thumbs-up. "Right, gotcha, bro." He headed upstairs to his room.

"I'm so sorry about that," Kurt said. "Finn's heart is in the right place, but he's completely clueless."

Blaine laughed and snuggled closer into Kurt. "Don't worry about it. My brother is pretty awful, too."

Kurt found out he wasn't kidding a few days later, when they were in Blaine's room poring over his iTunes library to pick a duet to sing at the New Directions Christmas party. Blaine was sitting in his desk chair, with Kurt standing behind him, his hands on Blaine's shoulders and his chin resting on the top of Blaine's head as they stared at the laptop screen together. The door was cracked open, and Cooper walked right in without knocking.

"Hey Blaine—" Cooper cut himself off. Kurt took a step back and he and Blaine both spun around. "Oh sorry, I didn't realize there was anyone else here. This your boyfriend?"

"No, no, we're just friends," Blaine said quickly. "This is my friend, Kurt. Kurt, this is my brother, Cooper."

Cooper eyed them suspiciously. "Hmm, well, you'd better get a move on, finding a boyfriend. You're sixteen already, your first Sickness could start any day now. You want to be ready, don't you?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at that, but he supposed there was no reason Blaine shouldn't keep what had happened private, especially if he wasn't on the greatest terms with his brother.

"I could be a dom," Blaine said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, good point," Cooper said. "Hey, could you get me a beer from downstairs?"

"Sure," Blaine said. He hopped up from his chair and trotted out of the room before Kurt could say a word.

Cooper stepped in closer. "Look here, Kurt. You treat my little brother badly, I'll make you wish you were never born. Got it?"

"We're just friends," Kurt stammered.

"Yeah, not for long."

"No, really, we're just—"

Blaine reappeared with a bottle of beer, which he'd even opened for Cooper. "Here you go!"

"Thanks, kid." Cooper took a swig from the bottle. "Yeah, you're definitely going to be a dom. What was I thinking?" He winked at Blaine and left the room.

Blaine sank into his chair. "God dammit, I wish he would stop doing things like that. It's just habit for me now, he's been bossing me around since I was a little kid. Kurt? Why are you laughing? What's so funny? Kurt? Okay, try to remember how to breathe. Please. Breathe."

The next day, a clerk at the jewelry counter where Blaine was trying to pick out a pair of earrings for his mother made the same mistake. While Blaine was talking with one saleswoman, another one motioned Kurt away. She whispered to him in a conspiratorial tone. "Interested in looking at the selection of leather cuffs? Christmas is a lovely time to make it official!"

"We're just friends," Kurt said automatically. But that didn't stop him from casting an appreciative eye at the racks of leather bands in all different designs. Fashion was fashion.

Santana and Puck were insufferable at the Christmas party, too. "Wanky," Santana said after the applause from their duet died down.

"Just friends, Santana," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

Puck threw an arm around Kurt's shoulders and drew him aside. "Dude, if you are not hitting that at every possible opportunity, you are doing something wrong."

"Thanks for your sage advice, Puck," Kurt said sarcastically.

"Puckerman!" Lauren called from across the room. "Hands off!"

Seriously, what was wrong with people, Kurt thought, watching Blaine laugh with Rachel's dads at her small New Year's Eve gathering a week later. Did they not understand that two gay guys could be friends without sleeping together? Perverts.

It was near midnight, so he walked to Blaine and put his arm around his friend's waist for the countdown. At the stroke of midnight, he kissed Blaine on the cheek. "I'm so glad we're friends."

"Me too," Blaine said, snuggling his face in against Kurt's neck. If there was a drop of sadness in his voice, it was almost impossible to notice.