“What is it, Rachel?” he asked without giving her the satisfaction of seeing his face.

“Kurt, please talk to me. You know why I’m so against you and Blaine right? He’s my brother. That’s like dating me.” She sat down on the edge of the couch, but didn’t make an effort to get Kurt to look at her.

“You’re straight, Rachel. I’m gay. That would never even cross my mind.”

“And dating my brother does cross your mind?” Her voice held a bit of sadness, but Kurt didn’t care. Regardless of her intentions, her actions and opinions were unnecessary.

“Blaine is gay, Rachel. Of course it has crossed my mind a time or two. That doesn’t mean I want to date him.” He sat down on the couch and faced her for the first time since she’d walked into the room. “And even if I did, what’s so wrong about that? Yes, he’s your brother, but that’s not all he is! He’s his own person. Did you ever think that maybe, for once, he doesn’t want to be known as your brother? You’re the same age and who gave you the right to dictate his life? Blaine is an incredible person, Rachel. Yes, when we were little, you and I thought he was obnoxious and weird and wanted nothing to do with him, but why can’t you see the person he’s become? He’s no longer that annoying brother that puts dirt in your shoes, or steals your towel while you’re swimming, or hides all of the toys for himself. He’s so much more than that, Rachel, and you need to realize that I have the right to like him. Maybe as a friend or maybe more. I want to be his friend because, thanks to you, he doesn’t have very many. You’ve pushed every single person who has come within a ten foot radius of him away because you’re selfish and don’t understand that he deserves to have just as many friends as you.”

When Kurt stopped to take a breath, Rachel interrupted. “Kurt, just please understand. Blaine is my brother; he is perfectly capable of finding his own friends and I will always find him annoying. That’s just how siblings are. There are plenty of other people you can hang out with. Dating my brother is just not ok. It’s not what friends do!”

Kurt stood up, unable to believe what he was hearing. “You are dating my brother, Rachel! I don’t care if he’s my step brother or if you were dating him before our parents got married. You are still dating him! You’re in love with him, and that’s all that should matter. There are times when I could let it become awkward, but then I stop and think about you. I think about how you deserve to be happy and loved and guess what, Rach. I’m happy for you and Finn. I overlook the awkwardness of it because you can’t choose who you fall in love with and I have no right to tell you who to be with.” He paused for a moment in an attempt to read the expression pasted on Rachel’s face. “But you know what? I’m done with this. I’m not fighting with you over this any longer until you can stop being a selfish bitch and see things from my perspective. I never said I wanted Blaine. All I want is for you to say you’d accept it if I ever did want to date your brother.” Kurt began storming towards the kitchen, not even bothering to turn around or look back when Rachel called after him.

* * *

As the day progressed, Kurt and Blaine got a little more comfortable talking to each other and shooting occasional glances in the other’s direction; however, they were still too cautious to make any sort of physical contact or even come within a few feet of each other. Kurt and Rachel still weren’t on speaking terms, but they didn’t let their differences become apparent to the other two boys. Sometime around 2:00, the quartet had completely finished cleaning up the post-party mess and decided to rest and relax while watching a movie. Finn and Rachel took over the loveseat, Rachel’s small body curling up into Finn’s large embrace, and Kurt and Blaine situated themselves on the couch, opposite ends of course.

Kurt wanted more than anything to be able to crawl over to Blaine and let the other boy wrap his arms around him, pulling him close to his side as they watched the movie. He wanted to feel the warmth and satisfaction of being able to watch a movie with his boyfriend for the first time while those around him occasionally smiled in their direction and expressed their happiness for the loving couple. Kurt wanted to be able to comfortably watch the movie without feeling like he was still alone, physically and emotionally, and Blaine felt the same way. Multiple times throughout the movie, Blaine would look Rachel’s way to make sure she was focused on the TV before gently brushing his hand against Kurt’s just to remind him that he was still there, to let him know that he was thinking about him. Their fingers would loosely intertwine for no longer than a minute before Rachel would shift her leg slightly to the left, raise an arm to brush her bangs out of her face, or lift her head up to place a chaste kiss against Finn’s lips. At the first sight of movement from the petit girl, they would yank their hands away and place them back into their lap before turning their focus back to the movie.

An hour and a half into the movie, a frustrated Kurt let out an exasperated sigh and stood up without a word and made his way into the kitchen with Blaine following close behind. Rachel didn’t say a word as the two walked out, but turned the TV slightly down in hopes of hearing a snippet of what was being said.

“Is something wrong?” Blaine walked into the kitchen to find Kurt’s head inside of the refrigerator.

“No. Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s great. The movie’s great. I’m great. You’re great. Finn and Rachel cuddling up together is great. Life is just peachy.” Kurt grabbed a bottle of water and a bowl of grapes from the fridge before closing the door and making his way to the table. Blaine beat him there, pulling a chair out for Kurt to sit down before joining him at the round table.

“Kurt, I’m still here,” Blaine said sweetly, placing a hand on top of Kurt’s. “I know this situation isn’t ideal, but at least for me, it’s better than not having you at all.”

“I know, but when I sit in there and see Rachel and Finn together, curled up in the chair with their arms around each other and kissing each other, I just get so….angry. Angry at Rachel and angry at the world. I can’t even touch you Blaine. I can’t sit within two feet of you. I can’t place my hand on your arm. I can’t say anything remotely flirty or look you in the eyes for too long without Rachel suspecting something and immediately telling me this can’t happen. That we can’t happen. Do you know how hard it is not to have my best friend’s support with one of the things that’s making me the happiest? To be told that I can’t have you? I’ve waited years for you, Blaine. And now that I have you, I don’t really have you.”

Blaine sat back in his chair and glanced away from a teary-eyed Kurt. He wasn’t sure what to do to comfort the upset boy. What he wanted to do was take Kurt in his arms and kiss his tears away. He wanted to tell him that everything was going to be fine and that they could walk back into that room, hand in hand with enormous smiles on each of their faces, and instantly have Rachel’s support. He wanted to tell him that they could go in there and exchange lazy kisses every few scenes and in between kisses, they could cuddle on the couch together while Blaine caressed the arms that were wound tightly around his stomach. However, he couldn’t do any of that, and the reality of it all upset him as much as it upset Kurt.

“Kurt, I know it’s hard for you to not have Rachel’s support, but if you ever want to tell her what’s going on between us, you can. Having Rachel get angry, whether it be as severe as her wanting to disown me as a brother or as minor as telling me once again why this shouldn’t happen, it’s not going to change how I feel about you. I… You’re important to me, Kurt. I promise I’m not going to run or choose my relationship with Rachel over you.” Blaine leaned forward again, this time taking both of Kurt’s hands in his and bringing them up to lightly kiss his knuckles. “Honestly, I think Rachel will come around once she sees how happy you are and how much I want to be with you. Once she realizes nothing is going to change, she’ll be more supportive. Right now, she’s just scared. Scared that she’s going to lose her best friend to her brother, and that you’ll want to hang out with me more than her. She’s terrified that you’ll come over to our house, not for her, but for me. Rachel doesn’t think she’ll get any alone time with you to have makeovers or movie nights where you watch an endless amount of musicals and gossip about what’s going on between the members of glee club. She doesn’t have very many friends because she can be a bit over-the-top at times, so you’re friendship is important to her.” Blaine scooted his chair closer to Kurt’s so he was within inches of his eyes. “I’ve never shown interest in anyone before, not like this, and especially not someone Rachel’s so close to. I’m not defending her actions, I’m just doing my best to understand them.”

Kurt’s gloomy expression was erased by a glimmer of happiness. “How do you know all of this?”

“Twin telepathy, I assume.”

Kurt rolled his eyes at the silliness of his boyfriend before leaning in and quickly giving him a kiss. He debated telling Blaine he loved him right there in the small kitchen of his house, but it didn’t seem right. He didn’t want to tell Blaine something as big as him being in love when not even two minutes earlier he’d been on the brink of crying. He wanted the moment to be perfect and completely about them, not with the fear of Rachel or Finn walking in and ruining everything. He wanted to take Blaine in his arms afterwards and kiss every part of him if he wanted to.

Blaine picked up a grape and held it towards Kurt’s mouth, receiving a quiet laugh from the blue-eyed boy before he opened his mouth and took it from Blaine’s fingers. “Would it be too much if I said I didn’t know what I’d do without you?”

Blaine smiled bashfully before taking a grape from the bowl for himself. “Only if I couldn’t tell you I don’t ever want to find out what my life would be like if you’d never been in it.” The two sat in silence for a few minutes as they thought about the life they were starting together, as a couple. It may not have been the ideal relationship that they both so badly wanted, and it may not have taken longer to start than they would have liked, but what was important was that they were each other’s. “Should we go back in there and finish the movie?” Blaine interrupted their thoughts.

“Let me just make some popcorn first. I need a reason for coming in here.” He stood up and pushed his chair in. “Want to grab a few pops from the fridge?”

“Sure.” Blaine stood up as well and placed a kiss on Kurt’s cheek before doing as told.

“Blaine?” He turned around from the fridge when Kurt addressed him.

“Yeah?”

“When I’m ready to tell Rachel the truth, do you want to be there, or do you want me to do it when I feel like it’s right?”

Blaine set the four cans of coke on the table before moving forward. He placed his hands on Kurt’s hips and pulled him closer. “You do whatever you feel is right. If you want to tell her when we get back in there, that’s fine. If you want to tell her tonight without me, that’s okay too. Even if you want to wait a lot longer, I’m fine with that. I just want you to be happy.” He kissed Kurt’s forehead before taking the cans back into his hands. “I’m going to go back in there first so she doesn’t suspect anything until you’re ready, okay?”

Kurt nodded and watched Blaine walk out of his kitchen, wondering how he managed to find such a loving and caring boyfriend. What he didn’t know was that Rachel was sitting just twenty feet in the other room, listening in on every word they’d said.

* * *

“Kurt, would you mind keeping my brother busy while Finn and I have some time alone to watch a movie? You seem to like doing that.” Rachel reclaimed her seat next to Finn after slipping the next movie into the DVD player.

“If only she knew,” Blaine mumbled and nudged Kurt in the side, too quiet for Rachel to hear, but loud enough to turn Kurt’s cheeks pink as he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, sure.” He turned away and started making his way to the stairs, confused as to why Rachel was suddenly encouraging him to spend time alone with Blaine. “Come on. We can go through my CDs some more or something.” He extended his hand for Blaine to take and led them up the stairs to his room, closing the door behind him. Kurt situated himself on the edge of his bed and watched Blaine as he walked around the room, taking in the small details and the different things that drew Kurt’s personality into the room.

“So do you really want to look at theses CDs?” Blaine made his way towards the bed. When he approached Kurt, he straddled his legs, but remained standing.

“Did you have something else in mind?”

Blaine leaned his head in towards Kurt until their noses brushed together. “Not much,” he said against Kurt’s lips and pulled away again.

“You’re a tease,” Kurt pouted.

“Well what are you doing tonight?” He moved away from Kurt only to sit down next to him on the bed and placed a hand on his thigh, pulling Kurt as close as possible.

“Well, since my brother and your sister have taken over the entire living room and I’m not too keen on watching them ‘watch a movie’,” he said, using air quotes, “I think I’m banished to my room. And so are you unless you’d like to walk home. Or I guess I could drive you if you wanted.”

“Actually, that sounds great.” Blaine stood up. “Would you mind?”

“Oh…y-yeah. Sure,” Kurt said and Blaine didn’t miss the disappointment that saturated his voice.

“Great. Grab your coat and whatever else you’ll need for the night. I know you have some special skin care ritual you go through daily.” Blaine laughed at the silly things about Kurt that he loved. “I’ve got some pajama pants, or you can bring your own. It doesn’t really matter to me.” Blaine stuck out his hand to pull Kurt up off of the bed.

“What?” A confused Kurt grabbed his hand and stood up in front of Blaine.

“Well you didn’t think I wanted to spend the night at my house by myself did you?” Light from the setting sun started to shine through Kurt’s window and hit Blaine’s eyes at the perfect angle, making the hazel sparkle in the light. Kurt noticed the way the caramel color seemed to glow and Blaine’s subtle smile was one of the most adorable things he’d seen. Kurt was suddenly aware of just how gorgeous Blaine actually was.

“But-”

“Your dad and Carole are going to be gone until tomorrow afternoon, my dads won’t be back from their little annual romantic getaway for another couple of days, and Rachel and Finn won’t even notice you’re missing. Come with me.”

Kurt hesitated, not because he didn’t want to continue spending time with Blaine or because of the girl currently occupying his couch downstairs. He hesitated because he wasn’t sure what Blaine had in mind. He didn’t know what going to Blaine’s house alone would entail, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to find out. He trusted Blaine with everything, but he wished he could read Blaine a little better, to see what was going on inside his head.

“Hey, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No. I- I do.”

“Are you sure?” Blaine asked, searching in Kurt’s eyes for any hint of hesitation.

“I promise,” Kurt assured him.

Kurt spent the next twenty minutes packing his bag and including necessary items—toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, clothes for the next day, etc.—and some not so necessary items—iPod, a few movies (just in case), a blanket in case Blaine didn’t have an extra, etc.—while Blaine stood next to his shelf of CDs and continued going through them, occasionally pulling a case out and looking at the back before returning it to its place on the shelf or setting it in his pile to borrow. Once finished, they made their way downstairs, clearly interrupting Rachel and Finn as they entered the room.

“Hey. We’re going out for the night.”

“Um… yeah. O- okay,” said a flustered Rachel, her mind too caught up on what she’d just been doing to pay much attention to the idea of Kurt and Blaine spending even more time together.

They made their way to the Kurt’s car and took off towards the Anderson-Berry residence. Blaine stared out the window as Kurt drove. The car was quiet apart from the sound of the engine and the quiet music playing on the radio. They would occasionally exchange a few words before Kurt would turn his attention back to the road and Blaine would stare at another store, making a mental note to visit it sometime. When they were about ten minutes from their house, Kurt reached over to Blaine and grabbed his hand off of his lap, giving it a squeeze and resting their joined hands on the console between them. The ride still remained quiet, but there were unsaid, yet shared, words between the two. They were able to hold hands without being questioned. They were able to smile at each other or say flirty things without having to admit there was something going on.

Kurt and Blaine would have an entire night together to do whatever they wanted. They didn’t have to worry about someone interrupting or overhearing what they had to say. They could hold each other and be content in each other’s arms without a care in the world. Kurt could get to know the tiniest things that made Blaine who he was and Blaine could fall even more in love with Kurt. They could kiss whenever they wanted and innocently map out every inch of the other’s body. Blaine could take Kurt to his room with the intent of doing more than picking on him or trying to get dirt on Rachel as he always had in the past. Kurt could lie down on Blaine’s bed if he wanted without feeling like he was overstepping his boundaries. They could fall asleep together on the couch, or Blaine could make his way to his room while a sleepy Kurt remained in the living room until the next morning. There were so many possibilities of what they could do or what could happen and Kurt couldn’t wait to find out how the night’s events would play out.

* * *

“And these stairs lead up my room as well as Rachel’s and my dads’.” Blaine took Kurt’s hand and began leading him to the second story.

“I know this, Blaine. I’ve been here at least once a week for the past ten years.”

“Yes, but not as my boyfriend.” Blaine turned around to face Kurt, but continued backing up the stairs. He held out his other hand for Kurt to also take hold of and pulled him along. “Now, let’s just go to my room and explore.”

“I’ve been to your room as well. Numerous times. I know what it looks like.” Kurt didn’t know why Blaine had insisted on giving him a tour through his house, but he went along with his silly shenanigans anyway. If participating in Blaine’s crazy tour made him happy, he would happily listen.

Blaine laughed and stopped when he reached the top step. “I didn’t say we were exploring my room,” he whispered, his breath warm and moist against Kurt’s ear. He smirked before releasing boyfriend’s hands and walking away from a flabbergasted Kurt, not even bothering to look back before entering his room. A few seconds later, Kurt stumbled into the room, but remained close to the door. Blaine chuckled before laying on his bed, his hands resting beneath his head. “Are you going to stand there all day?”

“I-I. No.” Kurt stammered before slowly making his way towards Blaine. “You… what do you want to do tonight?” When he hesitantly sat down on the edge of the bed, Blaine moved into a sitting position behind him.

“Relax. I’m not trying to seduce you.” He rested his head on Kurt’s shoulder and wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling Kurt close to his chest.

“Really? Because the way you were laying all sexy on your bed tells me otherwise.” Kurt relaxed against Blaine.

“You think I’m sexy?” Blaine kissed Kurt’s neck before resting their cheeks together. “You think I’m gorgeous. You want to kiss me. You want to hug me. You want to love me. You want to hug me. You want to smooch me. “

“You watch too much TV.” Kurt rolled his eyes, but turned slightly to kiss Blaine.

“I told you that you wanted to kiss me,” he bragged when they’d pulled apart. He gave Kurt a squeeze and the two sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the peace that they had and the way they could hold each other without the fear of being interrupted. They could spend a few minutes together without talking or kissing or flirting because they had an entire night to do that. They had an entire night to themselves; to get to know things about each other that no one else knew.

“This is nice.” Kurt leaned back, forcing Blaine to lie on his side.

“What is?” Blaine kept his arms wrapped around Kurt, but reached up to place a pillow under their heads. Kurt’s back was still to Blaine, but somehow he knew the other boy was smiling, if only because he couldn’t contain the grin spreading across his own face.

“This. Just having someone to hold onto and cuddle with.” Kurt let out a yawn.

“Tired?” Blaine asked.

“Just a little. We didn’t get much sleep last night.”

“You can thank my sister for that.” Blaine also yawned in reply. “And for the record, it is nice, having you so close.”

“Mhm.” Kurt had already allowed his eyes to close.

Blaine nuzzled his nose into Kurt’s neck and before he could stop himself, he mumbled the four words he’d been trying to hold back all day. “I love you, Kurt,” he whispered, but it was no use. The other boy was already fast asleep in his arms. Blaine sighed before pulling a blanket over the two of them and drifting off to sleep.