School was easy, now. The jocks still eyed them dangerously, still glared and skulked after them like hyenas everywhere they went, focused on Blaine's letterman jacket like crosshairs. It didn't matter anymore. The usual dumpster-tossing and locker slamming had subsided, and while a part of him secretly worried what it could mean, what they might have planned, he was more than content to spend his lunch hour with Blaine curled against his side, happily oblivious.

By Tuesday afternoon, he'd decided on his next move. Blaine had been so much stronger in the last week, smiling constantly and sure of himself like he wasn't before, and Kurt realised it was the perfect time. There was so much more to him, so much more under there that he never let anybody see, and it hurt to know he kept that part of himself so guarded from the world.

It was too beautiful to waste away in the dark.

Kurt managed to get out of Glee club early, escaping down the halls towards the pool and thinking over how he might broach the subject carefully.

His nose pinched when the sharp scent of chlorine reached him at the door, and he glanced over at the pool to where a single figure was breaking through the water.

He smiled at the sight, making his way over to where Blaine's towel lay on the benches and sitting beside it gingerly, avoiding the random wet patches blooming on the dull grey concrete. He perched both arms on a folded knee and watched as Blaine slipped through the water effortlessly with strong, practiced strokes. Kurt could feel his concentration, and at the same time an odd sense of peace. Swimming relaxed him, let him turn in on himself completely and ignore everything else.

It struck him suddenly as the perfect escape for a hiding Sub, locked inside himself.

When Blaine stopped by the blocks he kicked up off the wall, spinning to peer over and see who was watching him. He grinned when he spotted the outline of Kurt's designer jacket through the misted plastic of his goggles.

By the time he'd made his way to the edge of the pool, Kurt was up and rocking casually on his feet. "You love it here."

"I do," Blaine agreed, peeling off his goggles and folding his arms on the edge of the pool to grin up at him.

The sight of that giant, adorable smile left Kurt's chest warm, and he fought the compulsion to drop to his knees and kiss that mouth, to brush the wet curls away from Blaine's face and dive in the water and just be free and young.

This is a McQueen, a voice in his head reminded him sharply.

"You said you have practice on Tuesday afternoons, but…" Kurt glanced around. "You're the only one here?"

Blaine nodded, wiping at his nose with the back of his hand to push away trickles of water. His face was scrunched with one eye open as he tried to peer up at Kurt around the rivulets tracking down from his hair.

"I train on my own. The team don't really… like it. When I practice with them."

Kurt kept the flare of protective anger from showing on his face, but couldn't disguise his voice. "Why?"

Blaine laughed softly, eyes falling to the grate. "You know why."

The quiet felt too heavy, and the soft splash splash of water over the hollow roar of the drains felt like nails on a chalkboard.

"You know, you can swim any time," Kurt told him carefully, voice strong and loaded with intent.

"Uhuh," Blaine answered, eyeing him.

"You can still come out one afternoon each week and swim, like you do now. You don't have to be on the team," he said, "to swim."

Blaine nodded slowly. "I guess. I mean, they took me off the active roster, so it's not like they'll let me compete this year."

Kurt swallowed the hollow swell of rage in his throat at Blaine's absent confession.

He hadn't known. He'd had no idea how Blaine's life had changed in the wake of his outing, and his claiming. He knew it would be different, but to be excluded from everything, even the things he loved most?

Kurt pulled a slow breath, flattening his hands over his jacket and forcing himself still, fighting the urge to pull Blaine out of the pool bodily and wrap him in his arms.

"I could quit," Blaine said, mostly to himself. His eyes were wider now, and a gentle smile tugged at the side of his mouth. "I should quit. I don't need it."

"Then your Tuesday afternoons would be free," Kurt added lightly.

Blaine glanced up. "Yeah, I could - do this another afternoon, I guess. Any afternoon but Monday, that's when they pr..." His voice trailed off, and his brow set lower in amused realisation. "You want me to join Glee?"

Kurt smiled, eyes rolling up to the ceiling playfully. "Well, you know. If you're not busy on Tuesday afternoons. We could. Maybe. Do that together."

"Kurt, you know I can't put myself out there like that," Blaine argued, but he was still smiling fondly.

Fixing him with a bright, defiant stare, Kurt asked; "Why not?"

Blaine blinked at him, stunned.

"Why can't you sing, Blaine? You're so good. You don't understand just how amazing you are, but you have to believe me; you are amazing."

Blushing, Blaine ducked his head, sinking down in the water and bobbing back up again slowly. His eyes lost focus and trailed over the pool tiles, and he played with a small puddle of water for a moment with an outstretched finger.

"What if they don't want me there?" he asked casually, eyes still cast down.

"They will," Kurt answered. "We need more voices. We need talent like yours, if we're ever going to take nationals. I mean, we have some incredible singers, myself included," he said, brushing fingers over his hair dramatically in jest.

Blaine grinned up at him, bouncing slowly on his toes in the water.

"But honestly?" Kurt met his eyes again. "There's nothing wrong with making a good thing even better."

Bowing his head, Blaine worried at his top lip for a moment, and then his bottom lip, eyes flicking back and forth as he weighed the options.

"I will," he said, looking up. "For you, I will."

Kurt beamed at him. "It's for you, actually," he insisted as Blaine pushed off and climbed out of the pool. "But you'll see, soon enough."

His voice died in his throat at the sight of Blaine, wet and almost naked, dripping on the concrete and painting it a darker shade as he moved to get his towel.

Raking his eyes up and down Blaine's body, Kurt turned with him and reached out to snatch the towel away before he could open it.

"Kurt!" Blaine protested, laughing. "I kinda need that."

Kurt shook his head, eyes fixed on Blaine's chest, lower lip trapped under his teeth. There was a nervous, fluttering feeling building in his hips, and a tell-tale ache riding underneath it. Mine.

Blaine's brow shot up at the look on Kurt's face.

"Home?" he ventured, flushed and slightly short of breath.

Kurt nodded sharply, passing the towel back. "Quickly."

Once Blaine had dried off and pulled on some clothes, Kurt dragged him from the gym too fast for a shower, insisting they'd have plenty of time for that at home. He didn't even mind the overpowering chlorine smell in his car, all he could feel was the heat bleeding through his veins, making it difficult to breathe. Everything in him hurt in an exquisite way; a strange and somehow pleasant ache that rose off his bones into his bloodstream, rushing through his body and leaving him lightheaded with need.

If it hadn't been for the empty driveway, he wouldn't have even realised that his family wasn't home.

The moment he and Blaine got through the door they were already hurrying for the stairs, bumping into walls on their ascent every time they stopped to kiss and grope at whatever they could put their hands on, sliding against each other in small bursts until they finally made it to Kurt's bathroom and quickly stripped down.

Blaine's eyes were heavy-lidded and dark as he was pressed back into the tile beneath the spray. Kurt brushed hands possessively over tanned, wet skin, a small reminder of what he was (beautiful, perfect, mine), before he gathered up the loofah and body wash and began to work a lather over Blaine's chest.

Head tipped back and eyes closed, Blaine let himself be touched, cared for and massaged lovingly with firm hands. The lingering chlorine faded away under the heady, warm mixture of vanilla and cinnamon, and the rising steam washed over them both as Kurt pressed his body into Blaine's, stroking along his shoulders, dipping fingers into the lines of definition in his muscles.

He spread his lips wetly over Blaine's pulse, sucking and scraping his teeth until Blaine moaned underneath him, trapped against the wall but still so perfectly pliant and relaxed.

Nobody was home, they had time, and Kurt fully intended to use every second of it to own every last inch of his Sub.

Blaine's soft, needy whimpering noises echoed off the tiles as Kurt mouthed along the curve of his neck, hands stroking down his hipbones and sliding over the high curve at the top of his ass, pushing against the wall.

He moved slowly, dragging his tongue over the taut skin of Blaine's shoulder and pressing it into dips in his collarbone, sealing over it with his lips and sucking sweetly before he moved on to Blaine's throat, his jaw, and the soft skin below his ear. Met with the hollow star on Blaine's neck, he kissed it gently before he nipped at his earlobe, and felt the body under his tremble.

"Kurt," Blaine mumbled, head lolling to the side. "Kiss me, please."

"Not yet," Kurt answered smoothly.

Hearing the firm tone of his own voice, he realised that this was where it began. Their natures would begin to take over from this point on; he would act without thinking, he would take control before he realised he was even doing it. The need to possess Blaine, to make him feel wanted and loved and cherished, would override his senses. It already had. All he could do now was enjoy it, and let Blaine revel in the pleasures of being an owned Sub.

As if on cue, Blaine murmured softly, hips pressing forward. A low whine escaped his throat as Kurt brought both hands up to brace either side of his head and fluttered soft kisses over his face, taking drops of water with his lips.

"Please," Blaine begged, pawing at Kurt's chest gently, arms curled up between them. "Please kiss me, Kurt, please."

Kurt brushed their noses together for a moment with a smile before he sealed his lips over Blaine's, pushing his tongue past them, feeling Blaine's mouth open up hungrily beneath him. The thick, solid weight of Blaine's cock was pressing into his hip, amazingly hot against his skin as their bodies slipped and slid together and Kurt forced him into the wall.

Blaine moaned in Kurt's mouth as his hips rocked forward, and again, hands finding both of Blaine's wrists and pinning them to the tile over both of their heads.

"Kurt," Blaine begged softly.

"Shh," Kurt nipped at his mouth again, moving across his jaw before he settled in the crook of Blaine's neck, concentrating on the slow rub of their bodies, the coiling heat between them and the perfect friction that left Blaine breathing raggedly and stuttering helplessly against the tile.

He could feel the ache pooling low inside, building in his spine, but it was comfortable and drawn-out, seated and static. There was no driving need for release, no desperate rush to get them both there. More than anything else, Kurt realised as he pumped his hips slowly, rocking them into the tile - more than anything, he wanted Blaine to come.

Pulling back slightly, he blinked through wet lashes catching the side spray off the rushing water, and watched. Blaine's eyes were almost completely closed, lips parted around breathy moans that were punctured every time Kurt thrust a little harder, and the noise got caught in his throat.

He loosened his grip on Blaine's wrists, pulling them back down and draping them over his own shoulders before he swept both hands behind and cupped the solid, heavy curve of Blaine's ass, lifting him up to his toes and working their bodies together roughly.

"Come on, baby," he whispered between kisses, "god, you're so beautiful like this."

Blaine stiffened in his arms, clinging tighter as his body shuddered and he buried his face against Kurt's skin. The blast of spray off his shoulder sent water higher around them both, and Kurt ducked his head to keep his eyes protected, pressing kisses into Blaine's hair and squeezing the warm, firm skin in his hands.

Blaine's noises broke off with a sharp cry and his body arched, fingernails digging into Kurt's back as he came.

Kurt took his weight easily, keeping him upright when he slumped in the wake of his orgasm. He nuzzled his face against Kurt's neck absently, barely aware of what he was doing as the sound drowned out under the pounding water.

With a knowing smile, Kurt shifted to get a better grip, rocking Blaine back under the water and lowering him down until he was steady on his feet. Curling against him, Kurt pushed long, careful fingers back through his curls, shielding his face and letting the spray rush over them both.

"Kurt, oh," Blaine babbled softly. "You didn-"

"I'm fine," Kurt cut him off firmly. He cupped water over Blaine's chest and found the sponge to wash him again, mouth curling in delight at the tiny jerks and tremors of his body, still too sensitive in the aftermath.

"You… feel…" he finished up and leaned in, pressing a slow kiss to Blaine's lips. "Amazing."

Blaine smiled dopily at him, eyelids still low. "You can feel that?"

"I can feel that," Kurt confirmed with a sweet smile.

He'd learned so much over the last few days, but every new physical experience still left him surprised. With every exchange he felt more of Blaine, warm in his chest and aching in his bones, the constant driving need to keep him safe and satisfied now as much a part of Kurt as his own desires.

This is what it is, to be claimed.

"Bed," he commanded softly, hanging up the sponge and shutting off the taps.

"But you're still…" Blaine's hands dipped between them playfully, ghosting over Kurt's thighs and brushing lightly over his still-hard cock as he watched Kurt's face with an adoring, teasing smile.

Kurt twitched at the contact, body tensing. "Mmm," he ducked to kiss at Blaine's shoulder as he pushed him gently out the door, "that would be why I said bed."

They dried off quickly, exchanging small touches and soft, lingering glances until Kurt moved past him and back out to his bedroom.

Our bedroom, he thought, glancing around at the high cream-coloured shelves and the bright bedspread. It all belonged to both of them now.

He turned and dropped down coyly, leaning back on one arm and stroking himself slowly as he watched his boyfriend dry off.

He'd always hid from this, for so long - hid from anything so openly sexual - but the Dom stirring in his veins was too proud of the body he'd worked hard for, and the fact that there was someone who could enjoy it.

Blaine glanced up from under his towel in time to catch Kurt leaning to one side, head tipped, fist lazily pumping up and down. He let his eyes drop to watch Kurt's hand for a moment, wetting his lips.

A shudder rippled up Kurt's spine, slow-building and exquisite, curling his toes into the carpet as Blaine wandered out towards him.

He wondered often about that look in Blaine's eyes, the one that had always been there behind everything; dark and knowing and a little too wise for his own good. Sometimes he caught himself in a moment of surprise when he remembered what Blaine had done; that he'd presented out of nowhere, with nothing to go on. Sometimes he remembered that boy on the floor, passionate and beautiful and staring up like he wanted nothing more than to be right where he was.

Kurt wondered if Blaine had known this was what he wanted all along.

Why didn't I see you sooner?

"Come here," he whispered urgently, suddenly shivering with emotion.

How much time had he lost from sheer stubbornness? Purely out of refusal to look past a jacket?

Blaine did as he was told, reaching the bed in two strides and settling over Kurt's hips as he scooted backwards into a better position for both of them. Blaine lowered himself on instinct, arms coiled around Kurt's waist, holding himself tight to Kurt's body as long fingers worked through his hair.

"I'm so sorry it took me so long," Kurt whispered, feeling a weak trill in his hips, the arousal fading away under the new pressure of his regret.

"Hey, no," Blaine looked up, eyes wide and worried. "Where did that come from?"

"I just, I keep forgetting," he went on, "that you were there for so long, and I didn't see you. Because of that." He nodded over to where Blaine's letterman jacket was draped over his bag.

"It's okay," Blaine said softly, pressing kisses to his chest and down to the warm curve of his belly. "You have me now."

Kurt smiled at him softly, unable to keep the sadness from his eyes.

"I won't be wearing it anymore," Blaine said, resting his cheek on Kurt's stomach and drawing patterns over skin with callused fingers. "I'm quitting, remember? I don't need it."

With a huff of laughter, Kurt rolled his head. "Pity we can't burn it."

"Mmm."

After a pause, Blaine lifted his head suddenly, smile curling the edge of his mouth. "But…"

Kurt's brow shot up in surprise as Blaine rolled off the bed and reached out to snatch up the jacket, returning with it opened in both hands.

"Put it on?" he asked softly.

Kurt blinked at him. "What?"

Blaine's gaze trailed down the line of Kurt's naked frame for a moment, eyes dark and almost devilish.

Kurt's mouth fell open in surprise. Driven by the skin-prickling lust in Blaine's eyes, he slid to the edge of the bed and onto his feet, turning to push both arms into the jacket as Blaine lifted it over his shoulders.

It was heavy, and so much warmer than he expected. He smiled at the strange sensation of it against his bare skin, shoulders lifting up to his ears.

It smelled like Blaine.

He turned and found Blaine's jaw with both hands, cupping it and pulling him closer, sliding their lips together and sweeping his tongue inside slowly in sweet but demanding strokes. Blaine made a soft sound at the intrusion, sucking and nipping at Kurt's mouth as he drew them down onto the bedspread, rolling back and stretching out like a cat while Blaine settled over his hips.

The combination of Blaine's smell all around him, washing over his senses in waves, and the wet, open-mouthed kisses that Blaine was sucking into his thighs left Kurt panting, cock hardening again under Blaine's attention.

He was swimming in the jacket, spread out over the bed and writhing in it, mouth open around audible breaths as Blaine's tight lips slid over him and down, impossibly down and further still, until he could feel Blaine's nose nuzzling at soft skin and the wet, hot squeeze of his throat.

"Oh god," Kurt breathed, eyes slamming shut as heat spread through his body.

Blaine pulled back slowly, sucking hard and sinking again, and Kurt's hands darted down to twine through curls as his legs lifted off the bed and over Blaine's shoulders under firm, guiding hands.

Finding a rhythm, Blaine bobbed smoothly, stroking his fist in time, stopping occasionally to suck at the head and drag his tongue over the slit. Kurt arched, both hands dropping either side of his head, the seemingly too-big jacket still pooled all around him as he happily drowned in the feel and the smell of Blaine seeping into his senses in waves.

"Blaine, oh-!" His voice broke off into a moan as Blaine sank down completely, swallowing around him once, and again, the tight clench of his throat sending fire up Kurt's spine.

His breath hitched at the sudden pressure and he arched again, thrashing helplessly, thrusting up into Blaine's mouth.

Kurt could feel the vibration as Blaine moaned loudly around his cock, and a sharp flare of warning shooting through his nerves as he tightened both hands in Blaine's hair and came down his throat with a shaky, fractured cry.

Collapsing back onto the bed, he blinked up at the ceiling in a haze. The world spun, and his eyelashes fluttered weakly at his attempts to move, arms too heavy to lift.

Blaine pulled away with a soft, wet sound, working his way out from under Kurt's legs and wiping at his chin with the back of his hand. He watched Kurt for a moment, soaking in the sweet and satisfied spread of him before he made his way up the bed on hands and knees to settle down again. He slid both arms inside the jacket, resting his head against Kurt's collar and pecking lightly at his jaw.

"Good?"

"Hnnhf," Kurt murmured, still blinking dazedly.

Blaine grinned and tucked his head, eyes falling closed. "I want you to feel it," he whispered.

"Feel it?"

Blaine shifted, surprised Kurt had heard him.

"How much I love that I'm yours," he said carefully, turning to meet Kurt's bright and glassy eyes.

"I do," Kurt assured him with a lazy smile.

Dropping back down, Blaine pressed his grin to Kurt's flushed chest.

As he came back to himself, Kurt traced his fingers up and down Blaine's spine lightly in long sweeps, content to simply lay there in the quiet.

Until he wasn't.

"We sh-"

"I love you," Kurt said, startled that they'd spoken at the same time.

Blaine's head lifted quickly and he met Kurt's eyes, blinking in shock.

Kurt froze, staring back and waiting.

"I love you, too," Blaine breathed, eyes falling to Kurt's lips for a brief moment before he pushed his body up and clashed their mouths together, rolling on top of him.

Kissing back hungrily, Kurt clutched at Blaine's shoulder blades, dragging both palms over heated skin desperately and spreading his legs to wrap around him.

"Kurt-" Blaine managed between kisses. "I want-"

"Me too," Kurt agreed on a sharp punch of breath as they pawed at each other, hands sliding and groping too fast and too rough, needy with the sudden urge to have everything.

The flare of Blaine's new cell ringtone stopped them dead, and Blaine dropped his forehead onto Kurt's shoulder in exasperation.

With a chuckle, Kurt rubbed light fingers over the back of his neck. "You should get it."

"Mmm-phffmm," Blaine muttered against Kurt's skin, earning another laugh as Kurt lifted him up.

He slipped off the bed quickly, gathering his phone from his bag and swiping at the screen.

"Hello?" he answered, sliding onto the end of the bed.

Settling back in the warm weight of the letterman jacket, Kurt picked at it absently, tracing over the design and rubbing at the cuff. It wasn't that bad.

The chill struck him square in the chest the moment Blaine's mouth fell open around a broken string of words; "Y-Yes, I'm his … emergency contact. What-"

Kurt jolted up straight, spurred by the painful rush of cold clawing through his ribcage. Protect.

"Oh. I… yes, I will- I understand."

He scrambled to the end of the bed, hands coming up to brace Blaine's shoulders.

"He's stable? Yes. I'll be right there, I can- Thank you."

Blaine's hand dropped like a dead weight into his lap as the call cut off.

"Blaine? Talk to me, what is it?"

"They… they couldn't touch me, so they-" he babbled softly. "I have to get to the… I…"

"Blaine?"

He turned in Kurt's arms, blinking slowly with unfocused eyes. "It's Cooper."