Kurt stared, frozen to the spot. He tried to breathe as the music trickled over them like water, sweet and swaying on the melody of a piano and violins.

Quinn's hands slipped away from him as she swept back. She gave him a tiny, crooked smile when she turned, brushing past the prince and into the arms of her girlfriend.

Stupefied, Kurt watched them slide away gracefully, watched Rachel coil her arms around Quinn's waist and link both hands at the small of her back, resting her head against her shoulder while they moved in time to the music.

He blinked, trying to stay calm as he pulled his gaze back to Blaine. "I-"

"Please," Blaine asked brokenly, voice cracking and barely audible as his open palm lingered in the air.

Kurt's heart thundered painfully in his chest at the pleading tone in Blaine's voice.

"Of course," he said, letting out a shaky breath and reaching to take Blaine's hand.

Blaine was leading him deeper into the sea of swirling colour and glitter, so slowly it felt like they were gliding underwater. When Blaine stopped, he turned and crowded in to Kurt's body, warm and bright and suddenly right there to hold on to, to touch, after so long.

Kurt tried to ground himself, to fight against the dizzy cascade of what was happening to him, clinging tightly to everything that he'd felt so lost without the last two days.

This is real.

Blaine slipped a strong arm around his waist, and Kurt felt a shiver shoot up his spine, prickling the hairs at the back of his neck. Blaine drew their joined hands closer in, let Kurt settle his arm against him, curled around Blaine's bicep, and they swayed to the smooth tones of a woman's voice floating across the room.

Blaine was real, Kurt told himself. No matter where he came from, or what existed out there, or what didn't, Blaine was real, and warm, and in his arms. Everything he ever wanted was under his fingertips.

Somehow, Blaine knew. Somehow he felt what Kurt was thinking, and bowed their heads together as they moved, hand squeezing lightly at Kurt's back, holding him closer. "I…"

Kurt's breath was ragged and uneven, and he slowly tried to calm it, closing his eyes.

"You-" he tried to say, attempting to ease the moment. "You don't have your sword?"

Blaine smiled. "No," he said. "I left it at home. It didn't feel right. I just needed one night… without it." He let out a slow breath. "One night where it didn't matter. Where nothing else… mattered."

Pressing his lips together tightly, Kurt nodded. His eyes were huge, bright and impossibly blue under the shifting lights, and Blaine stared at them helplessly, his brow drawn in silent longing.

"Kurt, I wanted … to tell you," he began, voice thick with emotion.

"Tell me… what?"

"I didn't-" he laughed softly, "I didn't know how to say it. And you didn't know what I was trying to say."

Kurt wet his lips carefully. "What are you talking about?"

"The night I left," Blaine said slowly. "I wanted to … to wear the right clothes, to … say the right things. I wanted to tell you. But we got … confused."

"Oh," Kurt breathed, flinching at the stab of guilt that shot through him. "I'm so, so sorry Blaine. I didn't want to hurt you, I-"

"I know," Blaine said, nodding gently. "But I learned so much that night, I figured out so much."

Kurt smiled weakly. He hated himself for being the reason, for being what made Blaine more human, more easily broken.

You're going to break him if you try to hold on, a voice said, and a tiny curl of doubt twined itself together in the back of his mind.

"I never realised just how easy it is to make a mistake," Blaine told him. "To hear something that was never really there."

Fixing him with a confused gaze, Kurt tried not to shift awkwardly in his arms, tried to move in time with the music and not his own stuttering heart as they were swept along with the undercurrent of the crowd.

"I heard 'princess'," Blaine explained. "When Sebastian said betrothed. Because that's all I'd ever been told. Been taught. The Prince finds his Princess. They live happily ever after"

"That's the fairytale," Kurt said with a faint, hollow tone.

"I thought that was what I wanted," he went on. "I didn't know I was allowed to want something else."

Sucking in a sharp breath, Kurt felt his hands quiver, and coiled his fist tighter into the fabric of Blaine's jacket.

"I know now, in this world - in your world - that love isn't easy," Blaine said carefully.

Kurt let his eyes fall, avoiding his gaze. You're going to break him.

"I know that it's," Blaine drew a deep breath, eyes falling closed and opening again as he spoke passionately, "It's not easy, and there are no … spontaneous love songs, and that you don't just meet somebody and fall in love, here."

With a nod, Kurt let his eyes trail over Blaine's shoulder, unfocused and lost.

"But I did."

Kurt looked back to him as soon as the words landed. "Wh- what?"

"Kurt," he said, leaning in closer.

A sharp flare of panic rose in Kurt's chest, fleeting and broken and begging to run.

Run, his head cried.

"It's warm," he said quickly. "In here, it's too hot, I need -" He pulled out of Blaine's arms, hands raised and trembling. "I need to go outside."

Stop, his heart cried. No. Wait. Please wait.

"Kurt, wait," Blaine reached out for him, but he was already running, ducking between the twirling bodies and heading for the balcony.

He burst out into the cool night air, sliding past rows of antique mirrors draped with woven streamers of violet and gold. The chill struck him like an anvil, weighing him down, and he choked back the fear in his throat.

"Kurt!"

His body stopped and balanced, catching himself at the sharp loss of momentum. His heart was too loud, deafening like thunder in his ears.

He turned around, holding up a hand. "I can't-"

"Why?" Blaine asked in a shattered voice. "Kurt, please. Tell me why. What do you want?"

"I want-" Kurt choked out. "You. You are what I want. But I can't, Blaine. I can't be the one that breaks you."

Blaine stared at him, mouth open, blinking in shock.

"I don't believe in happily ever after," Kurt's voice was deep, and wet with tears that hadn't reached his eyes, "I can't steal yours."

"Kurt," Blaine said, but now he was smiling, eyes huge and sad but still so bright. "You don't see?"

"See what?"

"Do you remember the night you came to my aid," he asked, eyes searching. "On the street?"

Kurt was shaking, hands twitching at his sides as Blaine closed the gap between them.

"Yes."

"Brave knight," Blaine whispered with a laugh, and Kurt smiled around a stuttered breath at the familiar words.

"Do you remember the first thing I said to you, after I asked if you were alright?" Blaine asked.

Kurt felt moisture prickle at his eyes as his breathing grew more ragged. He needed to brace himself, steady himself on something, and his fists curled into Blaine's jacket before he could stop it, clinging desperately, holding on.

He looked up to the faint scar, pink and pale along Blaine's hairline, the permanent reminder that this wasn't a fairytale anymore. Blaine was real, and human, and flawed just like him.

"Do you remember?" Blaine asked again.

Kurt shook his head.

"I said," Blaine breathed, hands lifting to rest at Kurt's waist. "You saved me."

Kurt's eyes fell as he bowed slightly, eyes closing, trying to calm his heart. "I remember."

"Your fairytales," Blaine said dipping slightly to catch Kurt's gaze. "They always talk about the same thing. The gallant prince who… who comes to the rescue."

Caught in the impossibly bright, golden hues of his eyes, Kurt didn't feel Blaine's hand lift up until it was brushing over his face, thumb sliding along his cheekbone, warm fingers cradling his jaw.

He stopped breathing.

"I'm not your Prince, Kurt," Blaine whispered. "You're mine."

Kurt gasped softly, hands tightening around fistfuls of fabric. "But you-" he uttered. "You have to - you need to find-"

"It's you," Blaine said. "It was always you."

Kurt rocked back under the tidal, the sudden perfect weight of Blaine's mouth on his, and lost himself there as his senses were flooded with warmth and exquisite sensation. His spine curved on instinct, arms wrapping around Blaine's body and holding on to his shoulders as Blaine pulled them flush together, tongue pushing into Kurt's mouth, exploring him slowly in an aching, needy rhythm.

Blaine's hands snaked up, drawing lines through Kurt's hair, holding him tight and keeping them locked together as he kissed him harder, kissed him for every time they almost had before.

When they pulled apart, Kurt stumbled and bumped against him, dazed and staring down at the curve of Blaine's dark pink swollen lips. He let out a tiny whimper, sealing their mouths together again quickly as Blaine's hand dropped to press against his chest.

Coiling his fingers around Blaine's wrist, he let his other hand slide over the back of Blaine's jacket to cup his neck, tiling his head back and kissing him deeper, desperate to stay here, to make sure it wouldn't end.

As he broke away again, Blaine let out a shuddering breath, his eyes fluttering open slowly as Kurt's nose brushed against his.

He flexed his fingers where they lay over Kurt's heart, and swallowed carefully, dipping to press another tiny, ghosting kiss to his lips.

"Blaine, I-" Kurt lost his words, lightheaded in the aftermath.

Blaine met his stare, unblinking. "Marry me."

Kurt drew a sharp breath, eyes blowing wide. "Wh-"

"Please," Blaine breathed, gaze falling to Kurt's mouth again as he leaned in and pressed another chaste kiss to the corner of his lips.

"Because-" Kurt's mind stumbled around the cacophony of thoughts that was spinning like a whirlwind in his head. "Because you have- you need a betrothed? To go back?"

"No," he said, adding very carefully; "I … I'm not going back."

"Blaine-"

"Please, listen to me," he rushed, "My step-mother is a good Queen, she rules fairly. They don't need me. I can stay here, with you," he stopped to breathe, to try and make sure Kurt understood what he meant. "I can't leave you."

Kurt's mouth opened and closed, working around sound, trying to find the right shape to match the tangle of words on his tongue. "But- you can't- can you do that?"

"I just did," Blaine said, smiling.

"You're staying." He heard himself say, knowing he wouldn't believe it if he didn't say it out loud.

"I'm staying," Blaine agreed, eyes lowering again as he leaned in and drew Kurt's body to his. "Marry me?"

He let his mouth fall open again, lingering on the word a moment too long before he let it rise up from his heart. "Ye-"

Pain flared in his chest, violent and sudden as he was torn from Blaine's arms and met the stone wall with an sickening crack!

Surging with dizzy, blinding pain and body-shaking nausea, he struggled frantically, twisting in the grip coiled tight around him, holding him to the wall.

"BLAINE!" he screamed, trying to force his eyes open over the unbearable glow of yellow light.

He could hear Blaine crying out, could see him straining, his wrists and legs restrained by tendrils of the same pale, glowing rope.

"KURT!"

"Well, well." The voice was new, smooth and even, low and coiled tight with snake-like intent. "Isn't this touching?"

Blaine's face fell open in shock, and he gaped at the twisting vision emerging from the mirror in waves of greenish-yellow smoke.

"Sebastian! Help us!" he shouted.

"Cute, little brother," the sorcerer said, smoothing over his cloak. "Very cute."

Blaine's face contorted with confusion. "Sebastian, what are you doing?"

"Well I had hoped it wouldn't come to this," he said silkily, glancing between the two of them. "You weren't supposed to find anyone, much less true love. But even I can't plan for these things."

Blaine shook his head desperately. "Sebastian, why are you doing this? You came to me! You wanted to help!"

"Of course I did," Sebastian cooed, reaching out to brush a hand over Blaine's cheek.

Kurt thrashed against his bonds, growling viciously. "Stop it!"

"Let him go," Blaine begged. "Please, Sebastian, why are you doing this?"

"Because you, dear, clueless brother, don't deserve to rule," he said matter-of-factly, folding both hands neatly in front of him. "And now that mother dearest has been… taken care of-"

"Sebastian," Blaine warned, eyes flashing with fear. "What have you done?"

"I'm taking my rightful place," Sebastian informed him grandly, holding out both arms.

"What - place?" Blaine demanded.

His voice was brutally mocking, pouring from a thinly smirking mouth. "Daltasia will need a king when they finish mourning the death of their beloved Queen, and the," he pressed a hand to his chest, "devastating loss of the only heir."

"You can't-" Blaine choked. "You're not the heir, and a man can't rule as king without…" his voice trailed off in realisation.

Sebastian's smirk widened.

Controlling his tone as carefully as he could, Blaine fixed his step-brother with a dark stare. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I want Daltasia," Sebastian said simply. "And I get what I want."

"I will stop you," Blaine growled.

"Oh, really?" He raised a hand.

Kurt felt the bonds tighten around his chest and arms, sending violent shocks of pain to every nerve. He cried out helplessly, head falling back against the stone bricks.

"Stop it!" Blaine screamed, rushing against his ties and stumbling from the force. "Let him go, Sebastian, please! I'll do what you want. Just let him go."

"Where is it, Blaine?"

"Where's what?"

"The sword," Sebastian tilted his head, eyeing his brother dangerously. "Without it, I am only regent. I am nothing. With it? I am king. And my power knows no end."

"You will never be king," Blaine spat.

Sebastian's hand shot out, gripping Blaine's chin violently and tilting his head up.

"Where. Is. The sword?"

"I don't have it," Blaine gritted out, fighting his restraints.

"Mmm," Sebastian hummed as he turned, sweeping back towards the mirror. "I had a feeling you'd say that, so I took some extra… precautions."

Blaine watched, helpless and sucking back broken breaths as the mirror shimmered once, and showed two silhouettes.

"No."

"They're lovely, your friends," Sebastian said sweetly, stroking the mirror where Rachel and Quinn peered back through, frozen still. "But they're mine now. At least, until you give me something worth their return?"

"Let them go, let him go," Blaine begged again, fingers straining, splayed in the air towards Kurt. "You can take me, instead, just- please."

"Always so self-sacrificing. How pathetic," he said with a mocking sigh, moving to crouch down in front of Blaine. "There is one day left before the spell draws us back. You return to me, here, in this place, tomorrow night, before the spell is done. The sword for your friends."

"Kurt-"

"Take him, he means nothing to me," Sebastian shrugged, waving a hand and ignoring the thump of Kurt hitting the floor as the bonds fell away. "Your friends in the mirror are mine until you bring me that sword."

Blaine grunted out a pained sound, shaking against the twists of rope that burned his skin.

"You have one day," Sebastian warned, fading back into the glass of the mirror in swirls of pale, powdered yellow clouds. "Don't keep me waiting."

When his bonds fell and dissipated in sparks of light, Blaine scrambled across the paved ground, scraping his knees and dragging himself to where Kurt lay still.

"Kurt?" He shook him roughly, lifting him up by both shoulders. "Kurt!"

"I'm fine," Kurt breathed, coughing and gripping Blaine's jacket in loose fists.

Blaine drew in a violent, relieved gasp of air, cradling Kurt's head to his chest and pressing a kiss into his hair.

"So…" Kurt laughed weakly. "That's your step-brother?"

Blaine huffed out a sound that was equal parts laughter and pain, and Kurt's eyes fell to red, raw burns on his wrists.

"That was Sebastian," Blaine said, pressing another kiss to Kurt's forehead around a dry sob. "I'm so sorry. I brought this on us, I'm so sorry, Kurt, I-"

"Shh-shht," Kurt whisper softly, pressing fingers to Blaine's mouth. "I'm alright. Nothing's broken. My shell's a lot harder than it looks."

Blaine nodded, eyes falling shut and lips dragging over Kurt's fingertips gently, kissing each of them in silent gratitude.

"He has Rachel? And Quinn?"

"I fear," he mumbled against Kurt's hand. "I fear for them, but he can't harm them while they're caught in the mirror."

"Okay," Kurt groaned, pulling himself up with the help of Blaine's strong, guiding hands. "We need a plan."

"I should have known he would-" Blaine huffed out an exhausted sigh. "I trusted him."

"It's always the step-something," Kurt gurgled on another cough, burying his face in Blaine's shoulder as he rolled up onto his knees, and they both rose to their feet.

"I'll get them back," Blaine told him, voice heavy with promise. "I swear to you, I will get them back."

"I'll come with you tomorrow," Kurt insisted, rocking against him once they found their footing. "We just need to make sure he gives them back, first."

Blaine swallowed roughly, eyes huge and laced with sudden, infinite sadness. "Kurt, I can't give him the sword."

Kurt blinked at him, stunned. "You…"

"I will get them back, I promise you," he insisted. "But I can't let Daltasia fall to Sebastian. It's my home. They're… my people, I can't leave them to his will."

Shell-shocked and blinking rapidly, Kurt stared all around them, eyes trailing over the now innocent-looking mirrors and the huge, rich plum curtain that obscured the balcony from the ballroom.

"I love you," Blaine confessed brokenly, eyes dark and half-lidded in the pale lantern lights. "But I think you were right about happy endings."

Kurt shook his head sharply, crowding against Blaine's chest and clinging to his shoulders, pulling him in. "No."

"Kurt," he said.

"Don't," Kurt demanded, and pressed sharp kiss to his lips, hand pushing through the curls at the back of his neck to hold him there. "Don't."

They lost themselves again, clinging tight and holding with everything they had, mouths crashing together in needy, desperate concert, hands dragging over fabric and skin.

"Kurt," Blaine's voice was guttural, twisted on a sob as he pulled away.

"I love you," Kurt breathed. "We can fix this. We can find a way."

"I can't-"

"We don't have to give him the sword," Kurt cut him off. "There's another way, there's always another way."

Blaine sighed wetly, pressing their foreheads together and letting his eyes drift closed.

"Why does he need it?" Kurt asked, gaze flicking back and forth.

"By the Dual Queen's law," Blaine began slowly, opening his eyes. "If a man is to be king, he must hold the sword. Only women can rule without it."

"Which is why your stepmother didn't need it?"

"Exactly."

"If you go back with him," Kurt asked, "can you get back here?"

Blaine shook his head softly. "Not without his help."

Kurt straightened slightly. "What if we destroy it?"

He shook his head again. "It can't be destroyed, it's protected by enchantments stronger than any I've ever seen. And we know now that the magic of Daltasia works in your world, too."

Drawing a sharp, frustrated hiss of air, Kurt let his head drop onto Blaine's shoulder and sank down into his arms.

Blaine held him gently, resting his cheek against Kurt's hair and closing his eyes, letting the faded music wash over them in the quiet.

Kurt didn't know how long they'd been standing there, caught up in the warmth of each other, when he finally realised what was right in front of him.

He rolled his head to the side, pressing his lips to Blaine's neck before he let out a soft breath and whispered; "Take me with you."

Stunned, Blaine pulled back, letting Kurt lift his head so their eyes could meet. "What?"

"Take me with you," Kurt said firmly, unblinking.

"But you - this is your home," Blaine said helplessly. "Everything you love is here."

"Only for the next day or so," Kurt shrugged, "then it's gone."

Blaine swallowed roughly, studying his face.

"Kurt, think about what you're saying. Daltasia is … it's not this place. I would stay, if I could. I can't ask you to go back when I wouldn't go myself, if I had the choice."

"You're not asking," he said. "I am."

Blaine's brow knitted together quickly, a torrent of emotions flashing across his face.

"You have everything you need," Kurt inclined his head, smiling softly, "to be king. Heirship. Sword. Betrothed."

He only nodded for a moment before he froze, eyes widening, face falling open in beautiful, innocent shock. "You-"

"I got interrupted, before." Kurt said breathily, eyes falling to Blaine's mouth for a brief moment before he looked back up.

"You're saying-"

"Yes," Kurt cut him off, leaning in and pressing their mouths together in a slow, sweet kiss, and laughing against Blaine's mouth when his arms coiled around Kurt's waist, spinning him around in circles.

Blaine set him down again, grinning broadly, lifting both hands to brush across both sides of his face. "I love you."

"I guess I have to get used to your majesty," Kurt joked quietly, and let his fiance kiss him one more time.