Blaine walks into school feeling lighter than he has since his transfer. Suddenly the giant Dalton-shaped hole in his heart is just that much smaller. He knows if his mom told him tomorrow he could transfer back and board at his old school, he would say no. No matter how hard it is at McKinley, no matter how many shoves or slushies, he has Kurt, and that will get him through it.

His smile disappears when he turns the corner and sees a familiar, hulking form down the hallway. With everything that had happened he’d forgotten about Karofsky coming back. He hadn’t been thinking about it at all, and seeing him here all of a sudden startles Blaine enough that he almost drops his books.

He doesn’t even think, just turns around and walks until he reaches the boys restroom. He locks himself in the handicapped stall and looks down, realizing his hands are shaking. He pulls out his cell phone and texts Kurt,�cut homerm. meet me in the boys bathrm by rm 20, and waits, trying to calm down.

Several minutes pass before Blaine hears the door open. Blaine looks under the stall door gap, recognizes Kurt’s boots, and pushes open the door. “Kurt…”

Kurt looks at him in concern and Blaine takes his sleeve, pulling him into the stall and locking the door behind them. “Blaine?” Kurt asks, and Blaine cuts him off with a kiss. Kurt doesn’t even hesitate to kiss back, and Blaine loves him for it, kisses him until his lips feel numb and his hands stop trembling.

“Oh my,” Kurt says with a surprised, flirty smile when Blaine pulls back, “what was that for?”

Blaine smiles bashfully and looks down. “Because I can?”

The restroom door opens once more and they fall quiet, Kurt’s eyes going wide. Blaine just drags him close, whispers against his ear. “No one’s gonna see us.”

Kurt whispers back. “Kind of suspicious, two pairs of feet and all.”

“No one will look,” Blaine says, and kisses Kurt’s earlobe, nibbles and licks until he has Kurt squirming. He’s just about to casually slide his hands down to Kurt’s ass, when there is the clear sound of someone peeing in a nearby stall. He shares a look of alarm with Kurt before hiding his face in the side of Kurt’s neck to keep from laughing too loudly.

“What a mood killer,” Kurt whispers, still giggling.

“What, the restroom doesn’t have enough romantic ambiance for you? God, you’re so high maintenance.”

Whoever it is leaves, and they break apart, grinning. Blaine’s smile dims, though, when Kurt starts to lean back in. “Um, there was actually another reason I asked you to come.”

“Oh?”

Blaine lets out a breath. “I saw Karofsky.”

Kurt doesn’t look surprised, but Blaine can tell by the way his mouth tightens in a frown that Karofsky hadn’t been on his mind, either. “If he touches you, text me.”

“Kurt, you can’t—”

“I just want you to tell me, okay?”

Blaine is reluctant to agree, not wanting Kurt to get in the middle of it.

“Blaine.”

“Okay, I’ll text you,” Blaine says.

“Promise?”

“Pinky promise.”

Kurt smiles a little, taking Blaine up on his offer and locking pinkies. “It’ll be okay, Blaine. He’s already on thin ice, if he tries anything I’ll go to the school board myself.”

“Oh god, I actually think you would,” Blaine says.

“I only speak the truth,” Kurt says, and Blaine rolls his eyes, thinking back to their movie marathon yesterday afternoon. Moulin Rouge had been Kurt’s choice, but it was Blaine who’d cried like a baby at the end.

“You know,” Blaine says, “there’s still five minutes ‘til first period.”

Kurt grins wickedly, and Blaine wipes it right off his face with a kiss.

----

Blaine sees Karofsky a few times throughout the week, but Karofsky never comes near him. Karofsky�looks, and that’s unnerving enough because Blaine can see the threat in his eyes, a dark promise for more, but he doesn’t try anything. Yet.

And then there’s Kurt. Kurt sitting near him in class and texting him and always, always at the forefront of Blaine’s mind. They sneak out at lunch, go to Blaine’s car, parked as far back in the lot as possible. It’s December and cold out, unwelcomingly frigid just as soon as you step out the door, but they have each other. They don’t need to turn on the car and run the heater when they spread out along the backseat, warming each other with kisses and hands stuffed under each other’s coats and shirts.

Blaine’s friends start to ask where he is all the time, what’s got him so happy when he stares off at nothing, smiling. He says he has a project in French he’s working on, knowing none of them can question the validity of his lie because none of them take French. As for the second part, he evades, says it's nothing, they're crazy. He's the same as ever.

But Blaine feels like he’s on pins and needles, his emotions swinging all over the place between Karofsky and Kurt and the upcoming Sectionals competition. By the end of the week he’s so anxious about Sectionals that it’s almost a blessing to have Kurt to focus on.

“You’ll be there, right?” Blaine asks Kurt Friday night.

Kurt stares at him. “Blaine, you seriously need to ask?”

“I don’t know, I kind of feel like I’m going out of my mind. What if I forget the lyrics? What if I bump into someone while I’m dancing? What if we lose?” Blaine throws his hands up. “What if the�Warblers�lose? I don’t know which would make me feel worse—”

“Blaine, relax,” Kurt says, taking his hands to still them. “Who used to lead the Warblers, hm?”

“I didn’t exactly�lead, there was a council—”

“You were their main soloist, correct?”

“I was their main soloist, yes.”

Kurt’s hands cup his face, looks him right in the eyes. “See? You know what you’re doing. You’ve done this before. I’ll be there, front row, and I know you’ll be amazing.”

Blaine smiles, finally, feeling as reassured as possible. He leans in to kiss Kurt on the cheek and stays there. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Masturbate a lot more, probably,” Kurt teases.

Blaine bursts out laughing. “You’re evil.”

Kurt just hums quietly in response and kisses him good night. Kurt’s lips are deliciously soft and Blaine lingers, he�really�doesn’t want to leave. It’s Kurt who has to usher him out, promising, “Tomorrow, tomorrow. I can’t wait to see you.”

----

Blaine is waiting for his toast when his father walks into the kitchen. He’s wearing a suit and tie, impeccably dressed and groomed.

“It’s just Sectionals, Dad, you didn’t have to get that dressed up,” Blaine says with a tiny smile, secretly pleased that his father would go to such effort.

His father's expression is one of obvious confusion, before it smooths out into something more dismissive. “Oh. I’m afraid I have to meet with a client today, I won’t be able to come to your singing show.”

His mother, it turns out, has a migraine and can’t come either.

Blaine would like to be able to say he’s surprised, but the truth is, his parents have missed more competitions and performances than they’ve ever attended, and things around the house have been so tense and uneasy since he came out that he should have expected it. Still, there was a part of him, some stupid, foolish part, that had�hoped. It’s his first competition with New Directions and he really thought this time would be different. He�wanted�it to be different, and tries not to feel the crush of disappointment that it isn't.

If there’s ever a moment he feels like he shines, it’s when he’s on stage. If his parents could just see that, if they could just�understand, maybe they would realize he is not a disappointment. Maybe they would see that he’s going to be something great, someday. At least, he hopes so.

----

They get to the auditorium where Sectionals are being held a little late, so when they do arrive, they’re sent straight off to their school's waiting room, which means no checking the crowd for Kurt and no meet-up with the Warblers. They get ready and practice, and finally they get the news that they’ll be going last.

They’re sent out into the auditorium to a block of designated seats to watch the other teams perform, and Blaine nearly trips over Rachel, because instead of watching where he’s walking he’s looking for Kurt in the crowd. He finds Kurt, not first row, but third row center, sitting next to Burt, and Blaine’s whole face lights up. He waves, not caring who sees.�He�came, and he brought his dad. Burt actually wanted to come to something that his own kid wasn’t even a part of. There is a mix of love and bitterness, but whatever he’s feeling because of his parents disappears the moment the lights go dark. The Warblers are set to go on first, and Blaine sits up in his seat, staring eagerly at the stage.

None of his friends at Dalton would tell him what songs they were doing, or even who was singing lead. They teased him about being a spy and made up ridiculous answers, like, Jeff is singing Closer by Nine Inch Nails, which immediately made Jeff blush five different shades of red. Or, they’re doing He Had It Coming from Chicago, or Lady Marmalade from Moulin Rouge. But it’s Nick who steps out of formation, singing lead on a beautifully arranged acapella rendition of Uptown Girl, and Blaine’s heart swells with pride for his friend. They follow with two more Billy Joel songs; Only The Good Die Young, and The River Of Dreams. When they finish, Blaine is the first one out of his seat, cheering. He jumps up and down, waving, trying to get their attention. Trent sees him first and tries to get some of the others to look over, and they’re laughing and wave to him on their way off the stage. Wes would have killed them for acting so unprofessional, and the thought just makes Blaine smile all the wider.

The second group barely registers through the swirl of nostalgia and the sharp contrast of anxiety. Before he knows it, it’s their turn. He and Rachel are singing a duet of Coldplay’s Paradise, and she has the first stanza. Her voice rings out clear and true, and Blaine watches as she comes alive in a way he’s never seen before, not even in glee club. She’s amazing, and he can’t imagine the crowd being anything less than captivated.

He joins her during�para-para-paradise, and then it’s him alone.

“When�she was just a girl, she expected the world,” he sings, looking out into the audience, finding a familiar face among the rest. “But it flew away from her reach.” He extends a hand. “And the bullets catch in her teeth.”

Kurt is�smiling�at him.

Rachel joins him, “Life�goes on, it gets so heavy, the wheel breaks the butterfly.” He looks to her, their voices harmonizing, filling the room. “Every tear, a waterfall. In the night, the stormy night, she closes her eyes. In the night, the stormy night, away she flied…”

Blaine finds Kurt again, and the voices of New Directions jump in.�When the song ends, it leads into Yellow. There isn’t much dancing involved, so Blaine has the opportunity to watch Kurt, singing to him, letting him know with his eyes and his voice,�this is for you. This is how I feel when I’m with you.

They finish with Viva La Vida and inspire a standing ovation. It went perfectly.�Perfectly. As they file back into their waiting room Blaine is still breathing hard, sweating lightly, so pumped with adrenaline and feeling like he could do anything. The members of New Directions are talking excitedly, all of them feeling like they have a good chance of winning. Blaine’s pocket vibrates with a text from Kurt.

K:�You were amazing. Can I come see you?

Blaine grins widely as he texts back, ‘meet me back here after judging, i want you to meet the warblers. that ok?’

K:�See you then!

They wait for what seems like an eternity before they’re called back on stage. The judge talks briefly about the sanctity of music or�something, before announcing the third place winner. It isn’t New Directions or the Warblers, and Blaine can’t help but look over to his old group.

When they announce the winner it’s�New Directions�and Blaine is swept up into the moment, his teammates crashing into each other with squeals and hugs and cheering. Blaine’s heart soars. There isn’t room for anything but joy in that moment, and Blaine soaks it up, swears to remember it forever.

Blaine spots Kurt waiting for him near an exit door as New Directions file off stage. He hurries over and wraps Kurt into a tight hug.

“You�came,” he says against Kurt’s temple.

“You keep acting surprised. Am I really such a bad boyfriend?” Kurt asks, pulling back with a wide smile.

Blaine feels inexplicably choked up. “No. No, never.”

“You really shined out there, Blaine.” Kurt moves his hands from behind his back, producing a small bouquet of red roses. “These are for you.”

“Kurt…” Blaine looks at Kurt and the bouquet in awe. He’s never gotten flowers before, would never have even thought he’d want them, but his chest�aches�with emotion and he takes them so carefully, like anything but a delicate touch and they’ll cease to be real. “Thank you.”

Kurt cups a hand behind Blaine’s neck and brings him closer, kissing him softly and lovingly, and every worry and bit of heartache that had been lingering melts away. Blaine pulls back only when it becomes a little too good, and smiles breathlessly up at Kurt. “Come on, I want you to meet my friends before they leave.”

He takes Kurt’s hand, the bouquet tight in the other, and leads him toward the Warblers' waiting room.

It was not so very long ago that Blaine had worried about how to come out to his friends at Dalton. In the end he’d chosen the lamest - albeit easiest - route, and changed his status on facebook from�interested in women�to�interested in men. This was met with an outpouring of supportive and gently teasing comments, and a Skype call from a few of them to call him out on not telling them personally.

Blaine doesn’t know what to expect when he introduces them to his�boyfriend, but he doesn’t have a lot of time to be nervous. As soon as he steps into the doorway, every head turns toward him, and then it’s just madness as he’s enveloped in a giant, raucous group hug. He loses Kurt’s hand, and thank god Kurt had the presence of mind to take the bouquet from him, because he’s being crushed.

“Oh my god, oh my god, stop, I can’t breathe,” he’s saying, laughing and trying to hug everyone. Eventually the crowd of boys back off, laughing and talking and welcoming him “back.”

Nick has an arm around his shoulders. “They stole our star from us, no wonder we lost!”

Blaine’s face is ablaze and he shakes his head, face tipped down. “You were awesome, Nick. You guys blew me away.”

There’s a lot of excited chatter directed at him, but Blaine takes a step back and looks for Kurt, still standing there silently in the doorway. “Hey guys, I wanted to, uh, introduce you.” He takes Kurt’s hand and tugs him forward to stand by his side, smiling proudly. Kurt looks slightly terrified, but Blaine�knows�his friends and his heart swells up to be able to share this with them. “This is my boyfriend, Kurt.”

Kurt’s shy little�hi�is lost in an eruption of�ohhhh!’s and catcalls and teasing and lewd and congratulatory comments. Warblers are patting him on the back and shoving at each other to shake Kurt’s hand, and both he and Kurt are blushing, but it’s a positive reaction and Blaine knows Kurt needs this. Kurt needs to see that not everything is going to be homophobia and hate. And maybe he needs it, too.

They talk to the Warblers for just a little while longer before Blaine gets a text from Rachel asking where he is. He bids a sad farewell, and there’s more hugging and�congratulations on being the cutest couple ever�and�congratulations on getting some�and�congratulations on winning. The Warblers sing them out�oh goodbye, my love, I’m gonna cry, my love�and Blaine and Kurt are both laughing when they leave the room.

“I can’t believe it. An entire room of boys and no one so much as gave us a dirty look,” Kurt says.

“They’re awesome. Some people are just awesome,” Blaine says, and takes the bouquet back from Kurt before he leaves. “Call me later?”

“Come over�later,” Kurt says with a wink, and gives him a quick kiss before sending him on his way.

When he rejoins New Directions he totally gets the side-eye about his flowers.

“They’re from the Warblers,” Blaine says, giving the first excuse that comes to mind.

Santana snatches a small card from the bouquet that Blaine hadn’t even noticed was there. “To the brightest star in my sky,” she reads. There’s a moment of silence and Blaine is mortified, but then she cackles, “Gay!” and Rachel is yelling at her and someone makes a Gargler joke and Blaine grabs the card back from her, cheeks hot.

“It probably just came with the bouquet,” he says, but no one’s really listening anymore anyway.

The bus ride back to Lima is much more exciting than the trip to Sectionals had been, and Blaine gets caught up in it.

Moving from Westerville and leaving Dalton had been heartbreaking for him. He’d been miserable for the weeks leading up to their move, and even more so when they’d actually gotten to Lima. It took him a long time to feel like he really fit in, like he had a place here and he belonged. But looking around this bus, hearing the teasing and the in-jokes and the impromptu singing. The card and the flowers. He has never felt so much at home.

----

Kurt is sitting on the floor with his back against the edge of the bed, math book open and pencil poised. He’s been working on equations for the last twenty minutes, and before that, science vocab. Blaine is done with his homework and slowly spinning circles in Kurt’s computer chair.

“So,” Blaine says.

“So,” Kurt echoes, eyes on his paper.

“You know, the winter dance is coming up,” Blaine starts to say. Kurt looks up, blue eyes wide. “Rachel asked me to go with her . As friends, of course. I said I didn’t know. I wanted to ask you first.”

“Oh.” Kurt glances down a moment before looking back to him. “Of course. I mean, whatever. If you want to go.” He shrugs.

“I guess. I just felt bad, she really wants to go and doesn’t have a date. And it’s not like�we�can go together.”

“No, of course not,” Kurt says, his words clipped and attention back on his assignment.

Blaine stares down at Kurt, trying to figure out his reaction. “You’re mad,” he finally says, a statement more than a question.

Kurt just snorts.

“Kurt, I can�tell�when—”

“I’m not mad, Blaine, I swear,” Kurt says, looking up, irritation plain on his face.

“Look, it’s not like I’m going to fall in love with Rachel Berry because I go to a dance with her.”

Kurt snorts out a short laugh. “Did I say I thought that would happen?” he asks, and there’s something in the way he says it that Blaine doesn’t like.

“Then�enlighten me, what’s wrong?”

“What’s�wrong�is that I’m trying to finish my�homework�and you keep twirling around in that chair and going on about this dance like I�care�and it’s really getting on my last nerve,” Kurt snaps.

Blaine goes cold all over and stands up. “Fine. Excuse me for thinking you’d care about something involving me.”

He walks out. He doesn’t even give Kurt a chance to say anything, he doesn’t look back, he just leaves. He’s just so�angry.�He�didn’t do anything wrong, he’d only been trying to talk to Kurt,�god forbid. Only when Blaine gets to his car does he realize he overreacted. He also forgot his homework on Kurt’s bedroom floor. He’s too embarrassed to go back, and maybe Kurt needs time to cool down from whatever mood he was in, too. With a quick look at Kurt’s bedroom window, Blaine backs out of the driveway and heads home, the radio off and car silent.

----

Kurt finds Blaine at his locker the next morning. When Blaine sees the way his eyebrows are drawn up in worry, the little downturned frown, he’s honestly relieved. If Kurt isn’t still mad at him then he won’t have to prostrate himself across the hallway floor and beg forgiveness. He apologizes anyway, they both do, and the anxiety that has been building since last night seeps away. He wishes he could kiss Kurt right then and there because words are not enough, sometimes.

Blaine glances around, looking in resentment at each and every person preventing him from doing such a small, simple thing. He wonders if he and Kurt will ever be able to. If in college Kurt will be comfortable being out. Blaine has the sudden urge to cut classes for the day and go finish all his college applications, he will apply to every school in New York until one accepts him. But they haven’t talked about their future much, not in a�together�sense. Blaine has been assuming the end of high school wouldn’t mean the end of them.

But what if it does?

----

The week passes uneventfully. Nothing�happens, but things are off in a way Blaine can’t seem to pinpoint.

Blaine finds himself watching Kurt, wanting to ask what his plans are after graduation and if they include Blaine. Kurt would tell him if they did, wouldn’t he? Maybe Blaine is moving too fast. They�have�only known each other for about three months, have been friends for even less, a couple not even half that, which seems�crazy�because it feels longer.

Kurt seems distant, more snappish than usual. When Blaine tells Kurt his parents are on a trip over the weekend and does he want to come over? Kurt simply agrees like Blaine has just invited him to the�grocery store. Blaine would worry Kurt isn’t interested in him like�that�anymore, but that is the one thing that hasn’t changed, at least, every make out session is hotter and more frenzied than the last. Kurt seems almost desperate for it in a way Blaine doesn’t think can be faked, but his hot and cold mood changes are confusing more than Blaine’s libido. He tries to think of a way to ask about it, but nothing comes.

----

The Winter Formal, though the word�formal�is in the title, is much less of an event than Homecoming was. No one is as decked out, and Rachel is much more calm about the whole affair.

New Directions form their own circle on the dance floor. It’s fun and all, but then The Way You Look Tonight starts playing and everyone pairs off to slow dance. Rachel loops her arms around his shoulders, but all Blaine can think is that she isn’t who he really wants in his arms. He has his cheek resting against her hair, watching the room as they slowly circle, when he sees Kurt walk through the door.

He does a double take and nearly steps on Rachel’s feet, because that is definitely�Kurt�in a�suit, and�wow, he looks�amazing. Before Blaine has a chance to even head Kurt's way, Santana joins Kurt, taking his arm.

“What the hell?”

Blaine doesn’t even realize he just said that out loud until Rachel stops dancing to look up at him. “What?”

“Uh—nothing…”

He continues dancing and watches as Santana drags Kurt over to the food table. When the song ends, Blaine politely excuses himself and makes his way over, mentally cursing the dense clusters of obnoxious classmates in his way. Kurt is gone when he gets there, leaving Blaine looking stupidly at Santana.

Blaine isn’t as intimidated to approach her as he would have been when he first joined glee club. Ever since the shopping trip, especially, he and Santana have formed a bizarre, twisted sort of friendship. Or at least mutual tolerance, which, considering Santana's general attitude, is something to be admired.

He sidles up in the guise of getting punch. “Hi, Santana. You look beautiful.” And she does, her hair piled high, wearing a long, black silk dress.

Santana spares him a sly smile. “Not too shabby yourself, Gaybler.”

“Uh—”

“You know, if Rachel’s going to be your beard, you could at least help dress her.” Santana shoots a look off in Rachel’s direction, making a face at the light blue and pink frosted dress.

“She’s not my beard—and just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I know anything about women’s clothes.”

“I never said you did, but you do have�eyes.�She’s a little too old to shop at Kids R Us,” Santana says.

“Well, look who�you�asked.” Blaine’s statement hangs in the air between them. He can’t find an insult to even pretend to apply to Kurt.

“What? Are you kidding? Chipette over there practically�begged�me to go with him,” she snorts, inspecting her cup of punch with a disgusted frown.

Blaine looks up, tries to hide his shock.

“It’s cool,” Santana continues. “I needed an excuse, anyway.” She’s looking off to some corner of the room. Blaine follows her gaze, but hasn’t a clue what, or who, she’s looking at. He sees his group of friends and returns the wave Mercedes’ is sending him.

“Oh. Where’d— um, where’d he go?” Blaine asks, trying to feign nonchalance and failing pretty spectacularly.

Santana raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Said he had to find someone.”

“Oh…” Blaine looks around, wondering if Kurt meant him. Has Kurt come to see him? It seems so unlikely, but then why else? “Well. I gotta go, Santana. See you.”

He slips away before she can say a word, and starts wandering the crowd, looking for Kurt. He’s stopped by Rachel before he can get very far.

“Oh,” she says, smiling, “for me?”

Blaine looks down at the cup of punch he’s holding in confusion. He had completely forgotten he’d even grabbed it. “Oh, yeah. Here.” He hands it to her with a smile. “Well—”

“Did you see the fight?” Rachel asks, an excited gleam in her eye.

“What?” �Blaine squeaks, his mind flying to Kurt who is still nowhere to be seen—

Rachel cuts off his train of thought. “Finn and Quinn just got into a�huge�argument. I couldn’t hear everything they were saying, but it sounded serious and he�left�and I don’t know if he’s coming back, but—”

Rachel continues on for several minutes, debating what the argument was about, what it could mean, should she go find Finn so he will turn to her in his time of need? Another slow song starts up and she takes his hands, dancing and occasionally asking what she should do. After Blaine tells her five different times to go find Finn, she finally does, heading out of the gymnasium.

Blaine continues his search for Kurt, and eventually concludes that there's no way Kurt can still be in the gymnasium. He feels like he's walked the perimeter at least twice. Eventually, he heads out, the music growing muted.�There are a few small groups of scattered students milling around in the lobby. The hallways beyond are mostly dark, the lights turned off to indicate those areas are off limits. He jogs down one, nothing, heads back and tries the next. It’s the choir room hallway along the side of the gymnasium, ending in doors that lead out to the parking lot, where he finds Kurt, standing near the doors, looking down at his phone.

“Hey,” Blaine says, slows his steps and walks toward Kurt. Kurt looks up and Blaine can’t read his expression, but doesn’t think it’s anything good. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“It was a mistake,” Kurt says, tapping something into his phone.

“What do you mean?” Blaine asks with a frown, stopping a few feet away. He watches Kurt’s profile for a long moment. "...Kurt?"

"You want to be out. You want to be open. I�understand, Blaine. It's something I can't give you, so—"

"I didn't ask you to, Kurt. It's okay that you didn't come, I swear," Blaine says with a small shrug of his shoulders, arms loose at his sides, hands wanting to touch Kurt.

Kurt doesn't look up, and Blaine kind of wants to break his phone.

“Why did you come, Kurt?”

Kurt's jaw clenches. “I don’t know.”

“God, Kurt, could you put your phone away?”

He gets a sharp look for that. “I have to let Santana know I’m not staying.”

“What? Don’t leave yet,” Blaine says, and takes a step forward. He just wants to know why, and he wants things to go back to normal between them. “You actually came here, didn't even come say hi to me, and now you're leaving already?"

But Kurt isn’t talking.

"Kurt."

“I wanted you to ask me,” Kurt says, eyes on his phone.

Blaine frowns, shakes his head slowly in disbelief. “You wouldn’t have gone with me…”

Kurt drags his tongue along his lower lip and glances over.

“Right? Because I was under the impression that this was a secret,” Blaine says when Kurt doesn’t reply.

Kurt shrugs a shoulder, a helpless sort of look on his face. "I know." The vulnerability in his voice breaks Blaine's heart.

The music from the gym filtering into the hallway catches Blaine’s attention. He takes a deep breath. “Dance with me.”

Kurt’s eyebrows go up, and he’s looking at Blaine now,�really�looking. “What?”

“Dance with me,” Blaine says, holding out a hand.

Kurt’s mouth curls up in uncertainty and he places his hand in Blaine’s. “Okay…”

Blaine pulls Kurt toward him, encircling Kurt’s waist with his arms. They’re close, and Kurt is warm and perfect. “I would have asked you if I thought there was a chance in hell you’d have accepted.”

“I don’t even know if I would have,” Kurt says, tilting his head to rest against Blaine’s. “I probably wouldn’t have. I guess I just. Wanted.”

“We should be able to, Kurt,” Blaine says. “We're no different from anyone else.”

Kurt doesn’t answer. They turn, swaying to the music, and it’s just like Blaine always imagined it should be. The thrill of Kurt’s touch as the music swirls around him, heart racing. Kurt starts to sing along softly against his ear. “Maybe I didn’t hold�you all those lonely, lonely times, and�I guess I never told you, I’m so happy that you’re mine…”

Blaine smiles, closes his eyes against a small shiver, and joins in.

“If I ever made you feel second best, I’m so sorry, I was blind.�You were always on my mind, you were always on my mind…”

Anyone could walk down this hallway. Anyone. But here Kurt holds him, dances with him. They turn a circle in the middle of the hallway, the two of them, the moon through the door’s window their main source of light.�They dance to the slow songs, to the fast songs. They take turns singing – both alone and together – never too loudly, doing their best to keep their laughter down so they don’t draw any unwanted attention. Blaine isn’t sure if it’s because Kurt doesn’t want anyone to find out, or simply because they have turned this into their own private party and don’t want to share the feeling.

Blaine twirls Kurt and�Kurt dips Blaine and they laugh and dance. When one of the songs ends, Blaine presses Kurt to the wall and kisses him, so delighted he can’t keep it to himself any longer. Kurt tugs at Blaine’s bowtie and kisses back.�He�kisses back.

Elated, Blaine pulls away with a widening grin. “I love you.”

Kurt looks as stunned as Blaine feels, because he did not mean to say that. Blaine’s fingers come up to cover his mouth as though he can retroactively keep the words inside.

“You do?”

As scared as Blaine is to openly admit it to Kurt, it’s only from fear of rejection, or that it’s too soon. But he won’t take it back. What a thing to take back. Maybe it’s too much, but he could never tell Kurt he doesn’t love him.

So he nods, his hand slowly lowering. “You don’t have to—”

“I love you, too,” Kurt says in a rush, cutting Blaine off. He says the words like he’s pushing them past his lips, and then he’s close, hiding his face against Blaine’s, cheek to cheek. “I love you.”

Kurt is holding him loosely at the waist, and Blaine grips the sleeves at Kurt’s elbows, holding on. “Kurt…”

“I hated seeing you with Rachel Berry, and I hated not being the one there with you. It's stupid, because I know it didn't mean anything to you, but I don’t want you to be anyone else's but mine.”

“God, no,” Blaine says, turning his face toward Kurt’s, nose to cheek.

Kurt shifts, skin against skin, until his mouth finds Blaine’s. Blaine doesn’t hesitate to kiss him. Their lips part in tandem, Kurt’s tongue is warm and insistent, the press of their mouths possessive. There’s something like a growl and Blaine realizes he doesn’t know who it came from, realizes they can’t do this here.

Blaine’s voice, when it comes, is breathy and rough. “Let’s go.”

Kurt is still pressing kisses to Blaine’s mouth. “Where?”

“I don’t know. Somewhere we can be alone. My house?”

“Oh. Okay,” Kurt says, somewhere from the vicinity of Blaine’s neck.

Blaine pulls away with a laugh and Kurt just smiles.

They try the door at the end of the hallway, but it’s locked, which means their only way out is through the front doors. They get a few curious looks as they walk through the lobby, but no one says a thing. Once they’re outside in the open air they take off, running like they’re bound for flight, hands linked and hearts soaring.