Kurt dropped the whisk he was holding into the bowl of batter and looked straight at Finn, who was leaning against the kitchen door frame. “Are you sure you want these pancakes Finn? Because right now it seems like all you want to do is irritate me!”

Finn looked at Kurt blankly, as he had done all weekend.

“Yes, for the final time I am sure that nothing happened between me and Blaine. So will you please go sit at the table so I can make these in peace?” he replied, gesturing to the bowl and frying pan in front of him.

Finn shrugged and pulled himself from the door, slouching off to the table.

Kurt let out a small sigh and turned his focus to the food.

“I wouldn't like … mind-you know, if you did like Blaine,”
The statement was so soft that Kurt wouldn't have believed it had been spoken. But he turned around to Finn with a frown on his face, and upon seeing Finn's small smile, Kurt smiled.

“Well thank you Finn,” Kurt said, still unsure. “I-I … nothing's going on, but I'm sure if it was I would tell you.”

Finn grinned and started to play with the syrup bottle on the table. Kurt smiled softly and poured the batter onto the pan, when suddenly Finn started talking again.

“I'm taking Rachel out tonight,”

Kurt smiled. “Well I would hope you take her out, she is your girlfriend, isn't she?”

“Yeah uh … about that,” Finn said uneasily. “I'm not gonna break up with her!” he said quickly, his hands raised as Kurt turned around, his eyes blazing. “I just, wanted to know whether you would be in tonight?”

“Blaine is meant to be coming over for tutoring tonight.”

“Oh right ok,” Finn said quietly. “What time are mom and Burt in?”

“Dad's picking up Carole from the hospital straight after work and they're going to see Ohio's Community Theatre production of Oklahoma. My treat,” Kurt said airily, although this fact had made his weekend a little bit more bareable. “So they won't be home till past midnight.”

“Cool. I might go to Puck's then,” Finn mused, before adding, “oh and Rachel may or may not shout at you later for not answering any of her texts this weekend, I forgot to tell you earlier.”

After shouting at Finn and placing the pancakes on his plate, Kurt grabbed an apple for himself and ran upstairs, picking up his ignored phone and groaning at the fifty two texts all from Rachel, but the four from Blaine made him smile.

'Kurt, I really don't get what Santana was trying to say!' - Rachel

'Good morning beautiful :) xxxx' – Blaine

'Kurt, are you in school on Monday? We NEED to talk.' - Rachel

'Blaine is grinning like an idiot at me and started to speak French. I don't even think he knows what it means. What have you done to him?' - Rachel

'Rachel just told me off for speaking French. But now she's ranting about how I spend more time with you than she does … xxxx' – Blaine

Rolling his eyes, Kurt tapped out an apologetic reply to Blaine explaining that he hadn't looked at his phone all weekend because of Rachel and all the questions. He scowled as he replied to Rachel saying there was nothing to talk about, but yes he was in school and he'd see her there.

As each minute passed, Kurt didn't want to be in school more and more.

“Wanky,” Santana had said, laughing as she walked passed him at his locker.

“So … do you think Blaine likes you?” Tina had asked while Mike was smiling, nodding and agreeing as Tina started talking about how they could double date and that they could adopt children.

“Are you and Blaine Dolphin in love?” Brittany had asked in Home Ec, leaning over the counter and getting flour on her Cheerios uniform.

“Heard you're tapping Anderberry, good on you Hummel!” Puck had shouted when he saw Kurt pass a classroom, where he was spending his lunch detention.

“I hope you're using protection, I know you can't make the same mistake that I did but be careful,” Quinn had said softly with a small smile, in the queue for lunch.

But it was when Mercedes approached him at his locker towards the end of lunch that Kurt dignified any of their enquiries with a response.

“So, you and Blaine, huh?” Mercedes asked with an eyebrow raised. “I knew it.”

Kurt sighed and checked his quiff in his mirror, not responding.

“What does Rachel think?” Mercedes asked, a little bit quieter.

Pursing his lips, Kurt shut his locker.

“You have to tell her,” Mercedes said, still quiet.

Kurt looked at her. “First of all, there is nothing to tell. Secondly, Rachel shouldn't think anything because nothing happened,” Kurt glanced around quickly before continuing, “and finally, there is no Blaine and I because we're just friends, I tutor him, that's all!”

Mercedes laughs. “So why haven't you been answering everyone all day?”

Kurt shrugged. “There seemed like there would be no point; they wouldn't believe me anyway.”

She nodded and linked her arm with his. “I was sure something was going on,” she said, not quite believing him.

“No, just friends,” Kurt said in a final tone.

“If you say so,” Mercedes whispered more to herself than him, pulling him along to their French class.

Just as they turned a corner, they saw Blaine stood stock still, looking straight at Kurt. He smiled brightly as they saw him, but Mercedes could have sworn that the smile didn't quite meet his tear-filled eyes.

“No, just friends,”

The phase had haunted Blaine around school since lunch, and by the time he was walking to Glee Club, he couldn't help but feel miserable.

If everyone was asking, why couldn't they just say “Yes, we are together and we're happy, thank you.”? Was that really so much to ask?

They could deal with Rachel, and Blaine was pretty sure that yes, Rachel would kick up a fuss, but they could ignore her, couldn't they?

He supposed he was probably asking a lot of Kurt, in that he could lose one of his best friend's because of a relationship. But then again, weren't relationships all about compromise?

He glanced at the choir room door he was now in front of. Would people still be talking about it? He had been lucky in that no one had asked him; so he didn't have to lie at all.

Biting his lip, he pushed the door open, and upon seeing that the only two people in the room were Kurt and Rachel, he forced a smile onto his face.

“Hey,” Blaine said happily, pushing aside his worries.
Rachel glared at him. “Kurt and I were just talking, will you please leave us alone?”

Blaine frowned and looked at Kurt, whose eyes were pleading. But whether he was asking him to leave or stay, Blaine didn't know.

“I-uh sure,” Blaine said, pulling his headphones out of his bag.

Kurt looked slightly unhappy as Blaine put his headphones on and started playing music. He followed his movements as he sat down on the opposite side of the room.

“Look Rachel,” Kurt said, looking into her eyes. “There's nothing going on between me and Blaine, but even if there was, it would be none of your business, ok?”

Rachel raised her eyebrows. “But it would be! My best friend and my brother? That's something I'm not ok with!”

“Why?” Kurt asked, his eyes narrowing. “Whoever eventually makes me happy, I would think that you could be happy for me, no matter who they were! And the same for Blaine! What, am I not good enough for him or something?”

Rachel started blabbering, “no, it's not that, it's just weird is all-”

“-well it's pretty weird that when you come over to my house to see me, you end up spending half the time in Finn's room,” Kurt spat. “Stop being so two-faced Rachel, it's really unfair and you can't pull it off.”

Rachel's mouth fell open in shock, and she glanced round at Blaine, who was humming along to his music, eyes closed. “I can't believe you, I just- Finn's my boyfriend!” she hissed.

“And if Blaine was mine I can assure you that we'd be happy, and that's really all you should care about!” Kurt said harshly, standing up and pulling his bag over his shoulder. “I'm not staying to listen to this, you're being a brat.”

He walked over to Blaine, and tapped him on the knee.
Blaine opened his eyes and started a little when he saw Kurt a foot away from his face. He pulled out his headphones with one hand and closed his mouth.

“Are we still on for tutoring tonight?” Kurt asked, his eyes wet. “I'm guessing you'll have to drop your sister off but come over as soon as you're ready,”

He shot a scathing look at Rachel, who was looking straight at them. Blaine nodded and looked between them, blinking when he saw Rachel scowling at him.

“Uh … yeah sure, I'll be at yours for about five.”

Kurt smiled. “I'll see you then,” he said happily, turning on his heel and walking from the choir room.

Blaine frowned and looked at Rachel.

“Why is Kurt leav-”

“-don't Blaine, just don't.”

As soon as Blaine opened Kurt's bedroom door, he knew something was wrong. First of all, Finn had answered the door to him, secondly, Kurt's voice was growing louder from his room and finally, Kurt seemed to be crying.

Worried, Blaine jogged down the steps, and saw Kurt sat on his bed, tears down his face as Rachel's voice was coming through his phone, basically screaming at him.

Blaine hurried over to Kurt's bed knelt down in front of him, dropping his bag and wrapping an arm around his waist. Kurt bit his lip when Blaine picked up the phone.

“-and the worst thing of it is, is that he just runs straight over to you! I mean, he's my little brother, shouldn't he be here helping me decide on what to wear tonight or trying to scare off Finn? He-”

Anger bubbled up inside Blaine. “Hi Rachel, darling older-by-two-minutes sister,”

“Blaine! Why are you on Kurt's phone?” Rachel asked angrily.

Blaine sighed as Kurt rested his head on Blaine's collarbone. “I'm on Kurt's phone, because as you well know, I have tutoring with him tonight, but seeing as you were screaming down the phone to him, leaving him in tears for when I've arrived, I've decided to finish this conversation.

“Kurt has done absolutely nothing wrong. You're being childish by listening to rumours and I understand that it's hard for you to wrap this concept around your head so listen to me carefully; the world does not revolve around you, now please leave us alone.”

Without giving Rachel the chance to reply, Blaine hung up and set the phone down on Kurt's bedside table. Kurt was still crying softly into his shoulder. A thought didn't cross his mind as he held onto Kurt, letting him cry and whispering into his hairline.

“Oh God,” Kurt whispered hoarsely after a few minutes. “I'm supposed to be teaching you French.”

“That's OK,” Blaine said softly. “I think I'm getting better anyway.”

Kurt let out a watery chuckle and held onto Blaine tighter. “I don't know why she upset me so much.”

Blaine shook his head. “She's one of your best friend's, it's bound to upset you when she's angry at you.”

They sat together in silence for a small moment, before Kurt pulled away, wiping his eyes with his fingertips and smiled at Blaine. “Thank you for doing that,”

“What, shouting at my sister?” Blaine asked, smiling. “It's my pleasure.”

Kurt laughed lightly. “No, I mean letting me cry,”

Blaine's smile softened. “Don't worry. You're allowed to be upset, Kurt,”

Kurt looked at Blaine through wide eyes for a moment, three words dancing on his tongue.

Blaine supposed he must have decided not to speak because he held Blaine's hand, and pulled him up to sit next to.

Two hours later found the two boys lying on the bed facing each other, talking softly and laughing quietly at something funny the other must have said.

Kurt grinned when Blaine tickled his sides and started to kiss along his neck.

“I suppose I am going to have to apologise to her soon though,” Kurt mused, his hands sifting through Blaine's hair.

“Hm, what was that?” Blaine mumbled against Kurt's neck.

“That I'm probably going to say sorry to Rachel. I mean, after next year, we're supposed to be going to New York together.”

Blaine pulled away from Kurt's neck, choosing to lean up on his elbows and look at his face. “Oh yeah, she was talking about NYADA the other day. Well, that's pretty much all she talks about, apart from Finn.”

Kurt nodded, but didn't reply.

“What is it about NYADA that's so great?” Blaine asked.

“I really don't know ...” Kurt said softly after a moment. “If I'm honest, I know I want to go to New York, but … NYADA just doesn't really … fit with what I really want to do.”

Blaine tilted his head. “Why? You're a better performer and we all know who's the better team player,” he said with a wink, before continuing seriously. “You're bound to get in.”

Kurt laughed lightly. “It's not … I mean, I just don't think I'd like to go into a profession where I'd be comparing myself to Rachel forever. But it's not just that … I really like clothes.”

Blaine looked at him blankly. “Oh, really, I'd never noticed,” he said sarcastically.

Kurt hit him softly on the arm. “Shut up,” he said, laughing. “What I mean is, Parsons' does this great Fashion course and it looks like it would suit me better than any theatre program.”

“But what about Broadway?” Blaine asked quietly. “I thought that's where you want to be?”

“What, working every night for three months and getting bad reviews and being out of work for years at a time?” Kurt asked, smiling brightly. “No, I'd prefer fashion, definitely.”

Blaine grinned. “You would be amazing in fashion.”

Kurt smiled, leaning in to kiss Blaine softly. “I don't know about amazing, but I'd get by.”

Blaine got up from the bed and walked towards Kurt's wardrobe. Upon opening it, he grabbed a scarf and wrapped it around his neck, and then pulled out a hat and placed it on his head and pushed it down low.

“So, have you heard of Kurt Hummel?” he asked the air next to him.

He jumped into the empty spot and faced where he was previously stood. “Heard of him? I adore him!” he said in a French accent.

Kurt laughed from his place on the bed. “I don't think-”

“His fall collection was absolutely darling,” Blaine carried on in a unrecognisable accent. “He is quite the genius! Who would have thought skulls and pastel colours together?!”

Kurt laughed whole heartedly and kept watching Blaine, who was pretending to swoon at the sight of him.

“Oh! There he is and isn't he so handsome? It's a crying shame he's with that Blaine Anderberry!”

“You'd put up with me for that long?”

The question came so gently and hesitant, that Blaine wouldn't have heard it if he wasn't listening out for it. All evidence of laughter left his face and lowered himself on the bed, lying on his stomach, and half leaning on Kurt.

“Kurt,” he whispered. “There is nothing to-” he pretended his fingers were quotation marks “- put up with. You're amazing. I just wish we could tell people about us.”

Kurt nodded. “I wish we could too … it's just-”

“I know, I know,” Blaine said sadly. He looked at Kurt for a moment before leaning in to kiss him again. “I just hope that one day it'll be ok for us to be together.”

Kurt smiled. “It will be, one day.”

“But that better be before you're famous and I'm just some lowly guitar player in a coffee shop somewhere,” Blaine said, grinning against Kurt's neck.

Kurt's chest vibrated with laughter, and he pulled up Blaine to hug him tightly.

Rachel was still angry at her brother throughout her date, and barely kissed Finn goodbye when he dropped her off at her house again. She really wanted to see if Blaine was home yet.

When she climbed the stairs after ignoring her fathers, she could feel her heart thumping against her chest, anxiety taking over when she couldn't hear anything. She burst into Blaine's room without knocking only to find it in the same state he'd left it that morning, and empty.

Getting angry, she pulled out her phone and dialled Blaine's phone number.

Blaine was staring at the ceiling when his phone started to vibrate in his discarded jeans.

Groaning, he grabbed the phone, making sure it wasn't just one of his dads checking up on him. When Rachel's named appeared on the screen he put it down on the bedside table, choosing to ignore the call.

“Who is it?” Kurt mumbled from his chest. “You should probably answer it.”

“Rachel,” Blaine said, wrapping his arms around Kurt again. “And I don't want to, she'll shout again.”

“But if you don't answer now she'll shout louder later on,” Kurt reasoned, making a pattern on Blaine's chest.
Blaine nodded and rolled away from Kurt again, grabbing his phone.

“Yes, Rachel?” he answered.

Rachel started to scream at him for not being home yet, as apparently nine PM is too late for a young boy to be out of his home. “But we live ten minutes away from Kurt, I have my phone and car and curfew is eleven PM,” Blaine replied, rolling his eyes.

Rachel's shrill monologue continued on and Blaine pressed his free hand to his eyes.

He felt a dull pressure on his lower stomach and flinched a little bit, until Kurt's fingertip revolved in small circles around his bellybutton. He sighed for a small moment and his phone slipped from his fingers and onto the pillow behind him. Kurt started to leave butterfly kisses just above his boxers, his hands sliding up Blaine's thighs. Blaine's eyes closed as Kurt pulled down his boxers revealing that he was already hard.

“Hang up,” Kurt murmured into his hipbone.

Blaine nodded wildly, his hands clawing at the pillow behind him, until he could feel the phone. He grabbed it and hung up on Rachel – who probably wouldn't have even noticed – and threw his phone across the room, instead focusing on Kurt's mouth.