The smell of angel-food cake filled the house with an intensely sweet scent. The colorful decorations of both the cake and the birthday ornaments that covered the house were jovial and lighthearted. It was all very cheerful, except Kurt couldn’t help but ponder over the dreadful world that lay outside his front door. The war was raging in full power over in Britain. His family was celebrating Finn’s twentieth birthday in Lima, Ohio. For the moment everyone was trying to forget the fact that their fellow Americans were off in some battle where the odds of them coming out were far too low. All except Kurt. He couldn’t bring himself to smile whole-heartedly when his father came in grabbing the cake. It was almost time to sing happy birthday to Finn. Kurt nodded weakly as he followed Burt out to the dining room.

‘Happy Birthday to you’

Kurt wondered how soldiers celebrated their birthdays while they were out there fighting the war. He imagined them huddled in bunkers while bombs flew over their heads, exchanging funny stories from their youth or last year’s cake fiasco. They would be cold, most likely wet and shivering, attempting to think of anything other than the war around them.

‘Happy Birthday to you’

One American in particular crossed his mind. The twenty-two year old, olive skinned dapper man who was enlisted just short of a year ago, Blaine Anderson, was Kurt’s closest and most trusted friend. They had met just two years ago. They met during a choir practice for the church. Kurt was walking up the stairs of the stage when his foot caught the top stair and fell face first into the arms of the lead boy of the choir, Blaine himself. Of course at the time Kurt had only spoken to him a meager two times. The older boy simply smiled at Kurt and helped him to his feet. When Blaine looked down to see the magazine that Kurt had dropped, the latest issue of Vogue, and gave him a curious look. Kurt shrugged, saying he was really interested in fashion. Blaine gave him a dazzling smile and inquired after the interest. So Kurt, loving the idea of elaborating on the latest fashion, indulged him. After that, the boys became inseparable. Blaine had been there for Kurt every step of the way even when it hurt; Blaine was there to hold Kurt’s hand and vise-versa through the good times and the hardest of times.

‘Happy Birthday dear Finn’

Blaine’s birthday was exactly nine months ago. He and Kurt were in Blaine’s backyard while the Anderson’s were out of town. They were lying down in the grass picking out shapes in the clouds high above them. It was such a fond memory in Kurt’s mind, even though it was so tainted with pain and anguish. Mary, the Anderson’s black kitchen maid, came rushing out to the boys with a horrified expression on her face.

“Master Blaine, there is a letter for you.” Her voice was grim, laden with worry. Blaine, confused, sat up and took the envelope from the young girl. She was on the verge of tears Kurt noticed. Kurt watched as Blaine tore the envelope open and peered at the letter it held. The paper fell from his hand immediately as did the carefree expression on his face. Kurt rushed to pick up the paper and felt his world fall to pieces around him in an instant. In his hands was a letter from the American government saying that Blaine was being drafted into the US military. Kurt lifted his eyes to see Blaine’s trained on him. There were tears hanging on the edge of his eyes and all hope of this being a dream was ripped away when Blaine flung himself into Kurt’s arms. Beside them Mary was weeping into her elbow.

“We’ll write everyday Blaine, I promise you. You will come home. You will survive this. They probably won’t even send you out into the heavy war zones.” Kurt gasped through his own sobs. The older boy was shaking violently in his arms.

‘Happy Birthday to you’

Kurt couldn’t have been more wrong. After Blaine went through training, he was sent out to Australia to move Japanese forces back. Even though it pained Kurt every time he wrote to Blaine and received letters from him, Kurt wrote him every day. Sometimes, when Kurt didn’t know what to write or what to say, he would send pictures of their friends or of their town. Blaine didn’t care for Lima but Kurt knew that if it were him out there, he would want something to bring him back to this place, even if it were his imagination and a picture. Blaine wrote back when he could which was once a week or three times a month. He was forbidden to say anything about the war and out of fear of having his letters screened left his side of the conversations strictly questions about home, or how Kurt was doing.

As the months dragged on Kurt was at a loss of what to do with his days. Three more of his friends were drafted: Noah Puckerman, Sam Evans, and Artie Abrams. Noah, or Puck everyone else called him, was sent to fight against Japan in Alaska. Sam was fighting in Australia, he heard from Blaine. They were apparently in the same barracks and in their off time they would sing with the other men or play cards. Artie’s story was very sad indeed. Artie was drafted into the U.S. Navy and was stationed on a ship outside of Alaska. He had come home just three months after his enlistment. A German U-boat imploded the ship with a torpedo and sunk it like it was made of paper. Artie survived, but with a cost. A piece of shrapnel from the explosion lodged itself into his spine, rendering him paralyzed from the waist down. He was given an honorable discharge.

As time passed on Kurt started to realize how much Blaine really meant to him. The realization was heartbreaking and frightening at the same time. The loss of their daily interactions, the witty and in depth conversations they shared, and just the knowledge of the other man’s presence had stripped Kurt down to a hollow shell. No longer having the company of his best friend and the constant fear of Blaine’s probable death Kurt realized he was in love with the man and that losing him would be losing his light in the world. Blaine was the embodiment of hope, safety, and love. Kurt was in love with Blaine.

It was that simple, or rather that simple in his mind. He always knew that he was different. He was nineteen, a virgin in every sense of the word, and had never had a girlfriend. His friend Brittany took an interest in him when they attended high school but he never could find himself reciprocating those feelings. It all made sense to him now. Kurt never found an interest in the girls around him, nor did he find them attractive like other men did. He did, in fact find other men very appealing. Every now and then he would glance in places that left his face as red as a fresh apple. But never did Kurt believe he was what they called a homosexual. Society told him that it was a mental illness and it was wrong by nature, but Kurt knew that what he felt for Blaine was as natural and pure as the love he shared with his father.