Blaine made a lot of changes over the following weeks. He started going to a therapy group for bullied teenagers on top of his one-on-one sessions. He enrolled in yoga with Kurt. He went through a long process to make sure he could never again own a gun. "You used to own a gun?" Kurt asked, shocked. After a look from Blaine, he never brought it up again.

Together they slowly went through the file, taking each page out of the bin and returning them to the manila envelope. Sometimes Blaine would want to go over several in one night and they would sing or dance together after. Sometimes Kurt wouldn't even see one and they'd just lie on the bed cuddling till Blaine calmed down. Sometimes Kurt would pull Blaine in close and stroke his hair and sometimes he would curl against Blaine's chest and listen to his heartbeat.

After the second time, they tried to get into the habit of reading the files early and baking cookies or watching old movies afterwards. That was Kurt's idea, and it worked for Blaine. Spending time having fun together made it more of a date and less of a dreaded weekly event like his therapy still was. It also gave Finn an opportunity to come out of his room and try to be cordial to Blaine. However, it did have the side-effect of making their nights run late. More than once, Burt had to come in while Kurt was giggling hysterically and Blaine was crooning some sappy song to him, and tell Blaine it was time to head home.

            "It's been awhile," Burt said, one night after Blaine was in his car, safely driving away.

            "I know, we were past curfew again, but you can't just cut off Judy Garland in the middle of-"

            "No, I mean it's been a long time since you opened up and laughed like that."

            Kurt realized his face was still lit up and tried to calm down his features. "He makes me happy."

            "I know." He pulled Kurt in and hugged him by the shoulders. "It's been obvious."

During those weeks Kurt learned that Blaine had been a model student, but his grades had crashed around the same time he came out and they didn't pick back up again until he'd been at Dalton for several months. He learned about the boxing tournaments Blaine had competed in over the last year, and the few he won. He learned about the various therapies, medications, councilors, and groups Blaine had gone through. He read the newspaper article from the day after Blaine had been hurt while Blaine leaned against his shoulder. Every time he saw the date printed on one of the reports or articles his heart dropped. He stroked Blaine's back while he listen about Blaine's family and what they'd tried to do to help and how they'd failed. The walls Blaine had built were thick, but messy and recent. Kurt often wondered if it had happened him if he'd have even made it. Slowly they depleted the crumpled files, finishing the day before prom.

As he slipped the last paper into the file and handed it to Blaine, Kurt asked, "What are you going to do with it?"

"Burn it," Blaine answered immediately. After a moment of consideration he said, "Keep it. I'll just... I'll keep it. As a reminder."

Kurt got up off the bed, searched through one of his drawers and pulled out a long yellow ribbon.

"What's that?"

Kurt took the file from Blaine and very carefully packaged the file with the ribbon and tied a perfect bow just to the upper right of center, then he handed it back to Blaine. "So it won't escape again, until you want it to."

Blaine took him by the hand, pulled him onto his lap, and kissed him.

            When the day of the dance finally rolled around, Kurt spent most of the early morning on the phone with Rachel trying to explain to her that Jesse St James was not the lesser of two evils and that it's called ‘evil' because there's not a lesser option. Still, he was glad she had turned down all three of Finn's attempts to win her back and that Finn would be sitting alone in his room playing video games and moping instead of going to the dance. Also, the fact that Rachel had accepted Kurt's choices for her dress and hairstyle certainly didn't make the day any worse.

Kurt was trying to convince his hair to fluff the right way before he put the finishing touches on his ensemble when Blaine arrived at the door.

Burt answered it and smiled. Blaine was wearing a trim suit and holding a Boutonniere that matched the one pinned to his jacket. Burt welcomed him in and gave him a hug as he crossed the threshold.

            "You look good, kid."

            "Thank you," Blaine smiled. "Is Kurt--?"

            Burt shook his head, "Haven't seen him in three hours, so you've probably got some time to kill. The game's on, might as well wait on the couch for him." He called up the stairs that Blaine was there and got an exasperated, "I'll be down in a minute!" back. He then led the way into the living room, turned up the volume on the game and sat down in the big chair. Blaine carefully sat on the couch and took a few deep breaths.

            Burt looked over at him. "Calm down. Kurt's crazy about you."

            Blaine laughed and looked away, shyly. "Ditto" seemed like an inappropriate response given the situation, so he quickly changed the subject to the game.

After a heated discussion about the teams involved, Burt asked, "So how's the, ah, how's the yoga with Kurt going?"

Blaine perked up. "Great! It's been really relaxing. It was a great idea." Not to mention how amazing the outfits Kurt wore for it were. Some days he went just to see what amazingly tight, fitted clothes his boyfriend would have on.

"Are you two the only boys in the class?"

"Surprisingly, no. One of the University football coaches requires his team to take yoga over the summer for flexibility and to keep their muscles strong, so there are several other guys there."

Burt nodded and hummed, genuinely impressed. "And they don't give you any trouble?"

"No, sir," Blaine smiled. Burt smiled back.

"Hey, you can knock off the sir, bit." He quickly amended that, "After you bring Kurt safely back home from his first prom."

Blaine grinned and laughed to himself. "Okay."

            When Kurt came down about forty five minutes later, he announced his presence, then stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Blaine stood, and for a moment they just stared at each other.

"You look amazing," Blaine said, pinning the boutonniere to Kurt's jacket and leaning in to kiss him while Burt went to find the camera. He then held Kurt out at arm's length and looked carefully at his outfit. "It's not too much?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Trust me," he said, squeezing Blaine's hand as Burt came back into the room. "This is the toned-down version."

"A'right, kids. Lean in like you love each other. I'm framing the worst shot," Burt said, holding up the camera and snapping the surprised expression on both of their faces as they turned around.

Kurt protested and quickly took over direction of the photoshoot, smoothing out Blaine's jacket and futzing with his own hair, then dictating different angles and poses. Blaine just smiled and went along with whatever Kurt wanted. He and Burt shared a few looks as the minutes dragged on closer to an hour,  

            They finally left the house, sharing a few more short kisses and words of encouragement in the car-which Blaine had thoroughly cleaned for the occasion. When they pulled up to the school, prom had already begun, you could hear the music from all the way out in the parking lot. They stared at each other for a moment before working up the courage to go in.

            "Are you sure?"

            Blaine smiled, leaned over and kissed him. "I'm positive. I couldn't possibly drag you away from it now, anyway. Not when you look so beautiful."

            "This look did take all day to achieve," Kurt smirked.

            "Then we'd better go show you off."

            "Do I have to open my own door, or--?"

            Blaine burst into giggles and made to get out of the car, "No, a proper gentleman always does that for the lady." Kurt gently punched him in the arm as Blaine slid out the car, but he waited for Blaine to walk around it to open his door and extend his hand for him.

            "Well, this lady thinks the gentleman is going to be mighty surprised when he finds out what's underneath her skirt," Kurt said as he stepped primly out of the car. Blaine laughed again and hung his head. He took a breath then slipped his hand around Kurt's waist.

            "I'm joking. I'm sorry." He sighed happily, "Kurt, you're so handsome. I am the luckiest guy in Ohio to be going to this dance with the most beautiful, most incredible man I've ever met."

            Kurt grinned and leaned into Blaine. "Well, I hope he knows you're spoken for, because I watched multiple ninja movies to train for this and am prepared to fight off anyone who tries to take you away from me."

            Blaine pressed Kurt back against the car and kissed him again gently. He looked up at Kurt through his lashes. "Don't worry; he knows exactly who my heart belongs to."

            Kurt's eyelashes fluttered, he smiled and squeezed Blaine's arm. "Then let's go in."

            Although the Glee club was set to perform the music for the dance, Kurt wasn't scheduled to sing till later in the evening, which was good because once they got inside Blaine tensed noticeably even though he was outwardly smiling. They spent the first several songs standing at the back of the room with Kurt commenting and cracking jokes, occasionally waving at his friends.

            "This is nice," Blaine said after a rousing performance of Rebecca Black's "Friday."

            "No, I think this is proof that that song cannot be improved," Kurt replied, sighing heavily. "Literally nothing can be done for it."

            "No, I mean," Blaine tugged on the edge of Kurt's sleeve then let go. Kurt looked over at him and smiled warmly. Blaine returned the smile. Half the nerves in his body were telling him to lean in and kiss his gorgeous boyfriend and maybe undo that bowtie and slip his fingers under the collar, but the other half were panicking that any show of affection would be a death warrant for both of them, and it was almost unbearable... But Kurt's smile was so warm and he just looked so amazing. "This is nice," he said again, "Being here with you. I'm glad you asked me."

            Kurt grinned and glanced away momentarily. "I wouldn't have asked anyone else," he said softly.

            "Thank you."

            Kurt's response was cut off by Tina running up. She was grinning and wrapped her arms around his neck. Mike followed and gave Blaine a shoulder hug and told him it was good to see him. The four stood to talk for a while before Tina dragged Mike off again to dance with her again.

The rest of the evening was on-again-off-again socializing with the variously members of New Directions, and stolen glances and nudges the rest of the time. Everyone was friendly and it didn't take long for Blaine to mostly feel at ease. Puck even offered a security detail lead by himself and one Lauren Zizes, who he had asked to prom, to everyone's surprise.

            Finally it was Kurt's turn to take the stage, and he left Blaine at a table with many of the group's coats and purses. He squeezed Blaine's hand and smiled at him before walking around the outside of the dance floor and onto the stage. He accepted the microphone from Rachel who had just finished her emotional performance of Kelly Clarkson's "Don't Let Me Stop You." As she handed off the microphone she murmured a "Go get ‘em!" before climbing down to an awaiting Jesse.

            Kurt placed the microphone back into the stand and located Blaine across the room, he closed his eyes as the lights dimmed, and he started off the song.

            "At last..." he held out the long vowel, and the band picked up after him. The crowd started swaying and he gripped the microphone with both hands. "My love has come along."

            Blaine sat up straight in the back of the room. He placed both hands on his lips and blew Kurt a kiss. Kurt smiled and caught it.

            "My lonely days are over, and life is like a song..."

            Rachel was swaying with Jesse, but watching Kurt on stage and they winked at each other. Mercedes blew him a kiss from where she was dancing with Sam. Kurt smiled back at her, then announced, "This is for all the couples in the room!" In the back, Puck and Zizes sat down next to Blaine and Puck clapped him on the shoulder.

            "At last! The skies above are blue. My heart was wrapped up in clover." He swayed and closed his eyes, opening them and looking straight back at Blaine for the next line, "The night I looked at you."

            There was a catcall that sounded distinctly like Artie. Blaine was grinning.

            "I found a dream that I could speak to. A dream that I can call my own." He took the microphone out of the stand, but continued to hold onto it while he moved to stand beside it. "I found a thrill to press my cheek to," he let go of the stand and pressed his hand to his cheek and then held it out in Blaine's direction over the crowd of swaying couples. "A thrill that I have never known!"

            There were a few more catcalls. In the back Puck was trying to encourage Blaine to stand up. Kurt put the microphone back into the stand.

            "You smile, Oh! and then the spell was cast. And here we are in heaven," Blaine's full attention was back on Kurt, "For you are mine..."

            The whole room was silent for a split second and Kurt could swear he was in a musical because for an entire breath it was like nothing else existed and Blaine being across a room full of people was no distance at all. In that moment, Kurt could have sworn he heard Blaine's heartbeat. He took a deep breath and let rip the last line.

            "At last!"

            The applause and cheers rang up before he finished the last note, then he curtseyed and tried to walk and not skip off the stage after returning the microphone to its stand.

            Blaine was on his feet, trying not to give in to Puck's words of encouragement to run across the room to Kurt. He'd stay firmly rooted. He'd wait until Kurt got back to the table then he'd give him an affectionate handshake. He would not scoop Kurt up into his arms and twirl him around like he wanted to, even though his heart was beating with love and adrenaline. Maybe it was the evening, or maybe it was just that Kurt's voice had that affect on him, but he felt like he could almost do anything after a ballad like that.

But there were so many eyes in the room...

            When Kurt reached them, grinning smugly, Blaine grabbed both his hands and whispered, "I love you."

            Kurt smiled and repeated the sentiment just before Puck called Blaine a wuss, pushed him out of the way and hugged Kurt properly. Kurt laughed and patted Puck on the back, wincing slightly. Zizes, who had been sitting opposite the boys during the song told them that they were all a bunch of wusses. She stood swiftly and kissed Blaine square on the mouth before he could raise more than his eyebrows. Kurt's face went white.

"Ah-I-Wha--?! That's my boyfriend!" Kurt protested, a little shriller than he'd meant to.

Puck finally remembered how to operate his dropped jaw and pointed incredulously at Blaine, "That's his boyfriend!" he reiterated.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but I, and every other girl in this room have been waiting to mack out with him all evening. God damn! This boy!" She patted Blaine's cheek, "Now you can thank me. I just gave you two some incentive to get your asses in gear. Fer Christ's sake! Go take over a bathroom stall and git yer snog on. Me an' my man ‘got to get ourselves crowned royalty."

            She dragged Puck off by his shirt collar before he could formulate further thoughts. After a moment of stunned, but heavy breathing, Kurt turned back to Blaine who had just regained control of his faculties.

Blaine closed his mouth, and began to blink in surprise. He slowly turned to face Kurt. "That was quite a kiss."

            Kurt set his jaw straight, pursed his lips and said, "Please follow me to the hallway."

            Blaine did as he was told. He followed Kurt out the gym door and down the hall. As soon as they'd turned the corner, out of sight of anyone around, Kurt pulled him by his lapels and kissed him hard on the lips. He slung his arms around Blaine's shoulders and pulled him in closer.

After a few seconds he pulled away, panting, then landed three more short kisses on Blaine's lips. "Okay, we can go back in," he announced.

            It took Blaine until Kurt had let him go and began to straighten his own jacket to respond. "Are you being possessive?" he asked slyly, his eyelashes fluttering open.

            Kurt leaned in. His voice was low and husky, "My ninja training did not account for Lauren Zizes." Blaine laughed, and Kurt countered, "She's on the wrestling team!"

            Blaine put his hands on Kurt's hips and pulled them closer, humming. "Do we have to go back inside?"

            Kurt raised his eyebrows, "Do you want to leave?"

            After a long moment, filled with another long kiss, Blaine decided, "No," then leaned in and kissed him again. "I want to dance with you."

            A grin spread rapidly over Kurt's face and cumulated in short giggles. He kissed Blaine's nose, then his cheek, then hugged him. "My brave boyfriend," he whispered, then lead the way back toward the gym.

            They re-entered the prom before it could become too obvious why they'd left and just in time to see the crowning of royalty. Puck had just been announced Prom King and was raising up his hands like he'd expected it to happen all along. He was crowned and punched the air with a shout. Kurt dragged Blaine into the crowd around the stage, close to where Rachel was standing, and clapped for Puck.

Next, the Prom Queen was announced. Principal Figgins took a very long pause to examine the card in his hands before announcing "Miss Quinn Fabray!" to the shock of the audience.

Quinn had smartly campaigned alone and, despite some weird smear tactics waged by both Santana and Lauren, she still really was the most popular girl in the school. She and Lauren shared a long, uncomfortable look that clearly made Puck nervous, but after a moment Lauren shrugged, smiled, and Quinn was crowned without incident. She and Puck took the dance floor to Mercedes and Santana singing ABBA's "Dancing Queen."

About halfway through the song, Puck handed Quinn off to a rather attractive track star, who danced with her for the remainder of the evening, and he held out a hand to Lauren. He placed his crown on her head, and they danced the rest of the song together. Kurt clapped enthusiastically with everyone else, and nudged Blaine, who smiled back

After that, Santana was dancing with Brittany and Blaine braved three dances in a row with Kurt, which was two more than Kurt had expected. He leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder during Mercedes's final number, and even though Blaine's heartbeat sped up slightly, it felt right. Slow-dancing at his prom with Blaine really did make it feel like everything he'd ever wanted was falling into place.

Before the evening ended, Rachel and Jesse had sung an a cappella version of "Rolling in the Deep," Kurt and Tina had done a Sonny and Cher duet, and Blaine had been called up to take over a number Finn was meant to sing. He had the entire crowd dancing and swooning at the front of the stage before he was through. Kurt grinned at him from the back. It didn't matter where he was or how he was feeling: there was no shyness to Blaine when he was on stage.

             "You should run for Prom King next year," Blaine joked as they shared another long kiss after climbing back into the car afterwards.

            Kurt rolled his eyes. "Oh god no. Something would happen; it would end up like Carrie, or worse. Besides, I'm not exactly Prom King material. And who would I run with, Mister Dalton Academy? And what would I wear?"

            Blaine kissed him again, cutting him off and running his fingers through Kurt's hair. "Thank you for taking me."

            "That was the best night of my life-I wouldn't have wanted you to miss it."

            "I'm glad I didn't. Honestly I was expecting something to happen, but nothing did."

            "Nope. No incidents. It was a bully-free environment." To emphasize the point, he power-locked the car doors.

            Blaine smiled. "Bully free..."

            Kurt kissed him again, then put on his seatbelt. "Well, except for if you count Lauren."

            Blaine laughed, "I don't know if you could call that bullying. If I turn out Bi, I now know who to call."

            "Please don't."

            "Hm?"

            Kurt fidgeted, "Start liking girls, I mean. Please," his voice got really soft, and he folded both hands in his lap. "I just...I like my chances better with you... being gay."

            Blaine reached over and squeezed Kurt's knee and kissed him passionately, leaning over the console. Then he sat back in his seat, buckled his seatbelt and turned on the car. "I am. One hundred percent. And I'm in love with you."

            Kurt nodded and smiled. "Good," he murmured, "I feel the same."

            "Well then let's get out of here and find a quiet place where we can make out for a few minutes before I have to take you home."

Kurt laughed and agreed, then gasped. "Oh yeah! I almost forgot; I heard an interesting rumor that Finn plans to quit the Glee club."

            Blaine paused, "Really?"

            Kurt shrugged. "That's what Puck said. Finn's decided to quit and focus on sports again."

            "Is... is he okay? Not depressed or anything?"

            "I don't know. Normally I'd be breaking down his door and dragging him back in, telling him how great he is but... Is it bad if I don't feel like it? I mean, I don't want to ask him to come back. I don't want to encourage him. For the first time I honestly think we don't actually need him. I just... I feel like I put so much hope in him and now I'm disillusioned. He tried to drag you away from me. Why should I keep pretending he's better than he is? Is that selfish?"

            Blaine released the break and started backing the car out of the parking space. "I don't think so. I think Finn's going to run his own life, and you can respect it, but he shouldn't be allowed to run the rest of your lives too. I mean, Rachel's really always been the leader, hasn't she? I got the impression that even before any of you could stand her, she was still the one who kept everything together. And besides, they have you."

            Kurt leaned over and kissed Blaine's shoulder.

            About two weeks later, the McKinley high school New Directions were in New York City running rampant and Kurt's outlook on his future was changing. He instantly loved New York, and he loved that in being there, for the first time since Finn had dumped her, the old Rachel was back. She was excited and focused without the distraction of Finn, who hadn't even come to the choir room to say goodbye, and within the first hour off the plane, she'd announced her intention to live in New York someday. It didn't take Kurt more than a second thought to decide that he was going to live there too.

            "...Would you move here with me?" he asked Blaine on the phone the night before the competition. "Start a whole new life after high school...in New York?"

            "Absolutely," Blaine replied, without hesitation.

            Kurt breathed deeply. They had just finished a three hour rehearsal to polish the performance. The rest of the team had crowded into the girl's room and Kurt had taken the opportunity to brave the boy's room and call Blaine.

            "You will?"

            "Kurt, I would love to! I mean, right now I feel like I would follow you anywhere, but New York? There's no better place to perform, right?"

            Kurt hugged himself. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It's going to be great!..."

            For the competition, the New Directions had a three song set that opened with Kurt and Rachel breaking out the Wicked and performing a duet of "For Good," crossing the stage to meet each other and holding hands by the end of the number. The number was complimented by a classical ballroom dance performed by Brittany and Mike that was absolutely beautiful. After the song Rachel whispered urgently in his ear, "What if Idina Menzel saw us?" and he squeezed her hand and winked at her. It didn't matter who was there; they were in New York, performing. That was the biggest step his life had ever taken. It could only get better.

"For Good" was followed by Mercedes taking away everyone's breath with "I Am Changing" from Dreamgirls. Then, for their closing number the group performed an original song that they had worked diligently on during the week leading up to the competition. It was called "Light Up the World," and was performed with a complicated and energetic dance routines, and featured everyone's voices, especially Puck's, since he got to take over all the parts written for Finn.

Even the judges were on their feet dancing and the overall performance just barely slipped them into the top 10 slot, which-for a small choir from the middle of nowhere-was the greatest thing that had happened to any of them.

Kurt called Blaine immediately after.

"Blaine?!"

"...Kurt?"

"We made the top ten!"

Kurt was laughing so hard and jumping up and down and almost missed Blaine's whoop and his enthusiastic, "Oh my god! Congratulations!"

"I know it's not quite a win, but-"

Blaine scoffed, "Are you kidding? Top ten out of every other Glee club in the nation? That's pretty much a win! I'm so proud of you!"

Kurt just squealed and bounced for another moment, then, "I'm going to see you tomorrow, right? When I get home?"

"You couldn't keep me away. And hey, when you get back I have a surprise for you, okay?"

            "For moi?"

            "For my big winner," Blaine cooed. "I promise you'll love it."

            "I know I will."

That night the New Directions practically trashed their hotel rooms in celebration.

            After he arrived home in Ohio, which was considerably flatter and more quaint than he'd remembered, he followed Blaine's cryptic text message directions exactly. He started from his own house where Burt was clearly in on something, and wound up outside McKinley high staring up the steps at an ocean of blue blazers and New Directions members. His friends hopped down the steps to meet him, and he hugged them back, but he kept his eyes fixed on Blaine.

            "I know this is a bit early, but happy birthday, Kurt," he said, then the Warblers started off with the first note of the song.

            "It's not unusual to be loved by anyone," Blaine shook his hips. "It's not unusual to have fun with anyone. But when I see you hanging around with anyone, it's not unusual to see me cry." Here the music built differently from the Tom Jone's number into a distinct, "Oh!"

Kurt's hands were on his face and he was laughing before Blaine even started singing the next line. Deep down he was torn between wishing it wasn't a weekend so the entire school could have seen him being serenaded, and being glad it was just the Warblers and his closest friends. It might have been the jetlag still lingering, or it might have been that Blaine just knew exactly how to move that body of his, but Kurt had never been more turned on.

A mash-up. A mash-up for his birthday gift.

"I think I love you!" there were some cheers from the New Directions, who were mostly still crowded around Kurt. "I think I love you, so what am I so afraid of? I'm afraid that I'm not sure of, a love there is no cure for."Blaine skipped down so he was standing one step above Kurt and held out his hand. "I think I love you, isn't that was life is made of?" his voice rose as he tugged Kurt toward him, "And if you should ever wanna be loved by anyone, it's not unusual-it happens every day. No matter what they say. Oh, I think I love you!"

Kurt's head was spinning with the excitement and his body was spinning straight into Blaine's arms. He had never been given anything as wonderful as this in his life. He laughed aloud.

"Love will never do, what you want it to. Why can't this crazy love be mine? I think I love you!"A few of the band members from New Directions had shown up with portable equipment and joined in. Rachel's phone was out and she had pressed Record, biting her lip and squealing with joy for him. Kurt felt his eyes welling up.

"Believe me, you really don't have to worry, I only wanna make you happy. And if you say, hey, go away, I will, but I think that better still, it's not unusual to find out I'm in love with you! Oh whoa whoa!... I think I love you!"

Kurt's lips were smashed against Blaine's cheek as soon as the song was over and Blaine immediately dipped him around with a flourish. Everyone whooped and cheered and there was a choreographed "Happy Birthday, Kurt!" by the Warblers who were clapping and descending the steps.

"You made me a mash-up!" Kurt whispered to Blaine, holding his face with both hands once he'd been righted.

"I made you a mash-up," Blaine repeated, breathless.

Kurt leaned forward and kissed him again, this time on the lips, then he flung his arms around Blaine's neck and held him tightly. In Blaine's ear he whispered, "I don't think you have a choice anymore; I think I'm keeping you."

Blaine giggled and swung him around in his arms, "Yes please."

"Awww!" Puck cooed, "Hugs all around!"

There was hardly time to brace themselves before the two were being encompassed by their friends. Kurt pressed his nose against Blaine's neck and breathed deeply. There was no way to deny it: this had been the best year of his life.

The End