As for him and Blaine, each day Kurt managed to learn something new about his husband. Favorite foods, colors, bands, songs, musicals – the list went on and on. The amount of things they had in common was staggering and Kurt often wondered how things might have been if he’d met Blaine earlier. Maybe they would have been friends – or even more. The best was when they found out they had a shared love for really terrible reality television.
He and Blaine had spent hours with bowls of popcorn, marathoning all of their favorite shows, making snarky comments and throwing pieces of popcorn at the screen. Kurt had never actually had a best friend before (he and Rachel were good friends and he and Mercedes had been really close sophomore year, until things had got out of control at McKinley and they had grown apart a little).

No one had ever understood him the way the Blaine did, so much so that he found himself telling Blaine things that he wouldn’t normally tell anyone else. Nothing big, but he knew that maybe one day he’d be able to tell Blaine anything and it wouldn’t change a thing between them.

The first deposit from the bank hit just as scheduled and Kurt nearly cried when he saw the figures in his bank account. He showed it to Blaine, who was staring at his own account information in shock. They’d gone out for dinner, just the two of them, to celebrate.

Kurt thought it might be awkward, the two of them a little dressed up and eating at Breadstix, but it wasn’t.
It was just like it always was between them.

“So what are you going to do first with your share?” Blaine asked as they were tucking into a large slice of cheesecake. Kurt loved the creamy dessert but tried not to get it too often. He’d been talked into it by Blaine, who offered to share the slice.

“I think I’m going to catch up on the bills that are late and then put the rest toward the balloon payment due on the shop. Next month’s stipend will cover that in full.”

“Good,” Blaine said, reaching over and squeezing Kurt’s free hand, where it lay on the table. Kurt squeezed back.

“What about you?” he wanted to know.

“I,” Blaine began, “am going to put a down payment on a place for us to live and stock it with furniture and groceries,” He laughed. “Actually, I was thinking about that. I have a list of places we should go check out, unless you want to rent sight unseen or from what pictures are on the websites.”

Kurt’s expression must have spoken for itself because Blaine laughed. “Okay, so why don’t we do this – we’ll take a train to New York tomorrow, stay over in a hotel and then check them out? We can see a few sights if there’s time and then come back on Sunday?”

“Really?” Kurt couldn’t believe he and Blaine were causally discussing hopping on a train to New York for the weekend. Sometimes he felt like he had to pinch himself so he could feel like he wasn’t dreaming.

“Sure,” Blaine replied. “I’ve never been, but you have.” Kurt recalled filling Blaine in on his and New Directions New York adventure from their trip to Nationals last year. “You can show me all the places you went and maybe we can sneak into the Gershwin.”

Kurt grinned. “I know a back window they don’t keep locked for some reason.”

“Great,” Blaine said, “It’s a date.”

Kurt felt his face flush as he stared at Blaine, pondering Blaine’s choice of words. Evidently Blaine realized what he’d said too, because his cheeks were a light pink also. Still, Blaine didn’t take the words back, and Kurt hummed happily as he licked the last of the cheesecake from his fork.

He was in such a good mood, he was pretty sure nothing could ruin it.

At least until they got home and Finn stopped them in the living room with, “Can we talk?”

*

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Kurt said, sitting down on the edge of his bed before dropping back to lie down. Blaine walked over and sat next to him.

“It seems a little extreme, don’t you think?” he asked. “Finn practically leaving her at the altar and running off to join the Army?”

“You don’t know Rachel,” Kurt replied. “She loves Finn, more than she loves performing, which is a sentence I never thought would come out of my mouth.” Kurt met Blaine’s gaze. “The only way she’ll get on that train is if we make her.”

“But to just spring it on her like that, especially when she thinks that they’re going to get married… I mean, she thinks she has him talked into eloping tomorrow.”

“Eloping worked for us,” Kurt pointed out with a shrug.

“We did make it look all kinds of romantic,” Blaine told him, smiling.

“Yes, the no-tell motel and Sesame Street reruns were especially swoon worthy,” Kurt teased, and Blaine chuckled.

“Only the best for my man,” he said, moving so he was lying down next to Kurt. As soon as the words slipped from his lips, Blaine wished he could take them back. Kurt was staring at him in surprise.

It was getting hard and harder for Blaine to fight off what he was feeling where Kurt was concerned. He never thought he’d find anyone like his husband, and yet there Kurt was. He couldn’t look away from Kurt, hazel eyes staring into blue ones.

Blaine felt himself leaning forward unconsciously, too caught up in the swirling emotions in Kurt’s gaze to realize how close he was. He chanced a glance at Kurt’s lips and then back to Kurt’s eyes, suddenly filled with a need to just kiss Kurt – their brief kiss at the wedding made him wonder often about doing it again.

Blaine did his best not to think about that though, because Kurt didn’t feel the same way and when their year together was up, Blaine knew he’d need to keep himself together or he’d fall apart. Yet here he was, less than an inch from pressing his lips to Kurt’s, and he couldn’t believe this was actually going to happen.

And then: “You did what?!”

Carole’s loud shriek rang out from downstairs. Blaine jerked backward in surprise and nearly fell off the bed.

“Well,” Kurt said after a moment. “Carole’s home.”

*

“Are you okay?” Kurt asked Rachel. She was sitting next to him on the train, her head on his shoulder as she sobbed her eyes out. The morning had been incredibly emotional for Rachel and Kurt had spent it wrapped up in calming her down (instead of worrying and replaying his and Blaine’s almost kiss from the night before, followed by their awkwardness at bedtime and their equally awkward wake up that morning).

Rachel hiccuped and nodded and then made a choking sound and shook her head. Kurt was glad the train was mostly empty. He knew it would get more crowded as they got closer to New York, but hopefully Rachel would have composed herself by then.

“He did it because he loves you, Rachel,” Kurt tried to comfort her, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t hear it.

“That’s not love,” Rachel managed. “That’s…”

“Rachel,” Blaine spoke up from the seat opposite them. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but this is a good thing.”

“You’re right,” Rachel muttered. “We don’t know each other very well.”

“I’m serious,” Blaine said. “I don’t agree with the way that Finn did this, just springing this on you like that.” He paused. “But it’s done and now you’ve got your whole future ahead of you.”

Rachel sat up straight and stared at Blaine. Kurt was kind of staring at him too. He’d never seen anyone with the ability to calm Rachel down when she was in the middle of her meltdowns.

“You’re Rachel Berry and you’re going to New York and NYADA and you’re going to take Broadway by storm one day,” Blaine told her. Rachel sniffed and blew her nose on the tissue she had clenched in her fist.

“You’re right,” she said after a long moment. “You are so right.” Rachel smiled. “I’m going to hug you now, okay?”

Blaine grinned as Rachel practically leapt across the aisle to hug him. Kurt couldn’t believe what he’d just witnessed. Blaine’s gaze met his over Rachel’s shoulder and Kurt couldn’t help but smile back.

*

The trip to New York was a whirlwind in Blaine’s opinion. It felt like they had no sooner disembarked at Grand Central Station and turned Rachel over to her fathers (who were waiting for them upon arrival), then they were heading back home to Ohio.

He and Kurt looked at multiple apartments before eventually deciding on the second one they looked at – a two bedroom on the Upper East Side in a building with a doorman. Kurt had fallen in love with it instantly, but stated that they’d needed to see them all before making a final decision. They’d gone back two hours later to sign the paperwork.

Then it was on to sight-seeing (Times Square, the Gershwin Theater, Central Park) before collapsing into a stupor in their hotel room (which Carole had willingly booked for them) and sleeping late the next day. Breakfast was room service as they tried to recover from the previous day before having to catch the train home. They took tons of pictures and texted a bunch to Carole.

They met up with Rachel and her fathers for a late lunch before heading to the train station. Blaine didn’t ever think he’d laughed so much in his life. Before they left, both Rachel’s parents (now known as Hiram and Leroy, at their insistence) had even slipped them an envelope as a belated wedding/housewarming present. Kurt had been shocked and embarrassed but he’d taken it with a quiet thanks.

Rachel was going back to Ohio with her parents so Kurt and Blaine didn’t have to worry about her on the return trip. Blaine was grateful for that – not that Rachel didn’t seem like a lovely girl, if high-strung, but he kind of wanted Kurt all to himself after the amazing weekend they’d had together.

They spent the train ride reading the letter from Rachel’s parents, which accompanied a check for five hundred dollars. The letter was kind and thoughtful, full of tips about being gay and being married, though Kurt had stopped reading aloud when he got to the section on sex advice, his face burning red. Blaine decided he’d find the letter after they got home and see what it said – it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.

It was getting so Blaine couldn’t even deny to himself what he was feeling anymore. He just didn’t know what to do about it. He couldn’t act on what he was feeling – what if he ruined the good thing that he and Kurt had going? The almost kiss from the other burned in his mind and found himself tempted to try again.

He just wished he knew what Kurt was thinking. Kurt hadn’t moved away from him the other night, after all, which is something that gave Blaine hope.

If only he could be sure.

“You okay?” Kurt asked with a soft smile. Blaine reached over and took his hand, holding tightly.

“I’m fine,” Blaine answered, forcing a smile to his lips. Maybe he’d try again soon.

Maybe.