Kurt couldn't sit still. He packed, unpacked, and repacked his bag about fifteen times. Then he dressed, and redressed. He had long since made dinner and packed it in the freezer. He told Dave four times that it needed to be reheated in the glass casserole dish at 350 degrees for thirty minutes so he needed to put it in right at six o'clock. He made the beds, folded the laundry, cleaned the toilets, vacuumed the rooms, and did anything he could manage to keep busy.

Dave noticed it all. He watched Kurt start folding his third pile of laundry. Dave came up beside him, grabbed a towel, and started to help.

"You know," Dave said, smiling bitterly, "you don't need to clean the whole house. You're going to his hotel room. He's not coming here."

"I know," Kurt said off-handedly. "I just don't want to leave you in the lurch with a dirty house. You know things always run better with those four when you don't have to worry about the chores."

"Kurt, you polished the doorknobs."

"Not polished," Kurt corrected. "Sanitized. You know how Eva licks everything."

Dave sighed as he picked up another towel.

"You're nervous," Dave observed. "The Kurt I know doesn't get nervous...You like him." Kurt didn't acknowledge Dave's comment. They continued in silence. What was Kurt supposed to say? Yes, he liked Blaine, but it was more than that. Being with Blaine that amazing night at his house, he had felt a connection. It was stars, fireworks, electric shocks, everything he had ever dreamed.

It's what he'd always wanted...but he knew he could never have it. It had taken a few weeks of crying himself to sleep, but when he started his life with Dave and the kids he knew in his heart that in order for this family to work he would have to live his life with Dave.

Dave must have realized the same thing, because they never talked about it, never even entertained the possibility of them finding love somewhere else.

This family was important to him. Another relationship outside of this family was in impossibility.

Besides, Kurt didn't know how Blaine felt...not really. What if he was jumping the gun? After his two weeks was up, what would Blaine decide to do? How would super star Blaine Anderson fit into this dysfunctional group of misfits even if he did like Kurt that way? There were too many unanswered questions. They were just too different.

Kurt looked over at Dave, putting his folded towel onto the pile and grabbing another, a pensive look on his face. Kurt knew Dave loved him. He knew that a relationship with Kurt was one of Dave's big dreams. Dave had been nothing if not loving and supportive, so why couldn't Dave have what he wanted...even if it meant sacrificing what Kurt wanted?

What Kurt felt for Blaine was becoming so strong, he didn't have words for it yet. And it was all happening so fast. How was he going to admit that to Dave if he couldn't admit it to himself?

Kurt's iPhone chirped, and he smiled. Dave watched as Kurt pulled it from his pocket and looked at the message on the screen.

'Are you ready, gorgeous?'

Kurt bit his lip and chuckled. Gorgeous?

Kurt was in trouble. He was definitely going to fall in love with his man. This man who was paying him. This man he'd eventually have to let go.

Dave leaned over and pecked Kurt on the cheek.

"You should go, babe." Dave picked up another towel. "I'll finish here."

"Now, you guys are going to be okay, right? I mean, I'll only be in Carlsbad if you need me...for anything...I have my phone..."

"I know, Kurt," Dave said a bit too tensely, and Kurt took a step back. Dave looked down and blew out a frustrated breath. He counted to five in his head to keep the tears in his eyes from falling. Then he looked back at Kurt with a small smile. "Kurt, we'll be fine. You're going to be late."

Kurt's smile returned slowly, cautiously.

Dave melted. He wanted to see Kurt happy, but he had hoped it wouldn't hurt this much. Dave put down the towel he was folding, spun Kurt around, and patted him affectionately on the butt.

"Go, Kurt. The faster you leave, the sooner you come home."

Kurt grabbed his gear bag and his overnight bag and headed out.


Kurt had no luck with finding hotels. Of course, when Blaine said he had rented a bungalow, Kurt never imagined it was actually a cozy two-room house right on the beach.

"Oh my goodness," Kurt said, putting down his bag and looking around the living room. Kurt wondered for a moment if Blaine had chosen the house for this room alone. It was a living room, but also the bedroom, and the bed took up most of the space. A compact kitchenette with a refrigerator, oven and sink made up the left portion of the house, and big glass doors on the opposite side faced the beach.  "This place is amazing!" Blaine smiled as he watched Kurt go straight for the enclosed patio. "You rented a room with an ocean view? On a private beach?"

"Yeah." Blaine put his hands in his pockets. He looked down, sheepishly, proud that Kurt was so happy with the room.

"God, I envy you." Kurt breathed in the air. "I mean, I know Dave and I live out here, but I would love to wake up to the sound of the ocean outside my window." Kurt closed his eyes and inhaled again deeply, a look so serene on Kurt's face it almost stopped Blaine's heart.

Blaine came up behind Kurt and put his arms around Kurt's waist. "I do have you for two weeks. I know I can't have you during the day, but that's still two weeks of waking up to this whenever you want."

Kurt sighed. The sun hung low in the sky, preparing to set. The crashing of the waves filled the air with its ceaseless rhythm. A warm breeze of the water surrounded them. Blaine's strong arms wrapped around Kurt's waist.

'This is perfect,' Kurt thought.

Kurt didn't want to disturb the peace. He would have fought tooth and nail to stop time and stay just as they were, but there were so many unanswered questions, and if he was going to get his heartbroken, he might as well get it over with.

"I need to know something."

Kurt turned around in Blaine's arms.

"Why are you doing this?" Kurt looked into Blaine's honey colored eyes. "Why do you want to spend this time with me?"

Blaine was taken back. He knew that Kurt would probably ask this question. He just didn't think he would ask it so soon.

Kurt's eyes searched Blaine's face.

"If you're becoming some kind of BDSM addict, then let me know," Kurt joked. "I know of a good support group you can go to."

Blaine chuckled.

"I have a confession to make." Blaine took Kurt's hand in his, running his fingers along Kurt's knuckles as he chose his words. "I didn't just come down here for a vacation...and I don't want you to think that I'm just here to be dominated." Blaine cleared his throat. He wanted to tell Kurt everything that was in his heart, all the things he had started to realize, but he was afraid of scaring Kurt off.

He told Kurt as much of the truth as he could.

"I want to get to know you. I want to spend time with you. Like I said before, you fascinate me."

Both men were silent, standing in each other's arms, both wanting to move forward, neither knowing which way to go.

"Well," Kurt stepped back from Blaine's embrace, "why don't we at least get the...uh...unpleasantries out of the way, and see where we go from there."

Blaine looked at Kurt, confused, until realization dawned.

"Oh, yes. Come on inside and we'll do that."

Blaine walked over to his suitcase while Kurt closed the patio door.

"I was going to give you cash like last time," Blaine said, trying to ease the tension with conversation, "but I didn't really want to carry so much, so is it okay if I write you a check?"

"Sure." Kurt tried to sound professional but breezy at the same time, when in his head he was cursing life. "I'm sure you're good for it."

'The man of my dreams is paying me to spend time with him. I am a prostitute.'

Blaine finished signing his name and handed Kurt the check. It had a guitar and music notes on it. Then Kurt took a look at the amount.

'Wow,' he thought, trying not to look too shocked. 'Is that really what fourteen days of my life is worth?'

"I hope you don't get insulted," Blaine said, "but I gave you a little extra, seeing as I am taking you away from your family. I don't like you being inconvenienced."

"No." Kurt could barely form words. He had never seen a check this large with his name on it before.

"Um, I have to admit, this is a little awkward." Kurt folded the check and put it in his pocket. "I've never been rented... for two weeks. In fact, I've never spent more than two hours with a client, and you have me for the whole evening. How do you...I mean...what do you..."

Blaine thought that Kurt stumbling over his words was adorable.

"I have an idea." Blaine went to the tiny refrigerator and grabbed out a bottle of red wine. He grabbed two glasses off the island. "Why don't we start with a walk down by the water?"

Kurt sighed in relief and nodded. He followed Blaine out the door, grabbing a large throw off of the bed, and walked down the beach toward the water. Kurt took a glass from Blaine, and handed him an end of the blanket. They wrapped the blanket around themselves tight, snuggling close as they sat on the damp sand. Blaine shivered as he poured the wine, trying hard to hold tight to his blanket end and his glass, spilling some wine onto the sand.

They giggled as they shivered in the cool ocean air, sitting impossibly close and looking out at the dark water churning in front of them. Blaine could barely believe it. Here he was with his angel, sitting under a blanket by the sea, drinking wine and simply existing. He could see himself doing this today...tomorrow...in fifty years.

"Tell me something about yourself that I don't already know."

Blaine blinked and turned to look at Kurt who kept his eyes trained on the water.

"Ah, I get to go first this time." Blaine smirked. "Let's see."

He didn't have to think. There was a truth on his tongue just itching to get out.

"I don't like having my life planned out for me."

Kurt turned to look at Blaine. That wasn't quite what he expected.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"It seems like I've been on Sing forever." Blaine absently picked at a loose string in the fabric. "I mean, I was a junior in high school when I got the part."

Kurt let out a bark of laughter.

"What?"

"Nothing," Kurt smirked. "It's just...I was a sophmore. You're a year older than me."

Blaine frowned.

"Shut up!" he whined playfully.

"No, no. I'm sorry." Kurt stifled another laugh. "Please, continue."

"Okay," Blaine pouted, and Kurt grinned. "Well, we were only supposed to be on the show till our characters graduated high school. And then they went to college. I was completely prepared to call it quits after my character asked his boyfriend to marry him..."

"Loved that, by the way."

"Yes, yes," Blaine said. "Everyone did. But now..."

"I know," Kurt agreed. "You guys are going to turn into Friends."

"I know, right?" Blaine looked disgusted. "I'm 25 years old. I want to do something else with my life now. But..."

"But..." Kurt finished his glass of wine. He put it down carefully in the sand. He wrapped his free arm around Blaine's waist and leaned in. Blaine sighed at Kurt's touch, firm but gentle against his side, fingers absentmindedly dancing beneath the fabric of Blaine's sweater, teasing his skin.

"I don't know what to do." Blaine tilted his head to rub his cheek against Kurt's soft hair, blown a little wild by the ocean breeze. "I mean, what am I without the show? If I leave, will people forget about me? Will I be just another aging one hit wonder who turns into a wannabe?"

Blaine finished his wine in one gulp, lay his glass in the sand, and wrapped an arm around Kurt, tilting his body slightly so that he could see his beautiful lithe form huddled beneath the blanket.

"I'm afraid there's nothing much to me more than this."

Kurt looked up at him, his nose and cheeks red from the cool night air, his eyes shining.

"You know that's not true, right?" Kurt climbed over Blaine's legs and knelt between them. Blaine took both ends of the blanket and wrapped it around them.

"Blaine." Kurt settled his hands on Blaine's knees, and for a moment, Blaine took in the image of Kurt, kneeling between his legs, wrapped up in Blaine's arms, lips within kissing distance.

Blaine salivated, thinking of kissing those perfect lips, thinking of slipping his tongue into that pretty little mouth. He almost didn't register the sound of Kurt talking.

"You are a true talent," Kurt continued. "You're a brilliant musician. You didn't need that show. The show needed you."

"Thank you." Blaine ducked his head and blushed. "I hope you're right."

"And I am."

Blaine preened silently in the glow of Kurt's unexpected praise, resting his head against Kurt's chest and listening to his heart beat. He quietly breathed in the scent of Kurt's shirt and imagined all the things that went along with the various different subtle odors. There was jasmine, from Kurt's shampoo, of course. And vanilla, which Blaine surmised was his body lotion. There was something else sweet, and Blaine wondered if he had made cookies for the kids before he left. Why did Kurt having a domestic side have such a deep effect on Blaine? The idea of Kurt raising kids didn't frighten Blaine off, even though it should have. It should be intimidating as hell. But it partially made Blaine want to know Kurt more.

"Okay," Blaine said into the silence. "Your turn."

Kurt scoffed.

"What do you mean, my turn?"

"Tit for tat, Hummel." Blaine looked up into Kurt's smiling face. "Tell me something about yourself that I don't already know."

Blaine rubbed a hand down Kurt's arm. Kurt looked up into the sy, trying to think of something to say.

Kurt decided to answer the question Blaine had yet to ask.

"Dave's not my partner," Kurt said, "not the way you think he is. We have kind of an...unusual arrangement. We're living together, raising our best friends' kids."

Kurt sat back on the sand, hooking his legs beneath Blaine's and looking him the eyes...eyes wide with a strange expression. Shock? Relief? Kurt wanted to ask, but didn't.

"Dave and I knew each other in high school," Kurt started, relieved to tell Blaine the details of his life. "Our relationship was...complicated..." Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway...my best friend Rachel married my stepbrother Finn, and they had their first baby about nine months later. Then they couldn't seem to stop having kids." Kurt laughed. Blaine looked into Kurt's face. Kurt was looking at some point in the distance, an amused smile on his face. "Dave was Finn's best friend, so when they finally got around to making out their wills, they asked us to be guardians, and we both said yes."

Kurt's voice started to waver. Blaine tightened his grip around Kurt's shoulders, and saw a tear slip down his cheek. Kurt blinked away a second tear.

"We both agreed because, well, you never expect both your best friends to die, do you?"

Blaine didn't know what to say. He still had a million questions, but he waited to see what else Kurt might be willing to say.

"After the funeral, we sat up all night and talked. Dave was in L.A., going to school to become a sports agent. I lived with Finn and Rachel and the kids in an apartment in New York. The kids already knew me. They were comfortable with me. And Dave used to visit a lot, take Junior to games with Finn, that sort of thing."

Blaine held his breath, listening to Kurt's story. He had never imagined Kurt's life being anything like this. He couldn't think of anything to say. No words of comfort seemed appropriate. The silence stretched on and Blaine had to say something.

"Do you have any pictures?"

Kurt looked surprised, but fished out his phone. He swiped through a few photos before turning the phone towards Blaine.

"You can keep looking from there," Kurt said, making a swiping motion through the air with his finger.

Blaine looked down at the brightly lit screen. The first picture was a wedding picture. He saw a tall, handsome mand with a kind, honest face standing beside a petite, brunette dressed in a white gown, decorated with elaborate beadwork and all sorts of exquisite lace. Beside her stood Kurt, debonair in an expertly tailored suit. The groom wore a matching suit, as did Dave, the best man, standing beside the groom. They were all smiling at the camera, eyes glowing, huddled together so they would fit in the camera frame.

"That dress is almost as beautiful as the bride," Blaine remarked with awe. "Where on earth did she find it?"

"I made it," Kurt sniffed. "The suits, too." Kurt stated it so matter of factly, Blaine wasn't sure he had heard him correctly.

"You made them?"

"Yup. Designed them and made them. It was my wedding present to her."

Blaine whistled appreciatively.

"You are an exceptional man, Kurt Hummel," Blaine whispered. Kurt smiled through his tears. Blaine flipped through a few more pictures. There was one of Kurt, Finn, and Rachel in a hospital room, Rachel holding a tiny red baby. Another flip, and Finn and Dave were chasing a little boy and a little girl through the park. Blaine flipped again and laughed at a picture of Kurt, Rachel, a little boy and two little girls dressed as characters from Alice in Wonderland. Flip after flip showed a happy family, young, joyful, with a bright future. The last picture he saw was of Kurt and Dave, arms linked together. A young boy and two young girls stood between them. Dave wore a baby carrier with an infant in it.

"How old are they now?" Blaine asked, staring into picture Kurt's smiling but sad face.

"Uh, Junior's about to turn seven. Barbra's six. Eva's five, and Ephelba just turned two. We've had them for two years."

Blaine couldn't stop looking at Kurt's face in the picture. To anyone else, they could just be a normal family - two husbands in love, blessed with four beautiful children. But it wasn't that way. Not that way at all. Behind Kurt's expressive eyes Blaine could see all of the pain...all of the heartbreak. He was sure that what Kurt just told him had barely scratched the surface.

Blaine looked at picture Kurt, and swore silently that he would do anything to make him happy. He just had to figure out what that thing was. He had time to figure it out. He had Kurt for fourteen days. He'd find a way.

"You know what," Kurt said, looking at Blaine, his eyes still clouded by bitter memories, his cheeks flushed from the ocean air, and a wicked smile on his face. "If you don't mind, I think I need to blow of some steam."

Blaine's heart switched tracks and began to beat like a drum in his chest at the glint in Kurt's eyes. Kurt snatched his phone out of Blaine's hand and shoved it into his pocket. He picked up his glass, took Blaine's hand, and pulled him back up the beach.

"No more with the sad for now," Kurt called over his shoulder with a sly wink to an awe struck Blaine. "This is going to be fun."