A/N: Here's a romantic little interlude before the meat of the story smacks us in the face, so please enjoy :)

Blaine didn't want to answer the phone. He thought about letting the call go to voicemail, but that wouldn't work with Lucy Bale. She'd just keep calling and calling until they picked up, even if it was close to midnight. Blaine sighed. He was more than willing to throw himself on this grenade for his boyfriend, but whatever Lucy said, Blaine would eventually have to tell Kurt the news, and Blaine didn't look forward to breaking Kurt's heart.

As high-maintenance and demanding as Lucy could be, she was also Kurt's best and most generous customer since day one. Losing her would devastate Kurt. She was young, popular, and had her pulse on all the latest trends. Kurt was right to be scared. If he lost Lucy, he would pretty much have to start from scratch with the biggest possible blemish on his career.

Blaine decided to do this quickly and just get it over with.

"Hey, Lucy." Blaine answered the phone with the happiest tone he could muster, but he still sounded overwhelmed and tired to Kurt. Kurt looked up at his stoic boyfriend, trying so hard to be his rock. He couldn't let Blaine shoulder his burden.

"Put it on speaker," Kurt commanded in a harsh whisper. Blaine shook his head, but Kurt glared at him, his red-rimmed eyes accepting no argument.

Blaine switched the call to speaker. Lucy had already been jabbering a mile a minute.

"...and I'm really sorry for calling so late," her high-pitched voice rang through the small workspace. "Or is this early? I never know after midnight."

Blaine put the phone on Kurt's lap, and slunk tiredly to the floor at his feet.

"Anyway," Lucy continued after the silence. "Like I said, I'm sorry to bother you so late-slash-early, but I saw the article in the new copy of E magazine..."

Lucy's bubbly voice became uncharacteristically serious.

Kurt cleared his throat, trying to push aside the swell of emotion that threatened to choke out his ability to speak.

"Look, Lucy," he began, taking a hold of Blaine's offered hand for support, "I have a feeling I know what you're going to say, and if you want to back out of the dress, that's fine. I'll understand. I won't even charge you for the work I've done."

Silence answered Kurt.

"What!?" Lucy sounded mortified. "No no no no no no, Kurt! Please, tell me you can finish the dress! Oh my, God! My trip to Milan is at the end of next week! If I don't have that dress..."

Kurt listened to Lucy run on in a nervous panic for a full minute, his eyes bright with hope, his lips pushing up at the edges, trying to smile.

"Alright, alright," Kurt interrupted Lucy, trying to soothe the manic young woman. "The dress will be ready...ahead of schedule, I suspect..."

Kurt's melancholy returned. So, Lucy wasn't going to dump him after all. That didn't mean everyone else wasn't going to cut and run.

"Thank God," Lucy breathed dramatically. "Don't do that to me, Kurt. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Okay, okay," Kurt chuckled. His brow knit as he stared at the phone. "But, I don't understand. You said you saw the article."

"Yeah," Lucy said. "My publicist always makes sure I get it first thing at midnight when it's released so I can..."

"No," Kurt interrupted politely. "I mean, I thought the article would have...I don't know...frightened you off..."

Lucy giggled on her end of the phone. Kurt looked at Blaine, who was looking between Kurt and the phone as if Lucy had just gone mad.

"Kurt," Lucy started slowly, trying to make her meaning clear. "I'm trying so hard to update my look. Make it edgy. Pitch the girl-next-door thing I've been saddled with. And here I am, lucky enough to have an ex-dominatrix as my favorite designer?"

Kurt blushed to his roots, and Blaine didn't know if it was hearing Lucy's sweet, almost childish voice refer to him as an ex-dominatrix, or hearing that he was her favorite designer.

"And then after I saw those other pictures online..."

Kurt and Blaine both sat up straight in surprise.

"Wait...what other pictures online?"

"Oh," Lucy said, sounding a little surprised herself. "Didn't you guys see them? At the end of the article it said to look at E online for even more photos, and I saw all of your designs...in leather..."

Lucy almost purred when she said 'leather'.

Blaine held out his hand and Kurt gave Blaine his iPhone. Blaine immediately pulled up an Internet browser and went to E Online. In the online version of the article there were over a thousand thumbnail photographs. Kurt's heart sank when he saw them all. Jesus Christ! How many people did he dominate since he'd gotten that job? Further down the page were a slew of older photographs that Kurt barely remembered from his days back at Vogue. Each picture was a design that Kurt had created for couture suits and dresses in leather. Kurt bit his lip when he saw them and smiled.

Isabelle.

Each picture was bookmarked with a link to Kurt's newly created online profile as freelance journalist for Vogue. It included a full portfolio of Kurt's earlier designs. Kurt had designed these leather outfits to help Isabelle when he had first started at Vogue. Now, it seemed, she was returning the favor.

"So," Lucy interjected after another unexpected silence, "I was hoping that you would help me out."

"Uh, help you out with what, exactly?" Kurt looked at Blaine who was perusing the designs, eyebrows raised as he smiled somewhat suggestively. Kurt wanted to laugh.

"I want you to design my costumes for my first world tour."

Kurt stood straight up, almost dislodging the phone from his lap. He fumbled the iPhone, but caught it without disconnecting the call.

"What?" Kurt said in utter disbelief.

"Yeah," Lucy said, not knowing that she had just handed back Kurt's entire faith in life, wrapped up in a pretty leather bow. "I have a ton of tour dates coming up for the summer, and I'm going to need at least twenty new looks."

"Twenty?" Kurt definitely choked this time. Blaine stood up beside him, putting his hands on Kurt's shoulders, squeezing gently, jumping up and down like a giddy little boy.

"Yeah, to start off with." Lucy was so nonchalant with her requests, Kurt wanted to cry. When Kurt first started designing clothes for Lucy, two dresses turned into five. Who knew how many twenty would turn into?

"And I don't want just plain black," she railroaded on. "I'm going to need white, pink, red...can leather be specially dyed? I want something in pale green, to match my eyes."

"Of course." Kurt rolled his eyes, but tears of pure joy streamed down his cheeks. "Whatever you want, Lucy. Do you think you could come by in the morning, and we can talk about it in person?"

"Definitely."

Kurt found it ironic that Lucy sounded relieved, since Kurt was the one who had just gotten his life back.

"Thanks, Lucy," Kurt said sincerely. "Thank you so much for this opportunity."

Lucy huffed.

"Are you kidding me?" Lucy chuckled. "Thank you. You're a lifesaver, Kurt."

Kurt disconnected the call and sighed, looking up at a bemused Blaine.

"She has no idea."

Blaine looked into Kurt's eyes, shimmering with emotion. He clutched Blaine's phone in his hands, holding it beneath his chin, a small smile melting through his mask of despair.

"Better?" Blaine removed the phone from Kurt's hands and slipped it in his pocket. Blaine wrapped Kurt in his arms, holding him close, swaying together beneath the small golden chandelier, dancing slowly since all the beautiful moments of their lives should be accompanied by dancing.

"I don't know." Kurt tutted, making a skeptical face. "I've heard her album."

Blaine's hands traveled slowly up and down Kurt's back, massaging their ways to his shoulders, and then sliding down his spine to his ass.

"Weren't we supposed to break in a new piece of furniture?" Blaine started unbuttoning Kurt's shirt, placing a gentle kiss on each uncovered inch of skin. Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine's carefully tamed, lightly gelled curls.

"I suppose this would be a good time." Kurt kissed Blaine's forehead, breathing in the scent of his Atlas cologne, closing his eyes and reveling nostalgically in all the memories that scent brought.

Kurt's iPhone rang, and his shoulders slumped in defeat. For a moment, Kurt had managed to forget that he had more clients than just Lucy. Soon, he might only have Lucy as a client. Kurt fished his phone out of Blaine's pocket. He sighed when he saw the number on the screen. Of course it was another client.

"Hey, Dianna...yes, I...no, I...I know, and I'm really sorry, but I..."

Blaine watched Kurt's eyes mist over as he spoke to the high strung blonde. Kurt's other dress form in the corner sported the skeleton of Dianna's pale gold satin gown for the premiere of her new movie.

"Four new dresses?" Kurt's mouth dropped. Then he coughed. "And a cat suit in vinyl? Black...of course, I can...no, I won't tell anybody..."

Blaine almost laughed out loud until his own phone began to ring.

"And the red fur jacket from the picture...but in green..." Kurt ran to his sewing table for a paper and pencil. Blaine, still on his phone , reached for the same paper and pencil. Both giggled silently as Blaine wandered into his studio. As Kurt jotted down notes, he heard a small beep cut through Dianna's words, indicating another call trying to come through. Kurt bit his lip, jotting down as much information as he could. Dianna talked about as fast as Lucy, but she wasn't quite as forgiving. Luckily, she seemed to love Kurt and his designs, and didn't act like too much of a bitch in his presence.

"Ok, well, yeah, I have Lucy in the morning, you can come in right after...or, yeah, the hour before is fine...I know, her perfume is kind of strong..." Blaine walked in with his phone and a slip of paper in hand just in time to see Kurt roll his eyes.

"Ok, sweetie, see you then...bye..."

Kurt hung up the phone and took a deep breath.

"Is that another order?" Blaine asked, indicating the sheet of paper in Kurt's hands.

"Yes, but I have been sworn to secrecy under pain of death." Kurt folded the paper, placing it carefully in his pocket. "Who was yours?"

Blaine held up the paper in his hands, waving it and smiling slyly as he regarded his boyfriend.

"That was a Ms. Unique from The Dragonfly," Blaine said as he swaggered over to Kurt.

"That drag club in Hollywood?" Kurt's eyes went wide as he grabbed the paper from Blaine's hands.

"Yup," Blaine said. "She would like you to outfit their winter burlesque show. Apparently, it's the highlight of the season." Blaine punctuated the words with dramatic jazz hands. Kurt giggled, looking back at the paper.

"Well, how many of her performers was she thinking?" Kurt asked.

When, Blaine didn't answer, Kurt snapped his head up in confusion. Blaine's sly smile grew wider.

"All of them," he said finally.

"A-all if them?" Kurt stuttered at the thought of making professional costumes for thirty-five performers. Kurt threw himself into Blaine's arms, letting Blaine spin him around as he laughed.

"Yeah," Blaine said. "She wanted to know if the vinyl catsuit came in red vinyl...and triple extra large."

Kurt jumped up and down. Maybe it wasn't runway, but it was something. A whole community coming together in support of him and his talent. Was there anything else he could really ask for?

He looked into Blaine's eyes before kissing him deeply.

Well...one thing, but he was willing to wait for Blaine to ask.

"We need to get to bed," Blaine said, removing himself from Kurt's arms long enough to lock the door and turn off the lights, pulling the drapes closed as he walked past.

Both phones started ringing again. Kurt reached for his, but Blaine took it from his hand. He switched the ringer to off, and set it with his own silently ringing phone on Kurt's cutting table.

"Blaine," Kurt whined, but didn't make a move to retrieve his phone. "What if that's..."

"...a client?" Blaine finished with a smirk. "Of course, it is. And whatever they have to say, good or bad, they can leave on your voicemail. This..." Blaine took Kurt's hand, leading him through the studio, "...is your first lesson in dealing with instant stardom. It's a lesson that I only learned recently."

Kurt smiled at the feeling of Blaine's warm hand in his, pulling him along towards the futon.

"And what's that, oh wise one?" Kurt stopped at the foot of the mattress, and started undressing Blaine, starting by pulling off his V-neck cream colored sweater. Kurt ran his eyes and his hands appreciatively over Blaine's tanned and muscular chest. Blaine reached up to capture Kurt's perfect pink lips, kissing him sweetly.

Blaine pulled away briefly to whisper against Kurt's lips.

"Remembering what's important."

Kurt sighed and smiled.

"I love you, Blaine Anderson," Kurt said, carefully unbuttoning Blaine's pants, sliding them off his legs and tossing them on the floor.

"I love you, too, Kurt Hummel," Blaine whispered, pulling his mostly shirtless boyfriend down onto the mattress.

Kurt lay his body gently over Blaine, kissing sweetly down his neck, lacing their fingers together and pinning Blaine's hands over his head.

"I feel a little under dressed," Blaine laughed quietly, lifting his hips to meet Kurt's still clothed legs, trying to find friction for his growing erection.

"I like you a little under dressed," Kurt whispered against his skin, pinning Blaine's hips to the mattress with the weight of his own body.

"Well, what are you planning on doing with me?" Blaine asked, swallowing hard as Kurt kissed and nibbled delicately around his lips.

"I think for this beautiful futon," Kurt said, sitting up on his knees and running a hand over the soft fabric, "I want you to ride me."

Blaine looked up, his hazel eyes, lust blown and wide as they looked up at Kurt.

"With me straddling you?" Blaine asked, confused.

"Is that okay with you? Kurt asked, leaning back over Blaine's body to kiss across his forehead.

"No...YES...yes, that's fine, it's just we've never done that before."

Kurt traveled down over Blaine's cheek, his lip brushing along the stubbly skin of his cheek.

"Are you sure?" Kurt hummed, his lips tingling as they rubbed along the rough, unshaven cheek. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"No," Blaine said firmly, swallowing hard to dislodged the butterflies fluttering around in his chest. "I won't be. I want to do this...with you."

Kurt claimed Blaine's lips quickly, urgently, trying not to give Blaine any more time to become anxious. He grabbed Blaine hard against his, flipping their positions on the bed. Blaine was surprised to discover just how quickly he had been relocated. He often forgot just how physically strong his boyfriend really was.

Kurt locked Blaine with his clear, sapphire eyes, softening his hungry gaze as he looked over Blaine's body from this new, unexplored angle. He could see Blaine tremble a little beneath the scrutiny of his eyes as he let them travel lazily over his skin, his hands fighting to hand at his sides, not wrap around his waist and cover himself. Kurt knew that in this position Blaine felt vulnerable. Blaine didn't have to tell Kurt, he just always knew.

"You know, I've never seen you like this," Kurt sighed, running his hands up Blaine's thighs, reaching for the waist band of his boxer briefs. He slipped teasing fingers beneath the elastic, running his fingers along the skin underneath. He hear Blaine gasp, felt Blaine's stomach suck in beneath his touch. "You're so beautiful. So strong. I bet you feel amazing like this."

Blaine let out a long, shuddering breath as Kurt carefully pulled down Blaine's underwear. Blaine maneuvered awkwardly to help Kurt slide the piece of clothing off his legs. He wondered how exactly Kurt managed to look so graceful doing this, when Blaine just felt clumsy and stupid. If Kurt thought Blaine looked ridiculous, he definitely didn't let on. In fact, the look in Kurt's eyes spoke volumes about how much Kurt loved Blaine, how much he wanted him, how Kurt only wanted to cherish Blaine's body.

Kurt's eyes were quickly becoming Blaine's favorite feature. They would probably win hands down if they weren't competing against Kurt's strong arms, his miraculously talented fingers, and his incredibly tight ass.

The overwhelming winner overall, however, had to be Kurt's enormous heart, which had managed to break through all of Blaine's walls, wrapping him in a cocoon of his love, and transformed him into the man he was today. The man sitting astride Kurt's hips. The one waiting in excruciating anticipation to make love to his boyfriend.

Blaine felt Kurt take his fingers and lead them to the button of his pants. Blaine slipped the button through the button hole, his fingers trembling a little as he worked, knowing Kurt's eyes followed his every move. He felt ridiculous being so nervous. He had literally been with Kurt hundreds of times, done things some people would consider forbidden or shamefully taboo. So why couldn't he sit in Kurt's lap and undress him? Why couldn't he straddle Kurt's hips while Kurt gazed lovingly up at him?

Blaine felt exposed in this position, and for some reason, that turned him into a fumbling virgin. The button undone, Blaine couldn't manage the zipper. Kurt watched Blaine with a strange expression before covering Blaine's hand with his own, puling down the zipper and lifting up to peel the pants down his legs.

"This really bothers you, doesn't it?" Kurt asked quietly.

Blaine's eyes darted away. Kurt watched something that he didn't see very often - Blaine the sub emerging to save himself from an uncomfortable situation. Blaine folded in on himself a bit, not wanting to meet Kurt's eyes. Blaine didn't have an answer for his dom.

Kurt couldn't help feeling confused, but it was his job to take care of Blaine, to care for the needs of his sub. Kurt sat up with Blaine in his lap, kissing him hard, knowing how Blaine needed him. Blaine needed Kurt's dominatrix to take over, needed him to put them back on the right path.

"Come on, sweetheart," Kurt purred as he laid Blaine down beneath him, "we're supposed to be celebrating."

Kurt winked down at Blaine as he took Blaine's place, straddling his hips.

Blaine's smile returned, wide and genuine as he looked up Kurt's body. Kurt bit his lip, taking Blaine's cock in his hands.

"There's just one thing missing." Kurt hummed as he stroked Blaine slowly. Blaine arched his back, trying to get closer to his dom as icy tingles of pleasure shot through him.

"And what's that?" Blaine asked breathlessly, fighting to keep his hips still.

Kurt gave Blaine's throbbing cock a firm squeeze.

"This guy." Kurt laughed, looking down at Blaine's length trapped in his fist. "Welcome back, old friend," Kurt teased. "We were starting to wonder where you went."

Blaine chuckled, holding onto Kurt's legs possessively.

"He ran off to that stupid place in my head that tells me you're too good to be true," Blaine confessed. "That one day you're going to realize it and leave me."

Kurt's teasing smile faded as he looked down at Blaine's wistful expression.

"Do you really think that?" Kurt whispered. "Do you really think I'm going to forget how much I love you and leave?"

Blaine shrugged. He took Kurt's hands, twining their fingers together, concentrating on their linked hands.

"Blaine..." Kurt leaned down and pressed a kiss to Blaine's forehead. "Why do you think I fell in love with you?"

Blaine shrugged again with a humorless grin.

"To tell you the absolute truth, I'm not sure I know. I mean, I was kind of an ass when we met."

"Oh, honey," Kurt said smiling, "no one's disputing that."

Blaine chuckled, squeezing Kurt's hands.

"But, once we got past that, you wanted me for me, didn't you?"

Blaine stared at their hands, running his thumbs over Kurt's knuckles.

"You didn't give me ultimatums. You never made me choose. You accepted me for who I am. You gave me time, and you showed me who you really are." Kurt raised Blaine's hands to his lips and kissed them. "I wanted you, Blaine. The first time I saw you, I wanted you. And I'd like to believe you wanted me, too."

Blaine nodded, focusing on some point on Kurt's hip.

"And our life together has been seamless, hasn't it?" Kurt rubbed Blaine's hands against his cheek. "We simply fell in line together, like we were always meant to be together..."

Kurt frowned. He felt like he wasn't quite reaching Blaine. Kurt smiled against the back of Blaine's hands.

"It's never really felt like I was getting to know you..." Kurt quoted quietly, watching Blaine's mouth turn up slowly into a smile, "it's always felt like I was remembering you from something."

Blaine finally looked into Kurt's eyes.

"That sounds like a line," Blaine said.

"I know." Kurt nodded. "But, it's a good line."

Kurt pulled Blaine up by his shoulders, positioning them so that Blaine was sitting with Kurt in his lap. Kurt kissed him, and it felt like the first time - soft and gentle, but with heat and passion. Kurt reached for his pants, pulling a small ampule of lube from the pocket, saying a quick prayer of thanks to the great spaghetti monster in the sky that it hadn't exploded and made a mess.

"Now," Kurt whispered, licking the contours of Blaine's mouth, "you're going to make love to me like this, and you're going to listen while I tell you how amazing you are."

Blaine blushed, his eyes closed while he basked in the warmth of his dom sitting in his lap, while his lover and best friend showered him with praise. He sat still and obedient as Kurt spread lube over his length, while Kurt daintily positioned himself over Blaine's cock and sank down over it.

Blaine's body belonged to this man. Blaine belonged to this man. His everything - his today, his tomorrow, every moment left in his life belonged to him. There was no difference between Kurt and forever. For Blaine, they were one and the same.

Kurt stared deep into Blaine's hazel eyes as he moved, and while Blaine saw the moment Kurt's blue eyes melted from ice to gray steel, Kurt watched as Blaine's whiskey colored eyes sailed through the spectrum, melting into honey, and then firing into molten gold. With their eyes locked, foreheads resting against one another, and hands laced together, they formed a loop. Kurt moved slowly, up and down in an unhurried pace in an effort to keep them together.

"Do you remember..." Kurt began, panting while his legs strained to keep him hovering just above Blaine, "...when I wouldn't kiss you?"

Blaine nodded, eyelids fluttering as he fought to maintain their heated gaze.

"I didn't want to kiss you because..." Kurt swallowed. "I knew if I did...I'd lose everything...because my heart would be yours..."

Blaine moaned, chuckling a bit.

"I wanted to kiss you so badly," Blaine offered. "I wanted you to be mine the minute I agreed to..."

Kurt had to kiss him. He couldn't wait. He couldn't hear another word. He needed Blaine's lips against his.

Kurt laughed a bit into their kiss without breaking the contact. He remembered being a teenager and dreaming about being in love, how quickly he became infatuated with men who were so far out of his reach. His life was filled with memories of one-sided affection. How did he manage to fall in love so quickly with a man who fell for him just as fast?

"Wh-why are you laughing?" Blaine asked, his molten gold eyes cooling with self-doubt.

Kurt shook his head.

"I just realized..." Kurt said, finding Blaine's eyes again, "...that you're my teenage dream."

A lump the size of Blaine's fist formed immediately in his throat. It swelled with every move of Kurt's hips and threatened to choke him, but he smiled regardless knowing he'd die a happy man.

A sob did escape his lips, a single sound that attracted Kurt like a bee to the sweetest honey in the world. Kurt kissed Blaine, couldn't breathe for a moment without him as he felt his orgasm build, knew that a similar fire rose in Blaine's body. Blaine's hands on his skin, scratching lightly with his nails, his gasps and moans into Kurt's mouth, his hips bucking up slightly to meet Kurt's thrusts - they were all signs pointing the way. Only then did Kurt move faster, seeking out his own pleasure, looking to give as much if not more to Blaine.

Making love to Blaine without any barriers - no clothes, no blankets, no condom - was its own kind of magic. Kurt didn't believe in God, but he believed in love, and making love to Blaine had become a religion for Kurt. It gave him comfort, solace, and a feeling of belonging. He wanted to tell Blaine all of this.

As he came, knowing that they were one - that Blaine's heart beat at the same speed, that they breathed as one, and melted against each other at the same moment when Blaine came as well - Kurt managed a simple, "I love you."

For the moment, it was enough.

Blaine lay Kurt down beside him, reluctant to move, to remove himself from Kurt's body. They looked at one another for a long time. There was probably a million things Kurt could have said, but he let as many soft kisses speak for him. With each brush of his lips, Kurt told Blaine he loved him...he needed him...he wanted him...he would always stand by him...always respect him.

Blaine would always have his heart.

They fell asleep with that last kiss from Kurt's lips pressed against Blaine's chest, right above his heart.