About thirty seconds later, the infernal noise stopped, and he brought the phone back to his ear.

"Okay! Are you done with the deafening shrieks now, 'Cedes? My ears are bleeding!"

Mercedes wasn't relenting.

"Don't you get sassy with me Kurt Hummel! You just told me you kissed him! You guys KISSED! I could scream all day long because it's just the most delicious news ever!"

"Delicious? I guess that's one way you could label it…"

"Soooooo… tell me more… tell me more!" Mercedes teased.

"There isn't anything more to tell, really." Kurt sure as hell wasn't going to elaborate on how heated things had gotten at one point. "After that first kiss, we spent another few hours cuddled together on the couch, just talking… and kissing."

There. That wasn't too far from the truth. Mercedes had no business knowing they had needed to change pants before resuming their pleasurable activities. His poor Armani pants, no less. He'd have a hard time explaining that stain to the drycleaner's.

"So you're what now? Boyfriends?"

"For lack of a better word, yes we are."

Kurt didn't really like the word 'boyfriend'. It sounded so… corny and unsophisticated. But there wasn't really another suitable word, now was there? He couldn't imagine going around and calling Blaine his suitor, his sweetheart, his companion, his flame, his follower, his whatever.

Well, he could, but people would start second guessing his mental capacities.

"We're definitely a couple. That much has been established last night." Kurt smiled, still a bit incredulous about the entire situation.

"Where is he now?" Mercedes asked.

"Home, I guess? He left around 1 AM."

"Wait, so he didn't stay the night?"

"Mercedes, please! You of all people should know I'm not that kinda girl!" Kurt guffawed.

"What? It makes sense! He could've slept on the couch! So, when are you seeing him again?"

Kurt scratched behind his ear. "Um… Monday morning? We haven't talked about seeing each other again this weekend, so-"

"Monday morning? Yeah, I don't believe that for a second." Mercedes giggled.

A muffled beep sounded into Kurt's ear.

"Wait, hang on, babe, I've gotten a text."

He looked at the screen of his cell and opened the message.

Good morning, beautiful. Last night was amazing. Please go out with me tonight? I :3 U – Blaine

Kurt put his phone back to his ear.

"You know what, 'Cedes, you might be right."

Good morning Blaine. Okay, sounds great. Maybe we can go catch a movie? x - Kurt

Blaine's heart fluttered at the little 'x' at the end of the message. It made it all so real. They were boyfriends. So what if Kurt wasn't ready to say those three words back. It didn't matter. Blaine understood that he wasn't there yet.

Hell, look at how things had evolved in only a couple of weeks time… It was nothing short of a miracle.

Blaine had been patient for months, pursuing the other man, and being rejected time after time. He had never given up, because somehow, he knew Kurt was worth waiting for. And he had been right.

As of now, however, he was done wasting time. He was not going to rush things with Kurt, but he did intend to do anything to make him happy; to make them both happy.

Because they sure as hell deserved some happiness in their lives, after all they had been through.

Blaine typed a quick message in response, with the details for their date, and went back to delving through his mailbox, looking for that damned e-mail he'd received a couple of months ago.

"Come on, come oooooon… where are you? HA! Bingo!"

He'd found it.

Like a Hufflepuff.

All he had to do now was make a few arrangements. It shouldn't be too hard; he knew which strings to pull to get things done around the hospital.

Stage one of the master plan "Make Kurt Hummel Happy" was a go.

Kurt tied up the laces of his white sneakers. He stood up and lost his balance for a second. Slouching against his locker door, he yawned widely.

What an energetic way to start a Monday. He was utterly exhausted.

In the end, he'd spent almost the entire weekend together with Blaine. Dinner and a movie on Saturday, and then on Sunday Blaine had come over to Kurt's. They'd passed the whole afternoon watching movies, talking, making out, drinking coffee, making out… They had kept it up until Blaine had gotten an emergency call from the hospital, and had left.

Kurt wasn't used to being this busy. He was used to spending his free time alone, which meant the same boring routines every weekend. Having fun was never really part of the program.

Doing all this stuff with Blaine had been really nice though. They could talk about anything, or laugh like idiots, and it all felt so right.

Being with Blaine felt right.

This was more than just a crush.

Way more.

So yes, Kurt was tired but happy. He yawned again. Okay, mostly tired right now.

He walked to the sink, splashed some water in his face, and headed towards the staff room.

As Kurt entered the staff room, a silence fell.

Kurt stopped in his tracks and looked at the people present. There were no doctors, just Jenny, Em, Rose and that new intern Stephanie, who had started last week.

"I'll probably regret asking this," Kurt sighed, "but why is everybody here grinning like the cat that got the cream?"

"Yeah, no, we didn't get the cream, but I'm betting YOU got it!" Emily barked out in laughter. It earned her a slap against the head from Jenny.

"Okay Emily, that's quite enough now." the older nurse said "Go get the files instead!"

"Seriously," Kurt huffed, "what the crap is going on here?"

Rose was still giggling, and turned to Kurt.

"We know about you and Anderson- AND WE'RE SO FREAKIN' EXCITED ABOUT IT!" she was flailing and jumping.

"Wait! What? How do you know? What is going on here? Has Blaine been here? What did he tell you?" Kurt was starting to get really pissed off now.

"Whoa, easy there, hellcat," Emily quipped, "Anderson only needed to ask Jenny-"

"EMILY!" Jenny shouted, "Shut up and go do your round, NOW!"

Em just shrugged and snickered as she left the room.

"Well?" Kurt asked Jenny, hands on his hips.

"Oh shush you… go see your doctor. He asked me to send you to his office." Jenny smiled.

"And Kurt… we're truly very happy for you; for both of you."

Kurt couldn't help but smile back. "Thanks, Jenny."

And he turned to leave the staff room. Off to see Dr. Blabbermouth.

Kurt knocked, but as he waited for an answer, he heard Blaine talking to someone inside his office, so he didn't go in.

Suddenly the door swung open. "Ah, there you are Kurt, come inside please!" Blaine smiled, and stepped back to let the other man in.

Kurt entered the room, but didn't see anyone else. He could've sworn he'd heard two voices though.

Blaine caught Kurt's arm and turned him face to face.

"I'm video chatting via Skype." he whispered.

"Oh, okay, I'm sorry, I'll just go then." Kurt whispered back, and turned away to leave.

Blaine pulled him back. "No, no, you don't understand. I'm skyping with Liz, my ex…"

Kurt frowned slightly. "Yes…?"

"So…would you like to meet Lily? She's sitting on Liz's lap right now." Blaine smiled.

"Oh… um… okay? Are you sure?" Kurt was taken aback by the request.

Blaine kissed him lightly, took him by the hand and guided him towards the computer screen. He pulled an extra chair behind the desk, and went to sit down in front of the computer again.

Kurt hesitated for a few seconds, then sat down as well. He made sure to stay out of the reach of the webcam. He gazed at the screen and saw a blonde, gorgeous woman. She was smiling at the little girl on her lap.

Kurt recognized Lily vaguely from the picture Blaine had shown him during their first date. He couldn't believe his eyes. Apart from the blue eyes and the blonde hair, she was the spitting image of Blaine. She even had those cute little curls.

"Liz? I'm back again." Blaine said. "Um… Kurt is sitting next to me…"

Liz looked back into the cam. "Really? Can I see him?"

Blaine turned to his boyfriend and raised his eyebrows in question. "I told her about you…" he said softly.

"Oh… okay…" Kurt said, and after a moment's hesitation, he leaned sideways, into the view of the camera.

"Oh, look Lily," Liz said, pointing at the screen, "Say hi to Kurt! Hi Kurt! Hi!" She waved at the cam, and the little girl followed suit.

"Aaaai, Kuuurt!" Lily shouted, waving enthusiastically. She was absolutely adorable.

Kurt giggled and waved back. "Hi, Lily! My, you're a pretty little princess!"

He looked at Blaine's ex.

She had a gentle manner about her, and overall she looked like a really nice woman. But then again, he couldn't imagine Blaine marrying some kind of bitch.

"Hi, Liz." He said tentatively.

"Hello Kurt… Blaine told me about you… I'm… I'm really glad you two are together now. He's a good man, you know…"

Okay, this was officially getting awkward. Sweet, but awkward.

Kurt smiled politely and nodded, waved at Lily again, and backed away from the cam. He got out of his chair and perched himself on the edge of the desk, peering sideways at the screen.

Blaine continued chatting and making fun with his daughter for another five minutes, before closing the chat window, and rolling his office chair in front of Kurt.

"So, what do you think of her?" Blaine asked, smiling up at Kurt and grabbing his hands.

"Lily is a wonderful, pretty little girl," He leaned into Blaine and gave him a soft peck on the lips, "she's absolutely adorable and," another peck, "she looks just like you."

Kurt pressed his lips firmly against Blaine's now.

Blaine sighed, and broke the kiss, leaning back into his chair. He stared lovingly into Kurt's eyes. "I hope you'll meet her soon. In real life, I mean."

"You miss her, don't you?"

"Like crazy…" He nodded, eyes drifting to the window. "You know, Kurt… when you have a child… it's like falling in love over and over again, every time you see her… and when she's not there, you feel lovesick, like a essential part of you is missing…"

Blaine sighed. "I guess it just feels a bit like my heart is torn in two and one half is over at the other side of this stupid planet… I only get to see her like three, four times a year… Oh and, you want to know something really stupid?"

Kurt ran his thumbs over Blaine's hands and raised his eyebrows in question.

"I have a bottle of her baby shampoo at home. It's the brand we always used on her. I sniff at it every fucking day… just so I can catch her scent, and pretend she's there."

"Oh honey…" Kurt slid from the desk onto Blaine's lap, straddling him and pulling him into a hug.

"That's not stupid at all…" he whispered into his ear, pressing a kiss against his cheek and caressing the back of his neck.

Blaine closed his eyes and tilted his head backwards, humming as Kurt started to slowly press soft kisses to his jaw and down his neck.

Blaine suddenly growled and lunged forward to grab Kurt's face.

Their lips met in a passionate kiss.

Kurt shifted slightly on Blaine's lap. The friction caused both men to gasp and break off the kiss.

"We… we probably shouldn't be doing this here…" Kurt breathed, and lifted himself off of Blaine, moving to sit in the other chair.

"No, you're right, we shouldn't," Blaine gulped.

They both sat there, catching their breath for a few moments.

Then something suddenly dawned on Kurt.

He snapped his head towards Blaine, and poked a finger into the man's chest.

"Right! I almost forgot! Care to explain why the whole team already knows we're together? They were on the brink of throwing rice at me when I entered the staff room this morning!"

Blaine snorted. "They didn't… Oh dear God… Jenny really doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut, does she?"

"No she can't! And I don't get it, why did you even tell her?"

"Because, I had to explain to her why you needed a few days off next week." Blaine said casually.

"Days off? What are you talking about?" Kurt's voice had gotten really high-pitched by now.

"Kurt, calm down, please just let me explain…"

Blaine rose from his chair and retrieved an envelope from one of the desk drawers.

"What's that?" Kurt asked meekly.

"These are plane tickets… I'm going to a medical conference next week, and I'd like you to come with me." Blaine was fiddling with the envelope in his hands.

"Why? I'm not a doctor?" Kurt frowned.

"No, but I think you'll want to go anyway. The conference is being held at my alma mater; in New York."

Kurt stared for a moment, and then shrieked and clapped his hand over his mouth.

"NEW YORK? You're… you're taking me to NEW YORK?"

Blaine broke out in a wide grin and nodded. Kurt jumped from his chair and tackled him.

"You crazy, crazy man!" He giggled madly. "You're just an amazing pile of awesome, aren't you?"

He peppered kisses all over Blaine's face. "Oh my God! I'm going to New York! I can't believe it!"

"Okay, so I take it I'm forgiven for telling Jenny about the two of us?" Blaine asked blithely.

Kurt slapped him playfully on the chest. "No you're not, but I'll punish you for that later."

"Oooooh, naughty, I like it!" the doctor joked.

Blaine was delighted. Kurt was clearly overjoyed at the idea of going to the Big Apple.

Little did Kurt know that Blaine hadn't planned to go to that boring conference at all.

At least, not until his boyfriend had told him about his passion for the city.

So yes, Blaine had retrieved the initial e-mail with the invitation, had called an old acquaintance at NYMC to get him into that conference, even if the sign-up date had long passed, and he'd convinced the management of the Lima Children's Hospital that he really had to participate.

And, last but not least, he'd convinced Jenny to let Kurt go with him, although that had been the easiest part.

"Oh wait!" Kurt exclaimed, pulling Blaine out of his reverie. "I can't take off to New York with you, just like that…"

"Huh?" Blaine said.

"Well no, that would be weird… I really think I should introduce you to my parents first!" Kurt explained.

"Ah…" Blaine nodded dumbly.

Oh crap.