1 NEW MESSAGE FROM: ANDERSON<3
What are you doing today?

Kurt rolled out of bed at the sound of a text message.

To: Anderson<3
Why?

From: Anderson<3
Because I'm terribly lonely. I miss your face.

Kurt sighed. 

To: Anderson<3
No, for real. Why?

From: Anderson<3
What's wrong, bb? Flattery shouldn't upset you!

To: Anderson<3
BLAAAAINEEEE!

From: Anderson<3
Fine. Coop's girlfriend is here and they want to go to the beach. I was told to invite you.

To: Anderson<3
You were told to invite me? You didn't want to?

From: Anderson<3
Oh, of course I wanted to. I always want to. I mean, Coop just said that maybe we should invite you and I was like, "Invite Kurt? Totally! Yes! Let's invite Kurt! Let's actually see Kurt this summer!" So then I asked Winter if I should invite you. And she said yes. And I asked if I should invite the girls, too, but she said no only you and so. You should come to the beach with us today. Unless you don't want to. But you're invited. Very invited.

Kurt giggled at Blaine's word vomit. It was cute, really. 

To: Anderson<3
Blaine. Calm down. I'll ask my dad, okay?

From: Anderson<3
Okay.

From: Anderson<3
Yay.

From: Anderson<3
<3

"Hey dad?" Kurt called up the stairs to his living room, where his father was sitting on the couch watching Deadliest Catch.

"Yeah?"

"Blaine and Cooper invited me to the beach today. Can I go?"

"Sure," his father called down. "Tell them to come pick you up whenever."

To: Anderson<3
He said yes.(: Come pick me up ASAP?

From: Anderson<3
What, are you in a hurry now?

Kurt blushed.

To: Anderson<3
Always in a hurry to see you. ;D

To: Blainey
BLAINE. Tell me what he said. WHAT DID HE SAY? Tell me he said yes. Did he say yes?!

From: Blainey
Shh. Shhhhhh. Winterrrr.

To: Blainey
WHAT DID HE SAY? TELL ME WHAT HE SAID.

From: Blainey
He said yes.

To: Blainey
Don't deny that you squealed.

From: Blainey
Maybe just a little...

"OMIGOD."

"What?" Chloe asked, giggling a bit as Winter squealed over the phone. She was washing a pear to feed to her soft grey kitten, Lainey, who ate an abnormal array of human foods, and not many animal foods.

"They're going on a beach date, Chloe. Our plan is working."

"It's not a date if their parents are going, duh," Chloe quipped.

"You're right, it's a double date, because Cooper's taking his girlfriend."

"Shut. Up!"

"It's real. It's happening."

"I'm...I...It's...Wow. I'm speechless!"

"That was eloquent of you."

Chloe rolled her eyes and bit into the last of Lainey's pear. "Shut up, Kurt and Blaine are on a date!"

When Blaine arrived, Kurt was already dressed in beachwear: A pair of black swim trunts, which were about mid-thigh length, and a thin grey sweatshirt. As soon as the doorbell rang, he dashed up the stairs, calling out a quick "I'll get it!" to his father. He pulled the door open a little too fast, black Converse high-tops on his feet, a beach already slung aroung his neck. "Hey."

Blaine pulled him into a hug, and both forgot the awkwardness from the previous week as they rocked back and forth on Kurt's doorstep. "Hi!" Blaine offered. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Kurt grinned. "BYE, DAD!" he called, and his dad grunted a goodbye back in his direction.

"Well, come on!" Blaine exclaimed, grabbing Kurt by the wrist and pulling him into the back seat of his brother's car.

***

"I'm glad you're here," Blaine admitted as he and Kurt walked along the water. "And that you don't hate me."

"How could I ever hate you, Blaine?" Kurt asked, shock widening his bright blue eyes. "You're my best friend."

Blaine grinned and briefly squeezed Kurt's hand, then let go so he could peel off his thin cotton V-neck.

Kurt tried to keep his mouth closed as Blaine threw the shirt behind him and onto the shore. Blaine was...uhm...highly developed for his age, all olive skin and tan, flexing muscles. He wasn't gross body-builder muscular, but just enough so it was almost too atractive for Kurt to handle.

"Well come on," Blaine laughed, pulling down the zipper on Kurt's hoodie and tugging it gently from his arms.

"What? No!" Kurt exclaimed, and Blaine picked him up like he was a baby, spun him around and dropped him into the cold, shallow water.

Kurt poked his head up as soon as he landed underwater. "BLAAAAAAINEEEEEE!" He splashed Blaine about a dozen times with the cool, salty water before grabbing him by the forearms and pulling him under altogether.

"Woo!" Blaine shivered, popping up out of the water. "You're right, that's pretty cold."

"Told you!" Kurt waded his way out to a large, partially submerged rock and climbed up.

Blaine smiled and sat down, the waves lapping at his chest, and Kurt couldn't shake the thought that he looked beautiful, sitting in the shallows, his amber eyes sparkling in the sun, his dark curls soaked and plastered to his face.

"Hey, Kurt!" Blaine called. "Come over here!"

Kurt hopped down from his rock and waded back over to Blaine. "What?"

Blaine pulled him right down into the water, and Kurt squealed. "Look!" Blaine said, and pulled something little and white out of the water.

It was a starfish. It was tiny, only the size of Blaine's fingernail, and white with a pink spot on the center of its stomach. Kurt had never seen one before and, judging by the look on Blaine's face, neither had he. "It's pretty," Kurt said. 

"Just like you," Blaine grinned, and bumped his shoulder into Kurt's. Kurt felt his stomach tighten around the butterflies that seemed to reappear whenever he was with Blaine, but he tried his best to keep a smile plastered on his face.

"You want to go lay down on the beach? I mean, it's kind of cold out here..."

"No. I took you out here because I had to talk to you. And You will not avoid this conversation, Kurt, before you get any ideas. Just, hear me out, okay?"

Kurt nodded his head.

"I've told you how I feel about you. That I love you, that I'll wait forever for you to love me, too. But what I haven't told you is that I've never said that to anyone else. I mean, that's what I'd be thinking. Like, "How many people have you said that to?'. But the answer is none. I didn't feel this way about Quinn, or Desiree, or that brief fling I had with Chloe two summers ago.

"Everything is different with you. You make me feel like I'm invincible, Kurt, even when you turn me down. And I tried so hard, for so long to find reasons not to love you, but I couldn't. I love everything about you. And I'm going to stop pressuring you, but you just need to know all of this."

Kurt swallowed, because once again, Blaine Anderson had reduced him to tears. "I...I don't know how I feel about you," Kurt admitted. "On one hand, you're...sweet, and charming, and talented, and you have the most beautiful smile I've ever seen. But on the other hand, you're my constant, Blaine. The one thing I have that doesn't change with the seasons. If we were to...date, or whatever, where would that leave us when things ended? Nothing would be right anymore. I'd be devoid of not only a boyfriend, but a best friend, and that might hurt even more. You need to know that I don't turn you down because I don't...want to be with you. I turn you down because I don't want to lose you." Kurt paused. "Does that make any sense?"

Blaine nodded his head. "Of course it does." He then stood up and extended a hand, which Kurt used to pull himself up. "Now come on, let's go dry off."

"Is this even legal?" Kurt asked as Cooper lit a bundle of driftwood he'd found. The sky was dark, and the waves were crashing louder, due to the moon.

"Who cares?" Blaine grinned, stretching out next to Kurt on their towel. "We should sleep on the beach tonight."

Cooper's girlfriend, Phia, nodded her head enthusiastically. "Yeah, Coop, we should!"

Cooper stood thinking for a moment. "Fine." The three others cheered. "Kurt'll have to call his dad, though."

Kurt pulled out his phone and sent his dad a quick text.

To: Dad
I'm gonna spend the night with the Andersons. See you tomorrow. Love you.

***

Long after Cooper, Phia and Blaine had fallen asleep, Kurt sat awake, shivering in the breeze off the water. (He'd let Blaine, sleeping peacefully on the beach, hold on to the blanket.) He couldn't do anything but think about all Blaine had said to him, all of the true love stuff. The sad part was that, deep down, Kurt knew he felt exactly the same way. But he couldn't tell Blaine that, because not only would he lose him, but they'd probably be beaten to death before he did. Kurt was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't notice when Blaine rubbed his eyes and sat up, or at least not until Blaine's arm was pressed against his, their blanket wrapped around their shoulders.

"Kurt?"

Kurt turned and looked up at Blaine drowsily through his lashes. "Blaine?"

"Do you think...maybe...I could have one last kiss goodbye?"

Kurt felt his stomach flip over. "I...yes. Of course."

Blaine leaned close to him, so close that they were just trading CO2, which might actually be fatal if it went on for too long.

"I love you, Kurt," Blaine said, all seriousness and fluttering lashes, before leaning in and placing his lips gently to Kurt's. It was so different from their first kiss, so calm and reassuring, like Blaine was reminding himself it was their last, and savoring every minute. Kurt let his tongue trace Blaine's lower lip, and Blaine let his own lap at Kurt's, battling for dominance. The kiss was getting stronger, needier, and Kurt had a feeling that soon, he wouldn't be able to stop. So he pulled away.

"I love you too, Blaine.