The Next Day

"Hey Kurt" Blaine called from where he was sat on the cold bench.

The clouds were thick and dark. It was definitely becoming winter. Blaine and Kurt loved the winter, snuggled up by the fire reading a book, walks through central park in the snow, ice skating in Bryant Park. The holidays we're their favourite time of year.

"Hey Blaine, You ready?" asked Kurt grinning.

"Of course, where to first?" He smiled brightly at Kurt.

"Coffee!" said Kurt

They walked down the road to the small coffee shop on the corner of 52nd street. They loved this coffee shop, when they were together; it was expensive so they never visited often. They had so many happy memories of this caf�...

"So Kurt, Location? Date?"

"Location... Central Park, the Bandstand. As for the Date, August 21st... I think...t"

"Sounds beautiful, Kurt..." said Blaine,

"Yeah... Ryan doesn't really think so... if it was up to him... and, you know, we could, it'd be a quickie wedding in Vegas."

Kurt sighed, He loved Ryan he did. But Kurt wanted some romance- flowers sent to him at work, Random ballroom dancing in the living room-no music, just them. Kurt loved that side of relationships, sharing feelings. Ryan wasn't like that, Kurt had to beg just to hold hands or kiss in public. It that respect he missed Blaine, he missed how romantic Blaine was, all the little notes when they spent a night apart, flowers, Breakfasts in bed. He sometimes wished that Ryan would be more like that.

"Awe, I'm sure he's not that unromantic"

"He really doesn't care about this wedding... Well I mean he does, he wants to marry me... I guess... he's just not as into the fairytale side of relationships as I am..." 'or you' Kurt added in his head

"Awe... We'll change that... we'll give him a wedding to be reckoned with."

Kurt laughed.

"I mean it, Kurt!"

"I know you do, Blaine... I know..." Kurt smiled softly at Blaine

~~~

The two men spent the next few weekends traipsing round bakeries and photographers, Blaine haggling Kurt the best prices. Kurt was surprised how much Blaine knew about the wedding circuit. He always got Kurt the best things for the cheapest prices.

"How do you do it, Bee?" asked Kurt when they got back to his, Blaine had just got him a horse drawn carriage for half the price Kurt was initially offered.

"I sometimes sing at weddings... I picked up a few things"

"Wow..." said Kurt, realising how little he knew about Blaine now.

"What?" said Blaine, slightly on guard, scared Kurt thought Blaine's new life was pitiful.

"Nothing... I just realised... I barely know anything about you anymore... we're always in the middle of talking about me and the wedding... let's talk about you... what's going on with you... anything happen with that bar man? Tobias wasn't it?" said Kurt as he sat down on his couch, legs curled beneath him.

"Oh... Um okay... well" said Blaine nervously, peaching on the couch next to Kurt... he couldn't tell Kurt everything... things felt different. "Things with Tobias are good... we're taking it slow..."

Blaine smiled as he remembered the other night. He and Tobias had gone to see a movie together; Blaine didn't spend too much time watching the movie. Tobias had really wanted to see 'Les Mis' again... this time with Blaine, but Blaine mainly enjoyed watching him watch it. Tobias quietly mouthed along to the songs, like Kurt did with rent, Blaine found it utterly adorable. He could watch Tobias for hours.

"Yeah?" said Kurt, grinning at Blaine, knowing full well what that smile meant... it was nice to see Blaine smile, a genuine smile... he'd seemed so sad lately.

"He... he understands... my... problem..." said Blaine pulling at his sleeves... negative thoughts coming to mind... he blocked them out.

"Problem?" asked Kurt, worried.

Blaine looked tense... panicked even, it was strange how quick his mood could change nowadays Kurt couldn't help but wonder what had happened this past year. Blaine acted strangely around Kurt now... He could tell Blaine wasn't as open as he used to be around Kurt. he kept his guard up, secrets hidden. Kurt knew something was up something Blaine wasn't telling him.

"Its n-nothing" said Blaine... "Can, can we change the subject..."

"Yeah sure... um... Why don't you work for NYJ anymore? Don't you miss writing? You used to love it"

"Um, I quit... and yes... I do miss it a little... I've started a little novella.... um... it's a children's book"

"A book?" said Kurt grinning.

"Yes," said Blaine sheepishly.

He had in fact started a small children's book. He missed writing, more than anything; writing helped him get his thoughts straight. In his adolescence he could always turn to word. He wanted to go back, but he couldn't stand the thought of the questions he'd get asked. Where he's been? What happened? He couldn't face Sebastian again not without feeling so guilty. he'd let Sebastian manipulate him... he'd hurt the one person he cared about the most and karma had bit him on his ass, beat the shit out of him and left him to deal with the consequences...

"What about?" asked Kurt intrigued.

"Um... you'll think it's stupid..."

"I'm sure I won't..."

"You'll laugh"

"I promise... I won't..." said Kurt, with a straight face, he reached across and touched Blaine's hand, looking into his eyes.

"Okay..." said Blaine taking a deep breath knowing full well Kurt would laugh. "It's about how cows and goats are really alien and they are brainwashing us to eat cheese" Blaine looked down to his lap...

"That sounds great Blaine" said Kurt as he bit back a small chuckle... it was an interesting idea.

"You think it's stupid..." said Blaine indignantly.

"No. honestly... Patti would love it... its right up her street... you know how she feels about cheese"

Blaine laughed a little as he remembered, his niece-in-law, Patti. He missed her, and her parents, they were two of his best friends at McKinley. Finn was Kurt step-brother; Blaine couldn't face him again after the divorce... Finn surely must hate him and Rachel is Kurt's best friend.

"How are they all...? I haven't seen them much... I didn't seem right after the divorce.."

"They're okay..."

"Good..." said Blaine, feeling awkward. "Maybe I should go..."

"No... please stay?" asked Kurt, as he finished the sentence he heard the door open.

"Hey sexy I'm home!" called Ryan from the door.

He walked in to the main area of the apartment. He stopped and saw Blaine sat on the couch next to his fianc� , he felt a surge of anger towards the other man, but he and Kurt were friends again now. Kurt appeared to have forgiven him... Ryan still was unable to... after everything.

"Oh... Blaine. What are you doing here?" He asked trying to be cordial, staring Blaine down, malice in his eyes.

"Um.. leaving" said Blaine standing up, "So Kurt, Friday at four... we'll go to the florist and listen to some wedding bands..."

"Yeah... okay..." said Kurt, really wishing Blaine would stay a little longer.

Blaine left quickly, avoid eye contact with Ryan; Kurt turned and glared at Ryan.

"What?!" said Ryan indignant, In his mind he's the one who should be glaring at Kurt, inviting his ex over.

"Why? Why did you have to go do that?" said Kurt standing up, hand on his hip.

"Why was he even here!" Ryan shouted.

"He's helping me plan our wedding!"

"That's sure what it looked like"

"He's my best friend Ryan! We we're just talking, he has a boyfriend..."

"Whatever Kurt." snapped Ryan, and he sat on the couch.

"Baby," said Kurt after about five minutes. "I'm not going to cheat on you... I love you... nobody else..."

"I know... I just... he bothers me... I just don't like him, I don't like what he did to you... it broke my heart"

"I know... how about we snuggle and watch some T.V."

"Yeah..."Ryan said, smiling

~~~
Three weeks later

Blaine was stood outside Bar 4 waiting for Tobias to finish the lunch shift. Tobias saw him waiting and crept up quietly behind him and grabbed his waist. Blaine screamed loudly, then tensed up and tried to wriggle free. He panicked his breathing quickened, flashbacks started to resurface. Tobias let go immediately, unsure of what he'd done to cause such a reaction.

"Hey, Blaine..." said Tobias softly. "It's me."

"Why would you do that?!" Blaine shouted, not really angry just frightened

"I wanted to surprise you, I, I, I thought it was cute... I'm, I'm sorry" said Tobias, as he looked down at his feet

Blaine was shaking; he was trying to calm himself down, taking deep steadying breaths.

"I'm sorry," said Blaine finally, he reached across and touched Tobias' forearm causing him to look up. "I, I, I have issues with... with being grabbed... I know you didn't mean it in a malicious way..."

"I'm really sorry Bee..."

"I'm the one who should be sorry T. You weren't to know... um lets just forget it happened and enjoy our date?"

"Yeah, yeah, I like that idea..."said Tobias.

He took Blaine's hand and walking him down the street to the restaurant. The two men sat in silence as they ate, Tobias not wanting to upset Blaine again and Blaine deep in thought about how he was going to explain what just happened.

He debated over whether or not to tell Tobias about The Assault. He'd been thinking about it for a while now, Tobias had been so understanding of Blaine's, as he dubbed them, 'little quirks'. There was no way he could logically explain the earlier outburst without explaining to him what happened almost a year ago, Blaine just hoped he had the strength to do it and that the story wouldn't scare Tobias off.

"Okay" said Blaine suddenly, having made his decision

Tobias looked up from his meal, wondering what Blaine had been thinking about.

"Okay what?" he asked carefully.

"We need to talk..." said Blaine, a serious tone in his voice.

"Okay" said Tobias, slowly, panicking slightly.

Tobias set down his cutlery, looked at Blaine a sad expression in his eyes... knowing he was probably about to be dumped. He thought about the relationship and wondered where he went wrong... surely Blaine wasn't breaking up with him just because of grabbing him earlier. That was the only thing that came to mind, he felt like he'd been the perfect boyfriend... what if as he'd feared Blaine was still in love with his ex-husband... after all they did spend a lot of time together, and Blaine looked so at ease around him unlike he did around Tobias' friends.

"I, I need to tell you something but... I can't do it here... would you mind terribly it we skipped dessert and went back to my place?"

"N-no of course not Bee." He said, part of him was relieved, at least if he was getting dumped, he wasn't getting dumped in public

They finished their meals and headed back to Blaine's apartment, Blaine planning what he was going to say and how exactly he'd explain what had happened to him. When they arrived Kelsey and Darren were snuggled on the couch watching 'Pitch Perfect'.

"Hey Peanut, you're home early" said Kelsey sitting up.

"Yeah... I needed to be s-somewhere private to talk." Said Blaine eying Kelsey pointedly "Kels, D. can I can I have a quick chat with you? I'll only be a minute T."

Tobias nodded and Kelsey and Darren followed Blaine in to his room, he paced a while, thinking. Kelsey could tell by his posture that something was troubling him, he was making himself small, closing in. Kelsey knew before he told them what he was going to do.

"Okay... Okay" said Blaine, calming himself down "I'm going to tell him about that night... he snuck up on me and grabbed me... I screamed and yelled at him... I don't have a choice... he needs to know... I don't know how else to explain what happened"

"Bee. Calm down" said Darren.

"I'm scared... how will he react... will it scare him off? How do I even begin to explain... they'll be flashbacks and I can't... maybe I shouldn't tell him"

Kelsey took Blaine's hand to stop him pacing, turning him to face her.

"Blaine... if you're not ready or you don't want to do it you don't have to... he loves you, regardless" said Kelsey

"I know" said Blaine, "I know he does... but will he when he found out..."

"He'll understand Blaine, he won't leave..."

"Do you want us to go? Give you some privacy" said Kelsey, softly.

"N-no.... could you stay... maybe just don't be in the room... I both need to and can't do it alone..."

"Of course we can Peanut" said Kelsey. She smiled proudly at him; she knew how hard this was going to be for him.

He thanked them and they walked back into the other room, Tobias was perched nervously on the edge of the couch, he turned to face them. Kelsey and Darren headed in to their room to 'watch a movie'. Blaine walked over to Tobias and sat on the other end of the couch. He took some steadying breaths, Tobias watched him, dreading the conversation ahead.

"Okay" said Blaine after five minutes or so "There's something I need to tell you... It, It's not easy for me to say.."

"Just do it already" Tobias said, just wanting this waiting to be over... tears sprung to his eyes "Break up with me"

"What?" asked Blaine, confused slightly..."I'm, I'm not breaking up with you...."

Blaine looked down at his hands tugging at his sleeves... he was starting to doubt whether this was a good idea.

"You're not? oh..."

"no, um.." Blaine took a deep breath, calming himself down "About a year ago now... I...I... I was assaulted... um ... and ever since... ive had... issues with things like... being grabbed and, and walking past alleyways and l-late at night... I'm in recovery... I guess... I'm getting there... I'm, I'm getting better"

Tobias reached across and gently took Blaine's hand. It all made sense now, him not liking being out late, the always checking down alleyways, even his behaviour tonight. Tobias understood, he wished Blaine hadn't had to suffer that.

"Oh.. Bee" he said sitting closer.

"Since it happened you're one of the only guys I feel comfortable around...." said Blaine looking slightly more relaxed.

"I'm glad..."Tobias smiled softly.

"Me too" said Blaine smiling back... "Can we snuggle for a little bit?"

Tobias nodded and the two men curled up on the couch, Blaine's head resting on Tobias' shoulder. Tobias had his arm wrapped around Blaine protectively his nose in Blaine's hair, smelling his raspberry hair gel. They stayed like that for hours. Blaine felt safe and protected... He was glad he'd told Tobias.

"thank you" said Blaine as Tobias got up to leave "thank you for listening, and understanding."

"always Blaine... Always" said Tobias with a smile.

Blaine stood on his tiptoes and pressed a soft kiss to Tobias' lips. He wrapped his arms around his neck. Tobias picked him up slightly still kissing him, sucking on Blaine's lower lip, nibbling it. He set him down as they parted.

"I love you Blaine" said Tobias

"Love you too" said Blaine.