Kurt sat up straighter in the tub, still holding onto Blaine.  "What?" he asked. 

Blaine gave an unhappy puff of breath and slumped a little in Kurts arms.  "I lied to you about my name.  Its Blaine.  My name is Blaine.  Blaine Anderson." 

"What?"  Kurt repeated, stock-still.  Could it be true?  Could it be that the whole time Kurt was lying to Thrand...uh, not "Thrand," but..."Blaine"...Blaine was lying to him, too?  Kurt opened his mouth, but nothing came out; so he closed it again. 

Blaine pulled out of Kurts unresisting arms and moved back to his own side of the tub, pivoting to face Kurt.  He drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around his legs and staring into the water, which was nearly opaque from the bath salts and steam. 

"Im so sorry," he said with a miserable voice.  "I just...Id had a bad day, and I felt like being someone else.  I didnt know..."  His voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat.  Visibly forcing himself to look Kurt in the face, he continued a little more assertively, "My name is Blaine Anderson.  My brother is Cooper--Cooper Anderson, the actor." 

Kurts eyebrows shot up.  Cooper Anderson was a B-actor, but a fabulous one who owned his mediocrity much like William Shatner or Eric Roberts.  Kurt loved every campy inch of him. 

"I am a school teacher, though, and this is where I live."

Kurt raised an eyebrow.  It was a lot to take in.  "Um...Blaine..." He hesitated for a heartbeat; the name felt unfamiliar in his mouth, but somehow right, now that hed said it.  He continued, "You said the night we met that you teach at a private school.  I assume thats true."  He looked to Blaine, who nodded, before he resumed speaking. "But even at a private school, I have a hard time imagining that you make enough to afford..."  He used his hand to airily indicate their surroundings. "...all this."   

"Um, yeah, about that..." Blaine wasnt looking at Kurt anymore.  "When I first got out of college, I got a job at a high school in the Bronx.  Really tough place.  Metal detectors and locker searches.  The whole nine yards.  Most of the kids who started there never finished.  A lot dropped out." He drew a deep breath.  "Some were killed on the street."

He looked back up a Kurt. "Anyhow, I felt like I wasnt getting anywhere with the kids, and I finally figured I had nothing to lose, so I might as well try... something... anything.  So I started this program.  Ostensibly it was a music program, but really it was designed to help kids develop their self-esteem, to give them goals, to help them see that there was a bigger world than what they saw right around them every day.

"The program turned out to be pretty successful," Kurt could see that Blaines demeanor was shifting as he talked about his program.  His posture was becoming more erect, and he was speaking with more assertiveness.  He was looking Kurt in the eyes as he continued, "The risk of dropping out of high school was halved for the kids who went through my program compared to kids at that high school overall.  It got some attention.  I won a few awards.  And then...Im not really sure any longer how it all started snowballing, but some other schools decided they wanted to try the program; so they offered to hire me as a consultant. 

"First it was just New York City schools; then it was schools in New Jersey, and eventually it was schools all over the country--anywhere schools had trouble, which was virtually everywhere.  The mayor asked me to serve on a special task force, and then the governor made a similar state-wide task force that I now chair.  So, yeah, Im a teacher, but I make a whole lot more money from consulting, and Ive been pretty careful with it." 

Kurt waited for him to go on, but Blaine was apparently done.  "So," Kurt said, sinking down a little into the water, "youre rich and powerful." 

Blaine crinkled his nose, "I wouldnt say that."

Kurt sank down even farther. "But what would other people say?"

Blaine considered that. "Yeah...maybe...I dunno."  Now that he had quit talking about his program, Kurt could see Blaine drawing back into himself.  He looked small and forlorn. 

"Cmere," Kurt said, surprising himself as he slid back up and opened his arms to Blaine. 

Blaines eyes widened in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Come here," Kurt repeated more forcefully, and Blaine moved back across the tub, twisting around so he was once again resting between Kurts legs, his back to Kurts chest.  Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and pressed a kiss to his damp neck, nuzzling stray curls out of the way. 

He opened his mouth to confess his own dissembling to Blaine, but Blaine spoke first.

"I cant believe youre taking this so well," Blaine said, his shock clear in his voice. "If Id found out that you had lied to me, I...well, I dont know what I would have done.  But I am sorry.  I cant apologize enough.  Its just that...ugh...," Blaine relaxed more fully against Kurts chest, not noticing that Kurt was becoming increasingly tenser as Blaine spoke. 

"Id just had it up to here with dating guys with nothing going for them, you know?  I mean, Ive worked hard to get where I am, and I meet these guys all the time who are just...I dunno...flailing about, and I was sick of it.  I just wanted to be with a guy who had it all together." He continued, almost all in one breath,  "And I told my friend Sam that I just wanted to be someone who attracted a different kind of guy, and we were playing around with fake names and talking about how Id have to stop being the guy in charge all the time, and I...just...Im sorry." 

Kurt squeezed Blaine a little at that.  His head was swimming, and his heart was racing.  He was one of those flailing guys that Blaine was sick of.  He felt a little nauseated, but Blaine continued on, unaware of Kurts increasing anxiety. "Meeting you--it was like a revelation.  Guys like you--I mean, cmon, youre an investment banker--guys like you never give a second look to guys like me.  I just attract...well, you know.  And Im sick of being...okay this is going to sound creepy, but Im sick of being the parent all the time.  The last guy I dated even wanted me to cook for him and do his laundry.  Twenty-five years old and he couldnt cook for himself or do his own laundry. 

"I swear, it seems like all the guys I had anything to do with this past year or so just wanted a caretaker. They spent half their time with me crying about how life isnt fair and how so-and-so has it so much better or how they could do better if only someone would cut them a break.  Thats why Sam was trying to help me--he said I should start a ‘stray of the month club. Hes right--I counted back, and in the last eight months, Ive ‘dated eight guys, and all they did was use me as a maid service and milk me for my time, money, and patience.

"I wanted to project myself as something, someone different so that I wouldnt keep attracting all those guys who are looking for someone to take care of them.  But then, with you--and I dont expect you to believe this, but I promise its true--I didnt have to pretend, because you sort of always keep me off balance, and I know that sounds like a bad thing, but its not.  Ive always been the sure one, the one whos in control...but, with you, Im just a little bit lost, and...Im finding that I like it."

He let the air whoosh out of his lungs, along with all the stress of his confession.  "I like it a lot," he finished quietly.

Kurts thoughts were racing, and he needed to buy time to sort them.  He wrapped his arms around Blaine more firmly, easily reaching across his chest to trace soapy paths along his arms. He resumed nuzzling Blaines neck as he tried to gather his thoughts.

What should he do?  He could try to pull off his ruse a little longer and enjoy Blaine for as long as he could.  Or he could come clean and let the chips fall where they may. 

Except Kurt knew where the chips would fall.  Blaine would find out that Kurt was nothing he wanted, and that he was a big fat liar, to boot--and that would be that. 

Still, it wouldnt be right to continue to string Blaine along.  He was a great guy--a terrific guy--and Kurt liked him a lot.  Blaine deserved better.  Kurt needed to tell him the truth. 

Kurt kissed Blaine one more time on the soft spot just behind his ear, and Blaine hummed appreciatively. He took in a breath to speak.  "Blaine, I..."

The doorbell rang.