Kurt put his hands on the sink and dropped his forehead against the mirror. What had he done? He had worked so hard to change things for Karofsky this time around, and now everything was different but nothing was changed.

Kurt looked in the mirror and saw in his own eyes a shadow of the pain to come--the pain he felt with Karofskys suicide. Then he remembered that his last gorilla was still waiting for him. Please let it be Blaine, please let it be Blaine, please let it be Blaine, he prayed. Half of Kurt wanted it to be Blaine because everything in Kurt wanted Blaine to love him (even if he qualified it with “I think”). The other half of Kurt wanted it to be Blaine simply because Kurt couldn't take rejecting another besotted suitor.  Being a heartbreaker wasnt as satisfying as he had previously imagined.  

Kurt then realized to his horror that he was touching things in a public bathroom, so he washed his hands and dried them (and checked his hair one more time), before leaving to face down his final gorilla.

When he stepped out of the men's room he was surprised to see that the party had already started. Sugar was up on stage prattling on about something in a red meringue of a dress, and balloons and heart decorations had magically quadrupled while he was in the bathroom with Karofsky.

Then Kurt looked at his table and his eyes grew wide. Where he had last left two gorillas (one if you didn't count Karofsky), there were now a dozen. One dozen giant, hairy apes. It became astonishingly clear to Kurt at that moment that Fate not only had him by the balls, but the bitch was twisting. What had he ever done to her?

Kurt was unable to formulate a clear thought, so as he approached the table he said the first thing that came to mind, “What the actual fuck?”

That seemed to be the cue for all of the gorillas to take off their heads, and suddenly Kurt was surrounded by a dozen hairy Dalton Academy Warblers, including Blaine. At first Kurt was monumentally relieved to see Blaine, but then he realized that Blaine was a Warbler, and his presence among them neither confirmed nor disconfirmed that he had left the last card. Kurt didn't know what to do. Should he hold up the card and ask to see the sender, or should he just wait to see what would happen?

Before he could make a decision, he felt strong arms wrap around his waist from behind, and Sebastian's head was resting on his shoulder. “What's everyone doing here?” Kurt asked him.

“Well,” said Sebastian, rocking Kurt side to side with the music now being blasted into the restaurant, “Sugar invited the Warblers to do a few numbers, and they didn't have time to change after the birthday party, so they said we could use their cloakroom to get out of our monkey suits.”

“Apes aren't monkeys,” Kurt contradicted automatically.

“Don't be pedantic, public school boy,” Sebastian teased.

As the seated apes slid out of the booth and the Warblers filed past Kurt, Blaine paused and smiled at Kurt. “I'm singing first, but promise you'll save me a dance.”

Kurt's heart soared, “I promise.”

In no time, Blaine was on the stage, now dressed in dark washed jeans and a skinny maroon jacket over a white sweater vest, white button down, and red bow tie. Either he changed really quickly, or he had a lot on under that gorilla suit.

Kurt and Sebastian danced spastically to Blaine's rendition of “Love Shack,” and eventually Blaine, who was hamming it up for all he was worth, got Kurt to chime in on the song a few times. Then all the Warblers, including Sebastian, got on stage and performed “Uptown Girl,” and Kurt spent that time in his promised dance with Matt. He had forgotten (or perhaps never knew) that Matt was a great dancer, and to his surprise, Kurt had fun being led through a modified swing dance.

Then the Warblers left the stage and Finn stepped up to the microphone and began to sing, “Can't Fight this Feeling,” and Kurt took a moment to take in how beautiful and comfortable he was on stage. Rachel, Kurt, and Mercedes were the divas of the New Directions, hyper-aware of their stage presence, but Finn was just himself always, and that self was a sight to behold.

Kurt felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice rumbled in his ear, “Care to dance?”

Kurt turned and smiled into Blaine's honey eyes. “I would love that,” he replied honestly. He followed Blaine onto the dance floor, and he automatically wound his arms around Blaine's neck, while Blaine's arms encircled his waist. It felt so much like home that Kurt thought he might weep.

“You feel so right to me,” Blaine murmured into his ear, and Kurt turned his head slightly and kissed Blaine on the cheek. Then he pressed his own cheek to Blaine's and left it there, feeling the slight rasp of Blaine's ever-present stubble (the kind you can't see but you can feel) against his own smooth skin. They danced like that for a while, just wrapped in each other's arms and swaying to Finn's voice.

Kurt tried to absorb all of it—to press it into his memory so hard that the mark would never fade. He memorized the feel of Blaine's face against his and the brush of his breath against his skin. He memorized the sound of Finn's voice singing, “And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might.” He memorized the feel of Blaine's strong arms wrapped around his waist, and the view of Finn, eyes closed and head thrown back as he lost himself in his song.

“Kurt?” Blaine murmured in Kurt's ear.

“Hmmmm?”

“Do you remember the first time we kissed?  You know, the first, first time.”

“I'll never forget it, honey.”

“What was it like?”

“We were both going to Dalton. I was in the Senior Commons and you found me, and you said, ‘You move me, Kurt,' and then you licked your lips, and you might have said some other stuff, but everything after that was a hum except for your lips, and then they were on mine, and I had to put my hand up to cup your jaw, because I thought I might slide out of my chair otherwise, because the feel of your lips was the most amazing thing I'd ever experienced.”

“Really?”

“Really. And it never changed, Blaine. Five years later, your mouth on mine is still the most amazing feeling in the world.”

Blaine looked at Kurt's lips like he wanted to kiss him again, but, instead, he asked, “Do you remember the first time you told me that you loved me?”

“I do.”

“What was that like?”

“New Directions had just returned from Nationals—you were still with the Warblers but I was back with New Directions—and I was prattling on about it at the Lima Bean, and instead of yawning or telling me to shut up already, instead you had the most dreamy look on your face and you said, ‘I love you,' and I said, ‘I love you, too.'”

“Then what? Did we kiss? Did we hold hands?”

“No. Nothing. We were at the Lima Bean. We just went back to talking.”

“That doesn't sound very romantic.”

“Blaine, it was perfect.”

“I don't think so. What I think would be perfect would be to tell you that I love you while I'm holding you in my arms, someplace like on a dance floor. And then you would tell me you loved me, too. Then we would kiss, and then you would take my hand and take me to your place, because your dad and Carole are out of town, and you would make love to me all night long.”

“Well, that sounds nice, t…Blaine, do you mean it?”

“Do I mean that I love you? Yes. My card said that I think I love you, but I don't. I don't have to think about it. I love you, Kurt. I love you, and I love New Kurt, and I can't wait for them to be the same person, and at the same time I feel so lucky that I've got to experience them both.”

Kurt tightened his hold on Blaine, who squeezed back. “I love you, too,” Kurt whispered in Blaine's ear. He shifted back a little bit, loosening his grip, “I meant, though, do you mean it when you say you want to make love?”

“More than anything.”

A thought struck Kurt, “Have you ever had sex before?”

“No.”

“Have I?”

Blaine laughed, “If you mean, has New Kurt, the answer is no. Not that Matt didn't get an A for effort.” Blaine looked deeply into Kurt's ocean blue eyes, “I really do love you, you know.”

Kurt pulled Blaine closer and kissed him passionately. “I really love you, too,” he said breathlessly when their lips parted.

Then he took Blaine by the hand and led him out of Breadstix and into the night.