The drive through Nebraska constituted the longest eight hours of both men's lives.

“How big is this state, anyway?” Blaine groaned after what seemed like an eternity of passing snow-covered flatness. They had tried to shake the trip up by switching drivers every two hours, and Blaine's hand resting on Kurt's thigh as Kurt drove, and Kurt's hand resting on Blaine's thigh when Blaine drove helped a lot—as did the lively conversation—but, eventually, the sameness wore them down.

“I feel like I'm in one of those old movies where they just scroll the scenery in a loop to make the characters look like they're driving,” complained Kurt. “I think we've driven past the same tree twenty times.”

Eventually, they saw a sign that read Pine Bluffs, WY, 5 miles and Blaine perked up, “We're almost to Wyoming.”

“Don't get too excited. Tina said that the topography doesn't change at all until you hit Cheyenne. We've still got at least another hour of…” Kurt waived his hand vaguely, “…whatever version of Hell this is.”

“Who's Tina again? What's her story, and why do you know someone who lives in Wyoming?”

“Tina is Tina Cohen-Chang; her story is that she graduated from the theater program at Brown and she got a semi-permanent gig with an acting troupe based out of Salt Lake City. I know her from high school, and her theater group is doing a small tour of The Laramie Project including a performance at the University of Wyoming.”

“They're doing The Laramie Project in Laramie? That's brave.”

“I know. When I last talked to Tina, she was terrified.”

“Well, just so I don't humiliate myself again, which of your many friends has Tina had relationships with? Finn? Sam? Rachel? Your dad?”

Kurt laughed, “I guess we're kind of an incestuous bunch, but Tina didn't have relationships with any of them,” he paused for a moment, “although I heard a rumor that Tina and Sam made out once at a senior night lock-in.”

“Of course they did,” Blaine sighed.

When Blaine had awoken that morning, he wasn't sure where things stood with Kurt and him. He had promised to stay in Omaha for one night, but they hadn't had the opportunity to discuss anything beyond that. However, after Rachel had hugged and kissed both men goodbye and Blaine had emerged from the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist, Kurt had smiled up at him from where he was packing his suitcase and said softly, “Blaine, please come with me to Laramie. I don't want to go without you.”

Hearing that, Blaine had walked over to Kurt, pulled him into a damp embrace, and kissed him softly on the mouth. Then he said, “Okay.”

Kurt held Blaine firmly by the hips and stepped back, “Move away, moist rake,” he said with mock sternness. “We have a long, long drive ahead, and I will not be distracted by your manly beauty.”

Blaine blushed but began dressing, and, less than an hour later, they were on the road.

It seemed like a really boring lifetime ago.

When they got close to Pine Bluffs, Blaine pulled the GPS off the dash and began fiddling with it.

“Hey,” protested Kurt from behind the steering wheel, “I kind of need that to know where we're going. I'm not going to get lost in the desert and become food for coyotes and rattlesnakes, and if a herd of rogue jack rabbits comes after us, I'm using your body as a decoy.”

“Okay, okay,” Blaine responded, “but I was thinking that we should take a side trip first. I just programmed it.”

Kurt raised one eyebrow, “Because this drive isn't long enough?”

Blaine chuckled, “Just trust me.”

A few minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot of a drug store in Pine Bluffs.

“Are we here for…?” Kurt let his question trail off.

Blaine gave Kurt a Boy Scout salute, “My motto is to be prepared.”

“You could have remembered that two nights ago,” Kurt grumbled, but he leapt out of the car with alacrity and followed Blaine inside, close on his heels.

Unfortunately, once they located the right aisle, Blaine's bravado deserted him. The store had an impressive array of both condoms and lube. Clearly, the people of Pine Bluffs took their happy time seriously. Blaine couldn't possibly sort it out, so when Kurt asked, “What do you think we should get?” Blaine panicked.

The honest truth was that Sebastian was the sexual aggressor in their relationship, and Blaine didn't have much say in what was used—or any say, really—and Sebastian didn't appear to have any brand loyalties. However, invoking his ex-boyfriend at this time didn't really seem appropriate, given the context, so Blaine just reached out and blindly grabbed the first box of condoms and bottle of lube he could reach. He quickly thrust them into Kurt's hand.

Kurt looked down at the items. “Really, Blaine? Strawberry-scented lube?”

Blaine flushed a deep red and snatched the lube bottle out of Kurt's hand and set it back on the shelf like it was on fire. “I-I-I didn't read the label,” he admitted.

Kurt looked at the other item in his hand. He read aloud, “Durex extra, extra large. The longest condom on the market, guaranteed.” He looked up, grinning, “Aaah, Blaine. You remembered my condom size.”

Blaine hadn't thought he could get any more embarrassed, but he was wrong. He tried to grab the condoms from Kurt, but Kurt pulled them to his chest and turned his back on Blaine. He continued reading, “Specially ribbed for her pleasure.”

He turned back around and raised an eyebrow, “Why is it always her pleasure? How come no one cares about his pleasure? We should start a letter-writing campaign.” Then Kurt noticed how absolutely mortified Blaine looked, and he put the condoms back on their hook. Turning, he put a hand on Blaine's shoulder and stood closer so he could speak lowly into Blaine's ear. “Sweetheart, would you like me to pick something for us?”

Blaine nodded mutely.

Kurt looked around to ensure that no one was watching, then he gave Blaine a swift kiss by his ear. “Why don't you find us some Cokes?”

Blaine was half way to the cooler before he realized that Kurt has called him sweetheart, then his heart took wings.