CHAPTER ONE

When Blaine opened his eyes, he was greeted by the same cool sunshine that wakes him every morning. It's the same light that sweeps through the room reminding him to sort his messy desk piled with notebooks and facsimiles, to put away the unfolded cloths crumpled on top the leather arm chair, and to clean up the little dust-bunnies beneath his dresser. But rather than groaning at the unwanted chores that mock him every weekend, a smug smile crept up on one corner of Blaine's mouth as he slowly tightened his arm around the boy laying next to him.

Kurt. His. Kurt.

The same cruel light that tortures Blaine every morning is now somehow caressing Kurt's soft, translucent skin, making it glow… Like an angel, Blaine thought. He had to stop himself from wanting to pull down the covers and fully bathe Kurt's naked form in pure light, just so he can discover and examine every little mark he had left on Kurt's body after last night.

"Mmm…" Kurt moaned in his sleep as his body reacted to Blaine's tightening embrace, and instinctively curled up against his lover. Blaine beamed another protective smile, but felt his composure crumble as his gaze locked on to the little flickers of movement from Kurt's long golden lashes that trembled a little dance across Kurt's serene, beautiful face. Blaine wanted to stand on top of a mountain and just SCREAM his heart out. He wanted to grab this otherworldly creature next to him and just shake it until he can understand. God, he wanted to… he wanted to…

Blaine's mind froze when the lashes steadied themselves and slowly unveiled two hidden sea-green orbs. "Blaine?" Kurt whispered as his eyes darted around, unsure of his surroundings.

"I'm here, baby," Blaine replied softly, smoothing his hand over Kurt's lower back. "It's still early."

Kurt shut his eyes, content. But moments later, gave a little chuckle.

"What?" Blaine was baffled. And still slightly annoyed at himself for waking Kurt up when the boy so clearly needs rest. Especially after last night, Blaine thought and sneaked in another smug smile.

"I think I might be a little hungry," Kurt replied sheepishly.

"Oh! Of course!" Blaine was mentally kicking himself for being such an inconsiderate boyfriend. "What would you like, pancakes? Waffles? Bacon? Biscuits and gravy? Eggs? Oh wait, I mean, fruit and yogurt?"

"Blaine!" The countertenor rolled onto his back and gave out a lyrical laugh, "Biscuits and gravy?" Kurt kept laughing and tried to sit up, but grimaced when he tried to hoist himself up.

"Gosh, Kurt, I am so sorry," Blaine immediately got up and started fawning over Kurt, all arms and fingers but not really sure what to do. "I am so sorry I got carried away last night. It was your first time and I really should have been more gentle..."

"Blaine!" Kurt grabbed and steadied Blaine's hands. "Stop blabbering and look at me."

Blaine saw the most beautiful, loving smile in the world.

"Last night was… amazing." Kurt blushed furiously as his mind formulated his next words, "You were amazing. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way."

Blaine sat back a little, and laughed apologetically into his hands. "Kurt Hummel, you do not know the things you can do to me." Then he reached over, lightly tilted Kurt's chin and leaned in for a chaste kiss.

As their lips lightly touched, both closed their eyes and for an eternal second, felt like the earth had stopped spinning on its axis.

But the bliss was short lived. Blaine's stomach began protesting loudly.

A very disgruntled Blaine pulled away as Kurt started giggling.

Blaine looked at the clock on his desk – 7:49a.m. "The Lima Bean should be open by eight. Why don't I drive over to pick us up some coffee and muffins? That way you can get some more rest before I get back."

"Mmm, I'd like that. But I think I'll jump in the shower really quickly. I need to catch up on my moisturizing routine." Kurt brought his hands up to his face, "I must look awful right now."

Blaine leaned in and mischievously whispered in Kurt's ear, "Darlin', you know that term 'afterglow'? Well whoever invented that term should hire you as a poster child, because I assure you that your skin is positively glowing right now."

Kurt turned into all shades of scarlet as Blaine climbed off the bed and started fishing for cloths to wear. Well, at least I get to watch him do a reverse strip-tease. Kurt thought, marveling at Blaine's toned body as the boy slid an old Dalton shirt over his head.

"Oh, wait, I totally forgot," Blaine opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small rectangular box. He sat down on the side of the bed, and handed the box to Kurt. "Here, open it."

Kurt's eyes widened as he gently took the box from Blaine's hand, and slowly lifted the cover. He gasped as he saw what lay inside. A thin, silvery metal chain, with a small, heart shaped stone attached to one end. Kurt couldn't quite make out the stone, maybe garnet, given its blood red color. But the clarity and brilliance is closer to that of a diamond.

"Oh Blaine, I don't know.." Kurt's first instinct is to not accept such an extravagant gift. He knew Blaine comes from wealth, but they are both just kids. "Is this a bracelet?"

"Well, actually, I think it's more like an anklet." Blaine chuckled as he lifted the chain from its box and snaked it on the palm of his hand, showing the length of the chain. "Or maybe it was a necklace for a baby?"

"You don't know what it is?" Kurt asked. Then he gasped under his breath, "Blaine Everett Anderson, did you steal this from a baby?"

"What? No!" Blaine furrowed his brow and scooted closer to Kurt.

"Kurt, please focus, I need you to listen to what I am about to say," Blaine's tone was serious, commanding, even.

"This is from my father. Not my dad, I mean, my step-dad. My biological father." Sorrow flashed quickly across Blaine's eyes as he stroked the chain with a finger.

"Remember I told you that when my father died, he left me a trust fund with very specific instructions? Like when I turned 16, his attorneys told me that I was to receive a car of my choice? Every year on my birthday, his lawyers would contact me with the instructions that he laid out in his will," Blaine shook his head. "I guess it's his way of making sure he is always a part of my life."

Kurt reached out to hold Blaine's hand, pressing the bracelet between their palms, "And this anklet? Was it a present from him, too?"

"Yeah, a few months ago, right before you came to spy on the Warblers, actually, his lawyers asked me to fly to Geneva to empty out a safety deposit box. It was odd because it wasn't my birthday, but the bank manager was expecting me. Apparently before my father passed away, he had given the bank instructions that I was going to show up that day."

"And this was what you found?"

"Well, this and a bunch of papers. I think.." Blaine's voice cracked a little. "I think they were his journals."

"Oh Blaine," Kurt cupped Blaine's face with his hand. "Blaine, have you…?"

Blaine leaned into Kurt's hand, and gave a sad chuckle, "No… I want to, I do, but I just…" Kurt can see that Blaine really doesn't want to talk about that right now, it was obviously too painful for him. So he tried to change the subject.

"I think this anklet is beautiful." Kurt whispered.

"I showed it to my mom, thinking that maybe it was meant for her," Blaine was still reliving the moment. "But she doesn't recognize it at all. She wanted to get it appraised by a jeweler, you know, to see how much it's worth. But I really don't care about its monetary value. Even if it's just a cheap piece of glass, it is still something he gave me. I think it's meant for something."

Kurt nodded empathetically.

"Then last week, when we were planning this weekend, I just couldn't stop thinking about wanting to give you something, something that is a part of me," Blain turned Kurt's palm up and pressed the chain into Kurt's hand. "I want you to have this, Kurt."

Tears slid down Kurt's face as he looked deeply into Blaine's golden eyes, "Blaine, I am so honored. But this belongs to you, to your father." He placed a finger on Blaine's lips as the boy began to protest. "But I will be so happy to wear it, to be its keeper. As long as you let me, I will never part from it."

Blaine grabbed Kurt toward him into a tight embrace, and it quickly turned into a heated kiss as each furiously tried to savoir and taste the other. Blaine couldn't help but let out a low growl when Kurt gently pushed him away.

Stilling his hastened breath, Kurt gingerly slid a leg out from under the covers and pointed his toes in an elegant arch. "Put it on me?"

Kurt couldn't help but smile at Blaine's stunned face. He could almost hear Blaine gulp as the dazed boy reached and lightly caressed the top of Kurt's extended forefoot.

"Don't stare, Blaine. You know how insecure I am about my feet."

"Nonsense," Blaine is now cradling the heel with one hand and tracing the fingers of the other over the delicate green veins beneath ivory skin. "How are your feet so soft?"

"It's called a good moisturizing regiment, Blaine. You don't really think I spent all those two hours in the bathroom just rubbing my face, do you?" Kurt teased, and wiggled his toes as only a diva could. "Now put that anklet on. I really need my morning cup of coffee."

"As you wish."

Blaine hooked the light chain and placed a kiss on Kurt's ankle where the heart charm rested, tasting the blood-red stone against the soft skin.

"You and your foot fetish, Mr. Anderson!" Kurt exclaimed, further testing Blaine's sanity by tucking his leg back under the covers.

Blaine took a deep breath and smiled, then proceeded to exit the dorm room. Before he closed the door behind him, he turned around and paused to take one more look at his angel, naked and lying in his bed. "How about if we cancel all our plans and just lock ourselves in this room all day?"

"I thought you said Wes and Thad have been planning for their afternoon barbeque all week. And didn't you say I am the guest of honor since this is the first time I've been back at Dalton after going back to McKinley?"

"Damn Wes and Thad and their culinary inclinations," Blaine muttered under his breath as he slid out the door.

Blaine had just turned on to the main street from the Dalton parking lot, and was barely even a quarter mile down the road, when two garbage trucks sped by in the opposite direction. Slightly puzzled, Blaine watched in his rear-view mirror as the trucks made a sharp turn into the Dalton parking lot.

How odd, Blaine thought to himself, garbage service on a Saturday?

Kurt was just getting out of the shower and beginning his moisturizing regimen when he heard two loud bangs coming from the courtyard. No, wait, Kurt corrected himself. They were more like distinct popping sounds, one right after another, followed by an eerie silence. Kurt looked into the courtyard through the window and saw nothing but empty wooden picnic tables and benches. It's the weekend and most Dalton students have gone home. Only the few out-of-state boarders remained.

Kurt opened the door to Blaine's dorm room and poked his head outside to see if there might be any one out there. He looked down the hall and saw Jeff doing the same thing.

"Jeff, what are you doing here? Don't you live like an hour away?" Kurt stepped into the hallway and walked toward the tall blond boy.

"Hey, Kurt! Long time no see!" Jeff was happy to see a fellow Warbler – correction, ex-Warbler – and started moving toward Kurt as well. "Wes and Thad said that they are testing out this amazing barbeque recipe, so I thought I'd stay and be one of their guinea pigs."

"Oh Jeff, have you not learned from the last time you participated in one of their culinary experiments? We had to ban you from gym class because you were sweating onions and garlic."

Jeff just shrugged.

"And remember that time when you cried buckets after tasting their chili pepper stir-fry?"

"Ha ha! Yeah that was funny wasn't it?" Jeff exclaimed, earning a bitch-please look from Kurt. "Hey I'm like a noble court taster. You know, I'm all for taking one for the team, and being noble."

"Nobel, yes," Kurt arched his impeccably groomed eye brow. "Nobel because they die, Jeff, they die."

Then Kurt jumped as another loud pop vibrated through the walls, much louder than the last two.

"Hey," Jeff grabbed the arm of the startled boy to steady him. He looked down the hallway. "I wonder if we should go check out the courtyard."

"Yeah, I thought the first two sounds came from the courtyard, but when I looked outside, I didn't see anything," Kurt replied.

"Probably someone's tires just blew?" Jeff suggested.

"No," Kurt stated. "I grew up around cars my whole life, and let me tell you, those were not the sounds of blown tires."

Kurt and Jeff began to hear footsteps hastily moving up the stairwell, growing louder and louder as the person approached the top of the stairs.

"Wes!" Kurt called out when the person came into their line of sight at the end of the hall.

It took a second for Wes to focus on them, and when he saw Kurt and Jeff, he started dashing toward them. They could see something was terribly wrong from the terror on Wes's face, and the way he was holding onto his left shoulder, a dark red stain was seeping through his gray Dalton sweater.

Kurt froze as Wes grabbed him and Jeff. "Quick! Get the hell out of here before they find you! I just saw them shoot the groundskeeper."