(INT. Police station. Darren is sitting in a chair, police officers around him before he gets taken to the next room. He looks across the station and the doors open. Noise fills the room, shouts, people yelling, cameras, news crews calling names. Darren looks over to see two officers bringing in someone, and when the person looks up, he sees it’s Chris looking over at him.)

DARREN
Whoa…whoa, what’s he doing here? What’s Chris doing here? He didn’t do anything wrong.

OFFICER ONE
Just sit down and down worry about your little boyfriend.

DARREN
But he didn’t do anything! Why did you arrest him?

(An older man in a suit comes over, his hands in his pockets. This is Detective Johnson, the lead detective in the case)

DET. JOHNSON
He’s been arrested for conspiracy to commit murder.

DARREN
But he didn’t do anything! Look at him! He’s as innocent as they come!

DET. JOHNSON
I find it curious that you’re defending him, but not yourself.

DARREN
Because he’s hurt and he’s tired and he doesn’t need to be here when he didn’t. Do. Anything.

(The officers leading Chris bring him by on the way to the interrogation rooms. Darren wants to reach out to him, but his hands are still cuffed together.)

CHRIS
Don’t say anything, Darren. Ashley’s getting a lawyer.

DARREN
Are you ok?

(Chris never gets to answer as they push him into another room. Darren looks after him sadly, then turns to Detective Johnson)

DARREN
You asshole, why did you arrest him? He was in Clovis! Doing something like this was the last thing on his mind!

DET. JOHNSON
Shut up.

(The officer beside Darren grabs his arm and pulls him up. He’s taken through the same door Chris was, but taken into a separate room. It’s dark, cold, the walls are made of brick, and there’s a table with one chair. Darren is sat at the chair and the officer undoes one hand cuff, then attaches it to the table.)

DARREN
Accuse me if you’ve got nothing better to do, but Chris is innocent! He didn’t have anything to do with this!

DET. JOHNSON
So you’re not denying the charges against you?

DARREN
Not denying? Of course I’m denying! I could never kill anyone. I don’t even kill spiders in my sink! I do that little cup and paper thing and take them outside! I could never kill a person!

DET. JOHNSON
Then why are you trying so hard to clear your friend out there?

DARREN
Because he’s innocent! And he’s not my friend. He’s my boyfriend.

DET. JOHNSON
(chuckles) Oh the boys in prison are gonna love you. You take it up the ass?

(Darren just glares at him, not answering.)

DET. JOHNSON
(smirks) Thought so.

DARREN
I didn’t do anything. And neither did Chris.

(Detective Johnson frowns, clearly not believing him, then stood and headed out of the room.)

. ~ .~ .

Episode Six: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Scene 2

(INT. Interrogation room. Chris is standing by the wall, looking out a tiny barred window, his back turned towards the door. The door opens and Detective Johnson comes in looking at a few papers in his hand.)

DET. JOHNSON
Christopher Paul Colfer. Twenty-two years old. Raised in Clovis, California with a loving mother and father and an ill sister. Current residence in Los Angeles, and you live with your ‘partner’?

CHRIS
(not turning around) Yes.

DETECTIVE JOHNSON
How’s that workin’ out for you?

CHRIS
I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mock my lifestyle.

DET. JOHNSON
And what have you done to get any respect from me?

CHRIS
I haven’t done anything. Not at all.

DET. JOHNSON
Right. Because you’re such an innocent guy.

CHRIS
Why is Darren here?

DET. JOHNSON
I wondered when we’d get to him.

CHRIS
Why did you arrest him?

DET.JOHNSON
Because he committed this little crime the two of you planned.

CHRIS
We didn’t do anything. Neither one of us did. Besides the fact that he won’t even kill bugs when they freak me out, he couldn’t have done it.

DET. JOHNSON
Oh yeah? Humor me. Why couldn’t he have done it?

CHRIS
(Finally turns around) Because he’s been with me nonstop since the attack. We were staying together up at my parents’ house in Clovis.

DET. JOHNSON
Don’t lie to me. I know that he came down here to L.A. at least four times.

CHRIS
For work and for house hunting. My friend Ashley was with him the whole time!

DET. JOHNSON
And who was with you?

CHRIS
(confused for a moment) What? My parents. My mom and my sister stayed home every day. And Darren was there the rest of the time.

DET. JOHNSON
We’ll be calling home to make sure that’s true.

CHRIS
Fine. Whatever you have to do to prove that I didn’t do what you’re accusing me of.

(Chris turns back to the window and hugs himself. Camera focuses on his face. He’s crying.)

. ~ . ~ .

Kurt was in the makeup trailer when Blaine found him. He was talking to his makeup artist about how thrilled he was to have won the Emmy. Blaine as happy for him, he really was, but seriously. That was all Kurt had talked about since he won the damn award. It was getting pretty damn obnoxious. It had gotten to the point where a few nights before they had been having sex, and right as Blaine felt himself starting to get to the edge, Kurt decided to let out a heavy sigh and told Blaine to “get off” because he “couldn’t see his Emmy”.

Needless to say, Blaine had to finish himself off and it was frustrating.

But Blaine loved his fianc� and wasn’t going to get angry just because Kurt was a little attached the prestigious award (even if he wasn’t half as attached to his Golden Globe that had been shoved to the back of the shelf in favor of Kurt’s Tony and Emmy). It wasn’t that or even the lack of sex that was frustrating Blaine. It was that Kurt seemed to be hiding things from him more often than not.

Kurt was a secretive person. Blaine knew that. Kurt was internal, he kept things bottled up, but it was no excuse for him to keep things from the man he was going to marry. Especially not things like his birthday.

“Hey there!” Kurt greeted him happily as he spotted him. Blaine pulled up a chair beside him and leaned against the counter, looking at Kurt as he sat still, having his hair done for a long day of filming ahead of them.

“Hi,” Blaine said. He covered Kurt’s hand with his and squeezed. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. Not doing much besides sitting here,” Kurt shrugged. He kept his head still but shifted his gaze over to Blaine, smiling at him sweetly.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday last week?” Blaine asked, looking at him seriously. Kurt’s smile faded and he looked away from Blaine, at himself in the mirror.

“Because,” Kurt said, as if that was enough of an answer.

“Because why?” Blaine asked.

“Because I didn’t want to tell you,” Kurt replied.

“That’s not an option, Kurt. We’re getting married and I have a right to know simple stuff like your birthday,” Blaine said. Kurt pulled his hand away and refused to look at Blaine. “What is so bad about your birthday?”

“I just…I didn’t want you to feel like you had to do anything special for me,” Kurt shrugged.

“I wouldn’t have to, Kurt. I would want to. We both know that’s bullshit. Just tell me!”

“Because I just didn’t want you to know, ok? It’s bad enough that you’re like two and a half years older than me, I just didn’t want another reminder.” Kurt finally looked up at Blaine and he had an odd expression.

“That’s what this is about? That I’m older than you? Kurt, it’s not even that much of an age difference. It certainly doesn’t matter to me. Do you think I look down on you or something?” Blaine softened his tone as he squeezed Kurt’s hand, rubbing his thumb over Kurt’s knuckles.

“No it’s just…you know so much more about everything than I do and it sounds really stupid when I say it out loud but I just hate being younger than you because that’s a whole two and a half years of your life that I wasn’t even alive for.” Kurt realized he was babbling a bit and he shut his mouth with a snap.

“Kurt, is that really the reason?” Blaine shook his head, wondering why on earth that would be a problem. Kurt just glared at him and Blaine knew that wasn’t it, but it would be best if he left it alone for now. “I love you, Kurt. No matter what. I love you.”

Blaine leaned forward to kiss Kurt’s cheek before heading out of the makeup trailer. As he reached the door, he heard Kurt’s stylist say, “Don’t you ever let that one go, honey. They don’t come like that very often.”

As Blaine left, he smiled to himself.

. ~ . ~ .
Episode Six: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Scene 3

(INT. Detective Johnson steps out of the room and runs a hand over his face. There is a woman, Detective Kelly, standing there, looking into the room at Chris.)

DET. KELLY
He didn’t do it.

DET. JOHNSON
Why do you say that?

DET. KELLY
(Points at the window, to where Chris is now sobbing) Look at him. He doesn’t know how to even think of killing someone.

DET. JOHNSON
So you want me to let him go?

DET. KELLY
I want to ask him a few questions about Darren.

DET. JOHNSON
You think he did it?

DET. KELLY
He doesn’t seem the type but…the evidence is too strong.

DET. JOHNSON
You know as well as I do it’s all circumstantial.

DET. KELLY
But he’s our best bet.

DET. JOHNSON
You wanna question him for a bit?

DET. KELLY
No. Let him sweat. He’s so worried about his precious boyfriend that it hasn’t sunk in yet.

DET. JOHNSON
You sure about this?

DET. KELLY
Always trust my gut.

. ~ . ~ .

Episode Six: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Scene 5

(INT. Interrogation room. Chris is standing in the corner, looking out the window still. Detective Kelly comes in, watching him.)

DET. KELLY
You’re trying to convince yourself that he didn’t kill that man.

(Chris, startled, turns around and stares at her with wide eyes. He does not answer.)

DET. KELLY
You love him, so you don’t want to believe it.

CHRIS
That’s because he didn’t.

DET. KELLY
We can place him with the victim the day he was killed. Witnesses. Security videos. We’ve got it all.

CHRIS
You’re wrong. You’re just trying to frame him, just like in the movies. You’re too lazy to find the real killer, so you’re taking some poor guy who’s vaguely connected to the victim and blaming it all on him with circumstantial evidence.

DET. KELLY
(Stares at Chris for a moment, then lets out a sigh.) You’re free to go, Mr. Colfer.

CHRIS
Wait...what?

DET. KELLY
We’ve got no evidence against you. Your alibi is solid.

CHRIS
So I can just…go home?

DET. KELLY
The door is open. But if you want to stick around, your boyfriend is being arraigned in an hour.

(She leaves and leaves the door of the interrogation room open. Chris blinks after her for a moment, then goes to leave. As he walks out, he passes by the window looking into the room Darren is in. Chris sees him for a moment, handcuffed to the table, looking scared out of his mind, being yelled at by some cop demanding answers. Chris cringes and his pulled from the room by Detective Johnson.)

. ~ . ~ .

“Yes, Mercedes. No. No. Yes. No. Oh my god. Fine. I’ll see you then. Goodbye.”

Kurt let out a sigh as he ended the call and slipped his phone into the back pocket of his skin tight jeans. He had a publicity even to attend that night and Blaine was working on the finishing touches of his album, so Mercedes insisted on coming over later for some “girl time”. Kurt just sighed and adjusted his bag on his shoulder as he headed to his car.

As he approached the blue hybrid, he saw a figure leaning up against it. His grip tightened on the keys in his hand and he eyed the person with contempt.

“Leave or I’ll call security,” Kurt said, his voice sounding so threatening it was almost vicious.

Jesse St. James moved away from the car, his arms folded in front of him, but he continued to stare at Kurt.

“Shouldn’t you be at work? Blaine’s headed there to work on the last song right now.” Kurt’s hands twitched to grab his phone.

“I don’t want to talk to Blaine. I want to talk to you. The man he’s supposedly in love with.” Jesse didn’t sound too happy either, and it made Kurt shudder.

“Not supposedly. I’m the man he is in love with,” Kurt said, keeping his head up as he watched Jesse step slowly closer to him.

“Right.” Jesse nodded. “So…what is it that he sees in you again?”

“If you’ve come to call me a pudgy albino marshmallow kitten or whatever the fuck it is you think about me, save your breath and get the fuck out. I don’t feel like hearing it.” Kurt stepped closer to the car, trying to ignore Jesse, who reached out and grabbed Kurt’s arm. The moment Jesse’s fingers touched Kurt, Kurt’s fingers curled into a fist and he whirled around, landing a punch right in the man’s nose.

“Ow! Fuck!” Jesse squawked, his hands instantly going to his face.

“Do not touch me or I will call security,” Kurt snapped. “You need to get the fuck out of Blaine’s life and forget about him because it’s been a long time since you called him yours and he’s not anymore. So just leave him the fuck alone!”

“You’re a bitch,” Jesse said from between his fingers. “A selfish, stupid little bitch who doesn’t know how to treat Blaine like he deserves. Who takes that wonderful man and his love for granted.”

“I do not,” Kurt nearly shouted, his face burning with anger. “Just stay out of my business! I love Blaine and he knows I do! He knows I appreciate everything he does for me. You just can’t stand to see him happy with someone else.”

“You’re right. I can’t. It kills me to see him smiling with you because he used to smile like that for me,” Jesse said, his nostrils flaring unattractively as he stepped back from Kurt. “I made stupid mistakes and it cost me Blaine. Don’t mess this up because you won’t find a man like him ever again. Ever.”

Kurt didn’t respond as Jesse turned to walk away. It was the second time that day someone had told him that Blaine was special. Of course he already knew that, but he couldn’t help but wonder if something was trying to send him a message.

. ~ . ~ .

Episode Six: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Scene 8

(EXT. The balcony off Chris and Darren’s bedroom. Chris is looking over the edge. There’s a cigarette in his hand, smoke curling up. The door opens and Darren’s brother Chuck comes out.)

CHUCK
Smoking is bad for you.

CHRIS
I’m making an exception.

CHUCK
We’re gonna figure this out.

CHRIS
Two fucking million dollars, Chuck. Cash only. They think he’s a flight risk.

CHUCK
My parents are taking out loans and selling the house.

CHRIS
It’s still not enough. Ashley and I are gonna have to give up this house. And sell Darren’s car. And even then, it still won’t be enough. We won’t be able to get him out.

CHUCK
Don’t worry about my brother. He’s tougher than he looks.

CHRIS
Those prison guys can smell the gay on a person. They’ll rape him. Then they’ll kill him.

CHUCK
(winces a bit at Chris’s words) Don’t think like that. We’ll get him out.

CHRIS
(turns around to look at Chuck. His eyes are red from crying so much) How? We can’t change their minds. We can’t show them that Darren is innocent.

CHUCK
So you do believe in him?

CHRIS
Of course I believe in him! Why wouldn’t I? I love him!

CHUCK
It’s just…some of us were beginning to wonder.

CHRIS
Just go away. I want to be alone.

CHUCK
This won’t help Darren.

CHRIS
I know. I just…it’s so hard to know what to do.

CHUCK
Look, we’ve already got people on this. We’re gonna get him out and he’s gonna be safe.

CHRIS
(sighs sadly and turns away) I wish I could believe you. I wish I could believe anything, but I don’t know if I can anymore.

. ~ . ~ .

When Blaine arrived home that night, he found all the lights off, but a trail of candles beginning the entry way. He smiled and toed off his shoes and leaned his guitar case up against the wall, then followed the trail of flickering candles through the condo. As he passed through the dining room to the living room, he heard soft, romantic music playing. The trail of candles led him all the way to the master bedroom, where the candles stopped in the doorway and were replaced by rose pedals. He followed the rose pedals to the bathroom, which was lit only by what seemed like hundreds more candles surrounding their Jacuzzi tub, which was piled high with white bubbles and contained a smiling Kurt, leaning up against the edge with his head in his hand.

“Water’s still hot. If you want to join me,” Kurt said, his voice low and seductive.

Blaine grinned and stripped off his clothes, naked within seconds. He strode towards the tub and stepped inside. Kurt pulled him so he was sitting between Kurt’s legs, his back against his chest. He let out a contented sigh and tipped his head back on Kurt’s shoulder.

“What’s all this for?” Blaine asked, gently rubbing his hand along Kurt’s thigh in the water.

“Can’t I just do a little something special for the man I love?” Kurt asked softly, leaning down and kissing Blaine’s neck. He ran his hands down Blaine’s sides before wrapping his arms around him, holding him close.

“Of course you can. Any time you want.” Blaine closed his eyes and relaxed completely, feeling the bubbles surrounding his head and the warm water around his tired body and Kurt’s lips working gently at his skin in soft, affectionate kisses. He let out a little sigh and felt Kurt push him forward a bit. He sat up and then Kurt’s hands were on his shoulders, rubbing and kneading the tense muscles. He let out a groan as he felt the painful pleasure of the knots being worked out.

“That good?” Kurt asked softly, pressing a kiss to the soft skin right behind Blaine’s ear.

“So good,” Blaine moaned, leaning back into Kurt’s hands.

“Tough day at the office?” Kurt asked with a little chuckle. Blaine laughed and nodded twice before just letting his head fall forward, enjoying the feeling of Kurt rubbing up and down his back.

“God I love your hands,” Blaine let out as he felt the last of his knotted muscles began to loosen. “And not just on my cock either.”

Kurt let out a tiny snort of laughter at that comment.

“But they are good on my cock,” Blaine said. “So if you weren’t opposed to giving it a massage too, then I’d be all for it.”

Kurt just raised an eyebrow, even though Blaine couldn’t see, and slipped one hand around and sliding it down until he came in contact with Blaine’s erection.

“Someone thoroughly enjoyed that backrub.” Kurt placed small kisses over Blaine’s damp shoulders as he wrapped one arm around Blaine’s middle and held him close as his other hand wrapped around Blaine’s cock, stroking lazily in the water, drawing a low moan from Blaine’s chest. Then Blaine reached down and covered Kurt’s hand, pulling if off of him.

“Just ignore it for now,” Blaine whispered, lying back against Kurt’s chest. “I just want to stay here and relax for a few moments before I make love to you on our bed.”

“You are so romantic and cheesy and I love it,” Kurt kissed Blaine’s neck again, feeling the vibrations of Blaine’s laughter beneath the skin.

“Says the man who lined our condo with candles leading to the bathtub,” Blaine chuckled.

Kurt just hugged him in response, loving the feel of Blaine’s body pressed up against his. He never wanted to let Blaine go, ever. In that moment, it seemed, Kurt realized just how much Blaine meant to him. He didn’t know if it was because of the romance of the moment, what people had been telling him all day, or what was going on in the show, but between those three things, Kurt was beginning to realize that he couldn’t live without Blaine anymore. He needed Blaine in his life, and he wasn’t just saying it anymore. It was true.

Blaine felt like a part of him now, a part of him more vital and essential to living than any of his bodily organs combined.

He couldn’t possibly express this in words, so he just hugged Blaine tighter and whispered a gentle, “I love you.”