“Why do you have a shot glass that says ‘drink till she’s cute’?”

Blaine rolled his head on the pillow, blinking sleepily at Kurt where he stood by the dresser. “Puck gave them to us.”

“Us?”

“He calls us the Glee Club Bros.”

Kurt rolled the shot glass in his palm, bringing it to rest between his thumb and forefinger, holding it up to refract the soft light of Blaine’s bedside lamp. “So who’s in the Glee Club Bros?”

“Just all the guys in glee.”

Kurt let out a huff of a laugh that Blaine didn’t hear. He set the glass back down and turned back to climb into the bed. “All of the guys?”

Blaine nodded, reaching his arms out. Kurt snuggled into them, but once he had his head on Blaine’s chest he shifted them, tugging so Blaine was sprawled across him instead. Blaine let out a whine at the excess of movement, but gave in quickly once Kurt’s arms curled around him and rubbed his cheek against Kurt’s chest. He pressed his fingers into Kurt’s stomach, little pressure-point patterns from his hipbones up his ribs.

“What are you doing?”

“Just feeling you.”

Kurt laughed, squeezing Blaine’s waist. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re really strong, you know that? I know you don’t lift weights or anything, but all that dancing really does things for you.” Blaine kept up his presses. “Kurt, you’re blushing,” he said, glancing up with a laugh when he noticed the flush spreading down Kurt’s neck.

“Well, my boyfriend basically just told me I’m hench. Didn’t think I’d ever get that.”

Blaine propped his chin on Kurt’s chest, one hand sliding up Kurt’s ribs. “I like it. I like that you’re taller than me, and that you have muscles hidden under all your layers. God.” He kissed Kurt’s chest. “You are my type. You’re just it. I don’t care what other guys have – they’re not you.”

Kurt twisted one of Blaine’s curls around his finger. “Think I can get a shot glass with that on?”

It had been a long time since he’d thought about it. He’d accepted a long time ago that he wasn’t one of the boys in glee. As much as he pretended, he still wasn’t quite one of the girls, either. He vacillated between the two as and when it suited them, but it had been a while since he’d let the thought directly cross his mind. He watched Blaine in glee, moving with the guys easily; chatting with Finn, tugging at the shot glass on a necklace around Sam’s neck, punching Puck’s shoulder. It was so effortlessly guy-ish.

He wasn’t begrudging Blaine anything. He had friends and Kurt couldn’t resent that. Considering Blaine had given up his school, all of the friends he had there, just to be with Kurt, him having friends was probably more important to Kurt than him having friends himself. He just tried not to think too much when they’d all get up on stage, leaving Kurt alone in a sea of girls to watch his boyfriend become a seamless part of the Bro-hood.

“So my dad’s in DC, Finn’s out doing something involving Puck and pens, and Carole’s gone to visit her sister,” Kurt said, leaning against the bank of lockers and tapping nonchalantly at his phone. The fact that it was locked and the screen was dark was inconsequential.

“So you have a house to yourself,” Blaine said, head in his locker.

“It’s going to be very lonely.”

Blaine emerged again, holding a small pile of books and biting his lip. “I can’t.”

Kurt blinked. “What?”

“I can’t. I promised Puck I’d help him. We’re trying to get him to graduate.”

“We?”

“The Glee—”

“The Glee Club Bros,” Kurt finished for him, flopping his back against the lockers. “Always.”

Blaine picked at the edge of his math book where the layers of paper were fraying out. “I promised.”

“I know you did.” Kurt sighed, straightening up and kissing Blaine’s cheek, making Blaine jump. “And a gentleman never breaks a promise.”

Blaine ducked his head and shut his locker. “Walk me?”

“We’re going opposite ways.” Kurt squeezed Blaine’s arms and turned from him. He turned after a few steps. “If Puck doesn’t graduate…”

“He will!” Blaine said, holding out a hand. “I promise.”

Kurt flipped through the magazine for the third time, still not seeing the pages, before giving up and dropping his head back against the wall. The Bros were all accounted for, downstairs with video games and pizza. Blaine had barely had time to give him an apologetic look before he was pulled under Sam’s arm and dragged to the floor. Kurt could hear them heckling each other.

He’d sat down with them for a few minutes; just because he wasn’t part of their weird almost-cult, didn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to share air with them in his own house. He curled up next to Blaine, slipping an arm around his back, but he’d had to retract pretty quickly – Blaine was one of those people who played games with his whole body, not just the controller. The other guys kept shooting him looks when they weren’t staring at the screen. Kurt couldn’t tell whether they were confused or disapproving, but either way they were uncomfortable, so he’d retreated to the safety of his bedroom.

A soft knock on his door made him lift his head. “Come in.”

Blaine shuffled inside, closing the door behind him. “Hi.”

“Escaped from the Brothership?”

Blaine climbed onto the other end of the bed, crossing his legs and clasping his hands. “Do you not like me being friends with them?”

“Why would you say that? Of course not.”

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“I like you having friends. I’d be a pretty terrible boyfriend if I didn’t.”

Blaine crawled up the bed, resting his hands on Kurt’s raised knees and his chin on his hands. “I just get the impression that me hanging out with them makes you angry.”

“It doesn’t. It’s just…”

“What?” Blaine prompted when Kurt didn’t continue.

“What are the Glee Club Bros, again?”

Blaine frowned. “Just all the guys in glee, I told you.”

Kurt smiled wanly, looking down at his hands. “I know that they think I’m effeminate, and I guess I deserve that label – I dress better than most of the girls in our school and, well, you’ve heard me speak. I’ve called myself an honorary girl more than once, and I’ll be the first to say the girls are my best friends – except you.”

“But?” Blaine said, watching him carefully over Kurt’s knees.

“But.” Kurt sighed, reaching up to tangle his fingers with Blaine’s. “But I’m still, technically, a guy.”

Blaine was silent for a while, and Kurt kept his gaze focused on their joined hands. “I’m a terrible boyfriend,” Blaine whispered eventually.

Kurt looked up at him, shocked. “What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t notice. It’s just, Kurt.” Blaine shifted, pulling himself up higher and wrapping his arms around Kurt’s knees, chin nestled between his kneecaps. He looked so young and Kurt wanted to reach out and hold him, but Blaine was speaking so he didn’t. “You’re not one of the girls to me. I mean, I love that you’re a guy, that’s kind of the point.” He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “This isn’t coming out right. Just, look, to me you’re as manly as any of the other guys, if not more. You wear really tight jeans and I just notice how big your dick looks in them, you know?” Kurt laughed at that and Blaine smiled, looking relieved. “I’m so sorry that we’ve been just – I don’t want to say excluding, this isn’t a bullying ad, but then again maybe it should be. I can’t believe I didn’t realise, but I guess… I guess it’s just because you’re so unquestionably a guy to me that I don’t think how they think.”

Kurt leaned forward to brush his lips across Blaine’s. “How can you still think you’re a terrible boyfriend?”

Blaine looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not you. This happened before I even knew you. I just didn’t think about it too much until I couldn’t avoid it.”

“I hate stereotypes,” Blaine muttered, lips pouting. “People aren’t boxes.”

“I have more than four sides to me,” Kurt murmured.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. Just something from my Mellencamp phase.”

“I will never get over hearing about your Mellencamp phase.”

Kurt rolled his eyes, kissing him again. “You know, I’m actually really good at video games.”

“The ever modest Kurt Hummel.”

“It’s true,” Kurt protested with a laugh. “I beat Finn the one time I played him. He stopped asking after that.”

“Well, play with us, then.”

Kurt shifted back into his pillows, drawing his knees closer so Blaine’s chin slipped off them. “I don’t think they want me. The Bros are a very tight circle.”

Blaine clambered off the bed, too many limbs tangling together, and had to steady himself on the bedside table. Kurt pressed his lips together to keep from laughing. “Come on,” Blaine said, rolling his eyes and holding out his hand. “For me.”

Kurt huffed, but he let Blaine pull him up, not letting go of his hand as they made their way back to the living room. Blaine pulled Kurt down next to him again. Kurt glanced around to find the guys watching him, a couple of them frowning a little. He pushed a little smile onto his face and pointedly grabbedBlaine’s abandoned controller.

Puck shrugged and turned back to the screen, starting the game over. The other guys followed suit, gripping their controllers more firmly and readying themselves to play. When it began, Kurt worked his fingers and thumbs fiercely on the buttons, ducking his character under bullets and loading his gun. He could feel Blaine next to him, murmuring small words of encouragement in his ear. He zoned into the game entirely, slowly demolishing things around him and feeling himself grin as one by one the other guys’ sections of the screen blacked out.

A few minutes later, he threw his controller to the floor with an excited ‘ha’, his section the last one standing. He looked back at the guys to find them staring at them again, but with very different expressions this time. Puck reached over to him, fist out, and Kurt bumped it.

“Bro,” Puck said, “that was awesome.”