The more I get of you,
The stranger it feels, yeah.
And now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain,
My power, my pleasure, my pain, baby
To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny.
Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby?

Seal - Kiss From a Rose

---

He couldn't explain it. Kurt really wouldn't have been able to put his finger on how he fell into the situation, but he sure wasn't complaining.

Finally, after all this time, all the mixed signals and all the mistakes, he was kissing Blaine Anderson.

And Blaine was kissing him back.

It was like heaven. So different from kissing Brittany; a world away from kissing Karofsky. Kissing them had been empty of any real meaning. With Blaine, he could feel his heart swell in his chest, the butterflies beating around inside of him; he felt love. That was the only way to describe it. Kurt had long since accepted that he was in love with Blaine, but it was that much more real now. Plus, for the first time, he felt like maybe, just maybe, Blaine felt the same way.

They parted for air, each breathing heavy and greedily. Kurt felt like he could pass out and he wasn't sure if it was from the nervousness or the lack of oxygen.

"Wow," Blaine sighed after a few beats of silence.

"Right back at cha," Kurt breathed with a small smile.

Blaine ran a hand over his gelled curls, mused from Kurt's fingers running through them as they kissed. "Kurt... what are we?" he asked.

Kurt sighed. "I really don't know, Blaine," he answered, taking a seat on the Dalton regulation leather couch. "I know what I want to be..." he said to no one in particular, looking into his lap.

Blaine smiled slightly, taking a seat next to Kurt, much closer than "friends" would sit. "I'm terrible at romance..." Blaine started but Kurt cut him off.

"I don't care!" Kurt made eye contact with the shorter boy. "Really, I don't. I don't need to be swept off my feet. I just need you."

Blaine let a goofy grin spread across his face, taking Kurt's small, dainty hand in his own. "But you deserve that. You've been through so much, Kurt. More than most people could even imagine. You deserve to be happy. Sure, I've never been anyone's boyfriend, but I know I'd be a lot to handle," he paused. "I have... baggage."

"And I don't?" Kurt pointed out. "You just said yourself, I've been through a lot. And besides, you don't think I'd be happy with you? In case you haven't noticied, I've been hanging out with you more than anyone on New Directions because you make me happy," Kurt enunciated his final few words, a small grin on his face. Blaine copied his expression when something dawned on Kurt. "Hang on a second. You know, we've known each other all this time and I've told you everything about my... troubles, but you've yet to really explain what happened to you," Blaine simply took a deep breath. "What brought you to Dalton?"

"I guess we had to get this out of the way eventually," Blaine sighed. "I actually... I went to McKinely too."

Kurt was shocked. "What? How did I not know you?"

"It was my freshman year. You would have still been in junior high," Blaine explained. Kurt nodded, a silent prompt for Blaine to continue. "So, the school still had that wonderful slushing trend which I fell victim to many times for my out-and-proud stance, just like you," Blaine shivered a little. "Just thinking about it..." he muttered.

"I know," Kurt whispered, giving Blaine's hand a small squeeze.

"So, one day they decided to kick it up a notch and throw multiple slushies. I wasn't expecting it and I got a ton of corn syrup in my eyes. Thus..." Blaine reached into the inner pocket of his blazer and pulled out his thick, black-rimmed glasses. Normally he wore contacts, but sometimes he had to wear his glasses. "These."

"It ruined your vision?" Kurt gasped.

"Not terribly, but I never needed glasses before that incident." Blaine explained. "So, after that, I ran," he paused. "That's why I was ashamed to tell you. You were so strong. You only ran because your life was at stake. But I ran simply because of a minor vision problem."

"Blaine," Kurt breathed. "You are not weak. You are one of the strongest people I've ever known and don't you dare doubt that."

"Don't bother, Kurt. It's the past; it's not something I think about anymore."

"But it's stopping you from being with me."

Blaine lifted his moist eyes from his lap into the blue-ish gray ones before him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just don't deserve you."

"Blaine..." Kurt nearly whimpered.

"Am I the kind of guy you would want to walk down the hall hand in hand with? Am I the kind of guy you would want to slow dance at your prom with?"

Kurt's eyes went wide, his mind flashing back to the conversation he had with his father months before.

"You know, until you find somebody as open and as brave as you, you're just gonna have to get used to going it alone."

Blaine was open and brave, but he just couldn't see that.

"Blaine, of course you are," Kurt answered, taking Blaine's other hand in his own. "You're open and honest and brave and so much more." A smile tugged at Kurt's lips as he thought about all these great qualities. "Did you know I purposely picked you on the staircase?"

"Really?" Blaine asked.

"Really," Kurt repeated. "The second I saw you, I was drawn to you. It wasn't just that I knew you were gay, judging from all the gel in your hair," Kurt cracked and Blaine stifled a chuckle. "But I could tell that you were confident and courageous. What I didn't realize at the time was how blind you were to it."

Blaine let a grin spread across his face, prying his hands from Kurt's so he could wrap his arms around the larger boy in a hug. "Thank you," he murmured against his neck.

Kurt smiled, rubbing soothing circles into Blaine's back.

And then, he said it: "I think I love you."

Kurt's hand froze in place on Blaine's back. "W-what?" he struggled to get out.

Blaine backed away, keeping his hands on Kurt's shoulder. "I love you," he whispered.

"Blaine..." Kurt started.

"I love you," Blaine said again. "God, that feels good to say!" he chuckled lightly. "I really do. That's why I'm so afraid and that's why I've been refusing to be with you because all I really want is for you to be happy and I don't care if that's with me or someone else. Your happiness is all that matters. Because I love you. You make me feel like I can forget about my past. With you, I can be myself. I never would have told anyone else the story I just told you, but I trust you."

Kurt opened and closed his mouth many times. "I-I don't know what to say," he stuttered.

Blaine moved his hands down Kurt's lean arms and grabbed his hands. "Just say you love me too."

"Is that even a question?" Kurt grinned, closing the distance between them in a sweet chaste kiss. "I love you, Blaine Anderson."

"I love you more, Kurt Hummel."

"Oh, do not even start that."