A/N: It's certainly been a while... but I just finished finals and I have all the time in the world to write! So here is this little number, in honor of the thunderstorm that blew through Houston for the last few days and kept me up at night. I still do not have a beta, so please excuse any mistakes.

Disclaimer: I do not own the character's depicted, this is a work of fan fiction.

"talking"

"singing/phone conversation"

thoughts/sound effects

Enjoy!

"—thinking all love ever does, is break and burn and end. But," Kurt sang a little louder as he heard the storm outside pick up over the music coming from his ear-buds, "—I watched it begin again." The rain hit the window harder and a bright flash lit the room briefly causing him to place his hands over his ears, pushing against the buds so the music was louder; but not loud enough to drown out the thunder that roared outside.

He waited for it to pass before picking up his iPod and changed the song list to something with more of a beat, more noise to block out everything else; and generally more comforting. So what if it was a playlist he compiled completely of songs Blaine had sung or they had sung together. It was his go-to list for these kinds of nights. He had just not listened to it in a long while. I almost forgot how comforting these songs are.

"You think I'm pretty, without any make-up on—"

Kurt alternated between humming and singing the next few songs. Enjoying the nostalgia they all brought about as he sketched out his latest project design. While he was still attending NYADA, he could not pass up the opportunities that Isabelle was presenting him with actually designing and making fashions that would actually be put up on Vogue dot com! Granted, they were only small accessories and not for sale; but his name was on them and he was getting paid. My name is getting out there, that's the accomplishment here.

"—time to begin, isn't it? I get a li—"

CRACK!

"Oh—" He jumped up from his reclined position, pacing around the length of his bed because he just needed to move, hands pressed tightly to his chest. When Kurt felt something brush against his leg he squeaked in fright before he looked down to see that it was only his iPod still attached to the ear-buds in his ears, "Shit!"

Tears were already welling up in his eyes, so when the next bout of thunder sounded, he did not even bother trying to stop them spilling over. Satan and Rach aren't here! I shouldn't have insisted I would be fine by myself, he thought bitterly as he yanked the buds from his ears and threw his iPod at his bed, rushing to his phone before moving towards the bathroom. What do I do? What do I do?

He slammed the bathroom door shut and went over to the shower to turn it on, the sink too. It was okay, their utilities were included with their rent, so luckily they did not have to pay separately for all of the water that Rachel and Santana like to use up in the morning (and Kurt at times like these).

He never really did understand why thunder affected him so much; the rain was tolerable as long as he was not actually getting wet, lightning was just bright light, and sometimes he could even stand the smaller rumbles in the distance. Never the big cracks or roars though. So he used the shower to drown out the sound, and it usually worked. It made the booms sound like someone was just moving furniture around upstairs, at lease with the smaller ones.

But that last one had him spooked and Kurt could not find a way to calm himself. It was something about being alone in the apartment and this (really, really) loud storm that was getting to him. When was the last time you felt the safest? Rachel says that always said that helps her with her fears...

As the image built itself in his mind, Kurt smiled and relaxed. Of course.

His phone screen lit up the awkwardly lit bathroom in an instant, finger working through the contacts with so much familiarity that he felt another wave of nostalgia.

CRACK!

He jumped and could not help but ruefully think, Well that didn't last long.

The ringing tone only sounded twice before the other person answered cheerily, "Hey, Kurt!" He really tried not to sniffle, but he could not help it with the crying he had been doing already. "Oh, Kurt. Is it the storm?"

"Y-yeah." This is not how I wanted my day to go! Admitting I'm still scared of thunder! Kurt hung his head as he sat down on the toilet seat-lid.

"I'll be over in a few." Kurt heard as the other man moved things around, papers and clothing, even a dish or two. "We'll watch movies and talk. I'll even bring my noise cancelling headphones! Just hold on, I'll be there for you in no time."

Oh, yes, please! "Please—"

"I'll hurry!" The other man was breathing deeper now, a bag zipped before Kurt heard a few clicks and a door being opened then closed and locked. "See? Leaving right now! I'll be there in few, Kurt. But I have to put away my phone now. Will you be okay until I get there?"

Kurt hesitated, before nodding when he said, "Yes," it gave him more of an affirmation that he could do this; he could survive on his own... even if it was only until the other man got there.

"Okay, then." Kurt could tell he was in the stairway now, his steps and voice echoing off the walls. "You just stay where you are—the bathroom, right?"

The blue-eyed young man further sank into himself, "Yeah."

"Okay... okay. I'll just let myself in with the spare. Okay?" The other man did not even wait for a reply before he was speaking again, "I'm leaving my building now, so I have to hang up. You just hold on. Be there soon, Kurt."

"Okay."

He hung up.

Really, Kurt could look at this whole situation and see how the other man might be reacting a little dramatic, but it was all for the care of Kurt... and that's what he needed right now. A little drama never hurt anyone.

Nope. A little drama never hurt anyone.

They were both set up on the couch, curtains to all of the windows drawn shut and the lights on just enough to drown out sudden flashes of light. Kurt took comfort in the fact that his legs were slung over the other man's (who rescued him) lap, so that he was able to cuddle into his side with the shorter man's arms wrapped firmly around him. They were watching "Sense and Sensibility" with the subtitles turned on because Kurt had those noise cancelling head-phones on. A toast to small miracles.

"Thank you, Blaine." His voice sounded funny to him, but he knows he was able to restrain himself from yelling.

Blaine's chest shook slightly before Kurt felt a tap against the plastic of the head-phones. When Kurt looked up, Blaine was mouthing, "Any time." Then all the blue-eye young man was able to do was stare at his lips. Blaine's lips. All dusky rose and plump in all the right places. Shit! I'm staring! Stop it, Kurt!

He looked away. If it had not been for the movie to distract him mindlessly (he's seen it nearly fifty times) he would have turned back to stare at Blaine's lips. So they both went on watching the movie in silence.

Not that Kurt really had a choice in the matter because of the headphones—Magic. Absolute magic.

Every once in a while he would catch a particularly bright flash from outside and would flinch. The first time it happened he buried his face in Blaine's neck and did not bring it up until the curly-haired man stopped running his fingers through Kurt's hair. But he never heard a thing.

Kurt did suspect that Blaine was laughing at him though, because a few times he would feel slight vibrations from the other man's chest. The first few times he would turn to glare up into those hazel-eyes but would only receive a look so blank that Kurt guessed it was a play on Blaine's high school days "innocent look". The taller man gave up on glaring though. He and Blaine were best friends; they teased each other all the time.

Best friends. Yeah. Kurt sighed and leaned more heavily into Blaine. How I wish we were more again.

It would never be the same. Kurt knew this; they were grown (young) men now and understood that relationships do not work the same as they did in high school. In high school, both of them were all about the taking or "What is he going to give me today?" They were selfish, spoiled with each other. There was a whole other world that they had not had a chance to explore and they thought they knew it all anyways. More, more, more. It was always about the more. Instant gratification. Wow, was I naive.

There was no going back though... because Blaine did not want Kurt like that.

Okay, sure. He had never really asked, but it was clear that Blaine had moved on. He had three boyfriends since Kurt broke up with him two years ago. (He purposefully ignores the fact that Blaine had waited just shy of a year after their break-up to start dating again, and that Kurt had also had two boyfriends since then.)

It had just been last week that Blaine was talking about a guy who has class with him that was absolutely gorgeous—"You don't understand, Kurt. He's beautiful!"—and he wanted to ask him out but did not know if the guy even saw him that way. Kurt had played the dutiful best friend and told the curly-haired man that he needed to go for it, and their loss if they did not see Blaine for the amazing person he was.

It hurt too.

The time it took them to even get to the point of talking like regular best friends, had been so long that they almost did not truly know how to act or what to say around each other. Like strangers that ran out of similar interests to talk about.

Kurt did not want to ruin that. He missed his best friend (his soul-mate) when they had split and not talked for those long months, and even into the following months filled with days of just silence. The kind of silence that was filled with waiting, those waiting moments when all you want to do is text them something random just so you know they are there, that they are listening... but then you end up not doing it because you want to make sure it is welcome, so you leave it to them to talk first.

I don't want to lose this. Kurt glanced up at Blaine when he tapped on the headphones, I don't want to lose you again. I'm sorry. He jerked away from Blaine after trying to read his lips. Those freakin' lips again. "What did you just say about dicks?" Dirty places, dirty places. Get it out of the gutter Hummel!

Blaine laughed and even though Kurt could not hear him, the sight was still just as moving. Once the curly-haired man calmed himself he reached forward and gently removed one of the earphone cuffs, whispering, "I said, 'What's the next pick?'"

"Oh." Kurt blinked a few times before he felt his face heat up and he ducked his head in embarrassment, "Um... Victor/Victoria?"

The other man nodded with a large grin on his face; he put the earphone back in place before he helped Kurt shift out of his lap so he could change the DVD.

Oh. The movie's over. He groaned into the back of the couch briefly after he slid out of Blaine's lap, I'm really out of it right now. Kurt did not have time to wallow though, because soon enough Blaine was back and lifting the blue-eyed man's legs up so that he could resume his seat with them in his lap. He's smiling... like back in high school. Kurt became caught up in watching Blaine's face as the younger man went about skipping the credits to start the movie. He did not have the wrinkles or those dark circles that Kurt remembered being under his beautiful hazel eyes months after they broke up. He looked rested and had a youthful charm about him now. He looked grown-up... and happy. Just goes to show how he's over me. Blaine's arm slipped around Kurt and brought him close to his side, and the taller man just fell against him again, head resting on his shoulder. At least I can still have you like this.

The vibrations from the shorter man's chest started up again just as the opening scene began. But Kurt just smiled along with Blaine's laughing, because his ex's happy-go-lucky nature was always addicting to Kurt. How he could smile at the smallest things that Kurt never took notice of, most of it being about Kurt... at least it had been like that when they were dating.

I miss you, Kurt thought to himself. But I'm content to have this much of you. I hope that we can stay this close even when you finally find that person you'll spend the rest of your life with. He turned his head and gently nuzzled Blaine's shoulder, taking the chance to breathe in the shorter man's scent while he feigned getting embarrassed along with Victoria (which Blaine was used to because Kurt could really put himself into a character's shoes).

They stayed like that for the rest of the movie: Kurt had his head tucked into Blaine shoulder and he would bury his face every so often, and Blaine had those small vibrations in his chest while he stoked Kurt's hair through the more dramatic scenes. After a brief intermission of the movie marathon, Blaine ordered Thai food from the restaurant up the block. They ate through five cartons as they laughed their selves through the first hour of Monty Python, making funny noodle slurping faces once in a while before they ran out.

But soon enough, Kurt's eyes grew tired from all the squinting in order to read the subtitles and he just lets them close for a few minutes. He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knows is that the DVD save-screen is rolling and Blaine is gently shaking his shoulder, running callused fingers through Kurt's hair and down his neck.

Blue-eyes blink open slowly, just enough to see the hazel-eyed man glance and nod towards Kurt's room. Kurt manages a nod in return and moved his legs out of the shorter man's lap, letting Blaine take his hands to pull him up from the couch and lead him stumbling to his room. "I'm not five," Kurt mumbled out just as he yawned, "You don't need to hold my hand." He caught the other man shaking his head before blue-eyes closed again and let Blaine situate him on the bed while he went about getting Kurt's sleeping clothes.

Kurt did not open his eyes until he felt soft cloth brush against his hands, and his gaze snapped up to meet Blaine's, his mind suddenly not foggy with sleep when he realized that Blaine could leave, "Stay... please."

The curly man's eyes grew slightly and his mouth dropped open immediately to respond (what Kurt thought would be a rejection) before those dusky lips pressed tightly together, beautiful hazel-eyes growing soft and sparkly.

Sparkly... Damn... I am sleepy.

Then the other man nodded, reaching his hand out to pat Kurt's before he moved back over to the dresser. Kurt had given Blaine a designated drawer ever since they decided to start taking some of the same courses last semester, causing them to studied together so late into the night that the taller boy was not okay with Blaine going back to his apartment by himself. He usually would grab the spare bedding in the hall wardrobe and sleep on the couch, but Kurt was having none of that tonight.

I need you close. He could easily chalk it up to be because of the storm but he had long recovered from the fear. It only really got to him when he was alone and only took a few minutes of another person being with him for the feelings to wear off—so technically he could have removed the phones hours ago. But this situation gave him a reason to be close to Blaine, to be with Blaine. So he allowed himself (and subsequently Blaine) to think he needed all of that treatment out of fear, when it was really for a completely different need.

After Kurt had changed into his light blue sleeping t-shirt and black plaid pants, he moved over to his curtain to catch Blaine fresh out of the bathroom and before he tried to set up the couch. He left the noise-cancelling headphones on his bedside table, though; he did not need them anymore. To be truthful, he missed hearing Blaine's voice.

"Feeling better, I see," the smooth baritone Kurt was so often enthralled by, came from his right.

The blue-eyed man smiled in response and looked up at Blaine through his lashes. "Yeah," he whispered with a shrug, "But only if you come hold me. News said that the storm would last through tomorrow night. I can handle it better if you're with me."

Again, Blaine got the look on his face like he was going to reject Kurt but he pressed his lips together again and his eyes gave away that he was breaking down to Kurt's demands. He sighed though, running his hand through his curls and looking over at the taller man with an amused smirk, "Sure. It's not like I can deny you anything anyways."

"That's 'cause I'm cute," Kurt said matter-of-factly, shrugging one shoulder and turning to go back to his bed, crawling across it to the other side so Blaine could just slip in next to him; which took all of three seconds for the shorter man to follow in after him.

Even if he knew the feelings that would resurface, he almost let his mask slip when Blaine lifted his arm and offered Kurt his shoulder. He did end up staring blankly for a few seconds before (Get your shit together, Hummel!) he moved in close to Blaine, the tip of his nose brushing against the curly-haired man's Adam apple and his stomach flush against Blaine's muscular side.

But just as they were both settling in, Kurt felt the sudden need to fill the silence of the room with his feelings and thoughts, spill everything to Blaine. Tell him to forget about that gorgeous guy in his class that he wants to ask out—because I'm here! He went on to bite his lips in order to not shout his thoughts out loud but the need was beginning to fill him, like he was a full glass ready to overflow. "Thank you, Blaine."

The shorter man shifted against Kurt, his other hand coming up to hold the hand on his chest as lips pressed against his hair. "Anytime, Kurt," Blaine whispered against brunette locks, he breath catching softly (like in a laugh, but Kurt could not be sure), "What are best friends for?"

Kurt smiled sadly, his eyes clenched shut as if blocking out the world would block out the pain that Blaine's words caused. "Yeah." I wasn't going to say anything about my feelings in the first place. I knew to never expect anything more. Instead of shaking his head and alert Blaine to something being wrong, he pressed his face into the curly-haired man's neck and tried not to sigh sadly. So why does it hurt so much?

There is a man in my bed. Though it was a legitimate point, the first thought through his head that morning amused him. But he was familiar with how Blaine's body felt lying next to his, it may have been a while since the last time it had happened and Blaine had bulked up in all the right places (Stop it, Hummel. You'll make it harder on yourself.); but he was still Blaine. The same perfect cuddle-sized Blaine. And being the cuddle-whore that I am... Kurt rolled to his back so that he could reach his phone, before he moved back into his previous potion, with his head on Blaine's shoulder.

Luckily, the other man was not a natural early-riser like Kurt was, so the blue-eyed man would be able to stay lying against him for a few more minutes. So in the meantime, Kurt was going to bask in his warmth while he checked his texts and emails.

The first text that caught his attention was from Santana, because it was sent right around the time that she usually gets home. Probably complaining about the old cat lady down the hall again. But when Kurt opened the message, a video icon also popped up with her message. What the hell?

From: Satan

Dnt say i nvr did nothin 4 u!

BTW iz btr b Maid of Honor! I wlkd up all da stairz n lft jst 4 u.

Blue-eyes widened in surprise. He glanced up at Blaine's face quickly, which was relaxed and youthful looking in sleep. Did she just misunderstand how we were situated last night? he thought, turning back to the text, But why would she just walk away from that? She usually loves interrupting to make fun of us. Kurt tapped the video icon and watched it as it loaded, turning the volume on his phone down. Saying something like: Damn Lady-Lips, you and Gelmet love just suckin' dee in the living-room like true exhibitionists.

"Kurt."

He gasped. This was a video of him and Blaine yesterday while Kurt had been curled in the shorter man's lap, unaware of any sounds going on around him because of the headphones... and Blaine had been talking to him. He wasn't laughing. Kurt thought in disbelief, He had been talking to me the whole time.

"Oh, Kurt. You just don't know. I will always be here for you. I will always be here to protect you and hold you when I need to. Even when I have to pretend that I'm okay, that I've moved on just so you don't know that I still love you. I love you. So much that I made it sound like the guy I was talking about from my class wasn't you, hiding my feelings for you in plain sight. I love you. I love you. I love you. Even when I can only be with you like this when you are scared and need... a friend. I'll be your friend and you'll never know how much I miss you."

Sometime during the recorded speech Kurt had moved out of the bed and began to pace the length of his room, listening as Blaine went on for nearly ten minutes of speaking quietly about Kurt, to Kurt, and knowing he could not hear him.

All this time... he loved me. Kurt sat slowly, but heavily, down on the edge of his bed when he noticed the video had stopped playing. He loves me.

"G'mornin'," came a mumble from behind Kurt.

Instead of turning around, the blue-eyed man just nodded stiffly as he straightened his posture. He loves me.

"What's up?" Blaine crawled up behind Kurt, looking over his shoulder and down at his phone. "Santana send you a video?" The shorter man laughed softly, his breath brushing against Kurt's neck causing him to shiver, "Is it funny? Or raunchy?"

Kurt tucked his bottom lip between his teeth and looked down at his phone screen, before making up his mind. I love him and he loves me. We can work through this. He clicked on the video play button before swiping to near the middle of Blaine's recorded speech, which he then just made to hand to his ex (not for long).

"—was a time last semester, when we started staying over at each other's places because we would study together so late... You gave me a drawer. I had thought that it meant something. Really meant something. But we were only friends, it was just for convenience sake—I mean, you don't think of me that way anymore... and that just breaks my heart every time I hear you call me only your friend. The first few times I couldn't even look at you after because it hurt too much. But I love yo—"

Blaine snatched the phone from Kurt's hand, pausing the video such hasty movements that Kurt was sure he would throw it across the room after. But he just stopped, stopped moving and looked like he stopped breathing. Holding his breath while his honey hazel-eyes wide open and staring straight into Kurt's baby blues for a long while, before whispering breathily, "You watched... the whole thing?"

Blue-eyes alternated in looking at each of Blaine's eyes, as if they would each tell a different story or hold different questions; maybe even give him a reason to not tell the other man the truth. To at least give him a small comfort. Kurt would not, though. Not now—"I did."—because something better would come out of this.

It did not stop Kurt's heart from hurting when he saw the devastated look on Blaine's face.

"Oh," the curly-haired man whispered dejectedly, moving to stand up and pace down the length of the bed and stop right in front of Kurt. Apparently that was enough time for him to make up his mind, "I do love you still. But that—" Blaine stopped himself with a sigh before he knelt in front of Kurt, "but that doesn't have to get in the way of us being friends. I didn't let it sense we've grown closer over this last year, and I'm not going to let it now that you know."

Kurt stared down at Blaine, quietly listening to him explain but just shook his head at the end. "No, Blaine. It's already changed this, changed us."

"Kurt, don't—"

"Shh," he pressed his fingers gently to Blaine's lips, watching as his hazel-eyes began to grow watery. "I know that you love me, that you still love me... and I'm not letting you back away into friendship again."

It took Blaine longer than necessary to catch his meaning but once he did, he surged up into Kurt's space, "You mean that? We can have a second chance?"

Kurt just laughed, eyes tearing up as he wrapped his arms around Blaine's wide shoulders, "Yes, yes, a million times yes."

"About damn time." Both men jumped slightly when Kurt's curtain was yanked aside, "You two have been dancin' around each other more than I do those fools in my dance class. Thank god you two are finally getting married-Wait a damn minute," Santana snapped looking both of them over, "Why the hell aren't you two penis-lovers naked? Did you even—Don't tell me ya didn't even do anything last night! There is no way that I walked up four flights, recorded Hobbit's confession out of the goodness of my heart, walked back down those stairs in high-heels and had to wait for Man-Hands to get here to only have to be shoved into a taxi with her while we drove half the city to get to Q's, where I didn't even get any, only to come back here and you two didn't even get wanky? Did you even talk last night?" The angry Latina didn't even give them time to respond before she was pulling out her phone and walking back through the curtain, "Now I have to spend another night with Blondie-Q and Hobbit-from-anotha-motha. Fuck, I didn't even know what torture was until I had to share a room with those two in actual conversation. Do you have any idea what those two think is conversation? The decibel that I need earplugs!" The front door to the apartment slammed shut not too long after that.

It stayed quiet between the two men just as long before they fell into each other laughing, with eyes squinted from built up tears. But when their eyes met, the laugh died and they fell together again. This time though, it was lips to lips.

"Be my boyfriend again, Blaine?" Kurt said breathily, allowing the shorter man to push him onto his back.

Blaine smiled, running the tip of his nose up Kurt's soft cheek and licking at the tear track there, tracing it to slightly reddened lips, "I think I would like to be more than that."

The man beneath Blaine laughed but shook his head, "Maybe we should take some baby steps here... like make love before the marriage proposal? We apparently have all day and night."

"Oh," the curly-haired man pressing his body down against Kurt's, rocking his hips slightly, "It does seem like that is the running pattern here."

Kurt responded with a smile and leaned up to kiss Blaine's lips gently before something clicked in his head causing him to pull back, "If Santana didn't know that we hadn't done the deed... she walked in here with the full intent of seeing us naked."

"Yeah," Blaine whispered sheepishly, "There's been a few times she's tried to take a peek at our junk that you haven't noticed. Me especially." He laughed lightly and nudged Kurt in the side with his elbow, "She's convinced that I'm not... short," he huffed and looked down into blue-eyes knowingly, "But I don't really know how she could have found that out."

Arms wrapped quickly around Blaine's neck as Kurt pressed another kiss to his lips innocently. Too innocently. "You're so sexy when you talk fratty."

"Uh huh," Blaine sighed, rolling his eyes, "That's what I thought."

A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed that. I tried prove to myself that I could write something a little longer than my others, and I did. I'm kind of thinking about doing a short-shot of how Santana got Kurt to tell her about Blaine... We'll see.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Anjel Starlight