Chapter 1A/N: Amber – You always remind me to have courage, even when it's hard. Thank you.
–
"How could you not realize it after all this time?" Blaine asked, exasperated.
"Realize what?" Kurt replied, sipping his coffee.
"That I've been completely head over heels about you for 8 years."
"Right, you're hilarious Blaine Anderson," was said with a hint of sarcasm and an accompanying eye roll.
"I'm serious. The first time I met you, I had a crush on you. I wasn't even out yet, but I know I liked you." Kurt was just staring at him, so he continued. "We hung out; got coffee, went to the movies and whatever, and somewhere in there, I fell in love with you."
The other boy tried to stutter a reply but nothing came out.
"School ended and we went our separate ways. You went to New York, and I went to Ohio State. We always hung out when you were in the area, which was great. Even though I didn't have the nerve to kiss you until a year ago."
Kurt had been focusing on his coffee as Blaine talked but he finally looked up with a small smile. "I remember."
Blaine smiled back. "I know that you're still hurt from when your ex cheated. You were serious about each other." He took a deep breath. "But.."
"But what? Just say it."
"I'm only sitting here telling you this because I want you to give me a chance to prove that I can be the best boyfriend to you."
"And how would you do that?"
Blaine felt his heart race, that was a good sign. "I'll love you as best as I possibly can, for as long as you'll have me. I've never lied to you and never will. And I'd never, ever cheat, no matter what. I'm just asking for a chance here, Kurt. I've wanted to say this to you for so long, but never had the..."
"Courage?" Kurt piped in. "Even though you always gave me courage to get through the hard days."
"Right. I know I always said it, but you were the one person I could never muster up the courage to say any of this to, all this time. But I'm saying it now."
"I don't believe it, Blaine. I mean, I'm touched and everything but.."
Blaine felt this heart sink down to his stomach. He had to get out of there before Kurt had a chance to say no. "But what?" It came out almost as a whisper.
"You never asked how I felt about you."
"Oh. If you're going to reject me, I'll just be going.."
Kurt put his hand over Blaine's. "I know I sounded sarcastic when you first told me, only because I never know that you liked me too." He smiled.
"Y-y-you liked me?" An unusual stutter for Blaine. His heart was beating normally again.
"Uh, yeah. I had a picture of you in my locker with 'courage' underneath. I couldn't stop smiling every time I saw you. I'm surprised you never noticed."
Blaine smiled back at Kurt, and realized that their hands were still touching. "We were both scared as teenagers. The timing wasn't right all those years ago. Let's take it slow, I just don't want to scare you off."
"You couldn't scare me off if you tried. But what are we going to do? I'm enrolled in NYU and you're at Ohio State."
"We'll figure something out, don't worry your pretty little head."
–
3 days later, Columbus Airport
Blaine pulled Kurt into a tight hug. "This isn't goodbye," he whispered. "I'll see you soon."
"How do you know that?" Kurt asked, a little tearfully.
"I just do, love. We've had a great few days together. I'm not gonna let you disappear."
"Promise?"
"I promise. You have to get on that plane before it leaves without you," Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hand.
"That wouldn't be so bad."
Blaine scoffed. "I hate to see you go but you have to. Junior year calls you. Call me when you land, okay?"
Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and kissed him gently. "I will."
–
For the next month, the new couple exchanged texts throughout the day; before, during, and after classes, phone calls at spare moments and weekend Skype dates. Everything was perfect.
"I love you too, talk to you tomorrow," Kurt said into his phone before hanging up. 'I have the best boyfriend,' he said to himself with a smile before getting back to his homework.
About 4 hours later when there was a knock at the door, Kurt was expecting the pizza delivery guy but what he saw instead was a whole lot better.
"BLAINE! What are you doing here? I thought you were at school."
"I was when we were on the phone. But what I didn't tell you was that I had gotten a plane ticket about two weeks ago to come see you. I called you before I left for the airport. My friend Chris dropped me off and here I am."
Kurt threw his arms around Blaine. "You're amazing. Where is your suitcase?"
"Um, that's the other surprise." Kurt raised an eyebrow. "The week you left to fly back out here, I talked to my school. And I transferred."
"Wait.. Blaine... Here?" His face lit up.
"Yep, I'm a transfer student."
Kurt squealed so loud, there was no doubt that everyone in the surrounding rooms heard. "How did I get so lucky?"
Blaine shrugged. "They say that friends make the best lovers. I guess we both got lucky. I'm just glad to be here with you."
–
Kurt and Blaine graduated from NYU the following year and found a cute one bedroom in SoHo.
And the rest, is history.
–
A/N: Something short and sweet, because I'm a hopeless romantic. Plus, I believe in having courage and telling people how you feel before you lose the chance. Life's too short. Courage. Always.
