"Blaine, I'm sorry. You were right. I shouldn't have gotten so defensive when you said you wanted to date Rachel. I shouldn't have judged you like that, it's just-I'm sorry."

"Don't Kurt. I know how you feel. Clearly you don't like it when I'm having an identity crisis and if it doesn't please Kurt, we just can't have it, right?"

"Blaine, don't be like this! I'm trying to apologize to you! You were right, I was too harsh, but please, I'm sorry!"

"You know what the worst part is though? You're worse than Karofsky. Karofsky, he'll just openly bully you and rip you apart. You know it's coming. But you were supposed to be my best friend Kurt. And then you do the same thing, but it's worse because I never saw it coming. But you two are just the same. If it doesn't fit your agenda, it's awful and wrong and can't be allowed. You're just the same…"

"…Bla-…I…Ok. Fine. Well then if I'm the same as Karofsky, clearly our friendship is totally wrong. I'll just go then. I'll leave you alone from now on."

Nearly a week had passed since the incident in Lima Bean and Kurt still wasn't returning Blaine's phone calls. He texted constantly, trying to start up a conversation and possibly lead to an apology while avoiding any awkwardness. He was failing miserably. In the first few days, the texts had been earnest attempts to apologize.

"Hey Kurt, can we talk?"

"Listen, I really want to talk about what happened. Can we meet for coffee or something?"

"Kurt, please, I really need to talk to you."

Of course Kurt would never come right out and say he was still furious with Blaine, and for good reason. Blaine really screwed up. After running the argument through his head a couple hundred times, he realized how much of an ass he had been. Not only had he compared Kurt to the one thing that caused the most pain in the younger boy's life, he'd yelled at him, explaining in vicious detail how he was so much worse than the monster. He felt terrible about the situation and, normally when he screwed up and hurt Kurt (first Jeremiah, then Rachel), Kurt took it in stride and pretended he was fine. Blaine always felt the guilt nipping at his insides in these instances but he at least had Kurt's fake smile to help pretend everything was ok. But this time he had gone too far, and it was very plainly obvious as Kurt was barely speaking to him. Kurt would never be rude, so he answered Blaine's messages almost every time, but each message was clipped, formal, and brief, as if Kurt was speaking to someone he'd only interacted with once or twice, not his best friend. His replies always consisted of not more than:

"Sorry, a little busy."

"Can't, got a ton of homework."

Now the week pressed on and being away from Kurt was eating Blaine alive. He needed things to go back to the way they were before. Kurt was incredible, smart, funny, and so much fun to hang out with, so gorgeous-

Blaine stopped himself there. 'No.' he thought, 'Don't go there.' It was true, Blaine had always felt an attraction to Kurt but he brushed it off and promised himself that trying to force a relationship on Kurt right now was the worst possible thing for the fragile boy. Blaine was determined to be there for Kurt and therefore squashed any romantic interest he had in him early on. Of course there were moments when the feelings would creep back in, burning his cheeks and squeezing his chest: the day he and Kurt sang Cold Outside together, at Rachel's party, dancing so adorably silly next to his brother, and just when they sat in the coffee shop, moments when Blaine would glance up and catch Kurt watching him, the tiniest smile dusted on his lips-his perfect lips…but every time Blaine's mind wandered and he imagined how those gorgeous, pink lips would feel against his, he'd pinch himself mentally and give himself and good 'Shut up and stop thinking like that.'

As it turned out, the time away from Kurt, although Blaine had originally thought it possibly help him get over his feelings for the counter-tenor, made things worse. Not filling his conscious hours with quality Kurt time, the pale boy was invading Blaine's dreams, at night when he slept and during the day when his mind wandered. He would reminisce on the beginning of their friendship, when everything was so perfect and simple, or else fantasize about how much he wanted them to be.

It was getting out of hand. He needed Kurt back, and he needed him back now. He couldn't handle losing him in any sense. Even if his dreams of them someday acting on their feelings were never to be, Kurt was the greatest friend he'd ever had and he refused to lose that as well.

Blaine sat up in bed, withdrawing from his thoughts, trying to push the images of the gorgeous boy to the back of his mind, however quite unsuccessfully. He sighed and checked the clock on his bedside table. 11:30 in the morning. 'Saturday…' he thought smiling. He turned away but froze, a slight panic coming over him. 'Saturday…the 19th?' He dug his I-Phone out of the tangle of sheets and checked the date. Saturday the 19th it was. That evening was the night of the seasonal Dalton house party. It was the boys' way of welcoming in each new season (spring this time)…getting drunk, dancing stupidly and making out with the girls they invited (and occasionally each other). Obviously the event was not a school function or it would have been terminated immediately. No, every season, one of the boys from school hosted, most often a Warbler. This time the party was scheduled for Wes's house as his parents were off to California for the weekend for Wes's aunt's wedding.

Blaine wondered briefly if Kurt would be going. Of course he would be. Everyone in school was going to be there. For a moment, he felt extremely guilty. Blaine was Kurt's closest friend at Dalton. Of course he was friendly with the other boys but he had never really hung out with any of them. And considering he and Kurt weren't talking, he wondered how uncomfortable Kurt would be at the party, considering he would most likely be standing alone with no one to mingle with all night. Blaine felt the utmost sympathy for Kurt and wished he'd just accept Blaine's apology.

That night, though, it was made clear that Blaine's sympathy was wasted.