Hope y'all enjoy the allusions to past scenes and the vague references I made to how I think Dalton and McKinley affected our boys. :)

"You okay?"

Blaine looked up from where he was fiddling around at the piano to see Kurt lounging against the doorframe to the choir room, a concerned look on his face.

"I mean, I know you're not okay, but are you holding up well?" Kurt clarified, coming to sit next to Blaine on the piano bench.

"I think I'm just...numb," Blaine said, staring down at his hands. "I don't want to scream or cry or throw things, but I keep forgetting it's gone. Even with the kids here, I just keep thinking Okay, don't forget to do a head count before we bus back to Dalton at the end of the day! and then remembering that we're not going back. We can't go back."

"The boys are probably in the same boat," Kurt said, rubbing a hand down Blaine's back soothingly. "Some of their comments today…."

"I'm going to have a talk with them later, just us," Blaine said. "I miss Dalton too, but their snide remarks about New Directions are not an appropriate way of expressing grief."

"I don't think anyone's taking it personally," Kurt said. "They don't like it, of course, but I think they get how upset your boys are."

"Ugh, and that's another concern," Blaine said. The confused look on Kurt's face made him continue, "My boys. We need to be a cohesive unit if we want to win this year."

Kurt just pressed his lips together, obviously biting back a reply Blaine probably didn't want to hear.

"That face doesn't fool me, babe. We're married," Blaine said. He smiled dopily for a moment, still over the moon about that turn of events, before composing himself again. "Just say it."

"Maybe if they didn't insist on wearing their blazers…," Kurt said lightly. "As cute as they are, they're distinctive, and not in a good way."

Blaine smiled broadly.

"What's with that look?" Kurt asked, confused. "I just gave your beloved blazer a backhanded compliment."

"You still said they were cute," Blaine said, grin not dimming in the slightest. "You've never admitted that before, even when I knew you were just messing with me."

"Well, it's not so much the blazer on its own," Kurt said, a smaller smile appearing on his own face. "Those things are atrocious on a hanger. It was mostly the boy in the blazer that I found adorable."

"Found?" Blaine asked, pouting.

"And still find," Kurt said, leaning in for a brief kiss. "You really did cut an impressive figure in yours. I remember making some truly outrageous knight in shining armor comparisons back when we first met."

"Is that so?" Blaine said, getting up and crossing over to his messenger bag, where he pulled out the blazer in question. "You never told me."

"How was I supposed to bring that up?" Kurt asked. "At first I didn't want to make a fool of myself, and then it seemed weird to mention as we got closer and closer."

"But flattering nonetheless," Blaine teased, shrugging into the blazer. "I'll admit, I was trying to be as mature and suave as possible around you at first, so past me would've found that comparison especially gratifying."

"Well thank God I didn't mention it, or your ego would've needed its own dorm room," Kurt said, laughing. "You were so cocky back then."

"Wow, you really know how to compliment a man. I didn't realize the romance would die so quickly after tying the knot," Blaine said, mock-hurt.

"I'm not wrong," Kurt said, but he still got up to give Blaine another kiss in apology. "But it was kind of hot."

"Your blushing schoolboy look was equally attractive," Blaine said, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist. "It may have took me a while to realize how I felt for you, but I always noticed how amazing you looked in your uniform."

"If only it hadn't taken my bird dying to get you to wake up," Kurt said. He placed his own arms around Blaine's shoulders. "I mean, honestly, Blaine, what if Pav had been blessed with a long life and plenty of grandchildren?"

"I would've found my way to you," Blaine said seriously. "It wasn't so much Pav dying as you revealing your true colors anyways. Much as it hurt, I wasn't surprised when you decided to come back here."

"I guess I've always had McKinley's red and white in my soul," Kurt said. "Or at least the freedom of expression this place has slowly grown to allow."

Blaine felt the metaphorical light bulb click on over his head.

"You've got your scheming face on," Kurt noted. "Are you about to make puppets of all our students as some kind of bonding exercise?"

"No, no, it's just - I finally figured something out," Blaine said, trying to figure out how to best phrase his epiphany. "I think we've been looking at our problem from the wrong angle. We shouldn't be telling the Warblers to become totally like the New Directions or vice versa. We need to use the best qualities of both teams if we want to win, and that includes wardrobe."

"I'm not sure I follow. I mean, I get that we should play to everyone's strengths, but how can we exemplify that in our costumes?" Kurt asked, brow scrunching.

"By combining the tradition of Dalton with the spirit of McKinley," Blaine said, stepping away from Kurt's hold to dig out the notebook he had in his bag. "I have just the idea - oh my God, if I can pull this together, it's gonna look so good-"

He broke off there in favor of beginning to sketch out his idea, angling his body over the page when he felt Kurt lean over to look.

"Hey!"

"I want it to be a surprise," Blaine said, firm yet kind. "Even to you."

Kurt pouted, making Blaine chuckle and lean in for a kiss.

"You're gonna love it, I promise," Blaine said. "It'll be the perfect combination of McKinley and Dalton."

"Just like us?" Kurt asked.

"Just like us," Blaine replied, finishing the conversation with one last kiss.