It was currently four twenty six in the morning and Kurt had yet to fall asleep. They sky was starting to brighten but you couldn't say that it was light out yet or that the sun was rising. It was still dark, just not as dark. The six boys around him had slowly drifted off somewhere within the last hour, thoroughly exhausted from the combination of all the energy they had thrown into video games, the atrociously late hour, and the enormous sugar crash. Kurt's body seemed to be playing tricks on him. He was so tired; his sleepiness worsened by the knowledge of needing to get up in five hours to go help his dad in the shop but his mind refused to leave him be.

When Kurt had first heard what was being planned for Finn's seventeenth birthday he was a little nervous. It was simple enough; Finn was inviting all of the guys from New Directions over for a sleepover complete with pizza, pop, chips, video games, and just being immature, teenage boys in general. It wasn't that Kurt didn't like the guys; he got along fine with all of them and ever since transferring back to McKinley they had seemed to be genuinely friendlier and much more willing to include Kurt in their male bonding. Kurt had just never gotten the hang of guy time. He usually had no idea what they were talking about and even when he did he had little interest. He would usually sit quietly in the corner observing, coming up with witty responses to add in but rarely did on the account that no one ever got them. He had become the ultimate receiver of the blank stare, the one that spoke various forms of: what?, ummmm ok?, why are you interrupting me?, why are you even still here?. So Kurt had come up with a plan to make this night fun for him without spoiling his brother's birthday.

"Hey Finn, I have a proposal for you."

"Ummm Kurt, that's really flattering and all but now that we are officially brothers, I don't think we could get married even if we went to New York."

"What? No, I mean I have a question to ask you. Can Blaine come to your party too? I know you guys aren't really friends but you get along well and so do the other guys and I'm sure he would want to come." Kurt chewed his lip nervously hoping Finn would just say yes without prying.

"Yeah, sure dude."

Blaine had come over earlier that day to help Kurt bake Finn's cake. Kurt didn't really need his boyfriends help but he would jump at any opportunity to spend time together, especially baking. Kurt loved baking. He baked when he was bored, when he was stressed, when he was excited, when he was sad. It was something that he and his mother used to do together and it always brought back happy memories. Kurt thought that by keeping their baking tradition alive, she would never really leave. The first time Kurt had invited Blaine over to help him bake was a special moment for him because it was like he was introducing Blaine to his mother. Blaine passed with flying colours despite the bit of flying flour. They made Finn a simple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Finn was never one to request anything fancy. Kurt was kind of glad that he didn't have to make anything too difficult for his brother because not only would it go under appreciated by him and his friends but it also allowed Kurt to focus more on having fun with Blaine. They had turned on the music and had spent the next hour or so dancing around the kitchen to Kurt's 'baking' playlist while measuring and pouring and mixing various ingredients. Usually Kurt liked the loud, powerful tunes of Broadway or Lady Gaga but when he was baking it was different. Baking was sacred to him and in turn required music that was more peaceful. The kitchen was warm and filled with the smell of chocolate. It was just cozy and fun and comfortable. Blaine had gotten a little caught up in the fun and had swayed up behind Kurt, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and chest and leaning his head on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt's breath hitched and his hand paused, readjusting his grip on the whisk before continuing to stir. Blaine had never got that close before and although it sent a shiver down Kurt's spine and he blushed furiously but he couldn't say he didn't like it. After catching his breath, he had even tentatively leaned back into his boyfriend. Kurt was surprised at how much he enjoyed Blaine's embrace. They had always been so chaste with each other and Kurt had never had the desire to move things further but feeling his boyfriend's chest pressed into his back and Blaine's breath tickle his neck made Kurt want to rethink this. He wasn't completely relaxed in Blaine's arms; he had always been a little self conscious but mainly it was the fact that it was new and he didn't really believe it was happening. Kurt felt that this was something older people did, something his friends did, not him. Still though, Kurt enjoyed it while it lasted and was a little saddened when Blaine pulled away at the sound of the timer to check on the cake.

As the boys arrived they took over the family room and the Call of Duty tournament began. The comfortable, calm atmosphere from earlier quickly disappeared and was replaced with a rambunctious, rowdy one. The peaceful sounds were replaced by the unfortunately familiar sounds of a war torn country and an hour and a half later Sam came out the ultimate victor. Kurt vacated the arm chair in the corner for the spot between Puck and Blaine on the couch, right in the middle of the action. As soon as he sat down he scooted closer to his boyfriend so that their shoulders touched. The conversation was that of a typical group of teenage boys but with Blaine there, there was someone who got, appreciated, encouraged Kurt's jokes and quips as well as to role eyes with when the boys became too enthralled with girls. It was fun and Kurt found himself truly included in everything instead of on the side lines. Eventually unleashing the wrath of the American army on desolate, hostile cities overseas grew weary and Call of Duty was switched out for Mario Cart. Kurt had gotten very excited at this because here was a game he could actually play. After insisting he get to be Yoshi, Kurt proceeded to put Blaine and the rest of the boys to shame. Puck, who was the undefeated champion of Mario Cart insisted on a rematch and Kurt had wasted no time going head to head with the bad boy, jock. With his boyfriend and brother cheering him on, Kurt had no problem standing tall next to Puck and shoving him back when his competitor tried to distract him and standing his ground when Puck started the friendly, trash talking.

"Oh fuck off Hummel; you know you can't beat me. You'll choke on the last turn just watch. "

"Now Noah, I think you will be the one to choke because the embarrassment of being beaten at a video game by a gay, choir boy is just going to eat at what remaining soul you have."

"That's my man, yeah Kurt."

Kurt giggled at his boyfriends encouragements and wiggled his hips in said boy's direction but just as he rounded the last bend, Puck shoved him and with that Wario blazed by Yoshi to take first place.

"Take that gay boy."

"I think it says a lot that you had to shove me in order to win. I totally had that and you knew it Noah. Best two outta three?"

"Bring it Hummel."

Kurt won the next round fair and square and felt absolutely elated because of that but also because he was finally succeeding at just being one of the boys. Watching Blaine being able to hang so easily with boys had always made Kurt a little jealous. Kurt was comfortable with who he was but sometimes he wished he could be more like Blaine. It was one thing to be gay but it was another thing to feel completely isolated from your own kind. It just enhanced that devastating feeling that there was something wrong with him. Having Blaine there with him had provided a sort of bridge between himself and the other guys and although being closer to the guys wasn't the most important thing in Kurt's life it was something that definitely made him happier and more confident. He had Blaine to thank for that.

The rest of the night had progressed much the same and around three o-clock the boys started to crash. While the rest of them just pulled their jeans and shirts off, content to sleep it their boxers and wife beaters, Kurt and Blaine had both gone to change into sweets and old t-shirts to sleep in. Usually he slept in proper silk pyjamas but this was guy's night so Kurt decided to treat it like a costume party and dress up, or down in this case. He had been glad that Blaine wasn't as brazen as the others. Even though they were slowly making progress, take that morning for example, seeing Blaine in his boxers was still a step beyond Kurt's boundaries. When Kurt had returned Finn had put Transformers on and the boys had all spread out on the floor, visibly tired. Finn had offered Kurt the couch but Kurt reclined claiming that the birthday boy should get it. The blush that crept up his cheeks and the way he was twiddling his thumbs would suggest that he had an alternative motive behind the gesture besides just being nice. This time he was hiding something from his brother. Kurt didn't know when he would get the chance to have a sleep over with Blaine again and he didn't want to waist the opportunity. The shy smile that seemed glued to his face when he was around Blaine appeared as he had laid down beside his boyfriend. If they had been alone, this might have been too much for Kurt, maybe it was too much now considering he couldn't fall asleep, but with the room full of his friends he felt safer. That was something Kurt found hard to explain because it wasn't as if he was actually scared that Blaine would jump him. Blaine would never do that. It wasn't him. Maybe it was because Kurt felt that it was too serious of a gesture to be sleeping next to his boyfriend but he could justify it if the two of them were not alone in the room. None of the others batted an eye at the positioning of the smitten couple, if anyone had seemed surprised by it, it was Blaine but he turned to face Kurt, grabbing his hand and returning Kurt's shy smile.

"Goodnight Kurt."

"Goodnight Blaine."

Sleeping next to Blaine, or trying to, was harder than Kurt thought it would be. He didn't want to close his eyes because he was mesmerised by the rise and fall of Blaine's chest and the flutter of his gorgeous, dark, long, thick eyelashes. He found himself staring at Blaine's full, pink lips that were slightly parted with the faint hint of smile. Blaine was nothing less than beautiful. When Kurt did manage to force his eyelids closed the wondrous feeling of Blaine's heavy breaths ghosting over his neck consumed him. It made him think back to that morning when Blaine had stood behind him and just held him close for what was the best ten minutes of his life. It made Kurt wonder what it would feel like if Blaine was holding him like that now. Kurt would become lost in those thoughts when Blaine would shift and his eyes would spring open wide and he would be caught up again in the beauty that was his boyfriend while he slept. Kurt soon came to the conclusion that he would not be falling asleep tonight and that this was the first time he was sacrificing his well being and his performance at work the next day for his boyfriend. This was something he was kind of ashamed to admit because he never wanted his love for another person to slow him down. That was something for insecure people who didn't have goals of their own. He would let himself slide this time though because he had put that faint smile on Blaine's face as he fell asleep and that made Kurt forget about everything else. At that moment the fact that they were laying on the family room floor, surrounded by icky, obnoxious boys, and that in a few hours this magical scene would end and Kurt would feel horrible from lack of sleep ceased to matter in Kurt's mind. All that mattered was Blaine and that was more than fine with Kurt.