A/N: Just to clarify the timing of this, it's about part of Rachel's second trip to New Haven, not the first, which probably won't be explored much (assume it was casual and fun, and nothing notable was said). Also, the second part of the update is a lot of Blaine being Blaine and some Klaine.

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I need someone else to look into my eyes and tell me
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Sometimes, it's hard to make sense of Santana's schedule. Even though she knows factually when Santana sleeps, when planning when to run errands and complete tasks, the morning often seems like the natural time to do it. She really can't help it; she's a morning person, after all.

So when they try to find a time to go shopping for Blaine's birthday, they butt heads a few times. They're both so busy during the week, and Santana displays a strange anxiety when asked to leave the apartment on days that she works, so that leaves Friday. Rachel is heading to New Haven that weekend and wants to catch a train that leaves around four o'clock on Friday, and Santana bitingly replies that she probably won't even be awake at that point, let alone ready to leave the apartment. Rachel suggests that they go in the morning after Santana gets out of work, and Santana rolls her eyes and growls, "Oh, yeah, that sounds great, staying up way past my bedtime to go shopping. I'll be in a fantastic mood."

"Like you are right now?" Rachel bites back, before wincing and rubbing her forehead, "I'm sorry, Santana. I'm being unreasonable. It's just…somehow hard to get used to the fact that you sleep in the mornings."

Santana sighs and meets Rachel's eye guiltily. "Nah. I'm sorry. Look, you can't leave later, right?"

Rachel shakes her head, "Not really, no. I have some wiggle room in that there are a few trains that leave at around four, but I really shouldn't go any later. There's a poetry reading Quinn really, really wants to go to that evening, and if I leave around four, we'll have just enough time to grab some dinner before we go."

A chuckle, and a "She is such a nerd," and then Santana bites her lip and sighs, "Well, I'll wake up around noon or so and we can go shopping before you have to leave."

"Santana," Rachel starts to chastise, "That's only…like five hours of sleep."

Shrugging and casting her eyes away to glance at her nails, Santana responds, "Yeah, and I gots plenty of time to catch up this weekend."

Rachel bites her lip, feeling an impulsive wash of guilt for getting Santana out of bed early, but also for leaving Santana alone. They'd only occasionally had time to hang out on weekends, usually not going far, but it had been nice to just watch TV together or whatever. Santana would be fine by herself for the weekend, right?

But it turns out pretty okay. Santana is quite lucid after waking up early, and they head to a music shop. And Rachel knows she doesn't spend nearly enough time exploring the city, but it's opportunities like this that just make her so excited to live here, where she can just jump on the subway and go anywhere in the city to find whatever she wants. Santana browses listlessly, but Rachel is on a mission, and soon approaches Santana holding up a Lady Gaga sheet music book and a Donna Summer one.

Santana raises an eyebrow, "Okay, I get the Gaga one, we've always rocked her and Blaine, of course, loves her almost as much as Pink."

Rachel nods and interrupts, "Yes, they had a Pink one but I assume he already owns that."

Chuckling, Santana continues, "But Donna Summer?"

Rachel sighs and turns it over, flipping through, "Well, as you may know, she passed away this spring, and I know Blaine likes disco. I thought perhaps the New Directions could do a bit of a tribute. I'm envisioning a collaboration between Blaine, Sam and Artie. Perhaps something that Sam could send to Mercedes."

Santana's eyebrows are somewhat incredulously raised as she replies, "Well, disco really isn't Blaine's strong suit…or really, anyone's except Mercedes, but hey, it's good to challenge him. But damn…what's with you and the Sam and Mercedes thing?"

"What do you mean?" Rachel's eyebrows draw together.

"Britts told me about you helping her choose a song for Sam's birthday. I mean, it's not like you're meddling, but you're kind focused on it, yeah?"

Rachel smiles, "I just want them to make it. The same way I want you and Brittany to make it, and Tina and Mike, and Kurt and Blaine. It's…distance can't be easy. It's hard enough having friends so far away, I can't imagine." Rachel's face clouds and she frowns, and Santana's heart clenches, mostly because she misses Brittany, but partly because, she thinks, Rachel must be thinking of Finn, and the might have beens.

"Whatever, Berry. It sounds good to me. Now let's buy this so I can go home and lay around the apartment naked and you can head to New Haven to visit your long-distance bestie."

Rachel grins and…Santana swears she blushes, but it's hard to be sure when Rachel breezes past her to go pay. Santana fumbles and hands her some cash to pay for half, and they swing by the post office to mail it. Rachel pays a little extra for quicker delivery; it might get there early, but Rachel isn't particularly concerned, because it's better than it arriving late. Besides, Blaine's birthday probably won't be particularly happy, what with saying goodbye to Kurt immediately after, so perhaps a little early celebration is warranted.

Rachel is glad that she brought her luggage with her on their outing, even though hauling it around had been irritating, because she may even be able to catch a slightly earlier train. As they get to the subway station where they'll be going in different directions, she informs Santana that she's going to be hugged and, possibly because she's exhausted, Santana's reaction time is slow and she seems surprised to be pulled into this hug. But she chuckles a little and says, "Bye, Berry. Tell Q hey. And have a good weekend, I know I will," she finishes, pulling away to wink.

Rachel smirks back, "Santana, if you are intending to have Skype sex, I must request that you refrain from doing so on our couch."

Santana's eyes widen and she releases a surprised laugh, "Thanks for giving me ideas, Berry. I make no promises," she finishes with her most sultry expression, and waves before heading away with one more, "Bye!"

Rachel does indeed catch an earlier train and texts Quinn her new ETA, receiving an enthusiastic response.

Rachel Berry: I'm taking the 3:07 train
instead, so I should get there at around 5!

Quinn Fabray: Wonderful! I'll be there. I
can't wait to see you, and I'm stoked for
Sonia Sanchez! Hope you are, too!

Quinn's enthusiasm makes her smile. She's mostly going just because Quinn is so excited and has promised she'll enjoy it—though, really, she doesn't require a reason to want to visit Quinn. In truth, though poetry and song are so often related, Rachel has a clear preference, though her research has assured her that Sonia Sanchez is a very dynamic performer. She thinks she will enjoy it, though she'd honestly not known much about Sonia Sanchez. She thinks her daddy might have one of her plays in the house somewhere, but she's never read it.

She works on homework on the train, which there's always so much of. So much reading, so much writing about what she reads. Two of her classes are supposed to be "practicals," involving much more doing than reading, but there's always a lot of work with them, too, of course. She spends most of her days on campus, either doing homework while working at the library—which is, thankfully, usually pretty subdued when she's there, affording her lots of homework time—or shut up in a study room practicing her dance and vocals. But she does usually get home in the evening just in time to see Santana before she heads off to work. Though, she reasons, that may change. She's going to try out for a few plays and musicals in the next few weeks, both at her school and in the town. She had been almost put-off by the sheer number of talented kids surrounding her—like meeting Harmony, but times one hundred—and it had taken this long to convince herself that she was at least as good as they were. She was there, wasn't she? So why shouldn't she try out?

The pep talk from Quinn probably had helped, too. She had been the one to point out to Rachel that she had to be at least as good as her classmates, though she had stressed that she was pretty damn sure Rachel was better, which was…it made Rachel swell with pride, and with the desire to give Quinn a reason to be proud of her.

And Quinn…when she steps off the train and sees her, and their eyes meet and Quinn smiles…it's always like this. It's always like she forgets that Quinn does smile at her now, like she always forgets that she's allowed to look at Quinn, to drink her in. She's still so pretty, she always is. Her hair is kind of feathered at the moment, the length and style most comparable to what it was at the very end of Junior year. She's wearing a long skirt and a blazer—it's finally starting to get a little chilly this fall. Her makeup is subdued, but what she is wearing seems to make her hazel eyes just pop, and they're large and luminous as they meet Rachel's.

She's never had a best friend quite like this. Her friendship with Kurt has never been quite this close, or…intimate. She supposes it's just something about the way girls are together, because she can occasionally see some similarities in her friendship with Santana, but everything with Quinn is just…deeper somehow. She's never experienced anything like it.

Rachel drags her luggage over and almost falls into Quinn's arms. She just saw her last weekend when Quinn visited her, but this doesn't at all quash her desire to hug her. Quinn chuckles, in kind of the same way Santana had a few hours earlier, and wraps her arms around Rachel in return—at least her reaction time is quicker than Santana's.

Sometimes she can't believe that this beautiful woman is her best friend. It feels like triumph to hold her.

"It's so good to see you," Rachel murmurs, feeling her chin dig into Quinn's shoulder as she speaks, and she pulls back apologetically, but Quinn is just smiling at her.

"I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for taking the trek out to see me, and Sonia Sanchez."

Rachel laughs a little, warmed by Quinn's enthusiasm for the poet. "I'm always glad to come see you. I intend to make the best use of this pass that I can." She gives a firm, decisive nod, and Quinn grins in response. "Santana says to say hey," Rachel suddenly remembers, and Quinn nods, her smile changing slightly so that it's almost mischievous. "I think she's going to spend the weekend having Skype sex with Brittany," Rachel announces, without really even thinking about it.

Quinn's eyes widen and a laugh escapes, "Sometimes I don't know how you live with her."

A shrug and a grin, "She's actually quite considerate, and actually pleasant once she's had coffee. I'm more surprised that she can live with me, given how much she used to hate me."

Quinn gnaws her lip a moment, her eye contact breaking and her gaze fixating somewhere behind Rachel's head, "I don't think any of us ever really hated you," she says quietly, and her expression clears as she grabs Rachel's rolling luggage and shoots a little smile over her shoulder, an invitation to follow.

Because they have a little extra time due to Rachel's earlier train, they decide to eat downtown instead of on-campus (although Quinn assures her that the food is rather good, but it's just nice to go elsewhere), deciding on a Japanese place, which has plenty of options for Rachel. Quinn takes the bill, insisting on paying since Rachel is accompanying her to the poetry reading, and even though Rachel wants to protest that she would have come visit even without the poetry reading, she lets it slide.

And by seven forty-five, they're shuffling into one of the campus's auditoriums and Quinn chooses a seat as close to the front as she can, frowning and attempting to situate Rachel so that she's not directly behind tall people. Rachel grins at her consideration.

And the reading, well. Sonia Sanchez is small, and her voice is gentle when she prefaces the reading with talk of her work and herself, but when she reads…Rachel is transfixed. It's almost like singing, the way she chants her poetry, rhythmic, her voice louder, pulsing with power. It's enchanting, to the point that Rachel forgets to even listen to the words, too drawn up in the rhythm and the sensation of raw emotion in the woman's voice. Feeling the expression of awe on her own face, almost before it even registers in her mind, Rachel glances at Quinn, seeing in the blonde's profile a tremulous smile, her eyes watery.

By the end, Rachel feels her breath forced out of her lungs in a cathartic puff, and hears the sharp inhale that means Quinn just did something similar. Sonia Sanchez has switched back to her gentle speaking voice, takes a few questions, and then announces she'll be up front to sign books, which can be purchased in the lobby.

It's then that she and Quinn look at each other, and Quinn smiles shyly. "Did you like it?"

Rachel nods fervently, "So much more than I anticipated. It was…" But she can't find words.

Quinn doesn't wait for her to finish the thought, knowing, perhaps, that it wasn't meant to be. Instead, she reaches into her shoulder bag and with a fleeting smile presses a copy of Does Your House Have Lions? into Rachel's hands. "I got this for you. It's the first of her poetry that I read, and probably my favorite." She looks up, almost shyly, "Let's get our books signed," she grins, producing her own, slightly more worn, copy of the same book.

"Quinn," Rachel stares at the book in her hands, "thank you," is all she can say, and she follows Quinn to the front of the room. Quinn beckons her to go first, and Rachel feels suddenly awkward when she finds herself standing in front of the poet. She barely knows her work, it feels almost wrong to ask for an autograph. But the poet smiles, asks her name, and they exchange a few words about the importance of love in the world and she signs, "To sister Rachel, walk beautifully in love and peace, Sonia Sanchez."

And then Rachel stands a respectful distance away to watch as Quinn approaches, and Quinn seems nervous, but in a different way than Rachel. Quinn's smile is watery, but the two seem to instantly connect in a way Rachel hadn't managed, and Sonia Sanchez spends almost a minute talking to Quinn. She can't hear everything they're saying, but she steps closer in time to hear and barely see what Sonia Sanchez says as she signs Quinn's book. "To sister Quinn, EBE YIYE*" at this, the poet draws an asterisk and writes at the bottom of the page, speaking as she does, "*it'll get better!" then continues at the top, "walk beautifully in love, style, peace, Sonia Sanchez."

As she hands the book back, Quinn whispers reverently, almost a question, "It'll get better."

"It will get better, sister," Sonia Sanchez affirms with a smile, and a teary-eyed Quinn makes her way back to Rachel, and with a wavering smile, places her hand on the small of Rachel's back to guide her away; it seems as much a gesture of affection as an insistence that Rachel not watch her fight her tears.

And Rachel wonders why she doesn't see in Quinn what Sonia Sanchez saw immediately. What secrets Quinn still holds, what those few expressions Rachel still finds unreadable convey.

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And you left me shimmering
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He's not sure yet what to do about it, but Blaine is worried about the New Directions.

For one thing, it's about a month into the school year, and they still don't have enough members. There's him and Artie, who have joined forces in an attempt to become Glee's co-captains. Blaine hadn't gotten to know Artie very well until that summer, actually (not even West Side Story had provided much of a chance to bond, since Artie was more an authority than a peer in that role), but it turns out they have a bit more in common than an affinity for dress shirts and attempting to rap. Sam is another strong team member, but with his job and his place on the football team, he's pretty content to follow. Brittany and Tina are really bringing it in terms of leadership, and Blaine has to admit that the two make a surprisingly formidable team. They even seem to be becoming good friends, which surprises him, because he's not sure what they have in common.

Rory has managed to stay in the states for another year, and Sugar is there, too, finally seeming to realize that she is more of a backing vocals type. Joe's a quiet presence; he generally sits beside Sam and is happy to perform at any time, but doesn't tend to offer his own suggestions. Blaine's sure he actually spent a good deal of the summer with Sam "learning about the secular world," both because Blaine saw him several times at the Hudson-Hummel house and because he doesn't look completely bewildered at all of Sam's impressions anymore (he's also pretty sure he heard Joe saying he likes Star Wars because of the "redemptive themes," so that's something).

Wade, who still seems to be debating living as Unique instead of just performing as her, had transferred at the beginning of the school year, and Blaine is pretty sure she'll be a vocal powerhouse, but adjusting to the new school and to the idea of living fully as a woman seems to be preventing her from wanting to lead the club. This, Blaine understands, because gender identity is a big issue. When Wade had joined, Blaine had taken it upon himself to act as an ambassador of sorts, realizing that, even if he wasn't extremely well-versed in transgender issues, he probably knew a little more than the rest of the club. So he'd asked Wade's permission to ask a few questions, for the benefit of the group, and had learned that, though Unique is who Wade is inside, Wade prefers to only be referred to as such when she physically resembles Unique. However masculine Wade may look, however, she prefers feminine pronouns, at least among those she considers friends. Blaine could see the confusion on some fellow Glee clubber's faces at this straddling of the gender binary, but Blaine had more or less understood, and sympathized, because it seemed a difficult line to walk.

However, Blaine doesn't know how else to express this, but he misses Rachel Berry.

Because Mr. Schuester seems to be floundering.

Blaine knows, and not only from the save the date he received over the summer, that Mr. Schue has a wedding coming up, right after Thanksgiving, in fact, and that's sure to be stressful. He remembers Kurt talking about how in previous years, Mr. Schue's personal life sometimes would get in the way of his ability to properly lead the club, which Blaine had thought sounded strange, because the man's passion for the club is obvious. But now that he's seeing it firsthand, he knows that it's happening again.

What he needs to do is figure out what would Rachel Berry do?

Because Rachel in the New Directions was a lot of things. Sometimes a thorn in Mr. Schue's side, sure, but from what Blaine heard and saw, a thorn that forced him to get things done, either through her own forcefulness, or through Finn, who Mr. Schue shared some freakish kinship with.

It takes three weeks of school before Mr Schue even suggests that they start trying to recruit new members. Blaine almost wants to call the leadership competition off by that point, because they're really not getting anywhere—Mr. Schue seems just as indecisive as ever—and they really need to switch gears to focus on recruiting more members. But then two new members join: a freshman girl who Blaine immediately ascertains is gay—the short red hair and plaid don't really hide it, though what pushes her from possibly artsy-hipster type to gay is the fact that she says she's interested because she heard Santana Lopez had been in this club—and a quiet sophomore who's a second-stringer on the football team with Sam who says he has always liked music—he plays guitar, viola in orchestra, and was in concert choir in middle school. And it's still not enough people, but it seems to take the pressure off of Mr. Schue.

Blaine wrings his hands and gripes to Kurt about this one day about two weeks later as they get coffee, and Kurt seems to ponder his concern, "That's generally the way we function, though, Blaine. You saw Mr. Schue during an uncharacteristically high-functioning, involved year. We're usually about as far from the Warblers as you can get. We usually just dove into competitions with our eyes closed and formulated a plan in an hour. At least last year, we'd have a plan about two days in advance."

Blaine sighs, "I don't know how you guys did so well your first two years."

"Sheer talent and heart," Kurt replies with a cheeky grin, gripping one of Blaine's hands and moving their joined hands onto his chest.

"So what would Rachel do?" Blaine asks after a chuckle.

Kurt smirks, "She'd generally come up with a plan and browbeat everyone into following it because we didn't have another one, but you can't really use that strategy until you're in the green room at Sectionals and don't have a set list." He taps his lip, "You say the leadership competition is distracting Mr. Schue? Concede."

Blaine's mouth drops open, "You're joking, right? I was front man for the Warblers. I have the most experience in this! It should be me."

"Yes, you were front man, but the Warblers didn't have captains at that time. You had those council leaders or whatever, but it was mostly all very Greek and democratic and whatnot." Kurt's eye gleams for a moment, and then he says, "Suggest an oligarchy."

"Sorry, what?"

"Oh, I forgot," Kurt responds airily, with a dramatic wave of his hand, "You haven't completed Government class yet, you'll learn."

With a mock-glare, Blaine gives Kurt's shoulder a little push; sometime Kurt likes to tease him about being his "younger man."

Kurt continues, "An oligarchy is rule by a group. Usually a class of people. It can be kinda bad, like if the upper class or a higher social caste rule over everyone else, but it could be perfect for Glee club. It's kind of compromise between the Warbler's council and New Direction's traditional captains—you wouldn't have to call full Glee meetings like the council did to get things done, but you'd have more people to share responsibility—so, like the council but less formal, I suppose. Suggest perhaps rule by those who have been involved in Glee clubs—clubs, so you'll qualify—for more than a year? That would be you, Brittany, Tina, Artie and Sam, yeah? Or just have everyone elect a small group or something. It doesn't matter. But make the leadership more expansive."

"Not a bad idea," Blaine concedes, "I'll see if I can get Artie and possibly Sam in on it, though Sam doesn't seem too interested in club leadership."

"I can talk to Sam at home, try to get him interested," Kurt offers.

"That'd be great," Blaine smiles, kissing Kurt's knuckles. The eyes of both boys dart around the room at the action, feeling vulnerably gay, and relax when no one seems to have noticed.

Blaine approaches Artie with the idea, and he seems receptive. "I don't think we'd win against those two, anyway," he says, his eyes shooting to the side. "I mean, we both have good voices, but neither of us dance particularly well—no offense," (Blaine tries not to take offense, because he doesn't think he's that bad at dancing, and Artie moves in a wheelchair with more grace and rhythm than half the other guys), "and Tina and Brittany represent both top-notch singing and dancing, respectively. Besides. We've been handicapped in this fight from the start. Pun intended," he finishes bitterly.

Frowning, Blaine asks, "You really think Mr. Schuester would have let that affect his decision?"

Artie shrugs, "Maybe he wouldn't. But it's a feeling I've been trying to shake for more than three years now. That I'd be a great lead, but won't get the chance because I can't dance with the lead girl the same way the other guys can."

Blaine rubs his forehead, feeling out of his element, but then smiles, "Then let's do this. You and I will both get the chances we deserve if we're on the leadership board."

Sam seems hesitant. "Kurt told me about it," he says, "I'm not sure if I'm gonna be much help. I've got a lot on my plate already, and that's not even including classes, which I'm always struggling with because of my dyslexia." Blaine's eyebrows shoot up; he hadn't known this about Sam. Sam seems to hesitate, then says, "But I guess if it's divided among like five of us, that's less weight on my shoulders. I'll do my best."

"So you're in?" Blaine asks excitedly.

"I'm in," Sam responds with his wide grin.

And when Blaine gets a package from Rachel and Santana in the mail that afternoon, which happens to be the day before his birthday, he instantly knows how to clinch the deal.

So the next day during Glee, Blaine raises his hand and says, "Mr. Schuester, I think it's time we finally put this co-captain competition to rest."

He hears Tina whisper to Brittany, "Oh no. If he thinks he's going to get the last song in, he's got another think coming."

Ignoring them, he stands, and a distracted Mr. Schuester says, "You're right, Blaine, I just haven't been able to decide, you all are so good. I don't know if I'm ready to."

"You just haven't been able to decide because you don't want to admit the girls are better," Sugar announces, then covers her mouth with one hand, "Oops," she says slyly, her smirk betraying her. Brittany slides her hand over for a discrete low five.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Schuester," Blaine says smoothly, ignoring Sugar, and moves to the front to address everyone gathered there. "We're a team," he begins, "First and foremost, we're a team. So I think what we need is a team to lead us, a team of our most experienced members." At this, Artie wheels next to him and Sam unfolds himself from his chair to stand on his other side. Brittany and Tina look shocked and angry; a third is just unfair.

"Ladies," Blaine says, and Artie and Sam both hold out their hands to them. Exchanging surprised and confused looks, Tina and Brittany approach the front, and Blaine gestures to the band.

It's not Donna Summer, but it's the disco tune that popped to mind first when he saw the sheet music. "We Are Family" starts playing, and Artie and Sam gamely sing along with him, "we are family, I got all my sisters with me," with winks at the girls.

Blaine takes the verses, having learned all the words the night before, while Tina, Brittany, Artie and Sam improvise dancing around him and join in on the chorus, which they learn easily. He sees a few others singing in their seats and with a gesture, he brings the whole club up to sing and dance along.

When the song ends, the rest of the club sits down, but Blaine, Sam and Artie stay standing, and grab Brittany and Tina's hands to keep them up there, too, Brittany grinning, Tina with happy tears shining in her eyes. Blaine says, "If you'd allow it, Mr. Schuester, New Directions, we'd like to be your leadership board. We think we'd represent a broad range of genre and talent."

"What a great idea, Blaine," Mr. Schuester gushes, and for a moment, Blaine can see the excited spark that used to so often burn in his eyes, "I accept. That is, if the rest of the team agrees."

Applause is their answer.

And really, Blaine thinks, this is the best birthday present he could ask for. At least, that's what he thinks until that night with Kurt.

They're both so focused on the other. Blaine knows he's trying to forget that it will be awhile before they can be together like this again, and Kurt must be thinking along the same lines, but their movements are unhurried, and the way Kurt runs his hands slowly, reverently down Blaine's body forces him to arch his back to try to get closer, and soon he really does forget.

And even in the afterglow, it's more about how good they feel together, and how much they love each other, and less about the looming end to their daily contact.

Kurt's leaving three days later. He knows this. Puck, seeming to feel a bit of wanderlust, had offered to drive Kurt in his truck, and even if Blaine didn't have school, he wouldn't be able to go along. The truck can really only seat two.

And that's also weird, Blaine thinks, that Puck and Kurt have actually been spending a lot of time together as of late. If Puck had ever seriously tripped his gaydar—he admits it's happened a few times, but so incidentally he's sure they're flukes—he might have gotten protective, or jealous. But as it stands, it's just surprising. All Kurt has said is that Puck is going through some things, and he's been the one available to help Puck keep his mind off things, and that frequently Puck will end up hanging out with Sam when Sam gets home from school instead. They're better friends than they ever were in high school, for sure, but Kurt's pretty sure they'll never be really close.

After school two days later, Blaine helps Puck and Kurt load up the truck. It helps that Kurt is going to buy a new mattress when he gets there, and that he had a new, smaller vanity delivered to the apartment (Blaine had seen the text from Santana about the "big-ass package" that had arrived and that if Kurt was worried about "ruining his manicure," she'd use her "lesbian powers" to help him put together his furniture), because otherwise there's no way all his things will fit. It also helps that Blaine had been helping him choose which clothes to bring and which to leave behind for the past several weeks.

"Nice of you to join us," Puck grunts as he and Kurt wiggle Kurt's dresser into place in the bed of the truck and Puck begins tying it in place. "Though, Elton John here is no slouch. Dude's got stamina," Puck winks at Blaine.

"You don't know the half of it," Blaine quips in response, which just widens Puck's grin.

"Boys," Kurt chastises, sounding half-amused and half-exasperated. He wipes at his forehead, "Ugh. Perspiration is so bad for my skin."

"Take a break, wash up," Puck says kindly, "Blaine and I can get it from here, there's not much left."

Kurt bites his lip for a moment, perhaps debating how feminine he'd seem if he took a break, perhaps feeling guilty for letting others finish the work, but ultimately he nods and heads into the house. Blaine watches as Puck secures the dresser with a series of ropes and bungie cords and, to save room, places each drawer back in and ties them securely into place.

He glances at Blaine, "I told him it would be best to tape these babies in, but apparently this is a designer dresser. Didn't even know those existed."

Blaine grins, "I doubt it's the same as in the sense of designer clothes, but I'm not surprised. He's meticulous."

Puck hops down from the bed of the truck, and he and Blaine head into the house. Puck's right, there's not much left, as all Kurt's furniture is already in the truck (new twin bed frame, dresser, small collapsible bookshelf), and most of what's left is just boxes, mostly of clothes, some of books and DVDs; Kurt's luggage, which will mostly contain his cosmetic products, and computer bag will go in the truck tomorrow. Puck takes charge of maneuvering the boxes where he thinks they should go, attempting to ensure the furniture will have some extra support so it won't strain the cords much. He then gets Blaine to help him spread the tarp over everything and secure it in place.

"Will you even be able to see out the back?" Blaine asks in concern.

Puck shrugs, "Probably not, but it's no problem. I'm good."

Blaine bites his lip, but says nothing. Puck parks his truck inside the garage to keep everything safe and, politely declining Carole's offer to stay for dinner, borrows Finn's truck to head back to his house.

Blaine stays awake all night, lying next to Kurt in the darkness, feeling each shift as Kurt tangles and untangles them, kicking off his blankets or snuggling closer as his body shifts from hot to cold. He doesn't even really have the energy to pretend to wake up when Kurt's phone alarm blares a Culture Club song at 4:30. Instead, Blaine pads to the kitchen to start coffee. Burt and Carole aren't even up yet; they'll wake up in about an hour. Blaine sits at the counter and drinks cup after cup, while Kurt spends forty-five minutes in the bathroom doing his morning routine. Blaine has wondered how he'll do this while sharing one bathroom with two seemingly high-maintenance girls, but he hasn't dared to ask.

Puck arrives around 5:30, grunting a greeting to Blaine (still sitting, drinking coffee) and Kurt (having toast and coffee for breakfast), shaking hands with Burt (making his own breakfast of oatmeal with fruit—grimacing slightly as he does) and kissing Carole on the cheek (supervising Burt's breakfast while sipping on coffee). Kurt shoves his dishes in the dishwasher a moment later and scampers back to his room to pack his remaining belongings. Sam wanders sleepily into the kitchen just as Kurt leaves with hair wet from his shower and slaps Puck's shoulder in greeting, and Puck slings an arm around his shoulders in a rare show of affection. Puck accepts Carole's offering of breakfast and she sets to making him and a grateful Sam (who attempts to insist he can take care of his own breakfast) a plate of eggs—Blaine thinks she misses cooking breakfast for Finn. Blaine pours them both a cup of coffee, not sure what else to do. He knows he can't be alone with Kurt right now.

And at about ten til six, Kurt is in the front room with his rolling suitcase and matching shoulder bag and toiletry bag, and before Blaine can really take in the sight of Kurt, about to leave him, everyone is hugging. Carole is hugging Puck and thanking him for taking Kurt, while Burt, as he hugs Kurt firmly, is pressing money into Kurt's hand and telling him not to let Puck pay for any gas. Sam wraps Kurt into a full, almost intimate hug, thanking him for being a great surrogate brother—Blaine sees Kurt's lip tremble at this, and then Kurt is being surrounded by and kissed by his parents, and a tear is falling.

Then Kurt turns to Blaine, and Blaine feels his heart in his throat. He wants to ask Kurt to step away, knowing how he feels about public displays of affection, because all he really wants to do right now is kiss the life out of Kurt, kiss him so hard that he'll reconsider leaving, just for a moment (because Blaine knows he shouldn't stay in Lima, he just wants to believe he could be a strong enough force to make him want to). But Kurt leans into him and kisses him, so softly and gently, their mouths pressing carefully, intimately, for several seconds, and it's not a fireworks kiss, it's a candle. A little light in the dark, like a promise, like a lantern to guide him home.

When Blaine opens his eyes, he sees nothing but love shining in Kurt's, and nothing but raw affection for them both in the eyes of the…family watching them—because, really, at this point, Puck and Sam are just as much family. And after a moment, Sam lightens the moment by elbowing Puck and murmuring, "Isn't it cool that they're such good friends?"

The laughter is welcome, and Blaine rests his forehead against Kurt's shoulder before Kurt draws him into an embrace and holds him close. As Puck and Sam chuckle, Kurt whispers, "I'll see you for Thanksgiving. I love you, Blaine-bear."

Blaine laughs again at Kurt's nickname—he certainly isn't a bear—and responds, "Love you too, Kurtsy."

Then Puck is tucking Kurt's luggage into the bed of the truck and refastening the tarp covering everything and the two are jumping in, waving and honking softly a few times as they drive off. Sam puts a hand on Blaine's shoulder as they watch the truck drive out of sight.

Sighing, Blaine turns to Carole and Burt, "Is it okay if I get ready for school here? I don't think I'll be able to make it to my house and back in time." Blaine's house is on the very edge of two school districts: McKinley and the school he'd attended before Dalton.

"Of course," Carole responds.

Sam lowers his head to try to catch Blaine's eye, "You look beat, man. I'll give you a ride to school, too, if you want."

Blaine smiles. It's strange how much he loves being here even when Kurt is gone. "Thanks, Sam."

Additional A/N: Chapter titles from Grimes, "Oblivion" and Passion Pit, "Moth's Wings." Other songs include Sister Sledge, "We Are Family." I imagine Culture Club, "Karma Chameleon" for Kurt's phone alarm. I feel compelled to mention "Undeniable" because of Passion Pit, though the story rekindled my enjoyment of Passion Pit rather than introduced me to it.

The Sonia Sanchez scene is quite reminiscent of my own interaction with her at a school event, so I don't feel bad for borrowing her. She's lovely.