Kurt finally texted Blaine for the first time after vacation, inviting him over since his dad and Carole were out spending the evening at a fancy restaurant and Finn was having a game night over at Mike's house.

He spent a long time thinking about what he was going to say, how he was going to say it, what would happen if Blaine responded with this or that. It was nerve-wracking, and Kurt wasn't sure it was in the best or worst way.

Blaine arrived on his motorcycle around five-thirty and knocked on the front door twice. In a rush, Kurt hurried down the stairs while simultaneously smoothing his shirt and fixing his hair. He made it to the door, his heavy breathing echoing through the empty house. After inhaling once, he twisted the handle and swung it open.

His soulmate was distracted by scuffing his feet against the 'Welcome' doormat, but immediately looked up when Kurt was there. Blaine's mouth parted first, his honey eyes widening short after. "Kurt," he breathed, like he had been holding in his name ever since the last they saw each other.

Honestly, all the speeches Kurt prepared for this moment vanished because he was too busy gawking at the sight of Blaine. Blaine-who seemed to only own three shirts and two pairs of blue jeans-had on a flannel red shirt, the sleeved rolled up to his elbows and a white tank top peeking out underneath. His jeans were freshly cleaned, not a stain or tear in sight. Sure, the sneakers were still in poor condition, but at least all the mud was scraped off.

"Hi," Kurt managed, his gaze trailing back up to Blaine's face-which was cleanly shaved and without a cigarette in his mouth. Even his usual untamed curls were combed. He looked...handsome.

"H-how was your trip?"

You mean hours upon hours of aunts, uncles, and cousins breathing down your neck, poking and prodding on who your soulmate is and you explaining you don't want to tell and then them laughing about your embarrassed blushing and especially the overarching fact about the absence of you?

"Fine, I suppose."

Blaine nodded and hesitated, not knowing whether to move forward or stay, even though it was pretty clear he desperately wanted to go forward.

Shaking his head to get himself back into focus, Kurt reached out for Blaine's hand, their fingers slotting perfectly together like always. "You wanna come inside? We've got a lot to talk about…"

Granted, the last time he was in Kurt's bedroom Blaine didn't really have time to take in all in, given the need for touching and kissing.

The room was spacious, with that large, made bed and a vanity station with a mirror in the back. The walls were white and crisp, with elegant edges Blaine could never dream of finding in his own room.

He floated over to a shelf lined with photo frames, lingering at each one. There was Kurt with a rounder face on a bus with his Glee friends; a silly picture of him and Mercedes sticking their tongues out at the camera; younger Kurt with what Blaine assumed was his dad at a family barbecue.

His hand trailed up the frame of one of Kurt's dad and a woman in a wedding dress, the photo taken in the middle of a laugh during their first dance. He guessed that was Kurt's stepmother, also Finn Hudson's mom.

The picture right next to it was smaller, with a very young Kurt smiling wide at the camera, wearing a nice blue polo and having a few teeth missing from his mouth. He was sitting on a woman's lap, a woman with the same shade of brown hair sweeping over her shoulder, smiling up with Kurt. She had one hand around Kurt's middle, the other over where his was clutching one of the swing's chains.

"That's my mom," said the voice of Kurt over his shoulder. Blaine turned, dropping his hands to his sides like he had just been caught doing something wrong, but Kurt was half-smiling at him gently. "She died when I was eight."

"I'm sorry," Blaine said, glancing back along with Kurt at the photo. Even just by how she looked there Blaine knew she must have been wonderful.

Kurt changed topic, slipping his hand into Blaine's for the second time that night and leading him to the bed to sit. "So, about that talk…"

"Shit." Blaine hung his head, using his free hand to rub the back of his neck. "Look, Kurt-"

Kurt held up a finger, silencing him. "Don't say anything, let me speak so I don't forget anything."

Blaine nodded quickly.

After tucking a leg under himself, still letting the other drape over the side of the bed, Kurt took a breath. "Alright, so during my vacation I had time to think...about us."

His heart felt like it had plummeted down to the pit of his stomach. This was it. This was goodbye. Finally, Blaine had one good thing in his life worth living for and now it was being taken away and it was all his fault-

"I want this trust to go both ways."

Well, his heart was surely back, because it skipped a beat. Or two. Or five.

"What?" Blaine shifted as well, crossing his legs comfortably. "Kurt, I trust you. I trust you more than anyone or anything."

"Hey, what did I say about talking?" Kurt made a teasing smile, but soon went serious again. "I believe that you do, but Blaine...I feel like I don't know anything about you." Before Blaine could protest that that statement was ridiculous, Kurt raised his right hand, showing the little black letters. "You. Blaine Devon Anderson. I may know some things, the tiny parts that make you more than the local badboy." His lips quirked upwards at the term. "But, every time we talk about something deeper than that...like your family, you get all-" Pausing, only because his point was proven by Blaine tightening his grip on Kurt's hand at the 'F' word.

"I won't…." Kurt continued softly. "I won't judge you or anything Blaine, but why don't you like talking about it?"

The breath Blaine let out was shakier than he wanted. He believed Kurt, he knew what he was saying was true, but every bone in his body was fighting against his will to shut up and get out like it always did. He swallowed, twisting his mouth while searching for words and not meeting Kurt's tender stare. "I'm not proud of it, okay?" Blaine responded, his voice thick. "And I know you say you won't judge, but I know you'll look at me different and treat me-"

"Blaine. We're soulmates," Kurt interrupted, firmly and sure. "You could tell me you grew up in a spaceship and I wouldn't think of you any different."

Keeping his eyes down at their tangled hands, Blaine nodded, feeling his chest tighten and suffocate his lungs with an unfamiliar emotion. No one has ever shown this much concern towards him, he didn't know what to do. He felt like crying out of gratefulness.

But he didn't. Kurt didn't need to see him cry. "I trust you, Kurt," Blaine repeated. "I'm just not ready to spill everything yet. One day I want to, but now…"

"Baby steps?" Kurt offered.

A relieved laugh escaped his lips. "Yeah, baby steps would be nice."

"Alright." The other boy shifted, his body a more relaxed stance. "What are you comfortable with talking about?"

That question stumped him momentarily, until something came to mind and Blaine looked up at Kurt's patient eyes, showing him the tiniest hint of a smile. "My older brother, Cooper. He lives in L.A."

"Oh!" Kurt nodded, his face breaking out in a knowing grin. "He's the one that paid for your shoulder tattoo!"

"Yep, that's the one," Blaine said, pleasantly surprised Kurt had remembered that detail. "He's like twenty-seven now, found his soulmate over the Internet right after he graduated high school, took a wad of cash and booked a flight to Los Angeles to be with her."

"Oh, my god," Kurt chuckled.

Blaine rolled his shoulders, feeling his muscles loosen from all the tension before. "Yeah, apparently he also got an acting gig for some commercial."

"What does she do?" Kurt asked. "Have you met her?"

He didn't answer at first, for the memory of Cooper giving him the old truck keys (even though Blaine couldn't drive yet) stuck in his mind. That was at their previous house in Westerville, before they moved to Lima. His mother had locked herself in her bedroom, their father close to shattering everything in the house. But Cooper was grinning at Blaine, calling him 'squirt' and ruffling his curls, saying he'll visit as soon as he gets things situated with Amanda. He then hitched his bag over his shoulders and turned out the front door, waving goodbye to him as he hurried to the airport cab.

That was the last time Blaine saw him.

He shook his head, saying to Kurt, "No, they haven't come back to Ohio."

"Oh." Kurt nodded, looking down.

They stayed in a state of silence, neither of their eyes meeting but their fingers remaining interlocked. It was nice for Blaine, since his anxious heart rate was slowing, he could breathe evenly again.

"Thank you, Blaine," Kurt eventually said, making Blaine look up and see his boyfriend's gentle smile.

He wasn't sure what drove him to, but Blaine found himself sagging into Kurt's arms, wrapping his arms around Kurt's slender torso and holding on tight, burying his nose into the crook of his neck. Kurt hugged back, huffing out an endearing laugh and rubbing small circles on Blaine's shoulders with his thumb.

Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, pressing Kurt impossibly closer. He couldn't bring up the words he wanted to say, how there was this aching weight lifted off his chest he never noticed was there. How he was so lucky to have him as his soulmate.

Instead, he felt Kurt plant a kiss on his temple and say there, "You look nice tonight, by the way."

Pulling back, but still keeping contact with Kurt, Blaine looked down at his clothing. "Oh, yeah...it took me forever to find this shirt." He tugged at the edge of the flannel fabric. "I thought you would like it…"

"I love it," said Kurt, bringing a hand to rest against Blaine's neck, his fingertips lightly threading where his curls stopped short. "Red truly compliments you." The corners of his mouth quirked up flirtatiously.

Heat rose to Blaine's cheeks and he ducked away sheepishly, only making Kurt chuckle. Now they were back in their usual, carefree bubble.

"Speaking of which…" Kurt said slowly, still playing with the ends of Blaine's hair and glancing away, his own cheekbones flushing slightly. "I thought about something else over vacation…"

"Oh-"

"Nothing bad!" Kurt reassured Blaine's crestfallen face, his flush still growing through his giddy smile. "Believe me, it's not bad at all."

He raised an eyebrow, seeing mischief play in Kurt's eyes. "What is it?"

Kurt scooted nearer to Blaine, their knees overlapping and Kurt's eyelids lowering. "Well, obviously I had missed you, and missed being close to you…" he trailed off purposely, letting Blaine catch how dilated his pupils were.

Clearing his dry throat, Blaine made great effort to keep his voice steady, "Yeah?"

"Mhmm." Kurt nodded, leaning in, their noses almost bumping. "And I was wondering...if you wanted to try something?"

A mix of wanting to say hell yes whatever you want and the memory of Kurt asking to wait to do any 'stuff' filled Blaine's mind. "I-what-?"

"Well, over the clothes, of course," explained Kurt with an eye roll. He waited for Blaine to answer, his previous sultry shying into a small smile, as if he was worried Blaine would say no.

He brought himself to nod, unable to actually speak since his throat had gone completely dry again. Kurt's smile broke into a wide grin, dimples showing briefly before covering the rest of the distance between the two, kissing Blaine eagerly.

Just as Blaine was ready to rest his hands on Kurt's hips, the other boy pushed Blaine by the shoulders backwards so he was lying on the bed, Kurt hovering over him, swinging a leg around Blaine's waist to straddle him before knocking his breath away from yet another kiss.

In all honesty, Kurt had zero idea what exactly he was doing. All he was concerned about was rampant thoughts and visions he had all through vacation while he missed and craved for Blaine, and how he desperately needed him close now. He still wasn't ready for anything skin-on-skin (they've only been dating for two months for god's sake) but this idea...this he could do.

His tongue had tangled with Blaine's, slick and wet and perfect. Soft little gasps and moans were escaping both of their mouths as the kissing became more heated, just as Kurt planned. He just hoped he would continue it right.

Blaine was all solid and warm under him, their chests inches apart while Blaine's hands stayed twisted in his hair and over his shirt. It was as if he wanted Kurt pressed against him, but was hesitant to do so.

Just as Blaine tilted his head, deepening the kiss, pooling more arousal into his body, Kurt shifted himself. Half-focused on adjusting his legs to get aligned with Blaine's hips and half-distracted by the way his soulmate was sucking on his tongue oh-so-good.

"Kurt," Blaine whined, his eyes squeezed shut as he briefly separated, only to have Kurt chase his lips again. "Kurt-" he managed to breathe against Kurt's mouth. "Kurt, Kurt, I need to...fuck, to cool...off…"

"Mhmm," was the noise Kurt replied, pressing harder on Blaine's lips, giving and taking and kissing kissing kissing. He needed to cool down too, obviously given the front of his jeans, but they weren't going to do that. Not this time.

Kurt slowed down their movements, only to arch his body up, and slowly, carefully roll his hips down.

Blaine tore away from Kurt's lips, throwing his head back and groaning inward, clutching his fingers on Kurt's shoulders. "GOD, Kurt-"

"Was that okay?" Self-consciousness crept back into Kurt's system. He didn't even ask if Blaine wanted that, god he was so stupid, it probably felt weird or-

"Fuck, it was perfect," breathed Blaine, his eyelids heavy and soon crashing his mouth to Kurt's again, moaning right away and twitching his hips upward.

Smiling proudly against Blaine's kiss, Kurt rolled his hips again. A little steadier this time, savoring the delicious friction he felt from the other boy's clothed erection. Blaine groaned so ragged it was practically pornographic, and his hands went straight for Kurt's ass, his fingers splayed as they rocked with Kurt's hips. Keeping the rhythm.

If Kurt had a rhythm, that is. Usually he was an expertise at multitasking, but this time he wasn't counting on a panting boy worrying his bottom lip between his teeth, gasping out a moan from Kurt while he was busy grinding for the first time in his life. Granted, it still felt mind-blowing-amazing: all hard rubbing against hard and aching hips searching for more and more.

The concentration to make the rocking work became too distracting for Kurt, for his eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth drawn down in focus, whereas Blaine did most of the kissing. He only noticed when Blaine ceased the kiss, chuckled, and flipped them over with one swift movement.

Kurt's mouth dropped open in mild surprise, but was soon covered with Blaine's once again. Hands were moving down, cupping Kurt's ass and pushing it up, thrusting with Blaine's hips in perfect melody.

Amazing melody. Breathtaking melody. The skilled friction Blaine was giving combined with him mouthing at his neck, sucking and licking swirls at that crazy-sensitive spot right under his ear, was enough to make the straining in Kurt's jeans almost unbearable. He let out a choked-off whimper, holding on helplessly to Blaine's hair.

"Oh my god, Blaine...I...I want…" he managed to pant out, the arousal squirming uncontrollably in his body.

"Whatever you want, sweetheart," Blaine breathed, hot and husky in his ear. He pressed a kiss there before, "God, you're so fucking hot."

Kurt's eyebrows knitted together, biting back another whimper. He jerked his hips up, hoping the message would be sent. He wasn't even sure what he wanted, just that he needed more. More importantly, he trusted Blaine to give it to him.

Dropping Kurt's ass back on the bed, Blaine lifted a hand around and hovered it over Kurt's front, hesitating, and then asking, "This okay?"

After gulping once, Kurt nodded once. He considered closing his eyes to prepare for impact, but then Blaine was there. Palming him overtop his jeans while his mouth still stayed breathing against Kurt's ear.

It was overwhelming, it was incredible. The coiling heat was dangerously on edge, and he was torn between wanting to halt everything and keep going.

"B-blaine," Kurt stuttered, his voice coming out more ragged than he expected. It made his soulmate whine and mouth at his jaw. "I'm...I'm so...I'm close-"

"I know, I've got you. I've got you."

He was ready to ask Blaine to kiss him once more, when his phone vibrated loudly on his nightstand. A ringtone began chiming.

The two froze in place; Kurt staring at the ceiling, wide-eyed and confused, and Blaine with his hand stilled at Kurt's crotch and his lips centimeters from Kurt's skin. He lifted his head away from Kurt's neck to meet his eyes, his eyes matching Kurt's bewilderment. It was after his heart had stopped rushing in his ears that Kurt processed the customized ringtone, remembering why it was playing.

"Wait, that's-" He scrambled up to sit and reach over to his nightstand, unfortunately having Blaine move away from his body as well. Swiping the screen, Kurt read the name across the screen and swallowed.

"Who is it?" asked Blaine, his voice noticeably gone back to normal.

Kurt read the text message, and his mouth dropped. He still didn't answer Blaine right away, so the other boy scooted forward and tried to look over Kurt's phone. He didn't need to read upside down, for Kurt was practically shouting, "My dad's on his way back!"

"What?"

Kurt was hurrying to type back a reply and said to Blaine, panicking, "The restaurant they wanted to go to was closed...oh my god, you need to go!"

Blaine was one step ahead of him, hopping out of the bed and almost tripping, attempting to smooth his clothing and hair. Kurt was up as well, hastily patting at his hair to see if it was out of place (which it was, greatly) and then turned to Blaine, asking, "Do I look at least decent?"

Studying him up and down, Blaine opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes stopped at Kurt's neck and he snapped it shut. "Um. Maybe not."

Kurt's hand went there, his jaw clenching. He spun to his mirror at the vanity and gawked at his reflection. "Jesus, Blaine-!"

"I'm sorry!" Blaine said, seeming to be in a predicament on whether he should keep apologizing or focused on leaving.

"I look like I just came out of a...I don't know, porno or something!" Kurt laughed, going back to Blaine weakly, his hand still covering the obscenely large hickey a certain someone left there. And not to mention how his shirt was rumpled, his hair in a mess, his face flushed pink, and his lips all kiss-swollen.

Blaine was still smiling at him with warm eyes. "I'm taking that as a compliment to myself, I think," he joked. He didn't look too dashing himself, with his once-combed curls now a disaster and his flannel shirt in a state similar to Kurt's. Somehow, Kurt thought, it was both sexy and adorable.

He shook his head, fighting back an adoring smile and he pushed Blaine towards the door. "Get out of here. It's one thing for my dad to catch me looking like this, but for both of us-"

"I get it, I get it. The whole 'shotgun off the wall' deal." Blaine smirked.

They made it out the front entrance and Kurt continued pushing Blaine towards his bike, because according to him his boyfriend wasn't walking fast enough. Blaine was laughing and grinning, and even when they stopped by his motorcycle, he pressed a kiss to the corner of Kurt's mouth.

"Till next time, sweetheart."

"Hmm," Kurt hummed, twisting his mouth in consideration. "'Sweetheart.' I think I like that better than 'baby.'"

Blaine had swung a leg over the motorcycle's seat and said before starting the engine, "Really? I have succeeded in finding the perfect pet name?"

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly. "Don't get too cocky, or I'll start calling you something worse." He still allowed for one more goodbye kiss, lingering a second longer before, "Now get out of here, Casanova."

"School starts in almost a week," Mercedes pointed out to Kurt. "What are you going to do then?"

Kurt tilted his head and furrowed his brow, even though he knew Mercedes couldn't tell through the cell phone. "Um, what do you mean?"

"I mean, what are you going to do about your certain soulmate, hm?"

He froze from scrolling through Facebook. It was only yesterday since he saw Blaine and sent him off after the impromptu interruption from his dad. The only reason he was spending this evening lying on his stomach and mindlessly reading his friend's status updates was because Blaine said he was busy at home.

"I don't know. I can't really...you know," Kurt said, reminding himself that he still hadn't told her that he and Blaine were officially dating, and he was sure the student body wouldn't be thrilled about that.

"I'm just saying, are you planning on keeping this hidden all year?"

"Yeah!" Wasn't it obvious?

He heard her take in a deep breath. "Kurt. People are suspicious already. Imagine what the talk will be if you wear gloves all senior year!"

"The talk will be worse if they find out the truth!" he countered.

"Kurt," she said, like he wasn't getting the point she was making. "What about Rachel? Do you think she's going to remain perfectly okay not knowing what your Mark says?"

He groaned, not wanting to think about that. It was one of the reasons he would deny summer outings with Rachel, to avoid not-so-subtle hints to take off his cover-ups. "I'll deal with her when I have to."

"Honey-"

"What do you want me to do, 'Cedes? You know how much it means to everyone that Glee club is on top, where it should be! If the entire school knew, that one of its members is soulmates with Blaine, the one who once keyed the entire football team's cars, we'll be dead meat all over again."

"I know, Kurt."

"I want to be out with him too!" he added, the ranting unstoppable by now. "I want to hold hands with him down the hallway! I want to be dancing with him at prom! But I can't."

"I know," she said softly.

The words on his screen wouldn't process in his mind anymore, so he snapped his laptop shut, staring fixed at his headboard. He felt bitter and frustrated and crushed, his hand was clutching numb at his phone.

"I can't," he repeated, sounding defeated even to himself.

A/N: TEN CHAPTERS! Whoa. It's crazy. Anywho, I'm terribly sorry I didn't get this out sooner, but I hoped you enjoyed :) and again, thank you so much for reading!