A/N: Sorry this took a while. My power went out for a little bit in the snow storm that hit my town (in October?) and I couldn't write.

Did I ever tell you guys that Matt's British and I write him with an accent? No? Well, yeah, keep that in mind when you're reading for him!

AND I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU GUYS LOVE CLIFFHANGERS!

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. All rights to Ryan Murphy.

Zach was looking down at his hands, twirling his thumbs around in his lap. He was sitting on the pillow on Matt's bed, not daring to look up into the eyes of the boy he had just shared his first kiss with. They stayed in a somewhat awkward silence, both coming to terms with what had just happened. He heard Matt clear his throat so he looking up hopefully, trying to begin their necessary conversation that he just didn't know how to start.

"When did you find out you were gay?" Matt asked quietly.

"I don't know," he answered honestly. It wasn't a sudden realization like someone turned on a light switch. One day he was mentally making a list of all the great things about his best friend. That list, starting with 'he's funny', ending up turning into a list of things like 'the way his lips turn pink if he's been chewing on them.' After that day, he was hyper-observant with both the way Matt acted around him and the way he would act around Matt. Along the way, things like 'that blonde hair that looks so soft I want to run my fingers through it sometimes' ended up on the list and he knew his feelings had developed into something more.

And that kiss felt really good.

Matt nodded, twisting his fingers together and pressing them over his mouth. He only made a small "hm" sound, nodding into his hands.

"I'm not even one hundred percent sure I am gay," Zach whispered, looking down shamefully.

Matt's head bolted up. "What—but you just kissed me," he hissed.

Zach felt his face heating up as Matt pierced his dark brown eyes into his own hazel. "I know, I just…" Zach started mumbling incoherently at the end of his sentence, not wanting to hurt Matthew's feelings anymore. Or maybe he hated that Matt looked so scared and self-conscious.

"What?"

"I said… well, I mean, like I told you: you're the first boy I've ever had a crush on—"

"—so you didn't feel anything in that kiss?" he interrupted, now sounding slightly angry, but also scared.

"I did!" said Zach quickly. "I did, of course I did!"

Matt looked more calm, but still completely confused. "I don't understand."

"It's weird to suddenly have all these new feelings. All my life I just assumed I liked girls, but none stood out for me. It's just hard for me because I'm an idiot and I just… don't know what to do." Zach frowned. "I really hope you understand. You're the smart one."

Zach felt a warm, soft hand cover his now furiously working thumbs. He looked up and into the deep brown orbs that were so close to his own.

"You're not stupid," said Matthew.

Zach pressed his lips together into a frown, feeling the water building around his eyes. He looked down and away from his friend, tucking his chin down, not allowing the tears to fall.

"You used to call me dumb," he whispered, now trying very hard to not have his voice crack because of the lump forming in his throat.

"You're perfect, Zach," Matt said, pulling his hand off of Zach's and lifting his chin up so they were looking at each other again, only a few inches away from each other.

Zach's eyes flicked down to Matt's lips for a moment, remembering how they felt against his own. He quickly looked back up, only to see Matthew's eyes looking down at his mouth.

"Can I kiss you?" Matt asked.

Zach nodded breathlessly, Matthew's hand still holding the tip of his chin. Matt closed the few inches of space slowly, both boys' eyes closing instinctively. When their lips touched, it was much different than before. Their first kiss was very soon, rushed, and more of a test. Here, feelings were not being questioned, but confirmed as they both melted into each other. When Matt pulled away, a small smirk was devilishly tugging on the corner of his lips.

"What?" Zach asked, a smile on his face too.

"Your lips taste good," said Matt, sitting down again, but now right in front of Zach instead of at the other end of the bed.

"Thanks." Zach knew he was blushing now. "And for what it matters, I am pretty positive I'm gay. Or at least like boys. Well… you."

When Zach looked up, Matt was grinning at him. His smile was lopsided and didn't show any teeth, but his eyes crinkled anyway. Zach couldn't help but smile right back.

"What are we? Are we boyfriends?" Zach asked. Matt's smiled instantly disappeared. Zach stopped smiling too because Matt started crawling away from him and off the bed towards his own side of the room. "Hey! Matt!"

Matt sat down on his own bed, facing away from Zach. Zach didn't know if he should walk over and comfort him or to stay on his own bed because Matt obviously didn't want to be next to him anymore. As Zach was about to stand up, Matt talked, still looking away.

"I don't know if I can be your boyfriend, Zach."

Zach felt as though a deep pit was planted into his stomach. Then he started feeling confused because hadn't Matt just said his lips tasted good? Then he started feeling a little angry and before he could stop himself, he said: "You seemed perfectly okay with wanting to be Blaine's boyfriend."

Matt looked over his shoulder. "I never said I didn't want to be your boyfriend!"

"Well okay," said Zach, still unsatisfied with the answer. "You seemed to know that you could be Blaine's boyfriend."

"I always said I wanted to be Blaine's boyfriend—that doesn't mean that I actually knew what that would mean!" Matt yelled quickly. Zach frowned, still angry and confused. Matt took a deep breath and continued much slower. "I think I liked Blaine because I knew he would never like me back."

A heavy silence filled the whole dorm room. Matt quietly repeated: "I liked Blaine because I knew he would never want me.

"What?" said Zach, dumbfounded.

Ignoring him, Matt said: "And now that someone wants me," He looked deeply into Zach's eyes, startling the brunette. "I just don't know what's supposed to happen next."

Zach narrowed his eyes. "You never liked Blaine?"

"I don't know how I felt, Zach," he said.

"But what did you mean 'he would never like you back'?"

"Blaine's too good for me; Kurt deserves him." He licked his lips and continued. "It would be easy to have a crush on someone who doesn't like you back. That would mean no relationships, no responsibilities, no judgment, no drama—"

"You think I'd judge you?" Zach interrupted, sitting down on Matt's bed so they didn't have to talk from across the room.

"Not you," Matt whispered. "Other people."

"Nobody cares here, Matt," Zach said.

"Yeah, here they don't," he said. "But what if we go on dates? In the real world? Dalton's nice, but it's unrealistic."

Zach stayed silent. He hadn't thought about that. Every gay guy he knew was at this school so he had never thought of the possibility that they were actually social outcasts.

"I really care about you, Zach. I just… don't know how to do this," Matt said.

"Well we can learn together, right? I like you… a lot. I don't want to let you go."

Zach watched for any hint of what Matt was thinking to flash across his face. All he saw, though, were wide, sad eyes.

"You're wonderful, really," said Matt.

Zach was sure of what he would say next: but I can't be with you. Zach knew his heart would be broken. He knew this was all so stupid. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, waiting for Matt to continue talking.

"—and I'd love to be your boyfriend… if you'd have me."

Zach opened his eyes and saw Matthew smiling at him, hope shining in his eyes. Zach smiled too and jumped up to tackle his best friend in a giant bear hug.

"Blaine, where are you? Come here!"

Kurt saw himself in what looked like it was a large room with paintings covering every squares inch of the walls. Somewhere far off he saw a lone, grey figure, facing one of these walls. They seemed to be examining one painting very closely.

He must be dreaming, Kurt thought. He heard himself calling to the person, obviously thinking it was Blaine. He watched as the dream form of him started jogging towards Blaine, but as he watched, he knew that was not Blaine. He couldn't tell who it was, but everything in the large room felt off. Everything seemed to have a dangerous feeling. Closer and closer Dream Kurt got to the figure. Kurt wanted to scream at himself Stop! That's not Blaine! but when he opened his mouth to warn himself, nothing came out. It was as if he was mute again. He grabbed his throat and started panicking.

Dream Kurt was getting closer to the still unidentified person and instead of trying to scream, he tried focusing on the man. The bulky person, though, was just a blur of grey and red, still examining one particular painting. Knowing he wouldn't see the man's face, he looked at the painting instead.

It was a man kissing another man very passionately. Then Kurt noticed the shorter of the two men was crying and looked like he was screaming against the other's mouth instead of kissing back. He looked down and saw the taller man held a knife into the other man's back. It was horrifying and Kurt turned away at once, only in time to see himself finally reaching the indistinguishable blob.

"Blaine, what are you doing over here?" he heard himself ask, out of breath from all the running.

The man turned his head. Dream Kurt could not see him, but the cold, dark eyes were looking straight at him.

Karofsky.

Kurt's heart stopped. He knew he wasn't really part of the dream (or nightmare), but it seemed as though Karofsky was looking right at him. Dream Kurt was still innocently trying to get the boy's attention. Karofsky smirked before fully turning around to face Dream Kurt.

"Nothing, just looking at some paintings," Karofsky said.

To Kurt's utter horror, it came out in Blaine's voice and Dream Kurt seemed delighted with the answer. Dream Kurt obviously saw Karofsky as Blaine. Kurt felt like vomiting as Karofsky leaned in and kissed Dream Kurt right on the lips, to which he gave back gleefully.

Karofsky once again looked right into Kurt's eyes as if he could see him. Kurt wanted to scream and cry, but his voice wasn't working again so he squeezed his eyes shut, willing everything to go away.

At as if his wish had come true, Kurt woke up when two arms were shaking him awake.

"Kurt! Wake up!" a familiar voice pleaded.

Instead of replying, Kurt turned and vomited all over his floor.

"Oh my god. Get Blaine!" the voice said again.

Kurt heard the sound of feet rushing out of his room and frenzied knocking on the door across the hall.

"David?" Kurt said weakly and his eyes started adjusting to the bright lights in his room.

"It's okay, Kurt, everything's okay now. Thad's getting Blaine," David said, rocking Kurt in his arms.

Kurt closed his eyes and let tears fall down his cheeks. His nose and throat burned, but all he could do was cry into David's shoulder.

"Kurt?" he heard Blaine call frantically as he heard three more people enter him dorm room. "Oh Kurt."

Suddenly David was not holding him anymore and Kurt missed him, but then Blaine was hugging him close and brushing gentle fingers through his hair and everything felt better again.

"What happened?" he heard Wes ask.

"Kurt was screaming in his sleep. He started jumping around and pounding on the wall between our rooms. I was getting up to see what was happening and all the noise stopped. I freaked out. I thought he was dead for a second." Kurt felt Blaine tense. "I woke him up and he just… threw up," David explained wretchedly.

"Nightmare," Kurt said. He lowered his voice so only Blaine could hear. "Karofsky."

Blaine nodded, still comforting him. He turned his head toward the concerned boys standing awkwardly near the door. "You guys can leave; I got this covered."

"Feel better, Kurt," said Thad.

"See you later, guys," said Wes.

David lingered. Kurt may have been a little too attached to him when he woke up now that he thought about it. He just needed to hold onto someone; needed someone to reassure him that he was safe.

"Night, Kurt," David finally said.

All three left and Blaine returned to hugging Kurt close.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Blaine asked. "In the nightmare, I mean."

Kurt loved listening to Blaine's voice. He could honestly listen to it all day. He just wanted that voice to be whispering to him, telling him how much he loved him, comforting him. Then he remembered how Dream Kurt's face lit up at the sound of "Blaine's" voice. He had been so easily fooled by the sound that he couldn't see the monster that was really there. Kurt jumped out of Blaine's arms, fell of his bed and started crying again.

Blaine looked hurt, but also confused and scared. "Kurt, what did I do? I'm so sorry, we don't have to talk about it, really," said Blaine, scrambling next to Kurt, but careful not to touch him.

"I just—" He gave a loud sob. "It's not you… i-it was that dream… a-and Karofsky… he was you… but I couldn't tell the difference… and I let him kiss me… and I watched it happen."

Blaine once again took Kurt into his arms.

"That was just a nightmare. This is real. I'm really me."

"It was like… Karofsky was looking into my soul… and there was this painting… and one man was stabbing another… but kissing him at the same time… and it was like… Karofsky was taking ideas from it… oh god."

Blaine held Kurt as close to him as possible, even pulling him to sit on Blaine's lap. Kurt looked through his teary eyes at his alarm clock: 3:51.

"I'm so sorry you had to see that, Kurt," said Blaine.

Kurt was slowly but surely calming down in Blaine's hold. "I love you so much," said Kurt.

Blaine kissed the top of his hair. "I love you too."

When Kurt stopped crying, Blaine picked him up with not-so surprising strength if his arm muscles gave any clue to how much he could lift. Blaine mopped up Kurt's vomit, never complaining, but Kurt still felt guilty and insisted on helping. Blaine laid him down again, saying he would be much happier if Kurt just relaxed. Kurt brushed his teeth, much preferring the clean feeling instead of the vile burning. When he finished, Blaine left a message on the dormitory janitor's phone to ask if they could pay special attention to the stain on the carpet tomorrow morning.

Kurt was almost asleep when he saw his lamp turn off behind his closed eyelids. He felt the bed dip and Blaine's arms were wrapped around his middle, pulling him close so they were spooning. Kurt smiled when Blaine exhaled into the back of his neck and finally relaxed for the first time since he was woken up. Kurt had a short, dreamless sleep and woke up the next morning needing a shower more than anything else.

Kurt didn't forget that nightmare. The main reason he remembered it was because of how he felt inside the large room; when everything felt wrong and dangerous. It was as if someone had been poking his chest repeatedly and tickling the back of his calves. His eyes had felt like they were supposed to be looking for something, but couldn't. It was the most bizarre sensation, yet that was what had stuck with him the most.

He also remembered the icy smirk Karofsky had thrown him before he talked as Blaine and kissed Dream Kurt on the lips. He looked as if he wanted to prove himself right. He looked like he was enjoying what was going to be his revenge on Kurt for putting him in prison. It was blood curdling.

After telling Blaine, Wes, Thad, and David that he would be fine, he continued his school day, mind always wandering back to that feeling and that look. He didn't remember much of anything he learned that day so when it came to his homework, he felt like pulling out his precious hair in frustration. Thankfully a distraction presented itself in a form on someone knocking on his door. Kurt quickly got up and opened the door to a smiling Blaine.

Before Kurt could ask him what he was so happy about, Blaine said: "I'm taking you out."

"Now?"

"Now."

Kurt barley grabbed his room keys off the hook next to his door before Blaine was pulling him out of the room.

On the first floor of each dormitory, there was a large entrance hall, a small study, and a small kitchen. Three more floors of rooms was above, connected by a large marble staircase and one elevator.

Matt and Zach were alone in the study. Matt was trying to help Zach with an essay his private tutor had assigned him as a challenge. He saw that Zach was getting pretty stressed out over it and offered to help him out. They were in the study for almost an hour, pulling out different books stacked on the high shelves that might have useful information.

"What's the topic again?" Zach asked lazily.

Matt smiled and rolled his eyes. "You've already forgotten?"

"No."

"Well then why are you asking?" he chuckled.

"Because I'm bored," said Zach.

Matt started laughing and turned away from the brunette, putting an unhelpful book back on a shelf. "Cute, but not working. I'm only here to help you with this. I could be doing anything else, but I'm here, just as bored as you."

"You love it!"

"Uh-uh, no way."

Matt looked over his shoulder to see Zach smiling as he flipped to the back of a book. He loved that smiled. He loved that he caused that smile. He loved that he could make someone feel this way. He loved that someone could make him feel this way. Zach was right; he did love this.

"Ooh! Look at this! Is this good?" Zach asked, running over to Matt and shoving an opened history book in his face.

Matt pushed the book down a little so he could focus the word's clearer. The chapter was titled: The Spanish Inquisition and Its Origins. He tuned to Zach.

"What's your topic?"

"The origin of the Spanish Inquisition," Zach said like Matt should already know.

Matthew pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows, waiting for Zach to understand.

"So what you're saying is that this is good then?" said Zach.

"You're adorable." Matt leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Zach's smiling lips. "And yes, it's perfect."

That was another thing Matt loved so much. He loved that he could share something as intimate as a kiss with someone he really cared about at any moment. He loved that that person would kiss him back and actually enjoy it. He didn't know what he was thinking before; only going for guys he knew wouldn't like him so he didn't have to deal with drama. Now he realized that if he found the person, which it seemed he had, then there would be no drama to deal with.

They both sat down at the rectangular table in the center of the room. Zach began taking notes out of the book while Matt read over the outline Zach had written. As he read through it, he began to get confused. It was surprisingly very well written and thought out. He was about to ask Zach about it when the sound of two pairs of feet loudly running down the stairs echoed into their room.

"Faster!" he heard Blaine's voice saying, sounding very excited.

"I can't fly! Gimme a break!" Kurt's voice came.

Both Matt and Zach listened as the footsteps descended the stairs quicker and the voices got closer.

"This is special though!" Blaine said.

"I don't even know what 'this' is!" Kurt said, sounding exasperated, but also laughing at Blaine's antics.

They pair of boys ran in front of the open doors of the study and Matt could see they were holding hands. Blaine was guiding Kurt along and they exited the building together through the main entrance.

Matt smiled. It was nice to see two guys who didn't care what anyone inside or outside Dalton would have to say about them.

"They're cute," said Zach, a similar smile on his own face.

Matt wondered if they were thinking the same thing. He eyed Zach's hand that was palm-down on the desk. It looked so relaxed and soft and warm. He cautiously laid his hand on top of it, curling his fingers under the arched palm. He looked up at Zach, seeing what his reaction was. To Matt's relief, he was smiling broadly, staring at their hands. Although they agreed that they cared too much about each other to let the other go, they hadn't told anyone about their relationship. Zach wasn't even out to the school yet, so Matt could respect keeping it a secret.

Zach turned his hand around in Matt's grasp and intertwined their fingers. They spent the rest of that afternoon holding hands underneath the desk, just enjoying the way their fingers fit perfectly between each other.

Kurt, out of breath from their run down three levels of stairs, plopped into the passenger seat of Blaine's car. The owner of that car was bouncing up and down in his own seat, acting as if someone had slipped a few extra packets of sugar in his coffee. Kurt didn't think he'd ever seen Blaine so excited before.

"I'm assuming—" Kurt said between large intakes of breath. "that this is a surprise?"

Blaine smiled wider. "Nope."

Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. "Well then where?"

Blaine put an adorably innocent look on his face as he leaned forward to look around Kurt to turn out of the parking lot. "Where what?"

Kurt tried his bitch face on Blaine, staring with one perfectly sculpted eyebrow arched, but Blaine knew what he was doing and pretended he didn't notice, staring out into the road instead. Kurt huffed, giving in. "Where are you taking me, Blaine?"

"We're going on a nice romantic date," he said matter-of-factly.

"Really," Kurt said.

"Mhm."

"Seriously, what are you so excited about? This is…" he gave Blaine a once-over. "weird."

Blaine laughed. "I just want to take you on a date. It's not a surprise because if it is, you'll probably be disappointed."

"Then tell me!" Kurt demanded.

"We are going to go to the park," Blaine started.

"Yes," Kurt wheedled.

"And once we get there, we are going to strap on some ice skates and take advantage of the frozen lake."

"I've never been ice skating before," Kurt admitted.

"Well I guess you'll just have to hold onto me nice and tight, now won't you?" Blaine smirked.

Kurt ignored him. "Is the lake even solid enough to skate on?"

"Of course it is," said Blaine.

"Did you bring two pairs of ice skates?" Kurt looked around into the backseat because he was positive Blaine didn't have any when he picked him up.

"No need."

"You're answers really don't help," Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"There's a rental shed in the park. In the summer it becomes the ice cream shop, but for now it has skates, sleds, and cross-country skis," said Blaine. He turned to Kurt as he made a right onto the street that borders the park. "Any more questions?"

"Yes."

"Shoot."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are we suddenly going ice skating?" As Blaine pulled into a parking space near the lake, Kurt could see a blue painted shed that he assumed was where they would rent their skates.

"You had a bad night last night," said Blaine. They both exited the car and when they grabbed each other's hands, Blaine continued. "You deserve this. To get things off your mind."

Kurt smiled and squeezed Blaine's hand tight. "I love you," he whispered and really meant it. He loved the little things like this that Blaine did. He loved how Blaine could always make him smile, no matter the situation.

They walked the short distance to the shed. A bulky young man wearing a navy beanie was in the back, sorting skis based on height. Blaine rung a shiny silver bell on the counter, glanced at the price board next to him, and took out his wallet, busying himself with sorting through dollar bills. The man, who looked a few years older than them, turned around at the sound of the bell and walked forward.

A chill went through Kurt that he was positive wasn't the January wind. He didn't move a muscle, but his heart was pounding irregularly in his chest. His eyes couldn't look away no matter how much he wanted them to.

The man squinted and craned his neck forward. "Kurt?" Dave Karofsky said.

A/N: The next chapter will be the last one! Basically it's just a bunch of ~closure~ so don't go ahead thinking Karofsky's going to attack Kurt and he'll lose his voice again because that'd just be stupid.

How do you guys like Matt and Zach? In my original outline they were never going to get together so you have my reviewers so thank for that sub-plot!

Please review!

p.s. HAPPY NOVEMBER 8TH! #VOTING