A/N: So, it's now chapter 10 (gadzooks!) … who knew Blaine's relationship with his hair gel could be that complicated? All kidding aside, time to get right back to our story… As always, I don't own Glee, or any song, movie, etc. that may crop up, don't sue me!

Kurt was happy. All felt right with the world today. Shopping with Carole this morning had been fun, as always: he enjoyed her company, and before going to their last stop to get groceries, they'd had fun going to the salon store and selecting mousse – for Blaine! She knew all about the arm wrestle (and had congratulated him on it, of course), and Kurt had told her a little about why the idea of a makeover had been more delicate to engage in than he'd at first expected it to be. He suspected she'd filled in some blanks on her own: Carole's ability to see what made people tick (or not) stemmed from her combined intuition and analytical skills. She'd told him she approved of him going about this with care.

After lunch, Kurt had found a perfect little light turquoise colored box in his closet. After putting the new key onto a keychain with the logo from the film "Milk" on it, he'd wrapped up the box with a white ribbon, happy with the effect (which looked almost like a Tiffany's present). He popped it into the bag which already held the mouse he was bringing over to Blaine's house.

He texted: "OK, I'm leaving now. Can't wait to see you! –K"

Before he'd even gotten into his Navigator, he smiled at the return message: "Great! I'll be ready! B."

Kurt was glad the ride was short. Part of him wondered if this was even a good idea; they'd texted back and forth this morning, and Blaine said he was ready to give Kurt's idea for his hair a try. His parents were away for the day, so Kurt could do his hair at Blaine's, away from the bustle of the Hudson-Hummel house on a Sunday. He held the bag in his hands as he waited anxiously for Blaine to open the door to his house.

"Kurt! Come on in!" The hurt of the night before seemed vanished, and Kurt was happy to accept his boyfriend's kiss once inside. "Mmmm… am I too sappy if I tell you I already missed you?"

Kurt smiled at Blaine, whose eyes were so full of love. "Never." Noticing his freshly washed, nearly dripping hair, Kurt said gently, "You sure about this? It's really OK –"

"Yes!" Kurt was glad to see that his expression looked open, relaxed. "I mean, I trust you! I'm willing to give your idea a try" and pointing to his freshly shampooed hair, he finished, "as you can see."

Kurt frowned just a little, then said, directing Blaine to the kitchen to sit down, "Good. But, it's still possible it won't work just right without a cut… I dunno … let's just try!"

Blaine made a happy, humming sound when Kurt towel dried his hair a bit, then massaged some of the mousse into his hair. He closed his eyes, and lost himself in the sensation of Kurt's fingers on his scalp, the light citrusy smell of the mousse, and the nearness of Kurt's body. He chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"If I'd known how great getting you to do my hair would feel, I would have done it a long time ago. Mmm… can you do this every day?" He hummed happily as Kurt planted a light kiss on the back of his neck, before his hands were withdrawn, then one was back in action, while the other wielded the blow dryer.

Only a couple of minutes later, Kurt proudly announced to Blaine, "Yes! This sooo works for you! And it's going to be so easy for you to do!" He tugged at Blaine to come with him to go look at the results in the powder room mirror.

Blaine was smiling even before he got there. Kurt was so obviously pleased with his work, and he really was curious to see it for himself. Kurt was quiet, waiting for Blaine's response.

"Wow, Kurt!" He looked at himself. It was still curly (which had kind of been the point, he knew, but still, he didn't know what he'd expected), but instead of a disorganized, slightly frizzy mass his curls were shining, defined, and fell softly around his face. "I … I like it! I think …"

"Blaine, this looks great on you! I knew it would!" Kurt played with a curl near Blaine's ear, and continued, "it's really just your real curls, with just a little bit of control. You look stunning, Blaine." He smiled, before adding, "but then you always have. Don't ever think I thought otherwise." He played idly with Blaine's curls a bit more as they stood in front of the mirror. "Makes it fun to do … this… even more."

"How could I stand between you and fun?" Blaine looked to Kurt, and seemed to forget all about the mirror and anything else as he pulled Kurt into a crushing embrace. Kurt exhaled in relief – he didn't think it was possible that Blaine would have failed to see how gorgeous he looked, but he had been just a tiny bit worried. In this position, Blaine couldn't see the small smirk that flitted across Kurt's face as he reflected that Blaine's new look would take much less time to style than his own hair did. Then he remembered the rest of the contents of the bag.

"Blaine, I have something for you." Breaking away, he took Blaine's hand, and led him back to the kitchen, where he reached into the bag to produce the light blue box.

Blaine looked questioningly at Kurt, as if to ask what this was for, when Kurt went on, "Well, I wrapped it. But what's inside is actually from dad." Blaine reached for the small beribboned box that Kurt held out to him. Opening it, he peeked at the key and keychain.

"Kurt, you are going to tell me, I don't have a clue here!"

Kurt took the box, put it back down on the table, and held Blaine's hands in his own. "Dad was finishing up putting a lock on my door when I got back from shopping with Carole. He gave me two keys, and said I could give on to you." Blaine's eyes had started to fill with tears as he listened to Kurt. Kurt's voice hitched a little as he finished, "he said he wants us to be able to have a place to be together, alone, that is safe."

Blaine was shocked. He and Kurt had not questioned Burt's house rules; he would never have objected to Burt's guidance since Burt had been so clear in telling him that he cared about him and accepted him. He figured the key was really ceremonial; the only person he cared about being alone in that room with was in his arms, and the lock was keep the world out, not him. Kurt saw that once again his boyfriend was tearing up, this time with tears of happiness.

Blaine whispered, "Kurt, I love you. So much."

"I love you more."

Blaine replied, his voice stronger now, "Not possible."

A/N : Did we ever doubt the result? Of course, we do know that Darren looks Totally Awesome, with what I surmise is a bit of mousse, very minimally handled curls (so, there we get to cheat). After the last chapter, I wondered what you, dear readers, thought of Burt's home improvement project! I did think his action was consistent with canon, given the reason prompting it. Thoughts, (hint, reviews), anyone?