Here's chapter 11. Sorry for the delay. I wanted to have this posted earlier today but I got sidetracked.

Thank you for the alerts and reviews...as always, they mean the world to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Glee exept for an "I Heart Klaine" tee-shirt, some DVDs and this story idea...

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kurt was exhausted by the time his plane touched down in New York. He'd hoped with the early morning flight he'd be able to get a little bit of sleep on the plane but his mind was traveling almost as fast as the plane was. He couldn't get Blaine off of his mind. He still felt bad about leaving with nothing but a note behind. He kept thinking about the shift in their relationship. In the span of two days, Kurt had managed to sleep with Blaine twice. Both times were very different though. The first time had been nothing but fucking…raw and animalistic. The second time, barely twelve hours ago was anything but fucking. It was slow and sweet and passionate but not desperate. It was love making, pure and simple. But topping all of those thoughts was Kurt remembering how he'd told Blaine he loved him. He was so thankful that Blaine had been asleep but still, Kurt has said it nonetheless.

Kurt was looking forward to getting back to his apartment, catching up on some sleep, then hopefully getting some designing done. He had just nestled into his pillow when he heard a knock on his door. No one besides his family in Ohio knew he was coming back to New York early. He was not prepared to deal with Rachel yet. He couldn't deal with her questions when he didn't even know how to answer them himself. He thought about ignoring the knocking but it just got more persistent. Then he heard it…

"Kurt Hummel! I know you're in there! Answer the damn door!"

Ugh, Rachel. How did she know he was back? He gave serious consideration to ignoring her anyway but then he remembered that she had a spare key to his apartment for emergencies and he figured he'd better get up because she'd come in anyway. He had just reached the door when he heard her keys going into the lock. He swung the door open before she could open it herself. "What!?" he practically shouted at her.

"Geez Kurt. No need to yell. Why didn't you tell me you were coming back today? What happened with Blaine? Last time we spoke you had just found out he hadn't cheated on you after all and you were gonna talk to your dad." Rachel pushed past Kurt into his apartment without being invited.

"How did you even know I was back?"

"Finn told me this morning." Rachel turned around and took a good look at Kurt. "What the hell happened? You look like hell."

"Finn told you? This morning? What were you doing talking to Finn so early in the morning? Please don't tell me there are problems with you and Marc. Besides, I met Finn's girlfriend and she's a lovely girl. I can't deal with anymore drama in my life right now."

Rachel's eyes scrunched slightly. "First, Marc and I are fine. Secondly, this is not about me and Finn. This is about you and Blaine. I need to know what happened. You were only gone for a couple of days and you look like you've spent three years in a war zone. I'm your best friend. I'm here to listen."

Wow, if Rachel didn't want to talk about herself then she must be serious about wanting to listen. So Kurt told her. He told her everything including the fact that he'd slept with Blaine twice. The only thing he left out was the fact that he'd told Blaine that he loved him while he was sleeping. He still didn't know how he felt about that. When he was finished Rachel just looked at him for a few moments. The she asked the question he didn't want asked. "Do you still love him?"

Shit! I was really hoping she wouldn't ask that! Kurt thought. "I don't know" was what he said. Just as the words left his mouth his phone began ringing. He looked at the caller ID and when he saw his dad's name flashing on the screen he realized he'd never called his father to let him know he'd arrived back home safely. "Hold on Rachel. It's my dad…Hey dad. Sorry I didn't call when I got back. I'm just pretty tired."

Rachel watched Kurt while he spoke with his father, still trying to process everything that Kurt had told her. It seemed to her that Kurt still loved Blaine. Or at the very least, he was falling in love with him again…even if he wasn't willing to admit it to himself yet. Rachel was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Kurt exclaim "That's fantastic Dad! I'm so happy everything worked out! Blaine must be beside himself."

Rachel saw a mixture of emotions cross Kurt's face when he was talking about Blaine with his dad. She assumed from Kurt's side of the conversation that the lawsuit must have gone in Burt's favor. Meaning it went in Blaine's favor as well. Rachel could see pride on Kurt's face as well as hurt, then adoration (yes, it was adoration she was seeing) then ending on confusion. Ok, confusion. Rachel could deal with confusion. There was hurt, that was to be expected. But she was 100% sure she'd seen adoration on Kurt's face too and when she saw the confusion cross Kurt's face she knew that meant that things between him and Blaine weren't so black and white. They were in the grey area. Yes, Rachel could work with this. Granted, she wasn't exactly pleased with the way Blaine had handled things back then but he was really trying to make things right and more than anything, she wanted Kurt to be happy. Sure, Kurt had dated during the past seven years but he never let any of those relationships last long enough for him to get attached. Rachel knew he was just trying to protect his heart after Blaine had broken it. She understood. It took her quite a long time to get over Finn. But she had managed to move on and eventually she found Marc. The difference between her and Kurt though is that Kurt would never move on. She knew Blaine was it for Kurt. Blaine knew he was it for Kurt. Hell, it seems even Burt knew Blaine was it for Kurt. Now Kurt just had to know it.

"Hello? Earth to Rachel." Kurt got off the phone and found Rachel staring into space.

"Sorry, just going over some lines for the play in my head" she lied. "I'm assuming things with the lawsuit went well?"

"Yeah. My dad got a call from Blaine earlier saying that the development company decided to drop the lawsuit. So even though his shop will be located right next door to a mini-mall, he gets to keep it open." Kurt sighed. "So it's all good I guess."

"What aren't you telling me Kurt? This should be good news right?" Rachel could always tell when Kurt was holding something back.

"No, it is good news. He's just gonna be by a mini-mall. The horror!"

"Don't pull that shit with me Hummel! I know there is something else bothering you. You might as well tell me because you know I'm not gonna let up until you do."

Kurt sighed again. Sometimes he wished he and Rachel didn't know each other so well. "Fine. My dad expressed some concern for Blaine. Blaine didn't say anything but my dad seems to think that even after Blaine pulled through for him, Mitchell Anderson was still just as disappointed in Blaine as he'd always been. I don't get it Rachel. I may not be happy about certain things in our past, but Blaine has turned into a good man and he works hard for his father. Why can't his father see that? It's just a shame that he's shunned in his own family just because he's gay. He deserves a dad like mine."

When Kurt finished talking, he noticed Rachel was smiling. "What? Why are you smiling?"

"Because Kurt. You might not realize it but I think you might be ready to forgive Blaine for what happened. And if you can forgive him, you might be able to feel more…"

Kurt sighed. "Rachel, I'm really exhausted from my flight and I really need to start working on designing. Can we just table this conversation for now?"

"Sure Kurt. Just one more thing…"

"What?"

"Finn's girlfriend. What's she like?"

The next few weeks went by in a blur for Kurt. It turns out that his trip back to Lima did provide some inspiration for Kurt. The designs just kept coming and before he knew it, he had more than enough designs for his portfolio. He tried to convince himself that his newfound inspiration had nothing to do with reconnecting with Blaine (was that what he was calling it? Reconnecting?) but truthfully, he was pretty sure that it did. Well, not entirely Blaine. He surprisingly found himself designing children's clothes. He was pretty sure Carly had something to do with that. She was such an adorable girl and he got to thinking that if he had children one day he would want something original to dress them in. The House of Rosaline Spencer did not design children's clothing but Kurt decided to leave a few of the designs in his portfolio just to show off his diversity.

During those few weeks after his return to New York, Kurt began to feel increasingly guilty about leaving Blaine with nothing but a note behind. After about two weeks of the guilt eating away at him Kurt decided he needed to at least apologize. That was the right thing to do. It would also give him the chance to officially thank him for the successful turnout on his dad's case.

Text or call? Text or call? kept running through Kurt's thoughts. He decided to text. He wasn't sure he could handle hearing Blaine's voice. Especially if he was still hurting. Kurt would be able to hear the hurt in his voice and it would be too much for him. So, one night after six straight hours of sitting at his table designing clothes with Carly in mind, he decided to send Blaine a text.

(10:13pm)

Hey, are you up?

(10:29pm)

I am. I am also surprised to hear from you Kurt.

(10:32pm)

I know. I wanted to tell you congrats on winning my dad's case. He was pretty happy…and so am I.

(10:35pm)

Well as my father informed me, I really didn't do much. They dropped the suit…not really a win for me.

(10:36pm)

What? Of course it's a win Blaine. Why would your father say such things?

(10:38pm)

Well a dropped suit is different from a courtroom win.

(10:40pm)

Maybe, but I still see it as a win. So does my dad. He said he was very proud of you.

(10:43pm)

That's very kind of him. I always did like your dad.

(10:45pm)

He's worried about you.

(10:47pm)

Who? Your dad?

(10:48pm)

Yeah. He seems to think your dad is still giving you a hard time. Is he?

(10:50pm)

No more than usual. It's fine…I'm fine.

(10:51pm)

Are you? Look, I know what I did was shitty. I'm sorry for leaving a note.

(10:54pm)

Yes, Kurt it was shitty and I was angry but I know you were just confused about what

happened while you were here. I get it. And I forgive you.

(10:58pm)

Thank you.

(11:01pm)

Forgiveness is part of the deal when you love someone. And I love you Kurt.

(11:03pm)

It's getting late. I've got work tomorrow. I just wanted to say congrats and that I was sorry for leaving

the way I did.

(11:06pm)

Ok. Thanks for the apology. Good luck with your meeting. I'll know it'll be great. Goodnight Kurt.

(11:07pm)

Goodnight Blaine.

(11:09pm)

I still love you…always have , always will…

Kurt sighed as he put his phone away. He just wanted to tell Blaine congratulations on the case and that he was sorry for the way he left things in Lima. Now he was left with the reminder that Blaine still loved him. He couldn't deal with that right now. The biggest meeting in his life was only one week away. He was finished with his portfolio. All that was left was just fine tuning some of his designs. He was ready. He took one more look at Blaine's last text…I still love you…always have…always will…and fell into a peaceful sleep.

Blaine was not expecting to hear from Kurt tonight. So he was shocked when he received the text message. He was thankful for Kurt apologizing for the way he ran out on him. Part of Blaine felt like it was just yesterday that Kurt was in his bed, but another part of him felt like it had been years and years ago.

Blaine had been wrestling with himself as to whether he should get in touch with Kurt or not over the past few weeks. He was determined to fight for him this time. He was not letting Kurt get away. He ultimately decided it would be best to wait until after Kurt's meeting with Ms. Spencer before taking the next step in his plan. Blaine didn't have all the details ironed out but now that Kurt had reappeared in his life he knew they were going to be together again…forever this time. He just needed Kurt to believe it too. And that's why Blaine told Kurt he loved him again in tonight's text message. He was going to tell Kurt every chance he could.

Meanwhile Blaine was doing everything he could to survive at work. Assisting Speagle on his case was a living nightmare. He was doing nothing but grunt work. Hell, he wasn't even allowed to attend the meetings with the opposing attorneys. Blaine caught on very quickly that his father had Speagle in his back pocket. Blaine was positive that Speagle was the one following him around during the weekend that Kurt was in town. How else would his father know how much time they had spent together? All Mitchell Anderson had to say was "jump" and Speagle would ask "how high".

Blaine knew he only had to tough things out a little longer. He had a plan but he could not put things into motion until after Kurt's meeting with Ms. Spencer. Only one more week. Blaine was hoping that Kurt would call him to let him know how the meeting went. But in case he didn't, Blaine had kept in contact with Burt. Well, keeping in touch with Burt in order to keep tabs on Kurt was only half of the reason. Although Blaine never told Burt that his father still saw him as a disappointment, Burt knew. And Blaine knew Burt knew. Blaine and Burt never discussed what went on between Blaine and Kurt during that weekend but Burt knew that his son had spent quite a bit of time with Blaine. Once Kurt went back to New York, Burt decided to meet up with Blaine. He asked Blaine to stop by the house so he could personally congratulate him on the way the case turned out, but truthfully, he wanted to talk to Blaine about the lie he told Kurt all those years ago.

Blaine was nervous about going to see Burt. He assumed that Kurt had told his dad the truth and after receiving daily lectures from his own father about what a failure he was, Blaine didn't think he would be able to handle hearing it from Burt. Disappointing his own father was something he accepted a very long time ago but disappointing Burt? That was a thought he couldn't stomach. Thankfully, Burt being the world's greatest dad, he told Blaine that while he didn't agree with what Blaine did, he could understand. He also told Blaine that he had matured into a fine young man and that despite Kurt's reluctance, Kurt did still care about him. Blaine told Burt that he still loved Kurt and he was going to fight for Kurt. Burt responded by saying he was proud of him. That brought tears to his eyes. Blaine always wanted someone to be proud of him.

One more week…Blaine kept repeating that in his mind. Sure, he had a plan but things don't always go according to plan. Blaine had learned that lesson several times during the course of his life. But this plan had to work. He just needed a few things to fall into place. Then everything would be perfect.

Next up: Kurt's meeting with Ms. Spencer.

I've got a busy day tomorrow so I might not be able to post an update. I'll have another one up no later than Monday though..

Reviews please? I love to know what people are thinking! :)