A/N: Okay, this one is wildly different than any of my previous installments. So different that I ALMOST published it as a separate one-shot, but it still fits into the vein of the rest of these, so I thought I would leave it here despite the difference in structure. It consists of five separate parts, or years, that Kurt and Blaine spend together on Valentine's Day, shifting points of view with each year.

I hope it helps tide you guys over, considering we're not going to be getting much (if any) Klaine action in the Glee Valentine's Day episode due to Darren's broadway stint. (*SOBS!*)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of this one. :)

Valentine's Day 1: 8th Grade - Kurt

Today was Valentine's Day. That means flowers and hearts and pink and mushiness and so much sap that I didn't think I could handle it. It also meant that I had to think about the fact that I was gay all day and was too afraid to tell anyone.

When you're forced to think about love all day, it's pretty easy to realize that you don't fancy girls the way you do boys. Boys with slightly tawny skin and hazel eyes and curly hair...

I didn't even know his name, but he was sure nice to look at. He was on the soccer team, so his legs were nice and muscular and his chest was a little more defined than a lot of the boys I knew.

I was walking to lunch with Mercedes when I spotted him, laughing animatedly with a bunch of other boys from his team. His arm was around a pretty blonde girl, but his posture looked a little bit stiff. I wasn't sure why.

My eyes locked with his, and I felt a blush creeping up my cheeks. Expecting him to instantly look away and revert back to his conversation, I was surprised when his eyes lingered on me for a moment. I was even more surprised when a heart-wrenchingly beautiful smile enveloped his face as he looked over at me.

Quickly looking down at my lunch tray, Mercedes and I walked over to our usual table, where I spared another quick glance at the beautiful boy. He was back talking with his friends again, laughing and elbowing another boy in the ribs. I sighed back down at my tray and tried to put him out of my mind, but I felt myself continue to smile as I thought about how nice looking he was, or the fact that he had smiled at me.

Valentine's Day 2: 9th Grade - Blaine

Please, just let today be over already. I'd already seen my face plastered onto a stupid cupid picture in a very lewd position once today and then been called every gay slur in the book too. I don't know what else I can handle.

Ducking into a nearby bathroom and finding it empty, I quickly dropped my book bag and hunched over the sink, running my hands through my hair in frustration.

"Fuck today!" I vented to no one in particular, surprised to hear someone walk out of a stall at the sound of my voice. Crap. I swore there was nobody in here.

"So I'm not the only one who finds today repulsive?" came a delicate voice from behind me. A boy I didn't know came out of the stall then, tall and pale and graceful-looking. I think I'd seen him somewhere before, but I couldn't be sure.

"Sorry... I didn't think there was anyone else in here..." I trailed off, feeling my face redden slightly as he appraised me, his head cocking to one-side as he did so.

"Kurt Hummel," he stuck his hand out towards mine.

"Blaine. Anderson." I smiled at him as we shook hands, trying to wrack my brain for where I had seen him before.

"Welcome to the Valentine's Day Sucks Club. We meet annually," he spoke sarcastically, his eyes rolling as he did so. I couldn't help but smile at him, chuckling slightly and shaking my head.

"Well, Kurt Hummel, it's lovely to meet you."

And it was.

Valentine's Day 3: 10th Grade - Kurt

"I hate this stupid holiday," I groaned, trying not to let my eye-roll take over too much, "I hate everything about it. It's bad enough being single today, but being single and GAY is just another lovely combination altogether."

"Awww... it's not that bad. Come on, it's not just about love love. It can be about friend love and family love too, right?"

Blaine and I were studying for a history test together, and we were sprawled out on my bed, our feet kicking up into the air as we hunched up on our elbows, trying to memorize everything we could about FDR's presidency.

Oh yeah, and it was Valentine's Day. Or, as I like to call it, "Fuck You I'm Single and Gay Thanks for the Reminder Day." I don't know why it didn't bother Blaine more - today was so much about heterosexual love that it made me want to throw up. I guess he was more optimistic than I am.

"I suppose so. But that doesn't really count, does it?" I answered him, trying to lose a bit of the cynicism in my response this time.

"Of course it counts, Kurt! Love is complex. There are a million different kinds of love. You can love two people very differently, or you can love a single person a bunch of different ways," he spoke heatedly, his face turning towards me and a small frown appearing there.

"Yeah... I guess so. That doesn't change the fact that it's just a day of reminding single people how alone they are," my voice came out quietly.

"Well, you're not alone now so shut up. I'm here and I'm your best friend and I love you, and I know I'm not some knight in shining armor sweeping you off your feet with a dozen lavender roses, but I'm still someone who truly cares about you, okay?"

"Okay," I spoke with a shy smile, my cheeks growing a bit pink as I looked at him. "I do too, you know."

"I know," he spoke with a grin before returning to the book in front of us, leaving my mind with questions.

Valentine's Day 4: 11th Grade - Blaine

"I-I-I c-c-c-a-a-n-n-t-t bel-l-lieve he d-d-dumped me!" Kurt sobbed out, his face soaking my argyle sweater, "He s-said he felt s-s-tifled. STIFLED, BLAINE! What does that mean? Am I too clingy or something? Should I not have c-c-called him the other n-n-night?"

"Shhhhh..." I tried to sooth him, running my hands up and down his back. It broke my heart to see him like this, to hear him crying so much for someone who mattered so little. Josh was stupid and fleeting and immature and so not good enough for Kurt. But that didn't matter, because he had decided to dump Kurt on Valentine's Day. Real nice, eh?

"I just don't know what I did w-w-wrong, you know?" his voice was shaky and hysterical, ten octaves too high and coming out all quick and sloppy.

"You did nothing wrong. Nothing. You're amazing and he's an idiot, okay? Now come here," I commanded, pulling him into my lap and wrapping my arms around him.

He cradled his body instantly towards me, wrapping his arms around my back and sobbing brokenly into my shoulder. It broke my heart to see him this way. I didn't understand how anyone would want to make this beautiful, amazing creature cry. He was so passionate, so caring, and so amazing, that I didn't understand how anyone would possibly want to break up with him. I didn't understand how anyone could resist him. Swallowing down the lump forming in my throat, I pushed my swirling thoughts out of my mind and tightened my grip around him, kissing the spot where his neck met his shoulder.

"You're perfect, Kurt, perfect. It's his loss. I promise." I soothed, unable to keep the longing out of my voice. I don't think he could hear it there though, not at that moment.

So I kept him close, running my hands through his hair and placing soothing kisses across his cheeks once in a while. I let him cry until there were no more tears left, and only a few hiccups came out. I let him cry until my heart felt like it was breaking, breaking for tears wasted on someone so unworthy of my friend, so unworthy of all the beauty that he was.

Valentine's Day 5: 12th Grade - Kurt

I sighed as I peered at him from next my locker door, marveling at the curl of his hair and the hazel of his eyes and the flex of his muscles as he lifted a book into his locker. I tried not to melt into a puddle as he brushed his hand through his curls, disheveling them slightly. I don't know when it happened exactly, but lately I had found myself kind of madly in love with my best friend.

It was so inconvenient.

Especially on days like today, when he hurried off to class without more than a quick hello to me. I sighed, trying to push away the feeling, and praying that I'd get through today relatively unscathed.

I was walking into homeroom when I noticed it there, a tiny note folded atop my desk. It was origami, and shaped like a heart.

Hi.

Happy Valentine's Day. Our first Valentine's Day was the first time I saw you, and you were holding a lunch tray. You smiled at me, and blushed, like you're probably doing now, and it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

Be my Valentine?

There was no signature below the cursive script, just a tiny heart. I didn't recognize the handwriting, and I began to wrack my brain for who it could have been. Someone I had smiled at? On Valentine's Day? Jeez, it was my least favorite holiday, who on earth could I have possibly smiled at on today of all days? And when was this? Kindergarten, 7th grade, last year? I thought and thought, refusing to let my brain work towards the person I longed for it to be, until my thoughts were interrupted by a pop quiz. And I didn't do the reading from last night. Great.

Third period and there was another note on my desk, folded into the same perfect origami heart.

Hi Again.

Don't know who I am yet? On our second Valentine's day, you showed me that beautiful snark of yours, that witty sarcasm that is so very you. You certainly had me intrigued. You were unlike anyone else I had ever met, and I wanted to be near you right off the bat. Not like now, though. Not like how I want to be near you, now, Kurt.

Be my Valentine?

I shivered as I re-read the note a third time, lingering on the last line in particular. I couldn't help but feel the suggestiveness of the words leap off the page, and my throat began to dry out as I thought about the implications behind them. Whoever this guy was, he certainly wasn't being shy. That made me think that we were already pretty well acquainted, so that definitely narrowed down the list.

Please, god, let it be Blaine. I want more than anything for it to be Blaine. But no, it couldn't be him, not with the way he rushed off this morning like he had so many better places to be. Unless... Pushing the thought away, I walked to lunch, trying to keep my mind from leaping off the deep end along with my fantasies.

Blaine wasn't there at lunch. Santana said he was studying for a big midterm in the library. I frowned, wondering why he hadn't mentioned anything to me.

Fifth period was when the third one came.

Hello, beautiful.

I bet you still haven't figured it out yet. That's okay. You were never very good at picking up on subtleties. On our third Valentine's Day together, I learned how alone you felt. I learned how isolated you felt, how much you wanted to be loved. I wasn't able to give you what you needed at the time, but I think I can give it to you now, Kurt. I know I can give it to you now.

Be my Valentine?

My hands were shaking as I finished reading the words. My eyes were prickling with moisture, and my heart felt full and ready to burst. Whoever this was, they sounded an awful lot like him. They sounded like Blaine.

Was it just wishful thinking, or could he possibly love me too? Had he finally noticed me the was I had come to notice him? I didn't know what to do. Should I let my heart believe it was Blaine writing me, only to be crushed when I find the notes to be from someone else? And if they were from someone else, they sure sounded like a lovely someone to me. But still, they weren't him... My brain was starting to get fuzzy and I felt like I was drowning, so I pushed the note into my bag and tried to focus on the lecture, but all I could think about was BlaineBlaineBlaineBlaine. Fuck.

The fourth note was waiting for me at my locker at the end of the day. I grabbed it and walked out to my car without opening it, my heart pounding in my chest. Since the day was over, this had to be the last note, so maybe he would finally reveal himself to me.

I didn't open the note until I was in my car, and the words made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Kurt,

On our fourth Valentine's Day together... I fell in love with you. I fell in love with your beauty, with your vulnerability, and with your never-ending openness. Your heart didn't belong to me then, but I desperately wanted to claim it as my own. A year later, and maybe it's finally my turn. Maybe now you'll let me love you.

Be my Valentine?

I'll see you soon.

The last line made my heart hammer wildly in my chest. I'll see you soon. Soon I would know. Soon I would know if it was him.

Trying desperately not to crash my car, I began to drive towards my house, only managing to run through one red light and one stop sign on the way. My heart sank as I noticed the lack of cars in the driveway. Alone. I guess my mystery man was going to keep me waiting.

Trudging up the stairs, I pulled open my bedroom door with the intention of plopping down face-first into my pillow for a bit of silent screaming, when I halted in my tracks.

Because there he was.

There was my Blaine, standing there looking so beautiful, smiling at me a little hesitantly, with a bouquet of lavender roses in his hands.

"I promised you lavender," was all he said, his voice shaking a little with apparent nerves.

I blinked at him, feeling tears welling up into my eyes, before I closed the distance between us and captured his mouth with my own.

The kiss was wet and salty and tender and nervous and so utterly sweet that I wanted to freeze time forever and live in that magical moment with him, when we were finally together.

"I love you too, Blaine," I breathed out the moment our lips disconnected, his breath still trailing across my skin, "I always have."

And I always would. Our fifth Valentine's Day, and we were finally together, finally able to love one another the way were were meant to.

As he continued to kiss me, my very toes beginning to tingle at the sensation, I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the turn of events.

I guess Valentine's Day wasn't so bad after all.