Okay so this is Blaine's side of what happened, but it went on a little longer and there is more to explain (kind of) so Blaine's side is already spanning over two chapters, may go to a third. Sorry it's late - I've been pretty busy today and so it completely slipped my mind! :s Hope you enjoy it anyway! C xx

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, Blaine cursed himself all the way down the steps until he got outside, leaning his back against the wall and breathing in the cold crisp air to try and calm the emotional tempest swirling around in his chest. On the one hand, he was thrilled- no, elated – he had been able to kiss Kurt freely now after weeks of longing, not having to fear being rejected by the other man since they had exchanged their love for each other, but on the other hand Blaine was tormenting himself, disgusted that he had not been able to control himself around Kurt's closest friends – who they had agreed to keep their relationship from until they were both ready to take that step.

However, Kurt hadn't exactly pulled away, nor had he reprimanded him afterwards about the gesture. Rachel and Finn hadn't reacted either, or they had and Blaine just hadn't been paying attention. Blaine was tempted to run back upstairs, or – if it was possible – he would rather run back in time and stop himself from doing it, but he decided that Kurt would most likely do most of the talking anyway, and it may be best if he let the three friends talk by themselves.

He had to get to work, anyway.

Blaine decided to hail a taxi rather than walk. He normally would have relished the twenty minutes between his apartment and the theatre, allowing his mind to relax and get into the headset of the lead male after coming down from the seemingly constant high he had when he was around Kurt, but right now he just needed to get to work quickly. His heart was still pummelling his ribcage at the memory of what had happened not five minutes before, and the adrenaline that was currently pumping through his veins at the thought of seeing Thad again – and having to explain the situation to his best friend. And so, sitting in the back of a cab for five minutes on a Sunday afternoon, Blaine actually allowed himself to think rather than daydream, focusing mainly on just what he was going to do when he got to work.

But the Palace Theatre rolled into view all too soon, and before Blaine could get any further than, 'Look, Thad, I think I should explain…' he was climbing out onto the pavement and paying the taxi driver on autopilot.

He stared up at the theatre's front, gazing at his name written in giant red letters above the door before glancing down at Thad's in smaller letters underneath. They had been friends since Blaine had moved to New York at nine years old, although back then they only stuck by each other because they were both new kids at school. Thad came a few weeks after Blaine did, and although he still had some heat on him from the older kids, a lot of it shifted onto Thad and Blaine couldn't stand by and watch. Thad was shy – a lot shyer than Blaine had been – and so Blaine took on the role of his protector when no-one else would.

Their friendship had blossomed over the years, and they helped each other through the tumultuous environment of schools across the state. They went to Dalton together, and it was there that Blaine first showed his vulnerability to his friend; an event that brought them ever closer. When Blaine first started to develop feelings for the then-Junior Sebastian Smythe, he turned to his dorm roommate, Thad. The boy had comforted him and guided him through the difficult time in his life, having come out himself just over a year before. It was Thad who helped Blaine to realise who he was, and it was Thad who opened his arms to comfort Blaine when the smaller boy's parents had rejected him.

Blaine caught himself before his bottom lip started to tremble, blinking back the tears stinging the corners of his eyes as he realised how stupid he'd been; he knew Thad well enough to know that if he had spoken to him first, he would have stepped to the side and let Blaine confess his feelings. But Blaine had been selfish – one of the very few occasions in his life when he would allow himself to be – and, even though he had held back, he had gone after Kurt for himself.

And now his best friend probably loathed him, and blamed him for his recent heartbreak. Blaine would never forgive himself for the way he went about things, but he could just hope that their sixteen years of friendship would be enough to at least get Thad to hear him out, even if he wouldn't forgive him. Stepping into the foyer, Blaine roughly wiped his eyes and headed straight for the door to backstage, hoping that – by arriving nearly an hour early – he could catch Thad and try to explain.

As soon as he passed the threshold into backstage, Blaine was bombarded by a faction of voices down at the end of the hall. Startled, Blaine jolted his gaze upwards to see no more than eight pairs of eyes staring at him, the bodies they belonged to all thundering down the corridor towards him. Panicked, Blaine thought about turning and running back out into the foyer, but the message had barely reached his feet by the time the group descended on him.

"Blaine, what happened?"

"What went on yesterday?"

"Enough about him – Hobbit, are you okay?"

"Where's Thad? What happened to him?"

"Where's the other unicorn?"

"BB, are you alright? You don't look so good…"

Blaine looked around him at all of the faces jostling to get into his line of vision and grab his attention and suddenly felt a wave of nausea wash over his entire body; everyone had found out about yesterday and everyone now wanted to know the truth.

And they were all trying to get it from him at once.

"Just- STOP!" Blaine hadn't realised how loud he was going to be, and he didn't even realise he had screwed his eyes shut tight as he held his hands aloft to silence the mob until a voice next to his ear made him open them again.

"Blaine? Blaine, are you okay?" It took Blaine a few seconds to recognize the voice, and then a further few to actually believe it. It was Santana, of all people, who was gently placing a hand on his shoulder and lowering his hands.

"Yeah, yeah I just-" Blaine managed to mumble in reply before turning into her shoulder and allowing a small sob to escape. The crowd next to them was immediately silenced by Blaine's outburst, but now that silence started to turn uncomfortable as each of them realised that Thad wasn't the only one who had been affected by the events of the previous night – whatever they had been.

Blaine had, too.

"It's okay, Blaine," Santana soothed in his ear, wrapping him up in a rare yet gentle embrace and rubbing his back softly. "Just… relax, okay? We can go and talk in my room, away from these assholes, and we'll have you good as new by curtain call, okay?"

Blaine sniffed and nodded, keeping his gaze to the floor as she led him towards her room, the remaining seven people parting to let them through. There were small mumbles of "I'm sorry, Blaine", but Blaine merely nodded weakly as he allowed himself to be looked after for once.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur; Blaine and Santana had barely settled onto the sofa before Brittany had come floundering in, snuggling in between the two of them and practically pulling Blaine onto her lap. No more than five minutes later Sugar, Mercedes, Quinn and Sunshine had knocked on the door, their faces etched with concern and worry for their leading man. After a brief round of Spanish insults from Santana, the girls were allowed in and made themselves comfortable on the floor or on the sofa around Blaine, determined to console him. Blaine started the story from the start, going over his fleeting childhood friendship with Kurt before being reunited by chance sixteen years later. He had barely gotten up to the day he left before the boys burst in with no welcome – Santana now too concerned about Blaine to care anymore – after Blaine had decided to divulge in some of the childhood memories he had with Kurt whilst with the girls.

The three boys who entered made up the original eight who had bombarded him in the hall; Wes, Richard –a tall, light brown-haired guy who played Chino, Bernardo's friend – and a third whom Blaine didn't recognize.

"W-who are you?" He regarded the boy – who looked to have been no older than 21 – with caution; he didn't want strangers listening in and telling him what to do with his life. The boy blushed and flailed slightly as he introduced himself,

"Nick," He extended a hand to Blaine before taking in his guarded expression and withdrawing it. "I-I'm Thad Harwood's understudy."