A/N: Hi Hi! Welcome back! Once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite and/ or followed. It means so much to me :) So as I post this chapter, I am getting ready to start writing the final chapter: chapter 20. Which means that we are officially at the halfway point. I think this next chapter really moves us forward a little bit and breaks down some barriers. And, ya know...maybe adds a little spice...Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Chapter 10

When Monday rolled around and Kurt cruised into the school, he was unprepared for the feeling of emptiness he felt radiating from down that one hallway. One contractor who wouldn't be making an appearance today. Before he could get too lost in his feels though, Kurt shook his head and just had to scoff at himself. Really? He thought, You'll still see him every day. You told him that yourself.

Was it normal to be this obsessed and sappy over your best friend? And well, of course Blaine wasn't really just his friend. Well, he was but the way Kurt felt about his wasn't exactly friendly. Or well, it was a little too friendly. And there in lay the problem: everything was simultaneously too much or a little too little and nothing was just something. Everything was currently a gray area and Kurt wasn't really sure how stable that really was.

He moved around the school, struck by how quiet it was here without Blaine's chatter and their shared coffee and bagels. He wiped down the bars in the classroom, even though he knew Darla had done it at closing the night before, but he just needed something to do.

As he straightened the magazines needlessly in the lobby, he heard his phone chime from his duffle bag that he'd dropped behind the front desk. Curious, he went to retrieve it only to have his heart melt the tiniest bit at an hour entirely too early.

Blaine [8:38 AM]: Who am I supposed to eat bagels with now?

Kurt heaved a sigh of relief, glad he wasn't the only one feeling little lost at the lack of their now familiar routine. He tapped out a reply.

Kurt [8:39 AM]: Miss me already?

It was so much easier to be a little flirty over text, something they rarely did since they were rarely apart.

Blaine [8:39 AM]: Maybe...you miss me?

Kurt bit the inside of his cheek to keep from giggling like a mad man.

Kurt [8:40 AM]: Missing the bagels and coffee.

Blaine [8:41 AM]: I thought our bagels didn't compare to New York's bagels? Can you really miss them that much?

Kurt [8:41 AM]: Well, I miss the guy who brings me the bagel.

A few minutes went by before Blaine responded and it's not like Kurt typed and deleted a thousand texts in that time, trying to apologize or explain away what he'd said.

Blaine [8:46 AM]: See now, was that so hard?

Kurt was busy breathing a sigh of relief when his phone chimed again.

Blaine [8:46 AM]: Wanna swing by the diner after work? We may not be able to have breakfast together anymore but we can still do lunch?

Kurt felt a smile stretch across his lips, his insides warm, until reality slapped him with a cold, open palm to the cheek.

Kurt [8:47 AM]: I wish I could but I have P.T. today. Maybe after?

Blaine [8:48 AM]: Shit, sorry Hummel, I totally forgot. Dinner then? My place?

Kurt [8:49 AM]: Sound good! Just let me know when you're home and I'll head over.

Blaine: [8:49 AM]: Can do. Good luck at P.T. Can't wait to see you.

Kurt stared at that text longer than was necessary because it was so innocent but for some reason, it didn't feel that innocent? Perhaps Kurt was crazy and maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see, but their little exchange felt like it contained the barest hint of flirtation. Maybe it was just early and he was tired and missing Blaine and over all just absolutely pathetic but still. Maybe? Ugh, a boy can hope.

To Kurt's surprise and expectation, his three classes passed in a flash. He had thought the day would crawl, just a mean trick of time in the absence of Blaine. But these kids, these wonderful, tiny, energetic, enthusiastic, kids who made him forget all his pain, even on his worst days, made time fly. As fourth of July drew closer and closer, their routines for the town festivities were getting ironed out and perfected. Kurt felt that familiar spark of performance envelope him for the first time in a long time and he wouldn't even be the one on stage!

His good mood carried into P.T. and Blaine's words still rung in his head: laugh through it. When a stretch hit him with a stab of pain he would just grin, filled with that nervous laughter of uncertainty, but laugher nonetheless. It was enough of an attitude shift that his therapist even commented on it, saying how important a good attitude was for healing. And Kurt had heard that before so he figured he was on the right path. As if in agreeance, when he left physical therapy, his body was sore and aching, but in a manageable way that didn't make him feel like his entire future was crumbling in front of his very eyes.

He drove back to Darla's house, which he had begun referring to as home, and he wondered when that had happened. He hobbled up the stairs, feeling accomplished instead of defeated and sank into a luxurious bath. Water warm was a little suffocating after having been outside in the 90 degree heat, but nice all the same. He felt his muscles loosening and he let his head fall back.

He thought through his day, the kids' routine was coming together nicely and he was excited for the town to see it; the parents would be so proud. He thought about his physical therapy and took a mental catalogue of his body, feeling for sore spots and places that may cause him grief later but was ultimately pleased that he'd live to see another day. He wondered what Blaine was going to make them for dinner? Would they order a pizza or maybe Chinese food? Would they watch a movie or would he sit in the garage below while Blaine worked on something for the diner. Would Blaine be doling out any more of those casual touches that seemed to be becoming more frequent? And what if he did and that hand on his shoulder or that hand on the small of his back slid further down.

Kurt hadn't realized that he was suddenly hard, his hand already wrapped around his length underneath the water. He gulped, his throat dry and cracking as he considered if he should. It's not that he hadn't thought about Blaine like...that. But he'd never really allowed himself to do anything about it before. It felt like he was crossing some invisible line between them. He was certain the attraction was mutual but they'd both decided, wordlessly, to leave it alone. To not do anything about it. It wasn't like Blaine was at home at night, touching himself, thinking about Kurt and oh fuck, that image didn't help things.

Kurt's fist began to move of its own volition, tugging hard and fast. He imagined Blaine's rough, calloused hand doing the same to his own cock, eyes squeezed shut and gasping Kurt's name. And then he imagined that big hand replaced his and oh god, the things he would let this man do to him. It had been so long. So long since Kurt had even been interested. And then this fucking Adonois had to drop into his life with his golden skin and big smile and crinkly eyes and those muscles fighting against the sleeves of his t-shirts.

"Blaine," Kurt whispered, desperate for him. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," he said and the blackness behind his closed eyes exploded into color. He stroked himself through until he was too sensitive to continue.

He let out a shuddering breath, standing up and draining the tub. He dried off, avoiding his own eyes in the mirror, wondering how on earth he was going to face Blaine later that night.

As it turns out though, when Darla rolled into the driveway and Blaine had yet to text him that he was done at the diner, Kurt discovered that facing Darla was just as awkward, if not more.

"Hey darlin'!" She called to Kurt, who was feeling crazed and uncertain what to do with his free time and had somehow ended up sitting in the steamy shade of the front porch. It surprised him to find that yes, he felt sticky and gross and blanketed in ever present heat, but he didn't quite loath it like he had all those weeks ago, when he first arrived down here. It was like his skin was only his skin now when covered in a thin film of sweat. New York Kurt would have blanched at this, utterly disgusted. But Cassville Kurt? He had bigger problems like his incredibly hot best friend. Oh and his nerve damage, that too, but whatever. I guess I'd rather have guy problems, Kurt thought.

"Darlin?" Darla said again, having climbed the steps to the porch and staring at him with part amusement and part concern. "You in there?" She waved her hand in his face.

"Sorry," He said, shaking his head and swatting her hand away. "How was your day?" Diversion, the best option right now.

"Good! The kids are real excited for the fourth of July party." She dropped her duffle on the old wooden porch and dropped down in the rocker next to him. Wordlessly, he offered her his glass of lemonade and she gratefully accepted a chilly sip.

Kurt hummed in agreement, "Oh same. Speaking of, what do you need from me on the day of? Like, do you want me wrangling all the toddlers on stage or helping with seating or…" He trailed off, leaving his sentence open because, now that he thought of it, he really didn't know what in the world this entailed as an instructor.

Darla nodded, "Honestly, this isn't a recital or anything so it's going to be pretty relaxed. I'd love it if you lingered around and watched but I'd rather you spent your one summer in Cassville enjoying the festival. I sure bet Blaine will want you available for that." She shot Kurt a wink.

Kurt felt a punch in the gut at the mention of his one summer in Cassville, followed by a raging fire-like blush spreading over his cheeks at the sound of Blaine's name.

This peaked Darla's interest, "Oooo, what does that blush mean?" Her eyes got impossible wider as she leaned forward suddenly and placed a gentle, insistent hand on his knee, "Did something, ya know...happen?" She looked like she was holding her breath.

Kurt laughed, hoping it didn't sound as frustrated as he felt, "No, no, nothing happened." And he was pretty sure that was true because almost kisses in dark bars didn't count, right? Even if it was possibly the most intimate and sensual experience of his entire life.

Darla deflated, her eyes looking a little disappointed, "Oh." Kurt just nodded, hoping she'd drop it. But Darla was not afraid to ask for answers she wanted. "But why not?" She said it with the whiny lilt of a child that softened Kurt's glare at her.

"What do you mean why not?" He said, feigning ignorance and studying his cuticles.

"Oh please!" Darla said, flopping back in her rocker with her arms flailing gracelessly. "You two are practically joined at the hip."

"Well, that's because we're friends." Kurt answered slowly, like explaining it to a child.

Darla leveled him a look that he feared she'd learned from him. "You two spend literally every second together. You act like an old married couple."

"Okay, best friends."

"You put an awful lot of emphasis on the word friends."

"Well that's because that's what we are."

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself of that." Darla said, voice more serious that Kurt could ever remember hearing it.

Kurt stayed quiet for a long while, having no greater come back than, "We're friends, Darla." He was as tired of saying it as Darla was of hearing it.

"That boy doesn't look at you like you're his friend. He looks at you like he wants to rip your clothes off. He looks at you like you hung the moon and the stars. He looks at you like he's ready to buy a house with you and promise you forever."

Kurt blushed and looked down. A little giggle betrayed him and bubbled to the surface. When he looked up, he found Darla still looking at him, a bit of smugness to her smile. "And the blush tells me you feel roughly the same."

Kurt heaved a sigh and he heard his long forgotten phone buzz on the same table between the rockers. Blaine's name flashed across the screen.

"I uh...that's Blaine. I'm going over to his place for dinner tonight so…" he stood, anxious to see Blaine but also sort of dreading it now. Was he that obvious? Was Blaine?

"Kurt, darlin', you know I love you, right?" Darla said with a soft smile and eyes tinged with sadness. Kurt nodded. She continued, "It's your life so far be in from me to tell you what to do with it but just...I don't know." She huffed out a laugh and stood, grabbing her duffle bag. "Take it from someone who has lived alone most of her life. I am proud of all I've accomplished and I've had some great adventures. But...ya know, it sure would be nice to have someone to come home too. And those are a dime a dozen. But finding the right person to come home to? I've found that to be much harder. So just...don't waste it if you...if you think you found it."

Kurt, who had stood when Darla did, just blinked owlishly at her. Beautiful, happy Darla was a lot like him. Albeit much more casual and lighthearted but the loneliness she spoke of? It was something Kurt had nearly revelled in back in New York, in what increasingly felt more and more like his old life. But now? After coming home to Darla's home cooked meals and seeing Doug's smiling face, who always made sure they were stocked up on Kurt's favorite deodorant or Bev the dance mom, with her long acrylic nails in neon colors that terrified him, Kurt realized how dangerous this town was.

Because alone didn't feel alone anymore; it felt lonely. And this place had him wondering if he could give it all up and go back to that little apartment, barren and cold when the leaves began to change.

Darla disappeared inside the house, patting Kurt's shoulder as she passed. And Kurt got in his car, and drove to Blaine because every other plan was crumbling but this one? This was one that would always stay. At least for the summer.

With Darla's words reverberating in his head, he hopped out of his car and crept up the stairs to the loft, moving cautiously in case his legs decided to give out as they were prone to do after a physical therapy session. But they carried him effortlessly up the stairs, something Kurt never thought he'd be so pleased by.

"Hey Hummel," Blaine said as he crested the last step. Blaine was wearing white tank top and dark sweatpants, hair still damp from the shower. His curls looked like silky chocolate under the pendant lights over the kitchen island. He stood in socked feet, chopping a huge heap of vegetables and even had a little towel tossed over his shoulder. He was perfection incarnate. He was everyone's fantasy: a sexy man, cooking dinner, with a smile aimed directly at Kurt.

Kurt felt a heat rolling off of Blaine, or perhaps it was rolling off of him? Whatever the origin, it pulled him, almost like a magnet to Blaine. He strode right up to him and hugged him. Not some one-armed, youth group side hug. A full on, shoulder to hip hug, leaving no room for the holy spirit. Blaine released his grip on the knife almost instantly and wrapped his arms around Kurt, as if this was instinct. As if this was something they did often.

Kurt burrowed his face into Blaine's neck and breathed deep. He smelled of heat and rain and lumber. He smelled delicious and Kurt wanted to lick and suck that scent right off his skin.

"Everything okay?" Blaine asked quietly, hands roaming safely up and down Kurt's back and god, how Kurt wished they would dip just a little bit lower and grab his ass. Or maybe drift a little further north and thread into his hair and pull until he was screaming. Fuck, what's gotten into me? Kurt thought. Note to self, apparently if you jerk off to thoughts of your best friend, it becomes much harder to be just friends.

But instead, he just answered, "Yeah, everything is good. I just…" He tugged Blaine impossibly tighter against his body and he swore he heard a gasp escape the shorter man's lips. "I just missed you." It wasn't a lie.

Kurt's fingers itched to touch and while he knew it to be wildly inappropriate, he also knew it wasn't necessarily unwelcomed. Fuck it, he thought as he forced himself to just not think and tangled his long fingers in the damp curls he longed to tug at. Blaine let out a noise that was terribly close to a moan and oh. He had tugged Blaine's hair, so okay. And that elicited a sound that went straight to Kurt's dick. He was very aware that there was no way to hide that in their current state of nearness.

A ragged breath ripped out of Blaine as he pulled his head back just enough to bump their foreheads together. This close, Kurt could see every detail of that flawless tanned skin, the unreal length of those eyelashes fanned out over his cheeks. Blaine's eyes were screwed shut tightly and his mouth, parted and pink and perfect, were releasing tiny puffs of humid air onto Kurt's.

"Hummel…" Blaine said, his voice raspy with what? Lust? Could Kurt have really elicited that response from a little hair pulling and a hug? He would have thought that ridiculous if he wasn't currently sporting quite the erection. Blaine squeezed him tighter and there it was. Unmistakable and unapologetic. Blaine was hard against him. Fuck.

They stood there, unmoving. Blaine was waiting for something, he did not know. A sign? Permission? Better odds? And Kurt was waiting for something he did not know. Courage? Failure of willpower? A promise that no one would get hurt?

Slowly, Kurt pulled away. First the forehead. Then his shoulders, then chest, hips, and he took a step to clear that little bubble of frozen time between them. That little bubble where all of their needs and wants aligned into something he just wasn't sure they could have. Or should have.

Blaine's eyes slowly opened, looking dazed and dark. His pupils were huge and hungry and they landed on Kurt heavily. His chest, heaving from the effort of staying where he was, keeping his feet glued to the floor. He cleared his throat, "Well, that was...that was quite the hello." He said, trying to make a joke but knowing his voice was too strung out to really convey a teasing tone.

Kurt still gave him a laugh because if he didn't, he would probably just launch himself at Blaine and beg, literally beg him to get naked.

They stood there, quiet and, for the first time in a very long time, a bit awkwardly. They kept their eyes on the floor until Kurt just had to chance a glance up. When he did, he found hazel eyes trained on him. They locked eyes and Kurt could have sworn that he saw something shift in those depths and Blaine took a step toward him, lessening the gap to a mere inch. His eyes flickered down and then Kurt felt a finger, feather light but sure, delicately trace a vertical line up his thigh. Skating a wide berth around his dick but definitely not a place where a friend would touch you.

Kurt sucked in a haggard breath, the sensation leaving a trail of fire on his leg, his hip. His eyes, which were involuntarily trying to flutter closed in a swoon, met Blaine's and found a fire raging deep within.

It was an acknowledgement. Like a version of their conversation at the bar that night, but maybe one that didn't end in 'Never'.

If it hadn't been for the oven timer going off and making the decision for them, Kurt wasn't sure he'd have known when to step away or lean in.

The following day found them at Blaine's house, since he needed to install some new trim in the living room. Kurt found themselves in a now familiar pattern that he both liked and loathed. The previous night, they had in some weird way acknowledged that there was something between them and then...nothing. Just, hanging out like best friends and eating dinner and talking about their days. It was maddening. Kurt knew it wasn't smart but he wanted, oh god did he want.

But for the time being, he would just shut up and be happy with their status of friendship. And rush home to furiously rub one out after entirely too tactile moments like last night.

"Earth to Hummel!" Blaine called, voice teasing from where he sat, crouched on the floor.

"Huh? Sorry," Kurt said, "Million miles away." He was aware he'd been oddly quiet this afternoon and he really hoped it wasn't too obvious what was taking over his brain waves.

Blaine quirked an eyebrow but nodded, letting it go. "Yeah, I can tel-hey, can you actually take a look at this and tell me what you think?"

Kurt nodded and walked over to Blaine, who was holding a sample piece of trim. "So, of course I'm putting in baseboards but I'm thinking about adding some crown molding? What do you th-"

"Yes." Kurt interrupted.

Blaine chuckled, "Okay but should I put it in the living room or-"

"Yes-"

"Hummel, do I put it everywhere in th-"

"Yes-"

With a laugh and lightning quick movement, Blaine had swung around and placed his index finger over Kurt's lips. They were close, how did they always end up standing so close to each other?

"Hummel," He cautioned, his voice a teasing warning, "Will you let me finish?"

Kurt nodded hastily, desperate to suck on that finger as it slid down his lips and chin.

Blaine nodded, "Okay good boy-"

A noise escaped Kurt's lips. It came from somewhere deep in his chest and somehow slipped out between the taut, straight set of his mouth. It was small but absurdly obscene.

Blaine's eyes darkened and he raised a heavy eyebrow, "Oh?" he whispered, "Interesting. We'll have to explore that later."

Kurt gulped. Blaine was being forward so why couldn't he? "Promise?"

Blaine gulped thickly, eyes searching all over Kurt's face for answers he desperately wanted. He took a step back, hand rubbing the back of his neck in a familiar gesture. "Fuck Hummel," He said, more an exhalation than words honestly.

Kurt felt the cold wash over him as Blaine stepped away, which was odd considering this house didn't have air conditioning and it was always stiflingly hot in here. It was unwelcome and Kurt yearned for that humid, stale air to surround him again. Fuck, when did Kurt start to prefer the sweaty heat to the cold? When had that happened?

Blaine shook his head, taking a few more steps away and bent to pick up another piece of trim sample. "Okay so," He cleared his throat, eyes looking human and controlled again, "Which trim sample for the crown molding?"

Kurt took a deep breath to collect himself and smiled a lopsided twist of the lips, "Yes."

And just like that, Blaine huffed out a laugh and swatted Kurt's arm. Once again, the tension dissolved into an easy friendship. A friendship that had been easy since (almost) day one. A friendship that was safe and lovely and would still utterly shatter Kurt when it ended.

A/N: Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next on Saturday AND Sunday! SURPRISE! That's right folks, it's Fourth of July weekend and that deserves a double feature! Super excited to share it with you :) See y'all later!