I got to sleep around 5am this morning. To anybody who has asked today, it was because I couldn't get out of night shift mode. To those who follow me on Tumblr, you probably know that wasn't the case. Anyway, sleep at 5, woke up at 7 because some tradies had shown up and decided to work on our house. Right outside my bedroom window. And then my manager called and asked me to work, where I've just been. aldkjfsal. Yeah. So I'm tired and blah and I still have to go pick my sister up at 10pm because she's 21 and never got around to driving and ugh.

This has been a tired rant courtesy of your author.

From MusicalEscape: Kurt notices everytime Blaine sings, a mask goes up. It's Blaine's voice, but the emotions don't show through. So Kurt goes to see Blaine, and his dorm door is open, so Kurt walks in, and Blaine's singing about falling for Kurt and unsureness and all that jazz.

Guess who wrote this? I'll give you a clue: It wasn't me.

Mask

It was a recent development. Kurt didn't exactly understand how or why or when it had started occurring, but he was starting to notice it more and more. Frankly, it worried him. Particularly because it was Blaine.

Tilting his head to the side, Kurt carefully watched as Blaine auditioned for his ten millionth solo. Yes, Blaine's voice was amazing, and yes, he did look unfairly dapper in his blazer, but something was just off. And Kurt couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It was something about the way he was singing, Kurt decided, neatly folding his hands in his lap. His eyes narrowed slightly as Blaine burst into the bridge. Of course, Mr. I-Get-Everything-I-Audition-For was completely owning and song and filling the room with his enormous stage presence, as per usual. There was just something about the whole performance that seemed wrong. It wasn't the song, he had already come to that conclusion. It was how Blaine's singing just didn't seem sincere.

Kurt had been at Dalton for a while now. And, thinking back to Blaine's other performances, he could identify a drastic difference. Recalling their flirty version of Baby, It's Cold Outside and the intense cover of Teenage Dream, something clicked in Kurt's mind.

Ever since Christmas and their suggestive little performance, Blaine had been a little more distant. A little more cautious. A little more…mentor-like. He'd been trying to back out of their rapid descent into best friends, and it was starting to come out in his day-to-day personality. Kurt wasn't certain if the other Warblers noticed it, but he certainly did, and it really bothered him.

Blaine had always had stage presence, there was no denying that. But now it had morphed into somewhat of a stage face. Instead of just being Blaine and letting his emotions out, he was putting on this performance mask, acting out whatever the song was about. Not that there was anything wrong with trying to tell a story through music, but his performances were just so much less enjoyable now.

Kurt sighed quietly. Maybe it was his fault that Blaine was closing off. After that whole Gap Attack disaster and the following heart-to-heart they'd had in the Lima Bean where Kurt had made his incessant crush perfectly obvious, Blaine had been acting a little differently. Or maybe it dated all the way back to Christmas. In any case, Kurt couldn't pin an exact date on it. He just knew that it was happening now, and he was not okay with that.

In the part of his brain that wasn't thinking about Blaine (in more ways than one), Kurt registered Blaine finishing his song and Wes bringing the meeting to a close. He thought he heard an underlying of grumbles from disgruntled, solo-less Warblers. In all honesty, Kurt thought that the Council needed to give someone else a shot. But they worshipped the ground Blaine walked on, so…

Trying not to heave a dramatic sigh, Kurt hitched his bag onto his shoulder and strolled out of the choir room, mentally leafing through his options. He briefly (a little viciously) debated giving Blaine a little taste of his own medicine. Honestly, the whole mentor thing had been cute at first, but now it was just a bit condescending. Shaking off that possibility, Kurt veered into an empty classroom, shut the door behind him, and pulled out his phone.

It was time to give Mercedes a call.

With a new air of determination about him, Kurt set off down the hall. He and Mercedes had talked it over for a bit, overanalyzing literally everything, before deciding to just go simple and confront Blaine. To be honest, Kurt hadn't been able to think of anything better. He desperately needed a way to crack into Blaine's obvious façade before he lost his friend for good.

Making his way down the corridor to Blaine's dorm, Kurt slowed a little, mulling over what exactly he could say. It wouldn't go over to well if he busted it dramatically and then stood still, gaping like a fish whilst trying to think of something witty. Kurt sighed. Perhaps he should've given it a couple day's worth of forethought.

It was at that moment that Kurt heard a soft sound drifting throughout the empty hallway. The small noise stopped him cold, and his jaw gently went slack. That was…

"Give me more lovin' from the very start,

Piece me back together when I fall apart,

Tell me things you'd never even tell your closest friends."

Blaine.

Of course. Kurt would recognize Blaine's smooth vocals anywhere. But it was different than usual. His voice was sweet and raw, crooning in a simple way that just made Kurt melt. And maybe it wasn't uncommon for Blaine to sing and play guitar in his dorm, but this was different. This was Blaine, really and truly Blaine. It was the Blaine that Kurt had been searching for.

Carefully stepping closer, Kurt leaned against the wall and just listened, closing his eyes to really absorb the music.

"Make me feel good when I hurt so bad,

Best that I've had, I'm so glad I found you.

Kurt, I love being around you

You make it easy…"

Kurt's breath caught. Had Blaine just…inserted his name into the lyrics? A delighted smile turned up one corner of his mouth, and it took a great deal of willpower not to go rushing in right then.

"There's only one thing to do

Three words, for you…

I love you.

There's only one way to say,

Those three words, and that's what I'll do

Kurt, I love you…"

And maybe it was just a song, but there was a rawness of honesty and emotions that really struck a chord with Kurt. It was love and pain and restraint and just something beautiful that he hadn't known Blaine possessed. Until now.

Kurt heard a sigh from within and the sound of a heavy wooden object being set down. The sigh was quiet, but so desolate that it was almost breaking Kurt's heart to stand still. Kurt forced his temporarily frozen limbs into action, and pushed open the cracked door.

"Blaine?" he called softly.

Blaine, who had been sitting on the bed, hunched over, shot to his feet, his eyes wide and shifty. He looked as if he'd been accused of a serious crime, fidgeting from foot to foot and resolutely refusing to meet Kurt's eyes.

"Kurt!" Blaine frantically looked around, as if searching for a conversation topic. "I, uh…hi! Um, can I help you with something?"

Feeling very in-control of himself despite the love explosions occurring in his chestal section, Kurt took a couple of light steps closer, grinning slightly.

"Blaine." He repeated, arching an eyebrow. "I heard you."

Blaine's hastily pasted-on smile dropped away instantly. "You…heard me?"

Biting back a laugh, Kurt nodded once.

Blaine groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Oh my god, Kurt I'm so sorry, I didn't want you to find out like that! This is so embarrassing. I really don't want this to make things awkward between us, Kurt, I mean, I know you don't think of me like that and I just kind of admitted that I'm in love with you and that complicates everything but I understand if you want to ditch me because we won't be able to be friends anymore, and god Kurt, I just – "

"Blaine." Kurt repeated for the third time, reaching out and taking his hand. He tugged the shorter boy closer so that they were standing nose-to-nose.

Blaine stopped rambling. His glinting hazel eyes went even wider, and for once he lost all composure of being anything close to his suave self.

"Shut up." Kurt said sweetly, leaning forward to capture Blaine's lips in a kiss.

It took a second, but gradually Blaine started to kiss back, and every single ounce of logic Kurt had ever possessed was thrown out the window into oncoming traffic. He allowed his brain to melt away, and fell into his senses, completely enveloping himself in the only thing that mattered…Blaine.

Pulling back and pressing his forehead to Blaine's, Kurt realized that he was smiling so hugely that his cheeks were starting to ache.

"I love you too." He whispered, closing his eyes.

And for all Kurt cared, they could've never moved ever again. He was perfectly content exactly where he was.

(It was Angela, for anybody who didn't realize. AKA SquirrelzAttack)

MusicalEscape:

Revenge with a slushie: The B&H plan.

Step 1: Buy every flavor slushie. Mix 'em up in a bucket, careful not to make it some brown slush. Keep it rainbow!

Step 2: Repeat Step 1 about 20 times.

Step 3: The jocks like to hang out in the West courtyard. They are the ONLY people who go out there. Rig every door with slushies, and get Puck to replace the buckets everytime someone gets soaked!

Step 4: Jacob Ben Israel is willing for an interview with exclusive footage on slushying jocks. Bribe him ;D