So I think I forgot about this. Or I thought Edge of Glory was Kiss or.. I don't know. It's only five hours late... not that bad.

I am very apprehensive about this chapter. Very.

AxelCat: in an alternate universe where time is all messed up, and it might be yesterday one minute and tomorrow the next minute, Kurt and Sam get together, and Blaine tries to use the time issue to get Kurt back into his loving arms.

I honestly can't believe I agreed to this one. My head was spinning as I wrote it.

Time

It was July 17th when Kurt arrived at Blaine's door in tears, and Blaine wished he knew what was wrong.

All he could do was hold his arms open and allow Kurt - and was this his Kurt? Blaine didn't even know right now - to cry for as long as he needed to. As he did, Blaine subtly pulled his phone out and checked his calendar, suppressing a sigh when he saw no notes for the past month. Clearly he hadn't been here yet, so he really had no idea what was going on with Kurt. For all he knew, he could have been the one to upset Kurt and Kurt was going to yell at him any minute now for something Blaine hadn't done yet. Except of course he had.

Finally Kurt pulled away, staring up at him with glittering eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's just… Sam."

Blaine's heart dropped even as he made a sympathetic noise, encouraging Kurt to continue. He vaguely remembered Kurt mentioning that Sam was gay so clearly he had come to this timeline before, but at that time Kurt had been single and flirting with Blaine like mad, and Blaine had been sure if he had had one more day, they would have gotten together. Clearly not.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, his go-to answer for when he had no clue of what was going on. He had only ever been caught out twice, in situations where he was meant to know what was going on and truly had no idea. Never with Kurt though - as far as Kurt knew, this was the same Blaine he had talked to yesterday, the same Blaine he had been friends with for the past six months.

And he was. This Blaine just hadn't lived those months yet. At least not all of them.

"He decided he's not actually gay and he was just confused because Quinn dumped him," Kurt mumbled into his shoulder. "So he said he was very sorry but it was time for this to end. Blaine, how can you date someone for two months and then decide you're not into their gender?"

"I don't know sw - Kurt," Blaine said, hoping Kurt didn't catch the slip. Last time he had been this close to Kurt, they had been each other's - not permanently, Blaine had known that, they had simply been friends with benefits and Blaine had truly hated it - and it was almost second nature to call Kurt pet names. Something he needed to control. "I'm so sorry."

"Two months to the date," Kurt continued. "He didn't even remember it was our anniversary."

May 17th.

Blaine didn't remember it, which meant he hadn't been there yet. Which meant, he might…

Stop, he told himself, rubbing Kurt's back gently. You know you can't pick the date. Don't delude yourself in to thinking you can change things.

It was a horrible gift sometimes, being the only one who was aware of the time changes going on around them constantly. Except he wasn't the only one, his father had told him, but unless it was an immediate family member, it was far too risky to try to find others. If there were two of you switching days in close proximity, things got difficult fast. Which was why Blaine was at Dalton instead of in New York with his family, why he couldn't go home for the holidays. The last time they had met, Blaine had nearly destroyed his own existence. His father's timeline had stopped switching a year ago when Blaine's younger sister was born, but until Blaine's had stopped it was too risky for him to go back.

At least Blaine was sure he existed now. His father had told him there were a few scares when he and his mother were first married - days when he would wake up and there would be no Blaine, no sign of them ever having had a child. The timeline still hadn't been secured and his father had been terrified that Blaine wasn't actually real, not in the real timeline. But now there was not only Blaine but Cathy, and Cathy was the trigger point for his father. Everybody's was different apparently - for some people, it was a simple event like graduating high school, securing a job, falling in love… something common that would connect their timeline to everybody else's and stop them switching around. For others, they could go through all of their major milestones before settling.

Blaine was hopeful that Kurt might be his trigger. After all, he had never felt anything like this for anybody before, not in any timeline. There were other boys, of course - some who were still around but didn't remember ever having been with Blaine, some who had ceased to exist for whatever reasons in specific timelines. But Kurt was a constant, no matter how the two of them knew or didn't know each other, Kurt always existed in the timelines.

The only way he hadn't existed yet was as Blaine's boyfriend. And at this point, Blaine was ready to do almost anything to get Kurt to be his, to be sure of his reality. But all he could do was wait, take each day as it came and hope he could hit the right timeline on the right date to be able to change things, to put things as they should be.

This time switching thing needs a manual, Blaine thought to himself, not for the first time.

Kurt lifted his head again, wiping at his tears. "It's okay, I can deal. I mean, I've been dumped before, this is normal. I mean, I have to live with my ex-boyfriend so…"

Finn. And his dad did get married in this one. Okay.

"You don't have to 'deal', Kurt," Blaine said soothingly. "You can take as long as you need to recover from this, and don't let anybody else tell you otherwise."

But Kurt seemed to have gotten himself under control. "It's okay, I'll be alright. Besides, we have rehearsal soon and you have that new solo to perform!"

Crap.

Blaine smiled. "Yeah, looking forward to it. Could you, uh, maybe see if the sheet music is on my desk. I swear I left it around here somewhere…"

Kurt gave him an odd look but obediently wandered over to Blaine's desk, searching through the sheets. "I thought you didn't need the sheet music?"

"It's always good to be sure," Blaine said smoothly, and at least that sounded like enough of a Blaine thing to say. He hoped. "You know me, I like to be prepared."

"You certainly do - ah, here it is." Kurt slid a couple of sheets out and brought them back over to the bed, handing them to Blaine. "You're absolutely going to nail it." Blaine glanced down, letting out a soft sigh of relief. He had performed Hey Soul Sister before, once at Sectionals, once as an audition song and now… for whatever this was. Blaine had no idea.

It turned out that this time around, the Council had elected the song for Regionals and Blaine sang it smoothly, relieved beyond measure when he looked up at the Council table and saw David sitting there. A few weeks back - somewhere in February of last year - David had been killed in a car crash, and to see his friend alive and well reminded Blaine of how precious every single day was, and that his preventative measures had actually worked.

One down. You only get two more.

After Warbler practice, Blaine spent the afternoon with Kurt, helping the boy through his breakup. It was difficult, of course. The last time he and Kurt had been alone in Kurt's room, they had been making out before Kurt had kicked him out to go on a date with some guy he had picked up in a bar. But that Kurt had been the result of a mother who had abandoned him instead of passing away, and Blaine had only ever encountered him once before, just like there had only ever been one Kurt whose mother was still alive. It was small details like this that showed Blaine how the timeline was most likely going to settle, the hard facts that were set reality.

It also showed Blaine how the smallest event could change everything. And watching as Kurt slipped off to sleep, tears still on his cheeks, Blaine vowed that if he could get back to that date in that time, he would stop this Kurt from getting so badly hurt.

And if that meant Blaine might get his chance, then that was a wonderful side product.

Blaine knew he couldn't control where he ended up, but waking up the next morning to find himself in early May was almost too good to be true. Of course there was no guarantee that the timeline was the same, but Blaine's suspicions were confirmed at breakfast when Kurt spent the time when the two weren't absently flirting talking about Sam. Not his boyfriend, Sam, but Sam who he was possibly interested in.

As he drove out to McKinley, Blaine tried to work out why he didn't feel more guilty about this. All his life, he had done his best to not meddle, not change the past because of the repercussions it could have - going out to McKinley like this could fracture things that Blaine had experienced just yesterday… but not just yesterday, two months in the future. And there was no guarantee that this would change things either. But Blaine couldn't feel bad about it, not when he remembered how distraught Kurt had been. Nobody was allowed to hurt the boy he loved and get away with it. Not when he could change things.

Blaine had promised himself that he would have three times where he would allow himself to change things if necessary and possible. He had already used one, when he had gotten an incredibly rare chance to go back to the same day of David's death, he had simply snuck out and cut the brakes on his friend's car. And that had worked - David hadn't disappeared since. This would be the second, which would leave only one more chance.

Was this worth it?

Blaine reminded himself of Kurt and nodded. Yes, it was.

At some point in time, Blaine had met Sam, but he didn't think they were introduced. Sure enough, when he casually walked the boy in the parking lot, Sam showed no recognition at all. Hopefully that wasn't just because he was trying not to stare at Quinn Fabray - a good sign in itself. And Quinn Fabray was exactly who Blaine Anderson was headed towards.

"Hey," he murmured, seeing absolutely no recognition in her eyes when she turned to him. "Look, this is going to make no sense but I would love it if you could trust me and play along for five minutes. I just need you to act like you're flirting with me."

Quinn raised an eyebrow, leaning against her car. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because I know you're interested in Sam Evans and this will give him the courage he needs to step up and ask you out, as well as helping me out with a situation of my own -"

"Okay, look," Quinn interrupted quietly, stepping a little closer. Over her shoulder, Blaine saw Sam look up at that, watching them closely. "I don't believe in outing but Sam doesn't keep it a secret that he plays for both teams and I think he's actually interested in a friend of ours -"

"Kurt."

Quinn blinked a couple of times. "You're - of course. Dalton. So what, you're trying to make sure Sam doesn't get with Kurt because… why?"

Blaine sighed, trying to work out how well he could blur the truth and lies this time. "I have it on good authority that neither of the boys are as interested in each other as they think they are. I - I don't want to see Kurt get hurt out of this."

Quinn was watching him, some kind of recognition in her eyes that instantly unnerved Blaine. "Okay, I know there's more to this story than you're letting on, but it looks like you can't tell me." Stepping closer again, Quinn allowed a hand to rest on his arm, ducking her head. "And yes, I am interested in Sam and I have noticed him watching me. Do you think this will work?"

"He's already glaring daggers at me," Blaine said, allowing himself to smile as if Quinn Fabray were the most interesting person on the planet. "I'm pretty sure you have something in your hair right about now. At least that would be convenient."

Rolling her eyes, Quinn allowed Blaine to gently run a hand through her hair. "How long do we need to do this?"

As if on cue the bell rang and Blaine stepped back, letting his reluctance show. It was almost real too - he had never really had much of a chance to talk to Quinn and she wasn't as bad as Blaine had been led to believe. "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Fabray," he said formally, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it, watching in amusement as she tried not to blush.

"Wait," Quinn said as he turned to leave. "Forgive me if I'm wrong but you play for Kurt's team, don't you?"

"Yes," Blaine admitted. "And yes, I'm madly in love with him, but that's not the reason I did this."

Quinn smirked at him before grabbing the books off the top of her car. "Uh-huh. I'll make sure to give you a call and let you know whether Sam works up the courage to ask me out after that display."

"You don't have my number."

"Yes, I do," Quinn called over her shoulder as she walked away and Blaine shook his head in amusement. Sam was still standing in the same spot across the parking lot and Blaine caught his eye for a second before the blonde turned, following Quinn into the building. Blaine allowed himself to smirk as he turned back to his own car.

So maybe he now had to try and explain his absence from first period Spanish and would probably end up with a detention for it. And even if Blaine had known he would have to complete the detention the following day, he still wouldn't have changed anything.

That's two. I hope it makes a difference.

June 12th.

Blaine bit his lip as he stood outside Kurt's door. It was always a risk to be the one to make the first move - usually he waited for others to come to him and connect the dots on where he was. But after his experience in May yesterday - and Blaine still couldn't believe he had gotten there - Blaine couldn't shake the feeling that this was the same timeline, that Kurt and Sam weren't together and Blaine had a chance. And he had to take that chance.

Blaine knocked.

The door opened a few seconds later to reveal a casually dressed Kurt grinning at him. "Hey, Blaine! What brings you here?"

"Just wanted to see if you had any plans," Blaine said nonchalantly, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm bored."

Kurt laughed, gesturing for Blaine to enter. "Only you would be bored at eight in the morning. And no, nothing planned. Did you want to hang out?"

"Sounds great." Blaine settled himself on Kurt's bed, the boy taking a seat next to him. "So, what's happening in the life of Kurt? And how's everybody from New Directions?"

Thankfully the question was taken just as it was meant to be - an innocent enquiry. "Well I was out there last weekend and got to catch up with a few of them. Finn and Rachel are back on, as usual, but I don't think it's going to last once the story of Santana and Finn gets out. Artie and Brittany are still on, of course, as well as Tina and Mike. Sam and Quinn are going strong and -"

Oh, thank god.

"- the rest is pretty much normal," Kurt finished. "Mercedes says hi. She kind of misses you."

Blaine grinned, the expression unbelievably natural because he had a chance."Tell her I miss her too. We absolutely have to catch up again. But tell me about you, what's going on with Kurt Hummel?"

"You see me every day, Blaine, you should know." Kurt elbowed him teasingly. "Same as ever, trying to knock you out of your solo spot and watching everybody else fall in love around me while sitting in singledom."

Blaine winced. "Yeah, I'm with you on that one."

No reaction - good, Blaine wasn't dating someone else then. That would have made things really awkward. Instead, Kurt smiled sympathetically and placed a hand on his. "That's okay, I'm sure we'll both find someone eventually."

Oh, I have. He's right next to me.

Blaine had to be very careful from here - sometimes he and Kurt had talked about this before, sometimes it had never been brought up. "Do you have your eye on anybody in particular?"

Kurt blushed - actually blushed! - and ducked his head. "I - uh, I don't think you're the right person to be talking to about this."

"Why, because we're both gay?" Blaine asked frankly, smirking a little when Kurt nodded. "And? Can't you talk to me about anything and everything?"

"I - of course I can, but this is…" Kurt trailed off helplessly.

Blaine gave him a moment before taking the leap of courage. "Kurt, the only reason I can see it being awkward is if if was me you were interested in."

Kurt choked and Blaine's heart soared. Could it be…?

"Okay, please don't let this make things weird with our friendship, or try to humor me or pity me or make me feel better," Kurt rushed out, still staring purposefully at the ground. "I get that you don't feel the same way and it's totally fine, I promise, I just -"

Blaine ducked his head so he was level with Kurt and kissed him.

The whole world fell into place. Every other timeline shifted away, every other eventuality disappeared from Blaine's mind. If there was a chance that he would have to wake up tomorrow and not be with Kurt, then he would rather never sleep, never switch days again if it meant he might lose this boy who liked him back. Blaine had waited days, months, years for their worlds to align and he wasn't letting go.

Kurt seemed to feel the same. Even when they had broken apart, Kurt was still wrapped around him like he had been waiting forever for this moment. But Blaine knew even if Kurt had been in love with him since the moment they had met, Blaine would still have loved him longer.

The rest of the day was spent in almost exactly the same manner. They didn't leave Kurt's bed except to eat, instead electing to talk, cuddle and kiss. Blaine held on to every single precious second, not wanting to waste a single one because he could lose this tomorrow. No matter how optimistic he was that this might have been enough to seal his timeline, Blaine knew he needed to stay real. Kurt could be gone tomorrow.

Finally, when the day had drawn to a close and Kurt had fallen asleep on his chest, still wrapped around each other, Blaine closed his eyes with a sigh.

Even if this doesn't stay true, at least I had him for one day. One perfect day.

It was the 13th of June and Blaine woke with Kurt in his arms.

For a long moment he simply laid there, staring down at the sleeping angel he had the privilege of finally holding, of calling his own. Not Sam's, not Finn's, not bruised and broken because of Karofsky, not Karofsky's, not dead, not still at McKinley.

His.

Maybe tomorrow that would all change. Maybe tomorrow he would wake up and Kurt wouldn't even know his name and they would be strangers, simply performing against one another at Sectionals again. Maybe he would hurt Kurt badly in the future, present, past, somewhere that caused things to be so severely fractured that Kurt would never be his again, no matter how many times Blaine visited.

But something in his heart told Blaine that this was the one. It was rare to have two days in a row, after all, so maybe this was the sign he had been waiting for, the one. All he could do was wait and hope.

Five days. If time didn't switch for five days, Blaine knew Kurt was his and this timeline was real.

Until then, Blaine simply held Kurt in his arms and knew that in this time, Kurt was his.

Oh geez, this is the most complex thing I've ever written and I don't even know if it makes any sense at all. I just kept on writing until it was all out and hopefully followed some kind of coherency.

Blah.

MusicalEscape:

*back in some other hallway*

"He's planning on coming back?"

"Dolphin's coming back?"

"We can't have this- as much as I love Kurt, he's not safe here! We-we'll have the Warblers stage a Warblervention and New Directions stage a New Dirvention!"

"No. No, Rachel, no. It only works with Warblervention. And how 'bout instead of stopping him we conveniently tell Karofsky that Charlie the Unicorn is in Canada? He'll be out of Ohio in no time, since he's a unicorn-tracker."