Back on le night shift tonight. It's my 24 hour day and I have crates to unload. Great.

After this chapter, there's only five more to go. Oh my god.

From Anonymous (via Tumblr): Kurt decides to get a puppy. Blaine is jealous because Kurt spends more and more time with the puppy and less with Blaine. But the puppy is only a replacement for Blaine, because Kurt is trying to get over his unrequited feelings for him:)

Angela melted over this. Twice ;)

Puppy

We got a puppy! - Finn

Kurt stared at his phone in disbelief. He couldn't be serious...

Whose idea was that? - Kurt

Tossing his phone on the bed, Kurt continued pulling his weekend bag together. Just as he had zipped it up and unplugged his laptop, his phone buzzed again.

Mom decided, Burt couldn't say no to her. And I can see why, he's so cute! - Finn

Kurt raised an eyebrow. That must be one damn cute puppy if it made Finn act that way, and Kurt figured he'd better get home and see what all the fuss was about

I'll take your word for it. Be home soon - Kurt

As he locked the door to his dorm room, Kurt heard his name being called from down the hall. Turning, he did his best to stop his heart from fluttering as he saw Blaine heading towards him, wearing his usual disarming smile. "Hey, you're off already?" he asked, gesturing to Kurt's bags.

"Yeah, long drive, you know?" Kurt kicked himself inwardly for his less than coherent reply. Honestly, just try make it more obvious that you have a massive crush on him.

Blaine thankfully didn't seem to notice. "Here, let me carry something," he said, grabbing Kurt's laptop before he could protest. "How is everybody back in Lima? Tell Mercedes I said hi."

"I will, I think I'm seeing her on Saturday." Kurt pushed open the front door, holding it for Blaine who gave him a smile of thanks. "But apparently we just got a puppy."

Blaine literally froze mid-step, swiveling to face Kurt. "Seriously?"

"Yeah?" Why is that such a…

"I love puppies! You have to send me a photo when you get home, okay? Do you know what kind?"

Kurt couldn't help but laugh at how excited his friend was about a puppy that wasn't even his. "No, Finn just told me before. I'll let you know when I get there."

"Okay!" Blaine put the laptop in Kurt's car before stepping back, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I adore puppies, but my parents never let me get one."

And the look on his face was just so adorably dejected that Kurt couldn't help but make the offer. "Maybe you can come out and see ours? I mean, if you're not busy this weekend?"

"I'd love to! Can I come on Sunday?"

Kurt grinned, pulling out his car keys. "Of course you can. I guess I'll see you then?"

Blaine nodded eagerly and before Kurt knew it, he was hugging him. It wasn't like they didn't hug goodbye often, but whenever Blaine caught him off guard it was always a little overwhelming. "Have a good weekend!"

It took a few minutes after Blaine left for Kurt to pull himself together, but the smile stayed on his face most of the way home. He knew his crush was a bit on the ridiculous side - enough so that Kurt didn't really feel he could call it a crush anymore - but really, it was Blaine's fault. "Honestly, he's like an excitable puppy," he told himself as he pulled into his driveway. "No wonder he wants one."

Grabbing his bag, Kurt quickly made his way towards the house and let himself in. "I'm home, now where is this little mons-"

Kurt froze for about three seconds before dropping to his knees as the most adorable Golden Retriever puppy bounded over to him and began to lick his hands. "Oh my, aren't you the cutest thing I've ever seen!" he cooed, completely unable to help himself. The puppy accepted his attention for a few seconds before scampering back to Finn, who was sprawled on the ground with his back against the couch. "What's his name?"

"We haven't decided yet," Carole said, entering the room with a bowl of food. "Your dad thought you'd like to be a part of the process."

"Knew you'd object if Finn named him something you didn't like." Kurt shuddered in memory of what Finn thought was a good name as Burt walked in, before hugging his dad quickly. "Good week?"

Kurt nodded, but his attention was immediately recaptured by the golden bundle of fluff and paws that was currently chowing down the food in front of it like it was going out of fashion. "I never thought you'd stoop so low," he teased his dad lightly. "But yes, let's talk names."

"I was thinking -"

"You're last resort, Finn. I'm not going to forget Drizzle anytime soon." Kurt shuddered again. "Carole, any ideas."

Carole reached out to pat the puppy who had finished with his food and was currently demanding more attention. "I've always liked Oscar… or Jacob."

Kurt shook his head immediately. "Sorry but I don't want to be reminded of Oscar Wilde, we've just spent a month covering his work in Literature and I hated it. And don't think your Twilight obsession went unnoticed there, too many people are calling their dogs Jacob now."

"Plus that reminds me of Jacob Ben Israel and that's just gross," Finn chipped in helpfully. "Can we call him Waldo?"

Kurt turned slowly, giving Finn his best scathing glare. "I'm sorry, did we miss the fact that we bought a red and white dog?"

"Well you think of something then!" Finn retorted. Kurt suddenly felt something wet nosing into his hand and glanced down to see the still-unnamed puppy clearly trying to get Kurt to pat him. Kurt acquiesced, scratching behind his ears and smiling fondly. He's such an attention seeker… reminds me of someone else…

"Everett," Kurt said, surprising himself with the name. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but for some reason it seemed to suit the puppy - the only better name choice being Blaine, but that would absolutely not work without raising questions that Kurt didn't want to answer.

Finn was nodding. "I like it! Where'd you get it from?"

"Not sure," Kurt said absently, unable to stop the grin from crossing his face as the puppy rolled onto its back. "Just came to me." Burt and Carole didn't seem to have any objections, so Kurt figured that was that. "Now, little guy," he said, picking up the puppy and heading off to the backyard. "Let's see if you can learn any tricks."

Finn followed, of course, and just as Kurt was about to put Everett down he remembered Blaine. "Oh, get a picture of us together," he told Finn, handing over his phone and sitting down on the grass with Everett. Finn snapped the photo and Kurt quickly sent it off to Blaine.

After determining that they weren't going to be able to teach Everett any tricks until they had dog treats and he had a nap, Kurt's phone began to ring. He picked it up absently, his heart flipping when he saw Blaine's name on the screen. "I guess you got the photos then?" he answered, hearing a laugh in response.

"He's adorable!" Blaine gushed, Kurt quite unable to hide his smile. "Can I still come over on Sunday?"

"Of course." Kurt picked up one of the many chew toys they had somehow already acquired and proceeded to engage in a violent tug-o-war battle.

Blaine began to laugh. "I can hear that, sounds like he's got a bit of personality!"

"Too much, I think. He's full of energy and I'm considering teaching him some positive outlets for it… perhaps singing?"

Blaine laughed again and Kurt grinned. If I'd known all it would take was talking about a puppy to make Blaine laugh this much, I would have gotten one ages ago! "So, what's his name?" Blaine asked.

"Huh? Oh, Everett." There was silence from the other end and Kurt frowned. "Blaine?"

"Still here. Um, I'd better go, leave you and… Everett to it. I'll see you on Sunday."

Blaine quickly hung up, leaving Kurt confused. Did I say something? And then a horrible thought struck - was Everett the name of one of Blaine's old bullies? Was that where he had inadvertently gotten it from?

Deciding he wouldn't get answers until Sunday, Kurt returned to playing with Everett who was once again vying for attention. He reminds me of Blaine more and more by the second.

At least he wants to spend a lot of time with me.

Kurt woke on Sunday morning to the harsh sensation of a wet tongue against his cheek. Groaning, he rolled over and batted at Everett irritably. "At least Blaine doesn't lick me," he muttered.

"Dude, I should hope not. That's gross."

Kurt just about fell out of bed. "Wh-what are you doing, Finn? Did you tell Everett to lick me?"

"No, I told Everett to wake you up, he decided to lick you." Finn clicked his fingers and Everett went bounding back across to him. "Blaine called, said he couldn't get through on your cell. He'll be here in half an hour."

This time, Kurt really did fall out of bed. "Half an hour?" he spluttered, untangling himself from the blankets quickly. "I need longer than that for my hair alone! Get out, get out, I have work to do!"

Finn left quickly, thankfully taking Everett with him, and Kurt pulled himself off the floor to rush into the bathroom. "Of course it would be Blaine who would potentially see me less than perfect," he groaned to himself as he scrubbed furiously, trying to mentally plan the perfect outfit that was both dog and crush appropriate. Once he had an idea, he jumped out and pulled it on before returning to attack his hair.

Kurt had only just finished styling perfection and was checking his phone to see why he hadn't gotten Blaine's calls - a dead battery being the culprit - when a knock at the door came. Checking his reflection one more time, Kurt quickly made his way downstairs, stealing Everett off Finn and opening the front door.

The usual polite expression Blaine wore when he came over to visit lasted all of two seconds until he saw Everett. "You're even cuter in real life!" he cooed, reaching out to pat him. "Yes you are!"

Kurt coughed lightly. "Hi, Blaine."

Blaine looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, Kurt," he said, but made no move to stop patting Everett. Kurt sighed and handed him over. "He's just so adorable!"

"Come on through to the back yard and I'll show you what we've taught him so far."

Kurt led Blaine through the house, his manners returning long enough to greet Carole and Finn before being completely distracted by Everett again. "So what can he do?"

Over the next hour, Kurt showed off Everett's impressive command of sitting, lying down, rolling over and shaking hands. Blaine then proceeded to attempt to teach him how to play dead, acting it out himself with such comedic value that Kurt was in near hysterics. "You're more of a puppy than him!" he gasped out, watching Blaine's expression turn thoughtful for a second before shrugging whatever it was off. Kurt made a hesitant suggestion. "You really want a puppy, don't you?"

Blaine placed Everett on the grass gently and sat next to him. "I'd love a puppy. They're so energetic and playful and love you no matter what."

Just like you, Kurt thought, trying not to laugh as Blaine flopped back on his back, Everett immediately seizing the chance to lick someone's face. "He is pretty cute," he said instead, deliberating for a second before copying Blaine and falling to lie on his back, right next to his friend.

There was a moment of silence, Everett sniffing around the grass. "So," began Blaine, his voice sounding carefully measured. "Why Everett?"

"I'm not sure," Kurt said honestly, staring up at the clouds. "Finn wanted Waldo and Carole was about to go all Twilight on me so I just said the first name that came to mind." And it was true; no matter how much he thought about it, Kurt couldn't work out where the name had come from.

Blaine turned his head to look at him and Kurt copied the action, trying not to focus on how close their faces were. "Hi," Blaine said quietly, an uninterpretable emotion flickering in the back of his eyes. "My name is Blaine Everett Anderson."

No…

But of course he had; it all made sense now. He had certainly been thinking of Blaine and how puppy-like he was at the time, and of course he knew Blaine's middle name was Everett. And now Blaine would think he was a creep or had a sad infatuation with him and it was all just going wrong.

"I guess I'd better ask again if it was intentional." Kurt shook his head immediately and Blaine let out a small laugh. "I think that's better in a way. Even without thinking about me, I remind you of a puppy… and I mean enough to you that you'd practically name your dog after me."

For a boy who managed to be oblivious so often, Blaine had hit the metaphorical nail right on the head this time, that much was for sure. Kurt sighed and dropped his eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't help it, and I can't say that if I had known I wouldn't have done it anyway. And I know you're the first openly gay single guy I know and some would say I'm just latching to the first person but it's not -"

"Wait." Blaine was frowning. "Are you - do you like me?"

Kurt blinked, twice. "You… uh, you hadn't - oh." His voice had dropped to a whisper and he could feel his face burning. Blaine hadn't been perceptive after all, and now Kurt had just gone ahead and let the cat out of the bag. Or perhaps dog was more fitting for this situation.

"No, I didn't," Blaine murmured, and there was something in his voice that made Kurt look up. Blaine's expression was of wonder and amazement and… relief? "If I had known, I would have done this a long time ago."

And Blaine leant in and kissed him.

Kurt's entire thought pattern derailed at this point and all he could do was kiss Blaine back and try to convince himself that this was real and Blaine did like him and they were kissing…

And then Blaine pulled away with a grunt and half-laugh and Kurt frowned. The cause was identified a moment later as Everett scampered between them and attempted to lick Kurt's face. "He's learning tips from his namesake," Blaine said laughingly and Kurt groaned, batting the dog away.

"As cute as he is, I'd quite like it if you were the only one kissing me, thanks." Blaine smirked but obligingly kissed Kurt again. It would have gone on for much longer but Kurt had questions he needed to ask. "Hey," he said, somewhat breathlessly, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't know you felt the same, obviously." Blaine rolled his eyes but he was still smiling and Kurt couldn't bring himself to be offended. "The fact that it took a dog to get us together is a little sad, I'll admit."

Kurt nodded. "But hey, at least you have a dog that's practically part yours now," he said, watching Blaine's face light up as planned. "And you can feel free to come and visit him whenever you like."

Blaine pretended to think about it for a second before smirking. "I'd much rather see his owner. Besides, Everett clearly reminds you of me, so it must be…" Blaine paused and Kurt mentally prepared himself. "Puppy love!"

"You are terrible," Kurt groaned, "and I'm going to shut you up now."

But they were both smiling as their lips met again.

I so want a pair of those kissing puppies from SLS...