To everybody who asked for the continuity fails blog, it's gleecontinuityfails . tumblr . com without the spaces.

I know this won't make a difference but to everybody begging me to not end the story, the answer is a definite no. You all knew it had to end sometime and if I continued it to 300 like I've been asked to do repeatedly, it would then end at 300 and it would probably be worse because you'd be even more comfortable and used to the story. I would appreciate it if you were just thankful for 234 because seriously 234, wow.

From getmeoutofthistie: Kurt has a thing for hands. He notices it first when he's round Blaine's house and has convinced him to play piano. Then again when Blaine's talking to him and being really expressive with his hand gestures. He just loves the way they move for some unknown reason.

In the end of Season Two when so many people seemed to be advocating for another Klaine kiss, I was one of the few who actually didn't want one. I mean, I love it when they kiss and 3x05 did so much for my heart but I just loved the stage their relationship was at, is still at. Where hand holding is just as much a symbol of love for them because sometimes they can't even have that so they cherish it. And after Kurt's comments in Sexy about the touch of a fingertips, you can tell how much he loves it and Blaine loves it because Kurt does.

So this prompt just allowed me to truly get into that.

This is my favorite non-AU chapter of Kiss.

Hands

He had noticed it the very first time they had met.

How could he not, when Blaine's hand was in his less than a minute after Kurt had stopped him on the staircase, warm and inviting and perfect? Kurt's head was spinning by the time they got to the commons and it wasn't just due to the obscure route they had just taken that Kurt was willing to bet half his collections was not a shortcut.

He just happened to love hands and couldn't miss the way Blaine's fingers filled the places between his own perfectly in a way Kurt had only ever dreamt of.

A lot of time had passed since that day. Kurt and Blaine had gone through so many ups and downs in their friendship, Kurt had fallen hopelessly in love around Christmas and, just after Valentine's Day, Blaine had returned the feelings. And now they were each other's boyfriend - first potentially awkward and devastating relationship for both of them that Kurt couldn't help but believe in completely after the first week. Yes, all high school couples thought they would be the one to defy stereotype, but none of them had ever slipped so comfortably into being in a relationship, like they had always been there just without the label, the understanding.

Kurt had that with Blaine and he wasn't planning on letting it slip away any time soon.

Dates were simple. Occasionally one would take the other out to dinner or a movie, but most of their time was spent at one another's houses, hanging out with the Warblers or New Directions or at coffee shops. Places that were comfortable, easy, familiar. Relationships had the potential to be difficult enough, why make it harder by trying to be something else somewhere else entirely?

Kurt loved Blaine's house, adored Blaine's mother and avoided Blaine's father whenever he happened to be home. Those were the weekends they usually spent around Lima, but this weekend his father was away on business and Kurt found himself sitting at the kitchen table with Blaine, knees touching under the table and hands occasionally brushing together as they talked to his mother. It was simple and domestic and Kurt was getting very used to it.

He was also used to the shrill beep of the pager which meant their time was about to be cut short.

Blaine's mother was a doctor, but more than that she was a woman with high morals. She trusted her son but also knew what it was like to be a teenager in love. So when she had to be called out for a job, the two boys weren't allowed to stay in the house alone together - they could go for a walk or get coffee or go to Kurt's house, as long as they weren't alone in Blaine's house.

(Kurt had had to resist the urge to tell her that they hadn't so much as kissed on several occasions.)

So when the tone rang out, Blaine sighed and glanced at Kurt. "Your house or the Lima Bean?"

"My parents aren't home and I really couldn't handle more coffee," Kurt said. "I guess I could call Mercedes or someone." Blaine matched his reluctant look - as nice as it was to see their other friends, it was lovely to spend some time together too and they had been lacking in that for quite a while now.

A clearing of the throat had them both looking up. "It's a two hour job tops," Mrs. Anderson explained. "And you boys have given me no reason not to trust you so... Blaine, I know you wanted to show Kurt the new piece you learned? It'll be easier with a quiet house."

Blaine hugged his mother for slightly longer than usual as she left before turning to Kurt and taking his hand. "Come on. I've been wanting to show you this for ages."

"Why didn't you play it at Dalton?"

Blaine pushed open the door to the sitting room, gesturing to the gorgeous piano inside. "It sounds much better on ours. And I wanted you to have the full effect." Sitting on the piano bench, Blaine glanced up and patted the seat next to him. "Come here?"

Kurt settled in next to him, their bodies pressed together with just enough room for Blaine to use his other hand. Catching sight of the sheet music, Kurt gave an appreciative murmur. "I approve."

"I'm glad. It's for you."

And before he could comment, Blaine began to play and all of Kurt's words disappeared.

He had always known that Blaine was extremely talented when it came to musical instruments but had only ever heard him play upbeat peppy tunes on the Dalton piano or used it to work with guys to prepare their harmonies. To see Blaine with his whole concentration dedicated to this one piece, hands dancing over the keys with perfect precision, Kurt was simply shocked into stillness. If he had looked up he would have seen the way Blaine's brow was slightly furrowed in concentration, eyes intent on the keys but slipping ever-so-occasionally to glance at Kurt, the way his head tilted to the side a little, the smile when he got a section right.

But none of that could ever entrance Kurt as much as Blaine's hands.

They were the cause of the perfection emanating from the instrument and they were perfection in themselves. Graceful jumps across the keys, veins lightly flexing in the back of the hand... it was all amazing.

The piece was over before Kurt really had time to take it in, but his response summed it all up.

"Beautiful."

He could hear his tone - soft and reverent and almost intimate - and it was almost too much for the situation, almost embarrassing how much affection was being conveyed in his words and surely Blaine would feel the same, surely it was Kurt coming on too strong again like he always did?

Blaine ducked his head a little and Kurt could see the pleased smile appear on his face. "I'm glad you liked it," he murmured before lifting an arm to wrap around Kurt's waist, fingers splayed gently against his side. Kurt leant into the touch unconsciously, resting his head against Blaine's shoulder with a happy little sigh. He fit so perfectly there that it was hard not to be content.

For awhile there was just peaceful silence and then Kurt sighed again, less cheerful this time. "I really want to hear that piece again," he explained, "but I don't want you to let go of me either."

Blaine chuckled gently. "Well I might just have to teach you what this hand does," he squeezed Kurt's side lightly, making him shiver, "so I can keep holding you."

Kurt obediently lifted his hand to the keys, smiling softly as Blaine began to instruct him.

Blaine threw all of himself into everything he did. Whether it was anything from a full-blown argument - and thank goodness they hadn't had one of those yet - to something as simple as homework, he was dedicated to that one thing. In fact, Kurt found out the only thing that could ever distract Blaine was him, and Kurt took more than a small amount of pleasure from that.

Of course this enthusiasm spread to conversations, especially the friendly debates the two found themselves in all the time. But somehow Kurt hadn't noticed this until now.

"I just don't think the Warblers are capable of more than a two step shuffle."

Blaine sighed, shaking his head. "Let me lay it out for you." He placed his hands side up on the table, palms facing each other and Kurt glanced down, naturally having been watching Blaine's hands the whole conversation. "We're here. We have this whole stage," a circular motion, "to work with. We've got a few who can't walk without falling over, yes," hands raised in a shrug, "but they can stay near the back and sway." Hands swaying and Kurt was starting to feel a little dizzy from watching it all, almost too caught up in the gestures of Blaine's hands to listen to what he was saying. "David can backflip in the middle and -"

He silenced when Kurt snorted. "Did you just try to make your hand backflip?"

"Oh!" Blaine glanced down at his hands, clasping them together almost self-consciously. "Talking with my hands again. Apparently it's a bad habit, I do it all the time though - see?" Because Blaine's hands had just risen of their own accord, adding the extra emphasis to his words and Kurt watched as Blaine actually blushed a little. "It's off-putting, I know. Just - here." Blaine took both of Kurt's hands, clasping them in his own. "Now I can't."

Kurt shook his head and released one of Blaine's hands. "I think it's adorable," he said quietly. "Carry on."

The blush was equally as adorable and Kurt was glad it wasn't going away. "I - yeah. Okay, obviously Jeff's a trip hazard but as long as Nick's protecting him, it should be fine -"

Kurt propped his chin up on his hand and watched. Blaine's hand gesture for 'protect' was a clasping motion and he smiled as Blaine's hand tightened slightly around his at the same time.

Sometimes when Blaine held him, Kurt couldn't think.

Blaine himself was intoxicating enough with his charm and words and smiles, but there was something altogether different about the silence, the way Blaine's head fit perfectly in the space between Kurt's neck and shoulder, the deep relaxed breaths he would take, the way he pressed that little bit closer any time he feared Kurt might be pulling away. It all took Kurt's breath away and he just needed to hold on to Blaine and make sure to never wake up from this amazing dream.

Of course there was a difference between a simple hug, one they could do in public after a date or passing by one another in the school between classes or simply because, and holding one another like this.

When Blaine held him, really held him, it was always like their last goodbye. Bodies pressed together, twined together, drinking one another in like they may never get to do this again. And yet they were both perfectly relaxed, perhaps because of the simple knowledge that somebody wanted them, desired them, needed them.

Blaine's hands would always find their way to his back, tracing patterns into his skin or ghosting down his spine but always, always touching him. His hands made Kurt feel safe, loved, wanted, beautiful. And as long as Blaine held him like this, Kurt would never have to fall again.

It was the day that Blaine came in hiding his hands under his blazer sleeves that Kurt knew something was wrong.

Blaine always reached out for his hand, for one. Kurt wasn't sure whether his boyfriend had a similar love for hands or just liked being close to him, but Blaine's hand would be in his the second they met up unless circumstances dictated otherwise. So to see his boyfriend sitting next to him in Warbler rehearsal with his blazer sleeves draped down over clenched fists, smiling like everything was normal but not holding his hand, Kurt knew something was wrong.

Waiting until the end of the meeting was torture, but Kurt wasn't exactly going to demand an answer from Blaine in the middle of rehearsal. But finally Wes called an end and Kurt slipped a hand on top of Blaine's wrist, squeezing lightly to indicate he should stay when Blaine turned to him with a curious smile. "What's wrong?"

"No, I'm asking you that," Kurt said, waiting for the rest of the Warblers to disperse before continuing. "Why are you hiding?"

It would take someone who knew Blaine as well as Kurt did to notice his tells - a slight tensing of the jaw, the way one covered hand curled almost protectively over the other. Otherwise, Blaine appeared entirely calm. "What do you mean by hiding?"

"Your hands," Kurt said, to the point but as gently as he could. "You always hold my hand during rehearsal. And unless it's something I've done, which I really don't think it is," Blaine shook his hand immediately and Kurt smiled faintly, "then I have to assume that you're hiding something."

Blaine, never one to lie, sighed and gave a small nod. "Okay, so you know my dad and I don't have the best of relationships. We, ah, got into a bit of an argument last night. A Warbler thing, as usual. Thinks it's a waste of time."

Kurt winced, knowing how much musical theatre meant to his boyfriend. "So you told him it wasn't?" he asked, still trying to work out why that meant that Blaine couldn't hold his hand.

"Tried. He didn't listen and I - I got angry," Blaine admitted quickly before rolling back his sleeve to reveal a bruised fist. "I punched the wall."

And Blaine looked so ashamed and Kurt just couldn't have that.

"It's okay," he murmured, taking Blaine's hand in his own as carefully as possible, examining the damage. Almost like a dream, Kurt lifted Blaine's hand to his lips, kissing the bruised knuckles gently one by one. "Don't hurt these," he said softly, stretching out the fingers and kissing Blaine's fingertips. "They're beautiful. Just like the rest of you."

"Kurt," Blaine whispered, his voice strangled.

Kurt shook his head. "Shh," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of Blaine's hand. "Your hands are what attracted me to you, you know? I mean, obviously there's all the intangible things like your heart and your personality that I just adore about you, but seeing your hands, the way you gestured to me when you were singing Teenage Dream? That got me. I love hands and yours are perfect. And you're perfect and your father is deluded and I will support you no matter what you choose to do with your life, even and especially if he won't."

And Kurt was more glad than ever that he knew all of Blaine's expressions, meaning he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend just before Blaine began to cry, holding him for as long as it took Blaine to realize that he was loved unconditionally by at least one person in this world.

As much as he wanted to just take Blaine's face in his hands and kiss away all of Blaine's insecurities and fears, he knew it wasn't time. Blaine wouldn't want their first kiss to be one of pity (even though it wasn't pity, not at all) so Kurt would wait.

Blaine was worth the wait, after all.

It took a week for the conversation to come up, just when Kurt had stopped believing that it would.

"So," Blaine said, interrupting the former silence of completing homework together, "you have a thing for hands?"

Kurt groaned, remembering his word choice. "Not a thing thing," he explained quickly. "Just... I just find them beautiful. The way they can move and make the most amazing of creations and how so many things can be done through them. And the way you hold my hand is just..." Kurt struggled to find the word, Blaine waiting patiently. "Right. It's like that's where my hand belongs, in yours. You could be doing so many things with your hands and instead you're using them to hold mine, to be close to me." Almost without realizing it, Kurt had taken Blaine's hand in his own, running his fingers across the back gently. "Beautiful," he said again.

"You're beautiful," Blaine said softly and his other hand came up to cup Kurt's cheek.

Kurt had to close his eyes at that, his entire focus on the feeling of Blaine's fingers against his skin, Blaine's thumb rubbing circles across his cheekbone. He had meant to argue, to start one of those cheesy cliche couple moments arguing over who was the most attractive but he couldn't respond. Not now.

Blaine laughed gently. "I thought that might happen. And for the record, I love the way you cherish hand holding and that's something we'll always have. But I was - well, I've been wondering whether I could show you how much I care about you in another way?"

"You never have to ask that."

He knew Blaine wanted to though, wanted to ask questions and make it clear what he was doing and be completely sure that Kurt wanted this and probably even talk about the implications it was going to have. So Kurt simply opened his eyes - not without supreme effort - and fixed them on Blaine's, silently telling him everything he needed to know. They had gone past the need for words a long time ago, after all, even before they were dating.

His eyes slipped shut again as Blaine traced another circle around his cheekbone and now it was down to trust - Blaine trusting that Kurt was ready and Kurt trusting that Blaine wouldn't leave him here, waiting for something that would never come.

And then the soft touch of lips against his and Blaine was kissing him. Soft gentle brushes of skin against skin and then firmer, properly, loving and reassuring and everything a kiss was always meant to be. Kurt focused on kissing back the same way, on giving Blaine every one of those things in return, on loving Blaine just the same as Blaine loved him.

Blaine's hand was still on his cheek and Kurt leaned into it before lifting his free hand to hold Blaine the same way, giving himself over entirely to Blaine and feeling him do the same.

And their other hands stayed clasped together, a constant tether, a silent reassurance and a symbol of love.

MusicalEscape:

"Peace." *walk out of Warbler practice*

*watches them leave*

"Quick, to the Warbler-mobile!"

"To stalk them?"

"To stalk them."