A/N: Thanks to my beta JayHawkWrites as always, for taking the time to do this.

oOoOo

Chapter 11 Surprise

After Blaine sings his final song of the night, and while the last chords of music are still softly playing in the background, he walks back over to the mic. "Thank you to everyone who came out to see us tonight. You are an amazing crowd. Good night Geneva, and thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful city," Blaine said with a wave, one of his signature smiles, and then he walks off stage. Glad another leg of their tour was complete. Three more concerts and the tour would be over, and he could finally go home, whatever home entailed these days.

Blaine hated the idea of going back home to an empty apartment. He couldn't bring himself to care that Matt would no longer be there, but the person he so wanted to be waiting for him, lived in another country, in another world and Blaine was hoping that between the two of them, they could figure out how to combine their two worlds together again. There really was no other option. Blaine knew he couldn't go back to a life without Kurt. He would give this life up in a heartbeat if it meant they could be together again.

Blaine happily accepts a bottle of water from one of his backstage crew, opens it up and downs the whole bottle. No matter how many concerts he does, he's still shocked almost nightly how hot it gets on that stage. The first concert Blaine had ever done, he had made the mistake of wearing a leather jacket. He had still been trying to develop his brand, find his place. Blaine had made it through the first few songs, and that jacket had come off. After that, he only wore a t-shirt and jeans, and sometimes even that was too much.

Blaine wiped off his face with a towel that had been left for him and stood back, listening to the screams coming from the audience. That never got old. Blaine loved to stand backstage and hear the fans cheer for him. It lets him know that he had done something right, that they liked what he had done. Even after all this time, Blaine sometimes still has his doubts that he's good enough to be there. It still shocked him that every concert he did was sold out, sometimes months in advance. He had always felt like it was a case of the right time, the right place. Remembering when June had taken him under her wing and guided him on. Blaine had still been reeling from losing Kurt, but she had pointed him in the right direction. This might not have been the life he had dreamed of all those years ago. Curled up next to Kurt, as the two of them talked about what they wanted for their future, but, other than the touring, Blaine was happy with the way his life had turned out. Minus losing Kurt, of course.

As the band started making their way off stage, Blaine stopped them until the whole crew was present. "Listen, guys, I know we're all anxious to get out of here and get to the plane, but we need to have a quick meeting about something that happened earlier tonight. Before we do that, though, I need to have a quick word with Sam, so if you guys don't mind hanging around for a few minutes, we'll be right back. Thanks, guys, for everything you do. I appreciate you more than you will ever know."

Walking away with Sam, Blaine heard the crew starting to whisper behind him, whispers of the band breaking up, wondering if tonight was the end, or would they finish out the rest of the tour since they only had three concerts left before heading home anyway. They all knew Blaine had been unhappy for a while, he always tried to hide his feelings, but he was a better musician and singer than actor. The whole crew had hoped that with him touching base with his ex again, things might have changed, he had actually been happy the last few days. Blaine noticed that even Sam seemed nervous.

"Blaine, is everything ok? You've seemed a little off since you walked on stage tonight. I'm not saying you weren't as great as usual, but it seemed almost like the spark was missing. Like you lost the fire. Did something happen with Kurt? To be honest, I was a little worried about that. Do I need to get Tina? She always seems to know what to say, and why isn't she already here anyway?" Sam asked, looking around, talking fast, trying to figure out what kind of damage control he and Tina would need to do this time. Sam was surprised that Tina wasn't already there. She usually had everyone that had been chosen for the meet and greet backstage before the band ever left the stage. Especially on the last night at a venue.

"No, Sam. Everything is fine with Kurt and me. The reason I needed to talk to you is because of Tina. I wanted to tell you what was going on before I talked to the rest of the crew. I had to let Tina go tonight. She will not be with us for the rest of the tour," Blaine said, hating even saying those words. Tina had been one of his best friends forever. She had been there to pick him up when his world had fallen apart, and so many times after that, but after what she had done, Blaine couldn't let her stay.

"Blaine? But why, what happened?" Sam asked, confused.

"Over the last few months, Tina has been doing and saying little things that I didn't like. I didn't say anything about it because we both know that's just Tina being Tina. But it had gotten to a point where I couldn't let it slide anymore. She seems to have taken offense to me getting back together with Kurt. I understand that you guys have your doubts about him and me. You were both there when we fell apart, and I'm ok with that. I'm ok with you two feeling the way you do. What I'm not ok with is Tina purposely trying to sabotage us," Blaine answered.

"What do you mean sabotage you? Tina would never set out to hurt you, Blaine. She loves you," Sam asked, not believing that Blaine had fired Tina. They had all been friends since high school. They had been there for each other when each one of their relationships had fallen apart. Sam and Blaine had been there at the beginning of their senior year when Mike had told Tina, he thought they would be better off as friends. Blaine and Tina had been there for Sam when Mercedes' career had taken off, and she decided she didn't have time for him anymore, even though he had gotten everything started for Mercedes by posting a YouTube video of her singing Disco Inferno. And Tina and Sam had been there for Blaine when Kurt had pulled the rug out from underneath him.

"I know she loves me, Sam. I love her too. She's one of my very best friends, but lately, things have gotten bad between us. I tried to keep it away from you. I didn't want you to feel like I was asking you to pick sides. Because that is the last thing, I would ever do. Sam, the other day when I had my meeting with Tina, when I had to ask you to leave, it was because of this very issue. That's why I told you that I needed to talk to Tina alone. I've never had a problem with talking to the both of you together before, but something was brought to my attention, something I was doing, that I needed to change."

"After our last concert in Paris, when I sang one of my original songs, she blasted me in front of the whole crew. If she'd come to me in private and told me she didn't think that was a good idea, we could've talked about it, and everything would've been ok, but she did it in front of the whole crew. She knew that I had always let things like that go in the past because she was my friend. If Alex or Marc had acted like that though, they would have been gone instantly. But, because she is my friend, I kept letting things slide. I might have let that one go too if she hadn't attacked Kurt. He had nothing to do with me changing my set list, with me deciding to sing that song, but she took her anger out on him."

"I talked to Jack about it the next morning, and he told me he had been worried about me bringing Tina on as part of my team from the beginning, but he knew it was what I wanted, that I needed the two of you with me. Jack went on to remind me that yes, Tina was my friend, but during working hours, she was also my employee, and I had never separated the two. I let the lines be blurred for both of us. Jack told me that I needed to talk to her, let her know that during work hours, she was my employee only. After hours she was free to give me as much shit as she wanted to. We talked about this Sam and Tina agreed with it. She told me she knew that she'd crossed a line and she apologized. Tina promised it would never happen again. She did, however, keep making digs at Kurt, but since we weren't working when she did it, I just asked her to drop it. She had her opinion, and that was ok, but I didn't want to hear it."

"I'm not even sure why, but somehow she got it into her head that if Kurt wasn't around, now that I wasn't with Matt, I would finally realize that she and I would be perfect together…"

"What! Tina knows your gay. What the hell? I mean, there was that time in high school when she had that small crush on you, but she got over that a long time ago." Sam said in disbelief.

"I thought so too, until Kurt and I got back together. She started doing little things to try to make Kurt and I doubt each other. That was another thing I'd talked to her about, and I thought we had everything settled until I saw this," Blaine said, pulling his phone out of his pocket and showing Sam the twitter feed that Kurt had sent to him.

"Why would she do that? That not only hurts Kurt but you and this dude at the same time," Sam said, passing Blaine's phone back over to him.

"I'm not sure, but when I asked her about it, she said, and I quote, 'I can make you love me, Blaine. Watch.' And then Sam, she kissed me. I thought the time I kissed Rachel Berry was bad, but Sam, this was like kissing a wet Chihuahua," Blaine answered.

Sam stood there with his mouth open in disbelief for a few minutes. How could Tina possibly believe she could 'make' Blaine love her as more than just friends by kissing him. Sam stared at Blaine in shock for a few minutes, and then he thought about what Blaine had said, and saw the look of disgust on Blaine's face, and Sam lost it. He laughed so hard he about peed himself.

"I'm sorry man, I'm sorry, but the look on your face and just when did you kiss a wet Chihuahua anyway?" Sam asked, still laughing so hard he could barely stand up.

"Not funny, Sam. And so not the point," Blaine said, watching Sam laugh until he finally broke down, laughing himself. "Wow, I'm so glad you're my friend there Sammie, you are hilarious," Blaine said, shaking his head watching as Sam tried to pull himself together.

"Sorry man, but wet Chihuahua… really?" Sam said, bursting out laughing again.

"Ok, ok, enough of that friend. I need to go talk to the crew and let them know what's going on, so we can get out of here," Blaine said, shaking his head and walking away from a still laughing Sam.

Seeing Blaine walking back towards them with a smile on his face and a still laughing Sam behind him put the rest of the crew's minds to rest. They weren't about to lose their jobs after all. They all knew they could sign on with another band, but they all liked working with Blaine. He always made sure they knew how important they were to him. Not every group did that.

"Thanks for waiting for me guys and for being patient. I know we're all looking forward to getting on the plane, getting to Berlin, and finding our beds. This shouldn't take long. Tonight before the show started, I had to let Ms. Cohen-Chang go. She will not be with us for the rest of the tour. I won't go into the reasons behind this decision, but I felt you all had a right to know."

"Unfortunately, without her being here, things might not run as smoothly as usual, so I'm going to have to beg your patience until the end of the tour when I can hire a new assistant. Luckily we only have four more concerts left on this tour. I'm going to be talking to Jack in the morning and have him call ahead and advise the venues that, for now, all meet and greets have been suspended. If you have any problems, come to me, and we'll figure it out together. Thanks in advance guys, for your patience. You make what I do possible, and I wanted you to know that. Ok, let's get out of here," Blaine said with a smile, turning around, following a runner towards the exit, and out to one of the cars that would be taking him and his crew to the airport.

oOoOo

The rest of the tour went smoothly, with no major hiccups happening. After the concert in Rome, Blaine and his crew went their separate ways, agreeing to meet up for their last show in Québec City, Canada. Blaine couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he made his way through the airport. He was going to London to surprise Kurt for his birthday. Blaine had started making plans for this surprise the minute he had left Kurt in Paris. Blaine had managed to rent a house through Airbnb for three days. Yes, he knew he could have just stayed with Kurt, but for part of his plan, Blaine needed a kitchen, and it would have ruined part of his surprise if he had had to use Kurt's.

When Blaine's plane touches down at Heathrow, it's just past midnight local time. He turns his phone on and calls Kurt as he's making his way through the airport and then on to customs. It had become routine for Blaine to call Kurt when he walked off the stage every night after a concert, or if he was flying to a new city, then Blaine would call as soon as his plane landed, to let Kurt know that everyone was safe, and they would talk about what Blaine saw as he made his way to his motel. Blaine knew Kurt would be waiting for his call. This time, however, Blaine didn't tell Kurt where he was, he didn't describe what he saw as he made his way to the house he had rented. No Kurt would have known right away where he was.

"No sweetheart, as usual, I can't see a thing. It's so dark, all I can really see are the lights we pass. I'll go exploring tomorrow and tell you all about it," Blaine said with a smile spreading across his face. It was killing him that he was back in the same city with Kurt, and couldn't go straight to him, but if he wanted to surprise him, this is how it has to be. Blaine had even gone so far as to call Kurt's boss André and asked him to make sure that Kurt worked tomorrow, well, technically today. Kurt was probably going to kill him when he finds out, but hopefully, it will be worth it.

"So, you have three nights before your last concert on tour. What are you planning on doing during your time off?" Kurt asked.

"I had honestly thought about flying home, or going to see mom and dad for a few days, but the thought of going through customs, going home for a day and a half, then having to turn around and do it all over again, just seemed like too much trouble. I can just go home after the last show, and relax for a while. Maybe go and spend a week with Mom and Dad. It's been a while since I've been home, to be honest. I guess I'll just bum around Québec and see what kind of trouble I can get myself into. Sam's already dying to get out and about," Blaine said with a sigh.

"Oh, ok," Kurt said, sounding disappointed.

"Kurt, what's wrong?" Blaine asked, sitting up straighter in his seat, watching the lights of London as they passed.

"It's nothing really, I was just going to suggest you come here during your downtime, but you're right about the customs thing, that would be kind of crazy, wouldn't it," Kurt answered softly, and then a thought hit him. If Blaine couldn't come to him, maybe he could go to Blaine, they could spend three days together in Québec. That thought had Kurt smiling again. He would talk to André first thing in the morning.

"Listen sweetheart, I need to go ahead and get off here. We just got to our hotel, and we need to go get checked in. I'm so used to Tina taking care of all this for me. Oh well, I'll call you in the morning, ok?"Blaine asked, stepping out of the car seeing that the owner of the house he would be renting was already there.

"You'd better. Tell Sam hi for me, ok. I love you Blaine," Kurt said, walking towards his room to get ready for bed.

"I love you too Kurt, and I'll talk to you in the morning. Night," Blaine said before ending the call.

"Ms. Conners? Hi, I'm Blaine Anderson," Blaine said, walking up to the petite woman waiting on him, holding out his hand

"Hi Mr. Anderson, welcome to London," She said, shaking his hand. "Per your request, I've done the shopping, and picked up everything on your list. I left the receipt with the totals on the bar. The kitchen is fully stocked and should have everything you need. Please call me if there are any problems," Ms. Conners said with a big smile. She was a big fan of Blaine's and hoped to use the fact that he had stayed here as an advertisement for future renters.

"Thank you so much. You just saved me an earlier morning than I had planned on," Blaine said, taking the keys she offered him and made his way into the house. Looking around, it was perfect.

Blaine opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of diet coke. He hasn't had one since he left Paris and had almost forgotten how good they were. Looking through the rest of the fridge, and then the cabinets, Blaine found everything he had asked for, down to the square, white, bakers box he would need in the morning. Taking another sip of his coke, Blaine carried his suitcase into the room he would be using, set it down on the bed, and rummaged through his clothes until he found the pair of lounge pants and t-shirt he planned on sleeping in that night. Stripping off his clothes as he walked to the bathroom, Blaine stopped long enough to grab a fresh towel and wash rag off of the dresser, and made his way to the on-suite bathroom. Finally taking the shower, he had wanted to take since stepping off the stage in Rome. The water hitting his body felt wonderful.

When the water started to turn cold, Blaine stepped out of the shower, dried off, dressed, and picked up his clothes. On his way to the kitchen Blaine grabbed the bag he always kept his dirty clothes in and went in search of the washer. When he found it, he stood there in front of the thing for five minutes, trying to figure out how it worked. He had forgotten that in the UK, most people had a washer/dryer combo in one machine. Blaine read over the instruction for the third time, and then finally just went with it. At least the clothes he was trying to wash was just what he wore off stage. None of what he considered work clothes would be damaged. Those were on their way to Québec, with part of his crew, so if he damaged something, he could always replace it. His mom would die if she knew how many times that had happened, Blaine thought with a grin.

When he had the washer set to wash and dry his clothes, he made his way back to the bedroom, pulled down the bed linen, and crawled in bed, sighing as his body sank into the soft mattress.

oOoOo

When Blaine's alarm went off the next morning at 8:00 am, he turned it off, rolled over, and almost drifted off to sleep. Remembering what today was, was the only thing that stopped him. Making his way to the kitchen, the first thing Blaine did was fire up the coffee maker. Blaine, without coffee, was still not a good thing. After finishing his second cup, he got to work on part of Kurt's surprise. Blaine had several things planned for today. Once he was done, Blaine turned off the oven, and while everything was cooling, he went and got dressed for the day, taking particular care with his looks, he would be seeing Kurt today after all.

When everything was ready, Blaine made his way outside to the car waiting for him, his precious box in hand. He gave the driver the address of where he was going and then sat back trying to calm his nerves. Would Kurt be happy to see him, or would he resent it that Blaine hadn't warned him of his visit? By the time they were pulling up at the address, Blaine was a nervous wreck. He sat there for a few minutes, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down, before paying the driver and stepping out of the car, making sure his sunglasses were in place, he made his way to the door.

The minute Blaine opened the door, he felt a refreshing blast from the air conditioning. He looked around for a moment and then noticed the visitor's desk and made his way over to it, sitting the box he had been carrying down on the counter. Blaine waited a few minutes for the receptionist to notice him, and when she didn't, he cleared his throat. When that didn't work either, Blaine decided to speak.

"Excuse me, ma'am, could you please call Kurt Hummel and tell him his boyfriend is here," Blaine said with a smile, his heart skipping a beat, just being able to say that again.

"Funny... If you knew Mr. Hummel, you would know he doesn't have a boyfriend," the woman answered without looking away from her computer screen.

"I beg to differ, but I'll play along with you. Can you please tell Mr. Hummel, he has a visitor then," Blaine said, trying not to lose his patience.

"Listen, I have strict instruction from Mr. Hummel not to bother him under any circumstances, and I don't plan on it, especially since he is in a pissy mood this morning," She said, still not looking up from her screen.

"Why is Kurt in a pissy mood?" Blaine asked, now concerned. Kurt had seemed fine when they talked last night. Maybe because he hadn't called Kurt first thing this morning the way he usually did. Blaine had just gotten so busy, he had lost track of time, plus he had known he would be seeing Kurt this morning anyway.

"Not that it is any of your concern why Mr. Hummell is pissy, but he tried to convince his boss to let him off so he could go to Canada today, why I don't know, but André told him he had just gotten back and he was needed here. I think he was also pissed that he had to work today since it's his birthday. It would seem that he always gets his birthday off except this year, it must be nice," She said in a whispered tone.

"Listen, would it be possible just to call Kurt and ask him if he has time to see me?" Blaine asks, thinking he is going to have to ruin his surprise, pull out his phone and call Kurt himself.

"Listen, Mr…."

"Anderson, Blaine Anderson," Blaine said, waiting for her to look up and recognize him. She had a magazine on her desk with his picture on the front page for goodness sake.

"Yeah, right, Blaine Anderson, sure you are," she said, laughing and only then looked up. "Bloody hell, it's really you. You're Blaine Anderson." She said, staring at him with her mouth hanging open.

"Yes, I am. Now can you please call Kurt and let him know his boyfriend is here to see him?" Blaine said with a smile spreading across his face. That never got old, getting to call Kurt his boyfriend again.

"No, you're the BLAINE ANDERSON" she almost screamed looking at Blaine starstruck.

Ahh, a fan Blaine thought with a smile. "Yes ma'am, now, can I please see Kurt?" Blaine smiled, watching as she quickly picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Mr. Hummel, Mr. Blaine Anderson is here to see you, and I mean THE Blaine Anderson," Blaine started laughing when he heard Kurt screaming over the phone, and watched as the secretary pulled the receiver away from her ear.

The next thing Blaine heard was someone running down the hall and he suddenly found his arms full of Kurt. "Blaine, what are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I would have forced André to give me the day off. I don't know why he is making me work today anyway. He knows what today is," Kurt said, looking at Blaine, only then wondering if Blaine even remembers what today is.

"That's my fault sweetheart. I called André a few days ago and told him that I wanted to surprise you for your birthday. I had a feeling you were going to try to surprise me in Canada, but this is the first time in over four years that we can be together on your birthday, so I wanted to surprise you here, starting with this," Blaine said picking up the box he had sat on the counter when he had first walked in, handing it to Kurt.

"What's this?" Kurt asked, holding the box looking up at Blaine, still in shock that he was really there.

"Well, I started thinking about a few promises I made you our first Christmas together as a couple. I might be a few years behind, but I hope this will start to make up for it," Blaine answered softly.

Kurt was lost, trying to think of what promise Blaine could have made that would need a box. Kurt sat the box back down on the counter, opened the lid, and started to cry, instantly remembering the promise ring Blaine had given him their first real Christmas together. Kurt remembered one of the promises Blaine had made that day was, 'I promise to bake you cookies at least twice a year.' That first year Blaine had kept that promise. He had made Kurt his favorite cookies more than twice that year. They had broken up before Blaine could ever make him more.

"You remembered," Kurt whispered, with tears running down his face, reaching out to pull Blaine to him.

"Remembered what? My promises to you that day, or that today was your birthday? Because Kurt, how could I have forgotten either," Blaine said, leaning back enough to kiss Kurt. Only when he heard people around them cheer, did Blaine remember they were in a public place. "Come on, let's get out of here and go somewhere quiet. Oh, and André agreed to give you the rest of the day off."

Kurt could do nothing but smile. That was three promises Blaine had kept today. The first being to surprise him. Kurt couldn't have been more surprised by Blaine's visit. The second, to kiss him whenever, and wherever he wanted, and oh how Kurt had wanted that kiss. The last being the cookies. Blaine had taken the time to make Kurt his favorite cookies, how he didn't know and didn't care. Blaine was here, and that was all that really mattered after all, Kurt thought pulling Blaine back into his arms, never wanting to let him go again.