Dinner was delicious. The chicken was cooked to perfection and the mashed potatoes probably went straight to Kurt's hips, but the garlicy buttery goodness was too much to say no to. He genuinely enjoyed the food from the moment it was placed in front of him until the moment they took his plate away. That being said, it wasn't the type of nice peaceful dinner Kurt was partially expecting, though how could it be with the company he was in?

The table sat 10 people, and Kurt's was packed with New Direction alumni. Himself, Rachel, Mercedes, Tina, Mike, Puck, Artie, Santana and Brittany spent tons of time reminiscing about the old days and poking fun at Sam who tables away couldn't defend his honor. The tenth person at the table was a bit out of place, but was clearly put at the table since he had met the group before – Cooper Anderson. Kurt never particularly loved Cooper. He was funny and he was talented, but his ego was suffocating, even for Kurt.

It had been 8 years though, and it seemed as if Cooper mellowed out as much as one could expect Cooper Anderson could ever mellow out. He still tried to spin the conversations to be about him and his Hollywood career – now focused upon hosting bad reality TV and compilation video shows instead of commercials. It was a big table though, and since Rachel was sitting between Kurt and Cooper, Kurt managed to duck out of the strenuous conversations and chat with Mercedes who was on his left for the most part. Catching up with Mercedes was much more preferable, and Rachel managed to use that conversation as a Cooper buffer as well.

Kurt managed to even forget that the Anderson brothers were in attendance for a while as he lost himself in talk of the good ole' days and had a couple impromptu sing alongs with the background music. He was genuinely enjoying himself, and managing to get past some of the awkward things he was feeling when he first arrived at the reception. That was, until a familiar Anderson voice came over the mic again and reminded Kurt that there was more than the good, easy past to remember.

"At this time, I'm honored to sing a song for Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Evans as they take their first dance as husband and wife," Blaine said, now on the miniature stage with the small band that had been playing wordlessly throughout the dinner. Everyone's attention turned to the dance floor as Sam and a beautiful woman with olive skin and long brown curls took the dance floor. Her dress floated behind her, and Sam's eyes never left the woman's face. It brought a small smile to Kurt's, but there was some pain in his eyes knowing that he should be feeling the same way about a certain someone right now, but wasn't.

Then the music started, and while most eyes kept on the happy couple, Kurt's tended to drift over to the small riser in the corner where his short, curly-haired ex sang as beautifully as ever.

What would I do without your smart mouth?

Drawing me in as you're kicking me out?

You've got my head spinning, no kidding

I can't pin you down…

And suddenly Kurt was taken back in time to when Blaine visited him in New York, just a month or two before things fell apart. Kurt had just started at NYADA, a semester behind Rachel, and Blaine was there to congratulate him. They found a piano lounge and sat and talked and kissed sang along to little tunes Blaine knew on the piano. And then he serenaded Kurt with one of the most emotional love songs overly played on the radio at the time…

What's going on in that beautiful mind?

I'm on your magical mystery ride?

And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright.

My head's underwater but I'm breathing fine.

You're crazy and I'm out of my mind.

Kurt could feel a lump in his throat, not because he wanted to cry really, but because thinking back to that moment fueled so many different emotions. It was one of the most beautiful songs Blaine ever sang to Kurt, for Kurt. But Blaine destroyed what they had so soon after. And now this song was back at the wedding of a friend where Kurt was alone, without his own fiancé – a man Kurt should be reminded of immediately when the words filled the hall.

'Cause all of me

Loves all of you

Love your curves and all your edges

All your perfect imperfections

Give your all to me

I'll give my all to you

You're my end and my beginning

Even when I lose I'm winning

'Cause I give you all of me

And you give me all of you, oh oh

Kurt watched as other members of the wedding party slowly got up and joined the couple on the dance floor as Blaine sang on. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were the first to join in, along with the bride and groom's parents. And by the second chorus other friends and family members were joining in. Santana and Brittany were among the first at their table to join the crowd, and the others coupled up and joined after. But when Rachel offered a hand to Kurt, the man shook his head no and waved the woman off to go dance with Puck or Artie or Cooper. Somehow Kurt just didn't feel right joining in.

Then he watched as Blaine stepped off the riser, dropping down about 4 inches and disappearing a bit behind the crowd of slow dancers. But Kurt could tell he had bent down as if to pick something up, and sure enough when Kurt caught sight of him again, the man had the tiny blonde child he called his own in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck as Blaine swayed back and forth, never missing a note or a beat. Kurt would be lying if he didn't find the image somewhat adorable. Blaine looked at his daughter as if she were the most precious thing on the planet – a look Kurt was certain he'd only seen in movies.

The song ended, and Blaine handed the mic back over to the band who proceeded to move on to some more upbeat music, getting the crowd to pick up the pace and really start the party. Kurt watched as Blaine lowered the little girl toward the ground, but kept her close, allowing her to stand on his toes as they moved around the dancefloor. The little girl was giggling, and Blaine was singing along with the band happily, making over exaggerated faces to keep the child amused. Kurt found himself laughing too, because the man looked absolutely ridiculous.

Kurt's gaze tore away from Blaine and Mackenzie when Rachel and Cooper came back to the table. "What's so funny?" Rachel asked, taking her seat next to Kurt again, trying to follow his gaze.

"Oh just… Blaine and the kid…"

"Mackenzie?" Cooper interjected "She's an angel isn't she?"

"She really is so adorable," Rachel agreed when she spotted the little girl with her father in the crowed. She chuckled too, seeing what Kurt had found so funny. "Blaine is really amazing with her isn't he?"

"Oh my god, he's more than amazing. He's like… he's superdad," Cooper gushed. It caught Kurt's attention, though, because it was the first time in the night Cooper had anything great to say about somebody that wasn't him and something that wasn't his own career. "You know, he works 3 jobs to give that kid everything she could ever want or need."

"3 jobs?" Kurt asked, a bit of disbelief, turning back to look at Blaine. He didn't look nearly tired enough to be a single dad with 3 jobs. He didn't look like he had a care in the world. "That's crazy!"

"You're telling me. My parents and I help when we can, but he doesn't like to tell us when he runs into trouble," Cooper added. Kurt was sure Blaine wouldn't be happy that his brother was sharing all this information, but Kurt couldn't help but try to dig for more. This was gossip about his ex-boyfriend for goodness sake! And by Rachel's next question Kurt knew his best friend was on the same page.

"Oh my god, the poor thing! Does he run into trouble a lot? With three jobs he has to be somewhat secure, right?" Rachel asked, an overtone of concern in her voice.

"Oh, it comes and goes, you know? He has always had this job at a diner where I swear he only keeps working because he can't in good conscious leave the owners without their star employee. But he's got a desk job during the week that keeps them pretty comfortable right now." Kurt couldn't imagine Blaine behind a desk. The thought actually nauseated Kurt a little. Blaine wasn't the type to be confined to a small space. He hated sitting still and insisted that furniture be used for anything but its intended purpose. How could Blaine Anderson possibly hold down a desk job? "Everything he does he does for that little girl though. No matter what," Cooper explained.

"That's so awesome. I really still can't believe he actually has a kid! And a 5 year old at that!" Rachel noted. Kurt nodded, agreeing with the woman. He honestly hadn't expected anyone to have a family at this point in their lives, especially since none of them were married, and he was so put off by the idea of children at this point in his own life. Yet there was the man he one day thought he would marry with a toddler standing on his toes.

"Well we came over her to make sure you got up and had a good time," Rachel said to Kurt, finally changing the subject. "I know you're not feeling the whole wedding thing, but I'm not going to let you sit here and mope while the rest of us are dancing and drinking and reliving our glory days."

"Really? You're on freakin' Broadway and you consider High School glee club your glory days?" Kurt asked skeptically. He didn't receive an answer though. Rachel simply stood and tugged at the man's arm until he stood too, and then dragged him over to the dance floor where the rest of their old friends were dancing. Kurt was glad that the band had already moved on from sappy love songs though, and was just starting their rendition of 'Mambo No. 5'.

And true to Rachel's word, she made sure Kurt was having a good time. He wasn't much of a dancer, but it was easy to let loose around the familiar faces. He wasn't so afraid to make a fool of himself when he was with his old high school friends. He kept by them through the cake cutting and the tossing of the bouquet – caught by a woman who must have been the bride's elderly aunt. He even played along for the garter toss, but he shuffled to the left when the elastic was thrown in his direction. Might as well not get his hopes up. It was a bit after that when the couple cut the cake, and servers started placing small slices around the tables that Kurt finally managed to slink away from Rachel and the ever-partying New Directioners.

Kurt made his way back toward his table, but hesitated when he noticed that there was someone sitting in his seat. Blaine was sitting where Rachel had been, and Mackenzie was next to him, face covered in bits of cake and frosting. Cooper was there too, but before Kurt could even consider how and if to approach the group, Cooper stood and made his way over to the bar. And as Blaine looked up, following Cooper's path, he saw Kurt, smiled and waved.

Kurt smiled back, though somewhat nervously, and bridged the gap between himself and the table. "Someone is really enjoying that cake, huh?" he asked noticing as he got closer that there were bits of frosting on the ends of the little girl's hair. Kurt couldn't help but laugh as Blaine sighed.

"Yeah, well luckily I won't be the one giving her a bath tonight. Cooper is going to take her back to the hotel soon because it's almost her bed time," Blaine explained, clearly loud enough so the child could hear.

"No daddy! I want to stay here with you! I'm not tie-uhd at all!" the girl insisted, placing down her fork and putting her hands on her hips with finality and sass. Kurt snorted softly. The child hadn't been nearly that vocal before, and it was more than a little funny that this five year old was able to convey that much cheek.

"Yeah, you say that," Blaine retorted, grabbing a napkin and wiping the girls face with a little bit of force as the child struggled to pull away – not wanting to be cleaned up in the slightest. "She'll crash from this sugar high in less than a half hour. I'd put money on it," Blaine whispered to Kurt. Kurt found it hard to believe, seeing how wired the little girl was as she slipped off her seat, and scurried around the table the long way and then climbed onto Blaine's lap. Kurt noticed her shoes were once again nowhere to be found.

"So uh… Cooper's taking her?" Kurt asked to confirm.

"Yeah," Blaine said, lifting the child to adjust her on his lap as she reached over to try and get the remnants of her cake. "What kind of party would it be if the best man left before 10 without getting even a little drunk?" Blaine asked, clearly only half joking. "Plus, it gives me some time to talk and dance with people without having a five year old attached to my hip."

"Hey, I'm five!" the little girl interjected, not noticing that her father was talking about her. "I'm five and… and my birfday is August sisteenf."

"August sixteenth? That's a pretty good day for a birthday…" Kurt noted, not exactly sure how one responds to such a statement and appeal to a child. He was slightly taken aback to be honest, seeing as the child was so shy before. But he supposed Blaine did say she'd open up as the night went on.

"Yup! It's the BESTST day. I like your hair. How does it do that…" Mackenzie started before reaching up toward Kurt's face with frosting coated fingers. Kurt's eyes widened and he pulled away quickly, but Blaine was just as quick in grabbing the kid's wrist in one hand and a napkin in the other.

"Mackenzie, we don't touch other people's hair," Blaine scolded with a small sigh as he wiped the frosting off the child's fingers to the best of his ability. She didn't protest as much as when Blaine tried to clean her face, but she certainly didn't make it easy for him. Kurt could see there was still some form of sticky residue on her palms when Blaine put the napkin down. Kurt scooted his chair just a little further from the two, hoping to avoid any of the mess.

"I'm sorry. She's been sneaking cookies and cake from the desert bar for an hour now," Blaine explained as the child twisted around and started climbing around her father and his chair. Kurt could tell Blaine was a little irritated with her, but seemed to be maintaining his patience fairly well. Kurt knew he would have snapped by now, especially if the little girl's hands had ended up in his hair the way Mackenzie had intended.

"Oh… uh… it's fine," Kurt said, not entirely sure that it was. "I mean…. I'll take compliments on my hair any day," he added, which was the absolute truth. Blaine chuckled, and adjusted Mackenzie in his lap again. He leaned slightly, and pulled his phone out of his pocket.

"Here Kenz, let's try and settle down. Why don't you watch some shows?" he offered, tapping the screen a couple times and handing the device to the child.

"Little Einstein's!" the girl squealed, pressing her own sticky finger to the screen to start her show. Kurt noticed she almost immediately stopped jittering and squirming around in her father's lap. Kurt wasn't sure how he felt about depending on media to make a child behave, but at least she wasn't trying to touch his hair anymore. Blaine produced some earbuds and handed them to Kenzie so she could hear the cartoon, before looking back to Kurt.

"I'm telling you… fifteen minutes, and she'll be out like a light," Blaine insisted, shifting the girl slightly so that she wasn't slipping off his lap.

"I'll take your word for it," Kurt noted.

"So why aren't you out dancing with everyone?" Blaine asked, nodding to the group of One Directions, now joined by Sam. The music was slowing down again, but the bride and groom were making their rounds, dancing with family and friends as they saw fit. Rachel was slow dancing with Sam at the moment, and by the look on the blonde's face he was being made fun of fairly consistently by the outspoken brunette starlet.

"Honestly, I'm just not feeling very… into the whole wedding thing I guess," Kurt admitted openly, not sure what other kind of excuse he could come up with on the spot. Dancing to party music was fine, but once everything slowed down it was a little weird for Kurt. It reminded him that this was in fact a wedding, and the entire event was about love and loving someone else for the rest of your life. It had him thinking about James and about whether or not he could really spend a lifetime with him. And if he could is that what he really wanted? Is that what James really wanted?

"Seriously? You? Not feeling up to a wedding?" Blaine asked in disbelief. Kurt rolled his eyes, but knew where Blaine was coming from. Kurt had been subscribed to Brides magazine since he was fourteen, for Christ's sake.

"Yeah, I know it's just…" Kurt started. Did he really want to get into this right now? With his ex of all people? With yet another man he had been in this position with eight years ago? "I've been engaged for a while now… but things have been… tough," Kurt said before he could even think much more of it. He needed to get it off his chest, and he knew Rachel wouldn't want to hear any of it. "We called off the wedding for now, and it's just a little jarring being here and not knowing what the future holds for us."

"Oh…" Blaine said, voice falling a bit. "I'm really sorry to hear that Kurt." His tone was sincere but Kurt could tell the other man didn't know exactly what to say. Kurt shrugged. He didn't expect Blaine to know how to help. He just needed to say out loud the things he was feeling.

"It's just weird… thinking about how this could have been my wedding. We were looking at December. And I've been wondering what things would be like if we hadn't had these issues. And now I'm trying to figure out if I can still see myself here with him."

"And can you?" Blaine asked as he pulled the little girl in his lap closer to him. Sure enough her eyes were starting to droop. Kurt was a little shocked at how quickly she'd gone from sugar high to crash and burn.

"… I don't know," Kurt admitted. "I mean… I can. I can see myself with James forever… but…"

"You don't have to explain it to me," Blaine insisted, seeing that Kurt was struggling. "You'll figure it out Kurt. You always have. It wouldn't be the first time your idea of forever changed," Kurt nodded, a half smile on his lips for just a second. It hurt a little bit thinking that Blaine may be speaking of how quickly Kurt was able to move on from him. That must have really thrown the other man, and Kurt had never really thought about it that was until this moment. But then again, it was easy to move on when someone betrayed you in the way Blaine had.

"Yeah… I suppose," Kurt mused, looking off into the crowed again, happy to see the music was picking back up and people were detaching from one another.

"Listen, how about I pass this one off to my brother, get us a couple of shots, and get you to forget about this guy for the rest of the night? You shouldn't let any problems you have with him keep you from having a good time tonight," Blaine offered. Kurt realized the little girl was now completely asleep, curled up on Blaine's chest with a thumb in her mouth. Blaine pulled the hand away nearly as soon as Kurt realized.

"I dunno Blaine," Kurt started.

"Well I'm getting two shots, and if you don't do one I'll do two – because this is my first night to myself in months!" the man insisted, standing up, and lifting the child up and resting her head on his shoulder. She awoke for a moment, and protested leaving, but Blaine shushed her and walked her away toward the coat closet, waving down Cooper in the process.

Kurt sighed, and thought about Blaine's offer. He had hoped to forget all about Jamie tonight, but hadn't had any luck. He wanted to just let loose and have a good time, he really did. But he wondered if doing so with his ex was really the best way to go about that. He wasn't really sure if he could avoid it though. He was sure Blaine had intentions of catching up with the New Directions now that he didn't have a child to chase after. And Kurt wasn't keen on introducing himself to the bride's family who seemed awfully stuffy and had already started leaving the party themselves. They'd probably bump into each other on the dance floor not matter what. Kurt was still staring off when a hand with a shot of something red and sugary smelling appeared in front of his face.

Blaine stood above Kurt with a welcoming smile on his face. Kurt sighed into a half-forced smile and took the glass from the other man's hand. He looked at his reflection on the surface of the liquid for a moment. He looked sad. Blaine was right. He shouldn't let his own convictions keep him from his friends on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion. Kurt looked up at Blaine again, lifted the glass slightly, before throwing his head back. He stood up as the alcohol burned in his throat, and walked with Blaine to the dance floor. He was going to have fun if it killed him.