Note: From the Prom til the end is not beta'd so please be kind. Hope you still like it, anyway!

Sam's New York, New York

The Coffee Bean was full and bright, and Kurt should have been feeling empty and dark. Pouting, at the very least. Only two days separated him from pretty much losing his boyfriend for the summer. Blaine would be working at Six Flags. Maybe he should be crying. But he found his eyes wandering over the other customers, and glancing at his cell phone without even a hint of moisture in his eye. He was a little shocked when Blaine grabbed his hand.

"Kurt? Have you heard a word I've said?"

Kurt blinked at Blaine. "What? Yes."

Blaine's eyebrows furrowed and he sipped his medium drip. "Oh. Good. I know baseball isn't your thing-"

"It isn't." Kurt beamed. "But I'm learning the basics. Sam thinks I've got a great arm! I told him it takes a strong one to pick up the latest and boldest fashions."

Kurt chuckled at his own joke, and Blaine nodded. Kurt frowned as Blaine gave him a look he didn't like. The warbler looked down at his drink and gave a huge sigh.

"Kurt, I'm going to miss you. So much." The pained look on Blaine's face was amusing, but Kurt knew he was being serious. He squeezed Blaine's hand. "I'll miss you, too."

"I love you."

Kurt's eyes widened and he swallowed his sip of tea hard. I love you. Just a few months ago, those words would have sent Kurt into a new stratosphere of happiness. If he could expand on his Cinderella analogy: if regionals was the ball then this moment, right here at the Coffee Bean, would be the happily ever after. His heart would be beating out of his chest, he'd be speechless. Maybe he would be crying. It would be like winning a Tony and a CDFA Fashion Award all at once. This was it...this should be it. But his mind was blank, and the lack of reaction had him searching inside for a reason.

"Mmm. I love you, too," he said absently. The right response.

"But I can't do this anymore. Not when you're so obviously in love with Sam."

Blaine now had Kurt's full attention. His eyes couldn't get wider if they tried, and his mouth gaped open into a loud laugh. Blaine frowned at him and Kurt managed to stifle himself. He supposed he did talk about Sam a lot. Sam was one of his friends. One of his best friends, lately. He couldn't help relaying to Blaine all of Sam's little funny foibles. And however misguided, his determination was admirable. Sam was just...silly, he guessed. Hilarious. Sweet. He looked forward to hanging out with him and getting texts asking him to pls rpsnd. He was charmed by Sam's artlessness, the way he thought his "Travolta moves" were the coolest thing in the world, and he wanted to share that with Blaine. It wasn't a crime, and they'd been over this a million times before!

"I have no idea what you're talking about right now. I don't like Sam." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I do like Sam, but you. Are. My. Boyfriend. Sam. Is. Straight. Am I coming in clear?"

"Crystal," Blaine said, voice calm with resignation. "I love you, so I think I know you by now. You get really excited when you talk about him. You always smile or chuckle when you get a text from him. You laugh out loud. Can you even remember the last time I made you laugh out loud?"

Kurt could not, and Blaine sighed again. "Look, Kurt, maybe you aren't ready to admit it to yourself. I understand – I've been in your position before. Just try to acknowledge your feelings for him and deal with them before you get yourself hurt."

Kurt snatched his hands away from Blaine and gaped at his boyfriend – the same boy he'd been pining over all year, whom he'd been wishing for with all his might. "You can't be breaking up with me over a hunch," he whispered.

"I am, because I'm right. I remember when I first realized I loved you. You haven't looked at me that way for a long time. But the way you look just talking about Sam-"

Kurt shook his head. "Are you upset because we'll be separated for most of the summer? Because you know that we have plenty of ways to keep in contact. I can come to Six Flags. You don't have to do this."

Blaine reached for his hand again, and Kurt let him take it, hoping beyond hope that it would make him see reason again. He felt all that he'd worked for this year slipping away.

"I'm not really good at goodbyes." Blaine squeezed his hand. "Just – I hope you have a wonderful summer, Kurt. And if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always available."

They stood. They hugged. Blaine gathered his things and left the shop. Kurt watched him go and knew he was having some kind of nightmare. Blaine had left him. Over Sam. Kurt wanted to laugh and cry at once. Adorable, funny, surprisingly smart and cute (hey, he wasn't blind) Sam. Who was straight.

Kurt sipped his drink, colder than it seemed only a few minutes ago. His first love affair, over. The Coffee Bean door jingled as it closed, and Kurt took a deep breath. He was alone again. He took another sip, feeling his coffee slide down his throat. He was hurt, but he wasn't crying. He was alone, but he wasn't broken. Kurt rolled his shoulders. It could have been worse. He hadn't been cheated on. And, he thought, incredibly with a bark of laughter, there would be no Beiber experiences or misinformed dinners. He reached for his iPhone and his fingers flew. He had to tell Sam.

"This is it!"

Sam looked from Mercedes to Tina to Rachel and that little niggle in his stomach questioned his judgement in coming to Mercedes' house. "Kurt Hummel is back on the market and ready to be swept off his feet."

Sam smiled. They'd all received the news a few days ago, but he'd been first – and happiest. Rachel was going to miss the challenging warbler's ability to match her vocally, but otherwise Mercedes had persuaded her to team get-Sam-with-Kurt.

"I must admit that I'm shocked by Kurt's lack of emotion towards the break up. Are we sure that now is the right time for Sam to declare himself?"

"Yeah. He could be hiding it all in. And we don't want Sam to be the rebound."

Rachel nodded at Tina's input, and Sam shifted nervously on the bed. Mercedes waved their worries away.

"He's fine. We hung out yesterday and he laughed about it. Homeboy is completely over it. They only thing he isn't over is that they broke up because of Sam. That was all he wanted to talk about – Sam, Sam, Sam. Now is very right. We just need to figure out how to get him to realize that Sam's the one."

They studied Sam like a bug under a microscope. Sam began to sweat under the force of all their concentrated estrogen.

"Say it in song?" Tina suggested.

Mercedes shook her head. "Overdone."

"And risky, considering Sam's limited knowledge of Broadway and Jazz standards. We wouldn't want his musical declaration to be wasted on a pop song." Rachel put one finger up in the air, commanding everyone's attention. "I propose gifts. On a budget, of course. There has to be some designer wear that would fascinate Kurt at the local good will-"

"Yes! That's it!" Mercedes clasped Rachel's hand, a huge grin on her face. Rachel beamed.

"Well, I do tend to-"

"No, not gifts! Fashion!"

The two girls' eyes met and took on a conspiratorial glint. "Yes! One of the first and best ways to interest someone you like is to show an interest in something they enjoy. We need to turn Sam into a fashion plate!"

Sam didn't like the sound of this idea as much as the three girls nodding before him.

"I already have some of his clothes. They're not very flashy-"

"No. You need to make a big statement." Rachel threw her hands out. "Bold, unafraid, conspicuous – like a peacock, effortlessly drawing in the gaze of its chosen mate."

"I could save him from something – like a superhero." Sam's earnest suggestion was met with three different versions of side-eye. After that, he wisely stayed silent until Mercedes addressed him.

"So, he didn't give you anything crazy?"

Sam sighed. "Well, just this one shirt..."