I know I said updates will slow down, I lied! They will now though, I'll be 'webless' for the next few days, eeeek! Voting continues on Kurt's grade though - seems there's a lot of peeps who want Kurt's ass SORE! mwah, ha, ha! See if this changes your mind at all...Review, PM, Alert - they're all good to me.

Chapter 5

Kurt trudged down the sidewalk, scuffing his shoes along the ground occasionally. He kept his head low and his shoulders were hunched over. He was over an hour late. Well, not really 'late', but he was an hour later than what he usually was. He knew that Blaine was at home already, he'd seen him leave the campus two hours ago. He also knew what was waiting at Blaine's. Kurt didn't think it fair really. He had done his history paper before he and Blaine had made their agreement concerning his grades, it was like handing an open cookie jar to a child and then once they'd eaten six, telling them they couldn't have any. Nope, Kurt thought – not fair at all.

He could see he was getting close to Blaine's building. It was just around the next corner. He turned around and started walking in the opposite direction...again! He took four steps and felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He stopped, but didn't take it out. He turned back around and started to head back toward Blaine's, he knew that delaying things wasn't going to change the outcome. He was better to face it head on and get it over and done with. He nodded to himself as he reached the final corner. He could do this, and then they'd speak to his Dad tomorrow, move in together, live happily ever after and the damn paddle can stay on the damn wall forever.

He hadn't even looked at the grade on his paper initially. He closed his eyes as it was put on his desk. He folded it up and put it in his bag without looking at it. He had thought that perhaps if he didn't know himself, it would be easier to show Blaine. But halfway to Blaine's the anticipation became too much for Kurt. He had pulled the folded paper out and carefully pulled the corner back, feeling just like Charlie looking for a golden ticket, only his prize was nothing like a lifetime supply of chocolate.

The grade caught his eye and his stomach dropped. He didn't know whether he should run straight to Blaine and throw himself into Blaine's arms, or to run in the other direction back to his dorm room and hide away for the rest of his life. So he'd spent the last hour and a half going backward and forward, changing his mind all the time.

Now, he firmed his resolve – he was a grown man and it was time to act like it. He headed toward Blaine's apartment, picking up pace as he went, until by the time he reached Blaine's door he was breathless from running. He knocked on the door quickly and waited for Blaine to answer. Kurt looked at the door expectantly, but it didn't open. He knocked again, still nothing. Kurt took his key out of his pocket and let himself in, worried.

"Blaine?" Kurt called out, but there was no answer. Kurt went into the bedroom, "Blaine?" He knocked on the bathroom door, hearing nothing he opened it and looked around, Blaine was nowhere to be found. He went back to the living area and put down his bag, everything looked exactly as normal, nothing obviously out of place. Kurt had a look around the kitchen, then he saw it. On the dining room table was a piece of paper with Kurt's name on it.

Kurt,

I tried to call you when it started to get late.

You chose not to answer my call.

I'll be back later. You can either stay or go.

I love you,

Blaine

xx

Kurt sighed and dropped the note back onto the table. He didn't really believe he had a choice, well not one that he wanted to contemplate. If he left and went back to the dorms, he may as well kiss his relationship goodbye. He knew that he was probably going to have a very angry Blaine to deal with, but Kurt knew that it was for the best.

He sat on the sofa and watched the clock slowly tick down the seconds, minutes and pass into an hour. Kurt got up and stretched, wondering how long Blaine was going to be. He decided to do whatever he could to tempt Blaine down from his fury. He looked around and knew what to do.

He got the chair from the dining room and put it back in the living room where it was the previous weekend. Kurt then went into the bathroom and hunted through the cupboards. He found what he needed and placed the bottle of lotion on the coffee table. He put 'his' two cushions in place and covered them with a towel. Finally, Kurt gulped and took the paddle down from the nail on the wall, placing it on the chair.

He stood back and surveyed his work. He tried to think of anything else he could do before Blaine got home. Not knowing how much longer Blaine would be meant there was no point in running a bath or preparing a bowl of ice. Kurt shivered at the thought. Then he remembered the only other thing.

Kurt took off his boots and socks. He undid the button of his jeans and quickly slid both them and his underwear off. Now he was ready for Blaine to come home. Kurt grabbed the disastrous History paper and put it, face up, on the dining room table beside the note that Blaine had left.

He sat back and waited for Blaine.

And waited.

And waited.

Kurt started to wonder if he should just wait for Blaine in bed, they could always deal with things tomorrow before his father arrived.

He jumped as he heard a key rattle in the door. He stood up as Blaine walked in. Blaine looked dishevelled and tired. He went and put his keys on the dining table glancing over the paper for less than a second. He shook his head slightly and walked straight past Kurt into the bedroom.

Kurt stayed rooted to the spot in expectation. It was as if Blaine hadn't even seen him. After five minutes he softly padded his way to the bedroom. Blaine had laid out pyjamas for himself, taken off his tie and jacket.

"Blaine?" Kurt said quietly.

Blaine brushed past him, "Put your clothes on, Kurt...I'm going to take a shower," and with that he was gone from the room. Kurt followed him with his eyes, bewildered. This was certainly not what he had expected would happen once Blaine arrived.

He thought that by now he would be pleading with Blaine to think of something else, anything but that damn paddle. Instead he was alone in Blaine's bedroom, naked from the waist down, and very, very confused. He grabbed a pair of Blaine's sweatpants from the closet and pulled them on quickly. He heard the shower start up. Kurt didn't know what to do. He sat down on the end of the bed and kept doing what he'd done most of the evening.

He waited.

He heard the water switch off.

He waited.

Blaine came into the room with a towel around his waist. He glanced at Kurt for a moment, noticing his own sweatpants, and looked away again. He quickly got into his pyjamas, pants and top, Kurt noticed. Kurt didn't even know Blaine owned pyjama tops. He'd always gone to bed bare chested, or at the most, in a tank top. Kurt stood up and began to walk over toward Blaine.

"I'm sorry," Kurt whispered, "I'm so sorry, Blaine."

Blaine held up his hand to stop Kurt getting any closer.

"Don't, Kurt...," Blaine said in a strange strangulated voice, "just go back to your dorm tonight... we'll talk tomorrow."

Kurt stared in disbelief. He didn't know what the right thing to do was. Blaine's words from the previous week haunted his mind. Kurt took a deep breath, he had a choice. Right in that moment he had a choice to make; he could either do as Blaine said and go back to his dorm, which would mean a sleepless night of worry and despair, or he could stay and fight, fight for his Blaine, fight to get the Blaine he knew and loved so much back.

"No." Kurt said bravely.

Blaine stared at Kurt, shocked. "What?" he asked, not believing his own ears.

Kurt cleared his throat, "I said no, Blaine, I'm not leaving."

Tears began to well up in Blaine's eyes, he blinked once slowly.

"Please Kurt...just go...I can't do this," Blaine sobbed.

"Blaine..." Kurt held out his arms, but Blaine just shook his head. Kurt had never seen Blaine cry before. He was always the strong one, the rock for Kurt when things were bad, the protector and the defender. And yet here he stood before Kurt, as a sobbing mess.

"Blaine," Kurt said, sounding a lot more confident than he felt, "you told me that I wasn't allowed to hide things from you. I want you to do the same for me...please!"

Blaine stood fast and shook his head again, tears falling silently down his face.

Kurt moved forward and gathered the man up in his arms. He held him tight and pushed Blaine's head onto his shoulder. After a moment, he felt Blaine's sobs start to lessen and his arms go around Kurt's back. They stood like that for as long as it took, neither exactly clock watching. Eventually, Blaine took a deep breath and pulled back.

Kurt sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside him. Blaine gulped and stood up straight, he shook his head.

"No, Kurt I meant it. I can't do this," Blaine said willing his voice not to break down, "you need to go home. Tell your Dad tomorrow that I'm sorry...for everything."

Kurt felt his stomach drop, surely Blaine couldn't mean what Kurt was thinking he meant? Kurt searched Blaine's eyes for an answer, and found it. It just wasn't the one Kurt wanted.

"Are...are you breaking up with me?" Kurt asked incredulously.

Blaine nodded and turned away from Kurt, "I'm sorry Kurt. Please just go now."

"No! No way, Blaine," Kurt shrieked, "you are NOT doing this to me, not without a fucking good explanation, and 'I can't do this' just doesn't cut it!" Blaine felt his eyes tear up again as Kurt went on, "Is this because I was late? Or is it because of the history thing? Shit, Blaine – at least tell me that much...you owe me an explanation!"

"I gave you an explanation Kurt!" Blaine cried through his tears, "I can't do it, any of this. Why were you so late tonight?...Why didn't you answer when I called?"

"I was...I was...just" Kurt started.

"I know why, Kurt, but I need you to say it! You were scared, weren't you!" Blaine sobbed.

"Alright then, yes, okay, yes, I was scared," Kurt yelled, "wouldn't you be, knowing that you're probably not going to be able to sit down all weekend?"

"Well I hate it!" Blaine shouted, "I hate the whole fucking thing! You want to move in with me here, but you're too scared to come home from school! How is that ever going to be an adult relationship, Kurt?"

"But you were the one that started it," Kurt yelled back.

"Don't you get it, Kurt!" Blaine howled, "I wanted you to be a man, I wanted you to be my man, and I get so damn frustrated when I see you acting like a little kid. I love you for fuck's sake Kurt, but I want you to be my man, not my boy."

"I know that now!" Kurt shouted, "I know I did things the wrong way. But you were right, Blaine. It did work. It does work. It works for me."

"You're scared of me!" Blaine pointed his finger at Kurt.

"I'm scared of the stupid fucking paddle!" yelled Kurt.

"And I'm the one who bought the stupid fucking paddle in the first place," Blaine poked himself hard in the chest.

"Because you knew I needed it!" Kurt cried out.

"Yeah, well, maybe I'm just a dick!" Blaine bellowed throwing his hands up in the air.

They both stared at each other for a moment, until Kurt started giggling. Blaine raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Blaine, you're not a dick...you like dick and you've got a dick...but you're anything but a dick." Kurt smiled and sat back down on the bed. Blaine sighed and took the spot beside him.

Kurt put his head on Blaine's shoulder, Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt's waist and they just sat together for a moment. Kurt was first to break the silence.

"So, can I stay?" he asked. Blaine chuckled and nodded, he turned to face Kurt and kissed him sweetly, gently.

"We'll get rid of the damn paddle though," said Blaine against Kurt's lips. Kurt smiled and kissed Blaine again before pulling away. He looked at Blaine seriously, he had a choice.

"No," said Kurt, "don't".

"What?"

"It should stay," said Kurt who could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"But, you're so scared, Kurt," whispered Blaine, "and I really hate seeing you scared, and I hate seeing you hurt."

"That's exactly why it should stay," said Kurt, "I'm trying Blaine, I really am, but sometimes I'm still going to need help to become that man you deserve."

"I shouldn't have said that, Kurt," Blaine started to apologize. Kurt put his finger softly against Blaine's lips.

"You were right though, you've tried everything to help me," Kurt sighed at his past indiscretions, "nothing worked until the spankings."

"Kurt..."

"No, Blaine, this time you need to listen," Kurt insisted, "yes, I'm scared of it, so I'm going to do everything I can to try and keep it hanging on that wall. And now that I know that you're not just a sadistic bastard that's enjoying it, I've got twice as much to motivate me."

Blaine looked more than a little sceptical.

"I'm sure there some things you like about it?" Kurt grinned mischievously.

Blaine shook his head, "nothing, Kurt, I don't like anything about it."

"Could have fooled me, Mr Ice Cube!" Blaine blushed a beet red colour.

"Yeah, well, there is that," Blaine admitted.

"So," Kurt said leaning in to kiss Blaine again, "you just remember that the redder this ass gets, the more care and attention you get to give it, okay?"

"I can do that," sighed Blaine.

Kurt stood up and pulled Blaine off the bed.

"So, I think we have some unfinished History business." Kurt said smiling.

"Kurt, we don't have to," Blaine said softly.

Kurt raised his eyebrows, took a step back from Blaine and dropped his sweatpants to the ground.

"Well?" Kurt said expectantly. Blaine groaned.

"Show me those grades, Hummel," he growled.

"My pleasure, Mr Anderson," Kurt put on a cutesy voice and made a big show of wiggling his bare ass as he walked from the room.

He stopped at the doorway and looked over his shoulder at Blaine, "Coming?" he asked sweetly.

"Not yet!" whispered Blaine as he followed Kurt out of the room.

I have nothing more to add, except review, vote, suggest.

Which team are you? Team SKA (Save Kurt's Ass) or Team MASK (More Ass Spanking, Kurt!)