A/N: Wow, I'm so sorry that it's taken over 3 months to update, I know I promised an update much sooner but college and stress took my free time away and I sadly became a victim of writer's block. However, Glee's season 6 recently helped re-spark my love for this story and I felt so horrible for not updating in forever! I have to confess that there are only a number of storylines left planned for this story but here's the long-awaited Ch.26! And canon Klaine FINALLY got *spoiler*!

Thanks again for all the love and support and in case, you forgot what happened last time on this story: Blaine recently got surgery to regain his sight again but Kurt's still a bit insecure about how he looks like to Blaine, hence they haven't made love yet. The novel that our Klaine had been working on for so long is very close to being published by MountCrest Publishing where Kurt works , Kurt's afraid of telling Blaine that Sebastian forcibly kissed and has been harassing him at work recently but he's decided to finally tell him (here in Ch.26). And Santana still lives with Klaine, is Blaine's best friend but is dating Brittany now.

Chapter 26:: Fading Embers

Manhattan, 10:35pm

"You really love Katy Perry, don't you?" Kurt rolled his eyes with a small chuckle when Blaine simply neared him and kissed his cheek, still holding him gently in his arms as they stood in the middle of their penthouse bedroom together.

They had just gone back home after their date at the Gershwin Theatre—Kurt was not only still freaking out that he finally got to see Wicked but that he also got to experience with his love right beside him—at the chic Vietnamese restaurant afterwards. Blaine had told Kurt to not change to his pyjamas yet while he ran to his walk-in closet to get what he needed: his former Dalton Academy wear. He'd promised to serenade Kurt with Teenage Dream in his old Warbler outfit some time ago and he'd mentally decided to finally do it to finish the night with his soulmate.

Kurt had gasped so loudly that he had to sit by their bedside as the author emerged from his closet, dressed in his high school wear down to his toes, and he forgot how to speak when Blaine playfully did a little twirl with his blazer. And Kurt died when Blaine began singing softly, hand extended to pull Kurt up for a slow, quiet little dance in the middle of their bedroom. Kurt'd shivered when Blaine softly sang into his ear while Kurt's arms wrapped around Blaine's neck and Blaine wrapped his around Kurt's slender waist.

"Let you put your hands on me…in my skin-tight jeans," Blaine brought his arms up finally to soothingly cup Kurt's cheeks while he sang the final lines, forehead pressed against forehead. "Be your teenage dream…tonight."

The countertenor could only stand there, numb to his bones when his boyfriend concluded by planting a kiss over his lips.

"For someone who is awfully short, you sure have quite the voice, babe." Kurt teased, grin growing wider when Blaine dropped all his mature/dapper posture to childishly hit Kurt's arm, the author's eyes narrowed.

"Height jokes again, huh?" He bit his lip, voice ghosting over Kurt's porcelain skin stepping back mockingly. "And here I was, thinking you loved every part of me."

Kurt gave a hearty laugh, bringing up a tender hand to clasp Blaine's left cheek, the author responded by leaning to his touch. "I keep on wondering how life would've been like had I met you back in high school. We both were going through tough times: you with having to transfer to Dalton while I had…" He hesitated. Memories of the bullying, loneliness, Karofsky forcing himself onto him—

And now I have Sebastian to worry about, Kurt dejectedly thought.

"Hey, look at me." Blaine stared into those pained blue orbs of Kurt's, knowing that they've witnessed way too many horrible things in the past. It made Blaine stumble a little when Kurt cautiously heeded his request, his heart flipping once blue met hazel—being able to see Kurt still continues to mesmerize the author after all. "We're here now. All that is in the past, okay? Here we are, living at a penthouse overlooking the most exciting city in the world—" He turned to point beyond the glass window at the views of Central Park and the overtowering buildings ahead. "—and most importantly, we have each other." He interlocked his rougher, mature hands over Kurt's slender ones. "Kurt, can…"

"What?" He whispered, cherishing how the Dalton wear still hugged Blaine's lean form then.

"Can I kiss you now?"

The air left his lungs, nodding with a bit lip as he struggled to keep it all, when Blaine surged in with an intoxicating yet heavenly kiss, Kurt moaning when Blaine fisted into his collar, their warm bodies shuffling closer per second.

"As much as I'd love to continue my high school boyfriend-fantasy right now, I really have work first thing in the morning—"

"Shut up," Blaine refused, getting lost in Kurt's luscious lips, hand snaking up to the back of Kurt's head, clinging on tightly when Kurt reciprocated. The author's heart enlarged to an aching size, reveling in how Kurt began fisting his own hair and they fell back onto the luckily-soft duvet below. Blaine was about to continue when Kurt gently pushed him off, groaning like a 5-year-old with a pout.

"Babe, seriously, I have work tomorrow, I need to—"

Blaine could only heave a giant sigh, smiling and standing up when Kurt kissed him again in gratitude for understanding. "This will continue another time, Kurt, you can't avoid me."

Kurt sent him a dark glance. But the moment Blaine turned around to trudge towards his closet to change to his pyjamas, Kurt's heart slumped.

There may not even be another time at all.

"Morning, Lady."

"Morning, Tramp." Kurt singsonged as he poured himself some milk over his giant bowl of Kellogg's corn flakes while he looked up to see Santana near the dining table with another bowl of Cocoa Krispies, both already dressed up for the new day. The city beyond the windows was already getting blanketed by massive snow and the freezing cold certainly didn't soothe Kurt's anxiety inside. He knew that today was the day he had to finally tell the truth about Sebastian and—

"Okay, word of advice, this is New York we're living in, I don't think one bowl of cereal's enough to get you going through the insanely-crowded streets, the disgusting brown-slushied snow and the perverted poor man who always gropes my ass in the subway—" Kurt's thoughts were abruptly interrupted with Santana's voice and she raised her hands in innocence when Kurt gave her a dumbfounded glance. "—What! I'm the victim here. Anyway, I can quickly fix us three amigos some omelets to go and yes, a sensible salad just for you, Lady since you're always fixated on holding your weight."

"Thanks for the concern, San but I gotta run to work in…" he checked his watch. "…ten minutes, sorry."

"Whatevs," she shrugged.

Their conversation lulled for a minute as Kurt was mentally deciding when and how to approach Blaine with the issue when the author himself finally emerged. Kurt's breathing trembled slightly when his boyfriend lovingly strode over to give him a sweet morning kiss that made him momentarily forget about his troubles and develop a grateful smile.

"Morning, my prince." The author whispered lowly into his ear—making Kurt melt into his seat—before trudging off to grab some coffee. "Morning, Santana."

"Oh, I don't get a sweet pet name but pasty face Porcelain gets one?" She teased.

Blaine laughed, grabbing a seat next to Kurt while resting a reassuring, squeezing hand over his lap; Kurt simply blushed. "Someonemade a little peanut butter and jealoussandwich this morning—"

"My, oh my." Santana looked up-and-down to judge Blaine's apparel for the day before faking a gasp. "It's a miracle! Blaine Anderson's finally wearing socks for the first time!"

"That's because it's started to snow a little and with the holidays coming up, I wouldn't want to get sick from the awful city weather. Speaking of the holidays, what are your plans, San?"

"Hopefully, something that doesn't involve cheesy caroling and dancing, unlike Blaine and the Pip before me—hey!"

Kurt threw a napkin over her cereal and Blaine laughed, ignoring her death glare.

"Well, I do have plans for me and Kurt," the curly-haired man, still donning his thick-framed glasses, briefly slurping at his coffee. Kurt whipped his head at him in surprise so fast like a cheetah. "It may or may not involve a certain flight to somewhere overseas—"

Holy ASDFGHJKL! Kurt froze, choking on his cereal accidentally, making Blaine guiltily pat his back. This is not happening. I need to tell him now before things get a lot more serious—

"Okay, Blaine. There's something I need to tell you first." He immediately stood up, heart racing. "Can we…" He nudged Blaine to join him. "…go somewhere and talk? It's really important."

The look of Kurt's seriousness made Blaine's once-chipper expression fade a little. Clearing his throat, he nodded and helped lead Kurt away to their bedroom, closing the door behind them while Santana looked on.

"And that concludes another episode of True But Gay," she mumbled to herself.

Kurt knew he was getting late for work now as he peered at his watch but when Blaine had just announced that he wanted to treat him again for the holidays this time, something snapped inside him. He couldn't hide anymore.

"Night Sky, what is it? Something wrong?" His boyfriend gave an apologetic look, hand caressing his cheek. He sighed. "Shit, I freaked you out, didn't I? You think I'm treating you too much again, right? Announcing my planned trip for just us two was the icing on the damn cake—"

For a moment, Kurt smiled, cherishing how Blaine was always the worried and emotional one. "Blaine, no. I-I like the sound of us two flying off somewhere in just weeks from now to a mysterious place that you obviously won't tell me—"

Blaine's optimistic attitude re-emerged, winking. "Lips are sealed."

Kurt wanted to kiss him and hug him and just let him know just how grateful he was for everything Blaine's done (and also will do) for him but his heart pained.

"Someone kissed me at work a couple days ago." He finally blurted out.

Blaine blinked his adorable hazel eyes, forming a bewildered frown. "What?"

"It was this annoying coworker at my workplace. He cornered me in the printer room and f-forced himself on me. I-I tried to get him to stop and leave me alone b-but," Kurt's voice cracked, emotions draining him as the images of Sebastian and Karofsky merged together in his head. "He didn't listen and h-he...forced a kiss on me." The shocked expression on Blaine's face made him crumple even more. "But this time, unlike at McKinley, I-I fought back and I r-ran out of there—"

"Who was it?" Blaine muttered, voice hollow now, heart numbed.

"It doesn't matter who it was, what matters is that you need to know that it meant nothing at all and I told him off afterwards—"

"Someone harassed you," the author's tone turned to realization, his fists clenched. "Again."

"Blaine, I—"

He was interrupted by his ringtone and he profusely apologized to an increasingly-stunned Blaine as he answered his iPhone since his boss was calling him. "Um, hey, Graham! Wh-what's up?"

"Kurt, I need you to get down here to my office pronto! There's a mandatory meeting with all the editors here in fifteen minutes and we're going to discuss about securing a publishing deal with this up-and-coming writer—"

"Oh, wait, isn't this an all-editors meeting? I-I'm just a secretary…"

"Kurt, you could learn a lot from this meeting. After all, you can definitely develop more skills at possibly becoming an editor in the near future around here—"

Kurt froze. "Wh-what? Me? An editor? Are you giving me a promotion?"

Blaine's bitter face suddenly lit up just a bit when he heard Kurt's words.

"Nothing's set in stone yet because the publishing industry is going through a hard time now but you've told me several times how you always want to move up here."

"Oh my—oh my God! Okay, I'll be there in a jiffy. Thank you for everything, Graham!" Hanging up, Kurt quickly turned to prepare his messenger bag but stumbled when Blaine cleared his throat.

"Where are you going?" He questioned, "You can't just drop that bomb on me and just leave!"

"I'm so sorry, Blaine. I have to go. This could be a step into my dream of becoming an editor and I promise we'll talk about this when I get back. I promise!"

"Is that scumbag still working there? The guy who forced himself on you?"

"Blaine, I told him that it can never happen again. It meant nothing and it's in the past now. Okay, I'm so sorry but I gotta go!"

The man quickly kissed him before rushing out the door, leaving Blaine alone in the room, still stunned about everything. On one hand, he was actually overjoyed that Kurt was getting closer to achieving his dream but on the other, he was still numb from what Kurt had just confessed to him.

And it tore him up.

The mandatory meeting had just ended when Kurt exited Graham's office, alongside the editors and the potential client, when his smartphone buzzed and he saw Rachel's bright, slightly-annoying face appeared over the screen.

"Did you get the promotion? OMG, I'm so happy for you! I—"

"No, don't be happy for me. First of all, there's no promotion yet because of our stupid economy and second, I hadjust confessed to Blaine about the Sebastian kiss ordeal but I had to run to the office before I could actually tell him everything—"

"So, you told Blaine that some ass forced a kiss on you and you just left him midway through an intense, serious conversation because you ran to work? Kurt, this is bad. Like relationship-endangering bad."

"Oh crap, I'm a horrible person, aren't I?" He moved to his desk and sat with a slump. "Someone kill me now."

"I don't think you realize how Blaine must've felt when you dropped all that on him and you ran off. Poor guy…"

"I need to call him and apologize. I-I don't want to screw this up. I—"

A shadow casted over his desk and the oh-so-familiar-yet-awful cologne filled his ears at that moment.

"What do you want, Sebastian? I'm a little busy—" He pointed at his phone but the man shrugged.

"I was wondering, if you wanted to…grab some brunch with me at the cafeteria?" He smirked, playfully drumming his slender fingers over Kurt's desk, unnerving him. Quickly telling Rachel he had to go, he glared.

"Sebastian, I've told you, I don't want anything to do with you. Now, run off and go torment some poor soul in Staten Island—"

"C'mon! I promise I'm great company. Bet I'm better than that Anderson of yours."

"I. Am. In. A. Relationship." Kurt stressed it out. "I'm with…" His eyes averted to see some movement elsewhere at the office's elevators and his heart flipped when he saw his boyfriend and Santana emerging from one. "Blaine?" He gasped. "Fuck!"

Sebastian frowned when Kurt bolted past him and towards Blaine and Santana who both greeted him with a kiss and a sarcastic wave respectively.

"Guys, what are you doing here? I-I'm at work." Kurt stuttered as he knew that Blaine meeting Sebastian would be a disaster. He knew that he hadn't told Blaine that Sebastian did it yet but still.

"I also have to meet Graham about my book since we're releasing it in a few days so I figured, I'd come down too."

Both Kurt and Santana knew that the last time Blaine was here, the then-still-blinded men was left insecure and greatly upset as he overheard all the judgmental words the employees sent him, given his reputation. "I have to accompany him cuz last time wasn't exactly successful," Santana declared.

Blaine gave her an annoyed look.

"Um, I'm afraid Graham is in another meeting right now," Kurt began ushering the pair back towards the elevator nervously. "So you'll need to come back tomorrow or just give him a call—"

"Oh my God," the foreign voice made the three pivot around to face a taller man, dressed sensibly with a wicked grin. "You must be Blaine Anderson, I've heard so much about you. I mean, I've seen you come around a few times before…ya'know."

Kurt froze in horror. Blaine and Santana merely raised their eyebrows.

"Sebastian—" Kurt began, heart flipping.

"Now that Mr. Anderson here can finally see for himself, are you going to properly introduce me?" The man continued haughtily.

"What?" Kurt blinked.

"I mean I know you personally helped Mr. Anderson finish his book for three whole months but you didn't take one moment to even introduce me to him? Since we've been together for months now? Don't tell me he doesn't know everything about you, Kurt. Working three months with him and you still haven't told him about us?"

"Beg your pardon?" Blaine narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Kurt's fists clenched, about to turn to leave with Blaine and Santana. "You know what! I'm done with your bullshit and I'm gonna report you for—"

"—for that smokin' hot makeout session we had in the printer room the other day? C'mon, you loved it, admit it!" Sebastian called out.

Oh shi—

Blaine moved so fast that while Kurt barely finished his thought, his heart bulged when he heard a blow and an unexpected pained gasp right behind him. He screamed when he and Santana watched how Blaine threw a hook at Sebastian's left cheek, sending the once-teasing man down to the tiled floor.

"It was you!" He growled. "You harassed my boyfriend, you son of a bitch!"

Kurt abruptly remembered that Blaine had taken boxing lessons as a teenager too—explaining that perfectly-executed hook—and as he heard shocked gasps and mutterings all around him, he realized that practically the entire floor of employees had begun gathering around upon hearing the scuffle. Sebastian's low moan snatched him back to reality and he ran over to diffuse the fight, Blaine looking like he's about to lash out another punch.

"Blaine! No, stop!" Kurt yelled. "Stop this!"

"How dare you hurt my boyfriend!" Blaine ignored. "He's the only man who ever believed in me and you HURT HIM!"

Raising a fist in preparation,Blaine was stopped by Kurt while a horrifed Santana looked on, frozen. "Blaine, stop, there are people watching—"

"You've no idea who you're messing, you filthy excuse for a man." Blaine seethed, finally punching him again, Sebastian crying out. "If you EVER HURT HIM AGAIN—"

"BLAINE! STOP! STOP IT! HE'S ALL BLOODIED NOW!" Kurt decided to roughly grab Blaine and with all the strength in him, try to finally pull him off and away from the now-numb man below but Blaine snarled and tried to land one more devastating punch at Sebastian. Kurt yelped when Blaine lifted his arm as he's about to throw another swing and his elbow connected with Kurt's stomach, sending Kurt to collapse by a wall with an agonized groan.

The loud mutterings and verbal exchanges from the eyewitness employees/onlookers halted when Kurt didn't get up. Santana ran to help him and that's when Blaine finally turned to view what he'd done. His mind became blank when he was met with horrified, fearful eyes that were gradually welling up with tears. Kurt tried to breathe but he hiccupped instead while Santana tried to help him up. Finally, Blaine looked around to realize that everyone was now staring at him. It wasn't the magnitude of the shocked audience that stunned him…it was the way they all looked at him…like he was a monster.

Like always.

And Kurt also sent him the same look.

"I-I'm so sorry, Kurt." He tried, appalled. "I—"

Kurt was finally able to get on his two feet and he backed away, Santana choosing to help disperse the intrigued crowd instead to get out of their way. "Who are you?" He whispered.

Blaine attempted to take one step forward with an extended arm, his face crumpling with emotions now. "H-he hurt you…I was trying to p-protect you—"

"I told you it meant nothing, wh-why did you have to go batshit crazy on the guy?" Kurt winced, Blaine's elbow had indeed made quite the impact. "And I just saw a very dark and different side of you right there." So that was how people thought about Blaine then? A brute? A monster? With a cold heart?

As Santana managed to disperse the crowd away by threatening them with her AuntieSnixx personality, Blaine grew numb.

The way Kurt stared at him…it killed him.

Slowly backing away, shaking, he mumbled, "I-I'll call Graham about it instead."

And then, he turned and ran for the elevator.

A/N: Sorry it had to end like that but in my defense, it was exactly where I planned it for so long! May the Klaine reconciliation begin and is anyone missing some Klaine smut? ;) Let me know what you think!