"It was as easy as breathing."
Rachel and Finn had just left after a heart-felt rendition of "Ben." Blaine was still trying to get his emotions under control after that, but felt that it was time to finally face the elephant in the room – namely, the reason he was currently wearing an eye-patch and looked like a pirate.
Kurt stared unbelieving at his boyfriend. "Why would you say something like that?"
"Simple – because it's true."
When it looked as though Kurt would brush him off, Blaine leaned forward and tilted his face towards him. "You may think you're not worth it," he whispered, and Kurt's guilty expression was a dead giveaway that he'd hit the nail right on the head, "But we've been over this before. And I've no doubt we'll have this discussion many more times over the years."
Here, Kurt gave an audible gasp. Sure, they'd mentioned the thought of living together and maybe reaching a point where they would get married – in passing. But this was the closest that dream had come to being verbalized . . .
"You are worth so much more, Kurt," said Blaine, the intense and utterly fierce look in his one eye convincing Kurt of his sincerity. "I would take a bullet for you, if it would keep you safe. That's how important you are to me."
"Oh, god!" Kurt whimpered. Blaine was right – they'd probably be having this discussion many more times over the course of their lives, but Kurt doubted if it would ever get any easier to hear Blaine say things like . . . like that . . . when the truth was staring him right in the face.
That split-second before the slushie made contact had been one of the worst either boy had ever experienced: Kurt, because he'd been slushied so many times before, and didn't fancy a repeat; Blaine, because he knew what Kurt had already been through and didn't want to see him in any more pain. So Blaine, acting on instinct, had jumped in front of Kurt so that the slushie would hit him instead. And he'd been right to do so, for Sebastian had played dirty and tampered with the slushie, adding something that caused it to burn and sting more than it normally would have. However, Blaine considered the resulting agony and subsequent surgery to be a small price to pay for ensuring that Kurt was spared what suffering he could.
"Hey," Blaine murmured, effectively drawing Kurt out of his reverie. "Promise me something?"
"Anything," said Kurt, meaning it with all his heart.
"Don't try to avenge me," he went on. "I know you don't like Sebastian – I don't like him much right now either. But he's not worth any sort of petty retaliation."
Though Kurt wanted to protest, he knew that Blaine was right, as he always was. Borrowing one of his boyfriend's frequent expressions that had helped him come to terms with his own bullying, he said, "I promise, Blaine. I'll be like you and take the high road."
"Good boy," Blaine whispered, and drew Kurt's face close to his for a searing kiss. When the need for oxygen became too great, they pulled apart, only to let their foreheads rest together.
"I know I just agreed to take the high road, but I've thought of just the thing to get even with one Sebastian Smythe, something that I think will meet with even your approval," Kurt declared, after a moment's reflection. As he outlined his plan to Blaine, each wore an identically devilish smirk that spoke of mischief in the making.
"Perfect," said Blaine, and from the way he was staring at Kurt, both knew he was referring to more than just the upcoming performance designed to intimidate – at least, to a certain degree – the Warblers.