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It was amazing how far Kurt's thoughts could spiral out of control during the thirty second walk to the bathroom. He went from being pissed off at the world for creating the situation, to wondering how quickly he could get the button back on Blaine's shirt, to picturing a semi-pornographic scene where Blaine slowly takes his shirt of and hovers sexily while Kurt stitched. Kurt barely had time to scold himself for that last thought before he was pushing the door to the bathroom open, and following Blaine inside.

Blaine didn't end up taking his shirt off, but what Kurt hadn't counted on, was that the alternative was way worse. There was something surprisingly intimate about holding Blaine's hand in his and carefully mending the sleeve. Kurt had worked on clothes while Blaine was wearing them before, but it had always been fast—a pin here, a measurement there, nothing as prolonged as this.

The way Blaine's hand fit in his, even at this odd angle was a bit mesmerizing, so mesmerizing that Kurt didn't hear Blaine trying to get his attention until he moved his hand to tap him on the arm, "Kurt, Kurt...earth to Kurt!" Blaine said, nudging him. "You'd think after all this time in the fashion world, you wouldn't have to concentrate so hard on fixing a popped button," he added, raising his eyebrows in a way that Kurt couldn't place as concern or confusion, perhaps a little of both.

"I...sorry, my mind was somewhere else entirely," Kurt said, shaking his head and taking up his task again. "I told you not to fiddle with it. You're lucky someone was here. I'm sure that girlfriend of yours doesn't know a needle from a..."

"For the millionth time, Kurt, Rachel is not my girlfriend. She's just..."

Kurt once again paused his task to look up at Blaine, incredulity written all over his face, "Well, you introduced her as such. I forgot that you can also spell girlfriend B-E-A-R-D," Kurt quipped back, once again choosing his harsh sense of humor instead of addressing the way it felt to be so close to Blaine.

"I'd defend her honor, but I'm the one who fake popped a button to get away from her," Blaine said, only shrugging when Kurt's head popped up in surprise. "She's a sweet girl, but I wish I had picked someone less irritating to pretend date."

"So you're admitting it? She's your beard?" Kurt asked tying off the end of the thread, and tucking the needle back into his travel pin cushion.

Blaine sighed, "Do you...do you remember that night at the diner—before this whole mess started?" Kurt nodded, no longer fussing over his sewing kit, and giving Blaine his full attention, "Remember how you said that I could talk to you and you wouldn't tell anyone? Is that offer...still open?" Blaine asked quietly, only daring to look back up at Kurt after a moment had passed.

"I...of course, if that's what you want," Kurt said, actively fighting not to look down at his shoes. "We can go to that same diner that we..."

"No," Blaine said cutting him off. "It's too public. I can't risk it. Could we maybe...can you come meet me at my apartment later tonight?"

"I...sure," Kurt replied, his mouth responding faster than his brain. He would berate himself later for agreeing to such an intimate setting, but for now all he could see was someone who really needed a friend he could trust.

"I'm going to drop Rachel off as soon as we're done eating. I'll page you when you should come over," Blaine said, leading the way out of the bathroom. "Oh, and one last thing," Blaine said with a cheeky look over his shoulder, trying to break the tension that had mounted in the bathroom. "British guys, really?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and gave Blaine a little shove, "Let's go, Romeo, our dates are waiting."

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Sometimes I wonder how long Blaine would have held on to his secret if I had never come into his life. Sometimes I think he might have taken it to his grave. I mean, so few people knew: his dad and Wes, and I suppose Rachel. At this point in his life, his brother didn't even know, and his mom died before she ever found out. Or maybe he would have found some other man to bring him out of his shell. All I know, is that I'm glad I could be there for him. I could empathize. I mean, truth time: I didn't come out to my dad until he caught me jerking off to a magazine with Jason Priestley on the cover. Coming out is hard nowadays, but it was even harder then. One thing is for sure though, the more you say it the easier it is. That night in Blaine's apartment was only the start.

"Um...we don't have much the way of groceries, but I have a package of Snackwells and I'm sure Wes wouldn't mind if we broke into his Handi-Snacks," Blaine shouted, voice muffled from being shoved inside the kitchen cupboard.

"Blaine..." Kurt started, trying to get his attention. He was sitting on the couch in Blaine's living room, waiting for him to come sit down.

"Oh, wait, Lays sent me these weird Wow chips they want me to be the spokes person for, but I don't know if they're any good. They don't come out until next year," he continued, inspecting the colorful package on the counter.

"Blaine..." Kurt tried again.

"Maybe I could run to the store and..."

"Blaine!" Kurt finally shouted over the other man. "We both just had an enormous three course dinner. Why don't you pour me a glass of water and come sit down."

Blaine nodded, looking a little sheepish, before taking out a glass, filling it up, and making his way over to Kurt, "I um...I really appreciate you coming. I know we don't know each other that well, but..."

"But you think that in some ways we might understand each other better than most other people could?" Kurt said, getting right to the point.

"Kurt, I..." Blaine started, taking a deep breath, and then slowly letting it out again. "...I'm gay." Blaine finally said, forcing himself to look Kurt in the eye. Blaine had to hand it to him. For all his jabs and quips, there was no 'I told you so' in Kurt's expression, only understanding.

"How long have you known," he finally asked, rubbing at the condensation on the still untouched glass in his hand.

"Since I was sixteen. I mean, I think some part of me has always known, but I didn't know what it was until I was sixteen," Blaine said, slumping back into the couch. Kurt had never seen him look so vacant, totally devoid of the usual twinkle in his eyes. "It was right before I really started getting into the business. I think that if the realization came in a less shocking way, I never would have told my dad, but as it is now he's one of two people, well three now I guess, that know."

"Wes is the other?" Kurt said, more just to say anything than anything else.

"Yeah, but that's a story for another day," Blaine said. Kurt was pretty sure he tried to chuckle, but it came out mirthless and strained.

As much as I love the story, Blaine was absolutely correct. The horrifying story of the one week where Blaine thought he had a crush on Wes, and almost kissed him when they were having a sleepover would have been a little too much for both of us to handle at that point.

"It started the first time I noticed that a girl had a crush on me. You know Tina, she works in wardrobe with you?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah of course I know her," Kurt said. "She was your number one defender when I used to call you a man whore," Blaine gave him a pointed look, but didn't say anything. "Sorry, it won't happen again!" Kurt said putting the water on the coffee table and putting up his hands in surrender.

"Right, well, we've known each other for years. We grew up together, and then one day another one of my friends told me that she had told his girlfriend that she liked me," Blaine said with a shrug. "The whole thing was very...high school, but I figured I'd go for it. I was already starting to worry that I didn't like girls that way. I thought dating Tina would help," Blaine explained.

"So then what happened?" Kurt encouraged.

"Not much at first. We went out a few times. We kissed and it felt good. I figured I was in the clear," Blaine started. "But then she started to want more, and I couldn't' think of a good reason not to give it to her. We were fooling around one night, and she told me she wanted to have sex. I was nervous, but I agreed. Long story short, my dick didn't agree."

"So you..."

"...couldn't get hard," Blaine said, answering Kurt's unasked question. "I was sixteen. Everything gave me a boner. A particularly good sandwich could give me a hard-on, but boobs...nothing. I think woman are beautiful. Tina was, and still is, beautiful, but loving them in that way..."

Kurt nodded his understanding, "What did she do?" Kurt said, turning to face Blaine, both concern and rapt interest clear in his voice.

"I...she was...understanding, I supposed. I told her it was just nerves, and in retrospect that was probably true, but it freaked me out," Blaine said, once again picking on the thread of his shirt before Kurt absentmindedly batted his hand away. "I apologized over and over, but in the end I just pulled on my clothes as quickly as possible, told her that we could still be friends, and ran home." Kurt opened his mouth to ask what happened next, but quickly closed it in favor of letting Blaine speak when he was ready. "Then...then I made one of the stupidest decisions of my young life."

Blaine's relationship, and later our relationship, with his Dad has always been complicated. Cooper Anderson Sr. is a lot of things, but a stage parent isn't one of them. It's a common misconception that the teenage dreamboat we all know and love was created by a pushy, overbearing father figure, but honestly it was all Blaine. He wanted to be a performer with all his heart, and to Mr. Anderson's credit, he supported him. Unfortunately, supporting his career meant not supporting his homosexuality.

"I don't know what I was thinking, but I was in such a state when I got home that I confessed everything. I had never even said it out loud before, but as soon as I burst through the door, my dad knew something was up," Blaine buried his hands in his hair, and Kurt moved closer to wrapped an arm around the other man, hoping to comfort him. "I just couldn't lie to him," Blaine said freezing a bit from the contact, but quickly relaxing into the embrace. "He didn't speak a word to me for two weeks, and when he finally did, he said, 'I found you an agent, and as of tomorrow when we meet with him for the first time, you are not gay'."

Kurt let out a shaky breath. "That was it? He didn't say anything else?" he asked squeezing Blaine's shoulder, and handing him the untouched water when he saw a tear rolling down his cheek.

Blaine took it gratefully, and took a few sips before putting it back on the coffee table, "that was it. Frankly, since that moment he's barely said ten more words on the subject, and things were fine. I loved my career, and I figured love could wait," Blaine said, finally leaning back on the couch, and cautiously snuggling closer to Kurt. "But I kept getting older and older, and the secret started to bother me more and more, and then...and then you came barreling into my life."

"I..." Kurt began, but Blaine quickly cut him off.

"And you're about as out and proud as people get, and you wear those pants, and..." Blaine cut himself off, and squeezed his eyes shut, "And when I saw you in that club the other week, I panicked. And for the first time, it wasn't because I was afraid you would know my secret, but because I knew that someone like you would never go for a coward like me," Blaine said, finally opening his eyes and looking up at Kurt, wetness still evident on his cheeks.

It was Kurt's turn to freeze. His breath hitched even as he was pulling Blaine closer, so that his head was resting on his shoulder, "you are not a coward," Kurt insisted, sealing his conviction with a firm kiss to Blaine's temple.

And at that point, that was the most meaningful kiss either of us had ever had.