AN: Happy New Year's Everyone. I'm insisting on getting these two together. Inspired by lyrics from "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson
As he stood among the crowd packing Times Square, Kurt found himself thinking about last week. Finding out about his father had been hard but having Blaine around had made things easier. Sharing Christmas dinner with his father and Blaine had felt right somehow. Blaine here in New York with him had felt right. It made him question why he had ever said good-bye to Blaine in the first place. Made him wonder why he had started the argument that had sent Blaine back to Lima early - before they watched the ball drop together in Times Square.
Glancing around the crowd at the excited faces, Kurt felt even more out of place than he had being the only openly gay student at McKinley. Even his own family had smiles on their faces, Finn and Carole having joined his father and him to ring in the new year. Finn looked like a kid in the candy store, despite not having someone special with him and Carole looked blissful as she stood close to his father's side, Burt's arm holding her close.
~And I could have had Blaine here with me, but I had to go and start an argument over how he was cooking the pancakes this morning,~ Kurt thought forlornly. More than anything, he wanted Blaine her now. Wanted to tell him that he did forgive him and ask for a second chance at recapturing what they had. After all, wasn't the new year about new beginnings.
"Over here," Finn suddenly called out, waving to someone that Kurt couldn't see due to the people around him.
The next thing Kurt knew, Blaine was breaking through the sea of people to join them.
"Blaine! I thought you left?" Kurt said, surprised to see the dark-haired teen.
"I was set too, but Finn stopped me from actually switching the ticket. Convinced me that you trying to pick a fight this morning was just one of your defense mechanisms, and that I just needed to give you time to calm down."
Kurt glanced back at his stepbrother.
"I did live with you for almost two years," Finn replied, grinning at his stepbrother.
"So instead of flying home, I dropped in on Wes until Finn gave me the all clear."
"And given your lack of enthusiasm when we left tonight, I figured it was clear for Blaine to come back."
"Thank-you," Kurt told his stepbrother, giving him a quick hug before turning to hug Blaine. "I forgive you," he whispered as Blaine hugged him back. "I love you despite all your issues."
Blaine smiled as he held on a little tighter. "You're pretty messed up too, you know," he whispered back. "Seriously, who cares how many times the pancakes are flipped as long as they're cooked through."
Kurt laughed and the sound was music to Blaine's ears. And then the crowd starting count down, and the two released each other to watch the ball drop live for the first time.