This is a SUPER short one, guys! Blaine doesn't have a single line in this episode, and Kurt's stuff is just part of Rachel and Finn's storyline... and I'm itching to focus on 'Michael' for Wednesday!

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters, dialogue, or songs from the show. It's all just for fun!)

KURT

"...and Blaine's off helping Artie with his idea for Mr. Schu's proposal, so we know they're on top of things," Kurt explained, flopping over onto his back on Rachel's bed. "We've got to think of something!"

"Something romantic," Sugar decided.

"And sentimental," Rachel added.

"It's got to be something that makes Ms. Pillsbury think about how much she loves him," Tina said. "Something nostalgic."

Kurt scrambled into a sitting position. "What about Can't Help Falling In Love? That fits, right? He was married when they first met, after all. But they fell in love anyway."

"Perfect," Rachel sighed. "Just perfect."

"Yeah," Santana said sarcastically. "Because what every girl wants to remember as her man proposes is the first wife."

Kurt groaned unhappily, but acquiesced.

"Because You Loved Me?" Tina suggested.

"Incredibly romantic, but too generic," Kurt disapproved.

"What about The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face?" Mercedes said.

The silence in the room was their answer.

"I'll never forget the first time I saw Finn," Rachel said softly. "Walking down the hall with some of his teammates... he looked so handsome. He didn't even notice me, but I'll never forget that moment."

"There's a romantic first encounter," Santana said. "'He blew me off but wow he was sexy!'."

"Shut up, Santana," Mercedes scolded.

"What about you, Kurt?" Tina asked. "I don't think I know the actual story of how you met Blaine."

The other girls voiced their approval, and they gathered around Kurt on the bed to hear the story.

"I went to spy on the Warblers while we were planning our 'boys versus girls' competition last year," Kurt reminded them.

"It was fate," Rachel said dreamily.

Kurt didn't believe in fate, but he didn't disagree.

"I hadn't even thought about the fact that they'd all be wearing uniforms," Kurt remembered. "So I stood out."

"He picked you out of the crowd?" Santana interrupted. "God, of course he did. I swear he probably felt your presence from across the school."

Kurt shook his head. "No," he corrected, "I got swept up in a crowd, so I stopped him on the stairs to ask what was going on."

"What happened, though?" Sugar pressed.

"He led me straight into Warbler practice," Kurt remembered. "And they sang. He sang."

"Did you know?" Tina asked.

"Did I know I had just accidentally met the love of my life?" Kurt laughed, and he felt a flutter of excitement and nervous energy in his chest as he remembered the moment. "No. But there were sparks, yes."

"And he held your hand!" Rachel bounced on the bed.

Kurt met the chorus of surprised voices with a wave of his hand. "No," he said. "Or, well, kind of... he just grabbed my hand to lead me down the hall. He wasn't holding my hand, exactly."

"Still," Tina said, "wow."

Sugar pretended to faint.

"Yeah," Kurt agreed, remembering how lost and nervous and excited he had been that day. "I don't know what my life would've been if I hadn't met Blaine that day."

KURT

"No wonder none of my dreams ever work out," Finn whined. "'Cause I've got loser DNA."

"Well, if you're throwing a pity party, I want in," Kurt said. "I have as much of a chance of getting into NYADA as I do playing Stanley in Street Car."

"Yeah, well the letters came out from NYADA today saying who are finalists," Rachel added, "and I have been trolling the NYADA chat rooms and people are already talking about getting those letters."

Finn was momentarily distracted from his own problems as he turned to look at her. "You didn't get one?"

"No, and I'm not going to because Figgins put an addendum to my application talking about my suspension," Rachel said.

Kurt thought about the fact that she had been suspended trying to help him, and it just made things seem worse.

"Screw this, I'm getting a whole cheesecake," he said, snapping his fingers to grab their waiter's attention.

"The future used to be such a... abstract idea," he mused. "I mean, the dream was enough, you know? And now the future has the nerve to show up and it's expecting us to do something and it's not interested in giving a lending hand."

"I'm actually kinda scared," Rachel admitted. "I thought the world would care more."

"Make that two cheesecakes," Kurt amended.

"I actually thought we were all gonna get out of here, you know?" Finn spoke up. "Why did she have to tell me that?"

Kurt knew that, with time, Finn would be able to see that Carole had only been trying to protect her son's pride in his father. But Kurt knew that this sudden bombshell was almost impossible to process after eighteen years of believing the lie. He wondered if there was anything about his own mother that would shock him.

"And why can't I have something in my life that's... special?" Finn added. "That means something?"

Kurt immediately looked at Rachel. As Finn continued speaking, Kurt could tell that his words had bothered her. Rachel was something special.

It made Kurt think about his own pity party. Sure, his chances of getting into NYADA were slim with his meager resume. But he had plenty of special things in his life. He had his father, who was everything Kurt could ever have asked for in a parent. He had Carole and Finn; his new family. He had Rachel as a best friend.

And he had Blaine.

What he had with Blaine didn't require anything from the outside world. They didn't need permission or validation. They just needed each other, and none of the other things that life held in store for them individually mattered as much as their relationship.

It helped put everything into perspective as Kurt thought about what might, or might not, happen to him after graduation. He still wanted to attend NYADA with every fiber of his being. But, as he imagined Blaine sitting next to him telling him not to worry so much, he decided that he would be able to handle it if he wasn't accepted. As long as Blaine was in his corner, his life was special. They were special together.

"... Kurt? Kurt?"

"What?" Kurt asked, realizing that he had completely lost touch with the conversation. Their waitress was standing beside the table, and he remembered that he had planned to order a cheesecake.

"Uh, no, never mind," he shook his head.

"You okay, dude?" Finn asked as the waitress walked away.

"Yeah," Kurt nodded. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

BLAINE

"Hello?" Blaine answered his phone, happy for a distraction from his homework.

"Hey," Kurt said. "Sorry to call so late."

Blaine smiled at how sleepy Kurt's voice sounded. It was nearly midnight.

"It's okay," Blaine reassured him. "I'm still trying to finish my homework, so this is a beautiful distraction."

"I'm a terrible influence," Kurt whined.

"Where are you?" Blaine asked.

"Lying in bed," Kurt replied. "I figured you could just ignore me if you were sleeping already."

Blaine thought of his promise to Kurt before Christmas. To always pick up your call no matter what I'm doing. He didn't want to sleep if he could be talking to Kurt instead.

"How was dinner?" Blaine asked. Kurt had texted him an invitation earlier in the evening, but Blaine had already been hard at work at the homework he had mostly neglected over the weekend and had decided to decline.

"Okay," Kurt said. "Finn's pretty upset about his dad."

"I bet," Blaine acknowledged.

Kurt was silent.

"Did you have any cheesecake?" Blaine asked.

"No," Kurt replied. "Not tonight."

There was something in Kurt's voice that made Blaine wonder what had happened.

"You okay?" he asked, trying to sound both casual and concerned.

"I missed you tonight," Kurt admitted. "We could've used your indestructible optimism."

"Glad to know I'm good for something," Blaine teased.

"You're just good," Kurt said. "Everything about you is good. I love you. I just... I wanted to tell you."

Blaine smiled. "Thanks, Kurt," he responded. "I love you, too. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," agreed. "See you tomorrow. Goodnight."

KURT

Kurt felt unusually calm and satisfied as he watched Rachel sing to Finn the following day during glee practice.

"I won't run, I won't fly. I will never make it by without you."

He smiled as Blaine leaned over and kissed his cheek. With Blaine there was never any pressure. It never felt like their relationship was a struggle. Kurt felt comfortable loving Blaine so profoundly because he knew that Blaine loved him just as much in return.

KURT

"I'm excited about Mr. Schu finally proposing to Ms. Pillsbury tomorrow," Blaine admitted. "It's sweet."

Kurt nodded, shifting on Blaine's bed so Blaine could rest his head on Kurt's chest. "So romantic."

"And the water..." Blaine traced gentle circles on the fabric of Kurt's shirt. "It's perfect."

Kurt tugged on Blaine's ear – it had become a thing because Kurt didn't usually want to put his hands in Blaine's gelled hair – so Blaine would lift his head for a kiss.

"I found a place for your ring," Kurt told him as Blaine scooted up the bed so they could kiss again.

"Yeah?" Blaine said happily, pausing for a moment to listen properly.

Kurt smiled. "I found a little glass container with a fancy lid... to keep it safe while allowing me to see it every day and think of you."

To Kurt's surprise, Blaine's eyes were suddenly shiny with tears.

"Will you take it to New York?" Blaine asked quietly.

"Of course I'm going to take it to New York," Kurt reassured him. "If I can't take you, I want to take everything I can find that reminds me of you."

Blaine smiled, and Kurt kissed him again.

"We've got many months of this ahead of us before we have to think about that," he whispered as Blaine nuzzled his nose against Kurt's cheek.

Blaine sighed heavily, but didn't reply as he casually unbuttoned Kurt's vest with one hand.

When Blaine's eyes flashed back up to his for a moment to ask silent permission to undress him further, Kurt nodded.

"Hey," he said as Blaine pulled him up off the bed slightly to tug his shirt off, "look at me. Blaine..."

Blaine paused to look at him, and Kurt saw a hint of sadness in his eyes that he tried to forget as soon as he noticed it.

"I'm here now," he said.

Blaine nodded. "Me too," he said.

"Yeah?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah," Blaine confirmed, and the sadness in his eyes was replaced with desire as his eyes flickered down to Kurt's bare chest. "Yeah," he repeated with more conviction.

"Okay," Kurt smiled, and he was relieved to hear Blaine laughing as Kurt pulled him back down onto the bed.

That look that Kurt gives Rachel when Finn wonders why he can't have anything special... gosh. And when Kurt and Blaine look at each other during Without You. BE MORE IN LOVE, OKAY?

But I think this is probably about the time when Blaine first started to really think about Kurt leaving. They're back from Christmas break, so it's the countdown to the end of the school year. And with all the engagements/marriages going on (Bieste elopes, Will & Emma get engaged, Finn proposes to Rachel even though Blaine doesn't know about that yet), it makes sense that he would be thinking a lot about his future with Kurt...

Up next... 'Michael'!