Senior year is a stressful time, between those last minute attempts to improve SAT and ACT scores, applying for college and scholarships, the nerve wracking time between submitting applications and finding out if you were accepted, and trying to keep your grades up, Blaine wonders how people make it to graduation without having a nervous breakdown. Everyone deals with it differently; he has seen his classmates pick up nail biting, triple their caffeine intake, suffer from insomnia and nightmares, and lose their appetites. He had thought he would not have any problems keeping up and he always considered himself good at dealing with stressful situations but a month into his senior year, he decided that he never knew what stress was before now. It was either his fifth or sixth all night study session, he can't really remember, but sometime between two and three in the morning, he took a break. He went to the kitchen for a drink and ended up bringing a box of cookies back up to his bedroom with him, just planning to indulge a little, the next thing he knew it was six am and he had just finished his essay and the box of cookies.

He promised himself it was just a onetime thing, he would hit the gym that night and there would be no harm done, but then he remembered that he had a test the next morning and he needed to study. Then three days later, after being assigned a rather large project that would count for half of his grade in AP Government, he found himself leaving the lunch line with two pieces of cake, a muffin, and a cookie on his tray. The following Friday he had a test in AP English and that night during a minor 'what if I didn't pass it' freak out an entire carton of ice cream disappeared. Then the next day while studying at Kurt's house he found himself stunned and very embarrassed when his boyfriend asked him to pass the bag of chips they had opened and Blaine realized it was empty.

"Getting a head start on your freshman fifteen?" Kurt smirked, poking him in the stomach before heading downstairs for another bag.

He tried to substitute the junk food for healthy food, stuffing his face with carrot sticks but an hour later, he had found a bag of salt-water taffy one of the Warblers had given him at the start of the school year and two hours after that his jaw was aching and the bag was empty. It did not help that he spent most of his weekend at the Hummel household where there was always some sort of fresh baked goods and despite Burt's new healthy diet; dessert was still served at every meal. He knew that he was forming unhealthy habits at a rapid pace and he would quickly regret the amount of sweets he was consuming but he was too stressed out to care at the moment.

Three weeks later he finally put a name to his problem when his mother informed him that stress eating wasn't healthy and she had no intention of paying for him a new uniform when he was graduating in the spring, so he had better put a stop to it before he outgrew the one's he had now. He tried, he really did, but then there was half priced Halloween candy and a Thanksgiving feast at the Hummel house and at the start of winter break he realized it wasn't his uniforms he had to worry about, it was his regular clothes. He had not been anywhere, in the last few months, that required him wearing anything other than his uniform or a comfortable pair of sweats but suddenly he was faced with going Christmas shopping with Kurt and his favorite jeans would not button, that was something he could add to his wish list he supposed.

When he did find a pair of jeans that fit he hurriedly threw a shirt and cardigan on and went to find his keys, he stopped though when he caught a glimpse of himself in the entryway mirror, the jeans fit all right but his stomach still pushed over the waistband and was clearly visible under his cardigan. He winced at the sight but left anyways, mentally making a note to purchase a hoodie that might hide the eyesore that was his stomach until the stress eased and he had time to hit the gym again. He was sure that Kurt had noticed his weight by now, but he was not saying anything and Blaine could not decide if he was grateful for that or not. He felt a little bit self-conscious shopping with his boyfriend, his incredibly skinny; fashion forward boyfriend who Blaine was sure must be mentally coming up with some kind of diet to put him on.

They picked through several stores, looking for items for their family and friends and occasionally grabbing items for themselves, Blaine kept waiting for his boyfriend to say something about his weight or his clothes, and when Blaine picked up a dark green hoodie he finally did.

Kurt yanked the garment from his hand, "Sorry, no, my boyfriend is not buying hoodies, if you want new clothes let me pick you out a new cardigan or something."

"Hey, I need a hoodie though", Blaine said trying to reach for the item again but getting his hand slapped away.

"No, you don't, hoodies are for people who want to hide or ignore things", Kurt replied, dragging the shorter boy out of the store. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him but Kurt just returned the expression before leading them back towards the food court, "Now, how about we stop and get a cookie?"

Blaine was thoroughly confused now, "Um, Kurt, in case you haven't noticed, I don't really need a cookie and I kind of did really need the hoodie."

Kurt turned around quickly, nearly causing Blaine to run into him, "No, you really didn't", He whispered, their faces only inches apart, "Now, let's get a cookie."

Something about his boyfriends tone made him think that this was a subject to be brought up another time, when they weren't in the middle of a crowded mall, so he dropped it and followed Kurt up to the cookie counter. As they continued, their shopping Blaine began to notice other changes in the taller boys behavior, his usually shy and reserved boyfriend was being quite grabby, letting his hands linger on Blaine's hips after he had smoothed the wrinkles out of shirt he had tried on. By the end of the trip Blaine did not know what to think anymore, Kurt wasn't reacting how he had thought he would at all, sure Kurt had probably realized before today that his boyfriends eating habits had changed but today Blaine had felt like it was on display for the whole world to see. He had thought that at some point Kurt would have picked out some looser fitting clothes for him to try on or suggest they get salads at lunch but he did just the opposite, handing him skinny jeans and heading for a fast food restaurant.

When they left the mall that evening and began loading shopping bags into their vehicles Blaine was surprised yet again when Kurt pulled him between their cars, out of sight from most prying eyes, and essentially tried to suck out Blaine's tonsils.

"You're leaving tomorrow right?" Kurt asked when he finally pulled back, still keeping his arms firmly locked around the other boys waist.

"Yeah, going to my grandma's house in Maine until the twenty-eighth and then my parents are sending me home and going on to New York for new years", He sighed, feeling Kurt's warm breath against his cheek.

"You're going to be home alone?" Kurt's eyes seemed to light up at that realization.

"For five days", Blaine replied, rolling his eyes, his parents were always gone or at least it felt like that to him.

"Well, we'll have to take advantage of that then", Kurt leaned in for another kiss, his hands squeezing at his boyfriends middle before pulling back, "Call me when you get to Maine." He said, smirking slightly before getting into his car.