Sorry for the wait guys. I blame it mostly on my struggle to force myself to be okay with the last chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, blah blah blah.

NOTE: for the duet in this chapter, it's basically sung the same as how Kurt and Blaine did in the show but Kurt's parts are replaced with Blaine's duet partner.

Enjoy, darlings! PS It's 6:15 am in California right now and I haven't been to sleep yet. All for you guys! :*

Chapter Five

Blaine tugged his suit jacket into place and observed himself in the body-length mirror hung on the wall of his once bedroom. He smoothed down a stray curl and took a deep breath. He could get through the day. He had to get through it.

He moved to lace up his shoes and did so with careful fingers that were now shaking slightly. He needed to calm down. It wouldn't be too hard to avoid Kurt in a big crowd of people at a wedding. He could do this.

Turns out, he was wrong. It was much harder to avoid the blue-eyed, fashionably dressed man than previously expected. Everywhere he looked, he saw Kurt. He searched for a place to sit and ended up looking in the direction where Kurt was standing with Mercedes Jones. He avoided eye contact but somehow caught them once again after giving in to his curiosity. When the ceremony started, Blaine was practically forced to lock eyes with the man every other second. He had to sit in his pew while watching as Kurt stood up as a groomsman in front of everyone. Blaine wouldn't have minded it so much but he couldn't seem to keep his eyes away from the man. He rapidly became frustrated with not only himself, but with Kurt as well. Why did he have to look so devastatingly handsome in a tux?

Blaine sat anxiously through the ceremony (which was lovely) and was one of the first out the door headed toward the reception. He knew there would be alcohol, and that was what he was after. Alcohol could solve his problems... and a cigarette or two. He could really go for a cigarette right about now.

He arrived just as another group piled into the building, thanked his lucky stars that the bar was already open, and headed straight to it, claiming one of the stools as his own for the night. He didn't think he could make it through the night sober.

After his second beer and three shots of… something, Blaine was sufficiently buzzed, if not a little tipsy. He ordered another beer just as he was joined by none other than Finn Hudson. Finn ordered himself a beer and turned to look at Blaine with a crooked eyebrow and a slight smile on his face. "'Sup, man?"

Blaine looked up at him with a frown and took a long swig of his beer before staring down at where his hands wrapped around the glass bottle, the condensation damp across his palms. "Did Kurt send you to yell at me or something?"

"What? No! I just wanted to tell you to slow down a bit. Nobody needs you throwing up everywhere." Blaine sighed, pushing his beer away. He hated getting drunk, he did, but the whole day he hadn't been able to push down his bubbling emotions. At least the alcohol dulled them enough to where he didn't feel like he was being consumed. "Also, Santana is looking for you."

Blaine perked up at the name of his old friend. It had been too long since he'd last seen Santana. He could use a distraction. Blaine turned to ask Finn where Santana was but ended up seeing said Latina in the space Finn had just occupied. Blaine's smile was bright. "'Tana! Hi, I missed you!" he shakily got to his feet and encircled her in his arms, swaying slightly. The girl chuckled and hugged him back.

"Hey, Short Stack. How've you been?" she pulled out of the hug and steadied Blaine with a hand on his shoulder, laughing at the alcohol-induced goofy look on his face.

"I'm okay. Just trying to get through the trip, I guess."

"Oh, God. Don't get mopey. I do not want to hear about your five-year dispute with Lady Hummel. You both need to get over yourselves and let off some steam… horizontally." Santana wiggled her eyebrows at Blaine while he juts out his lips. Santana grabs his lips in between her fingers with a small smile. "Don't give me that look, you idiot." She pauses, then, "Come sing with me! Mr. Shue had the brilliant idea of karaoke, and by brilliant I mean completely moronic because Rachel's been hogging the mic all night."

"Do I have to?"

"Of course you do, Hobbit. Come on," she retorts, grabbing Blaine's hand and dragging him through the crowd, who were dancing to Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina's Living On a Prayer. As soon as the song was over, Santana grabbed a microphone and gave Rachel a look, causing the three girls to roll their eyes playfully and shuffle off the stage. Santana handed Blaine a mic and pulled him onto the stage. She chose a song and watched Blaine's eyes light up at her choice.

We are young

Heartache to heartache

We stand

No promises, no demands

Love is a battlefield

Blaine had always loved this song, but tonight, there in the crowded room filled with people he knew and loved as well as people he didn't, he truly listened to the lyrics of the song for the first time in his life.

You're beggin' me to go

Then makin' me stay

Why do you hurt me so bad

It would help me to know

Do I stand in your way

Or am I the best thing you've had

As fate would have it, Blaine immediately found Kurt in the crowd while singing that previous line. He knew Kurt knew how relevant the song actually was to them and the relationship they pretended not to have. For the rest of the song, Blaine and Kurt's eyes could not leave each other, neither knowing quite what that meant. In Blaine's nearly-drunk state, he honestly didn't care to think of the consequences, he just allowed himself to soak up Kurt and all his beauty. They may have spent the last five years pretending to despise each other, but Blaine would be the biggest liar in the world if he said he didn't think Kurt was the most beautiful man he'd ever seen.

Believe me, believe me

I can't tell you why

But I'm trapped by your love

And I'm chained to your side

And it was so true, Blaine thought. No matter how hard he tried, or how hard Kurt tried, they'd always be each other's first loves. They would always have a special connection to each other. He could deny it all he wanted, but Blaine Anderson was still in love with Kurt Hummel, and he'd be damned if Kurt didn't feel the same. Although, judging by the way Kurt's eyes were shining with confusion as he watched Blaine, he'd need time to adjust to the idea.

We are young

Heartache to heartache

We stand

No promises, no demands

Love is a battlefield

When I'm losing control

Will you turn me away

Or touch me deep inside

And before this gets old

Will it still feel the same

There's no way this will die

Blaine kept his eyes on Kurt. He couldn't look away. He needed him to hear what he thought this song conveyed to them. He needed Kurt to understand: This, whatever it is, is far from over.

But if we get much closer

I could lose control

And if your heart surrenders

You'll need me to hold

Kurt understood and it freaked him out. As the song ended and he finally tore his eyes from Blaine's, all he knew was that he had to get out of there. So he ran, ignoring Rachel's concerned words, out the back door and away from… everything.

Blaine and Santana get through the rest of the song and Blaine's starting to wonder if she chose that song on purpose. He looked over at said woman and she was smirking at him; he frowned and followed her off stage. He had barely perceived the audiences enthusiastic applause as he snaked his way through the crowd, following after Kurt, or at least where he had last seen him. When he had turned his head back to the crowd after the song was over, Kurt had vanished.

On his pursuit, he rammed smack into Rachel, almost knocking her right off her feet. Luckily, Blaine grabbed her before she could fall, apologizing profusely and strangely sober considered he'd been quite tipsy not ten minutes ago. Rachel brushed herself off once she regained her footing and just laughed about it. "I'm fine, Blaine, don't worry about it." She paused for a second, taking in Blaine's searching gaze as his eyes raked over the crowd. "Are you looking for someone?" Though she had a hunch after watching him perform Love is a Battlefield, she had to ask.

"Um… yeah, I'm- have you, I mean…" Blaine stopped himself and took a deep breath. "Kurt," he murmured. "Where is he?" He scanned the room once more before looking hopefully to Rachel. She smirked knowingly and pointed toward the back door of the reception building. Blaine nodded and hurried toward the door, pushing it open slowly and taking in his surroundings. Behind the building was a beautiful scene that looked to almost be out of a book. It was a narrow path with a stone walkway that was lined with all different types of flowers and shrubbery. Just to his left there was a wooden bench that looked almost as if it were part of the greenery. Blaine didn't spot Kurt so he walked along the stone path, trailing his fingers along the lattice of the archway, until he found a much more open area. The end of the path lead into a round grassy area that had a beautiful fountain in the middle, the sound of the water creating a type of serenity that can't be fabricated. It was around dusk so the sky was growing darker. The larger trees that lined the area swayed and created their own music with the breeze. Blaine found himself wondering why the wedding reception hadn't been held out here, but remembered Emma's aversion to dirt.

He looked up at the darkening sky for a moment, wondering when he last had taken the time to watch such a beautiful sunset. It had been so long. When his eyes returned to the scene in front of him, he spotted Kurt. The man was lying on the ground, his eyes focused up at the sky. Stars were just beginning to appear as the sun set and Blaine just stood and watched for a moment.

A few moments later, Blaine walked toward Kurt and sat down next to him, "Grass stains are a bitch to get out, especially on a designer suit, you know?" Kurt just turned his head toward Blaine as he reclined on his back a few inches from Kurt.

"I'm well aware," he murmured, letting his eyes roam back to the barely lit sky. Both are quiet for a few minutes before Kurt speaks up again, "Do you ever wonder if there's anything else out there?"

"Like other species and planets like ours?" Kurt hums his confirmation. "Well, I think that as infinite as the universe is, there is no way we can be alone in it. We couldn't have been the only hunk of rock in the universe that was lucky enough to be in an inhabitable area of endless space."

"Kind of makes all your problems seem irrelevant, doesn't it?" Kurt turned his head again to look at Blaine, though Blaine has been staring at Kurt the entire time. All Blaine sees is the regret behind his eyes.

"I wouldn't say irrelevant. They just don't seem as critical." Kurt thinks about that for a second then nods slightly. He looks away once again.

Several minutes of silence engulf them, only the now chirping crickets and trickling water making noise. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence like so many between them had been. It was a nice change, even though the emotions thrumming between the two men were undoubtedly loud.

"If you were to take a step back and look at what happened five years ago as an outsider looking in, what would you say?" Kurt whispered. Blaine chuckled, thinking through his answer.

"I would say that we were a pair of fucked up teenagers that had this fairytale notion of romance in our heads. That we were two kids that tried way too hard to change the other." He paused. "I would say that the feelings were real and true, it just wasn't the right time for either of us." Kurt sat up quickly and let his head fall into his hands. He rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"And you think now is the right time?" Blaine sat up and pried Kurt's hands away from his face.

"Look at me, Kurt. Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for me." Kurt huffed and met Blaine's eyes with his own.

"That's not the point, Blaine! What happened still happened!" Kurt voice was louder than Blaine expected, making him flinch. "We're not kids anymore! We can't-"

"That right there is the point, Kurt! We are not kids anymore! We made our decisions back then and we were both wrong to do what we did, but that's just it. We aren't kids anymore. We were naïve and stupid, but we aren't anymore. We know better. We can get it right this time!" By the time Blaine finished speaking, Kurt was crying, his eyes downcast. He wrung his hands in his lap. "If this is about me… hitting you- God, Kurt," Blaine lets his tears fall. He's so ashamed of that one choice in particular. "I am so, so sorry. I can't even explain to you how much I wish I could take it back." Blaine lifts his hand to Kurt's left cheek, caressing it so gently. Kurt leans into the touch. The last time he had touched that cheek was when he had struck Kurt. That makes him sick to his stomach. "I know that this is going to sound like every other abusive relationship in history but, Kurt… p-please, believe me. I would never- c-could never lay a hand on you that way ever again. I-I am so, s-so sorry." Blaine begins openly sobbing into the hand that wasn't resting on Kurt's face.

Kurt watched the man break into a million pieces. It was so painful to watch. He knew Blaine was never a violent person, which among so many other reasons is why he truly believed that Blaine would never make that mistake twice. But what happened five years ago was more than just that one action. It was a multitude of screw ups between the two of them that lead to that last day.

Kurt pulled Blaine into his arms and let him sob into his shoulder. It was about five minutes later when Blaine quieted and just sat and clung to Kurt like his lifeline. "I'm sorry, too. I should have never cheated on you. I just- I knew we were going to break up- You know what, I'm not going to make excuses. We both fucked up royally, alright." Blaine sniffed and pulled back into his own space, avoiding eye contact. "I have one question. It's for both of us, okay? I want you to answer truthfully and I'll do the same." Blaine looked back up at Kurt, admiring his glistening baby blue eyes and the way the moonlight highlighted his beautiful features. He looked exquisite. Blaine nodded in understanding at Kurt's statement, waiting for the question. Kurt took a moment to steady himself and he looked into Blaine's eyes, as if desperately searching for… something. "If we do this… Is this going to be something you just need to get out of your system or are you serious about this? And if you are, are you absolutely sure that we can just keep the past in the past?"

Blaine practically beamed at him. He lunged to his feet, startling Kurt. Blaine reached out a hand for Kurt's own and wiggled his fingers as an offer to help him up. Kurt took it with a confused look and stood to his feet. "Dance with me." Blaine pulled him against his chest and secured his arms around the taller man's waist.

Kurt giggled, "There's no music," but positioned his own arms around Blaine's neck.

"Sing with me!" Blaine offered, jubilantly.

"Answer my questions and I will."

Blaine nodded with a smile that reached well past his bright eyes. "Kurt Hummel, I am one-hundred percent sure and serious about us and I'm willing to put everything behind us and start over if you are." Kurt's incandescent smile was all it took for Blaine's heart to flutter in his chest.

"I am. I'm so willing," Kurt breathed, resting his forehead against Blaine's. They just let themselves take each other in for a moment before Kurt begins closing the gap between them. Just before their lips touch, though, Blaine turns his head so that Kurt's lips touch his cheek and his lips are just close enough to Kurt's ear to make him shiver when he whispers, "You owe me a song and a dance."

Kurt pulls away and chuckles. "I do, indeed."

Blaine begins to hum a familiar tune and Kurt quickly joins in as they sway together, their cheeks pressed close.

Come what may

I will love you

Until my dying day

Once they had run through the song twice, their dancing ceased and they just pulled back and looked at each other. God, how things had changed since that morning. But in the best way possible.

"We're missing the wedding," Kurt muttered, his eyes flashing from Blaine's eyes, down to his mouth and back again. Blaine bit his lip and let his hands slide up under Kurt's suit jacket. Blaine leaned in this time; he never wanted this moment to end. He could feel their breaths mingle just before their lips connected for the first time in five years. It was spectacular. It was old and new and so, so perfect. As soon as Blaine felt Kurt's tongue glide across his bottom lip, though, he pulled away and sighed contentedly.

"I don't really mind missing it, but we should get back. We don't want anyone to worry." Blaine swore he head Kurt sigh as if a bit disappointed but he just sent him a small smirk as he stood on his tip-toes and snuck a light peck onto Kurt's temple. "Come on. Don't want to miss the bouquet toss!" Blaine takes Kurt's hand and starts pulling him toward the building at a near-running pace, making Kurt giggle the whole way.

"You have to be single for that!" The comment makes Blaine gleam with happiness.

They push through the door as soon as the music cuts off and all the single women are being summoned for the bouquet toss. Kurt and Blaine make it to the bar before Mercedes is jumping with excitement in front of Kurt and grabbing his arms. "Kurt come on! You're an honorary girl so come do the bouquet toss with me!"

Kurt just chuckles and glances at Blaine quickly. "I can't. I don't qualify. Sorry, 'Cedes."

"What do you- Oh my God, Kurt!" she looks between the two and jumps up and down. "I'm so happy for you both!"

Kurt pulls the woman into a hug and whispers in her ear, "Thank you so much but do you think you could keep this between just us? I don't want everyone freaking out on us before we've have a chance to catch our own breath." They pull away as she agrees and sends a wink to both of them before scurrying off to partake in the bouquet toss.

The boys watch as Sugar Motta catches the bouquet and practically squeals with delight.

When everything calms back down, Kurt and Blaine begin to drink again, though this time it's not for the sake of forgetting. It's to celebrate.

Another hour passes before someone notices the two men are actually behaving. More than just behaving, actually; they're acting like friends. And not just distant friends that enjoy a drink every couple months, but very, very close friends. This makes Rachel more than a little curious.

At first, she just assumes it's because they may have had too much to drink but then realizes they've been drunk around each other before and that had only seemed to make matters worse. There was definitely something going on. Before she could figure it out though, the night was soon coming to a close and people began to leave. Once about half the crowd was gone—mainly the older people who liked to go to bed early—Finn was asking Rachel to retire back to her house. She reluctantly agreed, admitting defeat in her probably very noticeable spying on the two men. She left a few minutes later with a hug from each of them and swore she would figure it out by the time they were on their way home.

It was only about ten minutes later when Kurt mentioned leaving. Blaine was quick to concur. By that time, both men were admittedly drunk. They weren't to the point where they couldn't walk—stumbling was still walking—and they were responsive enough to comprehend the decisions they were making. They were at the point where a bit of extra confidence took the place of their missing equilibrium. Which is why, when Blaine mutters, "I wanna go to your house," in Kurt's ear, Kurt doesn't bat an eyelash and eagerly agrees. They give their congratulations to Will and Emma once more before turning to look for a certain dark-skinned diva.

They have Mercedes call them a cab (her smirk following them out the door) and before they know it, they're stumbling through Kurt's front door, trying to make as little noise as possible. The moment the front door is closed behind them, Blaine is crowding Kurt against it, his hands untucking Kurt's shirt and finding contact with skin as he hungrily presses their lips together. Blaine's tongue is everywhere before Kurt even has the chance to process any of it. But when he does, he whispers for Blaine to stop. As much as he wants to, they can't do this here. They need to go to his bedroom. If his dad hears them, he'll be pissed. One, for waking him up, and two, for having sex on the living room floor.

"Bed," Kurt grunts. He's already achingly hard against Blaine's thigh, as is Blaine. So they rush as quietly as they can up the stairs, stopping every few steps to catch their footing. On the last step up, after Kurt is already running on his tip-toes down the hall, Blaine trips and lands on the top of the staircase with a loud thump. Both men go still. They wait for any movement and after about a minute, all is well and they continue down the hall toward Kurt's old bedroom—which is luckily on the opposite side of the hallway as Kurt's parent's room.

They stumble their way through Kurt's bedroom door and close is with a silent click. They immediately get to work on tugging off clothing. Once both men are stripped down to nothing, they find each other once again. Blaine tugs Kurt on top of him on the bed and both moan too loudly at the skin on skin contact. Lips connected quickly and hands freely roamed and rediscovered. It was like a do-over of their first time, except maybe a bit more rushed and a little less messy. Or messier, depending on how you looked at it.

Kurt reached blindly into his night stand for the supplies he needed. He pulled out the small bottle and foil square and set them next to them on the bed.

Without warning, Blaine flipped them over on the bed and in the process, Kurt gripped Blaine's hip. The action caused the hazel-eyed man to laugh loudly. Kurt quickly covered Blaine's mouth with his hand, sporting his own smile. "Oh my God, Blaine. Be quiet! We'll wake up my dad!" Blaine just nodded and kissed Kurt's palm. Kurt smiled and let Blaine suck at the hollow behind his ear. He had missed this so much.

Carole Hudson-Hummel was a very light sleeper. Which is why instead of being asleep at eleven o'clock, she was wide awake due to her husband's snoring. It wasn't even obnoxiously loud snoring, just enough to keep her awake. So when she heard the front door shut downstairs, she let herself calm a bit knowing Kurt had made it home safely. She knew Finn had planned to stay at Rachel's. What she didn't expect was to hear muffled voices and two sets of footsteps running up the stairs. What she really didn't expect was to hear the loud thump announcing someone had fallen down. This almost made her laugh.

Burt stirred at the loud sound, waking up enough to ask what the noise was, and Carole just told him Kurt must've hit his hip against the wall or something. The explanation seemed to put him at ease enough to slip back into unconsciousness. It didn't, however, cease her curiosity. She couldn't think of anybody at that wedding Kurt would bring home, but for some reason, she really wanted to know.

She slowly got out of bed and kept telling herself it was none of her business, that Kurt was an adult… However, as a mother, it was her job to make sure Kurt was okay, right? To make sure he didn't bring home a psychopath? So that's what she told herself as she went to investigate. It didn't take long to figure out who else was behind Kurt's bedroom door. She was about halfway down the hall when she heard a slightly muffled but still loud laugh followed by Kurt's insistent, "Oh my God, Blaine. Be quiet! We'll wake up my dad!" That's all it took to send Carole scurrying back into her own bedroom and shutting the door soundly behind herself.

Well, she thought. That was certainly unexpected.