Even Though (pt 2)

[shortstaccck]

( Part 1)

*

Shane stepped out of the cab and onto the school's front grounds late morning the next day. Already waiting for him was Blaine, who was waving happily as the twins ran up to him and pushed him forward.

Shane was dumbfounded by what they were doing. "Uh, hi - guys…" he said in between breaths since he was basically running towards Blaine by this point.

"Hello -" Ethan began.

"- Shane," Evan finished.

They stopped pushing him by the time they got to Shane's brother. "Here he is!" Ethan declared.

"Now can we please go and do what we need to do?" Evan begged.

Blaine laughed. "Getting you guys to do something we want instead of what you want is totally hilarious! And worth it!"

Evan glared. "We only did it because -"

"- we had to!" Ethan snarled.

Blaine chuckled again before nodding the boys off, who sprinted to the Windsor dorms faster than anyone Shane's ever known. "What was that all about?" he asked his older sibling.

"They're doing… something," Blaine simply said, looking to where the boys ran. "Let's go in," he finally said, looking at Shane, then began to walk towards the main hall.

Shane didn't follow his brother. "Why aren't we going to Windsor?" Shane asked, suspicious.

Blaine sighed, turned around and pulled his brother along with him into the main hall. "Shane, think about it," he started as they entered the building. "Ethan and Evan are in Windsor house doing 'something' - do you really want to go in there and find out what they're up to?" he finally asked. Shane considered it for a moment and then decided it was probably best to follow his brother. "Besides, I gotta talk to you privately about Micah before we head in there," Blaine said.

Damn it, Shane thought. He was still having trouble over what Micah told him and how he reacted to Micah's good night kiss the night before. Shane began to make various uncomfortable faces, but Blaine ignored it for the meantime because he was already well aware of how weird his brother was.

"So," Blaine began, "how are you and Micah?"

Blaine knew that there was a definite possibility of Micah joining Shane on his flight back home, much to his dismay. Blaine really was okay with Shane dating Micah before - but, again, that was before. And now Blaine had to worry about Reed and how involved Shane was with him. Blaine was really hoping (and, to be honest, half expecting) his brother was better than leaving Reed high and dry for a guy from his past.

"Uh-um, I, uhhh…" Shane stuttered before he started to hyperventilate. He honestly wasn't sure of his answer. With what happened between him and Micah the night before still at the front of his mind, Shane couldn't shake the feeling that he could still like Micah - even though he was absolutely sure he was falling for Reed.

Blaine glanced at his brother: he was jittering like crazy and was flushed.

"Shane, what's going on?" Blaine questioned, concerned.

Shane took a deep breath. "Well…" he began, then began to freak out in a matter no less than a childish fit. Shane threw his arms high into the air and began flailing. "Micah told me last night he wants to go to Colorado with me because he wants to go back to the way things were with us but he wants me to talk to Reed about it first and then he kissed me good night and I don't know how to feel about it!" Shane blurted out in one breath; his hands were dragging down his face by the time he finished his story. Shane looked to his older brother for advice, or anything really, that would help him out.

Blaine was expecting something along the lines of "I broke an antique again, Blaine!" or even "Blaine, I burnt down the house!" Nothing prepared the older boy for what his brother just confided with him. Jeez, Shane, Blaine thought to himself, How do you keep getting yourself into these kinds of situations? Blaine shook his head; he knew it was a mystery he wouldn't figure out in this lifetime.

Trying to clear some things out, Blaine said, "Okay, wait. So, Micah said he wants to go with you to Colorado because he wants to see if things can go back to the way they were with you and him, yes?" Shane nodded, freaking out even more. "And then he said he wants you to talk to Reed about it?" he asked a bit confused. Blaine didn't even know Shane and Micah were discussing Reed.

Shane nodded again, a little embarrassed this time. "I-I, uh, kinda told him that there was something going on between Reed and me…" he muttered quietly, trailing off.

Blaine nodded this time and said, "Good. At least he knows there's someone else." Blaine continued to repeat what his brother said earlier, "Okay, so then he gave you a good night kiss?" Shane nodded slowly and looked as if he was on the verge on tears. "Where did he kiss you?" he demanded. Shane pointed to his left cheek, just in front of his ear.A kiss on the cheek isn't that bad, Blaine thought. Had it been a full on kiss, however, and Blaine knew he wouldn't have been as calm. "Okay. So, what's wrong?"

Shane groaned and placed his head into his hands, covering the one angry tear that fell from the edge of his eye. "Blaine, don't you get it? I'm freaking out because he kissedme and I'm freaking out over freaking out! Oh jeez, I make no sense!" Shane almost screamed, his entire body shaking.

In the distance, both the boys heard footsteps sprinting away and looked toward where they came from. Bailey's probably late for what we have planned, Blaine thought, shrugging off whoever heard his conversation with his brother. He turned back to Shane. Seeing his brother not paying attention to whoever ran away, Shane also turned back to face the older sibling.

Blaine scoffed. "Shane, you don't make sense half the time I talk to you," he reminded. Shane bobbed his head from side to side as he considered this. "Besides," Blaine continued, "why are you freaking out over freaking out?" Blaine looked up to his eyebrows with a confused look on his face for a moment; he realized that he was beginning to make little sense as well.

"Because! I shouldn't freak out over the fact that Micah kissed me because it means that I'm not over him. Even though I should be, because I really like Reed!" Shane exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air again. Like he told Blaine, he really didn't want to be reacting like this towards Micah, because that meant he might still have strong feelings for him. Which couldn't happen because Shane already had the same feelings towards Reed. What have I gotten myself into? Shane thought to himself.

Blaine thought carefully about this. "Well, are you freaking out over the fact that he actually kissed you or are you freaking out over how you felt after he kissed you?" he asked wisely.

At this, Shane stopped flapping his arms in the air, dropped them and stood still. The younger boy thought for a moment. Was he freaking out because Micah kissed him goodnight? Or was it because he felt something after he did? Did he even feel something after Micah kissed him? Shane's eyebrows bunched together as he thought about this.

"I-I guess I was freaking out because he kissed me," Shane finally realized.

"Then there you go. That kiss doesn't actually mean something to you, does it?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shane looked down and blinked a few times before he finally answered, "No. I guess not."

Thank god, Blaine thought. Blaine knew he wasn't prepared for what would happen if the kiss did mean something to his little brother. "Then you have no reason to freak out over freaking out, little brother," the wiser Anderson declared with a smile.

Shane looked up and smiled back in thanks. "Yeah… yeah you're right!" Shane agreed with a nod.

Blaine was pleased with this turn out. "So, does that mean you're gonna let Micah tag along with you when you go back home?" he asked.

"No!" Shane said happily. The younger Anderson shook his head proudly.

With a smug smile, Blaine finalized, "Good."

"Thanks, bro!" Shane said and man-hugged Blaine. He was so relieved to finally sort out all of his confusion.

"Anytime dude," Blaine replied. He felt a buzz in his pocket and guessed that the message was about everything being ready for what they had planned. After releasing Shane from their embrace, Blaine took out his phone and saw the message, We're all set! -K.

"Well, it's time to say your goodbyes to everyone," Blaine told Shane as he stuffed his cellphone back into his pocket. Shane nodded ahead of him, indicating that his brother lead the way.

As the Andersons stepped into Windsor, Reed sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands and breathing heavy from the running he just did to grab a few Stuarts. He was also breathing heavy because he just heard that Micah kissed Shane. Reed didn't mean to hear it, really! He was just grabbing the last few Warblers (i.e. Logan and Bailey) from the other houses who weren't already at Windsor. The Stuarts were way ahead of him by the time Reed heard Shane saying, "I'm freaking out because he kissed me and I'm freaking out over freaking out!" At the words "kissed me", Reed almost tripped, making Reed have a few audible, clobbering steps before getting into the rhythm of running quietly again. He didn't know whether to cry, curse himself or freak out over what he just heard.

Kurt came into the room. "Reed, it's -" he was brightly announcing, before pausing as he looked at his friend. "- show time. Hey, what's going on?" Kurt asked, getting concerned.

Reed shrugged off the question and took a deep breath. "N-nothing," Reed replied as he turned to Kurt, praying that his eyes weren't going to betray him.

Kurt was about to interrogate Reed to ask him what was going on before he heard Dwight ca-cawing a few rooms over, signaling that Blaine and Shane were in Windsor already and were about to approach their dorm. Kurt shot Reed a look that meant "We're not done with this yet" and sat down in the corner, taking out a text book. Slightly afraid, Reed looked down to his hands again.

A few rooms over, Reed heard the conversation between Dwight and Shane.

"Why are you making bird calls?" Shane asked with a snicker.

Dwight stopped making the signal for a moment before replying in an obvious tone, "I'm trying to ward away the morning spirits." This, Reed knew, was true - which was why they chose Dwight as the one to make the crazy, unsuspected signal.

Reed heard Shane's adorable laugh. "Awesome!" he said. Soon, Reed heard sounds which sounded like his hand rubbing against his jeans, or like something being pulled out of pocket. "I still have the pendulum you gave me," Shane told Dwight.

"Good!" Dwight replied. "Always have it on you, okay?" he demanded.

"Always have, always will, dude," Shane replied, making sounds that were similar to one putting something in a pocket. Then, the sounds of a hug were made. "I'll see you around, Dwight," Shane finally said, before adding, "just don't bring your cross and bow when I do, okay?" This time, Dwight laughed.

After leaving Dwight's room for his goodbye, Shane stepped in front of the twins' dorm and braced himself. Of all the rooms he's been to so far for his goodbye, this was the one he actually feared for his physical wellbeing. Before Shane even grabbed the knob, Ethan opened the door, pulled Shane in and pushed to him a Nerf gun. It took a moment for Shane to realize he had to use it, but figured it out too late and dropped his weapon by accident.

At this, he heard Evan scream, "His gun's down! GET HIM!" and Shane felt what seemed like dozens of soft bullets being shot at him.

Shane picked up his weapon and ducked for cover behind a bed James Bond style. Peaking over it, he saw Ethan shoot at him but just barely missed as Shane was able to duck in time. After a moment, Shane yelled a battle cry and began to shoot his Nerf gun at every angle towards where the Twins' giggles. When Shane realized he was out of ammo, he looked over the bed once more and found himself staring at two pairs of legs - one belonging to Ethan and the other belonging to Evan. The identical boys chuckled evilly before shooting at Shane with every bullet they had left, leaving Shane to flail on the floor wildly as he laughed his ass off.

"You suck at controlling the amount of ammo you have!" Evan laughed.

"At least we have bullets to shoot you with!" Ethan teased.

By the end of the unfair shoot out, the boys helped Shane off the ground and hugged him tightly in a bone crushing three-way bear hug. "Now, you gotta go see the Dormouse," Ethan chanted.

"He's in Alice's room, across the hall!" Evan chirped.

And the boys pushed Shane out of their room. Shane was laughing so hard at the amount of intense fun they had in the short amount of time. Blaine rolled his eyes and pushed his brother by the shoulders towards Kurt and Reed's room.

Finally able to get a grip of himself, Shane stepped in front of the last dorm he had to go to in the house. He looked to his brother to make sure it was okay; Blaine nodded and Shane pushed open the door to Kurt and Reed's room.

"Shane!" Kurt greeted happily, putting his book away and getting out of his seat to hug him. "Going back to Colorado already?" he asked with a sad smile.

Shane smiled back. "Yeah, couldn't convince Blaine that I belonged here," he said, glancing at his brother. Blaine put a hand to his face in frustration; Shane and Kurt laughed at this.

"Ha ha, yeah. You would belong here, you crazy guy," Kurt agreed as he ruffled Shane's hair.

Shane smiled brightly before peeking behind Kurt's shoulder, finding Reed sitting in his bed, looking at his hands.

Kurt caught where Shane's eyes were headed and smirked at his boyfriend, who was standing behind Shane. "Hey, Blaine, we should get going!" Kurt suggested.

Blaine smiled at Kurt. "Yeah! Let's go to my room for a moment, okay?" he said after he licked his lips and took Kurt's hand to lead the way out.

As Kurt was being led out of his room, he mouthed a "good luck" at Shane. Turning back to Blaine, Kurt bit his lip and giggled evilly. Shane made a questioning look in response but didn't stop smiling. Those two are sooooo gonna make out in Blaine's room, he concluded with a chuckle. After taking a deep breath, he walked to Reed's bed and sat next to him.

Shane playfully elbowed Reed's arm. "Hey," he said, trying to get a better look at Reed's face since he didn't face him.

Reed turned to Shane for a moment. "Hi," he replied glumly before looking at his hands again.

Shane was immediately concerned. "Hey, is there something wrong?" he asked, gently placing his hand on the crook of Reed's elbow.

Reed glanced at Shane's hand on his arm. Despite the fact that he wanted to squeal at the touch, he remembered what he heard earlier and stared at his hands again. "No," he lied quietly.

Shane knew Reed better than that though. "Reed, are you sure?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Reed said again trying to make his answer believable. He was also trying to show that he knew nothing of what the Andersons discussed only minutes earlier.

"I don't believe you, Reed," Shane pried, moving from his spot to squat in front of the boy. Something was definitely wrong, and Reed wouldn't tell him. Therefore, Shane thought, it was probably about him. "Come on, you know you can tell me anything," he reminded the shorter boy with a small grin, looking up to find his eyes.

What was Reed so upset about? Shane thought. Was Reed sad that he was leaving again? Was he expecting Shane to come back broken, again, remembering the last time they had to say a long goodbye? Shane blinked furiously. That's probably it! Shane realized. Reed was upset that he might not see Shane again, because the last time they had a long departure, Shane returned to him from a close encounter with death. Who knows what the possibilities of that happening again were, especially with Shane's clumsiness? But Shane didn't want to take that chance. It was then he made a promise to himself that he would try to be more careful, for Reed's sake more than his own.

Reed considered Shane for a moment. He didn't want to say goodbye to Shane by dropping the bomb that he knew about his and Micah's kiss, but what choice did he have? If Reed didn't tell Shane now, he would end up telling Kurt later. And Kurt, of course, wouldn't just allow Reed to be holding all of it in. And then, because of that, Kurt would probably force Shane to come back to Dalton so Kurt could give him a piece of his mind. Reed didn't want that to happen to Shane. He didn't want that to happen to Blaine either, because Reed knew that Blaine would be the one who would have to solve their problems. And Reed didn't want that to happen to Blaine and Kurt because they were just beginning to ease back into their relationship. I can't have that happen, Reed thought with a gulp, Especially if I could prevent that fiasco from happening now.

Reed blinked. "Fine, there is something wrong," he confessed, still not willing to make eye contact with the guy squatting in front of him.

"Tell me then," Shane insisted. What was going on?

Reed licked his lips and took a breath. "I-I heard what you and Blaine were talking about earlier," he started, and Shane turned as pale as a blank sheet of paper. Reed saw Shane's reaction and thought, Great, I wasn't supposed to know. "Yeah," he continued, trying to stay strong, before finally looking down to meet Shane's horrified gaze. "Micah kissed you?"

Shane crumpled his face. He was so wrong, so completely wrong. No, no, no! he thought. This isn't supposed to happen! "W-well, yeah, he did," he finally admitted. "But it was only a kiss on the cheek! I swear to God Reed, I was gonna tell you and -"

Reed held up a hand at Shane. "I don't wanna hear it Shane. You said you freaked out when he kissed you, so that means you still have fairly strong feelings about Micah…" he said, voice cracking by the end of it.

Reed felt terrible for acknowledging this, especially out loud. He heard Shane say he freaked out when Micah kissed him - on the cheek; Reed didn't even get the chance to look at Shane lips that way. If Shane reacted to Micah like this from a simple kiss on the cheek, how would he react if they became a couple again? Shane would be ecstatic, walking on air. And Reed doubted that he could make Shane happy like that. Besides, who knows what Shane would have thought of Reed's kissing skills, or lack of it anyway? And now, Reed wouldn't even get the chance to ever find out because Shane still liked Micah.

Shane dropped his head and sighed. He wasn't able to deny that he did freak out. "Well, okay, I did freak out. But it was only a little!" he exclaimed with his arms beginning to flail, trying to save himself. Since he began to flail though, Shane ended up losing his balance and fell butt first onto the floor. Pulling himself together so he could actually lookbelievable, Shane lifted up his knee while keeping the other firm on the ground to stay balanced. He turned back to Reed, "Reed, seriously, I -"

"Just stop, Shane," Reed commanded firmly, trying to keep himself together - at least until after Shane left. "You don't have to explain yourself anymore," he said, looking straight across Shane's hair to the wall behind him.

Crushed, Shane sighed and got up, doing his best not to have Reed see him because he was on the verge of tears. It wasn't supposed to happen this way… he thought sadly. Reed wouldn't even give him the chance to explain himself; he didn't give Shane the benefit of the doubt. When Shane thought of this, he realized how much he was worth to Reed, which was clearly not enough if he couldn't even get the chance. I could never be good enough for him anyway, Shane thought sadly as he walked towards the door.

Shane held the knob to exit the room before he said, "You know, Micah said that, if we didn't work out, he'd come back with me to Colorado to see if we could pick up where we left off. He told me to talk to you about it, but I guess there's nothing to talk about now…" Shane sighed heavily. "I was going to tell him no, Reed, but now…" Shane's voice cracked, "now, I don't know…" Shane sniffed, blinking away the tears that weren't supposed to come, and opened the door. He turned his head slightly after opening the door, glancing back at Reed. "I'll-I'll see you later, Reed." Or not, Shane corrected himself afterwards.

Surprised by what he just heard, Reed stood from his bed and turned towards Shane. Reed was so confused now. Shane didn't want to go back to Colorado with Micah? Then why was he freaking out over Micah kissing him? Reed wanted to ponder about this more but realized he didn't have the time since Shane was stepping out his room.

"Wait, Shane!" he called out. "Y-you were gonna tell Micah no?"

Shane stopped walking but didn't turn around at the voice he loved to hear. "Yeah… but, now I'm not sure because… because…" He took a deep breath for what he never wanted to say. "Because now I don't know if you want me enough for me to push him away."

Reed was baffled by this information. All the while, Reed thought that Shane wanted Micah, not that Reed didn't want Shane enough. Reed wanted Shane plenty, that's why he pushed Shane away, because he'd rather that Shane stay with someone who could make him happy than be stuck with him. But if Shane didn't feel that way at all about Micah, and felt that he wasn't good enough for Reed, did that mean…? The strawberry blonde took a breath. Reed wasn't sure. Then again, Reed may not have known about a lot of things - but he was sure about Shane, and he was sure that Shane would help him figure it all out. Even if that took forever and a day, Reed wouldn't want to give it up. He wouldn't even consider it, unless Shane didn't want him back. Which, because of the new information Reed just found out, was completely not the case.

Shane took Reed's excruciatingly long silence as a dismissal and began to walk away again.

At the sight of Shane walking away, Reed began to shake. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, he thought frantically, but I guess some plans just gotta start early…

"Wait," he began to sing, cracking a bit. Reed cleared his voice, "don't go. There's something I need you to know."

Reed knew this was so not the way he wanted things to go - that is, acapella, and too raw for it to actually sound good. Reed's original idea was that he led Shane to the hallway, just before their last hug goodbye, and the rest of the Warblers would already be out there waiting for him to begin singing. Their arrangement called for an epic mixture of the Warblers harmonizing and scatting with Blaine's guitar, making sure they sounded as close to the original song as possible without having to get an actual instrumental. Most (okay, ALL) of their practice was done early that morning, so they weren't as tight as they usually were. But it was an emergency, and the Warblers had to stick together.

Still, the amount of practice Reed had with the rest of the glee club was now going to waste because he had to begin so much earlier than they anticipated. But maybe the imperfections and flaws that began this performance just made everything that little bit more real. And Reed knew he had to make sure he was as sincere as possible so that Shane knew Reed was singing the truth.

At the sound of Reed's soft, almost angelic voice singing, Shane turned back to him with a questioning face. "W-well…?" he asked.

"Um, it's just - uh - it's kinda - I wanna just, um… shoot," Reed said exasperated. "I don't know," he finally sang. Reed was actually a bit happy that he was actually able to use the line, though he made sure his facial expression made Shane think otherwise.

Shane didn't even say anything that time; he just shook his head incredulously at what Reed was doing. He turned around and began to walk away. (Although, Shane couldn't help but find it incredibly adorable for Reed to be fumbling over words like that. It was almost enough for him to want to turn around for a split second.)

"Just wait!" Reed sang again, louder, catching Shane's attention once more and moving fast to prevent him from walking past his door any further. "Give me a minute," he continued, walking towards Shane, "My head's confused but I know there's something in it."

Reed clasped his hand around Shane's, almost missing for a moment because he was so distracted from his beating heart (which was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wing). This made Reed hold on even tighter to Shane's hand just because of that near-miss. The taller boy looked back and forth from his hand linked with Reed's and Reed's face, his other hand flapping slightly from the excitement. Reed was too busy looking up to memorize Shane's face through his curled lashes to notice though.

"Won't you stay? Please stay, until I get it clear," Reed asked, simultaneously singing what he felt.

Shane looked at Reed with narrow eyes. "What-what are you trying to say?" he asked, curiously, as he listened to the interesting lyrics.

Reed smirked, almost thinking that this was a dream since Shane asked the question he needed to ask before Reed sang again. Originally, he planned for Blaine to "casually" bud in and ask, "Hey, Reed, what are you tryna say to Shane?" Which was now useless because Shane just asked the question he needed to hear.

"What I'm tryna say is," Reed sang with a toothy grin, "I'd feel much better if you would stay here!" Reed shrugged as he looked up to stare into Shane's bright eyes, hoping that what he felt would be seen through his own. At this, Reed could feel courage and confidence he had never felt before building inside of him.

It was then Shane was able to see through Reed's beckoning eyes: this was simply how Reed really felt about him. Shane blinked several times. Reed was actually serenading him with a song about how he truly felt for him! Shane couldn't contain his joy and smiled, looking deep into Reed's eyes.

Reed grabbed Shane's other, flapping hand with his free one - confidence, and now certainty, continuing to build inside of him - and looked down at their linked hands. The gesture immediately calmed down Shane in a way that he's never felt before.

"Even though I was blind before, I realized there is so much more. And it was always deep down in the core of me - I know it now," Reed sang with a nod, confirming that the lyrics were the sincere truth. Behind Shane, he could hear a guitar playing. Both boys peeked over Shane's shoulder and found Blaine beginning to strum on his guitar along with Reed's singing, "And even though it seems too much to take, there's a feeling I can't seem to shake!" Reed looked back at Shane as he bounced in beat on "shake", then continued to sing, "I feel like I am reading the signs `cause you know that I'm…" Blaine strummed once for a lasting note. "… coming around!" And then the guitarist began to play a building rhythm.

Shane looked around him and realized that the other boys were coming out of their rooms, smiling as they watched what was unfolding. A few of them began to scat a few "dum dum da dum"s, adding more bass and rhythm to the acoustic music, which were immediately followed by many others humming a soft, calm melody in harmony. It was then Shane realized that everyone there was a Warbler; he recognized most of the faces from the Winter Festival. He blushed a deep, deep crimson and looked down briefly before staring at Reed again to avoid everyone's gazes. But even though he did care that the others were scrutinizing his and Reed's every movement now, he still couldn't help but focus on the fact that Reed was singing his feelings for him.

Reed gulped and looked down at his and Shane's joined hands. He got this far, now he just had to finish. "I thought I wanted someone perfect as could be," he glanced at Shane with a small smile before looking down again. "When what I needed was the one who was perfect for me!" At this, Reed blushed scarlet and looked back at the taller boy, simultaneously weaving his fingers through Shane's.

This much, Reed knew was true: while he was often confused about what he wanted, Reed knew that Shane was actually perfect for him, and that Shane was exactly was Reed wanted. They were similar in a way that they would always get into some sort of disastrous accident, but they were also able to save each other for the same reason. Crazy as Shane was, Reed already lost count of how many times Shane picked Reed up before he tripped. And, of course, Reed, being the calm one, was able to control Shane's craziness in a positive way. There was also the fact that Shane was the inspiration of many of Reed's artwork. And the fact that Reed was able to find out things about himself he never thought about before, which was only possible because of Shane's guidance - and Reed was thankful for that.

Around them, half the Warblers began to harmonize in background vocals, "Ooh, sha la la la la, ooh!" as others continued to hum the calming melody.

Reed grinned at Shane. "Even though it used to seem so wrong, I've taken you for granted far too long," he sang and took a step closer to Shane, making the shortening to distance between them. "We're falling right into the dénouement and now I'm breaking ground." By now, his and Shane's chests was an inch away from brushing against each other.

The Warblers began to split up their vocals even further; some continued with their "sha la la la"s while others began to sing in harmony with Reed.

"Even though I felt it from the start, it's only now we're beating with one heart! I'm sure that now is the time `cause you know that I'm…" Reed sang, almost certain that his voice was getting lost with the rest of the Warblers'. But with the fierce look Shane was giving him, Reed was sure that his voice was the only one Shane heard. And that made Reed's tummy do somersaults.

The Warblers brought the volume of their singing down dramatically and Blaine continued to strum his guitar. Having a feeling this was the only break in the song he was gonna get, Shane asked, "Is this how you really feel about me?" Across Shane's face was toothy grin because he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that this song perfectly portrayed how Reed felt about him.

Reed looked down at their hands then looked up again with a bright smile. "Yeah, it is," he replied, confidence he never had before still radiating through him.

"Reed…" Shane began, tilting his head slightly, "I-I don't know what to say!"

The strawberry blonde smiled sweetly. "Neither did I - so I chose to sing it, just for you." He inched closer to Shane, removing his hands from Shane's grip to slide them onto his shoulders, making Shane wrap his arms around Reed's tiny waist. He looked up to press their foreheads together until -

"Shane?" a familiar voice called out. Every boy in the hall turned to the direction of the voice, and the Warblers stumbled a bit over the music they were supposed to hold down before getting together again almost effortlessly. No one seriously knew who came in.

Shane's eyes widened as he stepped away from Reed to turn to see where the voice came from. "Micah! I - !"

Micah shook his head at the curly haired duo, but smiled as he did so. "I came in to see if you talked to Reed and to hopefully pick you up. But it seems like you've decided what you've wanted, Shane." Micah smiled and looked at Reed. "Take care of him for me, would you?"

Reed blinked rapidly before nodding, completely surprised and thrown off-guard. As Micah began to extract himself from the interesting performance, Reed called him out. "Hey Micah!" he said, "Thank you."

Reed gave the other boy an apologetic smile. Micah nodded at him before continuing to walk away. Shane's in good hands now, he thought, thinking of how carefully Reed held Shane. I guess Shane really doesn't need me anymore, Micah realized as he exited the school. Micah may have just left part of his heart with Shane, but at least now he knew that it would stay safe with him because he was able to love someone else - and that gave Micah tons of hope for himself.

"Oh my god!" Shane exclaimed, wrapping his arms tight around Reed's waist to spin him around, unable to contain his happiness. After the spin, he loosened his grip on the small boy (who was delightfully laughing his head off) but left one sturdy arm on his waist, where Shane was determined to keep there from now on. Shane brought up his other hand and used it to carefully cup Reed's face. Reed's face was warm and soft - and red at the moment, since he started to blush some more.

Reed couldn't stop smiling. "I-I guess you're finally mine," he declared, pride exuding his entire body.

Shane bit his lip and nodded. Finally, he closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips against Reed's. The entire hall was filled with cheers and hollers as Blaine played an epic guitar solo.

In the distance, Reed could hear someone groaning "FINALLY!" coming from someone who sounded exactly like Logan. Hearing this, Reed smiled into the kiss.

Blaine looked at Kurt, who was standing next to him, clapping for the both of them. Kurt looked back at Blaine and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "We did pretty good," Kurt whispered into Blaine's ear. Blaine nodded with a smile, and began strumming a beat meaning that the song was about to end.

Hearing Blaine's guitar playing another lasting strum of chords, Reed reluctantly pulled away his lips from Shane with a smile. "I'm coming around!" he ended, singing his heart out.

At the last strum of Blaine's guitar, Reed jumped at Shane, wrapped his arms around his neck and crushed his lips against Shane's once more. This resulted in the entire hall being filled with cheers once again and the Twins finally breaking out with what they had planned: a bunch of confetti being shot in the air through their bigger Nerf guns (courtesy of David of Wes, of course) and silly string being sprayed directly at the kissing couple. It was wild and crazy and embarrassing, but neither Reed nor Shane wanted it any other way.