Blaine normally didn't do this whole love and Valentines and the whole mushy ordeal that came with it, but the fact was ever since he'd met Lee, what he knew about 'normal' had been turned on its head. And if he had to be honest, and when it came to her, he did, he had to admit that he was liking this new direction his life had taken. He had someone that he could look forward to seeing after work, or after volunteering at Sanctuary. Sure, she didn't live there, but she did have her own key by now.

However, he was clueless on this whole sappy holiday thing, and didn't even know where to begin. He didn't get chocolates because that was an old cliche, and flowers were an old cliche that would be dead in a matter of days anyway. What he did do, is invite her over early, to spend the whole day together, no work, no worries. He'd ordered takeout, which would arrive pretty soon, and in the meantime, he was in the kitchen, cookbook open on the counter, next to a pan where he was prying pink masses of baked dough off. They didn't burn, but he'd forgotten to spray the pan, and while they were edible, the heart shapes didn't quite pan out as intended, and his shirt was dotted with red food coloring, as were his hands.

Well, you couldn't say he didn't try. He didn't even know if Lee even liked strawberry cookies...Well, their was one way to find out. And if not...well he was sure there was some lonely sap in the complex who didn't have anyone. Once he'd gotten the cooled cookies off of the pan, he gave the kitchen a good look around.

He'd made a mess...dishes were dirty, there was an eggshell on the floor, and he'd learned the hard way that cheap hand-mixers and food coloring didn't mix.

Valentine’s Day. It wasn’t something that Lee had really thought much about in years. But this year, with Blaine, Lee’s thoughts about the day were accompanied by a smile. Not that she really had all that much planned for the day. Though, it was a happy coincidence that Valentine’s Day happened to be on a day that Kevin was already normally with Tarin.

Apparently that had given Blaine some ideas for the night, since he had invited her over for dinner. So Lee had gotten dressed, in a little black dress , hair curled slightly, and made her way to Blaine's place.

Having made her way up the stairs and down the hall, she started to baking. And while it did smell good, Lee didn't pay that much attention; neither she nor Blaine cooked, and she didn't really remember seeing Skye make much of anything, so it obviously couldn't be coming from Blaine's.

At least that was what Lee had thought until she unlocked the door and walked inside. Where the smell of the baking was even stronger. ”What's all this?” Lee asked with a smile as she closed the door and slipped her jacket off.

He'd gotten all of the cookies onto the plate before he just so happened to look down and see his white muscle shirt was speckled with red, and he was dotted with flour from head to toe. It was quite obvious that Blaine wasn't much of a baker. Well, that was an understatement. It was obvious that Blaine didn't bake much at all, but luckily, when it came to baking, everything was all spelled out for you, though his attempt at cheesecake didn't go as well. But that was the night before, and any evidence of that was long gone by now.

Skye had recommended trying something easy like cookies, and he did, but she didn't exactly stick around to find out how that went. He didn't even remember her saying where she was going. Oh well.

His train of thought was broken when Lee's voice broke the silence. She hadn't seen the disaster area that used to be the kitchen yet, but it'd be unavoidable.

"Just...trying my hand at baking," he answered after a slight pause. He could only imagine how ridiculous he looked.

Hanging her jacket up, Lee slipped her boots off before turning to look for Blaine, who had yet to say anything about her arrival. Lee knew that he was home, or at least that someone was home, because she could feel their energy coming from the kitchen. But only one person, which meant that it was either Blaine or Skye was there, not both of them.

Into the kitchen Lee went, and a surprised smile sprang to her face as she saw Blaine standing there, his shirt splattered with flour and red spots, and a plate of...something pink behind him on the counter. But the apartment definitely smelled like baking.

Which was confirmed a moment later as Blaine spoke, and Lee’s smile widened. ”Well, I don’t smell anything burning,” Lee said as she walked into the kitchen, closer to Blaine. ”So you’re definitely doing better than I would have. How does it taste?”

He gave a nervous shrug, looking back at the shapeless forms that were supposed to be heart shaped cookies. One of them...kinda looked like a heart? And another one looked...well, he tried, and that was the important thing.

"Yeah, the nearly setting the apartment on fire was last night, and probably why Skye's taken a leave of absence for today. Or at least, part of why," he gave a shrug, picking up one that almost looked like a cloud and breaking it in half, handing her a piece. Then, he took a bite. As far as taste went, it was pretty good, but he didn't know exactly how it was otherwise. That, was why he gave Lee half. "Well, I think they're okay, but the rest is up to you. Good luck," he said, teasing just a little as he waited.

About that moment, there was a knock on the door, and he moved to answer it. Moments later, he came back in with their Chinese takeout, and set it on the table. "And just in time for lunch."

He nearly set the apartment on fire the previous night? Lee raised an eyebrow at that. ”And just what were you trying to do last night?” Lee asked. She hadn’t expected him to try baking anything, so the fact that he claimed to have almost set the apartment on fire the previous night, and then had tried again today. Lee’s smile was very wide as she stepped right up in front of Blaine, not quite touching him. She was wearing a black dress, after all, and he was covered in flour. ”You know you didn’t have to do this, right?” she asked him a slight flush on her face as she thought about all the effort he had put into the day so far.

Seeing the half of the...cookie, Lee was guessing, that Blaine held out to her, she took it and took a small, careful bite. It really didn’t look like much, but as she chewed, Lee had to agree with Blaine that they did taste good.

But before she was able to say anything, there was a knock at the door, and Blaine was moving past her to answer the door. So Lee stood there, chewing on the cookie. Despite the slightly broken, formless shape of it, it did taste good.

And then as Blaine seemed to be finishing at the door, Lee caught a smell of the food. Her nose wrinkled. She didn’t know what it was that he had ordered for them to eat, but it did not smell at all appetizing.

Blaine hadn’t even gotten the take-out to the table before Lee felt her stomach flipping. Swallowing hard, Lee started moving, hurrying to the bathroom, hoping that she would be able to make it before her stomach decided to empty itself.

Blaine blushed slightly, looking around. "Uhm...cheesecake. It...didn't go as planned, but Skye was here, and there was no damage done. But...she did opt not to help me in the kitchen today. Or...you know. Ever again." He gave a sheepish grin. "I know, but I wanted to. I thought it'd be nice. And surprisingly, it wasn't a complete disaster."

But when the food got there, it wasn't long before Lee was running to the bathroom. He cocked his head to the side, confused. He'd ordered the same thing they'd always had, and he even made sure to get all of her favorites. Maybe it was something about the cookie's texture? She was fine before the food got there though. Taking his shirt off, he tossed it into the laundry basket, along with his pants before going to the bedroom and coming back in a new tank top and pair of pants.

Then, he sat on the couch, waiting for her.

Apparently Skye wasn’t ever willing to help Blaine in the kitchen again, his attempt at making cheesecake the previous night was that much of a disaster. They were destined to have to survive off take-out and very simple, just toss in the oven and wait food.

But Lee wasn’t thinking about any of that at the moment as she knelt in front of the toilet, holding her hair back. She was thinking back to the night she’d worn the corset to the bar. Doing the math about how long ago that had been.

Trying to get control of her stomach again.

Five minutes later, after cleaning herself up as well as she could, Lee slowly stepped out of the bathroom to see Blaine sitting on the couch. And the take-out still on the table, thankfully not opened yet. ”What is it you ordered? Lee asked, not moving far from the bathroom door as she could still smell the food and it did not smell any better yet. ”Can you put it in the fridge or something for now?”

Blaine had gotten up, but he'd gotten a handful of the cookies, and was munching on them as he worked through his thoughts. Was she okay? Why was she sick all of a sudden? He didn't do anything...different. He didn't think so, anyway.

But then, she was sitting next to him. "I made sure to get what we always get. Nothing special. You gonna be okay?" he asked, but then stood up, putting the take out in the fridge, and just bringing the whole plate of cookies into the living area, setting them on the coffee table.

"Well, I guess we're eating on cookies for now," he said with a slight chuckle as he took another bite of the pink mass.

Thankfully, Blaine had no problem with putting the offending food away. At least that would make things a bit easier for Lee, she thought, as the smell would dissipate. But as they sat next to each other on the couch, Lee eyed the plate of cookies in front of her, but leaned back, away from them instead. She knew from experience that it would be a little while before her stomach would be able to handle food again.

”Yeah, I’ll be alright,” Lee finally said, her voice quiet, as she looked over at Blaine. ”I just hope this is a one time thing. It would really suck if it’s Chinese food this time.”

At this point, Lee just laid her head back against the couch and closed her eyes for a few moments. As Blaine said that it seemed they were eating just cookies at that point. Lee smiled slightly, at least he didn’t seem to have been upset by the turn of events. ”You go ahead,” Lee told him, opening her eyes to look over at Blaine again, that small smile still on her face. ”I won’t be able to eat anything, at least not with keeping it down, for a little bit still.”

He ate a couple more of the cookies, sort of letting her have her space for a moment. He didn't know what was wrong, but from the sounds of it, she did. "This time?" he said, quirking a brow at her. "You sure everything's okay?" he asked, a little bit of worry showing in his voice.

Giving another nod, he snuggled slightly closer to her. "Okay, just take it easy," he said softly, closing his eyes as well. This wasn't exactly going as he'd planned it, but the way he figured it, his Valentine's plans were out the window last night when Skye had to bring out the fire extinguisher. Though the green pulsing lights coupled with that were pretty cool...

Grabbing the remote, he turned on the TV, switching it to a music channel, so they could sort of relax. He set it to something with a more classic feel to it, as much as it wasn't his style, he figured it would fit better.

Blaine again questioned if she was alright, if she was going to be ok. And, judging by the confused look on his face, Lee was starting to realize he had no idea what was going on, even if she was almost certain. Lee nodded to him as she felt his arm pulling her gently closer to him, and laid her head on his shoulder for a moment.

Then Blaine was reaching for the remote, tuning to a music channel, causing Lee to smile slightly. ”Yeah, this time,” Lee said softly as she sat up and opened her eyes to look at Blaine as she finally answered his question. ”With Kevin, it was Mexican food. Apparently this time, it’s Chinese.

“I mean, I don’t know 100%, but that sure felt like morning sickness to me.”

As she looked at Blaine, Lee didn’t even realize she started holding her breath, waiting to see his reaction.

As he lay there listening to the music, and to Lee speaking, Blaine didn't exactly catch on right away, seeing as how he wasn't exactly an expert on certain things. He was enjoying the time together, circumstances notwithstanding, and after a few moments, things started to click into place.

Kevin. This time. Morning sickness. Not 100%. Wait a minute...

Blaine's face lit up like a lightbulb went off as he looked into her eyes. "You mean...you might be..." A slight smile stretched across his face as he looked at her. This was a situation he'd never imagined he'd find himself in. But...he didn't hate the idea. In fact...it was kind of exciting.

After Lee spoke, she sat there looking at Blaine. And he didn’t say or do anything for what felt like forever. Lee’s bottom lip drew between her teeth as she waited.

And then she finally saw the smile slowly spreading across his face, Lee let her held breath out in a sigh as she nodded. Despite the surprise that she could see on his face, Lee thought that he did look happy.

”Yeah, I mean, at least I think so,” Lee told Blaine, giving another slight nod. ”I haven’t done a test or anything, but after all that with the food, I’m not even sure we really need to.”

Lee paused, just looking at Blaine, trying to figure out what he was thinking, how he was feeling about all of this. This was extremely quick, two months ago he hadn’t even thought he could be in a relationship, and now this.

He nodded as she spoke, still smiling, though his mind was racing, as was his heart. He wondered if Lee could hear his heartbeat from where she sat; to him it sounded like an unbalanced washing machine full of shoes. He was happy, and he was excited, but at the same time, he was scared to death. And that last one was something that was hard to achieve.

"This is great news," he finally breathed, as he looked at her, taking her hand in his. "But at the same time...the thought of it..." his voice trailed off as his usual 'tough guy' aura began to fade. "Well, honestly it scares the **** out of me. I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean, I never have, when it comes to relationships, but...this is different."


He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, but then added gently, "But whatever happens, I'm with you all the way."