Blaine Anderson wasn't really one for football.
When his father had asked him to attend a professional football game with him almost a year previously, he had turned him down in favour of going to see a local performance of the Rocky Horror Show on his own. As he had sat in the crowd, watching the actor playing Brad parade around in only his underwear and a pair of black wayfarers, he had never once wished he was watching the game. He only asked his dad about the score when he got home out of politeness and, to be honest, he couldn't have cared less when Mr. Anderson told him that the team he supported had won spectacularly.

So what was he doing here, sitting on the bleachers of his school's football field, watching the William McKinley Titans tear the opposing team to shreds?

To be perfectly honest, Blaine didn't know the answer to that one himself. His best friend, Tina Cohen-Chang, had all but jumped him after Glee practice and told him to go to the game – she said she would meet him there, but currently she was nowhere to be found. He pulled his plain black peacoat tighter in an attempt to keep warm, before giving up and searching through his satchel for his red and grey striped scarf. He found himself wondering (not for the first time) why the hell he had even bothered showing up when he could have gotten his impending maths homework over and done with. As he lazily tied his scarf, he noticed someone shifting out of the corner of his eye and turned slightly to see who it was. Tina was struggling through the horde of school football fans in order to finally come and join him. Her black hair was pulled back in a bun, with only her blue highlights hanging free. She was bundled up in a black coat that was embellished with an awful lot of lace – it was a little crazy, a little out there, but it definitely suited her and her gothic image.
"Hey, Tee." He said with a small wave. She returned it with a grin, sitting herself down beside him comfortably.
"Hi, Blaine! Enjoying the game?" She asked, eyes darting to the pitch and then actively seeking out her long-term boyfriend, Mike Chang. She sighed dreamily when she located him, and Blaine rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
"Not really. Any reason you wanted me to come here? You know, other than so you can ogle your boyfriend?" Tina hit him around the back of the head playfully.
"Yes, actually; you'll have to wait until halftime to find out what it is though!" Blaine just sighed exasperatedly.
"You mean I actually have to stay here for that long? I have maths homework to do, not to mention that biology essay... and that English speech to prepare for-"
"That's not for another month, Blainers."
"I know, but it's better to be prepared, right?"
"...Blaine. You've got to stop doing this."
"Doing what? Tina, what are you talking about?"
"Using schoolwork as an excuse to... to not hang out with your friends; obsessing over school – it's not healthy, Blaine." She looked away, eyebrows pulling together and lips turned down.
"Tee... It's not as if I don't want to hang out with you and the rest of the glee club. You know my parents; Dad's disappointed enough that I'm - well, you know! I owe it to them to get perfect grades, at least." He could feel tears prickling at his eyes, but he held them back. He ran his hand through his hair, effectively ruining his helmet of hair gel.
"And you do! You have the highest grades in our year, so please just forget it for today, at least." The conversation hung awkwardly in the air, but the two of them decided to push it aside. They talked about other things, like how Sam obviously had feelings for Mercedes and how Tina's last date with Mike had gone. They cheered along with the crowd when the Titans scored, and Blaine was greatly surprised at how much fun he was having all of a sudden.

x_X_X_x

Soon enough, it was halftime. Tina was grinning madly and Blaine couldn't help but feel anxious all of a sudden. He started begging her for more information and, after a little bickering, she finally elaborated.
"Kurt got promoted to co-captain of the Cheerios." She says smugly, noting the blush rising on her best friend's cheeks at the mention of the male cheerleader's name. "In other words, he's going to be more involved in today's performance – Quinn told me all about it."
"Oh." Blaine mentally cursed himself for being so ineloquent whenever Kurt was mentioned. "I – um. Okay." Kurt Hummel was one of the most popular boys in school. He was tall and slender, with legs that seemed to go on for miles and spectacular glasz eyes that always seemed to dance with emotion. His dress sense, when out of uniform, was phenomenal and his chestnut hair was always perfectly coiffed. His skin was pale, smooth and completely flawless.
Simply put, he was beautiful.
And it wasn't just his looks that were astonishing – it was his personality as well. Unlike the other Cheerios, Kurt was willing to make friends and would rarely ever talk about anyone behind their backs. He was openly gay and incredibly proud of who he was, and although the football team had bullied him about it in the past, they now seemed to accept him – or, at least, pretend it wasn't true for the sake of camaraderie between the team and the cheerleaders who would be cheering them on. Blaine had had the biggest crush on Kurt ever since their sophomore year, despite the fact that they rarely spoke. His mind always seemed to melt into jelly whenever they had a conversation, anyway.
"Is that a good thing?" Tina asked mischievously, eyes bright and glimmering. Her friend's eyes were glued to the pitch, where the cheerleaders were emerging.
"Yeah," He sighed as soon as the object of his affections came into view. "A really good thing."

x_X_X_x

When Blaine got home, he couldn't help the little mental freak-out that occurred. Kurt had been wonderful, perfect even, and Blaine had watched him like a hawk for the entire act. Watching Kurt throw himself around in elegant back flips and perform other incredible feats that Blaine could barely comprehend had made him ridiculously giddy for some reason, and he couldn't stop himself from doing a goofy little dance as he made himself a coffee. His parents were at a dinner dance with his father's work colleagues and wouldn't be back until late, so instead of doing some form of homework he slotted a movie into the DVD player and settled down with his mug and a blanket. It was a Saturday tomorrow, so it didn't really matter when he fell asleep on the couch.

x_X_X_x

Kurt Hummel's Saturday involved getting up at 7:00am (in order to work though his hour long skincare routine), picking himself out a fabulous outfit and going shopping with his friends, Quinn and Santana. The three cheerleaders were then going to meet Brittany and head back to Santana's house for a sleepover – hopefully one where the host didn't get drunk this time. Normally Kurt would revel in a Saturday like this, but today he was dreading having to make small talk with the girls; ever since last weekend, when Kurt had let slip that he was interested in someone, they hadn't stopped pestering him for details. They had, after a week of incessant nagging, pushed him into admitting that he had a crush on Blaine Anderson – the resident nerd of McKinley ("Although, he is pretty hot. I would totally date him if he dropped the books and stopped using so much hair gel." Santana had said thoughtfully, a devilish grin on her face) – just before their big Cheerios performance. As soon as the thing had ended, they had made it their job to point out how Blaine had been in the audience with Tina, how his eyes hadn't left Kurt once. Kurt didn't believe that, but he was pretty embarrassed nonetheless.

x_X_X_x

"Come on, Kurt, talk boys with us! Tell us what you like about Anderson." Quinn asked him, a bright smile lighting up her face as she pulled her blonde hair out of its band. They were all sitting atop Santana's huge bed, wearing pyjamas and eating as much junk food they could without it being noticeable (if Coach Sylvester found out... hell, she'd cremate them personally).
"Um..." Kurt could feel a blush settling on his cheekbones as Brittany giggled. "He's really smart, and talented." The three girls nodded – unlike Kurt, they were all a part of glee club with him and they could all appreciate his talents. "He seems like a genuinely nice guy and... h-he's really cute." By now he could tell that he was completely scarlet. The girls all sniggered at his obvious discomfort, before Santana urged him on.
"How cute, Lady-lips?"
"...Really cute." He suddenly found himself wishing that the bed he was perched on would swallow him whole.
"What's cute about him?" She grinned evilly, enjoying making him squirm but at the same time needing to know.
"Uh... just... let's not talk about this now, okay?" Quinn took pity on him then, changing the subject to her growing feelings for Puck. They all sympathised with her, offering her the advice that she obviously wanted. They all knew how torn she was, especially after having Puck's child and ultimately giving her up.
Kurt was grateful, because really? It would have been incredibly awkward answering Santana's question with 'Everything'. It would have been awkward telling them that Blaine's molten hazel eyes made his stomach do flips and that he wanted nothing more than to run his hands through the mahogany curls that he had only seen freed from gel once. That he wanted to hold his hands and dance with him at prom, where he'd no doubt be wearing an adorable bowtie.

x_X_X_x

On Monday morning, while standing at their lockers, the two of them had an actual conversation. Blaine had somehow summoned the courage to compliment Kurt's clock bowtie, and Kurt (while desperately hoping that he wasn't blushing too much) explained that Cheerios practice had been cancelled, and that he'd wanted to wear it at school for days now. Blaine chuckled – actually chuckled– and Kurt could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat.
"Well, it – it really suits you." Both boys were blushing furiously now, and all Kurt could do was smile in delight.
"Thank you! So, Blaine... you have English first, right? Will you walk with me?" He looked towards Blaine hopefully, his heart racing as the other boy positively beamed.
"Sure, um... if that's ok with you."

x_X_X_x

Somehow, during the span of one English lesson, the two had spoken more than they ever had before. They were both inwardly delighted at how similar they were, chattering away about musicals and about how inspirational Lady Gaga was. Kurt confessed to Blaine that he had been thinking of joining glee club, despite what the jocks in the football team might think, and the other boy encouraged him wholeheartedly. The rest of the class shot them quite a few odd glances, although Azimio was the only one to say anything to them. Kurt insulted him in French in response, causing Blaine, the only other one who understood, to burst into a fit of the giggles in which Kurt easily joined. The insult had been completely ridiculous, and the two of them couldn't stop laughing for a long time afterwards. They walked to their next class together without even realising it.
When Kurt got stuck on a question in Maths, he didn't hesitate to ask the boy, who he was clearly falling for, for help. Blaine was more than happy to assist him, and Kurt found his simple explanation incredibly easy to understand.
"You should be a teacher." He joked, and Blaine replied with an easy smile that he actually would like to teach English in the future. That lead them to yet another long discussion, this time about future goals and the career paths they wanted to follow.

When lunchtime rolled around, Kurt sat with Blaine and the rest of the Glee Club, as opposed to his fellow Cheerios and the football team. This garnered a lot of attention from the rest of the school, but neither of them cared. Tina chatted happily with Kurt as Blaine watched them in silence. He didn't really know what had happened to bring on this sudden friendship with the beautiful cheerleader, but whatever it was, he was incredibly thankful for it.

At the end of the day, the two boys stood together awkwardly at their lockers, almost unsure as to whether they were entitled to say 'see you later' or not. They exchanged goodbyes alongside nervous smiles, before exiting the school.

x_X_X_x

The rest of the week continued in a similar fashion, the two boys spending almost all of their time in school together.
On Wednesday, Karofsky had thrown a slushie at Blaine in front of Kurt. The cheerleader had been livid, dragging the stunned boy into the bathroom and shushing him softly as he washed the corn syrup out of his eyes. He had insisted that he help wash Blaine's hair in the sink, revelling in the feeling of running his hands through those wet curls. Afterwards, he had informed Blaine that his skin would definitely suffer thanks to the cherry flavoured substance, gently dabbing some of his favourite moisturiser onto the boy's nose and cheeks. He feebly tried to ignore the electric jolt he felt whenever he touched Blaine's skin.
"Thanks so much, Kurt. You - you didn't have to do all this stuff for me; I mean, you even missed Cheerios practice."
"It was nothing." Kurt waved his apology away with a flick of his hand. "I've got the routine down, anyway." He didn't mention the fact that Coach Sylvester would probably maul him, or maybe even break into his house and take his wardrobe hostage. He genuinely enjoyed spending time with the adorably geeky Glee Club star, and he was most certainly not going to let the threats of one Sue Sylvester ruin it for him.
"Uh, Kurt - would you... Maybe... Like to get a coffee with me sometime? You know, as a way of me paying you back?" Blaine was scarlet, his eyes looking at anything except Kurt's own. Kurt himself was frozen, not knowing at all what to say. After a few moments of shocked, delighted silence, he managed to say "How about on Friday at 5? At the Lima Bean?"

"That sounds great." Blaine admitted, a shy smile gracing his lips.

When they met up on the Friday, Blaine was once again stunned by Kurt's outfit. He was wearing skin-tight black trousers that rested high upon his waist; they had a white shirt tucked into them, causing it to poof out slightly around his midsection. Over his arm rested a designer label peacoat and, as he turned around to order his coffee, Blaine noticed that the waistband of those black trousers laced up like a corset. It was quite simple for Kurt, based on what Blaine knew of the boy, but it was still stunning and very, very flattering.
"Hi." He said as Kurt came to sit with him, noticing with barely-concealed happiness that Kurt was eyeing his own outfit – red skinny jeans with a black shirt, red bowtie and red suspenders – with obvious approval.
"Hi." Was it just him, or was Kurt sounding a little nervous?

"I'm joining Glee Club." He said decisively, and Blaine blinked in slight surprise. He hadn't thought that Kurt was serious when he'd said it on Monday – after all, why would someone in such a strong position on the high school social hierarchy join Glee of their own free will? Blaine knew, along with the rest of the club, that while Quinn, Santana and Brittany genuinely enjoyed singing, they had only joined because Sue had told them to spy.

"Why?" Blaine blurted, and Kurt raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean, Glee isn't considered cool or anything... Coach Sylvester's not forcing you, is she?" Kurt snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I thought you knew me better than that by now, Mr Anderson; I want to join because I love to sing - I couldn't honestly care less about my popularity dropping, or whatever. Besides, if Sue tried to pull something like that I'd quit on her." Blaine very nearly choked on his mouthful of coffee.

"You'd quit the Cheerios, just like that?" Kurt sighs, taking a long swig of his grande non-fat mocha. He swallows quietly, looking at Blaine as if he was about to tell him some big secret.

"I've wanted to quit for months." He said, voice muffled with a guarded sadness that made Blaine's heart ache.

"What? Why?"

"It's not that I don't enjoy cheerleading, because I do, but... Coach is so hard on us. We have to do everything she says whenever she says it. She takes all of the fun out of it, and really, what's the point if it's not fun anymore? And I know that she's lenient on me for some reason, but that doesn't stop her from making hurtful comments." Blaine frowned as the beautiful boy flushed with anger.

"What – what did she say? Oh, um, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, of course."

"It's ok, Blaine. She just made a stupid comment about how I should lose some weight because my 'pear hips' throw off her whole display." He huffed in anger, hands clutching at his coffee tightly.

"That's ridiculous!" Blaine gasped. "I mean, you're perfe-" He abruptly stopped talking, hardly even believing that he had said that to Kurt.

Oh.

Kurt was blushing furiously now, but not due to anger. He tried to speak for a few moments, but found that he was completely speechless.

"I – oh God, Kurt, I'm sorry!" Blaine shot out of his chair, hands awkwardly resting on the table because he honestly didn't know what to do with them and, oh God, what if Kurt thought he was creepy? They'd only been friends for like a week and here he was telling him that he was perfect. Had Kurt figured out that he had a crush on him? What if he thought it was weird and never spoke to him again?

"I... I'm not perfect." Kurt, seeing that Blaine was internally panicking, finally found his voice. "If anyone is perfect here, Blaine, it's you." He blushed deeper, if that was even possible. Now it was Blaine's turn to be speechless. "I, um... I – I've liked you for quite a while, Blaine, and... I've got to go." And he turned and left as quickly as he possibly could, because that was the first time he had ever told someone that he liked them and he was sure that he had screwed it up royally.

x_X_X_x

"Tina?"

"Blaine? What's up?" Tina's voice, clear as a bell in his ear, seemed to wake Blaine up from his stunned stupor.

"Kurt... Kurt told me that he likes me. Likes likes me, Tee!" He gushed. "And I don't know what to do because I really, really like him too but as soon as he told me he ran off and -"

"Wait, what? Tell me everything!"

x_X_X_x

"Quinn? Quinn, I did something so, so stupid and I don't know what to do and -"

"Kurt, honey, calm down! What happened?" Kurt had phoned Quinn the second he got home, needing to vent to someone, knowing that Quinn would probably offer the best advice (or, at least, better than Santana). And he just had to tell someone. So he told her.

"I told him that I like him, Quinn, and then I just ran away like an idiot because I don't think he feels the same, and..."

x_X_X_x

Kurt was dreading Monday.

Not only did it mean that he had his Glee Club audition today, but he also had to face Blaine. Quinn hadn't been any help, insisting that Kurt didn't have to worry because Blaine obviously felt the same. He didn't believe that one ounce.

He managed to avoid him until Glee, where he refused to catch his eye as he belted out 'As if We Never said Goodbye'. He was accepted without a second thought, going to sit by Quinn in a seat as far away from the dark-haired beauty as possible.

He couldn't avoid him forever, though, so when Glee Club ended and Blaine followed him out to his car, he bit his lip and turned to talk to him.

"Look, Blaine-"

"Did you mean it?" The pure hope on the boys face completely destroyed any chance there was of Kurt thinking straight. He nodded, watching as those hazel eyes lit up with... happiness? Adoration?

And then Blaine was pressing his lips to Kurt's in a gentle, chaste kiss, and the taller teen all but melted. He kissed him back automatically, barely believing that this was real; he'd probably wake up in a few minutes to the sound of his alarm clock and have to start the dreaded Monday again...

"Good. Because – Because I've liked you since the first time I saw you, Kurt Hummel." And suddenly they were both smiling and giggling together because really, in that moment, could anything have been more perfect?

"So, um... would you be my boyfriend?" Blaine asked him, with an optimistic smile that made butterflies dance in Kurt's stomach.

"Of course I will, you goof."