For as long as he could remember, Blaine Anderson had been friends with Finn Hudson. They lived on the same street, attended the same school, and sang in Glee Club together. And for as long as he could remember, Blaine Anderson had been in love with Finn's older step-brother, Kurt Hummel.
Blaine lived in Lima, Ohio, and attended William McKinley high school, with his best friend Finn. They were both in their senior year now, and had been friends ever since first grade when Noah Puckerman had pushed Blaine over and then Finn had pushed Noah over in retaliation. Finn invited Blaine over to his house after school, and when Blaine went over, he met Kurt Hummel.
Kurt was two years older than Finn, and they were step-brothers; their parents had married a couple of years previous. Burt, Carole and Kurt all welcomed Blaine into their family, and as Blaine grew older and grew distant from his own family, he was found more often than not at the Hummel-Hudson home.
Blaine realised fairly early in his life that he was gay. He would think things about boys that Finn would say about girls. At first, Blaine kept quiet about this, because he heard lots of bad words associated with being gay. Then he heard them directed at Finn's big brother Kurt when they all attended the same school. That was when Blaine found out that Kurt, too, was gay. And even though it was sad that Kurt got called nasty names, it pleased Blaine that Kurt was gay, because there was one boy in particular that Blaine had been having thoughts about, and that boy was Kurt. Kurt, with his big blue-green-grey eyes and pale skin and styled-to-perfection hair and exquisite fashion sense and dry wit and cute little nose and –
It was safe to say, Blaine Anderson had it bad for Kurt Hummel.
By March of Blaine's senior year, college applications were well underway, and their Glee club had just won Regionals. It was also Finn's birthday, and for his birthday, he was determined to visit Cedar Point, an amusement park a couple of hours away from Lima.
"Blaine, dude, you're my best friend, you're gonna come too, right?" Finn asked him one day after Glee club, as they drove back to the Hummel-Hudson home for an afternoon of video games.
"Sure, if you want me to. I know Rachel's coming, are you sure it's okay for me to come too?" Blaine checked.
"Of course I want you to come dude, it'll be awesome!" enthused Finn. "Plus, if you come, it'll make it an even number, which will be good for rides and stuff."
"Wait, an even number? There'd be you, Rachel, your mom and Burt, and then me. That's only five."
"Duh dude, you forgot Kurt. He's coming back for like a long weekend or whatever, 'cause his classes got cancelled 'cause NYADA's heating like, died so the school's not allowed to be open. So he's coming home on Thursday or Friday this week, and he'll be here for a while. So that makes six."
Blaine's eyes had widened the moment Finn mentioned Kurt. "Oh. Right. Okay. That's – that's good. That Kurt's coming back for your birthday."
"Yeah, it'll be cool. More presents!" grinned Finn, clapping his hands together.
"Finn, keep your hands on the wheel!" Blaine shrieked.
By the time Friday rolled around, Finn was bounding everywhere with more exuberance than usual, making him clumsier than usual too. More than once, Blaine or Rachel had to duck away from his flailing arms, as he ran through his list of the rides he wanted to go on. Every time Blaine had come over to his place after school that week, they'd searched online for as much information about Cedar Point as they could, so they knew the best rides to go on, and the best food to eat, as neither of them had been there before. Blaine thought that Finn had probably done more research this week on Cedar Point than he'd ever done for any of his schoolwork.
"So, do you know when Kurt's getting here?" Blaine asked when they pulled into the driveway, hoping he sounded casual.
"I dunno man, I thought he was gonna show up this morning but I think his flight got delayed, so hopefully sometime today. He better show up soon, and not mess up tomorrow," Finn said.
"I'm sure he'll be here by tomorrow," soothed Blaine, as they made their way up the driveway and in through the front door.
"Yeah. Do you want some food or anything before we get started?" Finn asked, dumping his bag in the hallway and kicking off his shoes.
"Typical, you're in the door less than five seconds and I already hear the word 'food' escape your lips," a high voice teased from out of sight. Blaine inhaled sharply as the object of his affections appeared in the kitchen doorway. "It's a good job the first thing I did when I got home this morning was bake the first batch of birthday cookies."
"Kurt!" Finn beamed, charging over to crush his step-brother in a bear hug. Even though Kurt was older, Finn still towered over him.
"Finn! Careful of the clothes!" protested Kurt. Finn released his brother, and then finished registering everything Kurt had said.
"Wait, you baked cookies already? Dude, you are the best!" Finn disappeared into the kitchen, searching out the cookies.
"Nice to see you too," Kurt murmured, smiling after his brother. He turned to look at Blaine, who was still stood by the closed front door, one shoe on and one shoe off. "Hi Blaine. It's good to see you again."
"Uh, yeah, um, you too," Blaine stammered, caught off guard. Kurt looked stunning, with his hair swept up and his skinny jeans practically moulded to his legs, and a shirt and waistcoat partially hidden by a frilly pink apron that he still somehow managed to pull off.
"Are you going to come in? I've baked two batches of cookies already, so if you hurry, you should still get at least one before Finn inhales them all," Kurt teased. Blaine nodded, half-laughing as he hopped out of his other shoe and almost crashed into the wall.
'Smooth, Anderson. Real smooth,' Blaine chided himself as Kurt returned to the kitchen. Blaine shrugged his coat off, hung it up, and followed the Hummel and Hudson boys into the kitchen, where the delicious scent of cookies filled the room. True to Kurt's predictions, Finn was sat hunched over the table, a half-empty plate of cookies in front of him.
"Finn, slow down, seriously. You're going to choke on the cookies and then you won't be able to go to Cedar Point tomorrow," chastised Kurt from his place by the kitchen counter. He was mixing some more cake batter, facing the counter but looking over his shoulder at Finn. This gave Blaine ample opportunity to stare at Kurt's ass, hugged tightly by his jeans, as Blaine came into to kitchen. He was so busy trying to not be obvious in his staring that he ended up walking into one of the stools at the kitchen table, causing it to squeak loudly along the floor. Blaine winced as he stumbled to a stop, moving the stool out and quickly sitting down before he did something else embarrassing. When Finn's hands were both away from the plate of cookies, Blaine dove in and grabbed one. Chocolate chip – Finn's favourite. Blaine's too, coincidentally.
"Okay, okay, I'll slow down. But your cookies are so awesome. Right Blaine?" Finn said, mouth half-full.
"Yes, they are so good," Blaine nodded vigorously.
"Well, thank you boys. I'm just making the third batch now, I know they're your favourite," Kurt smiled. Finn nodded, already going back for more cookies, and Blaine just sat quietly, trying to think of something funny or interesting to say, but coming up blank.
"So how's Glee?" Kurt asked the two boys.
"Good," Finn mumbled through a mouthful of cookie.
"Oh Finn, don't be such a boy," sighed Kurt. "Blaine, you have manners; how's Glee?"
"Um, it's good," Blaine stammered. Kurt had turned around to concentrate on the cookies, but he had asked Blaine a direct question, Blaine needed to sound intelligent! "I mean, I'm sure you know we just won Regionals a couple of weeks ago, which was great, so we've just had a couple of small assignments since. Nationals aren't for another couple months so we've got time to come up with the set list."
"That's great, I'm so proud of you guys for getting through to Nationals again. Think you can hang on to your title as National Champs?"
"Of course we can," cheered Finn, having swallowed the last bite of cookie. He then proceeded to tell Kurt all about his latest drama with Rachel, as Blaine ate another couple of cookies and tried to look like he wasn't staring at Kurt. Not too long after that, Burt appeared, having finished early at the garage as his son was home.
"Hey Blaine. You staying for dinner tonight?" Burt asked.
"Uh, well, I'm sure you guys want to catch up with Kurt, I mean it's Friday Night Dinner, so I don't want to intrude," Blaine protested. He would have loved to stay for dinner, but he didn't want to make a fool out of himself in front of Kurt. He'd probably end up doing that tomorrow anyway, so he didn't think he could cope with it tonight as well.
"Nonsense, you're a part of this family too," Burt disagreed.
"And I'm certainly not going to be the reason to kick you out," added Kurt. "Please Blaine, stay if you want to."
"Um, well in that case, I'd love to stay for dinner, if that's okay with everyone," Blaine said, beaming.
"Of course it is, kiddo. Carole always ends up making extra lasagne anyway," Burt smiled as he left the room.
A couple of seconds later, Finn ushered Blaine away to the computer in the living room, so they could go over their list for Cedar Point. Kurt was content in the kitchen, humming to himself merrily as he continued baking. When Carole got home from her shift at the hospital, she kissed Kurt, Finn and Blaine on the cheek before starting on dinner.
When the food was ready, they all sat to the table – Burt was at the 'head' of the table, with Carole then Finn on his right, and Kurt then Blaine on his left.
"The food looks great as always, Carole," complimented Blaine as they all started on their food.
"Thank you, sweetie. But you know you don't have to shower me in compliments in order to keep eating here," she teased. Blaine grinned back.
Conversation flowed easily between everyone, and even though Blaine was sat right next to Kurt, the food was so good and he felt so happy to be part of the Hummel-Hudson clan that Blaine felt quite relaxed.
Until it happened.
'It' being Blaine feeling the gentle pressure of somebody's foot brushing against his own. Today was one of the rare days that Blaine had worn socks with his jeans, but there was definitely someone's foot touching his. It brushed up the side of his foot before it disappeared, but that small contact was enough to make the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up. But whose foot was it? And why had it happened?
As Blaine continued eating and trying to look nonchalant as Kurt and Burt were discussing vintage cars, he tried to figure out what had just happened. His feet were just resting underneath him, so the only people who could reach his feet were Finn, across from him, and Kurt, beside him. Maybe Finn had stretched his long legs out and reached Blaine. Or maybe Kurt was shifting to get comfortable and had accidentally touched him. Blaine looked between the brothers to see if there were any clues in their faces, but Finn was totally focused on tearing into his food, and Kurt was animatedly chatting with his father. Passing it off as a one-time accident, Blaine continued eating and put it out of his mind.
A few minutes later, Kurt shifted his chair a little closer to the table, and the motion also sent his chair a little closer to Blaine's. Now, when they were cutting up the lasagne, their elbows were practically touching. And sure, Kurt was wearing a long-sleeved shirt but Blaine wasn't, as he'd taken his cardigan off earlier – now there was only one layer of clothing between their bare skin! Blaine felt himself getting hot and took a hasty sip of water.
A few minutes later, Blaine felt a foot brushing against his again. He tensed up for a second before willing himself to relax and not draw attention to his situation. The foot was still there! It slowly moved up his foot to his ankle. There was no other way to describe it than as a caress. Blaine didn't know what to do. Did whoever it was think they were brushing against a table leg? Then the slight pressure disappeared, and Blaine let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding. His shoulders visibly relaxed, and so he carried on finishing up his meal. He did notice that Kurt was pretty quiet for the rest of the meal. Blaine realised that it had probably been Kurt, but Kurt had thought Blaine's foot was a chair leg or table leg, and now was maybe a bit embarrassed.
Blaine was sure to thank Carole when he was finished, and insisted on taking his plate out himself. Burt and Carole did the dishes together so the boys could relax. Finn challenged Blaine to a Call of Duty game, which was when Kurt excused himself up to his room, bidding goodnight to his family.
"See you tomorrow, Blaine," he said before leaving the room.
"Oh, bye Kurt," replied Blaine. Finn then tossed a controller at him and his attention was then completely focused on the game until he left for home a couple of hours later.
The next morning, Blaine awoke with a smile on his face. He bounded around his room getting ready for the day, and was sure to pack extra gel in his bag, as he was sure that going on several rollercoasters would mess up his hair, and he needed to keep it tame. His friends had never seen him without gel in his hair, and he refused to put himself through the humiliation. He ensured he had Finn's present in his bag, and had a quick breakfast before leaving the house.
By the time he arrived at the Hudmels, Rachel had already been dropped off by her dads, and she answered the door when Blaine knocked. She then proceeded to talk his ear off while they waited in the living room for Finn and Kurt to be ready to leave. Soon enough, Finn came thundering downstairs, at which point Blaine hopped up from the sofa to sing, "Happy Birthday!" and give the larger boy his present.
"Sweet, thanks dude," Finn grinned, taking his present. "Mom says I should wait to open any more presents until later, so I'll do this one when we get back."
"Oh, sure," Blaine replied.
"That's only because he was in Dad and Carole's bedroom at dawn trying to look for his presents. I think he was trying to be stealthy, but he woke us all up in the process, and after all that, the presents were in my room anyway," a voice said in a teasing tone. Kurt was coming downstairs much quieter and more gracefully than Finn had done.
"Dude, you like, banned me from going into your room without getting permission first years ago. I learned the hard way that Kurt can be real scary when he's pissed," Finn said, muttering the last sentence.
"With good reason," Kurt said back. "Hi, Blaine. Hi, Rachel."
"Right, are you kids all ready to get going?" Burt asked jovially, as he and Carole came into the room. There was a loud chorus of affirmatives.
As it was Finn's birthday, he was allowed to choose the radio station as they travelled up to Cedar Point, much to Kurt's chagrin.
"Blaine, will you please sit in the back with me to help distract me from the 80's rock?" Kurt groaned as everyone stood in the foyer, putting on shoes and coats.
"Uh, sure, okay," Blaine nodded, trying not to smile too much. Kurt wanted to sit next to him! Probably only because Burt and Carole were sat up the front, and Finn had Rachel to slobber over while they listened to Journey, and Kurt wasn't a particular fan of 80's rock, but still!
"Great." Kurt beamed at Blaine, stepping right up close to him as Kurt weaved through everyone to get to the front door. Blaine's breath faltered as Kurt's arm brushed his when Kurt passed him. He then caught Rachel smirking in his direction and narrowed his eyes at her. Rachel's smirk only widened, until Finn's arm accidentally whacked her head as he tugged his coat on. Finn apologised all the way to the car, while Blaine shook his head at his friend's clumsiness. He caught Kurt's eye as they buckled their seatbelts, and Kurt jerked his head toward Finn before rolling his eyes. Blaine bit back a snigger and Kurt smiled.
During the drive, Blaine tried hard to impress Kurt. He asked Kurt more details about how his course was going, and what it was like in New York, and he listened, awe-struck, as Kurt got excited and babbled about his life in New York; how amazing it was to live in the Big Apple, and his interesting-slash-crazy friends, and how he swears he saw Tim Gunn one time but he nearly got run over by a taxi when he tried to cross the road after him, so he lost him. Blaine watched Kurt's entire being light up with passion as he talked and talked about the different fashions he sees every day, and the little things he notices around the city that he takes for inspiration, and the quirky little teashop near where he lives where he gets his daily coffee fix.
"It sounds amazing," Blaine breathed, when Kurt paused to catch his breath.
"Oh it is, it really is. Sorry if I'm boring you, I can't ever really stop talking about New York when I start. But you're thinking of applying to colleges in New York, right?" Kurt asked.
Blaine blushed as Kurt's intense gaze fixated on him.
"Uh, well," he stammered. "I've applied to NYADA but I haven't heard anything yet, I don't know why I applied there, you have to be crazy good to even get an audition, and –"
"You are crazy good, Blaine, don't sell yourself short. Sorry," Kurt giggled at his own inadvertent height joke. "Seriously though, you're really talented. You have so much charisma on stage, and your vocals are amazing." Kurt leaned towards Blaine, his eyes briefly flickering forward before coming back to Blaine, and he dropped his voice to stage-whisper, "Don't tell anybody else, but I can't keep my eyes off of you when I come back to watch the New Directions perform." Kurt smiled and winked at Blaine, who felt his cheeks flush again. He couldn't seem to stop blushing around Kurt.
"Um, thanks," Blaine said, his lips quirking up into a smile.
"You're welcome. So where else have you applied? Is it all for performing arts?" Kurt asked. Blaine wondered why he was taking such an interest; probably because he didn't have anyone else to talk to and he didn't want to hear the music still blaring from the CD player. Regardless, Blaine told Kurt how the majority of places he was applying to were for performing arts in New York, but he'd also applied to Yale to do Law to appease his father.
"But performing is what I want to do," Blaine concluded.
"Good. It would be such a waste of talent if you didn't. Good luck for NYADA, and everywhere else of course. But is NYADA your top choice?" asked Kurt.
"In an ideal world, yes. That would be amazing," Blaine said.
"Well, NYADA would be stupid not to take you," smiled Kurt. Flattered, Blaine mumbled a thank you, just as Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' started playing, causing Finn and Rachel to sing loudly, drowning out any other attempts at conversation at the same time.
The drive up to Cedar Point took a little over two hours; luckily, the traffic wasn't too heavy, despite it being a Saturday. As soon as the park came into view, Finn started whooping excitedly. Blaine soon joined in – even though he'd been trying to impress Kurt the whole time, he'd never been to Cedar Point before and was pretty excited about it. Cooper had told (aka bragged to) him about it on several occasions, and Blaine couldn't wait to have stories of his own to tell.
Kurt smiled as Blaine and Finn started babbling about which rides they wanted to go on first. Soon, Burt had parked the car and Finn tumbled out, followed closely by Blaine and Rachel, then Kurt, Burt and Carole at a more sedate pace. Blaine's need to appear mature in front of Kurt was overshadowed by his pure joy at visiting a theme park with his best friend. As quickly as Finn could drag the group, they had entered into the park.
"Well it's Finn's birthday, so he can be in charge of what we do today. I would recommend doing any big, looping rollercoasters before lunch, though," Burt said.
The morning passed in a flurry of activity, with Finn tearing around the place like a large, excited puppy, and the rest of the group trying to keep up with him.
One of the first activities Finn had planned was going on plenty of rollercoasters. Burt and Carole gracefully bent out of going on the very large ones, which Kurt tried to do as well.
"But Finn, Blaine and I really want to go on them, Kurt, and you can't make Blaine sit on his own or with a stranger," Rachel protested. Kurt looked torn, so Rachel elbowed Blaine in the ribs, causing Blaine to break out his 'puppy eyes'. After gazing at Blaine's sorrowful expression for a few seconds, Kurt relented.
"But I'm warning you now, Blaine Anderson, I don't appreciate these big rides, you may be forced to hold my hand to get me through it," Kurt said sternly to Blaine.
"Okay. I mean, sure, I can do that," Blaine nodded, suddenly even more excited to get on the rollercoaster. True to his word, once they were strapped in and the coaster jerked into movement, Kurt squealed and grabbed Blaine's hand with his own. Blaine squeezed back and smiled over at Kurt, who opened his mouth as if to say something, but then they tore off round a bend and Kurt screamed instead.
Blaine found that he really enjoyed rollercoasters, especially on this occasion, as Kurt did not let go of Blaine's hand the entire time, on every rollercoaster they went on. Finn had saved the biggest ones until last, and while Kurt and Rachel were willing to go down a 310-foot drop on the Millennium Force (screeching most of the way round), they both point-blank refused to go on the Dragster, which was the biggest one with a 420-foot drop, so Finn and Blaine were the only ones to go on that one.
"Never. Again," Kurt said sternly when they got off the Millennium Force. "My hair must be a total mess," he complained. Blaine, out of reflex, checked his gelled hair, and made a quick detour to the nearest bathroom to touch up his gel, which had lessened its grip during numerous rollercoasters.
They were all having fun, but by shortly after noon, they'd been so active that they were all starving.
"Where do you want to eat, Finn?" asked Carole.
"It has to be somewhere that does vegan food," Rachel announced.
"I know just the place. Blaine and I picked it out yesterday," Finn told them all proudly. "We planned ahead! Come on, this way!"
Finn led them all to Midway Market, selected for its all-you-can-eat buffet with many different types of food. Kurt watched Burt like a hawk as they loaded their plates, and Burt sighed as he added some salad to his burger and fries. Kurt grabbed his father's arm and heaped another load of salad onto his plate before letting Burt sit down at their large table. Burt sighed again, and Blaine saw him roll his eyes at Carole when he was sat down, but Carole only swatted his arm lightly, her own plate filled with some pizza and salad. Finn had piled what seemed like half the buffet on his overflowing plate, while Rachel had gone for some vegan food.
"Dad, did you put extra salt on your food?" Kurt said sharply as he settled into his seat. Burt said nothing, which was as good as an admission. Blaine braced himself, seeing Kurt's furious expression. "Dad, please, you know your doctor told you, no excess salt! Don't you want to be healthy?"
"Of course I do kiddo, but a little extra salt for Finn's birthday ain't gonna kill me," Burt retorted. Blaine saw Kurt flinch at this, as did Burt, whose expression softened. "I'll eat all this damn salad, okay, kiddo? And besides, by the time we get back to the car I'll have filled my exercise quota for the week."
"I just worry about you Dad, especially now that I'm not at home anymore," Kurt said quietly. "I'm sorry if you think I'm nagging."
"I don't mean to give you cause to worry, Kurt. And anyway, you've got Carole as a great second-in-command, she never lets me have a moments peace," Burt said, gently steering the conversation into more light-hearted territory. Blaine just smiles at how happy and open their family are, and thinks about how happy he is that they've accepted him into their family too. He's so busy smiling to himself that he misses Kurt smiling at him too.
Their lunch passes with chatter, laughter and good food. Finn has barely finished his food when he asks if they can go to Toft's Ice Cream Parlor for dessert. They leisurely stroll over to the Parlour, where Finn gets the biggest sundae in the place. Blaine opts for chocolate ice cream, his favourite, while Kurt gets a smoothie.
"I figure if my Dad can let loose for one day, I can too," Kurt whispers conspiratorially to Blaine as they wait for their desserts. Blaine fights back a shiver at how close Kurt's lips are to his ear.
Once everyone had gotten their desserts, they sat outside, as the weather was still fair. Blaine ended up talking excitedly to Finn about what else they wanted to do that they'd seen online. Rachel butted into their conversation to demand that Finn win her something from the arcade before they leave, and as Blaine zoned out, his eyes were drawn to Kurt, who had been mostly silent as he drank his smoothie. Kurt had the straw between his lips, and was sucking on it rather provocatively. Blaine swallowed thickly and looked in the opposite direction. After a few seconds, Blaine glanced back around in Kurt's direction, and was shocked to see that not only was Kurt still sucking at his straw, but he was looking right at Blaine.
Blaine immediately looked away from Kurt, his fingers drumming nervously on his leg. Carole noticed the gaze of both boys and smirked to herself. When Burt raised an eyebrow at her, she just shook her head, not wanting to embarrass either boy. She watched as Blaine's eyes darted back to Kurt again, to find Kurt still gazing at Blaine whilst hollowing his cheeks around the straw. Blaine hurriedly finished the rest of his ice cream, trying his best not to look at Kurt again. Still smiling to herself, Carole quickly engaged Burt, Finn and Rachel in a discussion about the food, to give Blaine time to recover, and Kurt more time to flirt. (What can she say, she thinks they'd make a cute couple.)
"Um, you've got a little…" Kurt giggled, gesturing to Blaine's face.
"What?" Blaine asked, wiping at his upper lip.
"Uh, no, it's a bit – here, let me." Kurt picked up a napkin and stepped up to Blaine, practically chest to chest. Kurt wiped gently at the top of Blaine's nose to get rid of the ice cream. "How did you even get it on your nose?" teased Kurt. Blaine was too stunned to reply, and Kurt lowered his hand and stepped back. Blaine found himself missing the warmth of Kurt's body immediately.
After everyone had finished their desserts, Carole recommended that they take the train around the place, to relax and let their stomachs digest their lunch. Everyone agreed, and they headed for the nearest station to ride around the perimeter of the park, taking in the sights and soaking up the excitement from the crowds of people.
After disembarking from the train, Burt, Finn and Blaine headed straight for the arcade games, closely followed by Kurt, Carole and Rachel. Blaine was pretty hopeless at most games he tried, but he had fun regardless. Burt and Finn showed off their skill at skee ball, and Burt was the first one to proudly present Carole with a stuffed teddy when he won enough points. Rachel then complained loudly that she wanted a stuffed animal as cute as Carole's, so Finn pursed his lips in concentration (Blaine thought, but didn't say, that this face made him look kinda constipated), and a few minutes later, Rachel was shrieking even louder than usual when Finn handed her a pink cat toy.
Blaine was grinning at Finn and Burt's antics, and wishing he was better at skee ball, when he felt Kurt brush past him, towards the skee ball machine.
"I can't very well be upstaged by my old man and my younger brother, even if it is his birthday," he was grumbling. "I will prove that I have just as much talent as you guys at this weird game, if not more talent." Kurt pushed one of his chips into the machine to start the game. Blaine intended to watch Kurt, but Rachel caught his attention.
"Blaine, help me think of a suitable Broadway-related name for my new cat," she demanded, thrusting the soft toy in Blaine's line of sight.
"Um, one of the names from Cats, maybe," he suggested, slightly irritated that he couldn't gaze at Kurt in peace.
"But which name? There are so many good ones. And I want this little one to be as original as possible."
"Why don't you just call it Jellicle, then?"
"Blaine! You're a genius!" Rachel attack-hugged him, squeezing him tightly. As Blaine grimaced, she hissed in his ear, "by the way, I'm sure I saw Kurt checking you out earlier."
"What?" Blaine whispered back. Rachel was either going crazy, or deliberately stirring things to see if Blaine would make a huge fool of himself, clearly. But Rachel immediately let go of Blaine and turned around to coo over Jellicle with Carole. Blaine rolled his eyes.
Just then, a small soft dog toy with big brown eyes appeared by his shoulder. "Hullo. I'm Margaret Thatcher Dog," said a voice behind him. Blaine jumped a mile, frantically turning around to find Kurt holding up the toy and grinning at him. "My relationship with the Queen was ruff!"
"Um…" Blaine said blankly.
"It seems only fair to give this little guy to you," Kurt continued, glancing down at the toy before returning his gaze to Blaine's surprised face. "Everyone else either won something or was given something, and I doubt you'll be winning this game any time soon, so… here." Kurt winked as he pressed the dog into Blaine's hands.
"Thanks," Blaine replied, looking down at the toy, still a little confused. Kurt had won his game of skee ball, and had given Blaine his prize. Why? Because he felt sorry for Blaine? Or was he just being friendly? But before he could puzzle over the gesture too much, he was interrupted by Finn's yell.
"Come on, guys, let's all go on the dodgems!"
"Oh, no," groaned Kurt.
"Oh, yes!" Blaine grinned.
Soon enough, all six of them had bumper cars to themselves, and everyone was off. Carole and Rachel kept shrieking whenever somebody hit them, Finn was having a great time smashing into anything he could, Burt and
Blaine kept trying to hit members of their group, and Kurt seemed to be constantly around Blaine. Whenever Blaine turned, he saw Kurt in the corner of his eye, and over half of the times when someone bumped into him, it would be Kurt, grinning wolfishly at him before speeding away, only to be back moments later bumping him again.
After they finished on the bumper cars, Rachel spotted the part of the park that she'd been most excited about getting to.
"Finn, will you go on the Giant Wheel with me?" pleaded Rachel, hanging on to Finn's arm tightly.
"Uh, sure," Finn agreed. Rachel squealed and immediately starting trying to tug her boyfriend towards the huge wheel. "Blaine, you're coming too right?" Finn called over his shoulder.
"Yeah, you can sit next to Kurt!" Rachel shouted, looking back to wink obviously at Blaine.
"Um, well, I mean, if Kurt wants to, then it's okay with me," Blaine stammered, cursing Rachel in his mind. He was blushing, again.
"I'd love to," Kurt beamed, hooking an arm through Blaine's and pulling him after Finn and Rachel. "Carole doesn't like heights so she and Dad won't be coming on it, but I want to see the view from up there!"
They got in the queue behind Finn and Rachel, who was loudly going on about how romantic the Big Wheel was. Blaine's cheeks were still a little darker than usual.
"So, do you like Margaret Thatcher Dog?" Kurt asked, his eyes bright with humour.
"Yes I do, thank you. She's very cute," Blaine grinned.
"Cute dog for a cute guy," replied Kurt. Blaine's eyes widened. "Ooh, it's our turn, hurry up!" Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled Blaine forward into their car. They were secured in, and then the Big Wheel began to move.
Blaine was hyper-aware of the fact that his thigh was pressed up against Kurt's. Kurt had a fair bit of space between him and the side of the cart, so he could move away from Blaine if he wanted to, but Kurt stayed pressed up to Blaine, even when their arms were constantly touching too. Blaine willed his face not to flush.
"So are you enjoying yourself today?" Kurt asked, turning his head to look Blaine in the eye.
"Yeah, this place is awesome! I've never been before but my brother has, so it's cool to finally get to come here too," replied Blaine.
"Cool. I must admit, this is one of Ohio's few good spots," Kurt said. "I think we picked the best time of day to come up here, look at how pretty the lake is. Oh, Dad and Carole look so small!"
They kept chatting as they ascended, and right when they were almost at the top, the Wheel stopped for a short while.
"Oh, look, Blaine, it's beautiful," Kurt breathed, looking all around.
"Yeah it is," Blaine replied quietly, staring straight at Kurt. Kurt turned to face him again and Blaine quickly looked straight ahead, already feeling a blush coming on. Dammit.
"Beautiful," Kurt murmured, and even though Blaine was resolutely looking the other way, he could feel Kurt's gaze on him as he spoke.
The two boys were mostly quiet on the way back down, absorbing the sights in a comfortable silence.
When they'd all gotten off the Big Wheel, Rachel 'persuaded' Finn to try and win her some more prizes, and failed miserably at a game herself when Kurt pointed out that it was Finn's birthday, not hers. To avoid Rachel throwing a tantrum, Carole stepped in to suggest they start heading back to Lima so they good make good time for Breadstix. Burt backed her up and they all made their way back to the car. Kurt groaned when 80s rock filled the car again on the journey back, dropping his head momentarily onto Blaine's shoulder where they were sat beside each other in the back of the car. Blaine could feel Kurt's hair tickling his neck, and fought the urge to squirm in delight.
'Just Can't Get Enough' came on about an hour into the drive, and Blaine found himself humming along. A few lines in, Kurt quietly started singing, harmonising with Blaine immediately. Grinning, Blaine started singing too, and soon enough the two boys were dueting as loudly as Finn and Rachel had on Journey's 'Faithfully' fifteen minutes earlier.
Blaine couldn't help but keep looking at Kurt as they sang together. Kurt's eyes were sparkling and his mouth was stretched wide in a grin whenever he wasn't singing, and he was looking back at Blaine, completely focused on him. Kurt even started dancing a little in his seat, which mostly consisted of shimmying his shoulders. Blaine found it rather distracting, but thankfully didn't forget any of the words.
"You two are very musically compatible," Rachel announced after the song finished, as if her word was law. In her mind, it probably was. Blaine saw her give a terribly obvious wink in his direction before turning around to face the front again, and resisted the urge to hide his face in his hands.
"I agree," Kurt piped up from beside him. "Very compatible." There was something in the way he said it that made Blaine think Kurt was implying something else, but he refused to let himself read more into it, even if he wanted to.
When they returned to Lima, they went straight to Breadstix, and headed for Finn's 'favourite booth'.
"God I love Breadstix," Finn sighed happily as he sank into the semi-circular booth. Rachel slid in beside him. Kurt stood back and gestured for Blaine to slide in on Finn's other side, before gracefully seating himself on the end next to Blaine. Carole and Burt sat on Rachel's other side, and for a few moments everybody sank down into the comfortable seating before Finn grabbed for his menu.
After placing their orders, chatter quickly rose about their day, and how much fun they'd all had. Conversation died down a little when the food arrived, but nothing could keep Rachel quiet for long.
"I'm still so full from lunch, how are you guys eating so much?" Rachel said, amazed. Finn, obviously, was practically inhaling his food, but she was surprised that Blaine and Kurt were also tucking in to fairly decent-sized meals.
"We're teenage boys, Rach, what do you inspect?" Finn said, mouth full of food.
"Expect, sweetie," Carole murmured.
"Right, that."
Instead of having dessert at Breadstix, Finn had arranged for some of the guys from Glee to come over to stay the night, playing video games and eating all the snacks in the house. They all drove back to the Hudmels, where Finn opened his presents from Rachel and Blaine. Finn was very good at feigning delight when he unwrapped a Barbra Streisand biography from Rachel, and had a more genuine expression of delight when he found the complete DVD set of the Star Wars films from Blaine.
Burt suggested Finn give Rachel a ride home, which gave Finn's family and friends time to set up the house. Puck, Sam, Artie and Mike arrived after Finn turned the corner, having been hiding out of sight. They immediately launched themselves enthusiastically into setting up the house. They turned the living room into a games area, getting cushions, pillows and blankets spread around the floor, setting out a few games and action movies. They also blew up balloons, and Kurt insisted on artfully hanging a banner saying 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY FINN!' up in the living room, getting Mike to help as he was tallest. Blaine tried not to be obvious in his staring when Kurt bent over to retrieve his side of the banner, and also when he stretched up and his shirt rode up, exposing a tiny sliver of pale skin of his back.
A few minutes after they'd gotten everything set up, Finn returned, and his reaction of total shock was priceless, resulting in him tripping over his own feet and crashing into Puck, sending them both sprawling to the floor, and everyone else bursting into laughter.
"Dudes, this is awesome!" Finn crowed as he scrambled up to his feet, bumping fists with all his friends and giving Kurt a quick hug, as Kurt refused to do the 'bro fist-bump'. Burt and Carole wished the guys a good night and escaped upstairs to bed, despite the early hour, leaving the boys to their own devices. This meant they got settled into a gaming tournament, which to everyone's surprise, Kurt also joined in. To their even greater surprise, he was very good.
After Kurt thrashed them all at Mario Kart, Puck demanded a change of game and they switched to Call of Duty.
The night continued in high spirits, with plenty of action movies, video games, laughter and junk food. There was a lot of good-natured teasing about who would fall asleep first, and who would be the last guy standing. Despite Kurt being oldest, most of them seemed to think Kurt would fall asleep first, because his 'beauty sleep' was so important. Kurt just scoffed.
"Oh please. I'll outlast all of you," Kurt replied, his head held high.
"No way, man. Puckzilla will always triumph!" Puck crowed, flexing his arms. What arm muscles had to do with being the last one to fall asleep, Blaine had no idea, but thought it impolite to say.
In the end, Puck was the first guy to fall asleep, still clutching a game controller. Sam prised it from his hands in order to continue the game, and Puck just twitched and snuggled further down into his nest of blankets.
Finn followed soon after, and then Artie, Mike, and Sam. And then it was just Blaine and Kurt awake, while Star Wars: Episode IV played quietly.
"After everything those idiots said, we are the last two awake," Kurt smirked triumphantly. "I think we deserve some kind of prize. You want one of my cookies?"
"I thought we ate them all earlier," Blaine replied.
"Nah, I hid a batch in my room before Finn even got home yesterday. I kept them in a proper container though, so they'll still be okay to eat. Would you like one, or have you stuffed yourself full like the others?"
"Um, I reckon I could eat a cookie. Just one though, I wouldn't want to over-indulge," Blaine said.
"Okay, come on." Kurt got gracefully to his feet and motioned for Blaine to do the same. "We don't want to have them down here and risk waking up the guys," he teased, winking conspiratorially. Blaine nodded quickly, scrambling to his feet. They stepped over a couple of sleeping bodies sprawled across the living room and moved quietly up the stairs. Blaine had never been in Kurt's bedroom before, and he was pretty excited. Also very nervous.
"Here we are, my humble abode," Kurt grinned, opening the door and stepping inside before Blaine.
Despite Kurt not living in this bedroom for many months of the year, it was kept the way he liked it for when he was back in Lima. There were various musicals posters on the walls, books and trinkets lining a couple of shelves, and the whole room was tastefully decorated and colour-coordinated. Furniture consisted of a large bed, a big wardrobe, a couple of chests of drawers, a desk and matching chair; a closed door led to an en suite bathroom.
Kurt knelt on the floor by his bed, and by dipping his head down to reach under the bed and pull the cookie container out he gave Blaine a wonderful view of his backside in his pyjama bottoms. Blaine couldn't help but look at it when it was right there; Kurt was practically presenting himself to Blaine. The younger boy felt a blush rising in his cheeks, yet again, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. God, he wished Kurt was his boyfriend. Then he could actually touch that ass…
"Blaine?"
Crap. Blaine had gotten so lost in his daydreams about being boyfriends and ass-groping that he hadn't noticed Kurt stand back up and face him, offering the cookies toward him with a small smile on his face. How had he not noticed that?
"Um, sorry, kinda dozed off there. I guess I am kinda tired." Blaine tried to cover up his ogling, and quickly took a cookie. "Thanks. These really are amazing." He bit into it and couldn't stop a moan escape at the succulent taste. Kurt beamed at him.
"I'm glad you like them," he said.
Blaine nodded vigorously as he quickly finished the cookie. Kurt took one as well, before closing the lid and dropping the container back onto his bed. They both ate their cookie in companionable silence, and when they finished, Blaine noticed Kurt still had a crumb on his lip.
"Um, you have a, uh," Blaine stuttered, gesturing to Kurt's face.
"What? Oh." Kurt moved a hand up towards his mouth, then stuck his tongue out to the side and licked all around his mouth. "Did I get it?" he asked.
Blaine was transfixed by the sight of Kurt's tongue sweeping around his mouth. He just wanted that tongue on his flesh…
"Blaine?" Kurt stepped right up to Blaine, startling him out of his daydream. "Did I get it?"
There was a look in Kurt's eyes that Blaine couldn't quite decipher. His eyes always seemed to sparkle, but there was something extra in the glint right now.
"If you want to kiss me, Blaine, then I think you should know, I really want you to," Kurt whispered.
Blaine nodded, almost imperceptibly, and rocked forward on his heels to close the gap between their lips.
He ended up going a little off-centre in his eagerness, and kind of crushed Kurt's lips, but Kurt smoothly took control, leaning back just a fraction and sliding his lips firmly over Blaine's. One of Kurt's hands came up to cup Blaine's neck, as the other rested on his hip, as their lips pressed together. Blaine's mind was whirring into overdrive. He was getting his first kiss! And it was from Kurt!
After a few moments, they broke apart to breathe, but Kurt kept his hands where they were, holding Blaine close. Blaine could feel his heart beating so hard, he felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.
"You're really good at that," Blaine breathed.
"So are you," smiled Kurt. He leaned forward again and captured Blaine's lips with his own again.
Eventually pulling back, Kurt asked curiously, "Could you really not tell how much I've been flirting with you the past two days?"
"Uh, well I don't know. I've liked you for so long, I thought maybe I was making it up. I didn't want to read too much into it if you were just being nice."
"You've liked me for a long time?"
"So long, Kurt. I was just too shy to say anything," admitted Blaine.
"I've liked you for a long time too, Blaine," Kurt told him.
"Does this mean – are we boyfriends?" Blaine asked.
Kurt's smile widened. "If that's what you want, then I'd love that," Kurt replied.
"Of course I want that!" Blaine nodded vigorously. Smiling, Kurt leaned forward to brush their noses together.
"I want you to know, I don't expect anything more from you until you're ready," Kurt said, looking Blaine directly in his eyes. "I know I'm older, but I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything you're not comfortable with. I want you to be comfortable, so I can be comfortable." Blaine nodded, slightly dumbstruck that this was actually happening.
"Could you, um, pinch me? Just to be sure I didn't fall asleep and dream this?" Blaine requested. Kurt laughed softly, and gently pinched Blaine's arm. Blaine winced. "Okay, it's happening. Wow."
Kurt gently rubbed the spot he'd just pinched, sending goosebumps up Blaine's arm. He shivered slightly.
"Oh, sorry." Kurt stopped his caress, and Blaine missed the touch immediately. "We should probably go back downstairs and get some sleep."
Blaine nodded, and Kurt put the cookies away again before taking Blaine's hand and leading him back down to the living room. They carefully and quietly manoeuvred around the bodies sprawled across the floor and found space where they could lie side by side. After quickly checking that all the other boys were still fast asleep, Kurt gently pressed his lips to Blaine's again.
"Goodnight Blaine," he smiled.
"Goodnight Kurt," echoed Blaine.
Blaine woke up first the next morning, quite early considering how late they'd all gone to bed. Although he and Kurt had fallen asleep just holding hands, they'd evidently moved around quite a bit during their slumber, because Kurt's front was now pressed against Blaine's back, with Kurt's arm draped over Blaine's torso. Blaine bit back a squeal – Kurt was spooning him!
He sighed happily, leaning back into Kurt's embrace, and smiled when he felt Kurt's arm tighten around him. Kurt's breath tickled the back of his neck, and as Blaine laid there, he heard Kurt mumble, "Blaine," softly in his sleep, and felt Kurt press his face closer to Blaine's hair.
Shit.
His hair!
Cautiously, Blaine reached a hand up to feel his hair. It had been bad enough the previous day when he kept having to re-gel his hair during the day whenever it started breaking free, but now, after sleeping, it was a wild mess of curls. As Blaine's face resembled a rabbit caught in headlights, he carefully tried to remove himself from Kurt's embrace. It didn't exactly go to plan.
"Hey, no, where you goin'?" grumbled Kurt, waking up and tightening his grip without opening his eyes when Blaine shifted under him.
"Uh, I just – just gotta go to the bathroom, go back to sleep," Blaine lied quickly.
"Nuh-uh, stay here, you're warm," replied Kurt, keeping his grip firm.
"But – no, Kurt – my hair," Blaine almost whined.
"What about your hair?" asked Kurt. He finally blinked his eyes open and looked towards Blaine's head. The younger boy cringed, squeezing his eyes shut so as not to see what would surely be a horrified or disgusted look on Kurt's face. "Wow."
"I know, I know, it's horrible, please just let me go gel it –" rambled Blaine, but he stopped talking when he felt a gentle hand run through his unruly curls.
"Why would you ever put gel in this? Your hair is amazing," breathed Kurt, tangling his fingers in Blaine's hair.
"Kurt, please don't make fun," Blaine said, hurt.
"Blaine, I'm not. I love your curly hair." Blaine opened his eyes again to find Kurt smiling at him.
"Really?"
"Really."
Kurt leaned up to kiss Blaine, and Blaine started to lean down to meet him before remembering –
"Wait, no – morning breath!" he hissed, clapping a hand over his mouth, his eyes going wide. "Sorry!"
Kurt just smiled more, shaking his head fondly. "Blaine, stop. I don't care how curly your hair is, or what our breath smells like. I just want to kiss you."
Well, Blaine couldn't say no to that.
The two boys leaned in again, and this time their lips met. Kurt hummed against Blaine's lips as he tangled a hand in Blaine's curls again, to pull the younger boy closer to him. It was just as exciting as it had felt last night, Blaine thought. He could feel Kurt's lips, soft against his own, and then he felt Kurt's tongue, wet and lapping at his mouth. Blaine's lips parted in a gasp, and Kurt licked into his mouth. Blaine's fingers tightened around Kurt's hips – Blaine hadn't even been aware that he was gripping them in the first place. He could feel one of Kurt's hands resting on his cheek.
A few moments later, Kurt pulled back. Blaine's eyes fluttered open. When had he closed them?
"Wow," breathed Blaine, staring into Kurt's eyes.
"Wow indeed," agreed Kurt, smiling. Kurt leaned a little towards him and brushed their noses together like he had the previous night. "Are you sure you've never kissed anyone before?" he teased.
Blaine was about to reply when movement behind Kurt caught his eye. He jerked back from Kurt as Puck's arms stretched up as the boy yawned.
"Yo, is anyone else awake?" Puck whispered loudly.
"Yeah. Kurt and I are," Blaine replied, after unwinding his arms from Kurt's torso. They tried to subtly shift away from each other, which was difficult considering they were sharing blankets. Kurt quickly got to his feet, trying not to dislodge Blaine.
"I'm gonna go freshen up," he said quietly, stepping over Blaine and making for the door. Once he was out of sight, Blaine sat up and looked over at Puck, who was still lying on the floor. Puck waggled his eyebrows at Blaine.
"Congrats, bro," Puck grinned.
"What? What do you mean?" asked Blaine, eyes wide.
"Dude, you guys were kissing so loud you woke me up," Puck replied.
"What – no, we weren't – um," spluttered Blaine.
"Dude, don't worry about it. I'm glad you guys finally stopped making eyes at each other and got your acts together," Puck said, waving a hand nonchalantly. Blaine was stunned into silence.
Gradually, the rest of the guys awoke and went in search of breakfast, and Blaine quickly went to gel his hair before joining them. When Kurt returned, washed and dressed with his hair swept up, he pouted upon seeing Blaine's hair gelled down again.
"I liked your hair better without gel," Kurt whined in Blaine's ear, as he leaned over Blaine to grab a slice of toast from Finn's plate.
"Hey dude, don't steal my food!" Finn said loudly, breaking the moment.
"It's not your birthday any more, I can do what I want," Kurt retorted teasingly.
It quickly became apparent to the other boys, when Kurt put his arms around Blaine's waist and kissed his cheek after breakfast, that Kurt and Blaine were now boyfriends.
Before they had time to react, Kurt pulled Blaine around to kiss him properly, smiling against his lips. Blaine's hands found their way to Kurt's hips, and he gripped his boyfriend tightly as Kurt's arms wound around his neck.
"Gross, dude, that's my brother," Finn moaned, but he was ignored.
"Oh god, they're going to be sickeningly mushy from now on, aren't they," groaned Sam.
"They're adorable!" cooed Puck, a hand over his heart.