After all.
Part 1, chapter 1.

Slamming the doors open and belting out a tune was the way the Warblers liked to begin practice, Blaine singing the lead, as always. Kurt and Christian watched the talented young Warbler sing and dance his way around the room to 'Tonight Tonight' by Hot Chelle Rae. All of the Warblers enjoyed it when Blaine sung lead, as his confidence always shone through his perfectly pitched voice. He high-fived and smiled at his friends, singing with glee, as he showed off his talents. He knew everyone was watching him but more importantly, Blaine Anderson could feel the eyes of Kurt Hummel watching his every move and every chance he could get to show off in front of the boy he secretly pined after, he took. He tried to ignore the painful image of Kurt holding his boyfriend, Christian's, hand but it always made his stomach drop.

Finishing up his number the Warblers cheered and laughed, Christian leaning into Kurt and Kurt smiling back at him. Blaine returned to his seat next to Kurt and they both high-fived. They were best friends after all.
"Wow, Blaine, you really know how to 'raise the roof'" Kurt was always proud of Blaine. Every lead Blaine scored he was there to encourage him and help him out if he needed it. Although as proud as Kurt was he envied him all the same. He wished just once he would be able to sing lead.
"Oh well thank you very much" Blaine replied, laughing, smiling widely.
"Yeah, Blaine, you did really well. I wish I could sing even half as well as you do." Blaine started to blush. "No, I really mean it, man" Christian was always so kind to Blaine, "you're awesome." Blaine playfully nudged Christian in the arm with his fist and smiled.
Christian Morgan was perfect, there's no doubt about that. He is tall, lean yet muscular, has sandy blonde hair is brown eyed and has the most beautiful smile a person has ever seen, yet all of these amazing factors annoyed Blaine to every inch of his being. The main thing about Christian that annoyed him though was the fact that he was Kurt Hummel's boyfriend, a title Blaine would love to have. 'Kurt and Blaine', he thought it had quite a nice ring to it.

"So, Blaine, Christian and I were going to grab a coffee during break and we were wondering if you wanted to join us? You could ask someone else to come if you'd like." Kurt smiled at Blaine; he knew how much Blaine hated being a third-wheel.
"Sure, Kurt, I guess I could ask Cooper." Blaine returned the smile. Cooper Stiles, the boy every girl dreamed of who was accompanied by dark hair, a strong build and glasses, was Christian's best friend and had been since primary school. The only reason he was accepting the coffee date was to spend more time with Kurt. He didn't care whether Cooper or Christian would be there, any time he spent with Kurt was time well spent. He knew Cooper would keep to Christian anyway.
The two best friends walked on down one of the many halls at Dalton Academy passing friends and fellow Warblers on the way to their next class. Blaine made sure he walked close enough to Kurt but not too close to suggest otherwise. The butterfly feeling in his stomach wouldn't stop and he hoped that this feeling wasn't displayed onto his face. Kurt never noticed anything strange about how close Blaine walked to him; he just thought it was normal, Blaine being Blaine.
"Oh, and by the way, Kurt", Blaine leaned against Kurt's shoulder as they continued to walk, "I really like your new bag." Kurt's eyes lit up and a smile spread across his face. He thought Blaine wouldn't have noticed it and he was secretly dying for him to praise it. "It's very 'you'" Blaine said with a smile.
Kurt raised his eyebrow, "and what do you mean by that?"
"Well, you know, it's very neat and, uh, proper. It's perfect. I mean, it's a perfect bag, you know." Kurt's eyebrow was still raised. "It's just, it suits you is what I'm trying to say. The bag suits you perfectly." Blaine's mind was racing, he couldn't believe he implied Kurt was perfect right to his face, what was he thinking?
"Well, I'm very glad you like it, Blaine" Kurt skipped a little in excitement over his new bag. He didn't even notice Blaine's rambling; he was quite used to it.

During their break at "Hot Mug", the café around the corner from Dalton Academy, Kurt sat next to Christian where Blaine and Cooper sat opposite them. Christian was talking to Cooper about his art project and Kurt and Blaine were discussing potential songs for the Warblers to perform. Deep in discussion Christian was asking Cooper all sorts of questions, 'what are you drawing? Wait, are you drawing or painting? Colour or black and white?' when suddenly Christian grabbed onto Kurt's hand and help it firmly. It was not until this moment that Blaine hadn't actually noticed they weren't holding hands and now that he had witnessed this change his stomach dropped a remarkable amount.
"So, uh, Kurt" Blaine was distracted but shook the feeling away, "you really think 'Only One' by Yellowcard would be a good number for the Warblers to do? I mean, I absolutely love the song but isn't it a little, I don't know, deep?"
Kurt rolled his eyes. "So what, Blaine? All the Warblers ever sing are happy, dancing, top 40, spirit finger-type songs. I think it's about time we did a heartfelt song." There was silence between the two boys which Kurt noticed to be rather odd. He stared at Blaine with a smile on his face only to see Blaine smiling back. He had never really stared at Blaine like this before, he had never really had a chance to realise his best friend's true beauty.
Blaine decided to break the silence, "well, Kurt, if it's what you want I guess we could discuss it at the next Warblers meeting!"
Kurt jumped in his seat excitedly. "Actually, Blaine, I was thinking maybe it could be sung as a duet, too." Blaine's heart skipped a beat suddenly. He had never thought about singing a duet with Kurt and now Kurt had brought the idea of a duet up he wanted that more than anything. "Don't get me wrong, I love watching you dance around and listening to you sing lead but I just think it's time the Warblers took a huge risk and did something we never usually do." Kurt could tell Blaine liked the idea and was pleased he had brought it up.
"Yeah, I actually think you're right" the chance to score a duet with Kurt was the only thing on Blaine's mind. "It could really work if the right people sang it together!"
Kurt looked at Blaine and saw him smiling back, looking hopeful. "There's actually one more thing I wanted to ask, Blaine." Kurt sounded a little sheepish and Blaine picked up on this, his smile fading a little. "I was wondering if maybe Christian and I could sing it together? I mean we'd have to try out, of course." Kurt could see, out the corner of his eye, Christian look at him after hearing his name brought up in the conversation but Kurt kept his eyes on Blaine. He wondered why his best friend's facial expression seemed to drop after this suggestion and decided to smile at Blaine to see if he could make things a little less uncomfortable.
"Yeah, yeah, that could work." Blaine spoke softly taking his eyes off Kurt's perfect face and looking at his hands on his lap. "That's", Blaine shook his head and met Kurt's gaze, "that's a really good idea, Kurt. I'm happy for you, for wanting to have a go at lead. I'm proud." He gave a weak smile and tried his hardest to feel happy for his best friend but no matter how hard or how much he tried to overcome the reality of not being a contender for a duet with Kurt, Blaine just couldn't find the joy.

Kurt lay sprawled out across his bed with the new issue of Vouge magazine open but with no interest on the page he was currently on. His mind was far away from the magazine, thinking about many things. Christian, the duet, what dessert he should cook to send home to Burt and Carole but the most dominant issue on Kurt's mind was Blaine. He wondered why he had acted so distant after their coffee date today, what had he done to make Blaine like this? The way Blaine looked after he suggested singing a duet with Christian was starting to upset Kurt. He certainly could've been over-thinking this whole situation but the only thing that mattered to Kurt was the fact that Blaine didn't seem happy. He always wanted his best friend to be happy and when he wasn't happy he always wanted to be there for him and help him out in the least.
He thought about calling Blaine and decided it was probably for the best. Kurt picked up his cell phone and searched for 'Blaineeee!' in his contact list, and once he found it he hit the call button. While he waited for Blaine to answer, Kurt ran through things he could say in his mind when his thoughts were interrupted, "Hey, it's me! Blaine! Obviously I couldn't answer this call so do what you're supposed to do and leave me a message! If I like you enough I may even call you back, who knows! Ha-ha-ha." Kurt couldn't help but laugh at Blaine's voicemail message, he was there the day Blaine recorded it and the two had been rolling around in fits of laughter over other possible voicemail messages Blaine could use. He eventually decided on saying something simple and friendly, it was the one Kurt enjoyed the most so Blaine kept it. "Hey Blaine, Kurt here! Just calling to see what you were doing? I'm so bored and alone in my room, you know! I want to go out and have some fun, have a good laugh." Kurt hoped his message would make Blaine smile, even just a little. "So call me back when you get this or just pop over, I'll be in my dorm room all day doing homework." Kurt paused for a few seconds, "Oh who am I kidding, I'll be reading the new issue of Vouge ha-ha-ha. Seriously though, if you don't call me back or come over then I'll have come to the conclusion that those evil dwarves hiding in your ridiculously gelled hair have finally taken you over to the dark side. Well, either that or you're legitimately doing something more important than calling me back. Bye Blaine!" Kurt hung up the phone and smiled to himself hoping Blaine would call back or knock on his door very soon.

Although the common room at Dalton Academy was partially full, Blaine found himself sitting alone at one of the many desks attempting to do his English homework. He was finding it difficult to actually concentrate on his work because his mind wouldn't stop racing, going over the conversation he had with Kurt earlier in the day at the Coffee shop. He actually did feel happy for Kurt for wanting to step up and have a go at singing the lead, but with Christian? Frowning, Blaine picked up his pen and started to draw circles onto the corner of his page. He couldn't dislike Christian, he was too much of a nice guy and that frustrated Blaine to no end. He felt defeated, like he had no chance with Kurt because Kurt had already found someone more perfect for him than Blaine. Blaine looked at his watch which read 6.20pm and decided it was time to pack up and head back to his dorm room; he wasn't going to get much study done any time soon anyway. He picked up his bag from his feet and pushed his chair in when he felt his phone ring from his pocket. Pulling it out he saw a photo of Kurt's face on the screen and the name 'Kurtttt!' underneath. He smiled at his phone, happy Kurt was calling him but still not happy enough to answer it, he wasn't particularly in the mood to talk over the phone. He continued down the hall way of the boys' dorm rooms and when he passed Kurt's door he slowed his walking pace right down, glancing at the door. He contemplated knocking to see if Kurt was in and his curiosity got the better of him. He raised his fist to knock on the door, 'what are you doing, Blaine?' he thought to himself.

"You got my message!" the smile on Kurt's face was spread from ear to ear.
Blaine laughed nervously; he was taken back by how excited Kurt was to see him, "what message?" He smiled at his best friend who suddenly jumped towards him and hugged him. Blaine's heart skipped a beat at the suddenness of the affection but he hugged Kurt back with double the amount of strength.

"I called you only 2 minutes ago and you were obviously too busy to answer because I know you love me too much not to answer when I call, right!" Kurt was laughing now and ushering Blaine into his room and onto his bed to sit down.
Blaine started to turn red, "Yeah, well I was studying and you know, I couldn't answer." Blaine's voice was a little shaky. He never quite knew how he got away with his feelings towards Kurt but somehow Kurt never seemed to notice how nervous he got. Perhaps it was because of how much time the two of them spent together and they always seemed so comfortable talking and laughing about things. That was probably the thing about Blaine that Kurt loved the most, how happy he makes him. He's always smiling when they're together. "I didn't actually hear the message you left either, I decided to come here just to hang out for a little bit. I couldn't concentrate on my English homework and I figured you wouldn't be studying because I know that the new issue of Vouge came out today and I also know where your priorities lie." Blaine laughed as he looked around the room, noticing the open Vouge magazine on Kurt's bed, "See!"

Kurt laughed and swatted at Blaine's arm, "You know me too well!" Blaine smiled and nodded. "Fashion is just as important as grades!" Kurt contested.
"Oh yeah, totally, Kurt!" Blaine was still laughing.

"By the way, Blaine, how are you?" Blaine tensed up a little at Kurt's question.
"I'm fine, great actually! Why's that Kurt?"
"Well after our coffee date today you seemed a little strange. Did you not like my idea about doing a duet to a deep song? I mean, I know it's far away from what the Warblers normally do" he looked at Blaine who wasn't looking back at him, "but I really think it'd be great just to try something new."
"Yeah, I agree, Kurt. I really think it'd be great too. To do a duet is one thing but to do a duet to a deep song, I mean, great thinking, Kurt! You might have found a new strength for the Warblers." He smiled at Kurt who was bouncing a little on the bed in excitement.
"Oh, Blaine! I'm so, so glad you agree!" Kurt jumped up and clapped his hands together. "I have to get working on the audition straight away! Do you think Christian and I would stand a chance?"
"Sure! You're such a great singer, one of the best in the Warblers, in fact. I think you could really have a good chance." Blaine, who was still sitting on the bed, smiled at Kurt who was squirming around his room, he didn't want Kurt to see what he was actually feeling inside. "And Christian, he's good too."

Kurt smiled; he always loved how Blaine encouraged both him and Christian in their relationship. "Oh, thank you so much, Blaine! You're too sweet!" Kurt started flailing and hugged Blaine, Blaine hugged him back and they both laughed together.

"What are best friends for, hey?" Blaine shrugged, still hugging onto Kurt.
"You're the best friend I could've ever asked for."
The hug between the pair was interrupted by Kurt's cell phone; he had just received a text.
"Someone's popular" Blaine laughed at Kurt.
"Oh, it just Christian." Kurt read the message out loud;
'Hey Mr! What're you up to right now? I'm bored and was wondering if you wanted to pop over for a movie? Maybe a chat? We could discuss this potential duet! Xox"
"Wow, bad timing hey!"
"Its ok, Kurt. If you want to go to his room I don't mind, I can leave. It's no fuss at all really. I have homework to do anyway and I don't want to keep you. Besides, I haven't eaten dinner yet and I haven't even thought of what I could cook. Maybe I could just steal some of whatever Cooper is cooking." Blaine realised he had begun to ramble.
Kurt laughed at his best friend. "Blaine, seriously, be quiet. I like spending time with you!" He picked up his phone and began to reply;
"Hey you! I can't come over right now I'm afraid. Blaine's here and we're having a lovely little chat. How about we have breakfast before class tomorrow instead? Xox"
Blaine felt a sense of victory come over him, he felt as though he had won. He beat Christian tonight and the prize was Kurt.
"Maybe we could both steal some of Cooper's food?" Kurt's suggestion shook Blaine back to reality.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, good idea! I certainly can't be bothered cooking and Cooper always has sweet food." They laughed together and Kurt's phone went off again.
He read aloud the reply from Christian;
"No worries! Breakfast sounds perfect! Tell Blaine I say hello! Xox"
"Hi, Christian" Blaine said with an annoyed smile and Kurt laughed. Why must Christian be so kind and perfect and nice to Kurt?
"C'mon, Blaine." Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him up off of the bed, "let's go grab some food for tea before it all runs out!" They both walked out of Kurt's room, Blaine was reluctant to stop holding his hand but Kurt had already let go and turned around to close the door behind them.
Blaine's mood lifted a noticeable amount after this, he loved being with Kurt. It made him happier than ever.