Even though it made him feel immensely creepy, Blaine took to watching Kurt Hummel. He followed him around the halls, memorizing his class schedule. He stared at him in their shared classes, picking up on the boy's subtle mannerisms, trying to figure out just what it was that made him tick.

In almost a solid week of observation, Blaine figured out many things. First, that Kurt was something of an introvert. According to a few of his other classmates, he rarely spoke, even when asked a direct question, and he kept firmly to himself, even going so far as to grab portable lunches from the cafeteria to eat up in his room. Second, Blaine learned that that the kid was also kind of a bookworm—he was always off by himself in one of the common areas or holed up in his dorm, reading or studying like his life depended on it. And lastly, Blaine learned (much to his relief) that Kurt was completely, totally, one hundred percent gay. That little factoid made his life infinitely easier.

That didn't mean he knew how he was going to approach the guy.

Blaine was distracted as he trudged into the library. All of the other Warblers had been interested in his progress and, finding that he wasn't really going anywhere, had given him a deadline: he needed to have bedded and dropped Kurt by the end of Spring Break. That meant he had the entirety of Winter Break and all of the romantic holidays it entailed as well as Valentines Day to woo the kid. That meant he had time, but he still hadn't even figured out a way to talk to the guy yet; how the heck was he going to get Kurt to sleep with him at this rate?

It was a Friday afternoon, and the library was nearly empty. Most everyone had already packed up and headed home for the weekend, which was perfectly fine for Blaine. The school would be quieter, and he could finally get some time to think and figure out what he was going to do about this whole fiasco. The library seemed like a perfect place to go.

The quiet, towering shelves always seemed to calm him down, help him get his head on straight. And right now he needed a plan. He was floundering with indecision and making a fool of himself in the process. Most of the guys were already of the opinion that he was going to fail, and Blaine was now more determined than ever to prove them wrong.

He was desirable. He was smooth. He was sexy. He was Blaine Anderson, damn it, and this Kurt kid wouldn't know what him.

Blaine honestly hadn't expected to find Kurt in the library.

The second he saw the boy he ducked behind the nearest shelf and hid himself from view. Oh god, he hadn't expected this. He peered around the corner, praying that Kurt hadn't seen him. Kurt had been sitting in one of the extended windowsills, made large enough that a person could comfortably sit on the ledge and enjoy the sunlight coming in through the glass. Blaine breathed a sigh of relief to see that the other boy hadn't stirred, apparently still engrossed in whatever it was he was reading. He hadn't seen him. Good. Blaine was safe for the time being.

He wandered over to a nearby table as casually as possible, laying his books out before him. He needed to look busy, make himself as inconspicuous as possible while still in view of his target. He opened his math text and flipped to the problems he had to work on over the weekend. As he scribbled down equations and half-hearted notes, he snuck glances at the boy in the window. The late afternoon sun lined his head and shoulders, like a thin halo of light around his entire figure. He was completely absorbed in the book in his lap, though Blaine couldn't tell if it was a novel or simply an unfamiliar textbook.

Kurt made as though to stretch, and Blaine ducked his head down low once more, trying to make himself as unremarkable as possible. He was just another student studying in the sanctuary of the library. Nothing more. Even if there was a hot, red stain of embarrassment creeping up his neck onto his cheeks. God, he was such a creep. But there was no way in hell he was backing out now. Blaine Anderson wasn't a quitter, and there was a solo out there with his name on it.

He looked over at Kurt once more and studied the boy's frame. He was lean, and Blaine definitely liked that, so at least there was one good thing about him. It would be nice to have that body writhing beneath him at the very least, so maybe there was some good to be had from this after all. And his face wasn't terrible; well, what Blaine had seen of it wasn't terrible. Kurt had a nasty habit of never really looking at him, but what he remembered from that first day in Mr. Jennings's class was all right if a little bit on the youthful side. He could work with it.

Kurt's long legs were tucked up onto the windowsill with the rest of him so he could easily read his book on the platform of his bent knees, and Blaine was still irritated to note that the kid's hair was still impeccably neat. Blaine huffed and engrossed himself once more in his homework. He wondered just how long it took Hummel to get his hair to look like that. It took ages for Blaine to get his hair into any sort of presentable state. He snorted softly. It probably took Kurt something like five minutes to style his hair or something ridiculous. Life sucked like that.

He was so lost in his musings that he didn't realize someone had sat down beside him until a shadow fell over the pages of his notebook.

"You have an error in line three." The voice was bored and high in pitch, and had his eyes not shot over to look at the person next to him, he would have sworn it was a woman talking to him. Instead, he found himself staring dumbly at Kurt Hummel, his chin resting in his open palm as he looked over the math work on the table. So he hadn't been dropped off by his mom; the people who'd heard him move in had mistaken him for a woman. That was certainly interesting.

Blaine was at a loss for words. Oh god, what if the kid had noticed Blaine staring at him? If any of the guys found out about that he'd never live it down.

"What?" he said dumbly, and immediately regretted it. He wanted to smack himself for looking so stupid. So much for the suave approach.

Kurt lifted a long finger and pointed at the page. "There. In your proof. You forgot a negative. That's going to completely change your answer."

Blaine looked down to where Kurt was pointing and quickly scanned over what he'd written. Sure enough, there was the missing negative. A heated blush rose to his cheeks as he rubbed out the equations with the eraser on his pencil. Oh god, now he'd given the guy an actual reason to be smug and made himself out to be an idiot in front of the boy he was supposed to be seducing. Perfect. Just perfect. He fought the urge to bury his head in his hands. This was not going how he'd planned at all.

Kurt was still staring at him, his book from before placed carefully in front of him, his ever-present messenger bag folded neatly in his lap. "So," Kurt started, and Blaine wasn't sure he'd really get used to that voice, "are you generally this creepy, or do you simply have a thing for spying on people? Oh, wait. I know. You're trying to freak out the new kid, right?"

Oh crap. Crap, crap, crap. Kurt knew. The guy knew he'd been following him, and Blaine could see his solo flying away from him, forever out of reach. "I, uh—you see, the thing is—"

The side of Kurt's mouth lifted upward in a sort of half smile. "Are you normally this eloquent, or have I simply caught you on a good day?"

Kurt's eyes bored into him as he tried to stammer out a response. The fading light of the afternoon sun hit his face, and Blaine was mesmerized. This kid was far from what Blaine wanted in a boyfriend, but this could work. He really did have beautiful eyes. Blaine hadn't quite gotten a good look at them before. He was having a hard time determining their color. Green, he decided, they're definitely green in this light.

Kurt's face pinched together into a frown. "Is there something on my face?"

"No! No, um, I just—"

"Then why have you been staring at me for the past half hour? Why have you been following me around like a lost puppy since the first day I came here?"

"Well, I uh…" All of his eloquence had left him, and his brain kept drawing a blank on what to say. God, this was a disaster.

Kurt raised an eyebrow and gathered his book into his hands. "I see," he said quietly before standing, the strap of his bag sliding down his shoulder. He made to leave, but Blaine's hand shot out to wrap around his thin wrist, effectively stopping him.

"Wait! Wait, I—"

Kurt jerked his arm away with a sharp intake of air. "Don't you fucking touch me," he hissed.

Blaine was a bit taken aback at the response, but he backed off, his hands held up in submission. "Sorry. That was a reflex. I just—I'm doing this all wrong."

"I have no idea what it is you think you're supposed to be doing, but yeah, I'd say you're doing it wrong." Kurt's voice was laced with venom, his face darkened with some emotion that Blaine couldn't place. He noted the way Kurt cradled his wrist against his chest, almost as though he'd been burned. It was kind of unnerving.

"I'm sorry. Please don't leave. I just—" but he never got the chance to finish. Kurt had swept his book from the table and was gone, leaving Blaine to stare dumbly at his retreating back.

Damn it. This was going to be harder than he thought.