There's something I need to address before we continue, so please read. I've noticed a few people who have taken it upon themselves to grade me for each story. While I'm okay with it when it's in good fun, I'd like to let you know what the rules were that Chasing Aspirations laid down for me, therefore the only rules I'll be following:

1. I have to write each story mentioning all three of the objects/themes listed at least once. So if I only make a small reference to something, it doesn't mean I've failed. As long as it's in there, it's alright.

2. I have to have the story containing Kurt and Blaine's first kiss

3. I have to complete it in 24 hours.

So, that's that. If you are going to grade me, I would appreciate not losing 'points' over things like not including certain people because those aren't the terms of me writing this. In the end, this is for Chasing Aspirations and that is the only person I aim to please with these stories. Everybody else, just enjoy the fact that you get two stories a day updated from me, okay?

If this seems bitchy, I do apologize but I've had a string of strange and sometimes negative reviews that's got me on edge lately. Plus I have a migraine as I write and it sucks. I do mean what I say though.

Oh, and I've been informed that in America, a torch is the kind that you light with a flame. I wrote it with a torch being a flashlight which it is over here, and I'm afraid I couldn't find it in myself to change it. I'll leave it up to Chasing Aspirations whether I need to repeat it tomorrow.

Day 7: A fortune teller, A torch and An empty coffee cup

Dalton Academy was a very prestigious school, filled to the brim with charming, dapper young men who would one day grow up to be the doctors and lawyers of America. The zero tolerance bullying policy ensured that nobody had a reason to stir up trouble, and aside from a few incidents every year from rebellious teens who didn't want the future their parents had picked, there were no issues. Everybody could feel safe.

Which was why the staff who supervised the boarding house were possibly slightly more lenient than they should have been. One room check was carried out at 10pm each night and then one teacher was left to supervise for the next three hours in case of any disturbances. That teacher could always be found asleep by 11pm. But it didn't matter, after all, it wasn't like any of the young gentlemen would be sneaking out to visit their girlfriends or anything.

So if anybody had seen the figure sneaking out of the first floor window of the boarding house at quarter to midnight on a Tuesday night, their first thought would be that someone had burgled the place. But closer inspection would reveal a teenage boy, not dressed in the Dalton Academy uniform but rather in a fashionable pair of jeans and sweater, who was currently making his way down to the back of the school and into the forest.

Kurt glanced behind him once more to make sure nobody was following before slipping into the trees. Only when he was a few yards in did he feel it was safe to turn on his torch. The chances of someone happening to look out their window and see his light at this time of night were slim to none, but he couldn't be too careful. After all, what he was doing wasn't only against the rules but was against every moral code of every young man in that building. But if the rumors were true, it would be worth it.

When Kurt had first arrived at Dalton and received the tour from one Blaine Anderson, they had visited all of the classrooms - of course - before heading down to the grounds. It was there that Kurt made a rather interesting discovery…

"So this is the football field," Blaine gestured to the large field at the back of the school. "If you elect physical education, you'll have half here and half in the gymnasium."

Kurt's attention, however, was caught by the large expanse of trees at the back of the school. "What's back there?"

Blaine looked to where he was pointing and paled. "You don't want to go back there, okay? It's not safe."

"Why? Is it like the Forbidden Forest and I'm going to discover werewolves and thestrals?"

Blaine didn't even crack a smile which was odd because he was the biggest Harry Potter nerd Kurt knew. "No, worse than that. There's a band of gypsies that live there."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Wait, that's not very nice you know? They're just people too."

"Most of them. These ones have lived there for the past year and claimed the land as their own. They made some rather clear and violent threats as to what would happen if anybody came onto their land and the board has declared it off limits." Blaine turned to him, his expression urgent. "Please, Kurt, don't go back there."

Kurt knew if Blaine ever found out what he had done, the boy would lecture him before handing him over to face the Council's wrath. But this was important and it had to be done. He just hoped that the lack of Dalton uniform would throw the gypsies off long enough for him to reach his goal.

Pushing past another tree branch, Kurt found himself in a clearing that looked like it had been hastily evacuated. Slowly, Kurt placed the torch on the ground before raising his hands. "I have come to speak to Melinda, the fortune teller. I come with no ill will."

After a few moments of tense silence where Kurt couldn't shake the feeling that there were weapons pointed at him from all directions, a woman emerged from the forest flanked by two men. "What business do you have with Melinda?" one growled at him.

"I wish to seek her expertise on a matter close to my heart."

The woman stepped forward, gesturing for the men to leave. "You have come from the Academy."

"I have, but I'm not here to represent them. I come as my own person." Kurt reached slowly into his bag, pulling out the item he had kept there. "I hear nobody has utilized your skills in a long time and I wish to request them."

Melinda gestured for him to follow and Kurt picked up his torch, walking after the woman into the forest. Soon enough they came upon another clearing, also deserted, but with a fire lit in the middle. "Sit," she commanded and Kurt seated himself on the ground, trying not to think about grass stains on his jeans. "You wish to know whether your love has similar feelings."

Kurt blinked. "Yes," he said, trying not to show his surprise. "I thought he did, but I'm starting to think it was wrong. I know it's a trivial matter and some would say it's not worthy of your time -"

"Love is the most important thing on this earth. Love of a significant other, love of friends, love of… family." Melinda stared over his head for a moment before coming back to reality. "Do you have an anchor?"

Kurt handed over the empty coffee cup, procured from Blaine's wastebin that afternoon when he had ducked out momentarily during their study session. "Will this do?"

In answer, Melinda stood and walked over to the water pitcher. Dipping the cup into it, she stared down into the water for a few moments before returning. "Look into the cup," she guided, handing it back to Kurt, "and imagine the one you love…"

"Kurt?"

Kurt glanced up from his coffee cup to see Blaine smiling at him. "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, sorry. Lost in thought." Raising the cup, Kurt drained it before tossing it in the bin. "So you wanted to talk to me about something?"

Blaine nodded. "I - first, I know this is horridly rude but is there a chance I could come to your house tonight for dinner?"

Kurt stared at the boy sitting across from him in surprise. "You're always welcome at my house, you know that. But what's the occasion?"

"There's… I wanted to talk to your dad about something actually?"

Kurt frowned. "My dad?" The obvious thought came to mind. "Oh, is it about your car? You know I can take a look at it if it's making that noise again, but maybe you'd better bring it into the shop." Both boys stood, grabbing their bags. "How about you go by there now and take it in, then you can ride back to the house with my dad and I'll drive us home later."

"That'd be great." Blaine pulled his keys out, Kurt doing the same as they headed out to the car park. "I'll see you back at your place."

As Blaine pulled out of the parking lot, Kurt couldn't help but wonder what was going on. It seemed like there was a lot more to it than Blaine's car… and come to think of it, the car had sounded perfectly healthy when Blaine had driven off. Kurt had to suspect foul play. If he's telling my dad to give me another sex talk, I will be highly unimpressed.

All Kurt could do was head home, help Carole cook dinner - since he was bringing someone else over, he thought that was only fair - and wait for Blaine and his father to get home. It took a lot longer than expected; Kurt had figured that they would talk about the car problems and then head back, but maybe it had only needed a bit of work and his dad had decided to do it then.

Dinner was ready and Finn was already at the table trying not to whine by the time the front door opened. As Kurt brought out the final plates, Blaine and Burt appeared and Kurt could immediately tell there was something different about Blaine, but couldn't work out what. What happened down there?

"This looks great, Kurt." Burt took his usual seat and Kurt directed Blaine to sit down next to him. "And Blaine's car is fine. I just, uh, gave it a tune up and he should be good to go."

Kurt frowned, trying to work out the meaning behind the emphasis. Then he glanced at Blaine who was staring down at the table and it clicked. Please, please tell me that Dad didn't get some misguided ideas and threaten him!

Dinner passed in its usual fashion. Finn shovelled everything into his mouth that he could reach before disappearing to the living room. Blaine kept up a cheerful and polite conversation with Kurt and Carole, but the tension in his shoulders was unignorable and Kurt was determined to have a long talk with Blaine and then a stern talk with his father once they had finished eating.

As soon as everybody was done, Kurt stood and began to stack up the plates before Carole stopped him. "Honey, I've got that. Why don't you go into the living room with Blaine?"

"Yeah, come on kid." Burt gestured to him and Kurt's frown doubled. What is going on here? But as soon as they entered the room, it got weirder. Burt reached down and unplugged Finn's X-Box, eliciting a howl of protest from the boy. "Come on, you're helping clean up. Leave these two alone."

Finn stared at him in confusion, probably looking the same as Kurt did. Then something seemed to click and Finn turned to stare at Blaine before following Burt out. Kurt watched them go, shaking his head. "What is going on with everybody tonight?"

"I think I can answer that." Blaine touched his shoulder lightly, steering him over to the couch and sitting beside him. "They're giving us time alone to… talk."

And there was that emphasis again. "Talk about what?" Kurt asked, feeling completely lost.

Blaine sighed. "Kurt, there was nothing wrong with my car. I just needed an excuse to talk to your dad without you getting suspicious -"

"Which didn't work," Kurt interrupted. "I knew your car was alright, I just couldn't work out what was happening."

Blaine nodded and, to Kurt's surprise, reached out to take his hand. "I needed to talk to him… because I had something I wanted to say to you, but I needed to get his - permission first. That's why it took so long for us to come back… it took awhile. But he agreed."

"Agreed to what, Blaine?"

"Agreed to let me ask you whether you would consider becoming my boyfriend."

The world stopped. Kurt could only stare at Blaine, the words replaying over and over in his head. "I -"

Blaine's smile faltered. "If you don't want to, you know you don't have to. I just -"

"Blaine, how could you think my answer would be anything other than yes?" Kurt all but whispered, staring at Blaine like he couldn't believe he was real. It was hard to believe sometimes, that someone like Blaine could exist in Ohio - someone out and proud, handsome, charming, near perfect… and someone who now apparently wanted Kurt to be his boyfriend? It was almost like the whole thing was a dream.

And then the dream just got better. Because Blaine was leaning in closer, the distance disappearing until their lips were touching.

Blaine Anderson is kissing me.

Before he could even think about it, Kurt was kissing back, softly at first but with growing urgency, as if they were making up for lost time. And all Kurt wanted was for this moment to last forever, the feeling of Blaine's lips against his to never leave, the security that Blaine was his to stay with him for the rest of his life. But, of course, oxygen was vital and soon enough they had to separate.

As Blaine pulled away, Kurt touched a trembling hand to his lips, staring into his boyfriend's light hazel eyes, watching as they grew lighter and lighter until they were the color of the sea…

"And that is the future."

Kurt slowly raised his head from the cup, feeling as if he had woken from a long sleep. One hand was still pressed lightly to his mouth and he could almost feel Blaine's lips against his. "Is - will that definitely happen?"

"It is what is destined at this moment. Events may change, but feelings will not."

Kurt nodded, standing slowly and tipping the water from the cup. "Thank you, Melinda. If you ever want anything from me, name it." He put the cup back in his bag and flicked the torch on, preparing to try and find his way back to Dalton.

"Answer me one question." Kurt turned to see the woman still staring at him. "How did you know to ask for me?"

Kurt smiled. "Santana says hello," he said quietly, watching Melinda's eyes widen in shock. "She misses her big sister, no matter how much she pretends otherwise. And if you ever want to talk to her, just come up to Dalton and find me."

As Kurt walked out of the forest, his mind filled with a future of himself and Blaine, he missed the single tear sliding down Melinda's cheek.

Let me make it clear right now that I have nothing against gypsies. I'm going off stories I've read and documentaries I've watched on their lives, as well as throwing a bit of fantasy into the mix. I've never met one, I have no judgement against them.