Happy Thursday!

Thank you so much for the lovely comments/reviews for the previous chapter! You guys rock and make me smile so much.

This is a slightly longer chapter, and probably one of my favorite in the entire story, so I can't wait to see what you guys think.

Shoutout to Christine for all her help and patience.

Enjoy!

Blaine woke up on Friday morning and sighed tiredly – already feeling tired could never be a good sign of how his day would be.

He had a date today, and he had never looked less forward to something in his entire life.

Part of him regretted asking Cooper to postpone it a few days, saying he just couldn't get enough time off work, and that he had other things to focus on (which wasn't exaclty a lie). With Cooper's chemo on Mondays and Thursdays, it was hard for Blaine to find time away from the hospital, not when his brother needed him the most.

Yesterday, though, Cooper had an exceptionally good day – they only had to rush into the bathroom once – and when he looked at him with those blue eyes and asked if he would finally agree to go on that date, Blaine told him to set it up for the next night.

Now he wished he had another excuse.

He just wasn't interested in meeting any more men. He didn't have the energy to sit down in front of a stranger and listen to his entire life story, to listen to him talk about exes and jobs and family... it was all so mundane, and Blaine was at a point where he had heard it all before. It was impossible not to when you had been on over fifty dates in just a handful of months.

Blaine was starting to think there were no interesting, single men worth meeting in all of Manhattan.

What a depressing thought.

He kicked the blankets off and headed towards the shower. He needed to start his day, whether he was ready for it or not.

Cooper was still looking good when Blaine walked into his room, customary coffee and tea in hand. He was leaning against his pillows, idly paging through a magazine, clearly bored out of his mind.

"You know, I could bring you a book, or whatever else you want," Blaine commented as he took his seat next to him.

"I just want to go home," Cooper admitted. "I'm tired of being here."

Blaine gave him an encouraging smile. "Well, you're looking a bit better. Maybe the doctor will let you go soon."

Cooper smiled back. "Maybe. In the mean time, do you think we can take a little walk across the courtyard?"

"We'll see," Blaine replied. "I have to go into work a little earlier today, because someone is making me go on a date again."

Cooper rolled his eyes. "I promised it would be the last one, and I stand by that."

"Shouldn't you tell me more about this mystery guy? You haven't even told me his name," Blaine said, as he took a sip of his coffee. It was just on the right side of scalding.

"It's a blind date, Blaine," Cooper retorted, like he was talking to a particularly difficult child. "He knows your name and what you look like. Just be at the restaurant at eight, okay?"

"It just doesn't seem fair that he knows who he's meeting and I'm left in the dark," Blaine complained, a little annoyed. He already didn't want to go – all this mysery made him want to bail and stay home, but Cooper would surely find out if he did. "What if he's a serial killer?"

Cooper laughed at that, wholeheartedly, the sound echoing against the walls, and making Blaine look up from his cup, a little startled. Cooper hadn't laughed like that in a long, long time, carefree and happy. He sounded like his old self. He sounded healthy.

It was a sound Blaine wanted to record and treasure forever, to listen to when days seemed dark and endless.

"Just go, okay?" Cooper said, poking him on the shoulder.

After that laugh, Blaine would have agreed even if Cooper told him the date was at a crack house. "Okay."

It was an unusually slow afternoon at the flowershop, so Blaine decided to send Annie home earlier, as a sort of thank you for covering for him while he was at the hospital. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek, immediately going behind the counter to grab her stuff.

"Are you heading back to the hospital tonight?" She asked, swiping her blue hair out of her face.

Blaine shook his head. "Date," he said instead.

Annie snorted. "Are you a serial dater?"

"Trust me, Annie, if it were up to me, I would be heading home to eat a pint of ice cream and watch a Tom Hanks movie," Blaine replied, reaching for his cup of coffee. He had lost count – was this his third or his fourth? He should probably switch to water soon.

"Maybe that's why you're single," she said, raising an eyebrow at him, clearly judging him. She waved as she headed towards the door. "See you tomorrow!"

Blaine took advantage of having the shop to himself, put some music on and finished up a few things he needed done before the next day. He was always at his most relaxed when he was here, even when customers could be crazy and rude – which wasn't the case very often; flowers seemed to put people in a good mood. Blaine could relate to that.

Before closing the shop for the day, Blaine hesitated. Should he grab flowers for his date? He wasn't in the mood to see them in the trash at the end of the night. He wasn't in the mood to have the guy look at him like he was odd. He wasn't in the mood to go on a date, period.

There was a bouquet of beautiful daisies in the display by the door, the only one left. Blaine hesitated and grabbed it, remembering what Kurt had said when he had been here. He wished he could give these flowers to him, instead of the random man he was going to meet tonight.

Maybe he would stop by before going to the hospital tomorrow and grab some daisies for Kurt. Well, for his father. For his room. For... oh, who was he kidding?

Just thinking of Kurt made him feel like his stomach was filled with bubbles that kept flying and bursting inside of him.

He pushed the thought as away from him as he best could – it probably wasn't a good idea to think about Kurt when he was about to go on a date with another man.

Blaine walked home, the bouquet in his arm. Once he was at his apartment, the idea of going out again settled heavily on him – it would be so easy to just drop down on the couch and watch TV for a while, order take out, spend a little time with himself, trying to put his thoughts back in order.

But he had promised Cooper, and whenever he promised his brother he would do something, Blaine did it. No matter how hard or how ridiculous or how impossible. So he went into the bathroom and showered quickly, and then moved into his room, the towel wrapped loosely around his hips, to pick out some clothes.

He had a few outfits that he deemed date-worthy by now. Mostly, because after dating so much, it was such a waste of time to pick an outfit every single time. So he rotated between two or three ones, eager to just get it over with. Yes, Blaine Anderson had lost that sense of romance he had grown up with. He had lost a lot of things in the past few months that he didn't think he would get back.

He just didn't want to lose anything else.

There was a black polo that looked good on him, hugged his arms and chest in all the right ways, and a pair of black pants that let his ankles show. He settled for them, and reached into his bowtie drawer – yes, he had a bowtie drawer, of course he did – for a splash of color, settling on a striped one in grey and burgundy. It was a muted but elegant outfit, and when Blaine looked in the mirror, he liked what he saw.

Now he only had to find a smile to wear with it, too.

The restaurant where he was supposed to meet his date wasn't far from his apartment, so he decided to walk. It was a lovely bistro with a brick facade that Blaine had seen many times but never tried, although he kept promising himself he would. He had no idea why he had never had any of his dates there. After a while he had stopped caring where they went.

He stepped inside – the smell of delicious food instantly hitting him and making his stomach growl – and smiled at the hostess.

"I believe there's a reservation for two for Anderson?" He said, because that's what Cooper had told him.

She checked very quickly and smiled back at him. "Follow me, sir."

She guided him to a table for two in a cozy corner, right by the window. There was no one there yet. He thanked her and sat down, taking a quick look around as he tried to settle his nerves. He placed the flowers on his lap, eyes trailing over the vintage-looking pictures on the wall. The lighting inside the restaurant was a little dim, giving it an intimate atmosphere. Blaine's stomach was in knots, though he didn't know why. He had stopped feeling nervous during dates about twenty dates ago.

He took a quick look at his phone, checking the time. His date was running a few minutes late. Blaine wondered if he was about to get stood up. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Hi," a voice said, a little breathlessly.

Blaine looked up, recognizing it, his eyes widening slightly as he found Kurt standing in front of him. "Kurt, hi! What a coincidence! What are you doing here?"

Kurt's lips twitched a little, halfway between a smile and a nervous grimace. "I have a date."

The knots in Blaine's stomach disappeared, mostly because his stomach had suddenly dropped out of him. It was no longer in his body. He struggled to smile, because he did not want to be here if Kurt was going to have a date with another guy at a nearby table. It wasn't something he thought he could do. "Oh, that's... great."

Kurt's face softened a bit, grabbed the chair across from him, and sat down elegantly. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

Blaine replayed the words in his head several times. Why would Kurt keep him waiting? Blaine was supposed to be...

On a date.

With Kurt.

On a date.

Oh, Cooper.

His stomach returned and promptly exploded into a million pieces, fluttering inside him. "You haven't. I just got here."

The anxiety in Kurt's eyes vanished when he realized Blaine wasn't rejecting him. They smiled at each other, without saying a single word, for what felt like a very, very long time, until Blaine couldn't help it anymore and looked down, breaking the spell, chuckling.

"God, I don't know whether I want to kill my brother or go give him the biggest hug in the world," he muttered.

Kurt hummed, still watching him with a smile. "Please don't kill him. I'm rather fond of him."

"I'm rather fond of him, too," Blaine said softly, and as he shifted on his chair, he remembered the flowers. "Oh! Here, these are for you."

Kurt's breath hitched a little as he accepted them, a lovely blush coming onto his cheeks. "Oh Blaine... daisies. Thank you."

He blurted it out before he could stop himself. "I wanted it to be you."

The way Kurt's eyes sparkled told him he understood the reference. "I thought I would get to play Meg Ryan."

"I'll stop stealing your thunder now," Blaine said, watching as Kurt buried his nose in the flowers.

The waiter arrived, introduced himself, left the menus, and through it all, Blaine couldn't take his eyes away from Kurt. He was trying to reconcile the image of Kurt sitting across from him to the idea that he was on a date with him, that there was no confusion, no mistake. Kurt was here for him. The mystery man was Kurt.

He let out a ragged breath.

Kurt placed his flowers carefully on the side of the table and looked at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm... I'm great," Blaine smiled at him, still a little dazzled. "I'm just so pleasantly surprised that you're here. I can't believe Cooper didn't tell me it was you."

Kurt returned his smile, looking adorably bashful. "He thought it was better this way. I had my reservations, but decided to go with it. He was so excited."

"I almost didn't come," Blaine confessed. "Well, of course I did, but... I didn't want to."

"Really?" Kurt said, tilting his head to the side.

"I'm so sick of dating random guys, Kurt," Blaine said honestly. "It gets exhausting after a million first dates."

Kurt put his arms on the table, leaning a bit forward. His eyes were earnest, his expression so open that it made Blaine breathless. "Do you think you can get through it one more time? For me?"

Blaine bit his lip, wondering how it was possible that every single person in this restaurant wasn't listening to the loud pounding of his heart. "I think I'll manage."

They had to grab the menus and hide their faces behind them for a moment, trying to get their blushing under control. Blaine tried to read what the menu said, hoping it would make him calm down a little bit, but the words didn't make sense, his thoughts having become a static that sounded a lot like KurtKurtKurtKurt.

"Have you decided?" The waiter asked politely, stopping by their table again.

Blaine scrambled to find something he liked, as Kurt looked up at the waiter and said: "I'll go with the butternut squash ravioli."

The waiter turned to him, expectant, so Blaine handed his menu back and said: "I'll have the same."

They ordered a bottle of wine, and went back to staring at each other for a moment, until they laughed nervously, which seemed to reset them. Blaine exhaled and sat up straighter.

"Okay, this is silly. We know each other pretty well by now, so..." he said, as Kurt sat up, too, as if following his cue. "How was your day? I barely got to see you today."

"Oh yeah, dad had a bunch of tests today, so we've been running around most of the day," Kurt explained, as the waiter came back with the wine and poured it into their glasses. They thanked him with a quick smile. "By the time I stopped by Cooper's room, you were already gone. Sorry I missed lunch."

"I got dinner, instead. Can't complain," Blaine said, earning a bright grin from Kurt. "What kind of tests? How's he doing?"

"All kinds," Kurt said with a sigh. "Angiograms, blood tests, x-rays... he was in the worst mood, just wanted them to leave him alone to watch some stupid game on TV. It's like he forgets he just woke up from a damn coma." He rolled his eyes, and then added, clear joy in his voice. "But he gets to go home this weekend, so... I guess it's worth the running around all day."

"Kurt, that's fantastic," Blaine said sincerely, reaching out for his hand and giving it a firm squeeze. "He must be ecstatic."

"He would much rather get to go home in Ohio, but he'll have to stay with me, at least for a few weeks," Kurt said, his face completely lit up. "But yes, at least it's something positive."

"I never asked – did you ever get around to buying any new furniture?" Blaine asked, just as their food arrived, and Kurt nodded, launching easily into the conversation, telling Blaine about his new couch, and his new dining table, and the lovely vintage flea market chairs he'd gotten for next to nothing.

Blaine was entranced. He leaned his cheek on his hand and watched Kurt as he talked – he was so expressive, it was difficult to look away. He barely remembered to put food into his mouth every once in a while, focused as he was on every single word Kurt said.

After a while, Kurt paused, and flushed. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. I haven't stopped talking."

"I really don't mind," Blaine assured him.

Kurt speared a ravioli with his fork and took a bite, and mirrored Blaine's posture, leaning his cheek against his hand, his eyes sprakling. "Enough about me, though. What about you? How was your day, dear?"

Blaine knew Kurt was teasing him, but it still made his stomach swoop. He felt warm all over.

This. This was what he had missing on all the other dates, with all the other guys. This easy banter, easy conversation, electric chemistry. Whenever he looked at Kurt he felt his heart stutter, as if it was unsure how to beat normally when he was around. And if he touched him... god, whenever they touched, Blaine's whole body stopped belonging to him, instead craving more Kurt, needing just another graze of his fingers, one more look from his eyes, anything.

Blaine told him about his day – nothing very special had happened, really, but Kurt listened to him as if he was telling him the most fascinating story he had ever heard. He asked about Annie, remembering how sharp and peculiar she had been when he visited the flowershop, and Blaine laughed but admitted he would be lost without her.

"She's been a dream to have in my corner ever since Coop got sick," Blaine said, reaching for his glass of wine. "I probably would have gone bankrupt without her, because I wasn't about to leave Cooper alone, even if it meant I had to keep the shop closed."

Kurt moved his hand across the table, grabbing Blaine's free hand and giving it a firm squeeze. "You're a great brother, did you know that?"

Blaine turned his hand so their palms touched, the tip of his fingers settling on the pulse point on Kurt's wrist. He felt Kurt shiver slightly as he softly caressed the spot. "He got me this date. He's still winning that competition."

Kurt laughed and didn't move his hand away. They smiled at each other – god, they couldn't stop doing that, could they? He popped another ravioli into his mouth. "These are really good, aren't they?"

"Yes," Blaine agreed. "I've been meaning to try this place for a while. Did you choose it?"

"I did! I've heard good things about the food here, but never actually came," Kurt replied. "My friend Rachel recommended it to me, actually. She said the crème brûlée is to die for."

"Oh, we should share one later," Blaine put his wine glass down and grabbed the fork again. The food really was delicious. "Tell me about Rachel. Is she a friend from work?"

"God, no. She doesn't have a fashion sense in the slightest. She wouldn't survive in the industry for a day," Kurt groaned, probably remembering some awful outfits he had seen her wear. "She's my best friend from high school. We came to New York together when we graduated." He paused as he chewed. "She's away working on a cruise right now. She's a performer."

"Oh, that sounds really cool," Blaine commented, a bit impressed.

"She hates every second of it," Kurt snorted. "It's not Broadway, and that's all she ever really wanted."

That made them discover their shared love of musicals and they spent the rest of their dinner discussing their favorites, the ones they wished they could have seen live, and the ones the had managed to get tickets for. Kurt was partial to Wicked, Blaine preferred West Side Story. They decided they absolutely had to catch a show together some time.

"It's a date," Blaine muttered, and loved the way Kurt's eyes lit up with it.

They ordered crème brûlée for dessert, taking turns to pick at it with the same spoon, not quite daring to feed the creamy concoction to each other. But Blaine couldn't look away from the way Kurt's lips wrapped around the spoon, and by the way Kurt's eyes darkened slightly, he was very aware of it.

They fought over the check once the waiter delivered it, and Kurt won, but he said, with a shy, hopeful smile, as the waiter took his credit card: "Maybe you can get the next one?"

And Blaine felt his stomach swoop for the thousanth time that night. He nodded, his head already creating scenarios of all the dates he could take Kurt on the next time, and the next, and the next, and the next...

Blaine stood up as Kurt grabbed his bouquet of daisies, and offered his hand to him. Kurt didn't hesitate to take it, and they walked outside, nodding their goodbyes at the hostess as she wished them a good night. They stood outside on the sidewalk and Kurt finally let his eyes roam down Blaine's body, darkening again, sending shivers down Blaine's spine.

"I should have said this earlier," Kurt whispered, as his thumb traced circles on Blaine's hand. "But you look absolutely amazing." His gaze lingered on the polo shirt, on the way it highlighted Blaine's narrow waist and strong arms, and then down his pants to his ankles.

Blaine sent up a silent prayer, grateful he had chosen this outfit. "Thank you," he said, blushing a little bit under the attention. Since Kurt had looked at him, he felt he was allowed to really look at Kurt, too, so he let his eyes wander. Kurt was, as usual, perfectly dressed, in a white button down shirt, a black vest with a lovely bird brooch on his chest, and impeccably tailored pants that hugged his legs – and his ass, oh god – like it was a second skin. Blaine had to swallow before he could peek again. "You are... god, Kurt. Breathtaking."

Kurt smiled, pleased and a little bashful again, and whispered his thanks. They looked around and noticed they were standing in the middle of the sidewalk, getting angry looks from passing New Yorkers.

"Cooper mentioned you lived nearby. Do you mind if I walk you home? It's a beautiful night," Kurt said.

Blaine simply nodded and tugged on Kurt's hand to guide him in the right direction. They didn't talk, not really. During silent stretches on dates, Blaine usually felt anxious and uncomfortable, like he was obliged to entertain the other person constantly, but with Kurt... it was so easy and comfortable, like they were both allowed to be alone with their thoughts and together at the same time. Their hands, swinging slightly between them as they walked, kept them connected.

They were still a couple of blocks from Blaine's building when Blaine realized he couldn't wait another second. He stopped under the awning of a closed bookshop, leaning against the wall and pulled on Kurt's hand to bring him closer. His free hand went up to frame Kurt's face, who was suddenly flushed and smiling widely, and Blaine didn't need any other sign before he moved in and pressed his lips to Kurt's.

It wasn't anything like their first kiss – that one had been filled with despair and loneliness, pain and helplessness. This time, it was just about the two of them, about this new thing they were feeling that was slowly but surely taking over everything else. Kurt put a hand on his waist, awkwardly holding the flowers, and another one on the back of Blaine's neck, pulling him even closer, if that was possible. Blaine tilted his head, changed the angle and parted his lips, tingly sensations exploding all over him as he did, as Kurt met his kiss with the same enthusiasm. It was slow and gentle, exploratory, like they were testing the waters to make sure they had firm footing.

Kurt tasted of lingering vanilla from their dessert and the slight tanginess of the wine. He tasted of hope.

They pulled away when their lungs began to hurt from the lack of air, and Blaine murmured against his lips, breathless and so, so happy: "I wanted it to be you so badly."

Kurt laughed, just as breathless, his eyes sweeping over the store behind them. "You're really milking this whole You've got mail thing, huh?"

"What can I say?" Blaine said, pulling him into another, shorter kiss. "My life suddenly feels like a movie."

Kurt grabbed his hand, brought it up to his mouth and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, before tugging on it to make Blaine walk again. "Come on, Tom Hanks. Let's get you home."

As they walked, Blaine replayed the whole thing in his head, from the moment Cooper had told him he had set him up on a blind date. He thought of Cooper's promises that this would be the last time, and realized, as his heart skipped a beat, that Cooper knew.

It wasn't the last time he set him up with someone because he understood Blaine was sick of dating. It was the last time he set him up with someone because he understood he had found the one person Blaine wanted to keep having dates with.

Oh, Coop, he thought, his soul swelling with love for his brother. You cheeky, schemy, perfect creature. I'll owe you forever.

He intertwined his fingers with Kurt's, and let him walk him home.

Can't wait to see what you think

Thank you so much for reading! I'll see you on Saturday!

Love,

L.-