My head is so not here right now. I just uploaded the unedited document as the first chapter. Sigh.

Work was good for anybody who's interested. I'm too tired to talk about it right now though.

From Hikari no Kokoro and similarly prompted by LiliesAreWhite: Our beloved Kurt always seems to be on the short end when it comes to be liked by other people. I mean, he got Blaine only after he sang about a dead bird. I want to see other boys in Dalton, or even outside the school asking for his phone number and to go on dates, making Blaine jealous. Extra points if it includes Jeremiah after the disastrous serenade and Blaine kisses Kurt in front of everyone to show them Kurt is his.

Dates

"So, tomorrow night then?"

Blaine frowned, walking up behind Kurt who was talking to Jeff in the hallway. Jeff was leaning against a door frame, smiling at the other boy. "Tomorrow sounds great. See you then, Kurt. Oh, hi Blaine." He gave a quick wave before turning and walking away.

Kurt spun, flashing Blaine a smile. "Hey, what brings you here?"

"I was coming to see if you were still wanting to study this afternoon." Blaine smiled back, but his mind was on the conversation he had just overheard.

"Yeah, of course." Kurt's phone buzzed and he rummaged in his pocket, pulling it out. "You need my help with French anyway."

Blaine chuckled, watching Kurt read the text with a soft smile. "So what are you and Jeff doing tomorrow night? More studying?"

"Huh?" Kurt glanced up for a second. "Oh, no, he asked me on a date."

Kurt's eyes had flicked back down to his phone, where he was replying to the text, thankfully missing Blaine's jaw dropping. Jeff asked Kurt out? But he knows ...

No, he doesn't.

Blaine hadn't told anybody that he was starting to develop feelings for his friend. After all, it had taken him this long himself to realize that he was seeing Kurt a different way, he didn't want to include all of the Warblers in their impending relationship. And of course, Blaine had assumed it was an eventuality that he would ask Kurt out, Kurt would say yes and they'd end up happily ever after. He hadn't anticipated other guys being interested in Kurt. But, now that Blaine thought about it, it made sense. After all, Kurt had a great personality, a wonderful sense of humor, gorgeous eyes, that smile...

"Blaine?"

Kurt was looking at him hesitantly and Blaine realized he hadn't responded. "Um," he cast around for a suitable response. "Wow, okay. I - I didn't realize he was interested in that way. And that you were interested back."

"Oh, it's not like that." Kurt chuckled lightly. "I mean, it sort of is. I don't like Jeff, but he's a great guy and I think we'd have a lot of fun. Plus, he's cute so there's no harm really, is there?"

Kurt's phone began to ring and he rolled his eyes. "Sorry, gotta take this. See you later."

As Kurt turned to walk away, Blaine could hear the beginning of his conversation. "What happened this time, 'Cedes?"

Kurt turned the corner, allowing Blaine to lean against the wall and finally let his disbelief show. Yes, Kurt didn't like Jeff now, but considering they were going to be alone somewhere, together.. well, things happened when people were on dates. And Blaine had hoped that the only person Kurt would be experiencing that with was him.

Maybe he had left it too late.

Blaine was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Kurt was meant to have been back by ten and it was ten fifteen. Yes, maybe he was a little paranoid... or a lot. But Blaine couldn't stop imagining Kurt and Jeff, sitting in Jeff's car, Jeff's arm wrapping around Kurt, leaning together...

And then the sound of whispering came from outside the door and Blaine felt his heart hammer to a stop in his chest. Please don't let them kiss outside the door!

".. again sometime?" Jeff's voice came through, pitched low in an attempt to be quiet.

"Definitely. Thanks for telling me so much about you, I really enjoyed it."

There was a moment of silence, and Blaine had no idea what was going on and didn't want to know...

"Goodnight, Kurt."

Kurt whispered a goodnight back before turning the doorknob lightly, slipping into the room. Blaine heard the sound of Kurt's messenger bag dropping onto his chair and sat up, stretching his arms and pretending he had just woken. "Oh, Kurt, you're back."

Kurt turned, his face just visible in the moonlight. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Did - did you have fun?"

Luckily Kurt didn't notice the break in his voice. "Yeah, it was great. Turns out Jeff and I have a lot in common."

Blaine bit his lip for a second before replying. "That's good."

He heard the sound of Kurt gathering together his pyjamas and skincare products, preparing to make his way into the bathroom. "Yeah, it was. We're probably hanging out again soon."

Hanging out? "Wait, not going on another date, just hanging out?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied, pausing in front of the bathroom door. "We're not really interested in each other in that way. Which is a pity because he's cute."

Kurt began humming lightly under his breath as he slipped into the bathroom, closing the door. Blaine fell back against his pillow, feeling the air come wooshing out of his lungs in relief.

Kurt doesn't like Jeff. I might still have a chance.

And he would have stayed up and dealt with the matter that night - because maybe it was time for Blaine to put his heart on the line - but he had forgotten that Kurt took a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom.

By the time Kurt re-emerged, Blaine was fast asleep.

"Hey, hold up a second. I just need to ask Nick something."

Kurt stood from where he and Blaine were sitting on the front lawn, reading over their Literature books. Well, Kurt was reading, Blaine was trying to figure out how best to bring up the subject of his feelings.

"Okay," he murmured absently, watching Kurt cross the lawn and stop the dark-haired boy. There was a moment of conversation, then Nick was smiling hesitantly and nodding. Kurt turned away, his own smile firmly in place and returned, picking up his book and continuing to read. Blaine left it for a moment, then curiosity overwhelmed him. "So, what was that about?"

"Just asked him if he wanted to go out on Saturday night."

This time, Kurt was looking right at him and couldn't miss the look of surprise on Blaine's face. "Why is that such a shock?"

Blaine thought fast and came up with very little. "I just didn't expect it, I guess," he replied lamely.

Kurt shrugged. "Why shouldn't I date? There's gay guys here, I'm allowed to be with them without judgement from the entire student body, and I'm a teenager who's allowed to date around to find out what they're looking for. So I figured, might as well go for it."

With that, Kurt buried his head back in his book, leaving a shocked Blaine sitting there with only one question on his mind: Why didn't he ask me?

"Checkmate."

Blaine sighed, picking up his pieces and positioning them back on the board. "I'm not playing again," he informed a jubilant David. "I don't know why I agreed to play in the first place. I hate chess."

"You agreed because you're trying to pass the time and not think about Kurt and Nick on their date," David said casually as he stood and wandered off.

Blaine stared after him for a moment - he really needed to stop being so shocked by people nowadays - before standing and following hurriedly. "What do you mean by that?" he whispered as he caught up with his friend.

David rolled his eyes as the two walked out of the choir room and down the empty hallways. "Blaine, you looked like a kicked puppy when they left. Then you did your Math homework. Clearly you're pining."

"I don't pine." Blaine tried to make his voice assertive, but knew David knew him too well.

David sighed, sitting down on a bench and gesturing for Blaine to follow suit. "Yes, you do. Ever since you worked out you're interested in Kurt, all you do is watch him. You didn't actually make a move to ask him out so maybe you have left it too late. I don't want to see you get hurt, Blaine, but I want to see Kurt happy too."

"I was trying to think of the best way to ask him, David." Blaine's voice had dropped and was flat. "He deserves the best and I wanted to give him that. But then Jeff asked him out and then Nick and ... and he hasn't even thought about me. He's clearly not interested."

David shook his head, putting a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Have you considered that maybe he's waiting for you to get your act together, thinking you don't like him? And, more importantly, have you thought about maybe just asking him on a date?"

Blaine opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"No, you haven't. And you are now, and this is where I leave you in peace." David stood, turning to walk away and calling something over his shoulder. "Just, no serenading, okay? Keep it simple for once."

Blaine couldn't remember if he had replied or not. He was too lost in thought.

I'm going to ask Kurt out. Not just on a date, either, but out out. Blaine Anderson is going to ask Kurt Hummel to be his boyfriend.

Blaine straightened his tie nervously, pacing in the hall. He knew that Kurt was in the student lounge - David had sent him a text at his insistence, letting him know the moment Kurt walked in - and Blaine was trying to gear himself up to go in there and ask Kurt out. The whole idea was surreal and scary and wonderful, and Blaine wasn't sure he could do it anymore.

"Okay," he murmured quietly, checking to make sure nobody else was walking by to hear him talking to himself. "Just go in there, sit down and say hi. Start with that."

Blaine took another deep breath before walking through the door, his eyes searching out Kurt. He spotted his friend almost instantly, sitting alone on a couch, and headed over to sit next to him.

"Hi," he said, staring down into his lap for a moment before looking up.

There was no reply, and Kurt's eyes were fixed across the room. A soft frown was on his face and he looked ... well, miserable. Blaine was about to ask what was wrong before following his line of sight to one of the couches on the other side of the room, where Jeff and Nick were curled up together, their hands linked. As he watched, Jeff leant over and pressed a kiss to Nick's forehead who smiled happily.

Blaine felt the lead weight settle back in his chest again. Clearly Kurt's date with Nick invoked some feelings there... or he's actually more interested in Jeff than he thought...

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning his attention back to Kurt who was looking at him, surprised. Clearly he hadn't heard Blaine's earlier greeting.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Kurt looked genuinely puzzled, but the traces of sadness were still lingering in his eyes. Blaine let his eyes flicker back across the room to the two boys, and Kurt caught the motion. "You thought I wouldn't be happy for them?"

Blaine shrugged. "You did go on a date with both of them. And you seemed really happy after you got home from your night with Nick and I thought..." he trailed off, gesturing helplessly.

But Kurt just laughed. "Jeff spent the whole time talking about how Nick never saw him as more than a friend, and it was bugging him. Nick, after a lot of convincing, finally opened up to me about how Jeff would be his first boyfriend and he was so scared to ruin things. So I sat the two down together and made them talk. And, well," Kurt gestured across the room, "there's the result."

"But... you said you and Jeff had a lot in common?"

Kurt sighed. "Yes, we do. We both had a friend who never seemed to see us as more, no matter how much we tried."

A small light was threatening to flicker on in Blaine's head, but he had to know one more thing. "So why are you watching them, looking miserable?"

"Because I don't have what they have."

It was only when Kurt turned to him with an expression so complex that Blaine couldn't begin to try and unravel it, that Blaine understood. Finally.

Kurt had been searching for someone, knowing full well that the only person he wanted to be with was right there. He had somehow thought that Blaine didn't feel the same - and Blaine was prepared to take full blame for that - and thought that he'd be able to find that happiness with someone else. But clearly the happiness of the other two boys was more important, and it seemed that Kurt's heart was truly fixed with Blaine.

How Blaine read all of that without a word being spoken, he had no idea. But the warm feeling in his heart just kept growing as he realized how well he must truly know Kurt to be able to understand him.

"You could."

And it seemed Kurt knew him just as well, if the smile crossing his face was anything to judge by. "I could," he agreed, all traces of sadness and hesitance gone. "Will I, though?"

"That depends. Will you go out with me tomorrow night?"

The smile that now graced Kurt's features was almost more than Blaine could take. "Yes," he whispered, as if he had been waiting forever to say it. Blaine wondered if he had.

But then Kurt's lips were pressed against his, and suddenly it didn't really matter. Blaine gasped lightly before pressing back, kissing Kurt with everything he had. His arms snaked around Kurt's waist, feeling Kurt's hands lightly brushing against his neck.

Blaine broke the kiss, pressing his forehead against Kurt's and sighing happily. He finally understood what it felt like to be drunk on happiness - the smell of Kurt's hair was only adding to his euphoria. "Glad you finally got your act together," Kurt murmured, and Blaine simply smiled, leaning in to kiss him again.

Forget all that petty jealousy, forget trying to find themselves in other people. This was really all that mattered now.

I'm seriously become such a Nick/Jeff shipper. I blame Angela 100%