The first week back at school, Blaine barely gets a chance to talk to Kurt. At first, Blaine had thought it wasn't intentional, but by Thursday evening he has tried to chase after Kurt four times only to have him disappear. It's definitely on purpose and Blaine has no idea why. Friday morning during his free period (that Kurt incidentally shares with him, as neither of them are taking Divination), Blaine heads to the Owlery hoping to find Kurt.
He opens the door quietly and immediately spots Kurt on his usually bench, sitting with Athena and staring out the window. Blaine sits down next to him; Kurt doesn't look over until he pets Athena when she chirps happily at him in greeting.
"How've you been?" Blaine asks once it becomes clear that Kurt isn't going to say anything.
"Good, you?" he replies shortly.
Blaine raises an eyebrow. Either he did something to Kurt he doesn't know about, or something's wrong. "Okay, something's wrong, or you're mad at me."
Kurt huffs loudly, staring resolutely out the window. "I'm not mad at you, and nothing's wrong."
"Okay…" Blaine says, confused. "What's going on then?"
"...I'm gay," Kurt says quietly, still looking out the window.
"And you've been avoiding me all week because...?"
Kurt finally turns to look at him, glaring. "Because now you're going to hate me or be all weird or say we're still friends only to ditch me the first chance you get. I just wanted to put it off as long as possible because I've known for years and I finally came out to my dad over the summer, and me being gay shouldn't change anything between us."
Blaine grabs Kurt's hand, causing him to fall quiet in shock. "Kurt," he says, forcing Kurt to look him in the eyes. "I'm gay too. I came out the middle of last year."
"You-?" Kurt blinks at him before laughing quietly. "How did I not know about this?"
"I don't know," Blaine says, nudging his shoulder. "Apparently you were living under a rock. Or- well, it was during Christmas break actually, so you were probably at home."
Kurt sighs, "Does that mean people here are pretty accepting?"
"As far as I can tell, they are. I've never had a problem. I thought someone would give me a hard time, but it wasn't even a huge deal when I came out. I found out that there are other out students in the years above us. It's honestly nothing like the muggle world."
"I would have expected- with the pureblood thing…"
"Me too!" Blaine agrees. "I was ready to deal with snide remarks. I wrote a list of comebacks and everything."
Kurt giggles. They're quiet for a moment before they hear a bell ring.
"I guess that's our cue to leave, I've got Runes in ten minutes," Blaine says.
They stand up, Kurt kissing the top of Athena's head before she flutters up to join the other owls. "I still can't believe you signed up for Runes."
"You're one to talk! You're taking Muggle Studies. You grew up with a muggle dad!"
Kurt holds the door open for Blaine as they exit. "It's interesting! It's a whole new perspective on muggle-wizard relations."
"You just wanted an easy O," Blaine teases.
"That may have been part of it…"
"Okay Kurt," Blaine says, settling down next to him at the Slytherin table for dinner a week later. "I know they haven't announced it yet, but I'm commandeering you for the first Hogsmeade trip of the year."
"What?" Kurt asks, looking up from his chicken. "You're - what?"
"Hogsmeade. The trip they're going to eventually schedule for next month. You and me are going together. You said you'd never been, so I'm taking it upon myself to give you the grand tour and then buy you a butterbeer and we'll meet up with Sam and Mercedes and everybody else."
"Umm, sure, okay. We can do that. We allowed to hangout before then?" Kurt asks. "Because I thought we were going to study for Potions this weekend."
Blaine rolls his eyes and smiles, spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate. "Yes, obviously. Unless-"
"Are you two dating?" a voice asks.
Blaine looks up to see Rachel settling down across the table from them. "...No," he says raising an eyebrow at her.
"I always see you two together and you're all touchy-feely," she accuses.
"We're not dating, Rachel," Kurt says with an annoyed roll of his eyes. "We're friends."
"Oh," she says, deflating. "I was hoping I could get you guys to go on a double date with Finn and I."
"You're dating Finn?" Blaine asks in surprise. He's pretty sure that the last he heard, Finn and Quinn were a thing.
"No," she pouts. "One day I will be, and I just want to be prepared for that day."
"Okay…" Kurt says with a raised eyebrow. "Well, that's… interesting. Is there anything else you wanted?" he asks when she continues staring at them.
"Well, I do have a question about the Potio-"
Kurt sighs loudly. "We're studying for Potions on Saturday. If you still have a question then, you can come join us. We have plans to discuss, so if you'll excuse us," he says before turning and blocking Rachel out of the conversation.
The first Hogsmeade visit ends up being a few days before Halloween, which means it's chilly out, but not unbearable. Plus, the town is decked out for the holiday. Unfortunately, Sam apparently hadn't gotten the memo that Blaine was heading down with Kurt, so he finds Sam joining him on his way to the Great Hall. "Joining" being a nice way of saying that Sam had hung out outside of the Hufflepuff common room after he ate breakfast, waiting for Blaine to be ready to go.
Blaine grimaces at the confused look on Kurt's face when they enter the Great Hall. Walking quickly, he gets ahead of Sam so that he can apologize to Kurt before they go. "I'm sorry, I couldn't get rid of him," he says, glancing over at Sam who's talking to Finn for a moment.
A weird look crosses Kurt's face, "It's fine, he can come with us. The more the merrier, right?" he smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"We can-" Blaine breaks off when Sam puts his arm around both of their shoulders.
"We ready to go?"
Kurt and Blaine simultaneously remove Sam's arm from their shoulders, but nod their agreement.
The moment Kurt sees Blaine when he returns from spending Christmas with his dad, he realizes that he has a crush on Blaine. Not just a little minor crush. A full blown I-can't-be-around-him-without-acting-like-an-idiot crush. He avoids Blaine as much as he can without being obvious. He puts friends in between them at meals. He studies in his common room instead of the library in the evenings. He invites Blaine to hangout, but only when he knows someone else will be there.
Two months into the semester, Blaine has his first Quidditch match since Christmas. Kurt obviously goes, decked out in Hufflepuff colors, and joining Tina who's dressed in Ravenclaw garb but sitting in the Hufflepuff section to cheer Mike on. They're having a good time, watching the game and cheering when they're supposed to, but mostly just gossiping, when there's a loud scream.
Kurt looks up to see a black and yellow player heading to the ground. He sees the number five on the players back and immediately stands up, heading for the field. By the time he makes it down through the crowd of people who seem torn between watching Blaine and watching the action that's continuing on the field, Madam Pomfrey already has him on a stretcher.
"Is he-" Kurt starts to say, running over them.
Madam Pomfrey looks up, "Yeah, he'll be fine. I just need to check out his injuries and then I can patch him right up."
"Can I-?"
"Kurt?" Kurt hears Blaine groan from the stretcher. He sees him wince in pain as he tries to sit up.
"You," Madam Pomfrey says pointedly to Blaine. "Stay still. If you puncture a lung you'll be stuck in the hospital wing longer. And you," she says, looking over at Kurt. "You can join us as long as you both behave."
Kurt's not sure what she thinks he's going to do that constitutes as misbehavior, but he nods his head in agreement and walks next to Blaine, talking to him quietly.
"I take it a Bludger got you?" Kurt asks, his heart rate slowing down now that Blaine is in front of him and apparently going to be okay.
"You weren't watching me?" Blaine pouts, wincing.
"I took my eyes off you for all of thirty seconds and you got injured," Kurt laughs. "And stop talking, you don't want to injure yourself more," he adds as they go up the front steps.
Blaine glares at him but stays silent.
When they reach the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey tells Kurt to wait outside while she looks at Blaine's injuries.
She lets him in after twenty minutes, and he immediately tries to look anywhere but Blaine. Because Blaine is shirtless - granted, he has an ugly bruise on the right side of his rib cage - and Kurt really wasn't prepared for that.
"Does it really look that bad?" Blaine asks.
"What?" Kurt's head shoots up to meet his eyes. "No. No, of course not, it," he glances down to look at the bruise, unable to stop himself from taking in the rest of Blaine's chest and his tiny waist as he goes. "Okay, so it's not the prettiest bruise, but it's not too bad considering you got hit by a Bludger."
"Crap!" Blaine says, bolting upright suddenly. "The match!" He tries to get up, but Madam Pomfrey is over in a flash, pushing him back into bed.
"You will not be going anywhere for a few more hours at least. And you are not to play Quidditch for the next week. You need to heal. Your bones may be patched up, but I can't heal you all the way or else you'll never learn your lesson. Besides, ribs and potential internal bleeding can be tricky. You're not to risk your life over some silly game."
"Quidditch isn't silly!" Blaine protests, although this time he doesn't try to leave the bed.
"Ah, but it dangerous and not a good reason to endanger yourself."
Blaine slumps, looking over at Kurt as she walks away. "Please break me out of here. We can't lose to Ravenclaw!"
"Blaine," Kurt says, almost losing his train of thought when he puts a comforting hand on Blaine's bare chest. "I'm sure they pulled in one of the standbys, I mean that's what they're there for, right?"
"I'm better though!" Blaine insists.
"Of course you are," Kurt attempts to comfort him. "You'll be back there for the next game. And whether you win or lose this one, I know you'll bring your team back through to the final match. Also, when we left you guys were up a hundred points, if that makes you feel better."
"They might still win," Blaine whines. After a moment he sighs and seems to decide he's not going to be able to sneak out. "So as my best friend ever, due to the fact that you were the only one who thought to join me when I got injured, it is your responsibility to entertain me while I heal."
"You're bossy when you're injured."
"I'm not bossy," Blaine insists. "I just need a distraction from not being at the match. Tell me a secret?" he asks, fluttering his eyelashes at Kurt in an attempt to be coy.
"Erm," Kurt thinks for a moment. "I think you know all of my secrets," he says, because the only secret he can think of right now is his crush on Blaine.
"Well…" Blaine's eyes light up. "I know! You should tell me who you like, because we've never really talked about crushes before, and we should."
"I. Well, I don't-"
"Blaine Anderson!" a loud voice calls out as the door bursts open. Both of their heads whip around to face the door, eyes settling on Sam, who is now walking towards them followed by two of Blaine's teammates - Mike and Brittany. "I can't believe you let a measly Bludger stop you from playing!"
"Excuse me," Madam Pomfrey says, walking out of her office. "This boy needs to rest, I can't have all of you in here yelling and getting him riled up."
"I'm fine!" Blaine insists, as Sam's face takes on a contrite expression.
"I'm sorry Madam Pomfrey," he apologizes. "We'll keep our voices down. I just wanted to check in on my friend and see how he was doing, and then tell him about the game."
She gives him an appraising look, before glancing behind him at Mike and Brittany. Brittany's too busy petting Blaine's hair to notice what's going on, while Mike is trying to look as harmless as possible. "Fine. If you get too loud I am throwing you out. Anderson, you are not to leave that bed."
"Thank you!" Mike calls after her as she walks away.
"Okay, tell me," Blaine says, bracing himself for bad news once Madam Pomfrey is back in her office. "How bad was it?"
"How bad-? We won! It was only a margin of ten points because Smith managed to get the snitch right before Lynn did, but Brittany scored a goal right before, so we won!"
"That doesn't give us much of a lead in the tournament," Blaine moans.
"Don't think we'll go easy on you," Sam interrupts. "I don't care that you're my best friend, there's no way I'm going to let you guys win when you play us."
"Are the elves that live in your hair still okay?" Brittany asks.
Even after two years of sort of being friends with Brittany, Kurt has no idea what half the things she says mean. So instead of responding he tries to comfort Blaine.
"If Hufflepuff beat Ravenclaw with a subpar Seeker, you'll have no problem beating the Gryffindor when you're back," he says.
"Hey!" Sam cries indignantly. "He is not going to beat us. Gryffindor is superior."
"Okay, out, out!" Madam Pomfrey says, coming back into the room and glaring at Sam. "All of you."
"Do I-?" Kurt asks.
"You too Hummel. I'll have Anderson back to you all by dinner."
Kurt nods reluctantly, standing up to go. "I'll come find you when she gives me the all clear, okay?" Blaine asks him.
"What about the Hufflepuff party?" Mike interjects.
"I… I'll be there. Don't worry." He looks back over at Kurt, "I'll let you know that I'm out."
"Okay," Kurt agrees, sad that he won't be seeing much of Blaine for the rest of the day, but realizing that that would have been the case even if Blaine hadn't been injured. "See you later then."
"Bye Blaine!" Mike and Brittany both say with a wave.
"See you later, bro!" Sam calls over his shoulder as Madam Pomfrey shoos him to the door.
Blaine waves at them all, shooting a wink at Kurt that causes butterflies to reappear in his stomach as he walks out of the room.
