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Chapter 6 – Date Night

Blaine walked up to the front door of Kurt's house. He checked his watch for the last time, it glared back at him 6.55pm. He'd done well, he had started getting ready for the big night at 4.30pm, and after six outfits were discarded, he'd happily settled on outfit number seven. He packed a few things into an overnight bag, as he was planning on staying the night with Kurt. They had decided not to push the 'staying over' option too much and eventually agreed, together with both sets of parents, that every Saturday night would be enough for now. And once a month, it would coincide with their date night.

Blaine had left his house at 5.30pm, Kurt didn't expect him until 7. So he had spent the time driving around, singing sappy songs, and thinking. Before he had left the Hummel-Hudson house the previous evening, he should have told Kurt about the conversation he had with Burt. But he had chosen not to, he knew that if Kurt had even a sniff that either his father or Blaine thought he wouldn't succeed at getting into NYADA, there would be a meltdown. Of epic proportions. Call him selfish, but Blaine wanted to enjoy his private evening with Kurt before he dealt with that.

He picked up the knocker on the door and knocked three times. He heard the telltale squeal of Kurt, and chuckled to himself, apparently Kurt was looking forward to this evening just as much as Blaine was. Three minutes later a breathless Kurt opened the door. Blaine looked at his boyfriend in disbelief; Kurt stood in front of him looking amazing as always, and held out a bunch of flowers for Blaine. Blaine laughed as he pulled a matching bunch out from behind his back.

"Shall we swap?" Blaine said shyly. It had happened to them before, and would no doubt happen again. Sometimes one would show up with chocolates, the other with flowers, sometimes neither would bring anything, and occasionally they would both bring the exact same thing.

"Why don't we just put them all in one vase?" suggested Kurt, standing back to let Blaine enter the house, "that way we'll have one big bunch to enjoy together."

"Sounds perfect to me," answered Blaine, handing his bunch over to Kurt, "by the way, hello." He said coming into the hallway. He stretched up slightly to close the small height difference and caught Kurt's lips in a quick kiss, before removing his coat and hanging it on the coat rack near the door.

Blaine followed Kurt into the dining area beside the kitchen, where Kurt had laid out a beautiful, romantic table setting. He filled a vase and put both bunches of flowers in it, rearranging them quickly as he went, before putting them in the centre of the table, completing the perfect picture.

Kurt went back into the kitchen to finish preparing their meal, while Blaine sat at the counter after helping himself to a soda. Blaine watched as his boyfriend flitted around the kitchen effortlessly, going from one pot to the next, chattering excitedly about nothing in particular as he went.

Blaine didn't need to say a lot back. He smiled like a lunatic each and every time Kurt caught his eye, nodding at the appropriate times. Blaine couldn't remember when he'd ever felt quite so content in his life. Just the two of them together, Kurt being so,...well...so Kurt, and not having a care in the world.

When Blaine thought back to the boy he met on the staircase just over a year ago, he could hardly believe they were the same person. That boy had been so hurt, frightened and in such desperate need of a real friend. Anyone probably would've done at that point. But Kurt had met Blaine that day, and changed both of their lives forever.

At the time it felt like an eternity passed them by, as Kurt used the safe haven of Dalton to gradually regain his confidence and spark, and Blaine used the time to get to know the every changing, ever improving Kurt. Blaine could now, with the benefit of hindsight, pinpoint the moment his feelings for Kurt began to change. It was after the dreaded Rachel experiment, when Kurt and Blaine had their first argument, that Blaine began to see Kurt slightly differently. He was no longer a wallflower that would simply smile sweetly and let Blaine screw up at every turn, Kurt had suddenly found his voice – and he wasn't afraid to use it.

Then, after Kurt had called him out for hogging all the solos and brusquely informed Blaine that he felt like one of 'The Pips', Blaine knew he was in trouble. After Pavarotti died, Kurt had sung Blackbird, and Blaine knew that he couldn't just be the 'friend' any more. He hated to see Kurt break again so easily, and he decided that he wanted to be the one that could be there for Kurt in every way.

Sometimes, he didn't think that Kurt really understood that he had helped Blaine just as much as Blaine had helped him. While Blaine had been one of the most popular students at Dalton, he really felt that he was friendly with everyone, friends with none. He'd joke around as much as everyone else but in the end, success in a school like Dalton was all about conformity. So, he went to the theatre on his own, his stash of Vogue magazines were always hidden away, his bow-tie collection shoved to the back of his closet. He strived to be accepted, and if that meant pushing a part of himself so deep down it would never be found, then so be it. Kurt gave him the courage to be himself again. To be more than Blaine Warbler. The courage to just be Blaine.

He was woken from his thoughts by a hand running gently through his hair. Blaine looked up and smiled as he met Kurt's tender gaze.

"Hey, are you alright?" Kurt asked calmly, "You kind of zoned out on me."

"I'm fine," Blaine replied, "just thinking."

"Good thoughts, I hope," Kurt softly enquired.

"The best." Blaine said, his voice coming out thick and hoarse.

"Good!" Kurt flashed him his best smile and gestured toward the table where there were two plates, piled high with food, waiting for them.

Blaine followed him to the table, sat down and they began to eat. He quickly complemented Kurt on the gorgeous meal, to which Kurt simply shrugged and swore it was nothing. They both ate slowly, each regularly catching the others eye with sly glances and small grins. Neither had any idea why they were both so nervous.

Blaine did know however, that he couldn't let the evening progress much longer without getting something off his chest.

He looked at Kurt intensely, and waited for their eyes to meet once more. Blaine knew he had to admit what he'd done. If Burt asked Kurt about it before Blaine could explain, his universe may just implode on top of him. He cleared his throat to gain Kurt's attention.

"Umm...Kurt?" Blaine started hesitantly. Kurt looked up smiling, "I may have done something really stupid." Blaine looked down at his plate. He took his napkin off his lap, folded it up and placed it on the table.

"Oh...okay," replied Kurt, "just promise me it doesn't involve Sebastian!"

Blaine looked shocked, "What? No...why would you even..." No, Blaine decided, he wasn't going to rise to that bait, not tonight. "No, Kurt," he said firmly, "it has nothing to do with Sebastian. It's to do with your father."

Kurt looked at his boyfriend confused. He knew that there had been a 'discussion' after he left his father and Blaine watching football the night before, but Blaine hadn't been too forth coming about its content last night.

"What did he say to you?" he said squinting his eyes as if he was ready to kill his father.

"It's not really what he said," Blaine certainly didn't want to open that can of worms tonight! "It's more what I said to him."

"Okaay..." Kurt waited for his boyfriend to continue.

"Umm...right...I should just say it really, shouldn't I?" Blaine took a deep breath and swallowed loudly, as Kurt nodded taking a sip of his soda.

"I may have accidently told your Dad that I was going to marry you." Blaine finally got it out.

Kurt almost choked, soda erupted out of his nose and flew over the table. He coughed and spluttered, trying to get his breath back. Blaine got up and poured him a glass of water, Kurt took a sip and Blaine used his napkin to wipe Kurt's face off. He then started mopping up the mess on the table.

"Okaay...so...marriage huh?" Kurt said, his voice going up an octave or three. He didn't have any idea of how to respond to that one.

"Wait, there's more," Blaine said, he knew he had to get the whole lot out at once. Kurt looked at him with eyes as large as saucers – what 'more' could there possibly be?, "I may have implied that it would happen kind of soon."

Kurt couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure, they'd talked about the future. And it had always involved the two of them together. An apartment in New York, possibly still sharing with Rachel, making friends with the gay couple down the hall – basically they had dreamed that they would be living a rainbow clad version of 'Friends'. They'd never actually spoken about marriage though, other than the 'Yay! It's legal in New York,' celebratory conversation.

"Right," Kurt chose his words carefully, "Umm...am I pregnant?" he asked.

"No," Blaine said chuckling uncomfortably.

"Are you?" Kurt said, starting to smile.

"No," Blaine shook his head.

"Alright then, so that's the usual reason that marriage is discussed at our age out of the way," Kurt said, trying to make light of the situation. He looked as Blaine studied the empty plate in front of him.

"Blaine, is this something you've been thinking about?" Kurt had no idea what was going on inside his boyfriends head sometimes.

"No...yes...I don't know...maybe," Blaine shrugged, not really helping to clarify much at all, "I just kind of said it to make him understand that this is real." He gestured between the two of them, "I'm serious about you, and I'm not going anywhere...ever. Even if you wanted me to, I think I'd end up as one of those crazy stalker ex-boyfriends, and I'd just follow you around for the rest of your life."

Kurt reached over and took Blaine's hand in his own.

"Blaine," Kurt said gently, "I'm not going anywhere. I mean yes, there's next year for us to get through, but I'll still be in here." He leant over and placed his hand over Blaine's heart, "and you'll still be in here." He used his other hand to pick up Blaine's hand and place it over Kurt's heart. "We won't really be apart, and it won't be forever."

" I know," said Blaine softly.

"So, what did my Dad say?" Kurt suddenly said, breaking the mood completely.

"I don't know," admitted Blaine, "I ran straight up to your room."

"Blaine!" Kurt shrieked, "You just left him sitting there?" Blaine nodded and put his head down, embarrassed with himself.

"Well that certainly explains some things," Kurt said, "Dad was being weird all day today; he was following me around, being really quiet, kept staring at me and then when I asked what was wrong, he said 'Just don't be in too much of a hurry, Kurt'," he said in his best 'Burt Hummel' voice, and started to grin widely.

"I thought he was telling me to calm down about the soufflé for tonight! So, I told him that I wasn't a fool and everything would be timed to absolute perfection!" He burst out laughing and couldn't stop, after a moment Blaine joined him and the pair laughed their hearts out until they both had tears running down their faces.

Kurt took a deep breath and tried to regain his composure, on the opposite side of the table, Blaine did the same. They both let out a loud sigh at the same time.

"You do realise that I have no intention of getting married anytime soon, don't you?" Kurt said suddenly serious.

"It was a stupid thing to say," nodded Blaine, "I'm sorry."

"One day, Blaine," Kurt said softly, "one day, I hope it will be the right time for us. But I want us to have fun first, I want us to both find our place in the world. And then sometime in the future, when the time is right, we'll know. But I'm not ready to even think about marriage yet." Blaine nodded his agreement.

"I'm sorry...I should talk to your Dad again," Blaine contemplated, "tell him what an idiot I am."

"No," smirked Kurt, "let's not do that. We can get years of fun out of this!" Blaine looked at Kurt as if he'd grown another head suddenly.

"Every time he ever sees us he's going to be on edge, just waiting for the big announcement." Kurt tried to encourage Blaine. Blaine just shook his head at Kurt.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Kurt grinned and clapped his hands.

"Kurt! We can't do that to him," admonished Blaine, "you're the one that's always worried about your Dad's heart. I can't deliberately put him under that much stress." Kurt screwed up his face, knowing he was defeated. It sounded like such a good idea!

"Okay," Kurt said begrudgingly, "you're right, I'm wrong." He let out a sigh.

"Besides, it's not you that he'll want to take into the basement and murder," Blaine said, placing his head into his hands, "I'm the one who said he wants to basically drag his son kicking and screaming to the altar."

"Oh no, there won't be an altar, mister," Kurt said quickly, "if you think you're going to get me inside a church of any description, then there will be kicking and screaming!"

"Kurt, there are churches in New York that will marry gay people now," Blaine said gently. Religion was a subject they had never, ever discussed before.

"I don't care, Blaine," Kurt shook his head vehemently, "never going to happen!"

"Alright," said Blaine, holding his hands up in surrender. "No church."

"It would be in a park...and don't think I'm wearing white either." Kurt added as an afterthought, "I'm not a virgin, and I'm not a girl."

"Believe me, Kurt," Blaine said flirtatiously, "I'm very well aware of both of those things." Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head. Sometimes his boyfriend could be such a dork.

They both sat quietly for a moment, each lost in their own train of thought. Blaine was the first one to break the silence.

"Umm...Kurt?" he asked smiling, Kurt looked up and met Blaine's eyes, "you do realise that you've just planned our wedding that you didn't want to think about yet, don't you?"

"Oh, shut up!" Kurt said, laughing. He got out of his chair, and picked up both of their plates. "Are you ready for your dessert, smarty pants?" Blaine laughed and nodded, following his boyfriend into the kitchen to help.

Blaine put their plates into the dishwasher, as Kurt dished out dessert. They each took their own plates back to the table to continue their meal.

The tension from the beginning of the night had thankfully well and truly dissolved by then. They had joked and gently teased each other so much that Kurt couldn't remember a time when he'd laughed so much. After both cleaning up the kitchen together, Blaine turned to his boyfriend and held out his arms widely. Kurt wasted no time in jumping into the welcomed hug.

Kurt had planned for them to watch a movie after dinner. They decided instead to simply continue their evening on the sofa, talking together, joking together and making plans together. Gradually the talk died down. Still they sat, just enjoying each other's company. They were silently entwined in each other, both physically and emotionally, until eventually Blaine broke their peaceful bubble.

"Thank you Kurt," said Blaine, snuggling into Kurt's shoulder, "tonight has been wonderful."

"It was nothing special...well, I mean, it wasn't how I planned it." Kurt admitted, holding the boy beside him a little closer. "I thought we'd have a super romantic meal, with lots of kissing and cuteness, finishing up with us making mad passionate love on the sofa." Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Instead of that, it's just been us...being...well, us. Not that I'm complaining, but I had this picture in my head, you know?" Kurt said softly trying desperately not to hurt Blaine's feelings.

"Don't you get it, Kurt," Blaine said gently, "that's exactly why it's been the best evening ever. It's all just been about us. It's perfect."

Kurt understood exactly what Blaine meant. It wasn't about having the super romantic date that you see in the movies. It was them being able to do, and talk about anything they wanted. He nodded into Blaine's hair in agreement.

"Perfect," he agreed wholeheartedly.

Kurt knew that tonight he had learnt what dating could be like. His father had been right, it wasn't about having sex the minute the parents were out of the house, it was about them...just being given the chance to be them. Without constantly watching and waiting for a disaster to befall them. Kurt finally appreciated why his father had wanted to do this for himself and Blaine if this was anything like what Carole and Burt felt when they were on a date.

Kurt understood that there was still a big bad world waiting for them outside of his own little protected haven, some of whom would happily see both of them burnt at the stake. But right in that moment, he had never felt safer or prouder for both himself and Blaine. He knew that both of them would inevitably make mistakes. Drama would always follow Kurt to some degree, but with their family by their side, they'd always keep moving forward. Toward what was a mystery for the future to reveal one day at a time. But he was certain of one thing, it would always be with Blaine.

Together.

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