Blaine's palms were sweating as he sat down in French class, swinging his bag under the desk. He was nervous about his report, plus it didn't help that Kurt sat 2 rows in front of him, and he'd got stuck walking behind the boy on the way to class. How is it legal for another person to be that attractive, Blaine sighed, peering round the kid sat in front to gaze at Kurt's luscious hair. He'd give anything in the world to be able to kiss Kurt's hair, and maybe stroke it and just a couple of times run his fingers-

"Blaine Anderson?" He snapped out of his daydream and stood up, wobbling slightly. Madame Crouton beckoned him towards her desk.

"Have a seat, kid," she croaked, gesturing towards a chair which Blaine took. She shuffled some papers before pulling one out and peering at it. She sighed, and Blaine immediately took this to be a bad sign.

"OK, Anderson, I'll be frank," she said flatly, pushing her glasses further up her nose. "You've got potential to graduate at the top of your grade. But if you keep skipping class and playing the fool, you're never gonna get anywhere." Blaine looked down at the ground, sighing. He knew this was going to happen. "Madame, I'm just-"

"It's OK," she interrupted. "It's October, you've got a while to pull yourself together before graduation. I'm predicting you could graduate with at least a B plus in Languages, provided your ability improves, but looking at your grade progress, it seems unlikely.." Blaine's heart sank. There went his chance of getting a new car for Christmas.

"…which is why I'll be setting you up with a student tutor. Mr Hummel, could you come here for a minute?"

Blaine's head snapped up to attention. What? His heart began to pound as he heard a chair scrape backwards behind him. Boots with metallic rims on the heels clipped across the linoleum floor. A flush crept off his face as he felt a warmth very close to the back of his head, and he breathed in a sweet mixture of citrus and cinnamon. Kurt.

"Yes, Madame Crouton?"

Blaine sighed contentedly. His voice was so sweet and pure. If he had to listen to Kurt talk all day, that would be a very happy day…

"I'd like you to be tutor to Mr Anderson here," Madame Crouton explained. Blaine felt Kurt shift beside him. "It'll be for a few months, until his grades improve. You could really help him with his French, seeing as yours is exemplary, and you'd get a lot of extra credit. What do you say?"

Kurt sighed, shifting from foot to foot. "Well, I'd have to think about that. But initially, yeah….I guess that'd be OK."

Madame Crouton smiled, satisfied. "That's settled then. If it's OK with you boys, you'll meet for study sessions about once a week at the library, or if you want, each other's houses?" They nodded. Blaine stood up and stood awkwardly next to Kurt. "OK then. Back to your seats if you will, I want your essay on your holidays memorized by next week!" Blaine hurried back to his desk, not looking at Kurt. He couldn't believe his luck. He was allowed to spend at least an hour a week, one on one with Kurt, listening to his beautiful voice, and everyone else would think he was just working hard. The next few months were going to be sweet.

The bell rang and Blaine packed up his books and left the classroom. He was heading towards the cafeteria when he caught sight of Kurt rummaging through his locker, looking thoughtful. Blaine wanted to talk to him so badly he could feel an ache in his chest. But what kind of welcome would he receive, if at all? Kurt had probably already dismissed him as just another meathead jock whose brain was so tiny he sometimes lost control of his hands and feet. Was it any wonder? But Blaine hated the idea that the other boy thought him as stupid…he wanted Kurt to like him so bad…

"Yo, dude, you coming to meet Finn too?" Noah "Puck" Puckerman, another teammate of his, strolled past, tapping him on the arm.

"Um yeah, just got some, uh, things I gotta do, be there in a minute.." Blaine feebly excused himself.

"OK, don't be too long bro!" the mohawked boy called over his shoulder. Blaine glanced furtively over to Kurt.

In the next second, Blaine made up his mind and before he knew what he was doing, he walked over to him. Kurt turned his head and looked at him blankly. Wow, Blaine thought suddenly, look at his eyes. They're like shallow seawater washing over pebbles on a sunny day….shut up, Blaine.

"Can I help you?" Kurt asked, not coldly, but not exactly warmly either. Blaine recognised the tone and tried to ignore it.

"I just…wanted to say hi, I guess." Kurt's eyebrows shot up at this. "This is the first time we've properly spoken.."

"Probably because the few times we've been within speaking distance of each other, you've been too busy with my brother, or I've been too busy being tossed into dumpsters by your Neanderthal team mates." Ouch. Blaine tried to salvage the situation.

"Listen," he said softly, leaning against the locker doors. "I'm not…like them. I promise. I just thought it would be cool if we…got to know each other. You're gonna be drilling irregular verbs into my head for the next few months, after all."

Kurt's eyes brightened, and he gave a little smile which made Blaine's heart leap. "Um..what did you have in mind?"

Blaine took a deep breath. "Um..the Lima Bean? After school?" Oh god oh god oh god it's like a date what is he going to say oh god oh god….

Kurt smiled, properly this time. "Sure, uh, that sounds good."

"Great," Blaine grinned, sighing with relief. "I've gotta go meet Finn, see you later?"

"Yeah, later."