Surprisingly, it doesn't take Kurt and Blaine long to get to McKinley, and once they've signed into the "Visitors" register, they head down the corridors, Kurt leading the way to the New Directions rehearsal room where he'd texted his friends to meet him. He explained to them in the texts that Blaine had confessed his love for someone, quite possibly him, and that for a gift for Valentine's; he's going to serenade his love for this person in the school's auditorium.
Entering the rehearsal room the boys find Mercedes, Tina, Mike, and Artie waiting inside, but Kurt's a little confused as to why Rachel isn't there even though he'd texted her too.
"Mercedes, where's Rachel?" He asks, looking around just to make sure that she isn't in the room, and he just doesn't see her. Scanning the room once again, he finds that she's nowhere in sight.
Mercedes points in the direction of the auditorium, and replies, "She's in the auditorium with Leo, rehearsing for this week's Glee assignment. I swear they'd be the perfect couple if it wasn't for the fact that Leo's gay."
And I thank God that he is, the voice in the back of Blaine's mind utters, patting Kurt on the arm to get his attention, "Kurt, I'm just gonna talk to Leo about something. You don't mind waiting here a moment, do you?"
Kurt turns to face him, looking somewhat confused at first before nodding, "Of course not, but you'll need to hurry up if you want to perform your serenade and return to Dalton on time." He replies, his voice sounding just a tad excited at the fact that, after talking with Leo, this is going to be the moment he's been waiting for since he first realized that he had a crush on Blaine.
"I know. That's the reason why I want to talk to Leo. To tell him…that I'm in love with him…" and with that said, Blaine rushes out the door faster that you can say, "What?" which Kurt utters under his breath, Mercedes coming up behind him to place a comforting hand on his shoulder, yet he feels nothing but numbness.
When he enters the auditorium, Blaine can hear the two talking about what they were going to sing for the assignment. Entering silently, he takes a seat on the back row, careful not to be seen as he'd like to watch them perform once they'd figured out which song they're going to sing.
"Well, if we being particularly honest, I'm not doing any Celine Dion or Barbara Streisand or any other of your all-time favourite idols. If we're going to do this, we have to work together, and figure out a song that we'll both enjoy singing." Leo declares, sitting beside the piano to mull over which particular song that'll be good enough for the assignment.
Suddenly Leo has a thought, "I think I've got the perfect one," he replies out of nowhere, turning to face the piano, and after a deep breath, begins playing.
Leo: "This time, This place
Misused, Mistakes
Too long, Too late
Who was I to make you wait
Just one chance
Just one breath
Just in case there's just one left
'Cause you know,
you know, you know"
When he'd begun playing and singing the first verse, Rachel knew instantly what the song was…Far Away sung by Nickelback. It's a breath-taking love song; however, it cuts her to the very core as its words remind her of the relationship, however beautiful it was, she'd had with Finn way back before the Christmas holidays.
She's so into the moment of remembering her time being Finn's girlfriend that she almost forgets her cue…
Leo/Rachel: "That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore"
Blaine, who Leo and Rachel still haven't noticed sitting in the back, can't get enough of their singing as he continues to watch, completely enthused by their performance. What Mercedes had said when he and Kurt arrived played in his mind, and he would've believed it, if it wasn't for the fact that Rachel had texted Kurt the day after the championship game to tell him that Leo had just come out to them in Glee club.
It was after he'd received that text that Blaine started to see a change in Kurt's behaviour. Every time he spoke about Leo, Kurt would either reply with some snarky remark or completely change the subject altogether. It was like he was jealous or something, but what could he possibly be jealous of?
Rachel: "On my knees, I'll ask
Last chance for one last dance
'Cause with you, I'd withstand
All of hell to hold your hand
I'd give it all
I'd give for us
Give anything but I won't give up
'Cause you know,
you know, you know"
Leo/Rachel: "That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I miss you
Been far away for far too long
I keep dreaming you'll be with me
and you'll never go
Stop breathing if
I don't see you anymore"
Rachel: "So far away
Been far away for far too long
So far away
Been far away for far too long
But you know, you know, you know"
Blaine can practically feel the build-up as the two performers reach the finale of their amazing rendition of Far Away, truly breath-taking if anyone asked Blaine.
Leo/Rachel: "I wanted
I wanted you to stay
'Cause I needed
I need to hear you say
That I love you
I have loved you all along
And I forgive you
For being away for far too long
So keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore
Believe it
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go
Keep breathing
Hold on to me and, never let me go"
The silence afterwards is disrupted by the sound of someone clapping. Leo and Rachel both turn to face whoever it is, and finds it quite surprising when it appears to be Blaine with a huge smile on his face, making him look even more attractive than he already is.
"That…was…amazing, truly," he praises as he descends down the steps and up onto the stage, "If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were confessing your love for each other. Very convincing, I'd say."
The two both find themselves blushing, if only a little, at Blaine's nice compliment before Leo stands up from the piano, and replies with a smile to match his, "I didn't think we had an audience, and thank you for your compliment. If it's that convincing, then it's good enough for the assignment."
Looking to Rachel, who he can tell feels like she's intruding on something personal, "Rachel, would you mind giving us a sec? I need to talk to Leo about something." Blaine asks softly, the brunette nodding immediately, an understanding, "Of course," leaves her lips before she's telling Leo she'll meet him back in class and hurrying up the stairs.
Once they hear the doors close, Blaine returns his gaze back to Leo, who's leaning back against the piano, using his elbows for support, with a wondering look upon his face. For a moment, Blaine's brain can't seem to work straight as the speech he had prepared on his way over here, is all jumbled up inside. He then begins to feel a little nervous, and "hot" under the collar as the moment's drawing ever closer.
"I…err…need to talk to you 'cause I've been…experiencing something lately, and I feel that I need to…tell you now before it drives me literally insane."
Leo looks upon him with a smile, "Oh? And what is it that you want to tell me?"
Blaine doesn't just want to blurt it out. Not when it's so close to Valentine's Day, and, being an incredibly hopeless romantic, he's going to put his plan into action.
"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd rather sing it to you." He enquires; taking his place in front of the piano like Leo had done a few minutes prior.
Leo turns around so he's leaning against the piano on his front, "A serenade? I've never had anyone sing for me for Valentine's, but there's a first time for everything." He smiles, positively hinting at something, but Blaine can't seem to put his finger on what as he begins playing the piano, a song Leo hasn't heard before.
Blaine: "I've been watching your world from afar
I've been trying to be where you are
And I've been secretly falling apart, unseen
To me, you're strange and you're beautiful
You'd be so perfect with me but you just can't see
You turn every head but you don't see me
I'll put a spell on you
You'll fall asleep and I'll put a spell on you
And when I wake you
I'll be the first thing you see, lyric's top
And you'll realise that you love me
Yeah...
Yeah..."
As Blaine continues to play through the musical number before the next chorus, Leo's heart flutters uncontrollably, his stomach filling with butterflies at the fact that this gorgeous guy that's singing before him is serenading to him so beautifully that Leo's finding it hard to hold back the tears, but he manages to do so. Here I am trying to be all manly and all Blaine has to do is sing a song, and it turns me into mush.
Blaine: "Sometimes, the last thing you want comes in first,
Sometimes, the first thing you want never comes,
And I know, the waiting is all you can do,
Sometimes...
I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep,
I'll put a spell on you,
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see,
And you'll realise that you love me.
I'll put a spell on you,
You'll fall asleep 'cos I'll put a spell on you,
And when I wake you,
I'll be the first thing you see,
And you'll realise that you love me, yeah...
Yeah...
Yeah...
Yeah...
Yeah..."
"So, how was that? Hope it wasn't too schmaltzy for ya?" He asks with that smile on his face that makes Leo go weak in the knees. He thanks God that he's using the piano as leverage as he'd be on the floor by now. Leo matches Blaine's smile with his own, nodding his head, "No, quite the opposite. That was…breath-taking. Really, it literally took my breath away. Your voice is like sweet music to my ears."
He suddenly feels Blaine's hand on his, and he looks up, noticing that Blaine's eyes are sparkling, reminding him of the night sky…truly beautiful.
"Thank you. You know, the first time I saw you, on the night of the championship game to be exact, I thought you were the most beautiful guy I ever laid eyes upon and since then, I found myself falling in love with you." He then gets up from the stool and stands in front of Leo, almost in his personal space before continuing, "I've been trying to think of a way to confide that love for you ever since, and this was the only way I could think of that you might actually enjoy. Now that you've told me that you like it, and you don't know how happy I am to hear you say that, I want to ask if you'd go out with me. On a date, obviously."
Leo stands up straight, not sure if he'd heard him right, "What? You want to go out with me?" he asks, barely loud enough to be classed as a whisper, but Blaine hears it all the same, being so close to him and all.
"Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"
Leo immediately waves the negativity of his question away, not wanting Blaine to get the wrong idea or anything, "Oh, it's nothing like that…it's just…I thought you and Kurt were together. You know, you two being inseparable and all, and the obvious connection you share with each other."
"Yeah, people do mistake us for being a couple, but we're clearly just friends. Best friends, to be exact. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have his friendship." Blaine declares thinking of all the fun times they've had together since Kurt's first day at Dalton Academy. It makes him smile, his attention back on Leo a few seconds later as he asks again, "So, what do you say? Will you go out with me?"
Leo mulls it over for a minute, but it doesn't take him long to answer back. With Sam obviously dating Quinn Fabray, and Leo having no chance of ever going out with him himself, because of the understandable fact that Sam's clearly hetero, it's clearly obvious what his answer will be. Does it also help that being so close to Blaine makes him feel like he's on Cloud 9? No-one's ever made him feel like that. Who knows…maybe they're destined to marry each other after graduation, live in a nice, big house and raise lots of adorable dark-haired children.
"Yes," he answers simply, "Yes, I'll go out with you."
"You will?" Blaine asks, not sure for the moment if his ears are playing tricks with him, "Perfect because the Warblers and I are performing at Breadstix tomorrow night to honour Valentine's and it'll be the "icing on the cake" if you could come along. Everyone else's gonna be there so at least you won't be sitting alone. Then, if you like, we could have our date there unless you have somewhere else in mind?"
Leo shakes his head, "No, that'll be perfect, like you said. Besides, I don't really know any good places to eat. Haven't really had the time to get to know the town yet, you know?"
"Then it gives me the perfect opportunity to show you around and us the opportunity to get to know each other a little better."
They're suddenly interrupted by the sound of someone's voice coming from the entrance to the auditorium…Kurt's to be exact, "Blaine, are you ready? We need to get going if we're gonna make it back before the bell rings for class." He replies with a fake smile, hiding the fact that he's devastated that Leo has caught Blaine's eye unintentionally while Kurt's known him a lot longer, and has been told by others that they would make a great couple. Leo even thought so.
Yes, Kurt had arrived just in time to hear most of their conversation, standing beside the door as he listened, feeling his heart break piece by piece when he heard Blaine say that they could only be best friends, and the way they were looking at each other so lovingly into each other's eyes.
"Of course," Blaine directs those words towards Kurt before turning to face Leo, "So I'll see you tomorrow night?"
"Of course you will. I wouldn't miss it for the world."
"Okay, see you later," and Blaine no more than leans forwards and pecks Leo softly on the cheek, thinking it a little "fast" to kiss him on the lips. "Bye."
"Bye Blaine," Leo returns, his kissed cheek blushing a little at such a romantic gesture, watching as Blaine walks over to Kurt before both climb up the steps towards the entrance, "Bye Kurt," he adds, waving him goodbye as Kurt does the same.
Before Leo himself returns to the choir room, he stays a little while longer, a hand upon his kissed cheek as he feels a little light-headed at the fact that someone had just told him that they loved him, and he's going to be giving them a chance to see if their first date will blossom into something more.
Leo and Rachel's duet – Nickelback's "Far Away"
Blaine's solo – Aqualung's "Strange and Beautiful"