13:57

A/N: Short chapter, but a quick update, because I didn't want to leave you all hanging on a cliffhanger for a week! You're welcome!

"Trippy. I feel like I just traveled through a wormhole."

"Why? Because we're underground?"

"No, man, a wormhole is a rift in the time-space continuum."

"Kurt? Kurt, are you okay?"

Kurt groaned a little as he opened his eyes, more for dramatic effect than any actual pain. Blaine and Finn were hovering anxiously over him, while Sam was sitting a little bit back, staring at his hands with as much wonderment as if he were stoned, or something. All of them were sitting in a straight hallway, that looked like it had been carved out of granite. It looked familiar.

Kurt sat up, and Finn hurriedly help him up. "Where are we?"

"Uh. . .we're in that passage between the castle and the Forbidden Forest," Blaine said sheepishly, running a hand through his disheveled hair. "It was the only place that I could think of that was kind of a secret between us."

"Right. . ." Kurt said drolly. "So why are Finn and Sam here?"

"I'm the one who discovered it!" Sam said proudly. "We've been escaping through here to avoid detention for years."

"Yeah," Finn said, screwing up his nose in distaste. "You always have to do nasty stuff for detention. Like clean plates, or go to the Forbidden. . .hey, wait a second. . ."

"It's a teleportation spell," Blaine said. "Professor Schuester taught it to me a while ago. I though it would be a good way to get you out of the nest."

"The competition!" Kurt gasped, jumping to his feet. "We have to go back! The whole thing is rigged, so Jesse can win, we can't. . ."

"Yeah," Blaine said, a distasteful twist to his lips. "I kind of figured that out when I was stuck up in that. . .that. . ." his face began to fall apart at the memory. Kurt moved forward and took both of his hands in his own, squeezing lightly. He looked earnestly into Blaine's face.

"You're okay," he soothed. "You're safe now. Courage, remember?"

"Right," Blaine said with a choked laugh. "Um. . .let's see. . ."

"Bob Dylan?" Sam suggested, and this time when Blaine grinned there was no sadness or fright in it at all. He let go of one of Kurt's hands to fistbump Sam. He winked at Kurt, and began to sing.

"Done laid around, done stayed around

This old town too long

Summer's almost gone, winter's coming on

And it seems like I've got to travel on

And it seems like I've got to travel on"

Everything went black a second time, but as brief as a blink. When Kurt opened his eyes, they were all back in the middle of the stadium, his right hand still tightly held in Blaine's own. The griffon was back on its nest, and all of the eyes in the stadium were tightly trained on the four of them, before breaking into riotous applause.

Kurt couldn't keep the smile from lighting up his face, and he turned to peer at the time clock. Five minutes.

Headmaster Figgins hastened onto the field. "Fantastic job, truly inspiring," he gushed, patting Blaine on the back. "A teleportation spell, without even touching the subjects. . ." he paused for a moment, as though listening. "A few points taken off for the delay, and a few added for showmanship, and the difficult situation raised by Mr. Hummel's abrupt decision to try his hand at flying" – Kurt's neck reddened at the laughter from the stands – "and the score is. . .a 99.9! Exemplary! Well done, Mr. Anderson!"

Blaine didn't let go of Kurt's hand the entire way that they walked back to the tent. He led the taller boy to the back, where he promptly collapsed. It was only then that Kurt noticed how pale he was, how his curls were slicked back by sweat, and how he was still trembling a little.

"Are you okay?" Kurt asked, lowering himself beside the other boy. Blaine just shook his head.

"I didn't. . ." Blaine took a deep breath, and forced out a watery smile. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Kurt said decisively. "Tell me about it."

"Next up is our current leader, Ms. Rachel Berry!"

"We should go watch Rachel."

Blaine moved as though he were going to stand up, but Kurt reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him back down. "She's just going to sing Teenage Dream and convince the griffon to fall in love with her, and rescue Finn. She'll be fine."

Blaine sighed. "I really am fine," he said. "It's just. . .I used to like heights. I had a toy broom when I was little, and I wanted to be a professional Quidditch player. . ."

"What happened?"

"Let's go all the way tonight

No regrets, just love"

"I was playing in the yard. I was practicing being Chaser, and my dad was being a Keeper. We were high up, so it was more realistic. We were both laughing and. . .I told him."

"Told him what?" Kurt asked, although he was pretty sure that he already knew. Blaine turned to look at him, tears standing out in his eyes.

"That I was gay. He. . .didn't take it well. He told me that it wasn't funny, and then he told me to take it back. I flew over to him and. . ."

Kurt's hand flew up to cover his mouth. Blaine's gaze dropped to look at their hands, still casually intertwined.

"He didn't mean it. I really believe that. He stayed with me the whole time that I was at St. Mungo's. But afterwards. . .he never looked at me like I was his son again. He just looked at me like I was filth. And ever since then. . .it's not just the fall, it's the memories of that day."

Kurt brushed the tears away from his eyes, and leaned forward to hug the other boy. Blaine chuckled a little.

"The good news is that now I'll have a different memory to help my phobia. Being Accio'ed down like a broom does wonders for getting over daddy issues."

There was applause coming from the stadium, and then Figgins voice booming, asking all of the Champions to go out to the field. Blaine stood, dusted off his pants, and helped Kurt to his feet, before turning and walking out to the pitch. Kurt followed as far as the tent, and stood there awkwardly, with his arms crossed. Sam stood to one of his sides, and Finn soon joined them.

"How did she do?" Kurt asked.

"Oh my God, Rachel is so amazing," Finn cooed, hearts practically standing out inhis eyes. "I want to get drunk with her on the beach, and then build a fort out of sheets and. . ."

Kurt lifted one eyebrow. "I think Rachel still has to work on her aim," Sam said.

"A wonderful showing from all of our Champions today! Let's give them a round of applause!" Kurt clapped his hands together, drastically trying to add everything up in his head. Rachel and Blaine would obviously be moving on to the Third Task, since they were the top-ranked in both of the earlier Tasks, but he couldn't for the life of him remember Quinn and Jesse's scores. . .

All four of the Champions were lined up, all looking significantly better than they had after the first task. This time there was no torn clothing, and nothing was singed. Blaine still looked a little unsteady, but Rachel and Quinn were both beaming out into the audience, while Jesse had his normal smirk firmly plastered on his face.

"In first place, with 190 points, Ms. Rachel Berry!"

"I told you she's amazing," Finn said dreamily.

"In second pace, with 189 points, Mr. Blaine Anderson!"

All three of the boys fistbumped to that one.

"And finally, in third place, with 132 points, but still continuing on with the competition. . .Mr. Jesse st. James!"

xxx

"So. . .was it romantic?"

Kurt stared at his best friend, a silly smile pasted across his face. Mercedes was just lying there next to him, brown eyes sparkling. Her hair was completely loose and wild for once. The firelight reflected off her cheekbones and highlighted the brown of her eyes.

"Was what romantic?"

"When Blaine serenaded you, and then the two of you popped off to wherever to get your boy smooches on."

Kurt giggled. "You remember that Finn and Sam came back with us, too, right?"

"Scandalous!"

They both laughed at that, rolling back and forth into each other's bodies. The fire felt warm against Kurt's face, and his body was deliciously comfortable, snuggled up next to Mercedes under the old afghan.

"Seriously, boo. You were his most-treasured person. He didn't say anything?"

Kurt paused at those words. In all the excitement of being nearly killed by a griffon, nearly plunging to his death, and then the inevitable Gryffindor party after the Task (though why Gryffindor was celebrating when they didn't even have a Champion was beyond Kurt), he'd forgotten why he'd been put in the nest in the first place. But then, on second thought, he sighed and shook his head.

"It was all set up," he reminded his best friend. "Remember that Blaine was there for Jesse, and those two don't even talk to each other. At this point, I'm pretty sure that they hate each other."

"Yeah," Mercedes agreed after a moment. "But we both know that Rachel's head over heels for Finn, and it seemed pretty clear that Sam and Quinn have something going on. Isn't it possible that Blaine does feel something for you?"

Kurt thought about it. His cheeks flushed a little. There was the way Blaine held his hand, and hugged him. . .there was the fact that he'd asked him to Yule Ball, and taken him into the secret tunnel that he'd only shared with his best friends, and then there was that look he'd gotten in his eyes, just before the griffon struck. So yeah, Kurt supposed it was possible.

But he'd also gotten his hopes up before, and it had come to nothing. There had been numerous times over the year when he'd thought there might be something between himself and Blaine, and it had never been anything more than casual friendship. So as much as he wanted to believe that there was something else there, he wouldn't allow himself.

There was a knock at the common room door. Kurt and Mercedes shared a frightened look, burrowing deeper under the afghan. Kurt quickly put out the fire with a simple "Distingo." They lay in silence, waiting to see if anyone would enter. It was after hours, after all, and they knew that they'd be in a heap of trouble if anybody caught a boy and a girl spending the night in the common room together.

Which was ridiculous, as anyone who knew Kurt could attest. Really, the professors' should be more nervous about what he did in his actual, assigned dorm.

The knock came again, this time followed by a nervous voice calling out, "Hello? Anyone awake in there?"

"Is that. . ." Mercedes asked, peeping her head out from beneath the blanket. Kurt shushed her, and went to the door, his heart beating quickly, a little hummingbird trapped within his chest.

"Just a minute," he called, and if his voice was a little higher than usual, well, he really couldn't be blamed. He went and opened the door.

Blaine stood in front of the door, his hair back to being immaculately styled, his robes perfectly pressed. His shining Prefect's badge was attached to his chest, and he wore a nervous smile. "Hey," he said softly. "I was doing my rounds, and I just thought I'd check and see if you were asleep."

"No," Kurt said. "Mercedes and I were just debriefing."

"Oh," Blaine said, his grin slowly sliding off his face. "Is she still. . ."

"No, she just went to bed," Kurt said hurriedly. He heard a small giggle from behind him, and hoped that Blaine didn't hear it. Or notice the suspiciously heaped pile of blankets. Or notice that there were still two steaming tea cups set out.

"OH," Blaine said again. He scuffed his feet again. Kurt found it ridiculously adorable.

"Did you want something?" he asked. Blaine sighed, and looked up to meet his gaze.

"When you sang to me," he said, his voice a little gruff, "there was a moment. I just looked at you and thought, oh. There you are. I've been looking for you forever."

Kurt's heart stuttered to a stop. His mouth hung open a little. He knew that his eyes were wide, probably sparkling, and he tried to take in a breath. Was he sleeping? Had he fallen asleep mid-gossip session again? He pinched himself, just to make sure. It hurt, and he yelped.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing," Kurt said hurriedly. "I just wanted to make sure this wasn't a dream."

Blaine did smile again, that bright, dazzling smile that always made Kurt a little weak at the knees. "No," he said. "It's not a dream."

Kurt still wasn't sure of that, so he decided to try something. He licked his lips, feeling incredibly nervous all of a sudden. There was no hiding from this, no turning back. It was just he and Blaine (well, and the hidden Mercedes). No mistletoe, no impending death, no Tournament or stupid, cockblocking older brothers. He leaned forward, so their noses were almost touhing, so close that he could feel Blaine's breath against his skin. It would only take one, slight tremble, to bring their lips together.

But then Kurt froze. He had never kissed a boy – he wasn't really sure how to do it. How exactly did he go about crashing their lips together without also breaking noses? Did he leave his eyes open, so that he could aim better, or did he –

His thought process was abruptly broken off as he felt warm lips moving against his own. Oh, God. Blaine was kissing him. His eyes flew open (when had he closed them?

He couldn't see much – just curly hair, held back by a pound of gel, and thicked, arched eyebrows. He sighed a little, into the kiss, and closed them again. He heard a squee behind him, and apparently Blaine did, too, because he chuckled a little into the kiss.

Wait. What about his arms? What was Kurt supposed to do with his arms? Hmm. . .what was Blaine doing with his arms? As if in answer to Kurt's unspoken question, one of Blaine's hands came up to gently cup his cheek, even as he pulled back.

Kurt opened his eyes, and found himself peering straight into a pair of dancing hazel ones.

"Oh," he said, a little dumbly, "is it over already?"

"Yeah, I'm still on duty," Blaine said, glancing down, and rubbing at the back of his neck. Kurt nearly giggled as he noticed the slight blush on the other boy's face. "I should probably go, before they realize I'm missing."

"Okay. See you at breakfast tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Blaine said, half-smile on his face. "Definitely. See you tomorrow."

Kurt closed the door, and slid down against it, feeling like all the bones in his body had turned into mush. Mercedes exploded out of her afghan cocoon, running toward him and wrapping him up in a monstrous hug.

"I'm so happy for you, boo!" she squealed. Kurt allowed himself one, very small, very non-tacky fistbump.

It was becoming a very good year for Kurt Hummel.

A/N: Yay! For those of you waiting, wait no longer. . .Klaine is now official!

COMING SOON: Finn and Sam decide to open a detective agency, Klaine tries to figure out exactly what they are, and Rachel is intent on winning. . .EVERYTHING