Author's Note: OMG. Has it really been two weeks since I've updated this? I. Am. SO. Sorry! I had writer's block for a bit, but I worked through it for the time being! Let's hope it doesn't happen again. *fingers crossed*

BTW, thanks SO much for your wonderful reviews. I seriously appreciate them if I don't stress that enough. THANK YOU!

Anyways, this chapter is a bit short, but that's because it's setting up my next chapter.

Thanks for your patience and Happy Reading!

Again, no beta. All mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing, nothing. No profit made etc. See Chapter 1 for more elaborate disclaimer.

~C.

(Chapter 9)

"What?! Are you serious?!" Kurt said as he covered his mouth and giggled uncontrollably in the café booth he sat in across from Blaine.

Blaine covered his face with his hands and groaned, "Oh my God, why did I tell you that?"

Kurt giggled again, taking a sip of his hot chocolate before another fit of laughter escaped him. "I think it's cute. Not many teenagers would have had the guts to perform at an amusement park, let alone at an amusement park in Ohio." He smiled, finding the pouty look Blaine was giving him absolutely adorable. Tilting his head, he gave Blaine some pity. "All right, all right. How about I tell you something embarrassing that happened to me?"

"Ooooh it's about time. Yes, go, go!" Blaine bounced in his seat anxiously. The two had been jabbering away in a small café just a short walking distance away from their two apartment buildings. The flow of conversation was so easy for them, almost as if they were two long time friends playing catch-up.

Kurt wiped a tear from his eye because he had been laughing so hard. He looked down at his hot chocolate and swiped a slender finger through some left over whip cream, not seeing the other boy follow his finger's movement to his lips with riveted fascination as he sucked off the sweetness. "As equally embarrassing as this is…I was in a televised commercial with the rest of my Glee Club my sophomore year." Blaine stared. "We sang, danced, and jumped all over the mattresses we were supposed to be advertising."

Blaine looked at Kurt's face for a moment, and then a light bulb in his head went off as an excited smile crossed his face. "Oh my God, for Mattress Land?" Kurt's eyes widened when he realized Blaine knew what he was talking about. Blaine waved his hands animatedly, "Stop, stop, stop right there. Do not tell me you were the guys that performed Van Halen's 'Jump' in the middle of that mattress filled wonderland."

The pale boy flushed, "Y-You saw that?"

"Duh! It was only like…the best daytime commercial ever! Besides, Mattress Land was the only decent place to buy mattresses from in Ohio. I'm proud to say that throughout my high school experience, a Mattress Land mattress was what I slept on, thank you very much." Blaine said. As he sipped his own hot chocolate, his eyes remained on Kurt. The other boy's eyes were still downcast in embarrassment. Blaine didn't know why, but he liked this guy. He was so raw, open, and different.

BACK OFF

Blaine wanted to smack himself, why was he still thinking of that stupid note anyways? He wasn't even certain if the note was in reference to Kurt. It was probably something obscure from a random fan…that's all, r-right? "Excuse me, but are you two quite finished. We would like to close up now." The irritated voice of their waitress suddenly said. Her face was pinched into an unappealing scowl.

Kurt turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "You're excused, and no. We were in the middle of a very intriguing conversation." Kurt smiled sweetly when the waitress huffed at them. "Isn't this place open until two o'clock? I do believe me and my friend here only sat down about an hour or so ago."

Blaine's triangular eyebrows rose in surprise.

Friend?

"Sir, it is a quarter past two. We gave you and your companion an extra fifteen minutes while we began closing up shop. Now we are done, but we can't very well leave if there are customers still at the tables." The waitress said haughtily when a stunned look crossed Kurt's face. Neither male had realized that their quick trip for hot chocolate turned into nearly a four-hour get-to-know-one-another thing.

Suddenly, Blaine saw a really bitchy look cross Kurt's features, so he cut in before a full-blown argument could erupt. "Of course, ma'am. We were just going to continue this conversation elsewhere. Thank you so much." Blaine smiled charmingly, handing the woman enough money to cover their beverages and a rather generous tip. He didn't wait for her or Kurt to say anything more; he just grabbed a confused Kurt's arm and proceeded to lead them out of the café.

"Wha—Hey! Blaine, what did you do that for? I was just about to put that extremely rude waitress in her place."

Blaine chuckled, "Personally, I like that café, so I would really prefer not getting banned from it for making one of their employees cry."

"She was the one being…ugh, awful!"

"I agree, but I'm sure she was just tired and wanted to get home."

Kurt stared at the side of Blaine's face for a moment. The shorter boy, he-he was being serious. "Wow…you're a really kind person aren't you? Always trying to see the good in people, go out of your way to be nice, that sort of thing. Am I right?"

Blaine flushed a bit, "I-I don't know what you mean." He stared at their shoes as they proceeded to walk down the sidewalk. Most people thought his constantly positive attitude was annoying. Being referred to as kind? That was…surprisingly a first for him.

"Don't get me wrong, it's refreshing. I just never expected it from someone out of Ohio. Everyone there is so close-minded and attacks anyone who's different." Kurt frowned. "No one was ever really kind from Lima."

They were especially unkind towards me.

"I think you're kind. I think you're a lot of things actually, and I've yet to find something negative about you."

It was Kurt's turn to flush. "Haha…really? You have nothing to say about that bitch-fit I threw back there?"

Blaine smiled, "So you're a little bit high-strung? Personally, I found that moment of feistiness to be rather cute."

Did-Did he just call me cute?

When they finally arrived at the front of Kurt's apartment building, the two stood outside awkwardly. Both didn't really want to say goodbye for the night, but neither really knew what else could be done that night. "I…um…it was really nice meeting my elusive window neighbor. I'm sorry for chattering on for so long. You should have really told me to stop when you got bored."

"And who said I was bored?" Blaine said, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

BACK OFF

Kurt chuckled, embarrassed. "Well…at least let me apologize for duet ambushing your song."

"Why? It's the best duet I've been apart of in years. Your voice is exquisite."

Not as good as yours.

Kurt shook his head dumbly, not believing that someone could be so nice. "Ah…well, h-how much do I owe you for the hot chocolate?" He said as he fumbled for his wallet in a side pocket, head snapping up with surprised glasz eyes when a warm tanned hand rested on top of his shaking one.

"Don't even think about it, dummy. It's on me." Kurt looked down at the hand on his hand and essentially his hip. It felt tentative, hesitant. It was almost as if Kurt could feel the uncertainty behind that small gesture.

Suddenly, the hand was yanked back and Kurt looked back up to see a slightly frightened look on his face. "I-I-I'm sorry. Th-That was presumptuous of me. Just because I'm…doesn't mean you're…I don't even know if…well if you're…if…"

"What? Gay? Of course I am…couldn't you tell?" Kurt didn't know how to take this reaction, normally the minute he entered a room people assumed he was gay. It's how people always saw him, how people always judged him.

Blaine furrowed his eyebrows when he realized Kurt wasn't about to blow up at him. He tilted his head at Kurt's questions. "Uh…why would I just assume it?"

"Well, just look at me."

Blaine looked. He didn't know what he was supposed to see. "What am I looking for? Is there a rainbow flag stashed somewhere in your designer sweater?"

"No! I-I…" Kurt sighed deeply. "I guess I've always been so effeminate in everyone's eyes that I got used to being judged that way. I didn't mean to put you on the spot." Clearly he was flustered with himself for being so suspicious.

"I take it upon myself not to judge anyone. What makes you think I want to judge you just by the way you look? That's very ill-mannered." To Blaine it was a very legitimate answer, one that completely threw Kurt for a loop.

Kurt opened and closed his mouth a few times. God, he felt like an ass for thinking this clearly nice guy's words were just a ruse. He'd forgotten that the people in New York were not all like the people in Lima. "Thank You." He looked around himself for a moment before biting his lip and nodding awkwardly. "All right, um…I'm gonna go now. Thanks for…you know, the hot chocolate. It was nice." He looked into Blaine's hazel eyes for a moment, hoping for him to say something more, before shaking himself of such unrealistic thinking. "So…um, yeah. Bye."

When Kurt turned to leave, Blaine panicked. His mouth opened and blurted out words his head hadn't even fully formulated yet. "Do you want to go out sometime?!" Kurt froze in his movements, a small gasp escaping him.

BACK OFF!

Blaine mentally growled at the note that kept flickering across the forefront of his mind. There was a list of people he let tell him what to do on a daily basis already. He wasn't about to let a damn note written by some anonymous person be added to that list too!

SHUT THE HELL UP!

"The boardwalk. You ever been to the carnival on the boardwalk? I-It's awesome, and I…I wanna take you there…on a date…tomorrow night." Blaine smiled gleefully. He did it. He asked Kurt out, and it was HIS decision.

Kurt turned around, but he didn't look happy. He looked conflicted. "I…can't." Blaine's face fell. "That wouldn't be fair to you."

Blaine pursed his lips. "Are you…already seeing someone?"

"No, Blaine, I don't live here. I live in Lima. I didn't move here; I'm just apartment sitting for my stepbrother and stepsister-in-law." Kurt frowned, hating himself for putting such a confused and sad look on Blaine's face.

"How long are you…visiting?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Two weeks or so? Depending when they get back from their honeymoon."

Blaine was thinking over Kurt's every word. It wasn't a no. It was more of a shouldn't, but he wants to, and that was enough for Blaine. "So we'll go as friends."

"Blaine…"

"What? Two gay men can't be friends now?"

"No, it's not that…"

"Then it's settled. You said it yourself, you're only here for a couple of weeks. Just because you're apartment sitting, doesn't mean you have to stay in the apartment ALL the time. Come on out and have some fun with me. Please?" Blaine pleaded, shooting Kurt his signature puppy dog look.

Kurt gulped; damn, he really knew how to work those eyes. He was about to try and protest one last time, but then Blaine managed to make his eyes bigger, sadder. How did he do that?! Kurt finally sighed, realizing he wasn't going to win this. "As friends?"

"Friends." Blaine stuck his hand out, a confused Kurt putting his hand in the other's for a…goodbye handshake? "Well that's nice and everything, but I was asking for your phone. Exchanging numbers is what friends do after all."

The pale boy snorted, pulling out his phone and handing it to the other. Blaine tapped his digits into the phone and handed it back to Kurt, who put it back in his pocket. He rolled his eyes at Blaine and proceeded to enter his apartment building.

Blaine was humming happily as he made his way back to his own apartment. Partially from the fact that he finally listened to only himself, and the other half because he had a date with KURT.

Well, a not-date…date.

An outing, maybe?

Whatever, he didn't care at this point. It was just nice being around someone who wasn't constantly telling him what to do, and actually listened to him when he had something to say instead of brushing him off.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, Blaine pulled it out with a smile.

I'll meet you outside our apartment buildings at 7. –Kurt

Before Blaine could type out a reply, another message appeared.

Goober. –Kurt

Blaine chuckled at that.

Looking forward to it. –B.A.

A/N: Yeah, so nothing major. But I felt like if I started with the next chapter I have planned, people would have been lost or it would have been too soon. Also, I'm asking for your guys input. Would you like me to do the next chapter on the fluffiness of the not-date date, or hurry up and get back to the plot? I leave it up to you my lovelies. Please leave me your input in a review. It would be so much help to me. :D