Hey guys! Sorry about the extra day of waiting... it just wasn't ready! But now it is, yay!
Just FYI, there will be a nice fade-to-black eventually. The goal here is to be believable in the sense that I try to write things that I think could be included in the show (I dunno if they'd show Kurt and Blaine actually making out, but let's pretend that's okay). So, all the graphic details will have to live in your imaginations. Or in the many M-rated fics that exist in the Klaine universe. ;) But hey, this way I don't have to join the top/bottom debate! Hallelujah.
(I do not own Glee or any of the characters, dialogue, or songs from the show. It's all just for fun!)
KURT
"I feel pretty, oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay!" Kurt sang along to the West Side Story soundtrack that was blaring from Blaine's radio. "And I pity any girl who isn't me today!"
Blaine, sitting on the edge of his bed, was laughing so hard that there were tears in his eyes.
"I feel charming, oh so charming. It's alarming how charming I feel. And so pretty that I hardly can believe I'm real."
Blaine jumped up and grabbed Kurt mid-twirl to crush their mouths together, and Kurt caught him and spun him around to push him against the wall.
They kissed roughly until their lips were swollen and Kurt was starting to sweat a little under all his layers of clothing.
"Thank god I'm not part of that scene in the show," Blaine said as Kurt released him. "I wouldn't be able to keep a straight face."
"Oh, yes you would," Kurt smirked at him, "because otherwise Rachel might kill you."
Blaine grinned. "True," he allowed. "But it would be a struggle."
"I can't believe it's this week," Kurt sighed happily.
"Me neither," Blaine admitted. "But I think we're nearly ready."
BLAINE
"Are you gonna cry every time we sing?" Blaine asked as he and Rachel finished rehearsing with Coach Bieste, Ms. Pillsbury, and Artie.
"I'm such a girl," Coach Bieste said, and Blaine took it as a confirmation that yes, she was going to cry every time.
"My only note is more teeth," Ms. Pillsbury added.
"Can I be honest?" Artie chimed in, "This song is about sexual awakening, as is the entire musical. You two lack passion. Have either of you two actually..."
The two teachers clambered to their feet and rushed off in a flurry of mumbled words as Artie's implication set in, but Blaine hardly had time to feel embarrassed for them through his own nervousness.
"Look, I remember my first time with Brittany," Artie ignored the departing teachers in favor of continuing his conversation with Rachel and Blaine, "The excitement, the way it made me feel like a man... even though she called me the wrong name like four times during and after. What was it like for you guys?"
Blaine turned desperately to Rachel, hoping she would find a way to deflect the question, or at least answer first so he could just kind of shrug and say nothing. But she looked just as panicked as he felt.
"I– I'm waiting for the right time," he admitted.
"Yeah," Rachel said, "Yeah, me– me too."
"I'm so glad that you're my Tony," she whispered to Blaine.
"Look, as your friend I support your strange aversion to fun," Artie said. "But as your director, I'm concerned."
"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" Rachel asked.
"Well, how do you expect to convey the human experience to an audience when you haven't even opened yourself up to one of humanity's most basic and primal ones?" Artie asked.
Blaine had never thought of it that way before, but he wasn't sure that he agreed.
"I'm not sure that's a fair assessment," he surprised himself by voicing his concern. "Rachel and I aren't immigrants, and neither of us has ever lived in a big city, but you don't seem concerned about our ability to bring those aspects of our characters to life."
"You're right," Artie agreed, "and a great actor can make the audience believe the situation regardless of real life experience. But in this case, I'm finding both of you to be too innocent."
"And having sex is going to suddenly change all that?" Blaine argued.
"Yes," Artie replied. "Look, I'm not saying that you will suddenly become an entirely new and more badass person once you've had sex for the first time. But opening yourself up to another person that way feels good. And not just physically. You will never be as vulnerable as you are in that moment, and that is the kind of emotional complexity that Tony and Maria require."
Blaine didn't know what to say.
"Anyway," Artie said as he turned to leave the auditorium, "your prudishness aside, great rehearsal today! Vocally, you two are going to blow the audience away."
"Okay," Rachel said briskly. She turned and hurried away, squeezing Blaine's shoulder briefly as she passed.
"Thanks," Blaine muttered, and he was suddenly alone on the stage.
He walked over and sat on the piano bench facing away from the piano, rested his elbows on his knees, and dropped his face into his hands.
"Hey."
Kurt's voice snapped him out of his whirling thoughts, and he smiled as the other boy approached him.
"Ready to go yet?" Kurt asked. He was staying at the Anderson house all week, so they were carpooling to school together.
"Yeah," Blaine said. "Let me just grab my bag..."
He didn't want to get all worked up over one comment from Artie. Kurt wasn't ready for anything more than what they had been doing, and that was the end of it.
KURT
"Mmm, God," Blaine said, "Roxy Music makes me want to build a time machine just so I can go back to the '70s and give Bryan Ferry a high five."
Kurt barely even heard the words as he watched every part of Blaine's body as the other boy danced casually around the room. He had no idea how Blaine could think clearly enough to move and speak at the same time... no matter how hard he tried, it was becoming increasingly impossible for Kurt to think about anything but how much he wanted Blaine when they were alone together.
"Do you think I'm boring?" Kurt asked, hoping to ease a confession out of Blaine without having to actually admit his own overwhelming urge to do things that, a few months before, would've made him want to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment. Maybe Blaine was just better at hiding his desire.
"Are you crazy?" Blaine exclaimed? "You're the single most interesting kid in all of Ohio."
Well, Kurt thought, it was a good start.
"I mean, like... sexually," Kurt clarified, sitting up. "I mean, we are playing it very safe by not granting our hands visas to travel south of the equator."
"Well, I thought that's what we wanted...?"
It was what they wanted. They had made the decision one afternoon not long after the end of the school year...
"Mmmmm," Blaine hummed against Kurt's mouth, an ambiguous answer to Kurt's question about what they should do for dinner. They were curled up together on Kurt's bed, relishing a short span of time alone in the house. Burt had shouted "be back in fifteen minutes, boys!" from the bottom of the stairs before leaving, which was his usual way of reminding them that he wouldn't put up with what he generally referred to as "funny business".
"Okay," Kurt responded, content to think of nothing but kissing Blaine until his father walked back into the house and they were forced to return to reality.
Blaine nuzzled his nose against Kurt's and Kurt squirmed happily at the sweet gesture. He loved lying in bed with Blaine like this; just looking at each other and kissing and snuggling.
Kurt scooted closer to Blaine and kissed him until he needed to pull away and shift onto his back to breathe properly.
But Blaine didn't stay where he was when Kurt pulled away. He followed, pushing himself up with one arm and swinging his other arm across Kurt's chest so he was suddenly balanced above Kurt on his hands and knees. As Blaine lowered his upper half down to kiss Kurt again, the inexperienced part of Kurt's brain panicked and he withdrew slightly into the pillow.
Blaine noticed the small movement and paused, hovering just above Kurt's face.
"I– I –" Kurt stammered, "Can we– I'm not sure– this is– I–"
Blaine smiled and kissed the end of Kurt's nose before pushing himself back over onto his side beside Kurt.
Kurt's face burned with embarrassment, but Blaine just played absentmindedly with the buttons on Kurt's vest for a moment before letting his hand fall still on Kurt's stomach. They both watched Blaine's hand rise and fall as Kurt breathed until Kurt felt like he had to say something.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Don't be sorry," Blaine replied immediately. "I am perfectly content to snuggle up beside you and kiss you senseless for all of eternity."
Kurt knew it wasn't the truth. Somehow, Blaine's well-intentioned lie made the whole thing worse. He sat up.
"I'm just not..." he sighed in aggravation at how nervous this conversation made him, "I'm not ready for... stuff."
Blaine sat up too and Kurt tried to look anywhere but at the other boy.
"I want you to feel safe with me," Blaine said quietly, reaching out to trace his fingers across Kurt's jaw line. "You are safe with me, Kurt. So how about some rules?"
"What?" Kurt finally turned his gaze on the other boy.
"I know how you like a schedule. Or a list. Or a strict set of rules," Blaine smiled at him. "You'll be the most comfortable if you know what is – and is not – going to happen."
"A rule," Kurt clarified, "about... this." He waved his hands vaguely at his lower half and hated himself for blushing as he did so.
Blaine nodded.
Kurt chewed on his lip, conflicted. In a general sense, he was still far too shy to allow anything more heated than what they did already. But there were always those moments when he felt like all he wanted was everything and he wondered if this rule might stifle the chance of "everything" ever happening at all.
"For now," he clarified, "... maybe stick to, um, this upper area?" he gestured to his torso and head, and Blaine caught both of his hands mid-flail.
"That's perfect," Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hands.
"What you did before..." Kurt knew he had to just force the words out and face the mortification if he stumbled through it, "... that's okay. I just wasn't–"
"You weren't sure what was going to happen," Blaine interrupted kindly.
Kurt was grateful for Blaine's understanding. Blaine wanted him to be able to fully relax when they were together and... doing things. And the only way that was going to happen was if Kurt knew that Blaine already knew the boundaries. Kurt wouldn't have to wonder, or worry, about things getting out of control; he trusted Blaine to remember this moment.
"Thanks," Kurt smiled at the other boy.
Blaine smiled in return and shoved Kurt gently over onto his back again so he could lean over and kiss him until Burt returned from the store.
"It is," Kurt confirmed. "I'm just wondering... have you ever had the urge just to rip off each other's clothes and get dirty?"
"Uh, yeah," Blaine admitted immediately. "But that's why they invented masturbation."
A wave of heat washed over Kurt. He wasn't sure if it was hearing the word, or the mental image of Blaine that accompanied it, or the secret fear that Blaine could read his mind and would know that it was usually Kurt's solution to his desire as well.
"It's so hot in this room," he gasped. "Could we– could we open up a window?"
"Hey, I'm serious!" Blaine pressed, making his way over to the bed to climb on and sit beside Kurt. "We're young; we're in high school. And yeah, we have urges."
Kurt was proud of himself for not just attaching his face to Blaine's as the other boy approached.
"But whatever we do I– I want to make sure that you're comfortable," Blaine reminded him with a gentle hand on his back. "So I can be comfortable."
Kurt could only smile at him through the wave of emotions – gratitude, lust, love, delight – that was crashing around in his brain.
"And besides, tearing off all of your clothes is sort of a tall order," Blaine teased.
"Because of the layers?" Kurt guessed.
"Because of the layers," Blaine confirmed playfully. He leaned forward and captured Kurt's face in his hands, pressing a kiss to Kurt's lips with a sweet "mwah!".
When Blaine released him, Kurt grabbed his shoulders and gently forced him to scoot over and lie down on his back on the bed. There was no way he was going to be able to do much more talking without at least a little more physical contact.
BLAINE
Blaine was surprised when Kurt flipped him onto his back, and was even more surprised when Kurt settled his entire body down on top of Blaine to kiss him urgently. Kurt had never done anything so forward before, and Blaine had definitely never felt the weight of Kurt's entire body on top of him. Blaine squirmed with delight as Kurt's hands explored his ribs and his shoulders and finally his face as they kissed.
"Okay," Kurt gasped after a few minutes, "we have to stop."
"Yeah," Blaine agreed, letting his eyes slide closed and trying to slow his breathing as Kurt scooted away to the other side of the bed.
Blaine didn't realize he had fallen asleep until Kurt's gentle hand on his shoulder woke him up.
"Hey," Kurt grinned at him, "your parents ordered us some pizza..."
The scent of the pizza – Kurt had apparently gone downstairs to get the box and bring it back up to Blaine's room – meant that Blaine had no problem waking up.
"How long did I sleep?" he asked, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.
"About an hour," Kurt told him.
Blaine grabbed a slice of pizza and moved to sit with his back against his headboard. Kurt, already halfway done with his current slice, sprawled out on his stomach on the bed and let his feet swing around in the air.
"Hey," Blaine said casually, "I'm gonna head down to Dalton tomorrow afternoon... do you want to come?"
Blaine had been debating over whether or not he wanted to ask Kurt to come to Dalton with him to ask the Warblers to come and see West Side Story. On one hand, Blaine wanted Kurt there because he always wanted Kurt there. But, on the other hand, there was a large part of Blaine that wanted to go alone. He had texted with his friends from Dalton a bit since his departure, but he had not seen them since the day he announced that he was leaving. He was grateful that the other boys had not yet pressed the issue – as many of them had transferred into Dalton at some point, they knew to give him space to adjust – but he was pretty sure that he had reached the point where he could go back to Dalton without being crippled by homesickness.
He saw understanding in Kurt's eyes.
"No, that's okay," Kurt said, "I wouldn't want to distract from the return of their savior."
He winked, and Blaine threw his balled-up napkin at him, but Blaine felt grateful that Kurt always seemed to understand what he was trying to say.
BLAINE
When Blaine arrived at Dalton, he decided to make a detour on the way to find his friends. He made his way up a back staircase to the door of the last classroom he had been in before meeting Kurt nearly a year earlier. It was empty as he stepped inside, but it looked exactly the same.
A bell signaling the end of classes rang out in the empty room, and Blaine jumped in surprise before laughing quietly at himself. It was a familiar sound, but it was no longer part of his routine.
He didn't see anyone he knew as he stepped out into the hallway and followed a few students to the building's grand staircase. As he descended the stairs, Blaine felt a rush of nostalgia. And, for the first time since they met, he imagined what Kurt had probably thought of this place when he had come to spy. With the distance of more than a month at McKinley, the hallways at Dalton were just unfamiliar enough for Blaine to see them through an outsider's eyes.
He hadn't let anyone know that he was coming, but he knew where he would find all of his friends. Blaine heard their music before he saw them, and his heart clenched painfully in his chest as he turned a corner to see the Warblers rehearsing a new song. Billy Joel's Uptown Girl.
It wasn't unusual for other students or teachers to come by to watch the Warblers rehearsing, so none of the Warblers took notice of Blaine right away. He leaned on the doorframe and let the nostalgia wash over him. This performance had been discussed on the first day of school. The last day Blaine was a Warbler. Blaine thought it sounded wonderful with Nick in the lead.
A Warbler he didn't recognize spotted him after a few moments, and Blaine didn't protest much as he was dragged into the room and back into the world he missed so much.
Blaine let himself relax and enjoy the singing and dancing as the Warblers swept him out into the hallway and back into the room again. As he took a seat to allow them to finish the song properly, Blaine noticed the new student watching him closely.
"You know I'm in love... with an uptown girl."
Nick pointed at him happily as the song ended, and Blaine jumped up to embrace his friend.
"You guys killed it, as always!" Blaine complimented happily as everyone rushed over to greet him.
"We'd sound so much better with you back in the mix," Trent stressed, "Is this your triumphant return to Dalton? Please?"
The sentiment settled into Blaine's chest and he wished that he had returned sooner. He missed all of them so much.
"Actually," he clarified, "I'm here to invite you guys to my opening night at McKinley. West Side Story. I reserved a whole block of tickets just for the Warblers. It would mean the world to me if you guys could come."
The animosity that some of them had expressed the day he left seemed to have disappeared in the weeks since, because all of them nodded enthusiastically and reached for the tickets in Blaine's hands.
"We'll be there," the new student spoke up above the others. "Once a Warbler, always a Warbler, right?"
With a murmur of agreement, the group dissipated, leaving Blaine alone with the tall new student.
"Blaine Anderson," the other boy greeted him, "Sebastian Smythe."
"Hi," Blaine said. "Are you a freshman?"
"Do I look like a freshman?" Sebastian replied vaguely.
Blaine was surprised at how this new acquaintance made him feel so nervous. He didn't know what to say.
"I transferred to Dalton a few days after you left," Sebastian offered. "What do you say we finish this conversation over a quick coffee date?"
"Uh, sure," Blaine agreed.
They didn't speak during the short walk to get their coffee, but Sebastian started up again as they sat down at small round table.
"So, you're a legend at Dalton," Sebastian said.
"Well..." Blaine wasn't sure whether he should feel flattered or embarrassed.
"Don't be modest," Sebastian chided. "I was like 'I don't know who this Blaine guy is, but apparently he's sex on a stick and sings like a dream, so... sucks that I missed him'."
Blaine couldn't believe this was happening, but it did feel nice for someone to think he was worth looking up to after all the crap he was getting from Finn in New Directions.
"Alright," Sebastian continued, "since I'm working to recreate your meteoric ascent, I need to ask... why did you leave Dalton? Were you bored with all the preppies around here? Or is it that you broke too many hearts to stay?"
Blaine laughed, both embarrassed and amused by the assumption. "Uh, it wasn't like that," he clarified. "Let's just say that I miss Dalton every day, but McKinley is where my heart is now."
"That is delightfully vague," Sebastian replied. "Must've been quite something for these boys to give you up without a fight."
"Yeah," Blaine agreed. He was surprised that Sebastian hadn't just heard about his departure from the other Warblers. Perhaps he had and he just wanted to hear it from Blaine.
"And what about you?" Blaine hoped to change the subject. "Why did you come to Dalton?"
"My father went here," Sebastian explained, leaving out any answers about the timing of his transfer. Blaine didn't know what to make of the way they weren't really saying much of anything.
Sebastian glanced at a clock on the wall.
"I have to go. Lacrosse practice," Sebastian explained. "But... could we meet again? I could really use some more insights from you, Blaine. You know, Warbler to Warbler."
Blaine wasn't sure why he hesitated, so he overrode his initial instinct to say no. "Sure."
Blaine halfheartedly waved goodbye as Sebastian grabbed his bag and left the room.
As Blaine stayed at the table to finish his coffee, he let his mind wander back to what Artie had said to him after rehearsal the day before. He was still conflicted over whether or not he could be believable as Tony if he was still a virgin, but he knew that he was ready for the next step with Kurt.
"Hey man," Nick's voice suddenly sounded from behind him, "you're still here!"
Blaine twisted around in his chair to see Nick, Jeff, Trent, and David entering the room.
"Yeah," Blaine said, "it's nice being back."
"May we?" Trent asked, motioning at the empty chairs at Blaine's table.
"Don't even ask," Blaine scolded. "Please."
"So," David asked as they sat down, "how's McKinley? We heard that you made quite a stir on your first day."
Blaine laughed. "Maybe," he allowed.
"Gotten a slushy to the face yet?" Jeff joked. As soon as Kurt had explained it to them, the slushy to the face had become a source of endless fascination for the boys at Dalton.
"Actually, yes" Blaine laughed, and the other boys gasped in a mixture of horror and delight.
"It wasn't so bad," Blaine admitted. "Kurt's an expert getting it off, so he had me cleaned up in no time."
The other boys exchanged not-so-subtle glances, and Blaine rolled his eyes.
"We're happy for you, man," Nick said, clasping Blaine on the shoulder. "But you have got to come back and visit more often."
KURT
Kurt felt like a prisoner to his anger at Rachel every time he walked down the hallways at school. Her face was everywhere, smiling out at him from her campaign posters.
He was glad to see that Blaine was still at his locker. They both had a lot of homework to do this week, so they had decided that Kurt would go to his house after school and get some work done before returning to Blaine's house for the night, but Kurt was glad he would get to talk to Blaine before they left for their respective homes.
"If you see any of Rachel's campaign posters, feel free to tear them down," Kurt whined as he leaned against the wall of lockers and rolled his eyes to emphasize his point.
"Do you think we're too sheltered as artists?" Blaine asked as if he hadn't heard Kurt at all.
Kurt wasn't sure what to say, so he just gave Blaine a curious glance.
"I'm serious," Blaine stressed. "West Side Story is all about living outside of your safe little world. Don't you want to wake up every day and be adventurous? Experience everything in life you can?"
"Of course," Kurt confirmed. "That's why I made a bucket list. Okay, are you ready for this?" He pulled out his phone to find the list he had created more than a year ago during a particularly boring math class.
"Okay," Blaine agreed, and his mood seemed to lighten a bit.
"Alright, here we go," Kurt started. "Number eighty-seven: become CEO of Logo."
"Of course," Blaine said.
BLAINE
"Number sixty-three," Kurt continued, "lay a rose at the birthplace of Noël Coward. Okay, number five. Okay, this is really embarrassing," Kurt looked at Blaine briefly, "I wrote this before I met you... have relations on a dewy meadow of lilac with Taylor Lautner before he gets fat."
Blaine was sure that his surprise was written all over his face, because Kurt suddenly looked bashful.
"Uh, yeah, I know. It's stupid," Kurt laughed.
"No," Blaine replied, "it's not. It's hot."
Blaine could see that Kurt was taken aback by his reaction, but he was having a difficult time concentrating when all he wanted to do was crush Kurt against the lockers and kiss him.
"Well, anyway," Kurt said, "we're young. So we've got all the time in the world to be adventurous."
"Don't you think now is the time to be adventurous?"Blaine countered, "While we're still young?"
KURT
That shocked Kurt even more than Blaine's approval of his fantasy. As Blaine turned and started to walk down the hallway toward the parking lot, Kurt watched him walk away.
It was the closest Blaine had ever come to asking Kurt if they could have sex. Kurt thought about the bucket list and his entry about Taylor Lautner. When he had written it, he had been imagining the emotions, not the action. He had imagined a tasteful movie montage of passionate kisses and shirtless torsos, but not the sex itself.
Now, though, he was starting to realize that he wanted the real thing. The more he educated himself about what sex really meant, the more comfortable he felt with the whole idea. He rubbed the back of his hand gently as he admitted to himself that, while he still wanted the romance, he really wanted to experience all the physical stuff too.
He realized that Blaine was almost at the end of the hallway, and he snapped out of his thoughts to run after the other boy. When he reached Blaine's side, he put a hand on Blaine's arm. "I..." he cursed himself as he fumbled over his words in his haste to say them before he panicked and kept quiet, "I'll think about it."
Blaine stopped walking and turned to face him, and Kurt was so over stimulated by Blaine's scent and every little feature on his face that he hoped his body could stay alive without the use of his brain.
"I want you, Kurt," Blaine said passionately. "I want everything with you. But I'll still want you when you're ready. We can wait."
Kurt would've rolled his eyes if he could've remembered how.
"That's very chivalrous of you," he managed, surprised at how steady his voice sounded.
Blaine stepped forward, forcing Kurt to take a step back, and Kurt's pulse pounded in his head as Blaine backed him up until his back hit the wall right beside the door.
"I think I might faint," his mouth said without his brain's permission.
Blaine smiled, and his eyes blazed with a mixture of desire and affection.
"We'll see," he whispered in Kurt ear as he reached out with one hand to push the door open. Kurt felt as if his feet had been cemented to the ground as Blaine slipped away without another word.
BLAINE
Blaine walked quickly to his car and hopped in, throwing his head back against the headrest.
"We'll see?" he mocked himself, pounding his head back on the seat a few times. "Stupid, stupid, stupid."
He started his car and, despite the cool weather, turned the air conditioning on full blast. He needed to cool off by the time he reached the Lima Bean for his coffee with Sebastian.
As he drove, he thought about Kurt's words. I'll think about it. Blaine knew that Kurt was feeling the same urges that he was feeling, but Kurt had always been less willing to think about how he might satisfy those urges than Blaine. The idea that Kurt was reaching the point where he would even consider moving past their current "above the waist" rule made Blaine feel things he had never felt before.
KURT
By the time Kurt finally managed to send a signal from his brain to his legs that he needed to walk to his car, Blaine was already gone.
Part of Kurt was glad. He needed to think. He needed to go home and deal with his frustration and attempt to do his homework.
He decided to stop for coffee on the way home in the hopes that some caffeine would help clear his mind. When he reached the Lima Bean, his heart rate accelerated as he noticed Blaine's car in the parking lot.
"Great," he whined halfheartedly. At least he knew he wouldn't have to worry about accidentally losing all control of his actions in the middle of the crowded coffee shop.
BLAINE
Blaine was still flustered as he and Sebastian ordered their coffee, but it was much more manageable in the presence of a near-stranger.
"I can't believe you asked for a shot of Courvoisier in your coffee," Blaine said as they moved to find a table.
"I figured with how lame this town is..." Sebastian said. "when I lived in Paris, I drank it like it was mother's milk."
"When you lived– okay, wow," Blaine rolled his eyes.
"What?" Sebastian asked.
"You're just so... you know, you're out there," Blaine confessed. Sebastian was so... forward. Blaine wasn't used to people just saying exactly what they were feeling all the time. It was hard to keep up.
"And your whole bashful schoolboy thing?" Sebastian replied. "Super hot."
Blaine thought immediately of Kurt. A little subtle flirting was one thing, but he needed to stop this before Sebastian got the wrong idea about why they were here.
"Look, Sebastian," he explained, "I have a boyfriend."
"Doesn't bother me if it doesn't bother you," Sebastian responded immediately.
"No, I mean, I really care about him," Blaine elaborated.
"He doesn't need to know," Sebastian suggested.
Blaine wasn't sure how to articulate how much he wanted Kurt and only Kurt, and he was rapidly starting to feel like things were getting out of hand.
"I just never want to mess my thing up with him in any way," Blaine explained, "He's really great."
KURT
As Kurt strolled into the Lima Bean, he scanned the room for Blaine. He didn't see him immediately, so he walked among the tables for a moment until a familiar blue and red blazer caught his eye.
A boy in a Warblers blazer. Sitting with Blaine.
All the emotions he was feeling from his encounter with Blaine a few minutes ago fled his mind and were replaced with a huge dose of uncertainty. He stepped closer to the pair and overheard Blaine's last few words to the other boy.
"He's really great," Blaine said.
"Who's really great?" Kurt interrupted.
The look on Blaine's face was not as casual as Kurt wanted it to be. "You!" Blaine replied. "We were just talking about you. Sebastian, this is Kurt, my boyfriend who I was just– wow."
"Got it," Sebastian said, and every warning bell in Kurt's mind went off as he noticed the way the Dalton student looked at Blaine.
Kurt reached out to shake Sebastian's hand.
"Pleasure," he lied before turning his attention back to Blaine.
"And how do we know Sebastian?" he inquired.
"We met at Dalton," Sebastian answered before Blaine could say anything. "Was dying to meet Blaine. Those Warblers just won't shut up about him. Didn't think he could live up to the hype, but as it turns out..."
Kurt knew this game. He had been intimidated enough to know that Sebastian wanted him to get flustered and leave, so he reached out to grab a chair and sat down beside Blaine.
"Yes, he's even more impressive in the flesh," Kurt agreed. He linked his arm thought Blaine's in an attempt to show Sebastian that Blaine definitely wasn't available. Kurt wasn't sure what to make of Sebastian's face as he looked at their interlocked arms.
"Hey, what're you guys doing tomorrow night?" Sebastian asked.
"Well," Kurt said to keep Blaine from saying something that would suggest that either of them would be free to do something with Sebastian, "we're rehearsing for the school musical and then at bedtime we do a rigorous skin-sloughing regimen over the phone together."
"And, as sexy as that sounds," Sebastian said critically, "what do we say we shake things up? I get you guys a couple of fake IDs and we head over to Scandals in west Lima."
"Scandals?" Blaine repeated. Kurt didn't take his eyes off Sebastian, but he saw Blaine turn to look at him out of the corner of his eye. "Uh, that's the gay bar."
Kurt knew that Sebastian had some sort of goal in mind, but he wasn't sure what it was yet so he remained silent.
"The last time I was there I met the man of my dreams on the dance floor," Sebastian added.
"That's so sweet... and are you two still together?" Kurt asked, knowing that it was a futile question but unable to resist.
"Sadly, no," Sebastian said, not sounding sad at all. "We broke up about twenty minutes after we met."
Kurt wanted to jump across the table and strangle the other boy.
When Kurt and Blaine did not respond, Sebastian spoke again. "Come on, guys, live a little!" he said.
Kurt turned to look at Blaine. Although he really didn't want to go, Kurt knew that he couldn't speak for Blaine in this situation without acting like an out-of-control jealous boyfriend.
"We would love to, Sebastian, thank you for the offer. That's very nice of you, but that just isn't our– our kind of thing," Blaine managed.
Blaine hesitated enough times that Kurt knew he wanted to go. One glance at Sebastian told Kurt that the Warbler knew it, and Kurt decided that maybe the whole "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" idea applied to this new threat.
"Let's do it," he said lightly.
"What?" Blaine recoiled a little in shock, but the corners of his mouth turned upward in a little surprised smile.
"Yeah!" Kurt said brightly. "I mean, we have a whole bunch of first to start crossing off our lists."
Kurt turned to look directly into Sebastian's eyes, and he hoped that he looked as threatening as he felt. "We're in."
"Great," Sebastian confirmed.
"Great," Blaine echoed.
"So, Kurt," Sebastian turned his attention on him with a smirk, "I hear you're the one responsible for dragging this guy out of Dalton."
"Oh, come on," Blaine disagreed. "It's not like that."
Sebastian threw his hands up in a mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Sorry."
"Kurt was a Warbler, too," Blaine offered, trying to lighten the conversation.
"Oh?" Sebastian replied, "I had no idea. They've never mentioned you," he said to Kurt.
The conversation continued for another half an hour. Sebastian mostly wanted to hear stories about the Warblers from Blaine, so Kurt didn't learn much except that Sebastian's family was wealthy and that he definitely had his eyes on Blaine. By the time the Warbler had to leave to return to Westerville, Kurt was mentally exhausted.
"Let's just go back to your house," Kurt said as brightly as possible as he and Blaine exited the coffee shop, "screw homework."
"Okay," Blaine smiled.
KURT
"Hi," Kurt waved as they passed Blaine's parents in the kitchen.
"We're on our way out for dinner, boys," Blaine's mother said. "Want us to bring you back something later?"
"No thanks, Mom," Blaine said, and he grabbed Kurt's hand as soon as they were out of sight of his parents to drag him up the stairs.
"I really need to kiss you," Blaine breathed as soon as he closed his bedroom door behind them. Kurt barely had time to register the words before Blaine's lips were crushed against his, but he quickly recovered and tried to kiss Blaine back with as much love and passion as he possibly could.
"I love you," Kurt reminded him.
"I love you," Blaine echoed.
Before he could even think, Kurt pushed Blaine back and gestured at Blaine's sweater. "Get all of that off," he requested, and was surprised at how steady his voice sounded.
"What?" Blaine asked, but he was already unbuttoning his sweater as Kurt replied.
"Off," Kurt said again, reaching up to unbutton his own shirt.
Blaine didn't ask again, and by the next time Kurt looked up at him he wasn't wearing anything above his waist.
It wasn't a new sight for Kurt; they had been to the pool multiple times over the summer. But this was different. Kurt struggled with his own shirt a little until finally he was shirtless too.
"What are we...?" Blaine asked as Kurt grabbed him by the arm and dragged him onto the bed.
"I don't know," Kurt admitted. "Just..." he fell onto his back on the bed and pulled Blaine down on top of him.
They kissed and touched each other's bare skin until they were both out of breath and ready for more.
Kurt reached down and grasped at the fastening on Blaine's pants, and Blaine froze.
"I don't– I don't know if I'm ready for the actual... the real thing," Kurt admitted, "but I'm changing the rule. I want the whole world."
To his surprise, Blaine laughed, and the vibration of Blaine's laughter against his chest left Kurt so out of breath that he couldn't even think about speaking again.
"I'm more than okay with anything you're comfortable with," Blaine said happily. "Lead the way."
KURT
As he and Blaine got out of the car in the parking lot of Scandals, Kurt hurried to stay close to the other boy. He was nervous, but he tried to remind himself that just because it was a bar didn't mean it was full of serial killers.
He was also scared of what his father would say if they were caught. Burt had allowed him to stay at Blaine's house all week under his normal condition: "no funny business". Kurt knew that the vague statement left room for different interpretations, but Kurt was sure that using a fake ID to get into a gay bar was not on his father's list of acceptable ways to spend his time.
"Chaz Donaldsworth?" Kurt said skeptically has he looked at his fake ID. "This doesn't even look like me."
"Don't worry, mine says I'm 38," Blaine replied. "They'll work."
Kurt tried not to think about how much trouble he would be in if they didn't work.
"Aloha!" he greeted the doorman, mentally punching himself for how stupid he sounded but unable to remain silent when he was so nervous. The man barely looked at him or Blaine, and to Kurt's intense relief they were allowed to enter the bar.
"Enjoy," the doorman said, "It's drag queen Wednesday."
"Great," Blaine thanked him, and they moved into the dark room.
"It's not very scandalous," Blaine commented as Kurt tried to look as casual as possible.
"Au contraire," Kurt teased. "Look at all the, uh, glamorous drag queens. Look, there's Cher and Tina Turner. And... is that Lucy or Reba?"
"That is Ginger from Gilligan's Island," Blaine surmised.
"Of course," Kurt agreed.
Kurt spotted Sebastian sitting at the bar. "I really don't like that guy," he admitted as he and Blaine walked over to where Sebastian was waiting.
"He's harmless," Blaine countered, and Kurt almost grabbed his arm and demanded to be taken home immediately. Blaine was too trusting; Kurt knew that Sebastian's motives for inviting them to this bar weren't even close to as pure as Blaine's motives for accepting the invitation.
"A beer for Blaine," Sebastian greeted them from his seat at the bar. "And for Kurt, a Shirley Temple with extra cherries. Heard you're the designated driver. Like, all the time."
Kurt knew he was just going to have to suffer through Sebastian's insults. Blaine wanted to be here.
"Cheers, boys," Sebastian said. "To the glamorous life."
The early part of the evening passed much as Kurt anticipated. They sat at the bar and Sebastian did his best to ignore Kurt completely while Blaine seemed to like Sebastian more and more with every sip of his drink.
As Kurt ran his finger in circles around the rim of his cup and daydreamed about setting fire to the bar, Blaine suddenly turned to him with a big smile on his face.
"Wanna dance, Kurt?" he asked sweetly.
"No," Kurt admitted.
"Okay," Blaine said cheerfully, and he turned back to Sebastian.
"Absolutely," Sebastian said before Blaine could even ask the question. He winked at Kurt before following Blaine to the dance floor, and Kurt hoped that the rage he was feeling was evident in his eyes as he glared back.
As Kurt watched the two boys dancing, he hated himself for allowing them to come here. He knew that Blaine wasn't trying to hurt his feelings, and the other boy had asked him to dance first, but his heart ached with memories of watching Blaine make out with Rachel and all of the rejection he had felt that night.
"Better watch your boyfriend," a familiar, and completely unexpected, voice suddenly piped up from the stool beside him. "Can I get another beer, please?"
Kurt swiveled around on his stool to see David Karofsky, and was surprised when he felt pleased to see him rather than annoyed or afraid. They exchanged smiles, and Kurt was glad to see nothing but casual happiness in Karofsky's eyes.
"So, how's life at your new school?" Kurt asked.
"Fine," Karfosky replied. "You know, I just want to have a normal senior year and play football without my teammates hearing rumors about me."
Kurt couldn't remember the name of the school where Karofsky was now a senior, but he knew that it was even farther away from Lima than Dalton. Kurt guessed that Karofsky came back to Lima's gay bar to greatly reduce the chances of his new classmates seeing him.
"Just to let you know," Kurt said, "I never would have told anyone. It's not who I am."
Karofsky nodded, and Kurt glanced out at Blaine and Sebastian briefly before returning to the conversation.
"So, you come here all the time?" he inquired.
"People like me here," Karofsky explained. "I feel accepted. I'm what they call a bear cub."
"Because you look like Yogi?" Kurt guessed.
"Nah, because I'm burly or something," Karofsky replied.
Kurt wasn't sure what to say to that, and his lack of a response seemed to agitate Karofsky.
"What, so is this the point where you judge me?" he said.
"No," Kurt corrected, and he realized that Karofsky still had a long road ahead of him to true self-acceptance. "As long as you're not beating people up I am all for being whoever you have to be at your own speed."
Kurt glanced at Blaine again, and Karofsky looked too.
"Right now I'm just trying to get through high school," Karfosky admitted.
Kurt sighed in agreement.
"Here's to baby steps," Karofsky said, reaching over with his bottle to clink Kurt's glass.
"Baby steps," Kurt agreed. This whole evening was a baby step toward getting out of the mostly innocent bubble in which he lived.
He looked at Blaine once more, and as Blaine noticed and smiled at him Kurt decided. He wasn't going to literally sit by and let Sebastian take his boyfriend. Abandoning his drink, Kurt hopped off the barstool and went to dance with Blaine.
As they danced (and Kurt did his best to keep Blaine away from Sebastian) Kurt had to admit that dancing with Blaine was fun. Blaine was so excited and, even though Kurt knew that part of it was the alcohol, seeing Blaine having so much fun made the whole situation more fun for Kurt, too.
They made it through the evening without any serious incidents, and just after midnight Kurt decided that it was time to leave.
"Hey you," he wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist from behind. "It's time to go."
"Past your bedtime, Kurt?" Sebastian asked. Kurt ignored him.
"Everyone is so nice here," Blaine sighed.
Kurt smiled. "Okay, let's go," he said, releasing Blaine's waist and making sure that Blaine was following him as he made his way to the door.
"Bye," Blaine waved at Sebastian across the room. Kurt didn't turn to see what Sebastian did in return as he pushed the door open and made sure Blaine continued to follow him.
"This is the best night of my life," Blaine announced as they exited the bar.
"Okay," Kurt laughed. In the end, Kurt decided, this hadn't been a terrible idea. Sure, Sebastian had been incredibly annoying, but Blaine hadn't really done anything except drink a few beers and dance with anyone who looked approachable. And now he was happy and rambling, which Kurt thought was a good way to end the evening. He wrapped his arm around Blaine as they walked across the parking lot.
"It's the best night of my life," Blaine reiterated. "I wanna live here. I wanna live here and I just wanna make art and help people."
"Well you could certainly help people make fires with your breath," Kurt laughed as he got a whiff of the alcohol on Blaine's breath.
"Hey, come on, I only had one beer," Blaine argued.
"Sure you did," Kurt said. He had seen Blaine drink at least two beers, and he had a feeling Sebastian had probably slipped him a third when Kurt wasn't looking.
As they reached Blaine's car and Kurt pulled open one of the back doors to help Blaine climb in, Blaine reached out and placed a gentle hand on Kurt's hip.
"Hey," Blaine said.
"What?" Kurt turned to face him.
"Kiss me," Blaine requested. "Kiss me."
"Oh, no," Kurt said. He was surprised that it had taken so long for Blaine to ask someone for a kiss, and he was glad it was now when they could just go home and Kurt wouldn't have to fight anyone off.
"Come on," Blaine begged, leaning into Kurt to kiss his neck, "kiss me."
"No, no, no, no, come on," Kurt said. "You're riding in the back. Come on, lie down... less likely to throw up that way. Been there."
"Alright, alright," Blaine said, and Kurt wondered how much of this Blaine would remember the next morning.
Kurt wasn't really paying attention as Blaine seemed to acquiesce and get into the car, so he was surprised when Blaine's hands suddenly tightened around his own and Blaine yanked him forward into the car.
The next few seconds passed in a blur as Kurt tried to prop himself up with Blaine holding him down and kissing his neck.
"Come on, come on," Blaine begged. "Hey Kurt, let's just do it. I want you. I want you so bad."
"No. No," Kurt said as Blaine's hands roamed over his face and arms. "Please no. Stop it!" When Blaine didn't stop, Kurt felt a little panic settle into his chest. He knew that Blaine wouldn't force himself on anyone, but with the alcohol in his system Kurt wasn't sure how easy it would be to get Blaine to back off. "Stop it. Stop, stop."
"Hey listen," Blaine said desperately, "I know you wanted to do it in a field of lilacs with Sting playing in the background and all that, but who cares where we are? It's all about us."
The discomfort and jealousy that Kurt had been feeling all night exploded within him, fueled by panic that things were rapidly getting out of hand.
"Right, it's about us!" He shouted, crawling back out of the car into the cool evening air. "Which is why I don't want to do it on a night that you spent half of dancing with another guy!"
Blaine had followed him to the edge of the seat, but did not stand up.
"And that you're sober enough to remember it the next day!" Kurt added.
"Why are you yelling at me?" Blaine asked darkly.
"Because I've never felt less like being intimate with someone!" Kurt shouted, "And either you can't tell or you just don't care!"
He regretted the last bit as soon as the words left his mouth. Blaine did care. This was the alcohol and Blaine's hormones talking, and it wasn't okay but Kurt could see that his words had really hurt the other boy's feelings. Nobody cared about Kurt the way Blaine did.
Blaine stood up and pushed past Kurt to walk away into the parking lot.
"Where are you going?" Kurt called after him.
"I'm sorry I'm trying to be spontaneous and fun!" Blaine retorted, throwing his hands in the air.
They looked at each other for a moment, and Kurt didn't know what to do or say. He felt betrayed and embarrassed and worried about how he was going to get them both home safely.
"I think I'm just gonna walk home," Blaine said, and he turned to walk away.
"Blaine!" Kurt called after him. Blaine's house was too far away to walk to ever, much less in the middle of the night after a few beers.
As Kurt climbed into the driver's seat of Blaine's car and quickly adjusted the seat and mirrors, he wanted to call his father. Burt was out of town, but he would know what to do.
But calling his dad would mean telling him where they had been.
His mind raced to think of a solution as he started the car and pulled out into the parking lot. He couldn't lose sight of Blaine or there would be no point in planning at all because Blaine would just walk off into the night all alone.
Kurt felt tears stinging in his eyes as he thought about what could happen if he couldn't convince Blaine to get back in the car. Blaine was so trusting. He might accept a ride from a stranger or something and disappear forever.
Blaine hadn't quite made it out of the large parking lot by the time Kurt caught up with him. Unsure of what else to do, Kurt pulled over against the curb and jumped out of the car to stand in Blaine's path.
"Please," Kurt begged putting both of his hands out palm-forward, "please let me just take you home."
Blaine ignored him and tried to walk around him, but Kurt stepped sideways to block his path.
"Get out of my way," Blaine said angrily.
"It's not safe," Kurt pleaded. "You can pretend that you're in a taxi... I'll be silent the entire ride home. Just please, honey. Please get back in the car. You know you can't walk home from here."
With an annoyed roll of his eyes, Blaine spun around and walked over to his car to climb into the back seat.
Kurt's vision blurred with tears of relief as he ran back to the car and jumped in. He could see that Blaine had taken his advice and was lying on his back across the back seats, and by the time they stopped at a red light a few minutes later and Kurt glanced back at him again, Blaine was sound asleep.
KURT
When they returned to Blaine's house, both of Blaine's parents' cars were there. Kurt didn't know what to do. The house was dark – Blaine had told them that he and Kurt were going to a friend's birthday party and that they'd be home late – but Kurt had no idea if they would wake up and come out of their bedroom to investigate when they heard Kurt and Blaine coming up the stairs.
Kurt considered just leaving Blaine to sleep the rest of the night in his car in the driveway. But his desire to know that Blaine was safe in his bed won out in the end, and Kurt quietly got out of the car, ran over to make sure the door to the house was unlocked, and returned to wake Blaine.
"Blaine?" he leaned into the car and shook Blaine's shoulder gently. "Blaine? We're home."
Blaine moaned but did not wake up. Kurt wished that Finn could teleport to the scene; the last time they had returned home with a sleepy, intoxicated Blaine, Kurt had forced Finn to carry him up the stairs to Kurt's bedroom.
"Okay," Kurt mumbled to himself, "you're not stumbling drunk so you have got to get up and walk to your bed."
He shook Blaine again, and this time the other boy groaned unhappily and his eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes.
"Let's get you inside," Kurt said, reaching out with one hand. He was glad when Blaine grasped it and allowed Kurt to help him sit up.
"Can you make it?" Kurt asked. Blaine avoided his eyes, but he nodded. Kurt pulled him the rest of the way out of the car and wrapped an arm around Blaine's waist to make sure he was steady as they made the walk to the house.
"Shhhh," Kurt reminded him as they opened the door and entered the house. Much to Kurt's relief, Blaine was absolutely silent the entire way to his room, and he allowed Kurt to remove his shoes before he climbed onto his bed and fell onto the pillows. He was asleep almost immediately.
Kurt pulled a blanket out of Blaine's closet and draped it over the other boy before stepping back to watch Blaine sleep for a moment.
He knew he needed to leave. He didn't even care if he walked into his house and caught Finn and Rachel doing something that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He needed to be alone in his own room. He gathered all of his stuff from Blaine's room and the guest room where he had been sleeping, and quietly locked the door behind him as he left the house to drive home to Lima.
BLAINE
Blaine felt so terrible – both physically and mentally – the next morning that he decided to just skip school entirely. The thought of driving all the way to Lima made him feel sick, and the thought of seeing Kurt made his chest ache with regret.
When he shuffled out into the kitchen to fill his water bottle and grab a box of crackers out of the pantry, his mother was alarmed at his disheveled state, but he reassured her that it was just food poisoning and that she definitely did not need to stay home with him.
Once he was alone in the house, Blaine ate two crackers and drank a little water before deciding that he would rather just feel sick. He fell onto the couch and put on a random show about alien conspiracies, and he was asleep again before it reached its first commercial break.
His phone vibrating in his pocket woke him up a few hours later. As he opened his eyes and reached for the phone, he was relieved to find that he was starting to feel better.
Blaine was disappointed when it was Artie's name on the screen instead of Kurt's. Where the hell are you?
Food poisoning, he lied, I'll be back tomorrow for sure. Sorry.
Next time tell Kurt or something! Artie replied. I'm too young for this kind of anxiety attack.
Artie had asked Kurt where Blaine was and Kurt hadn't told him the real reason why he had skipped school. As Blaine stared at the ceiling and tried to think of what he should do next, his phone vibrated again.
You okay?
Kurt.
Yeah, Blaine replied, you?
I'm okay, Kurt responded.
Blaine wanted to apologize and beg forgiveness and tell Kurt how much he loved him, but he was still too ashamed of himself to even bring it up. And he didn't want to do it over text messages, anyway.
See you tomorrow, he sent instead.
The little smiley face that Kurt sent as a response gave Blaine a little spark of hope that maybe he hadn't messed things up completely.
BLAINE
The next day, Kurt and Blaine passed each other in the hall between their first and second classes, exchanging awkward "hello"s, and Blaine was sure that Kurt wouldn't be waiting for him for lunch on the stairs where they always met.
But he was.
"Hey," Kurt said as they started the walk to the cafeteria.
"Hey," Blaine echoed.
They didn't really speak directly to each other all day after that. It was, Blaine thought, a strange mixture of awkward and completely normal. He felt comfortable sitting beside Kurt, and sometimes he would catch himself turning to say something to the other boy only to remember that they were in some kind of weird fight.
Blaine didn't see Kurt backstage as he arrived that evening to prepare for their opening night of West Side Story. He sat down at his station beside Rachel and started applying his makeup.
"Just so you know, your Maria has disappointed you," Rachel said after a few minutes of silence. "I'm still a virgin."
"And your Tony has disappointed you," Blaine said sadly. "Me too."
"Look, the audience is smart!" Rachel said nervously. "The only sensible solution is to just cancel the show. I'd rather send everybody home than give a false, inauthentic performance."
"Five minutes!" Artie interrupted, "Rachel, darken your eyebrows. Blaine, tone down the blush."
"My eyebrows are fine," Rachel argued as she turned back to look at herself in the mirror.
Blaine added a little more blush just to spite the universe before he stood up and wandered aimlessly until someone grabbed him and pulled him over to where the cast was congratulating Artie on his job as their director.
Kurt was still not around, and Blaine didn't know how to feel. Kurt wasn't going to skip the show because of what had happened, was he? Why would he have spent lunch in Blaine's presence only to blow off this huge event in order to avoid him?
"Alright, everyone," Artie announced, "here we go! Find your places..."
Blaine felt a gentle hand on his arm, and he turned to find Kurt standing beside him. He was all dressed and ready to go in his Officer Krupke uniform.
"Good luck tonight," Kurt said softly.
Blaine wanted to kiss him or hug him or something, but after what he had done two nights before he decided that the best thing for now was just to mirror what Kurt was comfortable doing. He reached out and clasped Kurt's shoulder.
"You too."
KURT
"Make of our hands one hand. Make of our hearts one heart. Make of our vows one last vow. Only death will part us now."
As Kurt watched Blaine and Rachel's duet, he felt so much pride for the boy he often fantasized about marrying that he thought he might explode. He wasn't sure what was going on between them after what had happened at Scandals, but he knew that he wanted to make things better. They needed to talk about it.
When the show ended, everyone was incredibly hyper, and Kurt couldn't see Blaine thought all the craziness.
"See you at Breadstix!" Artie shouted after they had put everything away. The crowd quickly dissipated, and still Kurt couldn't see Blaine.
After a quick search of the backstage area and the choir room, Kurt assumed that Blaine had gone ahead to the after-party. But, as he was about to leave, he heard the sound of someone thumping around on the stage.
BLAINE
As Blaine tried to dance out all of his frustration, he suddenly noticed Kurt standing off to the side watching him
"Shouldn't you be celebrating?" Kurt asked.
"I'm going over this move..." Blaine explained. "I messed it up tonight. I know I can do it better."
"Beauty of the stage," Kurt acknowledged. "You get to do it all over again tomorrow night."
Blaine knew that they weren't just talking about the show. He hated the way he felt a little uncomfortable with Kurt now. He wasn't sure how to fix it.
"Personally, I thought both of you guys were perfect," Kurt continued.
"Thank you," Blaine replied, "Your Officer Krupke killed. Brought the house down."
"Well, I can't help but pull focus, sorry," Kurt teased lightly.
"Don't apologize," Blaine responded. "It was great."
The conversation paused for a moment, and Blaine wasn't sure what to say.
"All your friends were here tonight," Kurt said before Blaine could think of anything, "The Warblers... Sebastian."
"Yeah," Blaine breathed. He could feel an apology bubbling to the surface as he thought about the difference between his friends and Kurt. He liked his friends, but he loved Kurt. Nothing involving any of the Warblers was worth hurting Kurt like this.
"They were all loving it," Kurt offered, and Blaine knew that passive-aggressiveness was Kurt's way of pushing Blaine to talk even if he didn't want to.
"Come here," Blaine said. He walked up to Kurt and grabbed his hand. "Give me your hand, and hold it to your heart," he said as he gently pushed their hands against Kurt's chest.
"Just like the song?" Kurt asked.
"Like the song," Blaine confirmed, continuing to hold Kurt's hand against Kurt's chest.
"Kurt," Blaine said, looking directly into Kurt's eyes, "Sebastian doesn't mean anything to me. And you were right. Our first time shouldn't be like that. I was drunk, and I'm sorry."
"Well," Kurt teased, "it sure beats the last time you were drunk and made out with Rachel."
Blaine let his head fall forward, both in embarrassment and relief.
"But I'm sorry too," Kurt added. "I wanted to be your gay bar superstar. But, try as I might, I'm still just a silly romantic."
Blaine didn't think it was silly. In that moment, Blaine never wanted to do anything again except romance Kurt until he actually fainted.
"It's not silly," Blaine disagreed, and he stepped forward to kiss Kurt like he had wanted to since the moment he woke up on Thursday morning. Blaine felt Kurt's arms wrap around his neck, and he relished the familiar feeling of Kurt's embrace and Kurt's lips on his.
"You take my breath away," Kurt said as he pulled away from the kiss. "And not just now, but tonight on that stage. I was so proud to be with you."
Kurt put his hands on Blaine's shoulders and shook him gently as he spoke, and Blaine's chest and throat constricted unexpectedly. There was nothing in the world that Blaine wanted more than for Kurt to be proud of him.
"I hope so," he admitted tearily. "I want you to be."
As he looked at Kurt, Blaine knew that they had made it through this. Their first major hurdle. He wanted to smother Kurt with kisses and hold on to him and never let him go again, but he needed Kurt to know that he loved him for so much more than what they had physically.
"Um, Artie's having an after-party at Breadstix," Blaine reminded the other boy. "Would you accompany me?"
"No," Kurt said immediately, "I want to go to your house."
Blaine felt a rush of surprise. He knew that Kurt didn't want to skip the party to watch movies on the couch. This was something else.
"Okay," he acknowledged, unable to think of anything else to say that could express all of the emotions that he was feeling.
Kurt reached out and grabbed Blaine's hand, intertwining their fingers so he could lead Blaine out of the auditorium and outside to the parking lot. When they reached their respective cars, Blaine hesitated.
"I have to, uh, stop on the way," he said, surprised to feel heat spreading up his neck and across his cheeks at the thought of buying the things that they would need if Kurt wanted to do anything serious.
"I've got it covered," Kurt said lightly, squeezing Blaine's hand.
"You–" Blaine lost all ability to think as Kurt fidgeted and his eyes sparkled with confidence.
"I may be a hopeless romantic," Kurt said as a hint of bashfulness crept into his eyes, "but I'm a modern variation."
Blaine pulled their entwined hands up to his lips to kiss the back of Kurt's hand. His mouth was too dry to answer, so he hoped his face said it all.
As soon as Kurt shut his car door behind him, Blaine turned and ran to where his car was parked and jumped inside. The drive to his house felt like it took an entire week as Blaine tried to concentrate on not killing himself or anyone else instead of letting his mind run away with him with visions of what was going to happen when they reached his house.
KURT
Kurt arrived at Blaine's house first, so he turned off his car and grabbed a small box that was hidden under his seat.
The day after they had been at the bar, Kurt had missed Blaine so much that he had spent the entire day thinking about him. About them. And he had realized that the only thing keeping him from experiencing everything physical with Blaine was his own fear. His fear of the total vulnerability involved and his fear of making a fool of himself because he had no idea what he was doing.
But this was Blaine. Kurt loved and trusted the dark-haired boy more than he had ever imagined he could possibly love or trust another human being.
So, after school on the day when Blaine had skipped, Kurt had gone to the store and bought everything they would need. He had researched different brands online that morning before school, and had ended up buying two different brands of everything. Just in case.
A flash of light from Blaine's headlights brought Kurt back to the present, and he locked his car and turned to wait for the other boy. Blaine's eyes landed on the box in Kurt's hands for a moment as he passed, and Kurt felt his heart starting to race. He trusted Blaine. He loved Blaine. He wanted to do this. But he was still so nervous.
BLAINE
As soon as Blaine locked the front door behind them, Kurt grabbed a fistful of Blaine's shirt and pulled him up the stairs to his bedroom.
Even though they were alone in the house, Blaine kicked the bedroom door closed as they entered the room. He didn't think he could handle the door being open even if he knew nobody would walk by.
They kicked off their shoes, and Kurt slid a hand up between Blaine's stripped shirt and his undershirt, encouraging Blaine to remove the outer layer. Blaine laughed nervously as the shirt got tangled around his head.
"Thank you," Kurt whispered, stepping forward to kiss the side of Blaine's face.
"For what?" Blaine asked.
Kurt nuzzled his nose on Blaine's ear. "For waiting for me."
"I'd wait for you forever," Blaine exhaled, feeling suddenly out of breath.
He felt Kurt's lips curl into a smile against the side of his face before Kurt stepped back. The taller boy's eyes shone with certainty.
"No more waiting," Kurt said seriously. He reached down and unbuttoned his vest, sliding it off and tossing it on the floor by Blaine's disregarded shirt.
There was a tiny moment of awkwardness as neither of them knew what to do, so Blaine decided to just do something.
"Okay, come here," Blaine grabbed Kurt and pulled him over onto the bed.
Blaine ended up on his back with Kurt snuggled up against him on his side. They stayed like that for a few minutes, shifting around into slightly different positions and smiling and blushing and playing with each other's hands and shirts, until Kurt shifted to rest his chin on Blaine's chest.
"What now?" he asked shyly, rubbing his thumb over the fabric of Blaine's shirt.
Blaine reached out and placed his hand over Kurt's chest. He could feel Kurt's heart pounding rapidly, and he knew that the other boy was as nervous and excited as he was.
He pushed himself up off the bed and threw one of his legs over Kurt's body so he could settle down on Kurt's hips before he leaned down and mashed their lips together.
Almost immediately, he felt Kurt's hands fumbling with the fastening of his pants, and he paused briefly to sit up and look at the other boy.
"Are you sure?" Blaine asked.
Kurt pulled Blaine back down for another long kiss before allowing Blaine to pull away for a breath.
"Yes," Kurt answered, "I'm absolutely sure."
KURT
When Kurt woke up the next morning, he was snuggled up against Blaine's side with one arm slung across the other boy's chest. Blaine was still soundly asleep, so Kurt gently moved over and rolled onto his back beside Blaine to stare at the ceiling.
Exactly one year ago, he had been miserable. He had been shoved around and emotionally abused and hadn't been able to see a light at the end of the tunnel that was his life.
And then Puck had told him to go spy on the Warblers.
Kurt didn't realize he was crying until he heard Blaine shift on the mattress beside him and turned his head to find the other boy's eyes, wide with worry, staring back at him.
"Kurt," Blaine scrambled into a sitting position, "what's wrong?"
Kurt sat up too, but just long enough to grab Blaine's arm and pull him back down to lie beside him.
"One year ago right now I didn't know you," Kurt whispered.
Blaine visibly relaxed as he realized Kurt was crying happy tears. "But one year ago this afternoon you did," he replied, grabbing one of Kurt's hands and squeezing it tightly.
"Happy anniversary," Kurt teased.
Blaine reached out and brushed his hand through Kurt's hair. "I love you, Kurt," he said softly.
Kurt grabbed his arm and pulled him closer so they could kiss.
"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me," Kurt gushed. "I love you so much."
Wow, you two, BE MORE IN LOVE. I just adore the way they interact in this episode.
Alright, so I'm absolutely sure that Kurt did not just let Blaine walk home after Scandals. It doesn't even matter how far away Blaine lives... Kurt would not have let sweet, drunk Blaine walk all alone in the dark for even five minutes. I will never be convinced otherwise.
I hope this was okay! It's a big episode for Kurt and Blaine! And the fact that they woke up after their first time and it was the one-year anniversary of when they first met is just too cute.
Up next... 'Mash Off'!