Next Thursday, almost a week since the opening of Almost There, Kurt and Blaine still hadn't been on their date. Almost all of Kurt's time was invested in the show, and Blaine was busier than he'd ever been at the studio. They'd barely seen each other since the night they went out to celebrate Kurt's performance. And they still weren't an official couple yet, which was driving Blaine crazy. Blaine wanted a real relationship; he wanted to call Kurt his. Sure, Kurt made it clear that he was his, but Blaine wanted it to be official. He wasn't good at the whole romance thing, but he'd made reservations for Friday night at a restaurant he couldn't pronounce the name of, as it was in French, but he knew Kurt would appreciate it.

Blaine was stuck at the studio almost four hours later than he should've been, and as he trudged back home, all that was on his mind was eating, taking a shower, and talking to Kurt before he fell asleep. He rubbed at his eyes and yawned as he stepped into the elevator. He was definitely going to need a lot of rest after all of the events of today, especially because he didn't want to be falling asleep at the table and making a fool out of himself in front of Kurt on their date. That would be a disaster.

After ending his and Kurt's phone call, Blaine stared up at the ceiling sleepily, hoping that everything would go perfectly tomorrow evening. He flopped over on his side, cuddling up with a pillow before he drifted off to sleep with images of Kurt and his smile in his mind.

Blaine was glad he had the day off on Friday. He spent most of his time digging through his closet and tossing clothes all over the floor. He had no idea why he was acting like this — he was never frantic about what he wore. He always liked to look nice, so he owned a lot of dressy clothes, and he could pull on an outfit fairly quick, but now none of his clothes seemed to be dressy enough in his opinion for Kurt's liking. He plopped down on his bed, glaring over at his closet which was now half empty. Sometimes he really wished he had a girl around to help out. Then it hit him. Rachel! She could help him pick something, right?

Rachel agreed and was over in no longer than ten minutes, looking ready to help Blaine out with his dilemma. She dug through his closet for a while and examined the clothes that were strewn all over Blaine's room. Finally, she found him the perfect outfit. She tossed the clothes at him and shoved him into the bathroom, instructing him to change. After he did so, he stepped back into his room clad in a red polo, a grey cardigan and a pair of jeans he forgot he'd even had. Rachel motioned for him to spin around and she whistled at him in approval. "You look hot," she giggled. "I think this outfit may just kill Kurt." Blaine felt his face heat up and his stomach flipped at her words.

He stepped back into the bathroom and started to reach for his gel, only to have his hand swatted away by Rachel. "Kurt thinks you look better without the gel. But I think he really just likes running his fingers through it," she stated matter-of-factly. Blaine felt his face heat up once again as he imagined Kurt running his fingers through his curls, maybe even tugging on them as they kissed on his bed. He heard Rachel laughing, but he didn't have time to glare at her before she was racing to her phone which was placed on his nightstand.

"Your date is in the middle of a fashion crisis. I have to go," she explained, leaning in to kiss Blaine's cheek before she skipped away.

_________________________________

Blaine's heart was pounding against his ribs and he was certain that it was going to beat right out of his chest. He couldn't tear his thoughts away from potential disasters that could happen tonight, as hard as he tried. He already knew Kurt liked him, but what if Blaine did something at dinner that turned him off completely? This made him all that more nervous. He was shaking and his palms were sweaty as he ventured down the hall to Kurt and Rachel's building. Before he knew it he was rapping on the door with his knuckles and the door was pulled open, revealing Kurt, who looked perfect as always, grinning happily at Blaine, who was still in a daze.

When he was brought to, Blaine's mouth dropped at the sight of Kurt. He was dressed in a red button-up, black skinny jeans, white lace up boots, and suspenders. Fucking suspenders. For a moment, Blaine forgot how to breathe. Because really, how was it even legal for somebody to look that good? In Blaine's opinion, it definitely should be against the law.

"You... you look stunning. Wow," Blaine said softly, his eyes trailing up Kurt's body. They locked eyes when Blaine's eyes reached his face and the other boy smiled.

"Thank you. You look amazing, as well," Kurt returned.

He stepped out into the hallway, causing Blaine to back up a little. He pulled the door shut after he shouted a goodbye to Rachel and turned back to Blaine, who was holding his arm out, "shall we?" Kurt smiled, linking his arm through Blaine's in response. They headed towards the elevator, through the lobby and out to the parking lot to Blaine's car. Blaine opened the passenger door for Kurt, who slid in gracefully. Just as he was buckling his seatbelt, Blaine slid into the driver's seat.

The ride to the restaurant was spent with the boys belting out to random songs that the radio played, and Kurt pestering Blaine about where they were going. Blaine wasn't budging though, and he just claimed that it was a surprise. And it was definitely worth it, going by the look on Kurt's face as they pulled into the restaurant. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open slightly.

"Blaine, oh my — this is incredible," Kurt mused as they entered the building and were led to a table. Everything about this restaurant was elegant and fit Kurt's personality perfectly. Maybe Blaine did know a lot more about him than he thought. As they sat down, Kurt looked around. There were chandeliers placed on the ceiling and the walls were a light colour with vintage-looking designs carved into them. The chairs were black and leather, and the floors were a mahogany, with tables to match.

After ordering their drinks, Kurt looked over the menu, figuring out what he wanted almost immediately. When he looked up to grab his drink, he noticed Blaine frowning at his own menu. When he asked what was wrong, Blaine looked up, back down at his menu and up at Kurt again with a pout. "I can't read the menu."

Kurt chuckled, looking back down at his menu and scanning over the options. "Here," he said, pointing to something. When Blaine made a face, Kurt laughed again. "It's just chicken, sweetie."

Blaine didn't know why, but that pet name made his heart swell a bit. The words had come out so... naturally, and Blaine couldn't help but feel so overcome with love as he watched the boy across from him. Maybe he was moving too fast with this whole thing. Maybe it was too soon that he was thinking about love. But he was completely in love with Kurt, and he didn't care what anyone would think.

The boys finished their meals and split half of a chocolate chip cookie sundae, moaning in protest as they shoved one last bite into their mouths. When the bill came, Blaine grabbed for it immediately, earning a glare from Kurt. Blaine pulled out his credit card and set it aside with the check, waiting for the waitress to pick it up. He looked back over at Kurt and noticed the boy was still pouting.

"I'm paying next time," Kurt said, crossing his arms stubbornly. Blaine only laughed, and Kurt couldn't help smile back. Blaine's laugh was so perfect and it was absolutely adorable the way his eyes crinkled and his nose scrunched up. Kurt tilted his head slightly, staring at the boy in adoration as they waited for their waitress to return with Blaine's card so that they could leave. He wasn't going to say anything about it aloud, but he was slowly falling in love with Blaine Anderson.

When they got back to Kurt's apartment, Blaine leaned in for a kiss, but Kurt ducked swiftly out of the way. Blaine knitted his eyebrows together, a confused look taking over his face. Kurt only smiled, leaning in closer so that his lips were hovering just above Blaine's ear, causing his breath to hitch slightly. "We can do that inside. We could do a lot of things inside," Kurt whispered suggestively.

"Kurt, I—"

Kurt pressed his finger against Blaine's lips, "Rachel's out for the night. Come on, Blaine," his eyes trailed down, then back up with a smirk, "I know you want to."

Blaine's eyes fluttered shut, his face heating up at Kurt's comment. He couldn't deny that with every word Kurt said, it went straight to his cock. He wanted to, he wanted to so bad, but he had work in the morning, and with Kurt, they seemed to get a bit... carried away with themselves. He looked back up at Kurt through his lashes, seeing the now all too familiar pout. He took a moment to argue with himself before he gave in. "Okay," he agreed.

Kurt grinned and bunched up Blaine's sweater in his hand, fumbling for his keys and unlocking the door with the other. He pulled Blaine inside and pushed him up against the table gently, kicking the door shut before he pushed their lips together. The kiss was all tongue and teeth and just pure need. Kurt's fingers scraped against Blaine's scalp, which earned him a moan from the other boy, who obviously enjoyed having his curls played with. Kurt only pulled away from nipping and sucking at Blaine's jaw to whisper "bedroom", going right back to tending to the boy's jaw as they stumbled down the hall to Kurt's room.

_________________________________

Kurt found himself walking into the Cockpit a few days later. However, he wasn't there for his shift, but instead he was there to quit — something he hadn't figured he would be doing this soon. He just couldn't keep working there, though, especially since he hadn't actually shown up in weeks. He was too busy with the show now, and then there was Blaine, too. Kurt couldn't possibly work at a strip club while he had a boyfriend. 

It wasn't that if he continued working there, that it would be too tempting, but instead it would just feel wrong and Kurt didn't feel comfortable dancing around half naked in front of men now that he was taken. He wasn't even all that comfortable doing it when he was single. Not to mention another reason was, even though he denied it, Blaine was a bit jealous of all of the guys ogling him.

When Kurt stepped into the club, it was around 11:30am. The place wasn't open yet, but Kurt knew that Max would be there, filing paperwork or doing interviews or something. It was like he lived at the club or something; he never seemed to leave. Kurt wouldn't be surprised if he moved his bed and other belongings into his tiny office. He didn't know how all of it would fit, but it still wouldn't surprise him. He'd do something to make it work.

Kurt was a bit shocked when he entered Max's office. There was no bed or dresser, only a desk and a filing cabinet, which was neatly organized. That's what surprised Kurt — Max was never organized. His office was usually messy — papers and pens and other junk just tossed around the room. He had also never been all that organized when it came to the dancers, so this was definitely new.

The other man looked up when he heard his name being called, a look of shock and confusion taking over his face when he recognized the person standing in front of his desk. He seemed to recoil quickly, though, and he beamed up at Kurt.

"Hey, Kurt," he greeted. "I haven't seen you around here in a while. I was worried something may have happened to you."

Kurt gave him a small smile. He hadn't talked to Max in weeks, since he started the show, so he wasn't surprised when he got that reaction. He'd probably get the same reaction from everyone if he stayed long enough for them to open the club. But he wasn't going to do that. He was just going to quit, possibly explain why, and then get out of there.

"No. No, nothing happened to me. I'm fine," he replied. More than fine, actually. "I wanted to talk to you about why I haven't been in here for a while... you know I got the role in the musical I auditioned for," he paused and Max nodded, waiting for him to continue. 

"Anyway, I just — I really don't have time to come in here anymore. I have the show to worry about, I have a boyfriend-"

"You have a boyfriend?" Max interrupted, smirking.

Kurt blushed slightly and nodded. "Yes. It's—"

He was interrupted once more by Max, whose smirk was widening. "It's that one boy, isn't it? The curly-haired one? I knew it! Every time he saw you, he would stare at you with this lovestruck expression."

"Blaine. He's really, really sweet, and I like him a lot," Kurt confirmed, blushing even more now.

Max laughed. "I'm happy for you. As long as he treats you well. Anyway, what were you going to say?"

Kurt had almost forget what he'd come in for. Whenever someone would mention Blaine, Kurt got lost in this fantasy world where it was only the two of them. Laughing and cuddling, kissing and just enjoying each other's company. He was glad that he could finally do these things with Blaine, without either of them being drunk and only doing it because they were intoxicated.

"I — well — I was going to say that I think it would be best if I quit. As I said, I don't have time to come in here anymore, and there really is no point in continuing to work here if I'm never going to come in."

Max nodded, understanding Kurt's reasoning for leaving. Max was an understandable and easy-going person, so Kurt knew there would be no problems in telling him this. Besides, Kurt was always Max's favourite. They talked for only a while longer since Max needed to get back to his paperwork and Kurt was going to meet Blaine for lunch. They said their goodbyes, Max saying they should hangout sometime, since now that he wasn't Kurt's boss anymore, it wouldn't be so weird for them to do so. Kurt agreed and waved him off as he slid into a cab.

Kurt made it to the cafe he was meeting Blaine at on time, though Blaine seemed to have shown up early. He was already sitting inside, sipping on a cup of coffee. Kurt smiled and walked inside, and when the bell rung, Blaine looked up and beamed at the sight of his boyfriend. He stood up and made his way over to Kurt, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Why don't you go sit down and I'll get our lunch? The usual?"

When Kurt nodded 'yes' to his preferred meal, a chicken wrap and salad, Blaine walked up to the counter and Kurt headed over the table Blaine was previously sitting at. He took a seat and started tapping his foot in rhythm to the song that was playing behind all of the chatter that was filling the cafe. He'd been so immersed in staring at Blaine while he waited for him to return with their food, that he hadn't even noticed two boys walking up to him. He hadn't even noticed the slight scraping of two more chairs being pulled up to the table until someone had cleared their throat.

Kurt snapped his head up, expecting it to be Blaine who had pulled him out of his daydream. But when he turned his head over to the left, he noticed two boys giving him a confused look. "Wes!" he exclaimed, "and David... right?" the black boy seated next to Wes nodded. David was usually quiet and he wasn't around Kurt as much as Wes was. But he was still confused as to why they were here. Sure, he liked them and all, but this time was meant to be spent with Blaine, not Blaine plus Wes and David. He thought maybe they were just stopping in to say hi, but Kurt quickly discarded that option. If they were just here to say hi, why would they have pulled chairs up?

"Not to be rude, but why are you here, if I may ask?" Kurt inquired.

The boys gave each other a look before folding their hands, placing them neatly on the table and turning back to Kurt. The actions threw Kurt off a bit, but he didn't dwell on it too much.

"Well, we just wanted to talk," Wes explained. His tone scared Kurt a bit, and he found out shortly that by 'wanting to talk' clearly meant that the two were here to harass Kurt about Blaine and his relationship. He knew that they were only trying to protect his friend, Rachel had done the same, and he was grateful that they had approved of him, but all Kurt really wanted to do was enjoy lunch with his boyfriend alone. He hadn't expected an interrogation, or else he might have made a rain check for their lunch date.

Thankfully Blaine returned fairly quickly with their food, and he scolded the boys for pestering Kurt. They stood and turned to Kurt, apologizing before zooming out of the shop. "Sorry about them," Blaine said sincerely, passing Kurt his food. "They just don't want another incident like the Sebastian one. They think they're my parents or something and they know what's best for me."

Kurt stopped mid-bite, and made a face when Blaine mentioned Sebastian. "I'm not like that meerkat-faced pig you were engaged to," he spat, but his tone softened before he continued, "I would never do anything that would hurt you, Blaine."

Blaine set his sandwich down, smiling lovingly over at Kurt. "I know, Kurt. Now eat, we have a movie to not watch later," he said with a wink.

_________________________________

They arrived at the theatre an hour and a half later, ordering the necessities — popcorn and sodas. Blaine pouted like a child, though, when Kurt refused to let him buy an armful of candy, claiming that it wasn't healthy and that it was disgusting. Kurt thought Blaine might have a tantrum in the middle of the theatre because hadn't gotten his way, but luckily he didn't, which relieved Kurt. He wasn't too keen on the idea of dating somebody who had the attitude of a five year old. That could get humiliating, and not to mention awkward.

They walked into their respective theatre and found their seats. Not many people were in there yet, since the previews hadn't even started, just a few people in one of the front rows. They munched on their popcorn as they waited for the previews to start and halfway through the movie, Blaine glanced over at Kurt, giving him a suggestive look.

"No," Kurt whispered harshly, turning to face his boyfriend. "There's children in here, Blaine!" he exclaimed when Blaine started to jut out his bottom lip.

"So?" 

"So, they don't need to be exposed to that kind of stuff."

Blaine huffed, turning his attention back to the screen. "You're no fun."

"Aren't I?"

"No," Blaine huffed again, not even turning to look back at Kurt, but instead keeping his eyes glued to the screen and crossing his arms.

"Then no sex later."

"Kurt, I — I didn't mean — I'm sorry," he frowned, apologizing profusely as Kurt watched him in amusement.

"I'm only kidding," Kurt said in a teasing tone, leaning in to silence Blaine with his lips.

"Mm, you know there's a janitor's closet—"

"Blaine."

"Fine."

_________________________________

Kurt was grateful that he and Blaine had the weekend off. It meant that they could spend time together as a real, official couple. At the moment he was in the bathroom fixing his hair and doing his daily skin routine before he headed off to Blaine's for their date. He was a bit reluctant at first since where Blaine suggested they went to was the zoo. It didn't take too much to convince him into going, just the promise of penguins and otters and Kurt was in. He thought back to how excited Blaine got when he agreed as he rubbed lotion into his temple. He laughed at the thought — it was adorable how excited Blaine got over some things. He finished up, closing the cap to his bottle before grabbing his jacket and taking off.

They had to stop to fill Blaine's coffee addiction, but they finally made it to the zoo. It was nearing the end of September, so it was a little chilly outside, but it was still nice. The temperature didn't seem to really bother the boys; they were too wrapped up in watching the animals and enjoying each other's company. They held each other's hands as they walked around, Blaine occasionally bumping his hip against Kurt's as they explored.

They headed to the aquarium after they stopped for lunch, and as they were walking out, Blaine started dragging him in the direction of the petting zoo, claiming that he "would die if they left the zoo without seeing the goats." Kurt rolled his eyes at his boyfriend's actions, but he complied. Sure, he just stood back far away from the animals and watched, but he wanted to make his boyfriend happy, and judging by the look on his face as he helped a little boy feed a goat, he was ecstatic.

Kurt suggested they go on a walk through the park, and Blaine agreed, linking their hands together once again as they exited the gift shop. They walked through the park in a comfortable silence, taking in their surroundings. From the parents tossing footballs with their kids, to the dogs running around and the leaves that were now turning the trees a colourful orange, red, or yellow. Kurt thought it was beautiful, New York all together was beautiful.

Blaine turned to Kurt after a while, rubbing his thumb against the smooth, pale skin as he plucked up the courage to speak. And then he blurted it out. "I love you."

Kurt did a double-take, taking a moment to make sure he'd heard right. Did he just — he did. Oh my god. Blaine was staring at him, worried that Kurt might not say it back. But really, he'd just said I love you, very complex words, he shouldn't really have expected an immediate reply, if one at all. Blaine grinned idiotically and leaned in to press a soft kiss to Kurt's lips when he opened his mouth to reply.

"I love you, too."