CHAPTER 9

The second half of the play passed so fast that Blaine was shocked to see the curtain fall and hear the applause. When it was over and everyone started to move towards the exits, Kurt stayed seated and pulled out his cell phone. Blaine felt unease creep up on him. So was this the end of their date? Were they back to normal life and checking mail already? But Kurt only switched the phone back on, tapped one message and pocketed it again, and then his full attention was back on Blaine.

"I let Cooper know that I'm taking you to the after-show party, so you'll get home late."

"Oh! Are you?" It wasn't that Blaine was disappointed, not at all. A party after a Broadway show premiere was really, really exciting. It was just that he sort of hoped for a more private location.

Kurt's grin was positively wicked though. "Technically, yes. I wouldn't lie to Coop, would I? It's not really a party though, just a toast to celebrate the show taking off. No one has the stamina to party after the first show and before three more this weekend. We'll have some champagne and then I have someplace else for us to be."

Blaine found it hard not to bounce in place. This evening had already been fantastic and with the prospect of more to come, his giddiness was getting out of control.

They only spent half an hour backstage, the atmosphere light and bubbly like the champagne that Blaine had never tried before but discovered he loved. It tickled his upper lip in a way that made him want to ask Kurt to suck on it, and he almost did before he recognized it as a sure sign that he was getting tipsy and careless. He left his second glass unfinished after that and focused on listening to the conversations around until Kurt looked at his watch and motioned to him.

"Time for us to go. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, break your legs tomorrow, and I'm on call in case of any costume crisis." Kurt blew them a collective kiss and then left the backstage and the theater with Blaine. The familiar cab was already waiting for them in front of the building. Blaine glanced at his watch: ten thirty on the dot.

Kurt's phone vibrated with incoming text before they reached the cab. He read it and showed the screen to Blaine with a grin.

Cooperson: okay but don't let him get drunk and fall for some actor, he's such a lightweight

Blaine chuckled self-consciously, blush heating up his cheeks.

"Yeah, he gave me a beer two days ago and then made fun of me when I wanted him to sing with me all evening. I think it's safe to say you did good, though. I'm mostly sober and I'm not interested in any actors."

Kurt shook his head and bit his lower lip, making Blaine ache to kiss it.

"I should feel so bad about him not knowing, but I just... don't. It'll probably hit me at some point, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy the rest of our first date. Hop in." He opened the door for Blaine again.

Steve greeted them with a wide smile, nodded at the address Kurt gave him and off they went. Blaine, silly and carefree from the champagne and pure joy filling him, took Kurt's hand and turned to him with a hopeful smile.

"Kiss me?" He felt giddy and bold, even more so when Kurt didn't hesitate, but unfastened his seatbelt and moved to straddle his thighs immediately, bringing their lips together in a tender kiss.

"Hi," he whispered against Blaine's mouth before tilting his head and kissing him deeper, and Blaine did something he'd really wanted to try but hadn't had a chance yet. One hand sliding up Kurt's spine, he tangled the other in the thick, soft hair at the back of his head and tugged lightly. Kurt took the hint and let his head fall back, exposing the alabaster skin of his neck and throat, and Blaine couldn't resist it for one second.

With just the tip of his tongue, he licked a stripe up the side of Kurt's neck, and then kissed back down, slow and tender. He pressed a kiss to the hollow under Kurt's ear, sucked lightly on the underside of his jaw, tasting the barest hint of stubble; grazed his teeth as low as the collar of his shirt allowed. Kurt was delicious, his skin soft and delicate, his smell irresistible, a complex mixture that Blaine already learned to recognize and associate with him. He was also letting out the most adorable, needy  sounds and Blaine wanted to stay like this for the rest of the evening and explore all of Kurt's sensitive spots.

It didn't happen, though. There was a sound of a throat being cleared, none too subtly.

"Kurt, dude, remember the rules?"

Kurt sighed and pulled away, and Blaine bristled instinctively. Were they about to hear something about being gay in the cab? But Kurt just recited in monotone. "Seatbelts on until we park."

"See, not too hard is it? You can get your mack on when we're there."

Kurt shrugged apologetically, smiled, and kissed Blaine on the lips one last time before climbing off, fastening his seatbelt and making sure his pants still looked good after kneeling on the seat. They did, of course. Then he took Blaine's hand and held it for the rest of the ride.

It felt perfect.

They stopped on a small, dimly-lit side street and Kurt hurried to open Blaine's door, taking his hand again as soon as they were both standing. Steve called out through the open window.

"That's it for tonight?"

"Yes, we'll walk back home. Thank you, Steve."

"My pleasure, boys. Night!" The cab took off with a squeal of tires and Kurt focused back on Blaine.

"Okay, this restaurant is neither big nor particularly posh, but that's its forte. Not many people know about it, it's my little secret that I have no intention to share with the guys, and their food is to die for. We don't have to hide while in here, okay?" As if to prove his point, Kurt pulled Blaine into his arms and just looked at him, so close, his eyes warm and smiling. "I wanted to be able to do this all evening."

With just a feather-light touch of his thumb, he traced the contours of Blaine's lips before kissing him, slow and deep, right there on the street of New York City.

Blaine didn't have any more alcohol that evening, yet he felt drunk when he stole the last quick kiss in the shadows of the staircase in Cooper's building and finally said goodnight to Kurt. He thought he'd known what a good date was, but after tonight, he knew just how mistaken he'd been.

The dinner had been amazing.

After a short, quiet conversation with a waitress who clearly knew and liked Kurt, they were seated outside in the small, hidden back garden, the air warm and fragrant around them. They were alone there, in an intimate little dome of soft candlelight. They held hands and spoke in soft, quiet voices, and Blaine wasn't even sure what he was eating because he could only focus on Kurt – his touch, his smile, the sparkle in his eyes; all for Blaine, no one else. There was quiet piano music in the background and even the ever-present city heartbeat of traffic sounded far away and muted.

After they'd eaten, Kurt led him to a swing on the patio, and the waitress brought them a platter of fresh fruit. He knew the taste of raspberries, apricots and grapes would never be quite the same after Kurt fed him with his fingers, each bite followed by kisses and caresses as they sat so very close, with Blaine's head cradled on Kurt's shoulder.

They walked home after midnight, a slow stroll through the tranquility of warm summer night. They held hands for as long as they could, until Kurt kissed Blaine's wrist and hesitantly let go because they were close to their homes now and there were more people on the streets there.

Cooper was still up when Blaine entered the apartment.

"Whoa, if I didn't know what theater stuff does to you, I'd think you're in love, you look so dreamy. How was the party?"

Blaine found it extremely difficult to switch gears and pretend, even for a moment, that he hadn't just had the most magical evening ever, and not because of the theater stuff. He knew he had to try, though.

"It was just... wow."

Cooper laughed. "Aww, you're so start-struck that you're actually incoherent. Go to bed, you'll tell me about it tomorrow. Goodnight!"

"Night, Coop."

Yes. Tomorrow. Maybe by tomorrow he'd be able to open his mouth without spilling everything about the most amazing date, ever, right at his brother who could not know how close Blaine had gotten to Kurt.

***

Kurt managed to get home and close the door behind him before he panicked. He flopped ungracefully on the sofa, not bothering to switch on the light, and let the cold waves of anxiety wash over him.

What the fuck was he doing?

Sex was one thing, though getting it on with Coop's brother may have been a very bad idea. However, that had been a conscious decision. But this? The rest of tonight? It was supposed to be a date, yes, but the way it turned out... and Kurt couldn't even say that it was acting, playing it so that they'd both have a good time. No, he'd never have played it up to such an extreme. And he hadn't even tried, here!

His initial idea had been to just take Blaine out for dinner to a popular Thai restaurant he knew and liked. They couldn't have acted like a couple there, but it was luxurious and exotic, and enough to impress any date.

Instead... oh god, instead Kurt let himself be swept off his feet by Blaine's dashing appearance, by his sparkling eyes and his sinfully beautiful lips, oh so delicious back in Coop's kitchen. Coop's kitchen, for heaven's sake! And then Blaine's smell still lingered around him when they were in the cab and Kurt just had to try and find more on his wrist, where his skin was so thin and warm, and his pulse beat so strong and excited. And then–

Blaine was like a drug. His touch, his body, his taste, the way he unraveled so beautifully right before Kurt's eyes, under his hands and mouth, over his tongue, and fuck, Kurt was lost to it.

There could have been no generic, meaningless restaurant after that. He had to take Blaine to that one, to his special place where he went when he wanted to be alone, secretly hoping that one day there would be someone in his life to share it with. He'd never taken anyone there.  And now...

And now he had no idea what to do. He hadn't acted like this in years, but it felt so natural, so right. Blaine didn't deserve any less; only the best Kurt had in him. But it could only mean one thing, this pressing need to give, to care; Kurt knew the feeling, he'd been through this, several times in the last ten years, in fact. And it never ended well, even when there hadn't been complications in the form of age difference, protective older brothers or, soon, distance. Here, it could only end catastrophically bad. He had to control himself, damn it. He had to be the mature, reasonable one.

But he knew it was easier said than done. Kurt Hummel has always had trouble resisting the call of his heart.