The dress rehearsal on Saturday morning goes smoothly. Excitement is thick in the air and everything is in its place, and Blaine's pre-opening night jitters melt away soon enough. He's ready, everything is well-practiced, and even with his virginity still intact he's going to be a great Tony.

And then Rachel comes and ruins his equilibrium in three seconds flat.

"We need to have a real kiss tonight."

Blaine chokes on his water. "Excuse me?"

"I've been thinking about it all night and it's really the only way. Stage kisses are so unprofessional, Blaine, and I need everything to be just perfect! We should kiss for real, instead."

"But –"

She tilts her head and frowns. "Unless it's a problem. I'll understand if you don't want to kiss me, of course."

"No, I do!" Wow, that sounded way too eager. "I mean, I'm okay with that. If you are."

"Of course I am." She smiles. "And with such an attractive co-star? It will be my pleasure. Excellent, we need to let Artie know and run through the scene at least one last time."

A few minutes later Blaine is happy to learn that even with the onslaught of butterflies in his stomach, he's got no problem playing his part expertly. And then that moment comes and –

It's over much too soon, just a few seconds of Rachel's soft lips pressing against his, and he stumbles a little over his next line because this... was not what he's been anticipating all that time.

Of course, when he imagined his first kiss, it wasn't onstage, as part of a play, but still. He feels a fleeting wave of disappointment. Rachel is happy with the scene though, winking when she reminds him to focus on the next lines, so it's all good. And now is not the time to focus on kissing or his pitiful inexperience, anyway.

The opening night is great. Not perfect – of course not, some things only come out during the actual performance, and there are a few details that need to be worked on tomorrow, like this one dance move that Blaine just can't get exactly right. But it was a great show, and he's high on adrenaline and hyped, and yet so, so tired.

There's an after-party at Breadstix and everyone has already gone there as soon as they changed out of their costumes, whooping and laughing, congratulating one another. And Blaine is going too, he's almost out of here – he just needs a moment, a little while to himself first. Now that the auditorium is empty, it's the perfect place. He can practice his failed move and decompress, and think. He thinks best in motion, anyway.

This whole day was overwhelming. The dress rehearsal and opening night alone would be a lot, but with the addition of the kissing it got alarmingly close to the point of too much.

Especially since he's so confused. He touches his lips and wonders – was it a real kiss? Two kisses, in fact, during the dress rehearsal in the morning and then the performance proper? Or was it just acting?

Well, of course it was acting, but... does it count? They felt like real kisses... and yet they didn't. Like they were, somehow, not true. Like stage kisses while they weren't. Though they were, in fact, onstage.

Ugh, really. Why does he obsess about it, anyway? Why isn't he just happy that he got his first kiss from the girl he likes? Terribly overdue by modern standards, but here it is, he isn't a kiss virgin anymore.

So why does he still feel like one?

Blaine huffs out an annoyed breath and tries the move again, frustrated when he fails. He's too tired; he'll have to ask Mike to walk him through it again tomorrow. Just one last attempt and then he'll go. Maybe Rachel has decided to go to the party after all – she was considering it, he knows. Maybe he'll find her there. Maybe, if he's really, really lucky, she'll even kiss him again, for real, and then he'll stop obsessing.

Yeah, like that would ever happen.

He doesn't hear the footsteps, even in the complete silence of the empty auditorium. It's only the quiet, familiar "Hey" that gets through the fog of his thoughts, and Blaine turns, surprised. He's been sure everyone was long gone. And yet, just a few feet away, alone and contrasting starkly against the backdrop of the black curtain, there he is – Kurt.

He looks more casual than Blaine has ever seen him, in skinny jeans that fit him perfectly, a clingy white henley and a vest. He's gorgeous, and Blaine's breath stutters a little because of just how much he feels. It's probably the result of being so exhausted and overwhelmed, but it has never hit him quite so hard just how attractive Kurt is. How attracted Blaine is to him, physically. But he has no more energy to analyze that on top of everything else right now.

Kurt's smile is gentle, a little shy even though they seemed to be long past this point by now.

"Shouldn't you be celebrating, Blaine?" Something in the way Kurt pronounces his name makes it sound soft around the edges, almost tender, and Blaine wants to hear him say it again. And again.

"I'm going over this move. I messed it up tonight. I know I can do it better."

"Personally, I think both of you guys were perfect." Kurt's hands are in his pockets, his head tilted, and he makes Blaine's heart speed up even when not looking at him.

"Thank you. Rachel is a natural born star."

Kurt takes two, three slow steps forward until Blaine is looking right into his eyes – so close, so sincere, the blue of his irises tinted green in the dimmed light.

"I know. But so are you. You've got so much talent, such passion. I've seen it earlier, but tonight... it took my breath away." It's so quiet, almost a whisper in the heated air between them. With a bit of hesitation, Kurt raises his hand to lay it on Blaine's shoulder, light as a hummingbird ready to fly away at the first sign of distress. "I had to come back and tell you. You need to know how good you are."

"Thank you."

Blaine can't help his eyes flicking to Kurt's lips, pink and so close. With all this thinking about kissing tonight, it's suddenly hard to look away. Even if it's too obvious. Even if there's no way for Kurt not to notice him staring.

Except Kurt is smiling, just smiling warmly, and when Blaine looks back into his eyes, their calm, open depth feels like an invitation, a permission.

It's not a conscious decision. He just feels himself lean closer, closing the space between them.

Kurt's lips are warm and dry, compared with the sticky slide of Rachel's lipstick, but so very soft he can't help but press closer. Kurt gives him a second, as if waiting for him to pull away, but then his arms are around Blaine's shoulders, securing him in an embrace that feels sure, yet not forceful – and Kurt kisses back. And it feels–

God, this is what he was expecting to feel today when Rachel first kissed him. This intimacy, this spark, even though it's just a chaste press of lips, sensitive skin brushing against skin. He feels it all the way down to his fingers, so much that he has to curl them into the back of Kurt's vest.

Kurt doesn't try to pull away, he just stays there, kissing him surely yet softly, and it feels only natural for Blaine to part his lips, to brush the very tip of his tongue against the bow of Kurt's upper lip. The thrill when Kurt inhales shakily, granting him access, is immediately intoxicating, and Blaine just wants more.

And more he gets – so much more as they stand on that stage, two boys kissing as if their lives depended on it. They are exploring, sucking on each other's lips ever so gently, tongues sliding against each other, the quiet gasps giving way to sounds that are almost – almost – moans. Kurt's fingers tangle in the hair at the nape of Blaine's neck, where it isn't held by gel, and the drag of his fingernails almost makes Blaine's knees buckle.

He never wants to stop kissing Kurt.

But just then Kurt stops, pulls away, his lips kiss-swollen and eyes dark.

"Will you come home with me?"

Blaine can only nod, eyes wide, still dazed from the kissing. "Okay."

They are kissing again the moment the door to Kurt's attic bedroom closes behind them, and Blaine has enough clarity of mind to think that he's most likely the only one in the whole school who's ever been here, before the heat of Kurt's tongue pressing against the seam of his lips distracts him.

Kurt is bolder here, more open, his usual distance fading away, and if these are first kisses for him too... No, they can't be, he acts way too confident and casual for it to be true. Blaine doesn't believeall the gossip about the Hummelberry siblings that courses through McKinley's hallways, but regardless of who he's been with, Kurt is no innocent angel.

Sure hands slide down Blaine's sides, then up his back as the kisses get more heated, deeper. Kurt's body against Blaine's is lean and firm, close enough to feel every long line and toned muscle, and Blaine is stunned just how not freaked out he is. He's kissing a boy, after a lifetime of being convinced he liked girls. He's kissing Kurt, feeling his broad arms around him and what is almost certainly an erection against his hip, and Blaine is totally, completely okay with it. Just as he's okay with being led towards the large bed in the middle of the room.

He has a chance to have a look around, then. Kurt's room is sparsely furnished, decorated in blues and creams. There are bookcases taking the length of two walls, full to bursting point. The third is a wall of mirrors with sliding door in the middle, probably a closet. A beautiful vanity stands by the end of the bed and a long, black partition painted in oriental patterns divides the bedroom from another part of the room.

Two thick white candles on the bedside tables are the only source of light, and Blaine realizes with a start that they'd already been lit when they entered. But he has no time to contemplate the mystery because then he's sitting on the edge of the bed and Kurt is in his lap, leaning into another kiss.

The candles give a warm cinnamon smell, the half-darkness strengthens the intimate mood and somewhere, quietly, music starts, soft and sweet. Kurt's lips slide down Blaine's neck, his tongue wet and insistent against sensitive skin. It feels so good, so much more intense than Blaine has ever imagined, sparks of pleasure coursing through him and stealing all of his attention. So he doesn't react immediately when he feels the bed dip and someone settle against his back. It's only the soft touch of lips on the nape of his neck when Kurt's tongue is definitely still dancing over his collarbone that shakes Blaine out of the reverie.

His head shoots around, Kurt's soothing Shh, it's okay in his ear, and right there, pressed behind him, is Rachel.

Rachel, with her huge brown eyes and her shiny hair loose around her face. Rachel, her full lips soft and red even without the lipstick, capturing his the moment they're in reach, and Blaine gasps. This is definitely a real kiss, and it's nothing like the ones on stage.

Kurt doesn't stop kissing Blaine's neck, humming against his skin, and soon his hands slide under the hem of Blaine's shirt and up his stomach, to his chest. As if on cue, Rachel's smaller, cool palms touch the bare skin of his back in perfect counterpart. She releases Blaine's mouth, sealing her lips on the crook of his shoulder instead, and immediately Kurt takes over, plunging deep and hungry, feeding the hot ache in Blaine's belly that's been stirring awake from the minute they first kissed.

They never pause, the siblings working in perfect tandem, and Blaine has no idea when he lost his shirt, but then Kurt is pushing him gently to lie down and he realizes that Rachel's heat against his back is gone. She's kneeling by his side, so pretty in a short skirt and a tight red top, and leans down to kiss his lips once again when Kurt lays down by his other side and starts exploring Blaine's chest with curious fingers.

Between Rachel's lips, just as talented as her brother's, and Kurt's tongue flicking around his nipple, Blaine has trouble keeping quiet. After the first helpless moan escapes him, he startles, ready to apologize, but Rachel shakes her head, amused.

"It's okay. We're alone here; let us hear you."

Kurt never stops his exploration, kissing lower and lower, and Blaine shivers. His belly trembles under reverent touches, and Rachel whispers in Blaine's ear, a wave of her perfume surrounding him in a dizzy cloud.

"He's never touched a boy before, you know? You're so special, so exquisite..." She punctuates her words with butterfly kisses to his jaw and neck, and he moans, more from her words than her caresses. That, and Kurt has just started sucking on his hipbone, his face beautifully flushed in the warm candlelight.

"Can I see you, too?" Blaine whispers, to which of them, he doesn't know. He hardly knows anything right now, except the fact that he never, ever wants this to end.

Rachel takes her top off without hesitation, uncovering a black lace bra she looks breathtaking in, and Blaine can't believe he finally gets to see a girl undress, and such a beautiful one. Her belly is flat and firm, and her breasts fill the cups of her bra in a way that makes Blaine's mouth water.

But the second Kurt moves to unbutton his vest and slide his shirt off, he steals all of Blaine's attention.

His chest is toned, baby smooth and fair-skinned, and Blaine's arms reach towards him immediately as he sits back up. They fall into each other, skin against skin, and they both gasp at the contact.

Blaine has no idea how long they kiss. He's riding the wave of pleasure, every nerve ending alight with it wherever his skin touches Kurt's. Rachel's still there, but less involved now, Blaine can only feel her soft against his back, her hands smoothing along his arms every now and then, or tangling in his hair. Once, she tugs his head back, exposing his neck for Kurt to suck on, and a thrill goes through Blaine's veins at the thought that maybe he'll be lucky and a mark will form there, the most exquisite reminder of this evening written into his skin.

And then there's a moment when Kurt's lips move away, leaving Blaine yearning for more, and he opens his eyes, still dazed, only to see Rachel and Kurt, their eyes closed and lips pressed together over his shoulder.

He stops breathing, doesn't dare move or blink, not to waste a second of the picture of these two beautiful, strange creatures kissing. It feels thrilling and forbidden, a taboo, but he doesn't flinch Something so gorgeous can't be wrong, can it?

They stop after a few seconds and turn to look at him, so close, both smiling serenely. Blaine feels like he'd been let in on a huge, precious secret, and he knows he'll never, ever betray it.

Things slow down after that, from hungry and passionate to tender, gentle. Rachel gets up a bit later, leaving Blaine and Kurt still tangled together in the middle of the bed. Kurt is like a cat now, sprawled and leaning into every touch, almost purring.

Rachel moves the black partition, revealing the other half of the attic room, and Blaine's eyes widen – it's pink and feminine, but it's an almost perfect twin of Kurt's bedroom. Kurt turns his head and smiles when he realizes what got Blaine's attention.

"Yes, we share a room. Most of the time." He waves his hand towards the partition, fully open now. He pauses and adds, almost like an afterthought. "We're not blood related, you know."

Blaine isn't sure if it changes anything and rationally he knows he should probably be disturbed by what he witnessed – participated in, in fact – tonight. But rational or not, he just doesn't feel it, and when Kurt's eyes hold his, gauging his reaction, Blaine just smiles and leans back in for some more kisses before he needs to go.

He leaves Rachel and Kurt's house before midnight and goes right home and to bed, telling his parents he's too exhausted to talk about the show tonight. And he is, though it's not the only reason why he wants to close the bedroom door behind him as fast as possible.

Strung tight and thrumming with lingering arousal, Blaine can swear he still feels his skin tingle everywhere Kurt and Rachel touched him. It's as if their hands were still on him, and it's enough to brush his fingers across his exposed chest, catching on a tight bud of a nipple, and his hips are arching up against the sheets, straining for contact. His lips feel raw from kissing – in fact, he feels raw and oversensitive all over, and it takes less than he's believed possible before he's spilling hot and desperate across his hand and belly, memories of the evening in place of his usual fantasies.

He expects to drift off immediately, sated and tired from the whole day, so he's surprised to find himself wide awake long after that. Even with his body heavy with exhaustion, his brain won't stop spinning.

After what happened, would everything change now? Is it a beginning of something more? And if so, how would it work? It's not like they can just enter the school holding hands, even if he ignored the logistics of it. Not only is it a triangle, Rachel and Kurt are siblings, blood-related or not.

Or... was it just a one-time thing? Suddenly he feels silly. Of course. It was probably just that for them, a fun night after the excitement of the show. He shouldn't really expect anything else.

Except... he doesn't want that to be just one time.

And didn't Rachel say that it was the first time Kurt touched another boy? That it made Blaine special?

How should he act tomorrow? How would they act?

It takes a long time to fall asleep.

---

"Kurt? Do you want me to sleep here tonight?"

He blinks, startled out of his dreamlike state, to see Rachel standing by his bed in her bunny PJs. "Mm. Would you mind if I didn't? I kind of... want to be alone."

"No, of course. I thought you would. Just... making sure. So you're okay?"

He smiles at her, this big, uncontained smile of pure joy. "I'm very okay, Rachel. So very okay."

"Okay, then. Goodnight, love."

"Night."

---

CHAPTER PHOTOSETS BY HACHI (CLICK!)

The first kiss

"You took my breath away"