Blaine tugged at the bottom of his button-up shirt self consciously as he approached the library door, trying to pretend that he wasn't freaking out about Kurt seeing him out of his Letterman jacket for the first time. He took a deep, bracing breath of fall air and then walked through the front door of the Lima Public Library. It only took a few minutes for him to find Kurt, beautiful as always in a red blazer and tall boots. He was perched in the back corner of the library, by the windows. Blaine smiled; it was his own favorite spot to hide away when he needed to. He approached Kurt a little too eagerly, startling him out of the book he was immersed in.
"Ah, hi," Kurt said, reaching to pick up the book that had slipped out of his lap.
"Hi. Sorry about that. Um. This is my favorite spot to read, so...good choice," Blaine replied.
"Huh, didn't take you for a library patron. It's mostly old cat ladies and me," Kurt said with a hint of a smile.
Blaine laughed a little self consciously.
"Yeah, I guess that's why I like it, no one expects to see me here, so no one bothers me."
"Rabid football fans must be so exhausting," Kurt said with more than a little sarcasm.
"That's not really- oh, you're joking, right, of course you are," Blaine stammered.
Smooth, Blaine, really smooth, he thought.
"Yeah, sorry sometimes my inner smartass can't be controlled," Kurt said, saving Blaine from further attempts to smooth over the tension.
"Shall we?"
Blaine looked momentarily blank until Kurt gestured to the pile of books on the table in front of him.
"Oh, yes, let's...shall."
Blaine mentally punched himself in the face. Kurt looked like he was going to laugh, but instead, he offered Blaine a book from the stack and gestured to the chair opposite him. Blaine sank into it gracefully.
"Hey, thanks for getting a head start on picking out the books. What region of France do you think we should focus on?" Blaine asked, trying to focus on the task at hand.
For the next two hours, they researched and discussed their findings about Northern France, right up by the border of Belgium. Neither of them knew very much about the area, but Blaine was pleased that Kurt didn't question how enthusiastic he was about all the history they were uncovering. Kurt was just so easy to talk to, and Blaine didn't feel like he had to hide his intelligence the way he did with the football guys. Kurt just accepted it all and never made Blaine feel weird about his keenness. It seemed way too soon when Kurt's phone buzzed and he announced that his Dad wanted him to come home for supper.
"That was actually the most enjoyable school project planning session I think I've ever had," Kurt said as they stood at the front desk, checking out some of the key books they needed.
"Yeah, me too, I think we're going to make a good team," Blaine said, wondering if he was being too open.
"Alright, I'll see you Monday, I guess," Kurt said, picking up his books and then heading for the library door.
"Yeah, Monday. School," Blaine said, mostly to himself. He was in so much trouble.

***

Four weeks passed really quickly, it seemed to Kurt. Between homework, glee club, mysterious texts from X, and probably more project meetings with Blaine than absolutely necessary, the time was flying.
Kurt was glad his schedule allowed him to leave early on Wednesdays, and he was trying to decide if he should just go home and take a nap when he rounded the corner on his way to his locker.
Blaine was waiting for him there, looking around self consciously.
"Hey, is something wrong?" Kurt asked when he got close enough.
He was puzzled. Their project might be going well, but Blaine never talked to him at school. Kurt accepted that; he knew what the wrath of the football team felt like, and he couldn't blame anyone for trying to avoid it.
"What? No, nothing's wrong," Blaine said quickly, glancing over his shoulder, "I just knew you had a free period right now and my last class got cancelled because Mrs. Stevens went home with the flu. And our project is due Friday so I thought we could have one more practice run. Now. Uh, if you want to, that is, if you're not busy."
"You know my schedule?" Kurt said, taken aback.
"Ah, no, I just...noticed that you and Mercedes are usually meeting for coffee in the courtyard when I'm on my way to my last class," Blaine mumbled.
"Right. Well, I have to warn you that I'm pretty tired, so I might be useless, but I'm game to run over the presentation again," Kurt said.
"Great," Blaine replied, obviously relieved, "the library then? I don't want to be at school any longer than we have to."
"Sure, I'll drive," Kurt said.
Blaine nodded.
"Cool, I just have to be back in time for practice."

***

It had happened so quickly, Blaine wasn't even sure it was real. They'd been running over their presentation when they came across a date that didn't have a citation. They couldn't find it anywhere, so Blaine volunteered to go find a book they could use as a source. When he got to the right section, Blaine got a little sidetracked and started reading and... well, he'd been gone awhile when Kurt came to look for him.
"Hey, I think the book we need is right here," Kurt said, reaching for a shelf right over Blaine's head.
Blaine turned around slowly, and Kurt was right there, so close and tall and in his space that Blaine forgot about the team, and his dad, and his goddamn reputation and just leaned up and did what he'd been wanting to do since that first day in French class. He heard Kurt inhale sharply as their lips met, and his lips parted under Blaine's as he breathed out.
And then it was over, and Kurt was staring at Blaine with those beautiful blue eyes full of surprise, and Blaine came back to earth all at once.
"I-" he started, "I shouldn't have done that," he blurted, and then he ran.
He grabbed his bag off the table and bundled his books under one arm and bolted out the library door without looking back.

***

Kurt stood in the lobby of the library for a long, long time. The librarian asked him twice if he needed anything.
You have no idea, lady, Kurt thought.
Blaine had kissed him. Blaine. Kurt considered the possibilities- momentary insanity, personality transplant, brain tumor- and eventually had to accept that Blaine, the full-on football playing jock, might be gay. Or at least...bi-curious?
This was way too much to think about, especially on an empty stomach, so Kurt gathered his things and left the library in a daze. He drove home and made a quick soup and salad as if he was on autopilot, eating robotically at the kitchen counter by himself.
After rinsing his dishes, Kurt wandered up to his bedroom. He sat on his bed, and the moment at the library played over and over again in his head, on a loop. Kurt pulled out his phone and briefly considered calling Mercedes, but that seemed so complicated that he immediately dismissed the thought. Looking down at his phone, Kurt suddenly had a thought that snapped him out of his daze.
Oh my God, what about X? Do I tell him? What am I going to say?