But that's where he made the mistake, because it wasn't just Kurt. Not anymore.

Blaine had always known Kurt had beautiful eyes, the color of which changed according to his mood and the weather. He had been aware of his soft voice, and of the way he squinted whenever he giggled. From the very first day, he had enjoyed Kurt's quick wit, his remarkable sense of humor, his snarky comments. He already knew and loved all of that, and more, but still, somehow, it was as if he had never really appreciated any of it before now, as if he had met Kurt all over again when he had walked in to the diner not even half an hour ago - and it was driving him crazy. He wanted nothing more than to just wrap his arms around the unsuspecting boy next to him, to kiss him, and cuddle him - to tell him he cared about him, too. But he couldn't.

Granted, Kurt had admitted Mercedes had been right when she had told Blaine at New Year's that Kurt was in love with him - but New Year's was more than two months ago. Blaine had replayed last week's conversation in his head over and over again, but nowhere had Kurt stated that he still felt the same way about Blaine now as he did then. For all Blaine knew, Kurt's crush could have passed, his window of opportunity had closed, and what was worse: Kurt could actually be falling in love with Tiago. And how unfair would it be of Blaine to tell Kurt: 'Hey, I know you're finally over me and moving on, but I kind of just discovered I really really like you, too, so could you just forget about the other guy and give me a chance now?'.

Still, Blaine had seen one too many romcom misunderstandings to just give up. He had to give it a shot. He had to at least try. And with both of them sitting in the relative privacy of one of Breadstix' corner boots, now was as good a time as any.

"So," he said, fighting to keep his tone light and conversational, "what's going on with you and Tiago?"

Kurt briefly looked up from the article he was reading, casting Blaine a sideway glance.

"Me and Tiago? Nothing's going on with me and Tiago. We're friends. Why are you even asking?"

"No reason," Blaine shrugged, already feeling strangely elated, although he wasn't quite ready to start hoping yet. "You guys have been meeting up a lot lately, 's all. And dinner on Wednesday."

He glanced at Kurt, hoping to catch some kind of reaction but getting none.

"And since Tiago's gay too, I figured maybe..."

He let the sentence trail, not wanting to actually say something definite for fear of making it real.

"I know he's gay, Blaine," Kurt replied a little impatiently, not even bothering to look up from his papers this time, "but I can be friends with a gay guy, can't I? I mean, we're friends too, aren't we? And Tiago was, like, my best friend at Dalton. Apart from you, obviously. So yeah, we go for coffee sometimes. Actually, Wednesday will be the first time we'll do dinne-"

Kurt cut himself off mid-sentence and Blaine froze in anticipation, watching him as he seemed to realize something.

"Do you... would he... "

Kurt seemed to be scared to even finish his sentence, taking a deep breath before turning to Blaine.

"Do you think... he thinks... Wednesday is a... date?"

Blaine wasn't sure what it was that made his stomach jolt - the heartbreaking mixture of surprise and anxiety in Kurt's voice, or the fact that, at least for Kurt, his dinner date with Tiago was obviously not a date date. Blaine's whole being screamed for him to just say no, to tell Kurt he was seeing ghosts, but deep down inside he knew he couldn't do that. For one, Tiago deserved a shot at Kurt as much -and maybe even more so- as Blaine did. And secondly, if Kurt had feelings for Tiago, any feelings at all, Blaine needed to know. He braced himself.

"Do you want it to be?"

Kurt stared at him for a few seconds before he fell back into his seat.

"I don't know," he said, a little out of breath. "I don't know. I mean... I like him. I really do. And he's hot. But... he's one of my best friends. I just... I guess I just never thought about him that way before. As more than a friend, I mean. I... I don't know. Maybe?"

Blaine felt an ice cold hand close around his heart. Kurt usually referred to people in terms of either their fashion sense or their bitchiness - to hear him compliment someone on their looks, call them 'hot', even... it was so out of character that there was no doubt in Blaine's mind he meant it. He wondered if this was how Kurt had felt every time he had talked about Kyle.

I never thought about him that way before.

I never thought about you that way before, Blaine realized suddenly, looking at Kurt. I was so fixated on trying to be a brother for you that I never even let myself see that you could be more - not even when you told me with so many words that, for you, I was. We were.

The cold around his heart seemed to be spreading throughout his body, and Blaine felt the confusion and frustration rise in his chest. Did this mean he was too late? Had he really thrown away all chances he had been given to see if he and Kurt were worth something?

"No."

Kurt shook his head, and it took Blaine a moment to realize he was still talking about Tiago.

"No. I couldn't. I can't. I mean... ," Kurt paused, glancing at Blaine. "I'm not ready."

And Blaine was pretty sure his heart was ready to jump out of his chest right there and then. Because if this meant what he thought it meant, if that glance held what he thought it held... he still had one last chance.

It didn't seem like he would be able to use it that day, though.

"Well look at that, if it isn't Gayer and Gayest," a bitchy voice cut Blaine off before he could even speak. "Are you trying to teach him origami or does your boyfriend just like to collect old newspapers?"

"He's not my boyfriend, Santana," Kurt sighed, shooting an apologetic look at Blaine before he let his eyes trail towards the Latina's hand, whose fingers were intertwined with those of the much paler, much blonder girl standing next to her. As soon as she noticed his gaze though, Santana let go.

"No one told you it's not polite to stare?" she snapped at him.

"No one told you it's not polite to interrupt a conversation?" he bit right back. His voice softened when he turned towards the other girl, though.

"Hi Brittany."

"Hi Kurt. What are you doing? Are you writing for the Muckracker? Because I could totally help out with that."

Kurt smiled at her.

"Blaine lost his brother so we're trying to find him again."

"Have you tried the supermarket?" Brittany asked, the blank look on her face making it painfully clear she was completely serious. "I found my brother in the supermarket once."

"You have a brother?"

Kurt wrecked his brain, but he was pretty sure he had never heard Brittany mention having a brother before.

"I didn't used to," Brittany replied, sounding sad. "Until I found him in that supermarket. But he ran off and I never saw him again."

Feeling thoroughly confused now, Kurt decided it was best to leave the matter alone and turned his attention back to Santana, who was looking at something she had picked up from the mess of papers covering their table.

"This is a really cute picture," she said, a hint of a smile playing around her lips. "When was this taken? It must be at least two years ago."

"A little less than that, actually," Kurt smirked, snatching the picture out of her hands, "how could you tell."

It was meant as a rhetorical question, but Santana either didn't realize or didn't care, because she answered it nevertheless.

"His hair is much longer now. I haven't seen it that short since he came back."

Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, Santana, don't pretend like you even know him. Now would you please excuse us, we're trying to work here."

"Hey, I've only been babysitting the kid for half of my life but yeah, sure, you're right, I don't know the first thing about him."

She glared at Kurt. "Come on, Brit, let's leave these two love birds alone with their denial."

Normally, Kurt wouldn't have let that last remark slip without a comment, or at least a glare of his own, but as it was neither he nor Blaine had even heard it. Instead, they were looking at each other, the shock on their faces apparent.

"Santana babysits?" Kurt whispered, incredulous.

"Who even cares?" Blaine whispered back, turning around in his seat and scrambling onto his knees.

"Santana!"

.

Five minutes later, the four of them were sitting around the same table, Brittany amusing herself by carefully blowing bubbles into her milkshake as Santana told them more about how she knew Nicky.

"His mother is a friend of my sister's. They went to school together - or at least they did until Diana got pregnant. She dropped out, got a job, seemed to be doing alright. Until her boyfriend got another chick pregnant and left. She replaced him with glass."

Both Kurt and Blaine stared at her, not understanding.

"Crystal. Meth." Santana rolled her eyes at the apparent need for an explanation. "Seriously, guys, do you live under a rock or something?"

"Well I'm sorry we're not familiar with your eloquent street lingo to refer to hard drugs!" Kurt snapped. He would have added a snarky remark or two if it hadn't been for Blaine placing his hand softly on top of his arm. The unspoken message hung silently between them and Kurt forced himself to calm down.

"So... his mother was a junk?" Blaine asked tentatively. He didn't want to set Santana off by asking the wrong questions, but he really wanted her to continue talking - he needed to hear this story, needed to collect every bit of information that could possibly help him find his kid brother.

Santana shrugged.

"On and off. She tried. There were periods, weeks, months even, where everything would seem fine. And then she'd relapse, for some reason or another. She really found the wrong drug at the wrong time - if it had been anything else, it would've been so much easier to get her cleaned up, but meth's a bitch. It's ironic she actually called her son Nicholas after the patron saint of children, because God knows he needed the protection - best case scenario she would just forget to feed him, worst case scenario he'd land under a tipped over cupboard when she got aggressive. We'd take Nicky in whenever things got too bad, to give him a break and at least some sense of normalcy... ."

"Santana the good Samaritan, that's definitely a first," Kurt whispered sarcastically at Blaine - soft, but not soft enough.

"Listen here, miss White Picket Fence," Santana all but scowled at him, "there's a lot of things we don't has in Lima Heights Adjacent. We don't has perfectly mowed lawns, or flowers on the window sills. We don't get to call the police when we get robbed because they're too chicken to actually come, and nobody has bothered to come fix the swings in our sorry excuse for a park since some dumb-ass managed to set fire to them when I was in second grade. But we do has each other, and we look out for each other, is that clear?"

Taken aback and a little paler than usual, Kurt nodded - even he knew not to mess with the volatile Latina if he cared about his life at all. The silence that followed hung heavily between them, and strangely it was Blaine who broke it.

"Thank you," he said, reaching for Santana's hand, "for taking care of him."

The remark earned him the unique sight of an almost embarrassed Santana, but the moment quickly passed and she promptly withdrew her hand from below his.

"Yeah, well, don't thank me," she said sarcastically, "in the end even we couldn't protect him anymore. Diana finally ran out of luck when Nicky was about five or six, and she O.D.'d. She spent months in the hospital and because Nicky's dad refused to take him in, they shipped him off to some foster family. The only good thing that came out of it was that it was a wake up call for Diana, and she finally started working on getting better. For herself, and for Nicky. It still took her almost three years before she got custody back, though, and when he finally came home, he had this major scar on his left side and a crooked nose, because apparently that family that was supposed to take care of him had dropped him off a horse or something."

"That was an accident!" Blaine all but screamed at a perplexed Santana, the guilt in his voice painfully obvious. "I never meant for that to happen! It was an accident, he ran on the course and he... it... it was an accident..."

A frustrated sob left his throat as he pressed the heel of his hands against his eyes. Instantly, he could feel Kurt's arms around him, holding him, rubbing softly over his back and he gratefully leaned in in the embrace.

Santana stared at the little scene with her eyebrows raised in mock surprise.

"And how would you know, preppy boy?"

Blaine didn't immediately answer, and so it was Kurt who turned to Santana.

"Nicky was Blaine's foster brother. He... ," Kurt glanced down at Blaine, unsure what he was allowed to say and what not. "Blaine was there, when the accident happened."

"Wait!" Santana raised her hand, the surprised look on her face genuine this time as she gave Blaine a once over. "You're Bubaine?"

Blaine's head jerked up at the mention of the nickname, and Kurt turned to look at him, his eyebrows raised in amusement.

"Bubaine?"

Blaine looked back at him sheepishly, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

"Bubba... Blaine... he was only six, alright!"

The pink quickly turned a deeper shade as Kurt shook his head, smiling now, but Santana didn't wait to ruin the moment.

"I can't believe this. Seriously, the way he talks about his Bubaine I expected some kind of crossing between Hercules and Shang, not Aladdin with a Peter Pan complex."

If she counted on Blaine to react to the insult, however, she was mistaken, because he barely even registered it. The implications of the fact that she knew that particular nickname, on the other hand, were clear as day to him.

"You mean you still see him?"

"I already told you that half an hour ago, didn't I? He's my sister's godson, for Christ's sake - he spends more time at our house than I do!"

Santana looked at the two boys sitting across from her, who suddenly seemed to have lost all ability to speak.

"What?"

Kurt licked his lips nervously, glancing once more at Blaine before he spoke.

"Santana, we need to ask you something."

"I think I have an idea..."

"Kurt, are you going to come out soon or what?" Blaine shouted through the bathroom door.

The reply came instantly.

"Remind me again why I'm doing this?"

"Because tomorrow I'm seeing my long lost foster brother for the first time in almost two years and I'm freaking out and I need a distraction!"

There was no reply, and Blaine pressed his ear against the door, trying to make out what was happening. The only thing he heard were muffled sounds and grunts, and something that sounded suspiciously like 'This is so not my style.".

He banged on the door again.

"Kurt, if you're not coming out soon, I'm gonna come in!"

He grinned when he heard Kurt yelp.

"You wouldn't!"

"Wanna bet?"

"I locked the door!"

"I have two words for you: Spare. Key."

Immediately, Blaine could hear Kurt fiddle with the lock and he took a step back right as the door finally opened.

He swallowed hard.

Kurt was standing in the doorway, wearing a loose shirt that was not usually his style, but it was his pants that made Blaine gasp for air. The riding pants that Blaine had given Kurt were stretched taut over his thighs and ass, and Blaine had to force himself not to let his eyes linger on Kurt's long legs.

"They're too short," Kurt stated dryly.

"That'll teach you being taller than me," Blaine quipped, surprised to find his voice more or less stable. "Nobody's gonna see once you put your boots on, though. So... let's go?"

He made an inviting gesture with his arm, but it seemed Kurt wasn't quite as ready as he looked.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

The hint of uncertainty in Kurt's voice was obvious, and Blaine cocked his head.

"Kurt... I'm a four-time winner of the Ohio State Jumping Championship, I know what I'm doing - and you're the only friend I have that I haven't put on a horse yet." He walked towards Kurt, putting his hands on the other boy's shoulders as he looked him in the eyes. "So... just trust me on this one, ok? You're gonna love it, I promise."

Kurt made a skeptical face, and before Blaine could second guess himself, he pressed a light kiss on Kurt's forehead.

"Come on. Let's have fun."

He walked out of the room and into the hall, not noticing that Kurt didn't immediately follow but stood frozen for a moment, a baffled look on his face. Not only had Blaine just given him a kiss on his forehead like it was the most normal thing in the world, there was something else that hadn't escaped Kurt's attention: for the first time in months, Blaine hadn't referred to him as a brother, but as a friend.

.

It didn't take them long to walk up to the stable at the back of the Anderson's property, and Kurt watched nervously as Blaine took out a large bucket containing a number of brushes similar to those Kurt had seen Kyle handle. Blaine whistled at Tornado.

"I'm gonna clean him first, but just watch for now, ok, and then I'll show you later if you'd like."

Kurt nodded wordlessly, climbing onto the fence while Blaine quickly set to work, cleaning out the horse's feet and carefully combing and brushing every square inch of its body. For all the talking about horses that they'd done lately, it was the first time Kurt actually saw Blaine around one -not counting the time he had snatched Kurt away from Meryem a couple of weeks earlier, of course- and he watched in amazement as Blaine talked softly to the animal throughout the whole procedure, stroking him in practiced movements that seemed to calm both himself and the horse.

Much too soon, though, Blaine put away the brushes and took a wide, leather belt and what Kurt supposed was a bridle. He carefully put them on the horse, tugging a little to check they were securely fastened, but not too tight, before he turned to Kurt.

"Ready?"

Kurt hesitantly came down from the fence, looking at the animal standing behind Blaine. The horse suddenly appeared particularly tall, although Kurt had to admit part of the reason was probably because Blaine was standing right next to him - most everyone looked tall compared to Blaine. Still, something seemed not quite right.

"I know I'm the amateur here but... isn't he supposed to wear a... saddle, or something?" Kurt asked, the doubt in his voice more than apparent.

Blaine smiled in amusement.

"I'm not gonna let you ride in the saddle just yet - when I teach I prefer to do some lunging first. That way I control the horse and you can just focus on finding a good balance and getting your posture right."

"I really feel I would find a better balance if I could sit in a saddle," Kurt said, sounding more than a little unsure about the whole ordeal.

"And I really feel you should trust me," Blaine said, holding out his hand and pulling Kurt in closer. "Here, put your foot there... right... and hold with your hand there... don't worry, you're not gonna hurt him... good. Now - pull with your arm and push... there! There you go!"

Blaine smiled up at Kurt who was now sitting on the back of the horse, looking a bit phased as to how exactly he got up there.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked, quickly untying Tornado from the fence.

"I... think so... ," Kurt replied, his voice just a little bit higher than usual. "It's... kinda high."

"It's not as high as it looks like," Blaine tried to reassure him, "just relax. Now, hold on to the handles on the girth... no, palms facing upwards. Like that, exactly."

Blaine led the horse into the field, attaching a long line to the halter over the horse's nose once they were far enough from the fence. As he started walking backwards though, unwinding the rope he was holding, he could hear Kurt take in a sharp breath.

"Blaine, were are you going? Blaine? Blaine, where are you?"

The panic in Kurt's voice was not even barely concealed, and Blaine hurried towards the tensed up boy as fast as he could without startling Tornado, placing his hand reassuringly on Kurt's thigh.

"Kurt? I'm right here, Kurt, relax. Look at me..."

Slowly, Kurt turned his head, and Blaine smiled up at him.

"You're not going to fall off, I promise."

"I was more worried about Tornado just running off with me somewhere, actually," Kurt attempted to joke.

Blaine's smile widened.

"No one is going to run off with you, Kurt. I won't let them."

Somehow, Kurt had the feeling Blaine was talking about something completely different, but before he could react, Blaine had returned to teacher mode.

"Now, bring your shoulders back, back straight... that's it."

He continued talking as he walked back to the center of the field, partly to give Kurt some much needed instructions, but mainly to calm him down. Finally, Blaine could see the tension gradually ebbing away from the other boy's shoulders.

"First, I'm just gonna have Tornado walk, okay? Just walking, nothing fancy, so just relax, remember what I told you about your posture, try to just enjoy it."

Kurt nodded stiffly, still letting out a small yelp of alarm when he felt the horse below him start moving. To his own surprise, however, he quickly found himself relax into the movement. There was something soothing about the horse's rhythm, and soon enough he let himself be carried by the sedate pace of the horse as it walked round and round, easily following Blaine's lead.

"Straighten your back!"

Kurt immediately shot upright, the sudden movement almost bringing him out of balance and he quickly repositioned himself.

"You told me to relax!" he shouted indignantly.

Blaine laughed in response.

"You can relax with your back straight!"

"Are you making fun of me?"

"I wouldn't dare!"

There was a tad too much amusement in Blaine's voice, though, and Kurt turned his head to send him one of his famous glares. The look in his eyes softened as soon as he caught sight of Blaine, however, because for all the amusement that had sounded in Blaine's voice, his attitude was completely different. The energy and passion that were so characteristic of Blaine in everything he did were still there, but they were more contained, somehow, more controlled. Lunge line in one hand, whip in the other, Blaine looked like the epitope of concentration and confidence, easily guiding Tornado to go where and how he wanted him to go, and Kurt couldn't remember when he had ever seen him so relaxed, so self-assured, so inherently... happy. Blaine must have felt him staring though, and as he caught Kurt's eyes, his face broke open in a wide smile.

"I know I'm quite something to look at, Kurt," he called out teasingly, "but I would really appreciate it if you could just look straight ahead right now."

Kurt's cheeks flushed as he snapped his head back. There it was again, that flirtatious side of Blaine. It had been gone for so long that Kurt hadn't even realized how much he had missed it until it had started to reappear on occasion over the past few days. He silently wondered if this meant he would never be able to forget about this boy, because for all the progress he had been making in trying to get over Blaine, a single remark like that invariably set him back right where he had started.

They kept their easy banter up for the rest of the session, Kurt slowly gaining more confidence, even trying a trot at one point, until Blaine called it a day.

"I think that's been enough for now. Tornado can't really take long lunge sessions anymore, and I want you to still be able to actually move, tomorrow," he winked. "I'll help you get down and then I'll show you how to do the grooming and everything, alright?"

"Sure."

Kurt tried to keep his posture straight as Blaine led Tornado back to the fence, waiting patiently until Blaine came up to him to help him return to his two feet.

"Just grab there... exactly, just as you did to get on... pull on your arms... now, swing your leg over."

Kurt tried to follow the instructions as closely as possible, but he slightly miscalculated the swinging force of his leg, and the sudden change in momentum almost made him lose his balance. He all but stumbled to the ground but before he could actually fall, two strong arms caught him, effortlessly lifting him back to his feet.

"Easy there," Blaine smiled, "I don't know what Burt would do to me if I didn't get you back to him in one piece, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out."

"Yeah, well, he doesn't really have a gun, but I've seen him cause major damage with a wrench, so look out for those," Kurt joked uneasily.

He shifted slightly in Blaine's arms, flustered by the sudden closeness, waiting for the moment when Blaine would inevitably let him go. It didn't come, though, and they simply stood together for a few moments - Kurt with his arms tucked against Blaine's chest, and Blaine with his arms solidly wrapped around Kurt's waist.

"Did you have fun?" Blaine asked softly.

Kurt simply nodded, staring at his hands, afraid to look Blaine in the eye. He had never been more aware of Blaine's presence, their bodies pressed closely together, and he took a deep, slow, breath in an attempt to calm his racing heartbeat. He whimpered involuntarily as he felt the pressure release on one side of his body, but it wasn't until he felt a hand brushing softly against his cheek that he found the courage to look up.

He was met by a look that Kurt was sure he had never seen directed at him before. There was adoration and wonder in Blaine's eyes, but with a trace of something else... fear, or anxiety, maybe. Kurt felt his stomach jolt. Was Blaine... nervous?

"Are you ok?", he asked curiously.

Blaine didn't reply immediately, closing his eyes as he drew in a short breath.

"I told you I'm an ignorant fool sometimes," he finally said, his voice still soft. "Apparently it holds true for other people's feelings as well as my own. Because I really, really care about you, Kurt. And I'm sorry it took another guy to make a move on you before I realized just how much exactly you mean to me. I know I told you you'd always be my brother but... if you let me... I would like for us to be more than that."

Kurt swallowed hard, closing his eyes as he desperately tried to resist the urge to pinch himself. He could feel Blaine gently brush away a stray lock of hair, and he reluctantly focussed his gaze on Blaine's eyes, afraid that they would tell him that Blaine was just messing with him, that this was all just a dream. They didn't, however, and Kurt felt his heart rate speed up as he let Blaine trail his hand alongside his cheek, cupping his jaw.

"Can I?"

Kurt didn't need to ask what Blaine meant, and a wave of gratitude washed over him because Blaine, at least, had the decency to ask, instead of simply taking.

'Heaven' was what Blaine had said when he had described his first real kiss, and now Kurt finally knew what he meant. Blaine's lips were moving smoothly against his own, a little chappy but somehow Kurt knew he wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He surprised himself with how effortlessly he returned the pressure, instinctively knowing how to respond to Blaine's every move, wishing he could hold on to this moment forever.

When they finally broke away, Blaine looked almost embarrassed, but he was smiling, and Kurt could see his cheeks were flushed. A small smile formed around his lips.

"Weren't you supposed to... show me something?"

Blaine let out a small giggle in response, smiling back at Kurt with a mischievous light in his eyes.

"I thought I was..."