They sat in quiet for a time, watching the sun set behind the hills and the brilliant glow it created on everything it touched. Before they knew it, it was dark and the woods around them were alive with the sounds of the night. Thousands of stars shone overhead- more than either boy had ever seen at one time before. It was dazzling.

Blaine sighed, "I guess we should get back...it's going to be a bit of a walk."

Kurt looked over at him, barely able to make out the outline of his head in the darkness, when a thought struck him. "Um, Blaine. I don't suppose you thought to bring a flashlight, did you? These paths don't exactly have any lights on them."

Blaine froze. The thought had completely escaped his mind. And now here they were, at least a mile out into the woods with no way to see.

"I...didn't. Oh god, Kurt. We don't have any kind of light and these trails are ridiculous and we're going to get eaten by a bear or something!"

Kurt frowned, "I don't think that will happen, but I think I remember the way back. There are only so many gravel roads out here. If we just keep following the one we came on, we should get there eventually, right? Even if we make a wrong turn, we can go back the other way."

Blaine slid down carefully off of the boulder, being careful to not land himself directly in the creek before turning to Kurt. "Give me your hand. I don't want you to break something- I'd have to carry you the mile back to camp, and I can't imagine that would be very fun for either of us."

Kurt reached out, groping for Blaine. Their fingers connected, and Kurt eased himself off of the rock, stumbling slightly and causing Blaine to grab under his arms to keep him from toppling to the ground.

"Graceful as always." Kurt smirked. He took a moment to straighten himself, but kept Blaine's hand firmly clasped in his. It felt...right.

"We should keep..." he wriggled their hands, "you know, for safety. It's bad enough we have to find our way back in the dark. I don't want us getting separated."

Blaine nodded, but, realizing Kurt couldn't see him, spoke instead, looking at the spot he estimated Kurt's face to be. "Right. For safety."

They made their way along the gravel path, hands only clasping loosely at first, but gradually creating a firmer grip, Blaine's thumb unconsciously rubbing along the back of Kurt's hand.

A rustling in the bushes to their left caused Kurt to squeak in surprise and grab on tightly to Blaine's arm. Despite his concern that the rustling might be a hungry bear, Blaine smiled. Something Blaine estimated from the size to be a rabbit emerged from the bushes, only to dart back in quickly upon their approach.

It wasn't as difficult of a journey as either boy had expected. The lighter color of the gravel allowed them to at least vaguely make out the path they were walking on, and only once did they wander off course when they had come to a fork and Blaine had incorrectly guessed which one they needed to take. They had looped back around to the creek before realizing their error and turning around.

After about a half hour of walking, they saw familiar lights in the distance and heard voices. "It sounds like campfire has already started..." Blaine whispered.

They came upon the site, a huge campfire built in the pit at the front of the seats, which were now filled with tiny bundled up bodies. Moose was up front, tuning his guitar while Hana gave a bit of an introduction to what the nightly campfires would be about and what to expect.

Rather than interrupting by trying to find a place to sit on the logs when they arrived, Kurt instead led them over to the wooden bench swing. They sat, and Blaine was secretly pleased that Kurt didn't release his hand, but instead settled their clasped hands between them. He shivered, both from the excitement as well as the nip in the air combined with the fact that he hadn't brought more than a light sweater along.

The campfire event itself was just as awesome as Moose had told them it would be. They started out with cabin calls, each cabin being called on in turn and responding with a shout of some sort to announce that they were present. This was followed by a multitude of songs performed by various members of the staff, as well as a few student leaders. Kurt wondered if there was a signup sheet somewhere he had missed, and how hard it would be to get himself a spot. Maybe Blaine would sing with him...

Rachel was up front now, singing some song that Kurt wasn't paying attention to. Despite his nap earlier, the excitement of the day had finally caught up to him, and he leaned his head over onto Blaine's shoulder, yawning deeply.

"Getting tired?" Blaine asked, stifling a yawn of his own. "We could go back to the cabin if you want."

Kurt shook his head against Blaine's shoulder. "No, I want this day to last as long as possible. In spite of everything, it turned out really nice. I just want to let it go on for a bit longer."

They stayed like that for a bit, Kurt's head rising and falling with Blaine's breaths.

Eventually, Kurt finally started to sag into sleep, and Blaine tugged at his hand. "Come on, you. Let's get you to bed."

Kurt rose reluctantly, but the two boys managed to make their way back up the path and down to the cabin- our cabin now. Blaine thought.

He somehow got Kurt down to the bathroom to brush his teeth, then back to the cabin.

Kurt was turning towards his bag to retrieve his pajamas when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned, not sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn't Blaine.

Blaine, in just his pajama bottoms.

Blaine, shirtless.

His mouth dropped open- Blaine had...well, he had quite the body. Kurt never would have guessed that that's what was lurking underneath the sweaters and t-shirts. Even from the back, the view was something to behold.

Blaine turned around then, and Kurt panicked, trying to turn away and not be caught looking but attempting to jam a foot into his own pajamas at the same moment. He tripped over them, nearly hitting his head on the neighboring bunk and sprawling out over the cabin floor. He seemed to lose all sense of coordination around Blaine lately, and he wasn't amused.

"Jesus, Kurt! You're going to kill yourself one of these days if you're not careful!"

Kurt looked up, his face already flush with embarrassment from looking at Blaine and doubled by the fact that he was now on the floor in his underwear with Blaine crouching next to him- still lacking any kind of upper body garment but holding a bunched up shirt in his hand.

Kurt's breath caught.

His chest was glorious. Strong abs supported defined pectoral muscles and just a smattering of chest hair. He realized he was staring only a moment too late and raised his eyes to Blaine's.

"I, uh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been looking. That was rude."

Blaine had seen Kurt's eyes on his body, but strangely didn't feel uncomfortable. It wasn't like he was leering at him or something. He was just...looking.

"It's fine, Kurt. It doesn't bother me."

Kurt let out the breath he'd been holding. He'd been waiting for Blaine to be angry, to be annoyed or feel violated or any other reaction but "not bothered". The lines seemed to be blurring for them between friendship and something else, but Kurt wasn't sure where the limit was anymore.

Kurt pulled himself to his feet, hiking up his pants in the process and setting his glasses on the windowsill, jumping into his bunk before he humiliated himself any further.

Blaine put on his night shirt (a Dalton Academy Phys Ed tee) and walked over to the door to turn the light off. "All set?"

"Yep. Tomorrow we're back to being parents of ten, so you'd better get your beauty rest."

The light went off, and Kurt closed his eyes.

"Kurt?" The voice came from directly next to him.

Kurt, who had assumed Blaine had walked back to his bed on the other side of the room after turning off the light, let out a small gasp.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to, I guess, make sure you were alright after everything that happened today."

Kurt felt a hand on his arm and sat up, finding Blaine's hand and tracing his fingers over the palm.

"I am because of you."

Blaine felt the familiar flutter in his stomach, accompanied by a strange prickling sensation behind his eyes.

"I'm really glad. I was so scared for you before. But you're so strong and resilient and just...wonderful."

Kurt felt emboldened. Now seemed like the right time.

"Blaine...I'd like to finish what we started earlier. You know, on the bench...if that's alright with you."

Blaine blinked in the dark, hardly believing what he was hearing. He just nodded dumbly.

As soon as Kurt had the go ahead, he pulled Blaine towards him.