McKinleys halls were packed with students like sardines in a tin. Kurt hated sardines.

Blaine probably loved them, given how he was effortlessly weaving through the mass of students with an eager, enthralled look on his face. Kurt was immediately reminded of a puppy. He even had to call Blaine back to him like an errant pet when he wandered too far ahead and looked around trying to spot Kurt in the crowd.

"Were going to be late on our first day, Blaine!" Kurt chided, though Blaine just smiled at the irritation in his voice. "I know youre excited, but we still have to go to the office and sort out your schedule during homeroom. Obviously you cant just take Henris classes since hes fluent in English and a senior. Though, youll probably have to be in most of my classes anyway until we can get you a bilingual tutor...though Im not sure how well even get Figgins to sign off on this whole thing, considering you have no paperwork that actually allows you to be enrolled here..." Kurt talked the entire way to the office, pondering their situation and pointing out classrooms and various students and groups along the way, not really caring if Blaine was retaining, or even understanding, most of what he was saying. The talking out loud was helping him figure things out. This was a lot of unexpected work for the first day of the school year.

Surprisingly, it was quite easy to get Figgins to O.K. Blaines academic year transfer. Kurt was ready to blackmail the principal by pointing out that he really did a shit job the past several years keeping students out of harms way and appropriately punishing bullies.

Principal Figgins seemed to be in another battle with Coach Sue, the insane egomaniac cheerleading coach, over something or another, and barely had time to consider the repercussions in letting Blaine enroll. Really, Kurt wasnt 100% sure the principal was even listening to Kurt when they walked into his office. Halfway through their conversation, the principal turned pale at the sight of the tall blond woman approaching, and said quickly, "yes, yes, whatever you need, go to the front desk to fix his schedule, good day, students," and under his breath, added, "dear God, not again," his eyes not leaving the looming figure that had entered the glass-encased room and gestured for the two boys to leave.

Blaine looked at him, clearly confused, but Kurt didnt have words to explain half the stuff that happens at McKinley. In any language. So he just shrugged, and the two started their morning.

It took longer than Kurt would have liked to get Blaines schedule worked out, but in the end they managed to make it to their 2nd period class on time, at least, having had to miss the first.

Blaine followed Kurt to most of his classes, except for gym and the one ESL course offered. Honestly, Kurt was surprised the school had a class entirely devoted to non-native English speakers that was actually during school hours. It was almost impressive, for McKinley.

He wondered aloud if Blaine should take senior-level coursework, being a junior and not being able to understand the teacher, but Blaine had inferred in so many words that hed be able to manage, and joked he was "smarter than I see."

"Smarter than you look," Kurt had said, nudging the boys shoulder, and the boy grinned back, and seriously, when had shoulder nudging become a thing for them? Kurt didnt even like anyone in his personal space usually, but he was so carelessly throwing down the walls for Blaine. Maybe it was due to the fact Blaine didnt seem to have any sort of concept of personal space. He was so expressive, and so close, and often stood right next to Kurt and talked right into his ear.

Kurt thought this intimacy could be a sign of interest from Blaine...until he saw Blaine act that way with pretty much anyone he had spent half a second with, which until that moment had been just his immediate family. But Finn and Burt were like him—unused to the close, touchy-feely friendliness of this stranger, and often just smiled and put space between themselves and the Italian boy.

Blaine was indeed smarter than he looked, though, and picked up on their body language well enough, and was sure to keep them at an arms length, but he never looked put out by their needed distance. It was like he expected it.

Despite how beautiful Blaine was, and warm, and seemingly kind, Kurt knew himself—or thought he did, anyway—and thought hed be one of those people that needed that bubble of personal space. It took Kurt years to get past a few awkward hugs with Mercedes, and they were best friends!

One shopping trip with Blaine somehow changed all that. Sure, Blaine was a stranger, but Kurt had let others into his life before, with generally good results. It all felt so harmless and fun and easy, in a way Kurt had never experienced before, even with his boyfriend Chandler, who never really got to be the romantic leading man Kurt had once hoped for, and they hadnt gotten much further than a few awkward attempts at making out, but hey, at least Kurt wasnt single anymore.

But it still felt like work, like true comfort in intimacy with another person was something so illusive and mysterious that Kurt Hummel just could not seem to achieve, hard as he tried.

Which was why he was so completely thrown off by Blaine immediately taking to him, and vice versa. It was just so easy. It felt right, like they had always been meant to meet and become close friends.

But that was ridiculous. Kurt didnt believe in things like that, like destiny and fate.

So Blaine and Kurt went off to class together, and Kurt made sure the boy kept close by his side so he couldnt wander off and get lost, though not halfway to their fifth class of the day, Blaine took his hand in the crowded hallway so they wouldnt get separated in the impending first-wave lunch rush.

Really, that was all it was.

During lunch, Santana, predictably, had so many colorful words she wanted to say about their new addition, and all with varying levels of innuendo and snark, and culminating in a party invitation.

"What party?" Kurt asked.

"Didnt you get your invitation in the mail, Kurt?" Rachel asked, sitting across the lunch table from him. At his perplexed expression: "Oh no—did I neglect to send yours out?" she fretted. "Im so sorry! But youre definitely invited of course. As my bestie, its only expected."

"What party?" he asked again.

"The back-to-school party, apparently," Puck added, sitting down on Kurts other side. Great, now he and Blaine were sandwiched between Santana and Puck. That could only mean great things for the level of sexual innuendo about to be experienced. And it wouldnt be especially clever with Puck, either. "Lame idea, but hey, any excuse to get down. Cept maybe we should stay away from Spin The Bottle this time. No one wants to see Hummel and Berry going at it again." Puck shivered.

Everyone around the table made collective noises of unease and sympathy, with Tina adding in "it was horrifying" under her breath and Mike whispering "my eyes, they burned." Rachel just crossed her hands over her chest and pouted like a petulant child, and Kurt just sighed and started rubbing at his temples.

"I would say it was amusing to watch, but that would mean I took some sick enjoyment in it," Santana adds, looking uncharacteristically bemused, "I think it really just made me queasy...I try to block the memory, cause it really does nothing for my lady-parts, and its just so, so depressing."

"I think it was the look on Kurts face, like someone just told him to put his hand in a buket of worms," Finn added unthinkingly, which was rewarded with a swift jab of his girlfriends elbow into his side. And really, who knew Finn was so capable of crafting such an apt simile on the spot like that?

"Okay, I get it, theres no need to rub it in," Rachel huffed. "I still maintain Kurt and I would have had a bit more chemistry if he wasnt a designated driver that evening and hadnt abstained from drinking."

"Oh Jesus," Kurt groaned, and turned to Blaine and said, "I really hope youre not able to follow this conversation, and if you are, please disregard it." Blaine looked at him with an amused--but nevertheless perplexed--expression, and said nothing. Kurt turned back to Rachel and said, "I accept your invitation, but in no way am I drinking, or playing any games that involve putting myself at risk of severe embarrassment."

Rachel just rolled her eyes while the others tittered and laughed. "Blaines invited too, of course, being your houseguest." She turned to the boy with a friendly smile. "WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU AT THE PARTY NEXT SATURDAY, BLAINE."

"Again, hes not deaf," Finn added.

But Blaine politely smiled and nodded as if he understood her just fine, though Kurt knew Blaine could probably string together the we – you – love – party – Saturday well enough to certainly get the jist.

"Okay," he said. "I go to party."

"Oh—well, excellent!" she said, smiling. "Its amazing to have so many bilingual friends," she said, looking towards Santana, and then to Tina and Mike, despite the fact Tina herself only spoke English, and completely disregarding Kurt, who was nearly fluent in French, and Artie, who actually became quite adept at conversational Japanese just to impress his summer fling, a girl named Hanako, who spoke English just fine but who was incredibly woed by Arties flirty come-ons that were almost perfectly accented and registered in the appropriate regional dialect. Their relationship had been short-lived, but Artie had kept with it, figuring it wouldnt hurt to put on his college applications that he self-taught himself a language.

In fact, Kurt made a mental reminder to ask Artie about his quick learning methods. Not that he necessarily wanted to learn to speak an entirely new language, but maybe getting to the point were he could pick a few words out of Blaines long monologues would be helpful.

Driving home that afternoon, after Blaine had just gone off on a tangent entirely in Italian about something or other that Kurt obviously did not understand one word of, Kurt said to Blaine, "Yknow, its kind of like Love, Actually, the movie, if you think about it. I have no idea what youre saying. You have no idea what Im saying—well, you actually do get a lot of what Im saying. But still, not really enough for conversation...Its like we just keep missing each other."

"I watch Love, Actually," Blaine said, and when Kurt took his eyes off the road a brief moment to look at him, Blaine was smiling softly.

So curious.

Two weeks later, two weeks full off purple pianos and depressing NYADA mixers and shuffling off to Schuesters choir class with food stuff in his hair, they had a party at Rachel Berrys house, and this time they give themselves a whole weekend to recuperate from the drinking. They were older and wiser now. At least they hoped.

"What on earth are you wearing?" Kurt asked, peaking in on Blaine getting ready and noting the bright yellow bowtie the boy had around his collar, yet unmade. Blaine turned away from the mirror and smiled at him.

"Ti piace?" Blaine asked, a coy smile on his face. Kurt had no idea what he said, but the way Blaine said it made Kurt blush all the same.

"...As cute as that is, it doesnt really match your skin tone," Kurt said, with a little less vigor than usual. He called upon his inner professional fashionista, though, and powered through his thoughts on how seriously adorable Blaine would look in a bowtie, which he hadnt yet seen the boy don. "Yknow, the partys pretty casual, you dont have to wear a bowtie, not that it doesnt suit you..."

Blaine just raised an eyebrow. "Pretty casual?" he asked, in a way that meant Kurt should explain himself in entirely different words.

"Jeans?" Kurt said. "T-shirts. Casual, you know? Casual."

Blaine then took the opportunity to look over Kurts outfit and give him a skeptical eye back. "Casual," he repeated, though there was a humor in Blaines voice that told him Blaine was not taking him seriously, given the state of Kurts outfit.

Though he had been experimenting with wearing things to school that were quite above and beyond Lima, Ohios fashion limit, it never included this specific outfit, all pieces together. A red button up with some seriously unconventional belt action that could probably toe the line between militaristic and bondage, that seemed to fit a little better when he purchased it last year, a black tie with nice clean lines, and a pair of black leather pants that cost a small fortune and that were now growing a little snug as well.

Okay, maybe he wanted to impress Blaine a little bit. Just a little! From what Kurt gathered from their half-English conversations, Blaine lived in southern Italy, but often traveled with his family and spent entire summers in places like Milan and Paris, and his mother worked in fashion as a buyer. He didnt want to look like a style troglodyte in front of someone whod know better.

He tried not to think of other reasons hed want Blaine to notice him.

"Well," Kurt just said, even though Blaine hadnt really said anything against his outfit, "You know I like to look my best. Every moment is an opportunity for fashion."

The party was in full swing when they arrived, though only Puck was through his first drink of the night, everyone else working on devouring the finger foods Rachel had laid out until a near unanimous vote of ordering pizza was cast, and the ravenous teenagers eagerly awaited their cheesy snacks.

Like that last disastrous evening last year, there was music, and dancing, and generally, people were having a good time. Quinn was noticeably absent, being completely devoted these days to her Skank clique, though Kurt hoped shed soon rejoin their group in time for competition season.

"Kurt, you made it!" Rachel said, and Kurt understood then that even with half a wine cooler under her belt, Rachel was already super tipsy and making her way to Drunk Town.

"Hey, Rach."

"Wheres that cutie Chandler?" she said, looking over Kurts shoulder as if the blonde boy would suddenly appear there.

Kurt was confused. "Oh, was I supposed to invite him? I thought this was just a New Directions thing?"

"Well, yes, but—your invitation said plus one, since Chandler goes to West Lima and—oh! Kurt! I forgot you didnt get my invitation! Oh no! How silly of me! So, so silly! How could I forget!"

Kurt just laughed, he couldnt help it, and looked over at Blaine who had little idea of what was going on, but was watching Rachel with amusement all the same.

Blaine then went up to Rachel and brought her in close, putting his hands on her shoulders and leaning in to press his right cheek to hers, and then doing the same on the other side, before pulling away and saying, in a way that seemed overly-practiced, "Thank you for inviting me, Rachel."

"Wow, thats a little close, dont you think?" Finn grumbled, standing nearby and watching the interaction.

"Finn," Kurt reprimanded, "hes European. Let it go." Then he turned to Rachel. "Its not a problem, Rach. Ill make him come next time, I promise."

"Whos Kurt gonna make come?" Santana interjected, stalking up beside them and throwing an arm across Blaines back. "Is it you, Blainers?" she purred, and, closeted or not, Santana knew how to work up a man. It wouldnt surprise Kurt if Blaine tried to make a move on her, even if Kurt wanted to shake the Latina and tell her to give it a rest.

But Blaine just shuffled out of her grasp and instead of making a big deal over her weird come-ons, he only turned to greet the girl in the same manner he did Rachel, then looked her straight in the eye and said, "Ciao, Santana."

Even Santana looked a bit flustered as Blaine pulled away and clapped her on the shoulder, a bright, happy smile on his face. She just said back, softly, "well, I never..."

Rachel leaned in and unintentionally stage-whispered to her, "I know, right?"

Blaine was quite the popular attraction at the party that night, amusing people with the few words and phrases he knew well, and when he was drunk, becoming very chatty in his native tongue, and gesturing wildly. Everyone thought he was awesome.

Kurt was pleased that his friends seemed to take to his housemate of the next year. Once again, however, Kurt was keeping alcohol free at a party, and while he knew he didnt need to drink to have fun at a party, it certainly made things more comfortable when everyone else around him was drinking. And he had become the-guy-that-doesnt-drink-because-of-that-one-time. It had been years since hed hurled on Emma Pillsburys shoes. So long ago it was ridiculous. Shouldnt he get to enjoy himself a little too, just like his friends? Be a little young and reckless for once?

He caught Finn watching him across the room from where Kurt sat, watching the festivities, and Kurt gave a small wave back at him. Finn frowned, and made his way over to his brother. "You should really have something to drink tonight. These parties are all, yknow, not that many, and...not often..."

"Few and far between?" Kurt said.

"Yeah, that," Finn said, smiling as he always does when people get what hes trying to say when hes having real talk with someone, even when Kurt has to correct his idioms.

Kurt just sighed, scratching his arm. "I dont know what you want me to do about that."

"I think you should enjoy yourself while you can," Finn said over the music. "In New York, it might get crazy. You might not be around people you trust and stuff. But here youre with friends, and your brother, and we look out for each other, right?" he said. Kurt smiled and nodded. "I can drive tonight. Ive only had one beer and if I stop now Im definitely good to drive four hours from now. Its time for you to have fun!"

Kurt scoffed, wanted to say that he wasnt not having fun as he was, but that would have been a lie. And a little liquid courage would make dancing sans choreography a less nerve-wracking experience; the more he drank, the less he cared what other people thought.

"Thanks, Finn." He said, and took the empty can out of Finns hand. "I hope youll find other ways to entertain yourself."

"Oh, I borrowed Arties camera this time. Im totally going to get everyone acting all drunk and dumb on film," he laughed.

Kurt chucked as well, but said, "Fair warning, if that thing comes anywhere near me tonight, I swear I will submit that screen cap of your browser history from last year to Jacob Ben Israels blog."

Finn threw up his hands in surrender. "I wouldnt dare."

It was getting late, and Rachel Berry already has seen more people singing on her basements mini-stage tonight than there are contestants in most talent show competitions.

Kurt was on his second drink, and he had been watching Blaine, dancing and flirting and singing, noticing his new friend in ways he probably shouldnt have been.

Then again, Kurt thought, hes taken, but hes not blind. If Chandler were here he probably would find Blaine just as attractive as Kurt does.

Kurt frowned, like he was tasting something that had gone bad. He didnt think he was the jealous type, but maybe he was wrong.

Though he couldnt say for certain whether it was Blaine hed be jealous of in that situation, or Chandler.

Blaine had noticed Kurt looking a little perplexed, and he managed to drag Kurt off to a more secluded area of the basement, though still connected to the larger entertainment space. "You okay, Kurt?"

Kurt shook his previous thoughts from his mind and nodded at his friend. "Im fine. Im totally fine, really. I should show down on my drinks, though," he said. "Goddamnit, slow down on the drinks..."

It was then that he noticed how impossibly close Blaine was to him, even more than his usual personal space-ignoring self. Their chests were nearly touching, and Kurt was leaning up against the cool cement wall he could feel through his shirt. If felt nice.

Blaine was just an inch or two shorter, and wow, Blaine had some seriously long eye lashes. Had Kurt never noticed those before? And was he leaning in...?

Kurt could feel the heat of Blaines breath on his face and Kurts own rapidly thumping heart as the Italian whispered, "Ciao, bello..." his eyes boring into Kurts.

"I know what that means, you know," Kurt whispered back, like it was a secret, not taking his eyes off those amber-honey ones in front of him.

Kurt felt a hand warm on his side, a thumb pressing in gently just above the top edge of his pants, in the groove of pelvic bone there. And Kurt just wanted to melt into the touch. He honestly couldnt think of a reason why not. He didnt think at all, really, his hips canting up ever-so-slightly into the touch...

Just then his phone suddenly came alive with the first signs of life it had all evening, and Kurt shook himself from this strange, surreal dream, and reached into his back pocket for his phone, Blaine pulling back in what Kurt read as fustration on his face and, dear lord, Kurt just couldnt analyze this right now because...because Chandler just blew up his phone with texts.

Hey hon! <3

Just heard about the party from Rachie, but Im at my cousins right now so I wont be able to make it tonight! Im totes sad about it! :( :(

She said there was a mix-up with the invitations and you thought it was one of those exclusive glee club party things so I dont blame you at all, hunny bunny. <3

Try to have fun without me! Love you!

Kurt had never said he loved Chandler back, because they had only been dating for a couple months and he just didnt feel for Chandler like that, not yet, anway. But it made Kurt a little sick to know this was what he was doing with Chandlers love and trust and well-wishes—letting some cute foreign boy that was not his boyfriend flirt with him and feel him up! 

...

Holy shit. Blaine was totally flirting with him and feeling him up!

That meant...Did that mean...

Kurt looked back up at Blaine, frozen.

"Blaine, are you..." Kurt started.

"Kurtsie!" someone exclaimed just from his right, where the party was still raging on. Blaine and Kurt turned to see the short blonde bounce his way up to the two and kiss Kurts shocked face in greeting. "Mwah, darling! You looked rattled! But, I told Rachie to keep it hush-hush so I could surprise you, so I guess it worked!" Chandler said gleefully, clapping his hands in delight. "I totally had you fooled there, didnt I? With the texts?"

"Eh-yah," Kurt said, passing off his strained smile as an amused laugh. "You totally surprised me..."

Chandler looked at him appraisingly. "Looks like someone got into the Berrys liquor cabinet," he chortled. "Cmon, Kurtie, lets go cut a rug."

And before Kurt could begin to wonder why he was dating someone that would say cut a rug unironically, he was being pulled back out onto the makeshift dance floor.

Blaine had slipped away, to the other side of the room, now, watching the festivities with his drink in hand, and looking at Kurt in such a meaningful, dark way that, when their eyes met, promised certain trouble for Kurt.

At least, Kurt hoped it was a promise.