“For a minute there, I thought you weren’t going to show up,” Paul said as he opened the front door to his house.

Blaine tried to smile as he shrugged his shoulder. He was afraid to speak he was so nervous. He looked over Paul’s shoulder and could barely make out what seemed to be Kurt’s shoulder in the living room.

“You okay there, buddy?” Paul asked, laughing lightly.

Blaine nodded, drawing in a deep breath and exhaling loudly. “Y-yeah. I’m just nervous, you know?”

Paul clapped a hand on Blaine’s shoulder as he stepped aside so he could walk inside. Blaine walked in and nervously surveyed the foyer he’s learned to memorize over the course of his friendship with Paul. It really isn’t anything worth observing anymore; he knows the room by heart, but it’s better than looking at Kurt’s shoulder which he can still see peeking from behind the wall that separates the living room from the foyer.

“No need to be nervous, man. He’s just a guy, okay?”

Blaine only nodded and rolled his shoulders in attempt to loosen himself up. He’d never really come into contact with other guys. He had friends, true, but none that he was genuinely interested in. None that he actually wanted to do something about.

“Hey guys, look who decided to show up?” Paul said with a smile as they approached the living room.

Marla and Kurt turned their heads and smiled. Marla leaned over, placing her beer on the coffee table before closing the distance between her and Blaine so she could envelop him in a hug. Blaine hugged her back, assuming she must have been a little buzzed. Marla only hugged him when she was buzzed.

“Hey, Blaine. Good to see you!” she sand, holding him at arm’s length before turning to look at Kurt. “You know Kurt, right?”

It was only then that Blaine made eye contact with Kurt and it’s only then that he did it because he knew that he had too. He could no longer get away with admiring the couch or the crappy artwork Paul’s parents hung above the arm chair.

“Yeah,” Blaine answered. “Well, kind of. Paul introduced us at that session the other day.”

Kurt nodded, smiling politely in Blaine’s direction. “That he did. I was thinking you didn’t remember me for a second there.”

Kurt’s response took Blaine off guard a little. He wasn’t expecting Kurt to remember him all that well. The fact that Kurt was a little worried about Blaine not knowing who he was made his stomach flip and his mind swirl.

But now Kurt was looking to Blaine for a response and Blaine didn’t really know what to say. “Heh…” He paused, rubbing at the back of his neck as he felt his face heat up. “I was thinking the same thing about you, actually.”

He was surprised at how smoothly the words slip from his tongue. Kurt only raised his brow and smiled as he sipped at what appeared to be a cup of fruit punch. Then again, Blaine could never be too sure.

A slightly awkward silence took over their short lived conversation. Blaine watched as Marla glanced at Kurt with eyes that suggested something Blaine couldn’t quite pick up on before she left to go talk to Paul. Kurt looked back to Blaine still sipping at his drink.

“So….” Blaine began after they had been rooted in place for what felt like hours, but had really only been around thirty seconds. Still, it was long enough to know that the conversation had clearly died. “What are you drinking?”

Kurt chuckled, looking down into his cup. “It’s just punch,” he answered, his eyes finding their way back to Blaine’s.

Blaine only laughed along with him, but avoided Kurt’s gaze as he mentally kicked himself for asking such a stupid question.

“You don’t believe me?” Kurt asked.

Blaine looked back to Kurt but didn’t offer an answer.

“Here.” Kurt offered the cup, a playful smile on his lips. “Try me.”

Blaine couldn’t believe what was happening. Here he was, talking with this boy who appeared to be flirting with him. This never happened. It never really had happened. Sure, there had been Jeremiah, but Blaine wasn’t so sure how much he counted. Everything had just been so one sided and confusing. Plus, judging by the way things turned out, Blaine didn’t even know if Jeremiah had ever liked him in the first place.

Blaine curiously eyed the cup before sighing and taking it from Kurt’s waiting hand. He watched as Kurt placed both hands on his hips and patiently waited for Blaine to put the cups to his lips.

“Go on… I promise you it’s only punch.”

Blaine found himself smelling the contents of the cup before putting it to his lips and taking a sip. It was pure, unaltered, fruit punch.

“Okay,” he said, grinning, as he handed the cup back over to Kurt. “You win.”

Kurt was everything Blaine expected him to be. He was charming and kind and witty. He dominated the conversation, something Blaine was grateful for considering the fact that he had a hard time forming a coherent sentence around the boy. He was surprised he made it through the first five minutes of conversation without turning a permanent shade of red. The best part was that Kurt didn’t seem to mind that Blaine preferred to listen rather than talk himself. He seemed perfectly content with Blaine’s shy smiles and the subtle nods of his head which were sometimes accompanied by a small addition to the conversation.

“You really don’t say much, do you?” Kurt asked, cocking his head to the side as he eyed Blaine with what appeared to be a sense of curiosity.

Blaine ducked his head and looked down at his fingers as he chuckled lightly to himself. “Uh… I guess not?”

“It’s okay, you know,” Kurt said. “I don’t mind, really. I just… I hope I’m not annoying you. I can’t help but to feel like I’m talking your ear off.”

Blaine looked up and noticed the worried expression on Kurt’s face. “No,” he assured him. “You really aren’t. I actually prefer to listen.”

Kurt nodded, glancing toward Paul who had Marla pressed up against the wall. It appeared as though their lips had been glued together for the past twenty minutes. Kurt couldn’t help but to laugh. “Those two, huh?”

Blaine laughed along with him, shaking his head. “Yeah… seems to happen every time they get together.”

Kurt raised his brows, scooting closer to Blaine on the couch. Blaine couldn’t help but to notice the lack of space that now separated the pair. “Really? Do tell.”

Blaine shrugged trying not to grow to nervous. He felt stupid getting so worked up over simply sitting next to a boy. He just felt like maybe Kurt liked him back, even just a little bit, and he didn’t want to do something stupid to mess that up.

“Well, there isn’t really much to tell,” Blaine said. “But whenever they hang out they wind up like that.” He pointed at the wall. “All pressed up against each other and stuff. Paul says there’s nothing going on – at least not anymore – but… I don’t know. I know it’s not serious, but it definitely isn’t nothing, you know?”

Blaine found himself eyeing Paul and Marla a while longer before turning back to Kurt and shaking his head, a disapproving expression on his face.

“Are you – “ Kurt stopped himself before he could finish his question. “No. Nevermind, I don’t even have the right to ask that. I just thought–“

“What?” Blaine asked, furrowing his brow in confusion. “Did I say something?”

Blaine watched as Kurt’s face flushed a deep shade of pink. “You—“ he looked out the window, avoiding Blaine’s confused expression. “You and Paul. I should have known. Well, no. I just…”

“Me and Paul?”

“The way you were at the party I assumed… but then he introduced you as his friend. And then just now the way you were looking over there… I should have known.”

Blaine couldn’t help but to laugh at the pure absurdity of Kurt’s accusation.

Kurt frowned. “Are you seriously laughing right now?”

Blaine covered his mouth, immediately feeling bad for his reaction. He calmed himself down before shaking his head. “There is nothing going on between Paul and I. We are just friends. We’re close, but not… not like that. That would just be… Paul is very straight and it would never work out even if he weren’t.”

It was the most Blaine had really said at one time that whole night and he was surprised it came out so smoothly. Perhaps it was because Kurt had looked just as vulnerable a few seconds ago as Blaine had felt the whole night and he realized that he probably wasn’t the only one who was nervous.

“Then, if you don’t mind me asking, why were you looking over there like that?”

Blaine cocked his head to the side. “Like what?”

“Like you were… upset or something.” Kurt smacked his forehead. “I don’t even know why I’m asking. It’s not like I even have a right to care about who you’re looking at or anything. I barely know you.”

“No. It’s fine, really. I just… Paul and Marla are so on and off and I think it really is pretty ridiculous.”

Kurt nodded, his face still pink. He shook his head, his hair falling into his face. Blaine had to fight the urge to move it out of his eyes. “I- I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t have even cared.” He looked up at Blaine, a shy smile on his lips. “I just… I kinda like you, I guess.”

Blaine wasn’t sure of what to say. Kurt liked him. It was strange knowing that someone else reciprocated his feelings. “I…”

“You don’t have to say anything back or… I mean, I get it. We hardly know each other. I just – I like talking to you and I think you’re really nice and polite and you have a really nice smile and you don’t seem to mind that I talk so much and… please say something. I’m sorry. I’m just really nervous now.”

Blaine found himself laughing all over again because Kurt really was just as nervous as he was. He suddenly didn’t even remember or understand why he was so afraid of talking to him before he’d come over. They were both only people. Kurt was still just a boy just as Blaine was.

“I kinda like you too,” Blaine responded, causing Kurt to let out a huge sigh of relief.

“You do?”

Blaine nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “I guess.”