Blaine waved goodbye to Tina and closed his locker thoughtfully. Kurt and he hadn’t talked since the slushie incident. But he figured that Kurt was busy preparing with the other Cheerios for the football game this Friday.

Turning, he nearly ran straight into said Cheerio, who was smiling at him.

“Hey, Blaine.” Stepping back once to give Kurt some space he finally noticed a sheet of paper Kurt was dangling in between his pointer finger and thumb, extended towards him. He took it, blinking as he stared down at the signup sheet for McKinley High’s very own New Directions.

“I-what?” He asked, flushing at his own unintellectual question and how Kurt laughed a bit.

“It’s a signup sheet for Glee Club.” Kurt stated simply, as if it wasn’t obvious, while bouncing on his heels.

“Mmm-hmm.” Blaine nodded slowly, getting the picture on where this was going.

“I want you to join.” Kurt finally said, his smile widening further. Blaine’s face instantly morphed into nervousness and he shook his head.

“I- Kurt, thank you for the offer. But I can’t.” He turned away, hearing Kurt huff playfully behind him. Kurt caught up to him quickly, latching onto Blaine’s arm as he walked.

“C’mon Blaine, you have to join! We could really use your vocal talent!” Kurt insisted.

“I’m sorry Kurt, but you know I don’t do well with big groups.” With another huff Kurt stopped him and turned him to look at him.

“You’re right, I do know that. I was just thinking this was an opportunity to get you out of your shell. Everyone in glee club loves to tease each other, but we have each other’s backs. I know they would love you to pieces.” Blaine’s small, adorable, frown didn’t waver and he looked down.

“Closing yourself off from the world isn’t going to help, you know.” Kurt continued gently, tilting his head to keep eye contact with him. “And if you miss all these wonderful opportunities, down the road all you’re going to think is “What if?” After a brief minute of silence Kurt glanced at the clock in the hall.

“You don’t have to, you know. It’s just you have a brilliant voice, and I would hate to see that go to waste.” Kurt looked around a bit before giving him a small hug.

“I have to go, see you at the game.” With a small smile Kurt turned and left, leaving behind a frowning boy.

“Coop, I’m home.” Blaine called in a monotone voice, kicking the door softly shut behind him. Cooper was in front of him I record time, a creepy grin on his face that usually meant he was up to no good.

“Hey Blaine, welcome home.” Blaine stared up at him expectantly.

“So, you have a date tonight~”

“I knew it.” Blaine deadpanned, moving around Cooper in a vain attempt to hide his blush.

“Hey, get back here!”

“I don’t even know if it’s a date, Cooper. He never said that specifically.”

“But he never said it wasn’t!” Cooper shot back

“What about it, Cooper?” Blaine asked, tromping up the stairs and into his room. Cooper appeared at his door in seconds, still grinning.

“Can I come?”

“What?”

“You know, to the game!” Cooper replied.

“NO.”

Cooper pouted playfully and helped himself to lounging on Blaine’s bed.

“I’m going anyway.” He replied stubbornly.

“Absolutely not.”

“But I want to meet Kurt! Properly.” Blaine stared at him with a brow arched.

“And? That can’t be the only reason.” After a long pause and a sigh Cooper sat up, an actual frown taking over his features.

“I want to watch out for you.” He said finally. Blaine blinked once, twice.

“What?”

“It’s not like you’re going with anyone. You’re going to be alone, at a football game. Which is obviously jock central? Did you even think about that?”

Oh. Being truthful, Blaine hadn’t thought about that part. He had been so excited about spending time with Kurt, (time that would be spent talking about anything but school and math equations and all that, no less) that those thoughts hadn’t even crossed his mind.

“I’m not blind, I see how you come home limping sometimes, or trying to cover up a shiner. And I’ve tried, believe me I have, to talk some sense into those idiots who run that stupid school. But everything seems to go through one ear and out the other.” Cooper’s voice actually sounded thick with emotion, and Blaine stared, momentarily stunned.

He had always thought Cooper hadn’t noticed all the bullying going on, or at least, didn’t care.

“I just want to make absolutely sure, that what happened to Alan, doesn’t happen to you.”

The statement hit Blaine like a ton of bricks, and he sucked in a breath, frowning sadly.

Cooper had loved Alan. Not in a romantic way, of course, but he was just as much his friend as Blaine had been.

Blaine and Alan had basically been friends since they were in diapers, and Cooper had even babysat Alan on several occasions. Blaine remembered Cooper breaking down at Alan’s funeral, then having been one of the rare times that Cooper had cried without a script telling him to do so. (One of the other rare moments had been when Blaine had finally woken up after the attack.)

The sentence echoed around in Blaine’s head briefly, and he swallowed hard.

Alan had never gotten the chance to graduate. Or drink, even. Hadn’t gotten the chance to explore the world, like he had told Blaine he wanted to. Had never experienced love, or at least, requited love.

The thought of dying before his time, without getting the chance to really live scared him.

“I-okay…come with me.” Cooper nodded, clearing his throat.

“Thanks.”  Cooper moved forward and pulled Blaine into a protective hug unexpectedly, Blaine hugging back just as tightly.

They managed to get their tickets and grab a seat before it started. Blaine’s heart instantly started beating faster when he noticed Kurt, stretching on the sidelines with the other Cheerios and laughing.

Kurt stilled his movements, noticing a familiar curly-haired boy join the audience, close to the sidelines.

“Go on.” Quinn suddenly said, appearing beside him.

“What?” Quinn smirked, amused tone ever apparent in her voice.

“Go flirt with your boy; just be back in time before the game starts.”

“He’s not- my boy. We’re just friends!” Kurt said, blushing a bit none the less. He jogged across the field regardless, smiling widely.

“Oh my God, he’s coming over.” Blaine said, quickly turning to Cooper with a stern expression,

“Be. Nice.” Cooper grinned.

“I have to say he does have a fine ass.” He said casually, leaning back on the bleachers to rest his head on the empty one behind them.

“COOPER.” Blaine hissed.

“What? Can’t a straight guy simply state that another man has an admittedly nice derrière, without it being weird?” Blaine groaned while Cooper continued with: “I’m looking out for you!”

“This is why I didn’t want you to coo- h-hi, Kurt!” Blaine suddenly said, sitting up a little straighter and smiling. Kurt smiled and made his way up the stairs, while Blaine discreetly kicked at Cooper’s shin; the said boy was snickering too hard to say anything.

“I’m glad you could make it. Oh, hi- Cooper, was it?” Kurt asked, looking sheepish. Cooper managed to regain control of his laughter and instead grinned knowingly, nodding.

“Right! Cooper Anderson, older brother to this heartbreaker over here-“ He gestured to Blaine a bit and ruffled his hair, laughing when Blaine gave out an indignant squeak and batted his hand away, attempting to smoothen his hair back.

“It’s nice to get aquatinted, properly this time!” Cooper continued.

“Kurt! We need your fine ass on the field!” Santana yelled, waving her pom-poms around to grasp his attention.

“Coming!” Kurt turned back to Cooper and Blaine, looking apologetic.

“Sorry, I have to go now.”

“No, I understand. Go- do your thing. I’ll just, be here.” Blaine stated, laughing awkwardly. Kurt smiled and turned around; heading back down the stairs, and Blaine had to tear his eyes away from Kurt’s indeed fine ass.

By some means of fate Blaine had managed to get through the whole game without dying. (Honestly, he hadn’t even paid any attention to the game. He was quite content with staring at Kurt cheering on McKinley’s team, thank you very much.)

He had nearly stopped breathing, however, when Kurt did a toe touch jump during the Cheerios’ half time routine. (They had done a series of pyramids and twirls and jumps to Madonna’s Give me all Your Luvin’, with Quinn heavy on lead. And he liked her singing, yeah, but he would have given anything to hear Kurt sing it, perhaps with a slight rasp in his tone.)

And to top it all off he had survived Cooper’s taunts. (Which basically consisted of him wriggling his eyebrows suggestively at Blaine, “helping” Blaine by fanning him with a newspaper, and asking Blaine if he needed some ice to cool down, because he “looked really flushed and hot” with a mock concerned face.)

“I will murder you with a spork if you don’t shut. Up.” Blaine whispered harshly, glaring up at Cooper.

“Nah, I’ll just put all the silverware on the top shelf.” Cooper shot back triumphantly. Blaine huffed.

“Oh hey, boyfriend at twelve o’clock.” Cooper said suddenly. Blaine swiveled around, dreamy smile instantly back on his face.

“Kurt. You were- that was- amazing!”

“Oh, stop it.” Kurt said, looking away bashfully.

“No, it was really great.” Blaine insisted. There was a brief pause of silence, Kurt and Blaine catching each other’s eye every now and then while Cooper looked between the two, ever so smug.

“Well, I should go get changed. See you in a bit.” Kurt announced, while hoisting his gym bag further up his shoulder. Blaine nodded.

“Like I said, I’ll be here.” He stated lamely, proceeding to slap himself on the forehead once Kurt had begun walking away.

“I really enjoy watching you flounder.” Cooper stated, grinning.

“Bite me.”

“Really Kurt, I would have been fine with, like, Taco Bell. You didn’t have a bunch of money. “ Blaine said, staring at Kurt, who was looking at a Breadstix menu absentmindedly. Kurt shrugged, smiling.

Cooper had left only once Kurt had come back, shaking Kurt’s hand and winking saucily at Blaine, and Blaine was happy to see him go. (But secretly appreciated how much Cooper was watching out for him.)

“Coach gives the Cheerios free coupons all the time, it isn’t a big deal.” Blaine made a humming noise, interested, and leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and perching his head on his hand.

“Speaking of Cheerios, what made you want to join the squad?” Blaine asked curiously. He backpedaled a bit when he saw Kurt hesitate.

“You don’t have to answer that, if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s okay. At first, my friend Mercedes from Glee Club and I got to join because we helped out Coach Sue. And we enjoyed it, because it gave us a time to shine in the spotlight.” Blaine nodded, listening intently.

“Soon Mercedes quit because she was worrying too much over her weight- but anyway, I stayed. Because it kind of made me feel…safe, in a way. I mean, Coach basically threatens to amputate anybody’s limbs if they so much as breathe the same air as us, so there’s that. But I used to get bullied a lot, like you.” Kurt admitted, pausing to swallow. Blaine instantly frowned, inching his hand forward to grasp Kurt’s lightly. He didn’t expect Kurt to squeeze it in return and intertwine their fingers.

“They kind of started to treat me better, like I wasn’t a loser anymore or something. And suddenly it was like I could breathe again. I could walk down the halls without worrying about anything…” Kurt broke off and Blaine squeezed his hand this time, smiling a bit.

“Hey, maybe I should join the Cheerios, then.” He teased. Kurt laughed

“That would be a sight to see. Though you are probably light enough to toss up.”

“Was that a short joke?” Blaine asked, pretending to be offended.

“Maybe.”

They ended up chatting and talking for a good few hours, and Blaine was glad that it wasn’t about school related things. He even learned some things about Kurt.

Like how he wanted to become a fashion designer after he graduated, and how he wanted to go the New York. Once they had started talking they barely stopped, surprised to find out how much they had in common.  Like they were both Wicked fans, and they both loved Harry Potter (Blaine was sure he was going to have an aneurism at that point)

And during the whole night, they never stopped holding hands once.

Once Kurt pulled into Blaine’s driveway Blaine frowned a bit. The night had been perfect, and he didn’t want it to end.

“I should probably go now; Cooper will probably be in the hallway ready to grill me about the night.” Blaine said, laughing.

“I’ll walk you to the door.” Kurt offered, unbuckling his seat belt. Blaine almost protested, but remembered how he had constantly said Kurt didn’t have to do things for him until the point where Kurt told him to shut up politely.

“This is a date after all, that I asked you out on.”

“I- how courteous of you.” Blaine said, attempting to be coy. Kurt moved around his car and opened the door for him, holding out his hand. Blaine grabbed it with a fond smile and got out, closing the door behind him and swinging their linked hands as they walked.

“Thank you for the wonderful night.” Blaine repeated for what seemed the hundredth time.

“Thank you for coming with me.” Kurt replied. Suddenly he was close, very close. Blaine licked his lips, eyes darting down to Kurt’s.

“Is this okay?” Kurt whispered softly, and Blaine could feel Kurt’s breath on his lips, just like in his bedroom.

Blaine was sort of freaking out. He didn’t know what to say- well he wanted to say yes, of course it’s okay, but- suddenly something caught his eye. His parent’s cars.

“My parents are home.” He ended up saying. Kurt leaned back, glancing to the drive way and noticing the two cars he had parked behind.

“They’re probably waiting for me.”

“Oh.” Kurt nodded, stepping back from Blaine and slipping his hand out of his grasp.

“I’m sorry. I would absolutely love to go on another date with you. My treat next time, though.” He insisted, smiling in hopes that Kurt wouldn’t take it the wrong way. Kurt did smile, nodding.

“Great. See you Monday?”

“See you Monday.”

Once Blaine was inside he banged his head against the door with a loud thud.

“I’m so stupid.”

He didn’t know why he had freaked out so much. Kurt kissing him had been one of his fantasies since forever. But the thought of Kurt actually liking him back made him nearly hyperventilate. He always closed in on himself in an unfamiliar situation.

He wished he could just be normal for once. Not afraid of people, not shy, and not awkward. Hot furious tears welled in the corners of his eyes.

“Why do I always manage to mess things up?”