Try as he might to stop it (which wasn't that hard to be totally honest) Blaine spent the rest of his summer haunted by dreams of the beautiful dancer he had met at Juilliard. Every time he closed his eyes he would be there - his glazs eyes staring into him before music began to play and be started to move to it with the more grace than anyone could imagine. And every time he (inevitably) woke up alone in his bed at home again, he could feel a little stab in his heart. As if his subconscious was trying to tell him that this wasn't the way it's supposed to be - that he had somewhere else to be, somewhere better.

Blaine ignored the nagging feeling in his brain the best he could, instead focusing on the rest of his summer and spending time with his friends before his big move to New York. It worked for the most part and before he knew it, he was settled in his dorm and on his way to his first official class as a freshmen at Juilliard.

The day passed in a blur of introductions and syllabi being handed out. It was all a bit overwhelming but Blaine didn't complain - he knew it would be hard pursuing a double-major, especially at a school as prestigious as this, so he came prepared. Years of private school education had taught him to always read a few chapters in advance to the actual lessons and to never postpone any important work until the last minute but rather taking care of it in advance to the actual due date and therefore earning some extra-credit. So he wasn't too overwhelmed by the whole thing (at least that's what he told himself).

However one good side effect of all the new impressions he was being exposed to was that Blaine completely forgot about the mystery dancer and the possibility he might run into him again - now that they were going to the same school - until it actually did happened:

He had just grabbed some lunch in the cafeteria and settled at a desk with some of the other freshmen, he was easily becoming acquainted to, when he walked in...

The first day of Kurt's sophomore year didn't start out extraordinarily, except maybe for the fact that he was probably the only not-freshmen present in the school before noon. The morning was fully reserved for all the freshmen introductions meaning that all other student's lessons didn't start until after lunch hour - they took this last opportunity before the start of another school year to get some more sleep.

All except for Kurt who was up-and-about at seven o'clock sharp (as usual) and took the opportunity to quickly make his way to Central Park for one of his early morning runs which were normally only intended for the weekends. Running gave him the opportunity to clear his head and take a little distance from his busily scheduled life - not that he didn't love it, but it did become a little overwhelming at times - however while jogging through the park when it was only him and the rhythmic beat of his feet, to the music he was currently listening to, he felt free.

But much as he might have wanted to, he couldn't run forever, couldn't just ignore all his responsibilities and let down all the people who were counting on him. So after an hour and a half, he made his way back to Juilliard - stopping for coffee on the way - to go to his usual training room (which he knew would be empty by now) and run through some of the exercises which Claude had told him to pursue over the summer.

After two hours of routine training Kurt decided to take a quick break to get some lunch in the cafeteria. He grabbed his bag and tried to - unobtrusively - make his way to the cafeteria. Thankfully, the hallways were nearly empty (the freshmen were probably all having lunch and all the older students wouldn't get here 'til afternoon) so he didn't run into too many people, except for the one or 'nother faculty member who just smiled at him and otherwise let him continue in his path.

However he hadn't anticipated the reaction he would get when entering the cafeteria...

They are FRESHMEN for God's sake! They got here about five minutes ago. How is it even POSSIBLE that they all ALREADY know who Kurt is!? Was it written across his forehead or something?

The reaction was immediate:

Blaine was currently eating his club sandwich and listening to Isabelle - a music major, who was recounting the one time she participated in a concert at the White House - when she suddenly stopped talking. In fact all the other conversations seemed to have stopped, too, and the entire cafeteria became eerily quiet. Confused as to what was going on, Blaine lifted his gaze up from his food and was about to ask what happened and realized quickly that everybody was intently staring at the main entrance door.

He followed their sights and saw that the beautiful dancer was standing there, however looking a little wide-eyed with everybody staring at him. Although he couldn't quite believe his luck to have rediscovered the subject of his dreams (without even really meaning to). The whole scene did seem quite odd to him.

What is all this about, anyway? Did he do something embarrassing or what?

After a few seconds of hesitation the male seemed to have recovered from his initial shock: He strengthened the back of his shoulders and quickly adjusted his posture, before he began making his way with strong and sure strides to the middle of the room, where the food counters were located. Giving Blaine the opportunity to admire his dress-ensemble: He was wearing a pair of loose-fitting dark grey sweatpants combined with a navy hoodie, which was hugging his chest in just the right way and managed to underline his pale skin tone without making him look sick. His hair coiffed to perfection (just like the last time when Blaine had seen him).

Just as he was about to lose himself in starring at this beautiful creature, he realized at once that he was staring - again - and that the cafeteria wasn't so quiet anymore, in fact it seemed that now everybody was having their own intense discussion about what seemed to be going on. Every now and then somebody would pause while speaking and chance a glance over at the dancer who was currently occupied with making himself a salad at the provided bar and didn't seem to pay any mind to all the commotion he had caused. Blaine couldn't help but wonder - for what already felt like the millionth time: Who is this guy?

The sudden lack of conversation around him and all the disbelieving stares he was now receiving made Blaine realize that he had actually voiced that last thought.

Isabelle was the first to break the awkwardness.

"Wait a minute! You want to tell me you honestly don't know who that is?! ", she almost shouted in Blaine's direction.

Blaine gulped at her sudden fierceness and then went to answer her question:

"... yes? I mean I saw him here when I toured the campus during summer and he gave me some directions, but other than that - no. "

Again his answer was met by silence, until:

"OH MY GOD! Are you telling us that you actually talked to him?! "

"Well, briefly yes but-" Blaine's answer was cut short when suddenly he was bombarded with questions from all sides:

"What did you talk about? "

"Was he nice? "

"Is he really as stunning up close as everybody says? "

Blaine quickly gave up on trying to get a word in as everybody was now talking at the same time and asking him questions about the mystery guy he had only met once and who had barely talked to him.

Only his dorm roommate Josh, who could apparently see the distress written across his face, took pity on him by silencing them:

"Hey! Guys come on... STOP! " That seemed to do the trick, as now everybody was once again shocked into silence.

The first to cover from this was Kate - a confident little blonde Blaine had met during his Freshmen First Class - and she didn't miss a beat before quickly lashing out at Josh for interrupting them.

"What?! ", came her rather unpleasant shriek.

"What? Honestly? Look at poor Blaine over there! You totally overwhelmed him with all your questions. He doesn't even seem to know what we're talking about, exactly", Josh replied coolly, followed by a (not-so-subtle) eye-motion towards Blaine at the end, to get them to look at him - like really look. They followed Josh's indication and stared at Blaine for a few seconds. After they had obviously seen what he was referring to, understanding seemed to dawn in their expressions.

Isabelle was the first to try and speak to Blaine again - her tone of voice now noticeably softer than before:

"OK, just so that we are all at the same page here - you met the guy over there before? " While saying this she pointed - unnecessarily - towards the salad bar where he was still occupied with putting together his lunch.

All Blaine did in return was nod, so she continued:

"But you don't know who he is? "

Another nod, followed by a short explanation after which he - again - received a bunch of disbelieving stares.

"He just gave me some directions and then he rushed out the door... - didn't even tell me his name", he mumbled that last part rather to himself but they still heard it.

"His name is Kurt Hummel", Kate decided to throw in, although the tone with which she said it made Blaine draw his eyebrows together in thought.

Kurt Hummel - he said the name out loud in his mind - it was beautiful and so fitting. It wasn't really a common name but then again he didn't seem like a common person either. He was exceptionally beautiful and talented (as far as Blaine's judgment went). And now Blaine finally had a name for this extraordinary creature that had been in his dreams since the day they met. But why did it feel like that name should ring a bell in Blaine's brain? Had he heard it before? Was it famous or something? Why did it sound so familiar?

Again his brain-to-mouth-filter didn't seem to be working today, as his (originally meant to be silent) question was quickly answered by another high shriek coming from Kate (If she would continue to be this loud he would have to invest in some earplugs or risk going deaf, he thought sarcastically. Thankfully he didn't voice that or - for all he knew - she might have tried to attack him.)

"OF COURSE IT SOUNDS FAMILIAR! Nobody can get into Juilliard without having heard the name Kurt Hummel before! "

"Are you going to tell me why I should know him or not?! ", Blaine asked with a slight hint a sarcasm lacing into his voice. Kate let out a frustrated huff before continuing.

"Kurt Hummel is only the single most talented student to ever walk the halls of Juilliard. He is one in a million - the perfect combination of body, talent, charisma and - most important of them all - tenacity. That's why he got the ONE full scholarship that this school offers. He taught himself up until last year when he started here. He redefined the ballet: His routines are all self-made and usually never what you would expect. He has private lessons with a French ballet luminary, who is only at this school because of him. But he never misses any of the mandatory classes either. He's a prodigy - his GPA is perfect and he is by far the most promising student Juilliard has ever seen - HE IS JUILLIARD. You can't tell me you've never heard of him! "

Of course Blaine had heard of him before, well he had read about him. Every person involved with the arts knew the story of the orphaned ballet dancer who - besides never having been trained - managed to get into the most prestigious dance school in the country. The teachers said that he had more talent in his feet than any other student at Juilliard in their entire bodies. And his fashion sense is already legendary - Blaine certainly couldn't argue with that, even if he only saw him twice, briefly. Besides that Kurt was also said to be a true inspiration for today's youth because - even though companies basically fight over him - he's turned down every offer, saying he wants to get his degree first.

Blaine finally had a name for the beautiful man - the dancer he met during summer and found himself rapidly falling in love with ever since - along with more information than he could have ever hoped for without actually talking to him. But now he also knew for certain that the object of his desire was completely out of his reach.

The only remaining question now was: Would Blaine let that stop him or not?