Chapter 2

Kurt was struggling to keep his hands from shaking, as he ascended the steps to the front door of Blaine’s house. The pink carnation he brought for Blaine – identical to the one already in the lapel of his own jacket – was continuously hitting the walls of its translucent plastic box. The trembling had to stop. Still, this was Kurt’s first sort-of date ever. His first dance ever. The first time he actually had a plus one. And that plus one was the boy he loved with all his heart, soul, body… with all his being. The same boy that could easily freak out because of the experience with dances that he had.

Kurt grasped the box with both his hands and sucked in a very long calming breath. It’s going to be fine. Don’t overanalyze anything. Don’t act like it’s a date. It’s all going to be just fine.

He rang the doorbell.

Not twenty seconds later he was greeted by Aileen’s joyful grin and appreciative look.

‘Hey, Kurt, you look absolutely stunning! Come on in, Blaine’s putting the finishing touches on his hair, I suppose.’

For the first time, Kurt stopped uncertainly in the hall. Normally, he’d go on to Blaine’s room or the kitchen without a trace of reservedness. But tonight he wasn’t even sure his legs could carry him that far. They very much resembled jelly. Suddenly, he realized his fingers dug so fiercely into the box in his hand that the plastic bent under the pressure.

‘Come on, sit down, it might take a while,’ Aileen said, motioning him into the living room and practically pushing him down to the sofa. ‘Nervous?’

Kurt glanced quickly at her, uneasy,

‘A little. I’ve never really been to a dance before,’ he mumbled. ‘I never had anyone to ask to one, until-‘

His voice trailed off. He felt like he was telling her too much. Aileen didn’t have to get pulled into his unrequited love story. Especially being the aunt of the one he was unhappily in love with.

Aileen fought a smile creeping onto her lips, and patted Kurt lightly on the shoulder.

‘It’s all gonna be fine, you’ll see.’

Footsteps sounded in the hall, making Kurt jump to his feet. Blaine entered the room with an air of uncertainty and nervousness.

Kurt’s heart skipped a beat, and so did Blaine’s. They were so consumed by their own feelings, neither noticed the look of unconditional love and absolute admiration the other was giving him. Aileen felt a little like an intruder, so she let them stay in this state of amazement for a moment, until they remembered they were supposed to be leaving.

‘Um- I brought your boutonniere,’ Kurt mumbled finally, opening the little box and taking the simple flower out.

His fingers trembled a little, as he fixed it to Blaine’s lapel, but his friend was too overwhelmed by Kurt’s closeness that longed for too much to take the task over from him.

‘Pink carnation? Does it have a meaning?,’ Blaine asked quietly.

Aileen decided it was high time for her to leave the room, under the guise of looking for her camera.

‘Um- Apparently, it means “I’ll always be there for you”,’ Kurt replied. He went for the flower that was delicate and toned down, as well as one that didn’t scream I love you. He found the meaning behind the carnation fitting and he could tell Blaine exactly what it was.

Blaine’s lips pulled up at the corners. His heart was literally melting in his chest, right under Kurt’s fingers, until suddenly they were gone. Blaine was barely able to stop himself from catching them and holding them against his heart for just a minute longer.

Aileen tiptoed back into the room, holding the camera tightly in her hands. The boys didn’t notice her, but continued staring at each other with no more than a few inches between their faces. It could easily be taken for the moment at a wedding ceremony, when the newlyweds are told they can kiss. She snapped a quick photo without the flash. They didn’t have to know it existed, at least for now.

‘Guys, photo time!,’ she said cheerily, jerking them out of their bubble.

***

‘What happened to the kilt?,’ Blaine asked, trying to outscream the music.

Kurt took a sip of his punch and shrugged.

‘I decided I won’t be deluding myself that Ohio has been cured of homophobia,’ he said with a slight cringe, ‘or lack of appreciation for McQueen.

Blaine nodded sadly; Kurt was probably right. Neither of them would choose to be anything less than they wanted to be, if only someone could guarantee they had nothing to fear. It was true that Puck had offered to act as their bodyguard for the night, and was assured they would seek his help if it became necessary. But who would stand up for them in a moment like this, with Puck on stage, rocking out to Friday with Artie and Sam? Finn was off somewhere, probably casting murderous glances at Jessie, so there wasn’t much hope in him.

Still, so far, no bodyguard was needed. Nobody even looked twice at them, because the sight of them together was so common, nobody really cared anymore. Most of the McKinley student body were wondering why they had never seen their sole gay couple holding hands in the hallways and assumed it was because of the Karofsky case whose details were already long forgotten. However, they seemed to have learnt the lesson that Dave’s death provided.

The New Directions were at their best, their performances were the highlight of the dance – whether the rest of the students wanted to admit it or not. The gym floor was swarming all the time, no matter if the song was upbeat or slow and mellow. Kurt and Blaine were almost constantly in the crowd, dragged out by one of the girls or simply by one another.

Whenever they weren’t dancing, they were most likely to be catching a breath or preparing to perform. Within two hours since entering the gym, they were both seriously wondering how they were still able to stand.

The dance was slowly passing its apex, when Mercedes and Rachel found the boys in the middle of the dance floor. They were almost out of breath and their pleading eyes turned to Kurt.

‘Houston, we’ve got a problem,’ Mercedes shouted over the music.

‘Why?!,’ Kurt and Blaine asked in unison.

‘Figgins just told us that the vote counting is taking a little longer than they expected, and we have to pull out our back-up stuff,’ Rachel said.

Kurt’s eyes widened, as he turned to Mercedes and shook his head violently. It was never his idea to propose their version of 4 Minutes as a song for prom. Mercedes insisted to rehearse it a couple of times and list it as a possible number to be performed if they run out of other songs. But the sole idea of performing that song with that choreography (Mercedes was quite sure they couldn’t just stand around while singing), with Blaine right there in the crowd, was mortifying and utterly paralyzing, and he hoped he wouldn’t be forced to do it.

‘Are there no other back-up songs?,’ he yelled back at the girls.

They shook their heads, each wearing a puppy dog expression.

‘Go, Kurt, you’re gonna be great!,’ Blaine said, leaning to his ear.

Kurt shivered at the unexpected closeness. It was unbearably pleasant and unnerving at the same time. He was trying to think clearly, but that was impossible with the rising stage fright, the fear of embarrassing himself in front of Blaine, and his best friend’s body still touching his own down the side.

It had been a year since Kurt left the Cheerios after winning the national championship, and Blaine hadn’t stopped regretting never having the chance to see him in action. The famous performance of 4 Minutes was something he wished he had seen most of all, especially since Rachel had told him in details how amazing and how sexy Kurt was in it, just a couple of weeks before the dance.

‘Come on, Kurt, please,’ Mercedes said. ‘We’re gonna rock this party.’

Reluctantly, he nodded, giving in to her enthusiasm and pleading. She was already grabbing his hand and pulling him across the gym towards the stage.

Santana and Brittany cleared the stage for them, when they finished singing a Britney song, and Kurt ascended the little podium with Mercedes. He was barely able to keep himself from shaking. His eyes scanned the crowd, but he couldn’t make out Blaine anywhere. The music started and some of his nerves went away as the sounds sucked him in.

Soon enough there was nothing more but the music, the words he was singing, Mercedes’ voice as she responded to his lines with hers, and that choreography they’d first learnt right after joining the Cheerios the year before.

From the moment the first note rang throughout the gym, Blaine’s gaze was transfixed on Kurt. He followed Rachel blindly, as she dragged him through the dance floor packed with their peers. He was constantly bumping into someone along the way, but he didn’t even notice it. All he could see was that beautiful, angel-like and ridiculously sexy boy on the stage. His best friend in the whole wide world, his rock, his sun, and – he was quite sure of it by now – the love of his life.

Blaine couldn’t see the satisfied smile on Rachel’s face, when she was watching him watching Kurt. Poor Mercedes was perfectly unaware Rachel used her eagerness to let Blaine see this, but she was pretty convinced the other girl wouldn’t have minded. Not when it had the purpose of helping Kurt find the happiness he deserved. And even if it let him be happy just for this one night, it was still worth the effort.

And getting Blaine to be this mesmerized should make Kurt happy.

The song finished way too quickly, at least for Blaine. Kurt sighed with relief as he took the microphone off his head. A second later he held his breath.

Somehow, all of a sudden, Blaine was right there, at the foot of the stage, his eyes glued to Kurt with a weird expression. It was close to the way he usually looked at him, but there seemed to be a greater intensity, a sort of amazement to it. And for some reason, probably because of the poor lighting, Blaine’s eyes seemed darker than usually.

When he noticed Kurt was staring back at him, he shifted uneasily, trying to smile and failing. He leaned on one of the huge speakers, as Kurt approached him.

‘I said you were gonna be great!,’ he yelled, not daring to move. There was no way in hell he was going to let his best friend know how turned on he was right now. Turned on by said best friend.

‘Was I?,’ Kurt asked, not quite convinced.

‘You were,’ Blaine sent him a small smile and looked away. He really had to stop staring at Kurt if he ever wanted to quit hugging that damn speaker.

***

It took another back-up song – an impromptu solo by Rachel, of course – to finish counting the votes for prom royalty and for Blaine to cool off. The nominees were called to the stage, and all of them appeared with wide smiles on their faces. All apart from Finn, who’d been escorted out of the gym for getting into a fight with Jessie, and Quinn, who was still deeply hurt that her boyfriend was hung up on his ex. She was pouting and didn’t even try to hide it.

As Figgins began reading out the names of the nominees, Blaine backed away from the stage, joining Kurt a few metres to the left. There was a sad look on Kurt’s face that worried Blaine. He wished he could just wipe it away.

‘What’s wrong?,’ he asked quietly.

Kurt responded with a shake of his head and fixed his gaze firmly on the stage. He’d made a fool out of himself, just the way he feared he would. And Blaine simply didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Obviously, he was a great friend, he wouldn’t want Kurt to suffer. Still, somehow that didn’t comfort Kurt at all.

‘Seriously, Kurt, tell me,’ Blaine said, taking another step in his direction, leaving less than a foot of space between their faces.

Kurt rolled his eyes in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

‘You can tell me you didn’t like the performance, I’m not going to be mad,’ he said. ‘Actually, it’d be better if you told me how much I sucked.’

Blaine frowned; so Kurt thought he didn’t like the performance? Was he serious? Those were probably some of the best less than four minutes in his life, just getting to listen to and watch the most amazing human being that ever graced this earth. They were simultaneously some of the most mortifying moments of his existence, but Kurt didn’t have to ever find out about that.

‘Are you kidding?,’ Blaine asked finally. ‘I loved it. You were flawless and hot, and really amazing…’

He figured he was rambling and probably saying a little too much, so he stopped.

Kurt was staring at him with his mouth slightly open. They were so wrapped up in their little piece of the gym, they didn’t even notice when Figgins read out Quinn and Finn’s names, expressing his deepest regret that the king couldn’t be crowned.

‘You thought I was- hot?,’ Kurt choked out.

Blaine hoped Kurt wouldn’t notice the blush that no doubt was just blooming on his face.

‘I did. Objectively, of course,’ he added, not daring to risk anything.

Relief washed over Kurt, but the remark about him being hot confused him a little. Blaine had never told him that before. Kurt wished he could read anything into it, but wouldn’t dare overthink it, so he pushed it to the back of his mind.

For a moment they watched the lonely prom queen walk down from the stage, just to be intercepted by half of the Glee club. Quinn’s face lit up just as Santana and Mercedes started singing Dancing Queen.

In a spur of the moment, Blaine turned to face Kurt.

‘May I have this dance?,’ he asked.

Kurt’s eyes bulged. ‘What?’

‘I’m your date, so I have a right to at least this one slow dance,’ Blaine said, marveled at how perfectly steady and casual his voice sounded. ‘May I have this dance then?’

‘You may,’ Kurt answered, his face glowing like Christmas lights.

Being so close wasn’t a novelty. The circumstances, on the other hand, were entirely new. They held each other quite firmly, both worried their knees could give in any moment. Neither was aware how much his thoughts and sensations mirrored the other’s. Both carefully controlled how much of their bodies touched, in fear that too much contact would result in a reaction they’d be embarrassed of. Blaine definitely did not want another one of those tonight.

‘Thanks for improving my high school dances experience,’ Blaine said, as the song was drawing to a close.

‘Thanks for making mine a good one,’ Kurt replied, nuzzling his face into Blaine’s shoulder and hugging his friend more closely.

‘You’re welcome.’

‘So are you.’