Blaine nervously adjusted his bowtie in the mirror for the fifth time.
“Dude, stop worrying already. I know that you're, ya know, gay and all that, but that doesn't mean you have to dress yourself for hours, ya know? That's just a stereotype.”
Blaine walked over to where Sam was playing video games on the couch.
“I know, I'm just nervous. I mean, I told you what he said when we met for coffee. He was a total...I don't know!”
“Asshat?” Sam offered.
“Well, I mean he wasn't nice! And I sincerely tried, ya know! I want to make this marriage work. I want to have kids someday and stuff, and I don't want them to have to come home to two bickering dads everyday. Is that too much to ask?”
Sam didn't even look up from the television.
“In an arranged marriage, yes.”
“Sam! You're not helping me!”
“I'm sorry man, what is it you wanted help with?”
“With my outfit, Sam!” Blaine spun around a little. “Do I look okay? It doesn't look like I tried to hard, does it?”
“Ay ay ay, alright dwarf, you're driving me insane.” Santana appears from the kitchen holding a bottle of water, swishing some water in her mouth. “You'll be fine. I mean, he has to marry you no matter what, right? And let's just face it, you're never gonna match Kurt Hummel's style.”
“Santana,” Sam said in a warning voice.
“What? Don't get me wrong, I mean, I hate lady Hummel just as much as the next person, but let's face it, he dresses for the runway everyday. And you dress like you came out of Pleasantville. So why don't you just get your nice ass over to that apartment and fail already like we all know you're going to?”
“Dude!” Sam exclaimed, “why do you always have to be so rude! Blaine's just trying to make a good impression.”
“No, Sam. She's right.” Santana gave Sam an ‘I told you so' look.
“I probably will fail, this time,” Blaine continued. “But I'm gonna win him over.”
“Oh Blaine,” Sam sighed.
“No, I promise, I am going to get Kurt Hummel to fall in love with me. Come what may, if there's hell to pay. We're going to be husbands, and he's going to be happy about it. We both are. You just wait and see!”
And with those words, Blaine ran out the door and skipped merrily down the hallway.
Back in the apartment, Sam turned to Santana.
“Kurt's gonna eat him alive, isn't he?”
“Yep.”

Kurt hesitantly answered the knock on the door. He wasn't looking forward to this date with Blaine. I mean, sure, their coffee date the other day had gone slightly better than expected. But Blaine was still the annoying kid from glee club. Right?
And he was also technically his fiance.
Kurt sighed to himself and answered the door.
“Hey there!” Blaine popped out from behind a bouquet of daffodils.
“Oh, why hello!” Kurt replied, a little surprised by Blaine's gesture.
“I, uh, hope this isn't too forward or anything.”
“Uh, no, not at all. W-why don't you come in?” Damn, had Blaine always looked that cute? Kurt used to think that his bowtie wearing habit was a little silly, but now it was almost endearing. Blaine's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
“You should probably put these in some water.”
“Right!” Come on, get a grip on yourself, Hummel. Kurt grabbed the flowers and picked a vase from under the cupboard to put them in. Blaine started walking around the loft.
“So, this is our place, huh?”
“Yeah, try not to break anything, alright?”
Kurt knew he was purposefully being a little rude and standoffish tonight, but he couldn't help it. He had major trust issues for one, and for two, Blaine still irked him, despite their coffee date from the other day.
Blaine stops in front of the dark stained mahogany bookshelf tucked in the corner of the loft. It's the only part of the apartment that can be considered messy. The shelves were overstuffed with every issue of Vogue since 1980, every possible book of Broadway sheet music, and biographies of every famous Broadway actor or actress, fashion icon, or quirky tv show host. Blaine chuckled when he saw the collection of books on Patti LuPone.
“What's so funny?” Kurt asked as he came up behind Blaine.
“Oh, nothing.” Blaine turned around to look at Kurt. “I was just admiring your book collection.”
Kurt narrows his eyes.
“I see nothing wrong with reading about the people you aspire to be like.”
“I never said there was anything wrong, Kurt.”
“Oh, please, Blaine. I can tell when someone's making fun of me.”
“I wasn't!...I swear I ju…”
“Save it.” Kurt stomps off to the coat rack to grab his coat. “Come on, if we don't leave soon we'll be late for our reservation.”
“W-we have a reservation?”
Kurt scoffs.
“Of course we have a reservation. You didn't think I'd just take you to Pizza Hut or something, did you?”
Blaine grabs his coat. The one he didn't realize that he took off until now.
“Uh, no, I j-just…”
Kurt interjects dryly. “You know, I'm really getting tired of your st-stuttering and your little act that you have going on.”
“Act? What act?”
“That preppy school boy act you have- the one where you pretend to be so innocent and dapper. I know what you really are, Anderson. Now come on, let's go.”
Kurt took Blaine's hand and dragged him out of the apartment. They enjoyed an angrily silent walk to the subway station. When Kurt got off at a very posh looking Italian place, Blaine couldn't help but blush a little at the thought of Kurt actually trying for him.
“Wow Kurt, this place looks really nice, a-and busy and stuff. How did you even get a reservation here? This must've been so much work.”
“Oh, don't flatter yourself. This is just as much for me as it is for you. And it wasn't. I have a few friends in the culinary scene. They owed me one.” Kurt takes a hold of Blaine's hand once again. Blaine feels tingles and a slight rush of excitement.
“Come on, let's go inside.”
They started their dinner mostly in silence. Blaine tried to interrupt the awkwardness of the silence with a few interjections of stilted comments. The comments were supposed to be open ended, but Kurt never took the bait. Blaine observed that Kurt really only talked a lot when it was something that he wanted to talk about.
“So, I was thinking about our names.”
“What? What about them?” Kurt wasn't even trying to sound interested. He didn't look up from his plate when he responded.
“Well, you know, people usually change them when they get married.”
At this, Kurt looked up at Blaine, scowling and squinting deeply.
“No.”
“I didn't say…”
“No. Absolutely not. I am not changing my name for you. We barely know each other and I don't like you, and I'm not changing my name just to follow some stupid old tradition that doesn't even make sense anymore.”
Blaine made sure to word his next sentences carefully, as to not make Kurt more upset.
“Kurt, look, I don't want you to be upset at me. I don't want to get into a fight. I just want you to understand that I don't care about that stuff either. I don't want you to change your name. I don't want to change my name. I just thought that we should talk about it.”
“Well, we talked about it. Now we're moving on.”
Blaine sighed.
“Okay.”
This whole wooing thing was way harder than he thought it would be.
“So, um, what do you do, you know, for a living?”
Kurt was looking at his linguine and not at Blaine when he rolled his eyes, but Blaine could still see it from his seat across the small square table.
“I work on Broadway. I actually just auditioned for a huge show. It's about a gay lawyer who pretends to be straight.”
“Oh my gosh! The one with the songs by Elton John! Yes, I've heard about that one! That show is gonna be amazing!”
Kurt actually manages to drag his gaze from his food to meet Blaine's eyes.
“You're really into that stuff? Broadway?”
“OF COURSE! I totally would've gone into show business if I hadn't started my band, you know? I love show tunes! And Broadway! I can't believe you auditioned for that! You would make an amazing Elton John.”
Kurt was a little speechless for a few seconds. He asked in a low voice.
“You really think that?”
Blaine realized how overeager he had gotten, and tried to backtrack a little.
“Well, I mean, you are pretty talented. I think you could do it.”
Kurt's cheeks turned a lovely color of light pink, and his eyes went everywhere except for Blaine's face. He spoke in what could almost be called a timid voice. Blaine had to struggle to hear it over the noise of the restaurant.
“You know, you're the only person so far who has said that. That I could actually get the part, that I could actually be good. Even Rachel, my own best friend, said she thought I wasn't good enough, that I was too green for it.” Kurt looked up at Blaine, and Blaine saw that his eyes were a stunning blue, shining with unshed tears welling up at the corners.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
Blaine, without even hesitating to think twice, took one of Kurt's hands gently and cupped it in both of his hands. He ran his fingers over the knuckles in a soothing, comforting way.
He looked into Kurt's eyes with serious concentration. His mother had once told him that you can tell people's true emotions when you look into their eyes. When he looked into Kurt's now, he saw determination, loneliness, and most surprisingly, fear.
“Kurt, you don't have to thank me for believing in you. You will never have to thank me, because I will always believe in you. And I'm not just saying this. I truly believe you are so talented, Kurt. I know that you are going to be amazing someday. Hell, you're amazing now. But someday people are going to see how wonderful you really are. And I can't wait for that day, because I'll be there with you, holding your hand, saying ‘I told you so.' I could never stop believing in you.”
Kurt didn't understand. He was confused. For so long Blaine had been his enemy. But why was he so kind now, so good and so caring? Why did it affect Kurt so much to hear Blaine say those things when he knew they were lies. Right? They had to be lies. Blaine was a liar. But Kurt wanted to believe those lies, because he hadn't had anyone who believed in him for a really long time.
Sure, he had people- teachers at NYADA, colleagues on other shows- who had told him that he was talented. But no one had ever believed in him as a person. And even though Kurt knew that Blaine didn't mean that, at least not really, he let himself believe. He believed the lie.
Kurt cleared his throat.
“Well, um, thank you for saying all of those kind things. I-I'm sure I'll have nice things to say too after I see your band perform.”
“Yeah, let's go.” Kurt paid for dinner, his treat this time, and they walked to the club together.

They got to the club with five minutes to spare before the band's set began.
“Well, this is a picture I never thought I'd see.” Blaine knew Santana was going to remark on his tardiness before he even walked in the door.
“Blaine, late to a performance, because of a guy. But not just any guy. Because of Lady Porcelain, of all people. And Kurt, I'm surprised to see you with someone who doesn't have a soul made out of the tears of children and unending sorrow.” Santana feigns shock as she puts on hand over her mouth. “Oh wait,that's right. You're only together because you're forced to get married now. Ooh, sorry! Must suck to be saddled to someone you hate.”
He was about to say something, but surprisingly it was Kurt who interjected first.
“You know Santana, I would feel sorry for myself, but instead I feel sorry for you. If I recall correctly, didn't Brittney break up with you, to date Sam? Oh, must have hurt to have your lesbian girlfriend to dump you, only to find out that she's not actually a lesbian.”
“Alright, you know what Hummel…”
“Okay, come on guys. We're here to play and have a good show tonight, okay?” Tina finally got up and said something when she couldn't stand their bickering anymore.
“You guys fight like old hags, it's annoying alright? Plus, aren't you two supposed to be friends now?”
Santana spread her arms out in a gesture of exasperation.
“We are friends now. This is how I treat my friends. Right Lady Hummel?”
“It's true, this is as good as it's gonna get with Santana.”
“Alright guys,” Sam comes in to the back room where they were and claps his hands.
“Showtime! Who's excited?”
Kurt turns to Blaine.
“Well, I'm gonna go take my seat.”
“Okay.”
“Hey,” Kurt says, looking deeply into Blaine's eyes.
“What?”
“Good luck out there. I mean it. Break a leg.” With that he stalks out of the room. Blaine can't help but feel the tingles he felt earlier returning.
The show went really well. Blaine was so pleased. There was actually a very good turnout at the club, despite having almost no press. The crowd loved them. They gave them an encore. After the show, he found Kurt.
“So, what did you think?”
“Um... it was good. Really good.”
Kurt was nodding his head in that slow, hesitant way that made Blaine unsure of whether he should believe him or not. Truth be told, Kurt was trying to hide how he was feeling. Their band had been really good. But seeing Blaine up there, performing and singing his heart out, well it gave Kurt a flood of emotions that he wouldn't care to admit to anyone.
They walked to the loft together. When Blaine was about to say goodnight, Kurt said something.
“Hey Blaine.”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for being so nice to me tonight. You didn't have to be, and I just wanted to thank you. So thanks.” He gives Blaine a small smile, which Blaine graciously returns.
“I'll see you next week, Kurt.”