After the incident with Mercedes, the brick, and Kurt's windshield earlier, Kurt had ended up having to call his father, who'd not been happy. Kurt figured it'd be safer to say it had been bullies who'd done this to his baby, although he wasn't too sure why he was defending the girl he'd thought was his friend but turned out not to be. Perhaps it was because she, unlike many others, had not automatically assumed things about him without asking if those assumptions were true.

It was mainly one assumption, though, that people liked to make – that Kurt was gay. And yes, it was true, he was actually gay. He just wasn't officially out yet. And for good reason, in a town like Lima.

So Mercedes hadn't thought of the possibility of him being gay, and had, instead, started crushing on him. Kurt had no idea how to deal with that (girls simply did not crush on him as a general rule) and now his friend (as he still thought of her that way, for now at least) thought he was in love with Rachel, of all people. Rachel Berry, the girl who wore animal sweaters and was so full of herself that it was hard to be in the same room as her because her ego took up most of the space – the girl with, incidentally, two gay dads.

No, definitely not. Kurt's heart belonged to Finn Hudson, a boy who was both straight and a football player, who cheated off Brittany on tests, and was, in truth, a homophobe and a bully. Kurt sure knew how to pick them.

But the point was, Mercedes apparently liked him, liked him, and had destroyed Kurt's windshield when he told her that he didn't like her like that. They had planned to go to the Sound of Music sing-a-long together (just as friends, but it seemed Mercedes had not understood that properly), but now, Kurt had a spare ticket. He didn't mind going to the show all alone (he'd done that for several years now) but he was kind of bummed about the fact that he'd paid for two tickets, but would only be using one. Maybe he could get a refund in the theatre, though.

Since he couldn't drive himself as his father couldn't fix a broken windshield that quickly (and also because his father had actually taken the car away anyway after finding Kurt's tiaras), he had had to ask his dad to drive him to the theatre, something he was willing to do, much to Kurt's relief. He suspected that it might have something to do with his late mother's love for the musical, but he chose not to question it.

When he arrived at the movie theatre, there weren't a lot of people there yet. A couple of people stood in line for the register, and Kurt frowned. He'd forgotten for a moment about the fact that the theatre was never completely full. Either way, he figured he'd just get in line and see if there was anything they could do for him.

As he soon found out, the ticket was not refundable. Kurt was in half a mind to call Mercedes and demand that she come here anyway, but then, he remembered why she wasn't here in the first place and that she was mad at him as well, not just the other way around.

"Are you okay?" It seemed like someone had noticed the sour look on his face. Well… not just someone, Kurt noted. A rather handsome boy who seemed to be around Kurt's age. "Are they sold out?"

Trying to look a little more cheerful for this beautiful stranger's sake, Kurt replied, "No, there are still tickets. It's just that the friend I was coming with is mad at me, and her ticket was non-refundable."

He shrugged, and almost turned to walk away hen the boy said, "I could give you the money for that, if you want?"

Kurt looked back at the boy. Seriously? "You'd have to sit next to me the entire time, though."

The boy just smiled. "No offence, but I'd rather sit with you than a bunch of old people or a group of little kids."

"And you're really here for the Sound of Music sing-a-long?" Kurt asked, just to make sure.

The boy nodded. "Yes, I am," he replied cheerfully. "I actually sing along every time I watch it, and it drives my friends crazy. So when they found out about this, they pretty much forced me to go."

Well. This boy was almost too good to be true. "You're a singer?" Kurt asked. "A good one, I mean? Or at least a decent one?" He didn't want his ears to suffer tonight because the person next to him couldn't hold a tune.

"I'm in my school's show choir," the boy offered. "So yeah, I suppose I sing decently enough."

"You're in a Glee club?" Kurt asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "Which one?"

"We're called the Warblers," the boy replied. "Which reminds me, my name's Blaine."

"Never heard of them," Kurt mused. "And I'm Kurt. I'm in my school's Glee club as well, but we just started less than a month ago."

Blaine chuckled at that. "So did I pass? Am I allowed to join you?"

"Oh, right, of course," Kurt said, taking out the tickets. "Have you got the money?"

"Right here," Blaine replied, handing it to him before skipping (yes, skipping) over to where the sing-a-long would take place. Shaking his head just a little, Kurt followed him.

When they'd found their seats, Blaine said, "I don't want to assume, but… are you gay?"

Kurt eyed him suspiciously. At least this one didn't want to assume. Still, by asking that question, he kind of had assumed. "Why do you ask?"

Grinning, Blaine gestured around. "I'm not sure if there are many straight guys around our age attending a Sound of Music sing-a-long willingly."

"So... are you?" Kurt asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"What?" Blaine asked. "Straight? No. Gay? Yes."

Kurt stared at him for a moment. This boy was really comfortable enough with himself to tell a complete stranger he was gay (even if he already thought Kurt might be gay too)? Why, then, was it so hard for Kurt to come out?

"Me too," he muttered, strongly fixating on the stage for a moment. "You're the first person who knows. Well, I guess everyone else knows too, but I've never told any of them. They just strongly suspect it. You're the first person I've told."

Blaine looked at him curiously. "You're not out?"

Kurt let out a mirthless chuckle. "No, I'm not. Not officially, at least, though the fact that most people already know makes me wonder if I even have to bother with coming out anymore. That's what made my friend – the one I was supposed to come here with – angry at me in the first place. She somehow didn't pick up on my obvious gayness and developed a crush on me."

"What did you tell her?" Blaine asked, clearly curious about the rest of the story.

"That I'm in love with someone else," Kurt replied automatically. He started to wonder, however, how real those feelings he had for Finn actually were. Yes, he liked the boy, but love? That seemed a bit too much, didn't it? Especially considering the fact that he'd first fallen for the taller boy because he'd tried to half-heartedly stop his best friend from bullying Kurt.

"Oh. Really?" Blaine didn't seem very impressed, if the stony look on his face was any indication.

"I don't know," Kurt confessed. "I'm not sure." For some reason, he felt so comforted by the idea that Blaine was just like him, another gay kid in small town Ohio, that it didn't matter that they didn't even know each other. "Before I joined Glee a few weeks ago, no one at school acknowledged me. Though, I suppose I should say there were some people who acknowledged me, but they were bullies and just threw me around and slusheed me and everything. There's one guy who was kind of nice – or rather, not so mean – and I guess I kind of like him."

"You deserve better than that, Kurt," Blaine told him quietly, his face having relaxed now. "I'm guessing this guy hasn't shown any signs that could point towards him being gay?"

Kurt shook his head. "The head cheerleader's his girlfriend."

Blaine pulled a face, which, for some reason, made Kurt laugh a little. "So either he's so far in the closet he'll never come out, or at least not until he's forty, or he's really straight."

"Unfortunately," Kurt said, glancing sideways to the empty chairs instead of Blaine. So he wasn't quite sure what his feelings towards Finn were, exactly, but it still stung to hear those words, put so bluntly by someone he hardly knew.

"Hey, it's okay." Blaine seemed to sense what Kurt thought. "I think just about every gay person, especially our age, has been there. I know I have. At my old school – the one before Dalton – there was one guy who was still nice to me, even after I came out near the end of eighth grade. We never really spoke, but he'd sometimes smile at me in passing, and he wasn't around much when the other guys bullied me. It's… natural, I guess, or at least not weird, to develop feelings for people who are kind in a time of need." He shook his head, most likely to himself. "Of course, as soon as the guy caught wind of the fact that I liked him like that, he started avoiding me, and he stopped smiling at me. No matter how nice those people are, they're still straight and somehow pretty homophobic when confronted with a situation like that."

Kurt eyed Blaine funnily. "How do you know all those things?" he asked. "You seem so wise, yet you can't be much older than me."

He watched as Blaine smiled self-consciously, and his eyes widened as the other boy leaned towards him and asked in a low voice, "Can you keep a secret?" Kurt nodded slightly, and Blaine continued. "I'm not. I just pretend to be wise, but I'm really not."

Kurt studied him for a moment. "So it's sort of a defence mechanism?"

Nodding, Blaine replied, "I think you could call it that."

"I suppose I have some of those as well," Kurt admitted.

Blaine smiled vaguely, but didn't reply. They sat in silence for a few minutes as they watched other people pile in. "Is this a yearly event?" Blaine asked suddenly, looking back at Kurt.

"It is," Kurt confirmed. "You really didn't know about it until this year?"

Blaine hung his head in shame. "I know, I know. For a musical lover like myself, that's completely unacceptable."

"You like other musicals, too?" Kurt asked. He wasn't too sure why that was so surprising to him – after all, Blaine had already admitted to being gay, and he was here, right? Then again, the fact that Blaine didn't necessarily look gay, or give off a gay vibe (Kurt wondered if his gaydar would get better once he came out).

Blaine grinned at him. "Of course I do! I want to go to New York someday and then I'm going to watch all of them on Broadway. What about you?"

It seemed like Blaine was getting better and better, and Kurt had a hard time convincing himself that this was actually happening, and Blaine was not just a figment of his imagination. "Me too!' he gushed. "I can't wait to see Wicked, or Chicago, or West Side Story… Perhaps I'll even try to get on Broadway myself, that would be incredible…"

Blaine was grinning widely now. "You're seriously the first person I've ever met who wants to talk about things like that with me," he told Kurt. "Are you sure you're for real?"

For a while, Kurt only stared at him. When Blaine's words truly hit him, he felt himself blush. "I was just wondering the same thing about you," he responded. Oh gosh, was he flirting with Blaine? And was Blaine flirting with him? So, were they flirting? Kurt had never flirted before, with anyone, nor had he been flirted with, to his knowledge. What was he supposed to do now?

The (almost) blinding grin Blaine sent him made him forget about those worries for a bit, and he just smiled back. He wasn't sure if Blaine did it consciously or not, but the boy sitting next to him did grab his hand, and it made Kurt's heart beat pretty erratically in his chest. Before he had the time to process what was happening, the movie started, and Kurt could feel Blaine bounce up and down in his seat enthusiastically.

Feeling bold all of a sudden, he squeezed the other boy's hand lightly, earning himself a surprised look and a smile from Blaine. Kurt almost missed the beginning of the first song as he tried to make sense of the light-headedness he was feeling or the fluttering in his stomach.

Maybe he wasn't as in love with Finn as he'd previously thought.

During the first part of the movie, he realised that, when Blaine had said he was a decent singer, the boy had just been modest. Kurt was sure that Blaine could instantly become the male lead in New Directions, should he switch schools for some unfathomable reason. Kurt tried to focus on the movie, but his attention kept being diverted sideways, to Blaine. The odd thing was, he more than once caught Blaine shooting him glances too.

It made him both nervous and incredibly giddy.

When intermission came, the two boys remained seated for a bit while most other people in the audience exited the room for the time being. Before Kurt could ask, Blaine turned towards him, still beaming brightly and still holding his hand.

"This is so awesome!" he said happily. "How did I not know about this before?"

Blaine's smile was infectious, Kurt soon realised. "So I take it you're having fun?" he asked, slightly redundantly.

"Of course I am!" Blaine replied.

"You're really a great singer," Kurt offered, causing Blaine to squeeze his hand even tighter for some reason.

"Thanks, Kurt!" he said. "Though I daresay, I'm not quite as good a singer as you are." Before Kurt could tell him that Blaine shouldn't sell himself short, the other boy added, "You know what we should do? We should try to sing some of the songs together!"

Kurt cocked his head to the side, confused. "Blaine, I don't know if you noticed, but the entire audience is singing the songs together."

"Yeah, I know," Blaine responded. "What I meant was, we could try to sing the songs in the second act as duets. I bet that'd sound amazing!"

Kurt wholeheartedly agreed with that. Still, he couldn't help but blush as he thought about how no one, male or female, had ever wanted to sing duets of any kind with him. "That sounds like a great idea," he said, staring down at the carpet.

As he looked up, he found Blaine staring at him with a small smile on his face, instead of his wide grin. "You're adorable, you know that?" he asked Kurt. "Especially when you blush." Needless to say, this only made Kurt's face burn brighter. Blaine regarded him pensively for another moment before sitting back in his seat and saying, "This might sound stupid, so please don't laugh. Were you named after Kurt in Sound of Music?"

Having calmed down a bit by now, Kurt took a deep breath before replying, "This may also sound stupid, but yeah, I was. My mother loved the musical, and the character, and when I was born all pale and small, she just had to name me Kurt. I'm not sure how my dad felt about the name, but apparently, he was whipped enough for her to get what she wanted."

Most people didn't notice, but Blaine clearly did. "Why the past tense?" he asked tentatively.

For the first time that evening, Kurt couldn't bring himself to smile. "She died eight years ago," he responded. "And don't you dare feel sorry about that; it's not your fault, and I'm fine now. Yes, it hurts to remember her, but I know – " He broke off his sentence, not wanting to continue, but Blaine must've understood what he was trying to say anyway.

"She loved you," he said. "Of course she did, Kurt."

"She would've accepted me no matter what," Kurt muttered quietly. "Oh, god, I'm sorry. I feel like I'm ruining the entire night."

"No, you're not," Blaine insisted. "She must've been a wonderful woman, Kurt. But – won't your dad accept you being gay?"

Kurt stared down at his hands. "I don't know. He's – we're nothing alike, at all. I don't know what he'd do if I came out to him." After a short silence, he asked, "How did your parents react?"

Maybe he imagined it, but he could've sworn Blaine stiffened for a second there. "They act like nothing's going on. They're not happy about it, but after last year's summer project, I think they've given up trying to change me."

"Summer project?" Kurt echoed, frightening thoughts attacking his mind.

"My dad bought an old Chevy and had me help him patch it up," Blaine replied darkly. "He might've thought that getting my hands dirty would turn me straight."

Kurt really hoped that his father would react well now. "My dad wouldn't have to try such a thing. He's – he's a mechanic. I've been helping him out in the shop for years now, and it hasn't worked so far."

Blaine nodded thoughtfully before standing up. "Come on. Let's go get something to drink before the movie continues, alright? We need to be able to sing the songs in the next act, after all…"

Kurt got up as well, and as they walked away, he wondered if Blaine even realised that they were still holding hands.

o-o-o-o-o

The second part of the movie went by much too fast for Kurt. Blaine's duets idea worked out pretty well for the two of them, and at the end of the night, both boys were sporting equally wide smiles. It was crazy, Kurt reflected, how much of an impact Blaine had already made on his life, after only having been in it for a couple of hours. Needless to say, that made it also a little scary.

Again, they stayed seated for a little longer as the other people walked out already. "So…," Kurt started. "This was fun."

He turned to Blaine just in time to catch the other boy nodding quietly. "We should do this again some time soon," Blaine suggested. "I'm sure there are plenty of other film and musical sing-a-longs, aren't there? And if there aren't, we can always just hang out, watch a movie, and sing along." Half a second later, he said, "Right, sorry about that. Um… I just assumed – never mind."

"No, you're right," Kurt told him. "We should definitely hang out some other time. We could even forego the movie and do something else."

Smiling again, Blaine tugged him out of his seat. As they walked out, he said, "Alright, then. That would be awesome. As long as we can hold hands again, whatever we do." Kurt ducked his head, but not before noticing Blaine's fond smile.

"I guess we could do that," Kurt replied. "So, do you have a phone number?"

Blaine chuckled and, after exchanging their numbers, he asked, "Where's your car? Let me walk you to it."

Trying his best not to roll his eyes at the cheesiness of that idea, Kurt replied, "I've got to call my dad to come pick me up. He – uh… he took my car away after finding some… incriminating and embarrassing stuff in my room." At Blaine incredulous frown, he did roll his eyes. "I'm not talking about porn, Blaine. Please, no. Just… stuff that guys usually don't have."

Blaine nodded knowingly, smirking. "And are you sure he doesn't know you're gay?" he asked teasingly. Now that he put it like that…

"He might know," Kurt replied guiltily. "I really need to tell him soon, I think."

"As long as you're ready to do it," Blaine reminded him. "I could give you a ride home, if you want? I have to get all the way back to Westerville; a couple of minutes more or less to get you home safe won't be a problem."

"Oh, no, that's fine," Kurt assured him, already whipping out his phone. "I'll just call him, it's no problem."

"Nonsense," Blaine countered, snatching Kurt's phone away before he could make the call. "Come on, my car's over here. Consider it a thank-you for your company tonight."

Kurt let himself be dragged to the car, but once they were seated, he asked, "Then how am I supposed to thank you for your company tonight?"

Blaine gazed at him for a moment before looking back to the front. If Kurt wasn't mistaken, there was a slight blush covering the other boy's cheeks now. "You could go out for coffee with me at some point next week," he eventually replied.

"I suppose I could do that," Kurt told him.

They spent most of the ride debating where to get their coffee, seeing as Blaine actually lived (or should Kurt say, went to school and boarded there too) quite far away. When they arrived at Kurt's house, they agreed to meet up at a small coffee shop almost right in between Lima and Westerville.

They sat in silence for minute during which they kept their eyes trained at each other. All of a sudden, Blaine seemed to catch himself and he leaned back. Only now did Kurt realise that they been slowly leaning closer to each other. Wow, talk about awkward.

After clearing his throat, he said, "Thanks for the ride. You really didn't need to do that."

"It was my pleasure," Blaine told him. "I'll text when I'm at Dalton, alright?"

Kurt nodded. He thought he might already be in bed by then, but maybe, just maybe, he was willing to stay up for a bit. "And then we'll see each other on… Thursday?"

"Definitely," Blaine replied, smiling beautifully.

Before Kurt got out of the car, he grabbed Blaine's hands – both of them this time – once more and squeezed them. Blaine didn't drive away until Kurt was at the door, waiting for his father to answer it. When he did, he looked surprised to see Kurt there.

"Weren't you going to call me when it was over?" he asked.

"I was," Kurt responded, "but I got a ride home." Seeing his dad's worried face, he elaborated slightly. "This guy... who bought Mercedes' ticket off of me, so we sat together and talked for a bit. It was nice, and then he offered to drive me home so I didn't have to call you, and you wouldn't have to come pick me up."

"A guy drove you home?" His father still sounded sceptical.

"Yes, dad," Kurt replied. "But he's harmless, I promise. He's – never mind." He couldn't very well talk about how they'd bonded over both being gay, right?

"Is there something you need to tell me, Kurt?" his father asked, managed to sound both slightly suspicious and concerned.

This would be a perfect opportunity, Kurt realised. "No, there isn't," he replied. Not now. Not tonight. But he'd absolutely tell his father very soon.