A couple of days later, Blaine was still constantly thinking about Kurt. And Kurt's situation, of course. The bullying he was facing would be enough for many people to just give up, to transfer schools, to let them win. But not for Kurt – he was staying strong, and Blaine admired that about him. Along with many other traits of Kurt's.

It may be becoming a problem. Perhaps it was a good thing that he'd be meeting up with Kurt later, or else he might've gone crazy.

The test he hadn't been able to study for very well went fine in the end, fortunately. Still, Blaine knew that he might have to study more next time – he wouldn't get away with it so easily twice in a row. When he exited the Warblers' meeting room later that day, he noticed some of the other students whispering amongst themselves – something was clearly going on.

"What's wrong?" he asked someone random, while the other Warblers started filing out of the room as well.

The student jerked his head towards the general direction of the front doors. "There's some guy in the entrance hall. He obviously doesn't go here, and apparently, he told some people he's just waiting for a friend. I wonder what he's doing here…"

"Waiting for a friend?" Jeff suggested, and the other boy rolled his eyes. Blaine, however, was long gone – he took off towards the entrance hall, eager to see if this person was who he thought (suspected, hoped) it was.

And it was.

"Kurt!" he exclaimed, grinning widely. "You're early!"

Kurt took a few steps towards him. "Yes, I know. Glee stuff – well, there was no rehearsal today so we could work on the weekly assignments. The other guys didn't appreciate my help and instead suggested I go spy on you 'Garglers'. So I left." He rolled his eyes to add some dramatic effect, and Blaine couldn't help but smile.

"Garglers?" he asked. "Do I want to know?"

"They're just a bunch of… uneducated fools," Kurt muttered.

"Well, if you came here to spy, you're just minutes to late," Blaine informed him. "The meeting just ended."

Kurt stared at him for a couple of seconds for shaking his head. "You know fully well that I'm not here to spy, Blaine. Plus, I've been here for at least fifteen minutes, so I had plenty of time to do so if I wanted to. I just don't think spying on you guys is going to work when you obviously already know me."

"That could be a problem indeed," Blaine said with a smile. "So you regularly spy on the competition?"

"As a Glee club, we have quite the history already, as a matter of fact," Kurt replied. "Didn't I ever tell you about all those times we spied on Vocal Adrenaline last year?"

Blaine laughed. "You probably did. Then again, so did we."

"Oh?" Kurt eyed him with great interest. "Do tell. Uh – do you want to change out of your uniform before we go?"

Blaine glanced down. "Does it bother you if I don't?"

Kurt shrugged. "As long as you don't wear it all the time when we hang out."

"Of course not," Blaine assured him, but made a mental note to bring some casual clothes to Dalton the next time he went home. As they walked towards the parking lot, he said, "I managed to talk the other Warblers out of stalking you guys on YouTube, by the way, so don't worry about that."

Contrary to what he expected (but with Kurt, that wasn't unusual), Kurt didn't start to thank him in every possible way, but burst out laughing. Needless to say, Blaine had to laugh along. It was impossible not to do so.

"What's so funny?" he asked in the end, feeling a little foolish, just laughing while not even understanding the joke.

"I think you have a lot more to worry about than we do," Kurt replied. "There are literally no videos from us on YouTube, except for out Sectionals and Regionals performances from last year. Rachel makes sure of that. And speaking of Rachel – she's probably searched the entire internet for anything about the Warblers. Including any MySpace and Facebook accounts."

Blaine blinked. "But – if she has, don't you think she would've noticed that you and I are Facebook friends?"

Kurt paled. "Oh, crap. I didn't even think about that. Can't you block her, or set your profile to private?"

"I don't think that would help," Blaine said apologetically. "I think mutual friends are always visible."

"I can take her on," Kurt said confidently. "And the others too." Good. Because Blaine didn't really want to unfriend Kurt because of this minor issue.

As they got in the car, he asked, "Can't you just turn this around? She dated Jesse St James last year, right? So why shouldn't you be allowed to… be friends with the competition?"

Starting the car, Kurt shook his head. "I'm afraid not. See, I was the one who told her everyone in the club would quit if she didn't break up with him." Yes, Blaine could sense a problem there.

"So where are we going?" Blaine asked. "Lima Bean?"

Kurt nodded. "And I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie at mine later? My dad's working late anyway, so dinner won't be a very elaborate matter. Or do you need to be back for dinner?"

"Would your dad be alright with it if you had to drive me all the way back to Dalton again tonight?" Blaine asked, frowning. From what he'd seen and heard of Kurt's father, that idea didn't sound too plausible.

"You're right," Kurt admitted. "We could… watch a movie now, eat dinner early and then I bring you back? We can get coffee then?"

That sounded like it could work. Blaine grinned widely. "Sure, sounds great!"

On their way to Lima, the boys chatted about everything that came to mind. Not much had happened these past few days (Blaine made sure to question Kurt thoroughly about the bullying, though), but there were always subjects they hadn't spoken about yet (or simply wanted to revisit. There were enough of those).

Blaine warned Kurt that he had what could be called a right Disney fetish, and Kurt just smiled. He didn't laugh at Blaine, which was new. "Good thing I've still got all those films," Kurt mused. "But we're not going to watch Bambi."

"Why not?" Blaine asked curiously. Truth was, he hadn't even thought of watching Bambi before Kurt had almost forbidden him from suggesting it. "Is there a funny story to go with that?"

Kurt mock-glared at him. "Don't bother asking. I mean, no, there's not."

Blaine looked out of the window, an amused smile playing on his face. He was rather sure that Kurt wasn't completely telling the truth there, but he'd get it out someday.

When they arrived at Kurt's house, Kurt instructed Blaine to go downstairs already and find himself a movie he wanted to see, while he went to get them something to eat and drink. At first, Blaine was confused as to why Kurt wanted him to go downstairs, but when he saw what they'd done to the basement, he immediately understood. He didn't know anyone who had their bedroom in the basement, but he could see why Kurt did – it was probably bigger than most other rooms in the house, and it provided more privacy than upstairs bedrooms would. As for the room itself, it was very Kurt.

Before he knew it, Kurt was standing behind him, seeming surprised that Blaine hadn't picked out a movie yet.

"I – really like your room," Blaine blurted out, smiling widely. "It's absolutely amazing."

Kurt smiled back. "Thanks. I did put a lot of effort into designing it this way, so it'd better be amazing." Gesturing towards the old TV in the room, he asked, "So what do you want to see?"

Smirking, Blaine crouched down next to it. "I think I want to see… Bambi."

He didn't need to turn around to know that Kurt's eyes had turned into slits. "No, you don't," Kurt said. "Blaine…"

Said boy just continued looking through the films Kurt had put next to the TV, knowing that if he turned around and looked at his friend, he might just give in and admit that Bambi had indeed not been his first choice.

In the end, Kurt groaned audibly. "Fine," he exclaimed. "We'll watch Bambi. But you owe me big time after this."

"I'll buy you coffee later," Blaine (almost automatically) responded to that, having found Bambi among the old tapes. "And a muffin to go with it."

"Don't bother with the muffin," Kurt told him. "It's full of empty calories, do you have any idea – "

"I'm sure one muffin couldn't hurt." Blaine glanced around at Kurt, and concluded that no, there was no way that one muffin would be so bad for his friend. "But if you insist, I won't buy you a muffin."

By now, Kurt had made himself comfortable on the bed. He told Blaine, "Pop in the tape and sit down, okay? We'll talk about this later."

After starting the movie, Blaine turned towards Kurt. "Should I just – " he started, gesturing towards the bed. He didn't want to make things awkward. Luckily, even though he didn't finish his question, Kurt understood exactly what he meant to say.

"Oh," he replied, his eyes widening considerably. "Right. Uh – yeah, I suppose you could. I mean, if you want to. If – "

"Great," Blaine said, sitting down next to Kurt (which was fairly difficult in itself – he didn't want to sit too close, to not force himself onto him, and he didn't want to sit too far away either, for Kurt might think something was wrong). "Let's watch."

Throughout the movie, Blaine glanced at Kurt a couple of times. The other boy seemed to be trying very hard not to start crying, which, Blaine thought, was odd. It wasn't as if he was going to judge Kurt for crying over a movie, right? He himself kept sniffling all the time as well. About an hour into the movie, the door opened and Kurt's father walked down the stairs. So much for him working late, Blaine thought.

"Dad!" Kurt exclaimed, surprised. "What are you doing home so early? I didn't think you'd be back until later, so I haven't made dinner yet. Should I – "

His father looked from Kurt to Blaine and raised his eyebrows. Apparently, he hadn't expected to see Blaine again. "You're watching a movie?" he asked briskly, and when Kurt nodded hesitantly, he added, "Come upstairs when it's done, alright? Not you," he told Blaine.

The boys sat in silence for a minute before Blaine asked, "Are we in trouble?"

"I don't think so," Kurt replied, shaking his head. "I – don't worry about it, okay? Let's finish the movie and then I'll go hear what he wants."

Blaine nodded mutely. He hoped that he hadn't unknowingly offended Kurt's father somehow.

It wasn't long before the movie was over. Kurt stood up to go upstairs, but only after handing Blaine a Vogue copy to read. Though Blaine normally loved reading the Vogue, he couldn't really concentrate. Was it a good or bad thing that Kurt stayed away for so long?

A couple of minutes later, Kurt returned, looking slightly flushed. Blaine instantly sat upright. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Should I leave?" He hoped not.

"No, you can stay," Kurt replied. "He was just…" He reddened even further, if possible. "He was just checking that we weren't doing anything… inappropriate."

Oh. Well, that was awkward.

"But we're just friends, right?" Blaine asked (but oh, how that pained him).

"That's what I told him," Kurt muttered. "He still found it suspicious, though. We have to leave the door open next time. I didn't think it would be such a problem, but apparently, since we're both gay, it is." He looked far from happy as he said this.

Blaine shrugged. He could live with that. "If it had been my parents, you probably wouldn't have been allowed in the house again, at least not without them there," he told Kurt. "This isn't that bad, right?"

Kurt looked slightly disbelieving for a moment. "I guess," he mumbled. "Anyway, I might as well start cooking dinner now. Want to keep me company in the kitchen?"

"Of course," Blaine answered, then worried if he was coming across as too eager. "I'll come," he added in a more even voice.

He tried to help Kurt cook dinner, but the other boy wouldn't let him, reminding him that he was a guest, and therefore should just stay seated and do nothing. That didn't seem very fair to Blaine, but Kurt refused to accept his help. Not wanting to upset Kurt too much, Blaine gave up after a while.

Dinner was a rather quiet affair. Kurt's father told them (or rather, just Kurt, probably) about some car he'd worked on that day (though only after much probing from Kurt). Kurt talked about the nature of that week's Glee assignment (a girls versus boys competition of sorts. Blaine thought it sounded pretty cool, Kurt assured him that it wasn't), and then Blaine told him about the Warblers' impromptu performance they had done that day (though he didn't mention what song, as it was on their Sectionals set list). After that, they remained mostly silent.

After dinner, Kurt told his dad their plans for the night, and before Blaine knew it, they were out of the house and on the road to the Lima Bean. They stayed there for over an hour, chatting about their childhoods, until Kurt suggested they head to Dalton (after all, he had another two hour drive home ahead of him).

Blaine couldn't help but think that this had been one heck of a great day.

o-o-o-o-o

The next day, some of his friends eyed him a little oddly throughout the day. For the most part, Blaine ignored the stares. They only made him antsy. And yes, perhaps he had been ignoring his friends at Dalton a little lately in favour of spending all his time with (or thinking about) Kurt. But weren't they the same when they found themselves a new girlfriend? He and Kurt weren't dating (yet, as far as Blaine was concerned), but it was comparable, wasn't it?

Blaine hoped so, at least.

Soon, it was time for another Warblers meeting (they were held every day so shortly before Sectionals). Blaine sat down in one of the chairs in the room, waiting for everyone else to come in. After calling the meeting to order, Wes droned on about steps and spins, and Blaine, like almost every other Warbler (even Thad and David, from what he could see) zoned out. He almost jumped when he heard Wes call his name and all Warblers were suddenly looking his way.

"Good," Wes said, "now that I've got your attention, Blaine – care to explain what that was yesterday?"

"What what was yesterday?" Blaine was confused. He hadn't done anything out of the ordinary during yesterday's meeting, had he?

"What he means," David continued for Wes, "is that you were getting very… friendly with that guy in the entrance hall. You know, the one you left with later and who was telling you all about Glee."

"Oh," Blaine replied. So this wasn't about yesterday's meeting, then. He hadn't even noticed that he and Kurt were being watched the day before. "That was Kurt. He's a friend of mine."

Wes gave him a look that clearly said, 'Tell us something we hadn't figured out by ourselves yet'. "How long have you two known each other?" he asked suspiciously.

"I don't know," Blaine exclaimed, even though he actually did know. Maybe even a little too well. Down to the minute. "A month, I think?"

The council exchanged glances, obviously not expecting that. "Where did you meet him? And how?" David asked. Blaine was very aware that everybody in the room was still staring at him, waiting for an explanation.

"My car broke down a few weeks ago, and he was helping in his dad's garage," Blaine replied dutifully. "We got talking, and decided to go for coffee some time."

"I'm going to take a gamble here and say that this was not your first date?" Wes asked, looking as if he was already bracing himself for disaster to strike.

"No, you're right," Blaine replied, smiling a bit. "This wasn't our first date, simply because we're not dating." Oh, but how he wanted to. "But no, it wasn't the first time we hung out."

"But you want to date him," Jeff piped up, and Blaine instantly flushed. Was he really that obvious? And when did his friends stop being completely oblivious to what was going on in his life?

"Look, I don't see how this is any of your business," he muttered.

"You're our lead vocalist," David reminded him, "of course it's our business. Now do tell, why are you not dating?"

Blaine groaned softly. "Kurt – he's in New Directions," he confessed, and everyone started muttering amongst themselves. After Wes banged his gavel to shut them all up and beckoned towards Blaine to continue, he said, "They had some pretty heavy drama last year before Regionals, with Jesse St James, so members of opposing teams are… well, off limits shortly before the competition."

Wes nodded appreciatively. "That's a really good thought. So, Regionals, huh?" And with that, the subject of Kurt was dropped, and the subject of New Directions as a whole was taken up.

o-o-o-o-o

Blaine could've known that that was not the end of the interrogation. When he went to his room after rehearsal, he sensed a presence (or five) behind him. However, every time he turned around, his friends hid themselves. Not wanting to chase them around the halls of Dalton, Blaine just rolled his eyes and kept walking. He would know what they were up to soon enough.

And indeed, he had just arrived in his room when someone (well, at least two someones) started pounding on the door. For a moment, Blaine considered just ignoring them, but that was no use – his friends were insane enough to camp out in front of his door until he was forced to come out for something or other.

With great apprehension, he opened his door, only to be almost tackled by Nick and Jeff. "Blaine!" Nick exclaimed. "You have to tell us more!"

For one moment, Blaine appeared to have forgotten what gossip queens walked around the Dalton halls.

"Is that why you're always gone during the weekend?" David asked, looking just as disturbed at Nick and Jeff's enthusiasm as Blaine felt. "To spend them in Lima?"

Remembering Burt Hummel's reaction to him simply being in Kurt's room, watching a movie, Blaine didn't think he would survive if he was to suggest such a thing anytime soon. "Only the Saturdays," he replied, fully aware that that wasn't the full truth.

Jeff and Nick exchanged glances, probably deciding that the conversation was quickly becoming boring. "Tell us more about Kurt!" Jeff almost commanded Blaine. "What's he like? Is he gay? Is he a good singer?"

"Seriously, you're worse than teenage girls," Wes muttered, crossing his arms.

Nick and Jeff ignored this comment and opted to watch Blaine eagerly instead. "Yes, he's gay," Blaine muttered, giving up. "I haven't really heard him sing, but I think he's a good singer. He's in a Glee club, right?"

(Yes, Kurt had told him that pretty much everyone who auditioned for New Directions got in, but that was none of his friends' business. Or well, that was how Blaine saw it.)

"What does he look like?" Nick asked curiously, grinning widely. Apparently, Nick hadn't been there when they'd spied on Blaine (and Kurt) the previous day, nor had anyone told him anything about what had happened before the meeting. Blaine was aware that his face must be starting to slowly resemble a tomato.

"Leave him alone, guys," David said, pushing Wes and Thad out of the door and attempting to drag Jeff and Nick along. Needless to say, that didn't quite work and suddenly, Blaine was left with only the two most insane people he'd ever met – who started to immediately fire tons of questions at him, most of which Blaine didn't know how to answer. At the end of the night, Nick and Jeff were fully up-to-date about everything Blaine knew about Kurt. Except for the whole bullying thing. That was a private matter, and Blaine wasn't about to betray Kurt's trust and just tell everyone he knew about what he was going through. No matter what.

When he told Kurt about the interrogation a few days later during lunch, his friend looked greatly amused at what Blaine had had to go through with his friends. As it turned out, the other New Directions members hadn't questioned Kurt about Blaine. Yet. Kurt did assure Blaine, however, that, compared to many of his friends, Jeff and Nick sounded fairly tame. Blaine just vowed to himself never to let those two meet those New Directions kids, if that was the case. They didn't need to get any worse.