Kurt would forever deny that his eyes were trained on the door, waiting for Blaine to enter so they could start their first rehearsal. He was facing the mirror, already warming up for a long - long - day and trying to keep focused, but failing miserably.

He had brought Blaine to Artie, where they were more formally introduced to each other and Blaine had been smiling non-stop in a knee-weakening manner. It was there where Blaine assured them he knew the show better than the alphabet - which was either reassuring or disturbing - and talked with Artie about the minor differences between their shows.

Kurt muttered he was already going to warm up while Blaine would go up to change into his dance-outfit.

"But what if I get lost again?" Blaine asked, sounding both innocent and teasing. Kurt let out a squeak he would also deny for eternity. He was used to being flirt with - he had been working with Sebastian for months after all - but something about Blaine made his stomach swoop with every word, blink and smile.

"I'm sure you'll manage," he said. "I'll be in rehearsal room two."

"See you there, Kurt."

With a nod he tried to walk as normally as possible to the room across the hall, turning on all of the lights and situating himself in front of the mirror.

All he had to do now was wait.

His warm up routine was almost automated in his head and body, stretching and loosening the muscles he used the most. For a second he was lost in thought, which was also the moment the door in the back swung open and Blaine entered in almost translucent tights and a black tank top. His eyes instantly grew at the sight, mapping out the body that had been hiding underneath the thick winter-coat.

"Hello again," Blaine said with a smirk. He rolled his shoulders to either show them off or loosen them - or both. Kurt, still facing the mirror, tried to find a more appropriate part of Blaine's body to focus on - like his hair, that had been hiding underneath the beanie, and appeared to be slick black and gelled, or how he was wearing shoes that looked similar to the boots he wore in the show - and he was definitely not looking at the part that Sebastian had been bragging about, because oh - he had not been exaggerating. Eyes up, Hummel.

His conscious made him snap up, connecting eyes with Blaine and he managed to nod a little. He refused to return his greeting, because he was sure he would either stutter or his voice would be pitchy

"Are you already done?" Blaine asked, placing his bag near Kurt's by the mirror.

"Almost," Kurt said and praised himself for sounding normal. "How long do you need?"

"I'll let you know, is that okay?" Blaine positioned himself next to Kurt, also facing the mirror before turning sideways so he was facing Kurt. "Won't be long." Kurt took his word for it.

"How long has it been snowing here?" Blaine asked after while, throwing Kurt off his track of thoughts.

"I - uh - three weeks or something? Give or take." Were they really talking about the weather?

Blaine let out a low whistle. "Looks beautiful though."

"Sure," Kurt squeaked, feeling Blaine was leaving something out because when he turned to face him, Blaine was staring at him with almost admiring eyes. "You think you're ready to rehearse?"

"Can I -" Blaine bit his lip in hesitation, but continued either way, "Can I show you something first?"

Kurt stared at him unsure, knowing they had limited time to practice together and he wasn't planning on spending the last weeks until midnight in the theater. But then Blaine smiled a little, it might have even been just the sparkle in his eyes that made Kurt cave and give in by nodding.

Blaine's shoulders relaxed and Kurt hadn't even noticed them being tensed. He wasn't able to act to it though, as Blaine started to guide him to the mirror. "Thank you," he said sincere. "It won't take long, promise, just sit down -"

"If it won't take long -"

"I heard the view is better from the floor," he said in all seriousness and gently pushed him down. With a special kind of flourish, he turned around on his feet to walk to the CD-player in the corner. Kurt let out a sigh he hoped Blaine missed, sinking down to the floor and tilting his head to watch Blaine leave.

Interesting view indeed.

Especially when he bent over to push a few buttons on the CD-player. Stop it, he told himself, You're going to have to grin and bear it - this is your dance-partner, for God's sake. You are a professional, so is he - this has to be the end of it.

Blaine found the part he needed, and the music already started to fill the enormous room. Kurt scolded himself a little for not recognizing what moment the score was situated in the ballet and realized it was somewhere in the first act where he wasn't on stage.

He drew up his knees, resting his head on them as he watched Blaine get in position. His face was set to pure concentration, and the moment he got his cue - Blaine transformed into Prince completely.

Kurt recognized the moment - it was after the so called ‘Bar Scene', where Prince is in despair and lonely, set only moments before he would meet Swan. Blaine moved to the music, or the music moved to him so it seemed. He appeared even bigger than the entire room, using his body to create a form of art and everything was turning to him - rotating around him.

It wasn't the first time Kurt saw this part. Many times he had seen Mike dance out the frustration, but never had Kurt seen him do it this passionate. Mike was technically perfect at every role he danced, not missing a step by an inch, but he usually got comments on his acting abilities. Blaine nearly implied the opposite of it; his technique corrigible, but emotionally spot on.

He fell to the floor, snapping his head up and their eyes connected. Blaine's lip parted and his eyes were sending him a message that made Kurt's breath falter. Quickly Blaine corrected himself by looking up, reaching for the sky and continuing the solo.

Seeing Blaine stretch his body to his limits in despair made Kurt's blood boil and eager to reach out and wrap him in a safe hug - something Swan actually offered to Prince in a following scene.
There was no doubt that Blaine was his Prince, a perfect one almost, but Kurt didn't get why Blaine was showing him this, because if he was showing off, it would do nothing good for his first impression.

The solo ended with Blaine on the floor again, slumping against an invisible scrim and falling back with a chuckle. He snapped out of his Prince instantly and scrambled up to turn off the music. Kurt remained sitting against the mirror, waiting for Blaine to at least explain why he wanted to show him such a gorgeous performance.

"Okay," Blaine said while switching the music off. His voice was breathier, but his body barely showed any sign of tiredness. He pulled his tank top, that clung even more to his body now, before walking over to Kurt.

Patiently Kurt waited for Blaine to speak, not trusting himself with words at the moment. He wondered if Blaine expected praise or something.

"So, ready to dance?" Blaine rubbed his hands together, staring down at Kurt with a smile, apparently not expecting any comment on his sudden solo.

"Wait what?"

"I just wanted to show you that, um, to - oh God." He huffed and sucked in his lower lip. "I saw - in your eyes - I," he muttered before dropping down to the floor almost as fast as he did in the dance.

"Saw what?"

Blaine crossed his legs into a lotus position. "Doubt? Fear?" Those were certainly things Kurt was seeing in Blaine's eyes at the moment. "It's your first lead role, right?"

"Is it that obvious?" Kurt asked appalled.

"No - ne-ne-no, of course not."

"You haven't even seen me dance yet -"

"I was presuming, I do that a lot, sorry."

"It's kind of rude -"

"Kurt," Blaine said while resting his hand on Kurt's knee to calm him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I just wanted to prove myself. To you." Kurt couldn't tear his eyes away from the hand on his knee, feeling the warmth of it through his tights. "I just wanted to show you that you have nothing to worry about."

"I didn't -"

"It's okay."

"Will you ever let me finish a sentence?" Kurt asked with a small grin. Blaine opened his mouth to probably tell him yes, but shut it immediately as a better response. He smiled instead. "Why would I worry? I heard nothing but good things about you."

"Oh," was all Blaine could say. "That's good I guess. I mean, I don't know how I would react if I suddenly had to dance a show with someone else other than the one I'd been rehearsing with for weeks. I guess I wanted to show you that I am most capable." His smile turned toothy.

"That you are."

"But - back to this being your first show -" He stopped, realizing what Kurt had just said. "I am?" Blaine actually blushed, and the color on his cheeks was absolutely delightful.

"Go on," Kurt said, avoiding the topic on how spectacular Blaine was.

"Oh, yes, okay, well. I wanted you to know that I am not here to steal your thunder." Blaine's expression was sincere, with his eyes honest and blown dark. For a second Kurt didn't know what to say or how to even respond to such a promise. Blaine then reached out, taking his hand and squeezed it. "I needed you to know that. I've done this show a hundred times - more even - and I really want you to shine. I guess I'll just support you."

"Thanks?" Kurt replied awkwardly, staring down at their entwined hands.

"You don't have to say anything, really, I just wanted to make this sure so we could get along and kick this show's ass."

"I think it's settled," he said. "And it's okay if you take a little credit - or we can share? You're the actual lead after all."

"You're the lead," Blaine said fast, almost the same way Sebastian told him a few days ago. "You're the closest to the title role, at least, so yes - it's settled?"

"If I say no, will you do another solo?"

"Maybe I want to see you do one -"

"I don't think we have time for that, let's start." Kurt wanted to scramble up, but Blaine was already on his feet, taking Kurt's hand with him and hauling him up. The gesture was so gentleman-like that Kurt resisted an urge to giggle.

"Park scene first?"

Kurt nodded quickly and Blaine headed toward the CD-player once again to select the requested music so they could practice.

xXx

For all the years Kurt had been around dancers, he had never experienced someone with that much energy. Well, maybe Brittany, whom he danced with back in High School, but she was a special case. Blaine apparently had enough energy to feed the entire company for weeks.

Every time they took a break, he had this huge grin on his face and the only aspect of him indicating he had been physically working was the heaving of his shoulders and the sweat on his... everything. And it was throwing Kurt off. Not the sweat thing, okay maybe a little, but mainly the fact that Blaine's positiveglow had increased the bubbling in his stomach, which was ticking him off.

It also wasn't helping that as Prince, Blaine stared at him with the biggest puppy-eyes Kurt had ever encountered on a human being. He had to keep on chanting to himself to focus, but Blaine was making it really hard.

"Ready for the next one?" Blaine asked after they fully went through the first part of the park-scene. Kurt checked the time, realizing they didn't have time to even rehearse the entire scene.

"Let's get as far as we can."

Blaine nodded, throwing away his towel dismissively. "Do you mind -?" he asked, request unspoken as he gestured to the CD-player. Kurt didn't mind at all, knowing that Blaine had to start from the floor for the next part.

He set the music and turned around, finding Blaine crouched down on the floor, patiently waiting for his cue and keeping his head down with his hands. It was a miracle Kurt didn't sigh at the sight but walked over to his own position instead. His body arched to the pose, making his shirt stretch in protest - there was a reason his part was shirtless. The way Swan had to move was almost too graceful to be handled by clothes.

There was a reason Kurt loved being Swan so much - the part was strong, yet timid and also arrogant. Swan represented freedom, and being free was something Kurt aspired to very much.

The music started, tentatively, and Kurt watched Blaine control his breathing whilst lying on the floor. The muscles underneath his tank-top tensed, knowing that he had to act soon and Kurt simply moved on instinct from there on.

He had danced this part over a hundred times - he could recall Mike lying there the exact same way precisely, but now he let his mind wander to more than only repeating the routine in his head.

In sync they reached up, Kurt moving quickly down, almost hitting Blaine, but he knew exactly when to duck. The way they felt each other while dancing was absurd, and Kurt tried to pass it off as professionalism, but secretly he hoped that it meant more.

Kurt barely realized what part they were heading for until they were actually standing in front of each other, Kurt slowly lowering his arm to rest it on Blaine's shoulder.

It was the first time they touched while dancing.

He let Blaine circle them around, but once again Kurt barely registered it, finding himself lost in the way that Blaine stared at him. No, he told himself sternly, he was looking at Swan. Blaine was Prince, he was just playing a role - nothing more.

Swiftly he moved, raising  his leg and waited for it to come. Blaine's eyes didn't leave his face, not even to look down and then Kurt felt the warmth of Blaine's hand on his thigh. He swore he felt a squeeze, but quickly filed it away as an in the heat moment. They released quickly enough again. Kurt missed the touch immediately, but knowing there was a new moment coming up, which he had only trusted Mike so far with doing. He knew he couldn't over think it, he had to do it anyway - for many times to come and he was already leaning into Blaine, feeling an arm being wrapped around his waist and allowing Blaine to pull him down.

It didn't last long - it never did - but never had Kurt regretted more to dance away.

xXx

"I think we got it," Blaine said, panting. Kurt could only nod. They managed to walk through at least most of the first  and second of four acts, and dance at least half of it, marking it down. Tomorrow they would do the rest, leaving the days after to rehearse with the rest of the company.

"Where - where are you staying?" Kurt said exhausted, but curious nevertheless.

"A hotel nearby." Blaine smiled as if it was obvious. "Short walk from here, but dangerous with the snow."

"I hear you."

"So." He stayed quiet for a second. "I don't really know this city, only been here on pass-through and a couple of shows."

"Oh?" Kurt looked at him, finding Blaine nervously twitch his toes before he continued.

"Yeah, and considering I only know you - I was wondering if you could show me the woos of Chicago?"

His heart started to beat in his throat, even louder when Blaine looked up with hopeful eyes. Kurt would forever regret the next words escaping his mouth: "I already have plans. Sorry."

Blaine looked like he had been hit, blinking rapidly and purses his lips. "Of course, sorry for throwing myself at you -"

"Don't worry, it's okay," Kurt blabbered, "It's just - a friend of mine, Sebastian, and we were -" going to discuss your ass. "I -"

"Rain check?" Blaine then proposed quickly. "Or no - snow check?"

You are too charming for your own good. "Definitely."

"Great, I need to go to Artie now," he said, gesturing to the door and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"I'll be here."

Awkwardly they walked to the door together, smiling one last time at each other as Blaine quickened his pace to Artie's office. How was he going to survive the following days?

"My, my." Sebastian appeared to his side. "I hate to see him leave... better next time I'll see him come."

"Put your dirty mouth away," Kurt said hushed.

"Like you weren't thoroughly enjoying the view."

"Well, it's hard to miss -"

"Kurt Hummel," Sebastian said scandalized. "Ugh, I need details tonight."

"In your dreams, Bas." Kurt started to walk to his dressing room, Sebastian close behind him, following him like a dog. "Why are you so into this guy anyway, just because you saw him dance -"

"He's a guy, he has a dick and I like men with dicks."

"I'm a man with a dick."

"Well, I like yours too."

"You're insufferable."

"And you love me for it." Sebastian smiled mischievously. "But seriously though, no jokes, what's he like?"

Kurt stopped in front of his door, pausing for a second before looking Sebastian straight in the eye.

"He's a real prince."

And he meant it.