Kurt stumbled out of practice with the biggest smile on his face that day, his friends close behind him. He'd had a hard time believing that he'd actually made it into the Warblers when Wes first told him, but after Nick and Jeff had burst into the room cheering and enveloping him in an uncoordinated group hug, congratulating him and asking him why the hell he'd even been worried with a voice like that, it had started to dawn on him. Even more so when Blaine had wrapped his warm hand around his wrist and gently pulled him to his spot in the Warblers standard formation, a proud smile on his face, whispering in his ear how wonderful Kurt had been before stepping into his own spot with a wink. Kurt had felt tingly all over, his skin warm where Blaine had touched it.

He'd thought it could only get better from there but oh, had he been wrong. Kurt had just caught up on the routine Wes and David had been showing them, feeling confident that he could do that, especially after Wes had told him what he'd have to sing in their arrangement and it hadn't seemed all that difficult, when Blaine had opened his mouth to sing and it had all gone to hell. His voice was beautiful and even though Kurt couldn't really see anything but his back thanks to their formation, he couldn't help but notice the energy he put into the performance. What Kurt wouldn't give to see him sing from the front one of these days.

So basically, Kurt had spent his first Warbler practice trying not to fall over his own feet while simultaneously doing his best to catch every last note of Blaine singing. It had gone over relatively well, although Kurt was sure he could have done a better job both of the routine and his background harmonizing if he hadn't been so distracted. At least the Warblers hadn't seemed to regret their choice by the end of practice.

"Kurt!" Jeff blurted out all of a sudden, tearing him rather violently from his thoughts when he threw his arms around Kurt's neck. "Man, you had us worried out here. We were already coming up with consoling strategies for when Wes would turn you down, you sounded so pessimistic. And then you go in there and deliver that. Seriously, don't get me that worried over nothing again!"

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle along with Jeff's loud, booming laughter. But he still couldn't keep from trying to squirm his way out of his embrace, ears twitching nervously and tail swishing. Jeff seemed to notice how skittish he'd become, letting go quickly. "Sorry," he murmured self-consciously. "I always forget that you don't like to be smothered like that." It had happened a few times over the past week. Jeff was a very affectionate person and didn't have the filter Blaine or Nick had, leading to a few very awkward moments where Kurt felt incredibly guilty for his hesitancy when it came to physical contact with others - especially males.

"It's fine, Jeff," he tried to laugh it off. "You did nothing wrong. I guess I'm just still not used to so much... affection." They smiled at each other sheepishly.

"Well," Jeff grinned, back to his usual confidence within seconds. "Then I'll just have to learn to keep myself in check until you are, huh?" He winked at Kurt, getting a quiet giggle out of him.

"Sure."

"You know what we should do? I think we should celebrate!" Nick chipped in from behind Jeff, offering Kurt a huge grin and effectively easing away the last bit of tension.

"Definitely," Jeff agreed. "I think I still have that bottle of champagne somewhere in my room from when we thought we had a shot at Sectionals last year." He grabbed Nick by the arm and hurried up the stairs, calling a quick "See you in your room, guys!" over his shoulder.

"Champagne? I'm not sure that's a good idea. And I should head home now, anyway, Dad is expecting me," Kurt mumbled, feeling incredibly small and young. He was sure his friends would have a laugh at him if he backed out of their celebration plans because he was afraid of a bit alcohol and would rather spend the weekend with his dad.

"Hey, it's fine," Blaine's soothing voice rang next to him, suddenly much closer than Kurt had expected. When he turned his head to look at Blaine he found himself nearly nose to nose with him, breath catching in his throat. Blaine's eyes were even more beautiful this close. "You don't have to drink anything if you don't want to. We're just going to make a quick toast in your honor and that's that. And you could always call your dad and ask him if it would be okay for you to stay at Dalton tonight. If you want to, of course."

Kurt blushed, suddenly much surer that he wanted to spend the night. And Blaine was right, it wasn't like he was attending some huge party and drinking himself into oblivion. It was only four of them and one bottle of champagne in their dorm room, what could possibly happen?

"You're right. I think I'm just going to call him when we're back in our room," he breathed, still not over the sound of our room. Blaine offered him another one of his radiant smiles and they climbed the stairs together, walking so close their shoulders brushed. They did that a lot, Jeff always making fun of them when he was around to witness it. "You might as well hold hands or link arms with how close you walk" was his standard comment, accompanied by exasperated eyerolling.

When they arrived at their dorm room, they quickly dropped their bags, Kurt heading straight for the bed where he made himself comfortable before he got his phone out to call his dad. Blaine disappeared into the bathroom to give him some privacy after taking off his blazer and carefully draping it over his chair. Kurt couldn't help but smile blissfully at that while he waited for Burt to pick up his call. He really was head over heels for this boy already and his cute little antics and gentlemanly behavior didn't help his infatuation in the least.

Burt finally answered after the fifth ring. "Hey kiddo. What is it? I though you were going to be on your way home by now. You're not on your phone while driving, are you?"

"No, Dad!" Kurt laughed, rolling his eyes at his father. Of course he'd never call anyone while driving, he'd been taught to always pay attention to the road since he was five. "I just wanted to ask you if it's okay when I drive home tomorrow morning instead of tonight. I got into the Warblers and Nick, Jeff and Blaine wanted to celebrate with me."

Kurt could practically hear the wheels turning in Burt's head. "Oh, that choir thingy? Good for you, son. And those guys, they're the ones you told me about, right? Your new friends?"

"Yes, Dad," Kurt replied exasperatedly. Seriously, they'd only talked on the phone every evening after Kurt's classes for the past week. Was it really too much to ask Burt to remember a few details? "I guess it's fine. But no alcohol! No drugs! And no funny business, do you hear me?"

"Dad!" Kurt gasped into his phone, almost choking on the sip of water he'd just taken. "We're not some gang! I promise you there will be no drugs involved. And certainly no... funny business." He lowered his voice so Blaine wouldn't hear him from where he was still in the bathroom.

"Look, I trust you, kiddo," Burt admitted reluctantly. "So I won't tell you to come back home tonight. But if I hear about you breaking any of the rules - and I'll know, we both know that - then there'll be no more exceptions, is that clear?"

"Yes, Dad," Kurt promised. They kept on chatting for a little while before Kurt ended the call. He only felt remotely guilty for not mentioning the champagne. He wasn't even sure if he'd drink any, he'd try a sip from Blaine's glass and see from there. And even if he liked it, he figured one glass of champagne wasn't any worse than the few sips of wine he'd been allowed at Aunt Martha's birthday every other year.

It wasn't long until Nick and Jeff sneaked into their room - they probably thought they were being subtle but they actually looked more like two five-year-olds playing James Bond. That were being pretty obvious. Blaine actually laughed so hard he fell off his bed when Jeff announced they'd ‘accomplished their mission', pulling out the bottle of champagne from under his blazer with a dead serious expression.

Not too long after, one of Blaine's more upbeat playlists was playing in the background, Nick and Jeff sprawled on Blaine's bed while Blaine himself had moved over to Kurt's, complaining that there was no space left for him with two giants spread out all over his mattress.

"We're not giants," Jeff huffed when he took a break from belting along to Teenage Dream. "And you're so ridiculously short you'd probably fit on here even if we were. You just want to cuddle up to Kurt." Nick and Jeff almost involuntarily vacated Blaine's bed by narrowly escaping falling off laughing when both Blaine and Kurt blushed bright red.

They spent the rest of the evening just talking and lounging around on their beds, singing along when a good song came on. Kurt insisted that they at least feature one of his Broadway playlists and he was delighted to find that all three of his friends knew every word to his favorites, even though quite a lot of them weren't exactly in their ranges. They seemed to be pretty content with listening to Kurt and applauding him afterwards, though, murmuring the lyrics along under their breaths.

Kurt couldn't remember ever having had more fun and it wasn't until their curfew was already over - the hall monitor had peeked in once to tell them to turn the music down a bit and go to sleep, Nick and Jeff hiding out in the bathroom - when Jeff finally remembered the champagne and poured three glasses, letting Kurt taste from Blaine's glass first. Kurt swallowed the tiny sip carefully, waiting a bit for the taste to settle in, licking his lips. It sparkled and was warm running down his throat and even though he wasn't used to the taste it wasn't all unpleasant. He nodded to Jeff with a smile and quickly found himself with a glass of his own in hand.

"To Kurt," Jeff announced in a grand voice, everyone holding out their glasses. "Proud new Warbler and our first countertenor in over thirty years!" They clinked glasses, taking a few sips and then jumping back into their earlier conversation, trying to keep it down so the hall monitor wouldn't surprise them. Though Nick promised no one was coming to the dorms after eleven on a Friday night.

"It's like we get permission to do whatever," he nodded wisely. "They probably don't even want to know what's going on in some of the dorms at this hour."

The atmosphere was great and amicable and Kurt didn't even notice how much the little bit of champagne was affecting him until he broke out into a fit of giggles that lasted five minutes at one of Jeff's lamest jokes. They all looked at him incredulously when he tried to catch his breath, leaning heavily on Blaine's side, cheeks flushed and eyes leaking tears of laughter.

"Looks like you shouldn't give alcohol to cats," Jeff noted, earning him an elbow to the side from Nick and a death glare from Blaine. Thankfully, Kurt didn't even hear him. Jeff still threw him an apologetic glance.

They decided it was best to end their little party there, Blaine quietly shooing Nick and Jeff out of the room. Once they were gone he got Kurt a glass of water and gently took off his tie before he could strangle himself.

"Blaine," Kurt giggled, taking a sip of his water, eyes sparkling with mischief. "Did I ever tell you that your eyes are really pretty?"

Blaine almost choked on nothing, blushing scarlet and fumbling with the tie in his hands. Kurt's words were only slightly slurred and he could almost imagine that he really meant it and it wasn't just the champagne talking.

"Well, thank you," he said, gingerly draping the tie over the chair where Kurt's blazer already resided. When he turned back around he was met with Kurt's pouting face only inches from his own. He was on hands and knees, obviously having crawled across the mattress to get to Blaine, tail sticking up in the air and gently swishing from side to side. He looked like a cat about to pounce in that moment and Blaine knew he should probably feel guilty for the way his slacks grew tight at the sight but he just couldn't help it.

"K-Kurt?" he stammered, hoping Kurt was still too out of it to notice the growing bulge in his pants.

"So you don't think my eyes are pretty?" Kurt whined, his voice resembling a plaintive meow. Blaine knew he was probably making a mistake - what if Kurt remembered this is in the morning and it would make things awkward between them? - but he just couldn't resist the expression on his face.

"Of course I do," he whispered, gently cupping Kurt's cheek with his hand. Kurt leaned into the touch, purring loudly. No matter how ashamed he felt about it, the sound and the vibrations under his fingertips made Blaine's cock twitch painfully in interest.

"Really?" Kurt asked, tone innocent but voice still rumbling with his purr.

"Yes, really," Blaine breathed, leaning closer, unavoidably drawn to the sparkle in Kurt's eyes and the pretty pink of his lips. He only realized what he was about to do, what they were about to do and what it could possibly mean for their friendship when he felt Kurt's warm breath on his lips, lightly smelling of champagne and something that was uniquely Kurt that he wanted to taste so desperately he could barely suppress a wanton moan.

With a stumbling step back, Blaine pulled away, averting his eyes so he wouldn't have to see the hurt look in Kurt's eyes. He knew he'd give in if faced with that pout again.

"Blaine?" Kurt's voice rang through the room, small and hesitant. Blaine only realized in that moment that the purring had stopped. He clenched his eyes shut and buried his fingers in the fabric of his pants, trying to swallow down the guilt rising up his throat like bile.

"We should go to bed, Kurt." Without another word he grabbed his pajamas and disappeared into the bathroom to change. When he returned Kurt was in his pajamas as well, already curled up into a tiny ball under the blankets, his back to Blaine. Trying to ignore a new wave of guilt crashing over him, Blaine silently tiptoed over to his own bed, slipping under the sheets and switching off the light.

"Goodnight, Kurt," he whispered into the dark room, unsurprisingly not getting a response. Blaine just really hoped that Kurt wouldn't remember any of this the next morning.