The first things Kurt noticed when he woke up the next morning were a pounding headache and a vicious taste in his mouth. The morning light shining through his closed eyelids was enough to make him whimper and bury his head deep into his pillows, ears pressed flat to his head. He could hear shuffling on the other end of the room and it felt like someone was trying to break down a wall with a dredge right next to him.

There was a cool, soothing hand on his shoulder when he let out another pained whine.

"Here." Another hand held something out to him next to his head and Kurt was really grateful that whoever that smooth voice belonged to had thought ahead and whispered quietly. Ever so slowly, Kurt blinked his eyes open, squeezing them shut again almost immediately the first few tries. Finally, his eyes had become used to the morning brightness and they fluttered open, landing on a glass of water. A glass of water held by a very familiar tan hand.

"Blaine?" Kurt rasped, shocked by the sound of his own voice. What was he doing in his dorm in Dalton on a weekend and why was Blaine there? Carefully, Kurt let his eyes wander up to Blaine's face, praying that looking up from his current position wouldn't make his headache worse.

Blaine was smiling down at him, a guilty expression on his face. Kurt had no idea why he'd feel guilty but he definitely wanted Blaine's happy smile back - and even more important at that moment, he wanted that glass of water so his headache would hopefully lessen a bit and the horrible taste in his mouth disappear. He tried sitting up- and immediately winced in pain, holding a hand to his head.

"Easy," Blaine whispered, gently helping him lean back against the headboard with the hand that wasn't holding onto the glass. "Comfortable?" he asked once Kurt had wiggled his way into the pillows with as little movement as possible.

"Uh-huh," Kurt hummed, eagerly reaching out for the glass. With a low chuckle, Blaine handed it over, sitting back on the edge of the bed to watch Kurt gulp down the liquid in a for him very unusual, Finn-like fashion. He took a relieved breath when it ran down his throat, smooth and cold and taking the worst of that awful taste with it, soothing the raging pain in his head a bit.

"Do you have Aspirin here?" Kurt mumbled, his voice already sounding a bit better as well.

"Of course," Blaine smiled, getting up quickly and rummaging in his nightstand until he finally found the little package and got one out, pressing it into his palm and disappearing into the bathroom to get him more water. Kurt just watched him, not sure what he was supposed to think. Of course Blaine was always helpful and incredibly nice but he was trying a little too hard for Kurt's tastes. Together with the guilty expression from earlier Kurt was pretty sure that there was something he should remember. But all he managed to see in his mind were a few blurry images of last night and them singing with Nick and Jeff.

Kurt was still thinking and trying to remember when Blaine brought him his second glass of water, sitting back in the same place on the edge of Kurt's bed, just watching him with that soft, slightly guilty smile that made Kurt incredibly nervous.

"So," Kurt said conversationally after putting the empty glass down on his bedside table. "What exactly happened last night?"

For a moment it was completely silent as Blaine just stared at him with wide eyes, mouth dropped open in shock.
"You mean- you don't remember anything?" he finally blurted out, still shocked. But there was also something like a hopeful glimmer in his eyes that made Kurt question what exactly had happened after their Wicked marathon.

"Not really. Just a few blurry images. And that we were singing with Nick and Jeff... Wait... I think there was a bottle of champagne involved?" he asked, scrunching up his nose in thought as if that would help him remember more.

"Yes, there was," Blaine nodded, looking almost relieved and doing nothing to alleviate Kurt's confusion. "We each had a glass and you didn't seem to... tolerate it all too well."

"Oh my God, what did I do?" Kurt moaned, burying his face in his hands, not even wanting to think about what might have happened. He tended to go into cat-mode when he got out of control.

"Nothing bad," Blaine was quick to reassure him, a comforting hand rubbing soothing circles into his shoulder. "You just got very giggly and once we noticed how much it got to you I sent Jeff and Nick back into their own room and got you a glass of water."

Kurt hesitantly peeked out behind his hands, leaning into Blaine's touch, ears no longer disappearing into his - in Blaine's opinion very adorable, though Kurt would think differently if he'd been aware - bedhead. "Thanks. That was very nice of you," he smiled up at Blaine, at last lowering his hands into his lap.

Blaine brushed bright red, averting his eyes quickly. "Don't worry, it's fine, every good friend would have done that," he mumbled so quick and quietly Kurt almost didn't catch it. He tilted his head to the side curiously, Blaine's behavior making less sense by the minute.

"Blaine? What's wrong? You've been acting a bit off all morning." Worried that despite Blaine's reassurance he'd done something stupid, Kurt bit his lip, anxiously awaiting his response.

For a moment Blaine kept silent, seeming to consider whether he really wanted to tell Kurt. But finally he turned back to face him with a sigh, looking guiltily up at him through his milelong lashes.

"You told me my eyes were pretty," he uttered, unable to suppress a small smile at the admission. Kurt blushed a vivid scarlet, digging his fingers into the sheets to keep from hiding behind his hands again. He was on his way to be an adult, he should behave like one and face his own dumb mistakes. And telling your new crush that was also your new and first best friend after a week that you thought they - or a part of them, in this case - were pretty while drunk for the first time - definitely a dumb mistake. He'd never deny that Blaine and especially his eyes were pretty but it didn't really seem like an ideal moment in time to tell him so.

"Oh," he choked out, shooting Blaine a quick look before averting his eyes again. He would have that conversation, but he wasn't sure he could do it while looking in those gorgeous hazel orbs. "Did I- anything else you didn't tell me?"

Out of the corner of his eye Kurt watched as Blaine started to fidget, as if he were the one who'd made a fool of himself after one tiny glass of champagne.

"I-," he swallowed, took a deep breath and went on. "I may have told you that you have pretty eyes, too." The blush on his cheeks deepened and Kurt just wanted to pull Blaine's face closer and cover it in kisses, heart racing in his chest, his hands that were still twisted in the fabric of his sheets beginning to sweat. Blaine thought his eyes were pretty, too!

"And then we-" Blaine interrupted himself, clearing his throat and looking like the personification of uncomfortable before he continued. "Then we sort of leaned in and- sort-of-almost-kissed." The last part was jumbled together, said in one breath as if he'd hoped Kurt wouldn't catch the meaning. Unfortunately for him, Kurt's hearing was pretty excellent, even though his head was still hurting and the Aspirin was taking its time to finally kick in.

"What do you mean, we almost kissed?" he whispered, trying desperately to meet Blaine's eyes.

"I-" swallowing harshly, Blaine seemed to finally give in and looked straight at Kurt. "We almost did and then I pulled back."

Kurt's heart immediately plummeted back into his stomach. "Is that why you looked so relieved? When you realized I didn't remember anything? You weren't going to tell me because you didn't want to have to explain that you didn't want to-" He was shushed by Blaine gently pressing a finger to his lips.

"Kurt," he said softly, his face so close that Kurt could feel his breath ghosting over his cheekbones, his eyes fluttering shut almost reflexively. "Kurt, please look at me."

Hesitantly, Kurt obeyed his wish, glasz meeting warm hazel and he immediately felt better despite what had just been said.

"It's not that I didn't want to. Because believe me, I do," Blaine's voice dropped a little lower, taking on a slightly husky quality Kurt's body couldn't help but react to. The way Blaine's eyes seemed to be fixed on his lips, the finger still pressed against them moving slightly to glide over the soft skin of the bottom one, didn't really help the matter. With a shake of his head, Blaine seemed to get back to himself, pointedly looking anywhere but at Kurt's lips and letting his hand drop to his side.

"But Kurt," he said, awkwardly clearing his throat, his expression back to open and sincere. "You were drunk. And we've barely known each other for a week. I think of you as my best friend already and I don't want to jeopardize what we have. If we- if we were to get together I'd like to know more about you first." He gave Kurt a soft smile. "I want to know everything about you." As if in awe, Blaine slowly reached out, obviously ready to pull away again as soon as Kurt would give a sign of discomfort. When there were none he started gently caressing one of his cat ears with the very tips of his fingers, careful not to brush in the wrong direction. Kurt leaned into the touch after merely a second of hesitation.

"I want you to be able to really trust me," Blaine whispered, eyes not moving from where his fingers were gliding over soft fur. "I'm already so crazy about you." Their gazes locked and they smiled at each other softly, the sparkle in Kurt's eyes telling Blaine that he felt the same. "If we do this, I want to do it right. I want to be your friend first and foremost. I- I already feel so strongly about you, Kurt, and I think it would be a shame to possibly ruin this by moving too fast. I- if you were willing to wait... I think we could last. I think this could be so much more than just some silly high school fling." And just like that Blaine was back to blushing, pulling his hand back again and fidgeting nervously. "I'm sorry, I'm sure this sounds stupid and it would probably make things awkward between us and-" This time it was Kurt's finger pressed to soft lips that interrupted the flow of words.

"It's not stupid," he said quietly, voice warm and soft with affection, Blaine's lips pulling into an adoring smile of his own under his finger. "It's very mature, actually. And I- I feel very strongly about you, too, Blaine. You're my best friend. I- I think your idea is worth a try. Because I want to know everything about you, too. And I'd like to remember our- our first kiss," Kurt breathed, Blaine's face so very close. His eyes fluttered half shut and his hand dropped from Blaine's face when their lips met in the softest kiss, lips barely touching but eliciting just as many sparks as any passionate embrace ever could.

"Friends first?" Blaine asked, voice barely audible, when he pulled away to rest his forehead against Kurt's.

"Friends first," Kurt agreed with a smile.