After a rather silent car ride that was mostly spent with Kurt giggling at Blaine they finally arrived at the music store Blaine had had in mind. Sure that at least here he was on safe ground, Blaine got out of the car with a relieved sigh. There was no way he was going to embarrass himself when music was the topic of choice. Kurt smiled at him when they met up again in front of the car, immediately back to walking as close as they had been in the parking lot and Blaine just knew that nothing could go wrong from here.

Well, until he showed the presence of mind to ask for Kurt's range and what songs he felt would showcase it best.

"I'm a countertenor. I was thinking maybe something Broadway. I've always wanted to sing Defying Gravity somewhere that isn't my bedroom or the shower. But I guess I could go with Top 40, too, if that fits better with the Warblers. Maybe Florence, or would that be too much?"

Kurt had been heading for the Broadway section, gesticulating vividly, and it took him a while to notice that Blaine wasn't following anymore. He stood in the door, frozen and mouth slightly agape.

"Blaine, are you okay?" Hesitantly, Kurt approached him, ready to get out his phone and call an ambulance. It looked a bit like Blaine might have a stroke.

"I- a countertenor. You're a countertenor. Of course you are," Blaine uttered under his breath, shaking his head to get back to himself.

"Blaine?" Kurt looked like he wasn't sure if he should just be worried or rather call for help.

"I'm fine," Blaine replied, offering a very much not convincing smile. "It's just- we haven't had a countertenor in... Well, that might be even longer ago than when we last had a hybrid at Dalton, I'd have to look that up in our chronicles-"

"You have Warbler chronicles? How long exactly has this group existed for?"

"Around 150 years?"

Now it was Kurt's turn to stand with his mouth agape and an incredulous expression on his face.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No. Why would I?" Blaine said distractedly, mind still reeling with the revelation that Kurt was a countertenor, of all things. He'd been working on whose range fit what best together with Wes for quite some time now, but he was pretty sure he had no idea how to deal with the higher registers of Kurt's voice. Which took him back to being as completely useless as he'd felt before. So much for being on safe ground.

"150 years," Kurt mumbled to himself while mechanically turning around to head back to his original destination. This time, Blaine followed suit.

"It's not such a big deal, Kurt. Sure, we have a bit of a tradition, but-"

"Blaine!" Kurt interrupted him, finally turning around to reveal wild eyes and a panicked expression. "I didn't even manage to get in the little, newly founded club of misfits that was Glee at my old school. How am I supposed to get into a prestigious prep school show choir that's been existing for 150 yearsif I didn't make it there?"

"First of all, you told me you didn't even try to audition so you not getting into Glee club at your old school isn't an indicator if you're good enough or not," Blaine explained as patiently as he could, trying his best to ease Kurt out of his little self-induced panic attack. "And secondly: Prestigious prep school show choir? Really?"

Blushing, Kurt chuckled along with Blaine for a bit before closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

"Okay," he breathed. "Okay, I'm fine now. I'm fine." He carefully opened an eye to look at Blaine, ears twitching slightly. "I'm sorry I freaked out on you like that."

"Hey, it's okay to be nervous." Blaine stepped closer, resting a soothing hand on Kurt's arm. "But there's nothing to be afraid of. I'm sure you're going to sound fantastic. We'll find something for you."

Kurt's soft smile almost overshadowed the guilt Blaine felt for acting like he had any idea what he was doing. But admitting that he had no idea what songs would suit a countertenor best wouldn't help Kurt's nervousness and he could at least advice him on how appropriate his choices would be for a Warblers audition. He just had to trust in Kurt's knowledge of his own range.

An hour later, they finally left the store, the sheet music for Kurt's audition piece in hand. They both seemed pretty content with the choice, even though it took quite a while to convince Kurt that Music Of The Night, Defying Gravity or Don't Cry For Me Argentina were all a little too far-fetched for the Warblers since they mainly focused on a cappella arrangements around popular pop songs.

It was already starting to get darker and the wind had picked up, giving the air a chilly tang. Blaine wrapped his arms around himself, trying to suppress a shiver, before turning to Kurt.

"If you don't want to take a walk anymore, that's perfectly fine. It's gotten a bit cold, anyway." Kurt just smiled at him, shaking his head, hesitantly touching Blaine's arm when another shiver raked up his spine.

"I'm fine. I don't get cold that easily. But you look like you're freezing. If you still want to take that walk we could-" Kurt's voice got so quiet towards the end of his sentence that Blaine wasn't sure he'd understood correctly, his pale cheeks flushed from more than just the cold wind. Before Blaine could ask what he'd been about to say, Kurt tentatively offered his arm to him, finally getting the idea across. Blaine wasn't sure if he was shivering from the harsh wind or the prospect of walking arm in arm with Kurt, pressed close against the still dropping temperature. Either way he didn't waste a second accepting the offer, gratefully twining his arm around Kurt's.

They walked in silence for a bit, pressing a little closer every other step, both reveling in the intimacy of the moment and each other's body heat. Blaine was actually grateful for the wind - not only was it offering him the perfect opportunity to be this close to Kurt, but it also covered his blush, making it look like nothing but a side effect of its harshness.

At some point, Kurt's tail had twined itself lightly around both their legs and when Blaine stepped even closer as another gust of cold air hit them, he thought he could make out a low, rumbling noise, just barely there. It took him a moment to realize that Kurt was purring and the mere thought of it almost sent Blaine tumbling as he seemed to have forgotten how to use his feet.

Thank goodness Kurt was quick enough to catch him. "Blaine? Are you okay?" he asked, a worried look on his face.

"I- I- yeah. Yes, I'm fine," Blaine choked out, trying to fake a grin he was sure looked more like a grimace.

"If you say so," Kurt chuckled, obviously amused by Blaine's awkwardness. "But it's starting to get really cold now, I think we should head back."

Blaine merely nodded in agreement, still too stunned for actual coherent sentences. So he just pressed himself to Kurt's side again, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach or the heat creeping up his neck that had nothing to do with the temperature.

Blaine knew how to read the signs. He had a habit of falling for guys way too quickly. He remembered the debacle with Jeremiah all too well. It was rather humiliating, asking someone if you were dating on your third coffee ‘date' only to have them laugh in your face because they were quite a few years older. Jeremiah had apologized immediately, but the incident was still burnt into his memory.

And while he was pretty sure that Kurt at least wouldn't laugh at him, he convinced himself to be content with the way Kurt's tail once more curled around their legs for now and the excited shivers the motion sent up and down his spine. When they finally arrived back at the car, Blaine wasn't sure if he was relieved or devastated that they'd have to sit apart for the whole of the drive.

The trip back to Dalton itself was rather uneventful, they just talked about all the Broadway musicals they'd seen and still wanted to see until they found themselves in the parking lot again. Laughing and still chatting animatedly, they made their way across the Dalton grounds, through the foyer and up the stairs until they came to a halt in front of their door. It was only then that Blaine really realized they were sharing a room.

With shaking hands, he unlocked the door and pushed inside, ever so aware of Kurt's presence in his back. The first thing he noticed were the - really nice, tasteful - sheets on the other bed. After his former roommate had moved out in the middle of last school year because his parents had moved across the country, Blaine had been alone in this room. He'd become so used to an empty bed just standing in the room that it was hard to grasp that it would be occupied from now on. And by no one other than Kurt. Whom he'd already started crushing on. Fuck.

"I hope you don't mind," Kurt's clear voice rang behind him, effectively cutting through the chaos in Blaine's mind. "I took a few liberties while redecorating."

Now that his attention had been called to it, Blaine started to take in all the other, less noticeable changes in the room. There were posters on the walls - Patti LuPone, scenes from Wicked, a brilliant shot of Manhattan at night in black and white, next to an equally elegant one of Paris. The shelves were filled with books and records and stacks of fashion magazines. There was a laptop on the desk and a scarf wound around the doorknob of the wardrobe.

"It looks really good," Blaine breathed, turning to Kurt with flushed cheeks. "Much better than before."

Kurt blushed as well at the compliment but otherwise took it rather gracefully. He offered Blaine a blinding smile before disappearing into the bathroom. It had been a long day and he was ready to curl up in his bed and sleep. Not wanting to disturb him - and unable to concentrate on anything but his presence in the same room, anyway - Blaine also went to bed early, the sound of Kurt's even breathing soon enough lulling him to sleep. He wouldn't have been lying if he'd said that this had been the best night's sleep he'd had in quite some time.