CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

LATE SUNDAY NIGHT

BLAINE

This wasn't exactly how I saw Kurt ending up in my apartment for the first time. And no, I didn't mean that in a purely sexual way... okay,maybea little bit. But I didn't think the first time I'd see him in my apartment would have been the result of my best friend catching us practically making out outside my apartment building and realizing that there was some need for explanation when I realized Kurt also knew Santana.

I mean, how wouldthathappen? Of all the gin joints...

Rather than continue our discussion outside in public, after Santana had practically screamed with glee after finding us, I asked if we wanted to continue this rendezvous in the comfort of my apartment. Kurt looked a little hesitant, but I wondered if that had to do with going into my apartment or the fact that his... friend? had caught us kissing.

Sure, we were both grown men and kissing was not unusual for us to do since we were dating. But I'm pretty sure we were headed toward some potential tongue action before Santana decided to drop a bomb with her presence.

Did I really just say tongue action in my head? Geez. Grow up, Blaine.

And what was she doing there anyway? Couldn't she have waited for tomorrow morning before she had to impose on my date? Not that she knew I was on one, but that was beside the point.

"Your place is nice," Kurt said as he walked around the living space. The elevator ride up to my apartment on the 4th floor had been a quiet one – with Santana eagerly eyeing us as Kurt and I were unsure of how to physically position ourselves after the awkward encounter with our apparently mutual friend.

Upon entering my apartment, Santana had dismissed herself to the restroom for a moment, leaving Kurt and I to awkwardly dance around each other in the living space of my studio. I was thankful that I had managed to clean the place earlier today so it didn't seem like I lived like a caveman. To kill time before Santana re-emerged, Kurt had taken to looking around my apartment and I had fought to look anywhere but to Kurt – afraid of what he was thinking.

"Thanks," I replied as I sat down on the couch. Kurt was looking through my books at the moment, touching the binding on the volumes of classics I had on the shelf. He still looked nervous, as did I, but soon Santana had burst out of the bathroom.

"So, boys. What's this all about?" she said as she wrung her hands and plopped down in the armchair opposite of the bookshelf Kurt was standing near.

"What's what all about?" I asked casually.

"Why were you making out with my boy Hummel?"

My brows quirked. "Okay, I get that I'm your best friend, butKurtis 'your boy' now?"

Kurt sighed over by the bookshelf and took a seat next to me on the couch. "And also, we were not making out," he retorted.

"Oh, you were well on your way," she snorted, causing both of us to blush. Kurt shifted uncomfortably next to me and I was equally perturbed at Santana's presence... and statement.

"Let's start with you, Santana. How do you know Kurt?"

"We went to high school together," she stated simply.

I turned to Kurt. "Wait, you're from Ohio?" He nodded.

"Really, Blaine? How did that not come up yet? I'm guessing you've been on more than one date by now since you were acting all lovey-dovey the other day at work so I'm assuming Hummel had something to do with it," Santana replied.

I shrugged with a blush. Did she really need to tell Kurt that I was like that after our date? Now I remembered why I hadn't talked to her about it yet. "Obviously it hadn't come up," I uttered.

"So how do you know Blaine?" Kurt asked.

I turned to Kurt; I'd rather answer this one. "Santana and I met during our internship at Rialto my senior year of college. We've been friends ever since."

"Best friends," she interjected. I rolled my eyes.

Kurt sat in silence, as if thinking through things in his head. "So you guys work together still? And you work on stuff now?"

I nodded. "Yes. I just helped sign Atticus Finch, the band you saw at The Bell House – the one I've been telling you about - and Santana is in charge of their PR plan."

"Wait, wait, wait," Santana interrupted. "You were at The Bell House and saw Atticus Finch andthat'swhere you met Blaine?"

"Not exactly," Kurt replied.

"Okay, now I'm really confused. Which one of you lover boys would like to explain how my best friend and my high school friend ended up kissing outside of this apartment building?" Santana asked.

Kurt still hadn't looked up from something that looked oh-so interesting on the floor, so I took the lead. "The short of it is, I saw him at Cosi at lunch one day but ran into him at The Bell House but finally contacted him through NYCDate and here we are."

Santana looked flabbergasted. "That makes no sense."

"What do you mean it makes no sense?" Kurt snipped. "That's what happened!"

"Calm down, Kurt," Santana said, trying to sweeten her tone a bit as she caught on to Kurt's discomfort. "It's just... that's kind of crazy. You saw each other at a restaurant and happened to run into each other again and then found each other – again – online. And you've been on... a date?"

"Three, actually," Kurt replied, this time a slight smile at his lips. I wanted to reach out and hold his hand, but I wasn't sure if he wanted that right now. He still looked like he was ready to flee at any moment.

"Okay, sothreedates." She sat for a few minutes. "Jesus," she replied, disbelief in her tone.

"What?" I asked. I really wanted to know where this was going.

"It's just... really crazy. My best friend going out on dates with the guy I went through puberty with and somehow, miraculously, ending up finding each other in New York City despite the fact that we could have all met each other when we lived in Ohio," she stated.

"We all lived in Ohio?" Kurt questioned. "You're from Ohio too?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I grew up in Columbus."

Kurt looked astonished. "How have we been talking all this time and we never realized we grew up in the same state – let alone that we both knew Santana? That's... strange."

I couldn't help but laugh – Santana and I had always talked about how we wished we could have met up in high school knowing we lived maybe two hours from each other. Now I had another reason to have wanted to meet her sooner; I could have met Kurt by now. "Santana is right, this really is crazy. We grew up close to each other and had a mutual friend but never met until a few weeks ago. If this isn't the plot of a rom-com by now, we should totally sell the rights."

This time my mind and my body didn't have time to agree on my actions and I found myself reaching out for Kurt's hand that lay between us, eager to grab him as physical proof that this was real. When I realized what I had done, I looked up to Kurt – as if questioning if our contact was okay – only to earn a smile as Kurt nudged himself closer to me on the couch. We weren't touching anywhere but our hands, but it was enough for me.

"God, you two are fucking adorable," Santana joked.

"Oh whatever," Kurt replied, sending her an icy glare as he squeezed my hand. "Now aside from Blaine and I having been on three dates, what exactly areyoudoinghere?"

She rolled her eyes. "Like I need your permission to visit my best friend."

"He wasn't asking for permission, San," I said, defending Kurt. "But I also want to know why you're here at 11 at night and ruining my perfectly good date." The way I spoke about my date with Kurt caused him to squeeze my hand a bit tighter and I smiled in response.

"One I didn't know about—" she interjected.

"—That's beside the point. Why are you here?" I inquired.

"I told you I'd give you all the details once I proposed!" she enthused.

"You proposed to Brittany?!" Kurt squealed. I turned to him, confusion etched on my face. Not only was it the cutest reaction I had seen from Kurt; I wondered how he knew Brittany. I saw out of the corner of my eye that she had nodded but I was still staring at Kurt. "What?" Kurt asked as he realized I was still gaping at him.

I pushed aside the ways in which his brightened eyes were adorable and asked the question rolling around in my head. "How do you know Brittany?"

"I ran into Santana the other day and we got lunch and she told me about Brittany and about—" he stopped, with his mouth now drooping with some realization.

"About what?" I inquired.

"About you," he replied in a hushed tone.

"Why was she talking about me? But... wait; wouldn't you have known it was me? I mean, Blaine isn't exactly a common name."

He shook his head. "She – uh – never said your name. Just that she suspected that her best friend had probably been on a date."

"How would she have known that?" I pondered out loud. "It's not like I said anything to her about it. Not that I'm ashamed or wouldn't want to talk about you or anything," I corrected. "But well, she is how she is. And I'm guessing you didn't say my name otherwise she would have harassed both of us by now. So how would she have figured that?"

"'She' is right here, you know," Santana snarked.

"I don't know," Kurt replied quickly. His response caused Santana to peer at him from her seat, but she didn't say anything. Kurt looked away from Santana's gaze and I gently rubbed circles on the back of his hand with my thumb. I felt awful that things had gotten awkward so quickly after such a promising date, so I let the silence lull for longer than normal just to be cautious.

Before long, it seemed like Santana had had enough quiet. "Well pretty boys, the moral of this story is that my two friends are hooking up," Santana stated, causing Kurt to glare at her, "and I proposed to Brittany. Now, rather than ramble on about you two, how about I tell you everything aboutmyweekend."

We both nodded and Santana went on about how she proposed to her girlfriend turned fiancée – taking her out for a romantic candlelit picnic in the gazebo of the house they had stayed in and proposed as they sat on the swing set as they looked out into the stars and shared memories and kisses. It was so incredibly romantic and I could feel myself getting a little emotional at the thought. I looked over at Kurt who also looked slightly misty eyed at her story, but he tried to snap back to a more composed demeanor when I looked over at him.

But I didn't miss it – Kurt thought it was romantic too.

"That's beautiful," I mused when Santana had concluded her story. "Why didn't you bring Brittany with you tonight? I would have loved to hear her side of the story."

"I wore her out," she said with a wink. I rolled my eyes and Kurt left out a snort. It was clear we were both used to her rather frank quasi-sexual demeanor. "Don't worry, you'll be able to hear her side of the story soon. Her parents want to throw us an engagement party this weekend and naturally you'll be invited. But Blaine, you better find a date – I'm only inviting Kurt," she chortled.

I rolled my eyes again – as if she wasn't going to invite her best friend. But before I could interject with my protest to not being invited, Kurt stated, "I guess Blaine will have to be my date then," squeezing my hand as he spoke. I blushed.

"This ragamuffin?" she said as she gestured to my slightly rumpled appearance. "You could do better than him," Santana joked.

"I don't think so," Kurt whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear but I was thankful that I had. He looked up in shock at his admission, but I just smiled at him and tried to let on that I hadn't heard what he said.

"I'll be sure to send you the details now that I have your number." Her eyes flicked to the clock in the kitchen and her eyes bugged. "Wow, it's really late and I need to get home. We have to work in less than 8 hours."

"I should go too," Kurt said reluctantly. "I know you have to work in the morning."

"Oh. Okay," I replied, slightly bummed that Kurt wasn't staying any later. I mean, I didn't really expect him to since it was 1am, but I did want to talk with him alone about this whole Santana thing. But now was not the time I suppose.

Santana gathered her coat and scarf that had been hung on my coat rack and put them on before turning back to Kurt and I, who had remained seated on the couch. "I'm going to just... step outside for a minute. But I'll help you flag a cab if you'd like."

Kurt nodded and she quietly stepped into the hallway, slight smile adorning her face. I turned back to Kurt, whose nerves had disappeared and were replaced by a slight grin. I was thankful that he wasn't completely turned off by how the night had gone – I doubted it had been a surprise that he planned.

"This was not part of my plan," Kurt quipped causing me to laugh at our accidental ESP.

"I figured. But I hope you had a good time despite this sort of weird conclusion."

He nodded. "I really did have a great time – that hasn't changed in the last hour or so. Even though I still think it's weird that you're friends with Santana and that we could have met awhile ago."

I shrugged. "Like I said before, everything happens for a reason."

"I suppose you're right."

I sat there still rubbing the back of his hand as he leaned forward slowly and I eagerly met him halfway. I felt a puff of air on my face as I closed my eyes and before long I was rewarded with a gentle kiss from Kurt. This kiss felt as soft as the first one we'd shared outside of my apartment a few hours ago but it was reassuring in a way the other one hadn't been. His lips moved lethargically against mine for a moment until he pulled back, giving us room to breathe.

I pulled away from him fully to see Kurt with his eyes still closed and the smile he had worn had grown bigger. I glanced at him and the softness of the smile on his face until he opened his eyes and took me in – a breathless grin gracing my face. "Thank you," I said softly as our gazes held on to one another; faces mere inches apart.

"For what?" he inquired.

I reached up and used the tips of my fingers to grace the surface of his cheek. At the contact, Kurt's eyes fluttered closed as he put the weight of his face into my hands and I continued to map his face. "For being you," I whispered.

Kurt giggled. "It's the least I could do," he said as his eyes flicked open. He used his right hand to grasp my left that was on his face and he lowered it into his lap, his fingers wrapping around mine. I took the opportunity to look down at our hands and I was thrilled to see his long fingers looped around my slightly shorter digits. "I have to go now," he murmured.

"I know," I said, neither one of us moving. "I'll call you."

With that admission, Kurt stood up with a nod and I was disappointed to alleviate my fingers from Kurt's grasp. "I hope so," he said as he walked toward the coat rack to pick up his own coat. I helped him into his coat – as any gentleman would – and smoothed out the back of the jacket before he turned back to face me. He leaned in one last time and placed another feather light kiss on my lips, causing me to lean forward for slightly more pressure and practically swooning when I felt Kurt pushing back harder as well.

"Bye," he whispered against my lips, causing me to smile even though it meant our lips were no longer attached.

"Bye," I breathed as I pulled open the door for him and saw a smirking Santana in the hallway tapping on her phone. Kurt sent me a small wave before Santana put her arm around his back, threw me a wink, and led him toward the elevator at the end of the hall.

I closed the door and plopped down on the couch and kicked my feet onto the coffee table. I still was reeling from the events of the night, but I knew one thing for certain – Kurt Hummel was going to make me fall. Hard.

KURT

"So, I'm guessing youreallylike my friend," Santana quipped as she and I left Blaine's apartment building. I had spent most of the elevator ride trying to avoid Santana's kissy noises that were clearly directed at my previous activities with Blaine. Part of me wanted to roll my eyes at her, part of me wanted to blush at the realization that I had – in fact – kissed Blaine multiple times in one evening.

"You could say that," I replied as we headed toward the corner to find a cab.

I could tell Santana was eager to pry – and I felt bad for the fact that Blaine was going to be harassed and questioned within an inch of his life tomorrow – but she and I had just rekindled our friendship and I wasn't sure I needed to get into feelings and things with her just yet. Besides, I hadn't fully thought through exactly how I felt about Blaine other than that he was a wonderful person and when I was with him, he never ceased to make me smile.

As if sensing what was going on through my head, Santana reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me to a halt. "You don't have to hide the way you feel about him, Kurt. And I already know that you like him. You might not be willing to admit how much you like him yet since youclearlytried to change the subject when he asked how I would have known about your little romantic rendezvouses, but I know better. And you really don't need to be afraid of how you feel - this isn't Lima."

I sighed. "I realize this, but... it's just..."

"What?" she asked, loosening her grip on my arm and looking at me expectantly for an answer.

"This all just seems too good to be true. And come on, the fact that you just happen to be best friends with him? The fact that he grew up in Ohio but I happened to run into him in New York, the city of my dreams, and that he's more amazing than I could have ever expected?" I huffed; nearly out of breath by the time I had finished speaking.

"You think he's amazing," she stated. I looked at her with shock; how was that the main thing that she picked up from my rant? Did she not realize this whole situation was not normal? "But I don't see how those other things are really an issue. Shouldn't it be enough that you like him? At least for now? It's not like you're gettingmarriedor anything."

"Yeah but you are," I said as I nudged her shoulder.

"Quit deflecting, Hummel," she insisted; damn, she still knew my old tricks to avoid her. "I'm not saying this just because Blaine is my best friend or anything, but if he makes you happy, don't be afraid. And don't think that things are too good to be true."

"But how can you just ignore the fact that this whole situation seems like it reallyistoo good to be true?"

She shrugged. "Sometimes, Kurt, we are lucky enough to experience things that truly are too good to be true; real life fairy tales. We get the privilege of loving who and what we are, what we do, and sometimes we even find someone who loves us and who we are as much as we love ourselves. Who's to say that couldn't happen for you?"

Could a happy ending really happen for me? With everything that happened with William and even James, I had somewhat resigned myself to date until I found someone who seemed settled and someone who I could live with on a day-to-day basis. But could I really, truly share my happiness in the world with someone? And could we have potentially met in the most absurd, practically fantasy way that I had met Blaine? This was certainly something to consider. As I thought through this, I realized I had stood there, stunned at her musings for a little longer than socially acceptable. But I couldn't help it. Santana really had changed - and in a good way. "When did you become so prophetic? God, where is that girl I went to high school with."

She chuckled. "She grew up, got an amazing best friend, but really – she fell in love." It was true; Santana was still Santana – as bold and brash as ever – but the softness she had taken on was clearly a result of the presence of Blaine and the allusive Brittany in her life.

Maybe - if I was lucky enough - someone could help transform me, too. And maybe that person could even be Blaine.