The week goes by fast. Phone calls with Mercedes, glee club meetings, tons of homework, a couple of tests, and even a small conversation with Blaine during lunch. Kurt notices a few eyes on them during the little exchange of words, but decides to ignore them. As much as Kurt tries, it's still... weird, to know that Blaine won't ignore him or pretend he doesn't exist once he tries to approach him. Weird, yes, but not unwelcome.

And then there was Mercedes' absolutely insane idea. Well, at least it did sound crazy at first, but once Kurt stops and really thinks about what his friend said, it sort of makes sense.

He's lonely as hell and bored with his own life. He needs something to clear his mind, make him have fun and forget about everything; and he loves dancing, which he'd get a lot of if he decided on going to the gay bar. Besides, if Kurt's being honest... He is dying for a first kiss.

So what if he can't have the romantic, perfect, clichéd first kiss he's always dreamed about? It doesn't matter. A kiss is still a kiss even if it's from a stranger in a bar, and there's nothing wrong with settling with what little you have.

Yes, Kurt wants romance. He always did; but he can't have it. So he's going to accept the fact and he'll be okay with it. He's done with the self-pity, with crying over things that just aren't meant to happen to him.

And if no one in the bar shows interest, that will be fine, too. Kurt is going to have fun either way. He'll still dance and flirt with cute boys, and even drink a little if he feels like it.

It's not hard to finally decide to go to the bar. It's already Friday, he already has the fake ID Mercedes magically got from a misterious freshman, and he's determined to loose up, even if it's just for one night. So he grabs his phone dials Mercedes' number.

"'Ello?" Mercedes mumbles from the other end of the line, sounding tired.

"Hey... Are you okay?" 

"Oh, God," she whines, and Kurt can hear what sounds a lot like sheets crumpling. "No. Sick."

"What? You're sick?"

"Yeah. No idea what it is." Kurt can hear his friend blowing her nose, and his own crinkle. Poor Mercedes sounds like she's dying; Kurt wishes there was something he could do to make her feel better. "Feels awful, though."

"Oh, honey, do you want me to come over?" He asks, even if he really wants to follow his decision and go out. He'd change his plans if Mercedes needed him. "I can make you chicken soup and we can watch Dreamgirls?"

"Nah, it's okay. You'll only get sick too," she sniffs. "B-but why are you calling, boo?"

"Oh, I was- I was going to ask if you still wanted to go to that Scandals bar. I decided to go." Kurt laughed a little when Mercedes' squeal turned into a serie of coughs.

"I can't go, Kurt, but you're going anyway, ok?"

"I want to, but-"

"Oh, no. You're going." She paused, coughing some more. "It'll be even better without me there. You'll be free to flirt and dance with cute guys without me watching."

Kurt giggles. "Have I mentioned you're impossible?"

"And you are going out tonight."

Blaine doesn't usually go to Scandals. It's too small and too warm and a lot of people there creep him out. But it's still one of the very few places where he can truly be himself, and it still has a dance floor and a lot of alcohol, so it's good enough. Decent. It's not the perfect place, but he still goes there to have some fun and clear his mind.

And he definetely needs to clear his mind after what happened at Rachel's house earlier.

Blaine avoids kissing Rachel as much as he can. It's fine for him when she does it in public, because he knows it won't be more than a touch of the lips (and Rachel's not insane enough yet to make out with him in front of the entire school). There's a reason why he never goes to Rachel's place when she says her dads aren't home: he knows Rachel wants more. She's starting to get frustrated, and Blaine has no idea of what to do. He's not even thinking about having sex yet, much less with a girl, and he feels really bad for what he's doing with Rachel but he is so lost. Blaine doesn't know how to fix all of this and breaking up with her now wouldn't be the right thing to do at all. Rachel's been really nervous and sad because their dads are fighting – even talking about divorce –, and a break-up now would only be one more thing to add to her list. 

Blaine knows that what he's doing to her is completely unfair (and, not to mention, heartless). But breaking her heart? It's too much, even for this whole situation. He can't do that.

So when early that day he knocked on the Berrys house to return some notes to Rachel, he was caught completely off guard when the girl all but threw herself against him and planted one right on his face. It was off-center and too wet and there was too much teeth, but Blaine held her by the waist and tried to kiss her back after the shock was gone.

But then Rachel started talking about how her dads weren't home and asked him if he wanted to go to her bedroom. Trying not to panick, Blaine shook his head, told some lame excuse he doesn't even remember and left. He just left Rachel there, standing on her porch, and ran to his car as fast as he could.

Blaine feels terrible, but it's not like he could do it with Rachel or tell her the reason why he couldn't. Can't. God, his life is such a mess.

So he goes to Scandals, and tries to stop thinking when he orders his first drink.

Kurt is nervous when he shows his fake ID to the weird-looking guy at the front of the bar, but once he's inside he relaxes and tries to take in the place. It's not what he'd call fabulous, and it's totally not a place he'd go very often, but it's not too bad. The bar looks like it has a lot of drinks and the music is good. There's a few boys his age and one of them is even looking at Kurt over his shoulder, and well, it makes him blush.

Maybe it wasn't a bad idea after all.

Kurt finds an empty sit and orders a drink. Screw his no-alcohol policy. Mercedes is covering for him if his dad calls, he has nothing to worry about and he's having fun, damnit. He's done with worrying.

The boy who was looking at Kurt looks again, and Kurt looks back and oh my God is this what flirting is? The stranger is cute, his smile matching Kurt's and his blonde hair falling over his dark eyes while he walks to Kurt's direction. 

Kurt looks down when the boy approaches, taking a sip of his drink.

"Hi," the boy says, his voice low but still audible over the music.

"Hey."

"So, do you come here often?" Kurt looks at him them, his mind screamingseriously? Please tell me you're kidding. "I've never seen you here."

"Oh, no, you're right. First time here."

The boy looks interested, moving his chair closer. "Really?"

Kurt hums, and the boy adds, "actually, it's not surprising. I'm sure I'd have noticed you before if you did."

Kurt looks the other way, then, trying to hide his blush and being almost certain that he fails. But then...

Oh my God. 

No. Fucking. Way.

On the opposite side of the bar, sitting at one of the tables and sipping at something on his cup, hair all messy and curls escaping from the gel, is Blaine. His clothes are all crinkled and even though he looks tired as hell, Kurt thinks he's stunning.

But– fuck, why is Blaine here? In a gay bar, of all places? He's supposed to be straight. Shouldn't he be at Rachel's house or his house or something? Kurt doesn't know what to think. He doesn't know if he should even be thinking at all, because his mind has a tendency of flying on its own and it's usually not pretty. 

Well, now one thing he knows for sure; Blaine wouldn't be here if he was straight.

But then, Mercedes was coming with Kurt today and she's not gay. Not at all. Maybe Blaine's just accompanying some friend, or...

Kurt looks again, and realizes that Blaine's completely alone. 

Maybe not so straight, after all. 

The sight of Blaine sitting alone shouldn't make him feel like there was a fist tightening his heart, but it does. The boy seems so... Lonely and sad. Why he would go to a place like Scandals to feel better, Kurt has no idea. But suddenly, he wishes he could take that sadness away from Blaine's face.

Kurt looks at the stranger again when he realizes he's still talking.

"Sorry. I- I have to go. There's-" he says, looking at where Blaine's sitting again, not finishing his sentence and leaving the cute blond boy there, alone.

He doesn't even feel bad about it.

When he approaches, Blaine is turned to the other side and oblivious to Kurt's presence. So he comes closer, careful not to touch Blaine's back, until he can talk directly into the boy's ear.

"I thought you were straight."

Blaine jumps a little and Kurt bites his lip to keep from laughing.

"K-Kurt?" His eyes widen and his face pales like he just saw a ghost, and then, only then, does Kurt laugh.

"Hi."

"Oh, God." Blaine whines and hides his face on both hands, running them up his hair and looking up at Kurt. "I- Oh my God, you- I... don't know what to say."

"It's okay." Kurt smiles, crossing his arms and trying not to laugh at Blaine's desperate expression.

"I- What are you doing here?"

"Same as you. Drinking and watching cute boys."

Blaine moans, hiding his face again. 

"Hey," Kurt says, and when Blaine peeks between his fingers, his heart does that funny thing where it beats really fast and erratically. Damn. He's adorable. 

Kurt clears his throat to try and compose himself before he speaks. "Really, Blaine, if there's someone who understands, it's me."

"But-"

"Uh-uh, shush. Come on." Kurt hesitates for a second before taking Blaine's hand and urging him to sit up.

"What?" His friend finally smiles, the pretty one where all of his teeth show and his eyes get so bright that Kurt wonders how something that beautiful can even be real, and it's impossible for him not to smile back.

"Let's dance."

After a lot of dancing, – in which Kurt kept his distance and Blaine kept trying to tug him closer – some more drinking and a lot of laughs, Kurt decides it's time to go home. He knows he shouldn't be driving, but he didn't drink that much and he doesn't have another option. Blaine, on the other hand, is a little tipsy and giggly and totally not in condition to drive. 

So Kurt offers to drive him home. 

Which seemed like a very good idea at first, except that it so wasn't.

Blaine's sitting on the passenger seat, his hair completely curly now, arms curled around himself and eyelids almost dropping as he blinks sleepily at Kurt. Kurt is sure that Blaine thinks he isn't noticing, but he can totally feel Blaine's on him, like fire, burning his skin. He doesn't know why the hell he feels like this whenever Blaine's around, but his heart is beating fast and he knows his hands would be shaking if he wasn't holding the steering wheel as hard as he is.

All he wants is to stop thinking and to just arrive at Blaine's house already so he'll be away from this torture. 

"Am I going the right way?" Kurt asks without taking his eyes off the road, glad that he has an excuse not to look at Blaine's face.

"What?" The boy asks, and Kurt can still feel his eyes on him.

"The way, Blaine."

"Oh- yes. You- you're going the right way." 

"Good." 

And that's the only thing they say during the entire drive. Kurt keeps his eyes on the road and Blaine keeps his eyes on Kurt, and that's how they stay for long, agonizing minutes. Kurt feels his fingers getting numb with how hard his grip is in on the steering wheel, but after a few moments, he realizes he's not uncomfortable. He's just... nervous. Really, really nervous. His hands are sweating and his heart is beating fast but, strangely, it's not a bad feeling.

"We're here." Blaine says when they arrive at a pretty, white house. It's not too big but it's definitely not tiny, and it's gorgeous.

Kurt stops the car and turns off the ignition, opening his door to help Blaine out.

He does, and when the boy steps out of the car Kurt leans against the door and crosses his arm.

"Thank you for driving me home." Blaine says, standing in front of Kurt and taking one step forward.

"Thank you. I had a lot of fun; it was a great night." Kurt says, and regrets it the moment it's out of his mouth. It sounded like they were on a date and fuck-

"It really was great, wasn't it?" Blaine says, then, almost a whisper; he's suddenly closer, his face not one palm away from Kurt's.

"It really was." Kurt whispers back, and he's pretty sure that Blaine can hear his heart beating.

"Kurt?" 

"Yes?" Kurt murmurs when Blaine gets even closer, so close that Kurt can feel his breathing against his cheek. His eyes are so huge and shiny that it makes Kurt's stomach flutter; then he feels trembling, unsure fingers brush against his jaw, holding his face delicately. Blaine's mouth is half opened, his eyes locked to Kurt's lips, and he takes in a ragged breath.

It feels like an eternity until Blaine finally closes his lips around Kurt's. 

It takes a moment for Kurt to process what's happening – his heart is beating so fast that it gets difficult to think – but once he does, he finds himself kissing back and threading his fingers into Blaine's curls, holding him close. He feels Blaine's fingers tighten where they're holding his jaw, and his other hand comes to Kurt's waist, keeping their bodies together.

Blaine nips at Kurt's bottom lip before they part, and Kurt finds himself licking them, savoring the taste of Blaine still clinging to his mouth. His friend is still holding him, the hand on Kurt's waist gripping at the fabric of his clothes for a second before he removes his hand, his pink tongue peeking out to lick at his lips.

His eyes meet Kurt's and he gives him a small, warm smile.

Kurt smiles back and Blaine, much to Kurt's surprise, leans in again and gives him another kiss, fast and sweet.

"Bye, Kurt," he murmurs against his lips before kissing him again, and once more, gripping Kurt's arms like he doesn't want to let go.

"B-bye," Kurt mutters back, still shocked but happier than he ever remembers being, and he feels like his heart is about to beat right out of his chest.

Blaine touches his lips to Kurt's one last time, smiles and turns to walk in the direction of his house.

He looks over his shoulder when he reaches his door, waves once, and smiles lightly. Kurt watches him with a smile of his own plastered to his face and waves back, not thinking about how unexpected those kisses were and feeling his heart expand on his chest.