The holiday rush was over and The Lima Bean returned to being the slow little coffee shop it used to be. It was a little boring, Blaine had to admit that. For that reason, the moment Kurt would walk to get his coffee, Blaine would turn into this excited puppy dog. He would grin from ear to ear and nearly bounce in place at the sight of Kurt. Maybe he was a bit overly excited, but damn it, he was bored! Every now and then he would manage to sneak his phone out and play some games, but it was really tough to get around his manager spotting him. The guy was strict and Blaine just knew if he was caught texting or playing with his iPhone he would get some kind of reprimand. Blaine Anderson did not do reprimands.

Kurt took a seat as he waited for Blaine to finish preparing his coffee. As the older boy did so, he found his eyes wandering over to Kurt whenever he had the opportunity. He studied Kurt's profile as the boy lowered his head a little reading through a book he had probably been assigned for one of his classes. Blaine held the pitcher of milk against the steam wand, barely paying attention to the hiss as the milk warmed up. His attention was suddenly focused on Kurt as he realized that, wow, he had a really nice profile and a really cute nose. And the way he reached up and brushed at a stray hair that fell over his forehead was really, really cute too. Suddenly Blaine remembered that, shityeah, he was steaming some milk. He snapped his attention back to the pitcher he held, quickly reaching up to turn the steam wand off and set the pitcher down as he peeked at the thermometer to see that, surprisingly even with his distraction, he had managed to keep the damn milk from burning. Wiping the excess milk from the wand he bit down on his lower lip.

Kurt had been a student at Dalton for almost a month now and he and Blaine had been spending a lot of time with each other. Practically all of their free time, actually. So, of course, Blaine was teased about his friendship with Kurt. A lot. Wes was the absolute worst with those knowing little looks he would shoot Blaine when Kurt wasn't paying attention. He would smirk at Blaine when they practiced a dance routine and Blaine would accidentally bump into Kurt. It made learning the choreography a lot harder knowing that those stupid eyes were watching Blaine waiting for him to mess up and run into Kurt, or accidentally brush his arm or something stupid like that.

Blaine found himself looking at Kurt a lot more often that usual. Sometimes, he felt like a total creep because he would catch himself kind of staring whenever Kurt wasn't looking. And then he would realize just what he was doing and how utterly creepy it was and quickly look away before Kurt could catch him. Actually, he can been caught a few times. Kurt's eyes would meet his for that absolutely dreadful, awkward moment before Blaine would tear his gaze away and pretend that he was looking out the window behind Kurt. Yup, out the window at the chairs sitting in the patio. They were so worth staring at, unlike Kurt's gorgeous face.

Said gorgeous face was looking at Blaine now as he called out Kurt's order. The boy shut the book and set it down on the table as he stood and made his way over to the counter with a little smile pulling at the corner of his lips. The cup sat on the counter, though Blaine still held it, watching Kurt. "I'm sorry, sir, but this coffee order is reserved for…" he trailed off, lifting the cup and peeking at the name he already knew was there, "A… 'Pretty Blue Eyes'." His eyes surveyed the area for a few moments before they fell on Kurt and he arched a brow. "I suppose you'll do," he said in a mock snooty tone as he leaned in a little closer. "You do seem to fit the bill." And then he pushed the cup over to Kurt with a gentle smile.

Kurt opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a voice nearby.

"Oh, wow."

Blaine tore his gaze away to find Karofsky of all people just standing there with one of his friends.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" asked the tall boy as he looked between Blaine and Kurt.

There was a little something that sparked within Blaine. A little fire that was burning deep within him that Karofsky was feeding with his very fucking presence. Blaine remembered the bruises. The crying. The scab on Kurt's temple. They are all caused by this boy.

"Um, I work here," Blaine pointed out dryly. "And Kurt's just getting a coffee. The last time I checked, there was nothing wrong with that."

"Haven't seen you around school, Kurt," Karofsky pointed out, completely ignoring Blaine's words.

"That's because I transferred." Kurt's voice was sharp enough to cut right through Karofsky. And for a moment-just a split second-Blaine saw something flash across Karofsky's face. Was that-was that guilt? Blaine's eyebrows pulled together, eyes never leaving Karofsky.

The boy next to Karofsky snorted in laughter as he muttered something to Karofsky that Blaine couldn't really hear and then they both laughed, looking at Kurt who shifted a little uncomfortably but kept that same hard expression on his face as he stared at the boys.

"Fuck this," Karofsky said as he stepped back. "I'm getting out of here. There's so much fairy dust in the air I think I might catch the gay."

It took everything in Blaine's power not to respond, "It seems like you don't have to really worry about something like that considering that you already have the gay." But he didn't. Because Blaine wasn't about to out this closet case, no matter how much of a prick he was. Because if Blaine did that, he would be just as much of a prick as Karofsky was.

With a shake of the head, Karofsky turned and headed to the door, friend in tow. Blaine's eyes never left the pair until they disappeared around the corner. The moment he turned his attention back to Kurt, his expression immediately softened. Kurt was still looking in that direction and Blaine couldn't really see his face but he could see the tension in Kurt's shoulders. After a few moments, Blaine reached out to touch Kurt's arm with a soft, "Hey, you alright?" to which Kurt nodded before looking back at Blaine.

"Yeah." Kurt worried his lip between his teeth before nodding again and grabbing his coffee from the counter. Blaine watched as Kurt moved back to his table taking a seat and returning his attention to the book.

Kurt ended up spending the rest of Blaine's shift at that table, studying in silence. Normally when Kurt spent a significant amount of time at The Lima Bean he would wander over to Blaine and talk to him about something. Anything actually. Even how his relationship with Finn was getting much better since they saw less of each other. But not today. He just sat in silence, reading, taking notes, listening to his music.

------

"Everything's going to be fine, Kurt," Blaine was saying suddenly as they walked through the door that lead to their hall. Kurt looked at him, confused at the sudden subject change. Blaine gave him a little smile. "He's not going to hurt you ever again. I promise." And then, there was understanding in Kurt's face as Blaine continued to smile at him. "I won't let him hurt you," Blaine was suddenly muttering softly before he could stop himself. Blaine quickly realized how possessive that sounded and suddenly wanted to take it back.

Kurt didn't seem to mind, though, as his smile grew a little before he turned to unlock the door to his room. He pushed the door open before turning to look back at Blaine. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Blaine…" And then he was moving into his room and shutting the door as Blaine offered a soft, "Good night," behind him.

Blaine wasn't sure why, but within the past few days there was something-something about Kurt that just made Blaine want to spend time with him. As much time as he could manage without scaring Kurt away or making the younger boy think he was being a creep. Blaine knew that Kurt liked him, he wasn't stupid. He wasn't sure what kind of relationship he and Kurt shared. They definitely weren't boyfriends but they seemed to be a little more than just friends. He also knew that they could get rather flirty at times and he never missed those looks that Kurt would give him. Blaine couldn't really place a name on those looks, but they made his insides turn into complete jelly. They made him want to sit close to Kurt and they made him want to hold Kurt's hand. And for that very reason, Blaine had taken that little step forward one afternoon after a housing meeting. The entire school was packed into one large room in the main building so when it was time to go, and all of the students were shuffling out, Blaine found himself leading the way towards the exit. With a glance back at Kurt, he reached for the younger boy's hand and grabbed it, tugging Kurt towards him to keep him close. He felt Kurt's hand give him a gentle squeeze for a split moment and that brought a smile to Blaine's face as he used his free hand to adjust his bag on his shoulder. Blaine decided that he really, really liked holding Kurt's hand. He had never realized how incredibly soft his hands were and how perfectly Kurt's hand fit into his own. Blaine also decided that afternoon that, yeah, he would be holding Kurt's hand more often now.

And that he did. Blaine did it again the next day when he and Kurt were on their way to Glee rehearsal and were running late after meeting for a late lunch. They had miscalculated the time they had and managed to spend a little too much time chatting away about their day. Suddenly, Blaine checked his phone, jaw dropping as he swiftly stood, nearly knocking his chair back blurting out that they were late. It was when he and Kurt were running through the empty halls of Dalton that Blaine reached for Kurt's hand, giving it a tug and pulling him along to run faster.

That night, Blaine found himself in Kurt's room, lying on the floor on his stomach. His laptop was in front of him and text book next to it. Blaine's fingers were swiftly typing away at the keyboard, nothing but the sound of the clicking keys and the running water of Kurt in the shower. Soon enough, Kurt was coming out dressed in those dark blue silk pajamas that Blaine found so damn cute. Kurt was always fashionable, even when going to sleep. At least, from what Blaine saw. For all he knew, Kurt only wore pajamas like that when Blaine was around to look "presentable" even though Blaine wanted to convince Kurt that that was totally unnecessary. They were good friends. Kurt had no reason to impress Blaine. Actually, Kurt could do that without even trying.

Looking up from the computer screen, Blaine smiled up at Kurt who's hair was still a little damp and messy from his shower and, damn, he looked absolutely adorable. Blaine laughed a little as he moved to a sitting position, shutting his laptop and keeping his eyes on Kurt. "You always wear this really nice looking clothes to bed and it makes me feel like I need to do the same when I'm around you." He looked down at himself. He was wearing a pair of black sweat pants, socks and a Dalton hoodie. "Like I'm underdressed." He heard Kurt laugh from where he was sitting on the bed and Blaine looked up at him with a little smile as Kurt shook his head.

"I think you look great," Kurt said with a little shrug. "Not many people can pull the 'just rolled out of bed' look, but you definitely do."

Was that a little blush creeping up the back of his neck? Blaine was pretty sure it was because Kurt was giving him that look again. Eyes flickered down to the ground for a moment as Blaine decided to switch to another subject. One Blaine hadn't mentioned in a while. "How's your back?" he asked before raising his gaze to meet Kurt's. Unlike the other times Blaine had asked, Kurt didn't stiffen or become visibly uncomfortable. This time he just smiled softly.

"Amazing," Kurt said proudly. They're practically all gone.

"Really? That's great, Kurt," Blaine said genuinely because, really, he cared. So very much. Besides that run in with Karofsky at The Lima Bean the other day, everything seemed to be going fine for Kurt. Of course, he was having a little trouble with the workload at Dalton and he was still trying to find his place among The Warblers. However, Blaine knew that that stress was nothing compared to the stress he was being put through at McKinley. This kind of stress didn't physically harm Kurt.

Blaine crawled onto the bed before sprawling out on his stomach with a heavy sigh, face buried into the sheets. They smelled like Kurt. He nuzzled his face into them for a moment before turning his head to look up at Kurt to find those blue eyes staring down at them. Blaine smiled almost sheepishly before muttering a quiet, "Hi." to which Kurt responded with an equally quiet, "Hi." And they just stared at each other for a few moments, little smiles on their faces until Blaine tore his gaze away, clearing his throat as Kurt shifted a little on the bed, brushing at his bangs the way he did when he felt nervous.

"So, uh," Blaine began slowly, "I wanted to ask you…there's this party…thing at David's house. His parents are away for the weekend. I was wondering if you'd want to come along. Well, I mean, if it's not your thing, that's totally cool. I know not everyone likes parties." There he went turning into an inarticulate idiot around Kurt.

"Actually, that sounds like fun," Kurt said softly.

"Really?" Blaine head perked up. "I mean. Awesome. Cool. Okay, I'll let David know you'll come."

"Great."

"Cool. Yeah, alright." Blaine grinned.

----

David's house was huge. It was practically a mansion. The perfect place to throw a party. A lot of room, a lot of food and, yes, a lot of alcohol. Blaine wasn't sure how his friend had managed to get a hold of it, but he didn't ask questions. Now, Blaine wasn't the type to party hard and drink until he passed out. But, he liked to let loose every now and then. This was the third time Blaine had had a drink in his life and he knew that if his parents found out he was drinking at a party they would rip him a new one. So, for that reason they didn't really need to know. Ah, the wonders of going to a boarding school and living on campus. It was like being on your own. Sometimes it sucked and other times, like tonight, it was really, really nice.

Blaine was on his second drink when he found himself plopping down next to Kurt on the couch. Blaine wasn't planning on getting totally smashed because he was the only person Kurt really knew here. Sure, he was acquainted with The Warblers, but they weren't really friends. The last thing Blaine wanted was for Kurt to feel uncomfortable.

"Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?" Blaine asked as he took a sip from his cup. "I'm sure we can get some other designated driver to take us back."

Kurt shook his head. "We had this conversation, Blaine. Last time I drank, I puked all over Miss. Pillsbury's shoes and nearly gave her an anxiety attack."

"Oh, right," Blaine muttered quietly. He lightly bumped his shoulder into Kurt's, leaning in close to mutter, "Just let me know if you change your mind, ok?"

Kurt didn't seem to mind the close proximity as he smiled, eyes on Blaine's. "I will," he mumbled in response before one of the boys sat on Kurt's other side.

"Seven minutes in heaven," he began before looking between Kurt and Blaine. "You guys wanna play?"

Kurt laughed a little. "Um, how old are we?"

Blaine snorted in laughter. "I think we're good," he said to which the boy shrugged and stood, walking away.

"Knowing my luck I'll be paired up with a girl anyway," Kurt muttered dryly.

Blaine grinned against the rim of his cup before taking a sip and speaking. "Hey, you don't know that. You might get lucky and get paired up with me." Oh God, did he really just say that? Maybe drinking at this party with Kurt around was a bad idea.

"Lucky, huh?" Kurt was saying as he looked around the mostly empty room. The majority of the party was in the other room where the music was pulsing through the speakers. Finally, he looked over at Blaine with a little smile.

"Yeah," Blaine said quickly before downing the rest of his drink and setting the cup aside as he stood and offered his hand to Kurt. "C'mon," he said with a gentle smile.

Kurt looked between Blaine's hand and his face, arching a brow. "Where are we going?"

"We're at a party," Blaine said as he reached down, grabbing Kurt's wrist and pulling him up. "So, we're dancing." He heard Kurt begin to complain, but Blaine ignored it as he tugged him into the next room that was significantly warmer due to the amount of dancing, sweaty bodies in it. Blaine could care less at this moment. He pulled Kurt into the crowd, tugging at his arm to bring him close, their bodies nearly touching. Blaine kind of hated the fact that he had to look up at Kurt, but like the nasty warmth in this room, Blaine ignored it as he began dancing.

He was reminded a lot of Kurt's dad's wedding. Except that day, Blaine hadn't been drinking. And that day, Blaine didn't want to get too close because he knew Kurt's dad was around. He didn't want to leave some bad impression on Burt Hummel and make him think that Kurt's new friend was this totally creepy gay kid trying to get into Kurt's pants. But right now, that was the least of Blaine's worries. Right now, he liked the way it felt to dance with Kurt. He liked the fact that he could be so close to Kurt and have a totally legitimate reason for it. He also loved the fact that Kurt seemed to be enjoying himself as he dropped his head into Blaine's shoulder with a little laugh. A laugh that sent a shiver through Blaine as Kurt's hair tickled at his cheek. Suddenly, Blaine felt himself wrapping an arm around Kurt's torso, pulling the younger boy's body flush against his and he could have sworn he heard Kurt gasp when he did so.

Dancing had been a good idea. A very, very good idea. They were on the dance floor for four more songs when Blaine leaned in close to Kurt, mouth against his ear, "Wanna go outside for a bit?" he asked and he felt Kurt nod in response. Pulling back with a smile, Blaine took Kurt's hand and lead him through the cluster of dancing bodies and towards the glass door that lead to the patio. The air was crisp and cool and it was a very, very nice change from the sticky heat inside the house. Blaine watched as Kurt took a seat on one of the chairs and Blaine followed suit, sitting beside Kurt and immediately looking at him to find those cheeks of his incredibly flushed and so goddamn adorable.

"I'm glad you transferred to Dalton," Blaine was suddenly saying, words kind of meshing together.

Kurt quickly turned his head to look at Blaine blinking a few times looking a little confused at Blaine's out of the blue statement.

"I mean, I just really, really like being able to spend so much time with you."

Kurt watched Blaine for a few seconds before a little smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "Me too," he finally said, voice soft.

And then Blaine was reaching out to place his hand over Kurt's and Kurt's eyes were locked on Blaine, refusing to look away. Blaine didn't mind. Nope. Not one bit. Suddenly, he heard himself saying, "We should have played that game. I would have rigged it if I had to." And then, he stopped himself. Was he really saying all of this? All of these thoughts were just spewing out of his mouth and he couldn't control it and he was just waiting for Kurt to freak the hell out and excuse himself, but he didn't. He just smiled softly at Blaine, eyes just as soft as that little pull at his lips. And suddenly, Blaine really, really wanted to kiss those lips. He wanted to know what those lips tasted like. He felt silly for wondering if they tasted like a mocha coffee.

"Hey guys, you've gotta come see this! Nick's totally wasted and he's doing his impression of Mr. Avery again."

Blaine nearly jumped at the sudden voice coming from the door and he quickly turned in his seat to look back at Jeff who was looking behind him into the house, "Oh God, he just knocked the lamp over, ohmygod!" He laughed before moving back into the house and slamming the door shut behind him.

Blaine turned his attention back to Kurt with a little smile as he pulled his hand away and Kurt looked a little sad for a moment. "Nick's impressions are legendary," he said with a laugh as he waved Kurt to follow him back into the house. Kurt seemed to hesitate for a moment before he smiled and followed Blaine.

----

Kurt was nearly doubling over in laughter as he held himself up against his door. "Oh, God," he managed between his laughter, "I haven't-I haven't laughed this hard in months!" He wiped the tears from his face as he stood up straight, pulling his keys from his pocket and unlocked the door, pushing it open as Blaine chuckled, following him in.

"I told you," Blaine said as he tugged off his scarf and set it on Kurt's desk.

"I mean, not only are his impressions spot on, but the fact that he kept falling into people and knocking stuff over made it a hundred times funnier." He pulled off his own coat before tossing it over the back of his desk chair and crawling half way up his bed before collapsing with a sigh. He muttered something into the bed that Blaine couldn't understand.

Blaine laughed a little, "What?"

"I said…" Kurt muttered into the sheets before raising his head, "I'm so exhausted." And then he dropped his face into the bed with a groan. He didn't see Blaine crawl into the bed next to him, but he felt the mattress dip beside him. For the time being, he half ignored it, too tired to lift his head. However, he suddenly felt a hand resting on the small of his back as Blaine spoke.

"I really liked dancing with you tonight," Blaine was saying. "I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable or anything." Kurt had to admit that he really liked what he was hearing. Because Kurt was pretty much in love with Blaine and wanted nothing more that to just be with him. Be his everything. Be his boyfriend. But Blaine seemed hesitant. They held hands and they were flirty but that was it. Blaine had never tried kissing Kurt, not once.

Normally, Kurt would have slapped someone's hand away if they came anywhere near his hair. But, when Blaine was stroking the back of his head, Kurt felt himself sigh contently because it felt really, really nice. And it was Blaine. And ohgod, Blaine was being so affectionate and Kurt loved all of this attention and he loved it when those hands touched him. Even if said hands might have been messing up his hair, it didn't really matter because those were Blaine Anderson's hands.

"Not at all," Kurt said finally as he turned his head, cheek resting on the sheets and he looked up at Blaine who was smiling down at him warmly. "It's nice being able to dance with a boy without having to worry about grossing him out."

Blaine's face pulled into something like a little frown. "Why would you ever say something like that, Kurt?" He trailed his hand down along the nape of Kurt's neck. "You shouldn't have to feel that way. And for the record, you don't gross me out at all."

Kurt's heart practically exploded in his chest hearing those words. "Good," he said, surprised his voice didn't come out in a ridiculous squeak. "Because you don't gross me out either." It was really hard not to just reach out, grab Blaine's face and kiss him until he couldn't breathe.

"I should probably go to back to my room," Blaine said softly, fingers still lightly tracing along the back of Kurt's neck. "It's already past curfew."

So just sleep here with me.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah," he muttered quietly, eyes never leaving Blaine's as the older boy smiled down at him with that adorable little head tilt of his head. And then he was leaning down to press a kiss against Kurt's temple, the exact place where that injury that finalized Kurt's transfer had been.

"Good night, Kurt," Blaine muttered when he pulled back and slid off of the bed. All Kurt could do was nod and stare with a little smile.

Tonight was a good night. No. Tonight was an amazing night.