Blaine was floating, he was on cloud nine and he couldn't let anything or anyone bring him down. Not today. Not this whole week. He briefly wondered if he was dreaming. Everything seemed too perfect and unreal. To top it all off, Kurt was taking him to see a show in the city.

"Where are you going?"

Blaine looked up from his bed to see Bailey peeking through his door. He smiled and waved for her to come in. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well," she began, "you've got a bunch of clothes all over your room like you're trying to pick out an outfit. And you never leave clothes lying around your room like that."

Blaine laughed looking down at the three outfit choices he had narrowed it down to. "A friend that works at the school is taking me to see a show on Broadway tonight."

"Ooh, like a date?" The voice belonged to Beth.

Blaine looked towards his door and sighed with a gentle roll of his eyes. "No, Beth, it isn't a date," he said as she walked through the door and crawled onto his bed. She sat in the middle, crossing her legs Indian style and looking down at the different outfits. "It's one of the teachers at the school," Blaine informed her.

"The one you're helping grade papers and stuff?" Bailey asked.

Blaine immediately hushed her, looking out his bedroom door. "Shut up, dad doesn't know." His dad couldn't know because he would ask why and what was Blaine supposed to tell him? Surely not the truth.

"Loud mouth," Beth sighed, narrowing her eyes at Bailey.

"Shut up," the smaller girl muttered hauling herself up to sit on Blaine's dresser.

"I think you should go with this one," Beth said pointing at the outfit in the middle. It was a light blue polo paired with a navy, almost black sweater vest. Along with it was a pair of black pants and a gunmetal gray sportcoat. "It's classy, but not over the top like the other two. He'll love it."

Blaine looked up at her, "This isn't a date, Beth, we're just friends. Besides," he added as he gathered the two other outfits into his arms, "he's way older than me."

"Age is just a number," Beth pointed out with a shrug causing Blaine to sigh as he opened his closet door and began hanging up the clothes. "I can tell you have a thing for him," she added.

Blaine quickly turned his head to look at her as she moved off of the bed. "I do not," Blaine hissed. The room suddenly felt much warmer.

Beth laughed. "Oh yeah? Then why do you talk about him all the time?" she accused.

Blaine turned and grabbed one of his shoes from the closet, raising it over his head to throw at her. With a screech, Beth was out the door before he could chuck the shoe across the room. She laughed her way down the hall and Blaine groaned. "She's such a brat," he muttered as he tossed the shoe back onto the little rack in the closet.

Bailey giggled, sliding off of the dresser. "Are you sure you don't have a crush on him? You sure got defensive," she said.

Blaine gaped at her and sputtered out, "You too?"

Bailey laughed again as she moved towards the door, "Age is just a number."

"Go away, Bailey," Blaine snapped as he turned back to his closet to finish putting the clothes away.

"Love you too, big brother," Bailey called before shutting the door behind her leaving Blaine to himself. And then there was the sudden question of: Do I have feelings for him...?

Blaine shut the closet door and leaned against it. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the door. It wouldn't matter because any relationship between himself and Kurt would be incredibly illegal. And what interest would Kurt have in him anyway?

They were friends and that was all they would ever be.

And that was just fine

---

Blaine's father didn't ask too many questions about his going out last night. He had smiled, actually, when Blaine mentioned he would be going into the city with a friend of his. Blaine didn't really have any friends, which meant he spent his free time with his sisters. That was just fine, but it was nice to try something different for the first time in a while.

Kurt insisted on picking Blaine up from his house that evening and the idea made Blaine a little nervous. He thought about just walking to Kurt's house but the walk was far and time consuming.

Blaine was fixing his hair in front of the bathroom mirror when he received a text message from Kurt, letting Blaine know that he was pulling up to the house. Blaine gave his reflection another glance, hoping he hadn't overdone it with the hair gel. He grabbed his wallet, phone and keys from the dresser, pausing one final time to look at himself in the mirror. He adjusted the gray bowtie he had thrown on at the last minute before nodding at his reflection in the mirror.

You look fine.

--

By the time Blaine climbed into Kurt's car his heart was hammering against his chest. He and Kurt had been alone a dozen times before but somehow this felt different. It made him nervous and uneasy. Kurt seemed to notice. Blaine could see it in his face.

"Hey," Kurt greeted.

"Hi," Blaine breathed in response.

"You alright? You seem a little..." he paused, taking in Blaine's appearance, "flustered."

"No. It's—No, I'm fine, sorry." Blaine laughed. "I was just running a little late in getting ready, lost track of time. Sorry for making you wait."

Kurt smiled, "Oh, how dare you keep me waiting for a whole minute, Blaine? I take back my offer for tonight, get out."

"Very funny," Blaine said through a smile.

Kurt chuckled as he put the car in reverse and backed out into the street. Blaine let his eyes linger on Kurt for a few more moments before he looked ahead. If there was one thing Blaine knew about Kurt, it was that he had an amazing sense of fashion. But what he was wearing tonight blew every other outfit out of the water. His hair looked perfect and he smelled really, really nice.

He wore a gray knit biker jacket paired with a plain white collared shirt, top button undone. And he had this incredible black tie with white polka dots that went around his neck more like a scarf. Blaine couldn't see his shoes or pants but he was sure they looked just as amazing.

"You look very nice," Kurt commented once they were a few miles down the street.

Blaine looked over at him and blinked down at his own outfit. "Thank you," he said after a short pause.

"I was a little worried," Kurt continued with a laugh, "I wasn't sure if what you wore to work was your actual style of dress. I was already planning an intervention."

Blaine laughed a little loudly and quickly raised his hand to cover his mouth giggling softly. "You're ridiculous."

"No, I just refuse to let my friends dress badly."

Blaine gaped, "It's not that terrible."

"Jeans and a t-shirt everyday, really?"

Blaine laughed.

---

Blaine hadn't been here in years. Everything seemed brighter and bigger. Kurt decided it would be best to park his car at a public garage and take the subway down to the heart of the city. By that point, Blaine was too giddy to reply, barely giving Kurt a nod in response.

They were weaving through clusters of bodies on the sidewalk when Blaine spoke up for the first time in a while, too busy taking in the sights to speak. "The last time I was here was when my mom was still alive." Kurt remained silent beside him, though Blaine could tell he was listening intently. "It was before my youngest sister Bri was born. I don't think my mom was even pregnant then." They stopped, parting ways for just a few moments to walk around a group of foreign tourists taking pictures. When they joined together again, Blaine continued speaking, "My parents brought me into the city to see Beauty and The Beast. I was obsessed," Blaine laughed. "I loved Disney movies growing up and seeing one come to life on stage was a dream come true. I was around ten when we came to see it so I could barely see over the person in front of me. It was horrible."

Kurt laughed. "You must have been so tiny."

"I was always the shortest in my class growing up." He shrugged. His height was something that never really bothered him. "But, yeah, I had to sit on my mom's lap during the second half of the show. I think she could tell I was about ready to cry because I couldn't see." When Blaine glanced over at Kurt he caught this tender look in his eyes. Blaine nearly blushed under his gaze as he laughed softly and slipped his hands into the pockets of his coat. "Being back here is really nostalgic."

"Is it too much?" he barely heard the soft question over the noise around them.

Blaine stopped, looking up at Kurt and smiled with a shake of his head. "Not at all. It's very nice."

Kurt nodded. "Okay," he said, hooking his arm with Blaine's. The gesture made Blaine's stomach swoop in this funny way he was sure had had never felt. "If we don't hurry, we'll be late."

--

"Mamma Mia," Blaine said, eyes wide as he stared up at the huge billboard.

"Don't you dare tell me you don't want to see it," Kurt warned as he pulled Blaine's ticket from his pocket.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'll watch anything, Kurt. It's me we're talking about. I'm very easy to please." He took the ticket and slipped it into his own pocket. "Come on, Kurt, if we don't hurry we'll be late," Blaine teased.

--

There truly was nothing on this earth like a Broadway show. Blaine was unable to keep himself from grinning when the lights came on for intermission. Kurt seemed to notice and he found it quite amusing, laughing as they walked out into the lobby.

"I need to bring you out here to see shows more often," Kurt told him, "your excitement is contagious."

"Can you blame me?" Blaine asked as they stepped in line for a snack. "It's not every day I go out and see a show on Broadway."

"My apologies," Kurt chuckled. "Go grab a seat, I'll pay."

Blaine frowned, feeling a little guilty. Kurt was already spending all this money on Blaine's ticket; he couldn't let him buy him food too. "I can get it, it's fine."

Kurt refused to take no for an answer, though, and seconds later Blaine was sitting at a nearby bench waiting on Kurt.

Blaine watched his friend from a distance. It was at that moment that he was able to get a good look at his outfit. His pants were black and much tighter than what he wore to work. Blaine's eyes moved up to Kurt's face, examining his profile, strong jaw, all angular features. And his hair with that one strand that fell delicately over his forehead, contrasting perfectly against his pale skin. Kurt was attractive; he wasn't going to deny that.

Blaine looked down at his shoes, chewing on his lip. A few moments later his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a text message from Beth.

Heyyy, how's your date going? Have you kissed yet?

Blaine nearly cursed under his breath and he closed the message and shoved the phone back into his pocket.

"You alright there?" Blaine quickly looked up to find Kurt standing across from him. "I thought maybe you might throw your phone across the room," he teased.

"Just one of my sisters being stupid," Blaine explained as he moved over to allow Kurt some room to sit.

"This cheese and crackers plate looked pretty good. I hope you don't mind sharing, I'm not very hungry," Kurt said.

Blaine shook his head, "That's fine. Thank you," he said as he opened the box. Then Kurt was handing him a glass of something that looked like champagne.

"It's not apple cider," Kurt said as he popped a cube of cheese into his mouth.

Blaine's eyebrows hiked as a slow smile spread onto his face. "How incredibly illegal," he said as he took a sip.

"I won't tell if you don't," Kurt said as he took a sip from his own glass.

Blaine chuckled as he picked up one the cheese cubes and glanced over at Kurt who was looking off into the crowd. Blaine looked down at the ground as they ate and drank in silence for a few moments. Of course, Blaine's traitor mind kept thinking back to Beth's stupid message. And naturally he silently kept asking himself if this was some sort of date. But Kurt kept giving him these little looks all night. They were looks that could have been mistaken for something more. Something that made Blaine's heart race at a dangerously fast pace. If Sam gave Blaine those looks, he would be certain that the boy was interested. But with Kurt it all seemed so confusing because, wasn't it socially unacceptable for Kurt to look at Blaine like that? But some dangerous little part of Blaine's mind didn't want to believe that it was wrong because the idea of being with Kurt felt anything but wrong.

"Kurt?"

The word cut through the silence between them. Blaine could feel Kurt looking at him but he was afraid to look up. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." He sounded confused.

"Is this some sort of date?" When he finally spoke the words he looked up and Kurt was staring back at him looking a little shocked and taken aback.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked suddenly.

"Like, a date. You taking me out and buying me food and champagne and..." he let the words hang uncomfortably in the air.

"No," Kurt said, "No, Blaine. I—" He stared at Blaine, eyebrows knitting together and he almost looked guilty. "I'm sorry if it seemed that way. Does this make you uncomfortable? I didn't mean to force you to come out with me tonight. I just—I wanted to celebrate and—I'm sorry, Blaine."

"No," Blaine breathed. His heart clenched and suddenly he felt a sudden wave of disappointment. Some insane part of him wanted Kurt to say yes. But of course he wouldn't. "No, it's ok. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to...God, I'm so sorry Kurt." Blaine looked down at the ground. "I shouldn't have asked you that. It's totally—completely inappropriate."

"Hey," Kurt said softly. Blaine didn't look up. With the corner of his eye he saw Kurt shift a bit to face him. "Blaine, look at me?" He did. "Just tell me, did any of this make you feel uncomfortable? Even you helping me out around the house? Because if it does, we can stop. You don't ever have to come over again if you don't want to. I promise I won't tell anyone about you sneaking in to my class."

"No, god Kurt, no. I'm not uncomfortable." Blaine promised. "You're the first friend I've had in a really, really long time. I love spending time with you."

Kurt smiled, "More than Sam?"

Blaine dropped his head and laughed quietly and then looked up at Kurt, "Yeah, more than Sam. But only because you buy me alcohol."

"Brat," Kurt muttered, still smiling as he took a sip of his champagne. After a moment, the smile faded. "But, seriously..."

"I mean it," Blaine assured him. Because there was nothing Kurt could ever do to make him uneasy. Not when he was so kind. Blaine glanced at Kurt briefly. And attractive.


----

The rest of their night went on without any other awkward discussions. Blaine wanted to slap himself for even asking such a thing to begin with. Why did he even consider it? Yes, he was nearly eighteen, but technically, he was still a minor. There was no way Kurt would ever dream of taking him out on a date and calling it that.

That didn't mean the rest of their night wasn't amazing, though. After the show, they wandered the streets for a little while. Before they left, though, Blaine insisted on a picture.

"Today has been amazing and I want to remember it," Blaine explained. "Do you mind?"

Kurt shook his head, "Of course not."

"Here, let's use your phone, the quality is better," Blaine suggested. Kurt pulled out his phone and opened up the camera option. He turned the phone to face them as he pulled an arm around Blaine's waist to pull him against his side. They were so close he could feel the warmth from Kurt's body. Blaine swallowed, glancing over at Kurt just as he snapped the picture. Blaine mentally smacked himself. "Sorry, I wasn't ready," he said as Kurt turned the phone to look at the picture. Blaine looked down at the screen to see the snapshot Kurt had accidentally taken. In the picture, Kurt was smiling into the camera and Blaine was looking up at him, eyes wide and shining. Blaine's cheeks warmed, embarrassment flooding over him because he looked like a lovesick puppy in the picture.

"Let's try again," Kurt said. Had he even noticed?

Kurt held the phone out and Blaine moved in close as Kurt put an arm around his shoulder. Blaine smiled into the camera and it flashed. Kurt turned the phone around and they both looked down at the screen. This one was definitely not embarrassing, but in the picture they looked like a couple. Kurt's arm was gently resting over Blaine's shoulders and Blaine's face was pressed comfortably against Kurt's. "Much better," Kurt said. "I'm gonna make this your caller ID picture."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up as he watched Kurt tap away at his phone. After a moment, he smiled. "OK."

--

Blaine nearly fell asleep on the ride back to his house. It was nice to be inside the warmth of the car and Kurt was singing along to the radio, voice soft and so very soothing. He leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes as he listened to Kurt's voice. It was so raw and so very beautiful.

When they pulled up to Blaine's house, he almost didn't want to get out of the car. Partly because it was warm and comfortable and partly because he didn't want to leave Kurt. They said their goodbyes and before Blaine opened the door, Kurt stopped him, catching him by the arm gently, calling out his name.

"Can I change my answer?"

Blaine turned to look at Kurt, confused at the strange question.

"Ask me again," Kurt said, "what you asked me during intermission."

Blaine's breath caught in his throat and he swallowed before speaking up. "Is...Was this a date?"

"Yeah. Yes it is."