Blaine arrived at Kurt’s house the next night at seven-thirty. He’d spent the whole day with a nervous energy coursing through him, anxious about the upcoming night with Kurt. He was excited to spend more time with his new friend, but worried about stepping out of his comfort zone. But that’s the whole point, isn’t it? He said to himself as he drove up to Kurt’s house.

He rang the doorbell and Kurt answered the door. He looked flustered, a rosy tinge to his cheeks, his breath a bit faster than average. He smiled right away when he saw Blaine, if a bit bashfully. Blaine answered in turn with a wide grin.

“Come in,” Kurt said, opening the door wider. “I’m sorry, I’m not ready at all yet.”

“That’s fine,” Blaine replied, entering the house and taking off his jacket. Kurt helped him hang it up. “No hurry.”

“I lost track of time,” Kurt explained, leading the way towards the stairs. “I was helping Carole set up this scrapbooking software on her laptop. She’s kind of hopeless.”

Blaine chuckled. “Really, it’s not a big deal.”

Kurt flashed him a smile. “Great. I just need to pick out another outfit. Do you, um…you can come up with me, if you don’t want to hang out down here with my parents.”

Ignoring the semi-awkward stumble, Blaine nodded his agreement. “Sure.”

He followed Kurt upstairs and into the second door on the left. Kurt walked in and sort of stood in the middle, waiting for Blaine, watching him.

Blaine glanced around the room. The whole area was done in varying shades of blue and green, nearly every bit of furniture and decoration complimentary. It still managed to retain a homey feeling, though. Framed photos of Kurt and other people at varying ages were hung around the room, along with posters from Broadway musicals and various movies. It was tidy except for the desk, where a plethora of sheet music was laid out, along with a laptop and a pair of iPod speakers.

Once Blaine had finished his perfunctory examination of the room, his eyes landed on Kurt again. He smiled.

Kurt looked slightly relieved. “Make yourself at home,” he said, gesturing around aimlessly. “Gosh, I should have offered you a drink, or something-anyway, I’ll be quick. Sit down, if you want.”

Blaine followed orders, taking a seat in the comfortable rolling chair that stood near the desk. Kurt opened his closet and began rapidly pulling out items of clothing, as though he’d already known what he was going to wear. Blaine wasn’t surprised. Suddenly he wondered whether he should have deviated from his normal blue jeans, button-up and sweater. He hadn’t considered other options before, but in Kurt’s presence he doubted himself slightly. Kurt was just so artful when it came to clothing, where as Blaine was…not.

Kurt excused himself and headed into the bathroom attached to the room. Blaine examined the sheet music on the desk more closely, but didn’t recognize any of it. Not that he had much experience in musical theater, anyway. Or any at all.

Kurt emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later wearing tight jeans, a light button-up shirt, a dark blazer and a scarf. Before leaving the room, he added the finishing touch to his outfit-his trademark white boots.

“I thought it would be easier if we carpooled,” Kurt explained as they headed back downstairs. “In my experience, the fewer cars you take to a bar, the better.”

Blaine’s thoughts lingered for a moment on Kurt’s words. In my experience. Blaine wondered what sort of ‘experience’ Kurt had with bars and cars and late-night adventures. He felt an unexpected pang of jealousy. “Yeah,” he responded. “That’s fine. You want to drive?”

Kurt flashed him a bright smile, opening the door for him. “I’d love to.”

The bar was called Yesterday’s, and it was in downtown Lima. Blaine brought the fake I.D. that he’d gotten from a friend his senior year of high school, not that the doorman actually checked either of their I.D.’s. Blaine idly pondered how much illegal drinking he could be getting away with if he wanted to.

Kurt told Blaine that he’d been there a couple times before, and had seen a poster for karaoke night while driving by a few days ago. Kurt led the way through the restaurant crowd into the back, which sported a long, dark wood bar, many tables of varying sizes, and a large stage against one wall, with huge speakers on each side that were currently playing classic rock. Blaine swallowed, already feeling nervous.

“You want a drink?” Kurt asked as they sat down at a small table against the wall adjacent to the stage. “I’ll buy you something.”

Blaine considered. He’d been to a couple of house parties in high school and college where’d he’d drank, but never to excess. He didn’t like the idea of not being in control. Being drunk meant that he couldn’t control the weight, couldn’t successfully maneuver himself through interactions with other people. It scared him.

Then again, he’d basically agreed to sing in front of a crowd tonight. He was already jittery just at the thought. When weighing that against potential drunken discomfort, he opted for the latter. “Yeah, sure.”

Kurt headed for the bar. Blaine observed the crowd while he waited. It was mostly a younger crowd. He actually recognized a couple of TA’s from some of his classes. He tapped his fingers on the table. This was a bad idea.

Kurt returned with a beer and some sort of cocktail. “I didn’t know what you wanted,” he said apologetically, sitting down. “I got beer.”

“This is fine,” Blaine replied, taking the bottle from him. “I’m not exactly an expert when it comes to booze.”

Kurt laughed. “Nor am I. Well, not an expert. I am acquainted with the substance.”

Blaine smiled, taking a sip from the bottle. He’d drank beer before, typically from plastic cups, procured form a keg. He found that it tasted considerably better out of a bottle. “What’re you drinking?” he asked.

“Vodka and tonic,” he said, holding up the clear glass. “But if you’re not experienced, you should probably stay away from the hard stuff.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Mom.”

Kurt smiled over his drink. “Just being responsible.”

“Says the boy who just bought someone underage alcohol.”

“I’ve got to pick my battles.”

Blaine drank more of his beer, grinning widely. He was about to respond, teasing Kurt more, when their banter was interrupted.

“All right, boys and girls, welcome to Karaoke Night at Yesterday’s!”

A man was now on the stage, holding a microphone. At his announcement, a general cheer went up. Clearly, karaoke night was popular among the regulars. Blaine felt his apprehension creep back up.

The first participant was a guy who looked like he was just out of high school. He was also clearly tipsy. However, his rendition of Viva La Vida wasn’t half bad. A couple less-impressive acts followed his. Kurt and Blaine watched and applauded, and continued to chat throughout the songs. Blaine focused on his conversation with Kurt and tried to ignore everything else.

Blaine had nearly finished his beer by the end of the third act. Kurt looked up at the now bare stage, and then back to Blaine. He smiled, drained the remaining liquid in his glass, and stood. “I’ll be back,” he said.

“Where are you going?”

Kurt laughed. “To perform, silly!”

Blaine nodded, biting his lip slightly. He watched Kurt climb the stairs to the stage, whisper into the DJ’s ear, and then retrieve the microphone from its stand.

Kurt smiled out into the audience. He looked so right, up there in front of everyone. He demanded attention, even before he sang anything. He was made to perform, you could just tell. It was entrancing.

The music began, a tune that sounded vaguely familiar to Blaine. After a short intro, Kurt opened his mouth and began to sing. “Here we go again, I kinda wanna be more than friends…”