"Monsieur Anderson? Blaine?"

Blaine snapped his head upright from where it had tilted to gaze at Monsieur Hummel's face, blushing red and nervously clearing his throat. He shifted his eyes around the room before they landed on Renée's face, a perplexed look gracing her features, and rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. Unnoticed by Renée, Kurt continued to study the planes of the dark-haired man's face, jawline, neck.

"My apologies, Madame. I am prone to daydreaming at the most inappropriate moments."

The slight shadow passed from Renée's features and she smiled again, politely bowing her head once and turning from them, leaving the room silent and palpably tense. Monsieur Hummel had an expressionless face while he stared at Blaine, blue eyes never leaving hazel, even after their moment - whatever it had been - had passed. With a sharp intake of breath, Blaine turned back around towards him, blinking rapidly and straightening out the creases in the lapels of his jacket, his eyes flicking between Monsieur Hummel's and the floor.

"Again, Monsieur Hummel, I am very sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I hope you do not think ill of me."

With that, Blaine spun on his heel, cursing himself repeatedly internally, and went to reach for the book that he had dropped in his surprise, dusting the cover and placing it back on the shelf. With one last half-smile and nod of the head in Monsieur Hummel's direction, Blaine walked towards the door, hoping to escape outside and clear his mind.

"Monsieur Anderson!"

Blaine whirled around, his heart beating inexplicably hard against his ribcage, fingers flexing uselessly at his side as he searched the other man's face. Monsieur Hummel seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes slightly narrowed in concentration as he looked back at Blaine.

"Please, call me Kurt."

"Of course. Kurt, my apologies."

Kurt's shoulders relaxed and Blaine let out a sigh of relief as the awkwardness diminished from the air, leaving a comfortable atmosphere with an underlay of something crackling, something electric between them. The pair continued to smile gently at each other, an easy silence filling the room once again, until a sudden gust of wind made the door slam shut, startling them both out of their trances.

"My wife was planning to have tea on the lawn before we took you out onto the lake. I'd be delighted if you could join us."

Blaine's smile grew as he noted the use of ‘I' in Kurt's sentence, a pool of warmth spreading through his chest at the recognition. Unconsciously, he reached out towards Kurt's hands where they were joined in front of him, but caught himself at the sight of his blue eyes widening in shock and instead clapped him lightly on the shoulder, sending Kurt off balance slightly.

"I would love to, Kurt, thank you for the offer."

Kurt laughed quietly before starting for the door handle where it had closed in the wind. Blaine went to grab the handle first to hold it open for Kurt, but his late reaction meant that they both reached it at the same time, their hands and fingers intertwining on the cool brass. A jolt passed through Blaine, like lightning striking him, and he turned his face towards Kurt with his mouth hanging open. He felt a thrill when he saw Kurt mimicking his exact expression, and another when he noticed the sheer proximity of their bodies. His eyes darting between Kurt's lips and hand, he didn't realise that he was moving in slowly until Kurt pulled the door open with force and ripped his fingers away from between Blaine's. He strode from the room, but sent one last glance in towards Blaine before disappearing through the entrance hall and into the gardens. Any sinking feeling Blaine had felt at the fierce action had vanished when he caught sight of the pained look on Kurt's face, his eyes a more startling blue than Blaine had noticed before, his lips pursed. Was it possible that Kurt was feeling the same things as he was?

Shaking off his feelings as nothing more than wishful thinking, Blaine rolled his shoulders back and followed Kurt's path into the garden, deciding not to mention the events from moments earlier in case he made Kurt any more uncomfortable. Walking across the lawn, he saw the family sitting around the white wrought-iron table, cutting slices of cake and chatting quietly, with one seat left empty for Blaine. As he approached, Renée caught sight of him and gestured for him to join them.

"Blaine, you are here! Lisette, would you please pour Blaine some tea?"

The young girl got to her feet, biting her lip, and leant across the table to fill Blaine's cup, shakily spilling some tea onto his saucer which she went to try and mop up quickly, muttering apologies under her breath. Blaine touched her wrist lightly, making her blush a deep red, before smiling kindly at her and picking up his own serviette.

"It's quite alright, Lisette, I can manage. Thank you for the tea."

Silent again, Lisette sat back on her chair, tucking her hair behind her ear as she had in the entrance hall and looking at the grass. Blaine busied himself with discreetly dabbing at the tea that had fallen onto his upper thigh, not noticing the way Kurt's eyes followed the movement of his hand hungrily before gulping and directing his gaze elsewhere.

As the conversation settled into an easy silence, broken only by the birds chirping and the sound of a stream trickling nearby, Blaine swallowed his mouthful of tea, tore his eyes from where he was watching the movements of Kurt's throat and looked towards Renée.

"Kurt tells me that you were planning on taking me out onto your lake, Madame Hummel?"

"Renée, please, and it would be our pleasure, so long as you are not opposed?"

Looking over to Grégoire, who had brightened at the mention of the lake, Blaine chuckled lightly before looking at back at Renée.

"I would be thrilled to, thank you."

With a look at Kurt, who quickly smiled at her, and a touch to his hand that sent a ripple of jealousy through Blaine's body, Renée turned to Grégoire and bent down to the boy's level.

"Grégoire, will you fetch Monsieur Bérard and ask him to prepare the boat?"

"Oui, Maman."

Blaine was unaware of Renée and Lisette standing up to make their way through the gardens to the lake because he was so intently focused on Kurt's hand - the way it had sat motionless while Renée touched it, and the way that it twitched as though it wanted to reach out. Chancing a look up to Kurt's face, he saw the man's jaw working as he bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes stuck on his hand as well. Taking a deep breath, Blaine leaned over and touched the inside of Kurt's forearm, drawing his blue eyes up with a start and capturing his attention.

"Kurt, would you accompany me down to the lake? I'm afraid I don't know my way down there just yet."

Closely his eyes briefly, Kurt gave Blaine a small smile, the truest that had graced his features all afternoon, and stood up.

"Of course. Follow me."

As Kurt began to walk through the gardens, Blaine lingered to drink the last mouthful of his tea before he started to trail behind him. As he did, he began to admire Kurt from afar, his eyes picking up on details that they couldn't when he could barely breathe; the slope of Kurt's back in his crisp jacket, the lean muscle of his thighs that were visible when the material of his trousers pulled as he walked, the thickness of his chestnut hair and the way it was ruffled gently by the breeze. Pulling his gaze upwards, he noticed that Kurt had stopped moving and had turned to face him, his hands in his pockets, a slight colour high on his cheekbones. With another nervous throat clearing, Blaine tried to cover his blush by ducking his face, and gestured towards the trees, where a clearing beyond showed a clear lake, its surface unbroken by the wind.

"Your gardens are beautiful, Kurt."

"They are Renée's. The house belonged to her long before I married her."

Nodding slowly, Blaine tried to settle his gaze on anywhere but Kurt's face, where the blue of his irises were startlingly bright and his tongue swept across his bottom lip, catching in the corner of his mouth. Consciously this time, Blaine was again filled with the urge to lean in closer and press his lips to Kurt's, memorise the contours, the softness and the way they would fit perfectly with his own, but before he could step an inch closer, Renée had called his name and Grégoire was running towards him, breaking the electricity that had seemingly followed them from the library earlier. Gulping, Blaine reluctantly allowed himself to be pulled away from Kurt, who still stood with his back to the lake, his shoulders moving violently with the deep breaths he was taking. With a flash of elation, Blaine realised that he hadn't imagined what had passed between them earlier.  

"Kurt, are you coming?" Renée called from where the boat drifted at the edge of the lake. Steeling himself, the man in question spun around with a hollow grin firmly in place and jogged quickly down to the lakeside, where Blaine was still staring at him with a barely disguised expression of lust.

"Of course I am! Shall we go?"

Clambering inside first, Blaine turned around, wobbling slightly, to help lift Grégoire into the front of the boat, where he sat and clapped his hands excitedly. Reaching out for Lisette's hand, he let out an amused chuckle as the girl blushed furiously before placing her hand in his, hopping lightly inside and settling herself next to her brother, playing with the hem of her dress. Turning back to Renée, Blaine bowed exaggeratedly, causing the woman to laugh loudly, before offering his hand and helping her to step gracefully into the boat.

Out the corner of his eye, Blaine saw Kurt make to climb inside himself, but at the last minute the boat pitched precariously, causing Kurt to overbalance sideways and stumble. With movements so fast that he did not register himself performing them, Blaine reached out and grabbed both of Kurt's elbows with his hands, pulling him upright and closer to his own body. He stared for a split second, his heart once again beating as though it wanted to break free, before realising where he was and pulling back quickly, sitting down himself on the other side of the boat.

"Thank you, Blaine," said Kurt quietly, picking lint off of his cuff and looking for a place to sit. Seeing the biggest space opposite Blaine and facing away from Renée, he sat down, his ankle brushing Blaine's as he did so. As the boat was steered out towards the centre of the lake, Blaine began to feel the familiar pool of warmth spread from his chest as Kurt made no moves to untangle their feet. He gasped quietly as he saw Kurt glance behind him, where Renée was engaged in a cheerful conversation with her children, before he pressed their ankles closer together, bringing their knees in closer. Looking up, Blaine's hazel eyes met Kurt's and they searched one another's face, looking for a sign, a warning that they should withdraw, pull back and turn away. Seeing none, Kurt's eyes began to shine brighter again as they gleamed with restrained tears and conflicted emotions, and Blaine just watched as he began to fall in love with the enchanting man in front of him.