~*~ Chapter Thirteen ~*~

I don´t wanna leave, but still I can´t stay

(2-4 Family; Stay)

~*~

Brief news of the day

International book price awarded to Lydia Hanver

Yesterday evening at eight o' clock Mrs Hanver accepted her first official award for her newly published book 'Hybrid origins – Myths and Facts'. In her speech she thanked her friends and family for their help and expressed her support for hybrid rights.

Fourteen year old hangs himself due to bullying

Brandon Celler, standing at the beginning of his school career was found dead in his room by a concerned neighbour. In his last letter he blames the constant hostility from classmates and outer family, caused by the hybrid genes of his mother.

New restrictions of hybrid protecting laws are reconsidered

Renewed riots during hybrid protests have fuelled new concern about the self-control of hybrids. Politicians describe their situation as unstable and dangerous and public voices demand a change in perspective. During the following weeks the issue will be discussed among the hybrid committee, but experts think of another change in law as unlikely.

~*~

On Tuesday afternoon Blaine had another meeting with Seth. They had agreed on visiting the local cinema, both boys having planned on watching the newest Marvel movie for weeks now and never really gotten the chance, so after three endless meetings spend eating in small cafés, that left Blaine with a full stomach and an empty purse, they were standing in the entrance hall of the local cinema, ready to buy their tickets from the friendly girl behind the counter. The drive to their location had been spend with light small-talk, Seth summing up his weekend with his family and Blaine trying to recall what his friends had broken in the common rooms, but now that they were waiting in the queue in front of the counter Seth's phone had started buzzing aggressively and a slow frown was forming on his forehead with every message he read. The queue moved forwards and Seth murmured something under his breath, before unlocking his screen and seemingly answering one of the text.

Blaine let him type away for several minutes, not keen on nosing in his privacy and sure that he would be told what all the glaring was about soon anyway, but when it was their turn at the ticket counter Seth still hadn't looked up. Blaine shot him a short glance, before turning towards the sell-girl. She greeted them with a friendly smile, rattling of a line of standard sentences and Seth finally stored his phone with a flick of his wrist and leaned forward to order three tickets for their film without so much as looking at his companion. The girl received a hand of dollar notes and handed Seth the requested tickets in return, leaving the two boys to step aside for the next customer.

Blaine, too perplexed to protest, or even insist on paying for their tickets, watched baffled as Seth exchanged a few friendly words with the couple behind them, before waving at the sales girl and dragging Blaine off and away into a secluded corner.

"There's been a change of plans," he informed Blaine, exchanging the tickets in his hand with his phone and tapping a quick message on the screen, before finally looking up and meeting Blaine's confused eyes. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I promise I didn't plan it that way, but my girlfriend got into a fight at school and she's a little hysteric right now."

"Oha, is she okay?" Blaine asked eyes wide. "I mean, better? Not hurt?"

"Don't worry. I might be overreacting a bit and she sounds a lot calmer now, but I still would be more comfortable if I could talk to her in person..." He trailed off, looking unsure from Blaine to the three tickets.

"So, you invited her along?" Blaine suspected, not exactly sure why Seth was still fiddling nervously with his hands. "That's no big deal. I mean, Wes, David and I always meet together with their girlfriends, just last week -"

"It's not only that," Seth interrupted, eyes flickering searchingly towards the doors. He scratched the back of his neck. "I haven't told you everything about her."

Blaine blinked, because seriously? Judging from all the hours his friend had lost himself in exaggerated monologues about his girlfriend's hair alone, he seriously doubted that, but he contended himself with nodding and urging his friend to continue with a gesture of his hand.

"Gaby is- she's very special." Seth paused, fiddling with his phone for a second, before holding it out to Blaine. "Maybe it's the easiest if you see for yourself."

Blaine leaned forward, squinting at the picture presented to him. It showed the close-up of a shyly smiling girl, brown hair curling around her shoulders and face tilted upwards from where she was blinking into the camera. She seemed fairly familiar, but that was not the reason he frowned and blinked, trying to get a closer look. Two white streaks were stretched over the girls bottom lip, recognizable as teeth at a second glance and not quite able to be contained by her slightly opened mouth. Furthermore at the corners of the phone two light-brown objects were sticking out of her curls, that looked suspiciously like ears. Small, furred ears, but ears nonetheless.

Blaine cocked his head, meeting Seth's eye and smiling unsure at him. "That's ... nice? Is that a Halloween costume, or something?"

Seth blinked at him. "Erm, no. That's kind of what I wanted to show you? These are real."

"Real?" Blaine asked, the wheels in his head turning rapidly, but why would she have- oh. "Real!" he exclaimed, resisting the urge to slap a hand against his forehead. "She's a hybrid!"

Seth's eyes widened and he looked around frantically. "Uh, yes, but it would be nice if you could keep it down a bit. Most people don't talk that openly about things like that, but as you can see it's not exactly easy to hide some of her treats and I didn't know how you would react to the topic."

Blaine exhaled slowly. "Uhm, well. It's a surprise." He complemented his friend for a moment, lost in thoughts. "I've never- I mean, I've never met a hybrid before."

Seth's brow furrowed and he crossed his arm defensible. "If you're uncomfortable I can tell her to stay home?" he said slowly, reluctantly and Blaine quickly shook his head.

"No! Of course not. I would never – I have nothing against h-hybrids," he stumbled a bit over the unfamiliar word, but when Seth searched his face testingly his smile stayed earnest and after a moment his friend nodded slowly. "You've never met a hybrid before?"

Blaine shrugged, leaning casually against the wall behind him. "No, not really. I've seen some on the streets, of course, but other than that I've mostly read books and seen pictures."

"That's a shame and also ... quite unusual? Is there a specific reason?" Seth asked, keeping an eye on his surroundings, but otherwise considering his friend curiously.

"It's mostly due to the social circles my family moves in," Blaine sighed. "They're not very – erm, I think you could describe them as conservative? You know how narrow-minded they can be."

Seth grimaced understandingly. "Huh, I can imagine," he said. "I can be glad they weren't able to convince you, then." He grinned jovially, pushing back a few strands of hair, before raising his hand to wave at someone across the hall.

"There she is," he said delighted, eyes fixated on a small girl fighting her way through the crowd and looking around searchingly. Seth raised his arm, eyes fixated on her and jumped up a few times to make up for his height disadvantage. "Gaby! Over here! Gab!" he shouted. The girl in question rotated her head in the direction of his voice and, upon spying the two of them, broke out in a wide smile.

The few seconds it took her to reach them, Seth did not take his eyes of her once and when she came closer, Blaine could clearly make out two light-brown ears bouncing alongside with her hair, pointy incisors worrying the flesh of her bottom lip, but the happy expression on her face could not quite hide the way her hair and clothes were unnaturally tousled, or the fact that one of her wrists was tightly bandaged in a snow-white cast.

"I'm here!" She announced, taking a last large step and landing in front of them. Her graceful entrance was slightly disturbed by a young couple pushing past her, but she covered it up with a jut of her hip and a glare. "God, I hate people," she murmured under her breath, when she straightened up again and Seth laughed silently.

"Well, Blaine this is my girlfriend Gaby," he introduced them, taking his girlfriend's unharmed hand and placing it in Blaine's. "Gaby, this is Blaine." Gaby's attention turned from the couple back to the boys in front of her and she shook Blaine's hand enthusiastically.

"Hey Blaine!" she cheered. "Pleazure to meet you." Her mouth did not seem to be able to form the letter 's' correctly, but Blaine found that he was more endeared than irritated by her accent and he reciprocated her greeting honestly.

"Likewise. I've heard a lot about you," he said with a slight grin in Seth's direction and his friend rolled his eyes.

"She's already my girlfriend. You can't embarrass me in front of her," Seth murmured, but was distracted, when Gaby released Blaine's hand and turned to greet her boyfriend with a short kiss. "Hey hon'," she chirped, hands coming up to rub over his arms.

Seth smiled warmly at her. "Leprotta, how are you?"

"Fine, fine." She rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand. "You worry too much."

"You sounded pretty shaken on the phone," Seth insisted, rubbing a thumb over her knuckles.

"And I had an entire zubway ride to calm down. I may, or may not have yelled at a few people." She looked up at him half-triumphant, half-guilty, lips curling into a mischievous smile, but Seth frowned.

"Someone gave you trouble?"

"Just some azzhole explaining a bit too loud to his friend what a zhame it was that hybridz are allowed on the train nowadayz," Gaby said perkily and Blaine felt his eyebrows shoot up. He hadn't expected people to be that narrow-minded. "Nothing I'm not uzed to and after I gave him a piece of my mind he waz very quick to zhut up."

Seth did not look soothed, but Blaine, who could not contain his curiosity any longer, leaned forward, interrupting the couples conversation, "Are you faced with a lot of people like that?" he asked Gaby, taking in her dishevelled appearance.

Gaby shifted her eyes from Seth's frown to him and cocked her head thoughtfully. "Zurprisingly no. There are the uzual glancez and whizpered commentz, but the only place I've been openly attacked was at zchool," she said, looking him up and down inquisitively. "Why?"

"I was just curious," Blaine answered and added at an afterthought, "I've never met a hybrid before."

"Oh, really? Then I'm honoured to be your firzt." She realised how suggestive her sentence sounded a second too late and blushed slightly. "I mean, if you've any questions, or want to know zomething from an inzider, I would be happy to help."

Blaine let out a slow breath, contemplating the offer for a moment, before his eyes fell on her wrist. "You said most people react passively to your appearance, but that it's different at school. May I ask what happened?"

Gaby followed his gaze towards the bandage and rolled her eyes. "Oh, that. That waz a ztupid accident during PE, even though school is possibly the most dangerous place for uz. Teenager can be incredibly cruel and zince they can't be sued for any harm they do, they practically have a free pazz." Seth rubbed a thumb over her hand sympathetically and she smiled briefly at him. "That'z probably the number one reazon mozt of uz are hiding."

Blaine furrowed his brow. "Hiding?" he asked.

"You know, wearing wigz, wide pantz to hide tailz, or large hatz. Zome have it eazier than otherz, but moztly it'z a matter of perzonal believez," Gaby explained.

"Really?" Blaine blinked thoughtfully. "I didn't know it was that acute."

"I'm sure you've read about the high suicidal rate of young hybrids?" Seth cut in. "That's not a coincidence. It's actually proven that non-hiding hybrids are more likely to commit suicide due to bullying than graduate high-school." He nodded emphatically, before raising their tickets. "I think we need to get going now, if we want to reach the auditorium before the movie starts."

Gaby risked a glance at her clock and her eyes widened. "You're right. Where do we have to go?"

Blaine pointed down the corridor to her left and together they moved slowly through the hall. When they had entered room number eight and taken their seats, Blaine took up their original conversation again, eyebrows furrowed together. "What about you then?" he asked Gaby. "Are you hiding at school?"

"I did for a few years, but as you can zee it's not exactly eazy for me." She pointed to her overly large teeth, settling back into the cushions of her chair.

"And when you met Seth?" Blaine asked further, turning to the boy sitting in between them. "Did you know from the beginning?"

Seth smiled lovingly at his girlfriend, who giggled into her hand, obviously remembering something. "Not at first. She revealed herself after about two weeks. Was quite the shock. I think I spit my drink over her, when she pulled of her extensions."

Gaby nodded regretfully. "You ruined my favourite dress." Blaine and Seth chuckled under their breaths at her devastated expression, but then the lights around them were dimmed, the curtain lifted and their conversation came to a stop.

~*~

Later that day, when Blaine had bid his friends goodbye with short hugs and the promise of meeting up soon again and driven back to his dorm, he was reminded by the beeping of his phone of the call he had promised to give Kurt earlier that day. A note on Jeff's bed informed him that his roommate was staying out late because of a last-minute study session with his boyfriend – yeah, right 'study-session', Blaine coughed – and so he didn't bother going to the bathroom when he quickly changed into his most comfortable pyjamas and settled under the covers of his bed. His phone buzzed again and he leaned over the edge of his mattress, fishing it out of his bag and unlocking the screen with a flick of his thumb.

He was met with the sight of four new messages; two from Kurt, one from David and the last one an advertisement. Great. He quickly scanned David's question concerning their last biology essay, before rummaging through his bag once again, grumbling when he realised that his file for that class was still sitting on his desk. A glance from his comfortable bed to the faraway table confirmed that David could wait for his answer until tomorrow, especially since their paper wasn't due until next week, and instead he devoted himself to Kurt's messages. The first had been sent right after he had entered the cinema, but the second was not older than a few seconds.

Did you know that a spanish woman claimed ownership of the sun and now wants to charge everyone who uses it? The stuff they consider news nowadays ... - Kurt

Blaaaaine? - Kurt

Blaine didn't bother responding, instead hitting the call button and waiting for the familiar toot. He shot a quick glance towards Pavarotti's cage, before remembering that the bird had been temporary transferred to a fellow Warbler's room, who was in the duty to take care of one of the little animals himself and had therefore proposed a weekly animal-sitter plan, to save both of them time, noise and nerves and to provide companionship for the birds.

The line cracked against his ear and suddenly Kurt's voice floated through the speaker, high and clear and not bothering to announce his presence, "How was the movie?" His voice floated through the speaker, high and clear and without bothering to announce his presence.

"Hello, to you too," Blaine replied, smiling fondly when he could practically hear Kurt roll his eyes on the other end, letting out a low hum. "It was good. Funny, exciting and with lots of action scenes; Everything a good Marvel movie needs."

Kurt made a undefinable sound on the other end. "Meh, doesn't sound very great."

"But there was a very detailed love-story throughout the plot," protested Blaine, causing his friend to perk up.

"Oh, really? Maybe it wasn't that bad then," he quipped and Blaine laughed fondly, knowing all too well about his friends obsession with romance.

"Not at all. Seth even brought his girlfriend along and she enjoyed the film plenty. At least judging by the bruises on my arm, where she clutched to me during the exciting scenes."

Kurt laughed. "Oh, poor honey," he cooed, sending a pleasant shiver down Blaine's spine at the pet name. "Doesn't she have a boyfriend for that?"

"He was too busy hiding in her shoulder at that time," Blaine replied drily and Kurt tutted reproving.

"I thought you two were meant to meet alone? Was there a reason she came along?"

Blaine hummed thoughtfully, drawing his knees up and tugging his feet under his body. "She wrote him while we were waiting for our tickets and obviously she is having some problems at school."

Kurt drew in a sharp breath. "Oh, no. Is she alright?"

"She seemed fine, a little shaken, but Seth assured me that he only wanted to have her close precautionary."

"Do you know what happened?" Kurt asked quietly and Blaine could hear some shuffling on the other end, most likely as Kurt was getting more comfortable on his bed.

"He didn't go into detail, but it wasn't difficult to figure out," Blaine said slowly and Kurt made a questioning noise.

"She's uh - I have no idea what the proper protocol for this is, but she ... isn't human?" He trailed off, hoping that his friend would connect the dots, before he had to stammer on, but the line stayed silent.

After a while, Blaine asked, "Kurt? You still there?"

"Yes," Kurt replied quickly, voice high and breathless. "I- erm, what do you mean she isn't h-human?"

Blaine cleared his throat awkwardly and shuffled a bit under his covers. "I don't know if I can say it like that, or if I'm violating some etiquette, but I don't know how to say it differently and -"

"Blaine." He wasn't sure if Kurt sounded more annoyed, or curious.

Blaine drew a deep breath. "She's a hybrid."

"Oh, that- oh. How- Did you, I mean ... did you know?" Kurt stuttered, causing Blaine's eyebrow to shoot up in surprise at the quiver in his voice.

"Not before today, no. Seth told me right before she joined us." He sighed, remembering his surprise at the admission, nearly missing Kurt's next question, asked almost inaudible.

"And ... you were okay with that?"

"Of course!" Blaine emphasized, before adding under his breath, "Why does everybody expect me to be full of prejudice?"

"I don't!" Kurt shrieked and Blaine nearly dropped his phone. "Sorry," Kurt apologized, "Most people would react badly and – wait, you were really okay with that?"

Blaine rolled his eyes a little offended. "Yes! I have nothing against hybrids, you know that."

"Yes, of course," Kurt quickly reassured him. "But you've to admit that you were doubtful in the beginning and nobody can compare knowing about hybrids and actually meeting one."

"Well, I've read a lot since then and her race doesn't change her character, does it?" The line stayed silent and Blaine felt the need to continue. "She's a nice girl and why should I like her any less, because of things I can't change anyway?"

From the other end of the phone sounded a choked up noise and Blaine's eyes widened. "Are you crying?!" he gasped out, phone clutched far too tightly to his cheek.

"N-no," Kurt whispered, clearing his throat and drawing a deep breath, before continuing with a much more steady voice, "Of course not. That is just – very t-thoughtful of you, Blaine." He laughed softly. "You make it sound so simple."

Blaine's heart compressed in his chest. "Things are always just as complicated as you make them," he replied quietly and Kurt let out a snort.

"You have that out of a proverb book?"

"Wha- no!" Blaine protested. "I will have you know that my sources are professional and reliable and in no way Wes, or David."

"Sure," Kurt giggled, before suddenly sobering up, "Listen, there is something I would really like to talk to you about."

"I feel like all of our conversations in the last time contain that sentence," Blaine mused, still fairly amused, but then his friends words registered in his mind and his heart leaped. "Uhm, and what would that something be about?"

"Oh, I- it's something very personal and I wouldn't – I shouldn't tell you over the phone," Kurt stuttered and Blaine was almost one hundred percent sure that he was blushing. Could it be...?

"Oh?" he asked carefully, palms turning sweaty.

"Yes, it's more of a confession than anything else and uhm -" Kurt trailed off, voice unsure and Blaine was quick to reassure him.

"No, that's fine. Sounds great. Super. Fantastic." His breathing hitched and then stopped completely, because if this really was about confessing ... and this could only mean ... Kurt liked him. Like that. Like he liked him and - "How about tomorrow at school then?"

"N-not at school. Maybe somewhere more private, where we can be alone," Kurt murmured quietly, "Only the two of us."

"Oh," Blaine breathed again, heart thumbing rapidly. "Yeah, of course. We could go to my dorm after gymclass. Mr Medson has recovered completely and insisted on everybody coming. I know, you don't have to participate anymore, but -"

"That's fine," Kurt interrupted, just as breathless. "I'll wait up for you and then we'll- we will talk."

"Okay," Blaine whispered dreamily. "I will see you then?"

"Yes, tomorrow," Kurt replied, still sounding nervous. "Bye Blaine."

Blaine hummed drawn-out. "Bye ..."

He hung up, hands sweaty and heart beating widely. "Oh god, oh god, oh god," he murmured frantically, shoving his head into a pillow and trying to calm his rapid breathing. Oh god, oh my, oh holy cow! Had this really just happened? Was Kurt really going to confess to him tomorrow?

His phone got dropped thoughtlessly next to the bed, into the general direction of his bag – at least the suspected one – as he scooted back to suffocate himself with his cushions more comfortably. His whole body drummed with unused energy and he could not resist the urge to drum his fists onto his duvet, silently shrieking into his mattress, until the need to breathe became overwhelming and he had to sit up and kick of his blankets.

He couldn't believe that this was really happening ... It was happening, wasn't it? Everything pointed to it, he was quite sure. Didn't it?

"Okay," he murmured, trying to calm down. "I need to analyze this rationally. ... And stop talking to myself, but that can wait for later." Jeff still wasn't back, so Blaine let himself fall once again face-forward into his duvet.

So Kurt wanted to talk to him. No, confess something to him. In private. Something personal. He refrained from screaming into his cushions again. This was really happening! Oh god- His head snapped up and his eyes widened. He needed to prepare a speech. If Kurt was about to confess his feelings he would surely expect him to reciprocate and judging by his standards concerning romance, it needed to be good. Spectacular even. With glitter. And flowers. Maybe he could rent a pony ...

~*~

The next day was Wednesday and the day Blaine was pretty sure would in future be described one of the best days of his life.

He had managed to keep his flailing under control for the rest of his evening – mostly – and busied himself with cleaning up his side of the room, taking a shower and working on his biology essay, filling page after page with possible formulations he could present to Kurt the next day, before noticing his mistake and losing himself in a row of imaginative scenarios, that ended with him falling asleep on his desk in the middle of a very pleasant fantasy including him, Kurt and his comfortable dorm bed. When he woke up, luckily a few minutes before his roommate entered and tried to read over his shoulder, he had quickly clapped his writing shut and dragged himself onto said comfortable bed, before falling asleep within minutes.

Waking up with the knowledge that Kurt possibly, most likely liked him back was one of the best feelings Blaine had ever experienced and he laid under his covers several minutes simply saving the giddiness flooding through his veins, before Jeff's alarm reminded him that he really had to get up if he didn't want to miss his meeting with Kurt. Or the entire school day.

He left his dorm with a wide smile on his face, skipping along the corridor and surprising his friends with his overly cheerful demeanour, but not even Wes and David's teasing could put a damper on Blaine's mood, especially when he spotted Kurt across the room, watching him and blushing when Blaine caught his eye. Blaine raised a hand in greeting, as soon as the other boy came closer and ignored David's knowing 'Ah.' when he followed Blaine's gaze, before he stepped forwards, meeting Kurt half-way and pulling him into a tight hug. Kurt gasped in surprise, tensing for a second, before his arms came up hesitantly to wrap around Blaine's torso.

"Hi," Blaine grinned breathlessly as soon as he released him, not bothering to step back and the other boy cocked his head in a mix of confusion and happiness at his joyful grin.

"Uhm, hi?" Kurt replied playfully, looking up through his lashes and raising an eyebrow at their close proximity. "What got you in such a good mood?"

"Oh, believe me, we've been trying to figure that out since he woke up this morning," Wes grumbled.

"He was so close to kissing one of us in greeting, I swear," David added with a teasing grin in the direction of Kurt, who was still chest to chest with Blaine. The pale boy blushed even heavier than before, ducking his head and quickly stepping back, causing Blaine to frown and glare at his friend.

After that Wes ushered them to take their seats in the assembly hall and they were called to order by Mr.Wright, who was about to start his usual monologue during their morning assembly.

School dragged by slowly that day, letting Blaine's concentration-level fall dangerously low and making the temptation to spend the lessons daydreaming instead of taking notes much larger than normally. Luckily that problem didn't occur during their sport-lesson and Mr.Medson's inexorably circle training provided a good enough distraction that Blaine endured his last two hours of class without complaint. As promised Kurt had stayed back through the whole class, sitting bored on one of the benches, seemingly engrossed in a novel, but his eyes flickered ever so often over the cover, searching Blaine's, before quickly snapping down again as soon as the other boy reciprocated his glance. Several minutes later, Mr.Medson ended their lesson by declaring them all unteachable, ushering them out of the hall and into the changing rooms and Blaine noticed happily that Kurt was trailing slowly after them.

Blaine made sure to change extra slowly, giving him and Kurt an excuse to stay back after the others. They waited until everyone else had left, not keen on the nosy questions they friend would surely bombard them with as soon as they found out about their talk, before grabbing their bags and making their way across the school grounds. The walk to Blaine's dorm room was silent, both boys lost in their own thoughts – in Blaine's case a motivating pep-talk delivered by a voice that sounded suspiciously like a mix between Wes's and his brother's - and when they reached there destination there was an awkward moment when Blaine tried to hold open the door for Kurt and Kurt wanted to let Blaine enter first, but then they were finally inside, sitting side by side on Blaine's bed in a silent understanding and facing each other with matching nervous expressions.

"I wanted to tell you -"

"Kurt, I would like to say -"

They both spoke at the same time, words overlapping and causing them to smile softly at each other.

"I thought that only happened in films," Kurt mused, hands tugging nervously at the sleeve of his blazer.

"In that case my text would be 'You go first', wouldn't it?" Blaine asked back, grinning slightly and slapping his hands away from the material. His friend grimaced, before folding his hands neatly in his lap.

"And I would assure you than no, you should go first and then we would settle on speaking at the same time again," Kurt continued.

"Well, in that case I'll just let you go first without protest, to spare us any further embarrassment," Blaine decided, settling more comfortably against his cushions and gesturing for Kurt to do the same. The other boy nodded, crawling over the covers, until he was curled up next to Blaine, body angled towards him and knees drawn up so they were pressing against his friend's thigh. Blaine could feel the heat of their bodies radiating between them and happily leaned closer, until their shoulders were brushing and breaths mingling.

"You wanted to tell me something?" Blaine asked eagerly, when Kurt continued to simply gaze at him, seeming surprised but not entirely displeased by their closeness.

"Yes," Kurt said quickly, snapping out of his thoughts. "Blaine we've known each other for a little over two months now and during this time you've become one of my closest friends, maybe even the closest and if I've learned anything during that time it is that our relationship consists of trust and the fact that we're always honest with each other." He drew a deep breath, seemingly unsure how to continue.

"So, this is about the two of us," Blaine probed further, leaning closer.

"Yes," Kurt confirmed, seemingly relieved that he didn't have to say it out loud. "You mean a lot to me, Blaine and I feel like we're getting closer everyday."

"I feel the same way, Kurt," Blaine said gently, putting a hand on his knee and squeezing briefly. Their eyes met and a charged moment past between them, when Kurt licked his lip and opened his mouth to continue, "There is something I've never told you and I feel incredibly guilty about that but -" Blaine was pretty sure that he knew where this conversation was going, so he decided to put Kurt out of his misery, interrupting his rambling by gently putting a finger on his lips, making him shut up abruptly.

"I think I know what you want to tell me," he said gently, eyes soft and loving and he felt Kurt's breathing hitch between them.

"Y-you do?" Kurt stuttered, eyes flickering and Blaine nodded slowly.

"I prepared a whole speech for this, you know?" Blaine whispered. "But I think this is easier."

He leaned forward, eyes fixated on Kurt's lips and hands moving forwards to rest on his hips. "May I?" he asked lowly, when there mouths were only centimetres apart and Kurt's voice had trailed off, only his warm breath ghosting over Blaine's skin. A too long moment of silence passed in which Blaine's gaze loosened from Kurt's mouth and wandered up to his eyes. Kurt was staring back at him, a deer-in-the-headlight-expression on his face and Blaine's conviction faltered.

"Kurt?" he asked carefully, trying to read the other boys face, but then Kurt shook his head slightly, snapping himself out of whatever stupor he had been in and smiled hesitantly at him. Blaine's eyes flickered back to his lips and then Kurt whined low in his throat and leaped forward, closing the distance between them and making both of their eyes fall shut. Their lips pressed together warm and motionless for a moment, before Blaine breathed a sigh of relief between their mouths and dragged Kurt closer, angling his head slightly so there lips could slide together more effortlessly. Kurt giggled against his lips when that caused their noses to bump, but it was quickly cut off by a gasp, when Blaine pressed more firmly against him, hands coming up to cup his face tenderly. Kurt hummed happily at the new sensation, arm winding around the other boys neck and scooting forward, until he was nearly sitting in his lap, breath hot and fast between their slowly moving mouths. One of Blaine's hand slid slowly from his cheek to his neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps on their way on the sensitive skin and Kurt let his eyes flutter open for a moment, watching the blush on the other boys cheek, his relaxed features and blissfully closed eyes. For a second he let himself get lost in the kiss, breath hitching when Blaine moved his fingers, until they were gripping his hair tightly, the tips scratching against his scalp in the most delicious way, but then Blaine's hand bumped against something hard where they were tangled in Kurt's hair and the other boy gasped surprised and drew back, cheeks flushed and lips dark red.

"No. Blaine, wait," he murmured, scooting back and blushing slightly when Blaine chased his lips with a small whine. "This isn't – I wanted to tell you first – fuck!" He dropped his head into his hands and let out an angry huff.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked carefully, hand coming up to straighten his hair and eyes now wide open and full of fear. "What-" He reached out, to rub Kurt's back, but the other boy flinched away from his touch and Blaine recoiled as if he had been slapped.

"I'm sorry," Kurt whispered, hand coming up to stroke his cheek for a second, before he seemed to realise what he was doing and snapped it away. "I just can't- I have to go," he declared abruptly, standing up and looking around frantically for his bag.

"Wha- but Kurt." Blaine stood up as well, taking a step in his direction, but Kurt backed away, scrambling towards the door. "I'm sorry if I – I mean, I didn't meant to," Blaine stuttered, hand reaching helplessly for the other boy, but Kurt was already at the door, turning around one last time. "It's not- I'll explain, I promise," he said quickly, clutching his bag and backing away.

"Kurt," Blaine said again, quiet, desperate, but Kurt only shook his head turning away and leaving Blaine sitting numbly on his bed, looking after him as he practically ran out of his dorm. A choked off sob wretched its way out of his chest and he buried his face tightly into his hands.

Fuck.