Kurt hears a small squeal from behind him and turns around to see Rachel standing just outside her bedroom door, still in sweats, a hand over her heart and a look on her face as if he and Blaine were adorable puppies.

Kurt is just about to yell at her for not even being dressed yet when Blaine’s voice distracts him from the thought. Or any thought, for that matter.

“You ready to go,” Blaine asks, standing up straight and holding the bouquet out in front of him. Kurt takes the flowers and holds them up to his nose, breathing in the scent, still just a little in shock.

“B-Blaine, they’re beautiful, thank you,” Kurt says sweetly, handing the flowers to Rachel as she comes up behind him to take them and find a vase, lifting the bouquet to her nose and smiling widely. His eyes dart between where Blaine stands in the doorway—dapper as ever—and where Rachel is practically dancing toward the kitchen. Blaine’s voice, full of amused reverence pulls him from his spinning thoughts.

“You look amazing,” Blaine says, extending his elbow for Kurt to take. Kurt loops an arm through Blaine’s, blushing furiously.

“Thank you,” he responds, his voice soft and almost demure, smiling appreciatively. “So do you, I almost feel underdressed.”

“You’re not, trust me,” Blaine assures. “You look perfect.” For a moment, he looks like he’s panicking, worried that he overstepped, but he doesn’t correct himself, just smiles at Kurt, showing his sincere belief in what he said.

Kurt flushes impossibly darker, his mind finally settled enough to realize that he’s been hoodwinked. A swell of something fluttery flickers through him as he realizes just how much effort Blaine must have put into planning this. No one has ever gone out of their way to be so...so...sweet to him before. He slowly lifts his eyes to meet Blaine’s speculatively.

“How did you even–” Kurt starts to ask, looking between Blaine and Rachel, who had just appeared again from the kitchen.  

“I have my ways,” Blaine winks, giving a silent thank-you smile to Rachel and leaning around Kurt to shut the door.

“I’ll have him home by midnight, Ms. Berry.” Blaine says, sticking his head just inside the door right before he closes it.

They walk out of Kurt’s building to a taxi waiting just outside.

“After you,” Blaine gestures, opening the door for Kurt to slide into the back seat of the car. Kurt gives Blaine another wide smile, still adjusting to the shock of Blaine even being there in the first place.

“So,” Kurt begins, looking over at Blaine as he slides in next to Kurt and shuts the door, “this is a more sophisticated business date, I take it?” Blaine smiles and takes Kurt’s hand in his between them.

“Nope,” Blaine answers, shaking his head, then looking deep into Kurt’s eyes, his own eyes sparkling in the dim light of the cab, “this is just a date. A real date. No business involved.” Kurt smiles back, squeezing Blaine’s hand.

“Sounds good to me,” Kurt says, trying to contain his giddy excitement at the simple word. “And are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope,” Blaine shakes his head again, a devious smile on his face, “you’re just going to have to wait and see.”

---------------------

The taxi pulls up outside of a small restaurant that looks to be very busy. Blaine gets out of the car and stands just outside of it, holding out a hand to Kurt. Kurt takes the offered hand, smiling at Blaine for what seems like the hundredth time since he showed up at his apartment. Actually, Kurt’s not sure he could stop smiling even if he tried. Blaine smiles back, taking Kurt’s hand and leading him into the restaurant.

One of the hostesses leads them through the busy restaurant full of mostly couples, a loud hum of conversation filling the place, and out to a table on a patio, nearly empty despite the crowdedness inside. The patio is lit entirely by candles on the tables and hanging strings of lights that cast little flickering reflections off of the plates and silverware.

With a gracious smile, Blaine walks up behind one of the chairs and holds it out for Kurt before taking his own seat on the opposite side of the table. His eyes never seem to leave Kurt’s face, and a small unapologetic smile breaks across Blaine’s face as Kurt catches him staring. Instead of feeling embarrassed, because Why is this gorgeous man staring at my face?, Kurt feels admired, and he takes the fact that Blaine’s eyes still haven’t left his own as an open invitation to stare back, losing himself in the warm honey of Blaine’s eyes. 

Kurt almost jumps when a waiter comes to give them menus. He takes the distraction from their comfortable silence to look around the nearly empty patio. He’d been so lost in the moment with Blaine, that he hadn’t truly appreciated the beauty of the atmosphere, and realizes that he’s a little in awe at the elegance of the place, letting himself wonder just how much work was involved in reserving a spot like this. And, God, he didn’t even want to think about the cost of it all.

He leans back in his chair as though bracing for an explosion as he opens his menu, trying to keep a poker face at the prices—and good lord, is the food made of solid gold?—but he feels Blaine’s eyes on him again, amusement playing on his face as he smiles softly and picks up the napkin from his place setting and covers the column of prices, giving Kurt a sincere look that tells him not to worry about how much it costs. Kurt shoots him a pleading look, but Blaine shakes it off with a smile, so Kurt does his best not to hyperventilate as he scans the menu and wonders if Blaine would be offended if he just ordered water and breadsticks—which would probably still cost more than his rent.

They sit silently looking through their menus, Kurt sneaking a glance at Blaine every once in a while, wondering how he could possibly afford this place. Blaine catches Kurt staring and gives him a toothy smile that always seems to make Kurt lose his train of thought, so they sit there looking at each other for a few seconds when the waiter shows up again with a glass of water for each of them, and asks if they’re ready to order.

After they order their food and the waiter leaves with their menus, Kurt looks back over at Blaine, with a basically permanent smile on his face at this point, and Blaine joins their hands on the table.

“So, Kurt, tell me more about yourself,” Blaine insists, “now that we aren’t restricted to strictly business talk,” he winks at Kurt. Kurt laughs

“Of course,” he agrees with a small flourish of his hand. “Well, I’m from Lima, Ohio, as I told you in the coffee shop a few days ago. I went to William McKinley High School and was in the glee club there, which I guess you also already knew.” Blaine’s eyes encourage him to continue. “Um, that’s where I met Rachel. She was kind of the self-proclaimed ‘star’ of the group. We used to be sworn enemies, but when she started dating my step-brother, we started to become closer friends.”

“I see,” Blaine nods. “She seems… excitable.” Kurt can’t help but laugh at Blaine’s word choice.

“She’s definitely excitable,” Kurt agrees. “You could also say she’s nosy, hyper, or just plain crazy.”

“I think I should maybe get to know her a bit better before calling her crazy,” Blaine says, teasing a pondering expression.

“Something else you might find interesting,” Kurt begins, shaking his head a bit and laughing, “is that I introduced my dad and step-mom in an attempt to get closer to my now step-brother. Because I had a crush on him.”

Blaine almost bursts out laughing, but catches himself, figuring that it would probably not be the most acceptable thing in such a fancy restaurant.

“Oh, shut up,” Kurt exclaims, though he is laughing just as hard. “I was like, fifteen!” Blaine nods, but he can’t help the small bursts of laughter. “But he’s straight, anyway,” Kurt continues. “And, as I mentioned, he and Rachel dated for a couple of years. They were that couple, though. It was the worst. I mean, they had absolutely no shame in PDA, we’ll just leave it there.” Blaine grins in understanding. “But, they broke up during the summer just after senior year, because Finn – that’s my step-brother’s name – joined the army. Probably better for me that they broke up, too, because otherwise I would most likely have ended up living with both of them in that apartment,” Kurt rolls his eyes. “But Rachel and I are definitely best friends now, so it’s nice just living with her.”

“Sounds like it,” Blaine nods, “I don’t have a roommate, technically, but my friend Wes is over at my place enough that he might as well be my roommate,” he laughs. “But it’s cool, cause otherwise I’d be pretty lonely. We were in the Warblers together at Dalton.”

They continue with their small-talk while they eat. Talking about the classes they’re taking, Blaine telling Kurt about the few other auditions he had been to before the one where they met. Kurt almost feels bad talking about his dad and step-mom, and how accepting they are of him, when he knows that Blaine’s parents are the total opposite, but Blaine gives him encouraging smiles, asking him questions about his family and friends, and before long, they’re talking and laughing like they’ve known each other for years.

---------------------

All through dinner, Blaine has to concentrate harder then he thought he would on trying not to spend the entire time just looking at Kurt, watching the light play off blue eyes that never seem to stop sparkling, noticing the way the corner of his mouth tips up into a smile when he’s talking about his friends. He can’t think of anyone he’s ever met who was quite like Kurt, and he definitely doesn’t want to scare him away.

As they leave the restaurant, they decide to walk back to Kurt’s apartment, instead of taking a taxi. Blaine does a silent cheer that he gets to spend even more time with Kurt. They walk hand-in-hand, continuing their conversation from dinner. Blaine sneaks glances at Kurt whenever he can, amazed at the way the lights from the city shine on his face, making him look even more beautiful than before, which Blaine hadn’t thought possible, but apparently, with Kurt all things are possible. Kurt never seems to fail to find a way to surprise him. 

Kurt catches him staring and smiles back, moving a little bit closer to Blaine and squeezing his hand lightly. They continue walking, just a few inches from their sides being pressed together. They had stopped talking not long after leaving the restaurant and are now just appreciating being together. They both have the same thoughts running through their heads; neither can believe that they are on a date with someone so attractive and funny and nice.

They get back to Kurt’s building, taking the elevator up to his floor, still in silence. When they get to his apartment, they stand just outside the door, both of them looking down at their hands joined between them.

Blaine is trying to think of what to say, not really wanting to leave just yet, when Kurt leans forward and captures his lips in a passionate kiss. Blaine steps closer to him, putting a hand to Kurt’s cheek, deepening the kiss, but just as suddenly as he’d started it, Kurt ends the kiss, smiling shyly at Blaine, staring down at their hands again.

“Thank you for tonight, Blaine,” Kurt says, “I still don’t know how you managed to organize that with Rachel, and I probably wouldn’t want to find out. But however you did it, it was amazing. I think I like our dates better without the business part there.” They both laugh, before Kurt’s expression turns softly serious. “I think I like it better when it’s just us, no strings attached. Just...us.”

“Me too,” Blaine replies quietly, his hand lifting to rest on Kurt’s cheek without a thought. “I think I like us.”

Kurt smiles shy and widely as he blushes, and Blaine can’t resist giving him one more quick kiss before whispering his goodbye and turning toward the elevator. 

As soon as the door to Kurt’s apartment closes, Blaine can hear Rachel squealing with excitement, demanding to hear every detail of the date. He laughs to himself, but he can’t help but fall back against the wall of the elevator in sheer happiness as the doors close.