A/N: I don't think I stated this earlier so I'm mentioning it now – in this AU, Kurt never had a crush on Finn, or anybody else. Burt and Carole met at the parent-teacher conference without Kurt's assistance.

Don't Keep Your Distance: Hope

The week leading up to New Years was probably the happiest week of Blaine's life. His cravings for alcohol were rare, and when they came, he found them much easier to overcome than he had in the past. He figured it was because, for the first time in many years, he really didn't feel like he had to drink in order to feel normal. He was with his family, they were all together, and everyone was in extra high spirits because of the holidays.

Blaine had also noticed that, since their talk on Christmas, the dynamic between he and Kurt had shifted. It was as though their conversation in Kurt's bedroom had cleared the air between them, and gotten rid of some of the lingering tension and uneasiness that had been present since Blaine's return into Kurt's life.

Since then, their recent interactions had become far more…playful, and light-hearted. If Blaine didn't know any better, he'd say that they were even a little flirtatious. It was both confusing and exhilarating and while Blaine still wasn't sure what to make of it, he knew that he definitely did not want it to stop.

He first noticed it on Thursday morning. He went downstairs without gelling his hair first, purely due to laziness and an immediate need for coffee first thing in the morning. (Also, it was 7am, and he didn't think anybody else would be up yet. But apparently Kurt was a morning person.) Kurt was in the kitchen making French toast, as soon as he saw Blaine's bed-head, he gasped.

"Oh, my god," he said, grinning in delight. "Blaine, your hair."

Blaine winced, running his fingers through his hair self-consciously. "I know, it's bad," he said.

"No!" Kurt exclaimed, "No, it's not bad! It's ridiculously cute. I love it. I mean, it's a little bushy – you could probably stand to put a little bit of lighter product in it, but I love the curls. Can I touch it?"

Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Um, y-yeah? Sure," he conceded. Kurt reached up and ran his fingers through Blaine's hair. Blaine very nearly moaned.

"This is great," Kurt said. "You should definitely gel less often. You have such lovely hair, Blaine, so many people would kill for your natural curls. I don't know why you hide them under a gel helmet. God, I don't want to stop touching it, it's so fluffy."

Blaine blushed and grinned, his stomach giving an odd jolt. "You can keep touching if you want…it feels nice."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm."

Unfortunately, that was when Kathy decided to join them, and they stepped apart when they heard the sound of her singing as she descended the stairs. Kurt reluctantly extracted his hand from Blaine's locks, and Blaine decided that he would happily give up gel forever if it meant that Kurt would keep touching him like that.

Later that evening, Blaine found himself sitting cross-legged on Kurt's bed, while Kurt got changed in his walk-in closet. He was trying to decide on an outfit to wear to his friend Rachel's New Year's Eve party, and he'd ask Blaine to be his fashion critic.

Blaine was a little nervous. He knew some things about fashion, but his personal style was quite different from Kurt's. He wanted to sound like he knew what he was talking about, but honestly, Kurt had walked out in 3 different outfits already, and all Blaine knew was that Kurt looked fantastic in all of them.

"Okay, what about this one?" Kurt asked.

Blaine turned around and he was pretty sure his jaw hit the floor.

Kurt was wearing a pair of unbelievably tight, black, leather pants, oh dear sweet merciful lord. They left very little to the imagination, and he had paired them with tall black boots with heels. They were covered with silver buckles and decorative fastenings and they made Kurt's long legs look like they went on forever.

He also wore a slightly loose black top that hung off one shoulder, and oh god, Blaine didn't think he had ever been attracted to a shoulder before, but there you have it.

To top it all off, Kurt had put on dark eyeliner, which brought out the piercing blue of Kurt's eyes, and made him look positively sinful. Blaine let out some sort of choking sound.

Kurt raised a (perfect) eyebrow at him. "Sorry, didn't catch that."

"I - I like this one," Blaine stammered. "This is my favourite so far."

"Hmm, are you sure?" Kurt asked, turning around to examine his ass in the mirror, and okay that was so not fair. "You don't think I kind of look like a hooker?"

"No!" Blaine exclaimed immediately. "You look hot."

Fuck. Yup, I just said that out loud. And immediately, all the blood that had been previously concentrated in Blaine's dick decided to change course and head straight for his face. Awesome.

Much to Blaine's surprise, however, Kurt didn't look disgusted or creeped out at Blaine's assessment. He beamed. "You really think so?"

"Y-yeah," Blaine stammered. "Totally. The pants…"

"Hmm, they do make my butt look quite good, don't they?" Kurt asked, running his hands over the back of the pants.

"Yep!" Blaine squeaked. "They're very…tight."

"That's the idea," Kurt teased, winking at Blaine.

His thoughts were somewhere along the lines of Asdfhghjdfajlkd!Ofnfvhf?

"Okay, I guess that's settled then!" Kurt exclaimed, heading back into the closet. "Thanks for your help, Blaine."

"Yeah," Blaine said meekly. "Not a problem."

Over the next couple of days, things escalated further. Kurt started touching him a lot more – he would casually brush his hand across Blaine's shoulder as he walked past, or pause to straighten Blaine's bowtie for him. He'd even started curling right up into Blaine's side on the couch, and it hadn't taken long for Blaine to gather up the courage to return the snuggles. He liked snuggles. He was a snuggly sort of guy, especially when Kurt was involved. And if he left his hair ungelled, Kurt would gently twirl his curls around his fingers while they watched TV. It was unbelievably comforting, and kind of made Blaine's insides feel like they were made of warm melted chocolate.

The first few times they'd snuggled on the couch, Blaine had half-expected Burt to jump out of his armchair and declare Blaine a sick pervert before kicking him out on his ass. But nobody in the family seemed to find the behaviour particularly unusual. Blaine had caught Kathy looking at them with a calculating expression a couple of times, but she hadn't said anything, so Blaine figured he was probably just reading too much into things. He tended to do that.

Blaine wondered whether Kurt acted this way with all his family members.

He hoped not.

On Sunday, Evelyn and Kathy decided that they wanted to take Kurt shopping.

Blaine may have pouted. He wanted to go shopping, too.

"Stop it with that face," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "Since when do you even like shopping?"

"Since I've spent the last month cooped up in this house without being able to leave," Blaine grumbled.

Evelyn frowned. "Is it really that bad? You can't just…wear sunglasses and a big hat?"

Blaine sighed. "No, I'd still get recognised. My fans are very observant. They can recognise me from the shape of my ass."

Kathy laughed loudly. "Anderson, did you make a secret tumblr?"

Blaine glared at her. "…Yes."

"And did you go through the 'Blaine Anderson' tag?"

"…Maybe."

Kurt snorted. He knew what was in that tag.

"I was bored, okay?" Blaine whined. "I needed something to do."

"Well, it's good to see that you're using your time productively," Kurt teased.

"Hey, I've been productive!" Blaine protested. "I finally got around to watching Game of Thrones. And I finished reading Les Misérables, which is a really long book, let me tell you."

Kurt patted Blaine on the shoulder sympathetically. Blaine tried not to lean into the touch.

"Well," Kathy said, buttoning up her coat, "if you can't come with us, we'll have to find a way to bring the fun to you. C'ya later, Blainers."

"Bye," Blaine sighed, as Kathy, Evelyn and Kurt swept out of the room.

Kathy's idea of 'bringing the fun to Blaine' apparently involved returning home with a karaoke machine, several board games, and about 10 different flavours of ice-cream & toppings.

"You, me, Kurt and Finn are going to have a sleepover in the living room!" Kathy announced. "First we'll play games, and then we'll eat our weight in ice-cream, and then we'll play karaoke, and then we'll all sleep in the lounge and it'll be super fun."

Blaine stared at her incredulously. "You do realise that I am a 29-year-old man, not a 13-year-old girl, right?"

Kurt laughed. "I told you he wouldn't go for it, aunt Kath."

"I don't care!" Kathy argued. "We're doing it anyway. I haven't had a chance to properly bond with my nephews. This is happening. Don't fight it."

"Wha's happenin'?" Finn asked as he strolled out of the kitchen, mouth stuffed with potato chips.

"We're having a sleepover," Kathy said. "Tonight. You're coming."

"Sorry, I can't," Finn said, not looking very sorry at all. "I promised Rachel I'd take her to Breadstix. She hates when I cancel dates. But you guys have fun!"

Kathy glared at him. "Well, fine then, ditch us for your stupid girlfriend. But we're totally not saving you any ice-cream."

"Okay, time to play Monopoly!"

Kurt groaned loudly in protest, but Kathy was already setting up the board.

"You know we won't be friends anymore after we've played Monopoly, right?" Blaine said. "It's a fact. Monopoly ruins friendships."

"Only when sore losers play. Are you a sore loser, Blaine?"

"No."

"Good, then it won't be a problem, because I'll be kicking your ass. I call dibs on the ship."

Much to Blaine's surprise, he rolled lucky numbers during the game, and managed to win in less than an hour.

Kathy was not happy.

"It's not enough that you get to be a superstar with a shit-tonne of REAL money, but you have to beat me at Monopoly too? You're an asshole, Anderson," Kathy complained.

Blaine just grinned smugly. "Maybe some ice cream will cheer you up."

Half an hour and several helpings of ice-cream later, Kathy was definitely looking happier.

"Is it time to play Twister yet?" Kurt asked, licking the last of his White Chocolate ice-cream off his spoon (Blaine was trying very hard not to stare, and failing).

This time, it was Kathy's turn to groan. "Noooo, not Twister," she whined. "I hate twisting."

"Well, I want to play Twister, because I know for a fact that I will beat you two," Kurt said, pointing to Kathy and Blaine.

"Oh, really?" Blaine asked, challenging. "We'll see about that. Kathy, you can spin."

20 minutes later, Blaine was greatly regretting challenging Kurt and putting his pride on the line.

Kurt was very, very good at Twister. He switched between various awkward positions as if it were effortless, and he somehow managed to make it look graceful. Blaine, on the other hand, was sweating profusely, and his legs were killing him.

To top it all off, Kurt had decided to go and change into a pair of tight yoga pants before playing. It was highly distracting, especially when Blaine and Kurt ended up pressed together on the mat. Blaine had tried to avoid getting too close and personal with Kurt, but it was proving to be quite difficult, and he suspected that Kathy might be cheating in order to make the game as difficult and awkward as possible.

Blaine was thankful, at least, that Evelyn had left a couple of hours ago, and Burt and Carole had decided to go out to dinner and a movie. He didn't need anybody else to witness his embarrassing defeat.

He also wasn't sure that he would ever be able to look Burt in the eye again if Burt could see the way in which Kurt's thigh was currently pressed up between Blaine's legs - at an angle that could possibly result in a very embarrassing situation if Kathy did not spin that damn arrow immediately.

While the next spin got Kurt's thigh away from the danger zone, it also resulted in Blaine having to lean over Kurt and stretch his leg over him, putting their faces so close together that he could feel Kurt's warm, sweet breath on his face.

Blaine wasn't really sure where to look. His eyes flickered to Kurt's, who grinned up at him.

"Just give up, Anderson," Kurt said, his eyes twinkling. "You know you're going to lose. I do yoga. I'm very bendy."

Blaine quirked an eyebrow at Kurt's wording, and Kurt immediately blushed.

God, he was so pretty when he blushed.

"Aren't you a little old to be turning everything into an innuendo?" He asked.

"I didn't even have to turn that one into an innuendo. It was already an innuendo."

"No it wasn't. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you have a dirty mind."

"Kurt, it is actually impossible to tell someone about your bendiness without it sounding dirty."

"Blaine?"

"Yes?"

"I'm bendy."

"Oh god."

"Very bendy."

"Please stop."

"Do you want to see me put my legs behind my head?"

"…You can do that?"

"Yup."

Blaine gulped. "There's no way you can do that."

"I totally can."

Kurt was grinning at him mischievously, and although Blaine knew that he was just teasing, he was starting to get uncomfortably turned on, and he could feel Kurt's gaze on him.

"Would you like me to give you boys a moment alone?"

Blaine, having completely forgotten that he and Kurt were not alone in the room, startled with a yelp, and immediately fell over. Of course, he ended up taking Kurt with him, given that their limbs were almost completely entangled.

They turned around to see a smirking Kathy, looking much too happy for Blaine's liking.

"Fuck off, Kathy," Kurt said bluntly, and Blaine let out a startled laugh.

"Tsk tsk," Kathy said, "don't let your dad hear you using such language. He'll think I'm a bad influence on you."

"You are," Kurt muttered, clambering to his feet and straightening his clothes before offering a hand to Blaine, who allowed Kurt to help him to his feet.

"I won that, by the way," Kurt said. "You fell and took me down with you."

Blaine was too flustered to argue. "Fair enough. I think you are definitely better at that game than I am."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Kurt teased. "You're not exactly lacking in flexibility yourself."

Blaine blushed.

There was the sound of a throat being cleared pointedly behind them. Blaine was rather impressed at Kathy's ability to retain her smirk under the force of Kurt's glare.

"Okay, time for singing!" Kathy declared, as she polished off the last of the strawberry ripple ice-cream.

"How on earth did you manage to finish off 5 cartons of ice-cream within an hour?" Kurt asked in awe. "Even Finn would have trouble with that. And you're tiny."

"I have a fast metabolism," Kathy said, stacking up the remaining ice-cream containers. "And a sweet tooth. Now, are we doing this thing? Because I have a professional fucking singer here," she gestured at Blaine, "whose concerts usually cost upwards of a hundred bucks. Since he neglected to get me a Christmas present, he can at least give me a free show."

Blaine smiled sheepishly. "I'm really sorry about that," he said. "But maybe when I'm back in New York I'll buy you a plane ticket to visit me sometime. Maybe I'll even take you as my date to one of the awards shows. You might even get to meet Katy Perry."

Kathy's jaw dropped, and her eyes practically glazed over. "I love Katy Perry. She's so hot."

Blaine laughed. "Don't think I don't know the way to your heart, Kathy Hummel. And hey, I hear that Katy kissed a girl once and she liked it. You might actually have a chance." He winked, and Kathy lunged at him, proceeding to plant a wet, cold, ice-creamy kiss on his cheek. Blaine wrinkled his nose, but he knew better than to protest.

"I knew I liked you, Anderson!" Kathy exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air with an excited whoop. "And I'm totally holding you to that promise."

"Hey!" Kurt exclaimed, folding his arms across his chest, "How come she gets to be your date? I want to be your date!"

He blushed as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "I – I mean, that is to say, I always wanted to attend one of those awards shows," he said, flustered. "And besides, I make you breakfast almost every morning. Kathy demands that you bring her breakfast in bed. I am clearly the more deserving family member."

Blaine bit his lip nervously. "W-well, I'd love to take you, Kurt, really," Blaine said. "But the thing is…my publicists don't let me take male dates to awards shows."

The playful atmosphere in the room quickly evaporated. Blaine stared at the floor in shame, refusing to meet Kurt's eye, not wanting to see the pity and disappointment that he was sure he'd find there.

"Well, fuck them, then," Kathy said sharply, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "You should totally fire their asses, Blaine. You don't need to pretend to be straight to be successful."

Blaine shrugged, his body tensing.

Kurt, apparently realising that Blaine didn't want to talk about that right now, quickly changed the subject. "Right," he said, picking up one of the microphones from the floor. "I'm singing the first song. I might not be famous," he said, grinning at Blaine, "but I can still take you, Anderson."

In an instant, all the tension was gone. Blaine smirked.

"You're on, Hummel."

The first song that Kurt chose to sing was Like A Virgin by Madonna. His voice was amazing, and as he sang, he incorporated some cute butt-jiggling dancing that had Blaine smiling and laughing in delight, especially when Kurt made eye contact with him while grinning playfully.

The song may have caused Blaine to wonder about whether or not Kurt was actually a virgin, but that was neither here nor there.

Kathy sung next, performing an energetic version of Living on a Prayer. She was surprisingly good, if not a little too energetic.

Blaine decided to sing Don't Stop Me Now by Queen, which was one of his favourite songs. He danced around at random, twirling and jumping on furniture, and he thought he must look a bit stupid but Kurt grinned at him throughout the entire performance and clapped enthusiastically at the end, so he figured he must have done okay. He felt an unusual swell of pride.

Kurt took the floor next with an amazing rendition of Blackbird by the Beatles. Blaine's jaw dropped when Kurt started singing, and he was aware that he was staring, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away. Kurt sang with the perfect balance of soulfulness and simplicity, and Blaine was awe-struck. He felt like something was shifting – as he listened to Kurt sing, he was hit with a moment of pure clarity and realisation. For a few seconds, he felt freer than he ever had before.

When Kurt finished the song, reality hit Blaine like a punch to the gut. Blaine clapped softly, but avoided eye contact with Kurt for fear that his expressive eyes might give all his thoughts away.

The performance left him distracted and emotional, and it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that Kathy decided to sing REO Speedwagon's Can't Fight This Feeling as her next song, and the lyrics were so frighteningly applicable to his current situation that he worried for a moment that he might do something stupid, like cry, or grab Kurt and kiss him right there in the living room.

And, there it was. There was no sense in denying it any longer. He had desperatelytried to ignore the fact that his feelings for Kurt were growing stronger and stronger every day. But ignoring the way he felt was becoming impossible. At first, he was able to put the nervous jitters and spikes of arousal down to confusion over finally seeing Kurt as a man, instead of a child. But he could no longer ignore the way that just Kurt's presence in the room made him feel a million times lighter, and made him forget about all his worries and fears. There was no other explanation for why his heart soared every time Kurt smiled at him with that perfect pink mouth and twinkling eyes.

When he first started feeling those things, he had been shocked – then guilty, and then scared.

Currently, it was a combination of the three, along with something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

But, he was attractedto Kurt. And not just physically. He was attracted to every single part of him, body and soul.

He loved him. He was in love with him.

Blaine's heart raced in his chest.

I'm in love with Kurt.

The declaration was final. He felt absolutely, completely sure of what it was that he was feeling, but that knowledge didn't do a whole lot to dispel his worries. He knew that acting on his feelings would be crazy. Kurt was seventeen years old. Blaine was almost thirty, and, okay, he'd always believed that age was just a number, but his history with Kurt made it far more complicated than it normally would be.

He'd known Kurt since the boy was five years old. At the time, Blaine had been about the same age that Kurt was now. He could still remember curling up with little Kurt on the couch, back when all he felt for the boy was an innocent brotherly fondness, and sense of protectiveness. It was alarming, even to him, that the nature of his feelings could have changed so much.

And then there was the fact that Blaine had hurt Kurt, had broken his trust in a way that most people would consider unforgivable. Kurt had given him a second chance, but he would always remember the fact that Blaine had abandoned him, and treated him as though all those years of friendship and family had meant nothing. If Kurt and he were ever together…like that, how could Kurt ever truly trust Blaine again? And how could Blaine ever trust himself, not to hurt Kurt again?

Blaine remembered the words that Kurt had said to him during their conversation on Christmas.

"In order to forgive yourself, you need to trust yourself. You're always so worried about hurting us again that you can't allow yourself to just be happy, here, with us."

Blaine remembered something else that Kurt had said that night.

"I love you."

Of course, that was a phrase that people said to each other every day. It could mean anything. It probably just meant that Kurt loved him like a friend, or like a brother.

But when Kurt had said it, his hands had been shaking. His eyes had been shining, and his voice had been trembling. It was an emotionally charged moment, for sure.

So maybe, just maybe…

"Hello, earth to Blaine!"

Blaine jolted in his seat, to the sound of amused laughter.

"Spaced out, much?" Kathy teased. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Blaine gulped. "Umm, nothing…nothing important."

"Well then, it's time for us to do that duet you promised me!" Kurt declared, grabbing Blaine's hand and dragging him up from the couch.

"Anything in particular you want to sing?" Kurt asked. Blaine moved to shake his head 'no', but at the last minute, he changed his mind.

He needed to sing something meaningful right now. He felt overwhelmed with emotion and he needed a safe outlet.

"Come What May," he blurted out, before he could think himself out of it. "I want to sing 'Come What May'. If you're okay with that, that is."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, looking slightly surprised at his song choice, but then he smiled. "That's…that's my favourite love song of all time, actually," he said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Let's do it."

Blaine gulped, and then Kurt found the song, and the music began to play.

Blaine ignored his racing heart and did what he did best. He sung.

"Never knew I could feel like this,

Like I've never seen the sky before.

Want to vanish inside your kiss,

Every day I love you more and more.

Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings?

Telling me to give you everything

Seasons may change, winter to spring

But I love you until the end of time.

Come what may

Come what may

I will love you until my dying day."

Then Kurt joined in, and when they sang together, it was as though it was meant to be.

Blaine looked right into Kurt's eyes as he sang, and he meant every word.

As the song finished, Blaine barely even registered Kathy's clapping. His heart was pounding too loudly in his chest.

When he sat down on the couch, Kathy reached out and gently squeezed his shoulder. It felt like an offer of support. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but he was grateful nonetheless.

They all fell asleep on the living room floor at around 3am, buried under piles of blankets and pillows.

At some point during the night Kurt and Blaine gravitated towards each other, and when Kathy poked them awake at 10am the next morning, Blaine was surprised and a little embarrassed to find that he had one arm thrown over Kurt's waist, Kurt's back pressed against his chest. How they ended up spooning when they had fallen asleep at least 6 feet away from each other was a mystery to Blaine, but he liked it.

He quickly got up before Kurt woke up properly and realised just how much he liked it.

Finn came stumbling down the stairs not long after they had all settled down with toast and coffee, and Kathy asked if Finn had plans for the day.

"Nope," he mumbled around a mouthful of toast. "Why?"

"I was thinking all four of us could do something fun," Kathy said, "but Blaine can't really go anywhere, so our options are a bit limited."

Finn perked up immediately. "Hey, dude, we still haven't used those Hobbit tickets and Gollum mask I got you!"

"Yeah," Blaine said, "I think your guys' parents wanted to come too, though."

"I'll text them to meet us at the theatre, we can pick up some extra tickets," Kurt said. "And we'll take Nan too. She looks like she only watches Audrey Hepburn movies, but I know for a fact that she can appreciate some good battle scenes."

"Good, that's settled then!" Kathy said cheerily. "We'll leave in half an hour."

Blaine quickly put his dishes away before hurrying upstairs to get ready.

The movie was fantastic.

Blaine had drawn a little attention in his Gollum mask, but for the most part, everything had gone very smoothly.

Kurt had even put on fake ear-tips and a long wig to make himself look like an elf, so Blaine didn't seem so out of place. Blaine wanted to kiss him.

When the movie was over, Evelyn got a ride back to her hotel with Burt and Carole, while Blaine, Kurt and Kathy all clambered into Finn's car.

10 minutes into the drive home, and Kurt was glaring at everyone in the car as they pleaded with him to sing some more.

"Kurt, please? Just one more time!" Blaine begged shamelessly.

"Blaine, come on, I've already done it about 8 times since we left the theatre."

Finn grinned at Kurt in the rear- view mirror. "But it's awesome," he added.

"Eyes on the road, Finn," Kathy added from the passenger seat. "This car is worth more than all of my exes combined – and I have a lot of exes. And Kurt, please just sing the song again and shut these two up."

Kurt let out a loud, put-upon sigh, but he was smiling, so Blaine knew that he wasn't really annoyed at their persistence.

"Fine," Kurt sighed, and then he began to sing, in an astoundingly deep voice.

"Far over the misty mountains cold,

To dungeons deep, and caverns old

We must away, ere break of day

To find our long forgotten gold.

The pines were roaring on the height,

The winds were moaning in the night.

The fire was red, it flaming spread,

The trees like torches blazed with light."

Blaine and Finn broke out into enthusiastic clapping as soon as Kurt finished, and Kurt smiled proudly.

"Your range is seriously unbelievable," Blaine said, and Finn nodded in agreement.

Kurt grinned at Blaine. "Flattery will get you everywhere." Blaine blushed, and Kathy let out a loud snort.

"So," Kathy said, "Fili and Kili were pretty hot for dwarves, huh?"

Blaine laughed. "Definitely. Thorin, too."

"I prefer Martin Freeman," Kurt interjected. "He's adorable."

Blaine raised his eyebrows. "Bilbo? Really?"

"He's adorable."

"I think that's his type," Kathy snickered. "Older guys. Short and cute, with thick curly locks."

Blaine choked on air, and Kurt let out a spluttering noise on the seat next to him. "That is not my type," he squawked, his face bright red. "I don't have a type."

"Mhm, sure honey," Kathy said knowingly, winking at Blaine.

Blaine's heart raced, and they fell into awkward silence.

"What did I miss?" Finn blurted suddenly, annoyed and confused. This sent Kathy off into a fit of giggles, and Kurt stared very deliberately down at his lap, refusing to meet Blaine's eye.

Blaine felt an odd fluttering feeling inside his chest at the implications of Kathy's teasing.

It felt an awful lot like hope.