Road To Love: Chapter 7

After wandering the halls of Dalton Academy for over 15 minutes in an effort to find the front office, Kurt determined that he was hopelessly lost. He was also beginning to have doubts about his decision to turn up at Blaine's school unannounced – if his earlier suspicions were correct, and Blaine was still in the closet despite the zero-tolerance bullying policy that Dalton was famous for, he probably wouldn't take too kindly to his boyfriend suddenly showing up at his school. And Kurt would end up looking like a total stalker.

He shook his head abruptly, trying to rid his mind of such negative thoughts. He had always had a tendency to over-analyse things and it had never done him much good.

As he descended a large and elaborate staircase, he noticed that all the students seemed to be rushing in the same direction, and he decided to ask someone for help. He reached out to grab the arm of the first student he saw, a tall blond, who was accompanied by a slightly shorter brunet.

"Excuse me," Kurt said, "Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I'm new here. I'm looking for somebody and I have no idea where to find him."

The blond-haired boy's eyes swept up and down Kurt's form, and Kurt felt his skin prickle in discomfort. When guys at McKinley looked at him like that, it was usually soon followed by a snarl and a homophobic slur. But the blond didn't seem to be judging Kurt – in fact, as his gaze swept across Kurt's face and he looked Kurt in the eyes, the corner of his mouth turned up in a playful and totally non-threatening smirk. He gently nudged the brunet next to him, who glanced from Kurt to the blond and back again, before turning to his friend with an excited grin on his face. Kurt frowned in confusion. This was not the reaction he usually received when meeting new people.

"My name's Jeff," the blond said, offering his hand for Kurt to shake. He took it politely.

"And I'm Nick," the brunet said, also offering his hand.

"Let me guess, you're looking for Blaine Anderson?" Jeff asked with a sly grin, his eyes twinkling.

Kurt gawped at the two boys in shock. "Y-yeah…How did you know?"

"Just a hunch," Jeff said, shrugging. "Follow us, we'll take you to him. The Warblers are throwing an impromptu performance in the senior commons right now, that's where everybody's headed."

"So…wait, the Glee club here is actually kind of cool?" Kurt asked incredulously.

"The Warblers are like rockstars!" Nick responded enthusiastically. "Come on! We know a shortcut."

And with that, Kurt had both his hands grabbed, one by Jeff and the other by Nick, and he was being dragged off down the hall far too fast for his liking. Even as he ran, feeling very confused by the bizarre scenario that was taking place, he couldn't help but look around him and admire Dalton Academy's beautiful architecture and décor. He had always harboured a deep appreciation for good interior design.

The boys dragged him into a large room completely filled with other students. They were all clad in the Dalton uniform – blue and red blazer and tie. Kurt, of course, didn't have the uniform, so he had had to improvise.

"Ooh, I stick out like a thumb," he complained.

Jeff laughed quietly. "No worries, just don't forget your jacket next time," he said. He and Nick released Kurt's hands and stepped forward to clasp their own hands together, and Jeff bent down to kiss Nick on the cheek.

Oh, Kurt thought, his eyes widening. "You guys are..?"

"Together?" They both piped up simultaneously, turning to grin at him. "Yup."

Wow. Kurt was extremely surprised by the fact that the boys were holding hands and openly showing affection in the middle of a crowded room of other male students, and nobody was harassing them, or even staring.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," Nick said, and he and Jeff squeezed through the crowd of boys to where a space seemed to be clearing in the middle of the room.

Suddenly, the sound of voices filled the air as several of the boys, including Nick and Jeff, headed into the cleared space and began to sing and dance in formation.

"Da da da da da da da da, da da da da da da da da - "

"-Before you met me, I was alright but things…"

Kurt gasped in shock as the lead singer of the Warblers made his way to the front of the group.

Blaine.

Well, he certainly hadn't seen that one coming.

Kurt quickly ducked behind a tall boy to his right so Blaine wouldn't see him, and peered out from behind the boy's shoulder, watching the performance in awe.

Blaine was the shortest of the group. Well, Kurt thought, that's kind of extremely adorable.

And, oh my god, he had a wonderful voice. It was so smooth and pure and honest, and Kurt wondered how it was even possible for a voice to sound honest, but it did. He wasn't straining his notes, he wasn't trying to show off, he was just singing. And he certainly wasn't faking emotion, either. He was singing about someone - tosomeone. Kurt's breath caught in his throat when he realised that that someone was probably him.

Kurt thought about how good their voices would sound together.

As the song went on, Kurt found himself laughing, grinning like an idiot, blushing, and tearing up. And as the song came to a close, he clapped enthusiastically, and subtly emerged from behind the tall boy.

Blaine was talking to two of the Warblers and laughing, his back to Kurt. Kurt took a deep breath, and walked up behind him.

"Your voice is amazing."

Blaine spun around. Kurt smiled as Blaine's eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and his face broke into the hugest, dopiest grin Kurt had ever seen.

"Kurt!" He cried, flinging himself into Kurt's arms and squeezing him in a tight hug. The boys he had been talking to gasped and looked at each other.

"Ahhh! Blaine, you're choking me!"

"What are you doing here?"

"Ummm…long story, I'll get to that later. Seriously, Blaine, your singing was incredible. That was just…wow."

"You know I was singing about you the entire time, right?"

Kurt stared at his boyfriend, who was looking back at him with wide, twinkling eyes.

He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to grab Blaine and kiss him senseless, public decency be damned. Somehow, he managed to restrain himself. "Well, I have yet to see these skin-tight jeans of yours," he teased, "but I shall have to take you up on your offer of 'putting my hands on you' at a later date."

One of the boys behind Blaine snorted.

Kurt turned to look at him.

"Oh, right!" Blaine exclaimed, his face bright red and his voice an octave higher than usual. "Kurt, these are my friends Wes and David. Guys, this is-"

"- the infamous Kurt," Wes said, reaching his hand out for Kurt to shake. "We've heard so much about you."

Kurt giggled. "Really?" He asked teasingly, cocking an eyebrow in Blaine's direction. An obvious blush was visible on Blaine's cheeks.

"Oh, yeah," David piped up. "We've had to listen to several hour-long lectures about your hair, your eyes, your skin, your smell, the shape of your a-"

"-DAVID!" Blaine interrupted loudly, but his friend was not deterred.

"-As I recall, the words 'It's like the moon shines from his skin, David, you wouldn't believe it, and he smells like vanilla and'-"

"OK DAVID I THINK KURT GETS THE IDEA!" Blaine's face was now a deep shade of crimson as he glared daggers at David. Kurt giggled and, upon a nervous glance around the room, bent down to kiss Blaine quickly on the cheek.

"You're so sweet," he whispered, and the frown melted off Blaine's face as he turned to stare at Kurt. Then suddenly Blaine was kissing him, full on the lips, in the middle of the room, still filled with teenage boys.

A chorus of "AWWWW's" filled the air, and Kurt pulled back, shocked and giddy and slightly embarrassed. Blaine had an adorable goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Oh my god, Blaine. You guys are too cute. I can't handle it," Wes whined.

"I happen to think he's way out of your league," David said to Blaine, and Wes punched him in the arm.

"Be nice to Blaine, David."

"Shut up, Wes. Making fun of Blaine is all I have, don't take that away from me."

"Wrong. You also have me."

"You want me to make fun of you instead?"

"NO! That's not what I meant!"

Kurt watched the interaction in interest. "So…" he piped up, and the boys turned to look at him. He shuffled nervously. "Are you guys all…gay?"

Wes and David glanced at each other before laughing loudly.

"No, no," said Wes. "David and I are straight. Although you wouldn't be the first one to make that mistake…I wonder why that is?"

"It's because you two bicker like a married couple," Blaine muttered, and Wes shot him a glare.

"Our friends Nick and Jeff are a couple, though," Wes said. "Where are they, anyway?"

"Right here!" Jeff announced, as he joined the small circle the boys had formed, hand-in-hand with Nick. "We've already met Kurt," Jeff said as Blaine started to introduce them. "We knew it was you as soon as we saw you," he said, turning to smile at Kurt. "Your eyes really are as amazing as Blaine said."

Kurt glanced at Blaine to find him staring intently at the floor.

"This isn't a gay school, Kurt," David said. "We just have a zero-tolerance bullying policy which is actually enforced. And a safe, caring environment brings out the best in people."

Kurt smiled sadly. "That sounds amazing," he whispered.

Blaine, picking up on his sad tone, turned to him with a worried expression on his face. "Kurt, are there some people giving you trouble at McKinley?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Kurt responded quickly. "It's just hard for me because I'm the only out gay guy in the school." Blaine nodded in understanding. Kurt knew that it was outright lie – he was slushied on a weekly basis, gay slurs were thrown in his face constantly, and he had bruises all over his back from where Karofsky had shoved him into the lockers. But he didn't want Blaine to worry about him. There was nothing he could do, anyway.

"So, classes are over for the day. What do you say we go and get some coffee?" David asked, and the boys whooped and scampered out the door.

Blaine took Kurt's hand in his, and Kurt smiled, tears threatening to spill from his eyes as he walked down the busy hallway, holding Blaine's hand for all to see.

Half an hour later, the boys were all seated around the largest table in the Lima Bean, coffees in hand. Wes and David had finally stopped teasing Blaine and Kurt about how cute they were together and were now discussing football with Blaine. Nick and Jeff were sitting very close to each other, whispering in each other's ears and interspersing their words with soft kisses. They were getting some looks from other customers, but ignored them, and nobody had said anything, most likely due to the fact that they were not alone. Kurt watched this with fascination. He didn't want to seem like he was staring, but their open affection was something that he never thought he would be able to have – not in Ohio, anyway. He wanted that with Blaine – he wanted to be able to kiss him in the middle of the Lima Bean, and hold his hand on the street, and not be scared. But, as much as he hated to admit it, he was scared. He always held his head high and told people that he was proud of who he was, and that was true. But it didn't change the fact that this was Ohio, and he didn't go to Dalton Academy, where there was an anti-bullying policy that was actually enforced. He knew how cruel people could be.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, alerting him to a new text message from Mercedes.

White boy, where the hell did you go? You never skip school.

Puck sent me to Dalton to spy on the Warblers but I just wanted 2 c Blaine. He goes to Dalton. Turns out he is the lead singer of the Warblers too. My boyf is perfect & you should be jealous. Hanging out with him and his friends in the Lima Bean right now. They r all so nice =]

DON'T MOVE I'M ON MY WAY.

Kurt quickly shoved his phone back into his pocket and tried to act nonchalant, realising that he probably shouldn't have revealed their location.

Mercedes arrived in record time, bursting through the door and scanning the crowded room. Kurt tried to catch her eye, but then he noticed that she hadn't come alone. Through the door behind her walked Rachel, looking extremely excited, and Santana, a devious smirk on her face.

"Shit," Kurt hissed, ducking his head, but it was too late. He'd been spotted.

"What's wrong?" Wes asked.

"My friends are here," Kurt muttered, as the girls hastily made their way towards their table.

"Oooh, awesome!" Blaine piped up, turning his head to look. "Oh, it's Rachel! Cool, I like her. Well, I haven't talked to her that much, but she seemed nice and friendly, if not a little loud…Wait a second…is that…OH MY GOD KURT IT'S THAT CHEERLEADER! THE SCARY ONE! OH GOD, HELP, IS SHE YOUR FRIEND? SHIT! WHAT DO I DO?"

"Calm down," Kurt hissed at him. "She'll behave, I promise. I'll make her behave."

He almost laughed at Blaine's terrified expression, but to be perfectly honest, he was more than a little concerned himself.

"Hey, Kurt!" Rachel greeted cheerfully as the girls reached their table. "How are you? Good to see you again, Blaine."

"Y-you too, Rachel," Blaine stammered, eyes darting towards Santana, who was leering at him.

"Nice to see you again too, hot stuff," she crooned, reaching out a hand to play with his tie.

"I'M GAY!" Blaine blurted out, and the couple seated at the table next to theirs looked up in interest.

"I'm very, very, extremely gay. You're very pretty, but I'm dating Kurt. Kurt is my boyfriend. I like Kurt."

Santana, Wes and David looked highly amused. Kurt found himself struggling to hold back a laugh.

"Santana, please stop intimidating my boyfriend. Sit down, girls," he said, motioning to a couple of empty seats.

Mercedes sat down on his left, and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Damn. He is fine. Kind of a goofball, but in a cute way. Nice job Kurt." She winked, as Blaine sat there looking nervous.

"What did she say?" He whispered to Kurt, as Mercedes turned to talk to David.

"Relax, honey," Kurt said, rubbing his foot against Blaine's beneath the table. "She thinks you're cute."

Blaine blushed. "You called me honey."

"Indeed I did."

"Does this mean I get to come up with a pet name for you, too?" He asked, a cheeky glint in his eyes. Kurt groaned.

"That depends. Like what?"

"Pookie-pie. Sweetums. Munchkin."

"If you call me any of those, Blaine Anderson, I will castrate you. And besides, don't you think it's a bit ironic, you calling me a munchkin? How tall are you, exactly?"

Blaine pouted. Kurt decided that he was the most adorable thing to ever exist.

"There's one thing I'm confused about," Blaine whispered, leaning in closer to Kurt so the others couldn't hear.

"What's that?"

"Why are you friends with the handsy cheerleader?"

Kurt felt his face redden. He mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?"

"I said, I have a confession to make."

"I'm listening."

"I asked Santana to hit on you that day in the garage so I could determine whether or not you were straight."

"You WHAT?"

"Shhhh!" Kurt hissed, glancing around to make sure none of the others were listening. "I'm sorry, it was a bad plan. I wasn't aware that she would bring the entire Cheerios team!"

Blaine stared at Kurt with an unreadable expression on his face for what seemed like forever. Kurt began to get very nervous. Please don't be mad please don't be mad please don't think I'm a psycho.

Suddenly, he grinned. "You are devious," he whispered under his breath, his tone seductive. Kurt shivered slightly, and hoped Blaine didn't notice. "I bet you pretended to search the garage for that tool-box too so you would have an excuse to seduce me in your tight jeans."

Kurt looked down at his lap, face burning.

"Oh my GOD!" Blaine exclaimed, eyes wide. "You actually DID! You-"

"-Hey Kurt!" David called, and Kurt had never been more grateful for an interruption. That is, until David continued to speak.

"I didn't know you were in New Directions! Is that what you were doing at Dalton? Did you come to spy on us?" He winked.

"I-I-" Kurt spluttered, flustered. He shot Mercedes a death glare for letting that slip. "N-no, I mean, Puck – he's a member of New Directions – he told me to go and spy on you guys. But I just wanted to see Blaine, I promise I wasn't actually going to report back anything of use."

He turned to Blaine worriedly, expecting him to feel angry or betrayed, but he was bouncing in his seat with a huge grin on his face. He looked like an excited puppy. "You can SING? Oh my god, Kurt, that's awesome! Sing something, sing something!"

"I'm not going to sing in the middle of the Lima Bean, Blaine!"

"Aww, come on Kurtsie," David called.

"NO. Blaine, I will sing for you the next time I see you, when we're ALONE. David, you and the others will just have to wait until Sectionals."

"You guys should be very worried," Rachel piped up. "New Directions contains a lot of very talented members, especially me."

"Hummel's better than you, Berry," Santana interjected, sounding bored. Rachel and Kurt both turned to her in shock. Kurt was surprised that Santana would actually pay him a compliment, even though he was pretty sure it was just due to the fact that she strongly disliked Rachel 99% of the time.

Rachel looked highly affronted. "I beg your pardon, Santana, but I have been winning singing competitions for as long as I can remember-"

"-Doesn't change the fact that Kurt's voice is way more unique than yours and his vocal range probably surpasses yours even though he is a dude-"

"-I'm not denying that Kurt's range is very impressive but it is limited in its-"

"OKAY!" Wes yelled loudly, trying to break up the argument before it got out of hand. Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. An argument between Santana Lopez and Rachel Berry about the extent of Rachel's talent was bound to get very ugly, very fast.

"Let's just wait and see how it goes at sectionals, shall we?" Wes said, and Santana shrugged. Rachel was still fuming silently, but after a few minutes she seemed to get over it and began to brag to Nick and Jeff about her two dads.

Two hours and four cups of coffee later, it came time for the boys to leave if they wanted to return to Dalton in time for curfew. Blaine nudged Kurt and jerked his head towards the door, and Kurt followed him outside as the others said their goodbyes inside, exchanging phone numbers.

As soon as they exited the coffee shop, Blaine took Kurt's hand and pulled him towards the side of the building where they couldn't be seen from the parking lot or the inside of the shop. Kurt smiled at Blaine invitingly, and he immediately swept in for a kiss. It started off slow and sweet, but things soon became heated. Blaine pushed Kurt up against the side of the brick building and curled his arms around Kurt's back, sliding his hands underneath his jacket. Kurt was so caught up in the kiss he didn't even worry about the state of his designer clothes, which were pressed against the dirty wall. Blaine pulled away to take a breath.

"I've wanted to do that all day. No – all week, God, Kurt, I've missed you." His voice came out low and gravelly, and Kurt let out a small moan before leaning forward to capture Blaine's lips again. Blaine's hands were running up and down the bare skin of Kurt's back, and Kurt's were tangled in Blaine's hair. They were kissing so heatedly that their teeth accidentally clashed, and Kurt let out a low growl before sucking Blaine's bottom lip into his mouth and nibbling on it lightly as Blaine whimpered.

"Ahem, ahem." Kurt and Blaine broke apart and whirled around to see that they had an audience. The Warblers and the girls all stood staring at them. David and Santana were smirking, Wes looked embarrassed, Nick and Jeff were laughing, and Rachel and Mercedes looked disappointed that they had stopped kissing.

Kurt and Blaine gasped for breath, cheeks flushed from the exertion of what had been a far more intense kiss than either of them had anticipated.

"Wanky," Santana said, raising an eyebrow.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Kurt retorted, and she laughed.

"Would if I could, but I forgot my camera."

"I respect the fact that you would rather be making out with your boyfriend than sitting in a car with us," said Wes, "but we really gotta go, Blaine. Last thing I need is another detention for skipping curfew. My parents would skin me alive."

Blaine turned back to Kurt, pouting. "I better go. See you soon?"

"Not soon enough," Kurt whispered, leaning back in to place one last chaste kiss to Blaine's lips before the other boys hastily said their goodbyes to him, all of them hugging him before making him promise to hang out with them again soon. His heart warmed at the idea that he may have just made several new friends.

As soon as the Warblers were out of sight, Rachel and Mercedes raced up to him, squealing and cooing over how adorable Blaine was. Santana rolled her eyes, and he laughed, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. She made a disgusted face and pulled away, wiping at her cheek, but he saw the corners of her mouth curl up slightly.

Dalton may have a wonderful anti-bullying policy and plenty of fun, friendly students, but Kurt didn't think he'd ever be able to part with his girls. There was only so much football talk that he could stand.

Kurt said goodbye to the girls and headed back to his Navigator. He sat down and turned on the radio, grinning widely when 'Teenage Dream' started playing. Before driving off, he pulled his phone out of his pocket to text Blaine.

So…did I pass the friends test?

Are you kidding me, Kurt? They LOVED you. Especially David. I'm not sure whether to feel threatened.

As nice as David is, you have nothing to worry about. There's only interested in one Warbler that I'm interested in ;) Besides, David would never cheat on Wes.

Good point. =] If I'm honest, Kurt, I'm worried about whether I passed the friends test. I really like Rachel + Mercedes & even Santana is starting to grow on me a little. But I made a bit of a fool of myself today.

Blaine, no, don't even think that! My friends think you're wonderful, as do I. I'm so proud to be with you. Xox

I hope so. I want you to be. You're amazing, you know that?

Oh, I know. I'll see you on Saturday. You should wear your hair without any gel in it. It's much more pleasant for me when I run my fingers through it ;)

Oh my god. Kurt. You're killing me.

That was my intention. I'll call you later, Ok? I have to drive home now.

Talk to you soon, sweetums!

Oh my god. Blaine. Stop.

What's wrong, sweetums? Do you not like it when I call you sweetums, sweetums?

I am leaving. You are a disgrace.

I'm sorry sweetums.

Muchkin. Munchkin munchkin munchkin. I will start calling you that in public, Blaine. IN PUBLIC.

….Perhaps we should call a truce.

Agreed. Now I really have to get home Blaine, or I'm going to miss curfew. Stop being adorable.

Kurt ignored his phone when it buzzed several more times on the drive home, although he did so with difficulty. His cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

Kurt had always wanted to fall in love, and he had always had an image in his mind of what his future love would be like. They would meet in New York. He would be five years older than Kurt, tall and elegant, with piercing green eyes. He would be exceedingly rich, and he and Kurt would sip expensive champagne in fancy restaurants as they discussed the latest trends in fashion. He would take Kurt on impromptu trips to Paris and they would stay in five-star hotels and he would charm Burt with his perfect eloquence and extensive knowledge of politics. He would also, of course, be extremely well-travelled, with a long list of contacts that would help Kurt with his thriving Broadway career.

Blaine was nothing like what Kurt had imagined. But Kurt was quickly discovering that he was everything that he had ever wanted.

He was falling for Blaine, hard and fast.

And it was perfect.