But he sees him sitting at the table all alone looking like a lost puppy and something in his heart breaks. He knows that’s exactly how he looked when he first got here, before a group of awesome misfits took him in. He knows what it feels like to really want to be where everyone was but to have the stabbing feeling of not feeling included.

He needs to go talk to him.

“Hi,” he says as he sits in an open seat next to the dark-haired boy. “Is this alright with you?”

The boy, who doesn’t seem to be sure whether to look relieved or nervous, nods his head with an uncertain smile.

“Great, well in that case, my name is Kurt Hummel,” he says sticking out a hand for the boy to shake.

“Blaine Anderson,” the boy replies with a small tremble in his voice. He takes Kurt’s hand and gives it a firm shake which tells Kurt that he’s not always this unsure of himself. It’s probably just because of the new environment.

“So are you new here, Blaine Anderson? I’ve never seen you before.”

Blaine grins.

“I just transferred from NYU,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. “I’ve been struggling to meet people and make connections, so I thought I’d come to one of your famous NYADA penthouse parties, but I guess it’s only really any fun if you already know someone.”

“I’ve been there,” says Kurt, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “But you soon get sucked in and before you know it it’s like you’ve always been here. NYADA is great like that. We may be at each other’s throats when it comes to classes, but after hours we’re all the same level of crazy, so we’re friends.”

“You don’t seem that crazy,” says Blaine, his cheeks flushing a little as he says it.

“You haven’t really met me yet,” says Kurt with a wink.

The song changes from a fast, top-forty song to a beautiful, slow tune that just begs to be danced to.

“Do you, uh, maybe want to dance with me?” asks Kurt, feeling his own cheeks fill with color at his boldness. Blaine’s face breaks into a huge smile.

“I was going to ask you if you didn’t ask,” he says, grabbing Kurt’s hand and leading him to where all the other couples are swaying close together. In a surprising move, seeing as moments ago Kurt believed him shy, Blaine circles his arms around his waist and pulls him closer. Ordinarily Kurt would be super freaked out by the close contact, but for some reason with Blaine he feels completely comfortable -completely content. It could just be the small amount of alcohol he’s consumed, but something tells him that Blaine is something special.

“We should get coffee sometime,” he whispers into Blaine’s ear and Blaine seems impressed.

“I’d love to. How did you know I’m a coffee-drinker?” he asks softly, resting his head happily against Kurt’s chest.

“Just a guess,” Kurt says, fighting the overwhelming desire to place a small kiss on the bed of curls just below his chin and congratulating himself on his amazing perception. It’s hard not to feel proud when you have a gorgeous man swaying on the dance floor with you, sounding as happy as you feel.

He wants to feel it forever.