Blaine’s expression was flat, “no”.

“Why not? You have been going on and on about this guy for almost a month. You finally can talk to him and yet, you are just sitting there. What’s up?” David asked, clearly confused by Blaine’s reaction.

Blaine buried his face in his hands before muttering, “I just don’t want to look pathetic. I already lost to him tonight, I don’t want him to think I am even more pitiful.”

David couldn’t hold in the chuckle that built in his throat. “Blaine, I heard him complement you, I don’t think he will think less of you because we lost. He doesn’t have your number right?” Blaine nodded, “So why not just text him, and tell him you wanted to make sure he has your number too. Then you can establish contact with him without really putting yourself out there.”

Blaine thought about David’s advice for a second before opening up a new text. His fingers trembled as he typed Kurt’s name in the contact field. He didn’t know why he was so nervous, but he tried to take a calming breathe to figure out what he wanted to say.

>>>>>>>>>
Kurt sat next to Mercedes as she babbled about the competition. Kurt tried his best to stay focused on all she was saying but his mind kept drifting to the performance that had seemed only for him. He was just about to interrupt Mercedes to ask her if she noticed that Blaine was singing to him, or if he had just imagined it, when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

He leaned back trying desperately to extract his phone from his skinny jeans. Mercedes gave him a strange look, not knowing his phone had gone off since it was on silent. “Phone” he told her simply before finally pulling it out. He saw that he had 2 new texts and opened them to read. One was an old text from Mercedes that he had read in a preview telling him what time they were meeting. The other was from an unknown number. Confused he opened it and read:

Just wanted to make sure you had my number if you needed it. You were wonderful tonight, you astounded me. ~ Blaine

Kurt stared at his phone for long enough that Mercedes finally leaned over and read the message. “What are you waiting for, text him back before he thinks you gave him a fake number.”

Kurt looked at her with a small smile, “I have been resisting him for so long, I never really thought about what to do next.”

“Boo, just send a thanks back, anything, just don’t leave him hanging much longer.”

So Kurt slowly started typing out a reply.

>>>>
After what seemed like forever with no reply Blaine began to panic. He thought his message was safe enough, but also sweet and personal. Just as Blaine was about to reach full panic mode, his phone buzzed in his hands. Blaine quickly opened the message and read:

Thank you! One good thing about the competition being over… if you show up at McKinley no one will think you are there to spy on us  Kurt

Blaine chuckled as he read, he could just picture the coy smile. He typed one more reply and sent the message. He layed his head back and closed his eyes trying to relax.
>>>>

I’ll keep that in mind ;) Blaine

Kurt read and a blush creeping over his cheeks. He didn’t know why the message was affecting him this way, but he was enjoying the interaction.

Once the group made it back to McKinley, Mr. Shuester threw an impromptu pizza party for the group. Rachel approached Kurt as the rest of the group congregated around the greasy treat. Neither were interested in pizza, Kurt because the grease was bad for his complexion, and Rachel because she was now a vegan and Shue hadn’t bothered to order pizzas without cheese.

“I saw you talking with the Dalton boy.” Rachel said
trying to sound casual.

A smile appeared on Kurt’s face almost instantly, “Yeah, I gave him my number before the winner was announced.”

Rachel’s eyebrow raised at that, “Really… well I saw you talking to him afterwards on the stage.”

“I may have been giving him advice on how to improve their group.”

“Kurt! You shouldn’t be helping the competition!”

Kurt shot her his patented ‘bitch, please’ look and replied, “Rachel, they had already lost. And all I really told them is they need to loosen up a little, it is not like I gave them a secret weapon.”

“Alright… I’m glad that you are talking to him now, you are going to talk to him, go out with him aren’t you?”
Kurt seemed to ponder this before he spoke, “I do want to get to know him better, but I still am not going to jump right in to anything.”

Rachel gave him a quick hug while she said, “None of us want that, I’m just glad that you have met someone who could make you happy.”

Kurt nodded, not sure what else to say to his sometimes rival sometimes friend.

The weeks passed with the occasional text from Blaine asking for coffee or if Kurt wanted to go to dinner, but each of these times Kurt genuinely already had plans.

Kurt was taking extra time at his dad’s garage to earn money for Christmas presents for his friends and family. A couple of times he had plans with Mercedes and didn’t want her to think he was abandoning her for a boy. And of course Friday nights were out. Since his dad’s heart attack, Kurt made sure that he never planned anything that would conflict with Friday night dinners.

Blaine was beginning to think that Kurt was not interested, after almost three weeks of being told he was busy Blaine was at his wits end. Finally, the Friday that Blaine got out of school for Christmas break, after being told once again that Kurt was busy at the shop, Blaine took matters into his own hands. He made the two hour trip to Lima, to see Kurt. Even if it was to watch him doing whatever it was he did for his dad, he wanted to make sure Kurt was really interested in getting to know him.

Blaine pulled up to Hummel Tire and Lube at a quarter to six. The place looked pretty empty there were a couple of cars in the parking lot and one pulled into one of the bays. As Blaine got out of the car, he was approached by the man he recognized as Kurt’s dad.

“What can I help you with today?” He asked as he neared Blaine, clearly not remembering him, or recognizing him out of uniform.

“Hello, sir, My name is Blaine Anderson. I was wondering if Kurt was around.” Blaine said, trying to put his best foot forward, after all this was his crush’s father.
“Yeah, he’s over there under the ford.” Burt said, eying Blaine with a hint of distrust.

“Do you mind if I have a word with him real quick, it should only take a minute.” Blaine tried to smile at Mr. Hummel but it came out a little strained.

“Sure thing, I’ll just be in my office.” And then he walked away leaving Blaine to make his way to the car Kurt was working on. His nerves began to get the better of him with every step he closed in on Kurt. By the time he was standing next to the Blue Ford Blaine’s hands were sweating and his heart was pounding. He took a deep breath trying to steady himself before he spoke.

“Kurt?” that was all he could think of to say.

At his name, Kurt rolled out from under the car he was working on. Blaine’s eyes racked over Kurt’s appearance. He was dressed in slate coveralls with black boots. His hands were covered in grease and oil, smudges were on his cheeks as well. Kurt’s usual perfect hair was falling sexily into his eyes. Seeing Blaine standing over him Kurt’s eyes widened and he quickly grabbed a red rag out of his back pocket and began wiping his hands.

“Blaine? What are you doing here? I told you I had to work.” He asked breathily.

“I know, it’s just I haven’t gotten to see you since sectionals and I wanted to see if maybe… if maybe you wanted to get something to eat after you are finished here.” Blaine said, red creeping up his face.

“I’m sorry I have been so busy, I’ve been trying to work as much as possible, with Christmas and all.” Kurt said trying to avoid the subject of dinner.

Blaine would not be deterred though, “So dinner?” he asked with a hopeful look in his eye that melted Kurt’s heart.

“I would love to Blaine,” Blaine’s eyes lit up as he said this, “but it’s Friday…” Kurt trailed off, he had been hoping to avoid the topic of Friday Night dinners with Blaine, he wasn’t sure if anyone would understand their importance to him, especially now.

“So… what about Friday? You still need to eat on Fridays don’t you?” Blaine asked trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

“Here’s the thing, Fridays I have dinner with my family, it’s really important to my dad… and it’s really important to me.”Then Kurt had an idea, “I know it’s a little strange, but would you want to come to my house for dinner. It’s family time, but we’ve had friends over before for it. We could hang out and watch a movie of something afterwards.”

Blaine was torn, he really wanted to spend time with Kurt, but it seemed really soon to be going to family dinners with a boy he had seen a total of four times. “Are you sure, I wouldn’t have come if I would have known it was family time.”

“It should be fine, Finn is bringing Puck tonight, they were planning a video game marathon after… but I understand if you don’t want to, it just may be a while before I can do anything else.”

That decided it, he knew that if he didn’t take the opportunity he may not get it at all. “I’m in, as long as your dad doesn’t mind.”

“I’ll go ask him to make sure, then I have to finish this oil change before we can go.” Kurt walked away to the small office to the left of the bays and disappeared from Blaine’s view.

Kurt found his dad at the desk working of invoices. “Hey dad?”

“What’s up buddy?” Burt asked looking at his son’s anxious face.

“Blaine, he’s a… friend? Anyway, he came by to ask me to go eat with him. Would it be alright if he came to dinner at our house? I know how important Friday night dinners are, but I have been putting him off for weeks and he drove two hours to get here. So is it okay if he comes?”

Kurt wasn’t sure really how his father would react.
“Wait, isn’t he the kid who was at that meeting with about that Karofsky kid? From the private school?”

“Yes dad.”

Burt seemed to be thinking back to that meeting, “So, he’s gay right?”

“Yes dad, Blaine is gay. Can he come to dinner?”

Burt didn’t seem to be in the same rush to end this conversation as Kurt was. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“My God, Dad! No, we just met, we haven’t even really gone out.” Kurt took a deep breath remembering how hard his father had been trying to accept that his son was gay. He reminded himself that this was a new step for his father. “Blaine is gay, I think he is interested in me, and I may be interested in him. We are not dating yet, just trying to get to know each other. If it will make you uncomfortable for him to be there I can tell him no. I just wanted to know if he could come over.”

Burt seemed to be contemplating all that Kurt had said before he spoke, “Okay, but if you go to your room the door stays open, it is the same rule we have for Finn.”

Kurt gave his father a small smile, knowing this couldn’t be easy for him, “Thanks dad, I will be just a couple of minutes finishing Mrs. Harbor’s car. If you want to go on a head and warn Carole there will be another teenager coming, I can lock up. Blaine can bring me home.”

“Alright kiddo, you know it’s a good thing Carole always makes extra.” Burt gave his son a hug before handing him the shop keys and leaving for the day.

Kurt walked back to Blaine who was standing nervously next to the car Kurt had been working on.

“My dad is fine with you coming, I just have to finish up with this car, it should take me five minutes. If you could just keep an eye out for Mrs. Harbor, she should be here soon to pick up her car. Then we just need to lock up and we can go to my house. Sound good?” Kurt gave him a smile.

“Great!” Blaine said, his voice was full of delight and nerves.

Kurt nodded then went to finish his work. Blaine sat in a nearby chair as Kurt worked.

“So when did you start working on cars?” He asked Kurt’s boots.

Kurt’s muffled response came from under the car, “Um, when I was eight. It was after my mom died, we don’t have family here and I didn’t have any real friends, so Dad brought me here. After I would finish my homework, I would get bored, one day I asked him if I could help. It was one thing I was good at that we had in common.”

“So you’re really close to your dad?” Blaine asked.

“Yeah, for a long time, that was all we had. Now there is Carole and Finn, plus I have New Directions. But relationship with my dad is really important to me. What about you?”

Blaine was taken back by the question, He know he told Kurt that Karofsky’s dad reminded him of his own father, or at least hinted at it. “My dad, we’ve never been close. Both of my parents work a lot, they travel a lot, and I don’t know, it’s not that they don’t love me, they just aren’t… involved. After I came out, my dad yelled the first night, then never mentioned it again, like it would go away.” Blaine was finding it easy telling Kurt this, mainly because he couldn’t see the hurt on Kurt’s face for him. Under the car, Kurt’s face was anguished for this boy who thought it was normal for his parents to not really be a part of his life. Blaine continued unaware of the tears forming in Kurt’s eyes. “He did try and get me to build a car with him last summer. And my mom tries to come to Warbler concerts, if she’s in town.”

“Do you have any siblings?” Kurt asked, trying to keep his voice even.

“No, it’s just me. Sometimes I wish I had a brother or a sister to talk to, maybe it would have made things easier.”

Kurt laughed, “You know you would think so. Don’t get me wrong, Finn has really grown on me, but it was hard at first watching him bond with my dad. They have a lot more in common than with me, but my dad and I still find time to do things together. And I have Carole to bond with and it is nice she actually enjoys some of the things I like.” Kurt tightened the last nut and took a minute to check his emotions before rolling once again out from under the car. “Let me just go wash up real quick and change. Call me, if Mrs. Harbor comes in."

Kurt hurried to the bathroom and washed his hands and face before changing into his outfit he had worn to school that day, he was just tying his knee high boots when he heard Blaine call his name. Coming out of the bathroom he saw Mrs. Harbor, an woman in her mid-thirties with short black hair. “All finished Mrs. Harbor.” Kurt called as he made his way to the front of the shop. “I noticed that your break pads are getting thin, when I was under there, so you may want to take care of that pretty soon.”

Mrs. Harbor smiled at Kurt, Blaine was interested in watching the interaction. “I will drop it of Monday, would that be okay?”

“Fine, they should be okay until then, I just know with little Olivia, you wouldn’t want to be driving around with breaks that could go bad anytime soon.” Kurt tells her with a smile.

“Will you be working Monday?” the woman asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Olivia would love to see you again, and I would love for you to be the one doing the work.” She then handed Kurt an envelope.

“I thought you already took care of your payment with my Dad before you left.” Kurt told the woman confused.

“I did, Merry Christmas Kurt, you are our favorite
mechanic, it was a good day we ran into you at Whole Foods. Spend that on yourself, buy you something fabulous.” The woman grabbed her keys and called over her shoulder, “We’ll see you Monday.”

Kurt and Blaine watched as Ms. Harbor backed the car out of the bay and drove off down the street. Kurt gingerly opened the envelope and let out a gasp. Inside the Christmas card that showed the woman, her husband and a little girl who looked about four, was a hundred dollar bill.

Kurt stuffed the money back in the envelope and placed it in his bag. He hurried around the shop turning off the lights and pulling down the doors. Once everything was set, Kurt led Blaine out the office door and locked it.

“That woman seemed really nice, how did you meet her?” Blaine asked once they were making their way to his car.

“I met her in the parking lot of Whole Foods. She had her daughter with her, and she was wearing the cutest little princess dress. If you haven’t noticed already, I’m sure you will soon, but my voice gets even higher when I am excited. Well I just thought Olivia was the cutest thing.
When I told her that, this precious little girl looked at me and in this deep voice said, ‘you sound like a girl’. I was mortified, and so was her mom. They got in their car and were driving down the aisle, I heard her car making a funny noise. I waved her down and told her that her timing belt was about to go out and she needed to get it taken care of soon or she would end up stranded. That was last year and they have been coming here ever since.”

“Wow, so her kid makes fun of you and you still found it in your heart to help her.” Blaine asked staring in wonder at the boy now sitting beside him in his car.

“Well, yeah, I mean she is just a kid, she wasn’t trying to be mean, she was just stating the obvious. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if something would have happened to them because I didn’t say anything.”
Kurt told Blaine like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“That was still a great thing you did.” Blaine said with a smile.

Soon after they arrived at Kurt’s house. Blaine nerves were starting to come back, he shifted uncomfortably in his seat before steeling himself to follow Kurt to the house. As they walked in Blaine noticed that the two boys who were in the meeting were also here. Kurt led Blaine into the living room where they were playing a video game.

“Finn, Puck, Do you guys remember Blaine?”

“Hey you were the kid ogling our boy while singing that girl’s song right?” The mohawked boy asked.

“Noah, behave yourself.” Kurt said raising his eyebrows at the boy, “Ignore him, sometime Puck forgets how actual human communication works.” He said turning to Blaine. “I am going to run and take a quick shower do you think you will be alright left alone with these two?” Kurt gave him a hopeful look.

Blaine couldn’t help but put on a brave face. “Sure, go ahead clean up.”

As soon as Kurt left the room the bigger of the boys spoke up, “So, what are you doing with my brother?” He said sending Blaine a distrustful look.

“Um… well… just getting to know him honestly.” Blaine stammered not feeling comfortable with where this conversation was headed.

“Kurt’s had to deal with a lot of assholes in his life, and we will not hesitate to beat your ass if you so much as look at him wrong, Kurt’s our boy, even if he wasn’t Finn’s brother now, we have his back.” Puck said staring daggers at the other teen.

Blaine sputtered for a moment before regaining his speech, “I have no intentions of doing anything to hurt Kurt… I don’t know him very well, but I like him. He is pretty amazing. If I do hurt him, you have my permission to beat me up, to do whatever you want. Okay?”

“Fine,” Finn said slowly, “but no funny business.”
Then the boys turned back to their video game leaving Blaine sitting in the arm chair, thinking that as scary as Kurt’s friends were, it was a cool thing for them to do.

Fifteen minutes later Kurt was back downstairs, dressed impeccably not a hair out of place, and dinner was being served. The three Lima teens dominated the conversation, telling the adults about the crazy happenings at school. The present drive for the homeless kids, the teacher’s botched secret Santa. Blaine couldn’t help but wonder if the whole town of Lima was crazy or if it was just McKinley High School. Talk soon turned to football, Blaine learned that Finn and Puck were on their school’s team. Blaine jumped into the topic with both feet, winning points with Burt by saying how much he loved football.

“I don’t play anymore though, I was pushed down some stairs when I was in sixth grade and got a concussion, the doctor’s said it wasn’t a good idea for me to play for several months because of its severity, so I missed the cut off to try-out. By the time I moved to Dalton, I figured it was too late to try to join a football team. I do love to watch a good game though.” Blaine said happily, unaware of the looks the others were giving each other, all wondering if he was pushed by a bully or if it was an accident.

The meal finished Kurt offered to do the dishes, but Carole refused him saying, “No, that’s all right dear, Finn and Puck can do them tonight, you have a new guest, just go have fun.”

The other boys shot Kurt a dirty look, who just shrugged them off and told Blaine to follow him upstairs.

As they entered his room Kurt turned to Blaine, “Excuse the mess, we just moved in last week and I haven’t had a chance to fully decorate yet.”

Blaine looked around the room, he thought the place looked amazing it seemed simplistic by design. Everything looked to have a place and it looked organized. “If this is a mess, I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it is finished.” Blaine said smiling a Kurt.

The boys spent the next couple of hours talking about everything under the sun. Fashion, music, Broadway, plays, school, interest, anything they could think of. Blaine was surprised by how much they had in common. Kurt was amazed with how easy the conversations were. Both were surprised when they noticed it was 9:30 and Blaine still had a two hour drive to get home.

Kurt walked Blaine out to his car. “I really had a great time tonight,” he said leaning against Blaine’s car.
“I’m glad you showed up at the shop tonight.”

Blaine smiled his winning smile at Kurt, but it was genuine, “Yeah me too. I really hate that I have to go.”
“Text me when you get home so I know you got there alright, okay?” Kurt asked the coy smile back.

“Alright.” Blaine said a blush coloring his cheeks.

“Call me sometime, even if I can’t get away to see you I would like to talk to you.”

“Me too Kurt.”

Kurt’s cheeks brightened with another blush. “I have Sunday off, I was going to go Christmas Shopping, if you want to come?”

“Sounds great, call me with the details okay.”

“Okay, Blaine. Well good night.” Kurt turned to walk away but hurried back and kissed Blaine on the cheek. He had made it back to the porch before Blaine recovered enough to say, “Good Night Kurt.”

Kurt turned once more and waved back to the dumbstruck boy standing in the cold in his driveway. Kurt headed inside and watched as Blaine slowly recovered, got into his car and drove into the night.

He was laying in bed when he received a text.

Home safe. Sweet Dreams ~ Blaine.

Kurt rolled over and drifted off to sleep thinking about his unexpectedly wonderful night.

���
Saturday night found Kurt at an unexpected sleep over with Rachel and Mercedes in his room. Finn begrudgingly left to go to Puck’s after Rachel saw the dreamy look in Kurt’s eyes when he walked in from a day at the garage. She immediately called Mercedes and when Kurt emerged for his shower both girls were sitting on his bed, looking at him expectantly.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked shifting his gaze between the two girls.

Mercedes gave him a knowing smile then turned to Rachel, “You are right, something happened, he has that look. It’s a good thing you called me it looks like my boy has been holding out on me.” Her gaze then shifted back to Kurt, “Spill it white boy.”

“Alright, but first I think we need to get comfy. How about we change into our Pajamas, Rachel you can borrow a pair of my pants and I will get one of Finn’s shirts for you. Cedes I am sure you came prepared. I will go downstairs and pop some popcorn and grab some ice cream. I have Vegan ice cream for you Rach. Then we can cuddle in my bed and I will tell you everything.” Kurt went into his bathroom and put on his favorite blue silk pajamas and then went to work, preparing for their bonding time, or gossip session whatever you want to call it
Once they snuggled into bed, he told them all about Blaine surprising him at the shop, and coming to dinner, and talking with such ease until it was time for Blaine to head back to Westerville. By the time he was finished they each had consumed a pint of ice cream. Kurt told them, “We are supposed to go shopping tomorrow,” when he was cut off by his phone ringing. “It’s Blaine,” he said excitedly before motioning them to stay silent while he answered, “Hey.”

“Hey, it was getting late and I hadn’t heard from you and I wanted to see if we were still on for tomorrow.”
Blaine’s voice came over the phone line. Kurt smiled at the nervousness in his voice.

“Sorry, about that I lost track of time. I know there is a great mall in Westerville, do you want me to pick you up at around 11:30, the mall doesn’t open until noon, so that should give us plenty of time.”

“Sounds great, but are you sure you want to drive all the way out here?”

Kurt chuckled, “I’m sure it will be fine, how many times have you driven out to Lima so far. I think I can manage this once.”

Once Blaine agreed, Kurt told him, “Just text me your address, I have to go. Rachel and Mercedes are here.”

“Oh, well, okay. I guess I will talk to you later then.” The disappointment was clear in Blaine’s voice.

Kurt felt it was important to make Blaine feel better about this arrangement. “I would love to talk to you more, Blaine. But with my girls here I am afraid that we would have no privacy and I would hate to be a bad host.”
“I understand Kurt. I guess tell them I said hi, I will see you tomorrow.” Blaine did sound like he understood, because he did. He was just at home alone with nothing to do and was kind of lonely. He had been looking forward to chatting with Kurt for at least a little bit tonight. Instead he messed around on his computer for a while and added Kurt as his Friend on Facebook.

Kurt stayed up late with the girls chatting and giving each other facials, so when his alarm went off at 8, none of them were pleased. Kurt laid there for a minute sandwiched in between Rachel and Mercedes, trying to remember why he should get up already. When it hit him he squeaked and scrambled over Rachel to get to his closet.

“What are you doing Kurt?” Rachel snapped at him, having fallen on the floor in Kurt’s haste.

“I only have an hour and a half until I have to leave to go pick up Blaine, and I haven’t picked out an outfit yet. I still have to shower and do my hair and moisturize…” Kurt wasn’t sure why he was panicking, but just the thought of being late, or not looking his best was worrying him.

The girl’s helped Kurt pick the perfect outfit. Black skinny jeans, with his knee high boots, a blue button up shirt, with a grey vest and his favorite scarf. Kurt took a quick shower, and chatted with the girls while he moisturized. Remembering the way Blaine’s eyes racked over his messy hair yesterday, he decided to spike it up, making it look mussed, but perfectly so.

He had just enough time to eat a whole grain and flax English muffin, before bidding the girls and his family goodbye, promising his dad he would be home by ten.
Blaine was frantically trying to get ready. He had stayed up late reading various message boards, watching videos on YouTube and looking for new music on iTunes. He didn’t wake up until almost eleven as a result and was hastily throwing together an outfit. He settled on a red cardigan over a grey t-shirt and dark jeans. He took a quick shower only to realize that he was completely out of gel.
He tried his best to tame his curls, using the curling serum his mother bought him last year. It worked pretty well, so that his curls hung nicely around his face. He was just pulling on his converse when he heard a car pull up in front of his house. Grabbing his wallet, he bounded down the stairs making it to the door just as Kurt rang the doorbell.

They stood there taking each other in, Kurt glance at Blaine’s hair, curly just like the first time they had met. He reached up gently touching a curl that lay on his forehead, the action sent a shiver down Blaine’s spine. “I like your hair like this, the curls suit you so much better.” He said in a whisper.

“I like yours like this too, reminds me of yesterday,” Blaine’s voice came out rough.

They smiled at each other for a moment, before Kurt asked him if he was ready to go. Kurt led Blaine over to his Navigator. On their way to the mall they sang along with the music blasting from Kurt’s radio. More smiles were exchanged, the mood was comfortable but with an edge of expectation in the air too.

At the mall they talked about whatever came to mind. Blaine asked more about Rachel and Mercedes, absorbed in listening to Kurt describe his friends. Blaine shared stories about Dalton and Wes and David. Halfway through Kurt’s shopping list, the crowds became almost unbearably thick. Blaine relieved Kurt of half his bags and slipped his hand into Kurt’s with an ease that made Kurt’s breath catch.

They walked hand in hand through the mob of holiday shoppers, ignoring stares and mutterings thrown their way. After all of Kurt’s holiday shopping was done, he was looking at a display of scarfs trying to decide what to spend his ‘tip’ from the Harbors’ on. “I love scarves!” he squealed, holding up two trying to make up his mind. Both were on sale, but he only had the only to buy one. “Which do you like?” He asked Blaine.

Blaine eyes the pair, one was green, which he thought would bring out Kurt’s eyes, the other was red a color that looked so vibrant against his porcelain skin.
Finally Blaine recommended the green, which Kurt hurriedly took to the register. As soon as they made it out of the store, Blaine suggested Kurt go to the get them some smoothies to hold them over until the dinner Blaine offered to buy. Blaine told him he would meet him at the food court, he needed to go to the restroom really quick.

Blaine went into the store and bought the red scarf for Kurt, wanting to get him something for Christmas. He couldn’t wait to see the look in Kurt’s eyes when he opened the present. He placed it in the bag that held his only other purchase, a new Christmas CD.

Kurt had just picked up their strawberry smoothies when Blaine walked up behind him. Their hands now full, they made their way out of the mall, their shoulders lightly brushing against each other. While they were in the mall a light snow started falling, dusting the landscape. Blaine suggested they get take out and head back to his house to stay out of the cold.

Chinese take-out in hand they made their way into way back into Blaine’s house. Kurt thought it was a little too big for just three people, but he thought the d�cor was lovely. It was finally hitting him that Blaine went to a private school, so money was probably not an issue for his family, this made him a little uncomfortable.
Sure, Kurt wore designer clothes, but it was only possible due to his careful budgeting and gifts from his grandmother. He has always been careful choosing items that could work well with other elements in his wardrobe. The thought of more money than you know what to do with, kind of frightened him.

They chatted over the movie Blaine had put on as they ate. Blaine told him about his part in the King’s Island Christmas review that he would be performing in next week.

“I have the group numbers down, we have been rehearsing them the last week. And my solos are ready of course, since I can work on those alone. But between the flake of a director and my partner, I’m dreading my duet. We open tomorrow night and I we haven’t really gone through it yet. It is a shame, because it is one of my favorite holiday songs.” Blaine told him.

“What song is it?” Kurt asked truly interested.

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

Kurt nearly jumped out of his seat, “No way, that is my all time favorite. Not that I would ever get to sing it, but I just love it.”

Blaine’s heart leapt at the pure joy in Kurt’s eyes, he always wanted to see that look there. “You wouldn’t want to help me practice would you?” Blaine asked shyly.

“Oh, Blaine, I don’t know, I’m not sure how much help I would be to you.” Kurt began playing with his fingers not meeting Blaine’s eyes.

“Please, I could really use the practice… and I would like to sing with you Kurt, if you’ll let me.”

Kurt hesitantly agreed. Blaine ran upstairs to retrieve his rehearsal CD and popped it into the sound system. As they sang the flirty duet, each boy could feel something real in each other’s movements, a real tension and wanting. It both excited and scared them. There was a reality in Blaine’s pursuit of Kurt, and a real hesitance laced with temptation on Kurt’s part. The song ending they fall back on the couch and Blaine moves forward intent on capturing Kurt’s lips with his. He closed his eyes, leaned forward, his lips meeting open air. Kurt had stood up quickly, panic setting in. All of a sudden, things were moving too fast. He wasn’t even sure if this was a real date, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for this. He looked at Blaine’s confused face and with regret lacing his voice said quickly, “I’m sorry Blaine, I… I have to go. Call me later?” Tears in his eyes and uncertainty written on his face he hurried out the door, forgetting his coat behind him.

Blaine sat on the couch still not sure what had just happened. He had just had the best day he could remember. He really liked Kurt, and thought Kurt felt the same for him. I face flushed with embarrassment tears springing to his eyes. He lay on the couch trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

Kurt drove through the swirling snow, panic clenching his chest. He was trembling both from regret and from the cold that was invading his car. He knew his coat was still hanging on the hook beside Blaine’s front door. As the snow fell thicker around his car, Kurt felt even more at a loss about what to do. He wasn’t sure how he made it home in one piece in the snow storm that sprang up so suddenly. Kurt rushed into his house ignoring the looks his family gave him and ran to his room.

He threw himself on his bed tears finally streaming down his face. He heard his door opening and looked up expecting to see his father ready to stumble through an awkward talk to find out what was bothering his son. Instead Finn stood in the door, clutching a glass of warm milk.

“You looked like you needed a little comfort, you say you bring me warm milk to relax me, I thought I would return the favor.” Finn sat on the edge of Kurt’s bed, looking unsure of himself, but not uncomfortable. Kurt accepted the milk with a small smile of gratitude.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” Finn asked quietly.

Kurt took a deep breath, “I think I just ruined everything. I went out with Blaine today, it was nice, and we had fun. We went back to his place for dinner and things were still good. I helped him practice this flirty duet, and when it was over…” Kurt took another shaky breathe, “He tried to kiss me and I panicked, I ran out of his house. I know I ruined everything. God! Why did I have to panic Finn, it’s a kiss, I just… I just was so worried about screwing this up…” Kurt broke down in renewed sobs.

To his surprise, Finn sat against Kurt’s headboard and pulled the smaller boy to his chest wrapping comforting arms around him. “Hey, it will be okay. If Blaine is going to freak out because you didn’t kiss him, then he isn’t worth it. You just need to be straight with him and tell him what you told me. Just don’t think about it too much alright.”

Kurt, regained his voice and thanked Finn before, patting his arm and telling him he as alright. Kurt went through his nightly moisturizing routine and then settled in his bed with his laptop. Opening up face book he saw he had a friend request from Blaine Anderson. Kurt quickly accepted it opened up a message to him. He quickly typed:

Blaine,
I am so sorry about tonight. I just freaked out a little. I don’t want to ruin this because we move too fast. I hope I didn’t screw things up too bad. I really had fun today. I hope to hear from you soon.
Kurt
P.S. I left my coat at your house. I am off on Christmas Eve, I just have plans that night, do you think I could at least swing by, and pick it up?

Kurt played around for a while on Facebook, half hoping that Blaine would come on so he could talk to him. He really wanted to call Blaine, or text him, but felt uncomfortable doing so with how he left. Soon he just closed his laptop and went to sleep.

Blaine woke up the next morning on the couch were with swollen eyes he had fallen asleep. The house was still empty, his parents not due back until Christmas Eve afternoon. He went and showered, and got ready for rehearsal that morning. He pulled his laptop to him to play with while he ate some cereal. His heart leapt when he saw Kurt had accepted his friend request. There was another jolt when he saw a message from him as well. His heart felt lighter knowing why Kurt had left so suddenly. A smile reappeared on his face as he typed a reply. As he closed his computer he felt better heading out the door for rehearsal.

Kurt replaced the brake pads on Mr. Harbor’s car and did a few more oil changes for his dad. He tried to throw himself into his work and not worry about not receiving a reply from Blaine. The day dragged but Kurt had worked so hard that by the time he made it home he was ready to just fall into bed and go to sleep. Instead he showered and pulled his laptop to him on his bed. With trepidation he opened Facebook, equally scared of not having a reply and having one.

Kurt’s heart pounded in his chest when he saw he had a new message he opened it and saw:

Kurt,
Thank you for letting me know what happened last night. I’m sorry if you thought I was moving too fast. I just really wanted to kiss you. I like you a lot, and if going slow is what you want, then that is what we will do. I have something for you so would it be all right if I took you out to eat for lunch on Christmas eve, a real proper date? I promise to bring your jacket.
Blaine

Kurt pulled out his phone and checked the time, it was just after ten so he sent Blaine a text.

Blaine was just changing out of his costume, getting ready to come home when he heard his phone vibrating on the counter of his dressing room. He opened it to see a message from Kurt.

Would love to go on a date on Friday for lunch. Thank you for understanding. This is all new to me. ~Kurt
Blaine replied:

It’s all new to me too. I’ll pick you up at noon. ~Blaine

So it was that Kurt found himself pacing his room anxiously awaiting Blaine's arrival. He was wearing all black but for his new green scarf wrapped around his neck. He had made Blaine a CD of songs, including his solo from Sectionals, it was wrapped exquisitely sitting next to him on his bed. He wanted to get Blaine something, but wanted it to be small and personal. He felt good about his gift.

Five ‘til noon, Kurt hurried downstairs and reminded his Dad he was going to Mr. Shue’s after his date with Blaine, then Finn would bring him home for family time. When he heard Blaine’s car door shut, Kurt hurried out the door to meet him.

“Hey, if this is a proper date, shouldn’t you have waited for me to ring the bell?” Blaine asked with a smile.

Kurt smiled coyly at him, “I suppose so.”

Blaine did manage to open the door for Kurt. The date was progressing nicely; you wouldn’t have known there was any tension before. They talked to each other as if they knew each other forever. They shared chocolate cake for dessert, feeding each other rather than themselves. They were sitting in the Lima Bean enjoying a coffee when Blaine said, “Do you want your Christmas present?”

A smile crept across Kurt’s face, “That would be nice.”

Blaine handed him a the long think package he had meticulously wrapped, making it as beautiful as possible, thinking, rightly, that Kurt would appreciate the thought. Kurt carefully tore open the package, opened the box and gaped at the red scarf nestled in the white tissue paper.

“Blaine… this is too much.” Kurt exchanged his brows knitted together. Blaine opened his mouth to speak but Kurt cut him off. “No, this is really too much. You can’t spend this kind of money on me, this is our first real date. You just can’t.” Kurt pushed the box back across the table to Blaine.

Blaine took Kurt’s hand instead, afraid if he let go Kurt would run away again. “Kurt, please, I bought it because I thought you would like it. I’m sorry if you think it is too much, but I only bought it because I thought it would make you happy.”

Kurt looked Blaine straight in his eyes, “I don’t need expensive gifts to make me happy.”

“I didn’t think that you did.”Blaine took a deep breath, and then spoke to their grasped hands. “I’m sorry, in my family, it’s normal to buy big gifts. I should have thought that that is not how it is in most families. Honestly, I just wanted to see you happy. That was all I wanted. There are no strings attached to the gift. I just wanted to see it on you. Please accept it Kurt, and I promise no more big gifts… at least not for a while. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

Kurt’s face broke out into a sweet smile and he squeezed Blaine’s hand. “I really do love it. Thank you . It’s not that I’m not grateful, it’s just I know how expensive it was. I have something for you too. I hope you like it.”

He handed Blaine the small package and watched as he unwrapped it. Blaine’s eyes took in the cover of the CD case, which held a picture Kurt drew himself of Blaine singing on stage backlight by a spotlight. He was amazed at the detail in the drawing. He then turned the case over in his hands scanning the list of songs. Most were songs he didn’t recognize, but he noticed two tracks of ‘We Close Our Eyes’. Kurt immediately knew what Blaine was raising his eyebrows about and explained, “I had my friends help me record our version for you. Artie has pull with the AV club so he helped me out. I thought you might like it.”

Blaine took a breath and then looked Kurt straight in his eyes. Kurt was surprised to see tears there. “This is the best present anyone has ever given me. Thank you Kurt.”

Blaine took Kurt’s hand again and pulled him from his seat. Kurt’s heart sped up, unsure about what Blaine was doing. In the middle of the coffee shop, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, bringing him into a sweet, emotion-filled hug. To Kurt’s surprise when Blaine drew away, he pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Retaking their seats with blushes highlighting their faces, they both emitted a little giggle. Kurt unwound his blue scarf from around his neck, replacing it with the red one from Blaine. He looked up at Blaine and gave him a huge smile. “Thank you for the scarf, I really do like it, “ he said.

“I knew it would look great on you.” Blaine said matching Kurt’s grin.

All to soon it was time for Blaine to drop Kurt off at Mr. Shue’s apartment. “When can I see you again?” Kurt asked surprising himself.

Blaine gave him a sad smile, “I’m afraid that right after Christmas my parents are taking me to Aspen. It’s their idea of ‘family bonding’. Forcing me to go to another state, where my dad can pretend to not work and my mom spends all day in the spa. I won’t be back for two weeks.”

“Oh” Kurt whispered lowering his head.

Blaine used his index finger to lift Kurt’s face to his, “Please say you’ll text me and call me, whenever you can. I am going to be bored out of my mind. I would much rather be here.” Blaine smiled and Kurt couldn’t help but return it.

“Thanks for the great date, we have to do it again.” Kurt leaned in and kissed Blaine once more on the cheek and pulled him into a hug. “Call me.” He said as he got out of Blaine’s car.

As Blaine drove away he put the CD into the player and instantly put it on Kurt’s song. He basked in the sound of his clear beautiful voice as he drove home.

Kurt fingered the scarf around his neck, blushing at the thought of his first real successful date. He could feel himself falling just a little bit more for the boy once sent to spy on him.