�I'll be out in a second Rachel, you can't rush beauty,“ Kurt's answer came muffled through the door.

�Well hurry up, I'll be waiting downstairs.“ Rachel said as she left and turned down the hall.

It was on a Friday night. Guests were arriving to the palace in large numbers, but Kurt Hummel, the star of the evening, had no interest in joining them in the great hall for a dance that was being held for him. It was his 18th birthday and according to the tradition he was supposed to have a dance, inviting all the young upper class people in the kingdom, and then dance and mingle with the girls. And then there was the unwritten law that he should get engaged to one of the girls he met tonight. Kurt didn't think it was that easy, just throw a huge party, fall in love and everything would work out like in a fairytale. Love just couldn't be that easy, could it? But how would he know anyway? He'd never been with a girl. And that was actually not all that big of a surprise.

Kurt Hummel was gay. He'd always known but he couldn't bring himself to tell his father. Or anyone, for that matter. He'd always been different, and people were used to that. But nobody ever suspected him to be gay. Well, to be more exact, nobody said anything about it. That was just a topic you didn't simply bring up.

Kurt finished styling his hair and stood up from the vanity table. He really didn't want to do this. But he had to. He didn't want to disappoint his father. They'd gone through a lot when his mother died and his father had been rather distant since then. Ever since then, Kurt had tried everything to ease the weight of his father's shoulders and that included keeping his own problems out of his father's reach.

He walked through the not so well decorated halls, to his opinion, hearing the chattering and a faint sound of music long before he got to the dance. When he walked through the doors to the hall there were already groups of girls eagerly waiting for his arrival. Some of them were not even that old, maybe 14-15 year old and some of them were way older than him. They were dressed in beautiful gowns and judging by the stunning hairdo's and make up, they had all clearly spent a lot of time (and money) getting ready. It all seemed so real now. He was actually supposed to find the future queen of the kingdom in the group of these girls. And how could he? He shouldn't lie about who he was should he? But he couldn't be himself either, that would only be a disaster.
Well, if he was supposed to dance with all these girls he might as well get started now he thought to himself as he went up to one of the girls and asked her to dance.

And so the evening went on. Dance by dance, arrogant girl by arrogant girl and meaningless conversation by meaningless conversation. He finally took a break after dancing with what had to be almost every single female present. He went to the table where the drinks stood and found a glass of sparkling cider. As he was turning to find a spot where he would be unseen he suddenly bumped into someone and the cider went spilling everywhere. Kurt himself slipped on the puddle and gracefully landed face to the floor.

�Oh, no! I'm terribly sorry, this is all my fault,“ a man's voice said above him. Kurt rolled over and saw a hand offering to help him up. As he followed the hand he found a beautiful face, golden eyes looking apologetically at him, framed with dark curls. Kurt accepted the hand and stood up to realise that his pants had a giant cider stain on the front.

�I'm sorry, are you all right?“ the man said, clearly devastated.

�I'm fine, thank you,“ Kurt said and gave the man a smile.

�I'm Blaine, Blaine Anderson,“ he said and held out his hand.

�I'm Kurt Hummel“ Kurt replied and took his hand.

�I know,“ Blaine said, �Everybody knows who you are. You are the crown prince, throwing a ball to find a suitable future wife,“ Blaine said and there was a bit of a teasing tone in his voice, probably not intended, but still there.

�God, this is awful. Believe me, I do not like this. I'm sure that I've danced with every single wealthy female in the kingdom by now. I only have Mrs. Hartman left I think, and she's old enough to have danced with the Victorians so I'm not taking any chances,“ Kurt said.

Blaine seemed to be a bit amused by Kurt's boredom. �So the glamorous life of the prince isn't all that glamorous after all is it?“ he asked, and raised an eyebrow.

�I'm just waiting for it to be over, really,“ Kurt answered and let out a little laugh.

�Well, that's not very good. Would you like t-“

�Kurt!“ Rachel's voice echoed across the room. God, Rachel just always knew find the right timing. Why did she have to choose the first moment he was actually having fun this evening to interrupt him?

�What is it Rachel?“ Kurt said, a bit of annoyance detectable in his voice. He didn't turn away from Blaine though, as he was afraid of losing him out of sight. Rachel came striding across the floor. She paused a bit when she noticed Blaine.

�Oh um, Kurt, Ms. Motta has arrived, and she asked if she could meet you.“ Rachel finally said, her eyes alternating between Kurt and Blaine.

�Oh,“ Kurt said, disappointment clear in his tone. �Well...then I guess I'd better go...um, find her,“ he added and looked at Blaine like he was begging him to save him from doing it. But Blaine nodded awkwardly and prepared to leave.

�Um, yes, you probably should, I don't want to interrupt you any more. You should probably go and finish entertaining the young ladies.“ he said. �It was very nice meeting you.“

�You too“ Kurt responded and smiled widely and then reluctantly followed Rachel to find this Motta girl.

She was standing at the entrance, looking around. She was pretty, you'd have to be crazy not to think so, in a purple gown with a bow tied at the waist and little diamonds all over the top piece. Her hair was loose and slightly waved and her skin was perfect.
Kurt didn't notice any of those things. All he was thinking about was Blaine, where he was and if he would ever meet him again. He'd been truly different. Not just talking about himself, and not so incredibly uptight and serious like every single person he had talked to this evening. But he would probably never see him again.

All Kurt remembered from dancing with Sugar was a blur of clumsy and stiff movements (Sugar was not the best dancer he had met that evening) and her talking about herself.

�I'm Sugar Motta and I'm so much better than you and you should be thankful that I'm dancing with you. My dad is really rich and powerful so I can pretty much do what ever I want. Also you should probably not say a lot because your voice is really freaking me out and you kind of sound like a girl.“

Kurt finally got away. When he was on his way to the refreshment table he stumbled into his father. He hadn't seen him all evening.

�Are you having a good time son?“ Burt asked.

�Well I sure have danced enough for a lifetime,“ Kurt replied. trying to avoid the question.

�And are there any promising girls here? I have a lot of faith in that girl, what's her name again, she's Al Motta's daughter I believe,“ Burt said, noticing very well how uninterested Kurt obviously was.

�Yes, I danced with her earlier, she's not the best dancer for someone with sore feet to handle.“ Kurt said attempting to make a joke of it.

�Listen, I know this isn't the most fun thing to do. Just go outside and take a walk and come back in after a while, okay?“ Burt said to his son.

�Thanks“ Kurt attempted a smile and headed towards the doors that lead out to the garden. He really did need some fresh air.

He walked to his favourite spot, where he and his mother had always gone when he was little. She would read to him and sing him songs and even let him throw tea parties if the weather was nice. Now he just came here to think. The garden was the only place in the entire palace that wasn't swarming in maids and guards. Of course, there were security cameras, but he didn't mind those. He could be alone.

Except now there was someone there. Someone with dark curls and eyes that sparkled in the moonlight. He was sitting on the brink of a small fountain, stirring the water with one finger.

�Blaine?“ Kurt said quietly.

�Kurt, I didn't hear you there,“ Blaine said as he looked around.

�Mind if I take a seat?“ Kurt asked and gestured to the brink next to Blaine.

�Oh, of course not,“ Blaine said and smiled.

Kurt sat himself next to Blaine and stared silently at the stilling waves on the surface of the water.

�So were you running away from my party?“ Kurt asked and smirked.

�Well you yourself didn't seem to be enjoying it too much either.“

�Oh you mean dancing with the rich girls until my feet got sore and pretending to find people's jokes funny? Yeah, that was great.“

�I'm not much of a party person either, I just came here because my sister dragged me here with her. I like this place much better than inside. Oh! But not that it isn't wonderful in there, it's just, I...like it better here,“ Blaine added awkwardly and stared down.

�It's okay Blaine, I know what you mean. I hate parties, especially this kind.“ Kurt said as he tried to catch Blaine's eyes.

�What do you mean by this kind?“ Blaine asked and looked up.

�This whole throw-a-ball-just-to-find-a-girl-to-get-engaged-to-kind of party.“ Kurt said and sighed, unconsciously shifting a bit closer to Blaine.

Blaine looked at Kurt. �You know, I was going to ask you earlier if you wanted to dance, but then this girl came and...yeah. I was wondering if you would like to dance now, since we didn't get a chance before.“ Blaine said as he stood up and held out a hand to Kurt.

What, was this really happening?

�Yes. Yes, I would love to,“ Kurt said, taking Blaine's hand and probably grinning like a fool but he couldn't care less at the moment.

Blaine placed one hand on Kurt's waist and took his hand in the other and started moving around in a slow version of a waltz. They weren't really moving very rhythmically since there was no music, but it didn't matter. It was wonderful. Just the two of them, the beautiful garden, the moon and the stars shining brightly above them. As they danced, they slowly got closer to each other and any sign of rhythm faded away as they almost stopped moving and sunk further into each other's embrace. Finally it was just feet shuffling on the ground while hands slipped lower, faces got closer.

�So why don't you like this party? You don't want to get married or is there some other reason?“ Blaine asked in a low voice and oh, all of a sudden he was even closer to Kurt's face.

�I- I'm just...not-“ Kurt murmured as he took in the sight of Blaine. He noticed his beautiful lips, rosy and full and his charming eyes, gold and hazel and god he shouldn't be doing this. No, he should be inside, dancing with the girls, deciding on a future mate, not fooling around outside, dancing with some guy he'd just met. But what the hell, he was young an he should be allowed to be stupid every once in a while right?
Blaine's was two inches away from his now. Kurt closed his eyes, leaned a little more forwards and an eternity seemed to pass before he felt Blaine's lips press lightly against his.

God.
No.
What was he doing?

Kurt broke the kiss quickly.
�I- I have to...go, and, oh jesus I'm so sorry I didn't mean to-“ Kurt stuttered as he backed away and ran back inside.

He really screwed it up this time.