Quinn is lovely and Kurt hates it. He wants to hate her. He wants to say she is an awful person who doesn’t deserve Blaine, but she isn’t, and Kurt scolds himself for his childishness.

Blaine and Quinn ordered some pizza as well, and the three of them are outside, making small talk. During the entire dinner, Quinn and Kurt do most of the talking. Blaine remains awkwardly silent.

Quinn compliments Kurt on his looks and how can he refuse that kindness? She also looks marvellous and before they know it, Kurt and Quinn are bonding over fashion. Bonding. Kurt is bonding with the girlfriend of the boy he’s kissed.

“Oh, there is a hat shop over there,” Kurt says after Quinn’s detailed everything about her fancy sunhat. It’s a bit on the nose, but it is stunning and it keeps the sun out of her eyes. “You should check it out.”

Kurt gives Quinn the easy route towards Rikoma, Miha Kotar s.p.

Quinn beams towards Blaine.

“Oh babe, I keep telling you to not slick back you hair, so that you can wear a fancy hat as well. We should go there!”

Kurt’s stomach churns when he hears the term of endearment.

Kurt and Quinn await Blaine’s reaction. It’s an out. They’ve had their dinner and they can go. Kurt has given him a way out, and he didn’t even mean to. But to Kurt’s surprise, Blaine declines.

“How about you check it out?” he suggests to Quinn.

“Oh. Okay.” Quinn seems as surprised as Kurt.

“I’ll just, uh, stay here and catch up with Kurt,” he says, but then he looks at Kurt, “If you don’t mind.”

“I don’t,” Kurt and Quinn say at the same time, which makes Quinn looks at Kurt, then back at Blaine, and back to Kurt. It’s unnerving, especially since she gives Kurt a long look.

Then she kisses Blaine’s cheek and scurries away.

That leaves Kurt and Blaine together, at the pizza place.

“Do you… want to order more?” Kurt asks after an awkward moment of silence.

Blaine shakes his head.

“Let’s take it to Park Zvezda,” he suggests and Kurt agrees.

Once they’ve moved and they’re sat down - of course Kurt’s brought a blanket to sit on the grass – the awkwardness returns. Blaine’s asked to catch up, but now he’s not saying anything, so it is up to Kurt to start off.

“Quinn is lovely.”

Wow.

Great start, Kurt. Let’s start with his girlfriend.

“She is,” Blaine says.

Another beat of silence.

“Look, Blaine-”

“Kurt, I am sorry for kissing you,” Blaine says as he’s staring at the ground, “It was… I have a girlfriend. I can’t leave her.”

“I know,” Kurt says.

“So. Uh. Sorry.”

Kurt closes his eyes and he looks away. He can feel the anger building.

“If that’s all, then why couldn’t you just say so before?” he asks, trying to keep his voice calm, “You could’ve at least texted me. I-”

Kurt stops himself. He was about to say that he’s missed Blaine. That he’s been lonely.

But that just sounds sad. Blaine’s the one who ghosted him.

Suddenly, he feels a hand on his shoulder. It’s Blaine’s. Kurt looks back and whatever Blaine was about to say, his words die on his tongue, because he is staring at Kurt with his mouth agape.

Kurt wants to ask if he’s gotten something on his face, but he’s seen this look before. That’s the way Blaine looked at him before they kissed.

This guy is sending some mixed signals.

Kurt takes Blaine’s hand off his shoulder and he shakes his head.

“You have a girlfriend,” he bites out.

Blaine snaps out of it and he looks ashamed.

“Blaine, please, just talk to me. Tell me what’s going on, because this-” Kurt gestures between the two of them, “-is going nowhere if you can’t even tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I didn’t mean to kiss you. Truly,” Blaine says after a while.

That stings, but Kurt takes it in stride.

“I know.”

Then, Blaine suddenly looks around and he seems scared. It’s as if he’s trying to see if anyone is listening along, but no one seems to care about them. Still, Blaine is nervous.

He lowers his voice. He can’t look at Kurt.

“… but I wanted to.”

Blaine looks guilty and he’s again checking if anyone’s heard him, and things finally start to fall into place for Kurt. Kurt can feel the anger disappear.

Now, this is a revelation.

It’s silent for a while and Blaine looks conflicted, as if he’s wondering if he made the right choice by saying that.

“Blaine,” Kurt says kindly, “Do you like men?”

“No!” Blaine says back, too fast, too loud, and Kurt gets it.

He is reminded of all the times guys at school asked him, albeit in a mocking way, if he’s gay. Of course he isn’t gay! Boys? No! What makes you think that 12 years old Kurt likes boys?

Kurt knows the alarmed look on Blaine’s face. He understands the looking around, figuring out whether others can notice anything. He remembers loudly and quickly rejecting any claims about his sexuality.

“Okay. That’s fine,” Kurt says back, because he knows that is what Blaine needs to hear. But then he adds: “It’s also fine if you do, by the way.”

“I know that!” Blaine says back, “I have no problem with gay people.”

“But you have a problem if the gay person is you,” Kurt suggests carefully and Blaine’s face distorts. He looks afraid, but also relieved, but then guilty and sad.

Really, everything is starting to make sense. Kurt was right. Blaine is struggling.

Of course, this isn’t something to celebrate. Kurt remembers what it was like. He accepted his sexuality relatively quickly, but that doesn’t mean that he didn’t struggle, so he knows that this isn’t fun, but Kurt’s just glad he now knows what is going on.

Blaine looks deep in thought and Kurt’s afraid he’s overstepped. He’s about to potentially diffuse the situation, but Blaine’s frown deepens.

“I’d never thought of it like that,” he says quietly.

Kurt sees this as a permission to ask more.

“Have you ever had feelings for another guy?”

“No!”

Again, too fast, too loud.

Kurt gives Blaine a knowing look, and even Blaine seems to realise something.

“Well, no, really. No! Nope. I mean, my friend Wes has always looked super cute. Trent too, but you know, I was always looking at guys, you know, to compare myself, you know?”

That was three times ‘you know’. Kurt doesn’t point it out.

“And okay, when Nick and Jeff got together, I did wonder…” Blaine trials off and looks away. Kurt waits for Blaine to continue, but he doesn’t. Blaine shakes his head and Kurt decides to let it go.

An awkward silence hangs in the air. Blaine just bared a part of a soul, potentially a part he didn’t even know he had. Kurt feels for him, but he also needs Blaine to understand what he did.

Kurt closes his eyes and he deliberates what to do. He has an idea, but it might be a terrible idea.

But all of this is already messy.

“Blaine,” Kurt waves to get his attention, “Only you can decide who you are, and if you want to talk to me about it, that is fine, but I…” he takes a deep breath, “But I do like you, as more than friends.”

Blaine’s eyes go wide.

There’s no going back.

“And that is why I was so sad about the fact that you ghosted me.”

“Kurt-”

“And if this makes things weird between us, then I am sorry, but this is how I feel. I understood that you had to deal with something, but a part of me was also really upset, because I don’t want to be your experimentation.”

“You’re not,” Blaine hurriedly says, and then once again looks shocked by his own admission.

“I know that now,” Kurt shoots him a small smile, “But as you keep saying, you have a girlfriend.”

“… I do.”

Kurt looks over his shoulder and as on a cue, he can see Quinn walk out of the shop. She looks around for Kurt and Blaine and she smiles when she spots them. Kurt gives her a small wave and Quinn walks to them.

Blaine gets up to look at Quinn’s new purchase and Kurt sees that as his cue to leave. He rolls up his blanket.

When Quinn sees it, she asks where he’s going.

“I only just met you,” she says.

“Next time, I promise,” Kurt lies. He doesn’t think there’ll be a next time. “But now I need to go.”

“Kurt…” Blaine seems lost for words.

“It was good to see you again,” Kurt says earnestly and Blaine nods, “Call me, alright? Don’t ghost me again.”

He says the last part with a jokey tone, but it is true and Quinn’s head jerks towards Blaine. Kurt decides to let them be. Their relationship is none of his business.