It had been two days since Kurt had unexpectedly shown up on Blaine’s doorstep, and Blaine was trying very hard to be patient as Kurt got nearly every answer wrong. In all actuality, Kurt was trying very hard not to laugh as Blaine struggled to show him the correct way to do the problems. Kurt, of course, already knew how to do them, considering he’d done the assignment yesterday, still he needed an excuse to hang out with Blaine, and this was turning into a rather amusing one. Blaine had been suspicious at first, he knew that Kurt generally did fairly well in all subjects, although not as well as Blaine, but after Kurt had to ask the formula for density three times Blaine’s suspicions were proven wrong, or so he thought. After a particularly difficult problem, Kurt yawned. “I could really go for something to drink right now.” He said as he stood up and turned his focus to Blaine, who was still engrossed in the problem.

“Oh. The kitchen is down the stairs and to your left.”

“Blaine. I spent practically my entire childhood in this house. I think I can find my way to the kitchen.” He laughed. “Unless your dads tried to remodel again...”

“Oh god, not after the plumbing disaster of ’03, I’m still having nightmares!” Blaine joked in response and Kurt couldn’t help but smile as he closed the door behind himself, their playful banter felt like a step in the right direction. He knew that it was going to take time for Blaine to trust him again, if he ever had in the first place.

~

Although Kurt had always considered Blaine a friend when they were growing up, Rachel had been his best friend, and therefore demanded his attention when he was at their house. Still, Kurt was always grateful when Blaine would tag along, at least then he wouldn’t be the only audience member when Rachel decided to have one of her many “solo” moments on the stage that their dads had built her in the basement when she was ten. They would both try to hide their smiles as she belted out whatever song best described her mood at the time. They would whisper to each other, not really paying attention, while simultaneously nodding at the stage encouragingly. The best memories he had of Blaine though, were the times that Rachel would throw one of her signature Rachel Anderberry fits and storm out, leaving the two of them alone. They would generally just watch a movie, acting out their favorite scenes, or talk about books or fashion, things that Rachel wasn’t even vaguely interested in. Kurt loved Rachel, he really did, but sometimes he wanted to talk about things that weren’t musical theatre or Barbra Streisand. Blaine was smart and funny, he had excellent taste and Kurt really appreciated that, well, more than appreciated it actually, if we’re being honest.

When Kurt was in thirteen he’d developed a minor crush on Blaine. Well, at least it had started that way. The summer before eighth grade had started Rachel had spent the month of July at an acting camp, leaving Kurt with only Blaine to hang out with. Not that he had minded, they had just never spent an extended period of time in each other’s company without the presence of Rachel. At first, it had been a little awkward, when Kurt had gone to Rachel’s house to see her off and she had told him not to go getting a new best friend while she was gone, “It’s only a month Rachel,” and to her brother, “be nice to Kurt, Blaine. He doesn’t have anyone else to hang out with.” Then she’d turned on her heel and been gone. They’d looked at one another shyly, and then Blaine had made a joke apologizing about being sub par in relation to Rachel’s star talents as a friend, Kurt had laughed in response and they had soon found themselves falling into an easy friendship. They’d spent nearly every day together that month. Their friendship was comfortable. Blaine was an easy person to get along with, and Kurt nearly forgot that he was Rachel’s little brother as he soon found himself falling for him.

Kurt wasn’t even sure at that point if he liked boys, although he was fairly certain he didn’t like girls, not yet anyways. He had just always assumed he was a late bloomer and it had never really bothered him. Yeah he liked clothes and Broadway musicals, but that didn’t automatically mean that he was attracted to men. Kurt just didn’t really find himself attracted to anyone, until he realized that the feeling that he got around Blaine, like thousands of birds were flapping their wings in his chest and it made him want to throw up and jump for joy all at once, was in fact feelings for Blaine. Blaine who was sweet and thoughtful and would always go out of his way to make sure Kurt was happy. Yes, Kurt fell, and he fell hard.

July had found them going for picnics in the park and swimming at the city pool. They had spent lazy days watching movies or arguing over whether or not argyle was going to be in this fall. Their friendship was so simple, but still, the more time they had spent together the harder it was becoming for Kurt to hide his crush. When Blaine had rested his head on Kurt’s shoulder while they had watched Moulin Rouge, or when he’d grabbed his hand as they had simultaneously jumped in the pool, Kurt would feel something akin to an electric shock and pull back immediately. He would then make whatever lame excuse that popped into his head at the time. When they had spent the night at each other’s houses, Kurt would offer to sleep on the floor and Blaine would say “don’t be silly there’s plenty of room,” and yank him onto the bed next to him. Kurt had blushed and tried to slow his breathing to no avail. He would spend the entire night trying to stay on his side of the bed, which wasn’t easy because Blaine was a cuddling fiend. Even with the tension that Blaine obviously didn’t feel, Kurt had found himself dreading Rachel’s return, yes he missed his best friend, but he didn’t want to lose this friendship that he and Blaine had developed.

On the last Friday before Rachel’s return, she was scheduled to arrive home the following day; Kurt and Blaine had decided to spend the night together, knowing that the expiration date on their friendship was coming quickly. They had watched Titanic and ordered pizza, locking themselves up in the den at the Anderberry home. After the movie was over, they talked about timeless romances, Rose and Jack, Romeo and Juliet, Kurt and Blaine, Kurt had thought wistfully. Blaine had been saying something about the movie when Kurt found himself staring at Blaine’s lips, full and red, and wondering what they would taste like, or feel like against his. Which was why he had been surprised when Blaine had asked if he’d ever been kissed. Kurt had just shaken his head and looked away, knowing full well that the only person he had ever wanted to kiss was sitting right in front of him. Blaine looked a little shocked, but just replied with a “huh, me neither.” And then he’d changed the subject.

Later that night, when they’d finally settled into Blaine’s bed, Kurt had turned to him and asked, “What do you think it’s like? Kissing, I mean.”

“I don’t know.” Blaine had replied. “It looks pretty magical though, I mean, in movies the first kiss is always described as fireworks. So, fireworks, I’d guess.”

“Yeah, me too.” Kurt had said, thankful that it was too dark for Blaine to make out the blush that had suddenly stained his cheeks. Blaine hadn’t replied after that, and, as they laid there in silence, Kurt’s eyelids had soon grown heavy and his mind had started to fog with the beginnings of sleep when Blaine had said, “Hey, Kurt are you awake?”

“mmmmhmmm…” Kurt hummed in response.

“Will you promise me something?” Blaine had asked, staring at Kurt through the darkness. “Promise me we’ll still be friends when Rachel comes back.”

Kurt bit his lip at this as he thought about what making that promise would mean. He and Blaine were in different grades, and Rachel was, well, Rachel. She’d only approved of their friendship because she didn’t want Kurt to be lonely while she was away. He was sure she would be expecting things to be just as they were when she’d left, but they weren’t, so much had changed in just a month. Kurt liked, more like loved, Blaine, and he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to him either. “Of course Blaine, I promise.” Kurt had replied, and Blaine had smiled brightly as they drifted off to sleep.

Kurt had tried to keep his promise; he and Blaine had hung out a few times in August. Kurt had told Rachel that Blaine was his friend too, but she always insisted on being included. They no longer got to hang out just one on one, and it had started to put a little weight on the friendship. Then, school had started, and Kurt was a grade ahead of Blaine, meaning they didn’t even share lunch. A little more weight was added. Kurt and Rachel had joined the eighth grade theatre club that met after school, Kurt had also started helping out at the garage on weekends, and Blaine had fencing Tuesdays and Thursdays. It wasn’t as though they didn’t miss each other; Kurt’s heart broke every time he thought about what their friendship had been and how he felt about Blaine. For awhile they tried to go out of their way to hang out, but something always came up and soon all the strain their friendship was under caused it to shatter. The first time that they had seen each other since their friendship had ended, Blaine had acted indifferent towards Kurt, like they had never been friends at all. Kurt had taken his lead, refusing to beg him to be his friend again. Still, Kurt had never felt worse.

As the school year wore on, the memories of that summer moved to the back of Kurt’s mind. The feelings that he had for Blaine faded and he even found himself wondering if they had ever really been there at all; he couldn’t deny that he’d been attracted to Blaine, but he was young, too young for love, and besides, Blaine hadn’t reciprocated his feelings. So, Kurt had written it off as his first real crush, and soon he had (mostly) gotten over Blaine.

~

Kurt made his way to the kitchen, reliving the memories from that summer that had suddenly started bubbling to the surface. He was deep in thought when he was suddenly startled by a voice behind him.

“Kurt?” Rachel said, confusion evident in her voice, “What are you doing here?”