As the passengers come down the escalator into baggage claim, Blaine stands as straight and tall as he can and holds the neatly printed sign level in front of his chest. He wears his most welcoming smile.

Hes waiting for a boy named Kurt Hummel, whos flying in from Alsace, wholl be spending a semester at Dalton. The Andersons are his host family. Blaines seen a photo of the other kid—round face, slick parted hair, snub-nose and freckles—so he knows who hes looking for.

Which maybe explains why hes still peering up the escalator anxiously when a tall, slim young man stops in front of him and says a cheerful, "Bonjour!"

"Huh?" Blaine says and refocuses his attention on the guy standing in front of him. Hes got a jawline that could cut glass, flawless fair skin, and a glamorously upswept pompadour.

"You must be Blaine?" says tall and lovely with a distinct accent slanting and rounding out the words into something downright musical. He extends a strong, long-fingered hand. "Im Kurt."

"Oh!" Blaine says. He lets got of the sign with one hand and takes Kurts hand. "Bonjour!" Blaine says. He tries his best, but he knows the "n" is wrong—as is the vowel—and he can never manage a French "r" so it comes out leaden with his American twang. "Yes, Im Blaine. Uh, welcome to Columbus."

"Thank you, Blaine," Kurt says. His hand lingers in Blaines grasp a few beats longer than decorum requires, and hes smiling at Blaine in a manner that makes Blaines knees feel like theyre made of nothing more substantial than pudding. As Blaine looks, he can just barely see the kid from the photo in the boy standing before him. Its in his eyebrows and the spread of his lips. "They said my bags will be on carousel three," Kurt says.

"Right!" Blaine says and releases Kurts hand. "Let me help you with them. My moms waiting with the car."

Kurts still smiling at him as Blaine leads the way toward the carousel.

"Did you have a good flight?" Blaine asks.

Kurt says it was fine and shrugs, and its sort of a sexy shrug, which combined with the smile and the way its lighting Kurts pretty blue eyes, is borderline flirtatious, and theyve known each other for, like, two entire minutes? Blaine was not at all prepared for this. The round-faced cherub boy he expected, he was fine with. But this…?

They wait near the center of the loop as the siren blares to announce imminent movement of the belt. "Im sorry I didnt recognize you," Blaine says, "You dont look very much like your photo."

Kurt wrinkles his nose and laughs. "I hope youre not too disappointed," he says, wry and teasing—and yes, definitely flirting.

And Blaine feels his blush rise hot beneath the skin of his face; theres no hiding that. "No, not at all," he says. "Quite the opposite, I assure you."

Kurts smile widens and his teeth catch his bottom lip, and Blaine sees a flush of pink bloom across his high cheekbones. "Im so glad to hear it," Kurt says. "Ive looked forward to meeting you, Blaine."

Its going to be an interesting semester.