Blaine showed Kurt their room that evening, awkwardly carrying in Kurt's bags. It wasn't an overly large room, with two beds along one wall, each with a desk on one side and a bedside table on the other. Opposite them were a third and fourth bed so the room was mirrored. Nick was nowhere to be found, having disappeared off to hang with Jeff and the others, and their other roommate, Andy, supposedly spent all his time in the library.

"So, what do you think?" Blaine asked Kurt, scratching the back of his neck and not really looking at him.

"It's not home," Kurt told him honestly. Where Kurt's room was bright woods and white, here it was rich mahoganies and dark emerald sheets. He sat down on his bed, letting his hands spread out across over the soft material of the comforter, and smiled up at Blaine. "But I think I'm going to like it here."

Blaine matched his smile a little awkwardly for a second before turning to his own bed, just opposite Kurt's. Keeping his back to him he said, "So, um, the bathroom is just through that door and there's a shower in there too. It's for the room so the four of us share but just hop in whenever it's free."

"I think I might go now, before dinner," Kurt hummed. "I smell like airplane and first day of school." Blaine let out a small chuckle but the room fell into an awkward silence after that. It seemed to weigh on top of Kurt and he felt he had to do something to break the quiet. As he zipped open his bag for his shower supplies he said the first thing that came to mind.

"So what's your favourite Katy Perry song?" His voice seemed just a little too high not to be nervous in the quiet room. He suddenly hated Professor Xavier for putting that thought into his head.

"I...Uh, what!?” Blaine said, confusion filling his voice. Kurt could feel his cheeks heating up, no doubt they were scarlet. He found his shower caddy and straightened up.

"Sorry, I was just... I- um-" Crap. Where was his towel!?

"Ohhh..." Blaine said slowly and he let out a small huff of laughter. "The professor said something like that, right?"

"Yeah, about breaking the ice," Kurt muttered and yes! He found his towel! He quickly edged his way to the bathroom, avoiding looking at Blaine who was giving another breathy chuckle. "I'm just going to..."

"He said the same to me," Blaine assured him but Kurt barely paid attention to him, trying all he could to cool his flaming cheeks down. He was right at the door to the bathroom now, he could just dart in and-

"Kurt?"

He froze and knew he'd have to look at him. For a second he attempted to school his features into something neutral. Then he realized his cheeks looked like oversized cherries and easily gave him away. He looked up at Blaine and gave him a shy smile.

"It's Teenage Dream, just to let you know," he grinned and turned back to his bed.

Kurt wanted to thwack his head against the door frame but scooted quickly inside. He fell against the door once it was closed and slid down until he hit the tiled floor.

"Fantastic, Kurt," he moaned to himself, "you're not even here half a day and you're already making a fool out of yourself."

With a groan he pushed himself off the floor and readied himself for his shower, trying very hard not to linger on the fact that Blaine was on the other side of the wall.

~~~

Two weeks.

That was all it took for Kurt to realize he was hopelessly head over heels in love with Blaine. He was in love with his musical laugh, his bright smile, his sparkling eyes and even the way he used far too much hair gel. Kurt liked talking to Blaine. He was nice and understanding.

Not that he would say anything about liking him. No, Kurt was perfectly happy to sit and daydream about the various ways Blaine would announce his undying love for him, sometimes in song in front of the school, others in the quiet of their room while Nick and Andy were away. Though the means and location of these imaginary declarations of love changed, they always remained exactly that. Imaginary. No matter how he wished otherwise.

Sometimes he thought he'd caught Blaine looking at him, and watched the blush creeping onto his cheeks just like it was on his own. But maybe it was wishful thinking, Kurt just seeing what he wanted to. So he remained quiet. The more he got to know Blaine, the more he was sure he wanted him in his life. He wasn't willing to risk him over a few erratic hormones. He would rather have Blaine as a friend than not have him at all.

The only problem was that it was becoming increasingly difficult to hide the truth. Whatever time they didn't spend in class or at the library doing homework was spent in their room. Andy left as soon as he was awake and showered and didn't return until exactly three minutes before curfew every night. Nick seemed to spend all his time playing video games with Jeff which meant Kurt and Blaine were left in each other’s company every evening.

There were days where they would talk for hours, slowly moving across the room until they were next to each other, lying head to foot on the ground or with their sides pressed against each other as they sat, maybe reading from a single magazine. Other days they would be quiet, just enjoying each other's presence, moving in synchronisation around each other, in a silent harmony. Kurt didn't know which his favourite was, he just loved every moment. But it was frustrating for Kurt to be so close to him but not being able to really touch him.

"When did you realise?" Kurt asked quietly after being at the school a little over a month. He was sitting on his bed, leaning back against the head board, legs bent a little so he could rest his book on them to read. He had stopped looking at the book in favour of watching Blaine as he played with a bead of water about ten minutes earlier. He'd hold it between his thumb and index finger, freeze it, and then throw it into the air and catch in in his palm where it would turn back to water. He jumped a little, startled by Kurt's sudden noise. He looked up at Kurt, his brow furrowed in question.

"That you could manipulate water?" Kurt explained, unable to help giving him an endearing smile as his adorable confusion. Blaine nodded in understanding, sitting up straighter.

"Um, it was... About a year and a half ago? I think," Blaine said slowly, carefully and Kurt suddenly regretted asking.

"You don't have to tell me," he said hastily, "I was just... Curious."

"No, Kurt, it's fine," Blaine said with a laugh but Kurt could hear the tiny nervous tremor. He watched Blaine bite his lower lip, contemplating something. He made his decision, getting up and walking over to Kurt, nudging his knees with his elbow. Kurt immediately tucked his legs underneath him, making room for Blaine on the bed to sit and cross his legs in front of him. He could think of nothing to do but give him a reassuring smile.

"Okay, so you know how I have an older brother?" Blaine asked, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. Kurt nodded.

"Yeah, Cooper, right?"

"Right. Well, when we were younger there was some... Brotherly competition," Blaine told him. "Not anything serious, just the usual stuff but I always felt as if my parents paid more attention to him than to me. I might have been imagining it when I was younger but that was defiantly the case after I came out to them. They weren't very happy with me. They focused more on Cooper after that." He took a deep breath. "Cooper went off to LA and things got... a little difficult at home. All I ever heard was Cooper this and Cooper that and our brilliant son, Cooper."

Without thinking, Kurt reached out to put a hand on his knee. Blaine gave him a weak smile, just a quirk of the corner if his mouth.

"Cooper came home to visit and I... I was jealous, there's no other excuse. I got into a fight with him about something stupid and then my dad came in and it turned into a fight with my dad and before I knew it..." Blaine unclasped his hands from were they were clenched together in front of him and spread his hands palm up. He looked Kurt in the eye and shrugged. "It just... seem to explode out of me. There was water everywhere."

Blaine stared at his palms. He didn't say anything, didn't move, just stared.

"What happened then?" Kurt asked quietly when the silence became too much. Blaine's head snapped up, as if he just remembered Kurt was still there, still in front of him. He blinked a few times and took another deep breath.

"Well, I was even more of a disappointment after that," Blaine said in a hard voice, sitting up straight again causing Kurt's hand to fall from his knee. He brought it back to his own lap as Blaine eyed it briefly before continuing. "I mean, having a son who was gay was bad enough but gay and a mutant? I might as well have been a terrorist."

"Blaine, I'm sor-" Kurt began but Blaine cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Don't be sorry," he said with a soft chuckle. "It wasn't your fault. And anyway, things actually worked out okay in the end. When my parents shunned me, Cooper was there. He looked after me, let me stay with him. He even found this place!" Kurt's eyes widened as Blaine gestured around them. "A friend if his in LA was a mutant, he told him about Professor Xavier and Cooper flew up here and all but busted through the door to get me in. Despite everything, my jealousy, our constant competition, he was there for me.”

There was a soft smile on Blaine’s face as he stared at nothing in particular. Kurt felt his chest tighten as Blaine slowly turned to look at him. Blaine’s forehead creased a little as he looked at him, leaning ever so slightly forward and Kurt unconsciously mirrored his movements.

"Kurt..." He wasn’t sure if it was a question, all he knew was that Blaine sounded like he had just woken up from a dream.

"Yes, Blaine?" he said quietly when he didn't continue. He watched Blaine's eyes dart between his own, the hazel so bright and full of life. He opened and closed his mouth like a fish, speaking unspoken words.

His eyes closed, his mouth snapped shut and he pulled back slowly from Kurt.

"Nevermind."

But Kurt wasn't ready to let him go. "Blaine, wait." His eyes opened again, expectant. "What is it? Y-you can tell me."

His head dropped to look between them, his hand reaching forward to take Kurt's. Kurt watched as he entwined them, lacing their fingers. He wondered if it was just by chance that they fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. He sensed, rather than saw, Blaine raise his head and he followed to meet his eyes.

"Kurt," he repeated softly, his voice wrapping around the word like silk. His heart felt too big for his chest, like it was trying to squeeze between his ribs at the sound of Blaine’s voice. "Kurt, I don't think I've ever... I've never felt like this," he said, his voice just a little more than a whisper. "Like I could take on the world because of how I feel...about you. I don't know how to explain it, I-"

Kurt shushed him and he saw Blaine falter. "You don't have to explain," he said with a quiet smile, "Because I think I understand. I think I feel it too."

Blaine let out a shaky breath, like he had been holding it in for centuries, or like he had just revealed the world's best kept secret.

"I like you, Kurt," he said with a little more confidence. Kurt ducked his head to hide his beaming smile.

"I like you, too."

Blaine let out a huff relief and Kurt looked up to see him run a hand through his hair. A curl came loose from the gel, lying against his forehead. He wanted to reach out, to brush it away and suddenly realized he could. Tentatively he raised his head, looking into Blaine's eyes in question. He nodded as Kurt's hand hovered less than an inch from his skin. Gently, he brushed the hair back, letting his hand trail along his temple. Blaine's eye lids fluttered closed and Kurt smiled as he leaned lightly into the touch and his hand ghosted down over his cheek and along his jaw. He never got to do this with Blaine before, with anyone. His heart was racing, his veins buzzing with something like electricity and he was wondering if this was affecting Blaine like it was with him, when he felt him shiver beneath his fingertips-

"Ow ow ow!" Kurt yelled. He snatched his hand back, propelling himself away from Blaine. "Oh my god! Wasn't expecting that!"

"What is it? What is it? I'm sorry! Oh god, Kurt, I'm so so sorry!" Blaine said in a rush. He made to move forward, but thought better of himself, clasping his hands in his lap. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I'm sor-"

"Blaine, it's fine, I just overreacted," Kurt explained with a laugh. "It was the shock more than anything. See?"

He raised his hand to show three of his fingers coated in a sheet of ice, like little thimbles, no more than half a centimetre thick. Blaine's eyes widened and Kurt laughed lightly at his expression.

"That... That must have been from when I shivered," Blaine in a quiet voice, staring at his fingers. His eyebrows knotted together and he reached out a hand. "Sorry, do you what me to...?"

"No, I got it," Kurt hummed, already allowing the familiar heat to build up in his hand. The icy tips melted away, leaving slightly pink fingers behind which Kurt wiggled experimentally. "Good as new."

Blaine grinned, reaching forward to take his raised hand. He brought it to his lips, kissing the fingers gently before moving to slide his own hand through the hair just above Kurt's ear. Kurt hummed, tilting his head against Blaine's hand.

"Kurt, can I..." he began, his voice quiet again. “Can I kiss you?"

He blinked at Blaine, wide eyed and hopeful, nodding as he bit his lip to hide a smile. Blaine smiled with relief shuffling forward until he could comfortably press his lips against Kurt's.

This was nothing like Kurt had ever experienced before, and certainly nothing like his kiss with Karofsky. Blaine was soft, gentle, guiding him as his lips moved slowly against Kurt's. He sighed against Blaine's lips, his arms winding themselves around Blaine's neck. Then there was something wet and oh! That was Blaine's tongue flicking against his lips! Without thinking twice and not wanting to Kurt parted his lips, letting out a whimper when he felt Blaine's tongue slide against his own.

The sound must have worried Blaine because he began to pull back but Kurt tightened his arms around him, tugging him forward. Blaine let out a strangled noise that sent Kurt's stomach into a frenzy of butterflies. He followed Kurt, a hand on his back, lowering him down so that he was half lying down, and half leaning against the headboard with Blaine partly on top of him. He couldn't think straight with Blaine's body pressing against him. The only thing rushing through his head was trying to fathom how he did those sinful things with his tongue - the flicks, the curls and oh when he sucked Kurt's tongue into his own mouth.

One hand fell from Blaine's neck, searching. He wanted Blaine's hands on him, touching him, searching him, exploring him... It took a moment, desperately moving across the sheets until he wrapped it around Blaine's wrist.

Blaine's lips tore away from his own with a flurry of "Shit! Shit! That is hot!"

Kurt stared at him, about to ask him what was wrong when he saw the angry red burn on his wrist. It was then he recognised the pins and needles like feeling in his hand. "Oh my god! You're kidding me! Blaine, I'm sorry, I must have got carried away."

Blaine chuckled, sitting on the edge of the bed. Already there was a steady flow of water around his wrist like a bracelet to ease the burn. Kurt bit his lip.

"We're not very good at this, are we?" he said in a quiet voice, cheeks flaming.

Blaine turned to him, took his face in his uninjured hand and smiled. "It's okay, we'll get better with practise," he said in a soft voice, kissing the tip of Kurt’s nose.

"You'd really do that?" It was hard to keep the disbelief from his voice. "Go through all that trouble? To practice with me?"

Blaine smiled impossibly wide. "There is no one I'd rather practise with," he admitted. He kissed him again, this time soft and chaste and Kurt knew there is no one he would rather practice with either.