"Why did you drag me to this lame-ass party anyways?" Blaine Anderson yelled over the music to his best friend, Puck, leaning against the wall in a letterman jacket and acting better than anyone there.

            "I told you, bro. This was the only place in Lima I was told would have booze without us having to get carded, and since you still won't get a fake - "

            "Hey, I told you, I can't get caught with it, my parents would kill me -"

            "Dude. Not that serious.  The point is, there is alcohol here, and there are girls here. What else do you really need?"

            "Um, for people not to be singing drunken karaoke at the top of their lungs?"

            "Not the point. Listen, I know you didn't want to go out tonight, but this is my number one best chance for getting some, so can you please just be a good sport?"

            Blaine nodded, right as Puck noticed a new girl coming through the door to the already crowded room and bounced off, leaving Blaine alone to try and make the best of the evening.

He scanned the crowd, looking for one of his other friends from the water polo team of which he was captain, or at least someone interesting to talk to.  However, he didn't recognize most of the people there and assumed it was being held by someone from another school. It didn't look like he'd be having much fun tonight, especially considering the fact that his best friend had just left him for some chick and he didn't even want a New Years' kiss because...well...

            Blaine was gay.  He knew it all along growing up, but it wasn't until his still-best-friend Puck had started dating a fifth-grader (while they, of course, were still in third grade) that he realized he was different.  Blaine had only ever wanted to kiss the boys at his school, but seeing the way people reacted to Puck's relationship (and the many that had sprouted after that one) made him realize that he was not normal - at least, according to everyone else.

            So he hid.

            He managed to stay so above the radar in high school thus far that no one would be able to say anything to him for fear of getting their ass beat - not that any of them would ever guess what was "wrong" with him.  He fit the stereotype of the teen jock well, even with his diminutive stature, playing as many sports as possible then choosing to focus on water polo, in which he quickly became captain.  He flitted his way through a series of girlfriends, none being serious enough to last but enough to build up his reputation as a stud and heartbreaker. He surrounded himself with the right friends, wore the right clothes, and used his natural charisma to charm all the teachers into keeping his grades above passing level.  Blaine knew he was popular, and he used that to his full advantage - this way, he thought, no one could touch him. 

            As Blaine scanned the crowd, wondering whether he should bother feigning interest in one of the girls here to keep up an image or if it would even be worth it, he noticed someone new drifting in through the open door.  A boy clad in skin-tight gray jeans, knee-length black leather boots, and a button down with a vest over it wandered through the crowd, effortless, seeming to float like some mystical creature.  He had perfectly coiffed brown hair, and...holy crap, his eyes were like ice, piercing and brilliant and beautiful. Blaine had never seen this boy before, and he would have - he knew most everyone at McKinley, and even though this party was kids from all over, most kids around here looked and acted this same.  Someone like this boy would have stuck out amongst the sea of basic cargo shorts and Hollister t-shirts.  No, this boy was definitely different.

             And Blaine knew that he had to meet him.

-----

            Kurt Hummel wasn't entirely sure why he decided to attend this party tonight, by himself.  Due to a series of unfortunate events, he had just moved to the area and was transferring into the local high school, McKinley, at the new semester.  He had only heard about the party from his new neighbor, Quinn - a seemingly cold and intelligent girl who had taken a liking to Kurt after noticing his dog-eared copy of The Great Gatsby sticking out of his messenger bag the day he and his father arrived in Lima.

            He looked around the room, and noticing that Quinn, of course, had not shown up, he began surveying those who were bound to be his classmates.  He wasn't surprised by what he saw: the usual crowd of testosterone-filled pubescent jocks in polo shirts drinking out of red plastic cups while dancing with one skimpily-clad girl or another - it didn't matter who, most teenagers looked the same in Middle-Of-Nowhere, Ohio.  It didn't look like he'd be blending in easily any time soon, but he was used to that.  He didn't even have to come out at his old school - everyone knew the second he first stepped in the door looking way too fabulous for anyone in the place.  He was proud of who he was, and he used to show it at every opportunity through the clothes he wore and the activities he joined. He had even dated a few times - but the constant beatings from some of his classmates grew old after a while, and he was looking forward to being able to blend in for once.

            To hide.

            But looking at this crowd, he realized it may be a bit harder than he expected to stay out from everyone's gaze.  Especially...um. Why was there a boy staring at him? And walking towards him? Surely no one at this kind of party would be interested in him, especially not some closeted cocky douchebag jock who-

            "Hi. I'm Blaine...you must be new around here."

            "Oh. Um. Hi. I'm Kurt," he stammered out nervously.  Well, this was unexpected - Kurt Hummel reduced to blushing because of some jock? He had never been this uncomfortable around boys before, but this one was different...he seemed popular.  And attractive - dark curly locks falling onto tanned skin; hazel eyes looking deeply at him; muscular, although a little bit shorter than he would have liked - but hey, beggars can't be choosers.  He wore his letterman jacket like it was advertising something - hey, I'm definitely heterosexual and popular, wanna bang? - but Kurt's mind was instantly changed about the "heterosexual" part once he noticed the v-neck he was wearing neatly tucked into cuffed skinny jeans and - boat shoes? Oh god. Okay, well, if his clothes weren't a giveaway, the way he was staring at Kurt definitely was. 

            "So, Kurt," Blaine began, but he was cut off by someone at the karaoke stand yelling into the mike for everyone to quiet down. 

            "OKAY everybody! It's time for our annual karaoke contest!" Kurt and Blaine looked up at the tall man standing up on the stage, overenthusiastically directing what must be his party guests.  "Now the way this works is I'm gonna pick two people here and a song will come up at random for them to sing! Now...how about you two, there - with the dark hair and the letterman jacket, and then your friend there in the vest. Okay!"

            "Uh. What?!" Blaine shook his head frantically as people started pushing him towards the stage. "No, no...I'm no singer," he proclaimed, trying to laugh it off.  Kurt struggled against the crowd as well.  Don't be seen, don't be noticed, don't stand out. Well, looks like he'd failed on all of that tonight.  He had almost started having a panic attack when he realized he had reached the stage.  It felt like everything was going in slow motion as Blaine leaned down to him and held out his hand to help him up, a slightly nervous expression on his face.

            "Come on, new kid. I'll sing if you will."

            Kurt could barely nod as he grabbed a microphone.  The room around them for once had become quieter, and Kurt and Blaine could hear the simple opening chords of a familiar song. 

            "High School Musical? Really?!" Kurt hissed at Blaine, who shrugged with a small smile before opening his mouth and beginning to sing.

            Living in my own world

            Didn't understand

            That anything can happen

            If you take a chance

            As soon as Blaine started, Kurt's jaw almost dropped.  He was nervous, yes.  But his voice...it was smooth and rich and effortlessly floated over the notes of the song. Kurt could barely get himself together in time to sing the next part.

            I never believed in

            What I couldn't see

            I never opened my heart

            To all the possibilities

            Now it was Blaine's turn to be shocked.  This magnificent boy, who just waltzed in out of nowhere looking so good and now his voice - he was simply a natural performer, glowing in the dim lights of the party.  Blaine couldn't take his eyes off of Kurt as they began to sing together, voices blending so easily...you'd think they were born to do this, harmonizing so naturally, swelling and rising and leaning into the music, just enjoying both the song and each other, feeding off the energy of the room as they went toward the chorus...

            And now, looking in your eyes

            I feel in my heart

            The start of something new

-----

            "Wow. So. That was pretty awesome, wasn't it?" Blaine says to Kurt after they have finished singing (to a chorus of half-hearted claps and drunken catcalls) as Kurt makes his way to a more secluded area of the party. 

            "Oh yeah, sure," Kurt says, nonchalantly. "We weren't half-bad. But High School Musical, seriously? I mean, he could've at least picked something a little less gay -"

            "Whoa wait...I am not gay. You know that, right?" Blaine said hurriedly. Shit.

            "Of course you're not," Kurt replied sarcastically. "Listen, Blaine, I'm gonna go. This party is way too awkward for me to stay at any longer, and I kind of wasn't planning on embarrassing myself like that, so..."

            "Oh, I totally understand. Maybe I'll see you around?" said Blaine, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice that he wouldn't get to spend a few hours longer with this boy.

            "Who knows? Goodnight, Blaine," Kurt said raising his eyebrows with a smirk as he held out his hand to shake.  Blaine grabbed it, looking awkward and disappointed, when Kurt suddenly used his grip on Blaine's hand to propel himself into a sneaky and quick kiss on the cheek.

            "See you around," Kurt quietly whispered into Blaine's ear before sauntering away, leaving Blaine helpless, alone, and with an unmistakable grin on his face that he couldn't get to go away.

            Looks like I got a New Years' kiss after all.