“Y-yo-you’re here,” Kurt stammered out, with wide eyes.

“I wanted to see you,” Blaine said softly.

“Kurt, is there a problem here?” Mr. Schuester’s voice filled his ears, and Kurt jumped.

“N-no,” Kurt managed, unable to look away from Blaine. He watched Blaine glance around, seeming to decide something – that something resulting in Blaine removing the hat from his head. He heard Mr. Schue’s sharp intake of breath, a shriek from behind him (probably Rachel), but all he could see was Blaine’s apprehensive smile.

“Sorry, sir,” Blaine said to Mr. Schue, holding out his hand. “Blaine Anderson.”

“Will Schuester,” Mr. Schue answered after a moment, sounding startled.

“I just came to surprise Kurt.” Blaine shook Mr. Schue’s hand briefly.

“Kurt is definitely surprised,” Kurt spoke up.

“We’ll let you two talk for a minute,” Mr. Schue said, before rounding up the rest of the group and ushering them on the bus. Kurt nodded.

“This is for you,” Blaine held out the yellow rose once they were alone. Kurt took it with shaking fingers, a blush coating his cheeks against his will. “You were amazing.”

“Thank you,” Kurt manager to reply. “You flew out here… just to see me sing?” Blaine winced.

“Yeah.” Blaine shuffled his feet. “Is that weird?”

“No,” Kurt said after a long moment. “It’s sweet.” He glanced over at the boys behind Blaine. “Who’re your friends?” Blaine motioned for them to come closer.

“Kurt, this is Nick and Jeff – I think you might recognize them from the show.”

“Holy crap,” Kurt uttered, and then clapped a hand over his mouth in mortification. “Sorry, I just wasn’t expecting… any of this today.”

“Congrats on your win,” Nick said. “And don’t worry; we tend to get that a lot.”

“You guys were great,” Jeff added.

“Thanks,” Kurt replied. “This feels very surreal.” He glanced at the bus behind him. Every member of New Directions had their faces pressed to the windows of the bus, the windows down so they could try and hear what was being said. “Sorry – they’re not exactly a subtle bunch.”

“I see that,” Blaine said, smiling. “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

“Well, uh, we have a tradition – we’re going back to school to celebrate our win,” Kurt told him, fighting the sweeping disappointment going through him. Now that Blaine was here, now that he was actually talking to him, Kurt wanted to enjoy getting to know him face to face.

“Do you think your friends would mind if we joined you?” Blaine wanted to know. A cheer went up on the bus.

Kurt laughed. “Somehow, I think they’re okay with it.”

*

Blaine got out of his rental car, followed by Nick and Jeff. Technically, Jeff had rented the car, the only of the three of them who was twenty-one. Nick was nineteen, and Blaine was the youngest of them at seventeen. They stood in the McKinley high parking lot, watching as Kurt and his friends filed off the bus.

“You realize you’re insane, right?” Nick glanced at him. “This is crazy. There’s no way we’ll be able to keep this quiet now.”

“The school is deserted,” Blaine reminded him. “I’ve got until tomorrow afternoon to spend time with Kurt,” he continued. “And I’m going to make the most of it.”

“You should tell him how you feel, Blaine,” Jeff added. Blaine shook his head.

“I like him, sure, but we’ve only known each other for a little over a month.” He turned and smiled as Kurt walked over to him. “So this is McKinley.”

“In all her glory,” Kurt replied, his tone heavy with sarcasm. “Come on, we’re gonna go put the trophy in the trophy case, and then celebrate by doing what we do best.”

“What’s that?”

“Sing,” Kurt answered, grinning. “We’re gonna sing.”

*

“This is Blaine, Nick and Jeff,” Kurt began introduction as they all stood around awkwardly in the choir room. The three boys waved, as Kurt went through and introduced all of New Directions one by one.

“Who was the one who called me?” Blaine asked Kurt.

“Oh, that,” Kurt muttered. “Santana.” He pointed at her, and she gave Blaine a delicate wave, her fingers curling slightly.

“I owe her a thank you,” Blaine murmured.

“Don’t let her hear that,” Kurt replied back.

“Too late,” Santana breathed in Kurt’s ear, rising up on her tiptoes to put her chin on Kurt’s shoulder. “You two boys owe me big time.” Nick and Jeff gaped at her as she strode back to Brittany, the ruffle on her cheerleading uniform billowing as she walked away.

“Okay, gang,” Mr. Schuester called them together. “I know we’re all excited due to today’s win, and it was well deserved. But we can’t forget – Regionals will be here before we know it.”

Most of them groaned, including Kurt.

“Mr. Schue, why you gotta be such a buzzkill?” one of the boys asked. Blaine was suitably intimidated by his mohawk. Everyone laughed.

“Now, who wants the honors for our celebration song?” Mr. Schue continued once the trophy was in the trophy case. “Rachel?”

Rachel, Blaine presumed, shook her head. “I think it should be Mercedes and Tina,” she said. “Today is about letting everyone shine.”

That was how Blaine found himself sitting in the auditorium next to Nick and Jeff, watching as New Directions improved their way through Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days Are Over.”

Their exuberance was palpable, and Blaine found himself clapping and singing along. They ended the song with a big group hug, before slowly separating.

“You guys were great!” Blaine called, standing up and making his way to the edge of the stage.

“You really think so?” Kurt asked, out of breath. He knelt next to the edge of the stage.

“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true,” Blaine replied. Kurt smiled.

“So, um, this is that awkward moment when all my friends want me to ask you for your autograph,” Kurt rolled his eyes. “I’m really sorry.”

Blaine shrugged. “I’ll give you my email address, and you can send me their names and addresses. I’ll make sure they get signed photos.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Kurt told him. Blaine grinned.

Slowly the members of New Directions began to leave, calling out good-byes and shouting things like “We’re number one!” on their way out.

“Kurt,” one of the boys called. Kurt turned his head.

“What, Finn?” The boy walked over to them, looking nervous.

“I’m heading home – are you coming?”

“Tell Dad and Carole I’ll be home in a bit,” Kurt answered. “Don’t tell them about…”

“Yeah, I got it,” Finn muttered. “You better be for real,” Finn said, glaring at Blaine. Blaine was startled for a second. “If you jerk my brother around…” He let the threat hang there for a second, and then turned and walked away. Kurt looked shocked.

“I am so sorry about that,” Kurt breathed out after a second. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

“He’s just looking out for you,” Blaine pointed out. They were silent for a moment.

“When are you leaving?” Kurt asked quietly.

“Tomorrow afternoon.” Blaine looked sad. Kurt made a humming noise under his breath.

“What are you doing tonight?”

*

Kurt couldn’t believe it. His parents wouldn’t let him leave the house until he’d told them where he was going and who he was going with. He had been intending to lie (after all, he was going to end up at Rachel’s for a sleep over anyway), but Blaine had insisted Kurt tell his parents the truth – that he was going out with Blaine and his friends for pizza.

That was why Kurt was currently waiting for them to pull up in the drive way, debating if was nervous enough to throw up. The Blaine, Nick and Jeff had gone back to their hotel room for a bit, and Kurt had used that time to shower, change, and dress to impress.

He felt stupid though, because he and Blaine were just friends. Even though he might be fashion forward in Ohio, there was no way his outfit could top anything people were wearing in New York or Los Angeles.

“Son, you’re gonna wear a hole in the floor,” Burt said, getting Kurt’s attention. “They’ll be here when they get here.”

Kurt wondered what his father thought of this whole thing. A famous TV star (really, three of them), were coming to take his son out for pizza. In what reality did that happen?

A knock sounded at the front door and Kurt jumped. He heard his father stifle a laugh as he rushed for the door. “Hi,” Kurt greeted once he’d pulled the door open and found Blaine, Nick and Jeff on the porch.

After a pile of embarrassing questions, during which Kurt wished he could sink to the floor and hide, Burt finally let them on their way.

“Man, I haven’t been interrogated that hard since high school,” Jeff laughed as he got in the driver’s seat of the car. Nick got in the passenger’s seat, leaving Kurt and Blaine to get in the back. Kurt hoped it was dark enough that no one could see his cheeks were flushed – he was actually sitting in the backseat of a car with three of the main stars of Dalton. He wanted to pinch himself again, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it in front of Blaine.

It was funny, Kurt realized, as they sat down at the pizza shop and place their order. No one noticed them. No one even realized there were famous people in the dining room.

“We’re pretty good at hiding in plain sight,” Blaine commented, seeing him looking around. “No one expects us to be here in Ohio.”

“What would happen if they did?”

“Massive crowd of shrieking fangirls,” Nick answered. “Hopefully not like the time we were in New York, and the cops had to break it up.”

“I read about that,” Kurt replied. “It sounded insane. Not all of your fans are that crazy.”
“I don’t know; I’ve been on Tumblr.” Jeff said, grinning. “There’s some… interesting people on there.”

Kurt let out an awkward chuckle. “I think I’m following you.” Jeff snorted.

“That’s awesome.”

They dug into the pizza once it was set down, and Kurt marveled at the food that they managed to put away – well, he only had two slices. The others, however, ate like they were never going to be fed again.

All while they ate, Blaine, Nick and Jeff told stories of their fun times on the set, and Kurt shared some of the more drama filled moments of being a New Directions member. Then he reminded Blaine he was a cheerleader.

“Wait, you guys won Nationals because you sang a fourteen minute Celine Dion medley?” Blaine repeated, staring at him intensely.

“Yeah,” Kurt replied. “In French.”

“In French.” Blaine was still staring.

“I think you broke him,” Jeff whispered. Kurt blushed, and looked down at this lap. That’s when he noticed the time.

“I have to get home,” he sighed. “I have to pack and head over to Rachel’s.”

Blaine insisted on paying the bill for everyone, even though Kurt fought him on it. He was quiet on the ride back to his house, contemplating the amazing night he’d just had.

“I’ll walk you up,” Blaine offered when Jeff pulled into the driveway and parked. Kurt didn’t know what to say to that, so he just blushed and nodded. Blaine followed him up to the porch and they stood there awkwardly for a moment. “It’s been really great getting to know you, Kurt,” he finally said.

“I can’t believe you really came all the way out here just to see me sing.”

“Maybe next time you can come visit me,” Blaine suggested. Kurt had his doubts – his parents would never let him fly to Los Angeles and stay with someone he barely knew.

“Can I take you to the airport tomorrow?” Kurt offered. He wanted to see Blaine one last time before they left.

“Sure,” Blaine said. “We’ll take the car back to the rental place tonight.”

“I’ll see you in the morning then,” Kurt confirmed.

“See you then,” Blaine murmured. They locked eyes, and then Blaine moved closer. Kurt’s breath caught in his throat, and then Blaine’s lips were pressing lightly against his cheek. “Sleep well.”

“You too,” Kurt managed. He slipped into the house as Blaine headed back to the car. Kurt flopped onto the couch, blinking in shock.

“You okay, kiddo?” Burt asked, looking over at him. Kurt shook his head. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m in love.”

~**~

Kurt almost didn’t know how to act the next morning when picking them up. He didn’t want to act awkward around Blaine if he could help it. The drive was mostly silent to the airport, the three of them trying to wake up and deal with left over jetlag.

Kurt parked and walked them into the security gate, as far as he could go. He shook Nick and Jeff’s hands, and then they went and got in line to pass through security, leaving him and Blaine alone.

“I’ll miss you,” Kurt finally mumbled. “Is that crazy?”

“No,” Blaine replied. “I’ll miss you too.” Then Blaine was gathering him in for a tight hug, and Kurt thought his heart might stop right there on the spot. Blaine finally let go. “Bye,” he whispered.

“Bye,” Kurt said, waving.

Neither one of them heard the shutter of a nearby camera going off.