2. The Deke

"Kurt! Hey, Kurt! Wake up, dude!"

Kurt groans and tries to pull the cheap hotel-issued sheet over his head, but no amount of yanking is a match to Finn's weight at the end of his bed.

"Why are you jumping on my bed like it's Christmas morning?" Kurt whines, rolling over to bury his face in his pillow, which is quickly yanked out from under him.

"I was talking to some guys at the game last night," Finn says, much too cheerful for so early in the morning. "And they told me that they let fans come and watch the Jackets practice."

Kurt is not interested. No, he is absolutely not. What he does want is to go back to sleep for a couple hours to prepare for the drive back to Lima with the Giant King of Bad Music.

"So, I was thinking we could go and, you know, check it out." Finn does waver a little, but he's still sitting on the bed and Kurt is two seconds away from kicking him in the kidney if he doesn't get up. "There's players that will even hang out after and sign autographs. One guy said that he even met Blaine Anderson, and, dude, that would be so awesome."

So maybe Kurt is a little interested. He groans again, kicking his feet under the sheet, hoping that it comes across as irritation and masks his growing excitement over the possibility of meeting a particular hockey player. The idea of seeing Blaine again sparks something in him, and he makes a mental note to give his dad an extra hug for suggesting that they spend the night in Columbus rather than drive back after the game.

"What time does the practice start?" Kurt mumbles, his face still half hidden by the pillow.

"Uh, 10."

"And what time is it now?"

"9:12."

"Finn!" Kurt scrambles up from the bed and tries to untangle himself from the sheets, nearly falling face first onto the carpet in the process. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

Kurt runs for the bathroom, going over his clothing options in his head and trying to figure out what style would be most appropriate to wear to a hockey practice. He can hear Finn pacing outside the door.

"So does that mean we can go?" Finn calls out. Kurt shouts a 'yes' around the toothbrush in his mouth and almost smiles at Finn's cheers. Almost.

Forty-five minutes and two cups of coffee later, Kurt follows Finn to the seats designated for fans. Finn points across the ice, showing Kurt where the player's bench is, and Kurt nods with only mild interest while scanning over the players skating around the ice.

"Oh, man, that's Nick Foligno!" Finn says loudly, pointing to one of the players bouncing a black disc - no, a puck - back and forth with his stick. "His dad kicked ass in Buffalo back in the day, and the whole family does this leaping thing when they score. So cool."

"Sounds great," Kurt mutters, still trying to find one particular person. He looks over the player's bench and gasps when he sees a familiar head of dark curls. "Hey, isn't that the guy we saw last night?"

Nice, Hummel. Totally nonchalant.

"Yeah, that's Blaine Anderson." Finn nods, looking over to where Kurt is pointing. "He's got a wicked slapshot for such a small dude."

"He's not that small," Kurt argues, his eyes glued to Blaine as he hops over the wall and starts to skate with a grace that Kurt didn't expect, even after watching him play the night before. He wonders if Blaine ever took dance classes, but then he figures that would be absurd. Blaine is just another jock, Kurt tells himself. Jocks like that don't dance.

Kurt and Finn watch as the coaches join the players on the ice. Finn tries to explain the different drills to Kurt, who nods along and throws in some 'uh huhs' and 'rights' for good measure. Unfortunately for Finn, Kurt is preoccupied. He is completely mesmerized by Blaine, the way he moves, the way he handles his stick and does little tricks with the puck. Never in a million years did Kurt think hockey could be attractive, but Blaine Anderson somehow makes it sexy.

Blaine is practicing hitting the puck to the net thing the first time he skates close by where Kurt and Finn are sitting. Kurt tries not to stare, but he can feel Blaine looking right at him when he does glance in Blaine's direction, Blaine's lips quirk in a small smile. Blaine skates away quickly after, and Kurt shrugs it off as his mind playing tricks on him. However, Kurt can't deny that Blaine suddenly starts to pass by their side of the rink more often, and Kurt has to try extremely hard not to get his hopes up. The last thing he needs is a silly crush on another straight guy, especially considering the last time he did that, he ended up with a brother.

"Finn, is this really necessary?" Kurt asks after the practice was over, mainly to deter any thoughts Finn may have that Kurt wants to be there. He is standing in a hallway somewhere in the arena, waiting with Finn to see if any of the players will come out to sign autographs. It was Finn's idea, of course, but it would be the world's greatest lie if Kurt said he isn't curious, if only because he doesn't want to miss a final opportunity to see Blaine.

A door nearby opens and Finn lets out a small squeal as a few of the players make their way over to them and the other waiting fans. Kurt notices a group of college-aged girls standing a few feet away, whispering to each other and batting their clumpy lashes at each player. Kurt rolls his eyes and thinks the whole endeavor was a lost cause when Blaine appears. He has obviously showered; his curls are matted down and slicked back with an obscene amount of gel, and he is wearing tight high water pants with a polo shirt and a bowtie.

Kurt is floored.

Finn chats with another player and bounces on his heels as he gets an autograph, while Kurt stays a bit behind him, leaning back against the wall and trying not to make it too obvious that he is practically drooling over Blaine. Kurt watches him as he moves from fan to fan, always smiling and talking with a genuine joy in his voice that Kurt never heard before.

Blaine eventually makes it over to the group of girls and Kurt feels his jaw clench when they start to flirt blatantly with Blaine, who seems to be enjoying himself and is winking and laughing with them. One of the girls asks him for a hug, and Kurt scoffs at himself for feeling a pang of jealousy when Blaine complies with the request. He also would swear he saw the girl slip a piece of paper in Blaine's back pocket.

That trollop, Kurt thinks, suddenly itching to get out of there as soon as possible. He moves to grab Finn's arm so he can somehow manhandle him back to the car when he notices a pair of honey-brown eyes staring at him through unfairly long lashes.

"Hi, I'm Blaine."

Kurt blinks a few times before he realizes that Blaine Anderson is standing in front of him and holding his hand out.

"Kurt." Kurt takes Blaine's hand and hopes that his palm isn't as sweaty as he thinks it is. Blaine squeezes his hand and flashes him a huge grin that makes Kurt's knees turn to jelly. Their hands separate after a couple seconds and Kurt wants the contact back immediately.

"Dude, Blaine! I mean, Mr. Anderson," Finn stammers, stepping into Kurt's personal space and sticking his hand out toward Blaine. "It's so cool to meet you. I'm such a huge fan. Can you sign my pad?"

Kurt stands there and gapes at Finn, who has suddenly seemed to have lost a large percentage of his verbal skills. Blaine laughs genuinely and takes Finn's notepad from him, signing it and continuing to smile as Finn narrates a full review of Blaine's last few games. Once Finn stops to breathe, Blaine turns his attention back to Kurt.

"So, Kurt, you a big hockey fan, too?"

I'll be anything you want me to be.

"Oh, um, no. Sorry. I tend to stay away from anything that requires sliding around on sharp objects."

Blaine laughs again, ducking his head and looking up at Kurt through those damn eyelashes.

"I saw you in there during practice. You were quite distracting."

Oh my god, is he flirting?

"Oh? Well, I'm sorry for being a nuisance." Kurt would have patted himself on the back for keeping his cool, if he could move properly. "You were good with your stick."

And there it is.

"I'm glad you noticed," Blaine responds without missing a beat. "Listen, I don't do this, like, ever, but if you're interested, I'm off until tomorrow. Do you want to maybe grab some dinner later?"

Holy. Shit.

"I - " Kurt starts, but is immediately cut off by Finn.

"Nah, we gotta get going back home soon, but it's awesome that you wanted to hang out with us."

"Where do you guys live?" Blaine asks. Kurt detects something different in Blaine's voice. Disappointment, maybe? "I live in Westerville."

"No way! We're from Lima!" Finn replies while Kurt watches the conversation unfold. He catches the girls from earlier glaring at him out the corner of his eye and fights the urge to smirk at them, stick his tongue out, or do something equally immature. "Well, I still live in Lima. Kurt's just visiting. He lives in New York."

"I can speak for myself, thank you very much," Kurt remarks, turning back to Blaine. "He's correct, though. I'm only in Lima for the next couple days."

"Well, here," Blaine gestures to Finn's notepad and Finn hands it to him right away, like he was giving him something extremely important, like a medal or Academy Award. Blaine scribbles on a piece of paper and rips a piece off, handing it to Kurt. "Here's my number. The offer still stands, if you're interested."

Kurt can only nod like an idiot as Blaine waves at them and walks away.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think he might be a little bit gay."

At this point, Kurt is in too good a mood to smack Finn, so instead he walks out to the car with him and tries to wrap his mind around what had just happened. He even lets Finn pick the radio station on the way back to Lima as he contemplates whether or not he should contact Blaine.

Once they are back home, Kurt seizes an open opportunity - Finn had bombarded Burt and Carole with a full recap of the previous night's game as soon as they walked through the door - and retreats to his old bedroom. He stares at the paper with Blaine's name and number on it, smiling at the small heart that Blaine had drawn, and makes his decision. He sends Blaine a text before he can convince himself not to.

It doesn't take Blaine long to respond, and before he knows it, Kurt Hummel has a date with a professional hockey player.