Kurt walked into the Vogue ballroom on the evening of the ball. Everything was perfectly finished and looked amazing. It looked magical, Kurt thought, and he was so glad that everything was running smoothly so far.

He adjusted his black mask and joined Isabelle, who looked gorgeous as always, at the refreshments table where she was getting herself a drink.

"Everything looks wonderful," he said happily.

Isabelle turned to him with a smile, her colourful mask only accentuating her happy face. "It does, doesn't it?"

Kurt nodded. "The masquerade ball was a brilliant idea," he added. "Tonight is going to be incredible – I can feel it."

"I hope so, Kurt," Isabelle said. "I have to get back to my date now, have a good night."

"You too," Kurt replied. He poured himself a drink of punch and headed back towards his friends, sipping at his drink.

Mercedes took his hand when he was within reach. "Everything looks stunning, boo," she said. They moved in a slow circle, just taking everything in.

Kurt thought she looked incredible. She had on a gorgeous deep purple dress with a gorgeous matching mask that had silver and gold glittered swirls across the actual mask itself and fake feathers stuck out of the left hand side, making her look complete ethereal in Kurt's opinion.

Kurt smiled at the compliment. "Thank you," he replied. "I didn't have much of an input but it was great to just get to do some of the work, even if the planning was exhausting."

"Kurt, I know this entire theme and set up was your idea," Mercedes said. "Be proud and take the credit for it!"

Kurt was thankful that his mask hid most of his blush. "I just hope that the night is a success. This is going to be huge for Vogue. Not only is most of it a massive tax write off but the charities we're donating to this year are really close to my heart. The Trevor Project is our main charity this year, and you know how much I care about that."

"I do," Mercedes replied. "I saw some of the silent auction items and wow. Did you know there was a date with Zac Efron up for grabs?"

Kurt grinned. "I did," he replied. "Isabelle is apparently close with his publicist or something and she managed to convince Zac to go for it. I don't care who wins because he's agreed that the money raised will go towards the Trevor Project." He sighed and leant in closer to Mercedes. "I bid two hundred on him."

Mercedes laughed and wrapped her arm around Kurt in a hug. "I hope you get it, boo. He is delicious."

"Who's delicious?" Sam asked, approaching them, two drinks in his hand. He passed one to Mercedes who gave him a kiss on the cheek in response.

"Zac Efron," Kurt replied.

"Of course," Sam said with a nod.

Kurt smiled at them. "I'll leave you two love birds alone," he said. "I'm going to go rescue the punch bowl from Rachel before she decides to drink the whole thing."

Mercedes waved at him and Kurt headed across the room, taking Rachel's arm and gently leading her away from the refreshments table.

"C'mon," he said to her. "Let's take you to the auction room so you can bid on something nice."

"Okay," Rachel said happily, clearly tipsy already.

She was wearing a pink dress. Kurt had tried convincing her to go with something a little classier but apparently Rachel didn't want to deter from her favoured happy colour. They headed to the little side room that had all of the silent auction items listed and Kurt urged Rachel to bid on something.

She ended up bidding on an espresso machine because apparently she wanted a new one. Kurt sighed but he was just glad she had bid on something.

They headed back out onto the dance floor and Rachel pulled him in close, dancing with him. Kurt glanced around as they moved together, taking in the various masks and dresses the women were wearing. Most of the men were wearing plain black suits. Kurt was in black as well, but he always customised his outfits. He had made his own tuxedo from scratch. It had taken him a couple of weeks between working, Tobias showing up and life, but he had managed to finish it in time.

He was wearing a purple dress shirt with it, which was more than he could say for most of the other men, who were just wearing black suits with white shirts and black ties.

Kurt glanced towards the entrance and saw a woman walking in wearing an atrocious multi-coloured dress. The colours were loud and obnoxious, in his opinion, and it was completely unflattering on the blonde girl, whose mask sadly matched her outfit.

"Rachel, look," he hissed, turning Rachel so she could see as well. "She looks like a rainbow threw up on her."

Rachel snorted. "Maybe she couldn't pick one colour?"

Kurt hummed and turned his back to the dress. Sometimes he just did not understand people's fashion choices.

Kurt twirled Rachel in his arms, listening to her laugh happily. She rested her head on his shoulder the moment she was close enough and let out a sigh. Kurt smiled to himself and dropped a kiss onto the top of her head.

After a while, Rachel got tired of dancing with him and went to dance with Santana. Kurt made his way to the refreshment table to get himself a drink. He wandered through the room, taking in people's outfits and masks, admiring the ones who put effort into theirs. The array of colours on the masks of the women in the room were outstanding, he thought. There were some that stood out beyond their gigantic feathers and there were others that had a more subtle taste to them.

"Kurt!"

Kurt turned to see Isabelle smiling at him. He smiled back and accepted her hand to dance.

"Sorry for brushing you off earlier," she started.

"No, no," Kurt replied. "No need to apologise."

Isabelle smiled at him. "Are you having a good night?" she asked.

Kurt dipped her, keeping a firm hold of her. "I really am," he replied, sweeping her back upright and twirling with her across the dance floor. "The turnout is spectacular as well."

Isabelle turned her head and glanced around the room. "I think this is our best one so far."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Kurt said. They fell silent while they finished their dance and Kurt wandered through to the bidding room with her on his arm once the song was over.

"The bids are going fantastically," Isabelle commented. "Wow, someone put three thousand on a date with Zac Efron!"

"Damnit," Kurt said, glancing over her shoulder to see the list. "I can't afford that."

Isabelle chuckled. "Sorry, Kurt," she replied, patting him on the arm.

They went through the rest of the lists, seeing that there were a fair amount of bids on each of them. It was good to see that people were so keen to bid. Isabelle's date came to whisk her away a few minutes later and she left Kurt in the bidding room alone.

He browsed through the lists, making a mental note of which ones were doing the best and what charities they were for. He smiled to himself as he exited the room, glad things were going so well.

Kurt put his empty glass down on the tray of a passing waiter and glanced around the room, trying to spot his friends. He saw Santana's shimmering mask in her signature red colour and smiled to himself. She looked gorgeous, as always, and she was dancing rather close with a blonde girl in a gorgeous metallic purple/blue mask.

As Kurt started to cross the room, he spotted a guy in a white suit. His breath caught in his throat when the man turned around, revealing a white and silver mask.

Whoever he was – he was absolutely stunning.

~*~

"You bought the suit?"

Blaine nodded. "I'm sorry for snapping, Aud," he said. "I was having the worst day."

Audrey stepped forwards and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I forgive you," she replied, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you," Blaine said. He fiddled with his mask, straightening out the elastic as they waited for Cooper and his wife, Genevieve, to join them in the entrance hall of Cooper's home.

"Nice suit, Uncle Blaine!" Grant said cheerfully as he approached.

Blaine smiled. "Thanks," he replied. "You too."

Grant smiled his Cooper genetically given smile and threw him a wink. "I'll see you at the party, my ride is here."

"Okay," Blaine said with a nod. Grant waved at them and headed out of the door, letting it slam behind him.

Eric and Charles were the next ones to leave, giving Blaine a hug as they passed him with their girlfriend and fianc�e respectively, opting to share their own car rather than ride with their dad. Not that Blaine could blame them, either. Cooper was a little eccentric, even for his tastes. He couldn't help but sympathise with Cooper's sons in that regard.

"Are you all ready?" Cooper asked as he descended the stairs with Genevieve.

"Of course, Daddy," Audrey replied with a smile. "You and Mom look amazing."

"Thank you, dear," Genevieve said, kissing her daughter on the cheek.

They all made their way out into the limousine that Cooper had hired for the evening. They let the women get into the car first and Blaine sat along the side by himself.

Audrey had chosen a deep blue dress to wear that looked positively amazing on her. Her mask had faux feathers attached to the right hand side of it, giving her an ethereal quality.

Blaine's gaze slipped over to his sister in law as she adjusted her turquoise mask, that matched her flowing dress. She shot him a smile before pushing her curly blonde hair over her shoulder. Blaine joined in the conversation where he could and soon, they were getting out of the car after it pulled up outside of the Vogue building.

They entered the building together and Audrey flashed him a smile before leaving to go find someone to dance with, no doubt.

Blaine straightened his suit jacket and figured he should follow Audrey's lead. He stepped out onto the dance floor and lost himself in the sea of colourful masks and dancing bodies.

Blaine could just make out Audrey dancing with a bunch of different people when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Care for a dance?" the gentleman asked.

"Sure," Blaine replied, taking the stranger's hand in his own. "Excellent choice in a red mask," he complimented.

The smiled brightly at him. "Thank you," he replied. "I must say, your choice in suit is positively alluring."

Blaine ducked his head a little as they twirled in a circle. "That compliment should go to my niece, she picked this outfit for me."

"Yes, but you fill it out so nicely," the male replied, slipping his hand down to rest on the small of Blaine's back.

The song ended a few moments later and Blaine stepped back. "Thank you for the dance." He gave the man a smile and headed to the refreshment table to get himself a drink.

He wandered around the ballroom for a while and danced with a few other people, smiling and surprisingly enjoying himself. He took a break to go bid on some things in the silent auction. Blaine had heard there was a dinner with Zac Efron on the table and even though the star was significantly younger than he was, he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to go on a date with him. Even if it was for charity.

Blaine made his way back onto the dance floor and a man in a stunning outfit with a gorgeous black mask stepped in front of him.

"I'm sorry," he said, a little breathily, and Blaine detected a light accent on him. "I'm not usually this forward but would you care to dance?"

Blaine nodded. "I'd love to," he replied, taking the man's hand in his own.

They stepped together, the male was a few inches taller than Blaine and Blaine found that he rather enjoyed gazing up into the gorgeous eyes of his dance partner. They moved together with an ease that Blaine hadn't experienced with anyone at the ball so far. He was twirled and he twirled the other male and they stepped back together, bodies flush against one another.

The male smiled and Blaine felt his breath hitching in his throat.

"May I cut in?" a voice off to Blaine's side asked.

Blaine shot the guy one last look before he was swept away in a dance with someone else. Blaine stood, watching the guy dancing, hoping that he would suddenly stop and come back to Blaine.

He shook his head to rid himself of silly thoughts and was just about to head to the restrooms when Audrey stepped in his path.

"Dance with me," she said.

Blaine smiled and took her hand, letting her take lead of the dance. He found his gaze wandering around the crowded room, looking for the mysterious guy in the black mask that he had danced with but he had no luck. There were too many men in black suits and black masks, even if the guy he had danced with had a unique spin on both of his.

He bit back a sigh and Audrey shot him a look.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh," Blaine said, shaking his head. "Nothing, sweetheart."

Audrey pursed her lips together. "I know that look. Spill."

"It's nothing, it's silly," Blaine said. "Fine." He took a breath and glanced around once more. "I was dancing with a guy before and he was... well, he was amazing to say the least. He could move, Aud."

"Hot," Audrey replied with a wink. "Can you find him again?"

"It's a masquerade ball," Blaine deadpanned.

Audrey swatted his arm playfully. "You know what I mean," she said. "See if you can find him again on the dance floor. I'm sure dancing with all of these hot young guys must be such a chore for you."

Blaine smiled. "If it's meant to be, I'm sure we'll dance again before the end of the night."

They parted ways after the next song and Blaine found himself dancing with Cooper, which was both strange and terrifying.

"See any tail you want, Bee?" Cooper asked as he looked over Blaine's head at the crowd of dancing bodies.

"Coop, stop trying to be hip," Blaine said. "It isn't cool when you're over fifty."

"Shh, I'm forty-nine and some months."

Blaine snorted and shook his head. He looked passed Cooper's arm and stopped when he thought he saw the guy from before staring at him but when Cooper turned them, Blaine lost eye contact. He refrained from sighing and turned his attention back to Cooper, who was talking about something Blaine wasn't listening to.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Blaine said, breaking away from his brother.

"Okay, Bee," Cooper replied, taking his wife back into his arms to dance with.

Blaine took a glass of punch and sipped at it, watching the dancing bodies move passed him with each moment. He headed to the restrooms to freshen up and when he exited a few minutes later, he caught a flash of the black mask from earlier. He found his feet carrying him across the floor to follow the man in the mask.

Blaine made his way through the crowd of people, trying to catch a glimpse of the mask again.

After fifteen minutes of looking, Blaine gave up. There was no way he was going to be able to find the man in the mask when there were so many people around and so many black suits. It was impossible.

Blaine turned around, ready to leave for the evening when he literally turned into the arms of the man he had been looking for. Blaine couldn't help but smile. "It's you," he said.

The guy smiled and squeezed his hand gently. Blaine felt himself melt into the other male's embrace as they swayed together.

"You're a good dancer," the man said after a few minutes.

"You're British?" Blaine asked, blinking. "Were you British before...?"

The male nodded. "I'm... easily recognisable at these events so I decided to don the accent for the evening. I hope I don't disappoint?"

"Not at all," Blaine breathed, unable to stop smiling. "Though your accent is gorgeous, keep talking."

The guy chuckled; it was light and made Blaine feel like he was floating. "Maybe you can give me something to talk about?"

"What's your name?"

"Not that."

"Oh," Blaine said, deflating a little. "How about... what's your favourite colour?"

The guy smiled. "Blue."

Blaine smiled back and they turned once more. The guy dipped him and as Blaine came back up, their bodies were closer than ever before. Blaine took in the man's mask that framed the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. He found himself leaning closer and his heart thumped in anticipation.

He never did this. He never found some random guy in any kind of social situation to just start talking to. Especially not like this. It was exciting.

The other guy leant closer as well and Blaine could feel the warm puff of his breath against his lips.

Blaine's tongue automatically darted out to lick his lips and their gazes locked for a moment before the distance was completely closed between them.

Blaine's bottom lip had barely brushed against the other guy's when he was shoved into roughly from the side, the couple next to them spilling their drinks all over his dance partner's outfit.

The male cursed and the couple apologised. Before Blaine could blink, the guy was gone and he was left with the phantom feeling of a lip touching his own.