It was mid-April now, and after a month of acquaintance Kurt and Blaine was at a very interesting phase of their friendship. Everything was still new, awfully exciting and exhilarating, but due to this indescribable connection that neither could really explain, they shared mutual trust, respect and deep curiosity towards everything the other was involved in.

Ever since Blaine quoted his philosophy teacher in a mail to Kurt, the boys fell into this habit of sharing the interesting bits of their education. They talked about techniques in design and photography, but both had courses outside their majors, like psychology and sociology, literature and even urban economics. And both were the kind of people who enjoyed integrating everything into their works. It made them feel pretty well-rounded.

And sharing it made it even more fun.

Day after day they’d passed texts that contained only keywords for the material of a particularly interesting class, or meeting, or conversation. Itwas stimuli the boys used. Either in the project they worked on, or just as talking points. Kurt wrote things like:six degrees of separation, wonder if I know somebody who knows Patti Lupone? Orif black is the lack of light, what does it tell about me that I love that color? And Blaine, on other days would say:if the opposite of death is birth, what’s the opposite of life? Or if fashion changes so quickly, why is it appealing to go back to earlier trends?

Their topics ranged from the silliest to the deepest philosophical questions, and they felt so grateful that they had someone to share these with.

A week and a half after Blaine’s return from the road trip with Cooper, on a Friday afternoon, Kurt received a text.

From Blaine:

(2:27)

In lit.class. we’re talking about how a seeing person can identify w/ a blind man.Gosh,so grateful that I have all my senses…it just hit me so hard! c u xxx – B

Kurt’s heart clenched reading the text. For more than one reason… On the one hand he adored that Blaine was so responsive to literature, and was so ready to tap into a role, a character, a point of view, just to understand the pain and struggles of others. On the other hand, Kurt himself was hit by the same recognition as Blaine. That they both had a lot to be grateful for. And suddenly he had a great idea.

Usually the aftermath of such texts was a “simple” follow up conversation, where both boys poured their hearts out and found some sort of relief. This time Kurt wanted to go further. He wanted to feel and express this sudden gratitude, and hoped Blaine would be partner for this.

It was Friday after all.

So Kurt quickly made a plan, and texted Blaine.

From Kurt:

(2:34)

Meet me in front of Cocoa at 4? i have a plan… : )

From Blaine:

(2:36)

Sure. And I’m definitely not asking you what kind of a plan… =) c u real soon

Kurt had a general idea of what they’d be doing in the afternoon with Blaine, and tried not to come up with specific details in his head, because that would’ve been an unfair advantage against the other boy. So, instead, he quickly took a shower and got ready, and done some reading. He didn’t have much time anyway, so come 4 pm, he was waiting in front of the little caf� for Blaine.

“Well, hey there Mister” Blaine chirped when he arrived. He couldn’t help but acknowledge with a wide grin Kurt’s clothes. “What’s with the fedora?”

Kurt was wearing a simple gray fedora, for a reason, but he wouldn’t reveal that just now. And anyway, it matched his outfit perfectly, he was in black jeans and a lighter, gray, long sleeved shirt, with a black vest above it. A light scarf. With his usual messenger bag.

“Is it too much?” Kurt asked, not really insecure, rather just showing that he heard the comment.

“Not at all, it suits you.” Blaine was kind of glad he had the conversation started so easily, because he was debating how to greet the other boy, and the small talk took off the tension of to-hug-or-not-to-hug.

“Plus, we look definitely matchy-matchy…” Kurt said with a sly smile. Indeed, Blaine was in black jeans, too, with a gray v-neck sweater, and white-gray sneakers. He pulled it off.

“So, what’s the big plan?” Blaine asked. Suddenly, Kurt was a little nervous. He thought it was a great idea, but couldn’t tell whether Blaine would be game or not.

“Um, okay. I’ll tell you in a minute, but first. Do you work tonight?”

“Nope, free and at your service.”

“Great. And do you think we could use the kitchen?” Kurt gestured towards the caf� they were standing in front of.

“The kitchen? In Cocoa?”

“Well, yeah, don’t they have one?”

“Yeah, of course. It just sounds sort of unorthodox for an afternoon hang-out.”

“Exactly.” Kurt said, smugly. And with that, he pushed the door open, and went inside, followed closely by Blaine. When they reached the counter, he turned back to Blaine. “Get me inside.”

“Yes, sir.” Blaine said, with mock obedience, but in his smile was a hint of being impressed.

A few soft, quick words with the barista behind the counter, and Blaine gestured Kurt to follow him.

Kurt didn’t know what to expect, but he had his hopes, and the kitchen was actually perfect for what he had in mind. When they entered, Kurt saw two long counters on the sides and rows of little kitchen islands arranged in a way that, combined with the overhead cupboards and other equipment-holders, the place wasn’t easily seen trough. Which was exactly what Kurt wished for. He needed the kitchen with all its equipment, but he also wanted some place private where they could get lost in a game.

“Are you gonna tell me why we’re here now?” Blaine asked turning to Kurt. He wasn’t annoyed, or impatient, rather excited and intrigued.

“We’re gonna play a game.” Kurt answered, quite mysteriously.

“Please say hide-and-seek.” Blaine said, suddenly grinning with huge puppy eyes. Kurt couldn’t help a chuckle.

“No, but you’re adorkable. It’s even better.”

“I’m listening…” Blaine cooled down a little. But only a little.

“Well, your text really got to me this afternoon. I loved that you took time to stop and appreciate the thought.”

“Well, you would’ve done the same, I’m sure.” Blaine said, trying to ease the compliment.

“Exactly.” Kurt responded in an instant. The boys looked at each other. Kurt’s statement wasn’t presumptuous or self-indulgent. And they both knew it. He was merely stating a fact. This topic happened to be something that got his mind working the same way it did Blaine’s. “And that’s why I came up with the idea of this game.”

“Which is…?” Blaine asked.

“I was just about to tell you. Would you stop interrupting me?” Kurt reprimanded, suppressing a smile, his voice full of playfulness. “So, your text kind of summed up what I think. That, on the one hand, I should remember to be grateful, but on the other hand, I’m really curious as to how well I would cope with a disability. You know?”

“Yeah.” Blaine waited for the game… Especially since Kurt’s tone was too serious for something light to follow. But he was surprised.

“So, we’ll take turns.” And with that Kurt took off his hat. “And each of us will be responsible for one sense.” He took a piece of paper and a pen out. “We’ll show each other what’s so special about each, in a creative way. And we’ll try to challenge the other, and push our limits.” And without waiting for an approval, started to tear the piece of paper into slips. Six, to be exact. When he was finished, he looked up. And as hard as he tried to seem confident, he had a hint of insecurity in his eyes that Blaine immediately detected.

Kurt liked the idea of the game, of course he did. But he wasn’t sure if Blaine didn’t think it was stupid, or childish for an afternoon hang-out. Or worse. Artificial.

But he didn’t have to worry, and Blaine wanted to reassure him instantly. In fact, a certain amount of pride spread through him. He wouldn’t say that to Kurt, but he liked to think he was at least partially responsible for Kurt’s willingness to such spontaneity. Blaine was pretty sure before last week’s shopping/ice-creaming shennanigans Kurt had other ideas about planned and unplanned fun.

“Okay. I like your idea.”

“You do?” Kurt couldn’t hide his joyous relief.

“Of course.” Blaine smiled his softest, sweetest smile. “But, I don’t know, could you maybe illustrate what you had in mind?”

“Well, what do you say if we each take 3 pieces of paper, and I’ll go first. That way, you’ll know what I mean.”

“Okay, that could work.” Blaine nodded. “Wait. Three each? What’s the sixth?”

“Well, don’t laugh, but I googled some options. I knew the idea of strictly 5 senses was somewhat outdated, but I had no idea how many others there are in the literature. And, yes, totally arbitrarily I chose balance to be the sixth.”

“Balance?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I can work with that.”

“You might not have to.”

“One more thing. What’s the point in picking from the hat? I’m assuming that’s what you have your fedora for. But we’ll know what the other has anyway.”

“True, but you can decide on the order. This is the challenging-each-other part. You won’t know what to expect.”

“Right. That makes sense. Okay, I wanna pick first.” Blaine said, now super excited about the game.

Kurt folded the slips neatly, and dropped them in the fedora. He shook the hat lightly, and held it out for Blaine to pick from. The boy didn’t hesitate for long, and picked 3.

Kurt turned his back to Blaine for a moment, put the fedora down on a counter, and took a look at his own slips.

vision balance smell

Which meant Blaine had hearing, taste and touch.

Kurt’s mind immediately set to work. He decided to start with vision. After all, that was the thing that prompted the whole idea in the first place. He tried to quickly go through ideas of what’s the best thing about the ability to see, and what would happen if he lost it. He knew Blaine had a very intimate relationship with this particular sense, or so he assumed. Because of photography. But Kurt wanted to convey his own passion, not mimic Blaine’s.

“Okay, Blaine, I still have a question. Are you sure you’re game? I know I didn’t leave you much of a choice, I just sprang this on you, but you can say no, you know?”

“Kurt, I think your idea is brilliant. And I really really appreciate it. I think this was exactly what I needed. So, please, don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself and my challenges for you.” He added finally, with a playful wink. Kurt relaxed at this, but had to make sure they were on the same page.

“Do you trust me?” He asked. He needed to hear Blaine give him the permission. For the whole game.

“Yes, I do.” The boy said.

“Well, then.” Kurt smiled a confident, almost smug smile, and reached for his scarf around his neck. He took it off, and stepped in front of Blaine. Blaine knew what was coming, and was so okay with it. Kurt gently but firmly tied his scarf in front of Blaine’s eyes.

“Well, there goes the mystery.” Blaine said with a light chuckle. Yes, this was easy enough. vision

“Stay here.” Kurt instructed.

“Kurt, where would I go?”

Kurt didn’t even dignify it with an answer, he was busy looking around the kitchen. He knew Cocoa served sandwiches for customers, so he hoped he’d find what he was looking for. And soon enough, on top of an island, he spotted vegetables. And tomatoes. Perfect.

He quickly went to grab three tomatoes, and returned to Blaine. He led the boy closer to the counter, and from behind, adjusted his body so he was facing the counter in a comfortable manner, as if he was about to chop ingredients. Blaine didn’t know it yet, but that was exactly what he was about to do.

Kurt was so excited, he forgot that he was allowed to speak. When he realized this, he quickly spoke up.

“Okay. I’m going to show you the beauties of cooking.” Blaine smiled, but said nothing. “I have tomatoes on the counter, and I’m going to bring a knife. It’s pretty sharp, so no rash movements, okay?”

“Yep.”

“You’re gonna be the one doing the chopping, okay? I’m only going to lead your hand. I need you to focus. Have you ever sliced tomato?”

“Yes, Kurt, I think that’s sandwich-making 101.”

“Well, I’m glad. So this shouldn’t be anything new, right?”

�

Kurt stepped closer behind Blaine, and used his height advantage to look over Blaine’s shoulder, onto the counter. Kurt thought Blaine must have been quite thrilled by the task as well, because he heard the boy’s breathing hitch, and Blaine fidgeted a little being framed by Kurt from behind. Kurt, ignoring this, put his own hands on Blaine’s, and moved them. Like a puppet, Blaine ignored his own instincts, and trusted his movements with Kurt entirely. He felt Kurt’s left hand lift his own, reach out to their left, and in the next moment he felt a slightly cold, smooth orb under his palm. And another. And another. Each was as big as he could hold in a loose grip. He couldn’t hold the three at once, but Kurt didn’t want him to, apparently. They took one of the vegetables in hand, and Kurt, sliding his fingers to Blaine’s wrist now, lifted said hand, towards Blaine’s face, and held it firmly in a sniffing distance.

“Smell it.” Kurt instructed shortly.

Well, if Blaine thought handling the vegetables blindly wouldn’t surprise him, he was acutely wrong. The newness of everything was profound. Without seeing the red orb his other senses were heightened. He expected a neutral smell, an unsliced tomato shouldn’t have any particular scent, right? Well, not quite.

The scent of the vegetable wasn’t as strong as Blaine knew an already chopped one to smell like. But it had its own characteristic feel to it. Blaine wasn’t sure whether his touch, or sense of temperature played a role in it, but he was hit by how fresh and full the tomato smelled like. Blaine, giving up his puppet-state for a moment, wanted to bring the orb closer to his mouth, to taste the vegetable, or just feel its smooth surface against his lips, but his motion was stopped.

“Uh uh.” Kurt objected. “No tasting just yet. Come on, we need to chop this up.”

They lowered the tomato to a wooden board on the counter, and with his right hand Kurt led Blaine’s to a knife on their rights.

“Blaine, I need you to focus very hard, I don’t want to chop off our fingers, okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good.” from Blaine’s voice it was evident how attuned he was to Kurt’s instructions. He concentrated on every information his senses gave him, and it was hard. Of course it was hard without his sight.

“Okay, I want you to grip the handle.” Blaine did so. “And raise the knife, and bring it towards the tomato. But don’t lower it just yet.” Blaine followed Kurt’s words with his actions. “Good. Now I need you to leave the tomato on the board, and bring your left hand towards the knife, and feel the blade, but strictly from above, okay? I’ll help you with that.”

Kurt led their left hands above the knife, hovering for a moment, and then lowered Blaine’s palm, so it touched the steel blade, and its dull edge.

“Okay, can you slide your open palm over this part? Don’t try to grip the blade, please, it really is sharp on the other side. But I need you to feel how long the blade is, and how it’s angled. Okay?”

Blaine did as he was instructed, and without uttering a word, he simply nodded, when he mapped out the knife.

“Now, take a tomato in your left hand.” Blaine did so, and Kurt arranged is fingers on the vegetable in a way that will be comfortable and safe for the chopping. “And bring the knife closer. Good. And now, if you feel the distance more or less between the blade and your finger, slice into the tomato.”

Okay, the action was pretty simple. For someone with a vision. But these simple little instructions took up all of Blaine’s concentration, and he couldn’t loosen his focus, because his fingers were in danger. But, with much effort, he managed to chop up the first orb into 5 or six relatively decent slices. Kurt then guided his right hand, and the knife in it, to push aside the already managed tomato.

Every little thing, the new shapes and matters under his fingers felt amazing. And the familiar scent of a juicy, rich tomato reached Blaine’s nostrils.

The second tomato was handled in a similar fashion.

But with the third one, Kurt decided to be a little more adventurous.

“Do you think you can cope with a little intensity?” he asked Blaine.

“Please, my middle name is intensity.” Blaine retorted. and both chuckled at that.

“Dork. Okay. We are not chopping this one up, but we’re going to cut an x into this one, okay?”

“Okay.” Blaine agreed, and with Kurt’s helping fingers, they marked the vegetable as a treasure chest.

“Now, I want you to put down the knife carefully.” Kurt gave out orders like a pro. “And holding the tomato in one hand, use the other to slightly open it with the other.”

Blaine’s head gave the tiniest movement of surprise, but obeyed nonetheless. He delicately opened the cuts he did to the orb. And all his hesitance evaporated, when he felt why Kurt asked him to do so. With the touch of his fingers and palms, he sensed the tomato to its core. As silly as that sounds. Liquid spurted on his fingers, and it was smooth and cold and slimy.

“I’m going to put a bowl in front of you.” Kurt’s voice was definitely affected by what was happening in front of his eyes. But he did everything to control it. “Hold the tomato above it, with the open mark down.” Blaine did so, and he heard a few drops of precious liquid hit a bowl on the counter. “And now squeeze.” As Kurt said that, both of his hands held onto Blaine’s hands gripping the fresh, red vegetable, and in accordance with Blaine’s squeezing motion the delicious matter covered both their hands.

Kurt felt a rush of boldness, and without thinking about it twice raised his right, liquid covered thumb to Blaine’s mouth, who, of course, couldn’t see that. So he was definitely surprised when with his lower lip he sensed the combination of warms skin and cool fluid. But he didn’t hesitate for a second, he parted his lips, and took Kurt’s thumb into his mouth, surprising Kurt with his reaction.

The taste was phenomenal. Both the vegetable, and the soft skin of Kurt, and the mix of the both sent Blaine’s mind reeling, and he needed to remind himself that he couldn’t see Kurt’s face, so he probably should act decent, and release the poor thumb from the hot cavern of his mouth.

Blaine couldn’t be sure, but he though he heard Kurt’s breathing hitch for a short second.

A few moments went by without either of them saying a word, both trying to control their breathing, when Blaine smiled, and turned his head and his still blindfolded eyes towards where he thought Kurt was standing.

“Okay. Task one, complete. It was the perfect start. Except for the fact that I missed the way I’m sure you blushed just now.”

“Isn’t that what makes it really perfect?” Kurt answered, surprised at his own quick bluntness. “You gained a few insights, but you also have to face the fact that you would miss out on things not having your vision.”

“Fair enough.” Blaine said, and reached for the knot at the back of his head. When the scarf came off, Kurt wasn’t blushing anymore.

And Blaine decided it was his goal for the afternoon to challenge Kurt in a way that he could witness those rosy cheeks he was so cruelly denied moments before.

“Okay, my turn.”

“Yes, sir.” Blaine quickly looked at the three little pieces of paper he stuffed into his pocket previously, and after a few seconds of heavy thinking he mentally picked one.

“I have a certain amount of freedom, right?” Blaine asked the “master” of the game.

“Of course. Whatever you want. Whatever serves your purpose.”

“Well then…” Blaine made his decision, and looked around the space, to see if he can find something to use. Or rather, two somethings. His eyes set on a cupboard, he went to look inside. Out of the two Blaine was more familiar with the kitchen, so he knew what he’d find in the cupboard. Spices. He opened the door, and quickly took out two small containers.

When he went back to Kurt, the boy could see one was filled, almost to the top, with salt-like material. The other was a small glass jar, with long, dark brown sticks. Kurt’s trained eyes recognized those to be cinnamon-sticks. He was confused…

“I’m not gonna deprive you of any of your senses.” Blaine started to explain. “I just want to show you something. I want to show you how reality and expectations can be so very perplexing, especially when they are so close to each other. And when some of your senses scream one thing, and the othersshout another. And you can’t really decide whether you’re imagining things, or not. I hope this will work.” I hope you’ll see how confused I get around you, Blaine thought, but didn’t want to say it out loud.

Kurt still didn’t see quite clearly what was coming, but he trusted Blaine, he did.

“Can I hop on the counter?” He asked, and when Blaine nodded, with an elegant little jump he sat on the smooth surface. Blaine was standing in front of him, to his left, and set to work. He quickly took of the lid from the cinnamon-glass, and from the salt-container.

“Kurt, I promise, I have a point, but this might be incredibly unpleasant.” Blaine said.

“Will it hurt?”

“No, of course not.” Blaine said, and hoped to convey that he would never, never hurt this boy.

“Then go ahead.” Kurt responded with determination, and Blaine wanted to drown in those eyes that radiated I trust you.

Blaine, with secure hand took a cinnamon stick from the glass, and brought a new knife, smaller than the one they used for the tomatoes, with a narrower blade, but just as sharp. He placed the cinnamon on the counter, and holding in between his index finger and thumb he dragged the point of the knife along the dark brown surface. When he finished, he put down the knife and after a few, gentle motions of his hand with which he opened up the spice, he raised the cinnamon to Kurt’s face. He held it in front of the boy’s nose, and with a nod gestured for Kurt to smell it.

Kurt’s senses were immediately overwhelmed with the strong, very pleasant scent. His memories of baking, and festivities came rushing to his mind, the atmosphere of winter was among those, and every meal and drink he ever had that used cinnamon flooded his imagination. He could almost hear the conversations he had over cinnamon-tasting coffee, he could almost feel the warmth of the baked goods he used cinnamon for, and he could almost taste all of this on his tongue. So close.

“Show me your tongue.” Blaine said, and as extremely silly that sounded, neither of them commented on it, Kurt obeyed without hesitation.

At that point Blaine was still holding the cinnamon stick under Kurt’s nose, but with his free left hand he maneuvered to the salt container, and unbeknownst to Kurt, took a pinch of the white spice. Raised it to Kurt’s tongue, and dropped it onto the pink flesh.

Kurt immediately pulled his tongue back, and his face scrunched up, his eyes shut.

“Ew!” he managed, and when he was able to open his eyes again, he looked at Blaine.

Who was smiling…

Softly, without any malice on his face, it was rather a smile saying something along the lines of thank you, for letting me do that, and for proving my point.

“Geez, that was awful.” Kurt said. “Can you get me a Coke, or something? Anything with a taste…” But when Blaine went to comply, Kurt stopped him.

“No, wait. You know what? I’ll get it myself. Is that okay? I’ll be back in a few. Will you wait for me here?”

“Kurt, you know I will. Go.”

And with one last exchanged smile Kurt left the kitchen, and Blaine.

In the silent kitchen, Blaine had a few minutes to sort his thoughts. Not about school-stuff, or family business. The only thing occupying his thoughts was Kurt. He was ecstatic, when Kurt texted him to spend the afternoon together. And he was disappointed when he realized, for the umpteenth time, that Kurt had a friendly meeting in mind. He was thrilled when he saw the opportunity to be close to Kurt physically, and in other ways as well. He couldn’t get enough of this spreading feeling in his chest at the realization that Kurt trusted him so deeply. But then again. So close to that pleasant feeling was an ache, a realization that Kurt’s trust was the trust of a friend. A dear friend, yes, but a friend nonetheless.

Blaine was just about to delve into the thought of how Kurt probably didn’t really get the point of his taste-assignment, and that Kurt couldn’t possibly fathom how very confusing it was for Blaine to be around him, when the boy of his thoughts re-entered the kitchen, and Blaine decided to make the most of the afternoon, without losing himself in a pity-party.

Once he really looked at the returning boy, Blaine could see Kurt had something in his hand, holding it behind his back, hindering Blaine from seeing it. He approached Blaine with a huge smile on his face, playfully wriggling his eyebrows with excitement.

“Hey there.” He said cheekily. “Can you help me out here? Is there, by any chance, an empty glass jar in this kitchen I could use?”

“I’m sure I’ll find something.” And with that Blaine, conquering his curiosity and not looking behind Kurt’s back went to see if he could provide Kurt with what he asked for. After a few minutes of opening cupboards and rummaging through them he uttered a victorious “huh” and returned to Kurt and the counter with a jar in his hand.

“Thank you.” Kurt said, and with one hand, the other still behind his back, he reached up to Blaine’s shoulder, and turned him away from the counter. “Just a moment.”

He took the jar, lifted it, turned it with its neck down, and put it back to the counter, placing his hidden treasure underneath it.

“Okay, you can turn around.” He said softly, he himself being mesmerized by this little display.

When Blaine turned back to the counter, it took him a few seconds to put two and two together.

Under the jar was a single red rose, elegantly leaning against the glass. It was in its full bloom, with its violently passionate color, it had thorns, and fresh, radiating green leaves. The petals were intact, and arranged in a way that Blaine thought such a perfect specimen could only be drawn.

And that thought finally gave the riddle away to Blaine. In his mind the notion of drawing was followed by fantasy, imagination, animation, and suddenly he remembered all the stories, tales and Disney pieces that featured a rose. And with perfect timing, no sooner, no later, Kurt started to explain this tiny gesture to Blaine.

“Okay, this is all I could come up with for smelling. I remembered that not too far from the caf� there’s a little flowerbed, and I took a rose. I know, I know. But this was perfect. Because Romeo and Juliet… ‘What is a name?...” Kurt started, but was cut off by Blaine immediately.

“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“Exactly.” Kurt breathed, and smiled softly, slightly shaking his head, hardly believing his ears. It was so so comfortable with Blaine, butunpredictable at the same time. Kurt felt like he needed to add something quickly, otherwise the only word blurting from his mouth would be Amazing!, and he wasn’t sure that was right for the moment. “And I know I’m a little cruel, depriving you of your senses, but the main idea was for you to see the beauty, but not being able to smell it. I somehow felt its scent is the core to a rose, so if you can’t have that, well, you get the picture…”

Blaine did get the picture. That’s why the words were suddenly spilling from his mouth.

“Come here.”

Kurt stepped towards him, without asking why, but when he was a mere feet away, the closeness prompted his curiosity.

“What?”

“Please don’t laugh. But… Can I smell you?” Blaine asked, now a little shy, because he realized the impossibility of the scene, but was no way backing out of it now. Blaine knew Kurt would’ve granted him his approval anyway, because he knew by now how much Kurt trusted him. But he still felt the need to explain himself. “You are a little cruel to deprive me of my senses, but it just makes me appreciate what I have that much more.”

“Oh, and you think you have me?” Kurt asked, trying his best to sound teasing, playful, anything but out-of-breath, which he felt in reality.

“No, that’s not it at all. I just realized I never want to be without your scent, and the memories it evokes in my mind. So I’m trying to memorize it. If that’s okay.”

Kurt couldn’t say a word. It was okay. More than okay. He loved this idea of Blaine wanting those memories to last. But, quite frankly, Blaine’s closeness caused some not-so friendly thoughts to pop into Kurt’s mind, like stay like that forever, or let me smell you, too, and suddenly very self-conscious, Kurt squirmed a little, away from Blaine. Blaine, sensing the slightly visible movement, and utterly misunderstanding Kurt’s unease, panicked a little. The last thing he wanted to do was to make the boy uncomfortable. So he quickly guided both of their attention back the game.

“It’s my turn, right?” he asked, and still wasn’t totally relaxed, because all the reaction Kurt gave was a gulp and a nod. Face unreadable.

Blaine hesitated for a second, but then decided to speak up before continuing the game. He didn’t want this to go unsaid, especially if he read Kurt’s body right, and the boy was uneasy.

“Kurt, I’m sorry if I overstepped. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

“What? No, no, you didn’t.” Kurt said quickly, and when Blaine didn’t seem to believe him, he added. “I promise.”

The word worked as magic. A promise is a promise. So Blaine flashed a quick smile, and for some reason decided to gather evidence for said promise. And anyways, he still had it on his mind to make Kurt blush…

“Can you hop on the counter for me?” Blaine asked, finally concentrating on the next challenge again.

“Sure, how do you want me?”

“Just sit comfortably.” Blaine instructed. “And can you maybe roll up your sleeves? And close your eyes.”

“Yes, sir.” Kurt did as he was told. Hi tried to remember the senses that were still left for Blaine. Hearing and touch. He was trying to figure out what was about to happen. But he couldn’t possibly prepare himself for this.

With a feather-light touch Kurt felt Blaine’s left hand’s fingers touch his left wrist, and slide them underneath his forearm, so it wasn’t lying on Kurt’s thigh, but was in the air, although only mere millimeters from touching his clothing, supported by Blaine’s hand only.

Kurt couldn’t see it, but he could hear Blaine doing something with a glass object, probably the jar. Placing it on the hard surface of the counter. The next moment Kurt’s nose was filled with the freshness and pleasant scent of the rose he plucked minutes before. Without his eyes’ help he could tell that Blaine was probably holding it close to his nose. But why?

Oh, okay, that’s why…

Petals, soft, velvety, caressing petals were the next thing Kurt felt. On his skin.

Blaine was holding the single red rose in his right hand, that much Kurt could figure out, and was slowly caressing Kurt’s sensitive forearm, without touching him with his own fingers.

It was heaven and hell at once. The sensation itself was better than anything Kurt has ever experienced. He felt his nerve-endings to be on overload, his heartbeat quickened at a threatening pace, and all he heard in his head was Blaine’s doing this to me, Blaine’s doing this to me.

But that was exactly why he suddenly felt mortified. Embarrassed. Blaine wasn’t even touching him, and he was still flushed, his breathing became uneven, and Kurt thought only a fool could’ve missed all the signs of his arousal. He felt his face heat up, he was absolutely sure his face was competing with the rose to out-color it, but worst of all, even if he had any hope of Blaine not looking at his face, or somehow not hearing his ragged breaths, there was no way the boy didn’t feel the goosebumps his ministrations caused. After the sudden flash of warmth a chill ran through Kurt’s whole body. His body visibly shook.

Okay, that’s it , he thought. He opened his eyes at the same time his free hand grabbed Blaine’s rose-holding hand, to stop his movements. He looked into Blaine’s eyes, and tried not to give away the intensity of his attraction with his expression, or with his voice.

“Let’s go for a walk.” He said simply, in a surprisingly steady voice. And not even waiting for Blaine’s reaction (he did not want to discuss or even address what just happened) he hopped off the counter, and with quick, expert movements set to clean up some of the equipment and ingredients they used so they could leave the kitchen in order.

He was done in less than a minute, and avoiding eye contact, hoping Blaine was okay with this, he went to exit the kitchen, and the little caf�.

He heard Blaine following him outside, but it was only outside, in the fresh air that Kurt looked at Blaine again, and his heart broke a little. Blaine’s face was full of pain, and shame, and insecurity, and it dawned on Kurt that he never gave an explanation for his rush actions, and that Blaine might have thought Kurt wanted to get away from him…

He was struggling to find the right words to reassure Blaine that it wasn’t the reason they left, when the other boy beat him to it, and started to apologize.

“Kurt, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to ruin the afternoon, please don’t be mad at me, I’d do anything, just don’t give me the silent-treatment, please.” His voice was so weak that Kurt felt he would do anything, hug him, buy him an ice-cream, give him a puppy, just to make him feel better. “I obviously made you feel uncomfortable with the touching, and I’m sorry, I promise, I’ll never do anything like that without your permission. Just, please, don’t be mad at me.”

Kurt’s thought were racing in his head, a dozen of them. He was still a little shaken by how good actually Blaine’s challenge felt, but he also realized that his reactions were totally misunderstood, and that he gave Blaine the chance to question himself, which was totally unfair. Katy’s words rang in his ears, how the girl told him he was not the easiest to decipher, and that he needed to work on how he communicated. He remembered that day in the caf�, the first day of his new life, when Katy said she was the only one to get him fully. He now realized how much truth that sentence held. Not because he didn’t share things with Blaine. He did. Of course. But from time and time again he made the mistake of expecting Blaine to read his mind… And that was unfair.

The look on Blaine’s face, and his insecure ramble was a pretty painful reminder of that for Kurt, and he reprimanded himself for letting it go this far. I need to explain myself, he thought, but he didn’t want to overwhelm Blaine with the full truth either. Neither of them were ready to hearthat, Kurt thought. He can’t just admit his attraction to Blaine… Although that would probably convince Blaine that he misunderstood the reaction. But what if he runs away then? Okay, Kurt had a plan.

“Blaine, I’m not mad at you, I promise. I’m not. And you didn’t make me uncomfortable. Please don’t think that. It actually felt pretty good.” Kurt gave a playful wink at that. I can joke this away, he thought, and was convinced this was for the best. He didn’t lie, per se, he just deliveredthe truth in a way that didn’t make everything awkward. “I just wanted to get out of there. It’s so nice out here, I needed the fresh air.” Because otherwise I would’ve ripped your clothes off, he added in his head, but tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Ease Blaine’s mind. “Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay, Kurt. I just need you to talk to me, because I need to know if I’m doing something wrong.” His eyes were so genuinely caring and eager that Kurt, for a second, felt dizzy under Blaine’s gaze. Which gave Kurt the perfect idea…

“I know, and I’m sorry for giving you the false impression. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry, I’ll try not to silent-treat you again.” He said hurriedly. “And I have the perfect idea for your next sense. For our next sense, actually.”

“Uuu, do tell!” Blaine said, much lighter. His eyes were joyful again, his face full of excitement.

“Come with me.” Kurt said simply.

It took them only half a minute to reach their destination. Kurt took them to the little flowerbed that he took the red rose from. But the flowers were of secondary importance now. They were pretty, sure, but Kurt had something else in mind.

The flowerbed was surrounded by a low, maybe a foot high wooden fence. It was a simple structure, a few inches wide plank, supported by several posts from below. It seemed pretty solid, like something that could hold up the weight of a couple of people if necessary.

“Okay. Next task. I only have one sense left, so you know what’s coming.” Kurt said, voice full of teasing and excitement.

“Um, you had vision, smell and… um… oh yes, balance.”

“That’s right.” Kurt nodded, smiling. “The challenge is simple. We’ll both step on this little construction, but only with one foot, the other will hang in the air. Your job is to knock me off my balance, without touching me.” At the last words dis-ease flashed through Blaine’s face, so Kurt, trying to be a better communicator, quickly added. “I only said without touching, because it will force you to get more creative.”

“Okay, sounds easy enough.”

“Right. I’ll be doing the same. Let’s see who’s better at distracting the other.”

And with that, the boys, discarding their bags, stepped on the narrow wooden fence, and both with one leg hanging in the air, got into position. They were facing each other, and after a few unstable seconds, they found their balance. And locked eyes.

The first few seconds the boys realized two things. One, this was going to be hard. Second, it was kind of awesome, because they could openly stare at each other. For minutes they said nothing, just stood there, perfectly balanced (from time to time one or the other would need to adjust himself a little), staring into each other’s eyes, and grinning widely.

But once the initial phase was over, both started to think hard about the winning strategy.

Blaine was the first to act. He decided, the best way to distract Kurt would be to make the boy laugh so hard that he would lose his balance and step off of their scaffold. He chuckled a little, and, looking at Kurt intently, he started making faces.

First, he blew up his cheeks, squinted, and with his fingers, pulled his ears away from his head slightly. Kurt couldn’t hold back his laugh. Blaine looked adorable, and definitely like a five year old. Blaine knew he was on the right track. One, he wanted to win, but two, in that moment he felt like this was all he wanted to do, for the rest of his life. To make Kurt produce that beautiful, melodic, disturbingly angelic laughter.

His next face was a little different. He raised one of his eyebrows, high, the other he lowered, which gave him a comically unsymmetrical expression. He stuck out his tongue slightly, and raised his two index fingers next to his temples. He looked like a little devil. A painfully loveable little devil.

Again, Kurt couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Little did Blaine know that Kurt’s biggest struggle at the moment was not to fight his laughter in order to keep his balance, but to suppress this forceful need to close the distance between them, and hug the hell out of this ridiculously cute clown.

When Kurt’s laughter subsided a little, he took deep breaths, and closing his eyes he ducked his head a little, calming himself. When a few seconds passed, he lifted his hand to his hair, and combed through it lightly, leaving his palm at the top of his head afterwards. He raised his head, and with a pure, joyful smile, he looked up at Blaine from under his lashes. For a few moments he found his balance so perfectly that he looked like he was standing securely on his two feet.

He looked like a vision. A freaking god. The way he lifted his arm, his muscles became visible through his shirt, His hair wasn’t covering his forehead, his skin was glowing everywhere. And his smile. Those beautiful teeth, peeking through shyly, and kindly. But all of that was nothing, compared to his eyes. His eyes shone with carelessness, and innocence, and were at the same time so naughty and teasing, and outright sexy. Those eyes could melt the whole of Antarctica, Blaine was sure of this.

He took Blaine’s breath away.

So much so that the boy, for the shortest seconds lost his balance, and was helplessly flailing for the next few, trying to gain back his posture. But it was hopeless. One look at the ridiculously gorgeous boy in front of him meant the end of Blaine.

He couldn’t help it, he needed to step off the fence, to the ground.

Kurt didn’t understand what was going on, but cared little for how he won. He was now the excited puppy, getting off the wood immediately after Blaine, and jumping up and down, clapping playfully.

“I won, I won, I won.” He laughed.

And Blaine didn’t mind. Not one bit. In fact, he thought he could only remember a handful of moments where he felt happier in his life…

“Okay, okay, sorry for the over-enthusiasm, I just really like to win.” Kurt said, mistaking Blaine’s awe-struck face for impatience. “It’s your turn, mister. The last challenge. Make it something good.”

Blaine’s mind immediately set to work, and he knew exactly what he wanted to do for hearing.

“I think we should go to Prospero’s.” he said.

“Okay. That’s unorthodox.”

“After Cocoa’s kitchen? I don’t think so.”

“Touche. So, what’s at Propsero’s?”

“You’ll see when we get there.” Blaine said with firm finality, and started in the direction of the little bookshop nearby.

When they arrived, Blaine opened the door for Kurt, let him inside, and gestured for him to go further, between the shelves. He himself stepped to the cashier’s counter, and exchanged a few quick words with the man standing there.

He caught up with Kurt a few seconds later.

“We can go upstairs, there’s a piano there.” he said, as if that was the most natural sentence he’s ever uttered.

“Upstairs? Piano?” Kurt wasn’t sure he heard him right.

“Yes, Kurt.” Blaine smiled a little. “But you don’t have to repeat everything I say. I talked to the guy behind the counter, he said we could use it.”

“I didn’t know there was a piano in here. I’ve never heard anyone play it before.”

“Have you been here a lot?” Blaine asked, as he was leading Kurt to the narrow staircase that was leading to a loft-like upper floor.

“Fair point.” Kurt admitted.

The next few minutes were spent with a sort of preparation Kurt couldn’t have understood. Blaine was busy adjusting the space for something Kurt supposed to be his last challenge. Blaine arranged a chair a few feet away from the piano, he put the piano-chair itself into the right height, he led Kurt to the former one, made him sit, and then went to a shelf that seemed to be full of gadgets and trifles, and started to rummage through that. Looking for something in specific, Kurt was sure.

When Blaine straightened his back with a triumphant smile, he was holding something. It was a huge headset, large enough to cover one’s ears fully, with big, puffy, pillow-like thingies where the ears might fit. He gave it to Kurt.

“Now I’m going to be the cruel one, depriving you of your hearing. This is an experiment. I’m going to it down, to play for you. Except you won’t hear a thing. This headset is pretty good, not a sound will get through it. I’m curious how much you can enjoy music without hearing it.”

“But the shop. Are we supposed to do this?”

“Kurt, I told you, they said it was okay. This is not the first time I’m using the instrument, I promise.”

There it was, that word again. Kurt knew anything further was useless. And he was quite intrigued. So he put on the headset (which, indeed, excluded the noises of the world), sat comfortably in his chair, and settled to pay close attention to Blaine.

The boy sat down to the instrument. He was fidgeting for a few quick seconds, trying to find the most comfortable position. Then he lifted his hands above the keys, slightly, as if he was just feeling the atmosphere they were radiating. From Kurt’s distance it looked like Blaine was casting a spell on the piano. A good spell.

Blaine’s face was smiley and absentminded when he sat Kurt down. Now that he was in front of the instrument, it was absolutely transfigured. He focused on the keys, and his face expressed the most serious concentration Kurt’s ever seen on his face. Kurt couldn’t hear it of course, but he saw when Blaine started to play.

His fingers danced elegantly and oh so lightly along the keys, his eyes following the movements. The hands seemed to be moving with such ease and fluency that Kurt was sure the music he couldn’t hear was magic to those in the shop.

After a minute or so Blaine stopped following his fingers with his eyes, he raised his head lightly, looking over the piano, waving his head slightly with the rhythm. Kurt could sense the change in tempo, Blaine’s whole upper body indicated it. His shoulders, his back leaned into the making of the melody, and as he was getting into it more and more, his harmonious motions became more and more focused, and centered.

At one point Blaine tossed his head back, closed his eyes, and for the next few seconds continued playing like that. And Kurt’s never seen anything like that before. He felt he just witnessed Blaine opening up his chest, his soul, and passion, pure passion was flowing out of it. Kurt swore if souls could have color, he’d see it right now, because it was everywhere, filling the room and connecting everything. Blaine was playing, not caring for anything else, and still, being so much in control that Kurt tried to find a word, and finally settled with sublime. Something so majestic that he was almost in fearful awe of this phenomenon.

Blaine didn’t play for long, as far as Kurt could tell, the song he chose must have been four five minutes long. When he came to a close, his fingers relaxed, returned to the feather light dance-moves of the beginning of the song, and when Blaine’s whole body was at ease, well, that was when Blaine turned slightly in his chair, and moved his head towards Kurt.

He flashed a smile that was in itself gorgeous, but confused Kurt a little. Kurt felt that Blaine was trying to downplay the significance of the past minutes by showing his playful, careless grin. But he couldn’t blame him. It was probably really hard to expose yourself like that, and then carry on with a normal conversation.

But Kurt still needed him to understand how important this was for him. He took off the headset, gazing, boring into Blaine’s eyes, hoping he can convey everything he wanted.

“Thank you.” he breathed finally. There wasn’t much else he could’ve said.

“So, how was it? Being without your ears?” Blaine asked. It wasn’t that the magic was lost, but the intensity couldn’t be kept up, they needed to wind down somehow.

“I’m not sure I can put it to words.” Kurt admitted. “But next time I’m definitely listening.”

“Was it that disturbing to see my face without the music?” Blaine asked, chuckling.

“No, that’s not it at all. It’s just… I could tell so much just by looking at you. How much you enjoyed it, and how much you can express. But I need to hear how music surrenders itself to you. Gosh, Blaine, you should’ve seen yourself. It was like there was no power, no man in this world that could’ve resisted you.” Kurt said, so overwhelmed with emotions that he feared being too much or too sentimental for Blaine.

For the briefest second their eyes met in a powerful glance, where Kurt was radiating gratitude for Blaine’s opening up to him like this, and Blaine was radiating gratitude for Kurt appreciating it so much.

But the moment was gone, Blaine winked playfully.

“No man to resist me, huh?” he said, and Kurt rolled his eyes, standing up from his chair, shaking his head slightly.

They climbed down the stairs, and exited Prospero’s, in silence.

When they were standing outside, Blaine quickly looked at his watch, and with an undecipherable expression on his face turned to the other boy.

“Kurt, it’s getting late, I think I’m gonna head home. Is that okay?”

“Sure, yeah, of course.” They weren’t even together for two hours, it was around six on a Friday afternoon. Kurt knew full well Blaine was making excuses.

“This was amazing, Kurt, thank you for planning it, and, well, you know… thank you. It meant a lot.” Blaine was struggling with his words. He wanted to say so much, but couldn’t. Still, he needed Kurt to know… to know… what exactly? He wouldn’t find the right words then and there, of that much he was sure.

“Yeah, it was fun.” Kurt replied. “See you around?” he asked insecurely.

“Definitely.” And after one last meeting of the eyes, Blaine quickly hugged Kurt, turned on his heel, and left a very confused Kurt behind.

Blaine was on the verge of tears, and couldn’t even explain why. All he heard in his head was his own desperate words. I couldn’t stay. It hurts too much. It hurts too fucking much.