"So I was thinking," Blaine says. "We should have dinner tonight."

Kurt is sitting on Blaine's bed, idly flipping through Blaine's iTunes catalog. Blaine had called Kurt asking him to help him practice for regionals, but so far all he's done is fidgeted and reorganized his bow tie collection while rambling on to Kurt about the difference between federal and state law. Kurt didn't even know Blaine was taking civics this semester.

"Unless you have plans..." Blaine adds, looking up from a sea of Brooks Brothers-branded silk.

"Mercedes mentioned something about maybe seeing a movie, but I think Carole's working a late shift, so my dad is taking her dinner. I should be able to swing it."

Blaine smiles and goes back to his bow ties. He's organizing them by color now, but Kurt still thinks they should be organized by season. He resists the urge to say so because Blaine is positively beaming. Something's up.

"Just as friends?" he asks, prodding a little. He's curious about Blaine's intentions because last week Kurt had been certain Blaine was going to ask him if they could start dating again, but then he'd backtracked and gotten weird. It's been a little strained ever since, and Kurt's sick and tired of the back and forth.

Blaine freezes for a second and then starts shuffling two different red-striped ties between his hands like he's deciding how to classify them.

"Of course," he says a little too brightly. "Obviously as just friends."

Blaine's looking up at him hopefully, his expression at odds with his words like it so often is these days.

Kurt's not sure what he wants, but he really wishes Blaine would get on with whatever grand scheme he has brewing. It's stressing Kurt out to be in this nebulous in-between with Blaine. Either they're friends or lovers. They can't be both.

Why can't either of them seem to make up their minds?

"I'd put the one in your left hand with the white ones, and the other one with black," Kurt says, pointing at the ties.

"Oh, thanks," Blaine says, dropping them each in their respective piles. "So, dinner?" He doesn't look up before adding, "as friends."

Kurt sighs. Blaine's still acting weird.

"Yeah, sure," he says with a shrug. "Why not?"

"Good. I have some friends I want you to meet."

"Friends?"

Blaine nods without making eye contact. "Yeah, I thought we could go as a group. It'll be fun."

Kurt studies him for a moment as he sorts blue ties with blue ties, grey ties with grey ones, and then gives that ridiculous pink one its own pile. As the piles grow, he wonders why Blaine is so careful to keep categorizing them as "just friends." Wasn't he the one who said they were destined to be together, no matter what? Why is he so adamant about it now?

Then Blaine picks up the bow tie he wore when they filmed Artie's Christmas special, and they both smile.

"I like that one," Kurt says.

"Me too."

"I thought you said we were going as friends," Kurt asks when he sees Blaine outside Breadstix in a jacket and tie. It also doesn't escape his attention that it's practically a Dalton uniform with a different color scheme. The ensemble doesn't fit with the mood of the evening. Kurt is dressed in jeans, for crying out loud.

"We are."

"Then why are you so dressed up?"

"Am I?"

"When I left your house, you were wearing a polo and jeans."

Blaine's eyes are wide with feigned innocence that causes Kurt to roll his eyes.

"Fine don't tell me," he says. "So who are we meeting for dinner anyway?"

"You'll see."

"Blaine!" A tiny woman with white hair is waving them over and bouncing in her seat in a childlike way that's at odds with her age. It reminds Kurt of Blaine a little. She's seated with another woman about her age who looks to be much taller and far more serious. Kurt instantly likes them both.

"You must be Kurt," the shorter woman says. "I'm Jan, and this is my partner, Liz."

"Hi," Kurt says, letting Blaine have the inside seat like he always does.

"Hi Liz," Blaine says. "Nice to meet you. I heard a lot about you."

"Can I get you anything to drink?" the waitress asks as soon as they're seated.

"Coffee," Blaine says.

"Water," Kurt says.

He glances to his right, but Blaine's eyes are glued to the couple across the table from them, his expression hopeful and kind of weird, if Kurt's being blunt about it. He looks anxious and on edge in a way that makes Kurt really uncomfortable.

"Are you okay?" he whispers while the waitress takes the ladies' drink orders.

"Yeah, fine," Blaine says, his smile just a little too bright as he turns back to Jan and Liz.

"So Blaine here tells me that you were the first out gay kid at your high school," Jan prompts.

Kurt tries to ignore the frequent looks he keeps getting from Blaine throughout dinner. The whole experience just feels like a PSA for gay issues. When did Blaine become so interested in all this. It's weird. Blaine's weird.

There's finally a lull in the conversation when the waitress brings their dessert - one slice of cake with four forks, which is also weird because he and Blaine usually get two different kinds of dessert and share - and Kurt realizes he has no clue how Blaine knows these women.

"So how did you guys meet?" Kurt asks, glancing from Jan to Blaine hoping for an easy answer.

Instead Jan launches into this long story about her and Liz — and Styx (whoever they are) — and how they went to prom, and moved in together, and then broke up and got back together, and he can feel Blaine's eyes on him practically the whole time. But Kurt refuses to look over because if he does, he's going to break. This isn't the time. Not here, he thinks.

Kurt hopes his body language tells Blaine to just let them have dinner with these nice ladies and they can talk later. He knows it's coming, but he wills it away for a little while longer.

But then suddenly Jan is on her knee right there in the restaurant, and it's the cutest thing he's ever seen, and all the weirdness - Blaine's behavior, the awkward discussion about LGBT history, all of it - is forgotten in that joyous moment.

Kurt gets caught up in it and joins in the applause around the restaurant. But when he glances at Blaine, he just looks disappointed. Kurt hates seeing him that way.

Someday, he thinks, trying to reassure Blaine with a smile.

We'll both get our chance some day.