Title: The One for Me
Media: Fic
Rating: T
Pairing: Kurt/Blaine
Spoilers: None, it's completely AU.
Beta: prosaictragedy
Note: Solid lines indicate breaks between separate days. This: &8&8&8&8&8 indicates breaks between different scenes on the same day.
Summary: AU. Blaine goes to McKinley after his dad gets transferred to a new job. He becomes friends with Finn and starts crushing on his brother Kurt, but he’s not sure if he should make a move. Inspired by Victoria Justice’s song “Best Friend’s Brother”.
________________________________________


Blaine slings his backpack over his right shoulder, lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and makes his way into the building. He wishes he didn’t feel as nervous as he does, but this is a new school after all, and he can’t help it if his nerves get the best of him.

He pulls his neatly folded schedule out of his pocket and opens it up, searching for his locker number. A-1130. He glances up at the row of lockers across from where he’s standing and realizes he is nowhere near where he needs to be. He doesn’t want to draw attention to himself as the new kid right away, so he decides he’ll try going down the next hallway to find his locker.

As he spins around, Blaine collides with a solid object which turns out to be another student. A student who is at least half a foot taller than him, and who is now looming over him. Blaine panics and tries to stutter an apology but all he can think is that he hasn’t even been here five minutes and he’s already made an enemy and how now this kid is totally going to beat the crap out of him.

“Dude, I’m sorry,” the taller boy says, a lopsided grin on his face. “Totally my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going. My girlfriend’s always telling me I’m too clumsy for my own good, but I guess she has a right to say that since I broke her nose this one time when I was dancing...” the boy trails off when he sees Blaine looking at him with an expression that is half-bemused, half-bewildered. “Sorry!” he apologizes again. “Are you new here? I’m Finn.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m new. Blaine,” he says, thrusting out his hand, which Finn shakes enthusiastically.

“Hey man, nice to meet you. So, you’re lost, I’m betting. What’re you looking for?”

“My locker. The number is, uh...” Blaine looks down at his schedule again, trying to locate the number. “A-eleven-thirty.”

“Awesome, dude, that’s right by mine!”

Finn propels Blaine around so that he’s facing the direction Finn was heading before they collided, and starts leading him down the hallway. They pass what Blaine recognizes from his transfer visit as the guidance counselor’s office, and all Blaine can think is Did I just make my first friend?

&8&8&8&8&8

Blaine gets to second period a little late and he has some trouble locating his locker again before lunch, but other than that, he gets through his morning relatively unscathed.

He’s heading in what he hopes is the direction of the cafeteria when he comes across a bulletin board full of sign-up sheets. He pauses in front of it and looks over his options. McKinley seems to have a lot going on and Blaine scans the board, searching for one particular sign-up sheet.

There it is.

Glee Club.

Blaine was uneasy about going to a new school when his dad told him about his job transfer, not wanting to leave his friends and his glee club. But after he found out that the glee club at his new school was the one he had been so impressed by at Regionals last year (even if they did beat his own club, the Warblers), Blaine felt more secure about starting at McKinley.

He fishes a pen out of his pocket and hastily scribbles his name on the next available line, right under Mike Ock, who he is pretty sure will not be showing up for auditions this afternoon.

Blaine turns around and - WHAM!

“Blaine, dude, we gotta stop running into each other like this. Nice to know I’m not the only klutz around here, though,” Finn says, as he grabs Blaine by the elbow to keep him upright.

“I’m usually much more coordinated than this,” Blaine says apologetically. “Sorry.”

“No big deal. Hey, awesome! You signed up for Glee. So, where are you headed now?” Finn asks.

“Lunch,” Blaine says, smiling. “You’re in Glee Club?”

“Yeah, man, you’re gonna love it! Come on, I’ve got lunch now, too.” Finn says. They make their way into the cafeteria and snag a free table by the windows.

“So, how worried should I be about auditioning?” Blaine asks.

“Well, can you sing?”

“I was in the glee club at my old school,” Blaine says, opening his brown paper lunch bag.
“Did we ever compete against you?” Finn asks, popping open the tab on his soda can.

“Yeah, at Regionals last year,” Blaine says.

“Wait a minute...that’s why you look so familiar! You’re the soloist of the Warblers!”

“Yeah,” Blaine says, blushing. “I didn’t want to sound braggy...”

“Dude, seriously? You guys were amazing. You have nothing to worry about. It’s more of a formality than anything else. Nobody gets cut from the New Directions.”

“You glee club is called the New Directions?”

“Yeah, why?” Finn asks.

“You know that sounds like ‘Nude Erections’, right?”

Finn nearly does a spit take as he tries to contain his laughter.

“Dude, you’re hysterical. You’ll fit right in!”

“Yeah? You think everyone else will like me?”

Finn thinks about this for a moment. “Just be yourself,” he says finally. “We kind of...collect people who don’t fit in anywhere else. If you’re honest about who you are, you’ll fit in just fine.”

“I can do that,” Blaine says, feeling reassured.

&8&8&8&8&8

Blaine’s day just keeps getting better, and he starts feeling silly for ever worrying that he wouldn’t be able to adjust to a new school. He’s already ahead in English, having read Hamlet last year and he thinks that his elective, music theory, is really going to help his composing.

His last class of the day is gym, and as he makes his way back into the locker room after an especially invigorating game of football, he hears his name called from his teacher’s office.

“Anderson!” Coach Bieste barks into the hallway.

“Yes, coach?” Blaine asks, stopping in front of the door.

“You ever play football on a team before?”

“Yeah,” Blaine replies. “I played for my old school, Dalton.”

“Team tryouts are tomorrow, three pm sharp. I’d better see you there.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Blaine says with a grin.

&8&8&8&8&8

Despite Finn’s encouragement at lunch, Blaine finds himself feeling slightly jittery before his glee club audition. He’s psyching himself up outside the door when Finn comes down the hallway.

“Hey, man,” Finn greets him. “You ready for this?”

“Sure,” Blaine says, trying to convince himself that what he’s saying is true.

“You’ll be fine, I promise,” Finn says as he opens the choir room door and ushers Blaine inside.

“Hey everyone,” Finn says, waving to the rest of the kids already assembled in the room. “This is my new friend, Blaine. He’s trying out for glee club.”

“Hi,” Blaine says, giving a quick wave.

“You sure you wanna do that, pretty boy?” asks the saucy Latina girl in the second row.

“Santana, be nice!” says the pretty blond next to her. Blaine feels the color draining from his face and Finn squeezes his shoulder supportively.

“Blaine’s a really good singer,” Finn says.

“How do you know?” asks a kid with a mohawk who’s sitting with his legs propped up on the chair in front of him.

“Remember the glee club who sang “Raise Your Glass” at Regionals last year?” Finn asks, unable to hide his grin.

“Spy!” shouts the small brunette in the first row as she jumps out of her seat.

“Rachel, sit down!” says the boy next to her as he tugs her arm and forces her back into her seat. “Not everyone who wants to join glee club is a spy!”

Blaine is temporarily distracted by this boy who is standing up for him. He. Is. Beautiful. Blaine thinks to himself as he takes in the boy’s creamy skin and sparkling blue-green eyes.

“All right, calm down everyone,” a man who must be their advisor says, finally cutting in. “Welcome, Blaine. I’m Mr. Schuester. What will you be singing for us today?”

“Misery,” Blaine says, snapping out of whatever trance this boy had just caught him in. “By Maroon 5.”

“Great, let’s hear it.”

Finn and Mr. Schuester sit down and Blaine’s got the floor to himself. He picked this song not only because he’s comfortable with it, but because he knows he can rock it. Finn gives him an encouraging smile, and Blaine knows he’s got this.

&8&8&8&8&8

The other glee club members break out into applause as Blaine finishes his song, and he’s reminded why he loves performing so much.

“Excellent!” Mr. Schuester says, standing up. “I think I speak for everyone when I say welcome aboard!”

“Thank you,” Blaine says excitedly.

“Now, if you’ll take a seat, Blaine, we’ll get started.” Mr. Schuester continues. Blaine takes a seat next to the beautiful boy with the porcelain skin and perfectly styled hair and wonders why he ever though transferring here was a bad idea.

“Hi,” whispers the boy as he leans in closer to Blaine. “I’m Kurt Hummel. I’m Finn’s brother. Nice to meet you.”

Blaine’s insides deflate like a balloon as he realizes that any chance of dating Kurt Hummel just went out the window. Because Blaine’s pretty sure that he and Finn are going to be good friends and he’s also pretty sure that there must be a rule out there somewhere that says you can’t date your best friend’s brother.

________________________________________


Blaine’s fantastic first day of school quickly turns into an equally fantastic first week, and before he knows it, it’s the end of September and he’s been at McKinley for a full month. Somewhere between glee rehearsals, football practices, and hanging out with Finn, Blaine realizes that he’s adjusted quite well to his new school, and made a whole group of new friends, too.

The majority of guys in the glee club, it turns out, are also on the football team, so they hang out a lot. After practice and on the weekends they usually flock to someone’s house to play video games or have jam sessions and Blaine is loving every minute of it. He had friends at Dalton, but he was never as close to them as he is to these guys.

Today they’re at Finn’s house and it’s two against two as Blaine and Finn take on Puck and Artie in an epic game of Halo 2. Team Mike/Sam has already been eliminated from the tournament and is currently taking part in their own game called Who Can Catch the Most Goldfish in His Mouth?

After one final explosion rocks the television screen, Finn and Blaine emerge victorious.

“Hell yeah!” Finn yells, fist pumping the air with his controller.

Finn and Blaine high five and then collapse back down onto the couch. Finn immediately stuffs his mouth with a handful of goldfish and puts his feet up on the coffee table.

Eventually, the rest of the guys head home for dinner, but Finn has already invited Blaine to stay and eat with the Hudson-Hummel clan.

Blaine is just thinking about how much he loves his new school and his new friends and how life is going great right now when Kurt walks into the living room and Blaine’s mind is wiped clear of every thought except Holy crap, Kurt is wearing an apron.

“Diinner’s almost ready. And good news, I think I’ve found a recipe for dessert that even you can’t mess up, Finn!”

“Awesome, dude, what is it?”

Blaine spaces out of the conversation at this point because all he can do is stare at Kurt in all his domestic glory. Kurt remains the only thing in Blaine’s life that isn’t perfect, mainly because Blaine can’t make a move. He definitely wants to, but even though he’s gay he’s pretty sure that the unspoken Bro Code still applies to him. And sure, the rule is that you don’t date your best friend’s sister, but he thinks that in the given situation, brother’s are probably off limits too.

“...you think, Blaine?” Kurt asks.

“Huh...what?” Blaine asks stupidly, embarrassed to be caught with his mouth gaping open, staring shamelessly at Kurt.

“Three minute cake. What do you think? Sounds pretty easy right?”

“Uh...yeah. I mean how badly can Finn screw up in only three minutes?” Blaine says, playfully shoving Finn in the shoulder. “I’m sure Rachel will love it.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Kurt says, smiling.

The boys make their way into the kitchen where Burt and Carole are already seated at the table. Kurt and Finn take their normal seats, leaving the chair next to Kurt as the only vacant one. Blaine takes the seat nervously, feeling confident that no thought he has during this meal will be a coherent one.

________________________________________


Blaine tries as hard as he can to forget about his attraction to Kurt, but part of the problem is that it’s not just physical attraction anymore. The more time Blaine spends hanging out with Finn and seeing Kurt in glee club, the more he finds he likes about Kurt.

The boy can sing. Every time Kurt opens his mouth, Blaine can feel himself melting into a pile of goo. Plus, he can sing pretty much anything from show tunes to pop music and everything in between. Blaine has never been so impressed and felt so mediocre at the same time.

Kurt is smart, too. Blaine got to proofread one of Kurt’s English papers in a random classroom swap and he was blown away by Kurt’s writing style and the level of thinking he displayed in his essay, as opposed to say, Puck’s latest paper, which left much to be desired.

And good god, can that boy cook. Blaine’s been eating more meals over at Finn’s house than his own home lately, and though it’s partially because both his parents work late and he usually has to fend for himself for dinner, it’s more due to the fact that he simply cannot get enough of Kurt’s cooking. Despite the fact that Finn always complains that he’d rather have a burger and Burt always wishes that the food were just a little less heart healthy, Blaine shovels down forkful after forkful in an attempt to both feed his appetite and keep himself from saying something embarrassing in front of Kurt.

So, yeah, as much as he tries his hardest not to keep developing feelings for Kurt, eventually it gets to the point where Blaine has to accept that these feelings are not going away. But it turns out that admitting he has feelings for Kurt, even just to himself, is the biggest possible mistake he can make. That simple admission only leads to Blaine making himself look like a fool in front of Kurt even more than he usually does.
________________________________________


I call you up when I know he’s at home,
I jump out of my skin when he picks up the phone

Okay, Blaine, you can do this. Just pick up the phone, dial, and ask him about the homework.

“Hummel-Hudson residence, who’s calling?”

“Uh, hi, Kurt. This is Blaine.”

“Hold on a second, I’ll get Finn for you.”

“No, wait! I mean...can you tell me today’s English homework? I forgot to copy it down.”

“You did?” Kurt asks, a confused tone in his voice. “Because I could have sworn you let Mike copy down our assignment after glee today.”

“Oh, um, yeah, I guess I did. Oh, here it is! Thanks, Kurt! Bye!”

Stupid, stupid, stupid, Blaine thinks to himself after he hangs up the phone.
________________________________________


What can I tell if he’s looking at me?
Should I give him a smile?
Should I get up and leave?

Blaine is in the library during lunch one day doing research for his paper about gender roles in Pride and Prejudice when he sees Kurt out of the corner of his eye.

He’s not sure if Kurt sees him though, so he quickly looks back down at his book and pretends he’s being productive instead of just thinking about Kurt, which his mind was already doing before Kurt even walked into the library.

But Blaine can’t help it, he has to glance up again and this time he can tell that Kurt definitely sees him. He holds eye contact with Kurt for about thirty seconds before the voice inside his head says Smile, you idiot!

Blaine abruptly breaks out into what he’s pretty sure is the most awkward grin ever as he contemplates just making a run for it. But Kurt is already on his way over to Blaine’s table, so he’s stuck there.

“Hi Blaine,” Kurt says, taking the seat across from him.

“He - Hey Kurt,” Blaine says, inwardly cursing himself for this weird stuttering problem that only rears its ugly head when he’s around Kurt.

“The librarian said you had the book I need for my lit paper, so I was hoping maybe we could share it?”

“Su - sure,” Blaine stammers, pushing the book across to Kurt.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes!” Blaine exclaims, jumping out of his seat. “I, uh, just remembered the title of another book I need! Be right back!”

Blaine disappears behind a row of shelves about ten feet from Kurt, and then sinks down to a sitting position on the floor.

Smooth move, Blaine, the voice inside his head says. Real smooth.
________________________________________


I know it’s strange, I don’t what I’m thinking
But is it wrong if I see him this weekend
I really hope I can get him alone
I just don’t, don’t want her to know

After Blaine manages to return to his normal, mostly sane state of mind, he rejoins Kurt at their table (our table, he can’t help but think) and they decide to meet up this weekend to work on their papers together.

When Saturday comes around, Blaine is frantically changing his outfit for the third time while wondering if he should have told Finn that he was coming over to work with Kurt today. On the one hand, Finn is his best friend and it is Finn’s house, but on the other hand Kurt did invite him. If Blaine had a third hand, he would probably argue that he should tell Finn he’s coming over because he has feelings for Kurt, but Blaine doesn’t have three hands, and anyway, it’s not like this is a date.

All the worrying turns out to be for nothing because not only does Kurt compliment Blaine’s choice of dark-wash jeans and red and white knit sweater, but it also happens that Finn is spending the day at Rachel’s house anyway. However, this is only a momentary relief for Blaine who, after silently rejoicing that he won’t have to explain to his best friend why he’s hanging out with his brother (even though he knows that homework is a perfectly legitimate reason), Blaine suddenly realizes that he’s going to be alone in the house all day with Kurt. From this realization comes a whole new set of problems, the first of which is how will Blaine make it through the day without doing something stupid like pushing Kurt up against a wall and kissing him senseless.

&8&8&8&8&8

They work in silence for about an hour, seated next to each other at the kitchen table, sliding the shared book back and forth as they need it. Blaine is thinking that if he can just stay calm and relaxed, he might actually make it though the day without making a fool of himself.

That plan works well, until they reach for the book at the same time.

“Oh, sorry,” Kurt says, but before he can pull away, Blaine’s hand closes around his hand reflexively. Both boys stare at their clasped hands for a moment that could have lasted anywhere from a couple of seconds to a couple of minutes, before they glance up at each other, wide-eyed.

Immediately they pull their hands away and pick up their pens, hastily getting back to work on their papers.

Are you insane? This is Finn’s brother! The voice inside Blaine’s head is screaming. What are you thinking?

He chances a look at Kurt and notices that the boy’s cheeks are a rosy pink and that a small smile is tugging on his lips. So, maybe that wasn’t so bad after all? Blaine isn’t sure, so instead he hesitantly reaches for the book and slides it towards himself.

Silence returns to the room once more, but it isn’t as comfortable as it had been earlier. There is a tension hanging in the air, and Blaine doesn’t know if he should apologize for his hand-grabbing or if he should just ignore it. He tries to concentrate on his paper, but truthfully, this paragraph on the ways in which Elizabeth Bennet transcends gender roles is going nowhere because all Blaine can think about is the warmth of Kurt’s hand.

He decides that he needs to say something because the silence is driving him crazy now. He’s debating what exactly he should say but can’t come up with anything because in his head all he keeps thinking is I held Kurt’s hand. I held Kurt’s hand.

“Cookies!” Kurt says suddenly, standing up.

“What?” Blaine asks looking up, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at Kurt’s outburst.

“Cookies. I need to bake something. I’m - I’m frazzled, okay? And when I’m frazzled, I bake.”

“Okay,” Blaine says, following Kurt with his eyes as he stands up and starts pulling things out of cabinets and drawers.

He watches silently as Kurt assembles all of the various ingredients and places them on the counter. Kurt starts measuring and pouring and mixing until the batter is nice and thick, and then he reaches down into the cabinet under the sink and takes out a cookie sheet.

“Can I help?” Blaine asks, stepping up to the counter.

“Sure,” Kurt says, not looking up from the bowl as he begins to roll small spoonfuls of dough and place them on the tray.

They work quietly for a few minutes before Blaine opens his mouth to ask the question he’s been wanting to ask for the past twenty minutes.

“Kurt, do I...frazzle you?” he asks, trying to keep his smile out of his voice.

“Maybe,” Kurt replies, blushing slightly..

“Well...maybe you frazzle me, too.”

They fall into silence again, but it’s the comfortable kind of silence, so neither of them minds. They work in tandem, rolling the cookies and placing them on the cookie sheet one by one, until all the dough is gone. Then Kurt slides the tray into the oven, and they sit down across from each other at the kitchen table.

They continue to work on their papers until the oven timer goes off, and then Blaine clears off the table while Kurt moves the cookies onto a cooling rack. Kurt pours a tall glass of milk for each of them and sets them down gently on the table. Then he transfers some of the cookies onto a large plate and sets it down between them.

Blaine takes one bite and is pretty sure that he’s never tasted anything this good in his entire life.

“Kurt, these are amazing!” Blaine says, stuffing the rest of the cookie into his mouth.

“They’re nothing special,” Kurt says as his brain is saying, Seriously, can you blush anymore?

“Wrong. They’re fantastic. Can I be honest?” Blaine asks. “Every day after glee rehearsal or football practice, I pray that Finn invites me over for dinner because I cannot get enough of your cooking. I hate going home to an empty house because I know that it means I’ll be eating a microwavable bowl of Kraft mac ‘n cheese.”

“Thank you,” Kurt says, smiling contentedly.. “Are your parents gone a lot?”

“Yeah. They’re always traveling for work.. This weekend it’s New York, next weekend it’s Boston. I don’t see them much.”

“I’m sorry,” Kurt says, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s okay,” Blaine says, picking up another cookie. “They’ve never been around much. I was practically raised by a nanny and now I just kind of fend for myself. I’m used to it.”

“Well...maybe next weekend, I could come over and cook dinner for you?” Kurt asks softly.

“That sounds absolutely wonderful,” Blaine says, a huge smile plastered on his face.
________________________________________

I kinda think that I might be his type
Because if you're not around, he's not actin' too shy

“I can’t take it anymore, guys,” Finn says as he maneuvers around the car that’s in 3rd place. It’s Wednesday evening and the boys are clustered in Finn’s living room playing Mario Kart. “I mean, we’ve been dating for a while now, and I just wanna touch her boobs. Is that too much to ask?”

Blaine can’t help but laugh as he sends out a red shell that successfully knocks Puck out of first place. “Dude, I really don’t know what to tell you. I don’t have much experience with girls.”

Kurt comes into the living room then, and plops himself down in the armchair with the latest copy of Vogue.

“I noticed,” Finn replies, dodging a banana peel. “How is it that you’re still single?”

“It’s not that I’m not interested in anybody,” Blaine says before he can stop himself. Kurt raises a curious eyebrow from behind his magazine.

“Take that!” Puck says, as he shrinks the rest of the players.

“Who is it?” Finn asks. “Maybe I can talk to her for you.”

Kurt and Puck both let out a laugh, though Kurt tries to muffle his behind his magazine.

“What?” Finn asks, confused.

“Finn...you know that I’m gay, right?” Blaine asks, pausing their game.

“But...but...” Finn splutters. “Are you kidding me?” he demands disbelievingly, with a lopsided grin on his face.

“Ha! I knew it!” Puck bursts out. “Hand it over!”

Finn grudgingly fishes his wallet out of his pocket and forks over a ten dollar bill.

Blaine leans over the edge of the couch, towards Kurt. “What just happened?”

“I’m not entirely sure,” Kurt replies, a bemused smile on his face.

“Finn here was convinced you’re straight,” Puck says by way of explanation. “Personally, I think Finn must be blind, but I never pass up a good wager when I see one. So when he bet me ten dollars you weren’t gay, I took it.”

“I can’t believe I was wrong!” Finn says grumpily, before turning back to Blaine.

“Okay, now that Finn here has embarrassed himself enough, can we order some pizza?” asks Puck. “I’m starving.”

“Chicken Caesar salad, please,” Kurt says.

“Yeah, alright,” Finn says, picking up the phone to place the order.

Puck grabs his keys and he and Finn head out to pick up their food.

Blaine relaxes into the couch and picks up the newspaper that’s laying on the coffee table. He flips to the comics page and starts reading.

“So,” Kurt says, breaking the silence. “You’ve got your eye someone?”

“Oh. Yeah.” Blaine says, as his heart starts beating faster.

“Do I know him?” Kurt asks, not making eye contact.

“Yeah, I’d say you know him pretty well,” Blaine says offhandedly.

“Good to know,” Kurt says, meeting Blaine’s gaze.

They smile, and Blaine pats the spot next to him on the couch. “Wanna do the crossword puzzle with me?”

“Sure,” Kurt says, raising himself up out of the armchair. He settles down on the couch next to Blaine, and they sit there knee to knee until it’s time to eat.
________________________________________

Sometimes I feel like he might make a move
Is this all in my head?
I don't know what to do

After they eat, Puck and Finn retreat back into the living room for some Call of Duty, but Blaine offers to help Kurt clean up the mess they made in the kitchen.

Blaine is washing their cups and utensils while Kurt wipes down the table. When he’s finished, Kurt joins Blaine at the sink in order to wring out his sponge, and Blaine can feel Kurt staring at him. He turns his head to face Kurt, who has this look on this face that Blaine can’t really place.

Why is he staring at my face? Oh my god, is he going to kiss me?

“What is it?” Blaine asks nervously.

“You, um...you’ve got some soap suds on your nose,” Kurt says with a giggle. “Right here,” he says, reaching up and wiping them away.

“Thanks,” Blaine manages to say, embarrassed at how raspy the word comes out.

Kurt takes a step back from Blaine then, placing his sponge in the soap dish, and then dries his hands on a dish towel.

Before Blaine can even think about what he’s going to do next, he says, “So, when you come over this weekend...”

“Yes?”.

“Are we...is it...a date?” he asks nervously, looking at the ground.

“Do you want it to be?”

“God, yes,” Blaine says looking up hopefully.

“Me, too,” Kurt says with a smile as he reaches out and gently squeezes Blaine’s hand.
________________________________________

I know it's strange, I don't know what he's thinking
But is it wrong if I see him this weekend
I really hope I can get him alone
I just don't, don't want her to know

“Great job this week guys, you really nailed the assignment!” Mr. Schuester says on Friday as he wraps up the last glee rehearsal of the week. “Have a great weekend!”

There is the sound of chairs scraping against the floor as everyone gathers their belongings and gets ready to leave.

“Hey, man,” Finn says, coming up behind Blaine. “Wanna grab some food?”

“Actually, I have plans tonight,” Blaine replies, trying not to look at Kurt as the other boys slips out the door.

“What’re you doing?” Finn asks, knowing that he and the rest of the guys are planning to order out Chinese and have a Gears of War marathon.

“Going out with some friends from Dalton,” Blaine lies easily as he and Finn head to their cars.

“Okay, well have fun, man.”

“Thanks, see you tomorrow.”

Blaine slides into the driver’s seat and immediately feels bad about lying to Finn, but it’s way too soon to see if this thing with Kurt is even going to go anywhere, so why bother getting Finn worked up about it? At least, that’s what Blaine’s tells himself so that he doesn’t spend the rest of the night feeling guilty. Obviously you want this to go somewhere, says a little voice inside his head.

“Shut up,” Blaine says to no one in particular.

Once he gets home he takes a quick shower and then tidies up the living room and the kitchen. He’s got a bad tendency to not clean up after himself when his parents are gone, but there’s no reason for Kurt to know that.

With half an hour left until Kurt is supposed to arrive, Blaine putters around the house aimlessly before wiping down the kitchen counters for the second time. He may only make microwaveable meals for himself, but somehow the counter is always dirty.

As the minutes tick by on the clock in the kitchen, Blaine starts to get restless. He heads into the living room and plops himself down on the couch. He picks up this week’s TV Guide and flips through the pages absentmindedly while his right leg nervously jerks up and down.

He hears a knocking on the door then, and jumps up, hastily discarding the TV Guide. It lands crumpled up on the couch, but he can’t be concerned with that right now because Kurt is here.

He runs a nervous hand through his curls before stepping across the living room and opening the front door. Kurt is standing there in his skin-tight black jeans and gray cardigan, holding a brown paper grocery bag. All Blaine can think about is how wonderful Kurt looks and how much he wants to kiss him right now.

“Hi,” Kurt says, smiling.

“Hey,” Blaine says, reaching out to take the bag from Kurt. “Come on in.”

He leads Kurt into the kitchen and flicks on the light.

“I’m really glad we’re doing this,” Blaine says as he places the bag down on the counter.

“Me, too,” Kurt says shyly.

“What are we making?” Blaine says, rummaging through the bag. Kurt swats his hands away and starts pulling out the different ingredients that he brought with him. “We’re making pinwheel casserole,” Kurt says. “It’s really simple, but it’s absolutely delicious. So if you put up a pot of water for the pasta, I’ll start chopping the sausage.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Blaine says, reaching into a cabinet and pulling out a pot. He fills it three quarters of the way with water and then places it on the stove.

“Now you can grate the mozzarella cheese,” Kurt says as he cuts the sausage into pieces.

“Yes, sir,” Blaine says in a low, sultry voice, as he pulls the cheese grater out of the drawer beneath the microwave. He misses the shiver that runs through Kurt and the way he stares at Blaine’s ass when he isn’t looking.

Blaine sits down across from Kurt and begins grating the cheese, the two boys working in companionable silence for a while. Kurt finishes chopping the sausage just as the water starts to boil and hiss, so he puts down his knife and adds the pinwheel pasta to the pot. Blaine can only stare at him and is somewhat startled by the thought that he could get used to this being a daily occurrence.

“What can I do next?” Blaine asks as he deposits the cheese grater into the sink.

“If you start cooking the sausage on the stove top, I can finish adding spices to my sauce. I made the sauce yesterday, to save time, but it’s not quite finished yet.”

Blaine digs a frying pan out from under the sink and starts cooking the sausage on a medium flame. With a flick of his wrist, he tosses the sausage up in the air and catches it in the pan again, in an effort to impress Kurt.

“You seem to know your way around the kitchen quite well for someone who claims to live off of Kraft mac ‘n cheese and frozen pizza,” Kurt says as he adds some oregano to his sauce.

“Nah,” Blaine says, pushing the sausage pieces round with a wooden spoon. “I just watch a lot of Top Chef.”

Kurt laughs at this - a sweet melodic sound that Blaine just wants to hear again and again.

Kurt drains the pasta and then instructs Blaine to add the sausage to the pot. Then he mixes in the sauce while Blaine gets a baking tray. Kurt spoons the pasta mixture into the tray and then the boys sprinkle the mozzarella on top. When the entire tray is covered, Blaine pinches some cheese between his fingers and pops it into his mouth.

“Hey, I want some!” Kurt says.

“Here,” Blaine says, pinching more cheese between his fingers and reaching out to Kurt, waiting to see if the other boy will respond they way he wants him to.

He does. Kurt open his mouth slightly and Blaine gently feeds him the cheese, allowing his fingertips to linger slightly on Kurt’s parted lips.

Kurt stands there for a moment after he swallows and then says, dazedly, “I should...I should put this in the oven.”

Blaine takes a step backwards, giving Kurt enough space to pick up the pan and also to regain his composure. Kurt slides the tray into the oven and sets the timer for five minutes, just enough to let the cheese melt. Then he turns back to face Blaine.

“I really like you,” Blaine blurts out.

Kurt’s cheeks tinge the slightest bit.

“I really like you, too,” he says.

“I - I’ve never done this before,” Blaine says. “I mean, I’ve never...dated. At all. Ever. And you make me nervous and I don’t want to mess this up,” he says, mentally cursing himself for how ridiculous he sounds.

“I’ve never done this before, either,” Kurt says, feeling slightly more confident. “So we can figure it out together,” he says as he reaches out and grasps Blaine’s hand.

“Okay,” Blaine softly.

“Good,” Kurt says, smiling.

Their moment is interrupted by the beeping of the oven timer, and Kurt gently squeezes Blaine’s hand before grabbing the oven mitts and pulling out the tray. He scoops up two steaming plates of the casserole and sets them on the table.

Blaine pulls out Kurt’s chair for him before settling down across from him at the table. They smile at each other before picking up their forks and digging in.

“Mmmph,” Blaine says, closing his eyes and allowing his taste buds to enjoy every single morsel of Kurt’s casserole. “Kurt, this is phenomenal!”

“Thanks,” Kurt says, smiling. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Cheers,” Blaine says, raising his glass of water.

“Cheers,” Kurt returns, clinking their glasses together.

&8&8&8&8&8

After their appetites are sated and the dishes are done, the boys retreat into the living room. Kurt tucks himself into the corner of the couch as Blaine turns on the television. He picks the movie channel, then sits down gingerly next to Kurt on the couch, and they settle in to watch The Music Man.

“Oh, I love this movie! I used to watch it all the time when I was little!” Kurt says nostalgically.

“You know, I played Harold Hill in a community production two summers ago,” Blaine says, inching closer to Kurt.

“Did you now?” Kurt asks. “I think I could see that. You certainly are dapper enough.”

“Why, thank you,” Blaine says, a grin on his face.

They both relax into the couch and try to focus on the movie, a task which proves to be difficult. All Blaine can think about is how he really just wants to kiss Kurt right now. And the way Kurt is anxiously drumming his fingers on his thigh is slowly driving Blaine crazy because now not only does he want to kiss Kurt, but he can’t stop thinking about what’s under those jeans.

So Blaine does the only reasonable thing and reaches out to still Kurt’s hand with his own. He gently interlaces their fingers and begins rubbing small, soothing circles with his thumb on the outside of Kurt’s thigh. Kurt visibly relaxes and his shoulders sag against the back of the couch, a content smile on his face.

After a few minutes, Kurt says, “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course,” Blaine replies, twisting around to face Kurt. “What’s up?”

“I’m not really feeling this movie tonight.”

“Oh.”

“And I’ve been trying to work up the courage to kiss you since we finished dinner.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Kurt says, blushing.

“We should remedy that,” Blaine says, as he leans in closer to Kurt.

“We should,” Kurt whispers. Then Blaine’s lips are upon his own and his mind goes blank. Their kiss is soft and sweet and all Blaine can wonder is what did he do to deserve this.

Kurt lets out a soft whimper and Blaine slowly pulls away.

“Okay?” he asks.

“Definitely okay,” Kurt breathes.

Blaine responds by surging forward into another, much more passionate kiss. The hand on Kurt’s thigh moves to the boy’s hip and Blaine’s other hand cups Kurt’s face, fingers trailing into his hair.

Kurt responds to the kiss with a muffled groan and slides his tongue across Blaine’s lower lip. Blaine grants him access immediately, and then Kurt’s tongue is entangled with his own and Blaine can taste the faint remnants of the breath mint that Kurt had not-so-surreptitiously popped into his mouth after dinner.

Soon Blaine is half-kneeling on the cushion, half-standing, with Kurt pressed up against the back of the couch, running his hands up and down his sides. One of Kurt’s hands tangles itself in Blaine’s curls as their tongues battle for dominance.

Eventually they break apart for no other reason than because they need air, and Blaine takes the opportunity to plant a row of kisses down Kurt’s jaw line.

“I’ve wanted.” Kiss. “To do this.” Kiss. “For so long.” Kiss.

“Unnngh, me too,” Kurt moans as Blaine begins to suck gently on a spot just below his ear.

Kurt feels his hips unconsciously thrust upwards and connect with Blaine’s lower body, and at the feeling of Kurt’s stiffness against his own, Blaine freezes. He hovers over Kurt for a moment, staring into his crystal eyes, and then with an agitated groan, flops himself down on the couch next to Kurt.

“Sorry,” he murmurs, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. “That was too fast, wasn’t it? I didn’t mean to...I don’t want to push you.”

“You weren’t,” Kurt says, still breathing heavily. “But you’re right. We should take things slowly.”

“Doesn’t mean we can’t cuddle, though...”

“Of course not,” Kurt laughs, leaning into Blaine. Blaine wraps his arm around Kurt’s shoulders, and they sit comfortably together, watching as Harold Hill continues to cause trouble in River City.

&8&8&8&8&8

Cause he's such a dream
Yeah
And you know what I mean
If you weren't related

Kurt can feel his eyes growing heavy as the movie comes to a close, and as the credits roll he stretches his arms over his head and yawns.

“It’s late,” he says. “I should go, before Dad get worried.”

“Mmmm but you’re so warm and cuddly,” Blaine whines, wrapping both of his arms around Kurt’s middle as he stretches.

Kurt laughs that beautiful, melodious laugh again, and then leans over to kiss Blaine on the cheek.

“I’ve got to,” he says wistfully.

“I know,” Blaine sighs, releasing him.

Kurt slowly rises from the couch and stretches again. Blaine catches sight of the sliver of skin exposed just above Kurt’s jeans, and it takes all his self-control not to reach out and touch.

“Let me just get my things together,” Kurt says, disappearing into the kitchen.

Blaine’s thoughts about Kurt’s smooth, porcelain skin are interrupted by the ringing of Kurt’s cell phone on the coffee table.

“Can you get that?” Kurt calls from the kitchen.

“Sure!” Blaine calls back. “Hello?”

“Blaine?”

“Finn?”

“Why are you answering Kurt’s phone?” Finn asks, clearly confused. “I thought you said you were hanging out with friends from Dalton tonight?”

“I...uh...” Blaine stammers.

“Wait...are you and Kurt like...on a date or something?”

And this is why you weren’t supposed to fall for Kurt, says the little voice inside Blaine’s head.

“You are, aren’t you?” Finn demands when he gets no response from Blaine. “Dude, I thought we were bros and you don’t even have the decency to tell me you have the hots for my brother!”

“No!” Blaine exclaims, panicking at the thought of losing his best friend. “No, it’s not like that! We are bros, Finn! I’d never put our friendship in jeopardy by dating Kurt!”

“I’ll just show myself out then,” Kurt snaps from the kitchen doorway. He grabs the phone from Blaine’s hand and he’s gone before Blaine can even process what just happened.

When his senses catch up to him, Blaine tears out the front door, just in time to see Kurt’s headlights disappearing around the corner.
________________________________________

Blaine spends the entire rest of his weekend attempting to apologize to Kurt, but Kurt won’t take any of his calls. He sends him about twenty messages on Facebook, but they all go unanswered.

Finn calls to chew Blaine out for upsetting Kurt, and Blaine sits there and takes it because he knows he deserves it.

“But what I don’t understand,” Finn says, “is why you think you can’t date him just because we’re friends.”

“Because! He’s your brother!” Blaine says, his first response since he answered the phone. “Isn’t there some rule against that?”

“So what? I want him to be happy, and he’s obviously into you. So do me a favor and fix this because bitchy Kurt is the worst, and I’m the one who has to live with him.”
________________________________________

Blaine is dreading glee rehearsal after school on Monday, not sure how much more of the cold shoulder he can handle from Kurt. When he gets to the choir room, he sits in the back corner, trying to look as unobtrusive as possible. As everyone else files in, they notice the strain between the two boys, the exception of course being Mr. Schuester, who dives right into this week’s lesson without realizing the tension in the room.

“All right guys, this week’s assignment theme is Teen Pop Sensations,” he announces, writing the words in big letters on the dry-erase board. “Each of you is to pick a song by a singer who is still a teenager, just like you guys. Some good places to get ideas: Disney Channel and Teen Nick, which both feature a number of teenage artists.”

A collective groan from the students fills the room.

“Settle down, guys! I know you’re all in a rush to grow up and get out of high school, but I want you to remember that you’re still kids, and I want you all to have fun with this assignment. So go home and watch some cartoons and ridiculous shows about high school, and have fun.”

But Blaine doesn’t need to go home and do research because he’s watched enough television with his younger cousins to already knows exactly what he’s going to sing to win back Kurt and complete the assignment. All he needs are some backup singers.
________________________________________

It’s clear that everyone in glee club knows that something went down between Blaine and Kurt, because all of the girls seem slightly wary of helping Blaine out with his song, and Mercedes outright tells him hell no when he asks her. But Santana thrives on drama and Brittany can’t resist Blaine’s pleading puppy-dog look, so in the end they both agree to sing backup for him.

Blaine is ready to go with his song the very next day, not wanting to let this situation get any worse. As soon as Mr. Schuester starts rehearsal the next afternoon, Blaine’s arm shoots up in the air.

“What is it Blaine?”

“I’d, uh, like to sing my song. For the assignment.”

“Alright!” Mr. Schuester says, enthusiastically clapping his hands together. “Glad to see someone is taking the bull by the horns here.”

Blaine stands up at the front of the choir room as Santana and Brittany make their way into position behind him.

The drummer from the concert band who Blaine talked into playing for him counts off the beat before laying down a rhythm that immediately pumps Blaine up.

“Call you up when I know he’s at home,” Blaine sings, pointing at Finn. “I jump out of my skin when he picks up the phone,” he croons, jumping into the air and kicking one foot out in front of him.

The rest of the glee kids are loving his performance, and Blaine alternates singing to Kurt and Finn depending on the lyrics in each verse. Before he knows it, he’s coming up on the last chorus.

“Yeah Yeah Yeeeeaaah!” Santana and Brittany sing, hands on hips, shaking side-to-side.

“My best friend’s brother is the one for me!”

“Yeah Yeah Yeeeeaaah!”

“A punk rock drummer and he's 6 foot 3. I don't want to, but I want to, cause I just can't get him out of mind and - ”

“Yeah Yeah Yeeeeaaah!”

“My best friend's brother is the one for me.”

“B F B!” The girls chant, fist-pumping the air with each letter. “B F B!”

“My best friend’s brother, my best friend’s brother!”

“B F B! B F B!” The girls continue to chant.

“My best friend’s brother, my best friend’s brother!” Blaine belts, dropping to his knees right in front of Kurt and punching his fist in the air.

The choir room erupts with cheers and applause and Mr. Schuester call out, “That’s what I’m talking about!” but Blaine doesn’t hear any of it because he’s waiting for Kurt’s reaction.

“I mean it,” Blaine says, so that only Kurt can hear. “You’re the one for me ,Kurt. I know I messed up, and I’m sorry. I panicked, and I promise you it will never, ever happen again, and if you want me to tell the whole damn world that my best friend’s brother is the one for me, I will do it in a heartbeat,” he finishes, chest heaving.

“I’ll forgive you,” Kurt says, smiling widely, “but only if you help me with my song for the assignment. Tonight, seven o’clock, your place. I’ll bring dinner.”

“Deal,” Blaine says, leaning in to capture Kurt’s lips with his own.

Hoots and catcalls erupt around them and Puck lets out a distinct get it, Kurt! Finn says, loudly, “Ew, can you maybe not kiss my brother right in front of me?”

Blaine can feel his cheeks reddening but he doesn’t care because he is kissing Kurt and everything is right in the world again.

Kurt pulls back and goes to whisper in Blaine’s ear, “And maybe we can cuddle some more, too.”

“Yes, please,” Blaine says in a strangled voice, his only clear thought being I am the luckiest guy alive.