The gardens at Dalton were extraordinary; vast and beautiful like the rest of the academy. Among trees and flowerbeds were seating groups perfect for relaxing or even studying. And as the sun had decided to finally make an appearance after days of rain, Kurt had opted for the gardens to do the latter. He was seated in a comfy chair next to the pond, and was trying really hard to concentrate on his English Lit.-book. The garden was nearly empty, as it was a Friday mid-June and most students had their last exam today. The only exam to be held next week was in Kurt's English Lit. class.

As he looked up for a minute to watch two ducks seemingly courting each other in the pond, he saw Blaine approaching. Their friendship had gone back to normal after the Rachel Berry-caused-sexuality-confusion-disaster, and the two boys had a secret understanding that the incident was never to be spoken of again.

Blaine stopped a few meters in front of Kurt, who took a moment to look him over. He looked handsome as always, and like whenever Blaine was within a short distance from him, Kurt felt his heart racing and an army of butterflies fighting for room in his belly. Kurt was, as he had told Blaine, a die-hard romantic. But after the sex talk he had had with his dad (and he had to admit that, however embarrassing that conversation had been, he was grateful to his dad for getting out of his comfort zone and have that talk with him), and reading those pamphlets (he might as well read them when his dad had gone to the trouble of getting them for him) the way he felt around Blaine had changed. The army of butterflies had always been present, but lately a mere touch or look had brought on so many other feelings and thoughts that Kurt couldn't describe by other words than lust.

He must have zoned out and looked kind of weird, because Blaine looked at him with amusement before speaking.

"So, are you really going to drive all the way Lima to go to that end-of-school-party Sam is throwing?" Blaine asked with a laugh that sounded forced to Kurt ears.

"Yes, I think I am," Kurt confirmed, looking up at the student standing next to him. It really was quite warm wearing the uniform on days like today, and Kurt had had to take the blazer off and roll up his shirt sleeves. Blaine, however, seemed cool and dapper as always. Kurt suddenly had a mental image of him with his sleeves rolled up in the same way he was sporting, and that feeling of lust appeared. He had to shake his head to try to get rid of it. Friends, remember? I'm Sally, I'm Sally, I'm Sally. "Sam has a cousin he wants me to meet. Why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing. Ah, it's just that ev'rybody seems to expect me to take ya," Blaine drawled, "to Wes' graduation party."

Startled, Kurt took a moment to search Blaine's face. What was he up to? Then it hit him; he knew that line. It was from Oklahoma. That realization did nothing to calm Kurt. What was Blaine thinking? His face gave nothing away. Surely he wasn't expecting Kurt to sing another flirty duet with him?

Well, might as well give it a try, Kurt thought. "Then maybe it's just as well you ain't," Kurt said, having searched his impeccable memory for the right reply. It was a gift he had; remembering musical- and movielines. "We don't want people talking 'bout us, do we?" Accents were definitely not a gift of his however, and he cringed when he heard his own voice. But the smirk on Blaine's face told him that he had indeed assumed right; Blaine really meant to play out the scene from Oklahoma. Oh, dear Gaga, what had he gotten himself into?

Blaine had waited impatiently for Kurt to catch on to what he was planning. The look Kurt gave him when he tried to figure out what he was up to was one of the many very unique things Kurt; the boy managed to get the expression of raising his eyebrows, narrowing his eyes and rolling them, all in one look without moving anything. It really was the most scrutinizing look Blaine had ever seen, and at the same time it clearly gave away the fact that Kurt found the receiver of those looks out of their mind. He had been particularly prone to get them during the Rachel-thing and after. He still felt slightly bad about that phase of his, but it was something he really needed to figure out, and in hindsight it was a good thing, as it made their friendship one more of equals rather than mentor and mentee.

"What, you think people do talk about us?" Blaine had now proceeded to sit next to Kurt, and was so in character that Kurt had to shake his head and smile.

"You know how they are. Like a swarm of mud wasps. Always gotta be buzzin' 'bout something."

"Well, what are they saying? – Ooh, that you're stuck on me."

"Uh-uh – most of the talk is that you're stuck on me." Here Kurt leaned in and whispered conspiratorially to Blaine.

"Wow, I can't imagine how these ugly rumors start." While saying this, Blaine got up and ran over to a tree nearby grabbing his music-player from behind it. He pushed play and hurried back to Kurt, who's mind had drifted off daydreaming about the other boy. Now Blaine's close proximity to him brought Kurt's attention back to the task at hand.

"Me neither," he said, before he began singing.

Why do they think up stories that link my name with yours?

Why do the neighbors chatter all day behind their doors? Blaine wondered.

To anyone who had spent any amount of time in the presence of these two, there was nothing to wonder about at all. That they cared deeply about each other was obvious, and the sexual tension between them was like a guitar string pulled so tight that is was at breaking point by just the lightest touch. Wes and David were thrilled that they were graduating this year, thus getting away from it all.

"I know a way to prove what they say is quite untrue
Here is the gist,
A practical list of 'don'ts' fer you.
Don't throw bouquets at me
Don't please my folks to much
Don't laugh at my jokes too much.
People will say we're in love."

"Who laughs at your jokes…?" Blaine threw in.

He did laugh, not because the punch lines were particularly funny, but because of the way Kurt told them. And that bouquet throwing had been once! He couldn't help himself after Kurt had sung an amazing solo at an alumni event at Dalton, and it hadn't been a bouquet, it had been one single daisy, found in the garden on a whim. When it came to pleasing his folks, Blaine was relieved that Burt had kind of taken a liking to him after the sex talk prompting. He must have somehow seen how much Blaine cared about his son.

"Don't sigh and gaze at me.
Your sighs are so like mine.
Your eyes mustn't glow like mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't start collecting things
Give me my rose and my glove.
Sweetheart, they're suspecting things
People will say we're in love."

That's just what Kurt did to Blaine. He could not keep his eyes off the blue-eyed boy he had known for less than a year, although it felt like they had always, always known each other. Uhm, yes, he had to admit that he might not have returned the scarf and the book Kurt had left behind at his dorm room the other day. It just felt like he had a part of Kurt with him you know, when he had those things. Not to mention that the scarf smelled like Kurt; clean and fresh and manly... No, no, no, just friends, right? Better keep it like that. It's just that Harry did have a point about not being able to be friends with someone you find attractive. And Kurt was so beautiful, especially now when the sun, and the pleasure of singing, made his skin glow. Blaine forced himself to focus on playing out the scene.

"Some people claim that you are to blame as much as I
Why do you take the trouble to bake my fav'rite pie?
Grantin' your wish I carved our initials on that tree,
Just keep a slice of all the advice you give so free.
Don't praise my charm too much
Don't look so vain with me
Don't stand in the rain with me
People will say we're in love."

Kurt loved to bake, and he regularly made cakes for his friends. So what if he had taken extra care to find out what Blaine's favorite is, and made that on a day that his friend was feeling down. It didn't mean anything, right? And the story behind those initials had nothing to do with romance or love. Blaine and Kurt had been walking around in the garden talking about those old elm trees, when Kurt had commented on the fact that those trees had seen generations of Dalton students, and that they themselves would graduate and not leave a permanent mark. It was then that Blaine had taken it upon himself to rectify that situation.

And when it comes to charm, who can beat Blaine? Kurt wasn't the only one who found himself praising his charm. He had won the entire New Directions over, and that was even after the incident never again to be mentioned. And at Dalton he was one of the best liked guys. And Kurt looking vain with Blaine; that silly rhyme aside, did he know Kurt at all? Kurt looked vain with everyone!

Now, the story with standing (or should we just admit it; singing) in the rain was rather coincidental. They had been watching "Singing in the rain", and as the titles filled the screen, they had looked out the window to see that it was pouring outside. They couldn't not reenact the song then. They had had so much fun that other Dalton boys had eventually joined them, and half the student population had been on bed rest with colds and fewer for the rest of the week.

"Don't take my arm to much
Don't keep your hand in mine
Your hand feels so grand in mine
People will say we're in love!
Don't dance all night with me
'till the stars fade from above
They'll see it's alright with me
People will say we're in love!"

They had been moving around the garden and where now standing next to each other, and Blaine took Kurt's hand in his while singing. Kurt remembered that first time they met; how Blaine took his hand and how they ran through that hallway, which happened to become Kurt's favorite place at Dalton, and a place where he often found himself sitting and daydreaming about a certain fellow student.

The dancing was another movie-related story. They had been watching "The Sound of Music", and just when the Captain and Maria had started dancing out on the balcony during the ball, Blaine had paused the movie, pulled Kurt off the coach (where he had somehow ended up snuggling into Blaine's shoulder) and taken him out to the balcony, with the ever-present music-player. There they had danced together for the first time, at first claiming that they were just acting out the scene; however, as time flew and they danced through Blaine's dance-appropriate playlist, they found themselves still at the balcony hours later, watching the sunrise. It was one of the memories from this time at Dalton and with Blaine Kurt treasured the most. Come to think of it they did watch a lot of movies, and tended to reenact a lot of scenes.

By the end of the song they were seated on a bench tucked behind a cluster of apparently rare bushes, if the grand sign was anything to go by.

"Don't you reckon you could tell Sam that you'd rather come with me tonight?" Blaine sounded wistful.

"Blaine..." Kurt looked at him, but was surprised by the intense expression on the other boy's face and quickly looked away. Were they still playing? Kurt truly wanted to go with Blaine tonight, but he stuck with the script. Besides, it really was about time he started meeting new people, and from what Sam had told him about his cousin he seemed like a nice guy. Oh, who was he kidding? No one could hold a candle to Blaine. But Kurt couldn't keep doing this to himself. He had to move on. "I - I couldn't."

"No, you couldn't..." Blaine sounded sadder than any Curly Kurt had ever seen, - and he had seen many renditions of the musical. "Well, I suppose I'll take Sam up on the invitation to his party after all. See what's so interesting about this cousin of his." Blaine got up and began to stalk towards the gates. Kurt's wee little heart ached.

"Blaine..."

"What?" Kurt had never seen anyone spin around that fast. His eyes found Blaine's and held them. In them was a mix of emotions Kurt couldn't even begin to comprehend. If Blaine ever decided to go into acting, Kurt hoped the directors would see his ability to show this spectrum of emotions merely through his eyes. Although right now Kurt was unsure as to what exactly those emotions were...

"Nothing..." Right; back to the scene. He had already put his feelings out there once. He wasn't about to put either one of them through that again. Blaine sighed and continued walking away. Kurt could hear the soft tones of the song winding down. Blaine had left the music-player in his haste. Ah, might as well finish the scene then, Kurt thought, and started wandering around the garden.

He walked around the pond, and became aware of the fact that the ducks had apparently now ended their courtship and moved on the heavier and dirtier things. It brought Kurt's mind to the time they had sung "Animal". That song was just so perfect, but as it turned out he hadn't quite managed to pull off the sexy-look. Blaine would probably never see him in that light. No, it was time to move on.
He ended up, eyes closed, leaning against one of the large elm trees.

"Don't sigh and gaze at me.
Your sighs are so like mine.
Your eyes mustn't glow..."

He heard someone walking towards him. Argh, great, now Wes or David have found me, he thought. They did tend to show up at the most embarrassing moments. He felt the person touch his hand. He could feel the blush tinting his cheeks, and forced his eyes open. But it wasn't Wes or David. Confused, Kurt found himself staring into the beautiful eyes of the boy who haunted his dreams and who he feared he would never be able to fall out of love with.

"I don't want people to say we're in love."

Kurt narrowed his eyes properly this time, quite annoyed. "Well then, I guess you shouldn't continue to set up these situations," Kurt threw back at him. That is, he had meant to throw it viciously at him, but his voice was merely a soft whisper and it didn't have the desired effect. Blaine looked bewildered for a moment before that intense expression returned.

"No, no, no. Argh... I told you I am not good at talking about my feelings. That is why I continuously try to express them through song." His eyes tried to will Kurt to understand, but it seemed he really had to say it.

"As I said; I don't want people to say we're in love... I..."

"Yes, I think we have established that already," Kurt heard himself interrupt. He could feel the tears welling up. But although he was sad, he was also angry with Blaine. He knew how Kurt felt about him. How could he continue to behave like this?

"NO!" Blaine's voice was forceful.
"I want people to know we're in love."

What? Kurt searched his face. He had been known to have daydreams like this on more than one occasion, and wasn't entirely sure this wasn't one of those dreams.

Blaine, apparently on a roll now, continued talking. "I watched "When Harry met Sally" again last night while you were studying. And I realize I have had enough of this Harry and Sally business. I mean we weren't even that much like them to begin with anyway. Come to think of it, the closest resemblance I can see is that, apart from the color, when my hair isn't cut short and I haven't tamed it down with gel, Meg Ryan and I have the same hairstyle. And I don't want to waste 12 years denying what we have, Kurt. I came back here now because when you realize that you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible," - "and thus I stand before you quoting a movie."

Kurt still wasn't entirely sure this wasn't a dream. Oh, for the love of Gaga he thought, I'll just play along and make the most of it.

"Uhm… I… eh…" Finding words are apparently quite difficult when you are mere inches away from the boy you have loved for what feels like an eternity and who for some reason have declared his love for you right now.

"Uhm," he tried again.
"Then I think I am ready to have my real first kiss now," Kurt whispered to Blaine, who didn't need any more prompting before he leaned towards him.

Kurt had read and heard many descriptions of how it feels to kiss someone you really want to kiss. The most common word used was fireworks. Kurt disagreed. How could he think about fireworks when every fiber of his being was so finely tuned to the feeling of Blaine's body molded to his? Their legs intertwined, their tongues battled for dominance, and the army of butterflies in his belly must have multiplied their troops. He could feel Blaine's heart beating, and his own heart behaved like it was dancing a waltz to a song in four four time. He had heard that description in a musical once, and found it quite fitting. He felt Blaine's perfectly kissable lips under his and moved his hand into his hair. When they finally had to come up for air Blaine held him close and looked adoringly at him.

Kurt put his forehead to Blaine's and whispered softly; "now, that is what a first kiss should be like."