Ugh. Crowds. Crowds neared the top of Kurt's list of things he despised; along with fanny packs and pit stains, which were unfortunately also in abundance. Why anyone would go to a theme park in the middle of summer was absolutely beyond him. Worse yet, he was well aware of this omen and came to Sea World anyway. Kurt clutched the tiny hand in his fist even harder and tried to power walk through the crowd. Masses of bodies were closing in on him from all sides and the word "cattle" kept flashing through his brain.

"Ouch! Someone stepped on my toe!"

Kurt looked down at the little boy next to him and pursed his lips. "I'm sorry, we'll be out of this crowd in a second," he promised. There was a pathway up ahead that seemed much less dense and Kurt almost sprinted there with the boy in tow.

"You okay?" he asked as he bent down to get eye level with the kid.

"Uh huh. He just squished my toe. But I'm okay."

"That's good. Otherwise we would have to take you home." Which would be wonderful, Kurt mentally added.

The little boy gasped. "No! We still haven't seen Shamu!"

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle. He could never say no to this little guy. "Don't worry, Andy, we're going to see Shamu right now." Andy started cheering so vigorously his blonde curls were bouncing all over the place. Kurt laughed again. "Let's go! The next show's in twenty minutes!" The four year-old all but bolted in the direction of the arena and Kurt had to dodge some sun-fried tourists just to keep up.

...
"No. No no no. No no no no no no NO WAY. No way. Uh uh. No way."

"But Kurt, I really, really, really wanna sit in the splash zone!"

Kurt shook his head. "No way." Under what circumstance would he knowingly destroy his perfectly styled hair just to be closer to some big fish?

"Pleeeeeaaaase? Shamu is my favorite," Andy persisted with a maximum power puppy-dog pout.

Kurt glanced up the oh-so tempting stairs to the rest of the seats in the arena, which promised quality, dry entertainment. It was futile. "Fine," he groaned, and Andy cheered. "But not the first row!" he shouted after the kid who was already making his way over to a bench. The blondie was undeterred and settled for a spot in the second row just left of center. Kurt shook his head as he paid a vendor for a poncho. The things he would do for that little boy.

The teen slipped on the gaudy yellow poncho before taking his seat next to his favorite little ball of energy and pulled some goldfish out of his bag. Kurt had learned several months prior that it was easier to keep the kid's mouth full than it was to keep him patient.

The little boy stuck three goldfish in his mouth and chewed before looking up at his babysitter. "Thank you for taking me to Sea World, Kurt."

Kurt almost cried it was so cute. "No problem, buddy." Andy turned his attention back to snacking.

Kurt had been Andy's babysitter for nearly four months now, but since summer, it had become more of a nanny-esque position. He came to take care of the boy from nine to four every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. He didn't complain; he loved the little guy. Plus, the money was good, and what better summer job than hanging out with the really cool four year old who lived across the street? It was almost a month into summer now, though, and Andy was starting to get bored with watching Nickelodeon and coloring all the time. His mom worked at Sea World, so the family had tickets to go whenever they wanted. Andy had been begging for weeks to go, so Kurt finally caved and here they were. All in all, it wasn't as horrendous as Kurt had expected. It was unjustifiably hot and crowded, but the kid's face lit up every time he stepped in the park, so Kurt had no problem bringing him.

"How much longer?" Andy asked. The goldfish were gone and the impatience was back.

The seventeen year-old checked his phone from underneath the poncho. "Just another minute or two." Just as he was saying it, he was interrupted by a massive orca leaping out of the water. The show had begun.

"Woah!!!" No matter how many times Andy saw the show it never failed to amaze him. Kurt couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.

As the show went on, the little curly haired boy continued to "ooh" and "aww", and the coiffed teen just smiled. He couldn't help but shake his head at the unfortunate full body skin tight multihued blue suits all the performers had to wear. While most of them looked very fit, it still highlighted every bodily flaw and did not compliment anyone. More than that, it was just gaudy.

The audience applauded a cute act with two whales dancing in sync which ended with them "kissing", and Kurt had to admit it was pretty adorable. His good mood shattered almost instantly, however, when the word "SPLASH!" lit up across the LED screen. Andy squealed with delight as one of the whales started making its way across the front of the tank splashing its tail to get water over absolutely everyone in the first few rows.

Kurt secured his poncho.

Beams of water started shooting up in front of the first row, successfully soaking the nearest victims. When he stopped squinting his eyes shut, Kurt's attention was immediately caught by a performer with dark, curly hair darting in front of the audience.

Maybe that skintight suit wasn't so unfortunate after all.

The performer looked to be about his age, Kurt thought, and he was not unattractive. He gave an absolutely dazzling, over the top cheesy smile when he reached center and started waving at the entire crowd.

Yeah, Kurt thought, certainly not unattractive.

Another performer was mirroring this guy, and she looked like a life-sized Barbie. They split center and it was obvious that their job was to first and foremost get the crowd excited. Their energy was killer, and the crowd was going wild in seconds. The pair took off in their separate directions, and the whales were the stars again, splashing everyone in their path. This curly headed guy was about twenty feet away from Kurt when it became clear what his next job was: making sure no one in the splash zone went home dry. Kurt almost made a run for it. His obligation as a babysitter kept him sitting, though. Or maybe he was too entranced by those arms in that skintight suit. Because damn.

The performer made his way across the front of the audience, putting his hands over the mini geysers in the ground so they were directed towards the people sitting closest. The closer he got to Kurt, the tighter Kurt's hold on his poncho became. All the while, the curly haired guy was laughing and smiling and just looked like he was having the time of his life. Every time he splashed someone, his smile got brighter, especially when he splashed giggly little kids.

In no time, the guy was in front of Kurt and Andy and was just about to direct some water their way when Kurt shot his best look that said, "You splash me, you die." The performer smirked. Somehow, he managed to get the water to where it hit Andy square on but missed Kurt entirely. The poncho- bearing teen's mouth dropped. The performer only grinned before darting off to his next unsuspecting victims.

Kurt couldn't form words. How could that guy even do that? Everyone else just got drenched mercilessly. His thoughts were interrupted by a squealing boy.

"Ahhh!! I got all wet!!! Look, Kurtie!!" He was giggling uncontrollably.

Kurt laughed too. "Look at you!" Andy turned back to the show and trained his eyes back on the whales. Kurt, however, let his eyes drift to the surprisingly muscular performer with the-oh, hello- really nice ass. He got water all over a family before high-fiving a little girl and running back over to...damnit, to splash everyone all over again. When he got right in front of Kurt again, he just winked and shot some water over to a shrieking Andy. The pale boy's face started heating up instantly, and the performer laughed before jogging back center.

Maybe Sea World wasn't so bad after all.

...

After the Shamu show, it got so unbearably crowded in the park that even Andy didn't mind heading out. The whole way home he couldn't stop gushing about his day, though.

"And then all the whales jumped up in the air at the same time!! It was so cool!"

Kurt laughed and looked back towards the car seat from the rear-view mirror. "I know, buddy! It was awesome!"

"And we saw the polar bears... Those were so cool!"

"Literally."

The rest of the ride home consisted of the little boy relaying the actions of the entire day to his babysitter. Kurt just shook his head. Andy got wound up at the teensiest things.

They pulled into the driveway of a two story home. Kurt hopped out, and went to help Andy (who had yet to stop talking) get out of his car seat.

"Can I have goldfish?"

"I see we have a theme going today." Kurt laughed internally at his hilarious joke that went over the four-year-old's head.

They went into the house, Kurt switching on lights as he went. Andy plopped down on the couch. "Can I watch cartoons?"

"You can watch two episodes. Then I want you to read." Andy groaned. "What? Reading is fun!" Andy rolled his eyes before grabbing at the remote. As he poured some goldfish into a cup, Kurt silently swore to find a way to make the kid love reading before summer was out.

A half-hour later, Kurt was lazily flipping through Vogue as Andy stared at the pictures in some nonsense children's book. There was the sound of a car pulling up and heels clicking up the driveway before a door opened.

"Mommy!"

A beautiful brunette woman in her early thirties stepped in and immediately embraced the toddler bounding towards her. "Hi, honey!" she laughed. "Did you have fun today?"

"Yes!" Andy let go to look at his mother with round eyes. "Kurt took me to Sea World! We saw sharks and fish and penguins and polar bears and dolphins and—"

"It sounds like you did have fun!"

"Yeah! And Kurt took me to Shamu even though he didn't want to get wet!"

"Well wasn't that nice of him," she decided with a kind look to the teenager. "Did you tell Kurt thank you?"

"Thank you Kurt!" the boy bubbled as he ran over to hug the tall boy around the knees.

"It was my pleasure, buddy!" He crouched down to get eye level. "And if you're really good for the next few days we might go again soon."

"Really?!"

"Really, really," Kurt laughed. "But you have to be good and make sure you read your books!"

"Okay!" the ball of energy exclaimed as he bolted into his bedroom.

Kurt looked at the woman who was shaking her head with a smile. "Hi, Kathy. How was your day?"

"Ugh." Kurt laughed. "Long. But productive. I hope he wasn't too much of a handful today?"

"He was great. We hung out at the park for a few hours and came back here when it got too crowded. I was actually about to put him down for a nap. He was pretty worn out until you got here."

"Of course," she joked. She began saying something else before she was interrupted by a toddler darting into the living room.

"Look, Kurt! I picked this book to read! If I finish it, can we go to Sea World again tomorrow?"

"Honey, you can't go to Sea World every day," his mother chided, "You'll get bored of it!"

The boy shook his blonde curls back and forth. "Uh uh! I'll never ever get tired of Sea World!" Kurt and Kathy laughed.

"If you say so. Listen, tell Kurt goodbye and then go into your room."

"You're not gonna make me take a nap, are you?"

"We'll see."

"Cuz I don't wanna."

"I know, honey. Tell Kurt goodbye, now." She nudged her son towards the teen who crouched down for a hug.

"Bye, Kurt! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"And?" his mother prodded.

"Um.... Oh! And thank you for taking me to Sea World!"

Kurt smiled. "It was my pleasure. And like I said, if you're good, maybe we'll go again soon."

"I'll be good, I promise!" Andy swore.

"Then I guess we have nothing to worry about," Kurt concluded. "I'll see you tomorrow, little man."

"Thanks again, Kurt," Kathy said with a grateful smile.

"It's no problem. See you."

...

A week later, after several consecutive days of Andy being a particularly good boy, the pair was back at Sea World.

"I wanna ride the roller coaster!" the little boy shrieked.

Kurt cocked his head. "I don't think you're tall enough, Andy." He was only about two feet too short.

"Well I was last time but maybe I grew."

Kurt laughed. "Okay, buddy, we'll check it out. But don't get too upset if you're not tall enough yet.

They made their way over to Manta, and sure enough, Andy was about a mile away from meeting the height requirement. The way his face fell made Kurt want to laugh and cry and hug him all at the same time.

About fifteen minutes later the boys were watching rainbow fish swim around a huge tank when Kurt noticed the toddler staring at his shoes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he responded without so much as looking up. "I just want to be tall like you so I can ride big boy rides."

"You'll get there before you know it, I promise." A thought occurred to him. "And hey, if you were as tall as me you couldn't play on the playground."

Andy's eyes got wide. "You're right!" Kurt smiled. "Can I go on the playground right now? Please?"

"Of course, big man, whatever you want."

By the time they got to the playground area, Kurt was ready to sit down. It had been less than an hour and his feet were already killing him. Still, he wasn't quite ready to sacrifice fashion for comfort just yet; not when his shoes were this stylish.

Andy was already tearing his way up the stairs of the play place. The area really was remarkable. It was gigantic. From a child's point of view it must have seemed absolutely endless. A parent's nightmare. Or godsend, depending on your point of view.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Kurt's thoughts were interrupted by a stranger's voice. He turned to see hazel eyes looking at him in question.

"Oh, um-um, no. Sure, go ahead." He scooted over a bit.

"Thanks." The stranger sat down.

"No problem." He glanced away uncomfortably. This guy was not unattractive.

"My name's Blaine," the newcomer introduced himself.

"Kurt." Why did this guy seem so familiar?

"......You're going to have to pardon the phrasing, but you come here often?" Blaine asked with a playful smirk.

He smiled. "Yeah, I do, actually. Annual passes from that little guy's mom." He gestured over to where Andy was playing with a girl in a purple dress with dark, curly hair.

"Ah," Blaine smiled and nodded. Damn, smile more, please. "I just thought I recognized you and figured I may have seen you here."

"Wait! You're that guy from the Shamu show, aren't you?"

Blaine laughed. "That's me. You were here not too long ago, weren't you? I remember not letting you get soaked."

"Yeah. Thank you for that. My hair and skin thank you, too. Whatever chemicals they pump into that tank probably wouldn't be too forgiving."

Blaine chuckled and shook his curly head. "It's not that bad. My hair doesn't seem to mind."

"That seems true enough." They fell into a silence. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't as comfortable as Kurt would have liked either. Plus, Blaine wasn't smiling like he was earlier, which was tragic in its own right. "Why didn't you spray me anyway?" Kurt asked the question he had wondered the previous week. "I mean, isn't it like, in your job description to soak everyone in the splash zone?"

Blaine turned to face the playground as he pondered this. "Yeah, I mean, I guess it is. But, I dunno, you just looked really apprehensive. I guess I just couldn't bring myself to do that." He shrugged and gave the slightest hint of a smile.

Kurt nodded slowly. "Fair enough. Well.... Thanks again."

The two watched all the kids running around the playground shrieking and laughing. Kurt almost wished he was that age again so he could have that much fun. Theme parks were great, but no one could deny that kids got to have more fun than the "grown-ups" did. "So what are you doing here today, anyway? I imagine you have the day off?"

Blaine gave a small smile as he looked around at the kids. He pointed to the same little girl Andy was playing with. "That's my niece. She's down for a few weeks this summer. I just wanted her to have some fun, so I thought I'd bring her here."

"Well she seems to be having plenty of fun." They both smiled as they watched the kids run off across bridges and then down a massive slide.

"So, Kurt," Blaine began, turning back to face him, "tell me about yourself."

Ah, one of Kurt's favorite pastimes: talking about himself. "I don't know what there is to tell." HA. Ha.

"Where do you go to school?"

"McKinley. I'll be a senior this year."

Blaine smiled. "Any plans after that?"

Kurt put on his best diva face. "New York City."

"Ambitious. That's really cool."

"And what about you?"

The tan one presses his lips into a line. "I, uh... I honestly don't know anymore. I'm a senior next year, too, and I've always wanted to be a marine biologist. So I was really stoked to get this summer internship. But lately..." He trailed off.

"Yeah?"

Blaine looked over at Kurt. "I dunno. There's nothing I really don't like about it, I guess. I just don't love it the way I thought I would. It doesn't feel... right."

"Ah." Kurt nodded. What else could he say? All his life he knew that's where he belonged. He'd always wanted to be on stage.

"I'm sorry." Blaine shook his head and ran his fingers through his curls. "I didn't mean to just vent to you like that."

"Hey, none of that! If you need to vent, vent."

"Yeah but we don't really even know each other-"

"Everyone starts off as strangers." A pause. They smiled at each other.

"Kurt!!" He was pulled away from hazel eyes by the sounds of an overly-excited toddler. "Kuuurt!"

"Yes, Andy?

"This is Claire. She's my friend. She's beautiful." Kurt and Blaine smiled as the little girl in the purple dress turned red and looked down at her feet.

"I can see that." He smiled. "Hi, Claire. I'm Kurt."

"Hi." She gave him a shy smile and a tiny wave.

"And aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?" Blaine asked his niece.

"Oh! Um, this is Andy. He's good at running."

"I don't think you fully understand just how accurate that is," Kurt muttered to Blaine. He laughed.

"We're thirsty," Andy interjected.

"I'll bet. Do you guys want to go to one of the food stands?" Kurt asked. The kids nodded. "Then, uh, I guess we should just go together," he told Blaine.

"Sounds great to me." He grinned. "C'mon guys, I know where we can get the best ice cream."

They traveled together for the rest of the day; the kids chattering away and the teenagers making easy conversation. They all seemed to get along really well. After Kurt wiped all the ice cream that didn't quite make it into the kids' mouths off their faces, they all looked for something to do.

"We haven't seen the polar bears," Kurt suggested. "Call me crazy, but that's one of my favorite exhibits."

Blaine's eyes grew wide. "I love the polar bears!" he exclaimed. "And the beluga whales! They're so cool!"

"Literally!" they both chimed. They looked away and couldn't stop smiling. Okay. That was a dumb joke. They were both well aware. But neither of them could call it out. Which was perfectly okay.

...

At the polar bear exhibit, it was hard to differentiate between the teenagers and the toddlers; they all stood up against the glass with their faces pressed up against the window.

"Did you know polar bears actually have black skin? But their fur reflects light, so since they're surrounded by snow they look white all the time," Blaine informed them, going on like a guide. Well, more like a really knowledgeable puppy than anything. "And when they hunt, they sit by the edge of the ice and cover their noses like this-" he covered his nose with his hands "-so they blend in."

"Not that into marine biology my butt," Kurt scoffed. Blaine rolled his eyes. They smiled and went to corral the kids, who had just taken off running.

They stopped in front of a big timer on a wall next to a sign advertising a competition to see who could hold their breath the longest. The boys looked at each other with absolute mischief.

"Don't even bother. I wouldn't want you to embarrass yourself." Kurt challenged.

"Please. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but ninety percent of my job consists of running and being under water."

"I'm a singer."

"It's on."

Andy and Claire stopped their antics just long enough to see the smack down take root. They made their way over before the boys could even start.

"Kurt's gonna win!" Andy declared.

"Nu uh! Blaine is really good at holding his breath!"

"Yeah well-"

"Okay, okay!" Blaine interrupted before it could turn into a full on brawl. "Let's just have the competition first, and then we can see who gets to brag alright?" The kids nodded. Blaine turned his back to them to make his way back to Kurt before mouthing, "me."

"Not a chance," Kurt grinned.

They got ready to put their hands on the wall, which would start the timer. As soon as one of them ran out of breath, they would have to back off, accepting defeat. "You guys ready?" Blaine asked the kids.

"Yeah!!"

"Alright, give us a three, two, one!"

"Three, two, one!!"

Kurt and Blaine stuck their hands on the wall simultaneously, effectively starting the timer. They never broke eye contact. Thirty seconds in, Kurt smirked and Blaine just smiled and shook his head. By a minute, Andy and Claire were gaping open mouthed and they boys smiled nonchalantly. By a minute thirty, they did their best to look unaffected, but the lack of oxygen was starting to take its toll. A minute forty five. The room was spinning a bit. Two minutes. They were about to lose it. Just a few more seconds....

Blaine let go first, gasping for air. Kurt was a second behind him. Once he caught his breath, he grinned. "Who won? Oh. Oh, I did. But I thought your whole job is underwater. Huh. That's so weird. Because you lost anyway. I'm shocked, really."

Blaine laughed and shook his head. "Shut up. It was close."

"But I still won."

"You still won."

"Kurt, can we go in that play place?" Andy begged, effectively breaking the teenagers' eye contact.

"Sure. Be careful though!" They were already gone.

The boys followed at a leisurely pace. They didn't speak for a while, but the silence was comfortable now.

They passed the beluga whale tank. "Did you know beluga whales are sometimes called sea canaries?" Blaine asked.

"Why is—oh." The whales started making high pitched squeaks. "Well that could get annoying."

Blaine gave a tiny smile. "I don't think so. It's like they're singing."

"Like how Dory speaks whale?"

Blaine stopped cold. "We don't ever speak of that movie here."

"What- oh. Disney. Right."

Blaine chuckled. "Nah, it's not a big deal. But the employees have this running joke about it. We keep a tally of how many Finding Nemo references daily."

"And?"

"One day, between me and my friends Joey, Amy, and Drake, we heard twenty seven."

"Wow."

"Yep. So congratulations. You just got tallied."

Kurt smiled. This guy was mildly ridiculous. But in a good way.

They sat by the play place and watched Andy and Claire run in and out of the tunnels for a few minutes. Their energy was astounding.

"Hey," Kurt said out of the blue. "You know how you said you didn't feel right about marine biology?

Blaine looked apprehensive. "Yeah?"

"Well I was just thinking. I mean, you looked so perfect when we saw you performing the other day."

"Oh stop, you're just flattering me," Blaine joked.

"No really! And it looked like you were having a blast. Plus, the audience loved you, I promise."

"You were in the audience."

"Yeah okay, well don't get too far ahead of yourself." They laughed. "But really, have you ever thought about going into performing?"

Blaine looked far away. It was a long time before he said anything. "Well- I mean, yeah. Like, I love it. I've always kind of, you know, done some stuff here and there. But it wasn't until this summer when I realized just how much I love performing. I can't even explain it."

"You don't have to. I think you forget who you're talking to."

Blaine laughed. "It's just that... Well, it's not really a steady profession, and my dad..."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

"Well have you ever thought about double majoring?"

"What?" Blaine looked up at Kurt.

"Double majoring," Kurt shrugged. You could do two majors. Like, uh, business and design. I kind of considered that. Or maybe marine biology and theatre or something."

Blaine took all this in. "Wow... I never thought of that."

"There are tons of options out there." They got distracted by Andy falling on his face. "You okay, buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm good!" he called back as he kept playing.

"We should probably go grab something to eat. They're bound to crash soon."

"Yeah," Kurt agreed. "C'mon, it'll be my treat."

"Oh no, not a chance," he smiled. "Besides, I get the employee discount.

"Well at least let me pay for me and Andy," Kurt argued. "Besides," he whispered, "it's his mom's money." Blaine laughed. "I've got her employee discount too, so really, it's no big deal."

Blaine caved, but he couldn't help but think to himself that they needed to have dinner sometime where he would be the only one paying.

...

Captain Pete's Island Eats had some pretty good food. The kids were still loud even with their faces stuffed with food.

"You got ketchup on your face." Claire told Andy.

"I do not."

"Do too. It's all over your chin."

"Nu uh."

"Yes huh!" she insisted. Claire leaned over and wiped the ketchup off his face to show him. "See?"

"Oh."

"You're silly." She started giggling. Kurt and Blaine smiled at each other over their meals.

"Are you going to eat all of your watermelon?" Andy asked.

"No. Do you want some?"

"Yes please." Claire passed the bowl over to him.

Kurt couldn't help but smile at the exchange. God, these kids were cute. He couldn't help but feel like they were going to get married after today. He felt a nudge on his foot and looked up to see Blaine mirroring him.

"Oh, sorry," the tan boy murmured and looked back down at his food, blushing.

Yeah, Kurt was just thinking about the kids being adorable with each other. Right?

He supposed it didn't matter.

...

After lunch, Blaine bought each kid a whale tail hat from one of the little shops.

"I don't get one?" Kurt scoffed as they strolled down a surprisingly sparse walkway. "I'm hurt."

"It wouldn't fit you!"

"Are you saying I have a big head?" he gasped, eyes growing wide. Andy and Claire giggled at each other.

"I would never insinuate something so absolutely preposterous."

"Good. I'm still hurt you didn't buy me a whale tail hat though." He stuck his nose in the air. Really though, those things were just absurd enough to be adorable on the kids. If he wore it though, it would be a What Not to Wear worthy disaster.

"Well what do you say I buy you something else?" Blaine asked with a glint in his eye.

"Oh, no really, you don't have to. I was just kidding about-"

"No really. I'd like to."

They had stopped walking at this point. Blaine was looking his straight in the eye. "What did you have in mind?" Kurt asked.

"Dinner. This Friday."

Kurt stopped breathing. Gorgeous guys did not just ask Kurt Hummel out to dinner. This just didn't happen.

Andy and Claire looked back and forth between the two with bated breath.

Blaine started to fidget when the silence began to drag on. "Or, I mean, we could do something else. Or nothing, I mean, if you don't want to. That's fine too. I was just-"

"No," Kurt cut him off. "No, dinner sounds perfect.

Blaine grinned bigger than Kurt had ever seen, and he had watched this guy perform at a theme park. "Great." Neither could stop smiling now, and they just stared at each other with stars in their eyes.

"Eeeeeee this is so exciting!!" Claire squealed. She and Andy launched off into giggle fits and started chasing each other around the walkway. If they were thinking properly, the boys might have told them to stop.

But they weren't exactly focused.

Because they were going out to dinner together.

"So uh," Blaine began awkwardly as he stared at the ground. "Uh. What do you want to do now?" He looked at Kurt and continued to beam from ear to ear.

Kurt tried his best to keep his grinning to a minimum, but just ended up looking shy and smitten. "Oh, um. I don't know." He was still blushing. "What do you guys think?" he asked Claire and Andy.

"I wanna see Clyde and Seymore!" Claire shouted. Blaine's face lit up as he nodded in agreement.

"What is Clyde and Seymore?" Kurt asked.

"Oh you'll love it. Actually, you might hate it. But it'll be fun."

Kurt rolled his eyes but followed Blaine's lead regardless, Claire and Andy racing ahead again.

...

Clyde and Seymore turned out to be some kids show about pirates and a seal. Kurt had never seen it, but it was supposed to be pretty cute. And kind of dumb. But cute.

Andy insisted on sitting front and center, so they did. Kurt groaned, because technically this was another splash zone. Blaine smiled.

When the show started, a cartoony pirate came out, slipping around and making jokes.

"Hey!" Blaine exclaimed.

"What?"

"That's my buddy, Eddie."

Blaine knew the entire Sea World staff, it seemed like.

About halfway through the show, Eddie asked for a volunteer. Andy's hand shot straight up in the air like his life depended on it. With a quick glance to Blaine, Eddie picked the little blonde boy. He ended up getting to shake the seal's hand. Flipper? Kurt and Blaine cracked up at Andy's expression when he touched it. Before Kurt knew what happened, Blaine's hand was grabbing his. He let out a little gasp and looked down at their hands. Blaine glanced up at him sheepishly. Kurt smiled and went ahead and laced them all the way together. Blaine beamed ear to ear the rest of the show.

When the show was over and everyone began filing out of the bleachers, they all stood up, and Blaine started to let go of Kurt's hand. Kurt pulled him back. They looked at each other, and Kurt gave him a reassuring smile. They walked out of the arena hand in hand, the kids not even noticing because they were too enamored with the comedy of the seal.

It was starting to get late, and Kurt and Blaine could tell the kids were fading.

"Do you think we should, um..."

"Yeah." Kurt decided. He gave a melancholy smile.

"Alright, guys, we're going to get ready to go home," Blaine announced.

"What?"

"No!"

"Yeah, it's that time," Kurt said.

"But.... I'm gonna miss Claire," Andy said with an expression so heartbreaking it should have been on an ASPCA commercial.

"Well hey, she's going to be in town for a few more weeks," Blaine said. "Maybe we can do this again, soon." He looked at Kurt.

"I think that's a wonderful idea."

"Me too," Andy said. "I want Claire to be my girlfriend and that can't happen if I don't see her again.

Kurt and Blaine grinned. "You make a very valid point," Blaine agreed.

"But you will see me again," Claire promised. "So am I your girlfriend?"

"Oh. Um, I dunno. Do you wanna be?"

"I dunno."

"Well I think yes," Andy insisted. "Because I like you a lot and I think you're beautiful."

Claire smiled. "Okay."

The teenagers grinned and they all kept walking. About halfway to the parking lot, Andy looked at Kurt and Blaine's intertwined hands and did the same with Claire's.

When they reached Kurt's car, the kids were chattering away and paid no attention to the teenagers. Blaine gave them a glance before leaning into Kurt and lowering his voice.

"You know, I don't think I could have said it better than Andy."

"What?" Kurt asked, trying desperately to keep his breathing steady.

"I like you a lot and think you're beautiful." He pulled away and hazel eyes met blue.

Kurt couldn't think of an appropriate response to such a compliment. "Um, I'll see you on Friday?"

Blaine smiled. "I wouldn't miss it for anything." Kurt blushed. "I will need your number though." The blush got so much worse.

After they exchanged numbers and the kids said their goodbyes, Blaine said, "I'll text you tonight."

"Okay." Kurt couldn't stop smiling.

"And I'll see you on Friday."

"I'm excited."

"Me too." And with that, Blaine turned and started walking towards his car. He didn't get more than five feet before his niece was asking to be picked up. He obliged, and turned back to give one last wave to Kurt and Andy.

Andy sighed once he was situated in the back seat. "I like them a lot. Are we going to see them again?"

Kurt smiled at him through the rear view window. "Yeah, buddy. I think we'll definitely be seeing them again."