Butterflies. They were swarming through Kurt’s stomach. He could have sworn there was a batch of cocoons being broken in his intestines as he staggered through the Dalton Academy hallways. He was oblivious to every sound that wasn’t his heart pounding a million beats per second.

Blaine had kissed him. Kissed Kurt. He could still feel the warmth of Blaine’s soft lips over his. Kurt couldn’t help thinking how wrong Brittany had been. Boys lips did not taste like dip, burgers, or (he cringed) armpits. They tasted like…like mint gum and strawberry chapstick.

Kurt had a hard time concentrating the rest of the day. He’d given up on decorating Pavarotti’s casket, laying the task aside for another day. When the afternoon break came to a close and Blaine left for Calculus as Kurt headed to French III, his mind kept wandering to Blaine. Blaine’s taste, smell, texture, the soft wrinkles on his jacket after they’d been kissing for twenty minutes.

He was relieved when the final bell rang for the day. Gathering his things, he headed toward the dorms, hoping to catch up on the work he didn’t do during class.

“Kurt! Hey, Kurt wait!” Blaine’s voice echoed down the emptying hallway. Kurt turned to see the beautiful boy sprinting toward him. His breath caught in his throat, but he managed a shaky “H…hey Blaine.”

Blaine caught up with Kurt and took him by the hand, their fingers lacing together. The pair looked down at the clasped hands and back up. Blaine stared into Kurt’s eyes, and the pair fell silent. After a moment, Blaine seemed to realize they were standing in the middle of the hallway and pulled Kurt to the side.

“Hey, uh, would you like to go get some dinner? Off campus. I uh…I’d really like to…take you out.” Blaine’s face was hopeful and sincere. Kurt almost melted at the way his eyes shined with happiness.

He looked down once more at the hand holding Blaine’s, and back up. He didn’t know what to say. He had never been asked…out before. Kurt knew it shouldn’t be such a shock to him, seeing as a period earlier they’d spent the better part of an hour exploring each other’s mouths.
“Yeah…yes…sure! Just..um..can I go back and…”

Blaine put a finger to Kurt’s lips. “I’ll meet you in the commons in a half hour.” He walked away, leaving Kurt leaning against the wall. He swore his heart was having palpitations. Kurt gasped for air before hurrying back to his room.

Blaine waited beside the stairs to the dormitories. After rushing to his room to change out of his uniform into something he thought Kurt would like. A simple black button down with a striped bow tie, paired with simple jeans and a pair of shiny black dress shoes. He checked his watch. Kurt still had three minutes. Blaine didn’t like to admit it, but he was nervous. Kurt was…perfect. He wanted everything to be perfect. He’d made reservations for them at a nice French restaurant in downtown Westerville. Tonight, nothing was going to go wrong. He could feel it.

At that moment Wes approached him. “Blaine…are you okay? Is that,” he sniffed the air, “….new cologne? Did someone die? You look like you just saw your great aunt’s ghost?” He stared at Blaine, who opened his mouth and closed it when no sound came out. “Oh!” said Wes, an expression of realization crossing his face. “You finally got with Hummel! Finally! I have to go tell David! He owes me ten dollars now!” The boy ran up the stairs in the direction of David’s room.

Blaine shook his head. He couldn’t believe his friends had been taking bets on the outcome of his love life! He didn’t have long to marvel at the incredible nosiness of the Warblers, however. Kurt appeared at the top of the stairs. “Hey…” he said as he looked Blaine over with an approving grin. “Nice tie.”

Kurt looked gorgeous. He was wearing a vest that looked like it must be silk with a white button down shirt and black pants that could have been painted on. Blaine’s breath caught in his throat before he remembered he should speak. “Thanks.”

Blaine placed a hand around Kurt’s waist and led him to his car. He opened the door for Kurt, staring into his eyes as the boy got inside. He couldn’t get over how exquisite Kurt’s eyes were.

“So where are we going?” Kurt looked inquisitively at Blaine as he started the car.

“The new French restaurant downtown. You know, that one you mentioned the other day when you were talking about how much you wanted to visit Paris someday.” Blaine glanced at Kurt before backing the car out of the lot.

“You…you remember that?” Kurt’s voice was laden with surprise. No one had ever remembered things he was interested in, unless it was something stereotypical like clothes or Broadway. His heart seemed to drop into his stomach. This boy really was perfect.

“Of course I do,” said Blaine with a smile.
He turned the dial on the radio to the vintage rock station. “Blackbird” by The Beatles was playing. Neither boy thought this was a coincidence.

Upon their arrival at the restaurant, a waiter led Kurt and Blaine to a private table in a secluded section of the porch. Small golden strings of lights surrounded the elegantly decorated table, upon which sat two burning candles inside a center wreath. The sight of the obvious effort Blaine had gone through to make the night perfect made Kurt’s eyes water. Was this really happening?

“Your table as requested, Mr. Anderson,” said the waiter before taking their drink orders. Blaine ordered sparkling cider for the both of them as he pulled Kurt’s chair out for the boy to sit down. Blaine Anderson was living proof that chivalry was not dead, Kurt thought.

“Kurt, I just…I want to apologize for…for making you wait on me so long.” Blaine stared at the table. Kurt looked up from his menu, sporting a confused expression.

“But Blaine…you were ready before I was.”

“No…No, I’m sorry I didn’t…realize I was…I was so stupid, Kurt. I shouldn’t have sang to Jeremiah on Valentines day, I should have sang to you. And I should have kissed you when we were at your house that day after the ‘Animal’ fiasco. And I should have…I should have asked you out…I just-“

Kurt shushed him. “No Blaine. No, I’m glad that this…glad that we weren’t rushed. I’m glad that we were friends first. Stop apologizing Blaine. We’re together now…wait, we are together, aren’t we?” Blaine nodded. “Okay good. We’re together now. We’re going to win regionals with our duet on Saturday, and you need to stop worrying about the past. I’m…I couldn’t be happier than I am right now. You saved me, Blaine. I needed that before I needed a relationship.”

Blaine stared, dumbfounded by Kurt’s speech, into the older boy’s eyes. Kurt returned the favor, tears forming. But for the first time in months, the tears were joyous. They had found each other, and they were in for the long haul. Blaine reached and grabbed Kurt’s hand, leaning across the table for a small kiss. Whoever made the rule about never kissing on the first date had to be sadly mistaken.