Chapter Text
“Down that hallway are all the science classrooms. Biology, physics, chemistry lab. You have chemistry this semester, don’t you?”
Kurt nodded dumbly, his wide, awestruck eyes following Blaine’s gaze down the hallway he’d indicated. It was wide and ornate and lined with rich dark wooden accents – and absolutely identical to every other hallway in every other building that Blaine had shown him on the enormous, overwhelming, intimidating Dalton Academy campus. And Kurt had more than one class in each of those buildings. He was certain that, despite Blaine’s generous offer of a complete guided tour, he was sure to get lost at some point during his first day.
Which was the next day.
Oh, God. I am so screwed.
“And… the science hall looks just exactly the same to you as the last four halls I’ve shown you. Doesn’t it?”
When Kurt turned his wide, lost gaze on Blaine’s face, the older boy was giving him a warm, sympathetic smile. Kurt let his attempt at false confidence fall away and simply nodded with a rueful little grimace.
“I’m so confused,” he confessed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to help, but…”
“Let’s just forget about it for now, okay?” Blaine generously suggested. “If you do get lost tomorrow, it’s not like anyone here is gonna bite your head off for asking for directions.”
Kurt sighed. “I know. It’s just… I’d rather not look like a helpless, clueless loser on my first day…”
“I have a couple of classes close to yours. I’ll try to check in on you in between,” Blaine offered with a little wink, nudging Kurt’s shoulder with his as they stopped near the end of the hall.
“Thanks,” Kurt replied with a shy, grateful smile, his eyes darting self-consciously away from Blaine’s. “I just… wish I could keep it all straight in my head…”
Blaine shrugged. “It’s like staying up all night and cramming for a big exam. Fill your head with too much information, and none of it makes sense anymore when you really need it.”
“So… the tour is over?” Kurt hated how hopeful he sounded.
Blaine nodded with a soft, affectionate laugh. “Yeah.” He paused, his smile fading a little, becoming thoughtful and speculative. “There’s just… one last thing I’d like to show you, if you have a few minutes…”
Kurt’s heart sank. He wasn’t particularly excited about the prospect of one more unfamiliar thing to file away with the other important things to remember for the next morning. He was pretty sure his brain already had all it could hold. Still, he hadn’t quite figured out how to tell Blaine no yet, so he forced a brave smile and nodded, following Blaine back in the direction they had come, toward the exit.
“It needs to be pretty quick, though,” Kurt reminded him as they stepped out into the brisk winter air, and he pulled his coat tighter around him, ducking his head so that his face was partially hidden behind the soft, grey scarf he was wearing. “I have that appointment with your music director in half an hour…”
Kurt shivered, as much with nervousness as from the cold, as his own words reminded him of the fairly intimidating task he faced. Classes didn’t start until the next day, but auditions for the prospective Warblers had been going on all week. The Warblers were governed directly by a council made up of upper class members, but Dalton Academy had a music director who made all the major decisions regarding the music department – such as who would be allowed to join the Warblers for any given semester.
“Don’t worry,” Blaine assured him with a smile. “His office is where we’re going – in the electives building. What I want to show you is literally on the way.”
“I hope he likes me,” Kurt said softly. “I mean… my voice. It’s just… if I don’t make it…”
But Blaine didn’t hear him, as he was rushing up the steps ahead of them to gallantly open the door for Kurt. Kurt felt a warm blush creep over his face and suddenly found himself unable to remember what he had been talking about. He couldn’t quite suppress a slightly giddy smile at the gesture as he slipped past Blaine into the warm quiet of the darkened, mostly empty building.
“Come on,” Blaine urged him, beckoning with one hand as he quickened his pace and led the way down the dimly lit hallway. “It’s just a little farther…”
Kurt hurried his steps to keep up as Blaine disappeared into an empty doorway – then stumbled to an abrupt stop right behind him. Blaine reached out a steadying hand to catch him before he could trip, laughing as he stepped to the side and made room for Kurt to enter. Catching his breath, Kurt gave his surroundings a dubious perusal.
“It’s…”
“… just an empty classroom,” Blaine supplied with a smile. “Right? I know.” As he spoke, he flipped a switch on the wall down, while flipping the one beside it up – and instantly the room was transformed. Kurt could hear the smirk in Blaine’s voice, though he could no longer see his face, as he concluded smugly, “Or not.”
Kurt drew in his breath sharply, his eyes slowly adjusting to the sudden darkness, broken only by what seemed to be thousands of tiny pinpoints of light glittering in the ceiling. As his vision came into focus again, he could make out the shapes of several constellations in the “starlight” above. Blaine’s voice close beside him, hushed and secretive, nevertheless still made him jump.
“It’s our astronomy classroom,” he explained softly. “Blacked out windows. Specially lighted ceiling… to make it easier to study the stars.”
Kurt was silent for a moment, simply breathing in the deep sense of stillness that surrounded them as he gazed up at the ceiling. Then, his attention was immediately distracted by the soft, firm feeling of Blaine’s hand closing around his – Blaine’s hand at his waist, guiding him a couple of steps backward until he was standing against the wall.
Kurt let out a soft, shuddering breath, his skin prickling with the almost-contact of Blaine’s body, so close to his but not quite touching, and he swallowed hard, his mouth dry and his heart racing.
“I… I don’t have astronomy this year. I have… chemistry, and… geography, which is… kinda like astronomy, with the… maps and stuff, but… but you know… countries, not… stars, but… I don’t actually have any classes… in this room…” he stammered out in a hoarse whisper, his lips simply pouring out the first random observations that sprang to mind.
Kurt cringed immediately, glad that the darkness hid the hot flush of embarrassment he felt at his own inane ramblings. A moment later, however, he felt the soft, slightly callused heat of Blaine’s fingers tracing along his jaw line, and fell silent, closing his eyes as the soft puff of warm air he felt against his face told him just how very close Blaine was standing to him now, as Blaine answered with a whisper of amused affection.
“I know.”
“So… you wanted to… to show me this room, because…?”
Kurt’s voice trailed off, waiting for Blaine to supply the answer, and he felt the heat in his face intensify as the moments of silence dragged on between them. His heart raced, and he felt the need to fill the silence, as his mind filled with panicked speculations.
Maybe you misunderstood. Maybe this isn’t what it looks like. Why would Blaine be interested in you? Perfect, confident, popular Blaine, who could have anyone he wanted in this entire school? And he’s still not saying anything. Why isn’t he saying anything? Okay, then, quick – you say something…
“… because… you have a class here?”
Oh, God, Kurt, are you physically incapable of shutting up?
Kurt didn’t know how it was possible that Blaine’s warm, rich chuckle made him feel both further humiliated and reassured at the same time – but it did. Blaine’s hand at his waist slid gently around behind him, pulling him slightly forward, as Blaine shook his head, so close that Kurt felt rather than saw the movement.
“No,” Blaine whispered. “I brought you here, so I could… do this…”
Kurt’s lips parted to question further, but before he could speak, Blaine’s had captured them in a warm, tender kiss – slow and tentative and almost chaste – everything that Kurt had imagined his first kiss would be.
But this isn’t the first…
No. Don’t think about that. Don’t think, period – not while this is happening. And… God, this is really happening… isn’t it? Blaine is really… really… good at this… and… you’re probably not. You probably suck at this, because you’ve never really done it before. How many times has he done this? He’s pretty awesome at it, so… probably…
No. Stop. Don’t think, just…
Kurt tentatively raised one hand to rest at the back of Blaine’s neck, massaging lightly through the soft dark curls there, and Blaine responded by deepening the kiss, pressing in nearer to Kurt, one hand slipping up under his shirt behind him, the other rising to cup the back of his head and pull him in closer as his tongue cautiously traced the slight gap between Kurt’s parted, trembling lips.
Kurt allowed his head to fall back against Blaine’s hand, his mouth opening to grant Blaine entrance as he slid his arms around the older boy’s waist, allowing him to set the pace. When at last Blaine withdrew, Kurt was breathless and light-headed, yet found himself following forward with a choked little whimper, wordlessly pleading for more.
“God, Kurt, you’re so amazing… so… so gorgeous…”
Blaine’s whispered words against his ear sent a shiver down Kurt’s spine… or maybe it was his gentle fingertips, sliding up his back so, so softly, teasing and suggestive, yet cautious and tentative. Kurt struggled to control his voice, though he couldn’t quite keep a slight tremor from his words as he answered with a hushed, breathless little laugh.
“You… c-can’t even see me…”
“I can’t stop seeing you,” Blaine argued, his voice low and enticing, punctuated with a slow, languid kiss against the side of Kurt’s neck. “Can’t stop… thinking about you…” Kurt felt Blaine’s hand at the back of his neck, gently tugging forward to tilt his head back slightly as he confessed softly, “I’ve wanted to do this for so long…”
Kurt had wanted this, too – since the moment when Blaine had opened his mouth to sing “Teenage Dream” during his own ill-fated spying endeavor. Blaine was everything he’d ever wanted, and everything he’d ever wanted to be, all wrapped up together in one single, incredibly visually appealing package. He’d imagined this moment so many times, in so many different settings – what it would be like for Blaine to be kissing him, touching him, wanting him.
He had just never imagined that it would actually happen.
Blaine’s hands stilled abruptly, drawing Kurt’s attention away from his heady, delirious thoughts; and though he couldn’t see his face, Kurt could hear in his words the solemn concern that had to be written in his expression.
“Is this… what you want, Kurt? Is this okay?” Cautious fingertips caressed tenderly down the side of Kurt’s face, and he closed his eyes automatically, his breath quickening with desire that was only deepened by Blaine’s reassuring words. “I don’t want to do anything that you don’t want…”
Without any trace of hesitation, Kurt gave a little nod, a soft, shuddering breath falling from his lips as they parted to respond.
Yes, yes, of course I want this… want you… yes…
Before Kurt could speak, however, his vision was assailed by a sudden wall of bright light, and he flinched back a little, his eyes automatically closing against the almost painful intrusion. Blaine stepped back a little too, his hands immediately abandoning their previous pursuits, and Kurt intensely felt the loss of contact, disappointment settling heavy in the pit of his stomach as he blinked into the light, waiting for his eyes to adjust so that he could see what had happened.
Before he saw the intruder, he heard his voice – light and melodic with unmistakable amusement.
“Oh, there you are. I thought I heard something…”
Blaine cleared his throat, sounding more amused than embarrassed. “Sorry, Mr. Lambert. We didn’t mean to disturb you…”
“Mr. Lambert?” Kurt squeaked, eyes wide and horrified as they finally came into focus on Blaine’s inexplicably grinning face. He turned his gaze back toward the man standing in the doorway, his hand still idly resting on the light switch panel, with new, awful realization. He suddenly felt sick. “M-Mr. Lambert… I… I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to…”
Around the moment when Kurt realized that he had absolutely no valid, convincing explanation for what Dalton’s esteemed musical director had just caught his newest prospective student doing, Blaine mercifully interjected.
“Kurt… relax,” he assured him, meeting Kurt’s fearful, confused eyes with a comforting nod. “He’s cool.”
Kurt raised an eyebrow at Blaine, not quite sure that he hadn’t just lost his mind, casting his dubious gaze between Blaine and Mr. Lambert, uncertain.
To his relief, Kurt noticed that Mr. Lambert did seem more amused than angry at what he’d found. His smile was warm and reassuring, his dramatically black-lined eyes crinkled at the corners with suppressed laughter. He was nothing like Kurt had expected, despite Blaine’s description of the controversial and somewhat eccentric musical genius that ran Dalton’s music department. His black, metal-studded jacket and feathered black fedora seemed dramatically out of place in comparison with the Dalton uniforms that he and Blaine both wore.
As Kurt stood there helplessly trying to figure out what to do or say, Mr. Lambert stepped forward, his head tilted slightly as he met Kurt’s eyes with a sympathetic smile and extended his hand.
“You must be Kurt Hummel.” He nodded in response to Kurt’s dumbstruck nod, taking the trembling hand that Kurt barely had the presence of mind to offer and shaking it firmly. “Adam Lambert. I believe we have an appointment?”