They stepped out of the swing club at quarter to twelve, laughing loudly with flushed cheeks. Blaine couldn't remember a time when he had smiled so much in one night. "That was so much fun!" Nate cheered wrapping an arm around Blaine's waist and pressing a kiss into his temple. Blaine could feel the butterflies stir in him every time Nate touched him, making him smile and laugh the entire evening. His cheeks ached and he felt like a smitten teenager, even though he never thought he could again.

Elise agreed and turned to Nate. "Who knew you were such a great dancer!"

"I used to teach a swing class at the youth center a few years ago," Nathanial replied with a shrug. "I thought you knew when you suggested we all go dancing."

"Well it was a pleasant surprise that someone could keep up with me for once," Blaine smiled lightly hip-checking Nate's side.

"I'm just surprised how well those little legs of yours can move," Nate teased.

"Well not all of us can be six feet tall. Ever heard of the saying 'good things come in small packages'?"

"I have actually, and after tonight I can safely say I believe in it," the taller man laughed and Blaine smiled, the permanent blush he wore the whole night tickled his cheeks again and he turned even more red.

"Well, I could stand here and watch the two of you exchange adorable banter, but I am freezing and these heels are killing me. Good night Nate, I'll see you at work tomorrow Blaine," Elise said taking John by the hand and dragging him behind her down the street.

"It was nice seeing you guys!" the helpless John called over his shoulder as he stumbled along after his girlfriend.

"Poor guy doesn't know what he's getting into," Nate said.

Blaine chuckled lightly. "If he was clueless going into it, then he must not know our Elise very well."

"I suppose not." Blaine nodded and agreement as a cold wind whipped up, sending shiver running through his whole body. "Are you cold?" Nate asked looking back at the shorter man next to him.

"Once we get walking I'll be fine."

"Here," Nate removed his jacket and placed it around Blaine's shoulders covering his small frame in the long coat. Blaine slid his arms through the long sleeves and laughed when his arms were too short to make it all the way to the end of the sleeves. He held up his arms, letting the extra fabric of the sleeve covering his hands hang down.

Nate suppressed a smile and offered his arm to Blaine very gentlemanly and Blaine looped his arm through Nate's. "At least your hands will be warm," Nate said nonchalantly and Blaine laughed as they set off for Blaine's apartment. At first they walked in silence just letting their happiness and the clacking sound of Nate's hard-soled shoes echo around them, but after a minute or two they started excitedly talking about dancing.

"You didn't strike me as the dancing type," Blaine admitted.

"What because I'm tall?"

"Yeah. I just see really tall guys as awkward."

"Am I awkward to you?" Nate laughed.

"No no no," Blaine quickly fumbled. "It's just my ex's step brother was as tall as you and he danced like a giraffe with rickets," Blaine laughed once before realizing he'd mentioned his ex and stopped. The silence between the men felt tense and awkward. Why did I have to bring that up?

"So you have an ex?" Nate asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah. It ended not so great. I-I don't really like to talk about him," Blaine looked down at the sidewalk below them.

Nathanial nodded in understanding. "It's okay, I understand. But always know you can tell me anything."

Blaine smiled a little and thought about Nate's offer and it really touched him that this guy who he had just met last week cared so much. Since coming to New York, Elise had been the only one who was really looking out for him. It was nice to have someone who cared about him and his feelings. Since Kurt, no one had given him that kind of emotional support until he moved to New York. Maybe he could love again. Maybe Nate could be his knight in shining armor. Maybe Elise is right and it is time to just move on from Kurt. But, the only way he was going to do that was to open up about it…

"His name was Kurt," Blaine murmured.

"Pardon?"

"My ex-boyfriend. His name is Kurt."

Nate nodded and asked, "how long did you two date?"

Blaine hesitated. Maybe talking about it was not the best idea. Thinking about Kurt made him feel nauseous but he knew that talking about it was for the best. "From the end of Junior year of high school through to the summer after our Sophomore year in college."

Nate's eyes widened and he slowed their pace. "You came out in high school?" Blaine nodded. "That's amazing. I could never have come out back then; the people in my town were seriously homophobic."

"It was really rough at first. I got beaten up a lot right after I came out. I even had to change schools to an academy that had a zero tolerance bully policy… That's where I met Kurt."

"He came out too?"

"Yeah. He had bully problems with a closeted gay jock and found the zero tolerance policy at Dalton Academy to be as tempting as I had. He enrolled half way through Junior year."

"Was it love at first sight?" Nate asked wistfully.

"I don't really know. He was really handsome and we had a lot in common, but it took me a while to finally admit my feelings."

"Admit your feelings to him?"

"Admit them to myself." Blaine looked up into the night sky seeing only the moon because the bright lights of the city erased the pinprick stars from the inky night sky. "He was just there as my friend and one day, it hit me that I cared about him as much more." Blaine said remembering the day well. Pavarotti (rest his soul) had passed away and Kurt sang "Black Bird" by The Beatles as a sort of eulogy for the bird. It was in that moment when Kurt was so vulnerable that Blaine realized he had been blind to Kurt for so long. He was passionate and smart and talented and how he wore his emotions like another accessory. Blaine just loved him, and he loved Blaine. Loved. But not anymore. Blaine heaved a sigh.

"What happened to the relationship?" Nathanial asked to keep a silence from settling.

"We grew apart. He went to school in New York and I went to California. The first year was fine and we talked every day; we even spent the summer together and it seemed like we could make it work. Sophomore year just changed. We stopped talking and he didn't go home for the summer. He met someone else and ended it that July."

"Was is tough?" Nate asked wrapping his left arm around Blaine's shoulders as they walked.

"Very. He was my first everything. I couldn't go back to school. I stopped talking to all of my friends. I lived with my parents and stopped doing all the things I love, like music."

"Sounds hard."

"It was."

"Well, it seems to me like this Kurt was dragging you down and even though it might have been good while you were with him, you are too good to let some guy get to you like that."

The couple slowed to a stop in front of Blaine's apartment and Blaine turned to face Nathanial.

"Thanks, Nate. For everything. Tonight was the most fun I've had in years," and Blaine smiled because it was the truth.

Nate smiled wide, "I had a great time too. I really like you Blaine, ca-can I see you?"

Blaine was taken aback by the question, "what do you mean?"

Nate shrugged and wrapped his arms around Blaine's waist, pulling him close to his chest. "I mean exclusively. Just you and me. Not seeing anybody else?"

Blaine's eyes widened. He thought Nate had some feelings towards him but not enough to want to go steady with him. Blaine's cheeks turned a violent shade of red in the street lamps as he stood there in Nate's arms. Blaine's hands shakily made their way up the taller man's chest before coming to a stop on his shoulders.

"I'd like that," Blaine smiled as wide as his cheeks could go. As soon as the words left Blaine's lips Nathanial's face broke into the biggest grin Blaine had ever seen, and his smile got even closer as Nate closed the distance between their faces. Blaine froze for a moment, not sure how to react but Nate was slow and gentile when he brought his hand up to sweetly cup the side of Blaine's face and he tenderly pressed his lips to Blaine's. The kiss was different. Foreign. His lips were fuller than Kurt's and the height difference was greater. Much to Blaine's surprise, the butterflies sparked to life in his abdomen and his insides turned to jelly. Nate pulled away and his brown eyes looked deeply into Blaine's hazel ones and in that moment, Blaine couldn't help but think, maybe I can love him.