"For the last time Cooper," Blaine groans, despite knowing there's no way Cooper will let him bail halfway through dinner. "I'm not desperate enough for a date that I need to use your money to bid on one."

"Okay, first of all Squirt, you haven't been on a date in months and I know you've been down about it." He grabs Blaine's arm when he tries to turn away. "Second of all, I have the money for this and you don't. Think of it as a belated Birthday Present."

"You haven't given me a birthday present since you turned 18, Coop," Blaine says, rolling his eyes, but relaxing back into his seat all the same.

"Which is why I'm willing to spend so much on you in one go. Come on. I saw you eyeing some of the guys when you saw their pictures."

"They were shirtless and hot and I was surprised because you didn't specify that the charity auction dinner you invited me to was a bachelor auction."

"Gay! bachelor auction," Cooper chimes in.

"Which is the same thing as a bachelor auction. But fine, I will stay. If I bid and don't win the cash better be transferable though," he adds.

For a while, Blaine doesn't make a move to bid on anyone, pointedly ignoring Cooper's exasperated antics next to him.

"Will you just bid already?" Cooper finally bursts out, pointing up at the stage for emphasis.

"No," Blaine says calmly. And then, because he's afraid Cooper might break something with how loudly he sighs, Blaine adds, "I have my eye on the guy after this."

"The guy- oh," Cooper finishes lamely as the last guy - Nick walks off the stage and the next one walks on. "I should have known you went for the leaner type rather than the super muscled guys."

Blaine raises an eyebrow but keeps his gaze fixed on the stage as the man - Kurt apparently - is introduced. "And how exactly would you have known this?"

"Your sudden interest in fencing at age 12. Those guys are definitely not body builders."

"Yes because that is the only possible reason I could have been interested in fencing," Blaine replies dryly. He sees Cooper open his mouth to retort just as the auctioneer moves to start the bidding. "Shut up now please. I need to concentrate, Blaine grits out before grabbing his paddle. He is going to win this date damn it.

To Blaine's delight, he wins the date for $1,150 - an entire $100 below Coopers highest bid allowance. He also gets a grin and a wink from Kurt as he heads off stage. He doesn't get to meet Kurt for another 45 minutes however because he has to wait for the auction to be over.

When it finally (finally finally) ends, Blaine practically leaps out of his chair, making a beeline for the stage. Winners are supposed to "claim" their dates there when they hand over the money. Unfortunately, four men are already there so he has to wait.

He's both incredibly nervous about going on a date that he had to shell out money to even get in the first place, and really excited because aside from being incredibly good looking, the bio for Kurt in the program was perfect.

Each "bachelor" got to write their bio, and Kurt's is witty and makes him out to be a good match for Blaine. Sure, Kurt seems to have a stronger passion for fashion than Blaine does, but he doesn't think that will prevent them from hitting it off, seeing as how Blaine could definitely talk about fashion for hours. Besides, they both love musicals. They can't lose.

When he makes it to the front, Kurt appears wearing the same button down shirt and tight red pants he'd had on earlier. Blaine hands over his brothers credit card, shooting a nervous smile at Kurt. To his delight, the smile is quickly returned. He finishes paying and glances over at Kurt, wondering what happens next.

Kurt gestures over to the right and starts walking, Blaine following on the other side of the counter. When Kurt comes around the side to meet up with him, Blaine wipes his sweaty palms on his pants - hoping he's been discrete - gearing up to formally introduce himself to Kurt.

"Hi-"

"Cooper Anderson at your service," Cooper interrupts, sticking his hand out to Kurt.

"I-" Kurt glances between Blaine and Cooper. "Hello."

"This here is my baby brother Blaine," Cooper says, wrapping an arm around Blaine who glares at him angrily in return. "I want you to take good care of him. He hasn't been on a date in a while, so-"

"Cooper!" Blaine interrupts, shoving his arm off his shoulder and blushing.

"What?" he asks, while Kurt looks on, amused.

"You can go now," Blaine grits out. "I appreciate your attempt at helping, but I'm all set."

Cooper shrugs, dropping a hand on his shoulder, "If you say so! Just remember to-"

Blaine claps a hand over his mouth. "Bye Cooper!"

Cooper laughs, saluting them both before finally, thankfully, heading out the door without another word.

"Sorry about him," Blaine apologizes, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's just… yeah."

"Is he… Is your brother the Free Credit Ratings guy?"

"Oh god," Blaine groans. "You're supposed to recognize him from CSI or something, not that."

"Sorry," Kurt laughs, and Blaine feels butterflies surge in his stomach at the sound. "I'll try my best to sit through some of his more recent works," he says, mock serious.

Blaine grins, biting back a giggle. "As long as you don't make me watch any of them or talk about it on our date."

"Well, you're in charge of picking what we do on this date."

"Yeah, uh," Blaine rubs the back of his neck, stumbling a bit as someone brushes by on their way out. "How's this supposed to work anyways? I kind of just showed up with my brother thinking it was a typical charity dinner and then here we are…"

"Well," Kurt says. "You suggest a time and a place, and then I tell you whether or not it works for me. Once we work something out, we exchange phone numbers or emails to make sure we can contact each other if something goes wrong."

"And I pay for the date?"

"Yes," Kurt nods. "Do you think I'm made of money?"

"Do you think I'm made of money?" Blaine rebuts, raising his eyebrows. Kurt raises an eyebrow in return, as if to say 'well you did just dish out over $1,000 for this date.' "My brother paid! Oh god. That makes this whole thing sound even worse somehow."

"So… this leaves us…?" Kurt trails off, looking over at Blaine expectantly.

"Going on a date," Blaine says firmly. Kurt nods his agreement. "Any types of food we need to avoid?"

"As long as the restaurant provides enough food for me to feel full afterwards. I don't want any of this 'we're fancy so we only give you a taste of everything' nonsense."

"Okay," Blaine laughs. "How does Friday night work for you?"

"You've got yourself a date."

"Perfect. I'll, um, if you give me your number I can text you with the restaurant once I do a little research?"

"Deal." Blaine holds his phone out for Kurt to enter his number into. When he hands the phone back, Kurt doesn't let go for a moment. "I expect this date to be somewhere that is at least one step up from fast food."

"I make no promises," Blaine replies, only managing to keep his face straight for a second due to the horrified look that crosses Kurt's face. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. It won't be fast food."

Kurt eyes him warily. "It better not be. I'd have to declare you unsuitable and demand a new date."