Birthday fic is the best present, am I right?

Blaine didn't have a problem. After all, the library was a public space, and he did have homework to do most days, so where better to do it?

Of course, he'd probably get it done faster if he didn't park himself at a table in view of Kurt Hummel's favorite reading nook every time he did his work there, but that was irrelevant.

Study breaks are important too, he told himself as he glanced up from his still-pristine worksheet to see Kurt making that cute scrunched-up face that indicated something important was happening in his novel. You focus better by walking away momentarily, right? I swear I saw that online.

Shaking his head briefly to refocus, he tore his gaze away from the other boy to stare down at his (far less appealing) American History homework. He soon devised a reward system - for every two answers he filled in, he could stare dreamily at Kurt for thirty seconds, shorter if Kurt looked up unexpectedly to push his glasses back up his nose.

Which he did just as Blaine was looking up for his next break.

Their eyes met across the relatively small gap between them, making Blaine feel as if he were suddenly right next to Kurt. Kurt inhaled sharply and blushed, looking a little taken aback, but Blaine managed to smile in return.

Slowly, tentatively, Kurt smiled back for a split second before diving back into his novel, cheeks still rosy.

Blaine spent the next ten minutes doodling Kurt's name across his worksheet, completely forgetting that he was writing in pen.

The next day, Blaine was sitting in his usual seat and watching Kurt read from his usual seat when he noticed a few of the football jocks enter the library. Seeing as Blaine was pretty sure that maybe one of them actually knew how to read, his curiosity was piqued.

"You all know the plan for when we find Hummel?" Azimio said as they neared Blaine's table.

"Uh huh," one of the other meatheads replied, raising an arm to show that his slushie cup was ready to go.

The others all raised their cups after him, a mock toast that made Blaine's blood boil. He pushed away from his table and blocked their path just before they reached the aisle Kurt was sitting in.

"I know you guys have trouble reading, but I thought the sign up front also had pictures showing that you can't bring drinks in here," Blaine said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Did you take one too many tackles in that last game?"

"Get out of the way, homo," Azimio said. "Our beef isn't with you."

"I don't think so," Blaine said, giving them all a menacing look. "Back the fuck off."

"We've got enough slushie here for the both of you, you know," the same meathead from earlier piped up. "We could always make it a double-header."

"Or I could smack your head into Azimio's and see if that finally gives one of you enough brains to be a whole person," Blaine threatened. "Go ask Rick the Stick how he felt after I pounded him into the floor my first day here. I'll wait."

The jocks all looked uneasily at each other, obviously put off by the memory. Blaine fixed them with his best tough-guy stare as they hesitated, hoping his piercings and leather jacket were doing their job.

"That's what I thought," Blaine said as they ultimately grumbled and turned away. "And don't let me see you ever coming in here again."

"But what if-" a pimply redhead began, cutting himself off abruptly when Blaine shot him a vicious look.

Blaine waited for the jocks to be all the way out the door before relaxing his posture and heading back to his seat. A quiet voice stopped him before he got too far, though.

"Why did you do that?" Kurt asked, appearing at the end of his aisle. He stood just within the shadow of the shelf, looking confused but truly grateful.

"You don't deserve to be harassed by those assholes," Blaine said softly, rubbing a hand along the back of his neck and looking down at the worn carpeting. "They're just jealous that you're actually going to get out of this hellhole."

"So are you," Kurt said, making Blaine's head shoot up in surprise. "You think I don't notice you doing homework in here everyday? I can tell that the delinquent thing is more of a look for you than anything else."

"It's not just an act," Blaine muttered, thinking back to all the fights he'd gotten into this year alone. Granted, they were mostly pre-emptive - beating jocks in one fight was enough to make them back off forever, or so Blaine had learned. The bruises and detentions were worth it for that.

"You're not going around bullying people for fun like they are," Kurt said, fixing Blaine with a serious look. "I don't know why, but - I believe you wouldn't have fought them if you didn't have a good reason for it."

Blaine just stared at Kurt in stunned silence.

"Thank you," Kurt said sincerely. "But next time, leave them to me? Ms. Barnes is letting me make pepper spray for my Chemistry project, and I really do need to test it out on someone."

The bark of laughter Blaine released at that almost got him kicked out of the library, and he had to do some fast apologizing to Mr. Adams. The mirthful smile Kurt had on his face in the background almost distracted him too much to form words, though.

"Do you mind?" Kurt asked a couple days after that, gesturing at an empty seat across from Blaine. "The wall is just killing my back."

"Of course not," Blaine said, nearly falling out of his tipped-back chair. "Feel free."

Kurt shot Blaine a shy smile before sitting down and pulling out his novel, getting lost in the story almost before Blaine could blink. Blaine allowed himself one quick look at Kurt's profile, as it was even more captivating up close, before delving into his trig homework, eyebrows scrunching in frustration at the first problem. He sat and stared for a couple minutes, unsure of how to even begin.

"Need some help?"

Blaine thought his heart was going to stop. "Yes, please. I just don't get this chapter."

"I didn't at first either, but here's what you have to do," Kurt said, leaning in and starting to explain. Blaine tried to follow as best he could, distracted by Kurt's sumptuous cologne and close proximity for a moment.

"Wow, that makes a lot more sense," Blaine said after Kurt had finished. "Thank you!"

"I owed you one," Kurt said simply, sitting back.

"No, you didn't," Blaine said, soft and serious. "I would never-"

"I know," Kurt interrupted. "But you help in your way, I help in mine."

He smiled at Blaine gently before going back to his book, relaxing into his chair as he did.

Blaine couldn't help but hope that this was only a beginning.

Relax, Anderson. You've been sitting and talking - actually full-on conversing - with him every day for two months now, and he hasn't run off screaming yet. Hell, he's actually opened up with you. This is only the natural next step, Blaine told himself as he paced outside the library doors. If he didn't like you, he would've clammed up and gone back to his old seat by now.

Yeah, but that doesn't mean he likes me like that, another part of himself rebutted. What if I ruin this?

What if you make it even better?

Blaine couldn't argue with his last question. Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the library doors, quickly putting one hand behind his back before Kurt could notice what was in it.

"Happy birthday, Kurt," he said as he approached their table, smiling at Kurt's obvious surprise.

"You remembered?" Kurt said, eyes wide and happy. "I mentioned it offhand like a month ago, how-"

"I own a planner, shocking as it may be," Blaine teased. "And pens to write in it with. That way, I could remind myself to buy you a present."

Kurt gasped as Blaine revealed the wrapped package he had been hiding behind his back. "Blaine! You really didn't have to do this."

"But I wanted to. Now c'mon, open it!" Blaine said, taking a seat next to Kurt and subtly crossing the fingers of one hand behind his back.

"The Collected Jane Austen?" Kurt breathed, reading the title off the leather-bound volume.

"You mentioned how you'd always thought her romances were some of the best in literature," Blaine said. "I thought you should own a nice edition of her works."

Kurt mumbled something unintelligible, and Blaine leaned closer. "What was that?"

"I said, I don't think she can measure up to the one I hope I'm living," Kurt said after a deep breath, looking at Blaine with misty eyes. The amplification his glasses provided made Blaine's heart seize in his chest, and he couldn't think of anything else to do but close the already tiny gap between them and kiss Kurt as softly as he could.

"Was that all you were hoping for?" Blaine asked once they broke apart, feeling like all the air had been sucked out of the room.

"Better," Kurt said, staying close to Blaine. "Because I don't think this is the end of our story."

"Not by a long shot," Blaine replied, kissing Kurt again and again and again, lips and cheeks and forehead. "In fact, I know exactly where our next chapter begins."

"Where is that?"

"Breadstix. Tomorrow night. 8 o'clock?"

"It's a date," Kurt said, initiating a kiss of his own.