eRomance

PROLOGUE

"I can't believe you're making me do this, Santana," I groaned, staring at the computer screen in front of me.

"It's not like I'm holding a gun to your head Blaine, but you know that I'm just helping you make the right decision for you," she said as she peered over top of the monitor.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I've known you for four years now and in that entire time, you've never once had a boyfriend. Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?"

"How do you know I haven't had…"

"Oh really, Blaine. Have you had a boyfriend? Hell, have you had any guy in your life in a romantic capacity in the past four years?"

I scrunched my brows and stared at the floor.

"I'll take that as a no. But seriously, even I've had a girlfriend since I've known you and you know I'm not always the easiest person to deal with."

I snorted. "Brittany hardly counts, San. You've been with her for what feels like forever."

"It's true and I know you're jealous of us," she added with a wink.

Santana really did have the best intentions, but I was not always on board with her ideas. She and I started the same day as interns at Rialto Music Group – her in publicity, me in artist development – four years ago. Since then, she and I had moved up the ranks together in our respective groups, but still maintained close contact personally and professionally. So much so that we lived two blocks away from each other and would often walk to work together.

But sometimes Santana was pushy. It was great for her job since she would do whatever she could to get coverage for our bands, but when it came to our friendship it meant that she was always a little over-involved in my life – specifically my love life. It wasn't because she was intentionally being overbearing; it was because she really cared.

"Look," she said, her eyes and tone taking on a more serene tone. "I know that you're lonely, Blaine. Don't try to tell me that you're not. And I know you're not looking for a one-night thing, that's not who you are. You are fiercely loyal and exceedingly loving and one night with some guy won't cut it for you. But I understand how hard it can be to find someone who is gay, available, and not crazy in New York. The only reason I even suggested it is because this worked for me. And you've seen how happy I am."

I looked at her, puzzled. "Wait, you met Brittany online?"

She nodded. "Yes, I did. I'm not open about that fact with most people because I thought they'd judge me for how I met her. My parents still think we met through a mutual friend. I don't think they'd understand that meeting someone online is kosher in the new millennium. But, it's true, Brittany and I met through this exact site online years ago and here we are – five years later – and endlessly happy."

"I never realized, San," I said, looking again at the site in front of me.

NYCDate – Could you find The One? Join now to find men and women living and working in New York City. Mr. or Mrs. Right could be right around the corner. LGBT friendly.

I sighed as I typed mindlessly on my keyboard, filling in the required information to start an account. "I guess if you found Brittany through NYCDate, I guess I can give it a shot."

She clapped giddily, "You won't regret it, Blaine! Who knows, you really could meet The One!"

"I'm still not sold on this, but anything for you, dearest. And hey, it'll keep my parents off my back for awhile too," I said as I continued to type in my billing information. "At the very least, I'll probably get some good dating stories out of it."

"Kurt, what is that?!" I whipped around to see my roommate standing directly over me, eyeing my computer's screen.

"Wes! Have some respect for my privacy! God, don't you know how to knock?" I asked as I slammed my laptop closed.

"You can't blame me… I haven't seen you in two weeks and I saw that your light was on, so I was coming to say hello. Besides, I've caught you doing worse things in here before," he said as he nudged my shoulder suggestively. I gave him my best glare as I stonily crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"It's not MY fault that you suck at knocking. Jerk." I really didn't want to have this conversation with him right now. I haven't been home but a few hours and he's already managed to irritate me to no end. Sure, I've been gone awhile since the tour I was costume assistant on had added a few more dates to the original schedule, but did he really need to come on so strong with the judgment as soon as I walked in? And why was it that I was more embarrassed that he saw me on a datingsite than I was the time he caught me masturbating?

"You make it seem like it happens all the time. It's only happened twice now," he explained, as if I didn't remember. "I'm not saying I'm super surprised though."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He smiled. "You're so busy. It's ridiculous that I probably see random people on the subway more often than I see my own roommate. I'm sure in your travels around the country that you're not exactly finding guys that make you feel grounded. Online dating seems to be a good fit for your lifestyle right now."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't make it seem like I haven't found someone."

He scoffed. "Oh please. The few times you've even mentioned a guy, it was someone you met in a random city while you were on tour or someone you had a lingering crush on from the cast." I ran my fingers through my hair and shifted my gaze toward the closet, avoiding his eye contact since he could read me like a book without me having to say a word. "Kurt, I've known you since freshman year of college. I know how you are. You act all strong and tough, but really you're a romantic and you want to have a loving, long-lasting relationship. It's okay that you want to try and find that."

"But isn't it, I don't know, embarrassing that I'm resorting to finding someone online?" My voice came out a bit whinier than intended, but I was feeling pretty desperate to have to resort to meeting someone online as opposed to the normal way most people met their partners.

Wes shrugged. "I don't think so. Plenty of people meet someone online these days. It seems pretty normal. Honestly, with how busy you are, it might work better that way at first. When would you honestly have time to hit up a bar or even just meet new people?"

"Hardly ever," I noted, looking at my heavily inked calendar lying on my desk. How did I even fit time to sleep in here? "I don't know. What if I don't meet someone on here? What if no one finds me appealing?"

"You can't be serious. How can you think those things? Don't give up now before you've even started, Kurt. Besides, even our first day in the dorms freshman year, you were a man killer. You practically had the guys lining up to take your number. Why not let your wrath out on the rest of New York City?"

I rolled my eyes. "I think you're just being nice, but thanks." I opened my laptop and looked at the site one more time.

NYCDate – Could you find The One? Join now to find men and women living and working in New York City. Mr. or Mrs. Right could be right around the corner. LGBT friendly.

As I started typing my information into the site, I could practically feel Wes' approval of my decision as he walked out of my room.

A/N: Just to note, Kurt, Blaine, the Warblers, and New Directions folks never met.