Even though Kurt made the first move – even though he was the one that put himself on the line and kissed Stiles without any guarantee of reciprocation, it still takes Stiles until the middle of the week to actually work up the nerve to say anything about it.

To be fair, Stiles thinks, Kurt hadn't said anything either. But then maybe he had the excuse that he was waiting for Stiles to give some sort of indication that he'd been okay with the kiss – that maybe he would be okay with more.

Despite all that – despite the relative certainty Stiles has that Kurt will say yes to actually going on a date – it still takes him until Wednesday to bring it up. It's three whole days of being stuck in his own head, pacing around the house practicing what he's going to say, and trying to act like everything is the same even when it feels like nothing is (it's better, and could be still more amazing if only Stiles could get it together).

By Tuesday even his dad has started noticing the squirrely behaviour, commenting wryly on the state of the flooring if Stiles continues to walk the same circuit of the living room. When he finds Stiles muttering to himself while making eggs Wednesday morning he rolls his eyes and says "God help me, this is even worse than with that Martin girl."

Stiles breaks off his muttering to call an offended "hey!" at his dad's retreating back, but he really can't argue with the Sheriff's assessment of the situation. He's being ridiculous, and he knows it.

Now he just needs to do something about it.

Stiles is determined by the time he makes it to school, stride a little more purposeful as he makes his way to Kurt's locker as he usually does in the morning. Kurt is just unpacking his bag when Stiles arrives at his side, and he barely glances at Stiles even as he gives a chipper "good morning!"

Stiles isn't quite as put together as he would like to be, immediately stumbling over the simplest greeting and jumping into a rambling attempt at saying the things they've been dancing around. "Hey, good morning! So I wanted to talk to you about something—ask you something, I mean. Because obviously we talk all the time, so um …" he takes a deep breath, "I was sort of thinking that maybe this weekend we could, y'know, go out. Or something." Kurt raises one eyebrow, arms crossed over his chest and a slight smile playing at the edges of his lips. Stiles looks up and catches the expression, feeling a little confused as he waits for an answer.

Kurt leaves him hanging for a beat and then says, "that's it, huh?"

Stiles frowns, thinking over exactly what he said. It takes a moment, but suddenly he's confronted with the memory of trying to ask Lydia out and her not even realizing that that had been what he was doing. Kurt at least seems to know what Stiles is asking, but that's little consolation. Stiles groans, feeling himself blush slightly with embarrassment at both the memory and the current situation – Kurt still watching him with a teasingly unimpressed look while Stiles tries to figure out what to say.

"Sorry," Stiles says. He isn't quite looking at up Kurt when he goes on. "I just meant that I would, um, very much like to take you on a date. This weekend. If that is something that you would be interested in. Because obviously I shouldn't assume anything just becau—"

"Stiles?" Stiles snaps his head up, eyes wide and mouth hanging open slightly mid-word. A smile breaks across Kurt's face and he laughs lightly. "I was joking."

"Oh," Stiles says, and then he registers what Kurt is saying and asks "so?"

The bell rings; Kurt grins at Stiles and then spins on his heel, walking down the hall towards his class with his books held loosely in his arms. He takes a couple of steps before turning, walking backwards despite the hazard of other students, to call back "see you later, Stiles!"

Stiles stares down the hall after Kurt in a daze until someone accidentally knocks him, jarring him back out of his thoughts just in time to dash off to his own class.

Stiles is fidgety (even more so than usual), bouncing his leg and toying with his pen while the teacher takes attendance. He wishes he could get up and leave, go off and find Kurt and finish the conversation they were in the middle of. Or maybe rewind and start the day over – the week over, even – and ask Kurt out right away without all the fumbling and stalling.

It's too late for that now, though. With no other immediate solution, Stiles pulls his phone from his pocket, sliding his thumb across the screen and pulling up the message window only to find that he isn't really sure what to write.

He's erasing his second attempt at a message when his phone buzzes in his hand, startling him as he scrambles to silence it.

From Kurt:

So Saturday?

To Kurt:

Is that a yes?

From Kurt:

Maybe that depends on what you had planned …

To Kurt:

We can do whatever you want!

He realizes a moment later how that might sound – like he doesn't care enough to make a plan himself and it immediately sets him into rambling mode.

Not that I don't have a plan!

Just, I mean, this isn't about ME. Or not JUST me.

So we could do something that we both want to do.

Stiles manages to wait all of about thirty seconds before he sends off the next text.

Kuuuuuuurt

It's a full seven minutes before the next text comes in (not that Stiles timed it), and the message takes him completely by surprise.

From Kurt:

Come out to the hall.

Stiles makes a quiet questioning noise, and then, without thinking about it,he flings his hand into the air and asks to go to the washroom, scrambling out towards the hall before the teacher has even finished saying yes. He stops abruptly when he glances around and sees only an empty hall, but then Kurt is there, appearing around the end of a bank of lockers, a coy little smile playing at his lips.

"Hi," Kurt says.

"Hey, what's going on?" Stiles asks, searching Kurt's face for some hint of what this is about.

Kurt shrugs and ducks his head a little. "I dunno." He glances up at Stiles and meets his eyes, and Stiles can see that the front of teasing bravado that Kurt has been holding onto all morning – the purposefully coy way he had avoided ever quite answering Stiles, toying with him just a little – has slipped away and then he's just Kurt, standing there with a light pink flush creeping up to colour his cheeks, and his voice soft but not quite unsure like it used to be. "I just wanted to be able to see you when I said yes."

"And how do you know I haven't changed my mind?" Stiles says quietly, his smile a dead giveaway to his lie.

"Stiles," Kurt says, and it's the most singularly effective word Stiles has ever heard – his own name said on a laugh by the boy he's maybe a little crazy for.

He doesn't hesitate. Stiles gently grasps the lapel of Kurt's jacket and tugs him forward a step, watching Kurt's gaze flicker down to his mouth as he leans in. The kiss is languid and very nearly chaste until Stiles feels the lightest flick of Kurt's tongue against his bottom lip. He angles just a little to get better access, pressing in just a bit harder, parting his lips a bit more and reveling in the way Kurt responds.

It doesn't last long – they're in the hallway at school and they only haven't been caught because everyone is in class and Stiles's class happens to be in the corner of the school farthest from the main office and staff room. It's only a couple of minutes before they pull apart, both breathing a little hard and smiling a little giddily.

"I should get back to class," Kurt says, voice rasping slightly and not sounding terribly pleased at the prospect.

"Right, class, yes," Stiles says. He uncurls his hand from Kurt's lapel, petting at it to smooth it back down even though the lapel won't change the widened pupils or slightly swollen lips that are bound to give them away.

"So, I'll see you after class then," Kurt's eyes drift down when Stiles licks his lips, then drag back up to Stiles's, a soft smile playing at his lips. "And then we can talk about that date."

Stiles grins and leans in to press one more brief kiss to Kurt's smile before stepping back towards the door of his classroom.

The date goes off without a hitch. Well, okay, not quite without a hitch. But's it's still pretty damn perfect as far as Stiles is concerned.