Pawprints in the Snow

Kurt settled himself underneath a willow tree in the woods behind his house. He took out Catcher in the Rye, his favorite book, and flipped through the pages slowly, making sure to take in the scent of each old page. His book was treasured and very much loved. This was perhaps the twelfth time he had read it, but it never ceased to amaze him.

Halfway through his book, he heard a small noise. It was the sound of a small branch breaking, but registered in his head as nothing. A few moments later, he felt the presence of someone else there with him, but assumed it was just a small animal. He was wrong. Kurt was soon joined by another boy his age that had slipped down from the tree. Blaine Anderson, his best friend.

"Would you care to explain to me what the hell you were doing in my tree? You scared me to death."

Blaine chuckled.

"I dunno. You always talk about how great this place is when you come here by yourself. I decided to test out this theory of yours."

Kurt smiled, his eyes still on his book.

"And what did you find, exactly?"

Blaine sighed and leaned his head back against the trunk of the tree.

"You were right. This place is amazing."

The two of them sat there for a few minutes, not speaking. Kurt sat there reading, Blaine took in his surroundings. They often did this. Kurt would read, Blaine would sit there and wait for him to finish. It was a regular routine for them. Five minutes later, Kurt closed his book and sat it in a pile of cold leaves next to him. He pulled his sweater further up his neck. It was almost Winter.

"So. Besides climbing up in my tree and then scaring me out of my new designer boots, what else are you up to?"

Blaine laughed softly and looked over at his boots.

"I knew there was something different about you today. Now I know what."

Blaine thought for a moment.

"Nothing. I'm not really up to anything in particular. What about you? Besides, reading your book. This is what, the eleventh time you've read it?"

Kurt sighed and looked over at Blaine, giving him the "you should know this" look.

"Twelve times, Blaine. Twelve."

Blaine laughed.

"Oh. Sorry. Twelve."

He thought back to the very first time he had heard Catcher in the Rye. Kurt had read it to him when they were 10. The two of them had been friends since the tender age of four. They met at pre-school. Blaine had walked in with a small bowtie around his neck, which Kurt immediately complimented. Three times. They had been insperable ever since. Kurt had read Catcher in the Rye to Blaine countless times. He read all kinds of books to Blaine when they were little.

"Will you read me my favorite part?"

This was the first time in a long time Blaine had asked Kurt to read to him. Kurt looked over at him, slightly surprised.

"Sure. Of course I will."

Kurt marked his page and flipped through the book until he came to Blaine's section.

" I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all," Kurt read.

He looked over at Blaine, who had his head resting against the tree, his eyes closed. He'd read that passage to Blaine so many times, that he had it memorized. Blaine opened his eyes and looked over at Kurt.

"Hey," he said with a small smile.

Kurt laughed. "Hey."

"What are you doing today? I just got my new car, and I was thinking we could drive out somewhere."

"Ooo…A new car? Do tell."

"It's a 1968 Mustang. Blue."

"Sounds awesome. Yeah, I'd love to drive somewhere. I'd really like to get out of here."

"It's settled, then. I'll get money and stuff together, and then come get you in about an hour. Sound good?"

Kurt nodded and watched Blaine walk back through the woods to Kurt's driveway, where he assumed he parked his car. It had been a while since the two of them did something together. He missed when they were little and could hang out everyday. Now they were in high school, and barely had time to hang out. Kurt picked up his book and retreated back into his house. His dad had left for the weekend, so he had the whole house to himself.