Do you know what today is? It's Klaine AU Friday! I posted this on Tumblr a little bit ago, so I thought I'd post it here, too. Just for kicks.
This week was firefighter!Klaine.

A note: Kurt and Finn have been stepbrothers since they were really little.

Disclaimer: I don't own Glee. Still.


"Ooh! Can I be a hot dog?"

Kurt shot his stepbrother an inquisitive look, one eyebrow raised.

Finn shrugged, "What? Hot dogs are awesome."

"Let's keep looking, sweetie," Carole put her hands on her son's shoulders, an encouraging smile on her face.

"Okay," Finn sighed and trudged forward. Kurt made a face as the boy moved on to his next Halloween costume of choice...a Tootsie Roll. Scoffing, the nine year old gazed at the elf costume in his hands. It was the first one that he had seen when the family had arrived at the store, and Kurt had fallen in love with it immediately. Of course, there were things that could be done to make it better, but he figured it was as close to perfect as he was going to get.

"Mom!" Finn's voice rang out from about two aisles away, "What about this one?"

Curious, Kurt wandered toward the source of his stepbrother's voice. He found him standing near the middle of the aisle, in front of a bright yellow firefighter costume. Kurt raised his eyebrows.

At least this was an improvement.

He was about to return his attention to the soft, green material in his hands when something caught his eye. It was a boy, about his size, with a mop of dark, curly hair atop his head. He was staring at the firefighter costume with wide eyes that looked almost...sad. Kurt frowned. He didn't like when other people were sad.

The sound of a whining Finn redirected his concentration away from the boy, "It's too small!"

Kurt sighed to himself as Finn and Carole moved down the aisle. They were never going to leave this store. Clutching the elf costume closer to his chest, Kurt's eyes returned to the curly-haired stranger.

He was now standing where Finn had just been, holding the shiny, yellow suit with a look of amazement on his face.

Before he knew what he was doing, Kurt was pacing toward him and tapping him softly on the shoulder.

The boy turned to him in surprise, "Hi?"

"Hi," Kurt smiled. The other boy had a nice voice. "I'm Kurt."

"Blaine."

The two stared at each other for an endless, soundless moment.

"So," Kurt nervously coughed, "a firefighter?"

Blaine jumped ever so slightly and looked at the costume, as if he'd just remembered that it was in his hands. He nodded quickly, causing his curls to flop around.

"Why?"

Blaine narrowed his eyes, confused, "Why do you want to know?"

"I don't mean anything bad," Kurt reassured. "I'm just curious."

"Oh," Blaine considered his response before nodding once more. "My big brother, Cooper, is a firefighter. He has to climb into the burning buildings a lot. He's been on the news a couple of times. He's really good at saving people. I want to be a hero like him, someday."

Blaine was smiling with distant admiration, focusing his gaze on nothing. Kurt swallowed. Blaine was going to be a hero for Halloween, and all Kurt was going to be was a silly elf. Suddenly, his costume felt very heavy in his hands. He held it out in front of him, giving it a once over.

"I like your costume," Blaine's voice came from behind the material. "It's pretty."

Kurt hung the green outfit on his forearm, "Thanks. It's not as cool as yours, though. You're going to be a hero. I'm just going to be an elf."

Blaine laughed, "Elves can be heroes, too. If they want to be."

The nine year old sent him a skeptical look, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah!" He gasped, as if he just had an idea, "What if...what if we were each other's heroes?"

Kurt grinned, "That sounds like a good idea."

"Really?"

"Yes," Kurt laughed at the way Blaine's eyes lit up. "Maybe you could spray all the mean kids that go to my school with a hose or something like that."

Blaine furrowed his triangular eyebrows, "I thought the hoses only worked when there was a fire. I could try, I guess."

Kurt giggled, "And then I could lead us through a forest adventure and we could build a magical tree house!"

"I love tree houses. Especially magical ones. And then-"

"Blaine!"

The curly haired boy glanced over his shoulder, "That's my mom. I better-"

His mother's voice cut him off again, "Come on, sweetheart, we have to go!"

Blaine sighed, "I have to go."

"Okay."

"Can-can I give you a hug?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and wrapped his arms around him, "Yes, silly."

Blaine laughed and hugged him back just as tightly. Kurt smiled as he let his head rest on the other boy's shoulder. He liked his new hero friend, quite a bit. Maybe they would see each other again someday. He certainly hoped they would.

Blaine smiled at him when they broke the embrace, "Bye, Kurt."

"Bye, Blaine."

With that Blaine skipped over to his mother and the cart full of groceries that she had with her. Kurt watched as he showed off his firefighter costume #"Just like Coop!" he had exclaimed# and, with his mother's help, put it in the cart. Blaine turned around and waved quickly before the two walked out of Kurt's sight. Kurt smiled, looking down at his costume again. Feeling satisfied, he pivoted on the ball of his foot and began searching for rest of his stepbrother.


- Casey (: