Hi guys! *waves* I hope you enjoy this chapter; this story is going in the exact direction that I imagined and I am super happy with it! Thank you all for the reviews, favorites, alerts, and etc. I have the next chapter written (yay!) and will post it tomorrow, but I will be vacationing until Sunday so no updates until after that :(
Disclaimer: I don't own anything because Glee and everything else belongs to all those AMAZING SUPER FANTASTIC PEOPLE that aren't me. :]


Kurt hurried down the dark sidewalk, clutching his coat tightly around himself. Even though it had been years since he'd been bullied for being gay, Kurt was always hyperaware of his surroundings whenever he was alone at night.

As he approached the brightly light doors of a nearby apartment building, a sense of relief washed over him. Walking through the doors into the lobby, Kurt suddenly realized that he was exhausted. He paused for a moment outside of his apartment door, to catch his breath and calm his reddened cheeks. Kurt opened the door as quietly as possible, and he carefully stepped on to the plush white carpet of his entryway, only to find a light glimmering from the kitchen doorway.

Sighing, Kurt dropped his bag on the floor and hung up his coat. " 'Cedes, I'm home! How many times have I told you not to wait up for me?"

"And how many times, white boy, have I told you I won't listen?" smirked Mercedes, leaning on the kitchen doorway with a mug of milk in her hand. She offered it to Kurt with a sassy grin. "I made you warm milk!"

"Don't try to bribe me with warm milk—coercion by drinking will not work!" he snapped, taking the mug anyway. It was chilly for April, it was late, and he was beyond tired.

"D'aww boo, don't give me that. It's in your Wicked mug too! And I know you can't resist that…now you have no reason for being upset that I waited for you!" Mercedes pulled Kurt into the kitchen and sat him down in one of the two dark wood chairs.

Kurt glared up at her. "You know this is for your own good! It is in EVERYONE's best interest for you to get at least six hours of sleep…and at this rate, for you to wake up at six every day to get to work, that plan is not really working out. If you stayed up until three thirty every time I had a gig, you would force me to eventually strangle you because I simply CANNOT deal with cranky-diva-I-had-two-and-a-half-hours-of-sleep Mercedes every day."

Mercedes pouted. "Are you done with your rant?"

"No" said Kurt, crossing his arms like a defiant child. Mercedes smiled at him and pretended to beg. Sighing, Kurt kicked off his shoes, grabbed his mug, and made himself comfortable on his chair. "Fine…what do you want to know?"

Mercedes clapped her hands. "Spill! Tell me everything…because I need to get my dose of drama from SOMEWHERE since you are the one who is in 'showbiz' and not me."

Kurt rolled his eyes and shrugged. "It was just a wedding. No drama, no catfights, no breakups. A little bit of drunken singing, but that was it."

Mercedes stared at him. "Really, Kurt? That's all you're going to give me?"

He shrugged again. "I swear, 'Cedes, that was IT. Nothing else happened. Can I go to bed now? I am dead tired and I desperately need to moisturize…"

Mercedes shook her head. "Nope. There's something you're not telling me…"

Kurt tried his best to look wide eyed and innocent. Because, really, there was nothing he was trying to hide. Was there? Mercedes kept staring at him, trying to figure out exactly what was different about Kurt.

"Yes, something is definitely up. Dang, Kurt I know you too well for this. Hmm…you are more stubborn than usual about giving away details…you're cheeks are all flushed…"

"That's because it was cold out and I wanted to get home quickly!" Kurt interrupted indignantly.

Mercedes shushed him with a wave of her hand and continued to mutter. "You're eyes are all twinkly…and you hair and clothes look a bit rumpled which means something DEFINITELY happened."

"Nothing happened…" said Kurt under his breath, willing himself not to make eye contact with Mercedes.

"Aha! I've got it."

"…"

"You met someone."

"No I didn't!" Damn. Too defensive. Kurt mentally slapped himself. Mercedes was too perceptive anyways.

"Yes you did! Hah! I win I win!" cheered Mercedes, grinning at Kurt's blushing face. "I gotcha now…you can't hide anymore."

Crap. The blush was a dead give away, right? Kurt cursed genetics and his embarrassingly red face. This just was a conversation he did NOT want to have now.

"If I said I didn't meet anyone important, would you believe me?" Kurt asked Mercedes, silently begging her to let this go.

"Not a chance! You met someone and you like him! Who is it? Tell me allll about him!"

Mercedes' incessant pleading was finally getting to Kurt. "Fine. You want to know about the STRAIGHT man that I met at the wedding? Let me clarify that this was HIS wedding and he was getting married to a WOMAN (who was quite lovely by the way)."

"…"

Kurt groaned, and buried his face in his hands. Regression was not good…he had definitely moved past this faze of crushing on straight boys in high school for GaGa's sake. So admitting that this had happened now was just plain embarrassing.

"Oh babe, c'mere." Mercedes scooted over to Kurt and wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug. She knew that, whoever this guy was, he had made an immeasurable impact on her boy right here, because she hadn't seen him like this in years. "If you really don't want to talk about it, we can wait until tomorrow," she said softly to Kurt, stroking his back gently.

"No, you begged me so much that I don't want to put up with it again so I'll just tell you now." Kurt gave his friend a small smile and sighed. "So when I booked this wedding I actually didn't meet the couple; their wedding planner made all the arrangements on the recommendation of a friend of theirs," Kurt began, letting his body sag into Mercedes' warm embrace. It was exactly what he needed.

"I was singing the opening number when I saw him—the groom…his name is Blaine—from across the room…and I don't even know. Our eyes locked—his are this beautiful hazel color-and I lost my concentration for a second. I mean I had a job to do so I had to ignore him but something in the back of my brain was SCREAMING at me!" Kurt shook a little at the memory, for retelling it to Mercedes made it even more vivid and fresh in his mind.

"As I finished the song he and his wife were waiting to meet me by the edge of the stage. Gawd, 'Cedes, I can't even describe what it was like. I mean, I was face to face with this guy and it felt like…like my life was complete. Like I found my other half. I shook his hand and I almost died. Seriously. It felt as if my hand was on fire and my stomach got that warm tingly feeling and I didn't want to let go."

"Oh boy…" muttered Mercedes. She hugged Kurt tighter, glad that she could be there to comfort him. "You've got it bad…"

Kurt turned to look at her, tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. "I know, right? This is complete bullshit! I mean, this guy just got married, and I have a freakin' boyfriend…"

"He called by the way…" added Mercedes.

"Whatever. And I literally cannot seem to move from this guy's side! And gosh, he's cute! And he is completely, positively, utterly my type. You know that list we made years ago? He fits every single category! And some! (Aside from the obvious fact of not being gay…) He's shorter than me, has this dark curly hair that makes me melt and his FACE. Gah…"

Mercedes raised her eyebrows, surprised at just how bad this actually was.

Kurt turn towards her, breaking out of her hold, and began to speak with more urgency. "This guy is freakin' perfect! He's funny and nice…and he sings! Yeah! He used to be in the Warblers!"

"The Warblers? Why does that sound so familiar…"

"The Dalton Academy Glee Club? We tied them in sectionals one year!"

"Oh! Ohhhh he was a boarding school man? Rich, then?"

"Well yeah…rich enough to afford to have me as his wedding singer," smirked Kurt, momentarily forgetting why he was so worked up.

Mercedes was relieved to see a glimmer of bitchy, self confident Kurt. At least SOME things had stayed the same.

"But 'Cedes, he doesn't just sing! He's good at it too. And he likes my hair." Kurt couldn't help but grin, letting himself revel in the memory of that comment…and the shoulder-caressing that followed. Shit. He enjoyed that too much. And he should have listened to the warning signals that were going off in his head…because watching Blaine sing didn't help his case at all.

"He complimented you on your hair? Boy, this guy was puttin' the moves on without even knowing it…" she joked warily.

Kurt groaned again, rolling his head around to stretch his neck. "And that's not even the least of it," he mused, remembering what happened next.

"Ah? Then what would that be?"

"He sang to me."

"Really? Did he?" asked Mercedes incredulously.

"Well, okay, not EXACTLY to me…and he was completely drunk so it doesn't really count. But still…he got up on stage because he said he wanted ME to hear him sing before I left and I SWEAR he was staring at me during the entire song."

"What song did he sing?"

"Teenage Dream. And he was amazing. And coming from me that actually means something, 'cause after all these years I can tell when someone has actual talent in a heartbeat."

Teenage dream, eh? In the back of Mercedes' mind, she had growing doubts about this Blaine guy. Here she had Kurt who was almost head over heels for a straight guy he had known for about five hours, and since high school he had matured enough that this normally didn't happen without cause. Yes, Kurt was probably taking this too far and Blaine had just gotten married…but from what she was hearing there was a slight possibility that Kurt wasn't making this up completely in his head. A very very slight possibility, mind you.

"And, alright, his wife Ava was standing right next to me so he was probably singing and looking at her but I bet my favorite Marc Jacobs tote that he meant it for me," continued Kurt, remembering how sexy Blaine had looked as he sang about those skin tight jeans. After a moment, Kurt realized all that he had said, and he practically cried.

"Fuck! Listen to me! I'm crushing on a married man who plays for the opposing team, and I'm sitting here ranting as if he had just tried to seduce me."

Mercedes patted his arm sympathetically, wishing there was something she could do to help. "Maybe it'd be best if you just…forgot about him. I mean, it's not as if you will ever see him again, right?"

Kurt's heart broke at his best friend's words, but he knew she was right. It just wasn't fair, though! He was not a home-wrecker…and god, he had a boyfriend anyway! But the feeling that he had when he was with Blaine…he had never felt that before. In all the relationships he'd had, there had never been that instant connection, that feeling that he had know that person his entire life. "Yes, of course. You're right, 'Cedes. I'm being completely ridiculous. Thanks for listening to me though."

"Hey, I asked for it, remember?" she smiled at Kurt, placing the empty mug in the sink. "How about we go to bed now…It's almost four and I know for certain that you will yell at me tomorrow if your moisturizing routine is disturbed even more."

Kurt nodded and, after giving his best friend a quick hug good night, he made his way into his bedroom and shut the door. As Kurt changed into his pajamas, his mind lingered on what it felt like when Blaine had touched him. Those fleeting touches; their handshake, Blaine's strong arms helping him off the ground after David's 'attack,' Blaine's fingertips on his shoulder…every single memory was like a shockwave, sending shivers down his spine to the tips of his toes.

Kurt tried to clear his mind; he honestly tried. As he went through his moisturizing routine, he mentally ran through his plans for the week, trying to find something else to worry about. Surprisingly, as his life was normally hectic and stressful, he found nothing to focus on, thus causing his thoughts to drift back to—yup, you guessed it-Blaine.

Even though he was so, so tired (he could feel the exhaustion in his bones), sleep wouldn't come. Every time Kurt closed his eyes, the image of Blaine, someone who he was trying to forget, would pop up. Sighing, Kurt rolled over on his stomach. He had to snap out of this. Okay, self, face the facts. Blaine is not gay. Or if he is, (yay! Wait…no…shut up!) he is deep in self denial (not as good). Also, he is married (shit! that's some bad luck) to a very nice person (yeah, well…) and he, Kurt, would not try to break up someone else's marriage (well at least not upon knowing them for only five hours…) because of his current lovesick obsession. Oh, and he, Kurt, had a boyfriend as well (right…that guy!) so this whole falling in love with another guy probs wouldn't be the best plan of action at the moment.

Not that Paul wasn't great or anything…

At that, Kurt finally drifted off to sleep, letting himself indulge in dreams about a certain, curly haired man who happened to look utterly delectably in tuxedo pants and a vest. Hey, a boy can dream, can't he? At least those thoughts are private and don't have real life consequences…

In the other room, Mercedes lay awake thinking about Kurt's…uh…dilemma. She was sure that it was best to nip this in the bud, but from the way Kurt talked about Blaine…it was different. She didn't know what it was yet, but she didn't want to be the person preventing her boy from finding his true love. With that being said, though, there was a miniscule possibility that this would work out, and it seemed inevitable that someone would end up getting hurt. She didn't want that either.

Yes, it would definitely be best if Kurt forgot about Blaine, at least for a while. Because really, dealing with lovesick Kurt was emotionally exhausting, and despite her adamancy about not needing sleep so she could wait up for Kurt, she'd be damned if she didn't get at least some rest.

As the night passed on, slowly transitioning into morning, Kurt and Mercedes failed to realize that it would be impossible for Blaine and Kurt to be uninvolved in each other's lives. No one, in fact, could predict exactly how involved their lives would eventually become.


Woo! Writing lovesick!Kurt makes me so sad...I always want to tell him not to worry! I hope my characterizations of Kurt and Mercedes aren't too OOC; I find Kurt the most difficult to write seeing as I am not nearly as witty or amazing as he is. Fictional characters are so lucky sometimes...R&R (if you want) I very much appreciate the attention :) Kaythanksbye!