The Substitute

(Disclaimer: Still don't own Glee or Klaine)

Kurt smiled as he drove to Dalton the next Monday. He hadn't seen Blaine since the last Friday due to the fact that the boy had to go home to visit his parents. They spent the whole weekend texting though. Kurt easily found himself letting go and telling Blaine everything about himself. They also spent a good two hours arguing over text about which accessory was better: a bowtie or a scarf. They decided to call it a tie when both couldn't come up with a legit reason for not wearing the other. It was nice to have someone actually want to talk to him.

He also found out that Blaine had a rough time getting accepted by his dad. Blaine came out his freshman year, and his dad didn't like it. There was a time when Blaine didn't even talk to his dad for a few months, but it slowly got better. He had told Kurt that his dad was trying now, and that's all that mattered to him. His mother was the complete opposite. She took the news in with a smile and told Blaine that she will always love him no matter what. Kurt found out that it's hard for Blaine to connect with his family because his parents are always so busy with work. He only got to visit them once every other month. Kurt couldn't imagine living without his dad.

Kurt found himself telling Blaine all about his dad. He told the boy about how he pretended to date Tina and play football to make his dad proud. It turned up that his dad supported him no matter what, and Blaine was in awe by how his dad acted. He told Kurt that he wished he had that good of a relationship with his father. Blaine asked about his mother, so Kurt told him all that he could remember. Blaine assured Kurt that she was looking after him, and that made the boy smile and cry at the same time.

The conversations weren't all heavy. Blaine always threw in a joke here or there to make Kurt laugh, and he responded with a quick quip. Their relationship seemed to flow from there. During their conversation the day before, Blaine simply asked Kurt to come over to hang out. It was as simple as that, and Kurt immediately agreed.

The butterflies were back as he pulled up to the school. He couldn't help it; Blaine did that to him no matter what. It may be because he was the first gay guy that Kurt met, or the fact that Blaine and him really seemed to connect. He was slightly smitten, and his crush seemed to grow the more he talked to the Warbler. Everything was so fresh and exciting.

He had no clue what Blaine's feelings towards him were, and he couldn't even guess. Right now they were still getting to know each other, and Kurt wouldn't scare him away by admitting a silly crush. For right now though, they were just going to be friends. There was no way he was diving into a school distance relationship, look at how Jesse and Rachel ended up. He wouldn't put himself through that. He had enough things to deal with.

Being friends was great to Kurt. If that's all they ever would be, then fine. He valued Blaine's friendship because he didn't believe he'd ever find someone like the boy. He wasn't going to start complaining now, but the butterflies were still there, and Kurt knew they weren't going away anytime soon.

It was raining softly when he parked and shut the car off. Rain did not go good with his outfit or his hair, so he sprinted to the entrance. He paused when he got inside, hands flying up to check his hair. It seemed perfect enough. The boys in blazers overwhelmed him as he took in the hall. They were really hideous. The navy and red did nothing for the boys, and Kurt longed to see Blaine without his…for science of course. He bet Blaine looked great.

"Kurt!"

The boy spun around to see a brunette boy running over to him with a smile on his face. He stopped in front of him and looked him up and down. "You are Kurt, right? I think I remember seeing you, but I could be wrong. That would be embarrassing if you aren't though. I mean-"

"I'm Kurt," Kurt cut the rambling off with a smile. "You are…?"

"Oh, I'm Nick," the boy said holding out his hand for Kurt to shake. "It's nice to meet you finally!"

Kurt smiled softly. "Nice to meet you too. You are Blaine's roommate, right? I've heard of a blond Jeff, a sweet Trent, and a crazy Thad. You are roommate Nick."

"Roommate and best friend Nick," Nick corrected. "Me and Blaine go way back, all the way to last year. He loves me and I love him."

It was nice seeing the affection the boy was showing. It wasn't like he was in love with Blaine, but he cared about his best friend. "I'm sorry. I forgot the part about best friends. I won't forget it next time."

"Good," Nick answered with a clap of his hands. "I figure that you are looking for him, right?"

"He gave me directions to the boarding commons," Kurt mentioned as he reached for his phone. "If you can just lead me in the direction of them, I should be fine."

"I'm heading that way, I can take you." Before Kurt could protest, Nick had his arm, pulling him down the crowed hall. The school was bigger than Kurt thought. The halls kept going and going, and it was really incredible how beautiful the school was. He stopped at the end of another hall and looked to Kurt. "It's down here, room 203. I have to get going, but it was nice to meet you."

Kurt smiled as the boy began to walk away. "Thank you for the help!"

Nick waved before turning the corner, so Kurt set off down the opposite hall. There were so many rooms lined up next to one another, and they were small rooms either. He almost walked past the room; on the door it had a sign.

Nick and Blaine's Room:

Don't come in unless we want you to!

Kurt laughed as he knocked softly, his nerves coming back full force. If this was going to happen every time he saw Blaine, he didn't know if he could handle it. There was a low muffle before Kurt heard, "Come in!"

He slowly opened the door, eyes immediately going to the boy lying on the bed with his feet kicked up into the air. He had a pencil in his mouth and eyebrows scrunched in concentration as he gazed down at the book on his bed. He was beautiful.

"Hi," he said into the quiet room, and Blaine's eyes flickered up.

He dropped his pencil and sat up on his bed with a smile. "Hey, Kurt."

Kurt shut the door before talking, "Hey, I hope I'm not disrupting your homework time." He looked around at the big room, before back to Blaine.

"If you do remember, Kurt, I'm the one that asked you to come hang out," Blaine replied jokingly. He shut his book and placed it on his nightstand. "That can wait until later. I'm glad you could come."

Kurt nodded as he sat down on the end of the bed, looking into Blaine pretty eyes. "So, how was family time?"

"Don't look so uncomfortable," Blaine observed. "It's not like I'm going to bite you. Relax."

That was it. The awkwardness faded away, and Kurt found himself settling into the bed and talking with Blaine for a while. The boy even managed to get Kurt to lay next to him, head dangling over the edge of the bed. He couldn't stop giggling. "You are so right about this. If you lay this way long enough you get a little loopy. I'm beginning to think that Rachel Berry isn't as annoying as she truly is.

Blaine laughed. "We wouldn't want that. From what you told me about Miss Rachel Berry, she seems to have an ego the size of New York. Although you two seem to like the same things and have the same dreams, you may want to give her a shot at becoming good friends."

"Please," Kurt said with a roll of his eyes. "Rachel doesn't care about anyone but herself and until that changes, we won't be the best of friends. I told you what she did with that Sunshine girl. Who sends a girl to a crack house?"

"I suppose," Blaine agreed softly. It was a couple seconds of silence before Kurt saw out of the corner of his eye Blaine turn to look at him. Kurt turned to look at him. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Kurt nodded as he turned back to look at the room. "I don't see why not, since you've already asked how I get my legs into such tight jeans, and how my idol can't be Katy Perry. What's on your mind?"

"Have you ever been in a relationship before?" the younger boy asked, his voice sounding small and unsure of his question.

Kurt sat up after thinking about it. He wasn't just curious why Blaine wanted to know, but he was also ashamed of his answer. Blaine sat up as well, and Kurt sighed. "Um, a relationship with a boy? No, but I did have a fling with a girl on the cheerleading team when I was confused and tried to make my dad see that I could be a better son than Finn. Why?"

Blaine shrugged, as they didn't break eye contact. "I just was wondering because you are older than me. I was just wondering if you were more experienced. It would be nice to have someone give me tips on dating guys and stuff since I haven't had much luck in the boy department. All my crushes have been straight or jerks."

Kurt nodded and took in the information. He wished he could help Blaine like the boy was helping him, but he had no clue where to start. "Well, I can't help you there, unfortunately. I've only ever had a crush on my future stepbrother, and a straight Justin Bieber lookalike. I suppose we can go into the dating scene together and give each other hints on what we find out. I do know that being yourself is supposedly the way to go, or so I've heard."

"I think that sounds like an awesome plan," Blaine agreed with a smile. "We will find someone, Kurt. I know it, but right now I think we have to focus on you not getting bullied anymore. Does that sound good?"

"Not being bullied sounds like a dream come true, to be honest," Kurt muttered. "I wish that I could just transfer here. Everyone is so nice and there's no bullying which is a plus."

"Well, this can be a last resort, Kurt. You don't want to run away until you have to." Blaine paused before standing up. "Do you think your dad would mind if you didn't have dinner with him tonight? I know this great Chinese place not too far from here if you are interested."

"I'm pretty sure he'll celebrate because if I'm not there, so he can order a pizza," Kurt informed with a shake of his head.

"Great," Blaine said with a smile. He slipped out of his blazer and started working on the buttons to his white shirt. "Just let me change real quick."

Kurt looked down, anywhere other than Blaine. He needed to stop stripping in front of him. "Yeah, that-uh-that sounds great."

He heard Blaine slip into the bathroom before he took a shaky breath. Okay, so they definitely shouldn't undress in front of each other, that was for sure. He busied himself by pulling on his boots. They took a good five minutes to lace back up, so when he was done, Blaine was out of the bathroom and ready to go.

Yep, he was as beautiful as Kurt thought he would be out of the uniform. The fabric of the blazer hid the boy's features. In a tight fitting sweater, the boy's are were more pronounced along with his skinny torso. He legs were slim in the jeans he had chosen to wear. At least he knew now that the boy had a great fashion sense.

"Sometimes you just want to wear normal clothes," Blaine supplied, and Kurt blushed knowing he was caught staring. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," Kurt squeaked, coughing before saying, "Yes."

He followed Blaine out to his car, and drove them to the restaurant. They spent the night laughing some more over trivial stuff, but nothing too serious. He found time slipping away, and he could honestly talk to Blaine for hours. They scheduled to hang out in a few days before Kurt dropped Blaine back off at Dalton. He could hardly wait to see him again. He honestly had a new best friend, and he couldn't be happier about it. He smiled the whole drive home.

-1-

Having Miss Holiday was like a breath of fresh air. All the lessons from Mr. Schue were old and just boring. It was like the man wanted to live his past in their lives, and Kurt hated it. When he found out that he was sick, Kurt immediately took to finding a substitute. He wasn't having Rachel take over the club like she wanted. He saw the woman's ability to hold a note, so he simply asked her to come help and she agreed.

Singing 'Forget You' was the most fun he had in the club all year. Mr. Schue had to ruin Britney week for him, so the was great. The whole club was having a fun and great time. The only one who had anything negative to say was Rachel, but when things weren't going her way, she always seemed to be against it. They took over Taco Bell after the song, eating as much as they could because Miss Holiday was paying.

It was the first time that he had hung out with his friends at McKinley, but he couldn't help but notice how much more fun he had with Blaine. In the group of his friends, Kurt was more on the outside, only talking to Mercedes and Tina. The others didn't seem to want to speak to him, so he wasn't about to talk to them. It just made him want to hang out with Blaine more.

He ended up dropping Mercedes and Tina off at Mercedes' house to work on a project they had to do for a class of their before heading home. He wished that he could go to see Blaine, but the boy had Warbler practice that could go on until dinner. His dad was home early.

"Hey, kiddo," the man said as Kurt walked into the living room. "How was your day?"

"Good," Kurt asked automatically. He sat down on the couch and placed his bag next to him. "Mr. Schue is out sick so I found a substitute glee teacher, and she's fantastic. She took us to Taco Bell after glee."

"And you didn't bring me anything?" his dad asked looking to him.

"You can't have fast food, Dad," Kurt reminded him. "You had a heart attack, which means eating healthy is what you need to do. I know that you had pizza the other night, and I'm letting that go."

"Not fair you can eat fast food and I can't," he mumbled under his breath, and Kurt smiled.

"I didn't even eat anything," he told his dad. "You know me, if I start eating something like that I won't stop. I'll make us a healthy dinner in a few. Is Carole going to be home?"

"Yeah, she just called me before you got home."

Kurt nodded and went to tell his dad about Finn eating Taco Bell out of tacos, but his phone started going off. He looked to his dad before digging it out of his pocket. It was Blaine.

"Hello," he answered, settling back into the couch, avoiding his dad's gaze.

"Hey, Kurt," Blaine said brightly, and it just made Kurt immediately smile. "I have something very awesome to tell you, and I know you are going to freak out. You can thank me now or later."

"We'll see if it is good enough," Kurt said and noticed his dad's attention on the television rather than him. That was good. "What did you do? Oh, I know, you stole all the blazers at Dalton, and want me to come help you burn them?"

"Ha ha," Blaine joked, and Kurt could hear the smile in his voice. "That will never happen I'm afraid because I really like the blazer thank you very much. So, anyway, I heard during one of my classes that Greg Evigan is starring in a show of 'Rent' at the Community Playhouse. I happened to get on it fast enough to purchase two before it was sold out."

Kurt gasped in shock. "You are kidding! Why have I not heard about this on the blog I follow? I'm seriously thinking about finding another one. Wait…you said I could thank you. Are you willing to let me buy one from you?"

"No," Blaine answered, and Kurt frowned. "I'm willing to take you to see it for free, dummy. It seriously has your name all over it. I remembered you telling me about how Rent was one of your favorite musicals, so I had to. Would you want to accompany me to see it on Friday?"

"Blaine," Kurt tried, but knew he'd fail the argument. "Okay, so I'm not even going to complain right now because I'm excited. I would love to go see it with you. Wait, hold on a second."

Kurt held his phone down and turned to his dad. "I know that you are so adamant about Friday night dinner's, but there are doing Rent at the Community Playhouse and a friend of mine got tickets. Can I pretty please go? We can have family dinner on Saturday?"

His dad studied him before turning back to the television. "I suppose if it's really something you want to see."

"Thank you," Kurt said before pulling his phone back up to his ear. "So, I can officially go. Thank you so much for doing this. I now have something to look forward to! This week is like becoming a great one. I haven't been bullied in a couple days, and our glee teacher is out sick so I got us a fun substitute to take his place.

"Well, you are very welcome," Blaine answered. "I know we sorta agreed about keeping glee talk a minimum, but I'm genuinely curious about your substitute. Maybe I can give a couple ideas to the council for more fun."

"It's fine, but she's crazy. Mr. Schue seems to want to live his past in the present, so it's all Journey and Queen, which is fine, but not all the time you know. Miss Holiday, that's her name, she came in and sang a Cee Lo Green song with us, and it was the most fun we've had in a while. It was just out of the blue and unrehearsed. It was fun to let go. Oh and after she took us to Taco Bell to get tacos and paid the bill."

"Yeah, the council won't do that, but Cee Lo is a possibility. This is a time where I'm jealous of you and New Directions. The council here isn't very much fun or attractive."

"Are you checking out your fellow students, Blaine?" Kurt mocked the boy.

"I'm gay, Kurt. I can't help but check out all the guys here. There are a few cute ones, but no drop dead gorgeous guys. You can't tell me that you don't check other guys out, even it you don't know it."

"Touché," Kurt murmured, blushing profusely. "Now that we are done talking about that, I'm going to have to call you later. I have to fix dinner."

"Understandable," Blaine said quickly. "We are still on for dinner at BreadStix tomorrow, right? We could go somewhere else if you'd prefer, but I just assumed that that was a good place to eat."

"No, that sounds delicious. I will be there. I'll text you later."

"Okay, see ya."

Kurt hung up and smiled. He really loved talking to the boy, even if it was for a coupled minutes. Every minute counted when it came to it. Kurt jumped when his dad say, "Judging by the smile, I'm assuming that you skipping Friday night dinner isn't because of Mercedes. Who was on the phone?"

"No one," Kurt answered quickly before standing and hurrying to the kitchen. He did not want to have this conversation with his dad right now.

"Kurt," his dad said following him and sitting at the counter. "I'm not going to let you go if you don't tell me who has got you blushing like a school girl."

"I am not blushing," Kurt said quickly, turning away to get out a pan. He turned back to a stern look from his dad. "He's just a friend."

"He's? So this is a boy? Is he gay?"

"Yes, if you must know he is," Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Is he in glee?"

"He doesn't go to McKinley."

His dad didn't look too thrilled at that. "Where does he go, Kurt?"

"Don't have a cow, Dad. I met him when I went to Dalton Academy in Westerville." He looked at his dad. "Did you really not listen to me when I came home? I told you I went to spy on their glee club."

"Right," he said nodding. "Does this kid like you?"

Kurt sighed as he leaned against the counter. "Too soon to tell, but I think that there's a good chance for the future. I really like him."

"I wanna meet 'em." He raised his eyebrows when Kurt went to protest. "If he's going to take you out on a date, I need to meet him."

"It's not a date, dad," Kurt chided. "We are just going to see a musical. It's nothing. Please don't make it more than it really is. Oh, and I'm going out to dinner with him tomorrow."

Burt gave him a look. "Whatever you say. I still want to meet him."

"And you will when the time is right, I promise," Kurt told his dad.

That was it. His dad didn't say anything else on the subject of Blaine. Carole got there and they ate dinner together. Kurt felt his night slowly pass by, texting Blaine about a new pair of boots he found while he was surfing the Internet. He even fell asleep texting the boy late into the night. His life was just so different now, just two weeks after he had no hope. He couldn't wait for it to continue getting better.

-2-

After seeing how upset and distant Mercedes was during lunch, Kurt invited her to BreadStix that night. He didn't want her to feel left out because he did love and care about her, but he finally had a guy who was a potential love interest. The girl accepted the invitation, and Kurt was immediately nervous. He had kept Blaine a secret from most the people in glee, but Mercedes was important to him. This had to go good.

As they walked into the restaurant together, Kurt turned to her and said, "Please don't embarrass me, okay? I really like him."

"You are acting like I would do something like that," she mumbled. "I'm not going to make you look bad, Kurt. Let's just get this over with."

He didn't really like her attitude ever since he picked her up, but there was nothing he could do. He found Blaine sitting at their usual table, so he led her over to him. Blaine glanced up and he smiled immediately. "Hey, Kurt."

"Hi," he greeted as he stopped at the front of the table, Mercedes next to him. "I hope it's okay that I brought my friend Mercedes. I sorta promised her that we could hang out on Friday, but you got the tickets to see Rent. I offered her to come with me tonight to make up for it."

"Oh yeah!" He exclaimed with a bright smile. "Of course. I'm Blaine, and I've heard a lot about you, Mercedes." He held out his hand and she shook it.

"I've heard a lot about you too, Blaine," she informed him, scooting into the booth across from the boy, while Kurt sat next to his new friend. "It's nice to meet you."

Kurt smiled, they ordered before going into a discussion about Don't Ask, Don't Tell. After they ended that, they started talking about Prop 8. "I'm just saying that drunken people who get married to someone they met an hour ago by an Elvis impersonator…I mean, that's a bigger insult to marriage than two gay guys getting hitched!"

"Totally," Blaine agreed, looking to Kurt. "It's like, if marriage is so sacred, they should just outlaw divorce."

"Right! Right!" Kurt agreed, smiling as they turned to face the girl across from them. Kurt saw the look on her face. She wasn't even paying attention.

"What do you think, Mercedes?" Blaine asked. Kurt knew that he was trying to be nice.

She immediately sat up straighter, before she spoke, "Oh, about Don't Ask, Don't Tell?"

"No, we're on Prop 8 now," Kurt informed her, smile fading. He thought she would try a little harder than she was. She knew how much Blaine meant to him.

Mercedes shook her head with a smile. "Totally for it!"

"Against it," Kurt corrected her quickly. Hoping Blaine though she was just kidding about the subject.

"Right," she dragged out, eyes wide. "I'm sorry, I kind of just blanked out."

"No, don't apologize," Blaine said coming to her defense. He reached across the table for her hand. "We should talk about stuff that you're interested in too."

"I know!" Kurt said, excitedly. He knew just what she would be interested in. "Let's play a game, on the count of three, name your favorite 2010 Vogue cover. Ready? One, two, three!"

"Marion Cotillard!" both boys admitted without hesitation, and Kurt couldn't be happier to say the least. He continued to celebrate, clapping his hands together and saying, "Yes! Yes!"

"Oh my god, stop it!" Blaine proclaimed, smiling. Kurt couldn't believe how a like they were. It was crazy, and Kurt couldn't be happier about finally finding Blaine. "She's amazing!"

"Amazing!" Kurt agreed, smiling brightly.

Blaine turned to look at the girl, and Kurt saw her hazy eyes. The boy next to him asked, "So, Mercedes, do you like the Buckeyes?"

When she didn't answer, Kurt wanted to kick her under the table. He couldn't believe she was acting like this. "Mercedes. Mercedes?"

She shook her head and looked at the two of them apologetically. Blaine spoke so the girl didn't have to, "Anyways, I was just talking about the Buckeyes. I'm a college football fan. I like sports too, you know."

"Oh, way to break the stereotype," Kurt answered before holding his hand up, him and Blaine doing a small high five. Mercedes smiled softly.

Before anyone could say anything else, Mercedes stopped the waiter and asked for some tater tots. Kurt sighed before sitting back. He brought her here so they could hang out, but she wasn't even trying and eating tater tots. He didn't know what else to do.

"So, what were we talking about?" she asked happily, sipping her water.

Blaine turned to look at Kurt and he knew a topic that wouldn't bother the girl, so he decided to ask, "Has anyone read Patti LuPone's new book?"

Mercedes shook her head, and Blaine didn't look like he knew what he was talking about. Kurt started to worry, but before he could say anything, Blaine said, "I'm kidding, of course I have!"

"Okay, good!" Kurt exclaimed, relieved. "You scared me so much there!" They both laughed and went into a deep discussion about it. Kurt didn't even notice Mercedes was there until half way through their dinner, but she was having too much fun devouring her plate of tater tots, so Kurt just looked back to Blaine and their conversation.

After paying, the group headed out to the parking lot. Blaine was the one who spoke first. "I had so much fun tonight. It was really nice to meet you, Mercedes. I can't wait to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," she said nicely. "I'll go wait at the car, Kurt." She turned and strode towards the car, leaving Blaine and Kurt alone.

"I am sorry about her," Kurt apologized, frowning. "She is just having a hard time sharing. For the past two years we've been inseparable, and now that I have you as a new friend, someone who understands, she doesn't know how to deal with it. It's just-She isn't into what we are, so I know that she was bored out of her mind tonight. She really is great, I promise."

"Hey, I get it," Blaine insisted. "Having to share your best friend is difficult, but I'm happy that she's letting me steal you every so often. Just promise me something." Kurt looked at him and nodded. "Spend some time with her too, okay? She had you before me, so if she asks you to do something, do it. I can wait. You should go with her Friday and spend time with her."

Kurt understood what Blaine was saying, and he was really going to try, but Friday was something special. "You don't know how excited I am for Friday, so we have to do that, but I'm going to have to cancel our coffee on Saturday. I think I'm going to take her out shopping."

"That sounds great, I'm willing to share," Blaine winked. "I'll see you Friday?"

"See you then," Kurt said walking backward. "Thank you for coming tonight, and I'll text you."

"Bye Kurt," Blaine laughed, waving. "Bye Mercedes."

Kurt turned to see his friend wave by his car, and Kurt took that as his cue. He waved to Blaine one more time before hurrying over to his car. They got in and Kurt sat there until Blaine's car disappeared out of the lot. "Next time, could you try a little harder?"

"I'm sorry," the girl sighed. "I really am, but you guys were talking about all this stuff that I honestly have no clue about. What was I supposed to do?"

"Not look so bored and uninterested," he snapped turning to her. "That's why I like him so much, because whenever I talk about that stuff with you, you don't seem to care and change the subject. I finally have a guy, a very handsome boy, that I think really might like me. We talk about things that I can't talk to anyone else about. He helps me through the bullying, and I just don't want to lose him, okay? So next time, could you please just try a little bit harder to get to know him?"

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I know you deserve him, but you know, there's a part in me that's insanely jealous of you and of him. He has my best friend all the time, and you have a new guy that you can confide in, so I'm out of the picture now."

"You aren't out of the picture, Mercedes," Kurt said reaching for her hand. "I love you so much, and Blaine isn't going to change that. We knew that this day would come though. One of us has gotten close to someone else, but I promise I won't forget about by best friend. So, that is why I canceled my coffee date with Blaine on Saturday, and we are going to go shopping."

"Really?" she asked with a hopeful smile.

"Yes, so will you promise to stop all this craziness with the tater tots?"

"Fine," she said with a roll of her eyes. Kurt started his car and the drive to her house. "Thank you."

"No problem, honey," Kurt insisted.

Kurt was happy with their talk. He knew that they were going to have to have it sometime. Now he just had to divide his attention between his two friends. Even though he wanted to be with Blaine all the time, he was going to have to sacrifice time apart to be with Mercedes. If that would help her and make her happy, then it wasn't so much a sacrifice anymore.

-3-

Blaine finally had an afternoon off, nothing to do but chill in his room doing whatever he felt like. There was no Warbler practice and he had no homework, so he felt free to do whatever he wanted. Right now he was going through his closet, trying to figure out what to wear the next night for the musical with Kurt. He was having a great time getting to know the boy, and it was scary how similar yet different they were.

After settling on a casual yet formal at the same time look, he went to grab his laptop. He had a few hours to catch up on some of the TV shows he has missed out on with his busy schedule. Halfway through the first episode of Modern Family, he heard a small knock at his door. He frowned. His friends were all studying for an exam they had the next morning, so he didn't know whom it would be. He slowly got up and pulled open the door.

Kurt was standing on the other side, and Blaine would be excited to see him if it wasn't for the fact that the boy had puffy, red eyes and a look of fear on his face. Blaine was immediately concerned. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

"I just-I needed to talk to someone about what happened, and you are the only person that knows everything. I can't tell anyone else but you, so I came here immediately. I just-I need you."

Blaine nodded and reached out to take Kurt's hand to pull him into the room. After shutting the door, he led Kurt over to sit on the end of the bed together. "I'm here. Tell me what happened."

Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes before breaking down, or at least that was what Blaine decided he was doing. Kurt started sobbing and shaking, and the only thing that he could do to comfort the boy was to hold him. Blaine rubbed his back soothingly as Kurt clung to him. Five minutes passed and Kurt finally started to calm down, hiccupping into Blaine's shoulder.

"I got your blazer all wet," Kurt then said as he pulled away slowly. Blaine noticed that his eyes looked even redder and defeated. "I'm sorry."

"Don't you worry about it," Blaine told him softly. "Do you want to tell me what happened now?"

Blaine reached out to take Kurt's hand to let him know that he was there. "I thought the bullying was over, you know? He hadn't talked to me since you came to lunch, so I thought that for some crazy reason that he was done pushing me around, but I guess I was wrong. I can't get my hopes up too much because they always come crashing down."

"What did he do to you?" Blaine demanded to know. "Did he push you into the lockers again? Did he corner you in the hallway?"

"No, he didn't do any of that actually. He didn't even touch me today, but he just-" He looked to Blaine and the terrified look was back. "He came up to me in the hallway. I was scared he was going to hurt me, but he just asked if I told anyone that we kissed, well besides you of course. I immediately told him no because I would never out someone. I know how it feels to be confused and scared."

Blaine nodded, urging the boy to go on. "He told me that if I did tell anyone, he'd-he would kill me."

Blaine couldn't believe his ears. That was a serious threat, and having someone tell you that in school, he couldn't imagine what he would feel. He squeezed Kurt's hand. "He really told you that?" Kurt nodded, a tear running down his cheek. "That is serious, Kurt. You have to tell someone. This is something that can't go untouched or unnoticed. He threatened to take your life, so he should be kicked out of school."

"I'm just so terrified," Kurt murmured shakily. "It wasn't bad, but now I am absolutely dreading going to school tomorrow because he will be there. He could snap and just kill me one day. If I tell someone, it'll just make him angrier. He'll find me and kill me then. It'll just be my word against his, and he'll stay in school and come after me. It's a lose-lose situation."

"But Kurt, school should be a safe place. If you told the principal or your glee teacher, they could help. He could get in trouble. Other people could come forward and back up your statement. He tosses you around the hallway all the time. If they come forward, he could even get expelled. He won't be able to hurt you anymore, but you have to tell someone. It doesn't even have to be someone at the school, you could tell your dad. I know from what you have told me that he would want to know that you have been threatened. Promise me you'll think about it, okay?"

"I promise," Kurt said with a nod. Blaine looked into his shining blue eyes to make sure he was serious. "I just don't understand why I have to deal with all of this. I just want to be here, away from him and everything. I want to feel safe."

Blaine felt his heart fall. He hated seeing people so upset, but when it was Kurt, he would rather see anything but that. He had grown close with the boy, and he was protective now. "I want you to feel safe too, Kurt. Trust me, I hate seeing you so upset. I really care about you and your safety, but I don't think you'd let me give him a piece of me. I want to knock him in his big, fat face."

Kurt laughed, and Blaine was satisfied with himself. He smiled proudly as Kurt looked down. "I don't want you to be hurt, so I won't be letting you hurt him. Thank you, Blaine. I know that you have so much going on, and yet you still let me come here and cry to you. You have helped me more than you'll ever know, and I don't know how to thank you enough."

"I think you do," Blaine said with a teasing smile. "Every time we talk or hangout, I'm pretty sure you tell me that at least three times. And I tell you every time that it is seriously no problem. I love making your life that much easier, and I'll always be here for you."

"I'm sorry, I just like thanking you so you don't think I'm taking your advice and time for granted. It is seriously like a breath of fresh air."

"I don't think that to be honest with you. I never have and never will. I like what we have going here, so I just enjoy the time we spend together getting to know one another. You are seriously like one of the closest friends I have made in the past couple of years."

Kurt smiled then, bright and toothy. "You are one of mine too." He looked up sighed. "I didn't interrupt anything, did I? I just sorta barged in here."

"Well," Blaine said letting go of Kurt's hand and standing up. "I was deciding on an outfit before watching Netflix. Do you think that you can be seen out with this outfit?"

Blaine pulled out his hanger that had his khaki pants paired with a blue sweater vest and a purple bowtie. He was pretty happy with himself for the outfit, but his smile faded as he studied Kurt's face. "Eh."

"Eh?" Blaine repeated, his spirits falling. "What does 'eh' mean?"

"I'd prefer the blazer," Kurt said looking up to Blaine.

Blaine narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Is that so? I'm pretty sure you are the one who went on a text rant a couple days ago about how you hated the uniform. Are you sure you want to be seen with me out in that?"

Kurt grinned, becoming more and more himself as the subject was pushed away. "I like the outfit you picked out. It's very nice."

"I know," Blaine beamed before hanging it back up.

"What were you watching?" Kurt asked slipping out of his shoes and crawling up to the head of Blaine's bed. "Anything good enough for me to like?"

"I don't know," Blaine answered as he sat down next to Kurt and tugged his laptop on his lap. "What are the shows that catch your interest apart from Project Runway and America's Next Top Model?"

"I don't know. I don't really have time."

Blaine loaded the website again, and pulled up his episode. "What about Modern Family? Everyone loves Modern Family."

"How about no," Kurt said scrunching his nose. "Let me pick out a show."

"But this show has two gay guys that are absolutely hilarious. This is a completely healthy and beautiful relationship that is so real. I love watching them."

Kurt gave him a look and finally shrugged. "To be honest, I've never seen the show, so I guess I can give it a shot if you are bound and determined to watch it."

Blaine smiled smugly as he clicked play and settled next to Kurt. He was suddenly taken by the amazing smell of the boy. No matter what, he always smelled amazing. It was nice being about to sit with someone in silence and enjoy their company while watching shows. Nick and Jeff always talked during, and it aggravated him to no other.

Kurt didn't protest when he started another episode, so he settled down. He didn't notice how much time has passed until he felt a small pressure on his shoulder. He turned slowly, and he saw Kurt was asleep. He smiled softly, but knew that he had to wake the boy up eventually. That could wait.

He spent time watching two more episodes before closing his laptop and moving his shoulder carefully. "Kurt, hey, you fell asleep."

It took a couple more shrugs, but the boy finally sat his head up. "Blaine?"

"Did you have a nice nap?" Blaine asked softly.

"Sorry," Kurt yawned. "I haven't been sleeping much."

"Don't worry about it. It's getting late though. I'm sure your dad will probably want you home soon. I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Yeah." Blaine watched as he stood up and put on his shoes. He turned to Blaine. "Thank you again for letting me cry into your shoulder."

"And as always, you are very welcome. Keep me posted about what happens. I want you to think about telling your dad, okay? Just think about it. I will always be here to talk to you though. You can count on me."

Blaine stood up and crossed the room only to have Kurt hug him out of nowhere. Blaine accepted it without hesitation, squeezing. "Have courage and be the strong guy I know you are."

"We just met two weeks ago, so how do you know I'm that strong?" Kurt asked pulling away.

"Because I feel like we've know each other for months for some reason. Just trust me, I know you are strong. I'll see you tomorrow?

"See you," Kurt answered with a smile.

Blaine watched him walk down the hall. His heart ached for the safety of the boy. He was scared to see how terrified and upset the boy was, but he knew Kurt would be okay. He would be right by his side to make sure that Kurt always had someone to talk to. He turned around and closed his door. It was crazy to see how much one boy has changed his life in such a short time.

-4-

Kurt was having a good day to say the least. He worried all night about seeing Karofsky at school, but it never happened. He couldn't be more relieved. Mr. Schue came back, and although the lesson plan was old and outdated, he got together with Miss Holiday to perform an amazing mash-up of 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'Umbrella'. It was one of the better and more fun performances they had done. On top of that, he had the musical in the back of his mind. He could hardly control himself on the way home.

He dressed carefully, examining every aspect of his outfit because it had to be perfect. He had seen Blaine's outfit for the night, and he had to come close. He really wanted this date to be perfect… Kurt paused. Was it a date? No. He shook his head. A date was obvious. Tonight was just two friends going to see an amazing show. Blaine may have paid for the ticket, but Kurt wouldn't assume it was a date. He would get his hopes up just to be crushed, so they were just hanging out.

Blaine was so difficult, yet so easy to read. Kurt could see all the emotions on his face, but he couldn't tell what he was thinking. He had no clue if Blaine was developing feelings for him like he was for Blaine, so he didn't want to do anything to show it. It was really soon, and Kurt didn't want to push anything too fast, and basically he was too scared to do so. He was fine with being friends.

After checking his outfit for the third time, Kurt headed downstairs. He saw his dad sitting at his usual chair, this time a magazine in his hands. The TV was off which was odd. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Kid," his dad greeted as he placed the magazine down on his lap to look up at his son. "Don't you look nice. Are you trying to impress someone tonight?"

"Dad," Kurt chastised as he sat on the edge of the couch. "I always dress to impress, you know that. I'm sorry again about missing Friday night dinner."

"It's fine. Carole has to work a late shift anyway. We are making up for it tomorrow, so I don't want to hear any excuses for any place you'd rather be tomorrow night at six. Is this Blaine meeting you here?"

"No," Kurt answered. "He is coming right from his glee practice, so he has to meet me at the theater. I promise that you will meet him soon though."

"Good." He smiled. "Go have fun, kiddo. Don't come home too late."

"I won't." He stood and walked over to his dad. After a hug and a small kiss to the top of his dad's head, Kurt set out. The drive took a little while, but he eventually got to the place. Finding a parking spot was what gave him trouble. He cried in victory as he beat another car into a spot.

He smiled and pulled out his phone before getting out his car. He dialed Blaine's number and waited for him to answer. "Hey!"

"Hey to you," Kurt smiled. "I just got here."

"Me too! Hold on, I think I see you…KURT!"

Kurt turned and saw the boy jogging towards him, hand rose in the air waving. Kurt pocketed his phone and waved. "Perfect timing."

Blaine smiled triumphantly. "I was worried cause I had to get ready, but I made it." They set out for the doors of the theater. "I'm so excited for this though. I haven't been able to see any shows, so this is really special."

"Me too," Kurt informed him. "And you look nice by the way. I wasn't sure with the bowtie when I saw it yesterday, but you pull it off very nicely."

"Thanks," Blaine said ducking his head. "I mean, you look great as well, but you always have these incredible outfits picked out that I get so jealous of."

"Thank you."

"I hope we have good seats." Blaine pulled out the two tickets from his pocket. "I mean, this is one of my favorite musicals of all time."

"Mine too. Thank you again for buying me a ticket though. I appreciate it so much."

"That's what friends do," the boy shrugged and pulled the door open for Kurt. They let the worker scan their tickets before they were allowed inside. There was a little concession stand, and Kurt forced Blaine over to it so he could get some candy and a diet coke. He bought Blaine some skittles before they continued towards the auditorium.

It turned out that they had pretty great seats right in the middle. Blaine told Kurt that he hadn't eaten dinner because of Warbler practice, so Kurt went and got the boy some popcorn. Blaine couldn't believe it, and they shared it until the show started.

The musical was so good. Kurt couldn't believe it. Him and Blaine were sobbing by the end it was that good. Kurt couldn't believe how the actors nailed it on the head. After the standing ovation, the two boys headed out to their cars. Blaine offered to go get some ice cream, but after seeing how late it was, Kurt decided to decline.

"I have so much fun tonight," Kurt said as he stopped at his car. "I would thank you, but I don't want to get smack for thanking you so much."

Blaine smiled. "You are welcome, and I wouldn't have enjoyed myself so much if it hadn't of been you accompanying me."

Kurt couldn't stop the blush that was coming on. "I'll text you later?"

"Sounds good," Blaine answered. "Have fun with Mercedes tomorrow."

"I will."

There was a moment when they looked at each other, and Kurt didn't know what to think. He hoped Blaine would kiss him, but he knew that it wouldn't happen. He was glad he didn't get his hopes up because the boy reached out to squeeze his shoulder before turning to go to his car. No matter what, it was just nice to enjoy a night not alone in his room, but out with his new friend. He wouldn't trade it for anything.

Blaine sat in his car with a dopey smile on his face. He couldn't believe how much fun he had with Kurt. It didn't matter what they were doing, it always ended up being fun. He was just so much more happier than he was two weeks prior because he had Kurt. Although it wasn't the best situation for the boy with the bullying and everything, he was able to take Kurt's mind away from everything going on. To be there for Kurt as a friend, that's all he wanted to do, was to make him feel better. It was worth it every time when he saw that smile on Kurt's lips.