I planned on uploading this yesterday but I forgot. So tonight (Pacific Standard Time~) I'm uploading it.

Warnings: none this time!

There doesn't seem to be a lot of the Glee club and its members featured too much in this story and won't be for quite a few chapters.


Lunch rolled around and Kurt stood in line with Blaine behind him choosing the same food items: spinach salad with candied walnuts and cranberries and a slice of pumpkin pie. They both had their thermoses and once their student cards were swiped they headed to their usual table.

They were lucky that the table only had two chairs kicked in the corner and hadn't been taken. I guess the rest of the tables had been assigned by the different cliques, Blaine thought dropping his tray on the table that seemed a tiny bit cleaner. Kurt sat down, bumping his right hand on the back of the chair and letting out a nearly inaudible gasp through gritted teeth.

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked forgetting his earlier gloominess.

"Fine, let's eat before another two and a half hours of torture comes a calling." Kurt said quickly sitting down and opening his thermos just to keep his hands occupied.

"You know you can talk to me about anything right?" Blaine said suddenly after several minutes of Kurt viciously stabbing at his salad with a plastic fork.

Kurt dropped the fork and narrowed his eyes at Blaine who had a wide eyed look of realization. "Didn't I tell you the same thing only an hour ago?"

Blaine looked away and a ruddy flush stained his cheeks. "I…yeah." He frowned. "After club today?"

"You can come by my house," Kurt said lowering his voice. "I mean, if you want to."

The other boy nodded and they ate their lunch in silence.

After a long day of classes, they agreed to meet up at the hall outside the choir room where the club was supposed to be meeting as per usual.

Message from Broadway Spirit:

We don't talk anymore. :( That makes me sad.

Kurt fired off a quick message as he walked. 'I've been busy with school and some personal stuff. I'll be online later tonight.'

Arriving at his locker, Kurt dumped his books on the shelf and grabbed his scarf and songbook he had in there for auditioning sake. He would probably sing a different song for his audition and be happy that he got the opportunity to do so. He wouldn't get his heart set up for a crushing disaster again after the whole Evita debacle.

It wasn't fair but then he heard the oft said phrase in his head: 'Life isn't fair'.

Sometimes he wanted everything to go his way but that seemed silly since one of the things he wanted most in the world was his mom back and alive and healthy and someone that would love him. He hated feeling so lonely in this school and at home.

Blaine must be feeling the same way, Kurt realized as he headed to meet the boy in his rambling thoughts. Going to a different school where he is uncomfortable and with no friends except me if I dare call myself his friend, Kurt thought spotting Blaine reading some flyer tacked to the wall. His home life doesn't seem that great either…

I don't know much about him either…

"Hi." Kurt said once he drew closer. Pushing aside all his thoughts about Blaine and his mysterious self, he focused on the here and now.

"Wanna go in?" Blaine tilted his head slightly with a slight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. His body language says differently, thought Kurt who scrunched up his face and looked at the door leading to the room. He could hear Rachel arguing with Santana and Quinn as usual and Tina and Mercedes talking about some cute singer they saw on TV.

"Not really. I'm sure they, meaning Rachel, will be mad we aren't there to sing and sway to her moving ballad she's no doubt going to perform." Kurt said quietly so only Blaine could hear. His friend's posture instantly relaxed ever so slightly.

"Good, well not good, but I'm not in the mood to go in either." Blaine stuttered uncharacteristically and looking toward the door again. "Did you want to get out of here?"

Kurt nodded and they hurriedly walked past the room mentally crossing their fingers that they weren't seen. Mr. Schuester's familiar footfalls sounded down the hall and Kurt grabbed Blaine by the arm into a room.

"This is so bad." Blaine whispered as he and Kurt huddled into a stall. "Sshhh!" Kurt hissed and covered his mouth with a hand. Blaine had perched on the toilet seat as the door opened and closed. Kurt fumbled with the lock on the stall's door then stood in front of the toilet.

Blaine was balanced on the seat and was barely breathing yet Kurt, being so close to the other boy, felt himself growing overly warm at the breath tickling his ear.

There was a throat clearing and the sound of a urinal flushing followed by the faucet running. At least he was clean about his personal business, Kurt thought with a slight relief.

From behind him, Blaine dropped a hand on Kurt's shoulder from the tiled wall making Kurt startle a little. Breathing through his nose, he swallowed his squeak and heard Mr. Schuester grab a paper towel and head out the door.

A few minutes after the teacher left, Blaine dropped off the toilet still holding onto Kurt's shoulder. "That was close." He said softly in the crowded stall.

"Yeah, uh, let's get out of here." Kurt said trying to shuffle to the door with Blaine refusing to budge. They left the bathroom after flushing the toilet and washing their hands when they got to the parking lot, Kurt suggested they go grab coffee at the Lima Bean Coffee Shop by the down town area.

"I've never been but…" Blaine trailed off slightly embarrassed. "I've been in Lima how many months and I have never heard of the place."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "School takes over our lives. Follow me and we'll get coffee."

Nodding, the pair went to their respective vehicles and headed down town.

It was a short ride and they were lucky enough to find parking spots in the small lot, albeit ones farthest away from the shop itself but at least they weren't on the street where they'd need to feed the parking meters.

"It smells delicious in here." Blaine breathed in the scent of coffee and baked goods. "I wish I could live here!"

Kurt laughed for the first time in a while, he could see Blaine, the slightly shorter boy setting up camp in one of the corners. "I don't think they'd let you but you can ask." Kurt stood in line behind a rather large group of twenty some things while Blaine ran up to the glass case in the front. He returned a few minutes later with a smile on his face.

"What did you want to drink?" Blaine asked reaching in his pocket for his wallet. Kurt caught a glimpse of the wide tan colored band around his friend's wrist. It blended in so well that it looked like he didn't even have a soul mate's name on his wrist.

"Hello, what would you like?" The barista asked cheerily with a black marker in one hand and the other posed over the register's screen.

"I'll have a low fat grande mocha and – " Kurt turned to Blaine who leaned unnecessarily close to Kurt with excitement. "I'll have a medium drip and can I get some biscotti please?"

The barista nodded and scribbled down the orders on both paper cups. "Coming right up!" She chirped sounding like she had too much coffee herself.

They found a table in the corner and settled their book bags and over coats on the back of the wooden chairs. "This is nice, I used to go to a coffee shop in my old city." Blaine said his excitement slightly diminished. "I'd go with my friends after school sometimes…I've been looking for a decent place and I don't like Starbucks or any of those chain places."

"Me either." Kurt said once their order arrived.

"Enjoy!" A different barista, an older man who was equally cheerful, set down their plate of freshly baked almond biscotti.

"Thank you very much." Blaine said and immediately reached for his coffee, popping the plastic lid off his cup.

They each sipped their hot drinks and eventually the mood shifted.

"Serious talk," Blaine said pushing the plate of biscotti toward Kurt. The other boy looked distinctly uncomfortable. "I had to, you know, admit anything." He paused for a long moment.

Kurt interrupted. "I know. I don't have anyone to talk to about things. I mean, I would if my mom."

"What about your mom?" Blaine asked confused. "Are your parents divorced?"

"No, she died went I was eight. It wasn't good." Kurt said grabbing the coffee stirrer and spinning it in his fingers. "It was hard on my dad and it didn't help that I am not, I'm not…"

"Like most other guys." Blaine offered slightly sympathetic. "I tried being that guy myself and… I'm lucky I didn't get kicked out but I had to switch schools."

Kurt's head shot up as he stared at his friend. "I…Your parents? They did that?"

Blaine shrugged and looked at his coffee still hot enough for steam to rise. "It was mid semester at my old school. Since it was an all boys' school they, well my dad thought that I would," he took a deep breath and almost mumbled. "He thought I would force myself on classmates since I boarded there."

"Which is something I'd never do, I've never even had a boyfriend or a crush on anyone until recently."

Kurt choked on his coffee. "No?"

Blaine gave him a slightly deprecating look. "I've come to terms with my sexuality a few years ago, privately before I got the nerve to tell my brother. By that time my dad kind of figured out that I wasn't interested in girls that way and had pulled me out of school. He wasn't going to waste money when I could go back to public school."

"That's harsh. Didn't your mom do anything or say anything?" Kurt asked setting his cup down. The shop had become a little more crowded and Kurt felt the need to shield his friend. Blaine shook his head. "She's too wrapped up in her own work to bother. My dad basically chose where we, Cooper and I, went to school. For the appearance of a good normal family." He snorted quietly and drank some coffee.

"And the dinner last night. Total disaster." Blaine paused and the sadness and frustration he had on his face disappeared somewhat. "I was supposed to entertain the girl, Brianna in the living room while our parents made nice grown up talk in the den."

He shook his head and a grin broke the tension. "Brianna has a girlfriend. She's like us, me," he corrected hastily. "Her parents are being complete jerks about her being a, you know, that they were trying to set her up with me."

Kurt leaned back and tried to copy Blaine's smile but failed. "So are you dating each other now? Is she your beard and vice versa?"

"What? No!" Blaine exclaimed and gave an apologetic smile to the people in line. "We just told our parents there was no chemistry and hopefully they'll leave it at that."

The relief Kurt felt was overwhelming and unexpected. Hormones, he thought furiously as he could feel his cheeks grow warm.

"That's a relief, you are what you are and nothing can change that." Kurt said thoughtfully adding: "Unless you're a murderer or something terrible than you should change."

Blaine laughed and clearly felt a lot better because the bouncy excitement he had returned. "What about you? I've bared part of my soul yet I know a little of your life."

"There's not much to say." Kurt said feeling a little uneasy. "Mom died when I was eight, like I said earlier and it's just my dad and I."

"He doesn't date? There's a small chance with the soul mate gene therapy that he could find a soul mate for a second time." Blaine said earnestly. His eyebrows are definite indicators of how he's truly feeling Kurt thought eying the parts in question. He shrugged slightly. "I think Dad's more focused on his business and taking care of me when I was younger."

"But now that you're months away from being an adult, he might consider dating?"

Kurt broke off a piece of the biscotti and dipped it in his cooling coffee. "I don't know. He made no mention of it and, after I go to college or whatever I haven't decided where to go, I don't want him to be lonely."

Kurt felt a kind of sadness drape over him and he could hardly imagine what his dad felt like losing his mom so early in his life. "I hope he'll find someone to keep him company."

"Yeah." Was all Blaine said as he bit into his own piece of biscotti. "I couldn't imagine losing mine. I don't."

Kurt looked at him confused for a moment and waited for him to finish his thought.

"It's nothing." Blaine rubbed his forehead and then his hand dropped down to his band covered wrist a subconscious gesture.

"So, how about those Buckeyes?" Kurt said awkwardly wincing at his high pitched topic change. "My dad likes them and try as I might to tune out those games, I hear it anyway."

"I love the Buckeyes!" Blaine exclaimed perking up immediately and shooting a grateful look at him. "I know it isn't the typical, you know, gay thing," He lowered his voice at the end. "But it used to be the one thing I would do with my dad, watch the games until a few months ago."

"This was going so well…" Kurt said fiddling with his nearly empty cup. The biscotti were reduced to crumbs between them but neither of them wanted to leave just yet.

"Why don't we leave? I should be heading home." Blaine suggested quickly. "Not that I want to get rid of you or anything but, you know."

Kurt nodded and they left the Lima Bean dumping their trash in the bin by the door.


"I really like that place," Blaine said feeling marginally better in the cooler autumn air. "It's exactly what I envision a coffee shop to be in a town like this."

"Above average coffee in nowhere Ohio where kids like us really don't belong? Sure." Kurt said sarcastically. "I'm going to get out of here and live where I don't have to be judged for something like my sexuality. It's only a matter of time before I am harmed because of it."

Blaine appeared to be taken aback. "Wow, when you put it like that…"

"Sorry," Kurt apologized. "It's been a stressful week that I hope will turn out better after Halloween. I have this stupid Geography essay I can't seem to conclude and I just want to write 'The End' and be done with it."

"That might work with English but not with this, Kurt." Blaine said with a laugh. They bumped shoulders as they strolled down the sidewalk. People were dressed warmly in coats, scarves and gloves. It was probably going to be a chilly winter, but that meant that Kurt could drag out his winter fashion. He made a mental note to start looking in the garage and attic for his clothes to wash and air out.

"I know. I hate writing these things. I barely get through the introduction and summarizing it at the end is just, no, I don't like it." Kurt grumbled. "It's due Monday and I doubt I'll feel like doing anything after the party at the Faurot House."

"Faurot House?"

Kurt nodded. "The Faurot House is this huge old Victorian Manor that was built by the Benjamin C. Faurot during the late 1880s." He explained as he walked around a large flowering planter on the side walk. "I've done enough research on this town plus in the Lima History Day fair in middle school, I did a diorama and display on the guy himself."

"Hmmm, impressive. What else about him?" Blaine nudged his arm once they stopped at the light. The signals changed and they continued.

"Well if you are so very interested, my dad kept the entire display board and put it in our attic, since it's not on hand, I'll point out Faurot's generous contributions to our fair town."

Kurt was silent as he watched Blaine look at all the shops that thankfully stayed open during the country's recession. It would be strange to walk down the main street and not see certain places that have been there for as long as he could remember. He remembered coming down Main and High with his mom before she got too ill to leave her bed.

"Lima isn't as bad as I thought." Blaine admitted once he returned to Kurt's side from his window shopping. "Westerville, where I lived since, forever I guess, was larger but this is good too."

Kurt hummed a random tune and hid a smile. "Everywhere is better than here. By the way, there's Faurot's contribution." He pointed at an Ace Hardware store between a small daily parking lot and a Hallmark store.

"A hardware store?" Blaine asked blankly once they reached the area in front of the building in question but across the street.

"Yep." Kurt said biting back a laugh at Blaine's apparent disbelief. "Now close your eyes and imagine this:"

He waited until the boy did so and leaned close enough to his ear to speak quietly without bothering him.

"A four story cream colored building with the most beautiful Victorian molding painted a bright gold. It's façade had two lions that were eight feet tall including their bases. Children used to climb on them because there wasn't a playground yet. The Opera Theater was Lima's crowning achievement."

"What happened to it?"

Blaine turned his head toward Kurt and nearly given him an impromptu kiss. Jerking back and blushing a delicate pink, Kurt stammered a reply. "D-depression."

"Ah." Blaine's cheeks were suspiciously flushed as well.

"Um, yeah," Kurt was still a little flustered. "It was built during what was supposed to be a big oil boom but that kind of didn't work out. It was the only theater big enough for traveling shows and it was imitated in New York City. The architecture I mean."

"That's too bad. It would've been awesome to see the inside." Blaine said still staring at the Ace Hardware building.

"Yep. It's too bad. The few photographs available at the history museum don't really do the descriptions I read justice. Or my imagination. The best that we can do to see it is to see its influence in the theater's on Broadway."


Kurt and Blaine returned to the Lima Bean shortly thereafter and had made plans to meet for coffee again. "I'll see you tomorrow." Blaine had grasped his shoulder as way of saying good bye.

"R-right. Bye Blaine."

Kurt went to his car and sat inside for a few minutes after Blaine had driven off.

"That guy makes me feel so…" He muttered to himself then rolled his eyes. You're being ridiculous.

His phone chirped, another message from Broadway Spirit. They were coming in consistently that perhaps it was Blaine who was contacting him.

But…

Blaine had given him his phone number and Kurt had done the same in return earlier in the semester.

There was something not quite right. He heard a car horn honk and it was clearly a sign to get himself home.


~Next chapter will be interesting to say the least.

By the way, Benjamin Faurot is a real person and did in fact have an opera house in Lima, Ohio (According to wikipedia anyway...).

Okay, now I'm going back to sewing clothes for Kurt-doll and Blaine-doll. :)