Hey guys, how is it going? Thank you to all of those who reviewed ;) I hope this chapter 'tickles your fancy'. It's not as long as the last one, but I'm trying to stretch chapters out so there'll be a little more content in each one. Again, thank you all for reading and reviewing- you're all awesome ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.


Cirque de Joie

Chapter IX.

Blaine's brow was furrowed with distress. What was taking Kurt so long? He hoped everything was alright. He took another slurp of his raspberry chocolate swirl, savoring the sweet and bitter flavors as they tingled tantalizingly on his taste buds. Mercedes seemed to be thinking the same thing as Blaine. She rapped her nails impatiently on the table as she took a sip of her milk, having already consumed her French toast, which was delicious by the way.

"What'd he do, fall in?" she asked, licking her lips free of a milk moustache. Blaine snorted and waved his hand. Just then he looked up to see two hulking boys in letter jackets stomp their way out of diner from the direction of the bathroom. That got Blaine worried. He shoved a french fry in his mouth before standing up.

"I'll be right back 'Cedes," he said. She nodded, understanding that he was going to check on Kurt. She watched behind concerned eyes as Blaine walked towards the restrooms. Apprehension swirled unpleasantly in her stomach so she took another sip of ice cold milk, hoping to calm her increasing nervousness. She allowed her gaze to wander about the restaurant, hoping to find something or someone interesting to occupy her mind.

Meanwhile, Blaine approached the men's room. He gently opened the door, hoping it wouldn't squeak. Thankfully he didn't. He carefully stepped inside the blue room, noticing that only one of the stalls was occupied. He gazed over to the adjacent wall, noticing that the mirror hanging on the wall was precariously dangling, ready to fall at any moment. As he took a step he heard something crunch under his foot. He peered down to see the remnants of a glass vase scattered all over the floor. Prismatic shards sparkled under the yellow light glowing from the ceiling. Fear rose in his throat.

Tentatively Blaine approached the only stall that seemed to be occupied. He reached out a fist and knocked on the door quietly.

"Kurt?" he asked. He heard a sniffle and the rustle of fabric. "You alright? Mercedes and I got worried about you."

"Yeah, just perfect," came the reply. It was a sharp retort, which made Blaine wonder what exactly went down in there.

"It doesn't sound perfect to me," Blaine said, leaning against the stall. "You want to talk about it?" He heard a soft sigh.

"Do I have a choice?" Kurt asked, rubbing his eyes. Blaine chuckled.

"Not really," Blaine said. "Now, open up!" There was a pause before the 'click' of a stall lock and the squeaky opening of the door. Blaine looked Kurt over. He seemed no worse for wear, but he seemed shaken, and his eyes wore red like he'd been…crying.

"Come on, over here," Blaine said, gesturing to a set of chairs stationed in a corner of the bathroom by the precariously hung mirror, conveniently enough. As Kurt sat down, Blaine pulled out his phone and typed up a quick text message. As he hit "send", Kurt gave him an inquisitive look.

"A message to Mercedes telling her that we did not indeed find the entrance to Narnia in the men's bathroom and we'll be out in a few minutes," Blaine explained. Kurt gave a shaky laugh and placed his hands on his knees, which were shaking ever so slightly. Blaine swallowed, but felt glad he could at least make Kurt smile at the moment.

"So what happened here?" he asked, gesturing to the mirror and broken glass on the floor. Kurt exhaled, gesturing towards the door.

"Two neanderthals followed me in here and started harassing me. It seems that the Rainbow Raiders like to follow me everywhere." Blaine couldn't help but laugh at Kurt's term, but sobered as he realized what Kurt was saying.

"They were harassing you because you're gay?" he asked. He figured Kurt was gay, but he'd never asked, to be polite. Now he saw the pain in Kurt's blue-green eyes. He never felt so relatable to the boy as he did right now.

"Yeah," Kurt said. "I know I shouldn't let them get to me, but sometimes it just gets the better of me." Blaine placed his hand on Kurt's.

"You don't have to be so strong Kurt," he said. Kurt looked from his hand to Blaine's face, chest swelling with the feeling of comfort that radiated from Blaine's very being. "I know how it feels. I was a coward. I admire you for being so strong, but you shouldn't have to feel like it's a burden you have to bear."

"So you're-" Kurt started.

"Gay too?" Blaine finished for him. "Yeah, I am." The tension in Kurt's shoulders seemed to release from his body. Blaine gave Kurt's hand a squeeze.

"And I'm here for you, whenever you need me," he said, staring directly into Kurt's eyes. "Mercedes too. We're here for you whenever you need us. That's what friends are for, right?" Kurt seemed to be fighting with himself. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he did both. A single tear slid down his face as he laughed, grateful for his newfound friends and for someone that understood him better than anyone had before.

"Thanks," he said, looking at Blaine with those blue-green eyes that at the moment seemed like a sea after a storm. Blaine smiled at him, compassion swelling in his heart. He needed to help this boy.

"Anytime," he said, standing up. Kurt followed his lead. They paused for a moment, just looking at each other.

"Let's get back to that raspberry chocolate swirl shake," Blaine said, wrapping his arm around Kurt's shoulders. "Then, I'm buying you a scarf."

And so they went, stepping out the bathroom door in a much lighter mood than when they entered. After Blaine gave Mercedes a look that said "I'll explain later" and paying for their food, completely ignoring the sexually charged glances that Carly was giving him, the trio walked out the diner. Kurt silently slurped at his milkshake, which had been transferred into a to-go cup, as they perused the colorful booths down the street.

"Oo!" Mercedes exclaimed as they passed by a jewelry stand. Of course they had to stop as she browsed the rack of sparkling dangle-earrings that shimmered like fish scales in the sunlight.

"I personally like the red and gold ones," Kurt voiced as he and Blaine stood to the side, watching the feverish girl with amusement. "They go well with your skin tone, and they're just plain sexy."

Mercedes held the aforementioned pair up, examining them with the scrutiny that only teenage girls possessed. After a few moments she seemed to agree with Kurt and pulled out a ten dollar bill from her purse.

"Are you happy with your purchase?" Blaine asked as they walked away from the booth. Mercedes had placed them in her ears as soon as she had received change from the nice lady who made the earrings, much to Kurt's protest of hygiene.

"Hell yeah," Mercedes said with a grin. "These earrings are all kinds of sexy!" Kurt smirked.

"What did I tell you?" he said, holding up his hands, now free of the most delicious raspberry chocolate swirl. "I have great taste."

"I'll say," Mercedes replied. "Where'd you snag those ass-kickin' converse anyway?"

"A great fashionista never reveals his secrets!' Kurt said, putting his finger to his lips. Blaine laughed and spied a booth that displayed scarves of every color and fabric.

"Speaking of fashionistas," he said, looking at Kurt. "I believe I owe you a scarf." Kurt blushed and furrowed his brow.

"You really don't have too."

"But I want to," Blaine said, walking over to the booth. He flashed a friendly smile to the young woman who was apparently watching the booth for her mother.

"So which one tickles your fancy?" Blaine asked, stroking a particularly soft looking scarf that was a rich purple and red color. Kurt snorted.

"Tickles my fancy?" he asked as he scrutinized a lovely chiffon scarf that was a light shade of lavender. "What are you, from the fifties of something?" Blaine rolled his eyes and moved onto a rather ugly orange and brown scarf that had strange little purple flowers on it. The pattern made him grimace. He looked over to Kurt.

"Are you adverse to my vocabulary?"

"No, I think it's quite dapper," Kurt said nonchalantly as he examined a scarf with a zebra pattern in it in hues of peach and turquoise. Blaine chuckled. Suddenly his eyes fell on a shiny silk scarf that was two toned- blue and green. Just like Kurt's eyes. It looked like water ripping in a stream. Each end of the scarf was lined with sparkly gold fabric.

"How about this one?" he asked, taking it off the rack. Kurt looked over his shoulder, eyes raking up and down the garment. A small smile graced his face.

"It's nice," he said, turning around and holding his hand out to take it. Blaine handed it to him and watched as Kurt rubbed his fingertips against the fabric, savoring the smooth surface. "I like it." Blaine took Kurt's response as approval and approached the girl sitting by a money box. He dipped his head low to her so Kurt wouldn't be able to hear how much the scarf cost, which was probably a considerable amount because of the fabric.

Meanwhile Kurt was still admiring the scarf. It was a lovely choice. Mercedes approached so she could look at it as well.

"It's pretty," she pointed out. "and kinda expensive looking." Kurt made an uncomfortable noise. He didn't even want to know how much Blaine was going to pay for this thing. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Blaine shove his wallet back into his pocket. Kurt gave a nervous smile. Blaine just smiled, looking from him to Mercedes.

"Ready to go?" he asked. Mercedes and Kurt nodded. As they left the booth, Kurt stared at the scarf him his hands, mildly confused as to why Blaine would buy it for him in the first place. Well, he supposed it was to make him feel better after the fiasco in the bathroom. In any case, he was grateful.

They continued to browse booths, periodically entranced by some knick-knack or other interesting object. By the time they had finished one row of booths Mercedes had bought two more pairs of earrings, a necklace, and a soft pretzel, Kurt had purchased a small strawberry smoothie, and Blaine had come away with a curious pair of hot pink sunglasses. They'd gotten halfway through the second row before Kurt spied the two ass hats who had assaulted him in the diner. Blaine stopped midway through a retelling of the "worst Cirque performance ever", sensing that he'd lost the attention of his new aerialist friend. Mercedes looked to Blaine, also sensing that something was amiss. Blaine looked over the crowd of people until his eyes landed on the two thugs. Anger bubbled in his stomach. He made a low sound in his throat, but continued on with his story as if nothing had happened.

"So then Artie lost the rabbit and it so happened that there was a woman in the audience that was severely allergic to rabbits…" The two boys came closer to them, not yet noticing Kurt. Kurt's hand flew to this new scarf, which was wrapped around his slender neck. He gripped it like a worry stone. This did not go unnoticed by Blaine or Mercedes.

Suddenly, as if in a horror movie, one of the boys looked up and saw Kurt. He gestured to the other one, who Kurt recognized to be Steven. They both glared at him as they approached. Kurt unconsciously moved closer to Blaine, whose mouth was clenched shut. Mercedes picked up the hateful vibe and glared right back at the neanderthals. As they got closer, Steven opened his mouth to speak.

"Nice scarf, homo," he said, looking Kurt up and down. Kurt shot him a hateful glare. As the boys passed, Mercedes turned around.

"Hey, you've got a bit of ugly all over your face!" she yelled with a sweeping motion. 'What'd ya momma do when you were young, beat you with an ugly stick? You so ugly, when you were born the doctor took one look at you and slapped your parents!" All around them peopled began to laugh. Steven looked back, astonished, before punching the other boy in the shoulder, for he was laughing too. They both quickly walked away, egos wounded. Kurt and Blaine slapped Mercedes on the back, howling with laughter.

"That was awesome Mercedes!" Kurt exclaimed. Blaine was grinning from ear to ear. Mercedes laughed.

"I gotta look out for my boys!" she said, holding her fist out. Kurt pumped her fist with his. Blaine wrapped his arms around each of their shoulders.

"C'mon guys, let's get out of here."

As they walked away, Blaine observed Kurt out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be happy, which made Blaine feel like a job well done. He looked over at Mercedes and winked. She winked right back, giving him a silent message that made him roll his eyes. They drove away in silence, only the fleeting sound of Broadway music serving at their soundtrack as they traveled back to the Cirque, back to home.