Santana Lopez opens Mercedes' eyes to a different side of her best friend.

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"Pay close attention, now. Don't take your eyes off me for an instant!"

All around Kurt, small children leaned forward in anticipation and watched him like hawks, trying to catch what he was about to do.

"This part is awesome," Santana whispered to Mercedes as they, too, watched the show.

The children gasped and clapped eagerly when Kurt's nimble fingers fluttered, his hands twirling around each other, and then his wrists snapping upward, a bouquet of silk roses suddenly appearing in his hands as if from nowhere.

As they 'ooo'd and aaah'd' in appreciation, Kurt moved forward to hand one rose to each member of his audience of ten Lima General Hospital pediatric patients. Even the boys did not seem to mind that they were being given flowers. They all smiled and thanked him, some offering hugs, which Kurt gladly returned.

"How long has he been doing this?" Mercedes whispered back, eyes wide with awe as she beheld the unexpected sight of her best friend soaking in the love of these sick children he was making so happy. Kurt had sat back down on a chair he had placed in the very center of the group, taking one small boy, 5 or 6 years old with severe burns on the left side of his face, and letting the child assist him with a card trick that the other kids gathered in closer to watch. "And why did I have no idea about it?"

Santana shrugged. The door to the recreation area was open and she kept her voice low to avoid drawing the attention of those inside. "I only know because I'm a hospital volunteer. The nurses were short handed one day and sent me Pediatrics to deliver some balloons that had been ordered from the gift shop. When I was leaving I heard laughter and looked in here to find Houdini Junior letting a kid tie his hands together with one of his precious designer scarves. Took him about five seconds flat to work his way free of the knots. Which, incidentally, makes me seriously want to know just what the hell he and the hobbit do together in their private time."

"I don't believe this," Mercedes breathed, shaking her head and grinning as the little boy managed to successfully find the 'hidden ace' in Kurt's deck of cards and crowed with triumph as Kurt raised his arms in victory. "It's beautiful. Look how much those kids love him."

"I know," Santana agreed, her usual attitude put aside in favor of a genuine smile as she watched the small patients vie for Kurt's attention. "After the first time, I got his schedule from the Volunteer Coordinator just so I could sneak down here and check out the show sometimes."

Mercedes looked at her in surprise. "He doesn't know you watch?"

The Latina girl shrugged again. "Figured if he didn't want to tell anyone, it wasn't my business to ruin his secret."

Looking at her friend, who had only finally become her friend through their shared experience in the Trouble-Tones earlier this year, Mercedes bit her lip. She had wondered why Santana had insisted on meeting here before they went to have dinner with Brittany and Sugar at Breadstix. It had been even more of a mystery when Santana dragged her to the observation window in the children's recreation area but insisted on staying back out of sight. Mercedes had not understood until she saw Kurt.

"So why are you telling me now?" she ventured, grinning as she heard Kurt burst into laughter at something one of the children said, demonstrating the kind of free, unrestrained mirth she heard all too rarely from him these days.

Santana shifted, looking uncomfortable as she pulled Mercedes a few feet down the hall so that they could talk at a more normal volume. "Look, I may be a bitch but I'm not heartless, all right? You guys are my friends, whether you like it or not, and the two of you used to have the kind of relationship that made everyone around you go lime-green-Jell-o with envy. Then all of a sudden, you didn't. After Kurt came back to McKinley last year, we could all see that he'd changed a lot and we adapted. But with you, it was like once he'd stopped fitting into the easy little 'Sassy Gay Friend' box you'd put him in, you didn't want to deal with him any more. You went your way, he went his. And that pisses me off, okay? Figured if I could do something to fix the balance of the universe, why the hell shouldn't I?"

Stunned, Mercedes gaped at her. "But we didn't . . . I mean, yeah we drifted some after he came back from Dalton, but that wasn't because I didn't want to deal with him! I love Kurt."

"Do you?" Santana retorted calmly, raising one eyebrow.

"Of course I do! He's my best friend."

Tilting her head back to look down her nose at the other girl, Santana flicked her eyes toward the rec-room where they could see that Kurt had abandoned magic tricks in favor of telling a story to his wide eyed audience, his lap now occupied by a thin, bald-headed girl in addition to the boy with the burn scars.

"Then why didn't you know about this? The nurse told me Kurt started doing this last year when his dad was a patient. He needed a distraction, I suppose, but then he kept coming back after Mr. Hummel was better. He's been coming here every weekend he could spare. That tells me that this has become a pretty important part of his life. If you love him so much, and are such a close friend, then why didn't he feel like he could tell you about it?"

Mercedes tried to think of a come-back to that, but she could not. The girl was right. They really had drifted and she could not actually remember the last time she and Kurt had spent any quality time together, one on one without the buffer of other friends and boyfriends to distract them. How had this happened? Worse, how had she not even noticed?

"Figured you could use a wake-up call," Santana told her, sounding disinterested in an effort to cover up the fact that she had just done something nice, for pure sentiment's sake. Bumping Mercedes' shoulder with her own, she said, "I'll tell Brit and Sugar you had to bail on dinner due to a family emergency."

With that, she walked away with a swish of her tiny skirt, not bothering to see whether Mercedes was following.

Gulping down a sudden rush of tears, Mercedes stepped back up to the window, watching Kurt gesture and smile, his eyes wide and sparkling as the children responded with eager questions to the tale he was spinning about a little boy and his father who used a magic bubble-wand to create giant bubbles that let them travel all over the world. He looked so happy, and she could not believe that she had been unaware of this side of Kurt. Magic tricks? Stories made up out of thin air? A clear enjoyment of spending time with children? It was like watching a complete stranger. A kind, wonderful stranger who, in spite of her new-found knowledge of his private life, still easily fit in to the image she had always carried of her best friend.

"Where did they go after that?" a boy asked loudly, pulling Mercedes' attention back to the story.

Kurt smiled at him. "Well that, Jacob, is a tale for another day."

"Awww!" the children whined in protest.

He laughed. "I know. I'm sorry, but I have to get going. I have a date tonight."

"With your boyfriend?" a little girl piped up.

Kurt looked a little surprised. "That's right. How did you know I had a boyfriend?"

"I saw him," she replied comfortably, snuggling up to him as Kurt automatically held out an arm to gather her in. "When he came to pick you up the last time. He's pretty!"

Kurt laughed, glancing around at the other children and relaxing when he realized that none of them looked confused or grossed out by the news that he was dating another boy. "He is, isn't he?"

"Not as pretty as you," another girl declared seriously. "You're the best looking boy I ever saw. If I was older, I would marry you."

"Me, too!" decided a boy who looked to be the oldest in the room at about eleven or twelve, grinning at Kurt's surprised expression.

The other children decided that they, too, would offer themselves up as matrimonial prospects in the event that things didn't work out with Blaine, leaving Kurt laughing and blushing as he tossed his head in flattered embarrassment.

Suddenly, his gaze landed on the observation window and Kurt's entire face transformed into an expression of shock. "Mercedes!" he blurted, drawing every eye in the room to her.

Since there was no point in hiding any more, Mercedes put on a smile and walked in to the room. "Hi, guys! Sorry if I startled you. I came to the hospital to meet my friend but she bailed on me. Thought I'd stop by here and check out the story-teller instead."

The children seemed satisfied with this explanation, but Kurt still looked a little stunned.

"I was just wrapping things up here," he said at last. The kids moaned again, especially when they saw the nurses on duty approaching to return them to their rooms. Seemingly struck with an idea, Kurt smiled at Mercedes and said, "Maybe we have time for one last thing before I go, if my friend Mercedes is willing to help me out. Do you guys like singing?"

"Yeah!" they chorused, happy to have an excuse to stay a few minutes longer.

Kurt gave Mercedes an inquiring look and she nodded, smiling when he mouthed 'Beautiful' at her. She took an empty chair that one of the nurses provided and together, she and Kurt sang a sweet acapella version of a song not performed since their Cheerio days. It had been a solo then, but Kurt easily improvised a harmony to the song they both knew like the back of their hands, and Mercedes felt her heart swell. The song, so perfect for a room full of sick and injured children, bridged the divide between the best friends she and Kurt had once been, and the even better friends she now hoped they could become.

After the song was over and the children had been returned to their rooms, Kurt and Mercedes stood looking at each other, neither quite knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry," they both blurted at the same time.

"I should have paid more attention to you," Mercedes pressed, at the same moment Kurt said, "I shouldn't have kept secrets from you."

Realizing that they weren't going to let each other take all of the blame, the two friends laughed and suddenly found themselves sharing a tight embrace.

"I've missed you," Kurt choked out.

"Me too," she whispered.

Blinking away tears, Kurt smiled. "How did you know I was here?"

"Santana," she replied with a short laugh. "She's a hospital volunteer too. Apparently us not hanging out enough is pissing her off, so she spilled your secret."

Kurt smiled ruefully. "I should have guessed. I've seen her peeking at me from the window a few times, but she was trying so hard to be sneaky that I didn't have the heart to let on that I knew."

"So when did you learn to do magic tricks?"

Kurt blushed. "Oh, I … when I was little, my dad bought me a book and a magic kit filled with supplies to do all sorts of simple tricks and illusions. I didn't have a lot of friends back then and it was a fun way to occupy my time, so I kept at it."

"You're good."

"Thanks. Um, I'm supposed to be meeting Blaine for dinner at the Olive Garden in half an hour, so it's too late to cancel, but do you maybe want to come along? I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

Mercedes looked at the floor. She wanted to say yes, very badly, but busting into somebody else's date was just rude. Plus, as polite as he was sure to be about it, she suspected that Blaine very much would mind. "Nah, I'm meeting some of the girls for dinner tonight. But maybe if you're free tomorrow, we can meet up at the mall. Do some shopping, have lunch together, and just catch up. You know?"

The smile that lit Kurt's face was like the sun coming out from behind a dark cloud. "I'd love that. It's been forever since we hung out."

"It has been too long," she agreed. Hugging him again, she said, "See you tomorrow, then?"

Still smiling, he promised, "I'll pick you up at eleven."

As they parted ways, Mercedes took a deep breath. Pulling out her phone, she texted Santana. 'I owe you one. Dinner's on me tonight.'

A response quickly came back, 'Damn right! Get your butt down here. We's be goin' to Breadstix!'

With a laugh, Mercedes hurried toward the parking garage, feeling like something that had been misaligned in her life had finally snapped back into place.

THE END

Because apparently I'm an eternal optimist... Comments?