AN: So this is a relatively short chapter. It just shows a bit of development for Kurt and Blaine's friendship and sort of reflects a bit of canon Kurt and a bit of Blaine as I've been reading him in other people's stories. It's also two parts fluff and one part angst (well, mild, mild angst).

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing the past chapter. Like I've said before, this is my first story and English isn't my native language so I welcome all that you may have to say. That said, I hope you enjoy this next chapter. :)

-I still own nothing.


"When's your next day off?"

Kurt's pen nearly flew to the other end of the table in surprise, glaring up at Blaine for sneaking up on him. "Do you mind?" he whispered harshly, reaching for his pen again whilst gesturing to the work laid out before him.

It was a week of easy conversations since Kurt took Blaine to meet Rachel. Blaine still brought him coffee, and he kept him company through the late nights at the laboratory. To his surprise, Kurt found that he liked it. He liked to have someone to talk to lighten up the mood when he was studying one or the other thing.

Blaine grinned at him as he rounded the table to be in front of Kurt, seemingly unfazed by Kurt's displeasure. "When is your next day off?" he asked again.

Kurt glared at him for a moment longer before he sighed and let his eyes drop back to the file. "Technically it's on Thursday," he answered. "But I rarely take days off."

"Well, take it this week," Blaine smiled, sitting on a stool in front of Kurt. "I just have rounds until one, and after that we're hanging out."

"We are?" Kurt asked skeptically, both his brows raised.

He nodded. "We are. You promised me you'd help me shop for cardigans."

Pausing, Kurt licked his lips and frowned. "I suppose I did promise you that."

"And I'm holding you to that promise on Thursday. We'll hit Bloomingdale's."

"Blaine."

"Come on, Kurt," Blaine whined. "You don't seem like the kind of guy to pass up an opportunity to shop."

Kurt chuckled despite himself, leaning back on his seat. "Well, you're right about that."

Laughing, Blaine replied, "See? So say yes. It'll be fun."

With a begrudged sigh, Kurt nodded. "Fine. I'll meet you there at 2."

Blaine grinned at him brightly, his white teeth shining under the harsh fluorescent light. "Awesome," he replied. "See you then."

With that, he winked at Kurt and then left, puzzling Kurt to no end. But the week rolled by anyway, and before Kurt knew it, he was standing beside a mannequin display at Bloomingdale's, waiting for Blaine to waltz through the doors. He was prompt, as always, and Blaine was running late. He tried not to tap his foot impatiently.

They had gotten to know each other quite well. Blaine would coax him out for lunch, and sometimes Quinn would join them. Blaine told Kurt about the Sadie Hawkins dance, and the idea of trying to fill his father's shoes, and shared his idealistic short and long term goals. This was where Kurt learned to gage him, knew what a certain smile meant, or what was running through his head with a quick look at Blaine's honey eyes. Kurt, with all his perception, knew all of Blaine's gestures, and before he could stop it, it felt like he had known Blaine for all of his life. They had developed an easy friendship, with only the subtle hints of Blaine wanting more, but he was ever the gentleman and never pushed. Kurt appreciated that, and found himself falling in love with him just a little more everyday. But as usual, he was too afraid of the emotion to act on it concretely.

Blaine arrived before Kurt could dwell on it, and offered him an apologetic smile as he rushed over.

"Sorry," he breathed as he neared Kurt. "One of my patients was really nervous, so I had to sit with her through the whole session."

Kurt nodded in understanding, his features softening as he smiled in reassurance. "It's fine." Blaine was compassionate to a fault, and it was a trait he admired about him incredibly.

"Have you been waiting long?" he asked, still immensely apologetic.

He shrugged, waving him off. "I was here on the dot. But it doesn't matter," he said, smiling brightly this time. "Let's go shopping."

Blaine returned the smile gratefully as they walked together to the men's section.

"So I know you're only into The Gap," Kurt started as they walked, playful disdain seeping in his tone. "But a respectable man as yourself should dare not wear such atrocities."

Blaine chuckled. "They have pretty decent selections, Kurt," he answered. "It's kind of my one-stop shop. I know my size, and their stuff are okay, so all I need to do is go around the store once, grab the things I like, and pay. I don't even have to think."

Kurt scrunched his nose. "And therein lies the problem," he said as they hopped on the escalator. "If you know your size and need not make use of the fitting room, it means you shop too much at the store. I mean, I buy my socks at The Gap but that's basically the extent of it. Everything else is a travesty."

Blaine rolled his eyes in response. "I buy my socks at Walmart," he teased.

Kurt turned to him, appalled. His eyes were wide, disdain written heavily across his face as he scowled. "You do not."

"I do," Blaine answered playfully, enjoying Kurt's contempt.

"What blasphemy, Blaine Anderson!" he exclaimed in mock indignation.

Blaine laughed at that, taking great pleasure in teasing Kurt. Of course he didn't buy his socks at Walmart. He bought them at The Gap too, thank you very much, along with a bunch of other things, but still. "Yeah. They surprisingly have a lot of wear in them. I buy socks maybe like, once in two years now."

By that point, all Kurt could do was gape. He imagined socks with a ton of holes gracing Blaine's precious feet, and his precious Salvatore Ferragamo leather shoes, and cringed. Kurt wasn't always high maintenance, but he could appreciate nice things (things being apparel) and take care of them. He was only really particular with clothes, but with everything else, he was as simple as could be. But this? This was a sin. A sin Blaine needed to be absolved of.

Blaine laughed again. He hadn't bought his socks at Walmart since he transferred to Dalton, where there were standard issued black socks for all the students to wear. And being the law abider that he was, he complied graciously. It wasn't until he started medical school that he even realized he needed socks, preferring to show off his ankles in his blue boat shoes and capris all through college.

"Oh, Blaine. You are an insult to every seven-figure salary earner in this country. Walmart is not, and never will be, for anything more than pet food, and the occasional quick stop for a condom."

"I'll keep that in mind," Blaine grinned as they paused in the men's designer clothes section. "You're the expert, after all."

"Yes, I am," Kurt agreed cheekily, turning away to face the Marc Jacobs display, feeling his heart flutter with excitement. He surveyed the display, then turned back to Blaine. "I don't think you're a Marc Jacobs man," he said with scrutiny, trying to picture Blaine in any of the outlandish ensembles.

Blaine offered a wry smile. "Not really. I was thinking more like... I don't know. Department store brand? Generic? I'm hopeless at this Kurt," he said a little miserably. "I don't really seem like the McQueen type. I mean, I'm not high fashion at all."

Pursing his lips, he studied Blaine for a long moment then sighed. "Maybe we should ease you in," Kurt said thoughtfully. "We'll shop at a less abominable place than The Gap, and ease you into these designer clothes. Because I swear to God, if you start pairing a Michael Kors button down with a pair of slacks from Walmart or K-Mart of wherever the fuck you shop, I will murder you."

Blaine chuckled, holding his hands up in defeat. "The Gap, Kurt. And I think it's perfectly acceptable to pair an MK top with Gap slacks. But like I said, you're the expert."

"I'll teach you to care for your clothes first before I buy you anything more precious," Kurt said snottily. Because yes, he was the expert.

"Of course you will."

Kurt gave him a sideways glance before pulling his phone out and Googling the nearest J. Crew. Distractedly, he continued, "I don't understand. You always look so presentable and comfortable in your crisp suit. Honestly, that was the first thing I noticed about you."

"Really?" Blaine asked in surprise. Usually people noticed all the gel in his hair.

Kurt nodded, eyes still transfixed on his phone as he replied absently. "Well-polished."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'm assuming that was your first impression of me?"

Looking up, Kurt paused and considered Blaine's words before nodding slowly. "I suppose," he answered, neglecting to mention that that was one of many things that flew through his brain the first time he met Blaine. Gorgeous being one of them.

"Do you wanna know what my first impression of you was?" he asked carefully, turning his head sideways as he looked at Kurt.

Kurt raised a brow, not really sure. "The same as everyone else's?" he supplied. He knew what people thought of him. He wasn't deluding himself into thinking they were all positive, too. Why should Blaine be any different? Modesty aside, Kurt knew he was pretty well-known in the field, and that being popular meant he was being talked about. He was absolutely sure word had gotten 'round to Blaine, marring Blaine's idea of him somewhat.

"Which would be?" Blaine asked, genuinely wanting to know.

"An immensely talented cold-hearted bitch. A bitch, but still. Talented," Kurt replied, as if it didn't bother him. As if.

But of course it bothered him. It was so easy to make assumptions about him based solely on the image he wanted to project, but people should know better than to believe what they see. Yes, he was smug about being called talented, but as previously established, Kurt was human too and he felt his eyes water a little whenever he heard whispers about his attitude. He would shrug them off eventually, but it didn't help the ache at the start.

Blaine frowned at this. "Not exactly."

Kurt memorized the address before he tucked his phone away to give Blaine his undivided attention. "So what then? It's usually just some variation of cold-hearted, self-centered bitch, which is pretty harsh but I've since been immune and it's gotten terribly old. Knowing you and how nice you are, it was probably a slightly toned-down version of it." Like, maybe, platonic, or robotic, or downright inhuman.

Blaine offered him a small, almost sad smile before shaking his head. "No."

It was almost physically painful to hear Kurt force himself to sound so resigned. He could see right through him, and saw that he being indignant despite how hurt he was over the comments. But what puzzled Blaine was why, if he disliked being labeled so wrongly, Kurt didn't make an effort to change himself, didn't bother to go out of his way to prove them wrong. It wouldn't be so difficult, honestly. A kind smile here, and kind word there—it was so easy to sway people's opinions and win them over sometimes. Kurt just didn't bother to change himself accordingly.

And why would he? Kurt is unique and so, so special. He didn't need to conform to anybody's expectations of him. Unlike Blaine, Kurt didn't have the innate need to be liked by everyone, to gain approval for everything.

"Then what?" Kurt asked, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. He was also trying to relax, to not be so defensive considering the nature of their conversation. But he was guarded, and it was projecting well into his tone. He didn't know why, and it irritated him not knowing why, he cared so much about what Blaine thought of him. Nobody's opinion of him mattered. All of them were irrelevant and have been for so many years now. But now Blaine was here, reminding him of how much he had to alter the cycle of his daily life, and suddenly everything mattered.

Shrugging, Blaine seemed a little unsure, but barreled through nevertheless. He didn't know if it was a good idea to voice his thoughts, but they had progressed too much into the conversation and ventured too deep into the subject to back out now. "Lonely. I thought you were a lonely man."

Kurt wasn't expecting that, and it took all of two seconds of stunned silence before he snorted. That was the last thing he had expected Blaine to say, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

"Well, that's the first time I've heard that," he answered as he started walking towards the exit, Blaine trailing behind him. "You're something special aren't you?" he said, shaking his head a little, trying to grasp Blaine's words.

Blaine shook his head, not being able to ascertain if Kurt was upset or not. "No, I mean it. I'm not really one to judge Kurt, but you seemed lonely to me." He struggled to explain himself, to phrase his thoughts carefully in an attempt to lure Kurt away from setting his defenses up torturously around him.

"Yeah, well," Kurt answered, frowning, "nobody has exactly taken the time to read past the facade, so I suppose I'll have to commend you."

"Kurt."

The way Blaine punctuated his name brought a lump to his throat. He shook his head again, pushing the doors open and hailing a taxi in one swift movement.

"I know you're trying not to, but you sounded just the least bit condescending," Kurt said honestly, still trying to figure what he felt about Blaine thinking he was lonely. Was it so wrong that Blaine saw right through him? He wasn't sure.

Blaine had the decency to look chastised, if not entirely mortified at seeming like he was patronizing Kurt all this time. That wasn't the point of the relationship. He didn't befriend Kurt because Kurt was lonely, and he sure as hell wasn't falling in love with him because of the same reason. "I'm sorry, that wasn't—"

"Blaine," Kurt interrupted pointedly, turning to him and sighing heavily. "I know."

Well. That didn't make Blaine feel better.

Still looking concerned, he followed suit and slid into the backseat of the taxi Kurt had hailed, not really listening to him as he prattled directions to the driver. There was a brief moment of silence in the cab before Blaine looked at Kurt.

"I didn't mean to imply I was better than you or whatever," he said, sounding small. Because he didn't. He didn't wish to give the impression that their whole relationship was founded so pathetically on Blaine patronizing Kurt because Kurt needed a friend. No. And he most certainly didn't mean to imply that he was better than Kurt because what? Because he was hopeful and optimistic and wanted to help people? He had his flaws, too, and he wasn't blind to them.

Kurt shrugged noncommittally, as if he had resigned himself to the idea . "I know. You just have a very interesting view of me, is all," he answered, keeping his eyes on the road and his face steady and blank and unrelenting.

Blaine swallowed. How was he going to explain himself? How was he going to get Kurt to see that they weren't friends because Blaine saw a charity case in Kurt? Kurt wasn't a charity case by any means. This wasn't some parasitic relationship where Blaine just kept on giving and Kurt kept on taking. Blaine was taking, too, even if it was unknown to Kurt. He was learning just as much as Kurt was.

"When you took me to the coffee place, and you told me about your bullies in high school, I said you were strong. But being strong doesn't always mean you're happy, does it?" Blaine asked slowly.

Sighing, Kurt turned to meet Blaine's tentative gaze. "No, it doesn't," he said resignedly. The truth was, he was lonely. He was strong, yes, but he was lonely. He was strong enough to endure the loneliness, but still. He was lonely.

Blaine nodded. "You're lonely Kurt. Not many people see that because not many people can read that sort of emotion on someone's face. But I could because I looked exactly like you did when I was high school. And on some days, now that I'm a doctor, too. But I didn't want to be friends with you just because you were lonely. You need to understand that."

Wordlessly, Kurt cocked his head to the side. He was still hesitant, and there was a suffocating air of tentative affection between the two of them. He honestly didn't want to believe that this was Blaine patronizing him the whole time. No. Blaine was too genuine for him to even consider the idea that he was being demeaned in any way.

When Kurt said nothing, Blaine continued. "I saw you, Kurt. In the same way you saw me that day," he said earnestly.

Okay. Wait. Hold on a second. Wow. What? Confused, Kurt's brow furrowed in question, and maybe slight bewilderment too. "What?"

Blaine shrugged, now arriving at the real reason he was barreling through Kurt's emotions and forcing himself on him. This was the first thing that drew him to Kurt. It certainly wasn't the last, but it was the most primary, fundamental thing that allowed him to realize the potential of falling in love with Kurt.

"You didn't see me as Thomas Anderson's son," Blaine explained. "You saw me for me, and I appreciated that. Nobody's ever seen me like that before."

Kurt frowned, not understanding why it meant so much to Blaine. "But that's because you and your father are two different people," Kurt spoke as if it were obvious. "You wanted to blaze your own trail, and that's something people should recognize. No one should confine you to a certain box—because you're so much more than that. You're so much more than someone else's son, and so much bigger than a box."

That was probably the nicest, most touching thing Kurt had ever told Blaine, and he couldn't help the slight tightening in his throat. This was why he loved Kurt, and why he was willing to wait for him regardless of the inconvenience. Kurt saw him, and understood him on top of the way Kurt was inexplicably beautiful all together. He offered him a small, grateful smile. Kurt may not understand why it was so important to him that he be seen for who he was, but Kurt's ability to lift the burden off his shoulders unknowingly astounded Blaine.

Kurt smiled back and squeezed Blaine's hand lightly. "I suppose we're both lonely people, Blaine," he said. But they were there for each other. And they could be the cure for each other's loneliness.

"I suppose we are," Blaine whispered, gazing intently into Kurt's eyes and never wanting to look away.


There are days when I just want to give med school up all together and write. Kurt and Blaine are inspiring. LOL. Anyway. Let me know what you guys think! Thanks for reading!