A/N: Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! I really enjoy this chapter and I hope you will too. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.

Chapter 4

This summer, as Kurt was learning, was positively filled with surprises. First and foremost, Cassville seemed to be an anomaly of small town America, where him being gay didn't seem to be of the slightest concern to anyone. Secondly, Kurt was enjoying his work as a teacher almost enough to forget about the incredibly shocking pain of physical therapy. Well...okay, that may be a bit of an exaggeration because damn, did P.T. suck, but still. Teaching was a welcome distraction.

However, hands down, the most surprising thing that had happened this summer was the bagel sitting on the front desk when Kurt came out before his first class. Sitting, innocently as an olive branch, was what smelled like a fresh bagel, wrapped in a brown napkin. It was still a little warm even.

As if in answer to Kurt's silent question, he heard a clang down the hall and hesitantly, Kurt smiled. He walked down the hall and found Blaine, kneeled on the floor in front of his giant metal toolbox.

"Did...did you bring this bagel for me?" Kurt hadn't meant to sound so fucking shocked by this but well...he sort of was. I mean, just the other day, Kurt was pretty sure Blaine hated his fucking guts and now he was filling them? With delicious baked goods?

Blaine looked up, as if expecting Kurt to be there and smiled, a hesitant little tilt of his mouth. "Yeah. You mentioned that you missed the bagels in New York so much so," He shrugged, burying his hands deep in his jean pockets as he stood up, "I thought I'd show you that you can get a bagel just as good here. In Cassville."

Kurt laughed, totally involuntary. It was like a little bubble had just broken in his chest and damn, did it feel good to interact with someone who wasn't Darla but was also over the age of 10. That's probably all it was; the thrill of having a peer. "Sooo...what? Cassville is known for their bagels?"

"No, we're known for being the last town to still have a payphone on every street corner." Blaine deadpanned and Kurt laughed again. It brought a smile to Blaine's lips.

"Oh so you noticed too? That Cassville is stuck in the wrong era?" Kurt said, not sure why it was so easy to banter with Blaine.

Blaine nodded, "Sure. But wrong era doesn't mean bad."

At that Kurt had to agree. "True."

They stood, motionless just looking at one another with open expressions. It was that moment of reevaluation that Kurt had imagined a couple days ago and this time, Blaine addressed it too.

"I'm sorry." Blaine suddenly said, sort of like he'd had to shove the words off a ledge to actually make them fall out. "About how I treated you when we first met, that is. I uh...I realized I didn't actually say that yesterday." Blaine looked up, squaring his shoulders and found Kurt's eyes.

Kurt nodded, savoring the way the apology sounded in his ears and tasted on his tongue. It didn't feel like a victory over a foe. Because Blaine no longer felt like a foe. It felt like a salve to a shallow wound. It felt like a beginning.

"Are we good?" Blaine asked, almost looking a little nervous for reasons Kurt couldn't imagine.

Kurt nodded, picking a piece off the bagel and nibbling on it. "We're good. But that has more to do with the bagel than your words, just so you know." He shot Blaine a smile to find one already on the other man's tanned face.

"As good as your New York bagel?" He asked, nodding towards the bagel in Kurt's hand that Kurt kept taking bites off of.

"It's alright, but it's just...not the same." Kurt said honestly.

Blaine just nodded in understanding and said, "Well, I'll just have to keep trying then, won't I?"

Kurt made a pit stop before leaving the school, swinging by the bathroom.

I'm just trying to stave off physical therapy as long as possible, Kurt told himself.

Blaine looked up and then checked his wrist watch. "You heading out, Hummel?"

Kurt nodded, leaning in to look at the bathroom he'd been avoiding since his first unsavory meeting with their handyman. "Just wanted to take a look at what you've been doing in here." His eyes skipped appreciatively around the mostly gutted room. Goodbye floral wallpaper, you will not be missed.

"Oh, since you're done avoiding it and me?" Blaine said bluntly, with humor on the surface of his face.

"Oh, bite me." Kurt quipped, not even validating his words with a glance.

Blaine's eyebrows shot to his hairline and his smile broadened. "Intriguing offer, Hummel, I'll keep that in mind."

Kurt wordlessly swung his gaze over to Blaine, a look of shocked amusement on his face.

Blaine just laughed, "So what do you think?" He spread his arm out wide to show off the construction site that was once a room.

"It's very...spacious…" Kurt said.

Blaine just sighed in mock disappointment, "You have no imagination, Hummel." He walked toward Kurt and began pointing. "The sinks are going to be relocated over to the left side of the room, so we can fit in 3 instead of 2, which will mean we'll finally have enough for all of the stalls."

"Oh what a novel idea," Kurt deadpanned, taking in this vision, probably imagining much more opulent and expensive fixtures than what would actually be used.

I'm also doing a sort of wainscoting with tile, which should make it a little easier to keep clean. Here, actually," Blaine said, gesturing for Kurt to follow.

They exited the bathroom to the hallway which housed a good chunk of Blaine's hand tools and equipment that he had lugged in from his truck. He knelt down to grab a small canvas bag and from it, pulled a beautiful light gray tile sample.

"This is what I'll be using," He handed it to Kurt who inspected it thoroughly, as one does with all potential decor options, of course.

Finally, the taller man nodded, "Very nice. I approve."

Blaine smiled and took the sample back, "Well, then you'll also approve of the grout. Which, after much consideration has been changed to a darker charcoal color." He paused, looking up at Kurt with what almost looked like a bit of bashfulness. Which was ridiculous, right?

Kurt narrowed his eyes a tad, "Hmmm, interesting choice. What made you choose a color other than, oh I don't know, white?"

"Oh just a spark of pure genius, honestly."

"Genius? Wow, high praise."

"Maybe," Blaine said, a smile stretched languorously across his face.

It was then that Kurt realized they were standing rather close and speaking barely above a whisper and how had that happened? Who had approved this? Not that Kurt, like...necessarily disapproved.

A shriek came from the lobby, some kid coming in early for the next class, that broke Kurt and Blaine's little bubble.

Kurt cleared his throat, amazed that it didn't actually feel too awkward between them. He pulled out his phone, taking a look at the time. "So, I needed to be going about 10 minutes ago, so…"

"Big plans?" Blaine asked, turning away from Kurt to put the tile sample back in it's bag.

"I mean, you could say that." Kurt quipped, "but I wouldn't want you to be jealous." And oh god, was he flirting?

But Kurt only had a moment to feel freaked out before easily, seamlessly, Blaine smirked and said, "No, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" His eyes were melting and warm.

Kurt smiled, feeling oddly at ease. "See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow, Hummel."

Son of a bitch, physical therapy felt so much more like a torture technique than a healing method. If there wasn't so much scientific data backing this up, Kurt would have sworn it was all witchcraft.

Kurt left the house early enough the next day to not have to see Darla and answer questions as to how come he seemed to have a permanent scowl etched on his face.

He knew it would get easier, his therapist and doctor had both assured him of that, but right

now? Right now it felt like he was standing in the middle of a bonfire, so he wasn't really feeling all that optimistic, thank you very much.

As Kurt pulled into the parking lot, he noticed a pickup truck that was rapidly becoming familiar and a mop of chocolate curls loitering outside the school's front door.

Kurt parked and stepped out of his car, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Put your game face on, Hummel, he cautioned himself. He strode toward Blaine as if he hadn't a care in the world. Nerve damage? Who's she? We don't know her.

"You're here early." Kurt said, approaching the door to unlock it.

Blaine shrugged, " As are you."

To this, Kurt just huffed, not really annoyed but his eyes zeroed in on a little brown bag Blaine was carrying that smelled suspiciously familiar. "Bagels?" Kurt asked, a very small smile blooming privately.

"Oh, yeah," Blaine said, as if he'd forgotten and went to go pull one out, resting it on a napkin on the front desk. "These ones are from the local bakery. Yesterday's were from a coffee shop." Blaine pulled a second bagel out and began to eat it. "We'll find one that rivals your beloved New York bagel, mark my words."

Kurt just looked at him, a little amazed at his silly determination but smiled, "If you say so," In Kurt's dazed delight, he'd forgotten that his body was a traitor and he took a step toward the front desk a little too eagerly, instantly flinching as his leg threaten to give underneath him.

"Whoa there, Hummel," Blaine said, at his side in a flash. He grabbed Kurt's elbow to steady him. He leveled Kurt a concerned gaze, "Are you okay?"

Kurt just laughed, "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. A little sore from classes yesterday, I guess."

"Oh? Were the five year old learning pique menage or something yesterday?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow in extreme interest, his mouth falling open a little in disbelief at the words that had just graced Blaine's lips.

Blaine just chuckled and held up his hands in surrender, "Hey, hey, I've been lurking through this lobby for the last week or so; I've picked up a couple new words. Don't get your hopes up."

Kurt glared. "Do you even know what a pique menage is?"

Blaine blinked. "Well, based on context clues, a menage a trois mea-"

"Okay, that's enough from you," Kurt interrupted with a friendly exasperated sigh. With more caution this time, Kurt made his way to the front desk and began eating his bagel, Blaine following him to do the same. The silence between them was comfortable, like they'd done this hundreds of times before. Like sharing their breakfast was a ritual or something.

"So uh…" Blaine started awkwardly, taking a sip of the coffee he had brought and wordless offering some to Kurt. Kurt popped the top off of his to go cup and took a tentative sip before handing it back. It was gross and bitter but eh, coffee is coffee. Blaine cleared his throat, "Are you perhaps a little sore due to your uh...your injury?" He looked down into his coffee as if reading tea leaves.

Kurt stiffened a bit but tried to laugh, a strangled sound that sounded a little crazed and very off. "That's a bit of a uh...intense conversation to have at," he glanced at his phone, "8:14 in the morning."

Blaine looked up, his eyes seeming heavy with some emotion Kurt couldn't name. "I thought you said your injury was minor."

"No, no, it is," Kurt hurried to clarify, "It's a totally common injury for dancers! Um it's just...ya know, it's not the funnest thing to talk about first thing in the morning." He tried another laugh but it sounded too shrill and Kurt decided to stop trying to fake a laugh; it was not working for him.

But Blaine pushed, albeit more gently, "I know but...I don't know…" he took a sip of coffee, offering Kurt another sip which he gladly accepted. "Earlier this week, when you were warming up? When you found me watching and told me to fuck off-"

"Well I don't believe I used that exact phrasing-"

"I'm paraphrasing," Blaine cut in, a soft smirk on his lips before it dropped and the levity evaporated again. "It's just...you seemed to be hurting then too…" he trailed off, as if not certain why he was pushing this.

Kurt sighed, reluctant but not having the energy to lie. He had to conserve that energy to tolerate screaming children here within the next hour. "It's a struggle but...it's nothing I can't handle. I'm in physical therapy twice a week and my first check in with my new doctor is actually tomorrow so...it's just…" Kurt paused, not sure what he was actually trying to say. "I'm fine. Really." he repeated his newly minted mantra. It sounded a little flat, even to him.

Blaine seemed to consider this. He didn't seem convinced but perhaps decided to let Kurt be; he'd already pushed enough for one day.

"So, how do you like working here?" Blaine asked, switching the subject and giving Kurt an out.

Kurt's smile was much more authentic this time, "I like it. I'm actually a little surprised how much I like it."

Blaine raised an eyebrow in a wordless question, mouth full of bagel.

"I just didn't know what to expect. I've never taught before. And it's so different from what I do normally." Kurt shrugged, "But the kids are adorable and well behaved so I really couldn't ask for more."

"The kids seem to like you," Blaine said.

Kurt felt a soft smile appear on his face, almost unconsciously. "I like them too."

"You know," Blaine said, offering Kurt the last of the coffee, "that's one of the things that made me reconsider you."

Reconsider me, Kurt thought. Which meant he had considered me before that. But Kurt didn't say that, instead he said, "How so?"

"Seeing how you were with Anna the other day? I mean...I don't know I think kids are pretty good judges of character. And she seemed to like you so…" Blaine trailed off.

"So...if I'm good enough for a 5 year old, I'm good enough for you?" Kurt said with a smirk.

Blaine chuckled, "Something like that, yeah."

They stayed in their bubble, leaning against the front desk, just reveling in the easiness of each others' presence.

"So, you said teaching is very different from what you used to do? What did a day in the life look like for you back in New York?"

Kurt sighed, his eyes looking somewhere far off. "Well-"

But then he heard a knock at the door. He looked up to see the first student with their mom waiting outside with broad smiles. Was it 9 already?

Kurt hurried to unlock the front door. If his slight limp showed, the mom didn't seem to notice, but Blaine's expression said that he did.

"Sorry, I didn't realize it had gotten so late," Kurt said to Blaine as he made his way back to the front desk.

Blaine smiled, the concern that had been in his eyes was still there, just pushed back. Under a few layers of what appeared to be genuine happiness. "No problem. Actually, would you want to get lunch when you're done with your classes? Darla's been hounding me about taking a lunch break anyway."

"Well, I do owe you that story," Kurt lightly teased as another student walked in. "Sure, sounds good."

Blaine nodded, smile still on his face. "See you at noon then, Hummel."

Kurt watched as Blaine walked away, down the hall to get to his own work. And Kurt was beginning to think he'd made a friend. The first in years.

Kurt's classes always seemed to whip by, too fast sometimes. He wished he had more time with the kids, even though they hadn't developed attention spans yet and a longer class would be fruitless. An hour was pushing it, to be honest.

However, today, Kurt didn't mind as much when his classes wrapped up and he walked out to the lobby to find Blaine leaning against the front desk chatting with Darla.

"Hey darlin'." Darla said as she saw Kurt emerge.

"Hey Darla," He replied, "Hey Blaine." He added.

"Hey, you ready?" Blaine asked, pushing off the desk and looking at Kurt with a smile, arms crossed.

Kurt saw Darla raise an eyebrow so high it nearly hit the sky, but he ignored her. Now was not the time to explain how he and Blaine had become kind of...sort of...friends? Because Kurt couldn't really even explain it himself. For all he knew, Blaine was living by the creed 'Keep your enemies closer'. But he didn't get that vibe, if he was being honest.

"Ready," Kurt said, leaving a stunned Darla behind to start her first class. He knew he'd be hearing about this at dinner. Or as Darla called it, supper.

"So, I don't know if you brought lunch but I did." Blaine said as he walked to his truck. Kurt just followed.

"No, I didn't." Kurt realized. He hadn't actually thought about the food part of it to be honest.

Blaine just nodded, and easily said, "That's fine, you can just share mine." He laid his tailgate down and hopped up to sit on it, feet dangling. He patted the space next to him with an easy smile. Everything Blaine did was easy and natural, Kurt was learning.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked, eyeing the tailgate suspiciously.

Blaine just rolled his eyes, "Get your ass up here, Hummel. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."

Kurt rolled his eyes in return but lifted himself up, only wincing a little at the burn running down his legs. He should probably get home and take a bath; try to stave off the pain he knew was coming. But he didn't want to miss this. He wanted to have lunch with a friend. He wanted to feel normal.

"You okay?" Blaine said, voice softer as he handed Kurt half of a turkey sandwich he pulled from his lunch bag.

Kurt stared at him, not entirely tracking for a moment but then it clicked. Blaine had seen him wince. "How come you notice every time I'm, I…" he cleared his throat, not wanting to admit the truth: every time I'm in pain, "How come you notice but no one else does?"

Blaine just blinked. Once, twice…"I don't know." He answered and the honesty in his voice rang out proud and true.

Another one of their silences enveloped them. One that should have been awkward but somehow, wasn't.

"So," Blaine finally said, opening some chips and offering them to Kurt, "New York. What was that like for you?"

And that got Kurt smiling, in a real and true way. He told Blaine about his routine, the best bagel known to man, the company, his apartment and all of the classes and rehearsals he had to attend almost every day.

"Damn, that leaves like, no time for a social life," Blaine said, his head spinning with the hustle and bustle of the story alone.

"Trust me, I know." Kurt laughed.

"How do you see friends or go on dates?" Blaine asked.

"You either don't or you only have other dancers as friends or dates."

Blaine wiggled his eyebrows, "Ooo, so you have a boyfriend or girlfriend with the hot dancer's bod?"

Kurt almost choked on the water he was drinking. A laugh spluttered out. "Oh wow, there is so much wrong with what you just said. 1. Don't ever say bod, okay? It's not 2010 anymore. 2. It would be a boyfriend if it was...anything. But third, and most importantly, no. I do not date other dancers."

"Why?" Blaine asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Because dancers are insane."

"But you're a dancer."

"Exactly." Kurt said, gesturing to himself, "You do not know the boundlessness of my crazy and you do not want to, trust me."

"Oh, but I think I do," Blaine quipped back, his smile having expanded.

Kurt just scoffed and gave Blaine a shove.

"Oh okay, so this is the thanks I get for feeding you?" Blaine said in mock outrage.

"Well, how about I bring lunch on Monday?" Kurt offered.

Blaine's eyes sparkled, but maybe that was just the ever present sun playing tricks on Kurt's eyes. "Sounds good."

Kurt, carefully, hopped down off the tailgate, pleased when he landed with only a dull spike of pain shooting up each leg. "On that note, I need to get going. Sitting in the sun this long isn't good for my skin."

Blaine laughed, "Yeah, you look like you burn pretty easy there, Hummel."

"Oh, if only…" Kurt muttered, half under his breath.

"What?" Blaine asked, sounding downright joyous as he jumped down from the truck too.

"What? Nothing!" Kurt hurriedly added. "See you Monday!" Kurt said, and for the first time it didn't come out as a question.

"Hey, Hummel!" Blaine called out, and Kurt turned to face him, halfway between their cars. "Good luck with your doctor appointment tomorrow." Blaine said, sounding so sure that it would all be okay.

Kurt swallowed around a lump in his throat that he didn't know he had. He nodded his thanks, unsure he could say it out loud.

"So, you and Baby Blaine are friends now?" Darla crowed as soon as she entered the house. "How and when did that happen? I need details!"

"Welcome home Darla," Kurt deadpanned, leaning out of the kitchen to see his aunt walking up to him with a confident smirk on her face.

"Details," she insisted. She made her way to the fridge to get a drink.

Kurt just sighed and continued to stir the pasta he was making, "Honestly, Dar? I don't know. One second, he downright hated me and the next he was bringing me bagels and sharing his lunch with me."

"Bringing you bagels?" Darla said it as if it was positively scandalous.

Kurt just rolled his eyes. "Yes, bringing me bagels. I mentioned that I miss the bagels in New York so he's on some sort of one man mission to find a comparable bagel for me."

"Well, isn't that sweet," Darla said, that tiny secret smile on her lips and that fucking stupid sparkle in her eyes that made Kurt feel like he was out of the loop.

"It's just nice to have a friend." Kurt muttered and shit, that sounded so pitiful, but Kurt really did mean it.

Darla nodded in understanding. She placed her hand lovingly on Kurt's shoulder, "I'm sure it doesn't hurt that he's a handsome friend."

"Oh my god, I just can't with you," Kurt sighed.

A/N: Do you guys think Blaine is going to figure out the extent of Kurt's injury? Any predictions? Leave a review! And, as always, make sure to follow and/or favorite so you don't miss the next chapter. See ya'll on Saturday!