GFF Prompt: He only saw himself in a way that wasn't even true.
GFF Words: Mirror, Self-Esteem, Truth

A/N: This is dedicated to my Twitter ladies who inspired this fic.

TAGS: straight Blaine, singer Blaine, writer Kurt, mention of STD, mention of drug use, mention of dark magic, kissing, not so straight Blaine, cheating

If anyone asked Blaine Anderson if he loved his life, he'd tell them with enthusiasm that he did. He had the perfect wife, the best management for his career, and parents that loved him dearly. Not only did he have all of that, he had wonderful friends that supported him and a career that, while it might not have been exactly what he wanted, he knew it was what he was good at.

Blaine was the singer at one of the most prestigious piano bars in New Orleans: The Wild Dragon. He had been there for a couple of years after his other aspirations of acting and singing on Broadway had fizzled. His manager had said he was trying to find him work, too, but there just wasn't a lot out there for his specific skill set. Blaine thanked him profusely for trying and continued night after night at the bar, singing his heart out.

One night, when the bar was pretty slow, Blaine was singing a Disney song, and when he looked up midway through, he saw the most alluring pair of blue eyes he'd ever seen in his life. Thankfully, the song was at a part where he just had to play the piano because he knew there was no way words would have come out of his mouth at that point in time. Once it came time to sing again, he found a renewed strength in him he hadn't felt in a very long time.

"I am on my way
I can go the distance
I don't care how far
Somehow I'll be strong
I know every mile
Will be worth my while
I would go most anywhere to find where I belong"

After the applause died down, Blaine spoke. "Thank you so much, everyone. I'm going to take a little break, and I'll be back in 10 minutes." More applause was heard as Blaine turned off the lamp over the piano, closed his eyes, and took a breath.

Fuck! Where did that feeling come from? And what does it mean?

"Excuse me," the most beautiful voice Blaine had ever heard said and interrupted his inner war.

When he opened his eyes, he saw those same blue ones; it was like they were searching deep within his soul, and he couldn't stop them if he wanted to, which he didn't.

"Your voice is stunning," the man said. "Why aren't you on Broadway or selling records?"

Blaine laughed. "I'm not nearly good enough for that. I had my chance and didn't make it."

"Who says you're not good enough?" the man asked. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're on your break and probably have other things to do besides talk to me."

"No. Please don't go," Blaine pleaded. Where in the fuck did that come from? "I'm actually not scheduled to take my break for a little bit, but I needed one now. So, they'll have to deal with it. I'm Blaine by the way."

"Kurt."

"It's nice to meet you, Kurt. And to answer your question, I was on Broadway for a little bit. And in movies and on TV. I just wasn't good enough to continue with it. I'm happy here, though. I have a wonderful family, and my management team still gets me amazing jobs when they can find the right fit for me. Plus, who wouldn't want to sing here six nights a week? It's great!"

Kurt's breath hitched, confirming what he already knew. This was the Blaine Anderson, and he could only see himself in a way that wasn't true. He couldn't see his raw talent or that what he was doing was wasting away in this bar, as amazing as it was. Or maybe, he simply couldn't see it anymore.

"Are you here again tomorrow night?" Kurt asked.

"I am. The only day I'm off is Sunday because the bar is closed."

"I'm only in town until Sunday, so I guess I'll see you the next couple of nights."

"You don't have anything better to do than come here and listen to me sing? New Orleans is pretty cool."

"Honestly, it's always creeped me out a little. There's… Well, maybe that's a story for another time."

"I'll hold you to that," Blaine said and looked down at his watch. "I have to run to the restroom and then get back to work. Tomorrow night, could we talk more while I'm on my break?"

"I'd really like that."

The next night, however, Blaine couldn't hang out with Kurt on his break, even though he really wanted to. His wife had come to the bar with him and was consuming all of free time. Blaine could see Kurt across the bar, watching him. And he was trying to pay attention to what his wife was saying, but something in the way Kurt was looking at him was distracting. It was almost like he was trying to see into his soul.

When they'd catch eyes, Kurt would smile at Blaine, and that simple smile filled Blaine with so much warmth he had a hard time processing it. It was almost like the warmth he had always felt before that was an illusion, and this was real.

Saturday night was the busiest night at the bar, and thankfully, they had two singers. Blaine was ecstatic on this particular Saturday because his wife had plans with her friends, so she wouldn't be showing up to dominate all of his free time, and Kurt had said he'd be there. Thinking about Kurt made that warm feeling spread throughout him, something he still needed to figure out at some point.

The night was wonderful. He got to play his favorite songs, and he felt them that night. Feeling his music was something he hadn't done in a long time. That night, he even sang some of his early original songs, and the applause for them was deafening. During his breaks, he sat with Kurt and learned about him a little. He was an author and lived in Seattle.

"I'm here to do some research for my new book," Kurt told him.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, magic and soul trapping, specifically. It's sort of essential to part of my story, and even though it creeps me out, I wanted to make it believable."

"Maybe we could exchange numbers, and if you have any further questions, you can text? Not that I wouldn't love to see you again if you needed to do any more research. If it bothers you so much, I'd hate for you to be put in that position when maybe just a call to someone you've met a few times could help?"

"I'd love that," Kurt said with another warm smile.

Numbers were exchanged, and while they did communicate—sometimes by text and sometimes by phone—about the book, they also got to know a lot about each other and became the best of friends. Over that year, things started shifting internally for Blaine. He began to pay more attention to what was going on around him, what people were saying and doing, and how it was affecting him. Then, late one night, he made a decision.

*ding*

To Kurt: Can you let me in?

Kurt looked at his phone, who it was from, and ran to the door. Sure enough, there stood Blaine. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his curly hair was all over the place. The thing that was most shocking, though, wasn't any of that. It was the peaceful aura that surrounded him now.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt asked him in awe as he hugged him in the doorway.

"I… I couldn't do it anymore."

"Come in, and let's talk. Holy shit that's a lot of luggage," Kurt said as he noticed five large suitcases on the sidewalk behind Blaine. "Doesn't matter. Get in there and sit down. I'll bring these in."

Blaine didn't have it in him to argue. He simply did as he was told to do. Once all of the luggage was in the house and the door was shut and locked, Kurt went into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and then sat on the couch beside his friend.

After taking a drink of the proffered water, Blaine started talking. "I left. Obviously. I couldn't… Something happened to me while you were in New Orleans. Something magical and wonderful, and I still can't quite understand it. I started seeing everything in a new light, like… You broke a spell of some sort I didn't even know I was under. And given all of the crazy shit that happens in that city, I honestly wouldn't put it past someone to have put a spell on me. Regardless, you helped me break free from it. I've been looking over everything that has happened in the past 10 years. Contracts, documents... Fuck, even my marriage license. My contracts were up years ago, and they've just been keeping me there, sucking everything out of me and taking money from the little gigs they've been able to find me. The house was in her dad's name and… My marriage… It wasn't even real. All of it—once I started digging—was all fake."

"Oh, Blaine…"

"So, I broke free. I got a hold of a friend who I went to school with. Wes was livid when I brought this all to him. I told him I wanted to keep it all quiet because I think I'd like to try to do something with my life, and I didn't want the scandal. Anyway, he got me out of all of it, and they're never to contact me again. I already had my stuff packed and was slowly moving it out. My guess is my ex didn't even notice. I found out she's on so many drugs it isn't even funny, and she has been screwing around with anyone and everyone who will let her."

"Did you two…"

"Yes. Not often, but we did."

"We need to make you an appointment to get tested."

"I already did. I have chlamydia, and from what my doctor told me, it's recent and very treatable. I'm lucky, Kurt. Really fucking lucky."

"You are," Kurt said, meaning it in more ways than one.

"I… I have no idea why I came to you. It was like something was pulling me here, so I just went with it. I don't have a hotel or a plan. I just… I had to get away from there, from all of it."

"You can stay here," Kurt interjected. "I have a guest room, and we can figure it out together."

"There's… Um, there's one more thing. And I have no idea what you're going to say about it."

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and instantly watched as the tension in his shoulders melted. "The only way you're going to know what I'll say if you tell me."

Blaine nodded his head. "I… Um… Fuck, this is hard. No. No, it's really not."

Blaine looked into Kurt's eyes, and Kurt saw fire in them. Passion. And holy hell if the sight of that didn't stir something within him that he hadn't felt in years.

"I am in love with you. I think it's something I've repressed, or it's been talked out of me or something. I don't know the logistics. All I know is I think about you all of the time, and I feel warm when I'm around you. My life, for so long, has been cold and like I'm a shell. You make me feel like I'm actually worth something, and your presence is a blanket."

Kurt had tears in his eyes. He'd had a crush on Blaine for longer than he cared to admit, and since they'd been talking, he had slowly been falling in love with his best friend. To know those feelings were reciprocated? It was all too much yet not enough.

"May I kiss you?" Kurt whispered.

"Please…"

The two met in the middle in a kiss. Their soft lips touching for the first time was like no other feeling either had ever experienced. It was like their hearts grew three sizes, their skin was no longer loose, and the final piece of the puzzle slotted into place all at the same time. In one word, it was perfection.

They never looked back from that first kiss, either. Their lives fit perfectly together, and while they had their ups and downs, they faced them together as one.

A/N: Song used is "Go the Distance" from Hercules.