Electric Lime: Mercedes & Blaine
Blaine Anderson sat nervously in the cafe, constantly reaching down to readjust his tie or arrange his cup on the table so that it sat just so. He had never really spent much time in Lima before, but when a familiar name had called him a few days prior, he had agreed to make the two-hour trip from Westerville to meet up with her. Mercedes had asked him not to say anything to Kurt. There were just some things she thought she needed to tell the boy who was becoming her best friend's new best friend.
"Hi, I'm Mercedes!" she said warmly when she finally arrived. "Sorry that I'm late. Rachel called a big meeting. We're getting ready for the competition."
Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "We've been hard at work on the setlist for weeks," he replied with a bright smile. He started to reach out his hand but she quickly pulled him into a hug. "I guess that you know I'm Blaine Anderson."
"You're about the only thing my boy Kurt's been talking about since he got to Dalton," she giggled before sitting across from him. She nodded at a girl behind the counter in what he supposed was her form of an order. A minute later, a cup of coffee made its way to the table. "I really appreciate you coming all the way over here. There is something I need to talk to you about, a favor I need to ask, and I wanted to do it in person."
"Is it Kurt? Is he okay?"
She smiled at him again, this time even bigger than the last. Mercedes could tell that he genuinely cared about Kurt and that made her trust Blaine with him. "I know that you know how Kurt ended up at Dalton. I still feel guilty that we didn't do enough to protect him," she admitted softly. She went on when Blaine started console her; she couldn't listen to him tell her that they'd done enough when they hadn't. "And I know that Dalton is a really good place for him to be now. He's so excited when he talks about the Warblers, and most importantly, he feels safe."
"But he misses you guys," Blaine pointed out. "He doesn't say it much but I see it in his face all the time. We're great, I think, but we're not the friends he had here."
Mercedes carded her fingers through her long hair. "Kurt is so special, Blaine, the absolute best person I know. He is my best friend in the world, and there was a time when he was my only friend," she explained. "And while I think Dalton is good for him, I worry that it's going to change him. It's all about conformity there, and I don't want that school to stomp out what makes him special. Kurt is electric, this magnetic personality that you just gravitate toward. I know that the zero-tolerance policy and matching uniforms and standard-issue polite personalities have their benefits, but Kurt shouldn't have to lose what makes him unique so he can fit in there anymore than he should have had to at McKinley."
Blaine looked down into his Americano and understood why Mercedes had asked him to meet her here. "You want me to take care of him."
"I can't be there all the time to make sure he keeps radiating light, so I'm trusting you to make sure that he doesn't lose his shine."
"Oh, Mercedes," Blaine murmured, reaching across the small bistro table to take her hand. "Now I know why Kurt chose you as a best friend. Of course I will watch out for him. Kurt could never lose what makes him special, but I promise I won't let Dalton change him."
Mercedes knew that Blaine was doing his job two weeks later at Sectionals when Kurt was the only Warbler with a lime silk pocket square.