He knew he wouldn't be back before Christmas. And even then, when he'd be here again, he'd be a guest. Kind of. His room would still be here, his family would still be here, everything would be the same, and yet so, so different in ways he couldn't even imagine just yet. He was never going to truly live here again and that was a weird feeling. From now on, his entire life would be centered around a different place, there would be new experiences to shape it, new faces to surround him, new habits to pick up. It was exciting. It was scary.

All of a sudden, he felt very alone and very small and very young – and he was still standing in the familiar drive-way in front of his family's house, watching his dad closing the trunk of the car that now held everything he'd be taking with him to this new chapter of his life.

And then it was time to say goodbye and Carole was hugging him tight and he could feel her crying into his shoulder as his throat closed up with tears he didn't want to cry while he was clinging to his stepmother. Her eyes were a little red when she let go of him.

“I hope you have an amazing time in New York. I'm so proud of you. And I'll miss you, and -” another tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly wiped it away, smiling at him sadly. “Sorry. I'm sorry. I wasn't going to cry. It's just that one of my sons is moving out, you know. Makes me a little emotional.”

Kurt felt something warm and heavy settle in his chest at the word 'son', a feeling of such safety and comfort it almost hurt. He quickly pulled Carole into another hug, not wanting her to see the tears he couldn't hold back any longer.

“Thank you. For everything,” he whispered.

Carole shook her head. “You never have to thank me, Kurt.”

Kurt smiled at her before turning towards Finn, who would be moving out a few days later. He was staying in Ohio, even though he knew Rachel had wanted him to come to New York with them.

So. How exactly did brothers say goodbye to each other? He was still new enough to this whole having-a-brother thing to suddenly feel kind of uncomfortable about it.

“Well.” He extended his hand awkwardly in Finn's direction. “See you at Christmas, I guess.”

Finn stared at his outstretched hand for a second, then shrugged. “Oh, whatever. Just come here, dude.” He pulled him into a rib-crushing bear-hug and patted his back hard enough to completely knock the breath out of Kurt for a second before taking a step back and grinning at him. “Have fun in New York. And keep an eye on Rachel. Like, don't let her do anything... crazy.”

“I'm not quite sure I know how to do that.” Kurt grinned back at him. “But I promise I'll do my best.”

“I appreciate that. And I'll come visit. Soon.”

“You know you're always welcome,” Kurt replied, finding, to his own surprise, that he really meant that. Maybe it hadn't been the easiest thing in the world for them to become brothers, but, Kurt thought, that was what they had become. It was nice. It was nice having a brother. And it didn't make leaving any easier.

“See you all in December,” Kurt said, before getting in the passenger seat of the car and quickly closing the door. He really, really didn't like goodbyes. Hell, he wasn't even sure he really wanted to go, he didn't even know yet where he was going to find the courage and strength to get onto that damn plane and actually leave.

At least round one of goodbyes was over. It was just him and his dad now. Save the worst for last. This was the one goodbye he'd been dreading all along. He'd debated for a while whether he was going to ask Finn and Carole to come along to the airport, but he kind of wanted this time alone with his dad. As nice as it was to have a real family, it had been just the two of them for so long. He wanted those last few moments in Ohio to be just him and his father.

“You ready?” his dad asked after closing the driver's side door and turning the key in the ignition.

And with one last, long look at his house, at Carole and Finn standing side by side in the driveway, smiling and waving at him, Kurt took a deep breath and nodded and said what he really didn't feel.

“Yeah. Ready.”

**

They didn't talk much during the drive. But that was okay, they'd never talked that much before. They'd always talked, of course, about everything important, but Kurt had always found that one of the best things about his relationship with his dad was that they didn't have to. And right now his dad just knew that Kurt didn't want to talk. And Kurt knew that his dad didn't want to either.

Kurt spent the longest time of the drive just staring out the window, trying to think about nothing in particular. The sound of the engine and the smell of the car made him tired and reminded him of all the times when he'd been a little kid and had fallen asleep during long drives. How he had always woken up when his dad had lifted him out of the car and carried him all the way to his room, just so that he could go right back to sleep without having to wake up properly.

Saying goodbye to Carole and Finn and his house had already been difficult. How was he going to say goodbye to his dad, who had carried him for so long? He was kind of glad that Rachel and Mystery Guy – why didn't he know his name? – were going to be there. That way, he would have to pull himself together in order to not look like a complete fool in front of them. Little Kurt who was scared of living in the big city all by himself without his daddy to take care of him. Rachel would probably already have sent her dads home by the time they arrived. She'd probably be waiting for him with that expression on her face that always meant she was already five steps ahead of everyone else, all impatient for them to get checked in and get going.

What he certainly didn't expect to see as soon as they had parked the car and walked up to the agreed-upon meeting point was a sobbing, puffy-eyed mess in Rachel Berry's clothes, clinging to her two dads like they were going to disappear into thin air if she let go. Well, that was... awkward, but thank god he wasn't the only one battling this gut-wrenching feeling of homesickness before having actually left home.

“Rachel?” he asked tentatively.

She spun around on her heals, wiping at her eyes furiously with her sleeves and looking genuinely embarrassed. “Kurt, I, I, um... well, hello.”

Kurt was actually torn between feeling amused, relieved and so, so sorry for both himself and Rachel because god, why had no one ever mentioned how hard this was?

“You okay?” he asked, giving her a quick hug while his dad went to say hello to her dads.

“I – yeah. Just... tired, you know. I haven't been able to get very much sleep lately.”

“Yes, I noticed.” Kurt couldn't help but roll his eyes at her. “And we do need to have a conversation about that later. Lay down some ground rules. Otherwise, I might end up murdering you sooner or later, and I don't want to go to prison. I hear the food is terrible and I doubt they would let me bring my own clothes.”

“How did you manage to fit all your stuff into two suitcases? I feel like I've been packing and unpacking and re-packing for weeks and still haven't fit everything in there,” Rachel changed the topic, pointing at her own two gigantic suitcases that looked like she could actually live in them. And invite guests.

Kurt shrugged. “This isn't all of my stuff. Just what I need to survive the first two weeks or so.” His suitcases weren't much smaller than Rachel's, but, seriously, he had never known how many things he owned before he'd tried to fit them all into bags and boxes. “My dad's going to send the rest of it later.”

“Well, I guess we should probably get going. I don't want to miss the flight.” Rachel checked her watch before walking back over to her dads and Kurt felt his stomach churn as the tight feeling in his chest intensified.

“Yeah. Yes, we should.” He knew they still had plenty of time, but since it had to happen sooner or later...

His father was looking at him, smiling sadly, and Kurt wanted to cry. Instead, he shrugged, trying to physically shake the feeling off his shoulders, and forced his face into an awkward little smile. “Well, I guess this is it, then.”

“You sure you don't want me to wait? I could stay for a while,” his dad offered.

Kurt shook his head firmly. He knew he'd be too tempted to just go back and drive home again with him if his father didn't leave soon. Better to just get it over with.

“No. That's okay. I'm okay.”

His dad smiled at him and nodded once, then reached out to squeeze his shoulder. “Okay, buddy. I know New York's gonna be great for you. Just call me as soon as soon as you land, okay?”

Kurt nodded, not trusting himself to speak right now, instead just hugged his dad tight, burying his head into his shoulder. I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, he kept repeating to himself, fighting back the childish tears that were clogging up his throat again, preventing him from speaking.

“I'm going to call every day,” he managed to get out eventually.

“Good. I hope you do. Even if I know that you won't, after a while. But that's okay. I want you to live your own life. Just... be safe. Don't do anything stupid. I'm proud of you and I love you, you know that, right?”

Kurt let go of his dad, attempting a smile. “I know. I love you, too, dad.”

Rachel had finally said her goodbyes to her own parents and the three men walked away together.

They walked away and all Kurt wanted to do was to shout after his dad Wait, come back, wait for me, I've changed my mind, I'm staying, but then he felt Rachel standing next to him and he took a deep breath and decided that it was time to actually grow up. Now or never.

“So,” Rachel said.

“So,” Kurt said, forcing a smile and attempting to ignore the sheer magnitude of the moment. “Where's your friend, then? The one who was going to be on the same flight with us?”

Rachel checked her watch. “He's going to be here any minute. His name's Blaine, by the way, I'm sure I told you that.”

“No, actually. You didn't.” Really, Rachel?

“Oh, I'm sorry. Must have slipped my mind. He should really be here by now, though. He's not usually late... Hey, don't tell me he didn't call you.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “No. No, he didn't. And why would he?” He just couldn't believe her, sometimes. She didn't get it, did she? “Seriously, Rachel. What on earth were you thinking, giving him my number and showing him my picture? What the hell was that all about?”

Rachel shrugged, a fake annoyed look on her face. “It wasn't about anything. Why do you always assume the worst of me? I felt sorry for him for having to travel all by himself and I just thought it would be kind of unfair of me to invite a third person along for the trip without introducing the two of you first. Excuse me for doing the right thing! Oh, there he is.” She started jumping up and down, waving her hands in the air. “Blaine, Blaine,” she shouted. “We're over here! Over here! Blaine!”

Kurt looked in the direction she was waving and saw a dark-haired, short guy pushing a trolley with a large suitcase in their direction. So that was Mystery Guy, then. He could definitely see why Rachel had been attracted to him. He wasn't bad-looking. Not bad-looking at all, actually.

“Why is he by himself? Where are his parents?” It was the first thing he could think of to ask that sounded 'mildly interested, but no more than would be appropriate for any casual observer,' as the guy made his way over to them. He wasn't going to give Rachel the satisfaction of actually showing an interest that went beyond common politeness. Besides. No more pointless crushes, right?

Rachel didn't stop jumping and waving, even though Blaine's smile and the fact that he was looking right at them clearly indicated that he'd already seen them. “I think they couldn't make it.”

“They couldn't take their son to the airport the day he's moving out to live in New York?”

“It's complicated. Best ask him yourself,” Rachel suggested, and then Mystery Guy – Blaine – was standing right there in front of them and Kurt didn't get to ask any more questions for the moment.

“Hi,” he said. “I hope you haven't been waiting long?”

And, oh hey, that was a pleasant voice to go with those gorgeous eyes. Which were, of course, two completely irrelevant facts, Kurt kept reminding himself.

“Not at all.” Rachel beamed at him. “Our parents only just left. Blaine, this is Kurt. Kurt, meet Blaine.”

And then Blaine was looking at Kurt, offering him a radiant smile. And Kurt was pretty sure he had never before in his entire life seen a smile quite like this one. “Hi,” Blaine said, extending a hand in a formal gesture that Kurt found entirely too endearing. “It's so nice to finally meet you. Rachel's told me so much about you.”

Kurt could feel himself blushing as he took Blaine's hand. “Only good things, I hope.”

Blaine's smile only grew wider. Also, he had a very firm handshake. Kurt had always appreciated a nice firm handshake, it said so much about a person. The way their hands felt and everything.

“Of course, only good things,” Blaine said and let go of Kurt's hand.

“Oh, well. That means I get to introduce you to my dark side myself during the flight,” he said and blushed even more, because, holy hell, had he just tried to actually flirt with a guy? Not that it had sounded very... flirty. But he was reasonably sure he wouldn't have said anything like this to Puck or Mike or really anyone else he knew. He made a mental note to think before opening his mouth from now on. Better safe than sorry.

“Okay, then.” Rachel clapped her hands together. “Are we ready to check in?”

**

Of course, of course, Rachel had arranged it so that Kurt was sitting next to Blaine and Rachel two rows behind them. Actually, the seat two rows behind was technically Blaine's, but as soon as they'd got onto the plane Rachel had loudly declared that she was going to use the flight to get some sleep. Because the past week had just been so stressful and so she would be so very grateful if Blaine agreed to switch seats with her so that Kurt would have someone to talk to during the flight. And even though Kurt had seen that Blaine found all of this to be just as uncomfortable as he did, he'd been too polite to decline.

So here Kurt was, 30,000 feet in the air, next to a boy who had kissed Rachel Berry, but was, in fact, gay, and also really handsome and apparently destined to become his boyfriend if Rachel had her way. He still didn't have any idea what exactly her evil master plan might be here, but he didn't care much anymore. He was just simply going to kill her as soon as they got off the plane. How could she do this to him?

God, this was awkward. If only he knew what Blaine expected from him here. What had Rachel said to him? She could at least have had the courtesy of telling him that. Because this? Was going to be the most uncomfortable flight of his life and there wasn't even any turbulence. He stole sideways glances at Blaine, blushing every time he caught the other boy doing the same.

After a few minutes of this, Kurt decided it wasn't going to do. He would just have to say something, clear the air, so to speak.

“Listen,” he began, “I don't know exactly what Rachel has told you about me, but I...” What? But he what? Didn't know how to have a normal conversation with a guy he'd just met, only because said guy had a pretty smile and really nice hands? Wasn't interested in having his heart broken again? Had been rejected so many times he'd developed commitment issues the size of the North America? Dammit, he should have thought this through properly before opening his mouth. Stupid Rachel and her stupid ideas that had put him in this stupid position. Kurt Hummel always knew what to say. Things like this didn't happen to him.

“Well, actually,” Blaine cut in, “When I said Rachel had told me a lot about you, I meant she has talked about you. She hasn't really told me a lot. I mean, not that much. I mean, we haven't really talked lately anyway.” Blaine looked away and bit his lip and Kurt was glad that Blaine was apparently just as uncomfortable as he was. Also, it was kind of adorable, the way he was stumbling over his words. Which was a completely normal thing to notice and didn't mean a thing. “I mean, she told me some things. When we met last summer. Like, that you're an amazing singer and her only real competition in glee club, stuff like that. Nothing more.”

“Oh, okay.” Well, that was a relief. No creepy please-date-my-pathetic-friend stuff, then. “I just thought, because she said... that you guys were dating last summer and all that.”

Blaine raised his eyebrows in surprise. “We were what? Oh, that. God.” He shook his head. “Did she really say that?”

Kurt nodded. “According to Rachel, you guys dated for a while last summer until you discovered that you were gay. Then you dumped her, which inspired her to start a song-writing career. Or something like that. I was really tired when she called me, but I'm pretty sure that's what she said, yes.”

Blaine laughed, a little embarrassed. “I've certainly never dated Rachel Berry. And I've known I was gay for quite some time now.”

“Oh.” Kurt was going to kill Rachel. He was. Because seriously, what the hell?

“We met at an audition -”

“Six Flags, she told me,” Kurt interrupted. “She didn't make that up, too, did she?”

“No, that part's true,” Blaine said. “And we kind of started talking and I thought she was nice, if maybe a little bit...”

“Exhausting?” Kurt offered, finding to his surprise that it wasn't actually that bad, just talking to Blaine. No, really. It was kind of easy. Which wasn't necessarily a good thing, but hey, they were just talking, right? No reason to feel uncomfortable about an innocent conversation.

Blaine grinned at him. “Okay, yeah. Just don't tell her I said that. Anyway, she heard me sing and insisted on getting my number because she said she needed someone to practice duets with. We met up a few times over the summer and that's really all there is to the story.”

Kurt gave him a skeptical look. “Are you sure? I know Rachel well enough to know that she exaggerates things for dramatic effect, but making a few random duets into a full-blown relationship? That seems a bit much even for her.”

“Um.” Blaine looked away, blushing. “I might have kissed her one time. By accident. Or, well, actually, she kissed me. And, just so you know, it totally doesn't count.”

“Okay, and now you're going to have to tell me the whole story.” Yes. It was definitely easy to talk to Blaine. He had kissed Rachel. He was no danger to him. Kurt twisted slightly in his seat so he could look at Blaine better. “How can you kiss someone by accident? Was it dark and you mistook her for someone else? Did she trip and fall on your lips?”

Blaine sighed, admitting defeat. “It was at my cousin's wedding and we were drunk.”

“And why was Rachel drinking at your cousin's wedding? In fact, what was Rachel doing at your cousin's wedding in the first place?”

“We were singing,” Blaine explained. “Before you ask: yes, I sing at weddings. I know it's lame, but -”

“Oh, no, no. Not at all,” Kurt interrupted. “It sounds amazing. I love a good wedding. And at least you got to have solos in front of a real audience on a regular basis. I kind of envy you.”

“Oh, well.” Blaine smiled. “It is nice, yes. I love singing. I was in my school's glee club too. Even made it to lead soloist.”

If that was bragging, it somehow didn't sound like it, coming from Blaine. Still...

“Okay, and now I hate you.” Kurt crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was impressed, he couldn't deny that. He'd assumed Blaine must be a good singer, because Rachel had picked him as a duet partner, after all. Rachel didn't sing with just anyone. But, apparently, he was really good. Kurt wondered if he would ever get the chance to sing with him. He kind of wanted to know what their voices would sound like together. In a completely professional and purely platonic way. Like a painter finding a new kind of paint he wanted to try. Did that even make sense? Whatever.

“Rachel told me you'd always fight her for every solo and that she thought you deserved more time in the spotlight than you got. I think from someone like Rachel, that's a huge compliment. I'd really love to hear you sing sometime.”

Kurt suddenly felt a lot less angry at Rachel. It was a huge compliment, coming from her. “Well, my voice is a bit unusual, and then there's the fact that I kind of like singing girl songs...” he shrugged. “Didn't really make it any easier for me to get a solo.”

Blaine gave him a surprised look. “They didn't give you solos because of your song choices? Because that seems kind of unfair. I sing girl songs all the time. No big deal. A lot of my glee club solos were songs by women, even the ones for the competitions.”

Kurt had a hard time trying to control the big grin that was spreading across his face. Dammit, he liked Blaine. Still... “Don't change the topic. You and Rachel. What happened?”

Blaine sighed throwing up his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay. Well, I was gonna sing at the wedding and I told Rachel about it and she told me she'd appreciate the opportunity to perform in front of a real audience for once -”

“You mean she just informed you she'd come along to the wedding without really giving you any say in the matter.”

Blaine laughed. “You've known her quite a long time, haven't you?”

“Continue with your story, please.”

“Well, there's not much more to say. We sang, then we got drunk, and then she kissed me.” Blaine shrugged. “That's the whole story. I told her I was gay, and it wasn't a big deal, really. Even though we didn't talk much after that. Or sing. But the summer was almost over at that point. School and all that. And then two weeks ago she just called me after I hadn't heard from her for about half a year and asked me if I was still going to New York and whether I wanted to go with you guys. So, end of story. Here I am.” He smiled at Kurt, a smile that was much too handsome for Kurt's liking, except that it didn't matter, because New York. Fresh start. There'd be many pretty smiles in that city. He'd learn not to be distracted by them.

“So, you're not actually Rachel's ex-boyfriend,” Kurt clarified.

“No!” Blaine shook his head, emphasizing the point. “Definitely not.”

“Good. That's great.” Kurt winced. He hadn't meant for it to sound like that. “I mean, good for you. Rachel and my stepbrother have been on-again off-again for years and she's not exactly low-maintenance. Sounds like you dodged a bullet there.”

“Well, I am gay. One hundred percent,” Blaine said. “So I guess I was never really in any danger.”

Kurt laughed. “I still don't get why Rachel didn't tell me all of that herself. And... wait. Did you say she asked you two weeks ago if you wanted to travel to New York with us?”

“Yeah, why?” Blaine asked.

“Because she only told me about you two days ago.”

Blaine looked confused. “She's been calling me every day for the past two weeks to go over the details. I just assumed she would have talked to you first and that you knew about this.”

Kurt shook his head. “I had no idea you even existed.” He let out a frustrated growl. “Just what I thought.”

“What?”

“Don't you get it? Rachel's trying to...” Kurt paused, blushing until he felt like his face was on fire. “She's... trying to be... nice. You know... introducing us. Probably her idea of a good deed.” Rachel knew. She knew that if she'd just told Kurt about Blaine he would have been able to see right through her and he would have refused to meet him. She knew he wasn't interested in a set-up.

“Oh.” Realization dawned on Blaine's face and he looked away too, and Kurt could see out of the corner of his eyes that he was staring at his hands like they were the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. “Well. That's. Awkward.”

“Kind of,” Kurt admitted.

The silence stretched uncomfortably between them. Kurt opened and closed his mouth, trying to think of something clever to say and cursing himself for mentioning this in the first place, when they'd just started getting along.

“I think maybe we should -” Blaine said.

“The only thing we can do -” Kurt said at the same time.

They both laughed, feeling some of the tension between them seep away.

“You first,” Kurt said.

“No, you first,” Blaine responded, raising his hands. “I insist.”

“Okay.” Kurt took a deep breath. “This is clearly one of Rachel's crazier ideas. We don't have to let it affect us, though, right? I think we should just pretend like all of this never happened and act like we met under completely normal and sane circumstances.” He started talking faster, his mind racing to come up with some explanation to offer Blaine, something less damaged than I wish I could trust you but I'm just not ready. “We're practically almost from the same place. We didn't live that far apart. I mean, you even know Rachel. And yet we never met before today, the day we're both leaving Ohio.” He was rushing the words, just wanting to get it all out before his courage failed him or he changed his mind or Blaine could turn him down first. “If we'd been meant to meet in Ohio, we would have. At a competition, at one of Rachel's parties... something like that. But we didn't. Also, I think we shouldn't let Rachel win this. I'm sure she meant well, setting us up on a blind date at an altitude of 30,000 feet, but... God, it's just crazy, isn't it?”

“I... guess.” Blaine was still staring at his hands. “So, you wanna start over? Pretend like we never put two and two together and just... keep talking?”

“Yes!” Kurt felt relieved. This was going better than he'd expected. “That's exactly what I had in mind. Pretend Rachel doesn't exist and keep talking to each other. I like talking to you. So. Friends?”

“I like talking to you too.” Blaine seemed to think about it for a second, then stretched out his hand. “Deal. Friends.”

Kurt took the hand offered him, shaking it firmly. “Very good, then. What were you going to say?”

“The same. I was going to suggest the same thing,” Blaine answered, a little too quickly, but Kurt let it slide. No more awkwardness meant they could actually have a conversation now. Blaine was a great guy – no, he corrected himself, Blaine was a nice enough guy and now he was also a completely non-dangerous guy, because they had an agreement. Now, they could be friends. Wasn't that better?

**

“But didn't you ever get tired of wearing the same thing to school every day?” Kurt tried to picture Blaine in his school uniform. Had been doing so for the best part of the past twenty minutes, ever since he'd found out that Blaine had gone to Dalton. He'd considered transferring there for a while during his junior year, when the bullying had been really bad, but he simply hadn't dared to ask his parents about it, because there was no way they could have afforded the tuition. It meant, however, that he knew what those uniforms looked like. He'd done his research back then, daydreaming about a school in which he could walk down the hall without the fear of being shoved into a locker.

“I didn't really mind,” Blaine informed him. “You get used to it after a while and then it's actually really nice. You know, people have to talk to you before they make up their mind about you. They can't just look at what you're wearing and label you accordingly.”

Kurt looked at him, really looked, because he could now. There was no more awkwardness now that they had established some ground rules. Blaine certainly didn't look like he spent as much time worrying about his outfits as Kurt himself did. On the other hand, he didn't look like it didn't matter to him at all either. He looked... well-dressed, was all Kurt could think. Like he cared about his appearance. Those dark jeans and the tight red shirt, the way his hair was parted so meticulously and controlled with way too much product – Kurt didn't necessarily approve of those fashion choices, but they kind of worked for Blaine. Also, it meant that he must spend at least thirty minutes every day doing unspeakable things to his hair. Which meant that, provided they did become friends, Kurt would have to have a serious talk with him about that. No, seriously, the hair was just not working for him.

“I don't think I could have gotten used to it,” Kurt stated. “I would have liked to be able to get up an hour later every morning, you know. But that's really the only advantage of a uniform that I can see. I like my clothes.”

“And they do look good on you,” Blaine replied, making it sound like he was commenting on the weather. “I mean, I can see why you wouldn't want to give them up.”

Kurt laughed. “Oh, thank you. I know. And by the way, I did wear a uniform for a short while, too. When I was a cheerleader.”

Blaine's eyes widened. “You were a cheerleader?”

“Just for a short time.” Kurt shrugged. “It was fun. I joined with my best friend, Mercedes. Ms Sylvester, the cheerleading coach, let us perform. She gave us the solos we didn't get in glee. I did miss wearing my own things, though.” He grinned. “On the bright side, I got to sing a fourteen-minute Celine Dion medley. In French. For the national cheerleading competition.”

Blaine looked seriously impressed now. “Well, that does sound like something worth wearing a uniform for.”

“It was. But ultimately, it really wasn't for me. It was nice while it lasted, but...” Kurt shrugged. He couldn't believe how comfortable it felt, sitting here with Blaine. And, if he was being honest with himself, he kind of wanted a friend. And, if he was being really honest with himself, he kind of wanted this friend. Rachel had been right, it would be so nice to have another friend in New York. Especially one who was so easy to talk to and so different from the guys he'd known so far. “So, anything in particular you're looking forward to in New York?”

**

Apparently, Rachel hadn't been joking when she'd told them she was going to sleep during the flight, as they didn't hear from her until they touched down in New York. Kurt was more than a little surprised to find they were there already. Talking with Blaine, it had felt like no time had passed at all. He was almost sorry to have to get off the plane, regardless of how much he'd been looking forward to finally being here.

Rachel re-joined them as they exited the plane, a curious look on her face as she kept watching them out of the corner of her eyes in a not very stealthy kind of way. Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine with an amused smile as Rachel turned away for a moment and Blaine winked – actually winked – at him in return. Kurt felt his smile turn into a grin and he was grateful that Rachel chose this moment to ask Blaine something insignificant, because it meant no one would see him blushing. He would have to stop doing that. And fast. A deal was a deal.

Once they were off the plane, everything seemed to happen much too quickly. All of the people and all of those voices and the sheer size of everything – everything had been that much more quiet up in the air than it seemed now that he had both feet firmly back on the ground – and if Rachel and Blaine hadn't been with him, Kurt was sure he'd have been lost before he even made it to the baggage claim, there was just so much to take in.

And then they were outside the airport and Rachel was impatient for them to get going, get to the tiny apartment she had found for them. (Kurt still couldn't believe how cheap it was and expected something to be wrong with it – and he still couldn't believe he hadn't been there to approve of it. Stupid flu. He'd tried to talk his dad into letting him go anyway, but then he'd almost passed out when he tried to get up in order to prove that he was fine and that had been that.)

And then it was time to say goodbye to Blaine.

Which Rachel was done with in a second – just a quick hug and a hurried “we'll keep in touch.”

Kurt found himself feeling a little sad, all of a sudden. He'd have liked to keep talking for just a little while longer. Smiling shyly, he brushed a stray hair out of his face. “So. I guess I'll see you around.”

“Absolutely,” Blaine assured him. “Wait, I'll just give you my number – if you want it,” he added, a little hesitantly.

“Oh, yes, of course.” Kurt quickly searched for his phone, trying to sound less excited than he was about this. Friends had each other's phone numbers. No big deal. He found it in his pocket and handed it over to Blaine so he could type in his number. “And do you want mine – oh, no.” He laughed. “You already have mine, don't you?”

“Uh, yeah, I do.” Blaine avoided his eyes, instead glaring at Rachel who was completely oblivious to anything that was going on around her, her nose buried in what must be the largest map of New York known to mankind. Meaning it was easily twice her size.

“So, here we are,” Kurt said, taking his phone back now that it had Blaine's number in it. “You going straight to your dorm now?”

Blaine checked his watch. “I'm staying at my friend David's place for tonight. I can't move into my dorm before tomorrow.”

“Oh, you already have friends here?” Kurt pocketed his phone again, unwilling to just end their conversation. “That's nice.”

“Just the one,” Blaine explained. “He was a fellow Warbler. Graduated a year before me.”

“Kurt, are you coming?” Rachel yelled. Kurt looked over his shoulder to where Rachel was standing, holding open a cab door as she was waving at him impatiently.

“Looks like I have to go,” he sighed.

“Yeah. I wouldn't put it past Rachel to take off without you if you don't hurry.” Blaine grinned. “Need help with those?” he asked, pointing at Kurt's suitcases.

“No, I got it. Thank you. It was nice meeting you, Blaine Warbler,” Kurt said, and with a last smile at his new friend, started lugging his suitcases over to the waiting cab.

As they were driving away, Rachel chatting away about sleeping in uncomfortable plane seats and rummaging through her purse to find her headband, Kurt allowed himself one last look out the car window.

Blaine was standing where he'd left him, smiling that adorable smile of his and typing something into his phone.

Just a few seconds later, Kurt felt his own phone buzz in his pocket and pulled it out to see he'd received a text.

It was nice meeting you too. Blaine