So it was only natural that when he turned around to respond to a soft "Excuse me?" he was caught off guard.

Alarm bells blared in Blaine's mind, he stopped in his tracks, and the thought of "Holy hell, he's attractive" interrupted his usual brain synapses. It all combined into a rather ridiculous jaw drop.

Fortunately, he recovered quickly enough to introduce himself.

Blaine couldn't explain his sudden attraction to this person, this Kurt. Kurt. There was nothing that really screamed 'gay' about him. Sure, he was incredibly well dressed and his voice was higher than usual, but still. Strangely, that weird feeling in the pit of Blaine's gut knew Kurt would be unopposed to Blaine grabbing his hand.

As Blaine led him down the hallway, Kurt made no move to detangle their hands, so Blaine wasn't exactly going to let go anytime soon.

He wasn't going to jump the gun on this; yes, Kurt was more then likely gay, but that hardly meant it would be appropriate to start making awkward advances on him. No, thought Blaine, that's incredibly creepy.

Before they parted ways, Blaine and Kurt exchanged cell numbers. Blaine grinned like an idiot for the entirety of his long drive home. He had just gotten a boy's number. A boy. Sure, his contact list was mostly male numbers, but they were exclusively friends and classmates.

But Kurt.

Maybe Kurt could be someone for Blaine.

To say that Blaine was giddy would be a gross understatement.

But the same nagging voice in his head that immediately pinned Kurt as gay was now informing him that there was more to Kurt.

The happy balloon that had been steadily inflating all afternoon and exacerbated by every peppy song on the radio slowed down for a moment. Questions bolted their way to the forefront of his mind.

Uniform code was strictly enforced at Dalton. Even brand new students would know about it. Where had been Kurt's uniform?

For someone so new at the school, Kurt immediately knew that the Warblers were a glee club. That was strange, right?

And through their performance, Kurt's attention had been drawn around the Commons. He looked like he had never seen anything like the group of young men assembled in the room.

Try as he might, Blaine couldn't answer anything. Was he worried? Slightly. If he was honest with himself, Blaine was just more intrigued by him.

Pulling up to the driveway, he snatched his phone out of the cup holder and decided to play coy with Kurt.

Meet for coffee tomorrow during your free period?

Kurt's bullied at school. And it's bad. Bad enough to make him cry in front of someone he barely knows.

The sick part of Blaine's mind was excited; they could easily bond over their shared experiences of isolation and loneliness. Wait. That's absolute insanity.

So Blaine listens. And it's startlingly clear that no one else has ever really given Kurt an opportunity to just talk.

Blaine could be the shoulder Kurt could cry on. The open mind he could put his every thought in. The heart that would support him no matter what.

And he could start right now.

Blaine spent the next few days making sure Kurt remembered him. They would strike up light discussions, and Blaine found himself consciously flirting with Kurt.

It was slightly irreverent, given the difficulties Kurt was having at school, but it was still nice to know that someone wants you, right?

Except Kurt never seemed to reciprocate his messages.

Thursday morning and Blaine was making his daily drive to Westerville: one hand on the steering wheel and the other cradling his coffee mug, humming along to the radio. The sudden and incessant buzzing of his phone startled Blaine enough to pull his eyes off the road momentarily.

Yes, he knew that talking on the phone while driving was tempting his luck, but when he read the name on the display, he decided to throw caution to the wind this morning.

Kurt Hummel.

Kurt had never actually called him before. And it was six thirty in the morning. Nothing about that seemed right.

"Hey Kurt"

"Hi. I'm not interrupting anything am I?" Kurt asked, his soft voice fighting to be heard over Blaine's radio.

"No, not at all. I'm just heading to school now," said Blaine as he switched off the music.

"Oh, then this isn't exactly a good time. I'll let you go," Kurt trailed off.

"No, no, no," Blaine cut in, "it's okay. What's up, Kurt?"

There was silence on the other end. Blaine worried for a moment that Kurt had hung up anyway, or that the call dropped. But then came a deep sigh. "I don't think I can face him anymore."

Blaine immediately turned off the highway and made his way back to Lima.

"Before yesterday I had never been kissed," admited Kurt with a sad sigh.

The heart wrenching sadness right below the surface of his words stabbed Blaine's heartstrings. Try as Kurt may, Blaine still heard his little sniffle.

Oh. So this is it then.

Blaine paused for a moment. He looked over the man next to him, his eyes just slightly red rimmed and tired.

Blaine so desperately wanted to be selfish and continue pursuing Kurt. But now wasn't the time. Kurt wasn't ready for any kind of romantic relationship. Blaine bit his lip.

What Kurt needed right now was a friend.

God damn, this was going to hurt.

But being Kurt's friend was better than nothing. And better than letting Kurt go on without anyone there for him.

Blaine forced a smile, or what he hoped was a smile.

"C'mon. I'll buy you lunch."