Kurt hadn’t seen Rachel perform for almost three years and he had to admit she was perfect. She had just a tiny role, but it was still a Broadway stage and he was so proud of her.

“You were amazing.” He told her when he met her backstage after the show.

“Thanks. I know you would tell me if I sucked so it means a lot to me.” Rachel had grown up since she had left Ohio. Kurt remembered the girl who hadn’t been able to admit she might not be the best.

“My friends are going out, do you want to join them? We could show you night life in New York.”

“Sorry, Rach. I’m pretty tired, I’ll go home. Have fun.”

“I’m not going without you, silly. Let’s get out of here.”

Rachel’s apartment wasn’t too far from the theatre, so they decided to walk. Kurt was fascinated by New York. Every time he had a chance to walk through New York streets at night, he fell in love with the city even more. When they came home, they made themselves comfortable on the couch and Rachel put Kurt in the picture of their Sunday program.

“And next Friday we are going to a gay bar. I found one you’re gonna love.”

“You’ve been to a gay bar?”

“Of course. Some of my co-actors are gays and they showed me where they like to spend their nights. I evaluated them and chose five decent. There were few things I took in consideration. Location, music, guys and bartenders. Trust me, the one I’m taking you on Friday has the hottest bartenders.”

“You made a research for me?” Kurt was stunned. 

“Yes. I mean, you are single, hot guy in New York. You have every right to have fun. You tried to be in relationship but it didn’t work out so now you have a chance to have some flings and if one of them is good enough to deserve your attention, you can make him your boyfriend.” Kurt hadn’t tell Rachel anything about Blaine. If he had said a word, she wouldn’t have to cruised gay bars.

“I’m impressed Rachel. And thank you, but I don’t feel like going to a gay bar yet.”

“Are you not over Mathew?” Rachel was shocked. It had been a year since their break up.

“No. It’s not about Mathew at all. There is someone else…” And Kurt told her everything about Blaine. Every little detail of their relationship he could remember. In the middle of his speech, when she noticed tears in his eyes, she brought an ice cream and they ate it together while Kurt finished his story. He felt better after.

“He seems very nice. I…I don’t know what to do to make it hurt less. Kurt, I’m so sorry.” Kurt kissed her forehead and stood up.

“It’s okay. I have him as a friend. He is in my life and right now I have everything I can have in this situation. But I don’t want to go out to pick up some man. Not yet. I’m going to bed. See you in the morning. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Kurt.”

Kurt changed to his pajamas and checked the time. Almost midnight. He had promised Blaine he would call him in the evening but he didn’t want to wake him up in case he was sleeping.

Are you sleeping? Couldn’t call you earlier… - K

A minute later his phone rang.

“Hi”

“Hi. I’m not sleeping.”

“Yeah, I figured it out.”

“So how were your first hours in a big city?”

Kurt spent most of his first day at new work filling up the papers and introducing to new colleagues. Some of them were really nice, offering him help if he needed, some of them were cold, just saying hi and not giving him the second look. Kurt wasn’t surprised though. He got himself to a competitive environment, this kind of behavior was expectable. Next few days he was learning everything about his job. Till the end of the week, he was fully assimilated. He knew exactly what to do to make his boss satisfied. He didn’t have a chance to explore New York the way he would like to. Every day he came home from work with something new to learn, so his free time was occupying by reading and searching stuff he was supposed to apply in his job. No matter how tired he was by the time he got to the bed, he always called Blaine. If they had more than few minutes, they would skype and Blaine would get excited about Kurt’s stories from work; Kurt would ask Blaine how his finding of the meaning of life was going and Blaine would tell him new information every day making Kurt happy for him and so on till one of them realized midnight was over and they should go to sleep. Kurt liked it a lot. Every time something interesting happened, he couldn’t wait to tell Blaine about it. Of course, he would share it with Rachel, but it wasn’t the same.

Big thing happened in the end of his second week and for the first time he called Blaine during the day while they were still at work. It rang for a few times and then his call was sent to the voicemail. He was disappointed a little that Blaine couldn’t speak to him, but he understood Blaine was at work, probably on some stupid meeting with clients or boss. Two minutes later, Blaine was calling back.

“Hi.”

“Kurt, are you alright?” Blaine asked him, concern evident in his voice.

“Yes. Of course, I’m.”

“Thanks God. You usually send me a text when I’m at work. I was afraid something…”

“I’m sorry. Did I interrupt you? You were doing something important, weren’t you?”

“Not as important as talking to you. We have a meeting with clients about that crazy project we’ve been on for more than a month now. But we’re getting to the end so I’m happy. You got me an excuse to leave. I told them it’s family emergency.” He laughed and Kurt cursed himself for disturbing Blaine from his work.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t have to call back. It could wait.”

“Come on, Kurt. I told you I would always pick up your calls. I meant that. So, what’s up?”

“We had a dress rehearsal for the show today. I told you about it yesterday. My boss wasn’t very pleased with two outfits, he said they didn’t have it. And in his terminology it means they sucked. Junior designer responsible for those outfits isn’t at work today, so there was no way he could fix it. And my boss turned to me and wanted to know my opinion. I was hesitant at first. I mean, I’m just an intern. They are going to let me design something probably during my last month here, but nevertheless he asked me. So I said him what I thought and he told me to make it work. I took some accessories and combined skirt with another top and pants with another shirt, made two other outfits in the process and he was satisfied. Blaine, he told me I have Fridays for designing. I’m actually going to make some sketches, he will look at them and if they are good enough, they’ll involve them to their collection. I’m so thrilled. I needed to tell you.”

“That’s amazing, Kurt. I’m so proud of you. It would be hard for me to come back inside and act like something bad happened.”

“I don’t want to keep you from your work. I’ll call you in the evening.”

“Okay. I’m looking forward to it. I’m so happy for you, Kurt.”

“Thanks. Bye, Blaine.”

“Bye.”         

Blaine returned to meeting for its last few minutes. When the clients were gone and three of them were sitting in their office, Nick got a message from their boss.

“Looks like we are free for the rest of the day. Let’s go. I need a coffee.” Mathew and Blaine were pleased they could leave work three hours earlier on Friday. Excellent way to start the weekend. They made it to their favorite coffee shop, finding their favorite table empty and favorite barista by the counter. This day couldn’t be better.

“So what happened? Is everything okay?” Nick asked Blaine as they were sipping their coffee.

“Yeah, of course. Why?”

“Family emergency doesn’t seem like everything is alright. Was that Cooper? I would understand if it was him because he is such a drama queen…” Blaine laughed at how well Nick knew Cooper.

“It wasn’t my brother. It was Kurt.”

“Since when is Kurt family emergency?”

“Since he is in New York…” Mathew and Nick were little concerned.

“Is he okay? We talked yesterday and he seemed to be happy…” Mathew replayed their conversation once again in his head, searching for signs of something weird, but he found nothing.

“He is. His boss let him design on Fridays and he wanted to tell me.”

“Wow. He must be really good. Until he finishes his intership, he’ll have his own collection if he keeps this speed.” Nick had never seen Kurt’s own designs. He knew Kurt had a style and good taste, but he bought his clothes. He didn’t make them. Nick assumed Kurt had to be talented, but getting appreciation so fast was something unexpected.

“He is. He designed his first own outfit for junior prom. You should have seen it. It was fabulous. We weren’t dating yet but if I had known him then, I would definitely have taken him to the prom just so others could have seen his work…” Mathew told them with smile.

“What do you mean? He didn’t go to prom?”

“He didn’t. His father wasn’t very pleased by the outfit and Kurt gave up.”

“I thought his father is supportive…” Blaine was little confused. Unpleased father was something he had to deal with, not Kurt.

“He is. He is like the best father of the year winner…The outfit was very unconventional. I mean…It consisted of trousers and shirt and jacket but it had a kilt too. And his father was afraid that the outfit would bring too much attention to Kurt. He was worried about his safety. There were too many bullies and homophobes in that school. Kurt didn’t go because he didn’t want to let bullies win.”

“Didn’t he let them win by not going?” Nick asked.

“No. He refused to go with a crowd. That was what they wanted him to do. To dress like a common teenager, to act like a common teenager…He wasn’t a common teenager. He was special. He knew it, his father knew it, his friends knew it, but it still wasn’t enough to convince other people there was nothing wrong with him. So he stayed home. He wasn’t afraid of his safety. But he didn’t want his father to worry. He told him he hadn’t found a date for prom as a reason why he wasn’t going.”

“What about his senior prom?” Blaine whispered, hoping Kurt hadn’t lost his chance for high school prom experience.

“We went there together. He wasn’t wearing a kilt, but he was the best dressed boy there. I’ll show you photos…” Mathew typed a note to his phone so he wouldn’t forget.

“I think we’ve lost him today…” Mathew said.

“What? What do you mean?”

“He’s got the opportunity to make it big. And he will. I don’t doubt that. He is not coming back. He’ll stay in touch, but it won’t be so often as it is now, and in the end he’ll have time for us only occasionally.” Silence fell on them. Mathew said out loud what Blaine and Nick weren’t able admit to themselves. The fact, that Kurt had started new life and soon there wouldn’t be a lot of place for them in it.

“Kurt? Are you skyping with Blaine tomorrow?”

Kurt raised his head from sketches he had in front of him. Tomorrow would be his first “designing day”, as he had started to call them, and he was getting ready, not in the mood for unnecessary interruption from his friend.

“No. He is going home for his Dad’s birthday. Why?”

“I think we should go out. You’ve been here for three weeks and you are either at work or at home.”

“Hey. That’s not true. We were at the coffee shop several times…”

“You are in New York, Kurt. Coffee shop is top of the fun in Lima. Actually, that was a reason we left Lima in the first place…” Kurt didn’t have time to get involved in a conversation.

“What do you suggest?”

“Going to a club with friends from my work…you could meet new people, make new friends…Don’t worry, I’m not taking you to gay bar. I know there is only Blaine on your mind and in your heart.” Rachel told him, putting her hand over her chest dramatically.

“If I say yes, will you let me finish my work?” Rachel squeaked and clapped her hands.

“I will. You’ve got an hour. Then we are watching The sound of music together. Haven’t seen it for a while…No one has ever appreciated the musical the way you do. I couldn’t find right film-night buddy since we finished high school. I’m so glad, you’re here. You know how much fun we could have here if you didn’t change your mind in the senior year? We…”

“Rachel! I love you but if you don’t shut up, I’m going to hurt you.” Kurt warned her. He didn’t mean to snap, he just needed get his work done so he could watch the film with Rachel and then he had to call Blaine to support him before he left for home. He was slightly nervous for him. Blaine hadn’t been home for his Dad’s birthday for three years. He’d always come up with an excuse of lot of work. The truth was he hadn’t been ready to face his family issues. Kurt knew there were so many things that could go wrong…He hoped none of them would really happen.       

“Okay…I’m sorry.” Rachel hurried out of the room, not to give him another cause for yelling.

“Rach, wait. I am sorry. I’m little stressed out. I’ll come to your room as soon as I finish this. I’m looking forward to seeing The sound of music with you again.” Rachel sent him a smile and left him alone.

“The best thing about this trip is going by car…” Blaine was thinking loud. Kurt could see he was having the second thoughts.

“It`s not a long drive from Pittsburgh to Westerville. Plane wouldn’t be the best option.”

“Yeah, and as I’m taking a car, I can leave whenever I want. I mean…if something gets out of control…”

“Running from your problems doesn’t solve anything, Blaine. If something goes wrong, you’ll stay till Monday. You’ll have time to calm down and talk about it with your parents or brother. You’re not a teenage boy anymore. You have to act like an adult.” Blaine murmured something Kurt couldn’t hear. He was like a little boy who got scolded for misbehaving. There was only one word for describing him – adorable.

“What did you buy him?” Kurt asked, trying to stay in the topic, but eased the mood a little.

“A shirt. You can’t go wrong with a shirt…”

“Wouldn’t count on it…”

“Kurt!” Kurt laughed at Blaine’s horrible expression.

“I’m just kidding. Of course, it’s not your case. You have a great taste for fashion. He is gonna love it, I’m sure.”

“I would rather spend those four days in New York…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll come here when your boss give you a whole week. Not just two days. Besides, I’m coming to Pittsburgh in two weeks.”

“Yeah, can’t wait for it.”

“Me too…”