Their dorm room has felt emptier in the past two and a half weeks than it ever has.

That probably has something to do with Blaine disappearing to the library after classes and rehearsal nearly every day instead of coming back to the room to study like he used to. On the days when Blaine isn't holed up in the library, he seems to be spending a great deal of time with David, whether they're in his room or off campus somewhere.

Kurt doesn't quite know how to take it or what to do with himself.

Always doesn't feel like always.

If this was what Blaine meant by always being friends, well Kurt can't handle this.

They never see each other anymore except for when they wake up, at meals, during the two classes they have together, and at Warblers rehearsal. They don't see each other the rest of the evening until Blaine slips into the room just before curfew. Kurt makes sure to have his earphones in when Blaine arrives otherwise it's just an awkward silence.

He doesn't understand…he just doesn't. They're friends. They should be able to talk without groping each other every five seconds. Even when they were Extra-Special-Friends, they could still hold hours of conversation and not jump each other's bones. But now Blaine barely looks at Kurt and Kurt hates it.

He's lonely.

He barely talks to anyone else. He feels like he's lost at sea or something. And this is precisely what he didn't want, what he hoped wouldn't happen.

So why is it happening?

"Hi, Kurt."

Kurt turns away from the guys at their lunch table. "Oh, hi Drew," he greets.

"I was wondering if maybe um, after school today you wanted to go and get coffee. With me. If you aren't doing anything else."

Now Kurt's aware that Drew is also gay. All of Dalton knows about the falling out Drew had with his ex-boyfriend last year, including Kurt, even though he wasn't around for the actual drama. They have French class together but Drew sits a couple of seats behind him. They've had a few conversations, nothing worth mentioning, really, but he's never approached Kurt outside of class.

"Oh, well I have Warblers rehearsal right after school, but only for an hour. Uh…we can go after that's over, though. If you still want."

"Yeah!" Drew replied brightly. "That's totally fine. I can meet you in the parking lot and I'll drive us, if that's okay."

"Sure, that sounds good. I'll see you then."

"Cool," Drew ends with a smile before walking away.

Kurt turns back to his lunch as the other boys continue their conversations. When he glances over at Blaine, his supposed-best-friend is staring at him with a blank expression. Kurt stares back, gaze unwavering, because what the hell? What does Blaine expect?

Blaine eventually breaks eye contact and stares back down at his plate in front of him.

Kurt just wants to know what's going on in his head.

Drew is nice, Kurt decides later. He held the passenger door open to his car so Kurt could climb in and he held the door open at the coffee shop so that Kurt could precede him inside. It wasn't until Drew paid for the coffee that Kurt realized this was a date.

The talked a lot about French class in the beginning, considering that was the only common ground they had to start with, which turned into talk about France itself and how Drew had been once with his family. Drew asked how Kurt liked Dalton and asked about the Warblers and any friends he had made so far.

Kurt only vaguely mentioned Blaine. At this point he doesn't feel like he has the right to mention him any more than that.

They talked about books they liked, which turned into talking about which movies they liked, which turned into Drew inviting him to see a movie on Friday night.

Kurt accepted.

He had no other plans. He had no one else to spend his time with.

"I like you, Kurt," Drew says bluntly when they're back in the Dalton parking lot in his car. "I never said anything before because I thought you and uh, well I thought you had something going on with Blaine."

"There was never anything going on between us. We're just friends."

The sad part of that statement is the fact that Kurt doesn't know if the last bit is even true anymore.

"Oh. Well…okay. I just, you know, it'd be cool if we could hang out more."

"I'd like that," Kurt says kindly because who is he to turn away a new potential friend? Or boyfriend, even.

"Awesome," Drew grins. "So I'll see you in French tomorrow?"

"I'll be there," Kurt nods.

Kurt climbs out of the car. Drew doesn't board at Dalton, his parents' house is five minutes away, so he drives away and Kurt is left to walk to the dormitory on his own. When he enters his dorm room, Blaine's watching a movie on his laptop while sitting on his bed.

"Hey," Blaine greets.

Kurt pauses in the midst of dropping his bag. "Hello."

"Wanna watch?" Blaine asks, pausing the movie and setting the laptop at the end of the bed.

"Um…sure," Kurt nods, seating himself gingerly next to Blaine.

"Here," Blaine says, maneuvering himself so he's lying down on his stomach and facing the laptop screen. He pats the bed next to him.

Kurt lies down as well, the length of Blaine's body so close to his on the bed that Kurt can feel it burning him, even through their clothes. Their shoulders bump when Blaine reaches out to press play and Kurt wants to shiver at the contact.

He misses Blaine.

He doesn't just miss the kissing or the touches or the soft sighs they shared when the sun went down and they were all alone, but he misses Blaine's company and his smile and the ease of their conversation.

"I haven't seen you around very often," Kurt eventually says a few minutes later.

Blaine chews on his lower lip but he nods, not even denying the fact that he's been avoiding this room, that he's been avoiding Kurt.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just…needed some time."

"So we can hang out again?" Kurt asks, hoping he doesn't sound too hopeful.

"Yeah," Blaine says with a weak smile.

"Good," is all Kurt says in reply.

He doesn't want to say anything else. It feels like this is very fragile for some reason. And he doesn't understand why Blaine needed to take time away from him when he wasn't even the one with – with feelings.

But he won't ask about it because he doesn't want Blaine to pull away from him again.

When the movie ends, Blaine sits up.

"So how was coffee with Drew?" he asks Kurt.

"You know Drew?"

"We had history together last year."

"Do you…know anything about him?"

"Not really. He was always pretty quiet, except for that whole thing with his ex-boyfriend. But that was more the boyfriend's fault, not Drew's. He kept to himself a lot. He seems nice, though."

"He is nice," Kurt affirms. "We just had coffee and talked. It was fun. I had fun."

"That's good," Blaine smiles at him.

"We're um, going to see a movie on Friday," Kurt reveals. "He said he likes me."

"Oh. Well that – I mean that's awesome. Do you like him?"

"I think I could," Kurt shrugs. "After I get to know him a little better."

Blaine simply nods and says, "That makes sense."

They fall into an uneasy silence. Kurt picks at the comforter on Blaine's bed, avoiding his eyes at all costs. He doesn't know what else to say.

"I hope he's good to you. You deserve someone who can – who can be there for you."

"You're always there for me," Kurt says without hesitation.

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Kurt says softly. He does.

"I want you to be happy," Blaine whispers.

"I want to be happy too," Kurt admits.

But I want to be happy with you.