“The righteous should choose his friends carefully, 
For the way of the wicked leads them astray.”

-Proverbs 12:26

That Sunday morning, Kurt begs Mercedes to come over and pick out an appropriate outfit for his little church date with Blaine. Kurt’s great with fashion but when it comes to this sort of thing, he isn’t quite sure what’s okay and what’s not. Eventually, she picks an outfit similar to the one he wore during their ‘Like a Prayer’ performance when they spent a week doing tributes to Madonna. However, they find the loosest fitting pair of jeans he owns to pair with his red cardigan and slim tie. He had asked Blaine if the service was formal or casual and thankfully he didn’t have to wear slacks or anything of the sort but he felt a tie would still be fitting.

“I like your sweater,” Blaine says when they climb into his car.

“Thank you,” Kurt says, nerves on edge.

Blaine looks ridiculously appealing in his blue polo shirt and khaki pants. He’s even wearing a belt for god’s sake and the shirt is tucked in. At that moment, Kurt becomes kind of nauseous and they pull out of the driveway and head toward the nearest coffee shop.

“Thanks for coming, by the way,” Blaine says, eyes on the road. “I just, you know, wanted a friendly face in the crowd.”

“Don’t you have friends at church?”

“Well, yeah. There are plenty of us in choir and the youth group but it’s nice to have someone…on the outside.”

“Did you not have friends outside of church where you used to live?”

“Not really. Only because we all pretty much went to the same church. So the friends I had in school were also the friends I had in church.”

“Ah, I see,” Kurt says with a nod. “Well I’m happy to support a friend.”

Kurt sees Blaine smile. Kurt’s heart flutters in his chest. God, why is he so captivated by this boy?

“And, you know, maybe if you like the service enough, you can come again sometime,” Blaine adds.

Kurt’s fluttering heart falters and then begins to race, fear rising from his toes to the very top of his head.

“I – I thought I was going to be your outside-the-church friend?”

“You are,” Blaine grins. “But it’d be nice to hang out outside of school.”

“Well, we could hang out outside of church too. Like now. Getting coffee. Or we could g-go see a movie or something,” Kurt says because he’s floundering for an excuse to not repeat this exercise in personal torture.

“That’s true,” Blaine says. “I think you’ll like church though. I know you said you don’t go very often-”

“Or ever,” Kurt says under his breath.

“But it’s a really great, uplifting atmosphere,” Blaine continues to say as they pull into the parking lot of the coffee shop. He parks and kills the ignition. “I mean…it’s God’s house, you know? It’s full of love and acceptance and-”

“Stop,” Kurt says, cringing as he says it. “Please.”

He can’t take it anymore. He can’t take keeping this one secret from Blaine. His new friend is being so open and honest and kind and just…Kurt can’t keep going on like this. Who knows how Blaine will react and maybe he’s going to ruin a friendship with this single statement but he just – he just can’t sit here and listen to this bullshit anymore. He can't do it.

“What’s wrong?” Blaine asks, eyes soft and warm.

Kurt swallows hard and stares through the windshield at the logo on the door to the shop. “I’m an Atheist.”

The silence in the car eats away at Kurt’s worry, digging deeper into his conscious and burying into his eardrums. He can’t believe that, after this entire week of keeping quiet on the subject, he had just blurted it out like that. When he finally turns his head to look at Blaine’s face, he’s met with a blank stare and a few quick blinks.

“Oh,” Blaine finally says. “I’ve never met an Atheist before.”

“I figured as much,” Kurt says softly, looking down at his lap.

“Why – why did you say you’d come to church with me, then?”

Kurt gives a small shrug. “Because you asked me to. And I want to be your friend. So I jumped at the chance to spend more time with you.”

He wishes he had the courage to look at Blaine. He wishes he didn’t care so much what Blaine thought of him. Why does he? Blaine’s just another religious conservative, one that would probably stone him to death if he knew the entire truth about Kurt’s lifestyle. He’s just another boy who isn’t like him. He’s just another boy who doesn’t understand him.

“Why do you want to be my friend so badly?” Blaine asks, voice soft and smooth.

“…I don’t know,” Kurt says.

Because you’re beautiful and you sound like an angel when you speak or sing and you’ve got this pure heart that I want to protect and I want to keep you safe from all the bad people you’re bound to run into in this town.

“I guess because you’re actually a nice person,” Kurt says instead. “And you don’t find very many genuinely nice people in Lima, Ohio.”

Blaine’s hand slips into his vision. His fingers entwine with Kurt’s and Kurt looks up to see Blaine’s lips stretched into a smile. His friend’s hand is warm and his grip is tender and Kurt never, ever, ever wants to let go.

“You’re a good friend,” Blaine whispers.

And then he pulls his hand away and Kurt misses the contact immediately. He knows the gesture was meant to be simple, friendly, and comforting but Kurt has never wanted to lean over and kiss someone so much in his life.

He doesn’t.

“Let me buy your coffee,” Blaine says.

“…Why?”

“Well, you don’t even believe in God but you agreed to come to my Baptist church just to listen to me sing. I think it’s the least I can do.”

Kurt laughs and for the first time in a week, he feels like maybe he won’t be rejected completely.

Upon entering the church, Kurt is instantly thankful that he didn’t burst into flames when he stepped through the doors. The place is way bigger on the inside than he thought and people are mingling everywhere, hugging each other and laughing. Multiple people clutch Bibles to their chests and Kurt panics, wondering if he should have retrieved one for the occasion. But he sees the Bibles tucked into the little slots on the back of the pews and sighs in relief. There’s a set of drums and guitars and a piano set up near the…pulpit? Is that the right word? Oh god, he’s so out of place here.

“I want you to meet my parents,” Blaine says, leading Kurt down an aisle.

Kurt does his best not to panic or bump into someone. The entire place smells like cheap, stale carpet and everyone looks way too happy to be up this early on a Sunday.

“Mom! Dad!” Blaine greets his parents with his ever present smile. “This is my friend I was telling you about.”

“Oh, so this is Kurt?” Blaine’s mother asks. She has Blaine’s eyes. “So nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

“Thank you for coming to support our boy, here,” his father adds.

Their southern accents are much more pronounced than Blaine’s. Kurt is fascinated by the drawl and wow, what would Blaine sound like if he spoke like them?

“It’s nice to meet you, too,” Kurt says as gracefully as possible.

“Sit with them,” Blaine instructs. “I’ve got to join the rest of the choir.”

Kurt whips around to face his friend, who is slowly edging away from their tiny group. “Wait, don’t leave me-”

“I’ll come back to sit as soon as I’m done singing. Don’t worry. They won’t bite.”

With that lovely parting phrase, Blaine scampers away and out a door. Kurt stands bereft and alone in the crowded room. He stares blankly at the door through which Blaine had exited and wills him to return.

“Come on, honey, we’re sitting here,” Blaine’s mother says, urging him to sit next to them in one of the pews, leaving a space on the end for Blaine.

Having no other options, Kurt sits next to Blaine’s mother on the extremely uncomfortable bench…thing and prays that Blaine will sing soon so his friend will come back. Everyone else seems to be finding their seats as well. The chatter in the room begins to fade as soon as a man enters through the same door Blaine had disappeared through. He’s dressed in a pair of khaki trousers, a light green button down, and a black tie. Kurt’s eye twitches at the color scheme.

He turns to face his crowd with a large grin and wide, open arms.

“Good morning!” he greets loudly through the microphone attached to his collar.

“Good morning, Pastor Brown!” everyone says in return.

Kurt almost snorts at the irony because he’s pretty sure Pastor Brown is one of the whitest people he’s ever seen in his life.

“Let’s stand and pray,” the pastor says.

Everyone stands so of course, Kurt follows suit. He bows his head, eyes open and glancing around as they prayer begins.

“Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this beautiful day and we thank you for the week you have given us. We pray that you’ll bless us with joy and friends and family and good health. We thank you for any new members of our congregation and for giving them the courage to enter our doors with God in their hearts. You give us hope, Lord and we ask that you bless us with more good tidings as each day begins and ends. Thank you for all you’ve given us, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

“Amen,” the congregation echoes.

Kurt lifts his head and sees that everyone sits down again so he does as well. This isn’t too hard, he thinks. Monkey see, monkey do.

“Well! I’m so glad to see so many faces today,” Pastor Brown continues, “because we’ve got a special treat for you all. One of our newest young members, Blaine Anderson, will be leading us in our first song of the service and I can just tell you right now, he’s a fantastic performer. I think you’ll enjoy it!”

The pastor seats himself in the front row just as the band begins to play and Blaine, along with other members of the choir, take the stage. Blaine catches Kurt’s eye and lifts the microphone to his mouth.

You must
You must think I'm strong
To give me what I'm going through

Well forgive me
Forgive me if I'm wrong
But this looks like more than I can do
On my own

Church or not, Kurt will always be in a trance every time Blaine sings. He looks so good in his little khakis and his polo. He looks so happy when he sings.

I know I'm not strong enough to be
everything that I'm supposed to be
I give up
I'm not stong enough
Hands of mercy won't you cover me
Lord right now I'm asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
For the both of us

Hm. For a religious song, this is actually kind of catchy. Not to mention, Blaine sounds fantastic.

Well maybe
Maybe that's the point
To reach the point of giving up

Cause when I'm finally
Finally at rock bottom
Well that's when I start looking up
And reaching out

Blaine begins the chorus again. That’s when Kurt looks around and sees quite a few people with their eyes closed and their hands in the air, as if they can somehow reach God through the lyrics alone. That part of worship has always kind of weirded Kurt out a bit. They look like a bunch of crazies. Then again, Kurt supposes they are, considering he believes that they’re reaching for something that isn’t there in the first place.

Cause I'm broken
Down to nothing
But I'm still holding on to the one thing
You are God
and you are strong
When I am weak

He holds the note and the rest of the choir joins him, harmonizing the next part of the song. Blaine joins back in about halfway through and sings through the end. He sounds perfect.

I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength
And I don't have to be
Strong enough
Strong enough

I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength
And I don't have to be
Strong enough
Strong enough

Oh yeah

I know I'm not strong enough to be
Everything that I'm supposed to be
I give up
I'm not stong enough
Hands of mercy won't you cover me
Lord right now I'm asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
Strong enough

The song ends and the quick rise and fall of Blaine’s chest is obvious as he tries to regain his breath while the entirety of the church bursts into applause. Blaine gives a broad smile, one of the biggest Kurt has ever seen on his friend’s face, and bows his head before handing someone the microphone.

When he finally walks over to Kurt and his family, he’s still got adrenaline twisting through his veins and he’s almost vibrating with exhilaration.

“Was it okay?” he whispers to Kurt as the pastor stands in front of the congregation once more.

“You were fantastic,” Kurt says truthfully.

“Well done, sweetie,” Blaine’s mother coos, reaching over to pat her son on the knee.

Kurt thinks Blaine deserves far more praise for his performance. But the pastor begins speaking and everyone falls silent. Blaine bites his lip to keep his smile from growing even wider and turns to face the pastor. His fingers tap excitedly on his thighs.

Kurt wishes he could hold Blaine’s hand again.

Even knowing that he has to sit through an entire hour of some middle-aged man spitting Bible verses in his face, Kurt is glad he came.

If only just to see Blaine so happy.

By the end of the hour, Kurt is proud of himself. He only wanted to punch that pastor twice and he only almost fell asleep once. Those ‘greeting hugs’ after Blaine’s performance had been both weird and a true blessing; weird because he had to hug a bunch of strangers and a blessing because he got to hug Blaine.

His arms were so warm.

“So what’d you think?” Blaine asks when they’re safely inside his car once more.

“About your performance? It was fantastic. I already told you that.”

“No, I meant about the service. The sermon. All of it.”

“Ah,” Kurt nods. “I think…it was…y’know…”

“You won’t be coming back, will you?” Blaine asks, suppressing a smirk.

“No,” Kurt says, exhaling nervously. “Probably not. Unless you get another solo.”

Blaine laughs loudly as he pulls out onto the road. Kurt’s pretty sure he’ll die a happy boy if he gets to hear that laugh more often.