Kurt arrived first and stood by the wrought iron gates leading the way to Calvary Cemetery. There were two thinner gates either side of the bigger gate in the middle underneath a big metal cross, leading to the sky. Cemeteries always unnerved Kurt who shivered as the sun shone brightly on a rare sunny day. The air still felt icy but the sky looked full of promise, blue with only a few clouds. His phone rang which caused him to jump and come out of his reverie.

"Blaine?" Kurt said surprised and hoping he wasn't calling to cancel.

"I'm already inside Kurt," Blaine said, his breathing already sounding difficult. "Can you meet me?" He started to give directions along the pathways, Blaine obviously picturing where Kurt was and having memorised the paths. Kurt looked either side as he walked, passing Egyptian style mausoleums and elaborate graves, hoping to catch a glimpse of Blaine. He didn't see anyone else and Blaine continued giving directions until he could see a small figure standing by a collection of gravesides. Blaine knew he was approaching now and he hung up, Kurt seeing his expression of stoic inscrutability and his despondent pose.

As Kurt came closer, Blaine took his seat on the bench and although Kurt hesitated, he soon sat next to Blaine but giving him the time to speak and start the conversation. They stared straight ahead and Kurt could take the time to see the nearest graves. There were two identical stones, a curved shape at the top and simple inscriptions of love. They were so tastefully designed, with simple yellow flowers underneath each headstone that they stood out as eerily beautiful by some of the gaudier gravesides.

Grace Mary Anderson

Beloved mother and wife

Forever loved, forever missed

21st May 1960 – 27th January 2011

Cooper Charles Anderson

Much loved son and brother

Forever loved, forever missed

23rd December 1982 - 27th January 2011

As Kurt read them he realised today was the two year anniversary and he looked to Blaine suddenly, realising tears had been silently pouring down his face. He touched Blaine's knee, letting him know he was there but would remain silent and Blaine jumped slightly at the contact but just placed his hand over the top of Kurt's cold fingers.

It took quite a while for Blaine to speak, his breathing slowly normalising as they both continued to stare at the graves in silence.

"I can't believe two years have passed," Blaine whispered, "Not that I think I'll ever get over it but it doesn't even seem easier to deal with. I mean I relive that moment every day sometimes in my nightmares and it's still fresh, still there if I just close my eyes and it's not even dull now." Kurt glanced at Blaine's eyes, hollow and sunken as though he had had no sleep. Kurt suddenly wondered if he ever slept.

"I was in the car when it happened," he said quietly and Kurt gasped slightly. He hadn't known that and he instinctively squeezed Blaine's hand as it rested on his thigh. The thought that he had seen their last moments made Kurt's chest constrict in pain.

"We were driving in the rain back from a musical in town. We lived in New York then," Blaine said as way of explanation, glancing at Kurt. "Cooper was visiting from LA and we were laughing and joking about the show, quoting our favourite lines, looking at the programme. My mum struggled to control the car, she was laughing so hard at Cooper's impressions of the actors." Kurt remained silent, only pressing on Blaine's hand to reassure him he was listening and right there with him.

"I made a flippant comment that I wish, god I wish more than anything that I could take back," Blaine continued, clearly struggling to speak against the fresh tears threatening to trickle down his cheeks. "I wasn't out then, I mean I knew I had feelings for guys, knew that I found them attractive but I hadn't said anything to anyone. I felt so easy about it I guess I just made the comment not realising it would be so surprising. I said I found one of the main actors dreamy and my mum glanced back at me, her eyes wide at the admission and as she turned around to face the road again she swerved to miss oncoming traffic and crashed the car." Blaine couldn't speak, taking heaving breaths he seemed to be really struggling and Kurt could only take him in his arms and hold him close, rubbing his back. Kurt had never heard anyone cry so brokenly or hurt with every fibre of their being as Blaine who sobbed for quite a while. Kurt desperately tried to calm him by whispering in his ear and rubbing his back and after a while, although sobs could still be heard, Blaine seemed to breathe more normally. He slowly parted from Kurt, his eyes red and tear tracks visible on his cheeks. Kurt tentatively lifted his finger to wipe the tears away, his heart breaking at the gut wrenching sight.

"Cooper wasn't wearing a seatbelt and he crashed into my mum's seat," he whispered, though his breath came out as a trembling huff. "My mum died instantly but Cooper later died in hospital, never waking up from his head injuries."

"I'm so sorry Blaine," Kurt whispered after a while, slipping his arm in Blaine's and resting his head near his shoulder. He could say no words of comfort, knowing that nothing would make it better but now he understood and they sat there, on the bench in the cold sunshine, as the hours passed until closing time. No words were spoken but Blaine was so grateful that Kurt remained and hoped he would always have him in his life.

---

Blaine agreed to being led to a coffee shop afterwards, Kurt taking his hand gently as they walked. Thousands of thoughts and worries flitted through Kurt's mind as they walked, Blaine only feeling a little lighter at having spoken to someone but left feeling a little empty. Kurt soon realised the guilt that Blaine had been living with and why he blamed himself. He searched for something to say, something to remove the feeling but he realised he knew so little of his family that he wasn't sure if Blaine could ever be satisfied or able to forgive himself.

They sat in their usual seats, sipping their usual coffees when Blaine suddenly spoke again.

"Thank you for coming with me today Kurt," he said, his green brown eyes shining with some kind of need and Kurt wanted to give him everything and anything he could.

"I will always be there for you Blaine," Kurt said simply, "I am so sorry all of that happened to you. I can't begin to imagine what that must have been like to live through. How did your dad react to it all?"

"I know he struggles," Blaine said, looking at the top of his coffee. "I haven't been able to tell him the exact truth, he just knows that I distracted mum with a comment and that she died instantly."

"You need to forgive yourself Blaine," Kurt said earnestly grabbing Blaine's hand as it held his mug of coffee. "I didn't know your mum but I'm pretty sure with the memories that you have shared that she wouldn't want you to live like this."

Blaine looked completely lost as he sat opposite Kurt on the sofa seat, his big brown green eyes wide, as he tried to take in what Kurt was saying to him.

"She was lovely," he said, "I sometimes wonder how she would have reacted to me coming out if I had done it properly, told her sensibly like my dad but I know she would have been ok with it all. I always felt completely loved by her, always loved watching movies with her at home. She made the nicest cakes and I just miss her so much," he said, his voice threatening to disappear. "That's the worst feeling," he continued, "She was so beautiful, so lovely and I killed that, I stopped that wonderful life continuing."

"But don't you think that's the reason to continue living your life, exactly because she doesn't have the chance. You need to take all the opportunities, live all the experiences that she doesn't get a chance to experience now." Blaine considered Kurt's words.

"It was an accident Blaine, you can't blame yourself for an accident. You didn't kill her."

Blaine looked at him, Kurt's sincere kind eyes, his small hopeful smile and felt his chest struggle again with the simple task of breathing. Kurt looked so beautiful and the knowledge that he forgave Blaine, that he was letting him know he still cared, was just beyond his comprehension.

"I don't deserve you as a friend," Blaine whispered, returning his gaze to his coffee, seeking reassurance in the brown swirling liquid. Kurt grabbed his hand and placed it between them on the table, forcing Blaine to look at him properly.

"Yes you do Blaine," he said loudly and confidently, "I will always be your friend Blaine because you're someone special. I know your mum must have known that and your dad knows that too, you just need to let him in a little."

"I'll try, I just can't get over how it's just me and him now. There was once so much life in the house, now there's none. I know that's why he keeps moving, he's always felt it, nowhere is home."

"But there must be a reason why he returned to New York," Kurt said.

"I don't know, maybe all paths lead us here. I certainly feel like that about the bridge and the water."

Kurt looked worried about the mention of the bridge.

"You need to find a new place," Kurt said and soon as the idea popped in his mind, he seemed to have an eureka moment and his eyes sparkled and his smile was wide.

"I have the perfect place," he said standing up and grabbing his hand as Blaine looked startled. They walked to the nearest subway station and got a train to the 4th Avenue station, Blaine looking confused during the journey. He kept glancing at en excited Kurt who was impatiently tapping his fingers against the pole he was holding on to. Blaine suddenly placed his hands over those fingers and Kurt's eyes quickly went to Blaine.

"What..."

"Wherever we're going," Blaine said quietly, "Wherever you're taking me, don't worry." Blaine smiled and Kurt laughed, completely stilling his fingers, as Blaine rubbed them gently.

They finally arrived at a shop tucked in between other shops on 5th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, again with its white writing in front of a black outline. Blaine thought it was a bit strange that Kurt's special place was a shop until he saw the name.

BROOKLYN SUPERHERO SUPPLY

Blaine looked at Kurt raising an eyebrow and Kurt chuckled.

"Come on," he said, taking Blaine's hand again, "This is the perfect place for you."

Blaine found himself looking all around as they entered, a man behind the desk at the front smiled in greeting, sensing that this was Blaine's first time in this wonderful place. Kurt led him around, still holding his hand as they perused the paint shelves. These were no ordinary paint shelves. The simple paint pots were labelled with words like 'muscle', 'intelligence', 'x ray vision' and 'speed of light' – all the paint that any superhero would ever need. As Blaine realised the place Kurt had brought him to, he started to laugh.

"This is an awesome place," he said, still laughing, "How do you know about this?"

"I was wandering around when I first moved here and felt a bit lonely. I missed my dad like crazy and this was the perfect distraction." There was loads to see as Blaine and Kurt wandered around. They tried on superhero capes and Kurt walked into the Devillainizer which asked him questions to determine the type of villain Kurt was and help solve his problem. Blaine had forgotten what it felt like to laugh so much as he took pictures of Kurt with a red cape posing as if to fly away. There were evil blob containment capsules, slow burning fuses and time utility watches. Signs all over the shop warned about robots and that the rooftop pad was out of use. Blaine and Kurt tried on what they could, took loads of pictures and generally laughed until Kurt decided he was going to purchase something. Without showing the label to Blaine, he approached the counter with a pot of paint and he was asked to recite the vow of heroism:

"I, Kurt Hummel, also known as Saki, promise to always use my superpowers for good. I promise that I will use the items I've purchased here today safely and in the name of justice. I promise to remain ever vigilant, ever true." Blaine was impressed as he reeled this off, clearly not a novice and Blaine smiled once more.

"Where are we off to now Saki?" Blaine asked, laughing at the name.

"It's no laughing matter Blaine," Kurt said smiling, "My name comes from the tip of a Sai sword and is obviously the best part. What would your superhero name be?"

"Well my friend Robyn calls me her Batman," he said bashfully. Kurt laughed.

"Batman it is then," he said still smiling, "And we haven't finished yet." Kurt continued to lead Blaine to another part of the shop. They approached an ordinary bookshelf, which Kurt suddenly moved to reveal a doorway.

"You always manage to find New York's best hideaways and trick doors," Blaine said laughing as they entered.

"I told you, you'll never want to stop being my friend," Kurt said and he winked before he entered, causing crazy butterflies to suddenly appear in Blaine's stomach. He shook his head out of his daze and followed Kurt into the newly revealed room.

The room was beyond all of Blaine's expectations. The rest of the shop had looked just like a hardware store, with its metal shelves and paint pots but this room was spacious and tastefully decorated. There were dark mahogany bookshelves lining the sides of the room, with long wooden tables in the middle of the room. One guy was in the room on his laptop and he nodded his head in greeting as Kurt and Blaine entered. There were clocks on the wall and a light hanging low from the ceiling, giving such a sense of closeness and security that Blaine instantly felt like he belonged here.

"What is this place?" Blaine whispered, feeling as if he was in a library.

"This is the real reason this place exists," Kurt said indicating the superhero shop. "This is the secret writing lab. Kids between 6-18 come in here to write. They offer free after-school drop-ins one-to-one and fun workshops. You can write anything here but you can also draw. There's a great kid that comes here and he can draw fantastic Manga. I led a workshop here last week on the use of Sai swords – it was fun."

"That's amazing Kurt," Blaine said, suddenly really proud that Kurt did all this. He was always aware that Kurt gave back, did what he could for others. "You do all this..."

"It's just so much fun Blaine," Kurt said, realising that was reward enough. "Some kids just need an escape, others need a place to belong, a place where they can geek out and no one will judge them. I was really glad I had a place like that at high school, everyone should have that."

"Hi Steve," Kurt said as he approached the only guy here, the guy on his laptop. "This is Blaine, he might come along with me during the week."

"Great," Steve said eagerly shaking Blaine's hand. "We could always use the extra help and it's fun to write while you're supervising the kids too." He laughed showing all his teeth and Blaine suddenly felt ridiculously happy that a place like this existed. There was no death and sadness here, only fun and he couldn't wait to join. After chatting for a while with Steve, Kurt led them out of the writing lab, promising they would return in a few days and they walked out of the shop.

Kurt was just about to walk away when Blaine took his hand to stop him. Kurt looked back and smiled, Blaine pulling him slightly closer and their hands remained touching.

"Thank you Kurt," he said sincerely, his eyes twinkling.

"No need for thanks," he said, "This place is perfect for you and I love it here. Oh I almost forgot," he said unwrapping the paint pot he had purchased earlier. "This is for you."

Blaine took the package and read the label: COURAGE. He blinked up at Kurt who was looking at him kindly.

"That's all you need," Kurt said smiling and they were so close that Blaine suddenly noticed his perfect blue grey eyes in the late afternoon sun. "That and a very good friend."

"I think I've got the best friend anyone could ever ask for," Blaine said, looking up slightly. Kurt's breath hitched at the sight of Blaine, his eyes aglow and his face at peace for the first time since Kurt had met him. Blaine noticed Kurt swallowing before he spoke.

"That makes the two of us," and Kurt realised his hand was still in Blaine's and he stroked his thumb along his knuckle. Just a flicker of the eyes, a glance to his lips then Blaine stood back.

"Suppose I better get back to my dad," Blaine said looking at the ground.

Kurt nodded and took Blaine's hand as he led them to the subway station, Blaine still holding his pot of courage.