Burt bent down to Kurt's level and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. The six year old blinked up at him, his big blue eyes, which so resembled his mothers, filled with tears of fright. "It'll be fine, kiddo, I promise. Kindergarten isn't that big of a deal. I think you'll love it."

Kurt looked around the big room, which heaved with kids of all different shapes and sizes. A group of boys that looked around his age sat at a table that was messy with action figures. One was tall and wearing a baggy football shirt. He was sitting beside a tough looking kid who was almost bald, with the exception of the thick line of bristly hairs that ran in a stripe down the center of his head. The other three boys looked just as intimidating. On the table next to them sat two girls, one with dark skin and a really pretty sweater, and the other had long brown hair and a loud voice that carried across the length of the classroom. They looked nice, but Kurt was still too shy to just walk over and try and make friends with them. He looked up at his father and muttered, "What if nobody wants to play with me?"

"I'm sure that won't happen," Kurt looked up at the unfamiliar voice and saw that a woman was standing beside his father. She was fairly old, her dark hair graying at the roots. But her eyes were kind, and Kurt couldn't help but smile back when she grinned at him. "I'm Miss Thomas, and I'm gonna be your teacher, okay? Now, so we can get to know each other better, I like animals, children and old movies. What are your favourite things, sweetie?"

Kurt blushed and stammered a soft reply of, "Um, I like musicals, drawing and singing."

"I think I know a little boy that likes singing too. Would you like to meet him?"

Kurt nodded shyly and Burt took this as his cue to leave. He gave Kurt one last encouraging squeeze on the shoulder before he disappeared out of the door. Kurt felt himself tear up slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. He was in kindergarten now, and crying wouldn't help him make friends anytime soon, so he swallowed the lump that had lodged itself in his throat, smoothed his sweater and fixed a small smile on his face. Miss Thomas beamed happily down at him and scanned the class. She nodded to herself and pointed across the room. "How about you sit with Blaine?"

Now Kurt didn't exactly know what made him think so, but as soon as his eyes fell on this particular little boy, Kurt just knew that he liked him. Blaine was a little smaller than the rest of the children. He wore a red bow tie with a bright green shirt, tucked neatly into a pair of black pants. His feet were slotted into a pair of scuffed converse. His hair was a mass of curls, the type of curls that Kurt would just love to brush into submission. He was sitting at a table, his feet swinging back and forth in a steady rhythm. Kurt hadn't spotted him before because he was almost out of sight as he perched on a chair near the window. His mouth was moving as though he was talking to someone, only there wasn't anyone for him to talk to. Like Kurt, he was alone.

Miss Thomas took hold of his hand, and together, they walked across the room, passing the table of tough looking boys. They looked Kurt up and down curiously, but he kept his eyes fixed firmly on his own neat dress shoes, determine not to draw anymore unwanted attention to himself. He only looked up when he heard Miss Thomas speak again. "Blaine, this is Kurt. He needs a friend, and I have a feeling that the two of you will get along just great. Can he sit with you today?"

Kurt licked his lips and raised his head. Blaine kicked his legs and grinned at him, his eyes filled with such warmth and excitement that Kurt found himself grinning right back at him. His two front teeth were missing, leaving a cute little gap in place of where they used to be. Up close, Blaine looked even more friendly and inviting than before. "Of course! I don't really like sitting by myself, it gets kinda lonely after a while."

"Were you scared to sit with the other kids too?" Kurt hopped onto one of the plastic chairs as Miss Thomas left them alone to get to know one another. "I've never seen so many kids in one room, I didn't wanna just walk up to someone because I was too nervous."

Blaine nodded knowingly. "My mamma dropped me off earlier and I've been sat on my own for ages and ages! Miss Thomas wanted me to sit with those boys over there, but I didn't wanna because they look super tough. I don't think they'd like me because I like to dance and stuff, and my daddy says that most little boys don't dance or sing. But that's okay, because now I have you to sit with!" he took a deep breath and smiled again, fiddling shyly with his little bow tie. "Do you like to dance and sing too?"

"Uh-huh!" Kurt said enthusiastically. "I really do! I've never met another boy that likes to sing!"

And just like that, Kurt wasn't scared anymore. He forgot all about missing his mommy and daddy, because he had a friend. The best thing about Blaine wasn't that he had a lunchbox with Flounder from The Little Mermaid on the front, nor was it that he could tie his own shoelaces (which Kurt thought looked awfully complicated). No, Kurt concluded that the best thing about Blaine was how nice he was. Kurt didn't know that anyone could be as kind as Blaine. He had never met another little boy that wanted to spend all day drawing and talking about his favourite songs. They spent the morning together, scribbling pictures on sheets of colored paper (Blaine was super impressed with Kurt's drawing of Cinderella, it looked just like her!). Lunch came far too quickly and Blaine shared his animal crackers and peanut butter sandwich with Kurt, who returned the favor by halving his chocolate chip cookies and tangerine with Blaine. Afterwards, they invested their afternoon in digging through the dressing up box together, giggling at each other as they tried on every outfit they could find. Before they knew it, the room flooded with parents again and Kurt found that he hadn't once thought about how much he missed his mommy and daddy until they walked in to collect him.

"You look like you've certainly had a busy day," Elizabeth Hummel laughed and scooped Kurt into her arms. She plucked at the cowboy hat that he had placed on his head, which he thought looked seriously cool with the leather jacket he had came across. "How was your first day, sweetheart?"

"It was awesome!" Kurt hugged her and breathed in the familiar scent of her perfume. "I made a new friend called Blaine. He's really cool, and he likes to sing too!"

Across the classroom, Blaine was putting on his coat and bouncing happily on his heels. His mother, a tall woman in a smart suit with her dark hair piled neatly into a bun on the top of her head, laughed as she attempted to keep him still. By the looks of things, he was talking ten to the dozen. He saw Kurt watching and flashed him a bright smile. "Bye Kurt! We'll play again tomorrow!"

Kurt watched him leave as he put on his own coat. He took hold of his mommy's hand and let her lead him to the car, where he sat in the back and grinned to himself all the way home. Maybe kindergarten wasn't going to be such a scary experience after all. In fact, he sensed that it was going to be a pretty wonderful adventure.