Blaine really didn’t want to go to school.  He knew he’d see Kurt and he really didn’t want to see Kurt. He was angry at Kurt, that was why he didn’t want to see him. It wasn’t because he felt embarrassed about what happened. Not really. It wasn’t that he went home and cried about how pathetic he felt. Most certainly not. And it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he  had actually enjoyed kissing Kurt before the line was crossed. No, it wasn’t any of those things. That’s what Blaine kept trying to tell himself anyway.

He was angry at Kurt though, there’s no doubt about that, and as much as he didn’t want to have to see the other boy he knew they had to finish what they didn’t get through the night before. He wasn’t going to let some boy distract him from what was important.

He walked up to the school doors dreading the day ahead. He didn’t want to have to look at Kurt and know that the boy in front of him had seen him in such a vulnerable state. He didn’t want Kurt knowing that he had affected Blaine so much. So there was only thing he could do. He strode into the school with the same air of confidence around him that he feels when he performs. He knows it’s mainly an act but he can’t show Kurt what he’s done to him, how he’s hurt him. He needs to show Kurt how strong he is, that he can still hold himself up when things get tough. Kurt needs to see that. But, why  does Kurt need to see that? Why is it so important for Blaine that Kurt can see his strength or that he doesn’t think he hurt Blaine as much as he did? Suddenly stopping in his tracks from the thoughts in his head, someone coming from his right bumped into him.

“Oh God, sorry are you… oh hey Sam!”

“Hey man, you alright? You just like froze in the middle of the hallway. You looked like some weird robot that someone suddenly turned off.”

Blaine shook his head at his friend and continued walking.

“Yeah sorry. I’m fine, just zoned out I guessed.”

They walked together to their lockers which made Blaine relax significantly. Sam’s relaxed nature always did have a way of calming Blaine down, even if he didn’t know he was doing anything to help. They arrived at their lockers when Sam turned to Blaine asking if he wanted to go over to his place that afternoon for an x-box marathon. Blaine was all but too happy to accept.

They walked their separate ways which made Blaine instantly aware of the fact that he was headed to English. With Kurt. He almost turned around to start going in the opposite direction when he remembered what he’d told himself earlier. Strength. So he kept going forward. He stood outside the classroom for a moment before walking in, taking his time to inhale a deep breath and then opened the door.

Kurt wasn’t there. Maybe he was late today? Yeah, he must’ve been late today. Blaine went and sat in his own seat in the middle of the room. He unpacked his books, straightened everything out and then reached to straighten his bowtie.

He couldn’t keep his eyes off the door. Even when their teacher walked in and started the class he couldn’t help but glance at the door every few seconds, just waiting and maybe even hoping that Kurt would walk through any minute.

Class ended and there was still no sign of messy chestnut hair. He went to the rest of his morning classes still expecting that Kurt would turn up at any minute but knowing that he wouldn’t. He had thought last night that there would be a chance that Kurt wouldn’t bother even showing up at school that day but had immediately put that to the back of his mind. Now he wished he’d just listened to himself.

He walked into the cafeteria and saw Sam. It looked like Sam was looking for him and as soon as he noticed Blaine had walked in he whispered something to the rest of the table. Blaine walked towards them all slowly as now everyone from their table was staring at him except for one head. He didn’t even think about who the other figure could be as he was still trying to decipher the reason behind the knowing smiles everyone was giving him.

Oh no, do they know about what happened with Kurt? I should turn around and run and never, ever come back here again.

Just as he was about to turn, the mystery person from their table turned to face him and he was greeted with a smiling Jeff.

“JEFF! What- oh my God. What are you doing here!” Blaine couldn’t contain his excitement as he hurried over to the blonde and hugged his best friend for the first time in over a month.

Jeff tried to pull back so he could explain his surprise visit but Blaine just held him tighter, needing the comfort for a moment longer.

“Nice to see you too Blainey. Do I really need an excuse to come and surprise my best friend?” Jeff told him with a smile and a friendly wink.

They sat down together at the table with the other Directioners while they ate their lunch. Blaine knew that Jeff had come for a reason. He wouldn’t have come so suddenly without telling Blaine. This had him worrying about his best friend while they ate. He talked and laughed with everyone else like he usually would but he couldn’t stop thinking as to the real reason to why Jeff was there.

“So Blainey, your place after school?” Jeff was staring at him, daring him to say no.

“Oh, well I think Sam and I had plans later, you could come maybe?” They both looked at Sam who was in the middle of chewing his fries, taking no notice to the other boys staring at him.

“Sam?”

“Yeah, what?”

“Mind if Jeff comes over later too?” At this, Sam looked at Jeff and seemed a bit confused but suddenly began nodding with wide eyes.

“Uh why don’t you guys just hang out, catch up a little. We’ll do tomorrow instead, Blaine?” Blaine looked back at Jeff who had a thankful expression on his face directed at Sam. Now he knew something was up.

“Yeah, sure. That sounds good.”

They decided to meet back up later after Blaine had finished school for the day while Jeff went to a local music store he liked. Blaine walked into physics with Sam, only half concentrated on the conversation while he thought about Jeff instead. He walked over to his usual seat only to find Kurt sitting there smirking up at him.

Blaine stopped walking and just stared. He hadn’t seen Kurt all day and now here he is, smirking like nothing happened?

“Can you please get out of my seat Kurt.” He was done with playing games with the boy whose eyes were a mixture of green and blue that day.

“A man with manners. Didn’t think I’d be into that but I could go with it.” Kurt said as he stood and walked over to his own seat.

Blaine sat down looking at Kurt incredulously. He is actually acting as if nothing happened. After all of the thinking Blaine had been doing about Kurt the night before and during the day, this is not what he expected to happen.

“So, Blaine, we need to finish our little project tonight. Same time as yesterday? I’ll even let you ride with me again.” Kurt said with a wink.

“Well, Kurt, since you weren’t in English this morning I finished it there and handed it in. So now you don’t have to waste any more time with me. Enjoy that life of yours your living that you’re so often telling me about.” Blaine had really had enough of Kurt now. He’d hurt Blaine but apparently that didn’t matter to him. Of course it didn’t matter, all he cares about is his dick! Kurt didn’t have a chance to say anything before he was being yelled at by their teacher for having his feet on the table in front of him but Blaine was sure he saw something in his eyes that looked a little bit like hurt.

After class finished they all started walking to glee together, talking about the week’s assignment, when Blaine felt someone tug on his sweater and pull him into an empty classroom. He turned around to see Kurt shutting the door behind him. That’s when Blaine started to panic.

“K-Kurt, what are you d-doing?” Blaine knew he was being irrational. Kurt wasn’t going to do anything. He just wanted Blaine, alone, in an empty classroom with a locked door. No reason to panic at all.

“Blaine I-“ Kurt started. Blaine could tell he was struggling to say something which made him relax a little and gently rested against one of the tables behind him.

He started again but still not looking too confident

“I crossed a line last night. I uhm, I don’t really know what happened, I mean, you just-“ Kurt was really struggling at this point. Head looking around the room and not really able to face Blaine properly.

Blaine was uncomfortable to say the least but he knew this was obviously hard for Kurt so he waited till blue-green eyes met his and gave an encouraging nod, not wanting to say anything at this point.

“Okay, I just wanted to tell you that even though I don’t really know what happened last night, maybe I overstepped. I shouldn’t have assumed that you would, that you wanted to-“

“Thank you, Kurt.” Kurt’s wide eyes shot up at Blaine then who couldn’t help but smile a little at this reaction.

“You’re right, you shouldn’t have done that but I do appreciate that you at least realised you’d done something wrong.” Blaine looked at Kurt while he spoke, not even trying to hide the small smile on his face.

“And as hard for you as it may be, how about you stop trying to get into my pants from now on?” This elicited a smile from Kurt, making Blaine proud that he caused that.

“Aw, come on Anderson, I know you enjoyed being pushed up against me on Harley.” Kurt teased Blaine.

“Harley, you actually call your bike Harley?” Blaine laughed at this watching Kurt as he rolled his eyes.

“Well it is a Harley Davidson, gorgeous, it’s only fitting that’s what I call him.” Kurt unlocked the door and started walking out, waiting for Blaine to follow.

“Most guys call their vehicles a her.”

“Well I don’t wanna be riding a girl now do I.” Kurt retorted with a wink.

“Ignoring that last part. But the name, it’s really original, Kurt, I don’t know how you thought of that all by yourself.” Blaine was giggling now. Actually giggling. But he couldn’t stop, not with Kurt looking at him the way he was.

“Shut the fuck up Anderson. You love the name and you know it.” They walked into glee club, still laughing at one another while everyone else’s heads started turning towards them.

“Get it Anderson!” Santana, of course.

“Shut the fuck up Satan, just because you’ve run out of boys in this school to fuck doesn’t mean you have to live vicariously through everyone else’s sex lives.” Blaine knew that this would be a normal reaction from Kurt no matter who he was talking to, what he wasn’t expecting was to see how serious he was.

“Relax Hummel, just making a joke, having some fun. You should try it sometime.” Blaine could hear the teasing in Santana’s voice, but could also see the darkened expression on Kurt’s face as he mumbled a “whatever” to himself.

The walked over to where Sam, Puck and Finn were sitting, Blaine taking a seat next to Sam and watched as Kurt decided between sitting next to him or Puck. Blaine couldn’t keep the smile off his face when he chose him.

Blaine and Jeff were on their way to the Lima Bean in Jeff’s car. They shared their usual small talk but could both feel it wasn’t just a friendly ‘I miss my friend’ visit. They parked the car and walked into the Lima Bean and waited in the long queue, which is when Blaine decided to speak up.

“Okay, Jeff. What’s wrong? I know you didn’t drive all this way just to say hi. Something’s up.”

Jeff sighed and looked Blaine right in the eye before talking.

“I tried calling you last night Blaine and you didn’t pick up. I tried again and you still didn’t pick up. I tried calling all night and then you never picked up. I got worried so I came here to check up on you and-“

“Wait, this is about me? I thought something was wrong with you?” Blaine started to say as he remembered waking up to a bunch of missed calls from the previous night. It was starting to make sense now.

“Yes, it’s about you. As I was saying, I got worried so I came here just to make sure you were all right. I figured if everything was fine then I’d just get to spend some time with my best friend and if not then you can talk to me. So I drove to McKinley and I bumped into Sam. He said you’d be with them soon and invited me to sit with your friends. So I did. They’re nice enough and they all obviously like you but then they started talking about you and some guy named Kurt…”

Blaine’s eyebrows raised at this, curious as to why his friends were talking about him at all but then everything clicked into place. He knew where Jeff was taking this and really didn’t want it to go there.

“Jeff. I’m fine, okay? Kurt and I didn’t really get along at first but we’re okay now. You have nothing to worry about.”

Jeff sighed and turned to order their coffee’s before focusing back to Blaine.

“I know you can handle yourself Blaine but I remember what you were like when we first met. You were so closed off from everyone because you didn’t want to get hurt and I can’t just stand back and watch while someone hurts you again. So no matter how much you tell me you’re fine, you’re always gonna be stuck with me making sure you’re not lying.”

Blaine knew that Jeff could be really overprotective sometimes and as much as it annoyed him, it also made him love his best friend just that little bit more.

“Thanks Jeff. I’m fine, really, but I appreciate you looking out for me.” They took their coffees and sat down on the couches across from each other. Neither one of them said anything for a moment but Blaine knew that wouldn’t last too long.

“So…” Oh here we go. “Kissed any boys yet?” Jeff asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

“Jeff come on, you know I’m not gonna go around kissing random boys.” It’s only half a lie, he told himself.

“Oh, I know! I heard about this place called Scandals-“

“Jeff!”

“You can put on your favourite bowtie-“

“Jeff!” Blaine couldn’t help but laugh at this point.

“I’ll be your wingman for the night and let you kiss as many boys as you want-“

“Jeff stop it!” Blaine was almost spitting out his drink, trying not to disturb the other patrons.

“I’ll even kiss you to make them all jealous, Blainey!”

“Oh my God.”

They sat, talked, laughed and drank coffee for hours until it was time for the shop to close. Blaine really didn’t want his blonde friend to leave but knew it was a long drive back home for him. He loved being able to see him again and as much as he really did want to spend more time with him he was also looking for an excuse to not have to go back home. He had a good end to an average day and really didn’t want to ruin his good mood knowing that Anthony would be home tonight.

So instead of going home he decided to drive around for a while. He hadn’t seen much of Lima, not that there’s much to see really, but decided that exploring his new town would be better than going home and pretending that he isn’t there.

He drove through the main centre of the small town not seeing anything he hadn’t noticed before. He kept driving just to waste time and ended up on the other side of Lima to where he lived. So this must be Lima Heights Adjacent Santana always goes on about. He kept driving till he was almost out of the town when he decided he should turn around. The more he drove around this side of town, the quicker he realised that it’s not a place he would want to come back to. He’s already seen two cars get pulled over for speeding and was sure the driver from the second car pulled out a pocket knife or something. Well it was silver and shiny. Could have been the drivers keys but he wouldn’t have been surprised if it was a knife. He kept driving and was could have sworn he was witnessing a drug deal happening ahead of him. He kept driving until he noticed out of his window perfectly messed coiffed hair and ripped skinny jeans.

He was sure Kurt wouldn’t be here this late at night. Blaine knew that Kurt was a bit… shady? Was that even the right word? There was no way Kurt would be into anything serious like this would he? As he started to slow the car down he realised that he barely even knew Kurt. He could be in a gang for all he knew. Blaine had practically stopped the car on the opposite side of the road to Kurt and the other guy. The other guy towered over Kurt. Probably about Finn’s height. He couldn’t really see what he looked like, he wasn’t at the right angle, but he could tell that Kurt looked almost… scared. It looked like they were arguing about something when Kurt handed an envelope over to the other guy. That’s also when Kurt noticed Blaine. Well it seemed that he noticed Blaine’s car first, and then realised who the driver was.

Blaine tried to duck and hide thinking that he felt like he was in some corny action movie or something. Kurt had already noticed him, though, and was opening the door to the passenger’s side seat. Blaine sat up and looked at Kurt and if thought he’d seen Kurt angry before then he must have been crazy.

“What the fuck are you doing here Anderson. Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Blaine would have sworn that Kurt could’ve killed him just with the intensity of his gaze in that moment.

“I-I was just driving around and thought I saw you. I was heading home. Didn’t t-think it was that big of a deal being-“

“Get out of here now before I drag you home myself.” And with that Kurt was out of the car and standing right in front of it saying something to the other guy and grabbing a skateboard before coming back into the car.

“I need a ride home.”

Blaine looked at Kurt, confused about everything that was happening. He wanted to ask questions but knew it wasn’t going to end well if he did.

They drove in silence only filled by Kurt’s directions to his own home. Blaine had so much running through his head. He kept thinking of different reasons as to what Kurt could have been doing but nothing made sense. He’s obviously angry that Blaine had seen him. Did that mean he didn’t want anyone knowing what he was doing or just Blaine? The only thing Blaine knew for sure though, Kurt was scared. Whoever the other man was had Kurt worried about something. Blaine knew they didn’t know each other very well, or at all really, but you didn’t have to know someone to see obvious fear on their face.

“Just up on your left.” Kurt’s voice was quiet, had been the whole ride. It unnerved Blaine. He almost missed the driveway but turned just at the right moment.

“Hummel Tire and Lube? I thought I was taking you home?” Blaine guessed it must have been some family establishment from the name. Maybe someone was here that Kurt wanted to talk to.

“My Dad’s car shop. I help out sometimes.” Kurt got out of the car and went to close the door but looked at Blaine first. It looked like he was thinking about something before he told Blaine to go inside with him.

Blaine didn’t think it would be a good idea to follow Kurt inside but he also wanted answers. So he turned off the car, locked his doors and slowly followed the other boy inside. When he walked in, he noticed that Kurt had changed into a different shirt, one with oil stains and a couple of rips in different places. He was kneeling down next to his bike, Harley, Blaine reminded himself.

“You don’t have to stand at the door.” Kurt looked at Blaine swiftly and then turned back to what he was doing.

Blaine slowly walked forward, looking around the garage. It was a crowded place. It had four cars in there and shelves with tools everywhere. The walls were also lined with different tools. He walked around what must have been an office and saw a wall that was different to the others. There were photos everywhere. Photos from the shop’s opening day, next to it a check, must have been the shops first check. There were photos of other men who looked like they must work there but most of the photos contained an older man with a baseball cap on standing next to a women with large blue eyes and chestnut brown hair. There were a few photos of the couple with a young kid who started growing up through the pictures. Kurt.

He looked so different. In the younger ones they were all so happy. Blaine assumed they must have been Kurt’s parents. There were practically no recent photos. Kurt was dressed completely differently in them compared to how he dressed now. He was more fashionable back then, Blaine gathered. Even when he was little he was dressed in shirts and bowties. Something Blaine could definitely appreciate. There was even a picture of the three of them having a tea party. There was only one picture of Kurt with his Dad without his Mum there. They both had smiles on their faces but they weren’t really smiling. This was the picture that most resembled the Kurt he knew now. He was smiling with his mouth but not his eyes. Before seeing these pictures, Blaine thought he’d seen Kurt smile properly, now he wasn’t so sure and he couldn’t wait to see the live version of all the other pictures that lined the wall.

“So are you gonna stare at those all night or help me here?”

Blaine looked over at Kurt who was now stood up holding a tool in Blaine’s direction. He walked over and took his bowtie off (it was one of his favourites, he didn’t want it ruined) and rolled up his sleeves before taking the object from Kurt and kneeling down.

Kurt instructed him on what to do and what they were doing required them to have their sides pressed up against one another. Blaine could practically feel the tension rolling off Kurt as he worked. He guessed fixing cars and motorbikes was a stress reliever for the other boy.

“So what happened to your bike?”

“Harley, Blaine. He has a name.”

Finally Blaine saw something that almost resembled a smile, even if Kurt did try hiding it.

“So then what happened to Harley?”

“He wouldn’t start so I brought him here. I was gonna wait till tomorrow but realised now would be a way better time.” Kurt glanced at Blaine when he said this, probably knowing that questions were going to be asked soon.

“So if I ask questions about earlier am I going to get any answers?” Blaine was nervous when he spoke but he’d already waited too long at this point and his curiosity won him over.

“Well, it depends what you ask I guess.”

“Who was the other guy?”

“…a friend.” Kurt’s voice trembled slightly when he spoke, betraying what he’d just said.

“You didn’t seem very friendly.” Blaine spoke softly. He didn’t want Kurt thinking he was judging him at all. He was just worried about his friend. Friends? We’re they even friends? Blaine was pretty sure it couldn’t even be called that.

“Well what were you doing with him?”

Kurt finished what he was doing on the bike and stood up from where he was. Blaine followed and sat on a stool not far behind him while Kurt sat on his bike.

“Why do you care Blaine?” Kurt asked the other boy in an almost whisper.

“I-I don’t know.” And Blaine didn’t know. He kept asking himself over and over again why he cared so much. He’d been asking himself for the last few weeks why he cared that they’d barely talked and again now that he thought Kurt could be in trouble. All he knew was that there was something about the this boy with messy hair, tight jeans and eyes that couldn’t be defined as only one colour. Something drew  him in and he really wanted to know what that was.

“I really don’t know why I care Kurt but for some reason I do. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Blaine. I have been hurt so many times already that nothing I do now can hurt any more than I’ve already hurt in the past. I just have one thing I need you to do.” Kurt looked Blaine right in the eye when he said this and Blaine just nodded.

“I need to make sure you don’t tell anyone about this. No one can know that you saw me there. This is really important and I need you to promise me that you won’t say a thing, okay?” Kurt’s eyes were so intense when he looked at Blaine. It wasn’t the same gaze from when Kurt found him earlier that night but he was back to looking scared again. Blaine knew that he shouldn’t agree and that he should probably tell someone like Puck that he thought Kurt was in trouble. He also trusted Kurt, though, and by the looks of things Kurt was beginning to trust him as well.

“I don’t like the idea but okay, I won’t say anything.”

“Promise, Blaine?”

“I promise.”

They sat there and looked at each other for a while. Blaine knew that after just a few weeks of knowing each other they’d already had so many ups and downs but this moment was different. This moment Blaine could feel that something had changed for the both of them. A different dynamic in the relationship maybe. It was felt by both of them. They knew it wasn’t some perfect moment of clarity or anything, in fact is was the exact opposite. They both had questions that they wanted to ask the other but neither were brave enough to ruin the silence of the moment. A moment that held so much potential. A moment that held the promise of trust. Something that was rare for them both to come across.

After about five minutes of just sitting there and staring at each other, Blaine was the first so speak up.

“It’s late and I have to get home. I can give you a ride if you want?” Blaine asked Kurt, just a little bit hopeful that Kurt would accept.

“Uh I wanna finish up here first. I live the next street down so I can just walk.”

Blaine felt nervous about leaving Kurt alone after what he’d seen earlier but knew that Kurt already had his mind made up.

“Okay. Well I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Blaine stood there for a moment a little awkwardly before turning back to where he entered the garage.

“Blaine?”

Blaine turned back around to Kurt who hadn’t moved from his previous spot yet.

“Yes, Kurt?”

“Thank you.”

Blaine could honestly say he didn’t know what Kurt was thanking him for. Whether it was for picking him up earlier, worrying about him or for promising to not say anything. He hoped it was all.

“You’re welcome.” Blaine said with a little smile and then turned and walked back out to his car and headed off home.