Chapter 1

3 Months Later

Blaine ran a hand over his swollen belly as he regarded the box lying on the pavement in front of him. The thin material of his white shirt did nothing to hide his baby bump, but in the sweltering summer heat it was unthinkable to try putting any more layers on. Even as he stood, with the sun beating down on him, Blaine could feel the uncomfortable stickiness of his t-shirt sticking to his back. He could think of no better way; the man who had dropped off the box had gotten Blaine's signature, and driven off without a pause. The box had to get upstairs somehow. Blaine bent down, trying to use his knees to lift the large, heavy box from the ground, but no sooner had he grasped both sides, when he heard a call from behind him.

“Hey! Can I help you with that?”

He released the box and turned around, bringing up a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, and saw a man already leaning down to pick up the box. He was wearing a dark green dress shirt, despite the heat, with a pair of grey slim legged trousers. Blaine recognized him immediately as one of the men who lived in his building; he had definitely seen him before.

“Thank you. I was trying, but honestly the chances of me making it all the way to my apartment were pretty slim,” Blaine said, giving the man a thankful smile.

“No problem,” the man replied, shifting the box a little. “Lead the way?”

“Oh, sure.”

Blaine preceded the man into the shadowy relief of the building, and directed him up the stairs. There was an awkward silence as they climbed the stairs, except for the sounds of the man grunting slightly as he readjusted the box in his arms. When they turned into the hallway and Blaine gestured to his door, the man looked at him in surprise.

“This is you?” When Blaine nodded, he gave a smile and jerked his head to the door standing directly opposite. “That's me.”

Blaine unlocked the door and ushered him inside first. “I knew you looked familiar,” he said grinning at the man.

When the man continued to stand in the center of the room, shifting the box awkwardly, Blaine hastened to add, “Oh, can you put it right here?” He rushed past and opened a door that lead to a completely empty room, and the man placed the box carefully in the center of the space.

“Thank you so much,” Blaine said, as the man straightened up.

“No problem,” the man said, “Just my neighborly duty.”

Blaine chuckled, “But you didn't know that when we started out, did you?”  He held out a hand, “I'm Blaine, by the way.”

“Kurt,” he said, and took Blaine's outstretched hand in his own. “And maybe I did recognize you from the building. I've seen you around.”

“Have you lived in the building long?” Blaine asked, trying to remember if he had even noticed a new neighbor moving in, but coming up blank.

Kurt shrugged, “About 6 months.”

“Oh,” Blaine gave a slight chuckle. “I guess I don't actually know many people in this building, and I've lived here for years.”

Kurt offered him a warm smile and said, “Well, I suppose you have to start somewhere; it's nice to meet you, Blaine.”

“And you,” Blaine offered with a grin.  “Maybe I can get you something to drink? It's a really hot day for manual labor, and I can see that outfit doesn't really lend itself to comfort.”

Kurt smiled his thanks and turned to follow Blaine to the small kitchen area, but it appeared that he couldn't help but add, “When will people learn that the weather only goes so far as an excuse to change your work wardrobe before it gets plain contemptible. I mean, I understand that I may sacrifice more than most for fashion, but I draw the line at flip flops at the office.”

Blaine looked back at him while he opened the fridge. “You're in fashion?”

Kurt seemed pleased at this quick guess, “I am.” He sat down at the table while Blaine poured them both a glass of apple juice.

“I'm a teacher,” Blaine said, handing Kurt his glass. “Fashion isn't really your priority when staying paint and mud free is at the top of your list of aims for the day.”  

Kurt grinned. “I see your point.”

 Kurt seemed to glance over Blaine as he took a seat on the opposite side of the table, before saying, “You're pregnant, right? I know it's uncouth to ask, but as I just carried a dismantled crib up two flights of stairs I think you'll forgive the assumption.”

Blaine grinned and placed a hand on his belly. “I'm not exactly trying to hide it. I'm just over four months along now.”

“And can I ask where your boyfriend is? Shouldn't he be helping you with stuff like this?” Blaine's face drew together at the thought of Connor, but Kurt must have interpreted the look as a question, because he continued, “I've seen you together in the halls.”

Blaine put his glass down on the table, and leant backwards in his chair, putting his hands over his belly protectively.

“We're,” he paused. “We're not together anymore.” His voice was suddenly colder, and Kurt picked up on it.

 “Oh, I'm sorry; it's none of my business.” Blaine looked up to find Kurt looking at him with an inquiring look on his face, his eyebrows drawn together, obviously trying to work out the story behind it. Blaine wondered for a second what Kurt must be seeing on his face, and tried to school his expression into something more composed.  

“No, god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude,” Blaine said quickly. “We just, um, decided to go our own separate ways,” Blaine shrugged.

Kurt inclined his head as if to indicate that he was not going to push the subject, but Blaine could see a slight crease between his eyebrows that made him sure that Kurt had something more to say on the subject.

“This pregnancy wasn't planned,” Blaine said eventually, keeping his eyes down on his glass. “I mean, I thought we would be headed in this direction eventually.” He looked up at Kurt and elaborated, “You know, marriage, babies. But we'd been together a year and a half when I found out I was pregnant, and it turned out that he never wanted children. Just never saw them as part of the plan. He didn't want to keep it, and I knew already that I could never give up my baby. So, we both wanted different things. He moved out, and I decided to raise the baby alone.” Blaine looked down at his hands, still placed protectively over his stomach. “We each get what we want.” As he said it, he heard the echo of his voice repeating the same phrase, and the phantom feeling of his heart breaking.

“Well, he obviously doesn't know what he's missing out on,” Kurt said, and Blaine could see the hardness that had not left his eyes, but was now softened by another look; pity?

“God,” Blaine said quickly, “You don't have to say that. You don't have to say anything; I don't even know why I said all that. Normally I just stick to ‘we decided to go our own separate ways'. I don't know why I told you the whole sob story.” Blaine trailed off, the train of thought being directed more at himself than Kurt.

“Maybe sometimes you just need someone to listen. I don't know you, so I can't judge you. Sometimes it's easier to speak to someone you don't really know.” 

Blaine smiled in thanks. He immediately tried to steer the conversation to more neutral topics. “So how long have you lived in New York?”

Kurt seemed to sense that Blaine wanted to change the topic, and did not need prompting for a long story about his move from small town, Ohio that somehow included a loud best friend, a hippo brooch, and a show choir.