"And he knew my dad, Rachel. He knew my dad." Kurt exclaimed as he plopped down on the old couch in his childhood home. Dinner did not end as pleasantly as it started. He was not sure if it was the fact that he was still deeply affected by the loss of his father or the knowledge that his father gave him speech after speech about how much he mattered because of his now fake boyfriend. The dancer remembered those conversations.

"When you start dating, son, don't stay with someone that doesn't respect you. You're better than that."

"Sometimes you have to let something go to better yourself. You come first, Kurt; you matter."

Kurt sighed and turned to his best, and only, friend. She smiled. "I'm sure he was excited to find out that you were Burt's son. You said he wanted to be friends. Now you guys have something in common. Friendship is just around the river bend." Then she broke into a song.

I look once more
Just around the riverbend
Beyond the shore
Where the gulls fly free
Don't know what for
What I dream the day might send
Just around the riverbend
For me
Coming for me

Only Rachel. Kurt thought. "Well,Rachel," he took care to emphasize her name in an attempt to get her attention, "I kind of walked out after the story, so I didn't get an opportunity to watch his eyes light up over our new found connection." He spat the words out as if they were poison. Rachel held up her hands in surrender.

"I'm just saying; you're pushing away a really nice guy for no reason at all."

"I'll tell you like I told Blaine. Friendships are like poison. It seeps through your veins and kills you slowly; just like friends do." Kurt let out a dark chuckle at the look of shock that passed over the girl's face. "Calm down, Rachel. You're practically my sister; way more important than a friend."

The young woman looked pleased. "Good then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a few errands to run and you have to leave for work. You can't afford to be late."

"You can't afford to be late." Kurt mocked as he stood up from the couch. He gave Rachel a hug and watched her walk out the front door. Then, much to his own dismay, he was left alone with his own thoughts.

Blaine walked to the drop off window and dropped the tiny blue basket on the counter. It rattled loud enough to startle the intern, who was working diligently at her station. She turned her head and stared at the pharmacist. He stared back. "Is there a reason we didn't run this through her insurance. I just got my rear chewed by this woman because we didn't handle this properly." The intern, Harmony, stared at him with wide eyes. Blaine was a mild tempered man. He never raised his voice and he certainly never got angry. She was oblivious as to how to handle the situation

."Ummm..."

"Umm?" He repeated. "Let me ask you this. Do you have $500 to pay for a month's worth of medication?" Timidly, Harmony shook her head. "Neither does she." He insisted. "So fix this!" The intern took the medication and used the information to pull up the patient's records. She was a bit frazzled due the encounter but no one was going to hold her back from finishing her internship; not even Blaine.

Quinn, who watched the exchange from her station, saw a side of her friend that she'd never seen before. He seemed tense and frustrated. She had to figure out what was going on. So, when Blaine returned to his station, she whispered to him. "Hey, what's wrong, Blainey?"

"Don't call me that!" He snapped; his eyes never leaving his computer screen.

She rolled her eyes and tried again. "Fine,Blaine." She enunciated his name. "What's wrong? You seem tense." All at once, his shoulders sagged and his face fell. He was tense. Dinner ended up being a disaster and that scared him.

"Kurt freaked out on me last night." He finally replied.

"Who?"

"Kalvin."

"Ohhh..."

"Yeah. Remember Burt Hummel that used to tell me that Jeremiah was a jerk? The guy that used to complain about how much money his son spent on clothes?" Quinn nodded. She remembered. He was a kind, older man that frequents their pharmacy. Some days, he spent hours there telling them stories about his son and asking for advice about how to coax him into coming out.

"I was thinking, I could watch that show 'Queer as Folk' with him. I'll just be like, 'hey, they're gay. That's cool'. And he'll tell me he's gay." Burt suggested.

Blaine, who was lead pharmacist for the day, and Quinn, who was acting as his relief, snorted in response. When Burt tilted his head, obviously confused, Quinn responded. "Trust me, Burt. You don't want to watch that show with your teenage son. It could get....awkward."

"Oh..." Burt looked put out. "I guess it's back to the drawing board then." The pharmacists nodded at the man. He definitely needed to go back to the drawing board.

"What ever happened to him? He just stopped coming." Quinn asked as she checked another prescription. The pharmacy was slow but that didn't mean there weren't prescriptions to be checked.

Blaine sighed and turned to look at his friend. "He died and he was Kurt's father. When I told Kurt the story on how I met him, he just...I don't know. It was weird. First, he just stared. Then he told me that Burt was his father. Then, he just stood up and walked out. I tried to run after him but he was gone. I don't even know how he got home. Now, he won't return my calls and....Quinn," the girl's head turned towards her friend when he said her name, "I need Kurt. I can't do this without him. I just...I need him, Quinn."

Quinn pushed her reading glasses further up her nose –I didn't need glasses until I started Pharmacy school- and turned to her friend. "You're overreacting, B." She insisted. "He was probably shocked out of his mind when he found out that you knew his father and he freaked. Give him some time. Obviously the wounds are still fresh and-"She stopped talking the moment she saw her. The waitress from the club.Raven, if I remember her name correctly."Can I help you?" The blond asked as the bouncy brunette strode towards the counter. She smiled.

"Yes. Hello, my name is Rachel Berry and I'm looking for Blaine Anderson." She proclaimed proudly. Rachel. It wasn't what she expected but it was much more humanized than Raven. She watched as the girl, dressed far more tamely than she had been during their last encounter, turned to her colleague.

The lead stepped forward when he heard his name. "I'm Blaine Anderson. How can I help you?" He remembered Rav-Rachel –I wish they would stick with one name-in the vaguest sense of the word. The young girl looked towards her and nodded.

"Yes you can help me. I just got a text from my friend, Kurt, asking me to come here and have you come to the club," she cupped her mouth and whispered the last two words, "tonight."

"Am I invited?" Quinn chimed. Rachel's head swung in her direction and the girl's giant brown eyes met Quinn's. The young woman flushed.It's just warm in here. It's chilly outside right now and they have their heat up too high.She tried to convince herself.

"Umm...if you want to." She all but whispered. Quinn, smug as ever smiled and nodded.

"We'll be there." She replied. Blaine gaped at her. Since when did he not get to make his own decisions? When Quinn noticed the look on her friend's face, her expression softened. "What?" She asked. "You were just telling me that you need to talk to him and now you've got the chance. You're welcome." She then turned back to Rachel. "We'll see you tonight, hon." Rachel smiled and nodded before bustling out of the tiny pharmacy.

Quinn watched her go. Blaine found it amusing. "Quinnie and Rachel sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." He sang as he began to check prescriptions again. Late afternoon was upon them and that meant they were that much closer to the evening rush.

One thing that Blaine loved about Quinn was the fact that her laughter was contagious. Not long after she began to laugh at his childish song, he began to laugh as well. "If I'm lucky, it'll be more like F-U-C-K-I-N-G." Blaine stopped laughing immediately and glared playfully at his friend.

"Great way to take something adorable and turn it into something sexual, Santana." He chided.

Quinn gasped dramatically. "Ouch, B." She held a hand to her heart and fanned offense. Blaine smiled and shrugged. Honestly, he didn't care if she was offended. Kurt wanted to see him. That was a good thing, right?

Kurt covered his torso, chest, and shoulders with a light sheen of glitter. It was the final touch he needed to offset his routine for the evening. When he was finished, he stepped back and checked himself in the mirror.Perfect.He tossed the aerosol can into his bag and headed towards the stage. It was almost show time.

Not too long ago, the young man sat in his truck thinking. He thought about Blaine and the situation at hand. Maybe he had overreacted at dinner. The fact that Blaine knew his father was not a bad thing.Hell, the guy practically has a Burt Hummel stamp of approval on his ass.He told himself. Burt always spoke highly of Blaine, even if Kurt hadn't known it at the time. So, what was the problem?

Lima. Lima, Ohio was the problem. Kurt still wanted to move. That, in his young mind, required him to keep ties to a minimum. The way it was, before Blaine, he had three main ties to the area; his two dead parents, who lay side by side in Woodlawn Cemetery, and Rachel, who was leaving with him. That was before though. Now, there was Blaine and Kurt was not sure how he felt about that. Not only was Blaine nice –and a bit misguided- but he was also caring and compassionate. Kurt Hummel circa two years ago would have killed for a friend like Blaine. But things changed; he changed. He wasn't the lonely high school kid with He was a young adult that needed to get away. Could he get away with a friend hot on his tail?

"Friendship is like a fine wine." Kurt's mother said to him one day as they played in her garden. He had just finished telling her about his 'unfortunate' run in with the new neighbor girl, Rachel, and his mother had a few choice words about it.

"It makes daddy act silly at weddings?" The child asked. His mother let out a hearty laugh; one that Kurt loved dearly. It was so fully of life and happiness. He was only five, but he'd convinced himself that based on her laugh, his mother was the happiest person on Earth.

"Well, that too." She began. She shifted on her knees and continued to tend to her plants as she spoke. "What I meant was; friendship is something that gets better with time. I'm sure if you give Rachel a chance, you'll see that she isn't that bad."

"She told me I can't be Belle anymore when we play 'Beauty and the Beast'. I was born to play Belle, mommy. She said I had to be Gaston. I don't like stupid Gaston." His mother narrowed her eyes and Kurt quickly apologized for his tongue slip. He knew stupid was a bad word but he was just so angry.

"You guys will figure it out. Give her a chance."

Give her a chance.

Give her a chance.

Give him a chance.

Friendship is like fine wine.The words rang through his head as he sat in the parking lot. Maybe he could give Blaine a chance. His dad liked him and he really was interesting.

The performer checked the clock on the dashboard. "Crap." He hissed as he grabbed his bag. He didn't have time to go talk to his 'boyfriend' but maybe he could get Rachel to invite him to the show while she was running her errands.

Kurt fired off a text message to Rachel, asking her to run by the pharmacy. He would have text Blaine himself but he wasn't sure how angry Blaine was about his storm off. Rachel responded that she would invite Blaine and Kurt was relieved. He had a new number in mind and he wanted to try it out.

Blaine and Quinn...and Santana because she invited herself –"What is my night without watching some lovely ladies whose parents didn't love them enough?"-sat front and center for each performance. For the most part, Quinn and Blaine chatted with Rachel as they enjoyed their wine. Santana was another story. "Come here, girl. Show me what you'll do for a few dollars." She shouted at the girl on stage.

The young woman, who seemed to be enjoying herself and the attention Santana was showering her with, complied. She strutted across the stage to the Latina and danced for what looked to be only her. Santana ate it up. The young doctor shouted and hollered as the dancer worked for every dollar she earned. When the song was finished, the girl threw a wink Santana's way and sashayed off stage. "As much as I'd love to stay here, I've gotta run." She said as she gathered her belongings. Blaine and Quinn simply stared at her.

"Where are you going?" Quinn finally asked. Santana stop repacking her giant purse and stared back at them. I thought that one was obvious.

"Umm..date. Duh!" It should have been obvious.

"Date? Why didn't you tell us you had a date?"

"Because I just got the date."

Quinn and Blaine looked towards the stage and then back at their friend. No way. "The dancer?" The male pharmacist asked incredulously.

"Don't make that face, Anderson. One, it makes you look like you've got a poopy in your pants. Two, you're dating a stripper," she emphasized the word, "so, I can too." With that, she turned and left; leaving her two closest friends stunned; which they both realized was ridiculous because it was Santana and nothing she did should have surprised them.

Blaine continued to watch the dancers work while Quinn continued her never ending conversation with Rachel about any and all things musical theatre. "I can't believe you saw Wicked the same weekend I did. That's amazing. My dad's took me and...we may have seen each other." Rachel, Raven as her nametag read, gushed.

"I know right." Quinn lied. Of course she'd seen Wicked on Broadway, but she'd lied through her teeth about the timeframe. Rachel didn't need to know that though. When Rachel named the date that she went, Quinn took that opportunity to build a fake connection between them. Rachel ate it up. "It's like we were meant to be or something." And God, she was laying it on thick. There was something about Rachel that she liked though.

They continued to chat until Blaine quieted them. Artie was in the process of introducing Kurt and the curtain was rising. The stage needed his undivided attention, not Quinn's libido.

Kurt was already down to his underwear, tiny, black, and sat perfectly low on his hips, and a pair of heeled, knee high boots. Blaine watched in awe as the young man twirled around the pole like he was born to do it.

Got venom dripping from my lips
Know who you're about to kiss
Think that you can handle it, boy, it's on
Just step into the danger zone
Shake it if you wanna roll, never bend,
Just take control, stakes are on

Kurt placed his hand on the top of the pole and began to swing. He looked wobbly, as if he couldn't quite catch himself, but Blaine realized it was intentional when the man's legs wrapped around the pole. Kurt spun in perfectly timed circles. Then he let go. He leaned back and let his hands slip off the brass cylinder. He was held up only by only his perfectly toned legs. When did Blaine start noticing the tone of Kurt's legs? He shook his head to clear the thought.I don't think about Kurt's legs.

That bad girl power I got, I'll abuse it tonight
Cause tonight got poison on my mind
That power I got, you'll be mine when I strive, feel alive
Got poison on my mind
I got that poison (uh huh), I got that poison (uh huh)
I got that poison, that poison on my mind

Blaine smiled at the lyrics. He remembered the conversation vaguely. He remembered Kurt telling him that he viewed friendship as a 'special kind of poison'. Obviously, Kurt changed his mind. It made the pharmacist's heart swell. He loved new friends; so did Doo Wop. His dog acted like an excited puppy when he met new people.Maybe because he is an excited puppy.

So cool out, let her in the scene
Cause tonight I need you clean
My sexy little dirty scream, yeah, it's on
And then I get you in my stream, play it hard to be extreme
You're so cool, baby, you're so mean (Turn me on, turn me on)

Kurt looked more like a professional dancer than a stripper. The crowd seemed to love it. Despite the lack overt sex appeal that Kurt usually dripped like sweat, the audience threw hard earned money on the stage like they hadn't worked all week to make it. Blaine watched the boy bend backwards, still swinging as he did, and grabbed near the base pole. His eyes widened as Kurt's right leg slipped from around the pole and his Right hand reached around to grab his ankle. Then, he continued to spin. He was held only by the appendages on the left side of his body. It was mystifying...and beautiful. The way Kurt's body held on when it seemed as if gravity should have pulled him to the ground was amazing. It made sense though. Of all the things Blaine knew about his friend –yes, I can call him that because we're technically BFFS now- he knew that Kurt had a way of staying up when gravity should have long pulled him down.

That bad girl power I got, I'll abuse it tonight
Got poison on my mind
That power I got, you'll be mine, feel alive
Got poison on my mind

The young dancer finished his routine by sliding eloquently down the pole and dropping into a split. He tossed a wink over his shoulder before hoisting himself up and strutting off stage. The audience, including Blaine and Quinn from what he could tell, was sad to see him go.

"I thought you would have left with that girl." Kurt said as he padded across the empty parking lot; staying mindful not to stray too far from the street lights. The air was unusually warm for an October evening so he carried coat rather than wearing it.

Blaine shrugged and leaned back against his car. He contemplated camping out at Kurt's truck but decided against it. There was something oddly pristine about the old vehicle and he was hesitant to even breathe too closely to it. "She pretended to be stranded so your friend Rachel would take her home.

One of Kurt's perfectly manicured eyebrows shot up. "Rachel?" He asked.

The pharmacist nodded. "Quinn seems to be very taken by her."

"Until she gets to know her." The dancer mumbled. "So...what did you think about the performance?" The change in conversation seemed welcome by Blaine.

"It was great. You looked different up there. You weren't all sexy and...not saying that you're not sexy...well, not saying that I look at you like you're sexy." He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. He was flustered. Kurt giggled and urged him to continue. "You looked...like a stage performer...like someone who belonged on a huge stage and not one with a polished brass pole. There. That's what I was trying to say." He grinned a self-satisfied grin and waited for his friend –again, we're BFFs now-to respond.

"Thanks. That's not what I meant though. I was asking about the song. I don't know if you remember that conversation we had but-"

"Of course I do. I felt the song choice was appropriate for our situation. I can't even begin to tell you how excited this situation makes me. Well, not excited like that. Not that you couldn't make someone excited like that. I mean...I love Jeremiah. Not that someone couldn't love you and.." Blaine continued to ramble for a moment.

"You really know how to make a guy feel good, Blaine." He mumbled. Blaine's face fell and he immediately began to apologize. Kurt sighed and held up a hand. "Listen, if we're going to be friends, you have to stop that. You can't just go around second guessing yourself. Grab your balls and stand tall. That's what my dad used to say."

Blaine's eyes widened. Kurt was a bit brash for his liking but that didn't kill the swell of excitement that surged through his chest every time he thought about what they were.Friends. F is friends that do stuff together. Darn you, Spongebob."Ummm...yeah. So...do you want me to walk you to your car?" He asked once he'd gathered his composure. Kurt nodded. It would be nice to be walked to his car.

"You know, we missed dinner with Sebastian and Julius." The dancer said as they walked away from the Prius.

"Jeremiah," Blaine chided, "and I know. I told them you were sick and I couldn't bear to go without you." Blaine replied. He earned an audible gasp from the younger man.

"Y-you lied? Oh no! Someone call the Vatican. This outlaw just broke a commandment." He joked. Blaine rolled his eyes and continued across the parking lot. "One thing you're going to have to realize about me is that I joke around a lot with my friends."

Blaine nodded. "I can live with that." He could. He liked a joke from time to time and Kurt seemed nice enough. "Doo Wop can too." And thus it began. Blaine went on and on about his puppy and Kurt groaned playfully at each detail.If he pulls up pictures of his dog on his phone, I'm done."Oh and let me show you this picture I have of him on my phone. He was playing with a ball of yarn like a cat and..." Kurt wasn't done though.Friendship is like fine wine.He reminded himself.Friendship is like fine wine.