June 1938

“Finn. She’s not coming. We’ve been here for hours.”
Blaine complained from his spot perched atop the fencepost at the edge of the fairgrounds.

Finn ignored him and continued scanning the bustling crowd.

Blaine chewed impatiently at the stalk of bluegrass in his mouth; he was desperately hot and his back was stiff from sitting on the fencepost for so long.

“C’mon, let’s go down to the river for a swim.” Blaine suggested, pushing his dark, sweaty curls off his forehead and back beneath the brim of his newsboy cap.

Finn waved his hand at Blaine impatiently. “She said she’d be here; she’ll be here.”

Blaine groaned and slid off the fence to lie in the grass. This was not how he envisioned starting off his summer vacation. Rolling onto his stomach, Blaine watched the hordes of people wandering about the brightly lit, bustling fairgrounds. It was dusk, and the air was filled with the sounds of carnival games and the smell of popcorn.

“There she is!” Finn suddenly exclaimed, pointing to a petite dark haired girl in a light pink dress standing over by the Ferris wheel.

“Hey Rachel!” Finn started bounding across the field towards her before Blaine even had a chance to pull himself up off the ground.

Blaine meandered over to them slowly, reluctant to begin what would surely be an exhausting conversation with the loquacious Rachel Berry.

When he finally reached the place where Finn and Rachel were standing, the pair were already engaged in an animated conversation. Blaine’s attention, however, had shifted.

There was a tall boy standing slightly off to the side, behind Rachel; someone he didn’t recognize. Raleigh was a small town and it was unusual to stumble upon an unfamiliar face. Blaine’s gaze had been drawn in by the boy’s clothing; he was impeccably dressed, in a pressed shirt and a dark fedora. Blaine glanced down at his own attire self consciously; his pants were creased and his shirt was so dirty he had no idea what colour it was even supposed to be.

The thing that held Blaine’s attention though, were his eyes. They were startlingly blue and piercing. Before Blaine had time to give anymore thought to the unidentified boy, Rachel interrupted his thoughts.

“Oh, Finn, Blaine, this is my cousin, Kurt Hummel. His family is staying in town for the summer so I thought I’d show him around!”

In light of this new information, Blaine appraised the boy again. It made sense that he was Rachel’s cousin- he looked as if he came from the same family; a family with money.

Most of the night passed in a blur; Blaine was distracted by Kurt’s presence. He found himself deeply intrigued Kurt, but he couldn’t figure out why. He justified it to himself that he would pay the same amount of attention to any new kid in town, but he knew that wasn’t the case. There was something in those eyes.

Eventually the foursome found themselves in line for the towering Ferris wheel. Rachel bobbed excitedly on Finn’s arm as they approached the front of the line while Kurt on the other hand, looked more and more apprehensive the closer they got.

It wasn’t until it was finally their turn and Finn and Rachel had clambered in to one of the two person carts that they realized their problem.

The Ferris wheel was traditionally a “couples” activity; it seemed a bit strange for two almost full grown men to ride together. Kurt looked uncomfortably at Blaine, but Blaine just shrugged, unfazed.

“I waited all this time in that dumb line, I’m going on it.”

“Come on Kurt,” urged Rachel, “It’s a great view from the top. Perfect way to see Raleigh for the first time!”

Blaine waited patiently until Kurt gave in to Rachel’s incessant pestering and they both climbed in.

He sat as far away from Blaine in the cart as he possibly could and gripped the safety bar across their laps with white knuckles. Kurt peered nervously over the rail before snapping his head back quickly and pressing his back against the seat as close as he could.

Blaine couldn’t help but chuckle as he asked, “You afraid of heights?”

They were the first words Blaine had spoken to Kurt all night.

Kurt instantly loosened his grip on the rail. “No, no I just- don’t like Ferris wheels.”

“You are afraid aren’t you?”

Blaine was laughing outright now. He wasn’t trying to be cruel, he was just amused that the calm and collected boy that had managed to remain so perfectly aloof the whole evening was coming undone over such a tame carnival ride.

“Aw, it’s nothing to scared of,” Blaine cajoled him, “Look, it’s steady as a rock.” As Blaine spoke, he started swinging the carriage back and forth with his body.

Kurt turned a little green. “Please- please - stop.” he said, through gritted teeth.

“You wouldn’t even die if you fell from this height.” Blaine assured him, peering over the edge.

Kurt scoffed. “I think you definitely would.”

It was too tempting. Blaine grinned wickedly at Kurt and said, “Care to test that theory?” as he swung open the bar holding them into their seats.

“What the hell are you doing, you lunatic?!” Kurt’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates and his mouth hung agape as Blaine went back to swaying the carriage with his weight again. Kurt started to slide forward in his seat a little and he gripped the cushion for dear life.

Blaine laughed. “Come on, live a little.” He winked at Kurt as he latched onto the rung above their heads and swung off.

Blaine was now dangling in the air at the top of the Ferris wheel as if it were just a set of monkey bars.
“Get down from there right now before you get us both killed!” Kurt yelled shrilly.

Blaine looked back at him unconcerned. “It’s kind of nice out here. I’m enjoying the breeze.” He grinned cheekily at Kurt while Kurt panicked.

“I swear to god if you don’t get back in here right now...”

Blaine chuckled as he swung comfortably from the top of the Ferris wheel, but his fun was interrupted by Rachel’s voice bellowing from one car below them.

“Blaine Anderson! Get down from there right this MINUTE!”

Finn just chuckled from his spot beside Rachel. He was used to Blaine’s antics.

Blaine rolled his eyes and swung himself back into his seat and to safety; anything to make Rachel shut up.
As the Ferris wheel descended, Kurt didn’t say another word to Blaine. He stared fixedly in the opposite direction the entire time, arms crossed tightly over his chest. When they finally reached the ground, Kurt moved as far away from Blaine as possible.

Blaine felt a twinge of regret. He hadn’t meant to scare Kurt off completely; he just wanted him to have a little fun, loosen up a bit.

When the group finally decided to start walking home, Finn and Rachel ducked into the alleyway between the general store and the grocer’s with their lips locked. This left Kurt and Blaine strolling down the main street together.

Kurt didn’t even acknowledge Blaine’s presence.

“Have I done something to offend you?” Blaine asked, when he couldn’t stand the silence longer.

Kurt rolled his eyes, “Offend me? You almost got me killed!”

“I think you’re mostly just mad because now everyone knows how afraid of heights you are. It was just a bit of fun.” Blaine smiled deviously at Kurt.

“You call almost dying fun?” Kurt asked sceptically.

“Hearing you scream like a girl was pretty fun.” Blaine replied.

“I did not scream like a girl! I- -I...yeah. I guess I did.” Kurt mumbled. “Regardless, I still think you’re a complete head case.”

“Don’t you ever do anything just to get your heart racing?”

Kurt studied Blaine strangely for a moment before saying,

“No. Unlike you, I don’t get any real pleasure from near death experiences.”

“Do you ever do anything just for fun? Just for the thrill? Or are rich people not allowed to have fun?” Blaine asked, only half joking.

“I have fun!” Kurt replied indignantly. “I take piano lessons and...I play chess and tennis and...”

“How about something your parents didn’t make you do?”

“Well fine. Got any ideas then?”

Blaine was surprised by the teasing nature of Kurt’s response, as well as intrigued by the hint of a challenge in his voice. He chewed his bottom lip for a moment in thought before grabbing Kurt’s hand and dragging him into the middle of the street.

Blaine felt Kurt’s hand flinch at the sudden contact, but he ignored it and held on.

Before Kurt could object, Blaine lay down flat on his back in the middle of the road.

“What are you even...” Kurt began.

But Blaine yanked him down to the ground beside him before he could ask any more questions.

“Why are we lying in the street? This is a new shirt!” Kurt asked.

“Oh hush. Look at the sky.” Blaine instructed him.

The two boys turned their eyes upwards and took in the inky blackness. It was peppered with thousands of bright stars. Blaine felt Kurt breathe in deeply beside him and exhale steadily.

“You like it?” he asked.

“It’s been a really long time since I looked at the stars.” Kurt replied with a hint of regret in his voice.

“So what happens if a car comes?” Kurt asked turning to look at Blaine.

Blaine looked back at him and replied stoically, “You die.”

“I’m beginning to think you have a serious death wish.” Kurt said as he punched Blaine in the arm.

“In the words of Walt Whitman, ‘Do anything, but let it produce joy’” Blaine replied, staring intently at Kurt.

Kurt returned his gaze, and Blaine felt unsettled by it. Kurt’s eyes were so penetrating, he felt as if they could see right through him. However, he didn’t break the gaze.

He noticed Kurt’s cheeks were slightly flushed and that he fidgeted under Blaine’s intense gaze.

Their eye contact was broken by the sound of tires on gravel and headlights in front of them.

“Shit!” Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hand and yanked him up as the car approached. They scrambled to get off the road just as the car zoomed past.

And with that, it was gone. Whatever Blaine had imagined to be strung between them disappeared into wisps of thin air. He tasted the bitterness of disappointment in his mouth. Kurt turned away from him as they stood on the sidewalk and there was suddenly distance between them. Kurt wouldn’t even look at him and Blaine mentally kicked himself for whatever he had done to deserve the sudden cold shoulder.

“I’m going to go find Rachel. Thanks for almost getting me killed. Really thrilling.” Kurt quipped.

Blaine’s eyebrows knit together in confusion at Kurt’s abrupt change in attitude. He tried to hide the disappointment that was surely written all over his face from Kurt, but the other boy had already turned away and started walking home.

“Hey,” Blaine called to him, “do I get to see you again?”

“I don’t think so.” Kurt called over his shoulder.

As Kurt continued to walk away from him, he tried not to feel the sting of regret in his chest or the familiar feeling of loss settling in his stomach. It wouldn’t be the first time that Blaine had lost a friend when he had let his gaze linger a little too long or touched the hand of another boy.

Sighing heavily, Blaine realized that Kurt had probably just labelled him in exactly the same way that all the others had: as a fag.