The hour passed by in a blur. Cady handed Blaine several documents in quick succession. Some required a signature, some were copies of released articles, and one was a list of answers to any question a reporter might ask.

"Do I really need this?" he asked, glancing at the three page sheet after he'd finished with the final article. "I'm supposed to refuse comment most of the time anyway."

"I know, Blaine. I know. It's just in case you feel pressured or feel like you might slip. We have to keep this as contained as possible." Cady ran out to her secretary's desk and hurriedly gave her a few instructions to ignore any incoming calls. He sighed audibly and read through a few of the bullet points.

"Do you still need me here?" he asked as his agent bounced back in, barely acknowledging his presence.

"Uh, no we're good, but Chris called. You don't need to come in until four this afternoon."

"Great" Blaine muttered under his breath as he lined up the papers in his lap and set them on the counter. He stood up and took out his phone, checking for any important messages.

"Oh even better," he said, seeing that his mom had called only a few minutes before.

Cady looked up at him, her sandy blond hair covering half of her face. "Please don't tell me there's something else."

Blaine shook his head. "Just family—I'll see you tonight then?"

"Right. I'll be there a little before you go on. I'm sorry I missed it yesterday," she said earnestly. She stood up and stretched her arms out in front of her. "My baby Blaine all grown up and headlining one of the biggest shows of the season and I wasn't even there for the opening."

Blaine laughed and stepped forward, accepting the hug. "You know I don't mind. Your kid's recital is more important anyway."

She dropped her arms and laughed, "You'd think, but Aiiden just wanted to skip the entire thing to see you. He threatened to run off the stage at one point."

Blaine chuckled, thinking of the small, blonde seven-year-old that was more melodramatic than Rachel Berry herself. "How'd you get him to perform?"

"I promised him ice cream after," she shrugged.

Blaine barked out a laugh. "Of course. Ice cream always does the trick." The phone lit up in Blaine's hand, and he glanced down to see his mother calling him for the second time. "I should probably get going and do some damage control of my own."

Cady nodded understanding. "Alright, call me if anything new comes up."

"Will do," he said, moving towards the door.

"Stay out of trouble!" She yelled after him.

Blaine turned around and mockingly saluted her, "Yes ma'am."

"Yes mom, I promise I'm fine." Blaine crossed the street, using years of practice to avoid being trampled by the crowd around him.

"I really hope you aren't lying about this. I trust you, Blaine, but the world might not."

"I promise on your fish's life, I'm clean and chaste."

"About that...Mickey died. I'm sorry, Blaine."

"What do you mean he died? Did you not feed him?"

"Well, no. The cat got to him. I just came home one day and he was gone. The bowl was shattered on the ground and Rosie was soaking wet. So yeah, he's gone."

Blaine let out a huff of air as he swerved to avoid a teenager skating down the sidewalk. "Okay, then I swear on Rosie's life that I am clean and chaste."

"Blaine! What's Rosie ever done to you?"

Blaine rolled his eyes at his mom's teasing. "Very funny, mom. I'll stop by the apartment tonight, okay?"

"Okay. I'll make lasagna, your favorite. You probably could use some right now. ...And Blaine?"

"Yeah?" he stopped right outside of the entrance to Central Park, noticing the groups of people scattered around him.

"I'm proud of you, honey. You were amazing last night."

Blaine smiled and looked down, studying the scuff on one of his shoes. "Thanks, mom. That means a lot coming from you."

He could hear her smiling on the line, and knew what she was thinking. "I'm sure if your dad could have come—"

"Let's—please don't," he cut off uncomfortably.

"I know. I'm sorry."

There was an awkward silence on the line as Blaine tried to hold back words.

"So, I'll see you tonight?" Blaine's mom finally said.

"Right."

"Okay, bye Blaine. I love you."

"Love you too," he responded. The connection cut off and Blaine let the phone fall down to his side. Almost immediately it lit up again. He answered it without checking the number.

"Hello?"

"Blaine! What are you doing right now? I just finished my audition and I realized I have nothing left to do today. Want to grab an early lunch?"

"Rachel, I don't know. This hasn't been the best day."

"I know, Blaine. I've heard what happened, but don't let those slut-shaming losers get you down. It's not only your fault."

Blaine grit his teeth, "I. Didn't. Sleep. With. The. Director."

"Fine. No need to get feisty with me. So, lunch? Yes? No?"

"Um..." Blaine glanced around him. He was planning on sitting in the park for a few hours just to kill some time and clear his mind. But maybe he needed someone to talk to, even if that someone happened to be the incredibly nosy but supportive Rachel Berry. "Okay. You know where I am."

"I'll be at the park in fifteen minutes."

"Right, okay."

Blaine wandered to an isolated bench and sat himself down, staring blankly ahead while a little girl chased a piece of fuzz floating in the air. It wasn't until five minutes later that the entire day decided to hit him in the chest.

Blaine suddenly realized how precarious his life and reputation was at the moment. One little push and he would never recover from the scandal. His entire career rode on how well the general public took the news, and how sensationalized the stories about him would become. Ten years would have gone down the drain.

"Oh god" he whispered to himself. He leaned back, staring up at the sky in an attempt to hold back any tears of frustration. It just wasn't fair. None of it was fair.

Despite his best efforts, a few tears escaped and slid down his face. He didn't bother wiping them off, but focused on keeping any new ones from forming. He stared at a stray cloud in the sky.

"Excuse me, but are you alright?"

Blaine tore his eyes away from the bright blue and white and blinked a few times. He thought he was imagining the lean, structured man in front of him for a second, but realized quickly that yes this is the guy from yesterday.

"Oh, hi. Yeah. I'm fine." He composed himself as quickly as possible. Well this is embarrassing. "You're Kurt, right? From the coffee shop?"

The man's face lit up for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that someone had bothered to remember his name. "That's me. And I don't want to be rude, but you don't really look okay. No one should be crying by themselves in one of the biggest cities in the world."

"It's a big city, but that doesn't mean people aren't lonely."

Kurt shrugged, "Maybe. Or maybe it just gives us more chances to meet everyone else. I mean, I've only just met you last night and here you are again."

Blaine fell silent. He hadn't thought of the city that way in a while. In his few years he'd hardened himself to the crowds. He was Blaine, and everyone else was just... everyone else. Of course there was Rachel and Cady and his mom, but he knew something wasn't completely right.

"So, you don't have to tell me anything, but I'll sit here while you cry. So you have someone."

Blaine didn't respond, he stared at Kurt, not knowing how to react. He was still upset about everything that had happened, but now he was becoming sentimental about a place where he already lived. More importantly, Kurt managed to remind him of how alone he felt every day. In just a few sentences, he shook everything around Blaine. And now he was just... sitting there, sipping something from a plain white mug and staring straight ahead. He felt like he needed to say something, but he didn't know what.

"My fish died today," he blurted before he could stop himself. "Well, it used to be my fish, when I lived at home. It was almost immortal. It's been alive forever and my mom told me today that it died. Well... the cat ate it, but either way I don't have a fish anymore."

Kurt turned to Blaine and raised an eyebrow. "I guess the fish meant a lot to you?"

"No. Not really."

"I'm lost."

"It was a jerk. I would feed him, and he would just eat the food. No thank you or even a little fin wiggle in response."

Kurt burst out laughing, nearly dropping his drink in the process. Laugh lines appeared around his face, and Blaine caught a glimpse of the man's teeth. By the time he composed himself, Blaine was grinning himself.

"Well I guess the fish had it coming then," Kurt finally said.

"I guess so," Blaine responded, laughing himself.

"BLAINE!" a voice called from not ten feet away.

"Jesus, Rachel I'm right here."

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't see you there."

Somehow, Blaine and Kurt managed to share a look. Blaine was surprised at how immediate the reaction had been. He paused for a moment and looked again at Kurt, tilting his head with interest. He'd just met Kurt, but somehow they were already able to connect without even thinking.

Rachel subtly cleared her throat and Blaine snapped to attention.

"Right, um Rachel this is Kurt. Kurt, this is my friend Rachel."

Kurt held out his hand, "I know who you are Miss. Berry. I was at charity Les Mis performance two months ago. Your Eponine was phenomenal."

Rachel gave a wide, open mouthed smile, surprised that she was meeting a fan. "Nice to meet you... Kurt was it? I can't think of why Blaine didn't introduce us sooner."

"We only just met," Kurt answered, giving Blaine a knowing look.

"Wait, you're interested in theater?"

Kurt just nodded, "I'm a musical theater major myself."

"Huh," Blaine said.

"We were both musical theater majors too! Well technically Blaine was a double major in English and musical theater but he's an overachiever." Rachel was speaking at a million miles an hour now that she knew she had an interested audience. Blaine just stood there, with a half open mouth, staring at Kurt.

When she finally paused long enough to take a break, Kurt politely cut in.

"So, it was an honor meeting you guys, but my friend is expecting me, so I should..." Kurt gestured behind him.

"Right, of course, it was wonderful meeting you, Kurt!" Rachel beamed.

"You too." Kurt turned directly to Blaine, "I work Mondays, and then Thursdays through Sundays. Always from Seven PM to Midnight"

"O-okay. I-I'll stop by," Blaine stuttered.

"Great! See you around!"

Within moments, Kurt was gone.

"He knew the whole time." Blaine whispered in a slight daze.

"What was that?"

"Kurt knew who I was, but he didn't say anything."

"And that's a good thing?"

"Yeah, it really is."