Mercedes climbed the ladder to the tree house. She was actually ready for anything because Kurt was rather unreasonable when he was letting strong emotions govern his judgment. She pulled herself up into the little house that Kurt's dad had built when they were just kids.

She remembered falling out that first summer. Burt had gathered her up in his arms and taken her to the hospital, holding her while they waited for her mom to come. Kurt had sat curled up next to her, slowly rubbing her back and gently moving the hair out of her eyes and placing a sweet kiss on her forehead. Her arm was in a cast and she was groggy with pain medication by the time her mother came, but Kurt and his dad never let go of her. Kurt was the first one to sign the cast, and he wrote the lyrics of a song for her...”You're My Best Friend”. She had been a fan of Queen forever after that.

Kurt was sitting across the floor, on a green pillow, shivering and holding his arms crossed in front, rubbing his shoulders in the cold. His eyes were so big, and the tears were rolling down his cheeks. Why did she see him so often like this? She didn't know anyone that cried as often as Kurt. But then, she didn't know anyone that had reason to.....

“Kurt, honey,” she said in a quiet voice. She didn't make eye contact yet, just turned her face a bit so he wouldn't spook.

He didn't answer.

“Come here, I brought you a blanket.”

No answer, but he crept over and he held out his hand for the blanket. She turned to face him and he turned away, the red blush flushing across his face. She wondered how hard it must be to show everything you ever thought on your face. No wonder he had developed that bitch-glare to shield himself. But there was no glare for her. Just a shy side-look.

She unfolded the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, tucking his feet under the edge after removing his soaking wet socks. He hummed a thank you. Mercedes poured a cup of hot coffee and handed it to him, then gathered him close to her. He drank a few big gulps and put his head on her shoulder. She had put just a pinch or two of cinnamon in the coffee and added a touch of honey. Nobody else ever put honey in coffee, but she knew him that well.

'Mercy...” His voice was squeaky high with emotion, so he swallowed again and tried to calm down. Most people shortened her name to 'Cedes, but to him 'Mercy' just fit better. “Mercedes, you are so sweet to me.....and I....I....I don't deserve it. Oh, my....I just cannot tell you how sorry I am. I thought you had forgotten. I wanted to apologize to you. Like, every day since then, but you never said a word, you never even seemed to remember it. Honestly, I thought you had forgotten,” he sobbed, tears rolling onto her coat.

“No, Kurt. There is nothing for you to apologize for. And no, I never forgot a single second of that night. I don't think I ever will.” And she kissed her friend on his temple and held him closer, rubbing his back.

“But how can you forgive me? After what I did?”

“Oh, Kurt. Don't you remember? There were two people in that bed that night. You didn't act alone. I was a quite willing partner, you know,” Mercedes said very quietly

“Oh, Mercy...we were so young. I don't want you to think it was me trying to experiment to see if I was really and truly gay. I honestly didn't even think about that. It was, just, well, you were my best friend and you were so warm and you smelled so good. And I thought you wanted me to.” Kurt sighed and put his arms around Mercedes.

“I did. Can I ask you something?”

Oh, no. What could she ask? He worried it might be something terribly embarrassing, but he thought he owed her at least that. He would answer her, no matter what the cost to him.

“Yeah, ask me anything.” Kurt pulled back to look into her beautiful toffee eyes.

“Have you ever done anything like that with anyone else?” She had to ask, even though she probably didn't really want to hear the answer.

“Last year I thought my dad might be more comfortable with me if I was straight. So I invited Brittany over and made out with her in my bedroom. Kinda in front of my dad....” his voice trailed away.

“Oh, my goodness! Really??” Mercedes eyes got huge.

“It's not something I'm proud of, you know. And we just kissed. She kept moving her hand up my leg, I kept moving it away. She was trying to massage my thigh, getting close to my crotch...oh, it was so uncomfortable.” Kurt shivered. “But that was all. I like Brittany, she's fun to talk to, she's a great dancer...but I hope never to kiss her again!”

Mercedes laughed. And laughed. But if she was honest with herself, the laughing was a cover so Kurt wouldn't suspect she was a bit jealous. She sighed.

“Kurt, you have to know that while I would never tell anyone – because it is a special memory between my best friend and me – I have never regretted what we did. I hope you don't regret it, either. It was a part of our childhood, like going to the lake every summer or having Thanksgiving together. I know it will never happen again. But I'm glad my first time was with someone who loved me and took care to make it gentle.

“I wonder...why is this coming up now?” she asked. "Has the thought of Blaine questioning himself shaken you up so much?"

Kurt ducked his head, but answered his friend as best as he could.

“I think I'm just jealous. It's bad enough that Rachel takes all of the solos, I don't want her to take the guy I have a crush on before I even have a chance to kiss him! Oh, Mercy, what will I do if he chooses her?”

“I really don't think you have anything to worry about. Why don't you set it up so they can kiss?”

“WHAT??”

“Go with Blaine to the coffee shop and invite Rachel. You know she'll kiss him. And I know he'll choose you.”

“Really? Well. You have never steered me wrong,” Kurt sighed, hugging his friend a little closer. “You've always been there for me.”

“And you for me, Kurt. You always have my back. Remember when Ricky from down the street hit me?”

June 2002

Kurt and Mercedes were playing in Kurt's front porch when the boy from down the street came up to Kurt and pushed him. He just meant to push him as a play thing, sort of a 'I'm the king of the neighborhood' thing kids do. Kurt just brushed himself off and pushed back. It should have been over, but Ricky was not always a good kid...he was a bit of a bully.

When he saw pushing Kurt wasn't going to result in anything, he wanted to make him good and mad. So he turned to Kurt's best friend and pushed her. Mercedes wasn't watching and she lost her balance, falling down the steps to the concrete sidewalk and skinning her knees.

Ricky took off for his house. Kurt was usually a quiet type of kid, but getting him riled could be dangerous. Ricky ran for home as fast as he could go – for the sanctuary of his house. But when he got up his stairs and through his front door, slamming it behind him, Kurt was on his heels and opened his door.

“Hey, you can't come in my house!” Ricky yelled, bringing his mother down the stairs from her room.

“Ricky?”

Ricky was headed out the back door at a gallop, Kurt right behind him.

Burt had seen the whole thing from the side yard and was a few steps behind his son...arriving at Ricky's house and came into the kitchen just as Ricky's mom did. They made a break for the back door, just in time to see Kurt ball up his fist and punch Ricky in the nose. Blood spouted everywhere. But Kurt wasn't mean, just determined to revenge Mercedes. He stopped and turned to leave.

“Next time, don't push a little girl down the stairs.”

And he left, passing Ricky's mom, his dad and marching home to help Mercedes. And they had had each other's back in love and war ever since.

2010

Kurt's Tree House

Mercedes had been right, of course. Kurt had nothing to worry about. Blaine kissed Rachel, announced he was entirely gay, and things went on as usual. Then one day the canary Kurt had been entrusted with died and he sang 'Blackbird' in tribute to the tiny bird. And Blaine fell in love.

After choosing Kurt to sing a duet with, he sought him out for a practice session and ended up confessing the reason he chose Kurt was just to be able to spend more time with him. And the kiss happened. More kisses followed.

One Saturday a few weeks later, Blaine was over visiting and Kurt was fixing lunch.

“What are you making? Pizza?” Blaine was joking. He knew Kurt didn't usually eat things like pizza with greasy pepperoni, not to mention mozzarella cheese.

“Hummus.”

“That sounds disgusting. What's it made of?”

“Come in here and I'll teach you,” Kurt invited.

He opened a can of garbanzo beans and drained them, then put them in the food processor. This was followed by olive oil, lemon juice, tahini, garlic salt, and a bit of chopped red peppers. He turned on the appliance and pulsed the blades until it was a smooth consistency.

“Now, I add a bit more flavor. Would you like artichokes or pine nuts?” Kurt asked.

“Ah, wow, it all sounds Italian. Maybe the pine nuts? I love pesto,” Blaine told him. “What was that stuff you put in that looked kind of like peanut butter?”

“That was tahini. It's like peanut butter, but made of sesame seeds. And I think hummus is Arabian - maybe Lebanese? But all of those ingredients are common in Italian cuisine, so I'm not surprised you thought that. I'll add the pine nuts and it'll be ready. Want a taste?”

“Sure.....” Blaine said apprehensively. Kurt spread a bit on a piece of pita bread and fed it to his friend. Blaine's eyes opened wide and a smile spread across his face. “Wow! That's wonderful! Why haven't I ever had that before?

“Well, I don't know, but you can make it yourself now, you have the recipe. Or just ask, I'm happy to make it for you.”

Kurt set the food on the table and they sat down to a feast of hummus on pita, a tomato salad with a bit of feta cheese, green grapes, and big glasses of cold apple-beet-carrot juice.

“Okay, Kurt, I surrender. You said you could fix a healthy meal that I would enjoy. And you're absolutely right. I even like this juice you made. Thank you.” Blaine smiled and tilted his head just that little bit that made Kurt take in a breath because it was so adorable. He was well past the crush stage by now and well into thinking the sun rose and set on Blaine's smile.

“But, if I eat all this healthy food with no complaint....can we have peppermint ice cream with hot butterscotch for dessert? Pretty please?” Blaine gave his eyelash-batting flirty look complete with sad puppy eyes.

“How could I say no to you, Blaine Warbler?”