FURT

It's been an entire month since Blaine met Kurt on the staircase at Dalton, and he can't help but feel like that day was fate. He's somehow managed to score a wonderful friend, and in turn he's become somewhat of a mentor to Kurt. They have two coffee dates a week and they never fail to make the boys day just a little bit brighter. And that is where Blaine finds himself now, sitting down at one of the back tables in the Lima Bean, smiling across at Kurt, who looks like he's ready to burst with excitement.

"Today was just fantastic" the boy breathes and Blaine sips his coffee, chuckling as he sets the cup down.

"You've been grinning from ear to ear since we got here Kurt. Are you actually going to tell me what's making you all jittery with excitement or am I going to have to pry it out of you?" he muses and raises a brow at the boy, who sighs happily and toys with his cup for a moment.

"Okay, okay. So… my Dad is getting married! He proposed to Carole this morning!" Kurt rocks a little in his chair and beams and Blaine can't help but smile back. No, he hasn't actually met Burt or Carole, but Kurt speaks about them so often that the happiness Blaine feels for the news of the couple is genuine. It had been 3 weeks into their friendship that Blaine had asked about Kurt's family, and he'd discovered that the boy's mother had died when Kurt was only 8 years old. He'd been told about Finn and his lovely mother Carole, and how Burt and her had started dating and they lived together and whilst Kurt liked having Finn around because he felt like he finally had a sibling, he also didn't enjoy hearing him and Rachel make out all the time.

"That's great Kurt. Congrats to them" Blaine holds his coffee cup up in a toast and Kurt giggles, pressing his cup to Blaine's.

"It's so great. I don't think Finn is as over the moon about the whole thing as I am…"

"Understandable. He isn't used to a father figure, and whilst you say he and Burt are close, this is a big step for him. It's only ever been him and his mum. This is permanent change has to get used to" Blaine says casually and takes another swig from his cup. Kurt looks at him in something that closely resembles awe and it makes Blaine feel just a little bit proud.

"You're right. Of course" Kurt smiles and looks at the boy for a moment.

"I would invite you to come along as my date…"

"But I haven't met your Dad or Carole, and we've only been friends for a month. It's completely understandable" Blaine hums and sets his coffee down. "Don't feel bad about it. And as long as you fill me in on the details I'll be totally fine" He smiles and Kurt gives him a small nod, glancing down at his phone.

"I'm planning the whole event, naturally. And the glee club are going to be singing. I have so much to do and I'm going to have to teach my Dad to dance and Finn which may prove to be the hardest task I'm yet to face."

"But you're determined to succeed?" Blaine muses and Kurt rolls his eyes fondly.

"I love a man who can quote musicals to me" he breaths and Blaine fixes the sleeves of his blazer.

"Well you're in luck, because I know plenty."

"Of men or musicals?" Kurt raises a delicate brow and Blaine grins. They often joke around like this, and Blaine can't deny that he likes it. There's just something about how relaxed in nature the whole thing is, and Kurt seems to slip into these conversations with ease.

"Well both" Blaine chuckles and Kurt lets his teeth bite down on his bottom lip for a moment before his phone buzzes.

"It's my Dad. I should probably be going…"

"I will call you" Blaine smiles and watches as Kurt rises from the table and gives him a little wave before he exists. Blaine smiles and finishes off his coffee before he rises himself, grabs his bag and heads towards his car. He wonders what a wedding planned by Kurt Hummel would be like. He knows just how fancy Kurt can be with detail, he's been shopping with the boy a handful of times by now, and he often received messages from him that contain images of d�cor designs he wants to put in his future home. His phone starts to ring in his pocket and he answers it.

"Hello?"

"Blaine! Simon here. I'm at the Gap and I'm in desperate need of your dapper fashion sense. Come help me out?"

Simon sounds like he's pouting and Blaine chuckles a little as he climbs into his car. He and Simon are on casual speaking terms, and oddly enough Blaine doesn't find it awkward. Surely hanging out with someone you sort of used to date should be a little awkward, but maybe this just shows that he's moved on from Simon. He's grown.

"I'll be there soon. Don't buy anything until I get there" Blaine smiles and hangs up the phone. He had told Wes that he'd run over a few numbers for sections with the Warblers later on, so he'd probably have to be quick. The warblers were practicing for sectionals nearly every night now, and it was becoming harder to think of excuses to leave and call Kurt. Thad had called him out on being distracted one to many times, and he'd even interrogated Blaine for a whole ten minutes until David had called order and brought them back to rehearsing. Apparently a few of the warblers thought that Blaine should be focusing more of his time of practice than on his new friend. And maybe they were right.

****

"So you're telling me that, despite the fact that you've been calling him every day and you see him at least twice a week, you're not dating?"

Simon looks at Blaine with large, unconvinced green eyes and Blaine gives a simple nod as he fishes through the shirt rack, pulling a few dress shirts out every now and then to glance at.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you"

"But why?" Simon asks and stops looking through scarves, folding his arms across his uniformed chest. He stares at Blaine in curiosity and Blaine gives him the once over before he sighs.

"Because… I've known Kurt a month. And we get along so well… and I really care about him. He's been through a lot and I doubt that he'd be ready for a relationship right now, and I… I don't want to ruin what we've made. He needs someone to… stand by him and perhaps someone to look up to. Besides… as lovely as Kurt is… I'm not exactly leaning towards him on the… um… romantic feelings scale" Blaine sighs and Simon follows his gaze to where a young man stands with a head of hair that can only be described as a white boy fro. He's folding sweaters and he has a bored look on his face. Blaine thinks he looks kind of cute.

"Him?" Simon asks and Blaine blinks, returning his attention to the boy beside him.

"Sorry?"

"Mr crazy hair folding sweaters? You have feelings for him?" He asks and Blaine chuckles and shakes his head.

"No Simon. I don't know who he is. I don't really have feelings for anyone at the moment… I'm focusing on competition season and my grades…"

"You don't still have feelings for me?" Simon asks, and Blaine takes one look at his face and he knows the boy is hurt. Yes, they only seen each other for a short while, but apparently Simon still liked to hold onto the fact that, at one stage, Blaine had been entirely focused on him.

"Simon…"

"Because I do. Have feelings for you that is. And… We've been so good these past few weeks Blaine, and I really think that we could give it another go..."

"Simon…"

"I know I told you that your romance was lacking and then you did sort of almost kill me with those roses, but I see now that the thought behind it was so very touching, and honestly… seeing you so happy and bright about this Kurt guy… it's making me really jealous"

"But we aren't even together, he's just a friend…" Blaine begins and Simon cuts him off, putting a finger to the boy's lips.

"Blaine. I'm telling you that I want to be… us… again" He breathes and grabs Blaine by his lapels, pulling him forward into a hard kiss. Blaine's eyes fly open as their mouths connect and he feels extremely queasy. His stomach instantly starts to tighten and his palms start to sweat. He pulls back from the kiss, his lips parted, eyes completely wide in what Simon assumes is shock, until Blaine is quickly looking around the large store they're standing in, pale and shaking.

"Oh… oh shit…" Simon breathes and Blaine takes a step back, swallowing hard as he tries to keep his composure. It's getting harder and harder to breathe and he feels like everything is closing in on his so quickly. He loosens his tie and tries to focus on what Simon is babbling.

"I'm sorry Blaine, I forgot… I forgot you don't do PDA…"

"PDA?" Blaine breathes and looks at him. "Simon…I can't deal with spontaneous PDA… or… or being forcefully kissed in a public place where anyone could see and… I… I have to go" Blaine shakes his head and doesn't even wait for Simon's response before he's running out of the store, not stopping until he's at his car. He leans against it and closes his eyes, breathing in the fresh air. He's okay. He's safe.
He'd been getting better. He'd been having less panic attacks and he was able to sing love songs in glee now where he could actually make eyes contact with another boy whilst doing it when performing in public.

"You are out and you are proud and you have nothing to fear" Blaine tells himself as he remains leant against his car, his hands pulling off his tie.

"You have nothing to fear. They aren't here. They aren't going to hurt you"

He takes a few more moments to calm down, slowly he stops shaking and he is able to get into his car. He swallowed and runs a hand through his hair. He's okay. He'll be okay.

****

"He threatened to kill me."

Those words remain in Blaine's head the moment Kurt whispers them through the phone. Blaine had been sitting in his dorm room whilst his roommate went out for lacrosse practice, just going over some notes for his history text the next day when his phone had lit up beside him with Kurt's name on the screen.

"He what?" Blaine breaths and drops his bed down onto his lap, staring at nothing as his expression turns into a deep frown.

"He… I don't even know where it came from…"

"He threatened to… and… did you tell someone? A teacher? The principal?" Blaine asks and he hears a soft sigh on the other end and he knows the answer before Kurt even speaks.

"No"

"Kurt… why not?" he breathes and he stands up, searching for his hoodie and his shoes.

"Because… He said if I told anyone he'd kill me. I'm not about to announce that to the world. I have a wedding to plan…"

"Nothing should come above your safety Kurt. God… I'm coming down there. I'm gonna talk to him…"

"Blaine he won't listen…"

"Then I'll make him listen!"

"Blaine… he said this weeks ago. And… now he's just terrifying me…"

"Wait… you didn't tell me? Why?" Blaine asks, almost hurt by the notion that Kurt didn't rely on him with such drastic information. He sits back down on his bed and lets his hands run nervously through his hair. What if Kurt gets seriously hurt? What if Blaine could stop it?

"Because I didn't want you to over react, sort of like you are now. Blaine… I told you now because I needed to get it off my chest. I'm not asking you to come down here like my knight in shining armour and fight him. I'm confiding in you as a friend, a relatively sane minded friend." Kurt sighs and Blaine swallows hard.

"I just want you to be okay…"

"And I will be. I just…today was hard. Mr Schue saw how scared I was so they know that he's been harassing me. There just isn't anything they can do unless he physically hurts me…"

"He kissed you Kurt."

A silence hangs in the air for a few moments before Kurt finally speaks.

"I'm not going to be responsible for outing someone. No matter how much he… he scares me."

Blaine lets a small smile form on his lips and he looks over at his window.

"You're honestly so… you're something else Kurt. I admire you for that"

Kurt chuckles a little on his end and Blaine lays down on his bed.

"So… are you going to be okay?"

"Yes. I think so."

A knock sounds on Blaine's door and David pokes his head around with a smile.

"Ready for another round of practice?" he asks and Blaine nods, pointing to his phone as he sits up.

"I'm glad. Look, I have to go, but if you need anything you call me. Okay?"

"Okay"

"Courage Kurt"

Blaine spends the next week entirely focused on his school work. He gets the odd few texts from Kurt telling him how the wedding planning is going but he doesn't call. Blaine keeps fairly to himself, only seeing people during practice. He needs to be more focused and he'd taken his fathers advice and delved into everything head first. He doesn't speak to Simon much, deciding it best that they not get too friendly again. He spends a lot of his time in the library, and he has to admit… he's rather proud of his efforts. He gets some pictures of the wedding from Kurt and he feels a sense of relief when the boy calls him on a Monday morning before school starts.

"Hey Kurt. How are you?" Blaine asks as he adjusts his tie in the mirror, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he leaves the bathroom and heads towards the door.

"I'm… surprisingly good. I have some good news and some bad news. I'll start with the bad" the boy hums and a small frown sets on Blaine's face as he walks down the corridors of his dormitory block, nodding his head a few of his fellow classmates who greet him.

"Okay? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Remember how I texted you and told you that Karofsky got expelled?"

"Yes…"

"He's back at school. The board appealed to his side of the story and… decided that he didn't deserve expulsion."

Blaine sighs and shakes his head. Of course.

"That's absurd."

"I know. It is… now… I'll tell you to good news after. Are you heading to class? School's starting soon…"

"Yeah… I have history first. Are you? I mean… I wouldn't blame you if you took the day off" Blaine tells him as he hurries down the hall, towards the staircase.

"Yeah I'm going to class… oh I have to go"

Kurt hangs up suddenly and Blaine frowns, glancing at his phone before he stows it away in his blazer pockets and follows the sea of students down the winding stairs.

"Excuse me"

A familiar voice sounds in Blaine's ear and he turns around, bumping into a few students as he looks up the stairs, a smile breaking out onto his lips. Kurt stands there, clad in full Dalton uniform this time, his hands clutching at his bag, phone in his hand.

"I'm new here… I could really use a hand in finding my first class" He hums and Blaine doesn't even reply before he walks up the stairs and hugs Kurt. The boy hugs him back and Blaine feels a small sense of relief because his friend is safe.

"This is what you want?" He asks when he pulls away, fixing the boys tie for him. Kurt smiles and nods.

"It is. And I need it. A fresh start at a place that will accept me" he hums and looks Blaine up and down.

"I was serious by the way… I have no idea where AP English is" he hums and Blaine smiles at the boy.

"I'll lead the way"