Kurt started seeing Anderson everywhere after that. It seemed like every hallway Kurt walked down, there he was. He knew they shared a few classes together, but he'd never really been aware of Anderson like this before. Anderson seemed to be a good student, despite his status as a delinquent—when he bothered to show up to class, at least. Kurt wondered what other surprises Anderson held… and then berated himself. He didn't have time for thinking about Blaine Anderson, of all people. He had schoolwork, Cheerios, and his popularity to maintain, not to mention the upped flirting going on between himself and the quarterback of the football team, Finn Hudson. Anderson couldn't help with any of those—and in fact, associating, or even being thought to associate, with him would certainly hurt his popularity, and in turn, his standing with the Cheerios.

No, it was best to just put Anderson out of his mind entirely.

That summer saw Kurt working in his dad's shop, when he didn't have any gigs mowing lawns. He liked working on cars—although really, he preferred doing the accounting and customer info his dad wasn't so good at. It was so hard to get grease out from under his nails. But, as he told his dad, it was just an excuse to give himself extra manicures, so it wasn't too horrible.

One day, a classic Chevy pulled into the garage, making a funny clunking, rattling noise before it parked; clearly the reason its owner had brought it in in the first place.

And then Kurt caught sight of the owner. Seriously? It was summer, couldn't he ever get away from Blaine freaking Anderson?!

Kurt pretended he was busy working on his own car, hoping his dad would help Anderson. Sure enough, after a few minutes, Burt came out and started asking what the problem was. Kurt listened more attentively than usual (no, it wasn't eavesdropping, his dad at least knew he was there), his hands slowing down as his ears tried to pick up everything.

"Okay, son, let's see what we got under the hood here," Burt was saying, more to himself than Anderson. After a few minutes, he came back out holding a lugnut. "Here's the troublemaker. Looks like the threads got stripped and it came loose, started rattling around. I should have the right size, we'll getcha a new one and you'll be good to go. What's your name, kid?"

By now, Kurt wasn't even pretending to work on his car, peering around the open hood to watch the exchange. He saw something flash across Anderson's face, before he just responded, "It's Blaine."

"Blaine, huh? You got a last name to go with that, Blaine?" Burt asked in a teasing tone. "I gotta know who I'm s'posed to charge the lugnut to, y'know."

Blaine stared at the concrete garage floor, and it if were anyone else, Kurt would say he looked nervous. Finally, in a quiet voice, he said, "Anderson. Blaine Anderson, sir."

Sir?! Did notorious bad-ass Blaine Anderson just call his dad sir?!

"Anderson?" Burt's voice had an odd quality to it now, too. "Your parents Louisa and James Anderson?" Kurt watched the entire scene unfold in wide-eyed confusion.

There was only the smallest hesitation before Blaine said, "Yes, sir."

There was a pause, then Burt said, in a strangely gravelly voice, "I'll go get your part." And then he barked without looking, "That gas pump's not gonna install itself, Kurt! Get to work!"

Kurt startled, and ended up dropping his wrench.