So, this is the surprise in the story! If you werent surprised, oh well, at leased I tried. Anyway, please review this chapter. It would really help me. Bye!

"I saw it that day I came to work on our project. You left to get something and I saw the corner poking out from under your pillow and I looked at it. I know that I really shouldnt be looking through other peoples things, but I got curious. Im sorry," Kurt said, while still looking at the photo.

The photo was taken a long time ago. The picture contained two children in it. Two best friends.

It had been one of those instances where you just want to put down everything and just capture that moment. To have a copy of it so that you could just sit back and look at it over and over again. Hoping that you can keep it and make it last forever.

But the thing with photos is that they dont stay the same. Things change. The photo in question was probably taken back when I was around nine or ten. It was taken a few days before my mum left. One of the children in the photo was obviously me, but the other was my ex-best friend. The other kid in the photo was Kurt. Its funny to think that the guy, who had been giving me shit for most of my life, had also been my best friend at one point.

"Why did you change your mind? You already knew that we had been friends." I took the photo out of Kurts hand and looked at it myself.

"God, Blaine! You had a photo of us under your pillow. If I was you, I would have ripped it up and burned it. It was just so….I dont know…but when I saw it, I just felt so sad."

"Kurt, its just a photo."

"Yeah, but it was a photo of us. Before everything went downhill. Before I stopped being friends with you." He tried to explain.

"So?"

"Then why the hell did you have a photo of us under your pillow?"

"It reminded me that not everyone had hated me, because sometimes I forget what thats even like."

"Not everyone hates you now."

"Kurt, why did you stop being friends with me? Why did you start hating me?"

"To tell you the truth, I dont think I really hated you. I had no reason to. Its just that…I guess…I dont know. You just became so quiet after your mum left. You stopped talking to everyone, even me. I guess that scared me a tiny bit, as well. The only way I knew that you hadnt gone totally mute, was when you were shouting at us to leave you alone at school. I know its not a very good excuse, but its the only one that makes some sort of sense."

"It was really hard when mum left us. I guess when my mum left, everything started to go downhill."

"I wouldnt know what to do if my mum left. Wed all be all lost and all over the place. Im really sorry about what happened, Blaine. I never told you, but I am," Kurt said, as he put more ice on my body.

"Dont worry, Kurt. I dont even miss her anymore. I mean, why should I? Shes the one who left me. Shes the one who ruined my dad. Its all her fault."

"God, Im sorry that I left you! Sorry that I hurt you. It wasnt right, not after all the shit that youve gone through."

"So, what is it like to be popular? Whats it like to have everyone love you?" I asked.

"Its like becoming someone that youre not. Whats important is what everyone else thinks of you. It seems that everyone elses opinion matters so much, that you never quite have one of your own."

"Kurt, you should probably be going home now. I mean, its already really late." I got up off the bed and started to gather up all of Kurts things.

"You do know that Im not planning to leave you here all alone, right? Youre coming with me, okay?" He grabbed his things out of my hand and led me back to my bed, so that I could lie down again.

"But what if my dad comes back and realizes that Im not here? What then?"

"Thats the whole point youre coming with me. Im not letting you stay here with him, okay?"

Kurt began to gather up some of my things to take to his house and I didnt really have the strength to stop him. And maybe there was a tiny part of me saying that I should just run away.

"But wont your parents mind that Im coming over at such short notice?" I stood up again and helped Kurt gather some of my things.

"Nah, they like having my friends over and they will just love to see you again. They used to always ask about you, you know? They were so angry when they found out that I was no longer friends with you. They practically threw a party when they found out that you were my partner for the project."

"If your parents can find a way to love, why cant my own?" I asked bitterly. I wished that I had Kurts parents as my own.

"Dont say that, Blaine. You parents love you; they just have a really weird way of expressing it."

Kurt reached over and touched my shoulder carefully.

"Really really weird way. One doesnt remember I exist and the other likes to beat the shit out of me. Theyre both great parents, arent they?"

"Well, other people love you too," Kurt quietly muttered.

"Like?" I couldnt name even one person who had ever told me that they loved me and actually meant it.

"Well, for starters, theres my parents and Ms. Fisher. Your grandparents loved you a lot. And, well, theres always me." I raised my eyebrows at the last thing that Kurt had said.

"As a friend, of course. Not in the other way…Im not gay, Blaine. Im straight." I still wasnt convinced and I dont think Kurt was either.

"Thanks Kurt." I smiled genuinely, something which I hadnt done in a long time.

"No problem." He smiled back at me and for once in my life; I thought that maybe not everyone did hate me.

"Hey Mum?" Kurt asked into the phone. He was calling home to ask if we were going to get picked up or not.

"Are you going to pick me up?" He pressed the loud speaker button so I could also hear the conversation that was taking place.

"Sorry honey, I have to pick up Marty from football practice. Youll have to walk home. You know the way, dont you?" I recognized Kurts mums voice.

"Yeah, thats fine, I remember the way. Mum, is it okay if Blaine stays over for a few days? His dads gone to visit his aunt or something and I dont think it would be good if he stayed home alone."

"Thatll be great, honey. Blaine can stay as long as he needs to. He is always welcome." I could hear the smile in Kurts mums voice as she said that.

"Okay, mum. Ill see you when I get home."

"Sure sweetie. I cant wait to see Blaine again. Bye darling."

"Bye Mum." Kurt put the phone down.

"Your mum is so nice," I said, a pang of jealously ran through me.

"I told you that my mum loves you. I swear her heart leaps every time she hears your name.

When I was a kid, I always thought that they loved you more than me. I was always kind of jealous," Kurt admitted.

"Trust me Kurt; your parents loved you more. I could hear it every time they said your name. I was jealous; I had a reason to be."

"They wont always love me." He looked down at his feet and busied himself with gathering up his things.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" I asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing. Are we ready to leave?" Kurt asked, brushing off the previous question.

"Yeah, I think so." I looked through my bag to see if I had everything that I needed.

"Wait. I think you forgot something." He went back into my room to get something.

"What is it?" I asked when he came back.

"This." He held up the photo of the two of us and I couldnt help but smile.

"How could I forget the most important thing I own?" I took the photo from him and put it in my bag. I was careful not to bend the edges.

"Now, were ready." Kurt grabbed his bag and attempted to carry mine for me.

"God, Kurt, I dont need you to do everything for me! I can carry me own bag." I took the bag from him and went out of the house before he could take it back. After Kurt had joined me outside and I had remembered to lock the door, I followed Kurt towards his house.

"Is it far?" I asked, turning around a bit so that I could face him.

"Not really. I guess you dont remember where it is. Itll take us about five to ten minutes to get there."

"I remember your house. Your room was green and I was totally in love with it. I asked my dad to paint mine the same color, but he never did." I was so absorbed in talking to Kurt, that I was nearly run over by a car.

"Shit, Blaine. Watch the road okay? You couldve just died then." Kurt grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me away from the road.

"Sorry Kurt," I said, shocked by the near death experience.

"Blaine, jeez, you scared me." He tightened his grip around my wrist.

"Sorry," I said again, as we started walking. Kurt was still securely holding onto my wrist and I didnt say anything about it, because it being there made me feel somewhat safer and even a little loved. Like Kurt could really save me from anything.

"Here we are," Kurt said, as soon as we arrived at his house. It seemed a lot smaller than I remembered it to be, but I guess I had been looking through a ten year olds eye. Everything seemed so huge to me back then. I looked around Kurts front yard, while he opened the front door. His yard was neatly mowed with a tiny flower bed close to his front door. All it was really missing was a white picket fence.

"Coming?" he asked, raising a single eyebrow and holding the door open so that I could go in first.

"Thanks," I said going through the door and into his house. I looked around and I remembered how I had run through this house playing chase with Kurt and his siblings. I had more good memories in this house, than my own.

"Do you remember where my bedroom is? I havent moved rooms since." Kurt waited for me to move towards his room.

"How could I forget?" I moved confidently down the corridor, past the bathroom and living room and came to a stop in front of the door, which I remembered had been Kurts.

"This one," I said, waiting for Kurts permission to enter. He nodded his head and I opened the door. I could see that he had changed his room around quite a bit. All of his stuffed toys and cars were gone. His Winnie the Pooh, curtains had been replaced with plain dark blue ones and instead of a race car bed, he had normal one. The only thing that hadnt changed in his room was that he still had his old bean bag in the corner. I placed my things down near it.

"Yeah, its changed a bit." Kurt sat down on his bed and patted the spot next to him. I went and sat down.

"I noticed. I remember you loved your race car bed. We used to pretend we were racers whenever we got on it. You even bought gloves."

"When did I stop using my imagination? When did it become too cool to pretend?" Kurt asked.

"Its called growing up, Kurt. We all have to do it sometime. Some people faster than others."

I noticed just how sad Kurt had gotten and I linked my arm through his. I had always thought that he was one of those people who never wanted to grow up. We used to be my own personal Peter Pan.

"Pretending was cool, though."

"We can still pretend, like we used to."

"Were too old to pretend Blaine." He leaned his forehead against the side of my head and smiled.

"No ones ever too old to pretend." I unconsciously leaned back against his forehead.