Prologue

Kurt paced his room, a phone firmly attached to his ear trying to calm the sobbing Rachel on the other line of the phone. “B-but Kurt, I loved him. H-how-,”

He let out a long sigh, not again, he thought. “Rachel, calm down,” he interruptedtrying to think of some sort of advice to stop these constant calls at far too early in the morning, “Maybe you should go out and do something to get your mind off of him?”

“Really?” Rachel answered with a sniff then cleared her throat, “Well, I do know this concert is coming to town this weekend”.

“Uhuh,” Kurt said shaking his head, immediately knowing where this was going.

“Oh, if you promise to come, I’ll leave you alone, I swear,” Rachel let out a sad giggle.

Kurt slowed his steps then dropped his head, “Yes, Rach. Now go get some sleep,” he calmly said sitting on the couch of his apartment resting an elbow on the arm of the couch and lazily holding the phone up to his ear.

“Fine,” Rachel sighed, “Thank you, Kurt”.

The man nodded and rubbed his tired eyes, “You’re welcome, okay? Nighty night”.

“Night, Kurt”.

He hung up the phone and sighed, crawling back into bed and drifting off to sleep.

This always happened. Ever since Rachel and Kurt moved to New York, her relationship with Finn, who stayed in Ohio, has been rocky. The perks for her moving here were that her first few fights were cured by a walk through Times Square or Central Park. But now it only reminds her that Finn is hours away and only visits four times a year. So she resulted in crying to Kurt, asking for advice that will only keep her mind off of Finn for a day. Essentially, useless.

Apart from living in the same city with Rachel and a few coffee dates, Kurt was relatively on his own. He started college a year ago and works as crew member for Broadway musicals. Decorating the stage, collecting costumes, copying scripts, adjusting lights, and organizing. He wasn’t acting, wasn’t singing, wasn’t writing, just being. Somehow, it seemed to be enough. He was proud of their crews work and was satisfied with saying that he helped out for big Musicals. After working, he had a habit of strolling through every pet store in New York City. Somehow, small creatures were fun for him to watch. It was some sort of escape from the busy, bright city he lives in. He wasn’t the drinking kind. Maybe a wine every once in a while, but usually a nice walk or a coffee would take off the stress. For some reason, he was proud to be a virgin as well. But, it was odd, some people would ask why but he honestly never got in those situations. It wasn’t like he had to stop himself or anything, he just, wasn’t really wanting it. He was waiting. For the one.

“Please tell me why I don’t believe you?” Kurt asked walking through the crowded field of the concert.

Rachel giggled and grabbed his hand skipping through the mass of people, “Trust me, Kurt, he’s really a great guy”.

“He better be,” Kurt answered. Rachel laughed clinging to his hand and racing to the area where they will meet him. He is supposedly gay and is claimed to be Rachel’s other best friend. Though Rachel did have a magnificent gaydar, Kurt was still uncomfortable with this whole thing. He only promised this so that he could have just one night free from phone calls or texts from Rachel. Okay, he was exaggerating, but the thought felt refreshing. Who was he kidding? Rachel was always his best friend. Though her constant cries over Finn were annoying, she was still his duet partner for life. If that means being forced to meet her friend, well, then he would do it. For Rachel.

Rachel ran towards a curly headed man who was staring off at the stage that was cluttered with neglected equipment. She jumped into the man’s arms sending the man to yelp in shock, “Rachel,” he chuckled. The man was short, tan, wore khaki pants, a royal blue cardigan, and a dark red bowtie over a white collared shirt. There was a pair of pink sunglasses tucked in his pocket.

What an odd man, he thought. The man’s face lit up in a smile, loose curls falling over his forehead. “I see you brought your friend,” he frowned slightly. Rachel jumped in her spot then gestured towards Kurt, “No, uhm, your other friend”. He narrowed his eyes at Rachel who dropped her smile holding up a bag in her hands. It appeared to be holding a considerable amount of alcohol. “How many times-,”

“I know, I know, okay?” Rachel whined wrapping a hand around Kurt’s and pulling him closer, “I just want some fun, for one night?”

The curly headed man shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, “Fine, but let’s not have a repeat of last time, yeah?” Rachel nodded and looked down at her bag, beginning to pull some of the contents out then guiltily pushed them back into the bag. She looked up at the curly headed man, then at Kurt. They both stared at Rachel waiting for something to happen.

“Oh, I still have to introduce you guys, that’s what I get for drinking prior to the con-,” the other man cleared his throat. “Yes, yes, pushy,” she turned to Kurt and grinned madly, “Kurt meet Blaine,” she then looked at the cur- Blaine, “Blaine meet Kurt”. Kurt smiled at Blaine who gave a bright chuckle; he felt his cheeks burning up. How can this situation be any more awkward? They were simply mutual friends with an emotional wreck that is Rachel Berry. It would be a night filled with pulling bottles of alcohol from Rachel’s hands and telling her not to sing so obnoxiously. If it’s going to be that way, should he shake his hand in good luck? Kurt crossed his arms to avoid such contact and looked up at the stage.

The crowed suddenly ruptured into loud cheers as an unknown band stepped onto the stage. Rachel jumped and screamed holding Kurt and Blaine’s hands tightly, letting her bag of ‘goodies’ dangle from her wrist. The lead singer wrapped a hand around the microphone and pulled it to his mouth, “Let’s rock and roll!” he screamed allowing time for the audience to scream and cheer as the band settled around their instruments looking at each other for conformation. At the drummers cue, they all busted into songs, bobbing their heads, and clapping their hands. Rachel sang loudly, Kurt and Blaine laughing every time she messed up a note or lyric. As songs skipped by, Rachel went crazy, downing drinks just as fast as she lifted them to her lips. It got to a point where she couldn’t lift her head up, she just danced, staring at the ground and occasionally sipping from the alcohol.

“Blaine! Blaine, wher- oh! There you are, Kurt!” Rachel rested her body weight on him and kissed him on the cheek smelling thickly of alcohol.

“Okay, Rach, you’re done,” Kurt pulled the bottle from her hands. The woman groaned in protest reaching out blindly for more. Geez, do I really need help from Rachel’s friend? Kurt thought, What was his name… Blake? Blaine? Oh, right, “Blaine, could you hide Rachel’s alcohol from her?”

The other man looked over still tapping a foot with the band, pink sunglasses thumping on the top of his head. He could very well be mistaken as a drunk the way he was dressing and shaking his body to the beat of the music, but he never had one drink. “Uhm,” Blaine hummed searching for the bag but showed a confused look on his face, “Damn it, she drank the rest, Kurt”.

Rachel laughed then turned to the band trying to dance. She danced slowly to an upbeat song and held her head in her hands, then she hunched over dry heaving as Kurt and Blaine widened their eyes. “Shit,” they both said simultaneously backing from the drunken woman. Rachel spewed the contents of her stomach onto the grassy field receiving several disgusted sounds from the crowd. The fumes of alcohol and vomit strongly hit their nose as the woman dropped on her knees, swaying her body as if trying to settle her stomach; instead she tipped back and fainted.

Blaine looked at Kurt and sighed, his face was sad as he scooped the unconscious woman in his arms and tipped his head to the side gesturing Kurt to follow. They bumped into random shoulders as they passed, Rachel clearly out of it. Kurt would have never pegged Rachel for being an alcoholic; it was even hard to believe when they were legal to drink. She must have drunk with Blaine; he even said she had a problem before. Far away, they spotted a paramedic van and walked towards it. “Alright, hang in there, Rach, we’re almost there,” Blaine said quietly. The girl had her body limply folded in Blaine’s arms as he carried her to the van.

Kurt anxiously bit at his nails as they walked trying to not look at his duet partner. A nasty habit he carried when he got nervous for the shows he helped with. He wanted everything to be perfect. If something wasn’t exactly going smoothly, to biting nails, it was. A crew of paramedics near the van took Rachel from Blaine, laid her on a stretcher and rolled her in the car to avoid some sort of scene. It happened very quickly, and in a matter of minutes one of the crew members walked up to Kurt and Blaine. “We’ll take care of her, thank you for bringing her as soon as you did,” the man smiled and leaned closer to Blaine, “Honestly, you may have to settle down your boyfriend here, he seems to be a bit shaken up”.

Kurt retracted his hand from his mouth and widened his eyes. Blaine gaped at the man and shook his head, “Oh, no, we’re, uh-,”

“We’re mutual friends,” Kurt piped up then stared at the crew member for a good moment and returned his hand to his mouth biting again. Blaine dropped his head and crossed his arms in embarrassment. The music from the concert gobbling up the silence.

The paramedic laughed then shook his head, “Sorry, it’s just- I don’t know, I’m sure you get that all of the time, sorry again”. The man waved them off and stepped into the van helping Rachel. That’s when it struck. That awkward silence he tried to not let happen all night, yet here it was, the awkward as loud as ever. Even the slow music sounding from the concert was screaming awkward.

Blaine turned to Kurt and sighed, “Uhm, so, uh, Kurt, how are y-,”

“You don’t have to talk to me,” Kurt said flatly kicking his foot in the grass.

“Excuse me?” the other man asked raising his voice and resting his weight on one hip. It was just the way he looked. Almost like he was trying to make some sort of statement with the pink sunglasses and bowtie, but it wasn’t working on Kurt.

“My God, you’re so gay,” Kurt laughed, “No; you don’t have to force yourself to talk to me just because we’re friends with Rachel. She’s unconscious so we don’t have to fake conversation”.

Blaine scuffed rolling his eyes, “You love to jump to conclusions, don’t you?” he snarled. Kurt raised his eyebrows in response. “Fine, Kurt, I know this is as equally awkward for you as it is for me but you don’t have to be mad at me for it” Kurt crossed his arms avoiding eye contact with him, “I have a boyfriend, if that makes you feel better”.

Kurt looked at the other angry man, “Actually it does, thanks,” he said sarcastically and walked towards the parking lot.

“Where are you going?” Blaine asked.

“Away,” he answered still walking, dragging his feet in the grass.

“You’re just going to leave your best friend?” Blaine yelled.

Kurt stopped and turned around, “I’m not going to pretend to be your friend, Blaine,” he shouted, turning on his heel and walking away. Who the Hell did he think he was? He actually thought that Kurt thought Blaine liked him? And why did Blaine have to be so damn awkward? He could shrug off the paramedic’s mistake but instead, he wanted to talk to Kurt and stutter and just be the definition of awkward. He knew that the next time he sees Rachel; they’ll have a little chat about finding better friends. Okay, maybe he didn’t want to share Rachel. Well, Finn was an exception. His step-brother can share, but Blaine? How did she meet him anyways? Craigslist? Well, Kurt will have no to part of that. No part of that at all.