Blaine got back to the apartment and could smell something delicious cooking.

He went to the kitchen and saw Kurt sitting at the table, chopping vegetables. Hannah was stirring a pot on the stove.

"Hi. What smells so good?" He smiled hello to both of them and got himself a glass of water.

Hannah wiped her hands on a towel. "Chili. Kurt has said that he wants a refresher course on how to cook, so I'm showing him some of my favorite recipes."

Walking over to the table, she looked over Kurt's work. "Great. So, just toss all those vegetables in a big bowl with the dressing and feta cheese and you are done."

Kurt nodded and followed her directions, making a large bowl of Greek salad.

"Well, boys, I'm going to head home. See you in the morning." Hannah smiled and left them to it.

Blaine looked around. "What would you like to drink with dinner?"

Kurt typed on his tablet. "Lemonade. And would you mind dishing up the chili? It's done now."

After taking Kurt his drink, Blaine got two bowls of chili and moved the pot off the stove to cool. He sat down at the table at they started to eat.

Blaine snuck glances at Kurt. It was still an adjustment seeing him clean-shaven and with such a good haircut. He used to wear his hair longer on the top, in a tall quiff. This style was still off his face like that, but more spiked and not as tall. It suited his face well and made his eyes seem big.

Seeing Kurt like that brought back memories Blaine had seen of him in magazines and on TV, and it suddenly made him more aware he was living with the huge Broadway star, winner of many Tony awards. And he felt a bit uncomfortable, not sure what to say. Who was he compared to Kurt? Kurt had had an amazing career, tons of success, travelled, met important people, dated some of the hottest men, and had money to live a lavish lifestyle. Compared to him, Blaine must seem like a very boring man.

"You are quiet tonight." Kurt commented, his eyes searching Blaine's expression.

Blaine gave him a tight smile. "Sorry, I guess I'm not that talkative tonight. The food is good though. Thanks for making dinner."

Kurt didn't look too convinced at Blaine's answer, but didn't push it. "I think I'll ask Hannah to help me cook dinner every day while she's still here. I did some cooking when I was younger, but my skills are rusty."

"Great! I love getting a home-cooked meal like this! You are going to spoil me." Blaine tried to relax and go back to their friendly interactions.

Kurt smirked. "Well, once she is gone, we'll have to figure out it out. Share cooking duties. I'm not going to be your little housewife."

Blaine returned the smile at the image. "I don't know. I bet you'd look good in a frilly pink apron."

Rolling his eyes, Kurt clicked his tablet a little. "Dream on, B." And he swiped his tablet a few times until music started playing.

The music was a relief, filling the quiet spaces and taking the pressure off to make stilted conversation. They finished their meals and Blaine offered to wash things up, since Kurt cooked.

Kurt smiled, and walked to the living room. His motions were still careful. Blaine was curious how much of Kurt's difficulty was from muscle weakness that he could work on, and how much was from permanent damage from the accident.

Finishing up in the kitchen, Blaine thought of what he should do. Normally in the evenings, he would do stuff for his business, returning calls and emails from prospective clients, financial paperwork, or whatever needed to be done. Sometimes, he just hung out with Sam, playing video games or watching movies. Sometimes he went out on dates or with friends.

It was an adjustment moving in here. But he was flattered that Kurt had asked him for his help in this. Kurt was working hard at getting back to normal as much as he could. In three months, Blaine was sure Kurt would be quite able to be on his own. He didn't need to babysit Kurt, or hover over him. But he would need to keep his phone handy in case Kurt texted him. It wasn't like he could call out if he needed help.

Going into the living room, he saw Kurt was relaxing on the sofa. "OK if I join you?"

Kurt just waved beside him in invitation. "You don't have to ask, Blaine. This is your home too while you are here. If I want some time alone, I'll go to my bedroom."

Blaine nodded. That made sense. Sitting down, he saw that Kurt was watching 'Making a Murderer'.

"Oh, I've heard good things about this." Blaine settled in.

Kurt smiled over at him and restarted the show. "Here, you need to see it from the beginning. I'm only twenty minutes in so I'll rewatch with you."

They were quickly drawn into the real life crime documentary, making comments as they watched. It was ten episodes long, and they watched the first two before Kurt turned it off.

"That police force was totally pissed off that he was exonerated with DNA evidence." Kurt commented.

Blaine agreed. "Can you imagine losing eighteen years of your life, imprisoned on a charge you didn't commit?"

"Well, no... But I can imagine losing one year of your life." Kurt looked a bit depressed.

Blaine turned to face him. "We were all so amazed that you came out of it. Everyone around here was celebrating."

Kurt gave him a weak smile. "It's pretty sad that only my health care staff were around to celebrate it."

"Is there anyone else we should contact for you? Nothing has been released to the press about you." Blaine wondered if it would be good to do a press conference, or have his agent give info to the press. Surely friends would come to Kurt if they knew.

Kurt shook his head. "Maybe later, when I'm stronger. When I know what I want to do with my life. Right now the story would be 'Singer Out of Coma, But Can't Sing'." He sighed.

Blaine nodded in understanding. "Well, at least you have enough money to live comfortably until you figure it out."

Scoffing, Kurt shook his head. "Adam was in contact with me lately about that. We shared a bunch of terse emails. He says that since I don't need all the medical staff anymore, it's obvious I'm recovering well. He's going to stop covering my medical bills and the rent of the apartment in six months."

"That's ridiculous! You are barely out of a coma!" Blaine was furious.

Kurt just shook his head slowly, looking tired. "He's been quite generous, really. And I don't doubt he would have covered my bills for as long as I stayed in a coma."

"But it's different now because you aren't?" Blaine didn't understand their dynamic, their relationship.

Getting up, Kurt walked slowly around the room, touching little decorative items on the shelves. "We were having a lot of problems at the end, and would have split up soon. But then I had the accident and he would have looked terrible in the press if he abandoned me then."

Blaine scoffed. "So he waited a year before going back to England, moving you in here."

"He deserves to have his life back. He's covered a lot of huge medical bills, and my savings are still intact." Kurt shrugged.

Blaine still thought the rich Englishman could do more. Obviously, Kurt couldn't go back to his old career.

Kurt sat back down on the sofa. "I have six months to figure things out. Get as strong as I can physically and see what kind of work I can do. I may have to move to a smaller apartment, so I'll enjoy this one while I still can."

"Forgive me if this is too sensitive a question, but there is no way to get your voice back? Even to talk?" Blaine had been curious about it for so long.

Kurt shook his head, and tears filled his eyes. Blaine felt crappy for upsetting him, and grabbed some tissues for him. Kurt wiped at his eyes.

"The doctor said I was on a ventilator for a while after the accident and they can cause damage to vocal cords sometimes. They didn't know until I woke up, of course."

Blaine reached over and took Kurt's hand. "Could you check with a specialist? Just to be sure?"

Kurt shook his head, and Blaine didn't want to push it.

---

Blaine was running around the kitchen, feeling frazzled.

Kurt was sitting at the kitchen table, watching Blaine rushing around, looking amused. "Are you always like this when you cook? Calm down, Blaine."

Blaine just shot him a glare, and continued stirring the dressing. He didn't know why he was feeling so nervous about tonight, but it was making it hard to concentrate on making a meal he'd made many times before. He'd almost forgotten to put mozzarella on the top of the lasagna.

The doorbell rang and Blaine went to answer it. He took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Hey buddy!" Sam stepped inside and gave Blaine a hard hug. "It feels like longer than a week since I've seen you."

Blaine smiled at his friend. It was good to see him too. "Hey Sam. Come on in. Now remember what I told you about Kurt. Don't make him feel uncomfortable, OK?"

Sam sometimes blurted things out that made Blaine cringe. He didn't mean to be hurtful, but he didn't have much of a filter. It was the main thing Blaine was worried about tonight.

"Yeah, yeah..." Sam slapped Blaine's back and followed him to the kitchen.

Kurt stood up as Sam entered, a shy smile in his face.

"Kurt, this is my old high school friend, Sam Evans. Sam, this is my...um....friend, Kurt Hummel." Blaine made the introductions, blushing a little at what to call Kurt. Were they friends? It still felt a bit strange to think of him that way.

They shook hands, Sam's big easy smile making Kurt relax.

Blaine brought over some beers and sat at the table. "I'm cooking lasagna and it will be done in about a half hour."

"Great. I'm hungry." Sam was full of energy, looking back and forth between Blaine and Kurt.

Kurt clicked on his tablet. "So Sam, what was it like going to school with Blaine?" The accent was American, but a different one than Kurt used with Blaine.

"You talk with the tablet? That's so cool!" Sam stared at the iPad mini, totally disregarding Blaine's earlier warning about the topic. "You sound quite normal. It's a bit disappointing, frankly. I thought you'd sound more like a robot."

Kurt smiled and Blaine could tell by his eyes that he was amused, not offended. Sam was like a big puppy dog at times, and never meant to hurt anybody.

Clicking a couple times, Kurt grinned back at Sam. "Like this?" The voice had changed to one that sounded more artificial, more like Stephen Hawking's.

Sam chuckled and moved his chair closer to Kurt's, laughing as they tried out all the different voice settings. Kurt had a laugh that was almost silent, more just a certain way of exhaling, but his expressive face more than made up for it.

Blaine just shook his head and left them to it, getting up to finish preparing the meal. He had been nervous about Sam and Kurt getting along. Sam was a little rough around the edges, and Kurt was more cultured, sophisticated. But looking back at how amused they both were over some silly sounding voices, he was going to have to rethink that.

"What did your old voice sound like?" Sam asked. He hadn't paid attention to Broadway over the years, only occasionally letting Blaine drag him to a performance. He didn't know about Kurt's history.

Kurt looked a bit surprised at the question, but he clicked a little on his tablet.

As Blaine set the table, the sound of an old interview of Kurt's played from the tablet. He was talking about his latest singing role and the upcoming Tony awards, joking around with the reporter in a confident way. That was the old Kurt. The only version of Kurt Blaine had known for so long. It was weird hearing that voice from the past with Kurt right there. Blaine's gaze caught Kurt's and he could see the jumble of emotions there.

"Whoa, there are so many of your interviews on YouTube!" Sam grabbed Kurt's tablet, scrolling downwards. "You were really famous, huh?"

"Sam! Give Kurt back his tablet! He needs it to talk." Blaine just shook his head at his friend, and shot Kurt an apologetic look.

Serving up the meal, Blaine sat down at the table. Everyone dug in hungrily and complimented Blaine's cooking.

"I'd like to get to know you better. Where did you grow up? How did you get into your type of work?"

Blaine recognized Kurt's question as one he'd asked Blaine a couple months ago.

Sam took a big bite of his garlic bread, chewing it as he thought. "My family moved around a bit for work, but we settled in Chicago for my high school. I became friends with Blaine then."

Taking a long sip of beer, Sam set it down and looked back at Kurt. "I've done lots of different jobs over the years. I didn't go to college. I've worked as a server, model, and actor mostly. The film industry in New York is pretty steady, and I know a lot of people now."

Kurt nodded. He clicked on his tablet and Blaine guessed he had a whole page of questions for Sam. Kurt was always on his tablet, and he had notes for various people. As things occurred to him, he would add to that person's note and ask them later when he saw them in person. Lately, Blaine came home and Kurt already had tons of things about ‘Making a Murderer’ to discuss. Things he'd found on the Internet or his own ideas about the case. They had watched two episodes every night this week and were still intrigued by it.

"What embarrassing things can you tell me about Blaine?"

Blaine shot Kurt a glare. "Hey! That's not fair. Don't answer that, Sam."

Sam was laughing at their interaction. "But I have a doozy...I don't think I can keep it in."

Kurt's eyes widened and he motioned with his hands for Sam to tell him.

Giving Blaine a shrug, Sam smiled. "Blaine used to have a poster of you on his wall."

Oh crap. Blaine lowered his head down to the table, wanting to crawl under it.

"Really? Which poster?" He heard Kurt ask. The tablet didn't have any emotional inflection to it, but he knew Kurt would be smirking if he glanced at him.

Sam was chuckling at Blaine. "I don't know. You are wearing a tight grey t-shirt and jeans, looking all intense."

"Oh, that's from 'Next to Normal'." Kurt replied. It had been Kurt's breakout role, the one that first made him a star. The musical had been playing a few years when Kurt had been chosen to replace a departing actor in the role of Gabe. Quickly, it was sold out for months and the news had story after story about this hot new star. Blaine had saved up to go, and had been blown away by Kurt's passionate performance.

Blaine sat up, feeling sheepish. "Yes, I was a little fanboy over you back then." He shrugged. "I was just a teenager."

Sam laughed. "Bullshit! It was here in New York, so you were 23 at least."

Smirking, Kurt typed. "Yeah, I was 24 when I did that role, and you're a year younger than me."

"OK. Busted. Now would you two please quit ganging up on me?" Blaine stood up, gathering the dirty dishes. "I cooked, so you two can clean up." And he gave them both a haughty stare before spinning on his heel and leaving the room.

Going back to his bedroom, Blaine laid down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was embarrassing, being exposed like that. Sure, at 23, he was a little old to have a picture of a celebrity on his wall. But he had been totally rocked by the show, had bought the soundtrack and practically worn it out. He was new to New York then, struggling to work in music and barely finding other jobs to pay the bills.

He had escaped by going into his tiny bedroom, putting on the soundtrack, staring at Kurt's poster in the wall. Remembering his intense performance. The set was a simplified cross section of a house, showing the different floors, barely scaffolding, stairs and flooring.

Kurt had used the space so well, climbing the scaffolding effortlessly, twirling around the poles that made it up, hanging from it. A very physical performance while singing so intensely. He was beautiful and so emotional.

Yes, Blaine had a crush on him back then. But it was just a way to escape. He never would have stalked Kurt or anything. He didn't even wait outside the theatre for an autograph, like most fans did. In time, the crush faded but Blaine still appreciated Kurt's work, following news of his career and his personal life.

It was strange how much he knew about Kurt, come to think if it. In addition to following his public image, Blaine had unpacked all his personal possession. Touched it all. And Kurt only knew the surface stuff of Blaine. It was hardly equal.

---

When Blaine finally emerged from his room, he found Sam and Kurt on the sofa. "Sorry about before, guys. Want some coffee and tiramisu?"

They nodded, turning their attention back to Kurt's tablet.

Bringing a tray with everything on it, Blaine sat in a nearby armchair. "What are you working on?"

"I'm seeing if we can make a voice template out of Kurt's old interviews. There's a lot of recordings of him around." Sam grinned up at Blaine.

Blaine was surprised. "You know how to do something like that?"

Shrugging, Sam looked over at Kurt. "I dated a sound editor for a while. She showed me a thing or two. In fact, we are still in good terms. I bet she would help me with this." Sam had enjoyed working in the film industry and picked up a lot of skills over the years. Hands-on training suited his learning style better than reading textbooks.

Blaine took a bite of his dessert. "But wouldn't you need a recording of Kurt saying thousands of words?"

Handing a mug of coffee to Kurt, Sam took a sip from his own. "There is good technology now. You know how your phone can convert a voice mail to a text message? It does a pretty good job, but it misses a few words. We could run the videos through voice recognition software like that and get transcripts of the interviews. And then it's a lot of sound editing to pick the clearest version of each word. They use stuff like that in movies all the time. It's called ADR."

"Who are you, and what have you done with my friend Sam Evans?" Blaine looked at his friend in wonder. He'd never heard him talk so knowledgeably about a technical topic like that.

"Well, it would be great if you can do it, Sam. It's fun to play around with different accents but it would be nice to have my own voice saying my words." Kurt smiled at Sam. "I can pay you for your time. It sounds like it could take awhile."

Sam looked pleased. "We can work out the details later. I'll talk to some people I know in sound editing and see if they think it's feasible or not."

Kurt got up and took some playing cards from a cabinet. "Want to play? I know a fun game for three or more people."

Sam and Blaine were agreeable, and Kurt taught them the rules. It was a game called Frustration, similar to Gin Rummy, but with different levels for each round. It was fun and competitive. Kurt had a bunch of pre-typed insults and he kept calling them names whenever they took a card he wanted or won a round, making them all laugh.

It got late, and Blaine walked Sam to the door. "Thanks for coming over, Sam. I'm glad you and Kurt got along so well."

"He's an awesome guy. Funny how he's so fast on his tablet, you almost forget he's not actually saying the words." Sam slipped on his coat.

"Do you really think you could do that thing with his voice? I don't want you getting his hopes up, for them to just crash. He's had enough disappointments in his life lately." Blaine gave Sam a steady look.

Sam nodded, understanding where Blaine was coming from. "I will under-promise and hopefully over-deliver. But really, there's a good chance this could work. And if we are missing some words, there are voice actors with a similar pitch to his that we could record."

Blaine nodded. It made sense.

"What's going on between you two, anyways?" Sam asked softly.

Furrowing his brow, Blaine looked at his questioningly. "What do you mean? We're just friends."

Sam scoffed. "Come on, Blaine. I know you have been into him for almost a decade. And he was giving you a few looks tonight."

Kurt had been looking at him? Really? Blaine had never even considered the possibility. He shrugged. "Sure, he's attractive. But we are just friends. He actually thought you and I were a couple, and was worried that it would hurt our relationship if I lived here."

"Well, I have been sleeping in your bed all this week." Sam laughed, and gave him a quick hug before leaving.

Back in the living room, Kurt was gathering up the dirty dishes, putting them on the tray.

"Hey, let me carry that back to the kitchen." Blaine stepped forward and took it from Kurt.

"Thanks for bringing Sam by. He's fun to be around." Kurt commented, trailing behind Blaine.

"I'm just glad he didn't say anything to offend you." Blaine unloaded the tray and stashed it away.

Kurt leaned against the counter, a small grin on his lips. "He's got a big mouth?"

Blaine chuckled as he put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. "In more ways than one. One cheerleader used to call him 'trouty mouth'. But mostly he just talks without thinking sometimes."

"Sorry he embarrassed you about the poster." Kurt replied, watching Blaine.

Sighing, Blaine finished the dishes and closed the dishwasher, leaning back against the counter to look at Kurt. "Maybe I should have told you before that I was a big fan of yours. But I didn't want things to be weird between us."

Kurt was looking over at Blaine, letting his eyes travel over his face slowly. And then they went lower, taking in his light blue tee and the black jeans.

Blaine felt frozen under Kurt's gaze, and suddenly so aware of him. This was not Kurt his friend. This was Kurt, the man. This was whom Blaine had felt drawn to, all those years ago, up on the stage. This was pure physical awareness, and the kitchen felt smaller. Warmer.

Kurt gave a little smirk, glancing down at his tablet. "It's OK. We are just friends now. I'm feeling a little tired. Would you help me to my room?"

Shaking himself out of his trance, Blaine nodded and stepped closer to wrap his arm around Kurt's waist. As they walked slowly to Kurt's bedroom, Blaine felt very aware of the man beside him. The heat of his body pressed against Blaine. The brush of their legs as they walked. The slim waist under his hand, only a thin dress shirt between his hand and Kurt's bare skin. Kurt's light cologne.

Blaine mumbled goodnight at Kurt's bedroom door, and Kurt had that small smirk on his lips as he silently thanked Blaine with his expressive big eyes, and closed the door.

Back in his bedroom, Blaine quickly stripped and slipped under the covers. He moaned softly as he ran his hand down his erection. Getting lube from his bedside table, his strokes were hard and fast. He was too turned on to hold back.

And when he laid back on the pillows, panting after his intense release, thoughts whirled around his head. Had Kurt noticed his erection? Was that why he had been smirking? It was going to be hard living together if he kept having this reaction when he was around Kurt. Mortifying. He needed to be in better control.

...

-A/N: Starting off the new year with a bang. ;)