It always took him back to his childhood, when being allowed to spend the morning with his dad at work had been a treat. His father had taught Kurt everything there was to know about cars as soon as he was big enough to hold up a wrench. Kurt could change a tire as deftly as he could spot a fake Louis Vuitton bag behind a brick wall at night. It always surprised people to find out just how much he knew about cars.

Kurt easily made his way around the garage. He came to the back, where it was slightly cleaner and his fathers office could be found. Kurt paused. There was his car, a forlorn hunk of metal covered in a light film of dust. Kurt swirled his index finger across the bonnet, spelling out his name. His finger dipped in and out of the small dents, his finger nail adding to the scratch marks.

“Hey, get away from- oh, sorry buddy.”

Burt appeared from inside the office, in his hands a large stack of paper work. It made a change from a spanner or oil soaked rag. Kurt looked over.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

“You okay?” Burt asked.

Kurt nodded. “Just thought I’d drop by and see how my car was doing.”

They both stared at the trashed car as if it were a patient in a hospital bed. Burt toed one of its wheels. “I’m gonna get started on it tomorrow. Promise,” he assured his son.

“I thought you started last weekend?” Kurt couldn’t help but point out.

Burt looked shifty. “Well, things came up…” He looked guiltily at Kurt’s sceptical eyebrow. “Oh all right,” he snapped. “The thing is, I sort of prefer you not having a car.”

“Why?” Kurt immediately exploded.

“It means you have to rely on lifts from other people, which means you aren’t alone, which means you’re safe,” Burt explained firmly.

“Dad,” Kurt sighed. “I’m not a child.”

“I know,” Burt said, looking a little uncomfortable. “It’s just ever since-“

“Please,” Kurt said, agonised. “Can we not go there?”

Just then Kurt’s phoned buzzed with a text. He gave his father an apologetic glance before checking it. It was from Rachel: I’ve persuaded Blaine to audition for ND!! :-) Kurt inwardly groaned. He could just imagine how Rachel would have gone about things; probably with a marching band and a serenade. Oh God. What did you do to him? Blackmail? Torture?! he quickly typed back before looking up to observe the paper work in his fathers arms.

“You all right with all of that?” His father had always been hopeless when it came to the more administrative side of things. Kurt’s mother had always taken care of it, after she had died Burt had employed some help.

“Shelly just began her maternity leave,” Burt explained. He looked down at the papers as if the mere sight of them was enough to give him a headache. “I don’t have a clue how to read these invoices.”

“Want me to take a look?” Kurt offered. “I have time.”

Burt grinned as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “You’re a good kid, Kurt.”

“What would you do without me?” Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically and relieving his father of his work load. He went in to the office.

As he set the papers down Kurt’s phone vibrated again. He read: Oh hush. Blaine was not harmed, I promise. 4pm tomorrow in the choir room, make sure you’re there!

——

At 4pm the next day Kurt took his seat in the choir room. A thread was coming loose on the sleeve of his jacket, probably from where it had snagged after he had been shoved in to another set of lockers earlier that day. There had been no Blaine there to save him that time. Kurt concentrated on picking the thread as he tried to ignore the swooping sensation in his stomach. He was excited to see Blaine, even more so to hear him sing. Though Kurt didn’t want to get his hopes up in fear of disappointment; Blaine was already incredibly hot, the prospect of him having a good singing voice would be too good to be true.

“Mr Shue,” Rachel announced as the Spanish teacher walked in. “My brother Blaine is coming by to auditon today.”

Mr Shue beamed, always eager to recruit new members. “That’s great. We’ll wait for him then.”

Santana gave Brittany a knowing look, extracting a tube of lip gloss from her bag and sliding it over her lips. Rachel rolled her eyes at her. They all kept glancing up at the clock, watching the hands drift lazily around the face, the time getting later and later with every tick. Mr Shue was looking impatient.

When it seemed as if the moment had dragged on too long, the door suddenly swung open and in walked Blaine. Kurt’s heart gave an excited jolt. Blaine gave no one eye contact as he made his way to find a seat. As he passed Kurt breathed in the scent of cigarette smoke and the dash of mint that attempted to conceal it. He heard the chair behind him scrape across the floor, and moments later Kurt could feel a light breeze of warm breath graze occasionally across the back of his neck. He squirmed.

“Hi Blaine,” Mr Shue said finally, after everyone had stopped staring and had returned their attention to front. “Rachel tells me that you’d like to audition?”

Blaine gave a grunt.

“So…” Mr Shue continued awkwardly. “Why don’t you come up to the front and show us what you’ve got?”

Again Blaine didn’t reply. He simply got up and walked over to the front, turning to observe the choir room with his bright eyes. He stayed motionless for a good few seconds, and it occurred to Kurt that maybe Blaine was nervous. This Kurt found absoloutley adorable.

“I want to sing a song by one of my favourite bands,” Blaine explained. “So, uh…”

Rachel leaned forward in her seat, nodding at Blaine encouragingly.

“Good times for a change,
See, the luck I’ve had,
Can make a good man turn bad.”

Every particle in Kurt’s body tingled. Blaine’s voice was… perfection. The air itself seemed to have frozen still as everything hung on that one spell binding moment, that one incredible voice. Nobody was talking. Nobody was even breathing.

“So please please please,
Let me, let me, let me,
Let me get what I want this time.”

Kurt could feel his throat constricting. It was so unfair; Blaine was so unbearably perfect. He stirred in Kurt a tangle of feelings that made his chest seize up and his arms want to flail madly.

“So for once in my life,
Let me get what I want.
Lord knows, it would be the first time.”

Rachel had joined in for the last verse, her melodies entwining so perfectly with her brothers voice that it was almost haunting to hear. Blaine stared at her, and Kurt couldn’t work out if he was annoyed or surprised that Rachel had opened her mouth. At first nobody clapped. Then, like a rumble of thunder, the sounds of furiously clapping hands rippled through the room. The very glimpse of a smile tugged at the corners of Blaine’s mouth. Then in a flash it was gone, and Kurt wondered if he had imagined it. Blaine reclaimed his seat without a word of thanks or a glance at anyone.

Mr Shue rounded up the applause. “I think we’ve found a new member!”

Nobody disagreed. Rachel had threw her arms around Blaine, and Kurt heard Brittany mutter something that sounded like “eargasm” to Santana. The only person who wasn’t estactic was Finn, who looked thoroughly put out. As Rachel released an unenthusiastic Blaine from her embrace, Kurt mustered up all of the courage he possessed and turned around. “That was really great,” he breathed. He wished he could have chosen a better choice of words, but he didn’t want to appear too eager.

But there was that curl of the lips again, and it was only for Kurt.