After Blaine’s revelation, things grew very quiet at the table. They did not speak but Blaine still felt a communication. A gentle brush of Kurt’s thumb on his hand. Their eyes locking then shyly looking away. Blaine felt like he was sixteen again and infatuation was pushing every logical thought out of his brain. For the moment.

One day. Blaine had only known this man one day! He was suddenly overwhelmed. Sitting across from, a stranger, staring longingly into his eyes and holding his hand? This was about ten steps ahead of where they should at this point. He should not feel this comfortable. It was clich�d to think that he felt like he had known Kurt his entire life. However, he felt like he had known Kurt his entire life.

He also felt like a liar. Like he was stuck in the middle of some farcical romantic comedy. While every one in the audience is screaming, ‘just tell the truth!’, the hapless protagonist just keeps lying. Because he can’t think of any other way of not letting this amazing person go. Blaine suddenly had a lot more sympathy for all those clueless characters. How much would it matter, he wondered. It was just a silly misunderstanding, a little lie. Which he kept going so he could get to know Kurt better? Yeah, that didn’t look so good. He wanted to just blurt out the truth to Kurt but the fear of losing him held him back.

He slowly slid his fingers out of Kurt’s warm hand.

“What are we doing Kurt? You don’t even know me! I don’t know you. I don’t know your middle name or your favorite color. Are you a psychopath? Do you eat ice cream when you are sad? What flavor? We don‘t know each other and yet, here we are, acting like we‘ve been dating for a month. We met yesterday! I don‘t really know what’s going on here Kurt.”

“I don’t either, but I know it feels right. If you want to know something about me just ask. I feel like I could tell you anything…...” Kurt froze and shook his head. “Right. Of course you’re right. I should leave.” He started to push away from the table.

“God no! No leaving.”

“Okay, so where do we go from here Blaine?”

“Well this,” he said waving a hand between the two, “doesn’t seem to be following the conventional.” He had to laugh at Kurt’s eye roll and emphatic nod. “So how about we skip the small talk, just for now. How about we start with something deeper? Something maybe other people in your life don’t know.”

Blaine waited while Kurt sat silently. His fingers worrying the skull bolo tie at the collar of his gray shirt. Kurt’s eyes narrowed as if he were assessing the situation. He seemed to come to a decision when he nodded and leaned forward toward Blaine slightly.

“There was a time when I felt as though people would look at me and just see an anomaly and not a person. Like I had a neon sign over my head that said, ‘Kurt Hummel homo’. The worst were the people who did not want to acknowledge my existence at all. Then I would do things purposely to make them look at me. It took awhile for me to stop forcing people to have an opinion of me and just let one form. Did you ever feel that way Blaine?”

Blaine noticed that emotion seemed to fill his blue eyes with clouds of grey and green. Like a storm. The more he got to know Kurt the more he needed to know.

“Kurt, you talk like a forty year old whose, been there done that, and not an eighteen year old senior in high school.” Blaine had a momentary panic when Kurt paled and looked down at the tabletop.

“Kurt that’s not a criticism! I’m impressed.” He hoped his smile conveyed as much sincerity as he felt. “I haven’t known you long but I’m pretty sure you are the most interesting kid in all of Ohio. I just can’t imagine a time when people wouldn’t drop everything to just stare at you in awe.” Kurt’s answering smile washed him with relief.

“You are too much Blaine. Are you sure you’re real?”

Blaine laughed and reached out to take Kurt’s hand. He kicked himself for letting go of it in the first place. “I do understand what you were saying. It sounds like you’ve known who you really are for a long time. I remember a time, not so long ago, that I wanted to be seen as the real me. I just haven’t… hadn’t figured out who he was yet. How about we don’t worry about that anymore and just, notice each other instead.“

“I wish I had known you when I felt that way Blaine.”

“Me too Kurt.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three years ago:

“You never struck me as the museum type Coop.” Blaine was shocked when Cooper suggested going to the art museum. But he would have jumped at any chance to get out of the house. He was home from Dalton for the weekend and his father had been on one of his ‘music is a hobby not a career‘, kicks lately. That may have been why Cooper asked Blaine to come today.

“Blaine, I love art! I am an actor. When I am in character I am a living breathing piece of art.”

“Sure you are Cooper. Now tell me why we’re really here.”

“Post Secret has a display here today.” At Blaine’s blank stare, he explained. “Post Secret. Someone will take a handmade postcard and write down a secret, something they’ve never told anyone before. Then they send it in anonymously.”

“And why do you want to see this?”

“Insight into the human psyche? Blaine, we are here seeking enlightenment. It’s all very deep stuff.”

“Cooper.”

“Okay, I thought I could use some of the secrets as motivation for future acting gigs. Or maybe write a screenplay. Come on Blaine,” he said as he rubbed his hands together under his chin. “let‘s go and get cultured!”

Blaine let himself be pulled forward. He had to hand it to his brother, this was pretty interesting. Some of the post cards were funny, some were sad and some were very disturbing. In fact, there were a few that he would never be able to forget, even if he wanted to. However, he didn’t expect to find someone else’s truth so powerful that it would impact his own life.

The post card was on cream-colored card stock. On the left side was a black and white photo with a Burberry-esque border. The picture had been trimmed so that all that showed was a t-shirt. No face or arms showed. Just the t-shirt. Blaine studied the trim waist and nice chest. Just a hint of pale skin above the collar. This guys body alone would have been enough to get him to stop. But it was the words on the t-shirt that keep him rooted to the floor.

LIKES BOYS

Blaine had assumed when he saw the picture that this guys true confession would be that he’s gay. Simple and to the point. But it was so much more. Each sentence looked to have been written in brown ink on white paper then cut out. Four separate lines pasted to the right of the picture.

“This is me.”

“People who hate gays would like me to disappear.”

“The jock who hate kissed me would like me to disappear.”

“I wear outrageous clothes so I don’t feel invisible.”

He stayed in front of the postcard for the rest of their time in the museum. His brother tried to get him to look at other things but he couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. He couldn’t stop the tears that trailed down his cheeks. He really had no idea how long he stood there. He was snapped out of this hypnotic state when he felt an arm go around his shoulders.

“Hey squirt, it’s time to go.”

He was so intent on his study that he didn’t even object to the hated nickname. Blaine was grateful to Cooper for not mentioning his tears. He was pretty sure if they were acknowledged it would just make them come faster. He took out his phone and took a picture of the postcard. “I wear outrageous clothes so I don’t feel invisible.” He muttered under his breath.

“Did you say something Blaine?”

“I have a pink bow tie with green polka dots.”

Cooper looked at him like he had grown an extra head. “Okay?”

“I think I might just wear it tomorrow. With red pants.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They both seemed reluctant to leave the coffee shop. When Blaine reminded Kurt it was almost time for him to get to school, he actually fell forward on the table and groaned. He laughed and ‘awwwed’, in sympathy. Until that moment, he thought of Kurt as being a forty year old trapped in the body of teenager. When he saw how he reacted to being told to go to school he got to see him act his age.

The clock was ticking as they stood by Blaine’s car and they both knew it. They just stood and stared at each other. Blaine wasn’t sure how to say goodbye. Too soon for a kiss? Probably. Instead, he reached out and drew Kurt in for a hug. Blaine felt Kurt shift slightly as he turned his head. Blaine felt his warm mouth brushing the shell of his ear as he whispered.

“Knowing that you will be there is the only reason I am enduring the torture of going to that school today. Knowing that you will be waiting for me in glee at the end of the day will be the only thing I think about.”

It had certainly been one of the most interesting days that Blaine could remember. His entire day had been a practice in avoidance. Avoiding other teachers who might question his presence. Avoiding the principal who probably would, Blaine feared, have him arrested. Avoiding phone calls from his father wondering where he had been the last two days. Avoiding having to actually teach the Spanish class he was shoved into that morning. Avoiding his inner dialogue that told him he was a fake. And Kurt wouldn’t want a fake. Definitely an interesting day. By the time glee club met, he was almost wishing he was back in his college dorm room and living the safe life his father had chosen for him.

Then there was Kurt.

He was currently holding court surrounded by the other glee kids. Blaine wandered over to his desk not taking his eyes off of the scene before him. Every one of the students had a slight look of awe on their face. So, Blaine thought, he wasn’t the only one captivated. One young man, a freshman by the looks of him, looked to almost burst into flames when Kurt smiled and patted him on the shoulder. Kurt was waving his hand gracefully over another girls hair informing her how to best frame her face, Blaine assumed. There was the girl who started her conversation with her arms crossed in the front. Her glare was obviously generated by jelousy. By the time he was done with her she was hugging herself and twirling in joy at whatever Kurt was saying. Blaine was sure that the grand sweeping gesture Kurt was making with his hand was the universal sign for Broadway. Kurt then snapped pictures with his phone of the most bizarrely dressed girl Blaine had ever seen. Leg warmers? Seriously? Kurt was having her walk and spin like she was on Top Model.

In that moment Blaine watched Kurt go from mentor, to crush, to threat, to cheerleader. He was everything.

Kurt looked up and spied Blaine. He captured his lips in his teeth like he was warring with his mouth to keep his smile from growing to large. He pointed his phone at him and snapped another picture. He left his fan club and wandered over to Blaine.

“Hey you.”

“Shouldn’t you be fine tuning another Katy Perry show-stopper instead of staring at me?”

Blaine’s comeback quip was interrupted by a voice from the hallway.

“Mr. Anderson!”

“Son of a… Principal Figgins.”

Thunk!

Blaine was distracted by a commotion on the floor behind his desk. Kurt was crouched on his knees gathering up the contents of his bag, which had apparently fallen to the floor. Blaine turned his attention back to the principal. He tried to swallow back the sudden nausea. This is it, he thought. This is when the truth comes out.

“It’s Friday Mr. Anderson. I need the set list for sectionals by Monday.”

“Oh. Oh! Yes, of course. You will have it on Monday.”

Principal Figgins wandered away, and Blaine tried to remember how to make his heart beat. He crouched down behind his desk to help Kurt gather his things. He grabbed Kurt’s phone off of the floor with one hand and retrieved his with the other. He handed the latter to Kurt.

“Why?”

“You’re number.” He whispered. “In case I can’t come on Monday.”

He tossed and turned all night. By Saturday morning, he had worked himself into a frenzy. His marathon train of thoughts led him to one conclusion. He had to tell Kurt the truth, now. If he waited any longer, he risked losing him because he kept the truth to himself too long. If he kept the lie going then he risked losing him because he didn’t tell him the truth soon enough. Bottom line? He risked losing him either way but he cared so much for Kurt that he had to give him the right to choose.

He got his phone off of the nightstand and dialed Kurt’s number.

“Blaine?”

The sound of Kurt’s voice made his whole body feel like it was smiling. “Hey ba… Kurt. I need to see you.”

“Oh, of course. Lima Bean in forty five?”

“No, I was thinking some place a little more private?” Blaine glanced around his dorm room and shook his head. “Can I come over to your house? Please. If your parents think it’s strange we can just say that it’s a project for glee. No wait! Oh God, not that I want to encourage you to lie to your mom or dad about me! Crap. Just please Kurt, tell me were you live so I can come see you.”

“Blaine I don’t think that's a …, I’m not who… Okay. Give me an hour then come over.”

Blaine wrote down the address, disconnected and threw himself back on his bed. “This is it Blaine”, he said to his ceiling, “this is where you come out of hiding.” He just hoped beyond all hope that Kurt would still want him at the end of the day.