Blaine turned off his iPod and pushed his bag under the seat in front of him, as he was advised to do by the voiceover. He looked out the window as they came to land, staring out at the bustling city below them. Marie leaned over Blaine to see out the window too. She took his hand and squeezed it gently, saying "We've made it."

The charity had sent a car to collect Blaine and Marie from the airport and take them to their hotel that was overlooking Central Park. Marie noticed the way his eyes seemed to sparkle as he gazed out the window, finding it impossible to break his locked eyes with the city. At a stop light their driver turned to face them and said, "You know what they say about the city, kiddo? Concrete jungle where dreams are made."

Blaine smiled. "Yeah," he said, "I never thought I'd get here, but here I am- where dreams are made." And even though his trip had barely started, Blaine knew the song lyrics were going to ring true.

It was barely the afternoon and Blaine had already taken his first of what he knew would be many walks through Central Park. Marie had pestered him to go shopping with her, which had resulted in him buying a fedora he knew he would probably never wear after they returned home, and carrying all of his mom's bags. She insisted on buying him a coffee at a sweet little cafe in the middle of a bustling street, and the two had a kind of closeness rekindled that they hadn't brushed the surface of since the depth of Blaine's operations.

Now he lay, flopped down on his hotel bed, his music humming softly and one of his homework tasks he had been assigned open beside him. He knew it was unlikely that he would ever finish it, but he thought his teachers would understand.

He got a text from Wes, who Blaine knew should have been in class.

NY ttly awsum?

He smiled gently as he typed out his reply.

Yeah. It's stunning. Wish you could see it all with me.

Cut the sap, Blainers.

Sorry. Went shopping with my mom today.

Buy anything hawt?

Do you have a thing for my mom?

Naw. I ment 4 u.

I bought a hat, does that count?

Ttly

Aren't you in class, Wesley?

Yup

Do some work then, dude. I'll text you later.

k. laterz.

Marie came into their room and handed Blaine a can of coke. "What's this for?" He asked, although he cracked it open and began to drink it. She smiled. "You needed another caffeine booster. We need to go see Times Square- at least- today, otherwise we won't get through everything and you'll have to come back. And I mean, indoor Ferris wheel. We aren't missing that." She said. Blaine began to put his shoes back on, as Marie continued, "I know you're tired- it's the meds, I know they really take it out of you- but are we going to make the most of it or what?" he grinned at her and headed for the door.

"We're going to make the most of it."

Kurt had been working all day, and he was so tired that it had hardly even occurred to him that it was now the week in which he would be meeting with Blaine Anderson. After being home for a whole ten minutes and eating some pasta that Leah had so lovingly made for him, all he wanted to do was go to bed. Leah read through his scripts with him over dinner- Highlands had as much drama as it could manage- and checked his emails. The reminder that he was meeting his first cancerous teenager this week was sitting in his inbox, and he didn't even bother to open it. As excited as he was for the kid, he needed to sleep. A zombie wasn't how he wanted to come across to anyone.

The next morning Kurt woke up and dressed, and after a cup of coffee he would have gone as far as to call himself bright eyed and bushy tailed. He sat in the car, now parked in the studio lot, as Leah ran through his schedule for the day from the passenger seat.

All the cast members had to split their time between LA and NY, because the filming company had studios and on location sets in both cities. It was hardly the smoothest way to run their show, but it gave the cast some variety and choice about where they chose to live. Kurt had always been head over heels for New York, and if anything he was not moving to LA. To have a successful career and live in a totally different city to the majority of auditions was quite an achievement. He wasn't doing any movies either, so it wasn't worth his time moving.

He was needed on set all day, apparently, because for the first time since his reappearance on Highlands Elliot was having an episode long plot to himself.

The episode was focussing on Elliot and his efforts to start a support group at the school for kids with the same kinds of health issues and terminal illnesses that he had. Of course, hardly anyone had the same problems that he had; and so only one person turns up to the meeting. They vote to ditch the meeting and head to the cafe by the school, where suddenly Elliot realises that not only do the pair have heaps in common but also the guy, Jasper, was gay. Elliot had been bisexual for a whole season now, and the writers seemed to think it was time for there to be some same-sex action on the show. Kurt had had some warning that eventually Elliot would be giving up on girls entirely and now seemed closer to that time than ever. All Kurt wanted was for Elliot to be happy, and to make a difference with his character. And, because of the way things were with Blaine Anderson, it seemed he had already done the latter half of that.

The day trip to Niagara Falls wasn't anywhere near as interesting as all the leaflets seemed to make the trips out to be. Blaine was aiming to do everything and turn any situation into the best possible. He pushed through tourists to eventually look out over the falls. He could barely hear himself think, but he didn't even care. His mom made him pose while she took photos of him, and then requested that he did the same for her. She then passed the camera to another tourist asking him to take a picture of Blaine and her together. The man was clearly Australian, with a thick accent and an odd shirt with koalas on it. It was the sort of thing you might have expected the tourists to have purchased in a gift shop, although this was clearly the wrong place to find a shirt like that. He took the picture and grinned toothily at them, unsure quite why the pair needed a picture taken like that. When Marie suggested that she take a photo of him in return, he just laughed.

The pair took the boat cruise as close to the falls as they could get without there being crazy risks involved. The boats brought you close enough to feel the cool mist, something that Blaine had never dreamed he would experience in his lifetime. That wouldn't be the only thing he had never dared to dream he could encounter on his trip. Sometimes it isn't until it happens that you ever realise that it's a possibility at all- and that was exactly how things were for Blaine.

Blaine and Kurt both checked their emails that evening to find one confirmation email from Kathryn Woodrow, the highly official email stamped with the Wish Factory logo and everything. After a deep breath, Blaine worrying that it had been called off and Kurt worrying that there had been another hundred kids line up to meet him, they opened their respective emails.

Hi Blaine and Kurt,

This is just one final email reminder about the meeting tomorrow! Most plans are as you, Kurt, originally determined, although we have made some slight changes considering the scenario.

You will meet at Carefree (a map to the cafe has been included with this email, for Blaine's sake) at 11am. The meeting shouldn't take longer than an hour, assuming that both parties have other arrangements for the day. Kurt, we believe you have accepted the idea of photos and autographs, so Blaine, please bring your camera with you if you wish to have some photographic evidence of the meeting for bragging rights or whatever you children get up to these days.

The two of you shall sit at one table privately to ensure you get the most out of your meeting. There will be some brief moments from me for promotional purposes, but these have been counted above your hour. Blaine's mother and Kurt's guests are welcome to attend, although they shall be seated elsewhere on the requests we have received from numerous people.

I look forward to meeting you both.

Blaine let a smile slip across his face- his fantasy was becoming reality. He had been addressed the same email as one to Kurt Hummel. He looked at the email address, and it appeared to be one that was set up through his agency. It wasn't really worth keeping- anything sent to it would be deleted, he could just tell. It didn't stop him from saving it to his contacts, nonetheless.

Kurt smiled too, because he was pleased about the words "promotional purposes"- but he was also finding that he was looking forward to meeting Blaine Anderson. He had been told about him for so long now, and finally he could meet this boy.

The morning of the meeting was interesting for all people who were involved.

Kathryn Woodrow, for example, found herself to be entirely out of clean pressed business suits to wear, and had to settle for a dress that she thought was businesslike enough for the photos and such. Bearing in mind that she had only communicated with Kurt and Blaine via email, she needed to look like the Kathryn she had presented to them.

Leah found herself shaking Kurt awake at half past ten, after he had stayed up so late watching Sherlock that he had fallen asleep on his laptop. Kurt eventually woke, and realised he had half an hour to be showered, dressed and at the coffee shop. He showered the fastest he had in a long while, but still took ten minutes to get his hair to signature perfection. By the time he had chosen his outfit and put it on, it was 10:57. He grabbed Leah's hand and raced for the elevator, ready to meet the mystery sick kid.

Blaine and Marie ended up stuck on the subway. They had left with plenty of time to spare, but quickly realised that the delays the subway could face were seemingly random. Neither could decipher what the voiceover was saying, eventually giving up and walking the rest of the way to the cafe. By the time they had left the subway station and starting walking the last few blocks, it was 10:58. Blaine started walking a bit faster, and Marie struggled to keep up in her high heels. "Blaine, hun, what's the rush? Stop worrying, we're nearly there..." Blaine paused for a moment to turn and face his mother.

"I can't be late, mom! This is important to me! They can't think that I'm some stuck up sick kid!" He ran ahead, before pausing for another moment to turn and yell at her, "I'll meet you there, okay?"

By the time Kurt arrived his hair was slightly less fabulous than it had been when he had left his apartment a few minutes earlier. He had expected Blaine Anderson to be sulking about him being late, but found that he wasn't there. He fixed his hair in the reflection of the window, and was greeted as soon as he walked in by a woman he could only assume was Kathryn Woodrow. She shook his hand firmly and asked what his coffee order was, before escorting him to a table in the corner. She explained that Blaine hadn't turned up yet.

When he finally arrived at the cafe, Blaine paused for a second to catch his breath. He adjusted his beanie and entered. He was greeted by Kathryn, who asked him where his mother was. He explained the subway saga, how he had run there, apologising for how incredibly late he was. He pulled out his phone to check the time- it was now only 11:04. He was hardly late at all.

He spotted Kurt in the corner and didn't wait for the okay to go over. Kathryn trotted over behind him, and set the pair up to pose for a few photos, including one of Blaine handing Kurt his official spokesperson initiation certificate. After their coffees arrived and Marie had taken her own pictures of the two and found a spot to sit elsewhere, Blaine smiled warmly at Kurt.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," Kurt said.

"I'm Blaine Anderson. I'm not very exciting."

"I'm Kurt Hummel."

"I know." There was a moment of silence. This is why Kurt found it hard to meet people outside business arrangements; everyone knew whom he was, which always made introductions feel less personal and more one sided.

"So you like Highlands?" Kurt said, in an attempt to steer the conversation away from the awkward pause they had just had.

"I do. Elliot has helped me through so much over the last few years... look, I know you aren't Elliot, but I just have to thank you for portraying him like you did. I don't think I could have gotten through any of this without him."

"Did? I think you mean do."

"...you haven't been written out entirely?" Blaine's voice was hopeful and he was perfectly pleased with that piece of information alone coming from their meeting.

"Nope, I've been back on set," Kurt said, "It's a little odd to be back, but it's kind of nice, too. I've missed Elliot."

"I've missed him too."

"We all have. But he'll be back for awhile yet."

"That's good."

There was a moment of semi-awkward silence while they both sipped their coffees.

Kurt smiled and said, "You can't be that boring. Go on; tell me about your fascinating lifestyle."

Blaine couldn't help but smile back, saying, "I'm just a Cancer kid in remission trying to master Calculus and shake off a thirteen year old that has a crazy crush on me."

"Calculus? Calculus was tough. I was always told I'd need it in the real world, but I've never used it since." Kurt said.

"Damn, I knew I should've taken something else." Blaine joked. He knew he was suitably intelligent for mathematical subjects like Calc.

"Oh well. You'll get there. So who's this thirteen year old?"

"Her name is Sky and she goes to my support group. I don't know what I did, but she got picked up somewhere along the line."

"Is she that bad? Really?" Kurt laughed.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh too. "Yeah... she was in my house once and took suspiciously long to go to the bathroom."

"Damn, you have a stalker and you're just some sick kid. I don't have a stalker!" Kurt mocked the delicate balance between upset, desperation and jealousy perfectly.

"Trust me, you do." Blaine said. Kurt raised his eyebrows. "At least half the internet has something dedicated to you on their blog."

"I didn't realise the blogging sphere enjoyed my face so much."

"More than you will probably ever know."

There was another pause, before Blaine spoke again.

"So can you tell me about Highlands or is that Top Secret information?"

"Will you go straight to the tabloids?" Kurt asked.

Blaine slid his phone across the table to Kurt. "It won't even go to my Twitter."

Kurt took the phone in his hands. "I like your case." Blaine had a Born Rivals case- it had a picture of the heroine and sidekick, Leiyna-Dailey. "I guess you're into hot anime chicks?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so. Mostly just that one, because face it, she is freaking awesome. Only character in the game that can use the Sword of King Piarania? That's one huge achievement."

"Oh, that's right! I don't know as much about video games as you might hope from a voice actor, but Leiyna is pretty darn awesome and I know that much. So you like the games then?" Kurt was genuinely curious about the game, having never played the saga through himself.

"Definitely. I've played the whole series with my friend Wes, right from Melody Night. The story has kind of changed entirely since then, but the saga as a whole is just... insane."

"That's good. I've never really come across many people who have even recognised I'm Prince Julio." Kurt said.

"I think that was part of the reason I bought the first game, and back then he wasn't really the centric character." Blaine confessed. The game looked average on cover inspection, but it wasn't until you played it that you really could see that there was a genius plot, with romance and rivalry, forbidden friendship and war, births and deaths. The characters felt real and all were animated to suit their personalities exactly. The graphics got better as the saga continued and the technology improved, but all were animated to a high quality for the time they came out. The first game was nothing compared to the most recent, but it was impressive nonetheless. But, if it hadn't been for Kurt's voice acting, Blaine probably would have put it down in favour of a more popular series.

"Oh, he was always set up for being the heir to the series. We all knew the King would die in battle and if the kingdom needed a hero, Julio was the logical choice." Kurt said. He looked at the phone in his hands again. "I might just have to follow you on Twitter, Blaine Anderson. You seem like you might be worth following. Either you'll be posting random inspirational crap or something funny."

"Well that would be my life in a nutshell. Also this encounter will mean nothing to anyone after a while, but you'll be following my account for all eternity. Actually, you should Tweet me some time, see how many people follow me for having been noticed by you." Blaine said.

"Interesting experiment that." Kurt agreed.

"That would be why I suggested it."

"So anyway, I had this," Kurt waved the phone a bit, "to ensure anything I said relating to Highlands wouldn't be leaked online."

"So Elliot's coming back this season?" Blaine confirmed.

"He is, and he's kind of pissed no one told him Jake and Meaghan got together."

"Well I'd be pretty pissed if my two best friends hooked up and no one kept me in the loop because it might possibly disturb my important Africa trip." Blaine said.

"I would too, as would Elliot. And he's been put back a year because of all the travelling time." Kurt remembered aloud.

"So he isn't dying, if he can attend school?"

"Yeah, but he tries to start a support group at the school and just this one other guy turns up- they're friends for now, but they will totally get together. He's been introduced as a love interest; because they want to ditch Elliot's bisexuality- he'll be gay as the fourth of July before you know it." Kurt half joked.

"Huh. That's spoilers enough for me. Now hand me my phone back so I can start on a blog post." Blaine teased.

"What? No!"

"I'm just kidding, Kurt."

"You know what? I'm going to need all your internet pseudonyms so I can track how much of this reaches the web." Kurt said.

"I would be completely okay with that." Blaine said.

Soon the expected hour was up and Ms. Woodrow came over to curb their conversation. Kurt turned to her and smiled, saying, "Alright, I'll just finish up what I was saying to Blaine. He might have a couple more questions and I'd hate to dart out on him now." Kathryn walked away to chat to Leah. She said rather audibly, "He is just so charitable. Bless his heart." Leah winked at Kurt, who knew that from the first meeting they had been successful.

Kurt then turned back to Blaine. "You can leave on me, if you want. I won't stop you, and you probably have more sightseeing to do..."

Blaine looked up at him. "I'd much rather stay here and have an excuse to visit the city again."

"So did you have any more questions, or did we get through them all?"

"I think we got everything." Blaine said, pushing his chair back as so that he would be ready to leave.

"I have one more question for you though, Blaine Anderson. Can you give me your email address or something so you can send me all of your account names? I seriously intend on keeping track of all of them to make sure you aren't the one releasing spoilers. This season is staying as secret as we can manage until further notice. The director was having a crack down about this..."

Blaine scribbled his phone number down on a napkin and handed it to him. "I might need my phone back, but you can text me. You might get a more immediate reply as well."

Kurt handed the phone back, so their hands touched for the briefest of moments. Both looked at the other for just a second before breaking their gaze, and that was when Blaine realized he might be in deeper in this crush than he had realised.

"Okay. I'll text you tonight, Blaine Anderson." Kurt said.

"Thank you for meeting with me today, Kurt Hummel." Blaine said.

"You're welcome. I think it was a win-win." Kurt said with a shrug.

They both stood up. Blaine looked at Kurt for a second. "Do you think I could get a hug? Bragging rights and all that."

Kurt smiled. "Of course, Blaine Anderson. It's the least I can do."

Blaine took the step to close the table length between them and the two hugged somewhat awkwardly.

"Bye, Kurt."

"Good bye, Blaine Anderson."

Blaine picked up Marie on his way past and the two thanked Kathryn for the amazing opportunity. She let them know some of the arrangements for that evening's Broadway show, before letting them head on their way. They walked in comfortable silence to the subway station, before Marie said, "So how about that pedestal?"

"It didn't come crashing down or anything, mom. It sort of just gently lowered to eye-level." Blaine said. Kurt had had much less ego than he had expected, and it was for the good of everyone. He had been genuinely sweet and friendly. Marie smiled at him, and decided not to ask any more questions. Blaine would tell her more details when the time came, and she knew exactly what he had meant about the pedestal.

Kurt went over to Leah and the two waited patiently for Kathryn to be freed up before she came over to them. "A marvellous success," She said, "you were absolutely glowing, Kurt. Now we get those pictures to the Wish Factory offices so they can start on your record. The next photo shoot for our supporters is next month, so you'll meet a couple more kids before then, but they should be happy including you in the campaign." Kurt and Leah thanked her before heading back up the road and then upstairs to the apartment.

When the pair was safely alone in the elevator, Kurt said, "He was kind of gorgeous." Leah turned to Kurt and broke out in a grin. She couldn't find exactly the words she wanted to say- she was torn between oh, that's great Kurt! And, what? You can't go falling over every kid you meet! So she left it. Kurt fiddled with the scrap of napkin in his pocket, with Blaine's boyish script displaying his cell phone number. Maybe it wasn't appropriate, but he was hardly going to stop now.