Blaine and Kurt sat together on the window seat so they could look out at the front yard and driveway, to know when Olivia turned up. A car pulled up and Blaine raced for the door, opening it before Olivia had even made it all the way there. "Olivia!" he exclaimed, and nearly knocked her over with the force of his hug.

"It's nice to see you too, Blaine," she said, as soon as she was free enough from his embrace to speak. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, just hold on two seconds." Blaine headed back into the house and found Kurt, who was still sitting where he had left him. Kurt looked up at Blaine and smiled.

"Aren't you going?" Kurt questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I am, but do you want to come with me to the doorstep for a minute?" Kurt followed Blaine back to the front door where Olivia was standing, waiting, a forced look of annoyance on her face. She wasn't really mad at Blaine for anything, but she was going to make that moment when he got back last.

It didn't.

"Why am I even here?" Kurt said, as they walked down the hall together, "She's your friend, Blaine Anderson..." Olivia instantly wiped her bitchface off in favour of a simple smile. She figured Blaine was staying with a friend, and she thought she was horribly mistaken when she heard Kurt Hummel's voice from around the corner. That was, until Blaine and Kurt stepped out onto the porch and closed the front door behind them.

"Olivia," Blaine said, "This is Kurt, but you already knew that... Kurt, this is Olivia."

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said, offering his hand to Olivia to shake. She ignored the hand and threw her arms around him.

"Oh my god, you're Kurt Hummel, you're real, why are you here, why am I here, oh my god." Olivia said, her thoughts pouring out of her mouth in a stream of consciousness.

"Turns out Olivia here is a Highlands fan, too." Blaine explained.

"I can see that," said Kurt, who was now free from Olivia's hug.

"Kurt Hummel is your friend? What? Why? How?" Olivia said, looking from one boy to the other.

"I had a wish. You know that charity, The Wish Factory?" Olivia nodded, "Well they flew me to New York and arranged for me to meet Kurt, and then he made the horrible decision to talk to me again after that," Blaine explained.

"Worst decision of my life," Kurt said, rolling his eyes. "Now I believe you two are meant to be heading somewhere, and my dad should be here any minute to take me out." Kurt headed back into the house and Olivia and Blaine walked over to her car.

Once they were safely inside, Olivia spoke again. "So," she said, "you're friends with Kurt Hummel?"

"Yup," Blaine agreed.

"And you're totally in love with him?" Kurt walked past the car at that moment, heading towards the street where his dad had just pulled up behind them. He waved at them and gave a slight smile.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I was-" he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, because he was cut off by Olivia.

"Tell me you weren't just checking out his ass."

"I wasn't-"

"Please, Blaine, do us all a favour and just answer the damn question with the proper answer." Olivia said, rolling her eyes at him.

"I- okay. Okay. Maybe I am. I don't know." Blaine said, turning to look out the window and not at Olivia.

"See? That wasn't so hard. So you're gay?" She started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Yes. I'll give you that much. Where are we going?" He asked. She hadn't said anything about it.

"On an adventure, Blaine! So you're skipping?" She replied, with a very deliberate change of topic.

"Yeah, aren't you?"

"Cancer perk," they said in unison, before laughing slightly. That was the thing that connected them above all else.

Olivia pulled up in a parking lot of a small diner. At Olivia's prompt they got out of the car and headed inside, where Olivia was greeted by several people from across the room. They took a seat and scanned the menus.

"Breakfast? Lunch? What are you up for?" Olivia asked, "I'm having French toast, whether you are or not."

"I'm not really hungry," Blaine replied, having been practically stuffed by Kurt and Carole, "but I'll have coffee." When a young waitress came over they repeated their orders. Olivia stopped the waitress from walking away too quickly though, when she grabbed her hand and introduced her to Blaine.

"This is Natalie, my girlfriend," Olivia said, "And this is Blaine. He was my best friend a couple of years ago- he still is, as far as I care." Blaine and Natalie had a polite 'Nice to meet you' exchange, before she headed back to the kitchen to give their orders.

"So... girlfriend," Blaine said, "You're..."

"Bisexual. And yes, she is my girlfriend, not my girl-space-friend or gal pal or anything else you want to call her. This isn't platonic."

"Okay, too much information," Blaine said, not really wanting to discuss sex, especially not when the last time he had seen Olivia she had been the picture of innocence, only in her early teens. She had always looked so small in the hospital bed next to him, and it was weird to think they had both grown up so much since then. "Do your parents know?"

"Yeah, I told them Nat was my girlfriend right from the start. I told them I was bisexual what, four months ago?" Olivia said, clearly more comfortable with the topic of her sexuality than Blaine was about his.

"And they're cool with it?"

"They took a bit to get used to it, but they don't really mind, I don't think. They know that Nat makes me happy and they aren't one to argue with my happiness." Olivia said with a shrug. She honestly couldn't see what the big hype about it was. Nat was the first girlfriend she had had, compared to several boyfriends. If her parents worried about not having grandchildren they didn't hassle her about it ever.

"So you've met my parents, how long do you think it will take for them to come around?" Blaine asked. Olivia was the most qualified person on the matter, he thought. Kurt could give his guesses, but he hadn't met either of Blaine's parents and could hardly relate in a family like his own. Wes had met his parents, but hadn't needed to come out to anyone. Olivia, however, seemed to have insight on all aspects.

"I don't know, when did you tell them?"

"Yesterday." Olivia would have done a spit take if she hadn't had an empty mouth.

"I see... and how long had you thought about coming out for?" She said, raising an eyebrow at Blaine, trying to make sense of all the information he had handed her.

"Like, ten hours." Blaine said. He had thought about it that morning and then told both his parents that evening, even though he had only planned on coming out to his mother.

"Wow, you didn't mess around, did you?"

"I've known for a lot longer than that, I think. I just hadn't quite made sense of it, you know?" Blaine tried to explain. Natalie returned with their food, and they each thanked her. Olivia nodded and started eating her French toast.

"Have you dated anyone? Like, in total?" Olivia asked, out of genuine curiosity. She wondered how many girls it had taken him to realise he wasn't into them.

"Um, no," Blaine said, "I mean, no girlfriends, or boyfriends, or lovers, or anything else of the sort. I've been on dates, I guess, because I've always been that single friend that girls ask to take them to dances, and I have this friend who is pretending to date me to impress her friends, but no."

"Wait, you mean there is a group of teenage girls who think you're dating their friend?"

"Yes," Blaine said, thinking back to the events at the ice cream parlour, "It probably doesn't help that I kissed her."

"Okay, let me guess. This girl is like, twelve, and she was already telling people she was dating you, you awkwardly found out but you were too nice to tell her to piss off?" Olivia said, raising her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah, something like that," Blaine said, "but that wasn't your question."

"No it wasn't. I did have something I wanted to tell you about, though, in relation to my question."

"Go ahead."

"So you remember when they had that Christmas dance at the hospital for the sick teenagers?" Olivia asked, remembering one of the many times she had hung out with Blaine, back when they were both a little more sick than any doctor would have admitted to them.

"Yeah, you had to ask me twice to make sure I was only taking you." Blaine said, thinking back to that night too. Olivia was paranoid that he had been asked by just about every sick girl (and to be fair, he had been asked by more than one of them), and was even more worried that she might turn up as one of two girls who thought they were dating Blaine. They had been at the age when going on a date was the same thing as dating, so you would end with a significant other for a day and half before you broke up. Blaine had said yes to Olivia, because she was his best friend. If you couldn't go to a dance with your friend it was a bit of a waste of time, right?

"Right, well, I just thought I ought to tell you I was totally head over heels for you. I thought you were the best thing since sliced bread, and I honestly had the hugest crush on you. I figured you should know. That was the first date I ever went on." Olivia said, shrugging it off. She wasn't really that fussed by it anymore.

"Me too," Blaine said, agreeing about it being his first date, "but the funny thing? I was actually crushing on your brother. Hard. I didn't realise that until yesterday either."

Olivia started laughing, and she didn't stop for a really long time. She just sat there laughing at Blaine, who looked at her with a puzzled expression. Olivia finally caught her breath and managed to stop laughing, making sure she wouldn't start again before looking back at Blaine. "You had a crush on James? Of all boys to be your first crush, James?" she managed not to start laughing again. Blaine shrugged.

"I don't know, but he was definitely the reason I auditioned for the Warblers. He was always so into his show choir and stuff. I don't think he ever talked about anything else." Blaine said, feeling a little bit nostalgic at the memory, thinking about the feeling fondly.

"Oh, right," Olivia said, "Wait, you weren't just using me to get to him, were you? We were actually friends, right?"

"My friendship with you and infatuation with James were separate from each other, don't worry." Blaine said. He had never even really thought about them in the same sphere, even if they were siblings. People always thought of him and Cooper separately too, so it wasn't much different.

"Good. Because I remember specifically that I kissed you at the end of the dance. That was my first, you know." Olivia said, making sure she looked directly at Blaine. It was fair enough he knew that she had actually meant something by that kiss.

"It was my first too, Liv. And I'm pleased that it was with you, if it had to be anyone. Or, well, a girl. I'm thankful it was you and not Sky- that's the girl I'm pretend dating."

"But I feel sort of bad about taking your lip virginity. You could have given that to someone really special, or at least, I don't know, male." Olivia said. She glanced back over her shoulder to Natalie, and she gave a little wave. The smile they passed was so obvious that you could tell right away the depth of their relationship.

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Don't feel bad about it. It was sort of clumsy, and uh, neither of us had any clue how to kiss. So to be honest, I'm pleased it was you and not someone who did matter. Not that you don't matter, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I get what you mean. I think. Also, I'm aware I matter. I'm just that sort of a person." Olivia ate some more and Blaine sipped his coffee.

"Is this your adventure then?"

"Oh hell no. The adventure is only just beginning. I just wanted breakfast- also I doubt we'll have much chance to talk, where we're going." She smiled slyly, and finished her food in a hurry. She left some money on the table, kissed Natalie goodbye quickly, and grabbed Blaine to pull him out of the diner. They sat back in the car and Blaine asked her again where they were going. "You'll see," She said, "Soon enough, you'll see."

Olivia pulled up outside a building that looked oddly flashy for the time of day, and the neon sign flashed open. Olivia led Blaine inside and he looked around the place that was mostly empty. There were a few people around, but it was nowhere near full. "This place gets packed after school lets out and then again in the evenings. Artsy kids love it. Shame you didn't turn up on a Saturday." The place looked like an odd cross between a coffee shop and a night club, complete with a fabulous stage, equipped with a piano and microphones set up appropriately. There were sofas and coffee tables set up around and there was a bar to the side, although the alcohol was clearly off limits at this time of day. There was plenty of natural light from the large windows at the front, but judging by the heavy strobe lights the place lit up in a totally different manner after night fell. It seemed like it could be a place with a constant open mic or an odd way to run a karaoke bar. Apparently, it was both.

"I've never heard you sing," Olivia said, "and that's just not fair. So that's why we're here. More coffee?" Blaine accepted the offer and sat down in a comfy looking armchair, scanning the karaoke song list that sat on the table. There was an interesting mix, and he just couldn't resist a good stage. He checked his phone to find a check up text from Kurt, saying, How are things? She hasn't locked you in the basement?

Blaine laughed a little bit and replied saying, No, just dragged me to a karaoke bar that's open in the middle of the day. It's oddly quiet.

Wait, really? Since when do you sing?

Did I never mention the Warblers? How did that slip conversation?

You're kidding. I am so there. Name your place. Blaine could practically hear Kurt's excitement. Hopefully he wasn't totally ditching his dad for this.

Blaine looked at the top of the track list to find the name of the cafe/bar/club, whatever they chose to call themselves, and replied. The Sparkle Pit. It's like, two streets over from McKinley. I think.

I can look it up. You sure it isn't a strip club?

Actually I wouldn't put it past this place...

Blaine shoved his phone back in his pocket and smiled over at Olivia, who had just taken a seat in the armchair closest to him. She waited until their coffees arrived, thanking the waiter and asking about the use of the stage. He set up the equipment for them for the karaoke list and set it to her first song of choice, although he seemed surprised anyone wanted to touch the stage when it was this empty. Once the place filled up in the evenings they were all there for the karaoke. She sprang to her feet, running a hand through her short hair before bouncing over to the stage and setting herself up in front of the mic.

"My name's Olivia," She said, even though the few couples at the other tables clearly weren't paying too much attention, "And I will be singing ABBA today." She nodded towards the waiter who was now manning the sound desk and he started the track. She sang Dancing Queen, not terribly, but it seemed as though her brother had received all the talent. Olivia would clearly be sticking to karaoke for the mean time.

The song ended and she sat back down with Blaine, who was trying his hardest not to giggle at her performance. She wasn't bad, no, but she needed a fair bit of work before anyone would call her a good singer. She seemed so proud of her performance that no one could ever have the heart to tell her she wasn't as good as she seemed to think, probably why she still seemed to be glowing from her stage buzz.

Blaine stalled Olivia making him go up on the stage by pretending to contemplate the list quite heavily, pretending to be debating a couple of songs with himself. He was really just waiting for Kurt to turn up.

Kurt walked in the door and seemed to react in the same kind of manner as Blaine- at first with confusion, before softening into a sort of satisfaction with the venue. If there was one thing The Sparkle Pit had, it was originality. He found his way to the table that Olivia and Blaine were sitting at, and sat down with them before ordering a coffee of his own. The waiter seemed to recognise him but didn't try and push any kind of interaction from him, which Kurt was constantly grateful for.

Blaine pretended to make a big deal about having finally chosen a song to perform, dramatising his decision that he had made some time ago, before finding the waiter to set it up for him. He stepped up onto the stage and introduced himself the same way that Olivia had. The music started and Blaine began to sing.

"Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel

My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel"

The song, I believe in a thing called love, fitted Blaine's voice in a surprising way. It was in no form the kind of song you would expect to be sung by him, but it worked oddly well. It was almost as though it fitted because it wasn't supposed to, Blaine's falsetto hitting the higher notes more easily than you might have thought.

"I believe in a thing called love

Just listen to the rhythm of my heart

There's a chance we can make it now

We'll be rockin' 'til the sun goes down

I believe in a thing called love"

The song ended and Blaine sat down again, Kurt and Olivia applauding him. Kurt was the first to say anything about the performance.

"The Darkness, huh? I never knew you had such a thing for that era."

"Just the one song, really," Blaine said, "Have you ever sung it? It's freaking awesome. The hype you get from a song like that, even if you fail epically, is just indescribable. Everyone should sing it sometime or another."

Kurt nodded. "Sure, I just haven't sung it in a performance type setting. And I can't sing now you just have."

Olivia pushed the list towards Kurt, saying, "So you'll sing then? Pick something!" Kurt tried to resist, but Olivia wasn't giving up. Eventually he made them both give him their cell phones so they couldn't film the performance. Thankfully, the other people didn't seem to even notice there was anything going on.

Kurt asked the waiter about the karaoke and he was quick to find the track Kurt had asked for. He seemed a little star struck, abandoning whatever he was supposed to be doing in the kitchen so he wouldn't miss the rare opportunity that Kurt Hummel would sing. Elliot had been in no less than two school musicals on Highlands, and the viewers were constantly demanding more songs from him, but the producers never seemed to listen. Kurt had a beautiful voice and clips of him singing were highly sought after, and yet so few existed that only the real fans seemed to even care when they rolled around. The waiter started the track and took a seat near Olivia and Blaine, clearly being sort of a fan.

Kurt hadn't bothered to introduce himself. He sang Part of your world from The Little Mermaid, his voice beautifully crisp and clear. His countertenor was flawless, even though he hadn't seemed to have warmed up at all. The three of them, Blaine, Olivia, and the waiter, all clapped at the end of the song. Kurt could feel the start of a blush creeping up his cheeks, but he smiled and sat down where he had been and sipped at his coffee instead.

"I missed the Disney," Blaine said, "I could have had Disney, but I took The Darkness instead." Kurt laughed him lightly.

"Too bad, Disney is my forte. Well, The Little Mermaid, anyway," Kurt said, "I'm sure you'll have the chance to sing some other Disney song with me sometime." Blaine smiled, clearly pleased with himself. He would hold Kurt to that, absolutely. When Kurt Hummel offered you Disney, you didn't turn it down. Heck, if anyone offered you Disney you would be crazy to say no. Who didn't love a little bit of Disney?

The waiter suddenly realised he had been sitting there for longer than would be considered acceptable. He complimented Kurt on his performance, stalling a little bit clearly, before Kurt turned to Blaine.

"Blaine, can you take a picture of us? Because I think that's why we're keeping the employees around." The waiter nodded and handed Blaine his phone. They posed together while Blaine took the picture, before the waiter shook Kurt's hand and hurried back into the kitchen. Kurt looked at his hand, which now had a small slip of paper with the waiter's name and number on it. He rolled his eyes a little and put the note in his pocket, thinking it would be rude to leave it there. The waiter was cute enough, but he could barely handle one text based relationship. He wasn't too keen on trying to start up another one. It wasn't really helping that Kurt's type slowly seemed to become short, curly and adorable. Who had time for tall, dark and handsome, when you already had such perfect Blaine Andersons? Kurt scolded himself for thinking that way, although he had had that conflict with himself many times.

However he tried to deny it, he was falling for Blaine, and as far as he was concerned, it couldn't end well.

Kurt checked the time, and realised there wasn't very long until he was due to head off to the next stop on the tour. It was Thursday; there was still a week and a bit of the tour left, but then he would be back in his cosy apartment in New York with Leah by his side. They would start filming again, and Kurt would have no reason to be close enough to visit Blaine for some time. "I think I have to head off now, if I'm going to get everything in my suitcase and be ready to hit the road again," He said. Blaine shot Olivia a look to say that he would go with him, and she nodded the slightest bit to let him know that she understood. Even if Blaine hadn't quite slotted it all together yet, she could see how important Kurt was to him. If she didn't know any better, she would say that Blaine loved him. You only had to see them together for a moment to see all the affection that passed between them. They were making each other stronger.

Kurt, figuring that Blaine and Olivia would be continuing their catch up, headed out of The Sparkle Pit to his dad's borrowed car. Blaine hugged Olivia goodbye quickly and promised he would text her later, before following Kurt out and meeting him at the car. Kurt looked over at Blaine and smiled. "Aren't you staying?"

"I'll have plenty more chances to talk to her now we're back in touch. You? Not so much." He sat in the passenger seat as Kurt got in on the driver's side. Kurt started the car and they drove back to the house, laughing about how random The Sparkle Pit was. After getting inside they each went to their respective bedrooms to pack up their stuff. Kurt had more things to carry down, so Blaine helped him with his bags. They put them in Blaine's car, because he had offered to drop Kurt off at the hotel where all the others were staying before heading back to Westerville.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here for another night? My dad would be okay with that, if you don't want to go home tonight." Kurt reiterated, mostly for his own sake. He wanted to be positive that Blaine would be okay.

"I'm sure," Blaine said, "I need to go to school tomorrow anyway. And my mom will be worrying like crazy."

"Right... you know I'm going to miss you." Kurt said.

Blaine nodded. "I'll miss you too. The last couple of days have been insane. In a good way. I can't believe I'm friends with you, like, actual, real friends."

Kurt loved that they were friends, he really did. But his ever growing hopeless crush on Blaine couldn't help but make what he said sting a little bit. He hoped that wasn't some sort of being friendzoned. He would know if it was, wouldn't he? Surely Blaine didn't accept forehead or cheek kisses from many people. Maybe Kurt was constantly overstepping his mark. Either way, Blaine had never complained about those pecks. "Yeah," Kurt said, "I can Skype you. We'll talk, okay? Proper talk. Not just texting. We will see each other soon enough, I'm sure. You can come and visit or I'll make time to meet with you if I'm here for family stuff or whatever. We can't make it sound like we aren't ever going to see each other again."

"Everything has been so much easier with you around, Kurt. It won't be the same without you so close."

"Oh shut it, Blaine Anderson. If something terrible happens I'll jump on a plane and be here in a heartbeat, I swear. I'm not leaving you to flounder by yourself. You have Olivia, Wes, even Sky. I'm not leaving you friendless entirely." Kurt said.

"I know. I know."

"Now are you going to hug me or not?" Blaine smiled and leaned over to hug him, although it was awkward due to their lack of space in the car. Kurt pulled away and refused to say goodbye, same as always, before collecting his bags and meeting the other cast members in the lobby.

Now that Kurt was gone, it suddenly dawned on Blaine that the place he felt safest these days was in his arms.