That week Blanca took Blaine downtown and got him enrolled in FIT. Without a solid portfolio (only a few paintings he had hurriedly done his first days at the Evangelista house; the rest had been left behind in Ohio), it took some convincing at admissions, but Damon had been right when he told Blaine she had a magic touch with people. Blanca shrugged it off. “I just told them what they could already see in your art.”

(He was also pretty sure Pray Tell had put in a good word.)

His first day he was late; he’d misguessed the subway arrivals and came running breathlessly into his Beginning Drawing class, turning the head of the instructor and every student.

The teacher checked his roll. “You must be Mr….Anderson?” Blaine nodded. “You can take a seat on the end of the row, next to Mr. Hummel.”

Blaine looked in the direction he pointed and saw the empty easel and stool at the end. He went to take a seat and get settled with his supplies. It wasn’t until he looked up to his right that he saw “Mr. Hummel.” His clothes were more casual, his hair a bit looser and falling across his forehead, but the pale skin and profile were unmistakable. Away from the darkness of the ballroom, in the light of day he could finally see those eyes up close, icy blue with flecks of green.

Blaine tried his best to pay attention to the teacher and follow along, but he couldn’t help stealing glances at...Porcelain? Did he even want to be called that outside the ballroom? By the time they were excused he finally looked to the blank sketchpad he should have been drawing on the entire time. Then he realized his mystery ballroom man was about to leave and he decided to take a chance.

“Hey, um,” he reached out and touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry, I’m new here. Um, I saw you at the ball the other night? With House Abundance? My name’s Blaine,” he finally got out as he offered his hand.

His new classmate took his hand. “Kurt,” he said. It’s the first time Blaine had heard his voice, and it was like a morning songbird, clear and high and beautiful.

“Kurt,” Blaine repeated, feeling the name against his teeth and tongue. “Um, would you perhaps like to get some lunch?”

They walked over to a hot dog vendor on the street corner, then sat on a bench outside the building with their sodas and food, and began to get to know each other with the basics. They quickly found they had things in common; both were from Ohio, both sang in their high school glee clubs, and both loved a good bowtie. Blaine broached the question of Kurt’s name. “So, your name is Kurt, but at the ball Pray Tell called you Porcelain?”

“Ah yes. It was a nickname an old high school teacher gave me. You know I almost went by Elizabeth? It’s my mother’s name...my actual mother, not my house mother. And it’s also my middle name.” Blaine’s eyebrows shot up at that. “I know...not exactly a bully-proof name. But the ‘Kurt’ was all that was called out when they took class attendance. I don’t think anyone besides my dad and the DMV knew my middle name until they announced it at my high school graduation. Anyway, when I joined Abundance, Elektra thought it fit the house better. ‘Kurt is the name of an accountant, not a fashionista,’ she said. But even I thought it was too much. I told her about Coach Sylvester’s nickname for me, and Elektra loved the irony. So I’m Porcelain Abundance at the balls,” he said with a flourish of his hand, “but here at FIT I’m just plain Kurt Hummel.”

“Kurt Hummel you are anything but plain,” Blaine laughed. “You know, something else I wanted to ask you.” Kurt motioned for him to go on. “You stood out at the ball the other night. I mean, really stood out.” Kurt seemed to preen at the compliment. “Look I’ll just come out and say it; most of the people there were black or Latin, and you’re a white guy.”

“You mean ‘Porcelain’ didn’t give it away? Yeah, pretty obvious. No one is going to mistake me for anything else except maybe Casper the Friendly Gay. I hear the comments about my race, how I must be able to pass ‘out there.’ But Mother always puts them in their place. I mean I get it...I’m white, I’m male, so why am I in a House? Well, I don’t pass that well. Apparently I’m too gay even for the regular gay bars. When I try to play butch, it’s laughable. I mean I did try once...wore a bunch of flannel, tried to date a cheerleader, thought it would make my dad happy...instead he thought about sending me to a shrink because I wasn’t acting, well not ‘normal’ but not like myself. It’s funny that as much as realness is valued in this world, I just can’t pull it off, and honestly I don’t think I want to. So instead, I help others who can. I may have a gender, but my fashion doesn’t.”

“Your fashion is impeccable,” Blaine said. “I imagine that’s an asset for your house.”

“Oh, it is, it’s why Mother wanted me. I sew a lot of their outfits. And the ones I can’t…” Kurt suddenly was nervous. He looks around, then leaned into Blaine’s space (and oh he smelled good too) and whispered, “Well, when a white guy leaves Saks and the alarms go off, the security guards don’t run quite as fast.” Blaine’s jaw dropped a little. “I know, it sucks. The color of my skin lets me get away with shit, and Mother knows it so she uses it to her advantage. I can’t really blame her. But I don’t mind. It’s a way I can contribute.”

“So, what about your Ohio family? You said you tried to act straight. Did you get thrown out too?”

Kurt looked down quietly, and a sadness washed over him. “Um, both my parents are dead,” he said. “My mom died when I was eight, and it was just my dad and me. It was hard. First, just being the two of us. My dad was a real ‘guy,’ you know? Owned a tire shop, watched football, listened to Bob Seger and Springsteen. But he would still play tea party with me and my stuffed animals, pick me up when I fell off my bike, let me cry it out. He was a good man. I think he knew, deep down, about what I am...I never said anything. Came close, once, after I tried playing football, but I got too scared. Still, maybe he would have been okay with it.”

Blaine reached out to hold Kurt’s hand. He couldn’t help but think how he didn’t sound anything like Blaine’s dad. “His first heart attack was my junior year of high school. My grades dropped because I was so busy taking care of him and helping with the shop, but at least we both made it to graduation. The second one was fatal.” Blaine squeezed his hand. “My few friends were going away to college, and I was going to be all alone. So I sold the tire shop that summer, and moved here.”

It was then that the late bell rang.

“Oh, shit, I have another class,” Kurt said. “I’m in a fashion concentration so I have this required sewing class. It’s ridiculously basic and I breeze through the assignments, but the instructor is a stickler for attendance.”

Blaine helped gather their lunch garbage to toss in a bin. “I have sculpting class, and then I have to get groceries for Mother.”

“Oh, you didn’t mention you’re in a house, too!”

“Yeah, the Evangelistas are really nice.”  

Kurt froze, and his eyes nearly popped out. “Wait...you’re House Evangelista?” Blaine nodded. “I’m sorry Blaine I can’t talk to you anymore.” He hurriedly gathered his things.

“What? Kurt, what did I say wrong? Don’t go…”

“Look, I’ll see you in class and all, but when Blanca left House Abundance to start her own house, Mother flat out told us to cut them off. Elektra really knows how to hold a grudge and how to punish her children when they disobey. I’m really sorry, Blaine, it was nice meeting you.” And Kurt dashed off to his next class, leaving Blaine bewildered.

What just happened?

Blaine got home in time with the groceries for everyone to get dinner started, then went to the room he shared with Angel (after the first two cramped nights dealing with Damon and Ricky’s making out and Papi’s snoring) and lay down on his bed facing the wall, away from the door.

He barely noticed when Blanca approached the doorway. “Hey, dinner’s almost ready, you know you’re supposed to help the others set the table, right?” Blaine said nothing. “Hey, what’s the matter?”

“It’s stupid, it’s nothing,” Blaine shrugged.

“It’s not nothing, you’re usually the first to volunteer for chores,” Blanca said. “Come on, tell your mother. First day of class not go well?”

“No, my classes were fine,” Blaine sniffed and turned around to face Blanca. “Why can’t we talk to House of Abundance?”

“Abundance? What does that have to do with school?”

“One of my classmates is in that House. And we started talking at lunch, and Blanca he’s beautiful, and nice, and I like him, but then I told him I live with you, and he got all nervous and said Elektra would flip if we were talking.”

“You must be talking about Porcelain, also known as Kurt.” Blaine smiled and blushed. “Aw, my baby boy’s got a crush! He is very pretty, and very talented.”

“And apparently very forbidden.”

“Hey now, I’m not gonna forbid you to talk to him, okay? I’m not like Elektra.” Blanca settled down to sit next to Blaine. “I don’t know what happened to her, what made her so bossy and cold. She wasn’t happy when me and Angel left to start this house. But I had been living with her for a long time, and I learned a lot from her. About how to run a house, and how not to run one. Some mothers are proud when their children leave the nest, but some are like Elektra. I don’t know if it’s clinginess, or if its fear that their children will outdo them, or what. But I know this about her...she’s got a heart in there somewhere. That heart saved me when I had nowhere else to go. And I know for a fact Kurt does too. That boy is loyal. It’s one of his best qualities, though maybe it doesn’t seem like it right now.”

Blaine thought for a moment about his old family, about how loyalty didn’t mean anything when they found out he was gay. “It’s a good quality to have.”

“But,” she added, “be careful, okay? You and Angel are a lot alike. You know, when she falls, she falls hard. I got a feeling you’re the same?” Blaine just shrugs at that. ”Look, I don’t want you to get your heart broken. I don’t think Kurt would ever do that on purpose...but I don’t put it past the rest of that house.”

Blaine nodded. “Thanks, Mother.”

“Now come on and help set the table. I made empanadas.”

Over the next few days, Blaine would try to talk to Kurt, in class or out. This rule was stupid; just because there was some house rivalry, weren’t they all in this together? None of them fit into the “real world,” being gay, femme, trans (something he had never heard of in Ohio, but now thanks to Blanca and Angel, he knew about more than ever), really anything not straight and white. But even a “Can you pass the charcoal?” was only met with a silent nod and the aforementioned drawing implement. He could tell, though, that Kurt wasn’t being malicious...if anything, it seemed like he was bursting to speak.

He didn’t even try to approach him at the next ball, the first he attended with House Evangelista. He was mainly there to cheer on Angel and Papi in their categories, but he did catch a few glimpses of “Porcelain” and even earned a shy wave, before Elektra and Candy gave him the evil eye.

Blaine’s next chance came on a rainy day. He spotted Kurt with an armful of fabric, trying to get it and himself to the building with minimum water damage and failing.

“Here, let me help,” he said, running to him with an open umbrella held over them both.

“Thanks,” Kurt replied. “I guess huddling with an Evangelista is worth saving this brocade. But you can’t tell the others.”

Blaine flushed at their closeness under the umbrella, Kurt’s warmth pressed to his side. “My lips are sealed.”

They went inside, Blaine shaking the umbrella out the door while Kurt found a place to dry off and get settled.

“So, you’re here early,” Kurt said. “Finally got an alarm clock?”

“Ah, so you notice me more than you care to admit,” Blaine teased. “That alarm clock was called Angel coming in late and her and Blanca having it out over this guy she’s been seeing . Not like a love triangle or anything, Blanca’s just concerned. He’s married and stuff. None of us could get back to sleep, so I decided to get a head start on the day.”

“Tell me about it,” Kurt sighed. “Lulu and Candy get into it all. The. Time. Then Elektra has to break it up. Ugh, my old glee club didn’t have this much relationship drama.”

“Well, mine was all male, so we didn’t really have that problem. And before you say anything no, it wasn’t anything like the porn would have you believe.”

“Darn, there go my schoolboy fantasies,” Kurt joked, as he looked up and met Blaine’s eyes...and then turned away again. Was he blushing ?

Blaine decided to change the subject. “You never got to tell me about your move. Did you already have a place before you got here? Did you know Elektra?”

"God, no. I was still a baby gay from bumfuck Ohio, the only balls I knew about were the ones aimed at me in dodgeball. I was lucky though...I wasn’t totally homeless. I spent the first few months couch surfing between a high school friend who was in NYADA and a bartender named Elliot, from Paramus. I had gotten into FIT, so it wasn’t like I had no place to go during the day. But then Rachel booked a sitcom in L.A., and I stupidly lost my virginity to Elliot which made the whole roommate situation awkward. I actually met Cubby sneaking into one of the gay bars...and then getting thrown out of said bar because he was underage. He brought me to a ball, where I met the rest of House Abundance. And the rest is history.”

Blaine was still catching up to the rest of what Kurt had said, stuck on the “lost his virginity” part. “You, um...aren’t a virgin?”

“Well it’s not like I’m some brazen hussy, please.” Kurt scoffed dramatically, making Blaine laugh. “Back when my dad was still alive--and assumed I was straight--he gave me the whole birds and bees business. I think he just didn’t want me to ‘get some poor girl in trouble,’ like some friends of his. But two things he said I remember stood out. And one was that when I had sex, that I should use to connect to another person, and not throw myself around like I didn’t matter.”

“And what was the other thing?”

“That once I started doing it I wouldn’t wanna stop. So he was wrong on both counts. The sex I had with Elliot didn’t matter, I didn’t connect with him, it actually pulled us apart. And honestly with the virus and everything, I don’t really want to do it again.”

“Ever?”

“Well, I don’t know...maybe if I ever meet the right person, I will. But maybe that’s just me being a silly romantic.”

“It’s not silly. I mean, I haven’t done anything . I was too afraid to even kiss someone in case it got back to my teachers or my parents. And now it’s just scary because I could die.”

“Not if you ‘wrap it up,’ as they say. At least Elliot and I were safe. And we were both tested months later to be sure. But yeah, I’d rather not risk it. Not until I fall in love … .”

“I know, right?” Blaine agreed. “I mean they talk like we’re all these insatiable perverts that fuck anything, but I just want to be swept off my feet by Prince Charming, like anyone else. It’s just that I also want to BE Prince Charming.”

“Well you already have that going for you.” Blaine’s eyes popped. “No, seriously, you look like the prince in that new Disney movie.”

"The Little Mermaid ? Well thanks. You know, I’ve been wanting to see that. I’m glad they’re going back to the old fairy tales.” Blaine decided to be brave. “You know, it’s a lot easier to sneak into a movie with a partner. And more fun.”

“Are you asking me out?”

“Maybe...I mean it’s not a date or anything, just thought it’s more fun going to a movie with someone, so you can talk about it after. If you don’t want to I understand….”

“Blaine, quit rambling.” Blaine stopped, and Kurt touched his hand. “I’d love to go to a movie with you.”

Blaine and Kurt spoke every day after that. They would meet early before class with one bringing coffee for the other, have lunch together after drawing class, and talk about everything they could. Their old glee clubs, fashion, music, no topic was off-limits -- except for any plans their respective houses had for upcoming balls. It was a fair rule, once Kurt explained it. Apparently, his old high school show choir had been infiltrated by a rival club, and the whole thing ended with their lead soloist broken hearted and getting pelted with eggs.

“I remember them,” Blaine recalled. “Vocal Adrenaline were legends in the show choir world, known for their ruthlessness and precision...not unlike a certain house in the ballroom world?”

“Please...Elektra wishes she could be like Vocal Adrenaline. They can never be that precise so long as Candy and her noodle arms are a part of it.” Kurt realized he’d said too much from the look on his face. “Okay, no more ballroom talk. How are we getting out of our houses and to the movie this weekend?”

Saturday nights were normally ball nights, which was a problem; attendance was apparently mandatory to support House Abundance, so Kurt had to fake a cold. Blaine had it a little easier, since Blanca put so much emphasis on school, so he just told her he didn’t think he was ready and had classwork to catch up on. After Abundance and Evangelista left their respective homes to head to the ballroom, Kurt and Blaine both waited a few minutes, then left to meet outside the theatre for the late showing of The Little Mermaid . They didn’t really have extra money to splurge on a movie, but Blaine knew a guy from his time on the street who worked cleanup part-time at the theater; he snuck them in through one of the emergency exits.

The movie was great, but Blaine was pretty certain that the present company lent to the enjoyment of it. Over the course of the movie, Blaine and Kurt had leaned closer and closer to each other, sharing an armrest and pressing in to each other’s sides. Blaine had found himself resting his head on Kurt’s shoulder during “Kiss the Girl,” and felt Kurt’s grin against the top of his head. They laughed so hard during “Le Poisson” that they were gripping their sides, then they cried for Ariel when Eric had so obviously been tricked. By the time Prince Eric was steering the broken ship into Ursula’s side, Kurt had a tight grip on Blaine’s hand at the suspense of it all.

They walked out of the theatre into the cold, their arms around each other’s shoulders. Blaine couldn’t remember ever having so much fun. Being on a date , with a boy , and feeling more free than he ever had. They were midway through singing a chorus from a song in the movie-- “wandering free, wish I could be, part of that world --” when they ran smack into Lulu Abundance.

Kurt stood stiffly; his arm fell from Blaine’s shoulder and Blaine suddenly felt the late night chill. “Lulu,” he said coldly.

“Hi there, Ceramic,” Lulu retorted. Blaine had a feeling Lulu called him the wrong name on purpose. “Aren’t you supposed to be home sick?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be at the ball?” Kurt turned the question back on her. “I felt better, but I didn’t want to walk into the ball late and upset Elektra, and I was getting cabin fever at the loft, so I went to a movie. Again, why aren’t you at the ball?”

Lulu ignored the question, her gaze landing firmly on Blaine. “Don’t I know you?”

Blaine bristled under Lulu’s inquisitive look. “Um, I don’t think we’ve met...”

“No, no, I’ve seen you before...At the ball the other night, right?”

“Yeah, I guess?”

It must have been a trap, because Lulu looked like the cat who got the cream. “Wait, now I know! I saw you with Damon and Angel the other day. But that can’t be, because Enamel here wouldn’t be hanging out with an Evangelista , now would he?” She said this looking only at Kurt, in a tone dripping with you’ve been busted .

“We, um, I mean…” Kurt started to stutter, when Blaine tried to save him.

“We just ran into each other leaving the theatre,” Blaine said, trying to rescue the situation. “We didn’t even realize we’d seen the same movie, except I heard him singing a song from it and I joined in.”

“Right,” Lulu drawled out sarcastically. “Well, you better get home, China. Before Mother does.” She turned on her spiked heel to leave; Blaine could swear she was skipping .

“Well, she seems...um, like a lot .” Blaine was still reeling. He turned to look at Kurt, who seemed practically green at the gills with nerves. If he’d been faking sick before, he probably wasn’t now.

“She’s right, I, uh, better go home,” Kurt stumbled apologetically. “I had a lovely time Blaine, really.” Kurt practically ran in the same direction Lulu was heading, probably hoping to talk her out of snitching, Blaine guessed.

Up until then, though, Kurt was right, it had been a lovely time. He only hoped it wasn’t the last.