Earlier in the week, Mercedes asked Kurt if he wanted to go see the new Bourne movie that weekend. Kurt raised an eyebrow. Yes, he would gladly escort his best friend to the cinema... After enjoying Jeremy Renner's muscles in The Avengers, Kurt was all for seeing The Bourne Legacy.

They hopped in Kurt's car, singing away at the songs on the radio. However, when it came time to get off the highway at the exit for the movie theater, Kurt kept driving straight.

Mercedes turned toward him with a confused look on her face. "Um, Kurt... You missed the exit."

His eyebrows shot up in realization, "Oh, crap! Sorry... It's just the past two weekends I've gone to Easton and I think my muscle memory took over."

Mercedes scoffed, "Right. Easton. Muscle memory. And would that muscle be in your pants, Kurt?"

"WHAT?!" The car swerved as Kurt whipped his head around to glare at his friend. "I don't even... What are you talking about, Mercedes?!"

"Let me break it down for you, Boo. Do you know how many times you brought up that boy from the kiosk this past week?"

"Blaine," he immediately corrected her, then realized he did and shut his mouth quickly before finally uttering quietly, "and no."

"A lot." Kurt's eyes were on the road, but his face flushed pink, knowing she was probably right. He did think about him an awful lot... He was just so different than any other boy he had ever met.

"Oh."

"Yeah... Oh." Mercedes dropped the sass and sighed. "Look, Kurt. It's okay to think he's cute, but I just don't want to see you get hurt. I mean, you don't really know him that well. Do you even know if he's gay?"

"Hey – you know, a couple weeks ago, you were the one who told me to go flirt with him! But, no, I don't know if he's gay." Kurt let out a heavy sigh. "This is stupid. I should turn around."

Mercedes could tell Kurt was upset. She pursed her lips and came to an executive decision. "No. Let's go to Easton and go to Tiffany's. We'll pretend we're in New York. And I'm sure the movie is playing there too, if you still want to go and ogle at Jeremy Renner's arms."

Kurt let out a laugh and broke into a small smile. "Okay. Let's do it!"

"And Kurt? I hope that boy... Blaine... I hope he's there. We could stop by and say hi. Maybe you could introduce us?"

Kurt nodded as he kept his eyes on the road.

...

The Designs by Vanessa kiosk was busy that Saturday. Maybe more people felt comfortable approaching the merchandise because a sullen teenager with unkempt hair wasn't guarding it.

Vanessa Anderson had spent several weekdays over the past two weeks manning her kiosk, but this was her first Saturday. Even though her son offered to work for her ("Really mom, it's not a big deal."), she felt that he deserved a Saturday to himself after helping out the past few weeks.

So, Blaine was at a roller rink with Derrek and Vanessa was busy at Easton. She was happy that people were so enthusiastic about her designs and that she could allow her son some time to spend with his friend (his boyfriend? Even though Vanessa and Ethan had reassured their son that they were more than okay with him being gay, he was not very vocal about his relationship status.).

"Have a great day!" Vanessa smiled and waved at another content customer. She pulled out a notebook from under her register and made note to bring additional purses and another batch of necklaces with her when she came back in on Monday. As she slid the notebook back under the drawer, she heard someone laugh nearby. She raised her head to see a boy and girl about her son's age, maybe a little older, walking toward the kiosk. She smiled as she could tell by their linked arms that they meant a lot to each other.

As Kurt and Mercedes approached the kiosk, he noticed that Blaine was not there and instead, there was a woman... And that woman was smiling at him. Though he was a little heartbroken not to see Blaine, he offered the woman as friendly a smile as he could muster up as he walked up to the kiosk.

"Hello!" Vanessa greeted the boy and girl, "Is there something I can help you find today?"

Kurt smiled but thought to himself, "Yeah, Blaine." Mercedes elbowed him in the side because he hadn't responded to the woman. "Um, just looking today, thanks. I bought a necklace last week for my dad's girlfriend. She loved it. I mean, how could she not? It was gorgeous." Kurt looked up and saw the woman beam. There was something about her smile that seemed so familiar. It finally hit him. "Wait. You're Vanessa, right? Blaine - I mean your son - said that you designed all the pieces." Kurt blushed, fearful he was rambling or coming across that he knew her or her son better than he actually did. He said quietly, "They really are very beautiful, ma'am."

Vanessa chuckled. "Why thank you...?"

"Kurt," Mercedes answered for him. "He's Kurt and I'm Mercedes, Mrs. Anderson. Your designs are lovely."

Vanessa smiled, "Thank you, dear."

There was a moment of silence that was only awkward for Kurt. He didn't really know anything about Blaine except that he was really charming and devastatingly handsome and had nice eyes (which Kurt now knew came from his mom - Dear Lord, Blaine's mom and her fashion sense were as stunning as her designs...). He wondered where Blaine was, or if he'd ever see him again.

Mercedes and Kurt were such good friends that she usually knew exactly what he was thinking... and knew he didn't have the guts to ask the questions that were gnawing away at him. She considered keeping quiet, but knew she had to say something because Kurt wouldn't. She knew he might get mad at her, but also knew there wouldn't be lasting repercussions. Mercedes took a deep breath, "So, will Blaine be coming in at all today?"

Kurt's eyebrows threatened to shoot up to his hairline and his cheeks turned pink as he clenched his teeth. He hated Mercedes in that moment and loved her at the same time.

Vanessa noticed Kurt's reaction, but since Mercedes was the one to ask the question about her son, she addressed the answer to her. "No, he's out with his, um, with a friend. He actually was never supposed to work here, he was just helping out the past few weeks because my mother was sick."

Kurt's face fell. Well, that answered that. Not only was Blaine out with someone who wasn't Kurt ("Why would it be me, though?" Kurt asked himself, "He barely knows I exist. And he's probably not even gay."), but he was never supposed to be at Easton anyway. Now that Blaine's mom was here to run her business, there was probably never a need for him to be there ever again. Kurt's heart was breaking over a boy he didn't even know, but he tried to save face. He looked Mrs. Anderson in the eye and said sincerely, "I'm sorry about your mother."

She smiled at his kind words but could tell something else was bothering him. "Thank you, dear."

Mercedes could tell that Kurt was upset, so once again she stepped in. "We should get going, Kurt, we don't want to miss our movie." She tugged his elbow and then addressed Blaine's mom again, "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Anderson. Have a great rest of your day!"

Vanessa smiled and waved as Mercedes practically dragged Kurt away from the kiosk and into the lobby of the movie theater. She put her hands on both his shoulders and tried to look him in the eye, but he was too busy staring at the floor.

"Go get the tickets, I'll get the popcorn and M&Ms and then we are going to mix them together and look at lots of arm muscles, okay?"

Kurt nodded, but wouldn't look her in the eye.

...

After the movie, Kurt and Mercedes walked arm and arm out of the theater. Ogling Jeremy Renner's arms helped a little bit, but Kurt had a sad smile when they passed by Mrs. Anderson's kiosk. She was busy helping customers, so she didn't notice them leave.

...

That night, Vanessa walked into her kitchen with a big smile on her face. She was busy all day and sold out of some of her jewelry. Blaine was seated at the kitchen table, his back to her as she entered through the doorway.

"Hey, sweetie! I saw some of your friends at the mall today… Mercedes and Kurt, I think his name was… " Vanessa ruffled Blaine's hair as she passed. She knew something was wrong the moment he winced instead of gave her the usual "mo-o-om." She turned around, looked at her son and gasped. "Blaine, what happened to your face?!"

Blaine squinted up at his mom through his left eye, as his right was black and blue and swollen nearly shut. There were some scratches on his cheeks and neck and Vanessa noticed he was cradling his right wrist in his left hand.

When he didn't answer, she asked again. "Blaine Daniel Anderson, you answer me now. What happened to your face?" She went over to the freezer and grabbed an ice pack, which she wrapped in a paper towel and handed to her son.

"Thanks, mom." He took the ice pack with his good hand and pressed it to his eye, wincing all the while. "Um, I fell."

Vanessa wasn't buying it. "Try again, kid."

Blaine sighed and winced again. "I got in a fight."

"I can see that. Can I ask who with?," she inquired. Blaine muttered something under his breath but she couldn't make out what he was saying. "I'm sorry, but you're going to have to speak up."

"Some kids from school. Look, it's no big deal, mom."

"No big deal? Blaine…" she closed her eyes to gather her thoughts. "Did you start the fight?"

"No!" She raised her eyebrows at him. He pulled the ice pack off his eye to try and look at her with both eyes, but to no avail. "Mom, I swear."

"You need to tell me exactly what happened."

He sighed again, knowing she wouldn't stop asking questions. "Fine. Derrek and I were leaving the roller rink and we were walking toward my car, but before we could get there… a group of guys got in my face and started calling me… stuff. Um… homophobic stuff." His voice was quiet but got louder as he pressed on. "And I didn't say anything, I just tried to ignore them and get to my car, but then one of them shoved me. And then I might have shoved him back a little, but then he knocked me to the ground and they did all this." Blaine pointed to his eye.

"Blaine. Who was it and what exactly did they call you?" She saw tears sneak out of the corners of her son's eyes. It hurt her to hear it as much as it hurt him to say it, but she had to know because she was thinking Blaine could probably press charges. "Sweetie?"

"Mom…," he choked out a sob and buried his face in his hands. "Why won't they just leave me alone? I didn't do anything wrong."

Vanessa grabbed a chair and pulled it next to her son so she could wrap an arm around his shoulders and rub some of the tension out of his upper arm. "It's okay, Blaine. It's going to be okay. We'll think of something. It's okay…"