"So," Kurt says after they exchange acceptable greetings, "how's the girlfriend?"

"Harmony," Blaine reminds him, chuckling. He hears Kurt wave it off in swift 'Right, right's as he drops into his bed, continuing, "But she's okay."

His roommate's out until curfew as always, and Blaine's exhausted. First a huge test, then Warbler rehearsal, and then date night with Harmony. He's been through a lot today. Perhaps a phone call before prepping for bed is only going to add to his fatigue, but it's his routine now. On date nights, he doesn't call Harmony goodnight because they do that in person before parting. So nights like these usually end up with calls to Kurt just before bed.

"Date night went well – only one outburst!" Blaine comments. It's the truth, mostly. It was actually more like one and a half, but after Harmony was given a free coupon to return any time at the restaurant she and Blaine went to, the second one had immediately vanished along with her complimentary slice of pie.

Kurt giggles, the sound high and bell-like even through the tinny receiver of his cellphone, and strangely pleasing to Blaine's ears. (Not that Kurt has a weird laugh, it's that it makes Blaine happy to hear it. Strange.) Blaine beams, glad to know he's been able to make Kurt smile.

"You know, she sounds a lot like my friend, Rachel," Kurt muses, and Blaine has heard this particular name enough times to know that Kurt's on the fence between good friends and sworn enemies with her. Like with the rest of their lives, little details like these – though mostly just passed on by one and never experienced by the other – are shared between him and Kurt now, easily transferring from one to another like it's been that way their entire lives. Blaine's never had a friend like this before, but he's glad that he does now. He never knew what he was missing out on.

"I'm hoping that means a good thing," Blaine says. "Harmony's a handful, but she's still my girlfriend."

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt teases, "you know I'm kidding."

And the best thing is, Blaine does, because he feels so in tune with Kurt already, so he says with a small grin, "I know."

.x.

Blaine smiles in disbelief, waving his friends goodbye as he heads to his dorm after Warbler rehearsal.

"Mercedes thinks were romantically involved?" Blaine repeats incredulously, the statement sounding even more ridiculous as it comes out of his mouth. It's mostly hilarious – because Blaine has a girlfriend, duh – and oddly flattering.

Kurt just snorts – actually snorts – and agrees, "I know! I told her you were already dating someone – a girl – and she still assumes – that – that we're – !" Kurt cuts himself off as he bursts into laughter again, as if this is the funniest thing in the whole world. Blaine can only chuckle along with him, Kurt's laughter infectious even though they're about a town apart.

Blaine's almost at his dorm when Kurt finally collects himself, saying, "It's just, I can't believe she would guess that. I mean, you're with someone already and I – well, I'm me." It sounds self-deprecating and off to Blaine, hearing Kurt – who's always so confident about himself – say that he doesn't think he's dateable.

This makes Blaine pause in his tracks, his face turning serious when he says, "Kurt, don't say that. I think anyone would be honoured to be with you." Even though we're not together that way, I can already tell how lucky someone is to have you, Blaine thinks to himself, but he doesn't dare say it out loud. Kurt sighs, already seeming to wave the issue off, and Blaine continues to walk again.

"Well," Kurt says, "wherever he is, he's definitely not in Lima, Ohio. So I have to get out of this cow-town before he finds me."

Blaine's finally at his room's door, unlocking it with his keys as silence takes over their conversation. Knowing there's a change of subject needed, Blaine animatedly asks, "So, I'm assuming you didn't miss last week's episode of Jersey Shore?"

This makes Kurt perk up immediately, answering enthusiastically, "Of course not!"

.x.

Blaine exits the theatre with his hands tucked into his pockets, speaking animatedly about the production until he turns to Kurt and sees the distance in his eyes. He and Kurt watched a production of RENT at the revival theatre, chatting amicably and singing along to the music all night long. Noticing that Kurt's car is still parked a ways away, and Blaine takes the opportunity to lightly shove his shoulder against Kurt's.

"Hey," he says with a smile, and Kurt turns to him as he snaps out of his daze to look at Blaine with a sheepish grin. "You've been looking like something's been on your mind the entire time we've been out. What are you thinking about?"

It's meant to be a gentle prod, hoping to coax Kurt into talking about whatever's bothering him (because something clearly is, now that he thinks about it – Kurt wasn't singing along as much as he could have, Blaine realizes), trying to be the supportive friend Blaine wants to be for him. When Kurt shrugs, it gets Blaine down because by that time they reach Kurt's car and he has to wait for them to shut the door before saying, "Come on, Kurt." He moves his hand towards one of Kurt's giving it a gentle pat before continuing, "I know something's on your mind."

He smiles again, pulling his hand back and waiting patiently for Kurt to answer.

Kurt quirks his lips to the side, thinking for a moment until he finally confesses, "It's my friend, Mercedes." Turning to look out the windshield, he continues, "I – I kinda blew my plans off with her to join you to watch RENT."

This makes Blaine blink twice, slowly taking in what's been revealed. As much as Blaine wants to be Kurt's best friend, he doesn't want to be a replacement for people who have been with Kurt longer.

"Oh," he eventually says quietly. He looks away, ashamed about the fact that his time with Kurt means he's taking someone else's time with him. Blaine had never meant to do that.

It surprises Blaine a bit when Kurt pats his hand this time, prompting Blaine to look at him when Kurt says, "It's-it's fine, Blaine. It's not your fault. I just mixed up the dates with one another and I didn't want to waste the money spent on the tickets."

Kurt gives him a quirk of a smile, one that Blaine's beginning to familiarize himself with, and gives a smaller one back.

"I guess," Blaine reluctantly agrees. He still feels really bad about the fact that he's mostly the reason why Kurt had to blow his friend off, so when the idea pops into his head, Blaine doesn't thinking twice before enthusiastically suggesting, "What if we have a get together?"

Kurt furrows his brows, looking at Blaine curiously. "Get together?"

"Yeah," Blaine says, nodding his head. "You, me, and... Mercedes? –" and Kurt gives him a nod for getting the name correct, "– can get together, maybe during dinner one night. I'd love to meet your friends."

"She's my best friend, actually," Kurt reveals in an almost-silent whisper, hanging his head in shame. Blaine takes a moment to recoil, think again about what this implies. It does make him feel worse, the fact that Kurt's best friend was blown off because of him, but it does make Blaine understand that he has the chance to make up for it now.

"Well then," Blaine says in a chirpy voice and another grin, "even more reason for me to meet her."

Kurt looks up at him with such a warm smile it makes Blaine feel strange, fuzzy, and all together new inside.

.x.

Blaine does end up meeting Mercedes for dinner with Kurt one night. They eat out in Lima's own Breadstix. Kurt and Mercedes are happy to have dinner a little early so Blaine can still make it back at Dalton in time for curfew.

Blaine's enjoying himself. He's found that it's really easy for him to do if Kurt's involved. They enjoy the same things, appreciate each other's opinions – even Blaine's own guilty pleasures, like Broadway and Vogue. (The only other person in the world who knows about both is Cooper, because he's caught Blaine several times sneaking things related to both around his room.) Blaine's getting easily used to conversations like these, immersing himself so much into them that he forgets his surroundings sometimes.

Like now, as Blaine forgets about whom he's with. Mercedes has been left out of the conversation for the better part of their dinner. It's actually a bit shameful on his part, but Blaine was really enjoying his conversation with Kurt.

He doesn't notice the fact until he faces Mercedes, asking, "What do you think, Mercedes?"

Blaine watches as her head snaps up from where it was sucking on her straw, immediately replying, "About Don't Ask, Don't Tell?" Kurt corrects her, and Blaine only continues to watch as the two try to make the other feel at ease, since it's clear that neither Kurt nor Mercedes feel entirely comfortable.

"I'm sorry," Mercedes says eventually, "I kinda just blanked out."

"Well, don't apologize," Blaine immediately says. "We should talk about stuff that you're interested in too!" It's the least he can do since he wants to make a good impression on Mercedes. Besides, some of her interests might be Kurt's too, right?

This makes Mercedes perk up vastly, smiling wide and seeming ready to talk about something she wants to discuss, until Kurt suggests, "I know! Let's play a game!"

Blaine doesn't even have time to react when Kurt continues, "Okay, on the count of three, name your favourite 2010 Vogue cover. Okay, 1, 2, 3!"

It's actually quite uncanny that Blaine and Kurt manage to say (yell, actually), "Marion Cotillard!" at the same time.

"Oh my god, stop it!" Blaine says with a shake of his head. His answer had come automatically, and despite how embarrassing it should have been to reveal that he knows stuff like this, it actually just makes him relieved. He's just glad someone out there knows how he feels.

Blaine's still talking about just how amazing Marion is as Kurt agrees enthusiastically, the two of them already dwindling back into their own little world. The conversation drifts from other Vogue issues to magazines in general, and Blaine eventually gets to the point where he reveals he also reads Sports Illustrated for college football.

It's not until Kurt turns back to Mercedes, who's staring at them with a dazed look on her face, that Blaine realizes they've managed to exclude her again.

"Mercedes," Kurt calls, and it's clear that she wasn't even paying attention to them when her head shakes into a smile that Blaine knows is forced.

Hoping to avoid another awkward moment, Blaine jumps in, "I was just talking about the Buckeyes – I'm a college football fan. I like sports too, you know."

"Oh," Kurt says, "fashion and sports – I always said it was possible!" They give each other a friendly high five, but they lose Mercedes again because by then she's flagging down a waitress, requesting for tots.

.x.

From Kurt, 5:08pm
I'm so sorry about Mercedes last night. She's been a little off lately :/ she says she's sorry too

From Blaine, 5:08pm
it's fine, i feel kinda bad we left her out so much actually

From Blaine, 5:09pm
please give her my apologies!

From Kurt, 5:10pm
Always the polite one. But she said "apology accepted, I wanna meet him again" and other stuff

From Blaine, 5:11pm
kurt, are you saying you /don't/ appreciate my politeness? :O

From Blaine, 5:13pm
but i'd love to meet her again too. hopefully things work out better and it's not so awkward

From Kurt, 5:14pm
Now you're just fishing for compliments, Blaine. But yes, she said she does too

From Blaine, 5:15pm
are you relaying our entire convo with mercedes right now, kurt?

From Kurt, 5:18pm
Hello Blaine, this is Mercedes. I stole Kurt's phone from him because I'm his house rn and I've been paying attn to ur convo w/ him the entire time

From Kurt, 5:19pm
But I really would like to meet you again, and I am srry bout last night

From Blaine, 5:24pm
oh.

From Blaine, 5:24pm
and apology accepted!

From Kurt, 5:43pm
UGH! Sorry! Mercedes wouldn't let me have my phone back until I kicked her out

From Blaine, 5:37pm
haha, it's fine. a bit of a shock, but i'm glad she still likes me :)

From Kurt, 5:38pm
Because that's the only thing that matters here, Blaine.

From Blaine, 5:38pm
of course! ;D