But people have problems that are worse than mine
I don't want you to think I'm complaining all the time
And I hate the way you look at me I have to say
I wish I could start over

It was 11:23 Saturday morning and Blaine sat in his desk chair spinning slowly, his cell-phone in his hand open to Kurt's chat screen. The last thing in the chat was still the Little Mermaid discussion from Wednesday.

Blaine had decided to keep his distance for the rest of the week. Not to give Kurt space or try not to scare him, but just to figure out his next step. Because it had to be perfect. He hadn't seen Kurt outside of Glee or lunch in two days and it was starting to get to him. Only sneaking glances when he thought Finn wouldn't catch him.

Today was his next step. Today Kurt was going to come over to his house. The hard part that Blaine had managed to neglect planning was the how.

So there he sat. spinning around in his chair, trying to come up with a way to get Kurt to agree to come to his house. He had been sitting in the chair trying to come up with the perfect opening line for over an hour before he gave up and texted Kurt.

Blaine: Good morning Ariel.

It wasn't original or witty but it would have to do. He would figure something out as he went. He always did think well on his feet. His plans never worked out anyways.

Blaine waited, tapping his foot as he tossed his phone in the air over and over again waiting for it to go off. Of course, when it did, it scared him; cause him to drop it on his foot. "Damn it" he mumbled as he bent over and opened the message.

Kurt: I'm not talking to you. I'm mad at you –pouty face- :P

Blaine's heart felt like it was being ripped to shreds as he read through the messaged, he let out a relieved breath as he saw the joking tone Kurt was using.

Blaine: Oh no! My apologies! What ever did I do to offend you? :P

He knew Kurt was joking around with him, but he still felt nervous as he waited for the reply. He went back through every interaction they had had since the had last spoken one on one by his locker on Wednesday. Had he said something then? Had something he said to Brittany, who had taken quite the attachment to him, or to Artie managed to piss of Kurt?

Kurt: You stole my song.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. Of course. All part of the Little Mermaid game. He never would have thought that when he came up with Ariel on a whim that it would set the tone for their whole relationship.

Blaine: :O I did didn't I? Oh how ever am I going to make it up to you?

He smiled mischievously, Kurt was playing right into his pocket. This was perfect! Everything was working out in his favor.

Kurt: I don't know, it's going to take a while. Best start groveling now I suppose. :P

Blaine: Tsk, that won't do. I must remedy this. I was going to spend today touring my palace, but I think, in spirit of making it up to you, I should have you over and pamper you with Disney movies and an apology dinner.

Blaine chewed his cheek as he waited, sitting still in his chair, for a reply. What if he said no? What if he said yes?Once again, Blaine had failed to think that far in advance. He looked around his room and was thankful it was clean. He got up and tossed his hamper of dirty clothes into the laundry room and walked around tidying things. It had to be perfect if Kurt said yes.

Ten minutes after he had sent the text Blaine's stomach was in knots and he felt like he would be sick. He had messed it up. He had done the opposite of what the Warblers had told him to and he was about to pay the price.

Right as he was starting to mentally beat himself he heard the distinct buzzing of his phone and almost fell flat on his face in his dash to it.

Kurt: That does sound nice. But honestly Blaine, I was just joking. I don't want to be a bother.

Blaine shook his head; he was not letting this go. He was almost there, so close he could imagine Kurt sitting on the edge of his bed. That was as far as he let his mind wander in that general direction.

Blaine: You could never be a bother. I insist. I could even come get you?

Kurt: If you're sure… but I can get there myself. What's the address and when should I be there?

Blaine started dancing and jumping around his room excitedly. Kurt was coming to his house. Today. They were finally going to get some time by themselves. Today.

Blaine: When ever you feel like it. And I live just a little bit west of Lima. 23 Ridge Bay.

Kurt: Okay, I'm heading out now. I'll see you in a bit.

Kurt sat in his Navigator outside Blaine's house trying to keep his breathing steady. What was he thinking? That's right, he wasn't. He couldn't have been. If he were he wouldn't have agreed to go over to Blaine's house alone on a Saturday.

As he looked at the house he felt like he was going to be sick with nerves. On one hand this was Blaine's house. He would go up into his room. See who Blaine was. He wasn't ready for this.

On the other hand Blaine's house was huge. Huge and old. Beautifully well kept with a large yard and an iron gate in front of it, which thankfully had been left open for him.

Kurt bit his lip and took a picture of the house before him and sent it to Rachel.

Kurt: I HATE YOU! LOATH! UNADULTERATED LOATHING!

He took a couple deep breathes and turned off the car, he looked around at the drive way and didn't see any vehicles in the open garage. Were they going to be alone? Did that frighten him? Or comfort him? He really wasn't in the mood to meet Blaine's family just yet.

Rachel: Oh my! That's his house! Why do you hate me? I'm just helping the fates push you in the right direction. What are you doing sitting in his driveway! Get in there! You are being rude. Text me when you get home. Not before. Goodbye.

Kurt sighed heavily knowing any further attempt at communication would be ignored. He took one more deep breath and got out of the car.

The worst part of going to anyone's house for the first time is knocking on the door. It always made Kurt feel so small and nervous. Who would answer the door? What if it was a parent? A sibling? It was always bound to be awkward.

He lifted his hand and brought it to the wood of the door, or would have if it wasn't flung open at the last second, causing Kurt to almost knock Blaine in the face.

Kurt jumped back a good two feet, clutching his heart and stumbled down over the stairs falling flat on his behind.

He started laughing uncontrollably, shaking with it. Did that really just happen? It had to be the worst arrival to someone's house ever. 100 times worse then anything he could have imagined, and yet, he couldn't stop laughing at himself.

Of course Blaine was over to him in a heartbeat apologizing profusely. "I was trying to be funny! I didn't think it through! Oh my god! Are you okay? You didn't hurt your self did you? Kurt, stop laughing and answer me! ARIEL!" he said trying to remain serious but losing out half way, slipping down into a sitting position beside Kurt, laughing just as hard.

Kurt shook his head and regained enough composure to talk, "Well that broke the ice didn't it?" He said and dusted his hands off. "That was probably the most priceless thing you will ever see. I imagine my face was horrible! We never speak of this again got it?" He laughed shaking his head at his stupidity. If he hadn't been so jittery it never would have happened.

Blaine pushed himself up and nodded "Okay, Just between us." With that, he held out his hand to Kurt.

Kurt looked at the offered hand and debated being manly and protesting that he didn't need any help, that Blaine didn't have to take care of him, but he wasn't even fooling himself, the gesture made his stomach flutter.

As he took Blaine's hand up he felt the jolt of lightening that he did the few times he was in physical contact with Blaine. He kept his hand a fraction of a second longer in his then it had to before taking it back and dusting off the back of his pants.

Blaine winked at him playfully "Just between us, it was probably the most priceless face I have ever seen. I wonder if the security cameras caught that…" he teased.

Kurt's eyes got wide and he playfully his Blaine's shoulder with the back of his hand. "Destroy those tapes Anderson or I will destroy you." He attempted to dead pan, but couldn't keep the smile off of his lips.

"I'd love to see you try Hummel" he challenged as he pulled the front door open and motioned forward "After you"

Twenty minutes later Kurt and Blaine were seated in the den in front of a very large TV with a stack of Disney movies piled high on the coffee table.

Kurt sat awkwardly, back straight and hands in his lap on the couch as Blaine knelt by the pile between the table and TV. "So where should we start? Mulan? The Little Mermaid?" He said with a wink that made Kurt feel like nothing but a puddle of goop.

"Well, that has been a theme for us lately hasn't it?" Kurt laughed and relaxed slightly into the couch. This didn't have to be awkward, he reminded himself. Just friends, watching movies. Friends. Sure.

Blaine's laughter filled the room as he grabbed the DVD out of its case and started setting up the TV. "Just lately? I seem to recall you started it the night we met!" he said, his back towards Kurt.

Kurt rolled his eyes "If I remember correctly you are the one who chose to call me Ariel, so wouldn't it be your doing?" he challenged.

As the previews started Blaine turned back around, remote in hand. "If you want to get technical maybe, but you are the one who refused to give me your name, causing me to need to create one for myself."

Kurt barely heard Blaine. As he had turned around, Kurt finally for the first time that day, looked at him. With the commotion at the door and the brief tour of the main floor Kurt hadn't really gotten a chance to just look.

Blaine was dressed in a pair of dark but faded jeans, a black t-shirt and a burgundy cardigan. The outfit was a lot more casual then Kurt had seen before but it wasn't the outfit that took his breath away, what did was Blaine's hair. It was un-gelled for the first time, hanging loosely around his head in curls. Kurt felt the erg to run his fingers through it, but lucky still had enough common sense left in him to resist. Barely.

He shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts as he noticed Blaine looking at him with a confused expression. "Lets call it a draw then shall we? We both contributed to this cheesey theme," Kurt said as he started picking the non-existent lint away from his clothing. Anything to keep his eyes away from Blaine and that hair.

Blaine just shrugged and pressed play, flopping down on the couch next to Kurt, who was very thankful for the foot between them, even if he could still feel Blaine next to him.

He felt like banging his head on a wall. His mind was getting away from him. He could imagine a future were they did this exact same thing but with himself curled into Blaine's side as they laughed as sang along to all the songs, stealing kisses…

Kurt shook his head. No. He was not allowing himself to go there. He couldn't. What was happening to him? He barely knew Blaine, and while he was no doubt the most attractive person Kurt had ever met he was still basically a stranger. He couldn't let his hormones and loneliness lull him into a false sense of hope. He didn't realize he was sitting there in silence worrying his lip between his teeth, eyes glazing over as he stared blankly at the opening scene of The Little Mermaid.

Blaine cleared his throat, causing a dazed Kurt to jump and make a small sound of surprise. He heard Blaine's laughter beside him and blushed, sending a death glare to him and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I now know that I like making you flustered. You are so adorable when you're nervous Kurt." Blaine said, his eyes meeting Kurt's, who looked away quickly, in favor of the movie.

"I am not nervous" he said trying to sound bored. "Stop watching me and watch the movie. Please?" He said chancing a glance back at Blaine who nodded with a smirk on his face and turned back to the screen.

"What ever you say Ariel" he said as he leaned against the armrest and started humming along with the music.

Three movies and two bags of popcorn later the sun was starting to set outside and Blaine stretched out with a long groan. "I think it's time I start making us some dinner." He said as he stood up and smiled at a very comfortable Kurt, buried into the side of the couch, his legs tucked up beside him, a pillow hugged to his chest.

Blaine had been so glad the tension in the room had disappeared early on as they had started lazy banter about the different movies they had grown up with. He knew this had been a good idea.

He watched as Kurt stretched out himself, Blaine's eyes lingering more then he should have allowed. "That sounds nice. What do you have in mind?" Kurt asked as he put his feet back on the floor and stood up, twisting his body lazily.

Blaine had to force himself to not gawk at the boy in front of him. Blaine didn't believe in love at first sight, but what he did believe in was chemistry and attraction. Those could be instantaneous and powerful and were the building blocks in any romantic relationship. And he definitely believed with every fiber in him that Kurt and himself had those blocks in excess.

The nervous feeling in his stomach and the blush he saw creeping onto Kurt's face and neck every once and a while showed him it wasn't all one sided and it wasn't just a fantasy.

It wasn't the right time to bring it up, and he knew that, but at the moment they were simply ignoring the signs. Even though Blaine wanted to pull Kurt to him and beg him to give him a chance he would keep himself in check. He knew Kurt was being smart, rational and logical. He only wished he had the ability to act on them like Kurt seemed to.

Blaine brought himself back to the question at hand, it would seem that both Kurt and himself were floating off in thought quite a bit. "Well, I thought we would stay away from sea food." He said with a wink and slowly started walking towards the kitchen, making sure Kurt was following.

He heard Kurt's laughter and he could only describe it as musical. Did he really just think that? He must have been losing his mind. He didn't think he had the capability to be that sappy. But there he was, thinking that everything Kurt did was stunning. He really needed to clear his mind before it exploded.

"Probably a food idea, Flounder and Sebastian don't take too kindly to being eaten. And to be honest, I'm actually not a fan of sea food to begin with." Kurt said with a shrug as he followed along.

Blaine chuckled and nodded "Good to know. I'll keep that filed away for later reference. So actually I was thinking I'd be totally cliché and easy and make us alfrado?" He said as he started grabbing pasta and a jar of sauce out of the cupboard.

Kurt nodded and sat gingerly on a stool next to the island in the large kitchen, his eyes wondering around. "Sounds good to me."

Blaine watched him for a second before turning around to get the pot to boil water. "Can I grab you something to drink?" He asked as the water started to fill the pot.

Kurt nodded "A diet coke if you have?" He asked and Blaine saw his posture relax once again. He noticed how every time Kurt was put in a new environment it took him a few moments to relax, as if he was always afraid something was going to jump out and attack him.

Blaine tried not to think to hard about why Kurt did that and also resisted the erg to comment on Kurt not needing a diet anything but nodded and grabbed one out of the fridge and poured it into a tall glass. "Here you go." He said handing it to him and turning back to the pot, moving it onto the element. "And now we wait"

He leaned on the other side of the island in front of Kurt, just looking at him, ignoring the uncomfortable look Kurt got as red covered his features. "So, Kurt, tell me about yourself" he said as he rested his face in his palm.

Kurt bit his lip and shrugged "Um, I love Glee, I'm applying to NYADA soon… I live with my Dad, step mom Carole and Finn. Finn's her son. Both his dad and my mom died. Mine when I was 8, his right after he was born…" Kurt said, and Blaine could tell he was having to think very hard about what to say. "I don't really know what there is to say Blaine? I'm a gay kid who has gone through high school being tormented and found a home in Glee club? I'm not that interesting really. I love clothes, as you can probably tell… That's my back up if I don't get into NYADA or something doesn't work out in acting."

Blaine just listened, taking in the information and smiling at Kurt's presumption that he wasn't anything special or interesting. He frowned though at the confession of being tormented. Was that what all his skittishness was about? He hadn't heard of Kurt being bullied, hadn't seen it. "I was bullied too, that's why I got transferred to Dalton." He confessed.

When he saw Kurt relax and let out a breath he could tell that the sense of understanding made Kurt feel better. He just nodded but seemed a lot calmer about the conversation.

"So, tell me Kurt, a boy as beautiful as you has to have had boys all over you. Even in a town like Lima, there has to have been at least one closet case who stole your heart" Blaine said fishing.

Kurt's face fell instantly and Blaine didn't know what he had said wrong but wanted more then anything to take it back.

"Uh… um…" Kurt was faltering and Blaine could see the instinct to run flash in his eyes.

Blaine's hand flew to Kurt's and rubbed the back of the other boys hand "Hey, it's okay. We don't have to talk about that Kurt. Lets change the subject okay?"

He saw Kurt's expression calm down slightly as he nodded, taking a couple deep breathes. "Okay. Yeah, please."

Blaine was now 100% sure that the Warblers had been right and it made him angry. Someone had actually hurt Kurt. It finally hit him like a brick wall. It wasn't a theory or a guess. Someone had really hurt his Kurt. Badly enough to send the boy before him into a full blown panic attack.

The wheels in his head were spinning as he tried to comprehend what could have happened to him. "You know, I think I have a cherry pie buried in the freezer, I'm going to go pull it out for desert okay?" He said, squeezed Kurt fingers one more time with a warm smile and turned to the freezer.

"Okay, Cherry is my favorite" He said steadily, though Blaine could still sense the tension in his voice.

As Blaine turned around Kurt took another deep and calming breath. Everyone around him knew not to bring up anything that could relate back to Karosky. Kurt was more then happy to sit back and pretend it never happened, to not dwell on it. Especially after Karofsky had been forced to go to a different school. Most of the bullying had stopped, between the head bully's leaving and the amount of footballers in Glee everything had been a lot calmer this year.

Still though the mere thought of what had happened still sent him into a frenzy. He ran his fingers through his hair, not caring at that moment if his hair got a little bit messed up.

He knew that Karofsky was a big reason he was putting up so much fight against Blaine. He didn't like to think of it as a contributing factor but buried deep it was.

His hands were still shaking as he kept trying to calm down. Images flashing in his head. Images he had pushed away for months. His breathing was starting to become broken as he tried to calm down but failed. He hadn't had an attack like this since last June.

Blaine turned back around and saw the look of Kurt's face. Within a second he was at Kurt's side, rubbing his back. "Kurt, come on, let's go back to the living room." He said and helped Kurt up and back to the couch.

Kurt couldn't believe he was having this break down right now, in Blaine's living room, the first time they had every spent time truly alone. If this didn't scare Blaine away nothing would, but if it did it would break Kurt into a million pieces. This was why he didn't want to get involved with Blaine.

Blaine helped him sit down and held him close, it was a romantic gesture or anything like that, he was at that moment no more then a friend comforting a friend. Truly just wanting to make Kurt feel better. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay" He repeated over and over as he rubbed Kurt's back gently.

Kurt gulped in air and shook his head, "I'm being so stupid. I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm a mess! You can't see me like this." He rambled, as visions passed through his head.

Blaine shook his head "You're fine. Obviously something I said triggered something for you. I'm sorry. This is my fault. Just take some deep breathes okay. You don't have to talk about it but I'm here when you need to." He assured him and hugged the other boy.

Kurt inhaled the smell of Blaine and the feeling of his strong arms around him. Taking a few deep breathes, he started to calm down, for the first time he allowed himself to drown in Blaine, his smell, his heat, his strength and the affection he was pouring out to him. He forgot everything else and pushed the thoughts of what happened as far back as he could. It worked. Slowly but surely his breathing evened out and he was rid of the images once again.

Slowly he pulled away from Blaine and looked at him in the eyes, letting the honey colour calm him the last tiny bit. "Thank you Blaine. Really you didn't deserve to see that. It wasn't you're fault…"

He was silent for a few moments before he looked back into Blaine's eyes. "I'm not gonna get into it. But, there was a situation last year. With a closet case, it wasn't consensual. It got pretty bad." He saw the flash of anger in Blaine's eyes and didn't know whether to be afraid of it or comforted by it. "He's gone now. I'm fine. Just I always push it away. And sometimes something triggers it. I've been fine since he left. I don't know, most people just avoid it like the plague so I don't ever have to think about it, but you mentioned it and it kinda of just exploded on me."

Kurt didn't know what to do, what he expected for Blaine to do. All he knew was that he wanted this conversation to end and for everything to be okay.

Blaine nodded "Okay." He said and patted Kurt's arm once more. "Come on, I think the pasta should be ready." He said and stood up, holding his hand out to Kurt. Who took it and held it until he had to let go for Blaine to finish making dinner.

Blaine new how triggers worked, he knew the flash backs and the suppressing images. After the Sadie Hawkins dance incident he had gone through triggers and break downs almost daily. He knew not to push it or make a big deal out of it.

Of course it was a big deal, to see Kurt like that. It broke his heart. But he knew it was what happened and he could only do what he felt was right.

He put the pasta together and plated it, setting it down on the table with two glasses of diet Coke.

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked casually when they were both seated and eating.

Kurt shrugged, now appearing to have gone back to his old self. "Um Cheerio's practice actually." He said with a shrug as he took a sip of his coke, purposefully not making eye contact.

Was it Christmas? Did he really just say he was a cheerleader? "Wait a second. You? A Cheerio?" Blaine asked in astonishment.

Kurt laughed and shrugged "Temporarily. There are lots of things you don't know about me Mr. Anderson." He said with a playful wink, it wasn't as filled with attitude as it usually would have been but it was progress. "Sometimes Sue likes to add vocals to her routines. In Sophomore year I felt like I wasn't getting enough solos in Glee, so Mercedes and I kind of deflected to the Cheerios for a few weeks. I won them nationals with a 9-minute medley of Celine Dion. All in French" Kurt bragged with a proud smirk on his face "When we left she was so angry, I'm quite flexible and can sing. She is constantly trying to get me back on. I decided I would help her out for cheerleading Sectionals."

Blaine shook his head in amusement "Well then Mr. Hummel you just gave me about a thousand mental images that will never go away" he teased and took another bite of pasta.

The smirk on Kurt's face was almost back to its full force. "Want another one?" Kurt said flirtatiously.

Blaine could only nod his head.

"I was on the football team."

A couple hours later Blaine was cleaning up the dishes after Kurt pulled out of his lane way. Even with the bumps in the road the day had gone very well. Even Kurt's break down had brought them closer.

They weren't making out and gazing adoringly into each others eyes, well maybe they were gazing, but it was progress.

Though Blaine couldn't help but still feel the swell of anger in his chest when ever the thought of what Kurt had told him entered his mind.

He sighed and pulled out his phone after he finished loading the dishwasher. He sent two texts and shoved it back in his pocked and headed up to his room.

Blaine: You guys were right…

Blaine: Text me when you get home. Drive safe.