Mercedes was angry, and justifiably so. Kurt knew that he would be super pissed if his best friend promised they'd go to Super Sale Saturday and then bailed on him with a fake excuse.

Except that Kurt's excuse wasn't fake. The only reason he had gone out in the first place was because he was a stubborn Hummel who had an infinite need to prove himself right. Of course, this time he had been proven wrong, but that was hardly the point.

The fact of the matter was that Kurt hadn't lied to Mercedes. He tried to explain this to her, but it was difficult to do without sounding like a complete lunatic.

"Whatever," said Mercedes, still sounding like she didn't quite believe his story. "You're lucky I still had a good Saturday anyway."

Kurt didn't say anything in reply. He replaced a few of the books in the locker with the ones in his satchel and considered whether or not he should tell her about Blaine. She would probably freak out. Or think that he was suddenly into being spiritual. He was not ready to have Mercedes try to convert him.

Still, she was his best friend and if anyone had the right to know it was her.

"Kurt?" she said, snapping her fingers in front of his face.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" he asked without thinking, his face contorting into a slight frown.

"Wow. Random." said Mercedes, completely confused. "You told me you don't believe in any of that, Kurt."

"I know," said Kurt, closing his locker as Mercedes began to walk him to his French class. "I was just wondering if you do."

"Well for me, while I believe in a spiritual realm, I think ghosts are... I don't know. It seems like something people make up when they don't know what else to do." Mercedes said, still looking at Kurt with a puzzled expression. "Seriously, Kurt, where is this coming from? This isn't about your mom, is it?"

"No, it's not about her - but thanks for reminding me of the fact that she's dead," said Kurt rolling his eyes and feeling guilty when Mercedes frowned at him, clearly hurt by his mean remark. He sighed. "I guess it's just because I found out that my house is supposed to be haunted or something."

"Really?" said Mercedes excitedly, stepping in front of him to look him in the eye. "And that made you start believing in ghosts?"

Just the one actually, thought Kurt to himself.

"Not really," he said. "I just... ugh, forget I brought up."

"Okay then, crey crey," she said kissing him on the cheek as they reached the French room. "I'll see you at lunch."

"Bye," he said with a small wave, wondering not for the first time that day if he actually was insane. It was so much harder to believe all of this was real without seeing it in front of him.

But as he thought about Blaine and his ridiculously adorable smile, it didn't feel that crazy at all.

When he reached his bedroom that afternoon after school, it was to find a quiet, sad-looking Blaine lying on his bed. His face brightened a little when he saw Kurt come in, but there was some kind of heartbroken look behind his eyes that made Kurt feel like he was being punched in the stomach repeatedly.

"Blaine, is everything okay?" he asked sitting down next to him, wishing he could reach out and place a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"Well, I'm dead," said Blaine snappily,"so I guess not."

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here," said Kurt, furrowing his brow in annoyance. "I would appreciate it if you took the sass down like five levels so that I can be the friend you said you wanted."

Blaine sighed.

"You're right - I'm sorry, Kurt," he said giving him an apologetic look. "It's just that ever since you moved in, I can't stop thinking about why I'm here. About why I didn't... go on. About why I have to see family after family live their lives even though mine is probably old or dead."

Kurt stared at him, not really knowing how to proceed with the conversation. He knew that as Blaine's friend he had to say something - to make some kind of remark to show he cared about Blaine's dilemma - but he had never really comforted someone who was upset about being a ghost before. He racked his brain to think of any movie he had seen that would help him with this, but since he spent most of those movies mocking them, he wasn't sure why he bothered.

"I'm not really sure what you want from me here, Blaine," said Kurt cautiously after a long pause. "I mean, I know it must be awful to be dead but not dead and to have to deal with people being in the space that used to be your space... I just don't know what to say. I didn't even believe in ghosts until a few days ago."

"Oh! No, Kurt, this isn't your problem at all" said Blaine apologetically. "I really don't expect you to do anything for me and I plan to stop whining now. I really just wanted to explain why I'm so down today. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, Blaine," said Kurt, feeling his heart break at how worried he seemed to be that he upset Kurt. He honestly had nothing to apologize for. He had just as much of a right as anyone to be sad. In fact, he probably had more of a right. He was dead after all. He smiled to show Blaine that he meant his next words. "I really don't have a problem with you venting. I'm just not sure how to properly deal with your particular problems yet. I really want to be a good friend and I'm not sure how."

"You don't even have to do anything. Just having someone to talk to about this is enough for me."

Kurt wasn't sure why the smile that played on Blaine's features made his heart do a small back-flip. He just knew that at that moment, he wished he knew Blaine while he was alive. Now that the initial weirdness of knowing a dead person had sort of worn off, Kurt could appreciate how good-looking Blaine was.

There were many very attractive qualities to him. His features were soft, but there was something undeniably masculine about them. He had the most gorgeous smile that Kurt had ever seen on anyone. And Kurt was willing to put money on the fact that beneath his clothes he was hiding a very athletic body.

His looks were one thing, but to have that coupled with his superhuman politeness and compassionate nature...

And that laugh. Always that laugh.

It just seemed unfair, the more that Kurt thought about it, that he had been born in this era. If he was Blaine's friend back then, he would have done something to make sure that he was protected from his insane father. He would have made sure that he knew just how normal he was. That there was nothing wrong with him. Nothing would have happened to him. Blaine would probably be an old man sitting on a porch in a rocking chair somewhere amazing with the man of his dreams.

"Kurt, are you okay?" asked Blaine. "You seem a little spaced out."

"I'm fine," said Kurt with a genuine smile, deciding it best not to mention those particular thoughts. "Just imagining how awesome it's going to be to get to know you better. I mean, how often is it that you see someone who has been around for so many iconic ages?"

Blaine laughed and Kurt secretly tried to memorize the beautiful sound for a rainy day.

Before he could say anything else, Finn burst frantically into the room.

"Dude, are you okay?" he asked, looking at Kurt, seemingly oblivious to the fact that there was another person in the room. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that Blaine was definitely still there, which Kurt found slightly disconcerting. If Finn had seen Blaine, he was clearly too worried about Kurt's well-being to give him a second thought. He doubted that that was the case.

"I'm fine?" Kurt replied in confusion. "Why the sudden concern?"

"Dude, you were talking to yourself and stuff. I know people sometimes do that when they're nervous or upset or whatever. At least, I know that's what Rachel does. I just wanted to check that you weren't freaking out or anything."

Could Finn really not hear or see Blaine? Was Kurt the only one who could see him? The idea of being the only one who knew about the ghost in his bedroom seemed a little too strange to be true. But then again, how much of this wasn't strange in the first place?

"I'm fine, Finn. Just running through a few of the monologues I'm trying to memorize to improve my acting," said Kurt patiently, feeling a little annoyed that he could hear Blaine sniggering quietly next to him, while Finn had no reaction to him whatsoever. He didn't want to have to go through the trying experience of being friends with a supernatural phenomenon alone.

"Oh, okay, well if you're sure, man," Finn said, backing out of the door and closing it behind him again. Kurt only allowed himself to relax when he heard the sound of Finn's door closing as well.

"So it would appear that only you can see me," said Blaine with an amused smile.

"Just don't get any ideas about abusing your invisibility," said Kurt, smiling back at him.

"What like standing behind people and pulling faces at you while you try to speak to them?" winked Blaine.

"Exactly like that," Kurt replied dryly.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"You say that a lot," said Kurt, narrowing is eyes. "I'm not sure you mean it."

"I'll try not to let that break my heart too much," said Blaine.

"Is your heart really in that much danger of being broken?" asked Kurt, with a smirk.

"By you, yes."

The sincerity of this sentence knocked the air out of Kurt's lungs for a moment. Did he really mean that much to Blaine? He knew that Blaine really wanted a friend, but did he really hold Blaine's emotional sanity in his hands?

This was too much to deal with right now.

Swallowing down his immediate remark, he decided to change the subject.

"When was the last time you saw a movie, Blaine?"

Kurt almost laughed at the way Blaine's face lit up like he'd just been offered a trip to Disneyland.

"It's been ages, but I really really really love them. Do you have any?"

"I have tons," said Kurt, amused, before pulling out the drawer where he stored all his DVDs. He grinned as Blaine's eyes widened further as he took in the sight before him.

"You have Singin' in the Rain?" Blaine said suddenly, noticing the title among the others.

"It's one of my favorites. Do you know it?"

"I heard the song on the radio and wanted to see it, but I never got round to it because of school. Would it be alright if we watched it now?"

"Sure!" said Kurt with a grin, grabbing the box and pulling out his laptop. He tried not to chuckle at the way Blaine's face filled with wonder as he set it all up.

Five minutes later, he was lying on his front, watching the screen as Blaine lay on his front next to him. He was so close that were he alive, their bodies would almost be touching. An inch had never felt more like a mile.

He didn't know when he realized it particularly - whether it was when he compared Blaine with Gene Kelly and realised how much of a 50s dreamboat Blaine truly was, or when he heard his perfect voice croon along to "Singing in the Rain" - but Kurt knew that the feelings he had for Blaine were more than just friendship.

And as Blaine was a ghost who apparently only he could see, this was more than slightly problematic.