The next two or so weeks passed rather quickly for Kurt; between filling out papers and forms for Northwestern, sorting out housing for the fall, studying for finals, getting ready for graduation, and helping his dad out at the shop, he had far less time for online activities than he normally did. He still went online, of course, but it was only for a few hours an evening instead of the entire night.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: what are your thoughts on the name kursula?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: kscar?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: kumba?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: kinderella?
votestarkforpresident: …i am going to assume that you’ve moved onto making up ridiculous disney-based names to try, now? no to all of the above.

Kurt stared down at his phone for a second, a smile spreading across his face as he scanned briefly through their previous messages. Even though he wasn’t spending quite as much time online right now as he usually did, he and Blaine were still IMing one another constantly.

Blaine still had not figured out his name, either, which was both amusing and exasperating to Kurt. He had never really thought that his name was particularly rare, but he was beginning to wonder; after exhausting out all normal ‘k’ names that he could think of, Blaine had quickly moved on to tacking ‘k’ onto the beginning of Star Trek characters, Harry Potter characters, Twilight characters and, apparently, now Disney characters.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: KUFASA.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: KUFASA KUFASA KUFASA
hiddlestonismyforeverking: see what i did there???
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m classy, man. so classy.
votestarkforpresident: MY NMAE IS NOT KUFASA
votestarkforpresident: NAME*
votestarkforpresident: JFC I HATE YOU SOMETIMES ;‘DS;KADKJL
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :D

Kurt was just about to lock his phone and put it back in his pocket when it started to ring. Harmony’s name flashed across the screen, and Kurt spent at least thirty seconds debating whether or not to answer.

Eventually, he decided to pick up. He hit the answer button and put the phone up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Are you free tonight?”

“Why, hello, Kurt,” he drawled, irritated by her lack of proper greeting. “How are you on this absolutely wonderful Friday evening, my dearest and most amazing friend?”

“Shut up,” Harmony replied. “The greeting was implied. Answer my question.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “I don’t have any plans, but I really don’t feel like leaving the house tonight, Har.”

“I never said anything about you having to leave your house,” she said, annoyed. “I bought the first season of Supernatural today at the mall and wanted to know if you wanted to marathon the first few episodes tonight? You have all the episodes, don’t you?”

Kurt perked up considerably at the mention of Supernatural.

“I do,” he replied, “when do you want to watch?”

“I was thinking about making a Tinychat,” Harmony answered, her words slurring together a bit because she was talking so quickly. Kurt was suddenly very, very glad that he had practice with understanding Harmony when she got overly excited. “I thought that maybe I could invite a bunch of my followers – you should invite your new boyfriend, too – and we could all watch and live blog together!”

Kurt turned an interesting shade of red. “Blaine is not my boyfriend, Harmony! We’ve known each other for, like, two weeks.”

“So?” asked Harmony. “I know you. You like him.”

“Yes,” Kurt replied, “as a friend. Besides, I still don’t know what he looks like...he could be a fifty-year-old man for all I know.”

He didn’t have to see Harmony to know that she was rolling her eyes.

“I highly doubt that,” she said. “Anyway, invite him, okay? I was thinking that we’d start around eight. I want to get at least four or five episodes in.”

She hung up before Kurt could respond. He sighed for a moment, annoyed with himself for not being able to resist Harmony’s demands, and then thumbed through his phone until he found his AIM app.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: how about kulan?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: kebastian?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: kuzz?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: actually, scratch that last one. it sort of sounds gross :/ i didn’t think that one through entirely
hiddlestonismyforeverking: what about karl?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: omg you’re the old guy from ‘up’ aren’t you??! THAT MOVIE MAKES ME SO SAD
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i always cry at the beginning ;sagahsdgjlkas
hiddlestonismyforeverking: omfg now i’m actually crying b/c i’m thinking about it DAMMIT KARL THIS IS YOUR FAULT
hiddlestonismyforeverking: ;lsd;hgskjlhgad;gha I HATE YOU

Kurt couldn’t help but crack up a bit as he read through that set of messages; he knew Blaine well enough by now to know that he probably was crying over the movie, as he was definitely one of those overly-emotional fandomers.

He tapped the reply button and quickly typed out a new message.

votestarkforpresident: are you implying that i am an eighty-year-old man?!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: …i plead the fifth?
votestarkforpresident: RUDE
votestarkforpresident: and also, wrong. my name is not any of those. although karl is a lot closer than you’ve been lately
votestarkforpresident: also, i’m pretty sure the karl from ‘up’ is spelled ‘carl’
hiddlestonismyforeverking: technicalities *waves hand*
votestarkforpresident: are you free tonight, btw?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: …yes?
votestarkforpresident: i enjoyed that response lol. and, sorry, i know it was sort of an awkward question. harmony – gerbertheunitard – bought spn today and wants to run a tinychat tonight to marathon it and liveblog. she conned me into going and i was wondering if you’d wanna go, too? we’re starting with season one, since she’s never seen spn before.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: how is that even a question
hiddlestonismyforeverking: OF COURSE I AM IN
hiddlestonismyforeverking: spn is the shit
hiddlestonismyforeverking: dean winchester is hot. SO HOT
votestarkforpresident: AGREED
votestarkforpresident: it’s at 8 btw
hiddlestonismyforeverking: fuck, it’s already 7:20! i need to go grab a shower and make some popcorn and stuff. i’ll see you at 8?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: hey, wait, i don’t follow harmony. how will I get the link to the tinychat?!
votestarkforpresident: i’ll reblog it. and, believe me, i’m sure that she’ll rectify that before the night is over.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: okay. i’ll brb, kaleficent.
hiddlestonismyforeverking is now offline.

Kurt pocketed his phone and glanced at the clock. Blaine’s comment about a shower and food actually sounded pretty great right about now.

About thirty minutes later, Kurt again found himself sprawled across his bed, feet kicking in the air as he opened his dash. The third post down was from Harmony.

gerbertheunitard:
2012-05-18 19:49
SUPERNATURAL SEASON ONE LIVEBLOG AND CHAT. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

Kurt immediately reblogged the post for Blaine – and any other followers of his who might be interested in chatting – and then clicked on the link. It took a moment for the room to load, but eventually Kurt was in.

guest-219385 entered the room
Type /help for a list of commands
guest-21985 changed nickname to k
unique: kurt why is your name listed as ‘k’
k: my friend blaine is coming and i made him guess my name instead of telling him and he hasn’t figured it out yet
k: so don’t tell him my name, please
unique: okay, no problem
harmony: when is he coming? i want to meet him!
guest-453923 entered the room
harmony: HI GUEST
guest-453923 changed nickname to blaine
blaine: hi!
harmony: omg hi how are you? do you like harry potter?
harmony: because we can’t be friends if you don’t
harmony: i don’t associate with people who have terrible taste in literature
harmony: what house are you in?
harmony: which character do you hate the most?
harmony: lily/james or lily/snape?
harmony: luna or ginny?
harmony: which character death was most upsetting to you emotionally?
k: oh my god, shut the fuck up harmony. you’re going to scare him away
unique: lolololol
blaine: no, it’s okay, kuasimodo
k: I AM NOT A HUNCHBACK JFC
unique: i like him already ;fkljagads
blaine: i don’t mind answering
blaine: i do like hp, although i will admit it is not one of my primary fandoms
blaine: pottermore put me into hufflepuff
blaine: bellatrix lestrange
blaine: lily/james forever
blaine: luna lovegood is 10000 times better than ginny
blaine: probably lupin. or dobby. i cried over both of them.
harmony: …i accept your answers. and i like your honesty.
harmony: even if you are wrong about lily/james being better than lily/snape bsdkjlghds
harmony: ALWAYS, OKAY. *ALWAYS*
harmony: but, regardless, i extend you my hand in friendship, blaine of hufflepuff.
k: *headdesk* jfc, really???
blaine: :D :D :D
unique: are we gonna start watching some spn or not?!? i want to see me some winchesters.
harmony: okay, okay, jesus. do you all have episode one up?
k: yes
blaine: yyy
unique: obviously
harmony: ok, push play at the count of 3
harmony: 1
harmony: 2
harmony: 3
harmony: OMG THEY ARE SO CUTE
harmony: awww baby sam is adorable ;asdghash this show doesn’t seem scary or upsetting at all
blaine: LOLOLOLOLOL
k: you’re right, harmony. idk what we were thinking, spn is made entirely of sunshine and rainbows
unique: omg leave her alone boys
harmony: wait what’s happening
harmony: oh n0 what are you doing
harmony: DON'T GO IN THERE
harmony: whY is she screaming
harmony: awww baby sam is so cute though
harmony: WAIT WTF WHY IS SHE ON THE CELINGIN
harmony: I DON;'T UDNERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING SKDF;LGHADFSLKJGHA
harmony: HOLY FUCKING FIRE
harmony: NOOOOOoooOOOOOOO
blaine: omg her reactions are better than actual tv
k: ikr. especially with the misspellings and typos lol

Kurt leaned back in his chair, amused. It was going to be a long – but hopefully hilarious – night.

The following Thursday night found Kurt curled up by the windowsill, a steaming mug of chamomile tea in one hand and a slightly-battered copy of The Scarlet Letter, one of his favorite novels, in the other.

He was so engrossed in the story that it was only the constant buzzing of his phone that finally pulled him back to reality. Glancing over at his bedside table, Kurt caught a glimpse of his phone just as the screen went black. He spent a good minute debating whether or not to check his phone – he was ridiculously comfortable where he was, but for all he knew it could be something important – before eventually standing.

It only took him seven decent-sized steps to get across the length of his bedroom, but he grumbled the entire way over. He knew that it was no fault but his own, because he had been the one to accidentally leave his phone so far away, but he was still mildly irritated.

That irritation immediately melted away upon realizing that the messages were all from Blaine. Kurt smiled as he opened the AIM app, but that smile quickly morphed into a concerned frown as he thumbed through them.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: hey, kushu, are you too busy to chat?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i know you said you had to finish the scarlet letter (again) for class, but i really just need someone to talk with about some personal stuff
hiddlestonismyforeverking: and i figured that maybe you would be impartial? since we don’t know each other in rl?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: ;ldfjghklajs nevermind, it’s stupid. i don’t want to bother you, kades.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: just forget i said anything
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m sorry if these take you away from your reading, kelle.

Kurt frowned at his phone for another few seconds, confused, before finally setting it back on the bedside table. He then walked back across the room to grab his still-steaming mug, and set it on the table beside his phone. A few seconds later he was leaned back against the headboard, his laptop open in front of him, AIM loading.

votestarkforpresident: blaine?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: hey, klounder. i didn’t mean to bother you :(
votestarkforpresident: you didn’t. what’s up?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i just got into an argument with my parents – well, my mom, really – and wanted someone to talk with. someone who wouldn’t imply that i was useless, i mean.

Kurt frowned again as he read that message.

votestarkforpresident: you aren’t useless. what’s going on, blaine?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i’m going to assume, based on some of my previous comments, like my love of dean winchester’s ass, that you have realized i am gay, yes?

Kurt snorted, loudly.

votestarkforpresident: oh, blaine, i figured out that you were gay about ten messages in. no straight man would ever talk that in-depth about chris hemsworth’s hair and how flawless it was.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: :”>
hiddlestonismyforeverking: I’M JUST SAYING, THOR HAS SOME PRETTY NICE HAIR. IT SHOULD BE IN A SHAMPOO COMMERICAL OR SOMETHING. :|
votestarkforpresident: dying
votestarkforpresident: anyway, i assume that you figured out the same about me?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: yyyyy
votestarkforpresident: okay, well, good. now that that’s out of the way, wanna tell me what this has to do with your parents?

For about a good four minutes or so, there was absolute silence on Blaine’s end. Kurt could see the little pencil icon moving, though, which indicated typing; whatever message his friend was writing, it was apparently very, very long.

hiddlestonismyforeverking: i came out to my parents when i was fourteen. before that, my dad and i were really, REALLY close. my mom and i, too. actually, ironically enough, the only person i *wasn’t* close with was my older brother. which is weird, i guess, because now he’s pretty much the only one in my family that i think likes or loves me anymore. there is a long, long story behind the issues i had with my brother, and i’m not going to get into that now, but sufficient to say my older brother was an overbearing dick for a long time. it was only in the past year or so that we became really close, and it took a LOT of work.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: anyway, i came out, and everything changed. my mom barely speaks to me or acknowledges my existence these days. her family is really, REALLY homophobic. i think…i think i disgust her. :/ and that really hurts. none of her family talks to me, either. as far as their concerned, i just don’t exist. and when she – my mom – does acknowledge me, she just criticizes me and tells me what a disappoint i and my “disease” are
hiddlestonismyforeverking: they’re*
hiddlestonismyforeverking: my dad doesn’t ignore me or anything, which is good. but it’s really strained and awkward between us. it’s like…he just doesn’t know how to treat me, i guess? sometimes he tries to treat me like he used to, but then he gets all weird. and other times he tries to make me do “super-manly” stuff with him, like he thinks it’ll push the gay out of me or something.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: they want me to come home over the weekend. they’re having some sort of business dinner on saturday night and since my perfect brother isn’t home, they need me there to make a decent impression of a “happy family”
hiddlestonismyforeverking: but i just really, really don’t want to go. because i know the whole weekend will suck. my mom will just ignore me all weekend, aside from the business dinner when she has to pretend she actually still loves me, and my dad will probably just judge me a lot and be all weird and awkward.

Kurt bit his lip as he read through the messages, and willed himself not to cry at how sad and desperate Blaine sounded. This was the most personal either of them had gotten with one another; up until now, all of their communication had been flailing, or arguing, over their fandoms and the like.

This was such a big step, for Blaine to trust Kurt with information like this, and he didn’t want to mess things up.

votestarkforpresident: what do you mean by “go home”
votestarkforpresident: you’re underage, aren’t you? how are you living alone?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: yeah, i’m seventeen, lol. my eighteenth birthday is in july.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: there was an…incident…after i first came out that forced me to transfer schools. i go to a private boarding school now. i’m usually only home mid-june through mid-august, and on holidays.
votestarkforpresident: oh. well, i don’t suppose there is a way you can just…not go home? :/
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i wish. if my parents sign me out of the dorms – which my dad is doing – then i HAVE to go home. i don’t have a choice…the only way you can get around it is if you’re eighteen, because then you’re legally an adult. but since i’m underage, i have no choice but to do what my parents tell the school to have me do :(
votestarkforpresident: i’m so sorry :(
hiddlestonismyforeverking: don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault. i’ll just go and suck it up, i guess.
votestarkforpresident: you know you can always message me, right? if things get bad, i mean.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i know, kuzco. :)
votestarkforpresident: again, no to all of those.
hiddlestonismyforeverking: damn.
votestarkforpresident: when are you leaving?
hiddlestonismyforeverking: i go home tomorrow afternoon. i should be back sunday night sometime.
votestarkforpresident: good luck!
hiddlestonismyforeverking: thanks, kercules. hey, i need to go grab a shower and, apparently, pack my stuff up for tomorrow. i’ll IM you tomorrow. later!
hiddlestonismyforeverking has signed off.

Kurt stared at the screen for a moment before exiting AIM. He hoped that things went okay for Blaine this weekend.

That Saturday morning, Kurt and Harmony met at the Lima Bean for an early lunch.

“I am absolutely amazed that you voluntarily met me before one in the afternoon,” Harmony said conversationally, her lips curling in barely-concealed amusement as Kurt stumbled blearily into the café.

He frowned at her.

She raised an eyebrow at him, clearly unimpressed by his response. “Exactly what time did you go to sleep this morning, Kurt?”

“Six-ish,” Kurt admitted after a rather long, and awkward, moment of silence. “I stayed up until about three in the morning at first, mostly because I was hoping that Blaine would log on at some point, but he didn’t.”

Kurt had not heard anything from Blaine since their conversation on Thursday night.

“So how did you end up awake until six in the morning?” she asked. “I thought that you had limited your online time until graduation.”

He grinned a little, suddenly a bit sheepish. “I may or may not have gotten distracted by Pandemic 2.”

Harmony blinked at him. “For three hours?”

“It’s a very delicate process!” he replied defensively. “You have to create the perfect disease to kill as many people as you can before they create a vaccine. You can’t rush those things, Harmony. And, besides, I totally made it into the top one-hundred for the day!”

She stared at him.

“Don’t judge,” Kurt said, looking away from her as they finally approached the counter. “I am very proud of that achievement.”

Harmony shook her head, but did not reply in favor of ordering.

“I would like a large iced white chocolate mocha, with an extra espresso shot,” she said, her gaze fixated on the menu hanging behind the counter. “And a slice of the cinnamon coffee cake, please! A big one. Like, as big as you can possibly make it without having to charge me for two slices, because I absolutely refuse to pay three seventy-five for a piece that is smaller than –”

Kurt coughed. Loudly.

“ – and that will be all,” Harmony finished, casting him an unhappy look.

“I’ll take a grande non-fat mocha and two pieces of the cinnamon biscotti,” Kurt said, not taking his eyes off the menu as he reached a hand into his pocket to grab his wallet. “Oh, and do you think that you could have them add, like, three extra espresso shots to my mocha, please?”

Harmony raised an eyebrow at that.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I used to be a morning person?” Kurt asked as he handed the barista a twenty, enough to cover both their orders. He gave Harmony another sheepish look and lowered his voice significantly. “I mean, before I discovered Tumblr, anyway.”

Harmony frowned at him before quickly looking around the café to see if anyone had heard their conversation. It appeared as though no one was paying any attention to the two of them, but she wasn’t about to take any chances.

“You know the first rule of Tumblr,” Harmony hissed, smacking him across the arm, as though she thought that might reinforce how annoyed she was. “It’s like in Fight Club, Kurt. You don’t talk about fight club, and you sure as hell don’t talk about Tumblr!”

“You just mentioned both. Twice,” he pointed out.

“You know what I mean!”

“Calm down! I’m not a complete idiot, Harmony, despite what you apparently seem to think,” Kurt snapped, rolling his eyes at her. “It’s not like I jumped up on the counter and shouted it out for everyone to hear. I lowered my voice and everything, just like a good boy.”

Harmony huffed at him, clearly unconvinced, but eventually let it go.

A few minutes later, the two friends got their food and drinks, and settled at a table in the far-back corner of the café. There was no one else sitting back there – the lunch rush still an hour or so away – so it was almost entirely silent, save for the small murmur of the flat screen television, volume down as low as possible, hanging just behind Kurt’s head.

Kurt set his things down on the table and pulled his phone out. It took a few seconds for the AIM app to load, and he was disappointed to see that there were still no messages from his friend. After a moment of hesitation, he opened a new message box and typed out a short message, his fingers flying across the screen.

votestarkforpresident: are you okay, blaine? i haven't heard from you since thursday night and you haven't answered any of my IMs. it isn’t normal for you to go so long without replying, so i just wanted to check – message me back when you can?

“Have you heard from him, yet?”

Kurt shook his head.

Harmony took a bite of her coffee cake and stared at him for a good minute before replying.

“I think that you’re worrying over nothing,” she said finally, reaching up with her free hand to tuck a strand of her long, dark hair back behind her ear. “You said he went home to see his parents this weekend, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, maybe his parents don’t want him online, or texting, when he’s supposed to be spending time with them?” Harmony suggested, taking a sip of her drink. “I mean, not all parents are as cool with that as your dad is, Kurt...remember when my mom took my phone away for a month last January? That was because I was on Tumblr at the dinner table.”

“I guess that you’re right,” Kurt admitted finally. “I’m probably worrying over nothing...I think I’m so used to hearing from him all day long that I panicked slightly. I’ll let it go this weekend, but if I don’t hear from him by Monday, then I’ll start worrying.”

Harmony opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by a small, timid voice from just behind them.

“Kurt?”

He turned around at the sound of his name, and smiled brightly when he realized who was standing there.

“Tina!” he said cheerfully. “What are you doing here?”

Tina gave him a small smile. “I’m waiting for Mike, actually. We’re supposed to get lunch here and then head to the movies, but he’s apparently running late.”

Kurt gave her a sympathetic look. “Do you want to sit with us, until he gets here?”

Tina hesitated.

“You aren’t intruding,” Harmony said suddenly, smiling at her. “You’re welcome to join us. The more the merrier, I always say.”

Kurt eyed his best friend warily. He had never had any of his real-life friends meet his online friends before (although, technically, he supposed that Harmony fell into both categories), and he was a bit nervous about how this could end – especially considering that this was Harmony, and she was practically the queen of awkward situations and borderline-crazy commentary.

“Thanks,” Tina said softly, taking a seat next to Harmony.

There was a moment of awkward silence, and Kurt suddenly realized that he should probably introduce them properly.

“Harmony, this is my friend Tina. She goes to McKinley with me, and we’re both in glee club together,” Kurt said. “Tina, this is my friend Harmony. She goes to Defiance High School and is a member of their glee club.”

Tina studied Harmony for a moment, her eyes suddenly widening with realization.

“We competed against you at sectionals, didn’t we?” she asked. “The Unitards, I think? Oh, I remember, you were their soloist. You did a really nice job with ‘Buenos Aires’!”

Harmony beamed, clearly delighted by the praise.

“Thank you,” she replied. “You’re both in the Troubletones, yes? Kurt and I don’t really talk about glee very much…but, anyway, I thought that you were much better than New Directions.”

“Thanks!” Tina said, smiling at her. “So you guys knew each other before sectionals?”

“We met at a NYADA mixer in September,” Kurt explained. “The one that Santana made me attend, remember?”

Tina nodded, but her attention seemed fixated on the television behind Kurt. She squinted for a moment before sitting up straight in her seat.

“Is that Cooper Anderson?” she asked suddenly.

Harmony glanced up at the TV, which cut to a commercial break only seconds after she did so, and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it is.”

At the age of twenty-five, Cooper Anderson was one of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood. While Kurt would be the first to admit that the man was ridiculously attractive, he did question Anderson’s acting methods a bit; he was a good actor, of course, but he had an unfortunate habit of pointing more than necessary and over-dramatizing everything.

Harmony, on the other hand, hated Cooper Anderson with a raging passion. Kurt privately thought that this was hilarious – although he would never, ever say that to her face – because in the very beginning, Harmony had been one of his biggest fans. However, in true Harmony fashion, the main root of her issues with Anderson was, of course, Harry Potter; about six months prior, Anderson had admitted that he had never read any of the series, and that he wasn’t really interested in doing so.

Harmony, being Harmony, had taken that as a personal insult and now acted as though Cooper Anderson was public enemy number one.

“I’m going to turn it up,” Tina said, excited. She stood and moved past Kurt, dragging an empty chair along with her. “I wonder if this is about his new movie?”

Kurt shrugged. “Probably. Isn’t it a book adaptation of some sort?”

Harmony made an irritated noise and mumbled something about Harry Potter under her breath. Kurt gave her an exasperated look, and the dark-haired girl scowled at him before sulking down in her seat, an unhappy look on her face.

Tina fiddled with the sound, and Kurt took the opportunity to study Anderson. The footage onscreen was definitely from an airport of some sort, and the celebrity seemed to be moving as quickly as he could through the crowded terminal. The paparazzi usually adored Cooper Anderson, mostly because he seemed to reveal in their presence and normally went out of his way to give them shots and interviews; today, however, Anderson – who looked uncharacteristically haggard – seemed to be irritated and unhappy with their presence, and refused to acknowledge them at all.

“– and, in breaking news, filming of Cooper Anderson’s latest film has been put on a temporary two-week hiatus due to a personal tragedy. Last night, an electrical fire raged through Anderson’s childhood home, killing both his parents and –”

Tina made a sad sound in the back of her throat. “That’s absolutely terrible,” she said, her voice blocking out part of the news report. “He’s from Ohio, isn’t he?”

“I think so,” Kurt answered, “only a few hours from here, if I remember right.”

Neither of them were a hundred-percent sure, of course; although Cooper Anderson was the darling of the media, he was surprisingly good about keeping his private life separate from his public one. Most of his fans knew very little about his home life, and even less about his family and childhood.

“Why do you think he needs two weeks away from the set?” Tina asked suddenly. “It should only take a week for the funerals and everything, right? I mean, I’ve only been to a handful, but usually they have been a week or less from the date of death.”

Harmony took a sip of her mocha and looked at Tina. “I would assume he probably has to take care of other things, too, and not just the funeral arrangements.”

They fell silent at that, and it was only when Mike arrived a few minutes later, out of breath and spewing a string of apologies at his girlfriend, that anyone spoke.

“I’ll see you guys later,” Tina said, standing to gather her things. “It was really nice to meet you, Harmony.”

Harmony gave her a small smile.

“I’ll see you later, Kurt,” Tina said before rushing off after her boyfriend.

“I bet Tumblr has exploded,” Kurt said a few seconds after Tina had left. “They like Cooper almost as much as the media does.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Harmony replied, pulling out her phone to check. “I mean, he has absolutely terrible taste in literature, but he is wildly popular…especially on Tumblr.”

Kurt took a sip of his now lukewarm mocha and pulled out his own phone.

votestarkforpresident: blaine, please message me when you get this. i’m getting really worried :/ this isn’t like you

He hit ‘send’ and quickly pocketed his phone.

“So,” he said, turning to Harmony with a forced smile on his face. “What are our plans for the day?”