"So, what's this I hear about a crush?" Mercedes Jones demanded, putting her tray down beside Kurt's and comandeering the seat beside him. He mentally groaned, and prepared himself for interrogation; even though he was sure that Rachel had probably filled Mercedes in on most of the details already. "Spill it, White Boy."

There was a giggle from Rachel, sat on his other side. "He already did. All over the guy in question."

Kurt groaned. "Really, Rach?"

"Spilt what?" Mercedes pressed, obviously hooked on knowing the details now.

"Coffee. I spilt coffee. And it wasn't that much...just on his shoes...and stuff..." he mumbled, pushing his salad around his plate with his fork in embarrassment.

Mercedes stared at him with horrified eyes. "You spilt coffee on Dreamy Warbler Boy? How? Details, Kurt." she instructed, beckoning with one finger as if to draw the information out of him.

Kurt sighed. "Fine. I was clearing off table eight, and somebody called over to see if I could take his used cups away, too. So I went over, and there were two guys there, both in Warbler blazers. I took their coffee cups, and said about fifteen words to one of them, who's name was Blaine - okay, I admit I may have had a little bit of a starstruck expression, but that was it. So I went away, then the guy who'd called me over originally - Sebastian -  got me to come back because apparently I'd forgotten something, and then I sort of fell over. I don't know how, but-"

"-The boyfriend shoved the chair under your feet, Kurt!" Rachel objected, waving her fork in the air in indignation. Kurt wasn't entirely sure why she had a fork seeing as she'd made herself a sandwich for lunch; but  he didn't question it."It was obvious!"

"He what?!" Mercedes narrowed her eyes, a dark expression on her face. "And who's this 'boyfriend' person! He took your guy and tripped you up! He could have really hurt you!"

Kurt felt like he wanted to shrink into his chair and die as the students on the surrounding tables turned to stare at the three Glee Club divas. "I'm fine, aren't I? And he didn't take my guy. He wasn't even my guy in the first place!  We talked for a few minutes and he was really, really sweet and cute and things...Then he told me he had this huge crush on Sebastian and he wanted to date him but he didn't know if Sebastian actually wanted a relationship...So I told him to go for it and that he should ask him out. So Blaine went and asked Sebastian, and I don't know what he said but he kissed Blaine then got in the car, and the whole time Blaine just had this massive dorky smile on his face like he was the happiest guy in the world...Then he sent me a thumbs-up through the window and got in the car and they drove away. And that was that." he concluded, smiling slightly at the memory as he stared into space.

After a few moments of silence, he looked from side to side at the girls. Both their mouths were open, faces frozen in almost identical expressions that clearly read what the hell, Kurt?

"....What?" he asked defensively, confused.

"Kurt." Mercedes said slowly, as if she was talking to a child. "You came across a hot guy in a cafe.  Said hot guy was, quote you, 'really sweet and cute and things'. And I know when you say 'cute' that you really mean 'hot' and that this boy must have made some sort of serious impression on you. And then you told him to go date another guy."

Rachel shook her head almost despairingly. "I have to say, Kurt, although I can see where you're coming from in a  'being a good person' sort of way, I really don't understand you sometimes."

Suddenly, he saw where they were coming from, and felt his cheeks colour. He hid his face in his fingers to cover it up while Rachel and Mercedes sent him the same wide-eyed stares. The only other gay boy that I've ever met in this town who I like and was actually nice to me and I hook him up with the guy who shoved a chair into my ankles. Who from the looks of things doesn't deserve him at all.What was I thinking?

"He had a nice smile." Kurt mumbled into his hands. "He had a really, really nice smile and I'm pretty sure it decimated my IQ.  All I could think about was making him happy so he'd smile that smile again."

Mercedes let out a low whistle. "When you said 'Kurt has a crush', Rachel, you weren't kidding were you?"

Rachel laughed. "I don't know, I think it's sweet. I mean, you must understand the whole 'my brain turns to fuzz when I'm around him' phenomena. After all, 'Cedes, remember when Sam phoned you at the end of last year? You were practically inarticulate."

"She was inarticulate." Kurt corrected, deflecting the tater tot that Mercedes casually flicked at him with the closest thing on hand, which happened to be Rachel's Spanish folder.

The smallest of the three snatched it back and hugged it almost protectively. "Hey! I've got an exam last period, I'm going to need this!"

Mercedes sighed, ignoring Rachel's last comment. "Okay, so, what if I was? I didn't exactly spill coffee all over him, did I?" she threw the last comment into the conversation casually, grinning all the while.

Kurt opened his mouth to make some incredibly scathing response, but was cut off by the bell. "Chemistry." he sighed, standing up to take his tray back. Both girls dutifully winced in sympathy. They both had Music, but in different classes - Mercedes being a junior and Rachel being a senior. 

"Uhm...Rach?" came a voice from behind them, and all three of them whirled around, regardless of if their name was Rachel or not.

Finn blinked down at them. "Oh, hey Mercedes. Hey Kurt....I was just wondering if you wanted to walk up to music with me, Rachel?" he asked a little bashfully, and Kurt tried not to grin at his stepbrother's nervousness. He and Rachel had been dating for a while now; but for some reason Finn seemed nervous around her friends, even if one of them was related to him.

Rachel beamed up at him, inconspicuously sliding her packed lunch back into her bag  and slipping her hand into Finn's. "It'd be a pleasure." she smiled, as the tall boy led the way out of the cafeteria and towards their shared Music class.

After they'd vanished from sight as well as earshot, Kurt cast a sidelong glance over at Mercedes as the diva stood up with her tray. "Go on, say it. I dare you."

"And Kurt's imagining himself as Rachel and Prep School Warbler Boy as Finn..." she said in a singsong voice as they headed over to take their trays back.

Kurt's cheeks were a faint pink colour when he answered. "I was not." he lied, tipping what was left on his tray into the bin, then stacking the empty tray on top of the others. Truth was, he had been thinking of Blaine, just as he'd been thinking of Blaine for the past day. It seemed like whenever he wasn't focusing on something or had nothing to think about the Warbler would slide into his mind so surreptitiously that Kurt himself didn't even realise until someone snapped him out of his daydreams.

"Oh, hurry up so you can get to Chemistry and fantasize." Mercedes giggled, and ducked when he playfully swatted at her with his hand.

They left the cafeteria and entered the bustling corridors that were McKinley High straight after lunch,  "See you in the choir room, White Boy. Call me if you hear anything from Prep School Warbler Boy, okay?" she said cheerfully, and then she was gone, weaving through the crowds of students on their way to lessons.

A cold feeling swept over Kurt - a feeling of suddenly being very, very alone in the small ocean of kids. He shook his head slightly to clear out the unwelcome thoughts that had suddenly rushed in. Calm down; it's only a couple of minutes until you get to Chemistry. You can't go worrying everytime your friends leave you, can you? he told himself firmly, raising his chin a little and heading down the corridor, keeping to the side by the lockers to avoid getting mowed down by taller students who weren't paying any attention to where they were headed.

Because, in truth, Kurt was nervous. Okay, so he'd gotten Karofsky temporarily suspended the year before, but the word temporary was the key there. Dave and his little band of neanderthal jocks might have stopped outrightly threatening him; but all the suspension had really done was make them more careful with their tormenting so it was less likely people would notice, but it was still essentially there. Less obvious, but still there. Instead of sidelong comments when his friends were around, everything now came when Kurt was alone in the crowd of students at McKinley - where there was no witnesses who knew him well enough to care when he was slushied or shoved against lockers.

As he walked, something Mercedes had said struck a chord with him. Call me. On impulse, he checked his jean pockets, the place where his phone was usually ever-present.

Nothing.

My phone! Damnit, my phone!

He racked his mind to try and remember where he could have left it, and came up blank. He didn't remember taking it out of his pockets the night before, so it could always be at home, but...No. Yesterday, when he'd fallen in the Lima Bean....Kurt groaned inwardly, feeling ridiculous. Of course! It must have fallen out of his pockets when he'd gone sprawling...He quickly opened his bag, searching for his spare. His hand closed around a cold metal object, and he almost reluctantly pulled out the outdated Nokia he used as a spare phone in emergencies. Well, this was an emergency, wasn't it? If someone got hold of his phone; who knew what could happen...

He quickly punched in the number for his normal phone, having to retype a few times because he was unused anything that wasn't fully touchscreen like his iPhone. 
Please be Ms Eddles that picks up, please just be Ms Eddles...he chanted in his head as the dial tone rang in his ear. After four rings, there was a click.

"Hello?""Um, hi. Sorry, this is a little embarrassing, but I lost my phone yesterday? In the Lima Bean?" he tried, stopping in the alcove between two blocks of lockers. Chemistry could wait, he decided - the teacher was almost always a quarter of an hour late anyway.

"The Lima Bean? Hey, I was there last night!" the voice, which was definitely male and somehow familiar, sounded a little surprised. 

"Well, you must have been, otherwise you wouldn't be talking to me through my phone right now." Kurt stated, a little humor colouring his voice.

"Oh, this is your phone? Oh...wait...of course it's your phone." the voice said in a tone which implied that the owner of it would be facepalming if they didn't have their hands full of Kurt's rather expensive iPhone. "Is there an adress I can deliver it to?"

"Actually, just go back to the Lima Bean sometime soon. I work there, you see - the kitchen guy. "

A tone of recognition came into the voice on the other end of the phone. "Hey, that's where I've heard your voice before! Hey, Kurt! It's me - from last night. Blaine? You know, my boyfriend called you over and you tripped?"

Kurt felt like hanging up, or at least making a sarcastic comment out of the 'tripped' statement. Of all the people to pick up his phone, it had to be Blaine Anderson. "But I thought you left the Lima Bean before I left the table? So when did you have chance to pick up my phone?"

"Um...Me and Sebastian sort of went back there. His car broke down halfway down the street; so we had to phone a repair company. We waited in the coffee shop while someone came to bring him a replacement car so we could actually go anywhere. He said yes, you know?"

"Who said yes?" Kurt asked almost wretchedly, knowing the answer. He wasn't entirely sure why the idea of Blaine dating Sebastian bothered him so much - after all, he'd only known Blaine for five minutes or so.

Okay, there's only one way to put it. You've pretty much fallen, and fallen hard. But it doesn't matter because let's not pretend you actually have a chance. 

Got that, self?

Good.

"Sebastian did, of course! We're now officially...well, official." the boy stood between the lockers in McKinley could practically hear the smile in Blaine's voice as he answered. "So, when're you next working? I can drop the phone off anytime."

Kurt thought about it. "I work Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays because I have Glee Club rehersals on Mondays and Fridays. And I just like my Saturdays to be free...anyway. Could you bring it through any of those days, please? That'd be the easiest, and to tell the truth, I'm hopeless at texting on my spare phone. I'm too used to touchscreen..."

"Arranging a date, Homo?" sneered a voice from above him. Kurt didn't even have to look up to know who it was.

"Hello, David." he said humorlessley, realising he was trapped between the lockers, the wall, and the overbearingly tall football player.. "Get it over with, would you? I'm having a conversation here."

"Not anymore." came a second voice. Azimio Adams, one of Karofsky's fellow jocks and one of Kurt's tormentors. A large hand came flying toward the smaller boy, who flinched backwards, only to find that the spare phone was knocked out of his pale-fingered grasp. It clattered along the now mostly-deserted corridor floor, and was followed by Karofsky, Azimio and the rest of their small group, their laughter rattling around the area. Someone kicked the phone, and it skidded into the lockers at the other side of the hall with a clang. A call of "Have a nice date, Lady!" drifted down the corridor as double doors swung shut behind the group. 

Kurt remained where he was even after they'd gone, hands frozen in the same position, his whole body perfectly motionless. After a moment or so, he took a deep, shaky breath, and started to walk after the phone, picking it up from the floor. Miraculously, it was still connected, and he lifted it to his ear as he sank down to the floor, sitting with his back to the lockers and his knees pulled up to his chest.

"Kurt? Kurt, what happened? Are you okay?! Nothing happened, did it? Kurt?" Blaine's

voice was still coming through the reciever, sounding panicked."I-I'm here." Kurt hated himself for the stutter, no matter how slight it was. "I just dropped my phone, that's all." he told Blaine firmly, his mind racing.

God, he'd thought Karofsky was actually going to hit him then. Properly hit him, not just a shove that meant a locker collision or something else that would somehow end up with Kurt in a heap on the floor.

".....Really?" the Warbler sounded unconvinced, and the countertenor struggled suddenly to think of a way, any way, to convince Blaine of the lie. He didn't want the curly-haired boy to know he was a helpless...well, victim of a group of neanderthals. Definitely not. What would that make him?Oh, yes. Kurt Hummel, the boy who spilt coffee and was the bottom of the social pile at McKinley. Well, that didn't usually bother him, but the word 'victim' did. It made it sound as if he let his life be controlled by the bullies.

He'd rather be the boy who spilt coffee and dropped his phone any day.

Ignoring what little pride he had left, he answered with a perfectly convincing lie. "Blaine. I tripped up while carrying a full tray of coffee. Don't you think it just might be feasible that I dropped my phone?"

"But...I heard voices and..."

"I'm fine, okay? And so is my phone, now I think about it...this thing's like a brick. Except harder to shatter." Kurt mumbled, staring at the ceiling. He ought to get up right about now, he knew. He ought to go to Chemistry and join the back of the queue before the teacher arrived. Actually, he ought to do a lot of things; one of those things being to end the call before his emergency backup phone ran out of credit.

"Well, if you're sure-" Blaine's voice cut off, and there was a crackling sound like he'd put his hand over the reciever to turn away and speak to someone else. "Just a second, Wes, I'm talking!......To the guy from the coffee shop.........Yes, the one who got me to ask Sebastian.......Urgh, fine. Kurt? I'm putting you on loudspeaker, okay?"

"Okay...." Kurt agreed somewhat bemusedly, figuring that it didn't really matter if he didn't know anyone on the other end of the phone minus Blaine because they didn't know him.

There was a click, then another voice came through the phone. "Hi, Kurt! This is the Warblers!"

"Actually, that was Nick." a second voice chimed in. The comment was widely met with a chorus of different variations on Shut up, Thad.

"Finish the damn message before the poor boy hangs up on us, okay?"a third voice interrupted.

Kurt let out a low laugh. "What message?"

The first voice, Nick, continued. "Anyway. We just wanted to thank you for, you know, giving Blaine a push in the right direction. Because now we don't have to listen to him moping about how hot Sebastian is-"

"-And how well he can sing-" Thad added.

"-And how he'll never, ever stoop as low as to date someone like poor Blainers here-" the third voice cut in.

"-And many depressed lamentations of Katy Perry songs-" a fourth voice contributed, sounding as if they were grinning madly while they spoke.

"-David, that isn't funny - " Blaine protested through laughter, and Kurt heard air rush past the speaker as if someone was swiping out at the laughing boys. He allowed himself to smile briefly - at least Blaine wasn't stuck in the same position as he was. At least he wasn't getting harrassed, from the sounds of it...

"-So yes, all of those things are nice. And that's about it, really!"

"Um...you're welcome, I guess." Kurt told them dubiously. "But all I said was 'go for it'...."

There was a laugh from Nick. "Well, whatever you did, it worked, okay?"

"Nick! Quick! Sir's coming back!"

"Nick...Quick....ha..."

"Sorry Kurt, we have to go, but it was nice talking to you!" came the cheery voice of Thad in the background.

"Yeah, sorry Kurt...sorry my friends are such lunatics..." Blaine muttered the last part under his breath, and there was a burst of laughter from the other boys. "Anway. I'll see you Wednesday at the Lima Bean, okay?"

"Sure." Kurt smiled, getting to his feet and starting to walk toward the Chemistry classroom. He made a mental note of the date, and to be sure that he cleared off as many tables as possible on Wednesday - hopefully he'd get to talk to Blaine again. "See you, Blaine."

"See you, Kurt!"

"Hey, what about us, Blaine?" a voice who Kurt managed to recognise as David asked Blaine indignantly. "We deserve to say bye to His Awesomeness Who's Matchmaking Techniques Are So Much More Effective Than Those Of Your Best Friends, too!"

Before Blaine could even say a word, voices cut in with different variations of:

"See you Kurt!"

"Yeah, bye Kurt!"

He laughed, the sound ringing out through the empty corridor. "Bye, Warblers..."