When the following Monday arrived, he decided to see if he could talk to Kurt at the back of the school where the boy's exercise yard was. It would involve another act of bravery on Blaine's behalf, but it also meant that he would easily be able to get away if the other boy refused to cooperate with him again. As he walked towards the iron fence, he could hear shouting and cursing and wondered what abuse the McKinley boys would throw at him this time around.

He deliberately slowed down as he walked past the fence, casually sneaking a glance over at the other boys between the bars. They seemed to be scattered around, though there was one group he recognized near the stairs. Blaine took a deep breath and came to a stop. He stood behind the fence and turned around to face the group, holding on to his satchel with one hand. And waited. His eyes searched to see if they could recognize Kurt among them. But he did not expect two boys from the group to break away and run towards him. Blaine took a step back as the boys slammed their bodies into the fence, grasping the bars with their hands and hoisting themselves up. The taller boy was unable to stay up for long and he stepped down. The Asian boy next to him had a firmer grip and looked down at Blaine with interest.

'I'm Finn, this is Mike,' the taller boy said, pointing to himself and then the boy next to him.

'Blaine.' He was surprised at the introduction, but guessed that they didn't perceive him to be much of a threat. 'Is Kurt Hummel around?'

'I will…' replied Mike, dropping down from the fence and spinning around in one fluid motion. '…go get him.' He ran off into the exercise yard. Blaine was left alone with Finn, who was staring down at him curiously, scratching his head.

'Out of interest,' Blaine began, trying to cover up the awkward silence between them. 'Do you happen to know what Kurt did to get into your school?'

Finn shook his head. 'He hasn't told anyone.'

Blaine looked down, his resolve sinking a little as he now knew that Kurt would not let him discover his criminal past so easily. Finn opened his mouth and burped, patting his chest afterwards to dissipate it, but the action made him cough instead.

'Hey, you wanna…' Finn said, and coughed again. 'You wanna know what I got in for? I stole cars,' he answered, before Blaine could ask. 'That's how I got myself in here. Do you own a car?'

Blaine replied in the negative.

'I just stole crap ones,' he added. 'But then I saw a Bentley, and it looked awesome. I tried to drive off with it, but they caught me. So now I'm in here.'

Blaine nodded politely, wondering how long it would take for the officers to realize the students were talking with people outside.

'He doesn't want to hear your life story, Finn.'

Blaine was almost relieved that Kurt had arrived, his uniform tidy and hair coiffed perfectly; he didn't think he could take any more of Finn's story.

But Finn stood by, not taking his hands off the fence.

'Go away, Finn,' Kurt ordered. Finn gave him a funny look before releasing his grip on the fence and ambling away. Further behind Kurt, the group by the stairs had begun making kissy noises and faces towards them. Kurt's eyes were narrowed and he had his arms folded in a show of defiance, his glare at Blaine unwavering; Blaine was at once thankful for the fence that stood between them.

'I take it you're not going to tell me today?' Blaine asked him, still gripping one hand on his satchel. After a moment of silence he eventually released it and fished into his pocket, pulling out Kurt's watch. He saw a flash of recognition in Kurt's eyes and he felt the other boy watching him as he played with the leather strap, holding it between his fingers so that Kurt was able to see it but not reach it.

'I am not telling you,' Kurt said sharply, confirming Blaine's suspicions.

'He wants you, Hummel!' called a boy from the group. Blaine flushed; the taunts had started up again and he knew it was best to cut the meeting short before they became too creative. He placed the watch back into his pocket.

'Another week, then,' he said quickly, turning away and resuming his walk to the bus stop, not giving Kurt a right of reply. But Kurt did reply, muttering loud enough for Blaine to hear him.

'Try four days.'

…

Kurt doesn't visit Blaine at Dalton Academy on Friday. Blaine had left the library earlier, just in case, but the other boy was nowhere to be seen. After ten minutes, he heard the low rumble of his father's BMW pull up by the curb. He sighed as he placed his satchel down in the rear seat, but Blaine knew he shouldn't be disappointed.

Well, maybe he was.

A little.

…

He discovered the reason for Kurt's absence the following Monday afternoon. The woman behind the counter at McKinley's school reception looked down at her log book, frowning.

'I don't know if we would be allowing visitors,' she said, looking up at Blaine. 'Kurt Hummel was reprimanded for taking a music book from our choir room, effectively losing his day release privilege for one week.' She regarded Blaine for a moment. 'I suppose…all right, just go through.'

Blaine took a seat at the same table where he had spoken to Kurt previously. After a while, Kurt appeared, gliding past the row of other tables of McKinley boys and their families to where Blaine was seated. Before he managed to sit down, Blaine remarked, 'So, what was it? Theft? Because you seem like a lousy thief.'

When Kurt didn't respond, Blaine added, 'Or is that the reason why you were caught?'

'You know, I could accuse you of the same thing,' Kurt said, his voice with added bite. He drummed his slender fingers on the table, looking down at them. 'They confiscated my music folder from me.'

Ah, thought Blaine. Hence the bitter mood.

'Speaking of which,' Kurt continued, still observing his fingers on the table. 'Why don't you ask the officers as to why I'm here – I'm sure they'd be happy to say whatever lie they have about me.'

Blaine suddenly felt foolish: he hadn't thought of that. He wasn't even sure now if Kurt would ever tell him. He didn't know how much longer he could keep up with his game; Kurt certainly looked as though he had already given up.

'Well…bye,' Blaine said, standing up from his seat. Kurt looked up at Blaine, startled.

'You're leaving already?' he asked, his eyes searching Blaine's for an explanation.

'It doesn't seem like you're in the mood for talking,' Blaine responded, edging around the seat. 'I don't know why I bothered.' A look of panic flashed in Kurt's eyes.

'We – we still have twenty-five minutes,' Kurt replied, stumbling for words. 'My – my father won't be able to visit me this week, he's busy with work, he said…he said he won't be able to make it on time…'

'I'm sorry to hear that,' Blaine replied, meaning it. 'I just can't…'

Can't what, Blaine? he thought to himself.

'Wait…don't go. Tell me - tell me about Dalton.' Kurt was practically out of his seat, leaning almost halfway across the table. Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine noticed a nearby officer, watching Kurt suspiciously. He realized that Kurt was unable to leave the table without permission.

Blaine shrugged his shoulders. 'What do you want to know?'

Kurt thought for a moment, his brows furrowed in frustration. 'Is it…true…that you can request a school chauffeur to take you to school and take you home if you wanted to?'

The image of Kurt's question formed in his head, and he laughed.

'A school chauffeur?' Blaine said, still chuckling. 'Who told you that?'

Kurt scowled; clearly he did not like to be ridiculed.

'I thought it was standard practice,' he muttered quietly.

'Well, we're not that exclusive.' Blaine hesitated, but decided to return to his seat. 'There may be one or two students at the school that have their own drivers, though…'

And Blaine proceeded to tell Kurt more about Dalton: the school culture, its traditions and the many subjects on offer. Kurt sat quietly, leaning his elbows on the table and not uttering a word. Only briefly did he interrupt with a question when Blaine had paused during his talk. Before Blaine knew it, the minutes had flown by and visiting hours were over.

'Will I be seeing you again this week?' Kurt asked him as they both stood up. 'You need to tell me more about Dalton's music program.'

'I'll see if I can make it on Thursday,' Blaine said, trying to sound casual. He didn't want Kurt to think he was eager to visit too soon.

On Thursday, Blaine listened to Kurt as he talked about McKinley. Kurt told him about the bad coffee, his wish for a more challenging school curriculum and his favourite Broadway musicals; Blaine told Kurt about the Warblers, his love of football and his dream of one day meeting Katy Perry.

'Because she's hot,' Blaine quickly added after Kurt had raised an eyebrow. The watch, still nestled within Blaine's blazer pocket, quickly became forgotten.

After promising to visit again the following week, Blaine left the hall, whistling to himself as he walked out into the warm spring sunshine. He thought it was strange how he had agreed to meet with Kurt again without a moment's hesitation. The realization hit him as soon as he walked past the iron gates; he had just made a new friend.