“I assume there’s a reason you asked me to drop all my responsibilities for one of the biggest gigs of my life in order to go birdwatching with you?” Mercedes asks.

“Is that a wren?” Kurt looks at a bird flying by.

“I don’t give a fuck,” Mercedes deadpans.

“Fair.”

“Anyway, we all got your messages.”

She’s being kind. When Kurt left the bakery, he left a string of sporadic and erratic messages about how he’s heartbroken. It appropriately fits the new “we stopped believin’ 😔” name, although Brittany didn’t have Kurt’s heartbreak in mind when she insisted on the title. It has something to do about Lord Tubbington going back to his drug addiction.

Mercedes was the nearest, so she volunteered to comfort Kurt.

She didn’t sign up for the birds though.

“What happened, Kurt?” she asks. Kurt quickly explains how Blaine practically said that he could never be into Kurt in front of everyone after Cooper accused Blaine of having feelings for Kurt.

Kurt can feel his eyes tear up. Fuck, he’s really sad about this. He’s really gotten to like Blaine and his kindness and his personality. He’s so caring for his staff. He’s so ambitious. Kurt wanted to get to know him even more, but that’s off the table.

“At this rate, I’m going to join Lord Tubbington and his coke addition.”

“I thought it was heroine,” Mercedes mutters under her breath.

Kurt waves it away. That’s not the point.

“Will he still be there later today?” Mercedes asks, sounding usure.

Blaine better be. The idea of liking Kurt might be appalling to Blaine, but he still has a job to do. He and his team, minus Cooper, have worked incredibly hard and it’d be a shame if it were all for nothing.

And drama aside, Blaine’s always been the professional one. Kurt was the one who got distracted on the job. He expects Blaine to be there, so Kurt nods.

Mercedes lets out a low whistle.

“That’s going to be awkward.”

“I don’t have to see him,” Kurt says airily, “It will be fine.”

It is not fine.

The moment Blaine, Tim, Kamelah, Faarax, Sinéad and Josefien roll a cart with the very impressive cake on top of it to the buffet plinth (Kurt refuses to call it a table), Kurt can feel his heart drop and speed up at the same time. Kurt wonders if that’s medically possible. His heart drops, because Blaine looks like he’s been crying, but his heart speeds up, because of course Blaine still manages to look cute despite the circumstances. As usual, he’s wearing a mask and a bowtie with a matching dog print. It’s adorable!

Mercedes gives him a pat on the back, but she cannot be the emotional support. She needs to get styled for the event.

Another person leads them to the buffet plinth and Kurt watches them. That’s when he realises Cooper isn’t there.

Well, not Kurt’s problem. He can’t be around them. He does his own thing, running through all kinds of preparations.

Suddenly, there’s a hand on his shoulder.

It’s Tim. He looks dead in the eyes (or eye, the other is hidden by his emo fringe), but also determined.

“Mr. Hummel, you should speak to him.”

“I-”

“No excuses. Kamelah is bringing Blaine here as we speak.”

And true to Tim’s words, Blaine and Kamelah appear out of nowhere. Kurt and Blaine lock eyes. Blaine clearly had no idea what Kamelah was up to.

“We’ll leave you now,” Kamelah says. She takes Tim’s hand and they walk away.