Broadway is rough. Blaine arrived home on the 13^th and on the 14^th he’s expected at work. At least his weekly piano lessons have been put on hold for a little bit longer.

There’s one thing, though. This means that he has to see Mr. 21 sooner than wanted.

It’s better to rip off the Band-Aid, so Blaine’s standing in front of Mr. 21’s door and knocks.

Blaine’s waiting for the door to open and fuck, what is he doing? He’s mentally trying to find a swift escape route. He can move a couple of feet to the right, to his own door, and just bolt. But then Mr. 21 might wonder who knocked on his door. And they live on the fifth floor of an apartment building, so Blaine can’t make Mr. 21 believe that it’s a couple of kids playing around. Besides, he knocked, instead of using the doorbell, which makes it even more obvious that someone is actually in front of the door-

“Oh, hello neighbour.”

Blaine was so stuck in his head that he didn’t even notice Mr. 21 opening the door.

The escape plan is definitely a no-go.

“Hi,” Blaine gives him an awkward wave.

Mr. 21 tilts his head in confusion.

“Uh, work is in a couple of hours.”

“I’m not here for work,” Blaine says, “I just- I need to give you an answer.”

Mr. 21’s face lights up and fuck, Blaine really hates this. He really fucking hates this. But if he doesn’t do this now, then it’ll be unbearable at work, just when things started to look up for the both of them. Maybe Mr. 21 will be angered by Blaine’s rejection, but maybe they can just move on.

Blaine clenches his fist.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I can go on a date with you.”

Mr. 21’s face falls, but he also doesn’t look devastated. Instead, he nods solemnly with a sad smile on his face.

“That’s fair,” he says kindly, “I mean, I don’t even know your name. Of course you’re not interested in someone you don’t know.”

“That’s not it,” Blaine blurts out and then he wants to punch himself in the face. Why did he have to do that? Mr. 21’s reasoning might be wrong, but it works as a cover story.

But Blaine can’t be insincere. He can lie, but he can’t be insincere.

“Oh?”

“I like the idea of going on a date with you, but I can’t,” Blaine admits and he looks to the ground, “And not because you’re not cool or whatever.” Or whatever. Great, his ineloquence is making this worse. “And I’d like to get to know you. But because I kind of, uhm, have a date with someone else? I realised I have feelings for a friend of mine and, uh, yeah, it wouldn’t be fair to you.”

“As in, it wouldn’t be fair to me if you’re out here, wondering what could’ve happened with your friend?” Mr. 21 asks.

Blaine looks up. Mr. 21 didn’t sound mad, and he also doesn’t look mad. In fact, the sad smile has been replaced by an understanding look.

“Yes, that’s it. Sorry.”

Mr. 21 shakes his head.

“No need to apologise. I understand.”

“You do?”

Blaine searches Mr. 21’s face for a trace of unhappiness, sadness or disappointment, but no, Mr. 21 seems very genuine. Either Mr. 21 never liked him enough to be heartbroken in the first place, or he’s just very mature when it comes to rejection.

“So, what now?” Blaine asks.

“Nothing,” Mr. 21 says, “We do nothing. You go on that date with your friend.”

“Yeah,” Blaine says and just the thought of the date with Kurt makes him smile. Mr. 21 notices.

“But, uhm, if it doesn’t work out with the other guy, lemme know?” Mr. 21 says with a bashful smile. Blaine’s pleasantly surprised. This reaction is quite flattering. “After all, I can’t pretend I’m not interested.”

“Hah, yeah,” Blaine laughs heartily, “If it all goes to shit, you’re the first person to know. And my name is Blaine.”

Mr. 21 holds out a hand with a big grin on his face.

“Kurt. Nice to finally meet you.”

Kurt. Mr. 21 is named Kurt. Blaine wants to laugh. What are the odds?

Then he remembers his new friends.

“Oh, so you’re Kurt,” Blaine says as he shakes Mr. 21’s -Kurt’s- hand, “Do the names Artie Abrams, Mike Chang and Sam Evans ring a bell?”

Kurt looks pleasantly surprised.

“Yes, they’re my friends! How do you know them?” Kurt asks.

Blaine quickly explains Splatoon 2 and eSports and how they met at the championship. During the explanation, Blaine can see that Kurt’s face changes. He’s deep in thought about something, as if he’s working something out, and Blaine can’t blame him. After all, he saw how his father and Cooper had to process the whole eSport thing, so it’s understandable that his neighbour also needs some moments to think about it.

“I haven’t spoken to them in a while,” Kurt says once Blaine’s finished, “I should text them.”

“Yeah, they’re cool!” Blaine says, “But, uhm, I am actually going to play some of that game now. I’ll see you later at work?”

“Yes!”

“See you, Kurt.”

“See you!”

Kurt closes the door and Blaine goes back to his own apartment with a lighter feeling. Kurt took that rejection very well. He immediately searches for his phone to tell his Kurt. Maybe he’s online.

It’s very funny that they’re both named Kurt. They also sound similar. And they both like fashion, since Kurt from Discord works in the fashion industry and this Kurt is part of the wardrobe crew.

forabeatofadrum
I rejected my neighbour and he took it well!
Maybe a bit too well, but I’m glad there’s no awkwardness
Especially since we work together and all that

someonetocrowdyouwithlove
Neighbour??

forabeatofadrum
Yeah oop I never told you that
since we didn’t talk about living locations and what not till yesterday
But yeah the guy from work is also my neighbour

someonetocrowdyouwithlove
huh

forabeatofadrum
Splatoon 2 and VC?

As a response, a call comes in.

“Wait, let me move to my gaming set-up!” Blaine says as he walks to the office.

“There’s Rainmaker on League, your favourite,” Kurt says and Blaine playfully rolls his eyes. Not like Kurt can see it. At least, not yet. “Oh, the new Wahoo World is one of the stages!”

“I need to keep on the right level, especially now that I might finally have a team,” Blaine says as he turns on his Switch.

A few minutes later, they’re in the middle of the game. They don’t talk about what has happened around them. The Guy and Mr. 21, or just Kurt now, are not part of the conversation anymore.

“Blaine, when are you meeting your potential teammates again?” Kurt asks at one point.

“Wait, hang on,” Blaine says, since he needs to focus on the game. The other team has the Rainmaker and one of the players is firing it like a madman. Blaine’s setting up his inkjet to hopefully fire back.

Kurt also fires his Tenta Missiles to help. The team loses the Rainmaker and both Kurt and Blaine cheer loudly and bang their fists against the table.

At the same time, Blaine hears some noise from the other side of the wall.

Huh.

“Blaine, did you hear what I said?” Kurt asks.

Blaine puts his focus back to the game and to the conversation.

“Uhm,” he says as he picks up the Rainmaker, “No, wait, sorry. I was distracted. My neighbour was being loud again.”

“Really?” Kurt asks, “So is mine.”

“Is that so?” Blaine tries to focus on moving the Rainmaker to the enemy’s turf, but a new feeling overwhelms him. This is weird. They’ve had situations like this before, where both Kurt and Blaine’s neighbours are being obnoxiously loud at the same time.

And now Blaine knows that his neighbour’s named Kurt.

That Kurt has a soft voice and likes fashion.

Blaine’s distraction leads to an enemy splatting him, so the team loses the Rainmaker. Luckily Kurt was right behind him and he uses his Mini Splatling to get rid of the opponents and to grab the Rainmaker.

That’s a difference between the Kurts. This Kurt is amazing at Splatoon 2. The other didn’t seem to know it.

Or at least, that’s how Blaine interpreted it.

“Your team, Blaine,” Kurt’s voice rings through his headset, “I was asking about your team.”

“Oh, uh, yeah we’re meeting next week, but there’s no exact date yet,” Blaine answers.

“You said they all live in the same city as yours, so also New York,” Kurt says, “Are they originally from- ah come on, I don’t want overtime! Anyway, are they from New York?”

“No, uhm, Ohio, like me,” Blaine answers mindlessly. He’s giving Kurt some back-up. “Why?”

“Just wondering… Can you dodge roll to the right? I think someone’s hiding in the ink,” Kurt quickly moves on from the topic of Blaine’s team, so Blaine does as well. They play perfectly and their other two teammates also pull their weigh, so they win the match.

They play a couple of more rounds until it’s time for Blaine to make early dinner before the show.

“Well, see you tomorrow then,” he says as he powers off his Switch.

“1pm. I’m counting down the hours,” Kurt says and Blaine can hear the smile in his voice. Blaine can’t wait either.

Blaine’s having dinner in his apartment and he is thinking about this weird moment during the play. Other Kurt, or Mr. 21 – maybe Blaine should continue calling this Kurt Mr. 21 to avoid confusion – isn’t the loudest person Blaine’s ever met. It took almost a year for Mr. 21 to start talking to Blaine and when he does, he always sounds quiet and timid. The only moments where he’s heard Mr. 21 loudly was during the plays with Kurt.

It's probably nothing.

I mean, for a second Blaine wondered if Kurt and Mr. 21 are the same person, but just because they have the same name and a similar voice, it doesn’t mean they are. There are probably a million of Kurts in America, similar to the many Blaines in the country.

So sure, they share a name, and they sound the same, and they’re both interested in fashion, and they both work late hours, they both live in New York.

And they both have a noisy neighbour, since Blaine knows he’s created some noise disturbance himself.

Blaine almost drops his chopsticks. More things seem to be similar. Blaine was complaining about this annoying guy at work, and Kurt had troubles connecting to The Guy at his job. Mr. 21 became more bearable around the same time Kurt decided to try to talk to The Guy. Kurt asks The Guy out on the same day that Mr. 21 asked Blaine out.

Blaine abandons his plate and he runs back to the office, since he left his phone there. He opens Discord and he scrolls through the DMs with Kurt.

Yes, it’s true. All the actions of The Guy and Mr. 21 add up to Kurt and Blaine’s stuff.

“Holy fuck,” Blaine mutters as he keeps scrolling up. More things add on. Even more anonymous things start to make sense. And didn’t Kurt once complain about his neighbour playing familiar, but loud music? That was in the week that Blaine started rehearsing for The Street. Did Kurt recognise it because he’s Mr. 21 and also part of The Street? And the nod! When Mr. 21 started being nice to Blaine, it was through a nod. Kurt then wrote that he was finally opening up to The Guy by giving him a kind nod.

Heck, Mr. 21’s job fits the vague descriptions of Kurt’s job. Blaine’s always wondered why Kurt had to work late hours when he’s working in fashion, and he never asked, but of course the Broadway hours are late for every crew member.

Fuck, things are making sense. If Kurt is Mr. 21, it explains why Mr. 21 was also so awkward around Blaine. Mr. 21 never hated Blaine, he was nervous! Kurt said that he was nervous around The Guy because of his lack of confidence. Does that mean that Blaine is The Guy? I

Mr. 21 hasn’t talked to Sam, Mike and Artie, his friends, in a long time. Kurt also stopped talking to most of his friends when his dad died. Kurt also mentioned feeling a bit insecure about his appearance, because he neglected it during his grief and he’s slowly becoming confident in his fashion again. Blaine’s noticed that Mr. 21 started dressing more lavish over the past year.

Blaine just told Kurt that they’re from Ohio. Mr. 21 is also from Ohio.

And wait a second, Mr. 21 owns a Switch! Blaine’s been planning on joining the others at The Street for the gaming sessions now that Mr. 21 is no longer an ass.

Blaine closes the Discord app and instead he calls the only other person who will always be honest with him.

“Wes!” he exclaims when Wes picks up.

“Yeah? Blaine, what’s up?” Wes says. The sounds of the city are in the background. “I’m on my way to Mae, so I can’t call long.”

“Wes, remember how my hot neighbour was becoming nicer to me?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, he asked me out on a date and I rejected him because I want to date Kurt, that online friend I vaguely mentioned, and now I am starting to think they’re the same person and I need you to tell me I am insane!”

For half a minute, Blaine only hears the sound of cars and Wes’s breathing.

Eventually, Wes says: “Dude, there is so much to unpack from that single sentence. Talk me through it.”

Blaine explains everything in detail and Wes makes some affirming noises every now and then. He hopes that Wes will see that he’s being ridiculous, but as Blaine recounts what’s going on, he only get the confirmation that this is making some sense.

Wes says the same thing at the end of Blaine’s erratic monologue.

“I’m at Mae’s place, so this is where I’ll leave you, man,” Wes says calmly, “But, uh, Blaine… you don’t sound insane at all.”

“Oh god fucking damnit, Wes.”

“No, this makes perfect sense.”

“Fuck!”

“Do you think he knows?” Wes asks.

Blaine lets that question sink in.

If Kurt is Mr. 21, does he know? Why else would Kurt have asked about Sam, Artie and Mike being from Ohio.

Blaine also just told Kurt that the guy who asked him out is his neighbour.

“Shit, Wes, what if – if this is true - he does know?” Blaine cries out. Now he can add that to the pile.

“Based on what you told me, I don’t think he’s known all this time, but the puzzle pieces are falling into place for you,” Wes says. Blaine can hear that he’s entered Mae’s apartment building. “I won’t be surprised if he’s also trying to make sense of these clues.”

“Oh my God, Wes,” Blaine gasps out. This is getting weirder and weirder. “But what if this is just wistful thinking? I do sort of like Mr. 21!”

“Look, you’re seeing Mr. 21 in, like, half an hour, right? You can confront him,” Wes suggests, “Or you can wait until you see Kurt tomorrow in the flesh. Kinda bummed you didn’t pick my aunt’s restaurant, though.”

“The garlic, Wes.”

“There’s no such thing as-”

“Yeah, yeah, Kurt agrees!”

Wes laughs. “Cool, I like this Kurt, whoever he is. But I really have to go. I’m in front of Mae’s door.”

“Yeah, yeah, say hi to your girlfriend.”

“If this works out, in any way, with Kurt or Mr. 21, or both apparently, we can have a double date at my aunt’s place,” Wes says. Blaine hears another door opening and Wes quickly tells Mae that he’s calling Blaine. “But this is where I leave you, my friend. Let me know how this all unfolds.”

“Will do.”

“And now eat your dinner before you starve mid-song.”

“Yes, mom!”