Since the night of Rachel's party, she and Kurt haven't called each other to do their nightly skincare routine. It wasn't that they gave up on it, Kurt still made sure his skin was in tip top shape. They just didn't call each other anymore. They didn't call, they didn't talk at school, and Kurt flat out avoided eye contact at all during class, Glee club, and in the hallways.

                Rachel wanted so badly to close the weird distance that's been put between them. For once, for the first time in her life, a guy that she liked actually acknowledged her. Kurt would praise her, tell her how well she did on a solo in Glee, and just give her support. Of course, she knew how talented she was. It was blatantly obvious to the entire school. It let her know that her efforts weren't wasted on an empty crowd though. If just one person, namely Kurt, was there to clap at the end of her performances, then Rachel wouldn't feel so hollow.

~*~

                Kurt was in history class, leaning his cheek on hand as the teacher droned on about Charlemagne. He was about to lie his head down as the rest of class already had, but he would need the information on this for the test. Peering up from his notebook, he scanned the room for the possibility of finding someone to borrow notes from. Finn was asleep on his bookbag and drooling, which earned an eyeroll from Kurt. Santana was focusing her attention onto tearing bits from her notebook paper and throwing them into Jacob Ben Israel's afro. Kurt raised an eyebrow, but continued looking around.

                There was Rachel, sitting in the front row, as always. Her gold binder was filled with daily notes, recording every word of every lecture Ms. Piers had given throughout the year. They were written in blue ink, neat cursive, and had every repeated statement underlined. He knew this after forgetting his textbook in his locker one day and being forced to study with Rachel after Glee.

                He wanted to pretend like nothing was wrong between them, but she was the kind of person who liked to talk through problems. There was no way of getting around that. Truthfully, he wanted to talk to her as much as she wanted to talk to him.

                Kurt just couldn't go over her house anymore.

                Letting himself develop these...feelings, for someone so much older was ridiculous. No, it would be ridiculous if it was just someone who he met in a coffee shop or at the mall. This wasn't just an older guy. This was Rachel's dad. Rachel was supposed to be his friend, and this wasn't exactly betraying her...but at the same time, it completely was. This was borderline insanity.

                It'd be easier to just forget the situation, forget about Rachel, and forget about her stupid dad who plays piano so stupidly well. Not only would it be easier, but it'd probably be a healthier option. Lately, he's been concentrating so hard on distracting himself from thoughts leading back to the party that it's become all he could think about.

                Kurt sat up a little straighter and squinted his eyes in the whiteboard's direction, as if to make both his vision and mind and bit clearer. Blocking that vision was a paper ball that came flying at his face, creating an irritated Kurt.

                "Call me after Glee?" The writing was in blue ink, and a tiny, gold star was in place of a signature. Kurt sighed and looked to his side, seeing Rachel staring down solemnly at her notebook. He didn't write back.

                When the bell rang, Rachel was the first one to dart out of the room. Normally, she would stay after and badger the teacher with questions about the lesson, but today wasn't a normal day. She'd given the last effort left within her to mend the almost-relationship she was forming, and it withered away before her eyes. Kurt didn't care anymore. She didn't need a boyfriend; she didn't need a fairytale romance. All she wanted was for someone to care. The worst part was not knowing what she did wrong, but despite the unknowing, she would do anything to fix it.

                She had to leave the room before he could see her cry.

~*~

                Rachel hated missing school. Whenever she did, she'd have a tower of missing assignments waiting for her on top of what's already due. She'd miss instruction, lessons, and drag down the rest of the class by constantly asking questions that everyone else already knew the answers to. There was no desire for her to become even more of a target point for ridicule.

                For that reason, Blaine was taken aback when she came into the kitchen Friday morning asking to stay home. Her hair wasn't even brushed yet, nor was she dressed properly. Instead, she wore her fleece pajama set with a low, messy ponytail. She didn't look sick, but she didn't exactly look like the prettiest picture of health. Blaine turned from the sink, where he was washing off a handful of strawberries, and questioned his daughter.

                "I don't know, Rach. You really shouldn't make a habit of this." He waggled his finger in her direction as he dried off his hands.

                "I know. I don't plan to." She met his eyes, but had a faraway expression.

                He stepped closer to her, putting the back of his hand to her forehead. She didn't feel warm, so he doubted that she had a fever.

                "Are you sick?"  He asked, becoming slightly concerned.

                "Can we call it a mental health day? Please?" She looked to him wide eyes that were beginning to water.

                Blaine brushed back her hair and enveloped her into a hug. From the moment Kurt left the party to now, he had been unconsciously neglecting to talk to his daughter. He knew well enough that she could be independent and take care of herself, but he wasn't neglecting her because of that. It was out of guilt. He wasn't even sure if she had spoken to Kurt recently, but didn't want to take the chance in case she had. The last time he was alone with the boy led to a questionable turn of events, and he certainly didn't want a repeat of that.

                He wanted to make it up to Rachel though. The guilty feeling he had now was his own fault, and he really shouldn't let her suffer any consequences of it if he could help it. Maybe, just this once, she deserved a little time off. His kissed her forehead comfortingly, at her hairline.

                "A mental health day, just for today. I'll call off work, okay?" He rubbed her shoulder soothingly.

                "Okay." Rachel kept her face buried in her dad's blue sweater, the softest one he owned. Right now, for her, it wasn't even about finding comfort in her father thought. It was about holding onto something solid, something to keep her steady.

                "Since both of us have a free day, why don't we pick up some coffee to kick off our morning, hmm?" He gave her shoulder one last pat before pulling away. Rachel nodded. "Then, of course, we'll talk about what's been bothering you." Rachel snapped up at the comment.

                "Dad, nothing-" She began, but Blaine cut her off.

                "We'll talk about it later. Let's just head to the Lima Bean for now." Rachel wanted to protest, but didn't possess the energy to. She left the room with a sigh and went back to her room to get ready for the day.

~*~

                Kurt checked his clock, only to remind his self how late on schedule he was. It was routine for him to pick up a coffee at the Lima Bean before school to give him the jolt of energy he needed. After not having slept well for the past few days, he needed all the energy a cup of caffeine could provide him with. Also as a consequence of the lack of sleep, he woke up late this morning and was currently waiting in what could quite possibly be the longest line in the history of Ohio.

                Phones were going off, people were rushing around him, and nobody seemed to pay mind to where they were going, frequently bumping into Kurt. It was irritating, but Kurt was too tired to hold someone against their actions at the moment. That was until he reached for his cup of coffee from the barista and was pushed so that the drink spilled all over his new McQueen sweater.

                "Excuse yo-"  He began in a rage, but cut himself off as he looked to the man staring back him with wide, apologetic eyes-Blaine.

                "Kurt? Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Here, um, I'll just..." He grabbed a couple of napkins and handed them to Kurt, almost prepared to attempt to blot the stain out as well. Instead, he watched Kurt's feeble and failing efforts with an embarrassed frown. "I can't believe I did that, I'm so, so sorry!"

                "Well, obviously you didn't mean to." Kurt snapped, somewhat bitterly. When he looked up from his shirt to see Blaine's hurt expression, the younger boy sighed and softened his tone. "I'm fine, really, Mr. Anderson."

                "Blaine," The older man corrected. Kurt furrowed his eyebrows. He hoped that Blaine would have forgotten that he gave permission to Kurt to address him by first name.

                "Right." The smile that Kurt provided was fake and easy to differentiate between a real one by the way the corners of his lips forced themselves to quirk up.

                "So," Blaine mused, gently brushing at the stain in the weak attempt to fix the mistake. "Shouldn't you be in school anyways?"

                "I would be if I had gotten my coffee already, but as you can tell..." He gestured to his ruined sweater. Blaine coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck.

                "I see...let me buy you another one, okay?" Blaine took out his wallet and headed for the counter.

                "No, no, no, you don't have to, I can-" Kurt sputtered before Blaine held up a finger in interruption.

                "Please, I feel really bad about this-just let me. What's your order?"

                "Blaine," Kurt stopped him in protest.

                "Kurt. I'm serious. Just tell me your order, we'll call it even, and we can forget about everything." The barista was now looking between the two with a bored, impatient glare. Neither of the two seemed to notice the stare. Kurt looked to the ceiling, as that would be the only way to stop his self from rolling his eyes.

                "...Grande, non-fat mocha." Kurt finally let up, watching as Blaine formed a satisfied grin. The older man turned and gave the order to the barista, who left to get the coffee.

                "You seriously didn't need to do that." Kurt reproached.

                "The sweater I spilled hot coffee on looks far more expensive than a non-fat mocha. McQueen, right?" The younger boy blinked as Blaine waited for an answer.

                "Yeah, McQueen. You're into fashion?"

                "Enough so to know designer when I see it." Blaine nodded. Kurt broke the wide-eye expression that finding another fashionable man in Ohio gave him and scoffed a bit.

                "Blaine Anderson, Rachel's father, enjoys fashion. You are aware of your daughter's infatuation with animal sweaters and polyester skirts, correct?" Kurt asked in monotone.

                "She has...interesting taste in clothing, yes." Blaine chuckled lightly. "Speaking of Rachel, and forgive me for being intrusive, but are you two okay?" Kurt gulped.

                "What? Oh, of course. We're really good friends." Truthfully, he wasn't sure if he still deserved the title of being her ‘best friend', but he did care for her. It seemed like the only appropriate answer when talking to her dad.

                "Okay, just wondering. Usually, she spends hours on end on the phone with you. I don't think that's been happening lately."

                "I've been busy." Avoiding you. "She and I are still friends though."

                "Alright, I was just curious." The barista came back to the counter with Kurt's coffee in hand and Blaine took it from her. "You should be getting to school about now, huh?" He handed the blue-eyed boy the drink.

                "Ugh, yeah." Kurt groaned. Blaine raised an eyebrow.

                "I take it that you're not all that into academics?"

                "Oh, no, learning is great, don't get me wrong," Kurt began to explain. "People...kids...teenagers, they suck. I have no problem with my classes though."

                "Just your peers?"

                "Not all of them. I mean, Rachel and the rest of the Glee club, they're okay." Kurt paused, vacillating between whether or not he should let Blaine know any more about his personal life. "Just this one Neanderthal and his friends...they've basically made it their mission to make my life a living Hell." He tried to wave off the fact, but Blaine wouldn't let him say that so easily without justification.

                "Have you told anyone?" Kurt didn't meet his eyes. "Kurt, you need to talk to someone about this." The boy laughed coldly.

                "Believe me, Mr. Anderson, no one cares." Blaine didn't even bother to correct Kurt this time. Right now, it was good for the teenager to see Blaine as the mature one here. He needed to be the adult at this moment.

                "I care." Kurt shot as quizzical expression. "I wish you'd talk to your dad or a teacher about this, but if you're not willing to, I'm here. That goes for anything, Kurt." Blaine put his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "Sixteen year olds aren't expected to go through everything alone, okay? If you need someone to talk to, I'm here." Kurt quietly nodded.

                "I...I should get to school now." Kurt reminded him. Blaine gave his arm a comforting squeeze before letting go and nodding. He turned to leave, but stopped in his tracks as he remembered that Rachel wasn't going to school.

                "Oh, Kurt, could you pick up Rachel's assignments? She's not going to school today." Kurt nodded, but didn't turn away. Blaine was ready to leave when it was Kurt who stopped him this time.

                "Wait," Blaine turned back to the boy. "Could you...can you tell Rachel that I'm sorry?" Kurt paused to take a second in deciding how he wanted to word his thoughts. "For being so distant lately...I've just had some stuff going on."

                Blaine bit back a smile and nodded. "Will do." Kurt gave an awkward smile.

                "Thanks...for telling her and for the coffee."

                "No problem. Now get to school." Blaine shooed him away teasingly.

                "Sure thing. Bye, Blaine."  Kurt waved, exiting the coffee shop with a non-fat mocha in one hand and his car keys in the other.

                "Bye Kurt. Remember to talk to me if you need to, okay? You know where to find me." Blaine gave a pointed look. Kurt gave a small smile, then left. Blaine watched as the Lincoln Navigator drove away. He spun around though when he felt a tap on the shoulder. Rachel.

                "Dad, what's taking so long?"

                "Nothing, just ran into someone. Actually, it was you friend Kurt." Rachel tried to hide her curious expression but failed miserably.

                "Kurt? Oh...um, did he say anything?" She didn't want to seem to anxious, but still had the urge to run off into the parking lot in hopes of catching Kurt before he left.

                "I just asked him to pick up your assignments for the day." Right as Rachel slumped down dejectedly, Blaine added, "But he did ask me to tell you that he's sorry." Rachel brightened, but was confused.

                "Sorry?" Blaine nodded.

                "For being so distant. He's been dealing with stuff lately." Rachel nodded in understanding. "I reminded him that I'm here for him, though- that we're here for him. He corrected.

                "Good. I...I've missed him." Rachel commented shyly.

                "Kurt's a good kid. You can have him over any time." Blaine said without thinking. He honestly wasn't sure of how having Kurt over constantly would wind up, but he did like having Kurt around. Decidedly, it wouldn't be too bad. Even if it was just because of the way that Rachel perked up at hearing the statement, which it really wasn't.

                Blaine promised to be there if Kurt needed him. He wouldn't break that promise.