They didn’t even have to try.

They understood each other, knew how difficult everything was for both of them. Kurt needed a friend, someone who knew without explanations, so Blaine decided to be that friend for Kurt. He never told Kurt how bad it had been for him, because he didn’t want Kurt to pity him, to picture him broken, literally, in a hospital bed. So when Kurt asked, Blaine just said it was bad and left it at that. And to Blaine’s relief, Kurt never brought the subject back up. After that, Blaine discovered Kurt was the friend he needed as well.

So they were there for each other; best friends. Friendship, that was all there was and could be. Blaine repeated this so many times in his head, that he fooled himself into believing it. Because everyone knew a good, solid friendship could never be ruined by romantic feelings, and he really wanted a best friend. That best friend was Kurt.

Blaine also knew that he would have to try for this friendship to work, to be a good friend for Kurt. He couldn’t be his clueless, goofy teenage self, because that wouldn’t help at all, would it? So, that was the moment the pretenses started. He searched his brain for good advice to give Kurt that day they met for coffee, and he remembered his own bullying experience and how he felt.
Refuse to be the victim.

Confront him.

Call him out.

Have courage.

All the things Blaine wished he had done, but couldn’t. Something told him, though, that Kurt could. That he already had so much courage.

His solution was everything but effective.

He got so angry when Kurt told him what the jock did, but didn’t think Kurt was aware of his reaction in his own misery. It was all just so unfair.

Blaine decided to follow his own advice and help Kurt confront that boy. Not that Kurt needed help, but Blaine knew he was scared and needed support. Or a witness. Who even knew?

And that got him shoved against the metal fence and a very angry football player muttering warnings. It took Blaine everything in him not to try to defend himself, to push away the memories. The last thing they needed was to cause a scene in a homophobic environment.

After that happened, Blaine just wanted to cheer Kurt up. His first kiss, one that counted, was stolen by a closeted bully, who was way more violent than Blaine had expected. It was no wonder Kurt didn’t smile much. This was what he faced every day. It was sad, he’d only seen Kurt smile once…he had such a nice smile. So Blaine did all he could to make him smile a bit more. They had lunch, talked about their love of music, and that led to endless talks about Broadway and the legendary stars they admired.

Blaine never thought he would have a friend like Kurt, someone he had so much in common, someone he could talk to for hours and hours. As a celebration of their fast developing friendship, Blaine got tickets for a production of Rent at Lima’s theater.

They talked about serious things as well. Every time Blaine asked about the bullying situation, Kurt averted his eyes and said, “Same as always” and changed the subject to something lighter. Fashion, Blaine noticed. Kurt liked fashion, obvious from his impeccable clothes. He briefly wondered if Kurt’s future was in the fashion industry, making a big name of himself. Of course it was.

Kurt told him how lonely and unappreciated he felt, how he was slowly drifting apart from the other Glee club members. “And if you are using this information to ruin us, I have to tell you it won’t work out, and I’ll make you regret it,” he said every time he talked about something Glee club related. It was so clear how careful Kurt was and just told him things that were about him, not about the team.

Everything was great until David Karofsky threatened to kill Kurt.

Kurt told him with tears in his eyes. Blaine felt sick when he found out. Karofsky had been harassing for weeks, keeping a close eye on him. Passing his locker, following him in the hallway, in the lunch room.

“I’m transferring to Dalton,” Kurt said. “I’m not safe at McKinley.” Blaine heard his voice breaking over the phone.

“You’ll be safe here,” was all Blaine could say.

Safe didn’t mean easy.

Kurt didn’t adapt to Dalton. Anyone could see he didn’t blend in, he didn’t fit in like the other Dalton students did, he didn’t understand the Warblers. He was used to standing out, in fact, he loved standing out. And that wasn’t easy while wearing a uniform. Blaine hated to tell Kurt he had to blend in, he hated that Kurt had to stop doing what he liked, but it was Dalton.

Kurt had to scream for people to notice him before, but at Dalton he couldn’t even do that.