As the rain continued to drum down over his head, Kurt noticed a boy in a pair of old jeans and a faded jacket approaching to his left, curly black hair plastered to his forehead.

Kurt tried to ignore him, although he discovered this to be a little difficult-the boy was extremely good looking, although perhaps only from a distance. Kurt glanced up at him again. Nope, he seemed to be becoming more attractive with every step, and Kurt felt the hazel eyes fixed on him, causing him to shift self-consciously from foot to foot. When he planted himself right next to Kurt, who could feel a slight blush creeping up his neck, the boy seemed to take extra care to stand just close enough that they were almost brushing shoulders.

Neither spoke for a couple of minutes, before the strange boy turned to Kurt and said, "You're not from around here, are you?"

Kurt looked around at him, and jumped slightly at how close he was, taking a step back. "What-what makes you say that?"

He chuckled. "Your clothes are too nice. I'm Blaine, by the way." Kurt shook the extended hand, before replying that his name was Kurt, and lapsing back into silence.

"So," Blaine said after a few more minutes of awkward silence during which Kurt had been unsuccessful in his search for a taxi, "What are you doing Downtown anyway? We don't see many, uh, Uptown folks around here these days."

"I got lost," Kurt replied shortly. "And there aren't any empty taxis around. What's so funny?" He frowned slightly as Blaine snorted.

"Taxis? We haven't had any taxis picking people up through here for-since I don't know when. You've really never been here before, have you?" Kurt shook his head. "C'mon," Blaine jerked his head, as if he was motioning Kurt to go with him, "I know a short cut to the nearest taxi stop-or would you rather camp out here all night?"

Kurt pulled his hand away from Blaine's slightly cold one that gently grasped his own, taking another step back. "You're insane, Blaine. I've only just met you-you could be...dangerous or something." Blaine laughed again.

"But that's half the fun of it! Come on, I promise I won't pull anything on you, ok?" Something about the charming smile and effortless confidence half convinced Kurt to go along, although he did try to walk in the opposite direction.

"Blaine! Get out of my way; I know how to get home. Leave me alone." Kurt tried to push past the slightly shorter boy, who simply stepped in front of him once more.

"Is that why you're heading to the old creek?"

"Maybe I live at the old creek." Kurt replied, even though it was a stupid lie, which only made Blaine laugh again.

"No, you don't. There's nothing at the old creek but a pile of crap. You're a terrible liar anyway." This time, Kurt allowed Blaine to grab his shoulders and steer him around to face the other way.

"I-I'm meeting my girlfriend there! She'll be waiting for me, and she has a really-bad temper."

Blaine rolled his eyes and marched Kurt back beneath balcony's shelter, before stepping into the rain easily, while Kurt hesitated, not wanting to ruin his clothes which, he had to admit, were in a much better state than Blaine's faded skinny jeans and jacket. Blaine stood in the rain gesturing to Kurt, attempting to coax him out from beneath the balcony, as Kurt stood firmly just within the dry patch the overhang provided. Despite his protests, Blaine proved to be the stronger party, managing to haul Kurt into the cold and wet, much to his displeasure.

"Ugh, Blaine, now I'm all wet. Gross." Kurt crinkled his nose in distaste as he felt his black skin-tight jeans soaking through, clinging to the skin of his legs, and his perfectly gelled and coiffed hair melting down into a floppy, shapeless mass which plastered itself to his forehead, in the same fashion as Blaine's curls. He attempted to push it back into its previous, carefully-styled state, a plan which Blaine quickly foiled by running his hands over the top of Kurt's head from behind, completely messing it up. Kurt gave up, and retaliated by ruffling his fingers through Blaine's hair, before jogging ahead slightly, to prevent any further damage. He glanced back at Blaine over his shoulder, before turning his whole body around and walking backwards, smiling cheekily at him, before colliding with something-an iron street lamp.

Picking himself delicately off the ground, Kurt told Blaine to shut up as he shook with suppressed laughter. "You know, I have absolutely no idea why I actually trusted you to take me to the nearest taxi stop. What happened to your short cut?" Kurt wiped his hands on his jeans, and gave Blaine a patronising look.

"I don't know why you trusted me either. The short cut's just up ahead. C'mon." He led Kurt further up the street, past a cluster of small shops-a bakery, a post office, and a grocery store, which Blaine told Kurt to wait outside of. A small voice next to his leg startled Kurt, who looked down to see a man with his head bowed, cap lying in front of him, along with the sign HOMELESS-NEED MONEY FOR FOOD + SHELTER. This struck him as strange-what did he mean, homeless? He had no idea what Blaine was doing, but he had a fair idea after Blaine burst out of the store, clutching a small bag in one hand and shouting at Kurt to run, as an ancient shopkeeper waved a meaty fist at them.

"And now for the short cut!" Blaine called over his shoulder to the almost-breathless Kurt, as he expertly climbed up and over an old wooden fence. Kurt hesitated for a moment, however, after seeing the shopkeeper shuffling up the street towards them, clambered over, dropping off the other side, and landing softly in long grass. Clasping Blaine's elbow, he pulled himself up, and gazed around at the field, which was empty, unless you counted the swathes of long, jade green grass, which Kurt didn't.

"This is the short cut?" Kurt asked, a little incredulously, taking in just how large the field was.

"It's shorter than the long way." Blaine shrugged, and pointed across the green, to the Uptown part of the city, all shiny skyscrapers and carefully manicured roof gardens, quite opposite to the shabby, graffiti-covered Downtown, although there seemed to be nothing but a large field between them. "The taxi stop is just over there…it's a bit of a walk, and watch out for mud." Blaine set off, Kurt alongside him, scanning the grass ahead for wet patches and puddles of mud. A silence descended between them, as the rain falling from the skies slowed to a barely-noticeable drizzle.

"Hey, Blaine," Kurt broke the silence, glancing over at Blaine, who was still holding the stolen packet. "What did you take, from the shop?" He nodded slightly at whatever it was in Blaine's hands.

"Oh, uh, well…" he displayed the bag to Kurt, who raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

"Marshmallows? You stole a bag…of marshmallows?" he asked, eyebrows rising even further into his hairline.

"It was the first thing I could grab, and besides, I haven't had marshmallows for…for far too long. Want one?" Blaine pulled the bag open with his teeth, and offered it to Kurt, who carefully picked out two marshmallows, before wolfing them down.

"I guess you haven't had them for a while, either." Blaine said in a slightly amused voice, as he watched Kurt, who shook his head. After swallowing his own, Blaine commented that the marshmallows were, admittedly, quite good-how had he gone so long without them?

Kurt replied with a simple "Mmm," of agreement, before the world slid out from beneath his designer shoes, and he instinctively grabbed hold of Blaine's jacket, pulling him down into the cold, slimy mud. "Urgh…" Kurt groaned, and he heard Blaine make a similar noise close to his right shoulder, before they burst out laughing. Together, they lay side-by-side in the mud, gazing up at the stormy, dappled-grey sky, the mud oozing into their hair, sticking to the backs of their jackets.

"Blaine?" after a few quiet minutes of gazing up at the bruised sky, Kurt broke the silence.

"Mm?"

"I didn't…I don't have a girlfriend. I lied about that…" Kurt bit his lip, worried that Blaine would become angry with him for lying-and that was the last thing he wanted. Instead, Blaine chuckled slightly.

"I know, Kurt. You're about as straight as my hair." Kurt giggled slightly at this, glancing over at the boy's head, crowned with dark curls. Side by side, they lay in the mud for a few more minutes, before Kurt asked if they could actually get to the taxi station now, causing Blaine to leap up, splattering Kurt's front in cold mud.

"Eurgh, Blaine, thank you." He said as he allowed Blaine to clasp his hand and haul him up. As they continued towards the other side of the field, Kurt started to ask Blaine questions about his life, his parents, Downtown. Questions which he was just a little reluctant to answer, although, from his responses, Kurt gauged that he lived in the heart of Downtown, in a small flat with his parents, who wouldn't let him move out-he blushed slightly at this part.

"I live with my parents, too, don't worry. I can't move out until I'm 21, they say, so I've still got 4 years of my father trying to hook me up with the daughter's of his office workers. And throwing out the things they all keep sending…" Now it was Kurt's turn to blush, as he thought of the pile of gifts constantly awaiting him from all his admirers-even if his parents didn't want to accept that there were quite a substantial number of Uptown boys trying to win his affections.

It was at his point that Kurt brought up the homeless man on the street. "Blaine, there was a man on the street; outside the grocery store…he had a sign saying 'homeless'. What does he mean homeless? Doesn't he have a home?" Blaine began to laugh, before he realised that Kurt was serious.

"Wait…you've never seen a homeless guy before?" Kurt shook his head.

"Wow-you really are an Uptown boy." He smiled as Kurt's cheeks flushed crimson.

What felt like two minutes later, they reached the other side of the field-much to their hidden disappointment. Blaine clambered over the slightly newer fence, and helped Kurt over, surprising the passers-by on the Uptown street, waiting for taxis. Blaine waited with Kurt, who realised that the Downtown boy probably had never been on an Uptown street before, which struck him as strange. Then again, Blaine had probably found it odd that Kurt had never seen a homeless man. Homeless-the word felt strange on his tongue.

Eventually, a taxi pulled up next to Kurt, causing an awkward moment, during which neither knew quite how to say goodbye. After the initial five seconds of awkward silence, Blaine pecked Kurt flirtatiously on the cheek, before promising that he'd see him around. Before Kurt could ask, Blaine had pushed him into the cab, and swung the door shut. Kurt, shouting at the driver to wait a moment, wound down the window and called out to Blaine, who ran alongside the vehicle.

"Blaine!"

"Kurt! I'll see you around, ok?"

"How?" he ignored the impatient honking of the other taxi horns behind him, motioning to the driver to continue waiting.

"I'll be around. Big city, small world, whatever you want to say. Until next time, Kurt!" Blaine raced off the road, waving, and Kurt gave the driver his address. Twisting in the back seat, he watched Blaine grow smaller and smaller, Blaine, the Downtown boy who had stolen him marshmallows.