Blaine never looked this happy in a long time. It was the first time someone his age showed interest to learn ASL and he now had something that would link him even more securely to Kurt. Blaine was over the moon. He planned lessons with Kurt almost every day of the week in a little coffee shop near Lima. Fortunately, Blaine was able to drive so he could go to Kurt's town every day. He just had to drive to the Lima Bean while Kurt was at the New Directions meeting after school. Of course, his parents would not like the fact that he was driving around so much, not with his condition, but they were the one who encouraged him to have his driver's licence and a car in the first place, so Blaine did not really care about their opinion, in the end.

Every lessons were perfect.  They would laugh and share bits of their past along with some coffee and pastries. He would always show Kurt a sign from the book before including it in a sentence. Sometimes, grammar was working differently so he needed to show Kurt.

Sometimes, Kurt had to try again and again before he got the correct grammatical form of a sentence. When he had it right, Blaine would give him the most beautiful smile.

Before each lesson, Kurt had to read a part of the book Blaine gave to him. Most of the time, the lessons began with questions from Kurt and Blaine would explain with signs. If Kurt wasn't able to understand, Blaine would write the explanation then sign it again, pointing each part of the sentence he was referring too with his hands. Kurt was learning slowly that ASL had a grammar of its own and that the words were not always in the same order.

Blaine was an excellent teacher, at least with Kurt. He remembered the times he helped his dad who had found it very difficult to learn the little ASL he knew. But with Kurt, it was easier. He asked a lot of questions and he really wanted to make progress.

Usually, their lesson ended within an hour, when they were done with what Kurt had read in the book. After that, they would talk for another hour.

Kurt would try to use as much ASL he could. For the words he didn't know, he would spell them and Blaine would make the correct gesture. Most of the time, they were laughing. Blaine was always so careful not to let out a single sound, though. But Blaine was wishing he could hear Kurt's laugh. He imagined it musical and soft just by the faces he was making when he guffawed.

For a week all Kurt was talking about was his father and Carole's wedding. The boy was head over heels and he was talking about the music and the color scheme of the party. Some other days though, Kurt would talk about the bullying problems he had at school. Blaine called it harassment to this point, but Kurt was still saying bullying,  ever trying to make people believe that it was not as bad as it seemed. Even after Karofsky threatened to kill him if he talked about their kiss in the locker room.

One day, when Blaine arrived at the Lima Bean, Kurt didn't look like a boy who wanted to have ASL lessons. First, he was already there, which never occurred in the past weeks. He also had dark circles around his eyes and there were tears on his porcelain cheeks. Without even looking at the barista, Blaine made a beeline to Kurt, reaching for his shoulder as he saw that Kurt didn't even noticed him.

Kurt jumped a bit when he felt Blaine touching his shoulder. Blaine had a question mark all written on his face. Kurt then started to sign, emotionless. He knew enough of the ASL to be at ease with this conversation

" Karofsky is back in McKinley" Kurt said.

"What? I thought he was expelled" Blaine responded.

"He was. But the school board decided otherwise... Good thing is, I'm starting at Dalton on Wednesday."

Blaine didn't know what to say, Kurt, his Kurt, was coming to Dalton? Was this really happening? Maybe life was finally starting to settle down... No matter how sad the circumstances were.

In between his tears, Kurt smiled, happy to be going to a safe school where he had his most trusted friend but still sad to leave other friends behind at McKinley.

--

Less than a month flew by, Kurt was now part of the Warblers, entrusted with the task of taking care of Pavarotti, a canary. Blaine had helped him with the song choice for his first audition, for Sectionnals. He made sure to tell Kurt that he didn't want to stand out too much at the beginning. Once the Warblers would be use to his uniqueness, he could sing whatever he wanted.

Blaine was over the moon when he learned that Kurt got a solo for the upcoming competition. He was not surprised because he just knew that Kurt was unique. Of course, Blaine was only able to imagine how clear Kurt voice sounded. He had Nick and Wes described it to him several times. In his wildest dreams, Blaine imagined himself closing his eyes and pressing his hands to Kurt's chest while he sang. Maybe he would finally be able to understand Kurt's voice if he could just ask Kurt the permission to. If only Blaine was not shy and scared of people leaving him, he would have an idea of how Kurt's voice might have been like.

--

One night, Kurt was studying in the Senior Commons. Because he was a Warbler, he was able to use the room as he liked even if he was in his Junior year. It was nearly Christmas and snow was falling outside.

Kurt was working on his Charlemagne assignment due for the following week when he heard steps approaching. He knew that pace. He recognized it by the way the steps were making noise, but not too much, as if the person walking was trying to make the less noise possible but failed.

When Blaine turned the corner, Kurt saw that he was carrying a piano partition book filled with Christmas songs. Smiling, he greeted Kurt as he slammed the book on the table.

"You scared me!" Kurt said, his hands busy with an highlighter pen and a notebook.

"Good. Because I am actually Marley's ghost, and I'm here to tell you to stop studying so hard"  Blaine signed, spelling ghost knowing that Kurt have not learned that gesture yet, only because they didn't knew each other at Halloween.

"What's with the book?" Kurt questioned

 "I need you to help me. I want to play the piano for my Grand Mother on Christmas and I need you to take the part she'll be singing" Blaine said before opening his book at page 48, Baby It's Cold Outside.

"Anything to stop me reading about Charlemagne" Kurt responded.

"C-H-A-R-L-E-M-A-G-N-E" Kurt signed after he saw questions in Blaine's eyes. Learning ASL was one of the best decision he ever made. Now he could really communicate with Blaine without the cumbersome whiteboard.

Blaine settled at the piano and opened his book again to put it on the lectern. Kurt immediately saw that there was handwritten notes in the right hand partition. Kurt smiled as he read the music, Blaine would also be playing a singing part, notes added to the background music, completing the duet.

Blaine looked at Kurt who answered with a smile and a simple nod. Blaine started playing, concentrating on keeping his tempo and looking at the partition, trying to imagine what the music was like. Meanwhile, Kurt sang, amazed by Blaine's talent. Of course, he knew that Blaine was playing the piano. The thing is, he never imagined he was so talented. His fingers were flying over the keys without ever hesitating.

At the end of the song, Blaine was surprised when Kurt sat beside him for the last few notes, pressing his chest into his shoulder. Blaine was able to feel the vibrations of the melody in Kurt. They were so perfectly in sync with the one he was feeling in the piano keys, it made Blaine a bit more angry about his deafness. He wanted to hear Kurt so badly that it made his body hurt.  But it also made new emotion stir into his gut. After all, Kurt's lips were so close to his... All he needed to do was lean a few inches...

But he didn't have the chance. An unknown man entered the room and Kurt stoop up, walking immediately to him to hug him. Blaine took his book back from the lectern and left the room, touching Kurt's shoulder as he walked by and waving his hand, smiling. Kurt waved back, also smiling.

As he turned the corner, Blaine wanted to punch a wall. Why would Kurt want a deaf boy, anyway, when he could have any guy he wanted, especially one who would be able to sing.

Kurt's words to Mr. Schuester would have been able to soothe his mind, if only they would have been able to reach his ears, his brain, his heart.

"No, just a friend. But on the upside I'm in love with him and he's actually gay. I call that progress"