Blaine plopped down into the seat beside Kurt a few weeks into the term, he was grinning like an idiot and Kurt couldn’t help but return the smile, seeing Blaine’s joy.

“What?” Kurt asked. Blaine was not normally so animated, he was curious as to what made Blaine smile like that.

“I got my first A+ ever, in English!” Kurt smiled, proud of his friend and gave him a hug. It was the first physical contact they had made in a few years and it felt nice being in Blaine’s arms, even if it was brief and strictly platonic. The two were slowly gaining a proper friendship they should have had the first time around. It wasn’t about Kurt being a crutch for Blaine; it was a lot more equal.

“How is your day going?” Blaine asked as he and Kurt released themselves from the hug. Kurt shrugged, his eyes glazed over as he goes into a dark place inside his mind. If was telling the truth, he actually had a pretty crappy day. It was his birthday today, something he hadn’t told anyone which was pretty stupid because he loved his birthday. He loved the excitement building up to it, how special and grateful you feel and impenetrable, like no one can break your buzz. But well, today wasn’t going the way Kurt expected. Rachel was busy at lunch break and Kurt tended to avoid her friends when she wasn’t with them because he felt uncomfortable around them, like he was being difficult and bothersome by being around them. Kurt didn’t want to be seen sitting by himself so he hid in the bathrooms in a stall. Tears cluttered his eyes as he sat on the toilet with the lid down. This was not how he wanted the day to go at all. He felt pitiful and pathetic. Once the bell rang for his next class he slunk out and went to take his seat in English. They were getting their marks back and Kurt was anxious to see how he did on his essay. When his teacher handed it back and looked at Kurt with disappointment, Kurt felt one inch tall. He looked at the paper. C minus. Great. Kurt felt even more pathetic.

Back in maths with Blaine he downcast his eyes and shrugged as an attempt to truthfully answer Blaine’s question without mentioning how crap he felt. Blaine gave him a hopeful smile and they continued on with their work. At the end of the lesson, while everyone was shuffling around waiting for the bell to ring, the teacher yelled Kurt's name. His head snapped round instantly and he looked at him with wide eyes. What had he done now?

“Kurt,” his teacher continued, yelling over the noise in the room, “I marked your test from last week and frankly I am disappointed. I had high expectations, and you did shockingly, it was like you didn’t try at all. I thought you were good at maths!”  The teacher shook his head, “Not good enough Kurt, not at all.” By then, the whole class was staring at Kurt who had his head bent so low it was almost touching the desk. Beside him, Blaine had frozen in his seat, his arm extended towards Kurt, not really sure what to do. Mercifully, the bell finally rang and Kurt grabbed his bag and ran out of the room, not lifting his eyes from the floor. He kept running and was almost at his car with tears threatening to spill over when he heard Blaine running after him.

“Kurt, het Kurt! Hold up! Wait! Stop!” Blaine managed to stop beside him, panting. He swivelled Kurt around so he could see his face. It was flushed and Kurt's eyes were shining and had a defeated look in them.

“Are you okay?” Blaine asked, not really sure what else to do. Kurt shook his head. Blaine stroked his hand up Kurt's arm in what was supposed to be comforting but it didn’t do much good. The tears started to run silently down Kurt's cheeks as he looked at Blaine with the saddest expression he had ever seen. Despite not being a touchy-feely person, Blaine grabbed Kurt into a hug, wrapping his arms around him tightly and protectively. Kurt started sobbing into Blaine’s shoulder, returning the hug. It was exactly what he needed. Through the sobs he told Blaine about his day, how awful it was and how he just wanted to crawl into bed. Once he was done, the sobs had turned into the occasional sniffle. He still had his face buried in Blaine’s shoulder and they were rocking back and forth gently. It was very soothing. Finally Blaine pulled back,

“It’s your birthday?” he asked gently. Kurt nodded slowly and sadly. He was starting to feel embarrassed at how emotional he was being, he didn’t like to show anything but a cool, calm and collected exterior at school and especially around Blaine.

“Yeah,” Kurt said quietly, “I just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.” Blaine rolled his eyes and grabbed Kurt’s hand, tugging him along in the direction of his car.

“Wait, where are we going?” Kurt asked, confused. Blaine grinned at him and kept walking.

“You’ll see,” he said with a knowing smile.

XXXXXXXXXX

A ten minutes later Blaine pulled up to a small café. He looked at Kurt apologetically.

“I’m sorry it’s nothing flash, but I thought we could celebrate your birthday over afternoon tea.” Blaine smiled sheepishly, hoping Kurt would agree.

Kurt returned the smile. “Come on then, lets go eat!” He grabbed Blaine’s hand and pulled him out of the car and into the café.

They picked a booth by the window and sat opposite each other. They sat in semi-comfortable silence for a few minutes, taking in each other’s presence.

“So…..” Kurt started, wanting to ask something but not sure if he should. Blaine looked at him with his eyebrow raised, waiting for him to continue.

Kurt took a deep breath and looked at the table in front of him. “Why now? Why not two years ago or when we first met? What changed that made you want to become proper friends with me, that made you not so ashamed of me anymore?”

Blaine bent his head down in guilt. He regretted so greatly what he had done to Kurt.

“My friends,” He began, “A few months ago I was hanging out with them and realised what total and complete assholes they were. I felt ashamed to know them, to be one of them. And so I talked to another friend of mine about it and she invited me to meet her friends. They were really cool people, easygoing, not caring about what people think and putting their friends above all else. I really admire them and wanted to live my life the same way so I decided that I had to make a change.”

Kurt frowned. “So it is about you feeling bad for what you did so you are trying to fix it so you can feel better?”

“It’s not just about me,” Blaine insisted, “I didn’t give you the chance you deserved. I used you, not seeing how incredible you are. I just wanted to make things right, not just for myself but for you too. And I am so glad you gave me a second chance, Kurt, because you are such an extraordinary person and I was an idiot not to see that.”

Kurt reached over and squeezed Blaine’s hand. “I was quite intense and needy back then too, we are all embarrassed of our younger selves.”

Blaine laughed, feeling relieved.

Blaine and Kurt spent the next hour and a half in the café, having food and enjoying each other’s company. They caught up on some of the things that they missed over the few years since they were freshman: parties, drunken escapades, and friendships. They laughed a lot and enjoyed each others company in what Kurt viewed as a strictly platonic way. Blaine dropped Kurt back at his car so he could drive it home, giving him a goodbye hug as Kurt thanked him once again for paying for their food.

Kurt sat in his car for a few minutes gathering his thoughts and thinking about what a surprising day this was and how it couldn’t of ended better.