"So," Kurt said letting go of Blaine's hand.

"So?" Blaine prompted, the small wisps of a smile playing on the tips of his mouth.

"What's your story?" Kurt asked curiously as he took a step away from Blaine and the swing set, treading backwards towards the main part of the playground.

"My story?" Blaine questioned incredulously.

Kurt threw his arms out to the side, still backtracking.

"Why are you here, Blaine?" He asked, regarding Blaine curiously.

"This town is less than desirable."

Blaine shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm travelling."

Kurt scoffed. "Travelling? Really? So you came to Lima, Ohio?"

Blaine shrugged again not really sure what to say. He opted for watching Kurt instead, who, in turn, never took his eyes off of Blaine; staring at him as if he was some puzzle he was trying to figure out.

When Kurt reached the monkey bars, he flicked his gaze upwards, smiling slightly before stretching his arms and grabbing the cool metal in his hands. His slender fingers wrapped around the pole, before he dropped all his weight and crossed his feet so that they weren't touching the ground. Without swinging, Kurt raised his legs in front of him until he could loop them around the vacant bar in front of him and hang off of it.

He smiled as he looked at Blaine upside down. The brunette was still standing by the swings, looking amused at Kurt's antics.

"You going to join me?" Kurt called reaching his hands out towards Blaine. "Don't leave me hanging here."

Blaine rolled his eyes not making any effort to move.

"Oh come on," Kurt pouted wiggling his fingers. "I even made a pun."

"I would," Blaine responded finally moving towards the hanging boy. "But I am so tired I think I'm seeing two of you." He stopped directly in front of Kurt, twisting his head so that Kurt looked right side up. The pale boy scrutinized Blaine's face quickly, before giving Blaine a light push to make him take a few steps back. Pulling himself back upright, Kurt grabbed onto the bars and shimmied through the gap until he was sitting on top of them.

He looked down at Blaine accusingly.

"Why are you here Blaine?"

Blaine shrugged. "Does there have to be a reason?"

"This is life," Kurt responded. "There's always a reason."

"Well maybe I haven't found it yet."

Blaine lazily raised his hand above his head, his fingertips tracing the outline of the bars. He took a few steps, hands caressing the smooth metal before he stopped, dropping his hands to the side. He bowed his head and sighed heavily, the edges of sleep blurring his senses.

The sound of feet hitting the ground made Blaine turn around. Kurt was looking at the boy sympathetically with a look of resolution on his face. "Rest," he said gesturing towards the tunnel. "But don't go anywhere; I'll see you in the morning."

"You're coming back?"

"What can I say?" Kurt replied, crossing his arms. "You intrigue me."

A smile flickered on Blaine's face but he repressed it, opting instead to ask, "So there really isn't a motel here?"

Kurt shook his head an amused smile on his face. "Sorry, but no. You're in Lima; the only visitors we get are the relatives who secretly hate us."

Blaine laughed shaking his head. "I guess I owe Mike an apology then."

Kurt froze, his impossibly coloured eyes turning to ice at the mention of the name. "What did you say?"

Blaine cocked his head at Kurt, furrowing his brow as he tried to the read the guarded expression on Kurt's face. "I owe Mike an apology?"

"How do you know him?" Kurt demanded taking a heated step forward. "Tell me everything."

"I..."

Kurt shook his head, stepping away from Blaine. He put his hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before opening them again. "Did you meet the entire gang?" he asked, the ice gone from his face, the emotion now traded with concern.

Blaine couldn't find words in the midst of Kurt's emotional whiplash so he just nodded, not sure why Kurt had been so angry. The gang must have been worse than Blaine thought.

"Did they offer you a place to stay?"

Blaine nodded again, watching as Kurt frowned. The pale boy opened his mouth as if to say something before closing it, shaking his head, and speaking.

"Go to sleep, Blaine," he ordered. "I'll see you in the morning."

"But—"

Kurt gave Blaine's shoulder a light push cutting off all argument. "Go. And promise me no matter what, you won't go with them."

Blaine nodded. "I...okay. May I ask why?"

Kurt sighed tapping his fingers against his thigh. "They're bad news."

Blaine rolled his eyes but decided not to push; he was too tired to deal with this anyway. "Okay, sure, whatever, thanks. Night, I guess."

Kurt nodded, regarding Blaine carefully as the curly-haired boy walked away from him, dropping his belongings outside of the tunnel. He turned back to Kurt who continued watching him, his eyes glowing brightly in the moonlight. Kurt smiled a sad smile at him before Blaine turned back to the tunnel and shimmied in, grabbing his duffel bag to use as a pillow.

It was a tight fit, but luckily for him, Blaine wasn't a big guy. He crawled into the fetal position and closed his eyes, drifting on the edge of sleep. But before he could properly lose himself in sleep's comforting embrace, he heard feet treading outside of the tunnel. They stopped for a brief moment before retreating again, their sound getting soaked up by the darkness.

He waited a few seconds before crawling over his duffel bag and looking outside. Kurt was gone; the only remainder of his presence the still softly swinging swing and the complete confusion on Blaine's face. But Blaine assumed the footsteps had to have been him because there, on Blaine's guitar case was a single white origami crane with open wings. Blaine smiled at it before picking it up with tentative fingers. Bringing it closer to his face he examined it slowly, turning it over on itself before putting it right way up again. It took him a moment before he noticed the small cursive writing that encompassed both wings, each wing holding a different phrase.

'For the "Traveller".'

Blaine scoffed at the quotation marks around the title but kept on reading.

'Open when in need.'

Blaine scoffed for the second time, but didn't hesitate to open the object, raising a brow as he read the words written in the same pretty handwriting as the words on the wings.

'Liza's Home for Lost Boys
235 Birch Street'

Blaine cocked his head, not sure what to make of the address. He shook his head and crawled back into the tunnel, crumpling the paper as he stuck it into his pocket. He was too tired to deal with this, too tired to deal with any more stress or the random people this town had to offer.

He was tired.

In the morning he'd figure everything out. But until then...

Sleep.

--------_O_--------

Blaine awoke groggily, knowing as soon as he opened his eyes that he hadn't had enough sleep. He groaned and stretched his limbs as far as he could in the enclosed space, smiling as they popped and stretched; warming themselves up for the day.

Pushing his duffel bag out first, Blaine clambered out of the tunnel, blinking at the early morning sun. It hung low in the sky, its heat but a gentle tease of the intensity Blaine was sure to come. It was early. He couldn't have slept for more than a couple of hours.

He sighed again and ran a hand over his face, trying to rid the remnants of sleep from his head. Blinking some more, he took a step forward, instinctively taking a quick glance to make sure his guitar was still there; thankfully it was, and he released a quick breath of relief letting go of the quick panic that had overtaken him. There were few things in the world that were more precious to him than that guitar, and if he'd lost it on his first night out he didn't know what he'd do.

He frowned slightly as thoughts of his guitar lead to thoughts of his brother which drifted to thoughts of his parents.
They must be worried sick.

"Ugh," Blaine huffed, walking away from the tunnel towards the monkey bars Kurt had occupied the night before. A small smile broke across his face at the memory of the boy. He barely knew Kurt, but already Blaine could gather that he was something else entirely and whatever he was, it made Blaine smile.

He wouldn't say that he had a crush, he wasn't one to fall that fast. But the effervescent boy definitely fascinated Blaine. He just wanted to know everything about him, and possibly make studying Kurt's eyes a proper scientific study, because oh my goodness they were so gorgeous.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Blaine copied Kurt's previous movement and grabbed onto the monkey bars, pulling himself up and shimmying through the hole until he was sitting on top of the set.

His feet swam gently in the air, they made small circles that Blaine watched for a while; its calming movement lulled his roaring thoughts until they were naught more than quiet whispers.

Leaning back completely, he spread his arms and legs so that they swam in the air, rocking in time with his breathing. Blaine closed his eyes and let the all the senses of the morning wash over him. He felt the gentle push of the awakening summer sun, and the early silence that accompanied nocturnal creatures finally going to rest. The cool air wrapped around him, and the soft rustle of the breeze in the leaves relaxed his muscles. A wistful smile at the simple beauty of the morning washed over him.

Before he knew it he was falling back asleep.

--------_O_--------

Blaine awoke peacefully, the soft drone of June bugs carrying him out of sleep's cradling arms. He'd somehow managed to curl into a fetal position with one hand extended over the edge of the bars. He blinked his eyes open and started slightly when he was met with Kurt's bright, impossible coloured eyes.

"Morning," Kurt said with a smirk. He had one hand gently placed in Blaine's outstretched one, rubbing small circles into the skin. Blaine smiled—he couldn't help himself. He was still delirious from sleep, but waking up to those eyes was something he could get used to.

"Hi," he mumbled through his sleepy voice. Using the hand that Kurt wasn't holding on to, Blaine rubbed his eye and yawned, resisting the urge to stretch so that he wouldn't fall and embarrass himself.

"I'm about 98% certain I told you to sleep in the tunnel," Kurt said cocking his head slightly with a twinkle in his eye. "Rainstorms and the like."

Blaine shrugged, wanting to move but not wanting to do anything that would prompt Kurt to let go of his hand. "I'm a rebel," Blaine stage whispered with an over dramatic wink. "Didn't you know?"

Kurt stepped backward, letting go of Blaine's hand anyway, rolling his eyes. "I did," he nodded. "Your homelessness gave it away."

Blaine laughed, shaking his head before carefully getting to his feet. Making sure he had a stable stance on top of the bars, he raised his arms over his head and stretched, smiling once again at the comforting feeling of his muscles stretching in his back. Blaine had never known he could miss a bed so much, but he vowed to himself he'd find one for himself to sleep in tonight. No more playgrounds for him. No matter what interesting characters he'd meet because of it.

Satisfied that his body was properly awoken, Blaine sat on the bars again, before dropping through the hole and landing on his feet. Kurt quirked a brow, so Blaine bowed with a dramatic arm wave. Kurt smiled at Blaine's antics with a look on his face that could only be described as endearment.

The pale boy shook his head before speaking. "Go get your stuff. We're going."

Blaine righted himself, his smile falling a little bit. "Where are we going?"

Kurt shrugged. "To breakfast," he said. "We need to talk."

"Oh god!" Blaine fake cried. "Are you breaking up with me?!"

Kurt rolled his eyes again before making a shooing motion towards Blaine's stuff. The hazel eyed boy grinned but submitted, quickly grabbing his duffel bag and guitar, slinging them over his shoulders before going back to the taller boy.

"You have everything?" Kurt asked when Blaine reached him.

Blaine nodded giving himself a quick pat over. "Yup," he answered when he finished the search. Kurt opened his mouth like he was going to ask something else before snapping it shut. "Good, let's go."

"So where are we going?" Blaine asked a few minutes into the walk.

"I already told you," Kurt replied. "Breakfast."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I didn't know breakfast was a place now."

Kurt looked at him, giving Blaine a mischievous smile. "You're in Lima now, Blaine. You may as well have flown to Neverland."

"So living here I'll never grow up?"

"If that is your dream," Kurt responded. "But somehow I don't think that's why you flew here."

Blaine shrugged, not sure he was ready for the direction this conversation was heading. "I just followed the tracks," he said looking down. He walked like this for a few more feet before his forehead bumped (rather painfully) into Kurt's chest.
Blaine looked up curiously, wondering why the boy had stopped. He took a hesitant step back, cocking his head at Kurt's scrutinizing expression.

"What?" he asked self-consciously.

"'Pan, who and what art thou?'"

Blaine furrowed his brow, taking a second to remember the reply before responding. "'I'm youth, I'm joy. I'm a little bird that has broken out of the egg.'"

Kurt shook his head slowly, seemingly mystified. "Blaine, who and what are you?"

Blaine shrugged sticking his hands in his pockets. His fingers touched a crumpled piece of paper.

He knew how to answer Kurt's question.

"I'm a lost boy."