Matt nags at him to do a solo, saying Blaine sounds so good, he should just do it and get it over with. One evening one of the other musicians has a keyboard with them and Blaine finds himself asking to borrow it. He’s been working on a song recently and he just can’t hold it in any longer.

And he plays the hell out of that song. He plays it like he means it, he plays it like his dad can hear him in Ohio. He plays it like he’s never played anything else in his life. The prelude pours out of his fingers and by the time the first verse starts Blaine is wailing on that keyboard.

He comes to his favorite lyrics, “Give a moment or two to the angry young man, with his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand,” when he sees the gorgeous boy out of the corner of his eye and plays even harder. That face is the only one he can see in the audience. In a sea of faces, that’s the only one he wants to look at. And if Blaine can’t talk to him, he can sing his soul for him.

Blaine can always sing.

~~~~~
A moment of Kurt

His intense, into the music face is adorable.

I don’t have enough Billy Joel on my iPod.

~~~~~

When Blaine finishes playing, Matt is staring at him, wide eyed, with his mouth hanging open.

“Where the hell have you been hiding that?” Matt exclaims.

“I-I practice sometimes on a piano in the bah-bah-basement of the English bbbuilding. After my l-l-l-late class,” Blaine says, feeling stupid now.

“That was like really... intense. Do you maybe wanna talk? About your anger? Maybe?” Matt almost seems meek in that moment, like he’s afraid of Blaine. Was the song really that intense? He poured a lot into it, but he didn’t think anyone would really notice that.

Blaine starts to laugh and can’t stop. And that only makes Matt look more uncomfortable.

Anger is usually the last thing he feels. Sometimes he feels hopeless, or doubtful or disappointed in himself and the world, but he doesn’t usually feel angry. It’s not the anger in the song that he relates to, it’s the other emotions. The isolation and the stubborn pride, that feeling of not wanting anyone to see you, but also feeling tired of being ignored. He thinks he could tell Matt all of that, and maybe he will, but not here.

His laughter dies down and he deflates a bit, now that the rush is over.

“I, I’m never really angry. It’s m-m-more than just a sssssong to me, but I’m n-not hulking out or s-something.”

Matt seems relieved as they pack up their guitars.

Blaine looks around for The Face, as he’s taken to calling him, and is sad to see that he left, momentarily worrying that he scared him off.

“D-do you think you he n-n-noticed mmmme tonight?” Blaine asks Matt on the way back to the dorm.

“I think everybody noticed you tonight Blaine, but especially him.”

~~~~~

Life goes on.

The semester comes to a close and Blaine heads to Ohio for holidays. He spends a few quiet weeks there, playing the piano and letting his mind drift to New York. Making plans for songs he can play, now that he’s not afraid of solos.

He goes back to school and falls into the same old pattern with Matt. Hanging out, playing at the coffee shop, keeping his eyes open for the Face, trying not to worry too much about stuttering, going to class in between everything else.

They drink more that semester, experimenting, testing limits. Blaine loves how free he feels from his voice when he’s drunk. It’s like stuttering is just a terrible dream when he’s toasty warm from alcohol. He hates the hangovers and the headaches that follow, so he learns to tread lightly. But alcohol opens him up far enough to experience a first kiss with a guy he meets at a party. Nothing else comes of it, but Blaine feels better and somehow more relaxed about his sexuality now that he’s actually acted on it.

He and Matt go to more parties and meet more people and Blaine makes more friends, or at least acquaintances. He never quite lets anyone else in the way he let Matt in. He’s not sure if he’s ready to have a ton of friends. He’s happy with his one quality friend and a bunch of acquaintances to talk to in the dining hall and sit next to in class.

Blaine is happy.

~~~~~

Blaine’s out for a run on a sunny Saturday in February. Up one block, down the next, just enjoying the cold wind on his face and the game of chase he’s playing with the late afternoon sun. He spots a familiar figure crossing a street ahead. Blaine can’t even imagine that it’s the boy, but the hair, the designer shades, the lilting walk, all indicate that it just might be... and it is. Blaine slows his run, taking in the boy from afar while he can’t be seen.

The wind gusts at that moment, blowing some sheets of paper out of the boy’s open bag. Blaine doubles his speed to go help. He feels foolish in his favorite red running hat and horribly mismatched sweats, but he can’t just pass this by. He grabs the papers that flew in his direction and approaches the boy with them.

The Face is scrabbling around, catching as many pages as he can, when he looks up and sees Blaine. Blaine grabs the papers that are furthest away from the boy and when it seems like they’ve gotten everything, Blaine tentatively moves a little closer.

Blaine’s mind is racing. He should say something, he could say something. He’ll never make an impression, good or bad, on anyone if he can’t just suck it up and speak. The Face looks up at him and smiles.

Blaine smiles back, it’s the least, and also the most, he can do right now.

Words lodge in his throat just looking in those eyes.

“Ugh, thank you. That could have sucked. I need to remember to zip my bag on days like this,” the Face is saying. “I have all these stupid print outs from this God-awful group project and … You don’t want to hear about that. So, yeah.”

The Face is looking at him expectantly.

Blaine just looks back at him and nods and shrugs. He hopes that the shrug conveys something along the lines “Oh yeah, I hear ya. Group projects man, aren’t they worst? Also wind! Terrible!”

“Well, thank you again, kind though silent stranger,” the Face says.

Blaine tosses off a mock salute and finds himself fleeing the scene. He can feel that he’s running awkwardly, he can’t find his rhythm, like his body knows he shouldn’t be running from this opportunity. As he turns the corner, he glances behind him to see that the other boy is watching him retreat.

~~~~~
A moment of Kurt

Good Lord what a cute ass.

~~~~~

One of the last nights of the school year, he and Matt play at the little coffee shop for the last time until they return in the fall. Blaine prays that the Face will be there tonight. He’s prepared a song just for him. Matt knows the plan, which is basically just to play the song when and if the Face shows up. Just a little something from Blaine to his unnamed crush.

Mid-set the boy arrives. Blaine hears Rachel say his name. He strains to hear what she says over the rush in his own head and the song that he’s currently playing. Kirk? Dirk? Curt? Kirby? Kirby doesn’t suit that kid in the least, Blaine thinks.

As they finish the current song, Matt gives him a nod and Blaine transitions right into the next song. “Sometimes I feel so happy, sometimes I feel so sad,” Blaine begins singing. The lyrics aren’t entirely appropriate for the situation (neither of them is married or so he hopes), but he wants the pale blue eyes part to hit home with the Face.

And the Face looks up.

And Blaine looks into those eyes for as long as he can. This is his moment and this is what he can do.

If I could make the world as pure and strange as what I see,
I'd put you in the mirror,
I put in front of me.
I put in front of me.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.
Linger on, your pale blue eyes.

When they’re done playing, he thinks (hopes, wishes) that maybe the Face is moving towards him. Blaine’s back is turned to the room, yet he senses someone looking at him. He gives a quick glance over his shoulder and the Face is being dragged out the door by Rachel the barista, but his eyes are trained on Blaine. Blaine’s heart drops to the ground, but he smiles and waves. Because that’s something else he can do.

The Face tosses off a mock salute.

~~~~~

A Moment of Kurt

Damn that boy can sing.

Damn that Rachel for dragging me away from Silent Stranger just as I was about to corner him and force him to have a conversation with me finally.