I'll be there to pick you up in 10!

Kurt quickly typed the message into his iPhone and sent it to Mercedes, picked up his wallet and put it into the pocket of his incredibly tight, black skinny jeans, put his phone in the other side, and left his apartment. It was a small place, just big enough for him though, he didn't need anything flashy, and he certainly didn't have the money (yet) for anything up market. He hoped one day he'd be able to afford something a little more spacey, and he'd be able to show off his interior designing skills, which he'd done his best with in his current living space, it was definitely creative.

"Hey Kurt! Long time no see hey!" Mercedes exclaimed as she climbed into the passenger seat of Kurt's car, he hadn't bothered getting out but simply honked the horn and seconds later Mercedes had come strolling out of her front door. She had herself a small little house, it was just her and her boyfriend, whom Kurt hadn't actually met yet but Mercedes kept telling him about him over the phone. Since graduating high school Mercedes' career pretty much immediately escalated, she got signed by a recording company, got herself a record deal and had produced her debut album within a couple of years, now shortly about to start work on her second.

"I know! How are you?!" Kurt asked, smiling, reaching over to hug his friend once she'd got into the car and shut the door behind her.

"I'm great! And yourself?" she answered as they broke apart, and she reached behind her to pull across the seat belt.

"I'm really good. So, where are we headed?"

"Um, just fancy a bit of a walk about some shops and such? Cafe for lunch? How's it sound?"

"It sounds great."

"Listen, so now you're all like, famous and stuff, are we going to be papped and flooded by fans around every corner we turn?" Kurt asked - half joking with a definite element of seriousness - as they pulled off the drive and began to drive down the road.

"Well," Mercedes started, letting out a chuckle. "You know I'm not that famous, by face..." she said, but Kurt didn't look convinced. He was well aware that his best friend from high school was a famous artist now, this trip wasn't going to be like the outings they had while they were in high school. People were bound to recognise his friend, the one who had the power house voice, the one they heard on the radio a few times a day. The one who occasionally appeared on their tv sets.

"Mercedes, who are you kidding, you're a star! Are you sure this is a good idea, don't you need like a bodyguard or something?"

Mercedes laughed properly that time, and then realised Kurt was deadly serious. "Kurt, you're being ridiculous. I may be a bit of a star now, but nothing much has changed. Yeah, I have an album and my voice pops up on the radio a couple of times a day, but that doesn't mean I've changed in anyway. And not a lot of people recognise me, anyway. I've not all the tv interviews and god knows what else the others do. I'm not recognisable in person. It'll be fine.

How was Mercedes so calm? Thought Kurt. If he was in her position, he would've got every tv interview he could to promote what he was doing.

"I've just had one album Kurt, one. This is just the beginning. And we're in New York. You don't become a star over night here, I thought you knew that."

"Okay, sorry I'm just excited that I have a pop star friend okay! I didn't know what to expect. I thought maybe we might be seen together and next thing I know I'm on the front of the paper with you being your secret lover or something. I have a strange, strange mind, okay?"

"That," said Mercedes through laughing, "you certainly do."

General chit chat filled the otherwise silence as they drove towards the shops, it wouldn't take them long to get there. They hoped it wouldn't be too busy all the same, even if Kurt had been fantasising a little too heavily on his friend's new found stardom.

"How does this look?" Mercedes asked, she'd dragged Kurt into about ten different shops looking for a dress she needed for a party, and although Kurt would happily pick out women's clothes and customise them to make them his own usually, there was nothing in these shops for him. And he had a very imaginative mind for clothes. Mercedes was now dressed in a floor length, ruby red gown. It was strapless, had a plunging neckline and showed everything off, covered head to toe in glitter and sequins. She came out of the changing room and gave Kurt a twirl, a smile plastered on her face.

"It's a little..." Kurt began, not sure how to put it kindly without crushing the girl. He'd known from the moment Mercedes had picked it up in her hand on the way around the shop, that it was going to be a fashion disaster if she ever left the house in public wearing it. "too much, don't you think?" he finished, an inquisitive look on his face, while his eyes darted up and down her figure.

"You don't like it?" she asked, a little surprised at Kurt's opinion and a little taken aback.

"No." he just had to be blunt with her. "Red just isn't..." he wanted to tell her red wasn't her colour, but that wasn't entirely true, Mercedes had looked great in red before, just not that dress. He needed to convince her that that dress was not doing her any favours. He wondered why she couldn't see that herself. "Remember that first meeting of Glee, right after Mr Schue almost left us, and Finn put you in charge of costume?"

"Yeah..." Mercedes answered uncertainly, not sure where he was going with that.

"I don't know why. You picked red then too." Kurt sighed, laughing a little awkwardly. "Stay there, I'll be right back."

He went back into the shop leaving Mercedes to go back into the changing room and get out of the awfully unflattering red dress, and went to find her something else. A little more glamourous, in a less obvious way. Classy, was the word. A quick round of the shop and he had the perfect outfit for her, why hadn't she just left it to him in the first place?

He returned back to the changing room with a few items drapped over his arm. His favourite one he'd picked out, was black, simple, but stylish. It gathered in aroundthe waist and and flowed out, skimming over the hips and just touching the floor, with a layer of net underneath. The top of it was very simple, the fabric fitted over the bust, and the straps crossed over at the back. It had diamante sequins graduating down from the shoulders. Kurt was also cutching a pair of silver, glittery platforms in his left hand, and a matching glittery jacket to wear over. Rushing back to find the cubicle Mercedes was in, he passed his choices through the door to her.

Minutes later she reappeared, looking pretty pleased with herself. "Now, you look amazing!" Kurt said, pleased with his selections.

"What would I do without you?!"

"Well you might be papped then, you'd probably make it on to a couple of 'worst dressed' pages that's for sure..." Kurt laughed. "Come on, get that off and pay so we can get out of here. I'll meet you outside." Kurt made his way out of the shop, shaking his head as his eyes met that red dress once more. He heard his phone ring, and fumbled around with his pocket to get it out as he left the shop, planning to stand around the corner while he waited for Mercedes.

But as he got the phone out and was bringing it to his ear he walked straight into someone, and the phone came flying out of his hand and landed face down on the concrete in front of him. Panicked, he bent down to pick it up, not even bother to notice who he'd bumped into.

"I'm so sorry, oh my god!" the voice said. They both went to pick the phone up at the same time, and their hands touched, for a few seconds. Kurt stopped, the touch of the other person's hand startling him a little. Looking back at him, was a familiar face. He recognised those dark, gorgeous curls, and those amazing eyes looked so much more stunning in real life than they did on tv... Kurt had just bumped into the Blaine Anderson, in the street, while he was shopping.

"You're... you're... Blaine? Oh my god." he picked up his phone, and they both stood up, still staring at each other. Kurt wasn't entirely sure why Blaine was still staring at him though.

But Blaine was captivated. This guy had the most amazing, mesmerising eyes he'd ever seen in his life. Ever. They were bright, bright blue, like sparkling pools of the sea under a clear sunny summer sky... they were enticing. And he could barely bring himself to look away from them, he had to force himself to turn away.

"That's me," he answered, in a deep, handsome voice. "I'm so, so sorry about your phone..."

Kurt hadn't even looked at his phone. He was too busy looking at the hot piece of ass that was standing in front of him. Of course he knew who Blaine was, who didn't? He was a huge star. Now he'd be the type of person to be papped shopping with him. He'd never realised how gorgeous Blaine was, he'd been a fan for sure, but not a huge one. The tv definitely did not truly portray the beauty of this man. Glancing down, he realised that the screen of his phone was in fact entirely destroyed, smashed to smitherines.

"Oh, it's, it's alright..."

"No, it's not alright, it's my fault I'm so sorry... let me take you to get a new one."

"Oh no you c-couldn't p-possibly..." Kurt stammered over his words a little, not really sure what was happening.

"No trust me, I need to, it's my fault, and face it, it's not like I can't afford to." he laughed. So there was a cocky side to this man. Of course there was.

"Okay if you insist..." Kurt agreed awkwardly. Mercedes had now joined them and was just standing between the two of them, not really aware of what was happening, but one thing she knew was a famous singer was standing right in front of her eyes, having a conversation with her best friend.