Kurt would tell Blaine stories about the outside world, as much as he could remember anyway. Blaine would share all his favorite books from the library with Kurt, telling him which were the best to read and which just weren't worth bothering with.

Sometimes when Blaine would have his piano lessons with the music teacher, Kurt would go off and try to play with the other children. Generally he liked to go over and do arts and crafts with the girls instead of go outside and play sports with the boys. Blaine would jokingly make fun of him sometimes for all the glitter he'd end up having on his clothing. Kurt would just shrug and grin, handing Blaine a card or picture he had made for him.

Kurt was glad Blaine never really made fun of him for his interests though, unlike some of the other boys at the orphanage. Even on really sunny days when the kids all went outside to play, Kurt would still prefer to sit with the girls and play pretend. He would never run around and get all dirty.

Blaine liked to hang out with Kurt, still not wanting to get too close to the other children. Though sometimes Kurt could tell Blaine wanted to run around with the other boys and play sports. Kurt didn't see the appeal in sports one bit.

It wasn't until around Christmas time that Blaine worried he was making the same mistake he had before, before Kurt had arrived.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Around Christmas time, the orphanage would have a sort of open house type thing, a little party. Lots of potential adoptees would get to visit and interact with the children. It was sort of the orphanage's hopes that they'd be able to get rid of a whole bunch of the children – reduce the population, considering they were always getting more and more kids.

Blaine had almost forgotten about this event until Ms. Rose spoke to the entire group at breakfast one morning. Without even thinking he reached under the table and grasped Kurt's hand. That was when it hit him. What if someone decided they wanted to adopt Kurt? What if someone wanted to take Kurt away from him?

They might never see each other again. Ever ever again.

Later that afternoon they were sitting in the corner of the playroom talking when Blaine tried to voice his fears without being too obvious.

"You'll like the Christmas party..." he commented quietly, "it's fun having so many people around. Even if they're all strangers..."

"Blaine..."

There was so much fear in the soft voice that Blaine looked up quickly in worry. "What is it, Kurt?"

"What if..." Kurt reached out and grabbed Blaine's hand, holding it tightly, "what if someone decides they want to adopt you and take you away from me...er, I mean, you know...here." His face reddened a tiny bit.

Blaine almost breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Kurt voice his fear. So at least they were both worried about losing one another. "You're my best friend, Kurt. We're not losing one another. And even if...even if that happens to one of us, we'll still be each others best friend. Okay?"

Kurt's face brightened. "Best friend? That makes me happy. You're definitely my best friend, Blaine." And there was no way anyone could be allowed to separate them.

Blaine smiled, but at the same time he was feeling somewhat ill. This had happened before. And knowing his luck it would happen again.

"Blaine? Blaaaaine?"

Blaine snapped out of his reverie to hear Kurt calling his name. "Er, yes?"

"You look worried...is there something wrong?"

He thought about it for a bit then sighed. "A long time before you came here, I had a friend named Kyle. When he first arrived he wouldn't talk to anyone. I don't really talk to a lot of the others myself, but he just looked so sad I had to try and talk to him. Eventually we became really good friends, like you and I are, but then..." he looked down, feeling really sad, "this couple came and took Kyle away. They liked how good he was at sports and were amused by how funny he could be when he wanted to. I didn't even get to say good bye to him..."

"Oh, Blaine..."Kurt squeezed his hand.

"'s alright." Blaine sniffed. He didn't want to cry in front of Kurt. He had to be strong for them both, because they were friends and Blaine was going to watch over Kurt and protect him. He had to be strong. "Now I'm just...well, you know, I don't like getting close to the other kids because I'm scared they'll get adopted and I'll be really sad and miss them. And now...what if someone takes you away and we never get to see each other again?"

"That won't happen." Kurt told Blaine stubbornly. "We're best friends. They can't separate us. No way, no how."

Except, apparently, they could.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

The day of the big party came and Kurt and Blaine stayed close together, both thinking that maybe if they don't interact with the parents then no one will take them away from each other.

It wasn't until after dinner that they made their mistake.

To help make the children more interesting to the adults, they had a little sort of talent show every year. There was a line up sheet and Kurt was supposed to go first. He would be singing. Blaine had never heard him sing before. Blaine was going last; he would be playing the piano.

Kurt was terrified, because what if someone liked Blaine's piano playing and took him away?

"Kurt. Psst, Kurt!" A voice close by was calling him. He turned his head and saw Blaine watching him intently. "It'll be alright, Kurt." Blaine whispered.

"I'm scared, Blaine..." Kurt whispered back, shaking slightly. Singing in front of all those people was not what scared him. What scared him was the fact that any one of those people out there could decide they wanted to take Blaine away from him.

A tiny scrap of paper was shoved into his hand and he had just enough time to glance at it before he heard his name being called. Courage. Was all it said, in Blaine's scribble-y handwriting.

Shooting Blaine a nervous, yet thankful glance, Kurt walked out onto the little stage they had all made together and decorated. The crazy amount of glitter on the stage was all thanks to Kurt. He loved how it made everything all shiny.

There were definitely quite a lot of people sitting in front of him. Kurt closed his eyes and pretended he was back in his living room at his old house with his mommy. They used to sing songs together and his mommy would tell him that if he ever got nervous to just close his eyes and pretend he was all alone, that there was no one watching him. He was safe.

Except now he pretended he was all alone except for Blaine standing right next to him, holding his hand. That was how he felt safe. His hand tightened on the scrap of paper in his hand. Courage.

He opened his eyes again and began to sing. Maybe it was a little bit odd, but Kurt liked how his voice was higher than the other boys'. It was easier for him to sing a lot of the songs he liked.

When he finished singing everyone in the audience stood up and clapped. If Kurt wasn't mistaken, he spotted a man sitting off to the side dabbing at his eyes with a tissue. Had he really sung that well?

He got a few chuckles when, instead of bowing, he curtsied before getting off the stage. Kurt thought it was a fun way to end the performance, different.

When he got back behind the little stage and joined the other kids, he looked for Blaine. "Blaine? Oh, there you are- hey, what's wrong?" His friend's eyes were red, as if he had been crying. "Were you crying? Don't do that...hey." Kurt reached out and took Blaine's hand in his own. "What's wrong, Blaine?"

Blaine shook his head, wiping his eyes dry with his free hand. "It's nothing. You just...you sing really, really well, Kurt."

Kurt did not believe Blaine for one second, but he could tell his friend did not want to be bothered too much. "Thank you...but my singing is nothing compared to your piano playing." He tried to cheer his friend up.

Blaine laughed a tiny bit. "I doubt that, Kurt. Have you ever even heard yourself sing before? It was like an angel was standing up there singing."

Kurt's face reddened slightly. He didn't think he was that good. "I'm sure I was as okay as the next guy. Blaine, come on, you'll do great out there and then we'll just go back to hanging out by ourselves, okay?"

Blaine looked up, giving Kurt a searching look. Then he nodded, turning his face away. "Okay. Come on; let's listen to the others, Kurt."

They stood along the side, watching and listening to the other kids. Eventually it was Blaine's turn. Kurt gave his hand one last comforting squeeze before he went to play. The music was beautiful and when Blaine had finished his song, the people in the audience stood up and clapped about just as hard as they had for Kurt.

When Blaine got back behind the stage Kurt hugged him tightly. "That was brilliant, Blaine." He told his friend sincerely. "You're going to be a famous piano player some day, I know it."

Blaine laughed, hugging Kurt back. "And you'll sing while I play. How about that?"

"That's great!" Kurt laughed.

"Are you hungry, Kurt? I'll go get us some cookies." They had agreed not to separate from each other the entire time, but they were both getting hungry. And for a moment they forgot their plan to not separate.

Kurt nodded, smiling a bit. "I am. They had some yummy looking cookies over there earlier."

"I'll go get some. Stay right here." Blaine let go of Kurt's hand and headed for the table.

That was when things went wrong.

Kurt felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Ms. Rose smiling down at him. "Hello, Kurt. I hope you're not busy. Mr. Hummel would like to meet you."

Kurt tried not to let Ms. Rose see the sudden terror he felt. Why oh why had he let Blaine go get those cookies? They should not have left each other. Oh bother. But he could not say no. If he did Ms. Rose might get mad at him. So he nodded weakly and stared down at the floor as she led him away from the spot he had told Blaine he'd wait at.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Blaine was on his way back with some cookies when he saw Ms. Rose leading Kurt away. His heart started hammering away in his chest and he almost ran into someone as he took a step back.

No. No, no, no. This can't be happening. He could not lose Kurt. Kurt was his best friend. He really, really liked Kurt.

Feeling tears in his eyes, Blaine dropped the cookies into the nearest trash can and fled the room to hide in the library.

He sunk down onto one of the old couches surrounded by old bookshelves and curled up. He was scared and sad and more than anything he really wished Kurt was with him right now to hold his hand. His hand felt empty – he felt empty – without Kurt around. It was worse than before, when Kyle had left. This time it felt like he was losing a part of himself.

Blaine silently told himself to remain optimistic. Maybe the people Kurt met would change their minds. Maybe...ha, as if. How could anyone not want Kurt around? He was perfect in every way.

But oh how Blaine wished and wished that those people wouldn't like Kurt.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Even with all of Blaine's wishing in the library, Mr. Hummel loved Kurt. As soon as he had heard the little boy sing on the stage he knew he would be taking that boy home. Kurt sounded just like his wife and kind of looked like her a bit too. Mrs. Hummel was currently bedridden and was sad she could not come. They had made the decision over the summer – before Mrs. Hummel had been in the accident that broke both her legs – that they would adopt a child, but now it was up to Burt to make the decision on which child they would be raising together.

When Kurt had walked onto the stage, Burt had blinked at first, surprised by the resemblance the child had to his wife. Once Kurt started singing Burt was even more surprised. And the boy's voice was exceptional. Burt would never have admitted it to anyone, but by the end of Kurt's song he had had to wipe a few tears away with a tissue he had in his pocket.

Once the talent show was over he found Ms. Rose right away to talk to her about meeting Kurt. He was sure he wouldn't be the only one interested in the boy.

When she finally brought Kurt over, Burt smiled and held his hand out to the little boy. "Hello, Kurt. I'm Burt Hummel."

Kurt looked up at him with bright blue eyes and Burt could see there was some slight fear in them. "H-hello." Kurt replied softly.

"Nothing to be scared about." Burt reassured the boy softly. "You sing really well, Kurt. I'm impressed."

"Thank you." Kurt's eyes lit up a bit at the compliment. That encouraged Burt a bit to go on.

"I was surprised because you sound just like my wife. You kind of look like her too." He crouched down in front of Kurt and looked up into the young, slightly scared face. "I know it's a scary thought, to go somewhere new, to start somewhere new, but my wife and I would just love it if you joined our family."

The boy did look rather scared when Burt told him all that. Burt figured it would be really scary to be so young and go through all this. Well, he and his wife would give this boy a very good life. If he wanted it.

"Where's your wife?" Kurt asked curiously.

"She's at home right now. She couldn't make it." Burt replied. He held his hand out to Kurt, hoping the boy would take it. Kurt tentatively reached out and took his hand. It made him smile. "But I know she would just adore you. And we can promise you we'll give you the best life we can. You'll get to go to a great school and make a lot of great friends." And they'd probably spoil him, but that was beside the point. "What do you say? Do you like the sound of that?"

He got a small nod from the boy in return. "That's great. I know you'll be happy with us, Kurt."

The boy in front of him looked around suddenly, as if looking for someone. "I'm sure you'd like to talk to your friends and say farewell, so I'll go talk to Ms. Rose, alright?" He stood and touched Kurt's shoulder gently before going over to Ms. Rose.

"Ms. Rose?"

The cat-faced lady turned to him. "Ah, Mr. Hummel. How'd your conversation with Kurt go? Isn't he a doll?"

"He's perfect." Burt smiled. "And he really liked the idea of coming to live with us. I just know my wife will adore him."

"That's lovely!" Ms. Rose smiled brightly. "Why don't I take you to my office and you can fill out all the paperwork? Thankfully you've already talked to us before and got all your clearances. That'll make this a lot easier."

She led him to her office and gave him a couple sheets to fill out. "Were you thinking about taking the boy tonight? I can assure you that may be the best idea."

"Why?" Burt asked.

"Well, for some of the children it's really difficult to just suddenly up and leave the friends they have made here. And for some of the kids this is all they've known. Kurt is exceptionally close to another one of our children here and it will be difficult to separate them. The longer he is here knowing that he'll have to leave soon the harder it will be to get him to leave. And I would really love for Kurt to have this opportunity to have a normal life, outside the orphanage."

Burt kind of felt bad for separating Kurt from a good friend. Ms. Rose had a point. "Alright. I'll take Kurt home tonight."

"Good. I'll go and get his things packed." Ms. Rose headed for the doorway. "I'll be back in a few to check on the paperwork." And with that she was out the door.
*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

Kurt was feeling small and terrified by the time his conversation with Mr. Hummel was over. When he had nodded at Burt's question, he had only been agreeing that, yes, that life did sound rather enjoyable. He hadn't realized he has just agreed to actually living with the Hummel's. Now he was doomed.

And he couldn't find Blaine anywhere.

Frantically searching about, Kurt finally gave up on the big room and headed elsewhere in the orphanage. Eventually he made it to the library and found his best friend curled up on one of the old couches.

"Blaine?" He whispered softly, going over to stand next to the couch and his friend.

Blaine opened his eyes and looked up at Kurt with such sadness that Kurt felt tears well up in his eyes. "Kurt? How was...did they...are you..."

He did not get to finish. Kurt burst into tears and launched himself at his friend, wrapping his arms around him as tightly as he could. "I'm sorry! I'm so so so sorry!" He wailed. "The guy was really nice and he said he and his wife were going to adopt me and I'm sorry!"

Blaine felt his own eyes well up with tears and he clung to Kurt tightly. Not again. Why did this have to happen to him again? And why did Kurt have to feel so nice in his arms? "It's okay, Kurt. It's okay. It's not your fault. Don't apologize..." he wanted time to stop so he could hold on to Kurt forever.

"I don't want to leave you." Kurt sobbed. "You're my best friend. I love you."

Blaine blinked. No one had ever said that to him before. It made him feel all light and happy inside. "I...I love you too, Kurt. And we'll be best friends forever. Even when we're apart..."

Kurt shook his head so vigorously that Blaine was afraid it would fall off. "No, no no no, I don't want us to be apart! When will I ever see you again?"

Blaine shook his head. He had no clue. And that made him even sadder. He held even tighter to Kurt, placing a soft kiss to his friend's forehead. "I don't know, Kurt. We'll see each other again though, okay? Don't know where, don't know when. We'll see each other again, I just know it."

"Kurt, sweetie, Mr. Hummel's ready to take you home now." Ms. Rose appeared in the doorway of the library. Burt was right next to her.

Kurt looked up in terror and clung desperately to Blaine's hand. What if this was the last time he ever held Blaine's hand?

"Ready to go, Kurt? You can say goodbye to your friend." Burt smiled kindly to the two boys. He could tell this was going to be a rather difficult farewell for them. They really did seem close.

Kurt turned and hugged Blaine tightly, tears freely flowing down his face. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Kurt. Don't forget about me."

"Never." Kurt shook his head. He couldn't bring himself to stand and Burt came over and held his hand out for Kurt. Kurt took it but was scared to walk away.

"Come along then. We have a bit of a drive." Burt led Kurt towards the doorway. They were about to leave when Kurt stopped.

He turned, about to run back, when Ms. Rose and Burt stopped him. They knew this would not be easy. "Blaine!" Kurt yelled, sobbing. He just wanted to run back and hold his friend again. "Blaine!" The two adults led him from the room as he continued calling his friend's name over and over, crying.

On the way down the hall Burt asked Ms. Rose to please call him whenever Blaine was finally adopted. He wanted to know where they might be able to find him so the boys could see each other again. Ms. Rose nodded and told him she would do what she could.

They were halfway down the hall when Kurt heard Blaine calling his name back. He screamed Blaine's name even louder and sobbed into Burt's shoulder as the older man picked him up and held him gently as they continued out to the car.

As they drove away, Kurt sobbed loudly in the passenger seat. It broke Burt's heart, but what could he do? He and his wife could only take care of one child; otherwise he would have adopted Blaine in a heart beat. All he could do now was offer Kurt as much comfort as he could.

An hour into the four hour drive, Kurt, exhausted from all the crying, finally fell asleep. His hand was stretched out at his side, his hand held open as if he was waiting for someone to hold it.