After Kurt had transferred to Dalton and had been in the Warblers for quite some time, we began preparing for Regionals. We knew we’d be up against New Directions, Kurt’s former glee club from McKinley. But that didn’t seem to faze Kurt too much.
“Hey Kurt,” I asked after a Warblers rehearsal one Monday afternoon, “Are you cool with going up against your friends at Regionals?”
“Of course,” he responded with a small smile. “It’s not personal at all. They know I love them and that I want them to do their best. But secretly, I think I want us to win.”
There was something in Kurt’s eyes that made me think he wasn’t telling the entire truth. We kept talking about Regionals on our way to our lockers – which were conveniently right next to each other. When we’d reached our lockers, I thought it was best to dig a little deeper. I didn’t want Kurt to have any negative feelings whatsoever.
“Kurt,” I began, sliding my books into my locker and shutting it gently, “I know how connected you were to New Directions. You don’t just lose that.”
“Maybe it wasn’t always the perfect, dysfunctional family I thought it was...” Kurt stopped organising his books and looked at me sadly.
I could see the pain Kurt was trying desperately to keep hidden. I put my hand on his shoulder gently and asked, “You loved them, didn’t you? Do you miss them?”
Kurt shut his locker and wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his blazer. I noticed that he didn’t push my hand away, nor did he shrug it off. He was warming up to me even more than he had been before.
“...I did love them. But I never really got my chance to showcase the kind of performer I can be. For the most part... we just stood there singing backup harmonies while Rachel and Finn took centre stage.”
Kurt looked down and I could see he was struggling with something. I gripped his shoulder a little tighter.
“But even though you weren’t always appreciated... you still miss them, don’t you?”
“...yes. Because they became my first real friends and I don’t think I could just leave that and forget it... In the end,” Kurt started sniffing and tears were falling harder now, “they were all I had. Even Puckerman, who had once been the guy ordering bullies to toss me into the dumpster, stood up to Karofsky. He had my back for a while there.”
I took my hand off of his shoulder and just looked at him. His head was still bowed to the floor, obviously not wanting anyone to see how he was feeling.
“Look at me,” I said softly, “We’ve got your back here. And while we may not be as close to you as your McKinley friends are, we’d be more than happy to be, if you’d like us too.”
Kurt looked up slowly and was just looking straight into my eyes. If only he’d known how many butterflies were going through my stomach as he did something so simple. If only he’d known how his rosy cheeks and tear-stained complexion made me want to cry with him.
“Okay.”
I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t stand to see Kurt in that much pain. All I wanted to do was give him comfort and make him feel better in any way possible. The first thing I thought to do was to hug him.
I wrapped my arms around him in a swift movement that if you’d blinked, you would have missed. I think I had surprised Kurt, because I felt him take a small step back. I felt uncertainty, so I was about take a step back and step out of the hug when I felt Kurt’s head fall onto my shoulder. I could feel his tears dropping onto my blazer, and I could feel his arms wrap themselves tightly around my back. He was holding on strongly – more so than I was expecting. So I returned the tight hug, and squeezed him gently. We held onto each other for ages, it seemed.
When the hug broke and we both took a step back, we just looked at each other. I saw that Kurt had stopped crying. His eyes were still red and puffy, and his cheeks were still damp, but he was no longer shedding tears. That made me smile.
And so the bell went, signalling the end of the school day. This meant Kurt would be driving back to Lima while I stayed back in the dorms with the other boarders. It was the worst time of the day – no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help but feel sad when we had to say goodbye every afternoon.
“Thank you, Blaine... For everything.”
“Any time.”
“...I better start driving home. Are we good for coffee before school tomorrow?”
Kurt’s warm smile gave me no choice. I had to say yes. And even if he hadn’t of smiled, I’m pretty sure I would’ve said yes anyway.
“Of course. I’ll see you there. Seven?”
Kurt took his bag out of his locker, slid it onto his shoulder with minimal effort, smiled at me as he shut his locker and said, “Seven.”