Blaine still wasn't happy with the secret message verse of his song. 'Karma' didn't sound quite right, and 'Kismet' wasn't exactly what he wanted either. He tried listing words that started with 'K'.

Kumquat that trip to the Greenmarket was fun, and lunch was delicious

kind, kinda, kindly, kindness maybe

keep keep hoping that you'll see me, keep hoping there's a future

kiss Kiss! Kiss me, hug me, hold me that could work and I won't have to change the rest of the verse oh, but I could … He crossed out the earlier verse and wrote in another one.

Kiss me, hug me, hold me
Understand the way I feel.
Reach deep into your heart and
Tell me this is real.

Blaine had finally come up with another song for Kurt's CD. He wanted to use One Step Ahead since Kurt evidently liked Aladdin, but he realized it had too many voices to make a good solo. He rejected a number of princess songs before he remembered Go the Distance. It was perfect for Kurt's voice, and it was a male solo. He laid the instrumental tracks down, debated with himself about adding harmony since the original didn't have any, then added the vocals, reasoning that he could always take them out.

He had run out of ideas for more songs. He didn't recall hearing Kurt sing except for Been a Long Day, and that song had three parts, so it wouldn't work. He remembered the songs the Warblers had performed when he was there, but he knew if Wes was in charge, they would have been completely different, since that was one of his main complaints. I wonder if the Warblers have a web page. He checked the Dalton Academy site but didn't find past performances or any way to contact Warbler alumni. Maybe the Warblers have a Facebook site. Oh... How stupid can I be? Wes is probably on Facebook. It only took moments to find the page. I hope this is a good idea. He clicked the friend request button and added a message: I hear you finally got that gavel you always wanted. That will give me a way to bring up Kurt without it looking weird. He closed his laptop and headed to the shower.

Kurt was puzzled. It sounded as if Blaine had misinterpreted his e-mails, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what Blaine thought he was talking about. He looked at the first e-mail Blaine had received again. Okay, if I got this e-mail from Annie, what would I think? He stared blankly, unable to come up with anything at all.

"Hi, Kurt. I'm going to make some hot chocolate," Jen said as she walked from the bedroom to the kitchen. "Would you like some?"

"No, thanks. I have some of the tea Annie made earlier. Hey, can I ask you something? If you got an e-mail that said "top, bottom or switch?" what would you think it was talking about?"

Jen burst into laughter. "Which one of the guys sent you that?" she said eagerly. "I know it wasn't Ernesto; he wouldn't be interested. I'll bet it was Brenden. Was it Brenden? It could be Andrew, but I don't think you're his type." She got a mug and a packet of hot chocolate and put some water into the microwave to heat.

"I don't understand. Why don't you think Ernesto would have sent it? And what's so funny?"

"Ernesto isn't gay and no one asks about sexual preferences as part of a friendly conversation. Whoever asked you that is interested, Kurt. Hey, are you okay? You look a little funny."

"Sexual preferences?" Kurt squeaked, his voice a full octave higher than normal, his eyes like saucers.

"Please tell me I don't need to explain this to you. I guess you could say I've bottomed. I dated this guy who used to like me to take it up the … oh, yeah, I know TMI. Sorry."

"No, no, you don't need to explain anything. I get it." Kurt took his laptop and fled to the bedroom. Blaine is going to hate me! He'll think I'm trying to convert him or hit on him or something, and, worse, he'll think I'm being crude about it. He was sitting on the bed, staring at his laptop in horror, when Marisol emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in Henri's robe.

"Kurt, is something wrong? Can I help?" she asked gently, seating herself on the bed beside him.

"I accidentally sent a very inappropriate e-mail to … to someone. Now I don't know what I should do."

"Should we play that game again and figure out what to do about your fears?" Kurt shook his head vigorously, not wanting to give Marisol any details. "Okay, then, let's just talk about it for a minute. You said it was an e-mail. Did the person reply?"

"Yes, we exchanged several e-mails."

"Did he? she? seem upset?"

Kurt thought about the exchange again in light of his new understanding. Oh, no! It's worse than I thought. I said he got lots of experience at Dalton and made it sound like Wes was telling everyone about it. Then I propositioned him! And said I should pay him! He groaned.

"Kurt! Did the person seem upset?" Marisol's voice pulled Kurt back to the conversation.

"No..." Kurt said slowly. "He said he was confused, but he didn't seem upset. When I explained myself more clearly, he said it wasn't important."

"Well, there you go, then. It sounds like whatever fears you're having are unreasonable fears. You could apologize if you want, but it doesn't sound as if it's necessary. But, Kurt," she teased gently, "if you apologize, maybe you should do it in person so there won't be any misunderstandings."

Blaine was running late in the morning, but he took a minute to check Facebook. Wes had accepted his friend request and sent him a message.

Blaine Anderson! You old dog! Or should I say 'you old bird'? Once a Warbler, always a Warbler, you know. I don't believe it! What have you been up to, and how did you hear about my gavel? Wes

He typed a quick reply.

I'm headed for work. Can we chat tonight about 7:00 pm EST? Blaine

In the morning, the designers were in various stages of nervous excitement at the prospect of their first runway show that afternoon and the knowledge that one of them would be eliminated from the competition. Kurt, much to his surprise, felt relatively calm. He was nearly finished with his look, and had been thinking about the styling ever since he had seen the shirt on Lars. Reasoning that the turquoise silk had come from Mood and that he should be able to purchase additional yardage if he needed it, Kurt sacrificed a little more of the fabric in order to make the inner placket match the cuff, yielding a more unified look. The open collar framed Lars' face very nicely and his tanned skin was perfect against the turquoise, so Kurt wanted to add something to draw attention to that area. The accessory wall displayed a wide variety of jewelry, handbags, hats, neckwear, belts and shoes. He settled on a simple but expensive-looking silver pendant on a black leather cord. There was a belt that coordinated with the shoes without matching exactly, but there was something important missing. Tim was roaming the room, doing final critiques. Normally, he would have done one major critique for each designer sometime on Tuesday, but since it was the first challenge and the designers were relatively inexperienced, he had been more involved all along. Kurt could hear him trying unsuccessfully to convince Mark, another of the menswear designers, that the judges would notice that his pants had no fly. Kurt would never say anything, of course, but Mark's sewing skills didn't impress him much.

"And how is Kurt Hummel today," Tim asked, using another of his catchphrases.

"Fantastic!" Kurt enthused. "I do have a question, though. What are we supposed to do about socks? There aren't any on the accessory wall, and I assume you don't want the models wearing the shoes without something on their feet. I know they may not show on the runway, but I had something in mind for the color."

"Well, that slipped by us! This is the first time we've had menswear designers on the show and no one thought about it, obviously. Tell me what you want, and we'll get it for you, and we'll have socks available in the future." He got out his iPad and prepared to make notes.

"The pants are navy and the shoes are gray, so either of those colors would be fine, but what I'd really like is an argyle or a solid with the turquoise or magenta, or any of the colors from the shirt fabric. I think it's fun to have bright socks; it's a place for self-expression without getting too carried away."

"Okay, let me check with the other three and I'll get back to you. Do you mind if I take care of this before we do your critique?"

"Not at all. I'll see you in a bit."

After checking with the other three, Tim called Heidi's office and explained the problem to Sandy. "Most of them just want basic black, but Kurt wants something fairly specific. Is Blaine available? He's seen the shirt, and would probably be able to do a better job of finding what Kurt wants."

"Sure. Let me transfer you." She put Tim on hold and turned to Blaine. "Tim wants to talk to you. It seems we all forgot to get socks for the male models."

"Hi, Tim. How can I help you?" Blaine listened carefully as Tim described the socks Kurt wanted. "Yes, I remember the fabric. Do you care where I get them? I was thinking Saks Fifth Avenue first, and then one of the stores that carries Happy Feet." He pulled the Saks website up and did a quick search. "Saks has a dark gray argyle with turquoise, dark magenta, and yellow. They're from the Saks Fifth Avenue Men's Collection, so they aren't a specific designer. Will that be okay?" Blaine murmured in response to Tim's instructions and hung up the phone. "I'm going out for socks. Do we need anything else?" he asked Sandy.

"No. If you aren't back in time to take care of lunch, I'll place the orders for you and deliver them if you still aren't back."

"Oh, that's right. They eat early today because it's a runway day. Thanks. If I don't make it back, I'll do the lunches next week for you. I wouldn't want you to think I'm trying to avoid my 'punishment'," he said with a grin as he headed out the door.

When he finished his call, Tim returned to Kurt, starting the conversation over at the beginning so editing wouldn't have to try to splice the two scenes.

"And how is Kurt Hummel today?" he asked.

If Kurt was surprised, he didn't show it. "Fantastic!" he said, just as he had the first time. "I'm still trying to decide how I want the vest to look. This is one way," he said, indicating the mannequin with the plain dark gray vest with the light grey binding, "and I think it's a little plain, but I don't want to hear Nina saying that I need to learn to edit myself."

Tim looked it over carefully. "It looks nice, but you're right; it's a little plain. Were you thinking about adding embellishments? You don't have much time left."

Kurt couldn't resist a grin. He knew it was showing off, but he loved being just a little outside the box. After all, wasn't that what they were here for to show off? He unbuttoned the vest, turned it inside out, switched the overlap to the other side and re-buttoned it from underneath so the backing buttons showed. He looked anxiously for Tim's reaction, and he couldn't have been more pleased when Tim smiled delightedly. "So, you like this side better?" he ventured.

"I love that it's reversible! Why don't you let Lars come out with the plain side buttoned up, have him unbutton it about halfway down the runway so the judges can see the shirt better, take it off and do a turn at the end of the runway, reverse it and walk with it open, and then fasten it. That will show the versatility of the look. Did you say something about him dancing and doing turns on the runway? He can incorporate the turns into the changes. I think you should change one thing, though. You've sewn a gray button together with a colorful button. Instead of using the gray buttons on the plain side, use the colorful ones and use the gray on the side with the blue stripes and zippered pockets. That will improve both sides."

"Thanks, Tim. You're absolutely right. Switching the buttons will be better, and it never occurred to me to show it both ways. I was trying to give myself options, not make an additional look." He was happy to hear that Tim thought he hadn't gone too far overboard. That was the one thing he was a little worried about.

Tim glanced up briefly to make sure Phil was getting all this. The designer critiques were always filmed, but only the most interesting ones were aired. He had a feeling that the audience was going to see Mark not taking his advice, and he was pretty sure this one would be included as well. There was a human-interest aspect and if Kurt didn't end up in the top three or bottom three, the audience wouldn't see it on the runway. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but will you show me the heart that represents your mother? I assume you included one, or does the cuff fabric count?"

Kurt smiled and pointed to one of the tiny buttons that twinkled on the leg of the pants. "I found this button at Mood. I may have to order a whole case for myself when this is over. They come in several sizes and 16 colors."

Blaine located the socks quickly. He bought 3 pairs of black as specified, the argyle, and added a pair of navy and a pair of gray, in case the argyle wasn't quite the right color. When he got to Parsons, he headed up to Tim's office for water before entering the workroom.

"Oh, now I remember why I wanted you to get the socks," Tim joked as he accepted the water. "Thank you, Blaine."

Good. It's working. "I bought three pairs for Kurt, in case he didn't like the ones I found. I'll return the other two. Should I see which ones he wants?" When Tim nodded, he went over to Kurt's table. "How did it fit? Did you have to do much altering?" he asked quietly.

Kurt, who hadn't noticed him approaching, jumped and laughed nervously. "Uh … uh .. hi, Blaine. No, it fit very well. I .. uh .. uh … appreciate your help."

Wow, he's really tense about something. Maybe it's the show, and he'll feel better when he has his socks. He opened the bag and took out the three pairs destined for Kurt. "I bought extras in case you didn't like the first pair."

"Oh, those are exactly what I wanted! Thank you!" Kurt bit his lip. "Uh, Blaine … I'm … I'm really sorry about that e-mail. I hope you know I wasn't .. I didn't … I mean …"

He's so adorable when he's blushing. "Hey, Kurt, it's okay." Blaine put his hand on Kurt's arm. "You were asking me if I wanted to sing melody or harmony. That's all. And we're friends, remember. If you did want to talk about something else at some point, I would be fine with it."

"But … you're not …" Kurt objected.

"That doesn't matter either way," Blaine interrupted quickly. "I would be happy to discuss anything you want to talk about. Although, maybe not in an e-mail that Heidi or someone might read," he added with a laugh.

Kurt, who had begun to relax, tensed up all over again. "Blaine, seriously? Heidi saw the e-mails?" he hissed.

I probably shouldn't have said that. Now he's really worried. "No one saw them as far as I know, and if anyone does, they'll ask one of us about it. It's quite clear when you have all the information what the subject really was. Please, don't worry about it. It was funny, when you think about it. One of these days, we'll look back on it and laugh." Blaine was trying to be as reassuring as possible, but it was hard not to dissolve into giggles.

"Maybe in forty years or so," Kurt said sourly.

I'll still be here. "Okay, forty years, it's a date, but I'll bet I can make you laugh about it by Thursday night," he said lightly. "I've got to get lunch for everyone. Should I return the other two pairs of socks?"