Kurt walked out the front door the next day and paused to see Blaine leaning up against his car, dangling an unlit cigarette in his hand. Blaine approached Kurt who was still at a hold in front of his door, "Thought Id take you to school today too. Maybe we can make this a thing for us. We can catch up as old pals." He called out to Kurt. Kurt was hesitant and ready to run back into the house and call it a sick day but his feet pulled him forward, toward Blaine. Blaine chuckled and once they met in the middle Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurts shoulder and lead him to the Porsche, "But this time I pick the station."

Kurt nodded quickly before scurrying in to the little car. Blaine chuckled again and joined Kurt inside. He turned on his vehicle then lit his cigarette before backing out of the driveway and on to the road where they proceeded in the direction of the school.

"Im surprised youre not ditching." Kurt began the conversation.

Blaine pulled out the cigarette and puffed the smoke out the window before speaking, "I usually go to school the first couple weeks before I start ditching." He said then took another puff of his cigarette.

"Thats kind of unhealthy." Kurt said.

"Im not doing it for your pleasure, now am I?" Blaine replied. Kurt sat back in his seat and focused on the music on the radio. It was that weird rock music they were listening to yesterday, "Im taking you out this weekend." Blaine said after a long silence.

Kurt glared at him, "Excuse me!" He sounded appalled.

"Yeah. Saturday evening, you, me, and a couple of the boys from school."

Kurt knew who he was talking about. The other stoners at the school. Kurt feared that Blaine is acting a little more friendlier than usual to him this year because it was all a big act to get him high, "I dont want to go." Kurt murmured.

"Why?"

"I dont want to get in trouble."

Blaine placed his cigarette in his mouth and used his now free hand to rest on Kurts lap, "Im not gonna make you do anything you dont want to do. And trust me, we wont get caught anyhow. I want to spend some time with you. Youre my old pal." He quickly pulled out the cigarette and puffed out the smoke.

Kurt looked away from Blaine so the bad boy couldnt see his blush. However, he still felt like this was a bad idea. It could lead him down the wrong path.

Blaine put out his cigarette in the cup holder in front of the control panel just before they pulled into the school. He turned the ignition off and faced Kurt, "Think about it." He said before stepping out of the car.

"I totally saw you get out of the same car as Anderson." The little girl who said that startled Kurt as he stood at his locker. He closed the door and saw his friend Rachel standing there with wide eyes and mix of giddy and panic in them, "Please tell me he didnt have you turned too!"

Kurt furrowed his eyebrows as he stared at his friend, "No. Were neighbors you know. Its natural to car pull."

Blaine began walking toward Kurts locker on his way to first period but stopped when he heard "car pull" He decided to stay back in listen in the shadows.

"Youve been neighbors for your entire lives," Rachel knew well, "and this is a first time for it."

"It was decided to start doing the car pull this year." Kurt said, trying to defend Blaine.

Blaine nodded to himself.

Rachel closed her eyes and breathed out, "Are you guys... you know..."

Blaine blushed. What would Kurt say?

Kurt looked appalled. Of course he liked Blaine but did Rachel need to know? He acted as if the idea was sickening, "No! Of course not! How could you assume something like that!? I would never love Blaine like that!"

Blaines mouth fell. He almost felt a lump in his throat, almost. He was just angry now. He didnt even try to be sad. He really liked Kurt and hoped Kurt felt the same. He thought Kurt felt the same, anyway. Blaine heard enough and decided to try and find another way up to his class.

"Just please watch out. Blaine and his gang are bad news. You, as a neighbor, should know that." Rachel warned him. Kurt felt like saying something but nothing he could say would change her mind. Rachel walked off just as the bell rang. Kurt smiled as he hugged his books on the way to AP Biology.

To Kurts surprise Blaine was in the class before the second bell, "I ran." Blaine said simply to Kurt as Kurt took his seat, as if he could read Kurts mind. Blaine faced Kurt and opened his mouth, ready to speak, ready to tell Kurt that he no longer wanted to car pull, or want Kurt to come with him Saturday, or talk to him again. That he was mad at him, even if he didnt know why. Instead he really looked at Kurt who looked so innocent, a way that he didnt want to hurt. He never wanted to hurt Kurt. So he ended up saying, "Can we take your car tomorrow. I-I-If youre okay with it. I-I-If its okay."

Kurt blinked and smiled slightly, "Okay..." He deadpanned.

"Okay!" Blaine said, a little too excitedly that had Kurt giving him a quizzical stare, "I-I-Im-" He had no cover up. Kurt shook his head as the bell rang and Misses Laval walked in. Kurt looked away from Blaine and up at the front of the class.

Okay, Blaine was upset with Kurt, but still...

Kurt was already in his running car when Blaine hopped in, "You got it working." He smiled then looked outside the window.

"Turns out it just needed a jump start." Kurt said bluntly.

"Thats good." Blaine nodded, still not looking at Kurt.

Kurt backed out of his driveway and began their travel to the school, "I thought that its my turn to listen to the music that I want to listen to." Kurt said. Blaine nodded again, "And tomorrow? What are our plans for tomorrow?" Kurt asked.

"Hmm..." Blaine looked back at Kurt now, "Oh! Tomorrow! Yeah, Im not too-"

"Are we going to car pull? Meet up somewhere?"

"Car pull." Blaine said suddenly, "I think we should car pull. I bet you dont know where Brett lives."

"Bretts!? Were going to Bretts!?" Kurt was really appalled this time. If he had known they were going to Bretts...

"As a friend of his-"

"I dont know about Bretts..."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. He was still a little mad at Kurt for not sharing the same feelings, even though it wasnt Kurts fault, so this could work. However, he still kind of wanted Kurt to go, no matter what his feelings were doing to him, "Brett is not that bad."

"Hes just as bad as you!" Kurt snapped. Blaines eyes grew wide. Kurt immediately regretted what he had just said, "No! No... I didnt mean it-"

"Come, old pal, youll see. You are right." Blaine said, not a hint of hurt in his voice, because how could he be upset over the truth? Kurt knew nothing about him and his friends

Blaine pulled a pack of Marlboros out of his back pocket, then a cigarette out of the pack and was about to put it in his mouth when Kurt stopped him, "What?" Blaine asked as if there was nothing wrong with it.

"It may be acceptable in your car but this one is mine. I dont want cigarettes in here." Blaine grumbled as he put the cigarette back in its pack and put it in his pocket, "If you dont allow me to have one on the way home Im going to be a bit grumpy."

"You cant go through withdrawal that quickly." Kurt argued.

"You can. Withdrawal can start in just a couple of hours. It can depend on your use, and I use it a lot."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "Well stop along side after pulling out of the school so you can smoke. But not in my car." The agreement was made.

Blaine had yet to bring Kurt up to Brett so he knew he couldnt hold it in during fifth period study hall with his friend.

"Yo, Blaine!" Brett exclaimed as he walked to the back of the class where Blaine sat in a desk. He took the seat next to him, "What up!?"

"Hey, Brett." Blaine said in a tough mans voice, the one that everyone was familiar with, "Im not doing much." He propped his feet on his desk.

"Not doing much?" Brett scoffed, "I heard about you and the Hummel." He said as if Blaines reply was a lie, "Spark caught you get out of the same car as him. Dude! Are you two dating!?"

Blaine put his feet back down, suddenly alarmed, "No! What the hell are you talking about!? Were neighbors! We just decided to conserve gas and car pull!" Blaine bit his bottom lip. He hoped he sounded believable, "Kurt doesnt like me like that." Is what he really said in his mind.

"Since when did you care about the environment?" Brett asked, "Just admit youre screwing Hummel!" It was nothing new to Brett that his best friend was gay, hed known for a good while now.

Blaine grabbed the edge of his desk so he wouldnt stand and cause a scene, "Im not fucking anybody, Brett. Kurt and I are friends!" Wow, that was a first. Theyve never considered themselves "friends" before, "We started a new thing and it works. Tell Spark that. By the way, hes coming over tomorrow, Kurt is. I hope you dont mind."

Brett snorted, "So just friends. Blaine do you really think I dont know you. Youre my goddamn best friend, I know of your little crush on that singing, dancing marionette."

Blaine opened his mouth ready to respond but instead stood up sharply and stormed out of the room, his displeased teacher calling after him the entire time.

As Blaine wandered around the hallway the rest of that period he tried coming up with reasons as to how Brett knew about his feelings toward Kurt. He never brought it up that he could remember. Blaine wondered if he mentioned it one time when he was drunk but didnt remember for exactly that reason, he was drunk? He figured maybe Brett was a mind-reader and found out that way? Possibly he was a worse liar than he thought. That was the most realistic choice he could come up with. That had to be it. He was tempted to walk back into class and ask his friend but coming back in would mean facing the consequences of his actions he was not yet ready to face. So he continued to wander the halls until the bell ring.

As he ran off to his next class he found Kurt and stopped him, "Hey, Kurt. We might have a problem today..." He trailed off.

"And why?"

"I kind of walked out of last period so Im most likely gonna get an after school detention today."

Kurt sighed with irritation at his acquaintance for doing so, "Whyd you walk out of that class?"

"Brett pissed me off." Blaine mumbled. Kurt just made out what he said and nodded, "Its not the best excuse but if youd just heard what he said you wouldve walked out too." He tried to explain.

Kurt crossed his arms, "And what did Brett say?"

Blaine felt as if his heart stopped completely. How was he supposed to explain this to Kurt, "Oh, he just said something that was really worthy of ticking me off. I dont want you to get into that drama..."

"Drama? Id never expect-"

Blaine cut him off, "Dont you understand why a stereotype is a stereotype?" Blaine was kind of getting mad at Kurt now too, "They make everybody believe in something thats not always true. They based it off a small portion of the group and expect everyone else to be like that. Well, its not always true! I thought you were different than them, Kurt. But it turns out, youre exactly like them." Without hearing another word out of Kurt, and not wanting to, Blaine stormed off to his next class.

As Blaine prophesied, he was caught in detention after school. It wasnt quite where he imagined his day going, but at least he wasnt alone. Another boy was in there too. A boy he didnt quite recognize. Blaine assumed he was a freshman and just forgot about him and instead focused on Kurt. What exactly was Kurt going to do as he waited for him to get out? Kurt was Blaines ride after all.

Misses Gilligan, the teacher running detention today, walked in, "Alright, detention has begun. Turn in your phones and no talking!" Blaine turned off his phone and handed it up to the teacher, as did the other kid and they returned to their seats.

The first half hour Misses Gilligan sat at her desk grading papers and occasionally looking up at the two students who sat as far away from each other as possible. Blaine sat in the very front and watched the clock with nothing else to do. The other boy sat in the back and read a book.

Then, with detention half over, Misses Gilligan stood up, "Ill be right back. You two behave while Im gone." Blaine scoffed, whats he to do with only a freshman in the room. Its not like he even knew the boy. Misses Gilligan walked out of the room and once she was gone the boy closed his book and made his way up to the front and stood over Blaines desk.

"May I help you?" Blaine asked.

The boy extended his hand, "Owen Waters, pleasure meeting you."

Blaine wondered what this boy did to get him in detention. He seemed well behaved, dressed in kind of nerdy clothing, and, well, read!

Blaine took Owens hand in his and shook it, "Blaine Anderson."

Owen took the desk next to Blaine, "Im a new transfer here, got kicked out of my old school, Dalton Academy, for bullying. There very strict on that rule. So... here I am and now spending time in detention for breaking a kids nose who tried to make my first day quite unpleasant."

Blaine smiled a little. He was impressed with this kid actually, "Cool, kid, cool!"

"I best be heading back to my desk but I hope you and I can talk again soon." He slipped a paper on to Blaines desk with a smile then walked back over.

Blaine read the paper, it was Owens phone number. Blaine folded it up and stuffed in his jean pocket.

The entire time Blaine was in detention Kurt decided to stay back and help Mister Schuester organize some sheet music and grade some Spanish homework.

Just as he was about ready to head out Blaine had already found him. He looked anxious standing at the doorway as Kurt walked over to him. Kurt knew that he probably just needed a cigarette, he hadnt had one all day.

"Ready to go? Well just pull out of the parking lot and go a little down the street then well pull off to the side and Ill let you out for a smoke."

"Yeah. Do you have room for one more?" Blaine asked as he wrapped an arm around Kurts waist.

"Yes, its a Navigator, it seats five!" Kurt replied as they started walking down the hallway and before he could ask Kurt saw a boy standing at the main entrance, "Are we taking him?"

"Yes. Kurt, this is Owen. He needs a ride home too." Blaine replied.

Kurt and Owen shook hands as Owen spoke, "Hi, Kurt, did he say? Pleasure to meet you."

"My friend, Kurt here will be more than happy to give you a ride." Blaine said. Kurt looked at Blaine in astonishment. Theyve never referred to each other as "friend" before so he was a little surprised when Blaine used the term. Did Blaine really consider Kurt his friend? Up until then Blaine has always called Kurt "old pal" which kind of made him feel like Nick Carraway when Gatsby would call him "old sport."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. Youre going to need to give me directions to your house though."

"Oh..." Owen looked over to Blaine, "As was actually wondering if I could go over to Blaines?"

Blaine shrugged, "Doesnt matter to me."

Kurt forced a smile, "Well that makes things easy, doesnt it?" He already had a funny feeling about this Owen even though he had only just met the boy.

The entire drive home Owen kept trying to make small talk with Kurt in the back seat of the car.

"So Blaine was talking about you on our way down to... the choir room? He told me you were in the schools Glee Club and that you live right next door to him."

The faux smile never left Kurts face, "Thats so nice!" He exclaimed then took his eyes off the road real quick to look at Blaine who was silent on the matter, "Did he say anything else?"

"No, by that time he asked me to meet him at the front entrance as he picked you up. He said he figured you might have been doing something for the Spanish teacher who is also your Glee Club director."

"Were called the New Directions." Kurt told him, "We prefer being called by our proper names."

"Glee Club seems interesting. We had one at my old school, they call themselves the Warblers. They are big there."

"The New Directions dont have that much reputation at our school. Theyre kind of a lacking stock here. Sorry, Kurt..." Oh, so now he something to say and thats what he has to say?

"Oh..."

"I know were not the most favored kids in the school but we all kind of enjoy it for the fun of singing and performing." Kurt said, "Were kind of family, really. We all just kind of love each other even though theres always something drama relating going on in there."

"That kind of sucks." Owen said, "So... you seem like close friends." He went on as he started a new topic, to Kurts reluctance.

"Not that close." Kurt said before pulling off to the side of the road. Blaine stepped out.

"Oh, what are we stopping here for?" Owen asked.

"A break. Blaine will die if he doesnt have a cigarette so if you want to stretch your legs you can do so right now." Kurt told him. Owen smiled and stepped out himself, "You can take a walk and dont come back." He mumbled.

Owen popped his head back in the car, "Did you say something?"

"No, nothing." Kurt shook his head.

When they pulled into Kurts driveway the three boys jumped out of the Navigator and Owen spoke up, "Well that was a fun car ride. Im so glad you allowed me to come over today, Blaine. I think the three of us could make excellent friends!"

"Yeah... Im gonna head inside now but it was a pleasure meeting you, Owen." Kurt said between gritted teeth with the fake smile still on his face before turning and heading into his house. Blaine lead Owen into his home.

Kurt walked up to his room and stared out at the window. It wasnt the best view, staring back at him was another window from the Andersons house.

Whenever something was troubling Kurt he would just come upstairs and stare out this window as he lost himself in his thoughts. Today he had to contemplate this Owen. Kurt was nothing short of jealous at Owen. He didnt seem like much of a threat considering he was really friendly meeting, a little annoying, but friendly. He didnt seem like much of a threat but the way he kind of clings on to Blaine made Kurt feel a little suspicious. He wanted nothing more than to have Blaine to call his own and it was almost like Owen could be a problem in getting there.

And now as Kurt stared out this window for the thousandth time did he notice something that hasnt occurred to him before. The window across from his had a black curtain blocking its view unlike the other windows that had red, tan, or green drapes. He looked away from his window to his phone. There was something he kind of wanted to do.

"Okay, so I understand that you were kicked out of your old school just for bullying?" Blaine confirmed as he laid down on his bed.

Owen moved to sit next to him, "Yeah, I told you, Daltons very strict on that rule."

"How exactly bad was it?"

"Not bad at all. There was a guy there, Mike. He was a bit too friendly. Not in like a creepy, perverted way, but in that annoying way where he was always trying to be around you. I was able to keep my cool for a little while but it was one night that I was studying when he really made me blow my top.

"He barged right into my room. Did not even bother knocking, he just came right in! He held a board game and the first thing he did was say, I was thinking you and I could play a game of Monopoly and order a pizza. I told him I was studying then he offered my help to which I declined and nicely told him that I could do it myself and thanked him for the offer. But instead of leaving he continued to hover around me and shouted out random facts on the subject I was currently working on.

"Well that really got to me and I just snapped! I said a few choice words and kind of slapped him. I told him about my strong dislike toward him then the next day he reported it to the office as a form of bullying so I was kicked out.

"I think the reason he did that was because he had a crush on him. Mike and I were the only two gay kids in our grade."

"Up until you came here Kurt and I were the only out gay kids in the school." Blaine said and noticed Owens eyes getting wide with a small twinkle in them. Then his cell phone rang. Blaine pulled it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID. It was from Kurt, "What does he want?" Blaine asked curiously before answering.

"Blaine! Are you in your room? If not, go there and look out your window!" Kurt sounded anxious on the other side of the line but Blaine did as he was told and stood from the bed and to the window. He pulled back his curtain and noticed Kurt staring back at him from the window across from his. They both hung up and then opened their windows, "It only took me seventeen years to figure it out but our rooms are across from each other." And for a moment he forgot about Owen.

"What? Are we going to hold friendly conversations from here or something?"

"Well-"

"Blaine? Whats going on?" Owen asked as he approached the window and stood next to Blaine. Kurts heart dropped as he suddenly remember that Owen was there.

"Kurt discovered something new." Blaine replied referring between the two windows.

"Thats great! Hey, maybe you can come over." Owen suggested, "If its alright with Blaine."

"Yeah! Please, wont you join us, Kurt?"

Kurt was a bit hesitant. He hasnt been in the Andersons house for years but he nodded and told the pair that hed be over in a few before closing his window.

Misses Anderson answered the front door, "Oh, Kurt, its you!" She exclaimed, "Look at you. I know we live right next door but it still feels like forever since I last saw you. Youve gotten so big!"

"Yeah... Blaine invited me over."

"Hes up in his room with a new friend. Heaven knows what theyre doing up there." She looked up at the stairs behind her. She moved so Kurt could come in.

Kurt was quick to run up the stairs and to figure which door led to Blaines room. He let himself in and found Owen and Blaine sitting on Blaines bed.

The first person to speak was Blaine, "Owen is joining us tomorrow. Isnt that great!?"