Brittany was perpetually busy, because every time Kurt tried to get hold of her to take her the dress and make sure it fit, she had something planned already. He fully expected her to sleep late, because that was what he’d grown accustomed to with Blaine, but it seemed like as soon as she was awake she was off doing something  with no time to spare. Texts were exchanged and she knew he had it for her, but the problem was arranging a meeting. He didn’t know what she did when she wasn’t at the bar, but apparently it was a lot. It didn’t help that Kurt was busy except for nights and weekends, and he wasn’t about to hand over the dress at a bar.

It took a bit of finagling and advanced notice, but he managed to pin her down.

From Brittany:
Next Saturday, Central Park! I have a thing but there’s a break in the middle. Good?

There were more details provided afterward, thankfully, as Kurt didn’t exactly want to be wandering around Central Park trying to find her for his entire Saturday. It wasn’t the worst situation, considering how he wanted to get pictures to put in his portfolio and he couldn’t picture a better place than Central Park. It was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and he was glad she’d needed to be there.

He made his way through the park, garment bag slung over his shoulder, making his way to the area she’d given him. There was music playing – but then again when wasn’t there in the park? – and it got louder the closer he got. His mind was whirring with possibilities of what Brittany was doing there that day, but when he turned the corner he realized he hadn’t even come close.

There was some sort of dance recital going on, spectators sitting on blankets spread across the ground. Kurt stood back, watching the children who were dancing.  None of them could have been older than twelve, but they were incredible. It was enough to almost make him forget why he’d gone there in the first place, until the piece ended and Brittany hopped up from where she’d been sitting in the front row.

“Okay everybody, we’re going to have a little intermission and then we’ll be back with the rest,” she announced to the people sitting there. “Let’s say fifteen minutes? See you back here then!” Kurt raised his hand in a little wave as her gaze swept over the crowd, and her face lit up. She waved back and leaned down to say something to someone next to where she’d been sitting, and then wove her way back to where he was standing. “Kurt! I’m so glad you made it. You found us okay, right?”

“I did,” Kurt confirmed, gesturing around at the general area. “What is all this?”

“Oh, well, dance classes… we like to do performances outside when the weather’s nice,” Brittany said, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “Makes it feel less stuffy. Plus it’s pretty!”

“You teach?”

“Yep! Well, and dance. I teach the little kids, mostly. Did you see them? They were toward the beginning.” Kurt shook his head, but she just shrugged. “Oh well! Is that…” She pointed to the garment bag, her eyes widening. “Can I see?”

“Of course you can,” Kurt replied, pulling the bag up to hold in front of him. “Unzip?” Brittany nodded, catching the zipper between her index finger and thumb and carefully pulling it down. Her eyes widened even more as she saw the dress inside, and her gaze flitted up to Kurt’s for a moment before going back to the dress.

“Kurt…” she whispered, hesitantly brushing her fingers over the fabric. “It’s so pretty.” She had such a look of wonder in her eyes, and Kurt couldn’t help but feel proud of the fact that he’d done that. “I—”

“Brittany!” They both glanced over to find whoever had yelled her name. It was a taller man, lanky but clearly strong, who was frowning down at portable sound system they’d been using. “I can’t find the music we need.”

“Just a sec, Mike!” Brittany called back, her brow furrowing as she looked back to Kurt. “I’m sorry, I thought I’d have some more time, I know you want pictures. Maybe…”

“Are you busy right after this? I can stay, I don’t have any plans. I was enjoying the show before it stopped.” Her face lit up again, and she nodded.

“Yes! Oh, that’s so wonderful that you can stay. You can sit up with us if you want, me and Mike. There’s room on our blanket.” She carefully zipped up the garment bag and took his hand, leading him over to the front of the rows of blankets and people. “Mike, this is Kurt! Kurt, Mike.”

“Nice to meet you,” Mike greeted him with a small salute, and then gestured down to the stereo. “I can’t find it.”

“I know it’s on there,” Brittany countered, her brow furrowing. “Kurt, make yourself comfy.” She moved over to Mike and crouched down, starting to press buttons.

It was an interesting scene to watch, especially with children dressed in various outfits and costumes milling about behind them, and Kurt sat cross-legged on the blanket, draping the garment bag over his legs as he watched on. Apparently they found it, because Brittany made a triumphant kind of sound, and Mike pumped his fist up into the air. Kurt double checked his phone to make sure it was on silent as they settled in on the blanket with him, starting the music for the first group up after the intermission.

Kurt was glad he stayed. The older kids that performed were really something to watch, so fully committed and flowing with the music. He’d expected for them to be good, considering how the younger ones had been, but that didn’t stop him from being entirely impressed. There weren’t any announcements between pieces, just applause and a brief pause before the next group would get up and go. It felt natural, like everything was falling into place as it wanted to.

What he hadn’t expected was Brittany getting up and moving onto the makeshift stage. She’d said she danced, but somehow that hadn’t registered with him as something that would be happening. Mike got to his feet as well, and Kurt almost held his breath while he waited for the music to start. There was something about the expression on their faces, the pure concentration and rawness in how they were looking at each other, that made him know that he was in for something special.

Anything the kids had done before then, it was nothing compared to the way Brittany and Mike moved. They looked like an extension of the music, a steady push-pull of dancing together and apart. There was unadulterated trust in the way they shifted around, how Mike could toss her away and Brittany would just let him, how she could blindly throw herself into the air and he would be right there to catch her. It was, and Kurt hated himself for thinking in clichés but there was no other way to describe it, like watching art in motion.

The music ended and Kurt wished it would keep going on. Mike and Brittany moved with such fluidity and ease that he felt like he could sit and watch them all day. He knew not everyone got the jobs they wanted when they came to New York, especially not where artists and performers were concerned, but he couldn’t believe that Brittany made her living as a bartender and not a dancer. She said she taught, so there was that, but it wasn’t the same. Then again, Kurt knew very little about Brittany, as clearly evidenced by everything about that afternoon, so maybe she was doing exactly what she wanted to do.

“That was incredible,” Kurt said when she came back over, his voice low as to not interrupt Mike, who was making some closing comments to the crowd – to the parents of the kids who had performed.

“Thanks,” Brittany replied, practically beaming. “I have to help pack things up but then I’m all yours, okay? Mike said he can get most of it, I just need to do a little.”

“No, of course.” Kurt nodded as people started getting up, and Brittany offered him a smile before going back over to help pack the speakers away. He pulled out his phone to check his email while he waited, answering one or two reminders and requests from his boss before a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Brittany standing over top of him. “Done already?”

“Yep! I can change in the back of our van before it gets filled up with stuff, and that way we don’t have to try and find a bathroom or something.” She gestured over to the edge of the area, where Mike was starting to compile everything beside a utility van. Kurt never imagined one of his designs being thrown on in the back of a car, but it would work, so he nodded and got to his feet, helping her gather the blanket before walking over.

“I’ll be quick, I promise,” Brittany said to Mike, taking the garment bag from Kurt and climbing in through the back doors of the van.

“No problem,” Mike replied, shutting them behind her and turning to look at Kurt, raising an eyebrow. “So… you know Brit how?”

“We’re friends,” Kurt supplied, unsure of exactly how to explain any of it, not that he felt like he needed to. “We met a few weeks ago, and she’s doing me a favor. You guys were amazing, by the way.”

“Thanks. Sorry, I wasn’t trying to be rude, it’s just that I can’t remember the last time Brittany was friends with someone and hadn’t mentioned them to me.” Mike ran his hand through his hair, shrugging. “We see each other almost every day, so usually it’s a running commentary about people, but she hasn’t ever said anything about you.”

“Oh. Well, I don’t…” Kurt wasn’t sure how to respond. He considered them friends, or at least slightly above acquaintances. Maybe it was because he’d told her the dress had to be a secret, but he couldn’t be sure. Either way, it didn’t matter, because the doors to the van swung open again.

Brittany looked stunning, if not a little hesitant, and Mike seemed completely derailed from whatever he’d been trying to get out of Kurt. He held out his hand for her to hold as she carefully stepped down, and Kurt bit his lip with a smile. That was one of the moments he would always live for – that look of complete awe that came with someone seeing something he created for the first time. It was the look Brittany had when she’d seen the dress at first, and it was written all over Mike’s face as he looked at her.

“How does it feel?” Kurt asked, tilting his head and letting his gaze sweep over her, looking at the fit.

“Incredible,” Brittany murmured, her fingertips smoothing over the fabric. He’d meant more in terms of whether it was too loose or tight, but he would take ‘incredible’ as a confirmation that it was fine. “Should we go do pictures?”

“Yes, if you please,” Kurt said, nodding. “I’ll be quick, I know you have work later.”

“No, it’s okay, I don’t want to go, I just want to play around in my dress all day,” Brittany replied, spinning a little and watching the skirt fan out. She reached out for Kurt’s hand and laced their fingers together before leaning up to give Mike a quick peck on the cheek. “I’ll be by later and I’ll make sure everything gets put back!”

Kurt walked with her back into the heart of the park. It had been far too long since he’d seen one of his designs on an actual person and not just a mannequin, and he was a little distracted by watching the fabric shift with each movement Brittany made or with any breeze than came through the path. As much as he’d felt crushed when his musical theatre dreams had gone up in flames, he knew he couldn’t possibly regret the life he’d chosen. The feeling he got when he saw his thoughts and ideas come to fruition and when they worked, there was nothing that could beat that. Seeing Brittany practically skip along beside him in a dress that he’d created, it was reminder enough of how much he loved what he did.

“Here seems good,” he said, once they’d gotten to a fairly unoccupied area. The sun was streaming in through the trees and he pulled his hand away from Brittany’s so he could dig his camera out of his satchel.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, taking a few steps away and pirouetting with a soft laugh. “This is so much fun!”

“If you just want to stand for a minute, so I can get a few shots of it just normally, and then… do whatever you want, I guess?”

“Okay!” Brittany took a few steps out and tossed her hair over her shoulders, standing still. Kurt took a few pictures, moving around to get all the different angles and sides. He’d taken pictures of it on a dress frame, of course, but it was different on an actual person. It was much more real. He was glad that he’d made it the way that he did, loose and flowing and perfect for moving, now that he knew she danced. All he’d been going with was that Blaine had said her favorite dress was perfect for running through the park.

“Can I move?” Brittany whispered when he stopped, and he quickly went through the pictures he’d taken to make sure they were all in focus. After he nodded, she grinned. “I feel like I’m on America’s Next Top Model.”

“Well then you’d better give me some fierce looks,” Kurt replied, a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth.

“I can do that,” Brittany said seriously, and she wasn’t lying.

Kurt wasn’t sure how she went so quickly from bouncing on the balls of her feet like she was bubbling over with energy to serving up some ridiculously good model poses, but she did. He barely even had to give her any direction, and he filed that away for future use. If ever he needed someone to model something for him, he was definitely going to give her a call. Tyra would have been proud, he was sure, and when he said as much to Brittany, she beamed.

“You’ll have to send me some of those.” Brittany peeked over his shoulder as he scanned through the pictures to show her. “Please?”

“Of course, just text me your email later,” Kurt replied, nodding before slipping his camera back down into his satchel.

“Kurt, I can’t… I can’t thank you enough,” Brittany said, her hands resting on his shoulders briefly before sliding down to catch both his hands in hers. “This is the most beautiful thing, and I can’t believe you made it for me. I still can’t even believe you drew it for me and now it’s real and it’s so perfect.”

“Just promise me you’ll put it to good use.” Kurt squeezed her hands and smiled. “You look gorgeous, Brittany.”

“I’m going to wear it everywhere.” She swished her hips back and forth, making the skirt fly out to the sides, before letting go of her hands to wrap her arms around him in a tight hug. “So much fun.”

Kurt left the park with a little extra bounce in his step. He really did like making people happy, and Brittany being happy made it feel like the sun was shining extra bright and there was music playing – not that he’d ever be able to describe that if someone asked him, but her smile seemed to light up everything in the nearby vicinity. She was just one of those people who was supposed to be happy, and he was glad that he’d been able to add to that.

The pictures went on his laptop, filed away with the rest of his designs and also emailed off to Brittany, who had texted him her email address almost immediately. Kurt toyed with the idea of sending some to Blaine, because Blaine enjoyed his designs, but decided against it. He wasn’t sure exactly how overstepping it would all seem. They were friends, and Blaine had been the one to ask him to look in on Brittany in the first place, but he’d only asked that once. Kurt was the one who had decided to take it upon himself to be her friend, make her smile, make her a dress, for goodness sake.

How was he supposed to explain that one away? Would he have really been making that much of an effort with Brittany if he didn’t have such strong feelings about Blaine? Granted, he did his best to squish those feelings down and morph them into nothing more than friendship, because they’d met once and lived in different states and he’d been the one to declare them as friends in the first place, but still. He knew, as much as he’d like to think otherwise, that he’d done it for Blaine. Brittany was Blaine’s friend, and in making her happy that would make Blaine happy. Kurt felt selfish about the whole situation, but he had made Brittany happy. That was all that mattered in the end.

Rachel called right as he’d been about to make himself dinner, offering up a spare ticket to go see Evita, and Kurt couldn’t have asked for a better distraction from his thoughts if he’d tried. A night out on the town with his best friend was a weekend treat that hadn’t happened in a long while, and he appreciated any chance to do just that. Dressing to the nines and taking in dinner and a show with Rachel had been a luxury that happened infrequently when they’d been in school, but since Rachel started having more and more connections in the theatre world, it’d become almost a tradition.

It was enough to make Kurt think he could keep his thoughts from lingering on Blaine for another Saturday night, even if he did have dozens of texts to catch up on once he got back to his apartment after it all. And sure, he’d spent part of the performance trying to think of all the different shows he could easily see Blaine starring in because, really, he seemed like a very marketable person in terms of Broadway. Really, going out with Rachel had done nothing to help him not think about Blaine. If anything, it’d just added fuel to the fire.

Before going to bed, Kurt made a note to look at flights again and plan a trip to Ohio – to visit his dad, of course. If he ended up with an extra night in Columbus before his flight back, well, so be it.