Chapter 1

Blaine hoped he hadn't offended Kurt. He'd seemed very affronted when he'd insinuated that Blaine thought he needed help. But Blaine understood. He understood how independence was a sacred thing, something people fought long and hard for, and never seemed to be able to grasp because there were always some people who'd try to help. When all they were really doing was taking the tiny bits of self-reliance a person had left.

He watched as Kurt walked, swinging his cane lightly, watching out for something to hit. When it smacked against the corner at the end of the corridor, he turned right. He seemed to know exactly where to go, and Blaine smiled, impressed. He's obviously not someone who will have his independence taken away so easily.

Kurt stopped near a classroom and ran his hand across the wall until he found the door, and guided his fingers softly across something under the door number. Blaine assumed it must be Braille and as soon as Kurt ran his fingers across it, he turned the door handle and stepped in the room. Blaine followed silently.

"Sorry I'm late," Kurt said apologetically. "I was-"

"That's fine, Kurt," the teacher said, almost bored, not looking up from the paper he was marking. Blaine saw the class was already scribbling notes down. Kurt made his way to the back of the classroom, slightly huffily and, as he turned to pull his stool from under the lab table, Blaine saw the scowl on his face. Something stirred in his chest as he realised Kurt didn't want his loss of sight to be a reason to get away with being late. Blaine watched for a moment as the woman already sat next to Kurt began talking to him and opening a laptop. Kurt nodded and was whispering back.

"Ah, Blaine Anderson, right?" the teacher said, looking up from his paper. "Take a seat and make notes from page 59, please. We're preparing for a practical next lesson." Blaine nodded, skimming his eyes across the room. He looked towards the table where Kurt was sat, before hesitating and taking a seat on the table with a smiling Asian boy, and a brown-haired girl with a determined look on her face.

Kurt heard the shuffle of a stool being moved and someone sitting down, whispers from voices that were definitely Mike Chang and Rachel Berry, and the soft whisper from a new voice.

He had a nice voice, Kurt decided. A soft, musical ring to it- in that it sounded so bright and happy.

Kurt liked voices, and Blaine's was one of the nicest he had heard in a long time. Then again, he didn't get to hear new voices often. Perhaps it was the change that he liked.

When Mrs Rose, the middle-aged woman whose job it was to help Kurt through lessons, said he was finished, he saved his work, and she took the computer off him.

"I'll get this put into Braille for you," she said, as he heard her shuffling around with her bag and computer.

"Thanks," Kurt muttered, not able to prevent the shame he felt. How helpless he was. No matter how hard he pushed for his own independence, he'd never get his work done without someone there to turn his notes into something he could understand.

Except, Mrs Rose was understanding; in his freshman year, she'd offered to walk him to lessons and when he'd asked her not to, she had understood, and began making her own way, meeting him there.

He waited outside the classroom until the bell rang, drumming his cane idly against the wall, humming a mindless tune. When the bell rang, the class filed out, and Kurt waited to hear familiar voices.

"...and if you can sing, I strongly recommend you join Glee club. We're on the way to Regionals in a couple of months and we can always use-"

"Rachel," Kurt cut in, and she went quiet. "You aren't trying to recruit another poor person to join that club of yours, are you?" He heard Rachel sniff indignantly.

"Glee is fun," Rachel insisted. "And if you weren't so stubborn, you'd have joined. You'd actually provide some competition for me. Sorry, Mike," she added. Kurt assumed Mike shrugged, not being able to hear a response.

"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Kurt smiled. "But for the billionth time- no, thank you." And although he couldn't see it, he could almost imagine the scowl on Rachel's face. Something similar to the 8-year-old Rachel Berry, her face a little older. If Kurt tried hard enough, he could almost see it.

As they began to walk to lunch, he heard the voice of the person Rachel must have been talking to.

"I'd really like to, actually," the voice said. "Join Glee."

Blaine.

Kurt almost came to a stop, but managed to carry on, forcing himself not to look behind just so he could hear Blaine's voice better.

Rachel almost squealed and clapped her hands. "You should sit with us!" she exclaimed. "Meet the rest of the club!" Kurt inwardly groaned, and let Rachel, Mike and Blaine take over him, and followed their footsteps and bright chatter.

He guessed that would mean he'd be eating alone. He didn't mind all that much. The noise of the cafeteria, the hustle and bustle, was usually too much for him so he'd bring his own lunch in. During freshman year, he'd sit in the choir room and eat, playing songs on the piano and humming happily. He didn't have any friends to talk to, but he was fine with that.

And then Glee club restarted the previous year and Kurt found his private lunch times becoming less so. A few people would come in, wanting time to practise singing, or playing an instrument. That was how he had gotten to know Rachel Berry a bit more, and became friends with Mercedes Jones and the other Glee club members.

Puckerman often called Kurt their honorary member, because he was there during breaks and lunches, listening to their singing and dancing and to them playing their guitars.

He never joined in though. As badly as he desired- as much as he wanted to desperately sing along with Rachel as she belted out Defying Gravity- he couldn't.

But now it seemed Rachel wanted to eat in the cafeteria, to introduce Blaine to the club, and Kurt couldn't bring himself to go in there.

He hadn't played the piano in a while either.

The keys beneath his fingers felt smooth and cold, yet so very welcome as he let them play, letting his eyes close, though it made no difference. He missed this. The feel of vibrations on his fingertips, running through his hands, the sound building as he played faster, surrounding him, almost drowning him as the sound increased, feeling like the only thing keeping him afloat was the music itself.

There was that something rising up inside him as he played the keys softer. Closing his eyes tighter, willing himself to remember images he hadn't seen for nine years, the soft colours of his mother's hair, her pale skin. He swore he could hear her laugh when he lost himself in the song. Could see her throw her head back, laughing, her long hair falling against her delicate shoulders. And her eyes... her eyes glistening with something he almost had his finger on-

Something moved in the doorway, and shocking him, Kurt smacked his hand on random keys and jerked them away. It was silent.

"I know someone's there! I don't appreciate being spied on!"

"I'm sorry!" the all too familiar voice answered. "I wasn't spying, Kurt, I promise. I only just got here and heard you play." Kurt shifted uncomfortably, closing his arms across his chest.

"What are you doing here?" Kurt snapped. "Shouldn't you be at lunch meeting the Glee club?"

"I met them," Blaine answered, his voice hadn't moved from the place he had been standing before.

"Oh? And what do you think?" Kurt asked, mildly interested.

"They seem nice," he said, and Kurt suppressed a snort, "But for a group of misfits and unpopular kids... they're all quite attractive." Kurt allowed a laugh to escape and smiled in the direction he believed Blaine to be. He heard a small laugh from that direction.

"When I turned around and you weren't there, I asked Mike where you'd gone," he continued, his voice moving slowly as he steadily made his way close. "And he said you usually have lunch here."

"Yes," Kurt confirmed. "Sometimes they join me, sometimes they have better things to do," he added in what he hoped was an emotionless voice.

"I thought you might be lonely," Blaine said softly.

"I'm not lonely," Kurt countered sharply. Blaine remained silent and Kurt was under the impression he was looking over him.

"It was beautiful," he finally said, his voice suddenly too close, too near, as Blaine leant against the piano. "What you were playing. It was lovely."

"It was only simple," Kurt said keeping his arms tucked across his chest even though his hand was itching to reach across to the keys.

"I thought it was astounding," Blaine replied, a smile to his voice, and the honesty in it was so present, he sounded so sincere; it forced Kurt to look up at him.

"I'm no Stevie Wonder," he whispered, letting his arms unfold, but not touching the keys. Blaine was quiet, and Kurt once again was under the impression he was being watched. They stayed in silence for a long moment, and Kurt couldn't stop himself from listening to the soft breathing from Blaine. He felt oddly comfortable, which he never usually did in silence.

"Do you know the Lima Bean?" Blaine asked, randomly. Kurt could imagine him, head bent down, looking at the vast blackness of the piano, perhaps studying his reflection without thought, mindlessly letting the question slip.

"Yes, I do," Kurt said.

"Well, would you like to maybe... um... come out for coffee with me?" he asked quite quickly. "After school?" Kurt's breath caught in his throat. He folded his arms again, and shifted himself slightly.

Going out with someone he'd only just met. He didn't know what this boy was actually like, or whether he'd be safe to go out with or if he could trust him.

But he felt like he could trust him. Somewhere, he felt like he could easily spend time with him. That wasn't right though because Kurt never felt like that. Kurt took his time to trust, he didn't let himself make friends so easily because they held so much over him and could turn against him so fast. He certainly couldn't desire to be friends with someone he bumped into only a few hours before.

"I... um... I don't know," Kurt answered, not looking up. "Today?"

"Only... only if you want," Blaine sounded so nervous, it almost broke Kurt's heart. "You don't have to. I just thought that-" he cut off for a second- "I just thought you seemed like a nice guy, Kurt. You seem really cool."

Kurt bit the inside of his lip and cursed himself for feeling sympathy. He couldn't remember the last time someone had said Kurt seemed like a cool person. In fact he didn't think he'd ever been. He was too different, too strange, too obviously gay to ever be considered the cool guy.

And what if Blaine knew this, and was playing a cruel joke on him. He didn't know him. He couldn't see him or whether he wore a letterman's jacket and a cocky grin.

But that isn't how you see people, Kurt Hummel, he thought to himself angrily, thinking back to how Blaine's voice sounded. How soft, how honest, and musical and bright and... sincere.

"No... no," Kurt said hurriedly. "I'd love to, actually. I haven't been out for coffee in a while," he said, trying to sound bright. "And you seem like a nice guy too."

"Okay," Blaine laughed, and Kurt could almost feel the relief rolling off him. "So do you want to go there right after school or drop your bags off at home first?"

And, God, he sounded so happy, his voice lighter, breathier, that Kurt smiled in spite of himself.

"Well I need to go home and get something first," Kurt told him. "But we can meet at... half past four?"

"Half four," Blaine agreed.

A large part of Kurt liked to think Blaine was grinning dopily.