“Fuck!”

A loud crashing noise in the hallway followed by some more cursing startled Blaine from his conversation with his sister. He looked towards the front door as if that would tell him anything, but the sounds didn’t seem to come any closer. 

“Can you watch Elle for a second?” he asked Rachel, who looked as concerned as he felt. “I’m gonna go check out what that was.”

“Of course,” Rachel said as she shooed him off. “Perfect time for Elle and I to practice our auntie-niece duet, right, sweetie?”

Blaine’s daughter looked up from where she had been coloring at her little crafts table in the corner and gave Rachel the most long-suffering look her seven-year-old self was capable of. “Fine, but only if I get to be Elsa this time. You’re always hogging the high notes.”

Blaine snorted and gave Rachel a knowing look before peeking through the peephole. “I think someone’s finally moving in next door, judging by the boxes stacked in the hallway. I’ll be right back.”

The sound of the door opening seemed to alert the neighbor to Blaine’s presence, and he looked up in alarm. “Oh my god, did I disturb you? I did, didn’t I? I’m so sorry!” he rambled with wide eyes, running a hand through his already messy hair. “Oh god, you must think I’m insane. What a way to make a good first impression on the neighbors.” 

Seeing the man get more frazzled the longer he talked, Blaine laughed and interrupted him. “Don’t worry about it, you’re fine. I was just checking to see if everything’s okay.” 

“Okay? Well, no. I can’t say I would describe this as okay in any way… My friend convinced me to let his buddies move all my stuff, and I figured there’d be no harm in it, right? He vouched for them, and it’d be a lot cheaper than getting an official moving company and—god, why is life so damn expensive? Turns out, maybe I should have gone for the bigger expense, ‘cause then all our stuff wouldn't be dumped all across the hallway like this, and I wouldn’t be embarrassing myself in front of any cute neighbors!”

A loud farting noise came from behind the stressed neighbor, soon followed by a stink that Blaine was more than familiar with. 

“Ah shit. As if it wasn’t enough for me to embarrass myself, now you’re subjected to the poop factory also known as my kid, who’s as adorable as he is stinky.” The man facepalmed and turned big pleading eyes on Blaine. “I promise, we’re actually very normal people, honestly.” 

Blaine laughed and held out his hand. “I believe you. My daughter has been known to let out her own unholy smells on occasion. My name’s Blaine Anderson, and it appears I’m your next-door neighbor.”

“Nice to meet you, Blaine. I’m Kurt Hummel, and this weapon of stinky mass destruction is my son, Mateo. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna gather whatever’s left of my dignity and find somewhere to change Mattie’s diaper before I deal with all these boxes.” 

“Would you like some help? You could use my place to change him, and I’ll give you a hand carrying those in.”

Kurt exhaled roughly and pushed Mateo’s stroller past a pile of boxes. “Only if you’ll let me treat you to dinner as a thank you and let me make a better first impression when I’m more settled in.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Blaine ducked his head and looked him up and down. “I kinda like the impression I’m getting right now…”