Kurt’s playing with his teapot set in the front garden. He often plays alone, partly because when he plays with other people they don’t do it right and he becomes frustrated and quits, but mostly because not many people want to play with him. The boys at his school laugh at him for liking dolls, and the girls only let him play if they’re one person short, because ‘boys and girls don’t play together’. But if he can’t play with girls, and the boys only laugh at him, who can he play with?
He’s grown used to playing by himself, but that doesn’t mean he always likes to.
He’s so engrossed in pouring another cup of tea for his dolly that he doesn’t even notice the blonde boy watching him at the fence until he speaks up.
‘Hi there!’ He greets him, grinning at him happily.
‘Aah!’ Kurt cries, spilling ‘tea’ onto the table. (It’s really just blackcurrant juice, since his mom doesn’t let him play with hot drinks, and cold tea doesn’t taste all that nice).
‘Oops, sorry!’ The boy giggles. ‘I didn’t mean to scare you.’
Kurt eyes him suspiciously. ‘Who are you?’
‘I’m Jeff. What’s your name?’
‘Kurt.’
‘Hi Kurt. Watcha doing?’
‘Oh, nothing,’ Kurt shrugs the question off, embarrassed. ‘You’ll think it’s stupid.’
‘I won’t, promise.’
Kurt inspects him for a second. How can he promise if he doesn’t even know what Kurt’s doing? But Jeff seems nice enough, and Kurt does want someone to talk to...
‘I’m playing with my dolls.’ He mumbles.
He expects Jeff to scrunch his nose up in distaste and say something along the lines of, ‘but dolls are for girls. You shouldn’t play with dolls.’ Instead, Jeff just smiles and says, ‘cool. I don’t really play with dollies, unless Blaine comes round and asks to use my sister’s.’
‘Y-you play with dolls too?’ Kurt breathes, not sure he’s hearing right. Jeff just nods as if it means nothing.
‘Well, are you any good at it?’ The brown haired boy asks, excited at the prospect of a new friend.
‘I’m okay, but Blaine’s better,’ Jeff shrugs.
‘You-you can come in, you know,’ Kurt mumbles hopefully, to which the blonde grins and rushes through the gate.

They spend the next twenty minutes drinking tea and making up games before Kurt asks the question that’s been on his mind ever since they first spoke of dolls.
‘So who’s Blaine?’
Jeff’s eyes light up. ‘Oh, he’s my friend! He’s really cool. Well, all my friends are cool, and I like Nick the most, but Blaine’s awesome too. He likes playing with dolls and stuff, too. More than me.’
‘Wow,’ the other boy breathes. ‘I’d like to meet him.’
‘It’s his birthday next week. You should come to the party!’
‘Are-are you sure?’ Kurt had never been invited to a birthday party before, unless the kid’s parents forced them to. It’s weird. Different. Nice.
‘Totally! He likes meeting new people. We all do.’
‘Okay then,’ Kurt grins, before picking up the teapot again. ‘More tea?’
Kurt’s stood at Blaine’s front door with Jeff and Jeff’s mom, clutching a present and looking nervous.
‘Are you sure it’s okay for me to come?’ Kurt asks for the millionth time.
‘It’s fine, sweetie,’ Jeff’s mom reassures him. ‘I already asked Blaine’s parents.’
But that isn’t really what Kurt was worried about – he’s scared that the other kids would be mean to him.
‘Don’t worry, Kurt,’ Jeff grins. ‘My friends are super nice.’
Blaine’s mom opens the door and ushers them in, calling Blaine’s name before turning back to chat with Jeff’s mother.
A little boy with curly hair and an excited look on his face comes hurtling down the hall, halting in front of Jeff and Kurt. His eyes are brown and Kurt gets a funny, twisty feeling in his tummy when he looks into them.
‘Hey!’ The boy greets his friend.
‘Hey Blaine! Happy birthday,’ Jeff says happily. ‘My mom gave your mom a card.’
Blaine’s expression dampens a little – the change is so slight that Jeff doesn’t even pick up on it; Kurt does. ‘Thanks a lot!’ He says politely.
It’s at that point that he finally notices Kurt. ‘Hi,’ he said, staring at the boy. The twisty feeling intensifies.
‘Hello,’ Kurt murmurs shyly, staring at his feet.
‘I’m Blaine,’ he apparently doesn’t feel shy meeting new people at all.
‘I’m Kurt,’ he chances a look up and smiles weakly. Blaine beams back.
‘I’m gunna go find Nick. See ya later!’ Jeff speeds off before Kurt can even follow him.
He turns around to find that Jeff and Blaine’s moms had both left, too. There’s no one else around.
The brunette looks back at Blaine with a stricken expression. Now what?
‘I, uh, got you a present,’ Kurt mutters, staring at his shoes again and holding out his arms, presenting the box to Blaine.
Blaine doesn’t say anything for a minute, doesn’t even accept the gift. Kurt glances up again to find a shocked expression on the other boy’s face.
‘Is... something wrong?’ He asks, his stomach twisting up, afraid that he’s messed up already.
‘I don’t normally get presents,’ Blaine breathes, still looking at the box, dumbfounded. ‘My mom and dad ask my friends’ parents to put money in my...’ he seems to have trouble with the word for a minute, ‘truss fund.’
‘What’s a truss fund?’ Kurt asks curiously.
Blaine shrugs. ‘I dunno.’
‘Oh. Well I can ask my mommy for some money for your... truss fund instead if you’d like.’
‘No!’ Blaine cries quickly, then blushes. ‘Um, I mean... no thank you. I get presents off my parents but that’s it. It’d be nice to open one more.’
‘Okay,’ Kurt grins.
Blaine smiles too and cautiously accepts the present. He walks to the nearby stairs and sits down three steps from the bottom, scooting over and patting the space next to him.
Kurt shuffles over and sits next to him, deciding that he likes Blaine. He’s nice to him and doesn’t call him names like the other boys.
‘So how old are you now?’ Kurt asks as Blaine practically attacks the gift wrap.
‘Seven!’ He states proudly. ‘You?’
‘Six and a half,’ Kurt replies conversationally.
‘I remember when I was six and a half...’ Blaine exclaims dramatically, and they both giggle, but Blaine’s is cut short when he finally gets the wrapping off.
‘Wow.’ He murmurs, looking at the mini instrument kit. It comes with a triangle, a drum and some mini cymbals. Kurt thought it looked pretty cool in the store, so begged his mom to get it for Blaine.
‘D’you like it?’ He asks hopefully, staring at Blaine. He’s not sure why he needs this boy’s approval so much, but he does.
‘I love it!’ Blaine shouts, throwing his arms round Kurt’s shoulders and grinning.
Kurt grins, too.
When Blaine finally claims his arm back, he looks kind of embarrassed. ‘Hey, Kurt, do you have a best friend?’
Kurt’s lip trembles as he shakes his head. ‘I don’t really have any friends. Apart from Jeff. I think Jeff’s my friend.’
‘I don’t have a best friend either. Jeff has Nick and David has Wes, and you can only have one best friend.’
Kurt pauses for a minute, biting his lip. ‘I-I can be your best friend, if you’d like,’ he whispers.
‘I’d like that a lot!’ Blaine decides happily before opening the musical kit and testing out the drum, handing the triangle to Kurt.
‘Shouldn’t you get back to the party?’ Kurt asks.
Blaine shrugs. ‘We will in a second, when my mom brings out the cake. But I see my other friends all the time. I wanna play with you.’
Kurt giggles. ‘Okay!’ He agrees happily, hitting the triangle with the stick and grinning at the noise.
‘This is fun! I don’t have a triangle at home,’ he tells his new best friend.
‘What kind of toys do you play with?’ Blaine asks curiously.
‘Uh... well I like drawing and my mom bought me a pretty pack of crayons. But I really like playing with my, uh, tea set,’ – Kurt’s encouraged by the grin Blaine gives him – ‘and my dolls.’ He blushes a little at that part, but figures his best friend might as well know.
Blaine looks shocked. ‘You play with dollies?’
‘Yeah,’ Kurt mumbles, cheeks turning a violent shade of red, standing in stark contrast to his milky skin. ‘It’s okay if you don’t wanna be my friend anymore.’ His eyes sting with unshed tears.
‘Huh? Why wouldn’t I want to be your friend anymore?’ Blaine asks, puzzled. ‘Best friends are forever, Kurt. It’s, like, a rule or something.’
Kurt smiles. ‘Okay, good. I like you being my best friend.’
‘Good,’ Blaine beams. ‘I wish I could play with your dollies, too. My daddy said that dolls are for girls. No offence!’ He amends quickly. ‘It’s not what I think.’ Blaine frowns, looking far too troubled for a seven year old.
‘That’s what the kids at my school say, but I just ignore them,’ Kurt smiles. He shrugs his backpack off and unzips it, pulling out two dolls. ‘These are my favourite. I bring them everywhere with me. Which one do you want to play with?’
Blaine’s eyes light up. ‘Either, I don’t mind,’ he says politely, but Kurt can see him eyeing up the doll in his left hand. She has brown hair in plaits and bright blue eyes, with a pretty green dress on. The other doll was equally pretty, with black curly hair and brown eyes, wearing a blue dress.
‘Here,’ Kurt said, handing Blaine the brunette doll. ‘Her name’s Maria, and the other is called Lara.’
‘Those are pretty names,’ Blaine muses.
‘I thought so, too.’

They play with the dolls for a while, giggling as they invent different scenarios and stories. Blaine’s really good at playing with dollies – even better than Jeff was.
‘This doll’s really pretty. Her eyes are like yours,’ Blaine smiles at Kurt, who blushes furiously.
‘You think my eyes are pretty?’ He asks breathlessly.
Blaine nods, biting his lip. ‘But I probably shouldn’t. Boys aren’t supposed to think other boys are pretty, right?’
‘Well I think you’re pretty, too,’ Kurt replies shyly.
Blaine grins. ‘I’m glad I met you, Kurt. You make me feel a lot more normal.’
Kurt giggles.
Blaine hears his mom call him for cake around twenty minutes later. He helps Kurt pack away the dollies before grabbing his hand and dragging him outside.
They all sing happy birthday and Blaine blows out the candles, scrunching up his face in concentration as he makes a wish.
Blaine has to go around and say thank you to the adults for giving him money for his truss fund, so Kurt takes the time to go and meet some more kids.
A little Asian boy runs up to him at that point, holding a toy and grinning. ‘Hello,’ he says, holding a hand out for Kurt to shake. He seems very grown up. ‘My name’s Wes.’
‘Hi! I’m Kurt,’ he replies happily. ‘What’s that you’re holding?’
Wes looks rather proud as he draws himself up to his full height. ‘It’s a gavel. They use them in important meetings when they make a decision or if they want everyone to shut up.’
‘Wow,’ Kurt breathes. ‘Do they use pink plastic ones in meetings?’
Wes’ smile falters a little. ‘No, they use wooden ones. But my mommy said that it’d be too dangerous in case I hit myself with it, or someone else.’
‘Oh.’
‘Yeah, but this one squeaks! Look!’ He holds his hand out flat and whacks the gavel off of it, eliciting a squeaking noise. Kurt giggles.
‘I like it!’
‘Thanks!’ Wes grins. ‘And when I’m older I’m going to have a real one.’ He turns around and spots another boy. ‘Oh, hey look! That’s David. He’s my best friend.’
They walk over and watch him playing with a toy vacuum for a while. It has beads in that rattle around every time the vacuum moves.
‘That’s a funny toy,’ Kurt muses. He’s seen one before and his mommy had asked if he wanted one, but he’d never seen the appeal.
‘Yeah, David likes things all clean and organised. I think he has an ODC.’
‘What’s that?’ Kurt scrunches his nose up in confusion.
‘I dunno, my dad told me once but I kinda forgot.’
A boy runs past a minute later, physically fuming. ‘No jelly and ice cream at this party? You mock me!’
Kurt giggles and Wes explains. ‘That’s Thad. He’s kinda bossy and over the top, but we love him anyway.’
The party ends and the guests start going home. Jeff’s mom is picking the two boys up in ten minutes and Kurt can’t help but feel glum.
‘Will I ever see you again?’ He asks Blaine dramatically, tears welling in his eyes.
Blaine just laughs. ‘Of course you will, silly! I asked my mommy if you could come over soon, and she said that next Friday you can!’
‘Like… like a play-date?’ Kurt asks happily.
‘Mhmm! Come over at two o’clock, okay? And could you maybe bring your dollies? My dad’s at work then, so he won’t be able to stop me.’
They both grin at each other and then Blaine reaches out to the table behind him, grabbing something. ‘Here, you can have this.’
Kurt accepts it and sees that it’s a piece of birthday cake wrapped in a napkin.
‘But I already had a piece,’ he says, going to hand it back. ‘I can’t have two pieces! No one else did.’
‘That’s because you’re my best friend, which means you get two pieces!’
Kurt blushes. ‘Thanks.’
And then Blaine’s throwing his arms around Kurt, squeezing his middle tightly and burying his head in the crook between his neck and his shoulder.
‘Oh!’ Kurt squeaks before returning the hug hesitantly. The funny, twisty feeling’s back and Kurt realises he quite enjoys it.
Jeff and Kurt leave five minutes later, the latter feeling a lot better than when he’d got there.
‘I got a best friend today,’ he announces proudly in the car on the way home.
Kurt and Blaine are best friends for a whole year, but when Blaine and his family move to Westerville it gets harder to keep in contact. They both want to talk to each other, but letters take too long and phone calls get awkward and crackly, so the friendship fades out. They both try reconnecting when they’re older, but neither knows that the other is trying, nor do they actual find each other again.

Kurt never forgets Blaine; he was there for Kurt when his mom died, when everyone else was trying to get Kurt to talk about his feelings and he was sick of it. But Blaine just opened his arms, led Kurt to his bed and let the boy snuggle up to him and cry. Blaine cried too, because he wanted to be strong – he really, truly did – but it was hard. Kurt was his best friend and he looked so sad and Blaine wanted the pain to go away. But how could it? Mommies were supposed to be there all the time to tuck you in and kiss your forehead before you go to sleep. Who tucks him in now? He thought desperately.
That day Burt picked Kurt up from Blaine’s house. While his best friend was busy tying his shoes up in the other room, Blaine told Burt to make sure that Kurt got tucked up every night, because ‘that’s what moms do but dads can do it, too, and he’ll have nightmares if he isn’t tucked up right’. Burt just smiled and told him not to worry – Kurt would most definitely be tucked up every night.
Kurt smiles from where he’s been listening in at the doorway.
Kurt doesn’t have a best friend again for a while. But then he joins Glee club when he’s sixteen and meets Mercedes. They bond instantly, and he loves her to pieces, but she’s not Blaine. Because Blaine had ordered his dad to tuck him in at night, so surely he’d help stand up to jerks like Karofsky, right? But Mercedes doesn’t – can’t, really, there’s nothing she can say that will help – and he feels alone again.
Puck tells him to go spy on their competition during one glee assignment. He agrees to, mainly because he’s sick of seeing the same people every day. Maybe he’ll blend in at Dalton – he picks out an outfit that makes him look like a private school boy, or so he thinks anyway – and he’ll have one hassle-free day.
He grabs a random boy he passes on the staircase. ‘Excuse me! Um, can I ask you a question? I’m-I’m new here.’
And then he realises who it is, and time stops. He has curly hair and his eyes are brown. Kurt gets a funny, twisty feeling in his tummy when he looks into them, one that he hasn’t had in a very long time. He sucks in a deep breath. Because he didn’t even think that he would go to this school – although it stands to reason because his new house would be in the catchment area – had no idea that he’d see him again. Ever.
‘Kurt?’ The boy asks, looking shocked.
‘Blaine,’ Kurt breaths, as though everything’s just fallen into place.
Blaine leads him to the choir room where the Warblers sing the best cover of Teenage Dream Kurt’s ever heard. His breath catches as he realises that Blaine hardly ever takes his eyes off him.
They talk over coffee after – Kurt’s heart thumps frantically when he discovers that Blaine’s gay too – and suddenly Blaine takes Kurt’s hand.
‘I’ve been looking for you forever,’ Blaine says. They both stare at each other for a second and a million questions are answered. There’s something in each other’s eyes that makes everything clear, and then they’re kissing, right there in the coffee shop and people are staring but who cares?
Because everything is how it should be.
Because best friends really are forever.

Reviews, please!