To say that little Blaine Anderson was nervous was a huge understatement. He was terrified. His father was away on business and Cooper was away at an important Warblers competition, so his mother couldn't leave him at home and she had to take him along to her fancy work party. Blaine had never seen so many grown-ups in one place and it scared him. He stood anxiously next to his mom as she spoke about her oldest son and how well he was doing at school and when the attention was directed at him, he blushed deeply and tried to hide.

It was in trying to hide, however, that he met Kurt Hummel.

He was trying to edge behind his mother's skirt so that the huge man with the really loud voice wouldn't try to talk to him, when he saw a big pair of staring blue eyes. He pulled his teddy closer to him, unsure of what the other boy wanted. He looked a little bit bigger than him and Blaine knew that the bigger boys normally tried to hurt him. But even before he could worry about the boy being mean, he smiled widely at him.

Blaine smiled back, still a little unsure of the situation. He noticed that he was holding the hand of a lady that had to be his mom. She had the same striking blue eyes and smile as the boy. He tugged at her skirt and she turned away from the lady she was talking to, to her son as he pointed to blaine and asked her something. After glancing at him, she smiled softly and nodded. Suddenly the boy was striding towards Blaine with a grin firmly in place.

"Hi! I'm Kurt! What's your name?" he asked excitedly

"B-Blaine," said Blaine nervously. Kurt smiled.

"That's a nice name. It sounds like a prince from a storybook or something. I love storybooks. I have one here. Do you want to maybe come read it with me?"

Blaine was about to answer when his mom turned around to see who he was talking to.

"Oh, who's this, Blaine?" she asked.

"Hi, Blaine's Mommy, I'm Kurt!" he said, sticking out a hand for her to shake. "I was just asking Blaine if he would like to come look at my storybook with me."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea, Kurt," said Blaine's mom with a smile. "Blaine, why don't you go with him? It's got to be at least a little bit more fun than standing here while I talk to all the grown-ups."

Blaine nodded nervously, gripping his teddy with all his might. Kurt grinned and grabbed his hand, leading him over to where his mom was standing.

"Mommy, this is Blaine. He's my new best friend. Is it okay if we read my storybook now?"

Kurt's mom handed him the book from her handbag with a huge smile and Blaine was led to a quiet corner of the room.

"You can keep it on your lap since it's your first time reading it," Kurt said with a smile. Blaine smiled back earnestly. Even though Kurt seemed bigger, he wasn't like the mean boys who called him names at school. He was like him. He liked stories and princes.

"You can read, right?" asked Kurt, curiously. Blaine looked at him with a frown.

"I'm seven," he said, completely offended.

"I'm sorry" said Kurt, worriedly. "It's just, I'm eight and there's a boy in my class who still can't really read. I just wanted to stop you from getting embarrassed."

Blaine's face flooded with colour.

"It's okay," he said, softly. "But I can read."

"Good!" said Kurt happily and opened the book, laying it across his new friend's lap.

"Peter Pan!" exclaimed Blaine excitedly.

"You like it too?" asked Kurt with a huge grin. Blaine smiled back.

"I've only ever seen the movie, but it's my favourite!"

And they sat in that little corner for hours - first reading the book then talking about other things. Blaine told Kurt all about his teddy and about Cooper who gave it to him. Kurt told Blaine all about his mommy who worked in the company and about his daddy who worked with cars but was sick at home that night. They spoke about what they wanted to be when they grew up (Blaine,a dinosaur and Kurt, a prince) and all too soon, Blaine's mom was telling them that it was time for Blaine to go.

"If you still want that ice-cream I promised, we have to leave now, Honey," said Blaine's mom softly, helping him to his feet. Blaine looked back at Kurt who had a kind of sad look on his face now that his friend was going and he didn't hesitate for a moment in asking his mom if he could come too.

"It's perfectly alright with me, Dear," she said to Kurt with a smile. "You've been so nice to Blaine tonight it's the least I can do. We just need to check with your parents. Do you know where they are right now?"

"My mommy is over there," he said with a grin, pointing to where she was talking to a few of her work friends. Blaine's mom immediately smiled.

"Oh, that's your mommy? I'm good friends with her!" she laughed and taking Blaine's hand and Blaine taking Kurt's hand, they walked over to her. Noticing the three of them approaching, Kurt's mom asked her work friends if they could give her a moment.

"I didn't realize that this adorable young man belonged to you, Liz," said Blaine's mom with a smile. "He's been such a help with Blaine tonight."

"Aw, I'm glad to hear it, Judy," said Liz beaming at her son and his new friend. "Kurt was so bored until he spotted Blaine. But they seem to be the best of friends now."

"They do rather," agreed Judy with a chuckle. "I actually came over because Blaine and I are about to leave to grab some ice-cream before we head home and he invited Kurt to come over. I said that it's alright with me as long as it's alright with you."

Liz smiled and turned to Kurt.

"Do you promise to be good and say please and thank you for everything?"

Kurt nodded earnestly.

"Okay, then it's totally alright with me," she smiled. Turning to judy she added, "I'll call Burt in a moment to let him know what's going on. You remember where my place is from the last time we carpooled, right?"

Judy made sure that she had the right address and after Liz gave Kurt and Blaine one last hug goodbye, she smiled at Judy.

"Thanks so much for this. Kurt doesn't have many friends. This means a lot to him."

"It's alright," Judy replied, giving Liz a quick hug. "You have a safe drive home, okay? There's quite a storm coming later."

Liz assured Judy that she would and she led the boys to the car.

"This is going to be great!" said Blaine excitedly. Kurt smiled at how much more fun he was when he wasn't so scared.

Judy ordered them both huge chocolate ice-creams, saying it was a reward for being so super good that night and then folded their napkins into swans for them, something that amazed Kurt more than anything he had ever seen before.

Kurt was having the most fun he had ever had in his whole life. That is, until Judy got a call just as they were about to leave to take Kurt home.

"What's going on, Mommy?" asked Blaine, taking her hand softly when he noticed that there were tears in her eyes. She shook her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"I promise I'll tell you boys when we get home. Kurt, you're coming our house for a sleepover, is that okay?"

"That's great! Thanks, Mrs Anderson," he said excitedly, giving her a soft hug, not entirely sure why she seemed so sad even though she smiled.

When they reached Blaine's house (which was the biggest house Kurt had ever seen) Blaine explained that his dad was away in New York for business. Kurt grinned and explained how much he wanted to go to New York one day and how his mommy had always told him he'd be able to be a prince there.

At this, Judy fought back a sob and took Kurt's hand gently, leading him to the living room.

"Is everything alright, Mrs Anderson?" he asked with concern. She looked really upset.

"Kurt, s-something happened to your mommy while she was driving home from the party and s-she got very hurt. She's in the hospital now. Your daddy just called to say that he's with her."

"Is she okay?" asked Kurt in a tiny, broken voice. "She's not… she's not…"

He remembered that time he had found his pet goldfish at the top of its bowl and his mommy had to explain to him that some things don't last forever. Did that mean his mommy wouldn't? Did she also just stop?

"No, she isn't, Honey, but the doctors say she is pretty hurt."

And Kurt's world shattered.

Somehow he knew that things weren't going to be okay and suddenly all the wanted was his daddy telling him that they would pull through this because they were both tough Hummel men. He cried for hours that night, with Blaine and his mom holding him, not saying anything, just being there. Being something to hold onto.

Kurt cried himself to sleep that night.

TEN YEARS LATER

In preparing for his move to New York, Kurt has been thinking about his mom a lot. He wants to know what happened that night, beyond the accident. He wants to know what happened to him, since he now cannot remember any of it.

As much as he knows it's going to hurt to ask him, he know's there's only one person who could give him the answers.

"Dad?" says Kurt softly as he walks into the living room where his father is watching the highlights of the game he missed last night.

"Hey, Bud. What's up?" he asks, pressing the mute button and looking at him curiously. Kurt crosses the room and sits down slowly on the sofa next to his dad's TV seat, trying to decide how he's going to phrase his next question.

"Why can't I remember anything from that night?" he asks after a long stretch of silence.

Burt turns off the TV completely, knowing that Kurt would have eventually asked him about it.

He had never lied about what had happened that night - he had told Kurt about the truck that had skid and hit his mom's car - but he had never spoken about where Kurt was that night. The therapist they went to for a while after the incident said that Kurt had purposefully blanked the memory of that night from his mind. And while he knew that it would probably have been good for both of them to talk it out, there had never really been a good time to bring it up.

But Kurt is asking now and it's time for answers.

So Burt explains about the party and how he had spent the night at his brand-new friend's house.

"I only ever met them that once. I came to pick you up and you and the little boy were sleeping on the couch together. Afterwards you couldn't remember any of it. But that kid saved your life, Kurt. If it wasn't for him… you wouldn't… you would probably also have…" Burt's voice trails off as he begins crying. Kurt doesn't say anything, but hugs his dad firmly.

"I'm here, Dad. I'm here," he says reassuringly.

"Her name was Judy Anderson," Burt whispers suddenly. "I can't remember the kid's name, but her name was definitely Judy Anderson."

Kurt's heart skips a million beats and everything seems to fall into place. He realizes that he has to go.

"Dad, thanks so much for telling me all this. I've just realised that there's something I have to do. I won't be out late."

He places a small kiss on his dad's forehead and rushes out the door, hardly believing what's happening. It seems too amazing. Too perfect.

A few minutes later he finds himself knocking on the front door of the Anderson home, for some reason completely nervous.

"Kurt!" comes the pleasantly surprised voice from behind the door as the person who answers peers round to see who it is. "Blaine didn't say that you were going to be coming round today. I'll go quickly get him for you."

"Actually, Mrs Anderson, I came to talk to you," said Kurt, grabbing her arm to stop her from going to look for her son.

"How many times have I told you to call me Judy?" she replies with a confused smile. "What do you need to talk to me about, Kurt?"

"Did you ever work with my mom?" he asks, not really knowing how to get into the topic gracefully. To his amazement, tears suddenly pool in her eyes.

"So you do remember that night?" she asks, taking Kurt's hand. Kurt shakes his head, tears filling his own eyes.

"My dad's just told me what happened. About the boy that saved my life by being my friend."

Judy pulls him into one of the tightest hugs he has ever received in his life.

"You should know that Blaine hasn't stopped thinking about you since then. He never forgot you and he was just so excited when he found you again. You saved him just as much as he saved you, Kurt."

Realising that he is crying himself, Kurt wipes his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Thanks, Judy. Did you say that Blaine is upstairs?"

She nods and Kurt doesn't hesitate a moment in rushing to thank the boy who has saved his life so many times.

Blaine is sitting on his bed, watching Singing in the Rain for what Kurt is sure must be the millionth time and now he can't help it. The tears he had been trying to fight back downstairs are now splashing down his cheeks as he thinks about where he would be if it wasn't for the boy in front of him.

"B-Blaine," he says, through a sob and Blaine jumps.

"Kurt! Are you alright? What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

Kurt gives Blaine a small, teary smile before crashing their lips together. He tries to express a lifetime of gratitude through the kiss, wanting blaine to know what he means to him. How he would literally not be here without him, how he owes him everything and is willing to give it to him.

"Kurt, I don't understand, what's going on?" says Blaine with a confused frown. "Not that I'm complaining, but you're crying and you didn't tell me you were coming over and -"

Kurt kisses him softly, silencing him.

"You saved my life," says Kurt, resting his forehead on Blaine's. "You've saved it so many times, but you first saved it when we were kids."

Blaine's eyes widen.

"Y-you remember that?"

Kurt shakes his head sadly.

"No," he says softly, his voice breaking with emotion. "But I know about it now. And I just… thank you."

Blaine hugs him tightly before slipping away to grab something from his bookshelf.

"This is yours," he says, handing it to Kurt. "You left it behind that night."

Kurt gasps at the worn storybook in his hands.

"Blaine, this is my… this was my… "

"It's about time I gave it back," he says with a small smile. "I used to get my mom to read it to me every night before I went to sleep so that I could remember you. I always used to dream that you could become Peter so that you didn't have to hurt so much."

Kurt realises that he has no hope of stopping the river of tears flowing from his eyes now.

"I guess I've always loved you."

And Kurt falls into Blaine's arms and stays there for the rest of the day, completely overwhelmed that the little boy who saved him was now the love of his life. Though he's wanted Blaine and him to go the distance, he's now more convinced than he's ever been that they'll be forever.

And he plans to spend forever thanking Blaine for everything he's done.