AN: This is my first attempt at publishing a story on here, so I'm sorry if it's sort of suckish!

Blaine didn't want to be here.

He had been sitting in his room colouring when his mommy had burst in, fretting about his hair and forcing him into his Sunday clothes. Half an hour of poking and pinching later, and Blaine was being shoved into a car clutching a colourfully-wrapped package, his wildly curly hair gelled down the way it always is when his mommy is trying to impress someone.

Now he was sitting next to an oak tree at the birthday party of the child of one of his mommy's co-workers. Blaine didn't know anyone, but he was content to sit in the shade watching the other children play. Right now a group of them were playing what looked like some variation on tag, although instead of one person chasing everyone, everyone was chasing one person. The person is question was a boy about the same age as Blaine by the looks of him, with carefully combed down hair dressed in a flannel shirt and shorts. Blaine felt a stab of embarrassment at his own jacket and tie, feeling once again to be the only child so well dressed.

Blaine was impressed at the boy's speed, remaining a good few metres ahead of the four or five other boys playing. The boy had a bright pink balloon tied around his wrist, and it bobbed along in rhythm as he ran. Blaine found himself silently rooting for the boy, his heart rate increasing every time the other boys began to gain on him. The boy started to run out of energy, and began to slow down. Just as it looked like he was doomed to be tagged, he made a sudden bolt to the right, running towards Blaine. Blaine felt a jolt, and leaned forward on his palms in excitement. Maybe the boy with the balloon would ask if he wanted to play with them! Nobody ever asked Blaine to play. Usually this was okay, as Blaine was content to simply observe, but there was something about the way this boy kept running, never giving up that compelled him. The boy grew closer and closer and Blaine leaned forward so far that he lost his grip on the ground and fell forward, catching himself just short of a face full of dirt. Blaine looked up just to see the boy stumble, and trip to the ground. Blaine wanted to cry out but instead just watched with fascination, curious at what happened once you were caught in this game. He shortly got his answer as the other children caught up with the boy within seconds. One of them sat down on top of him, and Blaine found himself giggling. This was a silly game. His laughter stopped however, when two of the other boys held down his arms, and Blaine got his first glance at his face. It looked calm enough on the surface, almost bored, but then he saw the eyes. The boy's eyes were strikingly blue, beautiful and deep and scared. Blaine wasn't used to seeing that level of fear in someone's eyes, especially not from someone playing a game. He stood up, and cautiously began to walk over. Once he got close enough to hear the boy's voices, it was clear to him that maybe this wasn't such a fun game after all.

"Pink is a girl colour! Are you a girl?"

All the other boys laughed at this, but Blaine didn't understand why. What was wrong with being a girl? Blaine's best friend Ella was a girl, and Blaine liked her a whole lot.

The boy with the balloon still looked at the mean boys blankly, but the fear remained in his eyes.

"My mommy says that it's not nice to judge people on what colours they like or what clothes they wear. She says that's called um… Perr-ed-u-d-iss."

The other boys laughed at the word. Blaine wasn't exactly sure what it meant, but it didn't seem like a funny word to him. It seemed like actually a really nice word. He liked the sound of it.

"I think your mommy is just stupid, and your balloon is queer!" the boy sitting on top of the boy with the balloon said, and Blaine gasped. You weren't supposed to use that word, especially not about mommies. The second word was another word that Blaine didn't know, but he was sure it wasn't a nice word either. Blaine took a deep breath. He didn't think that what these boys were doing to the boy with the balloon was fun at all, and he was going to try to make them stop. Before he could do anything however, one of the boys grabbed at the balloon, tugging until it came off of the boy's wrist. Then, quick as they had gotten him pinned, the boys were off with the balloon, laughing and running. Blaine frowned, and looked back at the boy on the ground. He had sat up, and was now just sitting there staring at something, but Blaine couldn't figure out what. The fear in the boy's eyes was gone much to Blaine's relief, but it had been replaced by something else. Sadness. He sat there staring, with the saddest eyes Blaine had ever seen. For some reason, Blaine felt himself getting sad too by just looking at them. He decided he didn't like seeing the boy look so sad, and he should do something to fix it. Slowly, Blaine began to approach him. The boy didn't look up until Blaine was standing right next to him, and even then he just slowly raised his eyes to meet Blaine's saying nothing. Blaine was surprised, and took a step backwards. It was a little unnerving to have those eyes trained on him, but Blaine tried to hold his gaze. He stuck out his hand, hoping that the boy would take it and he could pull him to his feet. He didn't, so Blaine let it limply fall to his side. When neither of them did or said anything, Blaine decided to try and talk to him.

"Hi, I'm Blaine. I saw what those mean kids did to you. Why would they take your balloon?" Blaine honestly couldn't think of a reason for them doing it. He didn't understand why anybody would be so mean to somebody who, for all Blaine saw, didn't do anything to them. The boy on the ground shrugged.

"They always do stuff like that. It's okay, my mommy can get me a new balloon."

Blaine frowned. He didn't think it was okay at all. "You shouldn't let them take your things and hurt you like they were doing. I don't think your friends are very nice."

Kurt looked confused. "Those kids aren't my friends. I don't have any friends."

Blaine tilted his head to the side. How could the boy not have any friends? He was so pretty. Blaine couldn't help but stare at his hair. Like Blaine's it was being held into place, but unlike Blaine's, the thing holding it wasn't the nasty hair gel. It seemed to stay in its place by itself, and looked so soft. Blaine felt himself wanting to reach out and touch it, curious if it felt the same way it looked. He was about to do so, when he noticed the boy was giving him an odd look. Blaine blushed, and stared down at his feet. Then he remembered what he came over here to do in the first place: he was going to cheer this boy up.

"I bet you've got tons of friends! I bet you're like me, and you just don't know anybody at this party. My mommy made me come and she said I could bring my friend Ella, but then Ella got sick so I had to come by myself." Blaine beamed at the boy, hoping he would smile back. He didn't. Instead, he frowned and said "No, I just don't have any friends. The other boys don't like me, and the girls said that I have cooties. I just play by myself."

This was probably the saddest thing Blaine had ever heard. He frowned, then reached out and took the boy's hand. "I can be your friend, if you want."

The boy looked down at their intertwined hands, and then looked at Blaine with wide eyes. Blaine wasn't sure why. Whenever he felt upset his mommy always took his hand so he knows that he's not alone. He thought that the boy needed to know that right now.

He stared at Blaine for another minute, and he wondered if the boy didn't want to be his friend. Maybe he didn't need to be cheered up after all, at least, not by Blaine. He was about to apologize and take his hand back, when the boy smiled. It was the best smile Blaine had ever seen, and he couldn't help but grin back.

"I'd like that."