Chapter Text
Blaine Anderson sat at his desk, feet swinging in excitement as he looked around at his brand-new first grade classroom. It had been an exciting first day; that morning he had ridden the bus all by himself and followed the grown-ups to his class. He loved his nice teacher, his name tag that he drew a smiley face on, and the board that gave everyone their special job (he couldn’t wait until he got to be the line leader). At that moment his teacher, Miss Mason, raised up her hand to make the quiet signal, and Blaine hurriedly shot his hand up to mimic the gesture, earning a smile of approval.
It was important, Blaine knew, to always listen to the teacher and follow the rules. Cooper had told him that students who misbehaved were locked in something called a “Detention Room” and you couldn’t get out until your parents came to rescue you. Blaine’s parents had yelled at Cooper for telling that story (fibbing was against the house rules), but Blaine wasn’t taking any chances. He wasn’t ever going to get in trouble. Unfortunately, some of the other kids didn’t seem to have the same goal, and continued talking or playing until Miss Mason finally clapped her hands to get their attention.
Blaine pouted; he wanted them to be the best class ever and it wouldn’t happen if nobody listened. He made sure to clasp his hands to keep them from drumming on the table in excitement when she announced it was time for their first recess.
“Now remember, all the first and second grade classes share a lunch and recess, so don’t be afraid to meet some new people and make friends! Just remember that once the whistle sounds at the end of recess you’ll line up where I’m standing so we can come back inside. Okay?”
Blaine nodded eagerly, chanting “Yes, Miss Mason” with the rest as everyone ran to make a line in front of the door. He made sure to walk next to Sam, a nice boy from his desk group with a Star Wars cartoon lunchbox. By the time Sam and he had reached the lunchroom, Blaine learned that Sam loved watching TV, had a younger sister, and his parents gave him a piece of candy for dessert in his lunchbox. In turn, Blaine shared that he had 17 stuffed animals, and even though his parents didn’t always give him candy they let him have piano lessons, which was almost as good.
“Wanna play Star Wars?” His new friend asked excitedly after they finished with their lunches and hurried out to the playground.
“Okay!” Blaine agreed happily; he didn’t know what that game was but if Sam liked it he was sure it would be fun. The game turned out to be a lot of running around and making cool noises, so naturally Blaine loved it, though after a while he couldn’t help but eye the other fun places to play.
“I wanna go check out the swings!” He called to Sam, who nodded from where he was looking for a stick to duel with another boy with short dark hair. Skipping over to the swings Blaine found three of them occupied, two by girls and one -
The boy pumping his legs to swing higher was beautiful, more than anybody Blaine had ever met. He couldn’t think of a Disney prince the boy resembled but he was pretty sure there should be one. The boy was wearing dark pants and a sky blue shirt with a bow tie just like Blaine, his hair bouncing gently in a way Blaine’s curls never could. The boy smiled at the wind every time the swing came forward.
“Excuse me!”
Blaine started, a girl’s loud voice pulling his focus away from the pretty boy on the swing.
“If you’re going to take a swing you should start so other people can have a turn.” The girl was wearing a bright pink skirt with a velvet shirt, and she crossed her arms as she lectured him with a frown. “And if you want Kurt’s swing you’re supposed to count out loud to sixty before he has to get off, those are the rules. And I’m older than you so I know the rules.”
Before Blaine could answer, he gasped as the beautiful boy - Kurt - flew off the swing and landed with a soft crunch on the gravel in front of the swing set. With a huff, the girl stomped her foot and went to claim the swing still rocking with momentum from Kurt’s dismount.
“Hello!” Blaine said excitedly, bouncing on his toes. “My name is Blaine.” He gave the boy a big smile because his mom always said it made him look handsome.
“I’m Kurt, I’m a second grader,” the boy said, tilting his head to the right. “Can I fix your bowtie?” When Blaine simply stared in confusion, Kurt bit his tongue and straightened the yellow tie that had become crooked after the over-enthusiastic Star Wars games. “Perfect,” he smiled shyly, “want to come play with me?”
Blaine nodded in awe and took Kurt’s outstretched hand, the smile on his face remaining for the rest of the day.
***
Blaine’s first day continued to be exciting, although he wished that he was older so he could be in Kurt’s class. When the bell rang to signal the end of the day, Blaine followed the line out to the front of the school and was suddenly struck by how lost he felt. There was a long line of yellow school buses with different numbers and a huge crowd of teachers and other kids yelling out to each other. Blaine’s eyes grew wide and his chest thumped - he remembered both his mom and teacher had told him to get back on the bus that picked him up this morning. He even had a yellow school bus sticker on his t-shirt with the number 21 on it so he wouldn’t forget. But how was he supposed to find bus 21 out of so many? And what if he couldn’t find it before they left? Would he be stuck in the school all night? His mom would be so worried and then maybe he wouldn’t be allowed to come back to school, and then he would never be able to see Kurt again!
Feeling scared and dizzy, Blaine hurried out of the middle of the crowd to one of the benches in front of the school, biting the inside of his cheek nervously. Maybe once some of the crowd was gone it wouldn’t be as hard to find the bus. But as he waited, more and more kids left the building and scattered around the buses and parking lot, increasing Blaine’s anxiety until he jumped at a pat on his shoulder.
“Blaine?”
Blaine lept off the bench, leaning forward into the boy’s arms without a second thought and felt an immediate wave of calm. “ Kurt .”
Kurt hugged him for a moment, not even complaining when Blaine sniffled against his shirt. “Are you trying to find your bus?”
Blaine nodded, not releasing his grip.
“Okay. What bus are you on?” When Blaine couldn’t answer from nerves Kurt stepped back to see his sticker. “That bus is only two away from mine! Follow me.”
Kurt marched to the right, both hands on his white backpack and Blaine practically glued to his side. He felt safer now that Kurt was showing him the way; there was no way he would miss the bus now. When they arrived at bus 21 Kurt stopped, smiling at him.
“This is your bus,” Kurt announced. “Go get a seat in the front, the mean boys usually sit in the back.” He wrinkled his nose.
“Okay, Kurt.” Blaine smiled, waving goodbye. He hopped onto the bus, smiling at the driver before finding a seat in the front row by the window. Looking through the glass he saw Kurt, who waved again once he saw Blaine had a seat before hurrying off to his own bus.
It was a routine they would continue every day without fail.