Initially, Kurt had his doubts about this extra credit assignment. Whenever he pictured himself interacting with children, it usually wound up with him being dog piled and his expensive clothes utterly ruined. But, fortunately, his mind seemed to exaggerate the nature of 10-year-olds and he managed to keep his shirt and slacks extremely pristine all day long. He'd spent most of it with smaller children, but this last group of older children seemed the easiest by far. And then a familiar name popped up.

"Kurt!"

Kurt just smiled, waving awkwardly when Stevie bounced over with his book of the week. It wasn't that he disliked Stevie; he just didn't want to seem to be playing favourites. "Hi Stevie, how are you today?"

"Awesome! Um! Do you mind if we read a comic? 'Cause whenever I read with my teacher she tries to make me read books…" Stevie added a small set of bunny ears to quote the 'books', as if the idea disgusted him beyond belief. He sat down regardless, a folder with several comics spilling out in his lap.

"I don't know, you're supposed to be reading proper -"

"They are proper! I swear! Promise!"

Stevie stared with giant green-blue eyes that seemed identical to Sam's. Kurt just stared back vacantly before sighing in defeat. He knew there was no way he could convince Stevie that comics weren't proper literature, and honestly for a 10-year-old, Kurt was just happy he wanted to read something at all. Even if it was a bunch of superheros running around punching people.

When Stevie pulled out a comic, he just smiled because it had to be Sam's. It was a Spiderman comic that seemed worn to death, with folded edges and muck on the corners. "Okay, so far Spiderman has been battling with Doctor Ock," Stevie began, using hand gestures to cement the theatricality of it all. "Do you know who he is?"

"I do, Sam actually gave me a whole lecture one day about it."

Stevie frowned a little before waving his hand, "It's okay, I'll teach you the right stuff. Sam probably didn't even mention his tentacle arms."

But then they started reading. While Kurt could understand being incapable of reading in front of others and the general issues that some children had with pronunciation, Stevie just seemed to halt at words that had more than six or so letters. At first Kurt pushed it aside, but when they got to simpler words Stevie just stopped.

"Do you need help?"

"I'm fine!" Stevie assured him, using his finger to cover parts of the words so he could sound them out. He managed a few jumbled attempts before throwing pronunciation out the window and just saying whatever he thought he saw. Once the reached the end of the comic (complete with explosion sounds and Stevie explaining what he thought was going to happen next), the younger boy seemed suddenly upset.

"So – you're going now, aren't you?" Stevie asked shyly, only making eye-contact with Kurt half of the time.

"Not right away, I still have other children to read with," Kurt pointed out with a smile, "Why? Are you going to miss me that much?" he joked, ruffling Stevie's hair a little. Every little mannerism that Stevie enacted just made Kurt think of a younger Sam, especially when he smiled a giant, toothy grin.

"Well you're awesome Kurt! You always dress like a superhero!"

"You're like a tiny little Sam Evans," Kurt admitted, his elbows settled on his knees as he watched Stevie pout up at him.

"Am not! I'm ten times cooler than Sam," Stevie snapped, "Sam is a dork."

"Oh he's not all that bad. And neither are you. Now, go get Tamara for her session, please?"

"Of course! I'm your man," Stevie agreed, nodding a little too much to remain still. "Okay, so you're here a little longer? Cool! I have stuff to show you. Well, I will, when I draw it… You'll see," Stevie assured Kurt, bobbing off to his table. From what Kurt gathered, it was free-time until the school bell rang. It was a Friday afternoon, after all. As if they expected any actual proper work out of their students. He couldn't help but laugh when he noticed Stevie colouring with an intense expression – like he was conducting heart surgery.

About half an hour later, Kurt was finished with all the reading he was required to do with the students. There was about twenty minutes before the bell went, leaving him plenty of time to avoid the soccer mom rush just before the bell. He tugged his plush jacket on and snatched up his side bag before Stevie caught his arm.

"Wait! You can't go yet!" Stevie whined, yanking at his arm with an earnest expression and a drawing in the other hand.

"Why not?" Kurt asked with a small smile and a roll of his eyes.

"You didn't even see what I drew for you," he insisted, shoving the paper into the air. It came to about Kurt's chest, a surprising amount of attention invested into the small details of his outfit. He smiled vaguely before looking to the side, seeing a tall, muscular blonde boy standing next to him.

"Is this Sam and I?" Kurt asked, plucking the picture from between Stevie's fingers.

"No!" Stevie said in his usual overly loud voice – he seemed a little annoyed, but mostly just red.

"… Wait, is this you and I?" Kurt asked, trying to hold back the small, adoring laugh that was perched at the back of his throat. It took a lot of restraint, until Stevie looked up at him with giant eyes; as if gauging his reaction. "Stevie, you seem incredibly interested in me today. Usually it's just a 'hello!' and then you bounce off."

"I miss you coming over."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, his arms crossed carefully (still holding the drawing). "I still come over…"

"Yeah, but not as much. And it makes Sam sad 'cause you're visiting some dwarf with giant eyebrows and a blazer," Stevie exasperatedly sighed, his hands flying up in the air before dropping to his sides. "Sam said so!"

"Sam said that?" Kurt asked curiously, his lips pinched together as he tried not to smile. He had to admit that he was going over to Blaine's more often, and having Blaine over, but the last person he expected to say anything about it was Stevie. Besides, he was sure if Sam had an issue with all this; Kurt had thought Sam would actually talk to him about it. "Or are you making it up?"

"No, but it's obvious. He gets mopey. He's too much of a baby to tell you he misses you so I'm doing it for him!" Stevie complained, pulling the picture back from Kurt. He intently examined it, as if some sudden issue had appeared within it. "You just make Sam happy when you're around," Stevie admitted, "I want him to be that happy all the time…"

Kurt felt suddenly on the spot, finding it hard to believe that he had such a profound effect on Sam. He thought for a moment of how to deter the conversation, settling on the obvious. He couldn't help but wonder, though. "You realize we're both boys… Don't you? And Sam doesn't like boys…"

Stevie shrugged, unperturbed. "I love Spiderman, and I love my brother. I think it's okay to love boys sometimes… And I don't think it matters to God as long as you love them, anyway. That's what the say at church."

"That's very mature of you," Kurt blinked, his hand settled on his chest. He was taken aback by how profound a ten-year-old had managed to be, even when he probably didn't quite understand the conversation he was having. He peered up at the clock, then to the small blonde boy in front of him. "What if I come for a visit today?" The bell finally sounded, and all the other kids rushed out of the room as if possessed.

"Well dang, that sounds perfect! And then you can go tell Sam you love him, and you can stop seeing that eyebrow goblin guy… Wait, are you dating the Green Goblin! Are you Mary Jane and did he kidnap you! It's okay; I think Sam is actually Spiderman, so he can save you if he does!"

"What are you talking about Stevie?" Sam asked from the doorway. "Kurt? Hi! Uh, what're you doing here?"

"He was helping me read!" Stevie announced proudly, his tiny fist proudly thumping against his chest. "Oh, and I invited Kurt over. Your welcome, Sam."

Sam frowned, "No, Stevie, you can't just… You don't have to Kurt, it's fine, he's just a brat sometimes."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"No, I offered to come over," Kurt smiled, shifting from one foot to the other, "it's recently come to my attention that I spend too much time with a dwarf with giant eyebrows."

Sam paled, eyes going wide. "What the heck did Stevie tell you?"

"Enough," Kurt smiled the same easy smile, swaying in silent amusement as Sam seemed to fall apart in front of him. "Do you still have that voucher you won for Breadstix?" Kurt asked with a sly sideways glance at Sam, his smile turning up even further.

"Yeah," Sam slowly nodded, his cheeks going a soft shade of red, "Why?"

"Well, I thought the best way to save Mary Jane from the Green Goblin was a free meal from Spiderman," Kurt suggested with a shrug. As he went to exit the very empty classroom, he pressed a very chaste kiss to Sam's cheek, "That is, dinner sometime would be nice. Dutch, obviously, I don't expect you to pay."

Stevie just walked out after Kurt, a wide smirk on his face. "Oh, you might need this," Stevie shoved a piece of paper into Sam's hand – it was the drawing he'd shown Kurt earlier. "He really dug it." As he wandered off after Kurt (grabbing at the straps on the back of his jacket) Sam just stared after them with a hand on his cheek, and a genuine smile on his face.