Extraordinarily Ordinary
Warnings: language, teenage boys, possible eventual Kurt/Karofsky, some Blaine/Kurt

Days after the fatal lips-touching-lips molestation, the threats, and Karofsky's resulting suspension, Kurt still felt awful. Karofsky's stupid face loomed in his memory, despite his attempts to tell himself that he shouldn't feel guilty about any of it. He shouldn't feel bad that his Dad was giving up his honeymoon with his new wife and that he was abandoning his friends at McKinley. He had a friend, and he knew that he had possibilities at Dalton that he could never have dreamed of at McKinley.

Today he was going out with Blaine to buy a Dalton uniform and whatever struck his fancy. Blaine was quite adorable, and Kurt was very aware of that fact. He was also very physically affectionate, always sitting a little too close and wanting to link arms or hold hands in public - something that Kurt wasn't quite used to even on a platonic basis, as a result of his time at McKinley. He was unsure if Blaine did that with everyone, but he tried not to worry about it. Right now he just wanted himself and Blaine to be whatever they were, and happy about it.

Blaine picked him up at ten in his sleek black car. Burt loomed in the window, watching, although Kurt had assured him that it wasn't a date. To be fair to Burt, Kurt was wearing a very nice, form-fitting, and color coordinated outfit to impress Blaine, but he didn't look date-worthy in his own opinion. Burt didn't understand the significance of dress style.

Blaine greeted him, smiling, and turned down Ke$ha's wailing on the radio. "I thought we could check out a couple of stores and then get lunch." His characteristic grin was painfully charming. He had unfortunate taste in music, but Kurt could forgive his one flaw. They arrived at the mall eventually, after getting lost once, laughing a lot, and singing along to the radio cheerfully. It was impossible not to have fun around Blaine.

After about an hour of shopping and wandering around department stores trying things on, Kurt realized that Karofsky was in the same store, skulking around. He was dressed better than he ever had at school, which wasn't saying much, and he was currently hiding behind a woman who appeared to be his mother. She was trying to persuade him to try on something and berating him about his dress sense, which Kurt thought was more than valid. Blaine, noticing his attention had turned from lavender pocket squares and their potential merits, looked over. "Oh my god, is that the guy? That's the guy." He looked determined in a way that didn't bode well.

Kurt nodded, sighing. "Let's just ignore him. I want one of these in red, we can buy it and go." Karofsky appeared eager to be ignored, as he was trying to get his mother drop the striped shirt she was examining and leave.

Blaine smiled beatifically. His hair was beginning to lose the gelled-up shape that he usually had it in, and although it made him look slightly wilder, Kurt preferred it that way. "Come on, this is a brilliant opportunity to help you get over your fear. And also, it would freak him out if we talked to him at all."

"Oh God, Blaine -" It was too late. Pocket squares abandoned, Blaine went over to Karofsky and his mother. Kurt hung back, unsure of how to deal with the situation.

"Hi Dave! And you must be Mrs. Karofsky." He held out a hand to her, warm and charming as ever.

"Are you one of Dave's friends? Please, call me Cheryl." Cheryl Karofsky looked like a sorority girl aged about thirty years. Her honey blonde hair was heavily hairsprayed to an enviable volume, and her makeup was a little too generously applied. Karofsky looked on in horror as Blaine shook his mother's hand, introduced himself and Kurt, and said that they were just about to get lunch, and had the Karofskys eaten yet?

"Oh, what a sweet young man! Dave, you never have polite friends like these, only football players." She laughed at her own joke. "We haven't eaten yet, but we wouldn't want to inconvenience either of you."

"No, we'd love to catch up with Dave!" Blaine was quite possibly the smoothest liar in the history of liars. Kurt wasn't sure if this was a hot quality or not. He oozed sincerity to counteract it, which was the worst part.

They ended up eating burgers at a low-priced and sticky looking restaurant. It was edible, although not something Kurt would have eaten unless absolutely necessary. Karofsky seemed determined to be as silent as possible, which Kurt approved of, but Blaine was so talkative it was hard not to get drawn into the friendly conversation between him and Cheryl. Karofsky even smiled a few times and laughed at a few of Blaine's jokes. Overall, it was a slightly heartwarming thirty minute experience that could have been much worse.

Blaine seemed to consider the lunch a massive victory. He was all fired up about getting "Dave," as he affectionately called Karofsky, to fight his internalized homophobia and break out of the suburban mold, ultimately ending his hideous caterpillar stage of jock broishness and pretended heterosexuality and metamorphosing into the beautiful butterfly of the out and proud homosexual. "He's in a chrysalis right now. A metaphorical chrysalis, Kurt! And when he finally breaks out, I'm sure he'll be less of a douche. I can tell he has the potential to be a non-douche. He even laughed at my jokes, so that's something." Kurt conceded the value of laughing at Blaine's jokes, but wasn't so sure that Karofsky would ever look like a butterfly or act like a non-douche. He kept some of these thoughts to himself, as he liked how Blaine talked when he got excited about something. Blaine's hand gestures were characteristically dramatic and overly exuberant, and he had a habit of running a hand through his hair when he was thinking hard. They linked arms and walked through the mall together; at first it felt like going into battle, and Kurt kept looking around at the people ignoring the spectacle they made, as if to ask, is this much happiness allowed? Wasn't someone going to yell "QUEER," or throw a slushie and ruin his shirt?

When Kurt got home, Burt teased him about how happy he looked. "Not a date, huh? Then why do you look so pleased with yourself?"