After a strenuous day of apartment hunting Kurt had lost all hope of finding a new apartment. He had sorted through the twenty-two flyers Piper had given to him one week ago and had narrowed it down to six possible apartments. He'd dedicated his entire Saturday, starting at eight in the morning, to visiting each of the apartments. Nearly 12 hours later Kurt found himself exhausted, hungry, and on the train to the final apartment in Brooklyn. Kurt had his reservations about the last apartment, considering it was farther away from his office than his current apartment, but the too-good-to-be-true price made it worth at least a closer look.

He stepped out of the subway and followed the directions to the apartment he'd printed earlier to a quaint street filled with small shops.  Kurt took his time walking down the slightly crowded street, taking time to observe the glittering windows of the shops. The street seemed to have every kind of shop, from an apothecary, to a family-owned pottery shop. Kurt felt a smile spread across his face as he imagined strolling down this street every night, the calming glow of the streetlights easing his mind after a long day at work. However, his smile quickly fell once he reached the apartment. He then understood the too-good-to-be-true price; the apartment was over a coffee shop.

Kurt grimaced at the airy piano music coming from the shop that he had considered charming not even five minutes ago, but now considered a possible hindrance to future productivity. He entered the apartment hallway through a small door wedged into the side of the shop. He muttered a string of profanities under his breath as he climbed up the stairs to the second floor apartment. A petite brunette girl, whom Kurt presumed to be the landlord, was waiting by the door to the apartment anxiously. The girl caught sight of Kurt out of the corner of her eye and quickly turned to him. 

"Hello!" she greeted too enthusiastically for Kurt's liking, "I'm the landlord, Rachel Berry. Would you like some tea or coffee before we begin the tour?"

"No thank you, I'm actually on a bit of a tight schedule, so if you don't mind, could we just get straight to the tour?" 

Rachel's cheek flushed a light pink color as she quickly threw the door to the apartment open and gestured for Kurt to come inside. The tour of the one bedroom apartment didn't eve take twenty minutes. As much as Kurt hated to admit it, the apartment was quite charming. There was a small bay window in the living room where he easily imagined curling up on Saturday's to read a book or talk on the phone with Mercedes or Piper, and he had already thought up a possible color scheme for the bedroom. Kurt could feel himself slowly falling in love with the quaint and quirky apartment. However, the low hum of chatter coming from the coffee shop below kept nagging him.

"So, does the coffee shop downstairs ever become a problem?" Kurt asked once they had settled back in the living room on a small, worn couch.

"Well, I've lived in the apartment above this one for the past three years and I haven't had any complaints. Actually…it's kind of nice. They have great coffee, and lots of impromptu performances by local performers, so it's great to go in there and scope out the talent," Rachel replied with a dazzlingly-white smile.

Rachel had been struggling to rent out the one bedroom apartment below hers for over six months, and after she lowered the rent to a ghastly $1000 a month but still had no takers, feared that she was never going to find a new tenant. Kurt was the first person to request a tour of the apartment in over three weeks, thus Rachel knew she would have to make the apartment appear as perfect as possible if she wanted even a chance of finally renting out the apartment.

Kurt sighed as he gave the apartment a final longing look.

"I want to sign the lease."

Rachel looked a ken aback by Kurt's decision. After months of struggling to rent out the apartment, here was Kurt, who decided to sign the lease after a twenty minute tour. He must be really desperate, Rachel thought to herself as she set down the stack of papers in her arms in front of Kurt. 

"T-that's great!" Rachel beamed as she guided Kurt through the signing of the stack of paperwork. Her six months of stress were finally over.

By the time Kurt finished with all the paperwork his hand had begun to throb slightly from signing his name what felt like hundreds of times. Rachel informed him that he could move in in one week, and he wrote her a check for the down payment on the apartment, along with the first month's rent. After saying goodbye to an ecstatic Rachel Berry Kurt stepped out onto the quaint Brooklyn street that he could now call home. He eyed the coffee shop that resided under his new apartment warily once again, and decided to take a look inside. He silently prayed that the coffee shop would be able to produce a grande non-fat mocha that would be up to his high coffee standard.  If he was going to be living over a bustling coffee shop, he may as well take advantage of it. To his great dismay, the shop didn't have his usual coffee order, but instead had a variety of different drinks he had never seen before in his life. He tentatively ordered the day's special, whose name only managed to confuse Kurt, and took his drink to a table nestled in the corner of the shop. 

The coffee shop was cute, Kurt thought, but it had nothing against his favorite coffee shop in his hometown of Lima, Ohio. He lifted his strange drink to his lips but quickly set it back down when he noticed a familiar figure stepping up to the dusty piano set up on a makeshift stage on the opposite end of the shop. The familiar figure's amber eyes glanced over the crowd before him briefly before gracefully taking a seat before the piano. Kurt craned his neck to get a better look at the vaguely familiar performer, nearly knocking over his untouched drink as he leaned across his table. The man's face disappeared from Kurt's view as he settled in at the piano and began to play not a moment later. Kurt felt his jaw drop as the opening notes to a song he knew all to well began to fill the now silent coffee shop.

I don't know what I've done

Or if I like what I've begun

But something told me to run

And honey you know me it's all or none

  Kurt smiled sheepishly at the familiar lyrics to the song he remembered playing to no end in his dorm room during his college days after his first boyfriend, Michael, had broken up with him, claiming that Kurt deserved better than him. Kurt had to admit that Blaine gave the song justice, and found himself slightly swaying to the soft beat of the piano's melody. The crowd watched Blaine with wide eyes and slightly parted mouths, watching him with wonder. His voice had managed to completely enrapture the crowd, dazzling them with its soothing song. Kurt had never heard a voice quite like Blaine's before. Kurt's smile fell slightly as he remembered Blaine's passing comment from the meeting in his office that he was a history teacher. How could someone with a voice as beautiful as Blaine's not peruse a professional singing career? Kurt didn't have much time to wonder about Blaine's career choice, because Blaine had finished his song, which was met with gratuitous applause, thanked the crowd and was now walking towards Kurt's table.

"Hey, we've met before, haven't we? You're the wedding planner, right?" Blaine asked politely, standing a few feet away from Kurt's table.

"Kurt Hummel, yes, I am. Y-you were amazing up there." Kurt nervously nodded his head towards the piano Blaine had played just a moment ago.

"Thanks. I like to play a few shows a month here. I don't get much piano practice as a history teacher, and Santana refuses to let me play my keyboard after six, so I use these shows to keep my skills sharp." Blaine shrugged before looking back at the piano on the stage and smiling.

"I guess I'll have to stop by for some of your shows then. I'm going to be moving into the apartment above here next week."

Blaine turned back to Kurt, his face lighted up childishly.

"Really? That's great! Rachel's been trying to rent out that apartment for months; you must be a godsend for her!"

Blaine had hesitantly seated himself in the chair opposite Kurt. Kurt gave him a warm smile, ensuring him that his company was welcome at the small table.

"Just doing my part to better the world. I'm not looking forward much to moving day though."

"Aw c'mon, moving is an adventure! You should be looking forward to it!" Blaine playfully brushed his knuckle against Kurt's arm, earning him a hearty laugh from Kurt.

"Oh, trust me, I love a good adventure. It's just that I'm a bit of a clothes hoarder; to say that I have a mountain of never worn polos in the back of my closet is an understatement. So, moving isn't exactly a very easy task for me." Kurt shuddered at the thought of the enormous pile of pants, shoes, and belts that had been steadily growing in the back of his closet.

"Well, I can probably help you out there. I live just down the street from here." Blaine's face lit up once again, his amber eyes twinkling in the soft glow of the coffee shop's dim lighting.

"T-thank you, but I can't burden you with that, besides, you have your wedding to think about," Kurt stammered. He never accepted help from anyone, and this instance would be no different.

"Well you're my wedding planner, so you have to worry about my wedding too. How about this; I've been having a really hard time writing my vows, and Santana's been nagging me about them for weeks. So, if you help me with my vows, I'll help you with moving, sound like a deal?"

Kurt pondered Blaine's proposition for a moment, taking a sip of his coffee, which was unusually bitter, to his dislike. 

"Try adding cinnamon, it'll taste better." Blaine nudged the shaker of cinnamon that sat between them towards him, a knowing smile playing at his lips, "Trust me," he assured.

Kurt hesitantly took the shaker and added a small amount of cinnamon to his bitter drink, stirred it a bit, and took a slow, tentative sip. To his surprise the cinnamon had almost changed the taste of the drink completely. The drink had gone from bitter to so sweet and inviting that it warmed Kurt's entire body from his dry lips to his freezing toes. Blaine smirked triumphantly as he watched Kurt take another eager gulp of his drink. After several gratuitous gulps of the now delicious drink, Kurt set down his empty cup and turned his attention back to Blaine's proposition.

"You have yourself a deal, Blaine Anderson."