Kurt stood behind the counter chewing his bottom lip nervously between his teeth and fiddling with his hands in front of him; his eyes on the clock on the other side of the store. 8:54 am. Every now and then his gaze would flicker to the door if he heard a customer arrive, before going back to the ticking clock. His concentration from the two objects was never broken, not even by the busy surroundings of the The Lima Bean.

It was during the morning rush while everyone was grabbing a coffee on their way to work, and Kurt felt a little guilty about being completely immobile at this present time, and therefore unable to help. But it wasn't his fault. He simply couldn't relax or concentrate until he arrived, and he was safe. At around ten to eight everyday Kurt would stand in this position and wait. He was slightly to the side of the counter so customers were less likely to ask him things, and he found himself wondering if one day the boy would walk in with a girlfriend on his arm and break Kurt's heart in two.

He wasn't really sure why he was so nervous, or where this fixation for the random stranger had come from. All Kurt knew was that he felt, for whatever reason, that it was he duty to make sure the stranger was safe. It was a weird feeling he couldn't really put his finger on however, when Kurt caught sight of that semi- familiar mop of curly hair, he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.

It had all started the first time the boy had walked in. Slightly on the short-side wearing some kind of red and navy uniform with huge brown eyes and thick pink lips that he had chewed on as he waited in the line for coffee. As Kurt had gone to serve him he noticed the adorable little freckles around his nose and a small scar on the corner of his chin, just a thin line where his olive brown skin was slightly lighter then the rest of his face. And then he'd spoken in the quietest most unsure voice Kurt had ever heard. The boy had tripped and stumbled over his words, almost sounding as though he was asking Kurt if his order was okay.

"Um, I er, Medium drip p-please?"

Kurt was smitten from the very first word. He offered the gorgeous boy a smile, and a nod of his head. Taking extra care than normal of perfecting the order.

Before the encounter with the boy he had hated his job. Not that he didn't like The Lima Bean. He loved it. It was his favorite coffee shop and he went there constantly for the steaming caffeinated goodness and to sit in the comfy and relaxed atmosphere that was created by the causal layout of the wooden chairs and tables with patterned cushions to sit on; and the soft music that played through the radio all day. He loved that there seemed to a place for everyone, for the professional people who sat in the corners typing away at laptops and nibbling at cookies and sipping coffee. The families who sat near the door and the bathrooms and watched their children gorge on sweet treats as they drink their coffee, grateful for the pick-me-up that accompanied it. But, it just wasn't the plan he'd had in mind.

He only took the job for some extra money to by his clothes. Sometimes he hated being so fashionable...but only very rarely. But his opinion of serving coffee had changed the time he first saw the boy walk in through the door.

And now since that day, every morning just before nine had become the highlight of his day. When he could see the boy wander in with an unsure expression and nervous eyes as he blurted out his coffee order, even though by the fourth day, Kurt started to prepare his medium drip as soon as he saw him walking up to the entrance and it was usually ready by the time the hazel-eyed boy reached the counter.

The boy, Blaine, put this behavior down as good customer service, telling himself the guy probably did this for every regular customer. But Blaine found his time at the coffee shop the highlight of his day. In fact he dreaded every second that passed knowing it was a step closer to that unavoidable time where he'd have to leave the warm safety of the coffee shop to make it back for his Dad's overly strict curfew .

He was so tired of being shoved to the side, out of the way. He was out of sight, out of mind for his Dad. Blaine knew it was what he deserved it. It was his fault he was gay. But that didn't make it any less painful to be called pathetic and disgusting by someone who was biologically programmed to love him.

Blaine tried, he really did. Trying to join in with the booing and cheering whilst his dad and brother cooper yelled at whatever football team was on the TV. Yet his dad simply disregarded it. Barely batting an eyelid when Blaine spoke a word. He tried once to ask his dad for help on rebuilding his car. Hoping something as stereotypically straight as working on a car would appeal to his father.

But his farther had simply said he didn't want someone 'like him' to be touching a car, telling him to stick to drawing rainbows and fashion. It was shortly after that when Blaine gave up trying to make some kind of bond with his father and concentrated on making the best of his situation.

He spent very little time at home. Choosing instead to go the hours drive to The Lima bean, away from everything or anybody he knew, and sit at the back corner with a book while hoping peoples eyes would pass straight through him.

And that was usually the case. Until that new boy started working there. The beautiful one who looked like some kind of Disney prince with flawless pale skin, electric blue eyes and hair that was perfectly styled one hundred perfect of the time. Whenever Blaine looked up from his book, he saw the breathtaking eyes watching him curiously. At first he got rather scared and nervous. In the past if anyone had never taken an interest in him it had never been for something good.

However, Blaine slowly but surely began to see the guy was harmless, always greeting Blaine was a dazzling and warming smile. A lot of his mannerisms told Blaine he was gay. But Blaine was never the kind of person to assume.

He told himself, even if the boy was like him, what could he ever want In someone like Blaine? So he repressed these thoughts. And took to watching the beautiful boy when he knew he wouldn't be caught staring.

The more he watched the harder he found it to look away. Everything about the boy was just beautiful. The way he smiled and greeted every customer as though they were an old friend. He made writing an order on the side of a coffee cup look like the most attractive thing in the world. He was just so open and friendly to everyone. Blaine even began to feel as though he could maybe trust this boy in the future, just from the way he interacted with everyone and always seemed to be happy and smiling. Even more so, Blaine noticed, when he handed Blaine his medium drip every morning...but then again that was probably just his imagination.

However on this occasion, just as Kurt turned around with a Medium drip in his hand he noticed something was very off about his favorite customer. The boys eyes were red and his bottom lip was trembling, his whole face was downcast and his he had the most heartbreaking look in his hazel eyes. Kurt felt his chest tighten, wanting to hurt whoever had caused the beautiful boy before him to feel so down hearted.

At that moment Kurt knew he had to do something. The boy had always seemed so closed off from the world. Sitting on the corner on his own with a steaming cup and book for company, but Kurt had never seen him look so scared. So terrified. The boy just needed...He grabbed the pen that was beside him and quickly scribbled it down on the boys cup.

"Courage"

He gave the boy an even bigger smile than usual as he handed over the cup, quickly grabbing a chocolate muffin and wrapping it in a napkin for him too.

"I didn't order..." The boy trailed off, blushing.

"It's on me," Kurt told him softly.

The boys sad eyes widened, "O-oh, t...thank you."

Kurt smiled at him, "No problem."

The boy gave a shy, weak smile before walking to his normal corner and sitting down slowly with a sad expression.

Kurt watched him, waiting for the boy to read the message.

Blaine cradled the coffee, warming his palms, before something caught his eye. He span his coffee around in his hands and was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. His head snapped up to see Kurt watching him with a soft smile playing around his features. He gulped heavily and gave what he hoped was a smile back but it was probably more like a grimace before his eyes flickered back down to the neat handwriting on the cup.

"Courage"

The word swirled around his head and suddenly he found himself sitting up a little straighter as he took a sip from the special cup. While Kurt wasn't watching he took out his phone (which he had for emergency's only) and snapped a picture of the word as he smiled to himself, but he quickly shrunk down in his seat when a women looked at him with a confused expression.

He took his book out of his bag and hid behind it, but he wasn't really reading the words in front of him. He was too busy trying to work out why his chest suddenly felt so much warmer. He caught sight of himself in the window and realized he was still smiling. He looked back at the guy behind the counter, who gave him a small wave and a nod before he was pulled back into severing a long line of caffeine deprived customers. Suddenly going back to his Dad didn't seem so bad after all.