Two days had passed and Blaines mood hadnt improved. The week had been going by slowly, the long days at work left him feeling exhausted, and keeping up with the media was an endless cycle that never ended.

Making his usual detour into the coffee shop that Thursday morning, he ordered his regular drink. "Hows Ellie doing?" he asked the man behind the counter.

"Shes doing really well. Did I tell you she started crawling last week?" the man beamed. He was so excited, he spilled a little of Blaines coffee on the counter. Quickly wiping it up, he apologized, "sorry. Im just so happy. Shes so smart for her age, you know?"

Taking his cup, Blaine said, "Sounds like shes a handful. Good luck keeping her out of everything, Tony." He grabbed a napkin from the holder beside him and wiped the remainder of the liquid off the side of his beverage.

The bell over the door rang and Tony glanced over Blaines shoulder to welcome the customer. "Welcome to The Classic Cali!" he called. His face fell and he mumbled to Blaine, "hey, isnt that the kid that dumped coffee on you the other day?"

"What?" Blaine whirled around to see Kurt unraveling the scarf from his neck. He sat down at a nearby table and glanced over in Blaines direction, waving.

"Who is he?" Tony asked curiously.

"Some idiot," Blaine mumbled. The incident had been all over the internet the last two days. Rumors spread about Blaine getting dumped in a coffee shop. Questions circled about Blaines sexuality when someone mentioned it was a guy. He quickly shot the rumors down on twitter saying the incident had been a big misunderstanding with a stranger, nothing else.

Still, Kurt wasnt even at the studio anymore and he was stirring up drama. He had to be stopped.

Clenching his cup tightly in his hand, Blaine stormed over to Kurt. Slamming it on the table, he said, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"You sure arent a morning person, are you?" Kurts eyes danced with amusement. He was ready for whatever Blaine through his way. To Blaine, it seemed that Kurt was always on his toes. He wasnt afraid to express his opinion.

"Why are you following me? I thought I wasnt worth your time or effort." Blaine snapped. He wasnt in the mood to deal with this.  

Drumming his fingers on the table, Kurt seemed to think about his answer for a moment. A small smile appeared on his lips and he said, "Now that Ive been banned from the studio, Ive got nothing but time."

Raising his eyebrows, Blaine asked, "Time for what?"

"Have a seat," Kurt motioned to the chair across from him.

Scowling at the chair, Blaine took a step back and replied, "Id rather not." They werent going through this again. Kurt wasnt going to cause more reason for people to talk. There wasnt going to be more drama.

"Blaine," Kurt said firmly.

He simply stood there/ He wasnt giving in.

"Blaine."

"What?"

"Have a seat. I promise I wont dump anything on your head. Your hair looks exceptionally nice today," Kurt reassured him.

He studied Kurts face. So far, Blaine had been able to read Kurts expression through his blue eyes. When he was angry, they turned slightly grey, full of fire. Mostly, Blaine had only seen Kurt angry, but this was different. His eyes shone with a friendly promise that made Blaine uneasy.

He slowly sank into the chair and slowly said, "okay?"

Stretching his hand across the table, Kurt said, "Hi, Im Kurt Hiummel."

"Im aware," Blaine rolled his eyes.

"No, you arent aware of anything," Kurt shook his head. "Blaine Anderson might know that, but I dont think you do."

"Are you an idiot? You know perfectly well who I am," he barked, sitting back in his seat. He scanned the coffee shop, noticing that a couple people were staring, including Tony.

This was weird. Blaine almost preferred the coffee shower to this. It was always better when someone stormed off, leaving Blaine to himself. That wasnt going to work if Kurt was trying to be friendly.

Why was Kurt trying to be nice/. Every time he had encountered Blaine before, he made it clear that he didnt like the way Blaine did something. Kurt brought nothing but a short temper with him. How long would it be before he started yelling again/?

"No, youre not in your usual element. Youre Blaine. Just Blaine," Kurt flopped his hand in Blaines face, waiting for Blaine to take it.

Awkwardly taking Kurts soft hand, Blaine lightly shook it. "Im just Blaine?" he said hesitantly.

Pleased, Kurt nodded, giving Blaine a small smile. "Now were getting somewhere," he excitedly sat forward, nearly knocking over a packet of sugars.

"Why are you doing this?" Blaine glanced down at his watch. He was running out of time. He had to get to the studio.

"Because I think Blaine needs a friend," Kurt simply shrugged.

"I dont need - " be began to argue.

Kurt held up a hand. "I get that you have an image to maintain," he interrupted. "I get that Blaine Anderson wouldnt be caught dead with someone like me." He took a deep breath and continued, "Im not so convinced about  Blaine, and I think you need someone to do something nice for you."

"I dont understand," Blaine admitted.  

It wasnt like he was two different people. No matter where he went, he was always Blaine Anderson. There was no time out. There was no acting normal for five minutes. He wasnt going to act different simply because Kurt thought he should. 

"Rachel and I were talking about your behavior this week, and even the way you treated her during rehearsals, and I realized something," Kurt moved the sugar container out of his way, leaning on the edge of the table.

"Whats that?" Blaine wasnt sure he wanted to know the answer.

"Theres more to you than the front you put up for the public, and I think you need someone to give that other part of you a little bit of help," Kurt said softly, folding his hands. His piercing blue eyes glowed with a sympathetic sadness.

"You think I need help?" Blaine scuffed, crossing his arms over his chest .

Reaching into his bag, Kurt pulled out a wallet and slid a few ones across the table. "I think you need a different kind of attention than youre used to... This is for your drink today. Think of it as a gift," his determined eyes poured into Blaines, who turned from his gaze.

He didnt need anyone. He didnt need anyone thinking that he was weak enough to need a friend. He was better off alone. He wasnt going to let someone he hardly knew change that.

I have to go," Blaine slid the money back toward Kurt. "I dont need you buying me anything." He wasnt giving into Kurt. He couldnt. It was better to keep Kurt at a distance. Before he left, Blaine added, "besides, Im sure you need the money more than I do. 

Rising from his chair, Kurts tone became more harsh and he said, "you know, a normal person would have accepted that. Why cant you accept someone doing something normal for you?"

"Because Im not normal, and I told you before to leave me alone," Blaine turned on his heel and left.

Rachel talked so much, it almost made Blaine wish he was back at the coffee shop listening to Kurts nonsense. Every time Blaine turned around, she was talking. It was irritating. the sound of her voice made him wanted to tear his hair out.

"Im surprised how well that musical number came out today," Rachel smiled, as they made their way off the stage in the auditorium. "The other kids were fun to work with."

"At least its all recorded," Blaine added. ‘it couldve come out a lot worse if it was done live."

"You sounded great on the track though," Rachel told him, twirling a piece of hair around her finger..

"You were okay," Blaine shrugged.

Letting go of the strand, she tossed her hair over her shoulder, Rachel disagreed, "just okay? My glee club worked hard on that song for a long time. I would hope I sounded okay.".

Picking up the pace, Blaine decided he was done with this conversation. He wasnt going to stick around and hear about her glee club again. It was all she ever talked about. 

"We performed it our first year together," she was one step behind him.

He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her, "Can you stop with the glee club? This isnt about your glee club. This is a television show, not your former high school life."

"Well, I also used the song in my audition for Funny Girl. It must have been okay if this song landed my dream Broadway role," Rachel defended herself.

Rubbing the temples of his forehead, Blaine gave a forced laugh. "Oh, will that appear in the show in another two seasons?"

Rachel was going to give him a migraine. 

"That hasnt been discussed. We have to get through the first season, Blaine," Rachels voice had a harsh tone to it, as she clutched her script tightly in her hand.  

Advancing on her, Blaine stopped inches from Rachel and growled, ‘you know, Berry, I didnt join this television show so you could relive your past. I dont think your opinion should be the only one that matters."

Her jaw dropped. It took a moment for Rachel to collect herself, before she replied, "Then what is this show to you, Blaine? The writers clearly thought my past was interesting enough to write about, unlike yours."

"You think so?" he snarled.

She shrugged, "I have a story to tell. All youve known is television, telling a fictional story."

Blaine felt his face grow hot. His breath caught in his chest. Hands shaking, he had to force himself to take a step back. He had to take several deep breaths, reminding himself that she didnt know a damn thing about him. He was better off leaving the subject alone. 

"Turning the subject back on her, he said, "This show was supposed to be a similar idea. that doesnt mean it has to follow your life word for word," He turned to walk away again.

"The writers asked me to help with this idea," Rachel stomped her foot. "They didnt ask you." As Blaine continued to ignore her, she shouted, "I guess when your life is nothing but acting, you start losing a sense of anything else, right?"

Without turning back to face her, Blaine retorted, "I guess when you come from a place like Ohio, your own storys the best imagination you can come up with."

She remained silent, and Blaine turned to face her, he saw that she had stormed off.

He shrugged. It was better that she get angry and leave anyway. Blaine didnt need a reason to have her linger. 

Sighing heavily, he leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, burying his face in his hands. 

"You were born in Ohio!" Kurt confronted him the next morning in the coffee shop. He already had a table picked out with two cups of coffee sitting on either side.

"Excuse me?" Blaine raised his eyebrow.

"You told Rachel yesterday that no one from Ohio had imagination beyond their own story,"  Kurt took Blaines arm and led him to a chair. Pushing down on his shoulders, Kurt forced him into the chair.

"So?" Blaine glared a the coffee. He wasnt going to drink it. He made it clear yesterday that he wasnt going to take Kurts nice gesture. Why should he give in?

"We found your Wikipedia page," Kurt nodded, hands on his hips.

"And?" Blaine asked. "Havent you learned that youre not always supposed to trust Wikipedia?"

"Youre a hypocrite!" Kurt gracefully slid into the seat opposite him, taking a sip from his own cup.

"I was born in Ohio. Ive been in LA for years. Theres a big difference„" Blaine pushed his own drink away from him.

"How long did you live in Ohio?" Kurt asked.

Running a hand over his face, Blaine took a deep breath. As much as he didnt want to be there, this was the most anyone had treated him like a normal person. He wasnt really sure how to handle it.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked nervously.

"Seven years," Blaine awkwardly said. "We moved after my brother auditioned for Better Brothers."

"Your brother auditioned? How did you get involved?" Kurt continued.

It was getting too personal. Kurt had no right to ask that many questions. Trying to be friendly was one thing, but Blaine couldnt tell him everything. He rose from his chair and said, "you know, Im not so sure this was a good idea..." He turned to go but stopped when he saw the look of disappointment on Kurts face.

"Im sorry, Kurt mumbled. "Its mot my business."

"No, its not," Blaine agreed.

Kurt bowed his head and Blaine gave an exasperated moan, "why does any of this even matter?"

"I told you that I just wanted to help you," Kurt said. "Why does it matter to you?" he looked up at Blaine.

"It doesnt."

"I think it does," Kurt stood up.

"Why do you think that?" Blaine shifted uncomfortably. It didnt matter, and he had hoped that he hadnt given Kurt any reason to believe that any of this did matter.

It didnt.

"Because you wanted me to leave you alone, and you claim that you dont want a friend, but you still show up here every morning, knowing that Im going to be here waiting for you," Kurt said quietly. 

Surprised, Blaine shifted his gaze away from Kurt. He wasnt so sure he agreed with that statement but he couldnt give Kurt a reason to question whether or not Blaine did think he might have been right.

"It has nothing to do with you," Blaine finally said. "Coming here has always been my morning routine. You just happened to get in the way of that."

"Right, because you cant be grateful that someone might actually do something real for you," Kurt nodded in defeat. "I guess I should just give up." he moved toward the trash can and pitched the remainder of his own drink.

This was different. All the arguments, the way people always walked away angry had been something Blaine was used to. 

Disappointment was another story. The way Kurt didnt hold himself so tall, his blue eyes seemed more pale, his face was downcast. No one was usually disappointed when Blaine pushed them away. Had Kurt really been that serious about helping him? Was Blaine wrong for turning it down?

If there was one thing Blaine hated, it was disappointing anyone.

Taking a shuddering breath, Blaine had to calm down the nerves in his stomach. He wasnt quite sure how to handle this, but he couldnt let it end like this.

"Kurt?"

Turning to face Blaine, Kurt quietly said, "what?"

Picking up his drink, Blaine awkwardly smiled, "thanks for the coffee."