“Blaine, heads up!”

“What?”

Jeff hadn’t exactly thrown it, but he probably should have made sure he had Blaine’s full attention before passing him a cinder block.

“FUCK!”

“What? Oh, Blaine, dude, sorry; I thought you were ready-”

He ran over to lift the block off Blaine’s hand, which was already bright red and throbbing furiously.

“Fuckfuckfuck…”

Nick pushed through to see what the drama was about.

“Jeff, what the hell did you do?”

“Nothing, I just thought he, oh man, I’m really sorry, here let me-”

Blaine jerked his hand away.

“Don’t you dare! Oh, fuck, this really hurts…”

Jeff’s dad, the only reason they were all employed, stepped in to get a closer look.

“Okay, calm down. Jeff, go and do something on your own before you land me with a lawsuit. Blaine, go inside and wait for Seb. He’s the only first-aider we’ve got today and God knows he’s less than useless out here; I’ll send him in for you.”

Blaine hoped against hope that nobody called his mother as he skulked inside. He didn’t know what it was about Sebastian that bothered him. Maybe it was his determination to be the alpha gay at Dalton. Maybe it was the repeated attempts at seducing him with arrogant smirks and self-aggrandisement. Probably the fact that he was kind of an asshole, but that seemed too obvious. Blaine was so distracted by the pain in his hand that he didn’t realise who he was going to have to see again as soon as he got inside. Kurt smiled at him, until he saw his hand and gasped. He forgot about the man who was trying to pay for his fuel and hopped out from behind the counter.

“Oh my God, Blaine, are you okay?”

So much for playing it cool.

“Oh, it’s nothing; honestly, you didn’t have to leave the-”

“I’ve got it,” Santana blurted out, hopping up to cover the register. “You know, Kurt’s got full first aid training. If you need it.”

Kurt blushed and smiled, and suddenly Blaine’s hand didn’t feel quite so painful.

“I think my boss is sending somebody in. I’ll just wait for him.”

Kurt had to look away from Blaine’s face, so embarrassed and scared and adorable, and turned his attention to his injury. He took Blaine’s arm carefully, cradling his hand, making sure he didn’t twist his wrist too roughly.

“I don’t know if this can wait. Come on; I can at least get some ice on it. We’re not busy.”

Blaine glanced at the long queue coming from the counter and smiled when Rachel jumped in next to Santana, making sure Kurt was free to help him.

“Thanks,” he said, so quietly it was almost a whisper. He couldn’t manage anything witty or suggestive when his hand was in so much pain, and when Kurt was being so unbelievably gentle.

They went into the back room and Kurt told him to wait for a second while he disappeared into the stock freezer. It felt wrong being out here, surrounded by food and drinks that had yet to go on the shelves. It was like he’d been given some kind of backstage pass, allowed to see the secrets nobody else got to. He told himself that he was being stupid, but his senses were lost somewhere between the raging heat in his hand and the cool air of the shop and the ghostly trace of Kurt’s hands on him. He stroked his wrist absent-mindedly, unsure if Kurt was still there or not, only to give a yelp of pain when it hurt a lot more when he touched it than when Kurt had.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Kurt was rushing out with a huge bag of ice.

“No, no, I just, uh, bumped it on something. It’s fine.”

He wanted Kurt to smile again, certain that would make him feel better, but he still looked concerned. He ushered Blaine over to the staff break area, which was basically a table with two stools, and made him sit down while he slashed the bag open and wrapped some ice in a cloth. He brought it back to Blaine, picking his hand up again and resting it on the ice pack. His hands were cool and even softer from the freezer, and Blaine wished he could just be wrapped in Kurt instead.

“Can you move it at all?”

Blaine flexed his fingers slightly, wincing as he did it.

“It hurts.”

“Poor baby,” a flicker of a smile appeared on Kurt’s face, but it was full of care rather than laughing at him. “I don’t think anything’s broken, but you probably shouldn’t do any more work today. Couple of days without straining it too much and you’ll be fine. The perils of working somewhere so dangerous, huh?”

Blaine blushed.

“It’s not the job so much as the co-workers. My friend, Jeff, he, um- he dropped a block on it.”

Part of Kurt wanted to laugh and make fun of him, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“Maybe we can think of a cooler story. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Blaine could only manage a shy smile.

“Thanks, Kurt. It feels better already.”

Kurt shrugged, smiling properly again. Blaine wanted to say something else, but his mind only got as far as ‘gosh, you’re attractive’ when they heard a throat clear in the doorway.

“Andy told me there was an emergency. I didn’t realise you two were on a secret date back here. Sorry for interrupting.”

Kurt didn’t even turn around.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I don’t think it counts as a date if one of us gets a staff discount on anything we use.”

Blaine grinned. Sebastian didn’t. He walked over to the table and stood between them, grabbing Blaine’s hand to inspect Kurt’s handiwork. Blaine sucked in a breath and clapped his good hand over his mouth to hold in a shout. He didn’t know a lot about healthcare, but he was sure this wasn’t the way to treat an injured hand.

“Well, if you want to get back to work, I can take it from here. You’re not the only one who knows how to operate a bag of ice.”

Kurt raised his eyebrows. He supposed that was meant to be an insult, but knocking his ice-packing skills didn’t exactly hit him where it hurt. He just about managed not to burst out laughing.

“Right, of course. Just thought I’d do what I could. I’ll leave him in your capable hands.” Blaine’s eyes widened with panic. Please not him; I want to be in your hands. “Blaine, I hope you didn’t have any hand-centric activities planned for this evening?”

Blaine’s cheeks went as red as his hand. Sebastian rolled his eyes. These two were ridiculous.

“No, thanks, I… I should be fine. Thanks again.”

Kurt’s smile was unstoppable, even when confronted by Sebastian. He was meant to be flustered and giggly, not capable and caring and completely self-assured. Blaine just wanted to spend the day being looked after by the boy with the light streaks in his hair and the strong arms and the soft hands, but now Kurt was gone and he was stuck with Sebastian, who seemed to be taking his bad mood out on Blaine’s hand. As Kurt disappeared, the pain flooded back.

“You should watch out for him, you know.”

“Oh, I know… wait, what? Ow! You do know that’s the part that’s injured, right? You’re not here to see how far you can bend it!”

“Don’t be such a baby.” How was it so much nicer when Kurt called him that? “I’m just warning you. I’ve heard about that guy. Warblers stick together, right? Somebody’s got to look out for you.”

Blaine pulled his hand away from Sebastian.

“You know what? I think I can take care of myself.”

“Suit yourself. You’re just gonna get hurt.”

“I’m already hurt. Tell Andy I’ve gone home, will you?”

Sebastian shrugged and walked out, leaving Blaine alone in the stock room. He tried to ignore what Sebastian had said. He always tried to stir things up when he was bored. Even if there was something behind it, he didn’t really care. Kurt could have had the worst reputation in the city, but it wouldn’t change the way he’d held his hand. It wouldn’t change that smile.

He waited for a couple of minutes, breathing deeply and letting the ice numb his hand, before unwrapping it and heading back into the shop. He fished his card out of his pocket (of course it was in the pocket by his bad hand) and waited patiently for Kurt to serve the man in front of him, with what seemed like a dozen children. Kurt had them eating out of his hand just as he had the little girl a couple of days earlier. Blaine smiled as he watched him work, each child saying please and thank you, and felt flustered when it was his turn to talk to him.

“How’s the wound?” Kurt smiled at him, the raised platform behind the counter doing nothing for their height difference. “More importantly, how’s that guy? Does he have some kind of problem?”

“He’s a long story. Could I get thirty dollars on seven?”

Kurt raised one eyebrow.

“I think you’re forgetting something.”

“Please?”

“Much better. Wait, can you manage? With the-” he nodded at Blaine’s hand.

“Oh. I hadn’t really thought about it. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I only need one hand for that.”

“Sure, then you’ll leave the cap off and I’ll have to run after you. No chance. This is what I meant before, Blaine. I asked if you had any plans for your hand. I hope you weren’t thinking of anything rude.” He swiped Blaine’s card, his eyes sparkling playfully. “Can you sign-” Blaine held up his hand, still stiff. “Right. I’ll do it for you.”

“I’m appalled. That’s fraud.”

“Do you want my help or not?”

“Yes. Please. Thank you. Sir.”

“Is ‘sir’ too much? No, actually, I like it. Let’s go.”

He put Rachel back on the register to go outside with Blaine, who somehow managed to manoeuvre his car up to the pump with a little guidance from Kurt.

“Sweet ride, man.”

They both looked down at the powder blue blob on wheels Blaine had inherited from his aunt.

“Very funny. It doesn’t matter; I’m giving it to my little sister soon. I don’t need a car for college.”

Kurt swatted Blaine’s hand away so he could unscrew the cap and thrust the pump into the car. Their minds were racing, but they kept the conversation clean.

“Oh, right, New York. You seem eager to bring that up again.”

Blaine looked at his feet and leaned against the car.

“Well, I don’t know anybody else who’s going. It might be nice to see a friendly face.”

“Since when are we friends?”

Blaine looked back up at Kurt’s face, taking a detour to glance at his arm and the flexing muscles shifting under his skin as he squeezed the trigger.

“Just since you lovingly caressed my hand in your secret lair.”

“I’d hardly call it a lair- wait, did you say lovingly?”

“No.”

“It’s not my fault my hands are really soft. I’m just good at first aid. It doesn’t mean I’m trying to-”

“No, sure, sure. Enough about your attempts to seduce me; got any plans for the weekend?”

“I was not seducing- ugh. Forget it. Actually, I’m going out with the girls tonight.”

“No way! So am I- well, with the guys.”

Kurt narrowed his eyes.

“Seriously? Don’t tell me; you just happen to be going to Raw?”

“Yes. That’s been my plan all week. I mean, I’ve never heard of Raw, and the others don’t know we’re going out yet, but I totally didn’t just decide because of you.”

“Uh-huh. And you’re definitely not stalking me.”

“Me? No way.”

The machine clicked behind them. He replaced the nozzle on its stand and screwed the fuel cap back onto the car.

“Well, sir, I’m glad I could be of assistance. I hope you have a pleasant evening.”

Blaine smiled, his eyes drifting to Kurt’s ass as he walked away. He suddenly realised he really had no idea where Raw was.

“Kurt, wait!”

He spun around to face Blaine, still smiling.

“Was there something else?”

“Well, I just thought as we’re friends now, I should probably have your number. You know, in case I need any more medical assistance.”

“That was lame.”

Blaine smirked.

“I know. So, can I have it?”

Kurt stuck his hand out and Blaine passed him his phone. With a few taps on the screen, he’d put his number in.

“Should I call you? Just so you have mine too?”

“You can’t use cell phones out here. The whole place will explode.”

“Is that what they tell you in training?”

“My training probably saved your hand today; you should be grateful. Call me if you get lost tonight, while you’re in the middle of plans you’ve totally had all week.”

Blaine waited to get in his car, slipping his phone back in his pocket and running his good hand through his hair as he watched Kurt walk away. Kurt grinned and wandered back inside slowly, knowing full well that Blaine would be watching him. He had to talk to the girls and tell them they had plans tonight.