“Eating hummus.” He patted the ground next to him. “Join me.”

“Are you sure you’re allowed to do this?”

Blaine shrugged and patted the ground again. “I’m the manager and I’m going to pay for this tomorrow. It’s no problem. People have done far worse in here after hours.”

Kurt’s nose wrinkled. “Ew.” He slowly lowered himself onto the ground. “That’s a mental image I’ve never wanted.”

“You’ve never had to see it on the security camera.” Blaine replied, pulling open the chip bag and offering it to Kurt. “So, wanna tell me why you look so sad?”

Kurt dropped his head back against the shelf and he groaned. “My roommates decided to hold a party to set me up with a guy. The problem is all the guys they tried to set me up with were horrible and obnoxious just plain boring. One guy likes to yo-yo.”

“Yo-yo? Is that a new sex term?”

“No. Yo-yoing like the game that kids do with-with the sting and the bouncy thingy.” Kurt replied, popping a chip into his mouth.

Blaine stared at Kurt for a moment before murmuring, “Were your roommates high when they introduced you to this guy?”

“Oh, it wasn’t just him, it was a ton of other guys. A tanning model, a jockey, an artist. The list goes on.”

Blaine watched Kurt with those brilliant eyes, his lips set in what seemed to a permanently amused smile. “They all sound exciting.”

Kurt groaned and dipped his chip into the hummus. “They may sound exciting in theory, but they were all ridiculously boring. One guy even shoved my head under a lamp so he could see the color of my eyes better because he liked the shade.”

Blaine gave one hiccup of a laugh and then clamped his jaw shut to keep from laughing too loudly. “That sounds horrible.” He stopped and thought for a second before he quickly turned and stared at Kurt. “So, since all those guys were horrible, tell me about your perfect guy.”

“My perfect guy?”

“Yeah. Tell me what he would look like. What he would be like.”

Kurt narrowed his eyes. “Why?”

“Because I’m nosy. And it’s nice to have a person to think about when you’re faced with some horrible date. I use it all the time.”

“You do? Tell me about him.” Kurt was suddenly intrigued. He leaned forward, watching Blaine’s face.

Blaine grinned and waggled his finger at Kurt. “Nope. This is for you. So tell me about who you think your perfect guy is. Start with what he looks like. Close your eyes.”

With a sigh Kurt leaned back and closed his eyes. “He’s dark, as in the dark Prince Charming way with dark hair, tanned skin. He has to have intriguing eyes. I don’t care about the color.”

“Height?” Blaine asked, his voice soft.

“A little shorter than me, and sturdy, someone that I can lean against while I’m drawing but I have to bend down just a little to kiss. I want to be able to hug him and have his shoulder at the perfect height so I can rest my face against his neck. He has to be a reader so that we can have quiet nights in without television. He has to be good with kids because some day I want to adopt. We have to be able to sing together.”

“You sing?” Blaine’s voice drifted softly through Kurt’s head.

Kurt’s eyes remained closed as he smiled softly “I did. I used to be in Glee club in my school. I loved singing.”

“Loved?”

“I haven’t been able to sing in a while. Work kind of killed that for me.”

Blaine reached over and jostled Kurt’s knee, grabbing his attention. “We’ll have to fix that. What’s your favorite song?”

“Blackbird.”

“Good choice. C’mon now, sing.”

Kurt’s eyes widened. “Now! What? Are you insane?” Blaine shook his head once. When Blaine motioned for him to continue Kurt felt his cheeks heat up but his opened his mouth and began to sing the all too familiar song. What he wasn’t expecting was at the chorus Blaine coming in to harmonize with him.

Kurt’s gaze latched onto Blaine’s and they finished the song together. When silence fell Kurt grinned at Blaine. “You sing?”

“I was a lead singer for my glee club. An a cappella group actually.”

“Well, it really is a small world.” Kurt murmured, picking up another chip.

Their eyes met for a long moment until Blaine looked away with a bashful grin. He squeezed Kurt’s knee and got up. “I have to lock up now. Want to walk me out?” Kurt didn’t waste a second getting to his feet and following Blaine to the back of the store.

Blaine closed up the front, turned off the lights and walked with him out the back door. “Thank you. This is exactly what I needed.” Kurt told him as they walked down the sidewalk.

“It’s no problem. It was nice to end my day by talking to someone nice and not demanding me to feed them.”

“Your cat?” Kurt asked, smirking.

“I love him, I really do. But there are days that I miss living around actual people.” Blaine whined. Kurt chuckled and sighed as they walked together until they parted at the lamp. “I hope that things go okay with your roommates.”

“Me too.” Kurt replied, feeling his heart flutter a little. “Hopefully the party will be over when I get back.”

Blaine held out his hand. “Here’s hoping. See you soon?”

Kurt took Blaine’s hand in his and squeezed once, letting the touch linger. “Definitely. I’ll text you.”

“Have a good night Kurt.” Blaine finished with another shy smile before slipping his hand out of Kurt’s grasp and continuing on his way home.

On the way home Kurt felt lighter than air. Being around Blaine made him feel amazing.

He stayed that way until he got home, which was deserted but looked like a train wreck had happened in the front yard. Inside the house wasn’t much better. Both girls were missing and Kurt raised his voice to be heard. “So, who is cleaning up this massive mistake of a house party?” There was no response. “There is no way in hell that I am cleaning this up after all the hell you put me through.”

“We didn’t put you through anything! We were helping you out.” Santana griped, popping up from behind the counter. “Oh crap.” She finished, realizing that she’d given away her hiding place.

Quinn slowly appeared from behind the couch. “We really were trying to help you. I honestly thought that those guys could potentially be good for you. I didn’t realize they were such douches.”

“So both of you were trying to set me up? What were you planning on getting out of that?” Kurt asked, folding his arms over his chest.

Santana came fully into the room, leaning her back against the wall. “Whoever failed to get you a guy had to clean up the apartment.”

Kurt gave both of them her best bitch glare. “So, since that failed the both of you can work together to fix this mess. I’m going to supervise so that neither of you cheat.”

“We wouldn’t cheat.” Quinn pouted.

Kurt went to the counter and heaved himself onto it so that he was sitting on the one clear and clean space. “I know that you have a cleaning service on your speed dial. God, this place looks like hell.”

Quinn slowly started picking up the articles of clothes that had somehow been shed. “It definitely does.” Suddenly she stood up. “And where have you been young man?”

Kurt’s cheeks colored slightly. “I was going to go and do some work, but I met Blaine and we talked for a while.”

Quinn tossed a rag at Santana. “Would you start cleaning. Please?” Santana grumbled at her but started cleaning the counter around Kurt’s butt.

“Blaine as in the organic gel head?” Santana asked, pushing a plate into the sink. Kurt nodded and both of her perfectly plucked eyebrows rose. “And when you say ‘talk’ you mean having hot kinky sex, right?”

The color spread farther along his face, tinting the tips of his ears. “No. We sat in the chips aisle and ate pita and hummus and talked about my perfect guy.”

“Your perfect guy? That sounds fun. What did you say?” Quinn asked, passing him to grab a trash bag and toss the clothes into it.

Kurt let his legs dangle below him as he thought back on his conversation with Blaine. Dark hair, dark eyes, smile, musical. “A lot. I said a lot.” He murmured, realizing that the man he’d described to Blaine, was actually Blaine. God, the guy must have though he was a creeper. “He was very nice and helped me think things through. I honestly had a great time.”

“When are you going out again?” Quinn pressed, tying the bag shut.

Kurt’s head jerked up.� “We-we’re not going out. We barely know each other.”

Santana started running hot water in the sink. “That’s the best way to actually get to know someone. Or so I hear.”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I think he’s just being friendly. He probably doesn’t think that I’m even someone he should date.”

Santana scoffed. “He works at Whole Foods. You work in the fashion industry. He’s lucky you’re even looking at him as a possibility.”

“But I’m not!” Kurt insisted. Both of the girls gave him looks that told him they did not believe him.

Quinn lugged the trash outside under Kurt’s watchful gaze and Santana worked at cleaning the kitchen. Slowly things began to get cleaner while Kurt sat on the counter and chatted with them about the party. Apparently it had gone downhill when someone (read: Quinn) called the police and gave a noise complaint. When the police showed up people scattered pretty fast.

At one point Santana popped from behind a potted plant. “Something over there smells like your step-brother’s . I don’t think I can go over there.”

“And I highly doubt our pathetic carpet cleaner will be able to make any dent in this mess.” Quinn added.

Kurt jumped off the counter. “Okay. Okay. I think I’ve punished you two enough. Let’s leave this as it is. Quinn, call your cleaning people and they can take care of the rest.” Quinn sighed softly and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“You are amazing. Thank you so much!” She hugged him once and flounced away to her room, skipping along tiredly.

Santana threw down her cloth. “It’s about time. I was wondering when you were going to crack.” She slunk by him, snatching his hip as he passed. “So, when are you going to go out with the prince of produce again?”

“Your running out of names for him, aren’t you? I think you’ve used that one before.” Kurt shot back, trying to not let her get the best of him. He couldn’t afford to give her the power to make him think that Blaine liked him back.

“Whatever Kurt. Just get your ass out of your head and go do something.”

Kurt grabbed her waist and pushed her forward. “Go to your room you lush.” She snarled at him but allowed him to guide her to her room. Next door Quinn’s door was closed and he could hear her nature sound sleep aid thing playing whale noises. He grinned at the doors before going to his own room.

To unknown: Tonight actually turned out to be better than I expected.

From unknown: I know. Blaine is a wonderful cheer-er-upper.

To unknown: How well do you know him in the future?

From unknown: I wish I could tell you. That’s a very touchy subject.

To unknown: What isn’t a touchy subject with you?

From unknown: Well, just think of this. If everything goes right, hopefully you’ll understand what I’m talking about soon.

To unknown: Just tell me this, will I be happy in the future?

From unknown: Let’s just say that things are looking brighter. Go to sleep. Tomorrow will bring new things and bring you closer to the future you deserve.

Kurt sighed at his phone and tossed it on the table next to his bed before falling face forward onto the mattress. Having his future self meddling in his life was turning out to be more of a curse than a blessing.

In the morning Kurt woke up to find Quinn hovering on the edge of the hallway door. “Are you afraid the mess is going to bite?” He whispered in her ear.

“It looks bigger than it did last night.” She murmured back.

“That’s because last night you were drunk. Did you call your cleaning service?”

Quinn turned around fast and then winced from the movement. She grabbed her temple and grimaced at him, shielding her eyes. “I thought I dreamed that you said that.”

“Nope. Call them.” He pressed a kiss to her cheek and went to the kitchen to start cooking pancakes to help the girls soak up an excess alcohol. In the background he heard her hiss a “ohthankgod!’ and then start dialing.

By the time he finished cooking Santana came straggling in, wrinkling her nose at the smell in the living room. “It smells like Finn’s room in there.”

“It is pretty bad, but my cleaning guys are on their way. I have to leave for class since I’m already running late. I’ll take one of those pancakes to go please.” Quinn said, grabbing a pancake and dropping it into a plastic bag and dribbled some syrup into the baggy. “Thank you darling. I’ll see you tonight.”

“I won’t be back until late though. There’s a ‘congrats’ soiree for one of the girls at the studio. She’s leaving to go to work in Milan so I’ll probably be there until late.” Kurt told them, flipping the pancakes and putting some fully cooked ones on Santana’s plate. She groaned and covered her eyes with her hands.

“Stop being so fucking perky.” She groaned. Quinn giggled, always the one to recover quicker than Santana. She patted the top of Satana’s head and rushed out of the room.

Kurt checked his watch and sighed. “I’m probably going to have to take a taxi cab at this point. Are you going to be around to let in the cleaners?”

“I don’t think there’s any way I’m doing anything today other than burning off this hangover.” She groaned.

“Good. I’ll see you tonight. You be good.” He told her before grabbing his own quick breakfast and rushing out the door to catch a cab. Kurt was a little disappointed that he couldn’t do his usual morning ritual of greeting Blaine like he normally did. At the office he finished up his last pancake and checked his phone.

From unknown: Sorry, it was a long day at work last night. I was just feeling at the end of my rope. Don’t worry too much tonight. Just have fun and make sure to hug Shelia and tell her she’ll be amazing in Milan. A legend.

To unknown: Does that really happen to her?

From unknown: Maybe.

To unknown: That’s rich. You can tell me her future, but not my own.

To unknown: Sorry, that was rude. It’s just…

From unknown: A lot to take in, I know.� Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.

Kurt tucked his phone into his pocket and sighed before pushing into the office. He spent the entire day avoiding Patrick and working closely along-side his boss and hanging around Tina. She got the biggest kick out of listening to his stories of the night out at the party and with Blaine.

“Blaine sounds like quite the charmer.” She told him with a wink, nudging his shoulder with hers.

Kurt’s cheeks colored slightly. “Yeah. He is.”

Patrick came around the corner. “Already got a new man Kurt? Who knew you could move on so quickly.” His voice was snide. Kurt felt his shoulders clench hard and had almost replied when Patrick moved quickly around the corner.

Tina took his hand and squeezed once. “Don’t let him get to you. He’s just an ass.” Kurt nodded once. “Let’s just go and tell Shelia how amazing she is and how well she’ll do in Milan.”

Kurt gave her a quick and strained smile and allowed her to pull him along. In the upstairs studio music played and people milled around with drinks in their hands. After last night the last thing he wanted was to have another drink. Next to him Tina hung close.

Patrick stayed near their boss the entire time, chatting with their coworkers and laughing as if there was nothing wrong in the world. Kurt tried his best to keep from paying attention to them. But every so often his eyes would stray to Patrick again. It wasn’t until he was getting ready to leave that he realized that Patrick was gone. Probably left with one of the guys from the office.

Kurt went to his desk and got a text.

From unknown: Don’t forget to get that paperwork to Kimberly.

To unknown: Oh! Yeah, thanks for reminding me.

Kurt immediately snatched up the pamphlet of paper he had drawn up earlier that day and returned to the party. He tapped on the shoulder of a girl he worked with, “Have you seen Kimberly?” At the blank look she gave him he prompted further. “Our boss?”

“Oh, she went into the filing room.”

“Thanks.” He grinned at her and pushed through the crowd. On the other side of the room he pulled open the file door and then stopped dead. His blood running cold.

Kimberly was in there, but she wasn’t alone. Her back was pushed up against the filing shelves with Patrick pushing against her hips. His mouth was attached to hers, practically tearing off her sweater.

Without thinking Kurt slammed the door shut, turned tail, and ran.

[xXx][xXx][xXx]

Excerpt from Chapter Six—“Drunk Texting Can Be Your Friend”: “I don’t want to think about this anymore. I can’t believe he would do this to me.” Kurt hiccupped, his face wet with tears.

Santana frowned at him and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. “The best way to get over something like this is to get drunk again. You know, take a bit of the hair of the dog that bit you.”

“You want me to get drunk again so I forget today even happened?”

Santana smirked at him, glancing to Quinn for only a moment. “Not just drunk. I want you to get totally smashed.”