Just as he was about to exit the lift he heard a woman calling, "Mr. Anderson, wait up!" Kurt stepped out and glanced to the main lobby where a woman was hustling towards a now very familiar figure.

"Mrs. Clymer. What can I do for you today?" Blaine asked cheerfully, hands tucked into his long black pea coat. It reminded him slightly of the Chenille one he'd seen in Nordstrom's last winter.

"I sent your latest book to my niece at the hospital and she loved it! She was wondering if you'd be so kind as to sign it. I was going to go and get it from her today."

Blaine chuckled and readjusted his glasses, "Of course. Just bring it by my apartment tonight."

She thanked him with a hug that almost made Kurt bristle a little with jealousy. Which he knew was totally absurd. But he remembered Blaine hugging him and it bothered him, a lot.

They were both gone when he snapped back to attention.

Kurt didn't really think about what he was doing for the rest of the morning until he was walking down the crowded street on his way to the theatre. His feet seemed to slow and then came to a stop in front of a small hole-in-the wall book shop. There were a few books piled up in the windows and a bored looking young woman sitting at the desk.

Kurt pushed open the door and the bell above his head jangled cheerily and immediately the woman looked to him with a grin on her face. "Hello! How are you today?" Kurt noticed immediately that she had a slightly exotic accent. He smiled back and walked to the counter, setting his hands palms down on the wooden surface.

"Yes, I'm looking for some books by a man named Blaine Anderson?" Kurt was a little floored by her reaction to the name.

Her eyes immediately lit up, she clasped her hands together and practically gushed, "I love his books! They are so wonderful!"

"Really?" Kurt asked and she nodded quickly.

"Yes, especially his first one, Debutante. It's so wonderful I actually cried at the end."

Kurt couldn't believe it. His Blaine? He didn't even know that Blaine could write. Sure, he knew that Blaine could do poetry and write songs… but he didn't know that Blaine was capable of making something that could move someone to tears. "Tell me about it." Kurt prompted.

The girl lifted a finger to tell him to wait and hustled off into the stacks of books only to return a moment later with two hardcover books. She set them in front of him and Kurt quickly took in the covers. One had a woman sitting on a stool next to a fireplace and the other had a simple white cover except for a purple feather resting on the title. "This is Debutante"she pointed to the one with the woman on it and then she pointed to the other, "and this is Beau."

Kurt picked up the first one and turned it over in his hands while the woman spoke, "Debutante is really interesting. It's about the modern day socialites, but it's told like a fairytale. The main character is this girl who is different than the other socialite daughters and is forced to conform until her Prince comes along. The really cool part is that the Prince is just as insecure as her." Kurt felt the corner of his lip twitch a little.

"And then Beau is the sequel to the other book but it's told from the view of the Prince. It's really lovely and I've read it at least twice so far."

Kurt felt a lump in his throat that made it hard to breathe. "I'll take both." The woman nodded sweetly and rang him up.

"A lot of people have talked about how he really doesn't seem like the type to write young adult novels because if you look at a picture of him he honestly seems like the type to write a biography of Napoleon or someone. I read an interview with him where he said that he writes these books is because he wants to reach the kids. Did you know that he's gay? Who would have thought?" She rambled as she checked the books and rang him up.

Kurt didn't listen to the total, only handed her his credit card and gathered up his purchases and hurried to the theatre.

Sadie was waiting when he arrived. He refused to say anything until they were in the seclusion of his dressing room. Once the door was shut firmly behind Sadie she said, "I see you're still alive."

"There wasn't any danger of that. It was nice." Kurt answered shortly, pulling the books out of his back and setting them on the floor.

"Nice as in…?" Sadie prompted.

Kurt swung around in his chair with a sigh, "Awkward and emotionally painful." She immediately settled down on the edge of the bureau, looking rather expectant.

"The dinner was wonderful, not that I remember much of it. I can tell you exactly what Blaine wore or his scent, which by the way, has not changed since high school. Also, I found out he's been lecturing and that I broke his heart." Sadie's hand touched her heart a little.

"How sad. Did he actually say that?"

Kurt nodded a little and shrugged, unsure as to how to answer, "I don't honestly remember all that he said. I remember the look on his face. He was mad that I pushed him out when he would have been happy to just stay friends with me."

Sadie frowned a little, "You got all that out of him. Did he yell?"

Kurt flinched just a little, "No. Blaine's too much of a freaking gentleman to ever yell, even now. I think it would have been easier to take all of this if he actually did yell."

Sadie's gaze fell on the books. "What's with those? I thought you 'don't have enough time to read'."

"I'm not." Kurt replied quickly, picking up Debutante and handing it to her. "Blaine wrote these."

Sadie's eyes grew wide and almost immediately she flipped to the back cover and opened it. "He really is good looking." Kurt lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the picture. It was a headshot with his glasses and slicked back hair. He looked heart stopping. "Have you read them?"

"No, not yet."

Sadie handed it back and smiled a little, "Well, when you do, tell me what you think." She left Kurt alone after that to get ready for his show.

Once the show was over Kurt headed back home, wandering down the street. The clouds were still hanging low and everyone's head was bent against the mugginess caged in by the clouds. He held the books tight against his chest and didn't really think about anything until he was inside the lobby. "Mr. Hummel?" The man at the desk said, calling to him.

"Yes?" Kurt asked, realizing once again he didn't know what that guy's name was.

"This was left for you sir." He handed a letter to Kurt whose eyebrows shot up. Letters were so pass�, no one he knew would ever deign to send a letter to him. Even his father used email to contact him when Kurt was too busy to be contacted by phone.

He accepted the letter and thanked the man and rushed to the elevator to get in it before it closed. "Hold the door!" he called and thankfully the person inside did. To both Kurt's dismay and delight he found Blaine standing next to the doors with a look of pure surprise on his face.

"Fancy meeting you here." Kurt said nervously, cursing the nameless man and woman who had shoved themselves into the corner of the lift to let Kurt in.

"You too. Did you just finish a show?" Blaine asked conversationally, acting as if he was speaking with a person he was well acquainted with and not the boy he used to date. Kurt noticed that Blaine looked wonderful still. He was in dress slacks and had his glasses on top of his head and his tie hanging around his neck, unknotted.

Kurt nodded a little, "Yes. It went really well."

"I'm glad. I enjoyed it when I went with David." The conversation flowed smoothly enough but he knew that the two others in the lift looked uncomfortable. Even they could tell something was up between them. Their conversation was too 'by the book'.

Everyone fell silent after that and stayed silent until the couple got out on the 34th floor. Once the door closed Blaine turned to look at Kurt "I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. I crossed the line."

Kurt stopped him, a whirlwind of frantic emotions in his chest. "You seriously need to stop apologizing and being such a gentleman. I understand your blow up, I probably deserved it. Also, I realize that living in the same building by this strange twist of fate we are going to be bumping into each other a fair amount, I mean I've already seen you twice in the main lobby and now look at us, taking the same elevator."

"Really? I only saw you once and that was at the elevators."

Kurt gave Blaine a thoroughly exasperated look that was reminiscent of his high school self. "I'm not finished." Blaine made a movement that was very much Blaine and told him to go on, "I know this has been many a person's last words but I think we should still be friends. And, if not friends, at least we should be able to be in the same area without too much awkwardness."

Blaine stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't think I could possibly be near you, as a friend or whatever else, because that would ruin everything I've built around myself. You've always had this very strange power over me that makes me act differently and lose control and that's not who I am." Kurt couldn't believe what he was hearing; he almost felt his jaw drop open a little. They stayed silent for the rest of the trip up which was only a little over a minute but it seemed so much longer. The door dinged at Blaine's stop and he got out, turning to look at Kurt.

In Blaine's defense he looked truly repentant, "I am so sorry Kurt." The door closed and it took a moment for Kurt to catch up and yell,

"Would you stop apologizing, damn it!"

Once Kurt was back in his room he threw the books on his bed and went to get a drink. He felt like he should be mad but he didn't have the will to- Why did Blaine have to keep apologizing?

That bastard.

Kurt tried to fall asleep for hours but had so much trouble. Finally, in the end he sat up in his living room staring at the cover of Debutante. It didn't take him long to get caught up in the fairytale was weaving and what was more was that Kurt could feel Blaine in his words. It was almost painful.

It wasn't until chapter five that something caught Kurt's attention.

'I hated where I was at. Mummy wanted so much and I didn't want to give it to her anymore. I couldn't stand any more ceremonies and cotillions. I truly had nowhere else to go. My life was spiraling into something I didn't want it to turn into and I had no way to stop it because there was no one that could help me. Or so I thought.

"Excuse me."

I was heading to the bottom of the stairs, about to go and perform for all the socialite mothers. My hair was worked to perfection and my outfit immaculate. I was sure that the person who was addressing me was going to be just like all the other pompous idiots who attended these coming out parties. I turned to face him, expecting the norm and ended up being wonderfully surprised.

He stood before me, almost tragically different and I knew then and there that there was a possibility I could be in love in that very moment. He was wearing a bowtie for goodness sakes!…I've always had a thing for guys in bowties. His outfit was an obvious attempt at a copy of the suits most men wore to these occasions but was at the same time very different.

"This is my first time here."

I extended my hand first and smiled, "I'm Jamie."

"Cory." He replied and took my hand, glancing around at the mix of girls in white dresses and their beaus. "What exactly is going on here?"

I gave him what I hoped was a confident and yet flirty look, "A cotillion. The debs are getting ready to be announced."

"Oh really?" He looked a little amused at the statement.

I nodded and went on, "This your first time seeing one?" I asked and he nodded, "Well, then you're going to need a good seat. Here, I know a shortcut." Then in a movement of such brashness that I even shocked myself I grabbed his hand and dragged him down the stairs and through a hall to where the ceremony was going to be held.'

Kurt felt he should have been pissed that Blaine was basically writing their first meeting almost word for word but he just couldn't find the will to be mad.

He kept reading all the way to the end because it wasn't really that long, a little over 200 pages maybe. Beau looked much longer by comparison. By the time he finished Debutante it was well into the very early morning and he needed to get some sleep. He was so tired that he slept so much he slept through his alarm and had to skip his morning routine and rush to the theatre. When he got there Sadie was waiting looking a little worried.

"You look horrible! Did you have trouble sleeping last night?" She asked, following him into his dressing room.

"Yes! And it's all Blaine's fault!" Kurt whined, throwing Debutante at Sadie. "He wrote about me, well, us and I now-"

Sadie looked incredibly worried, "Was it anything bad?"

"No, Blaine's too much of a gentleman to do that! It was just hard to read this because I'm pretty sure what I was reading was how he saw life and let me tell you, it's not pretty." Kurt whimpered.

Sadie quickly shook her head, "No Kurt! He's a writer. He was taking things he knew and turning them into a story. Probably most of what he wrote was made up and he only used a skeleton of his life to come up with the characters."

Kurt shook his head quickly, "No... Jamie is Blaine."

Sadie quickly moved to kneel at Kurt's side. "Do you know what you should do? You really should come out with a couple of friends of mine and we'll get some drinks. They'll help." Kurt took a moment to collect himself before nodding once and giving Sadie a forced smile.

The show went off without a hitch and Sadie collected Kurt. "Ready for a thrilling night out?" Kurt laughed and nodded and allowed her to shepherd him into the taxi.

Sadie's friends were an eclectic group of people spanning all races, genders, and forms of sexuality. Almost immediately after stepping into the bar Kurt found himself suddenly attached to the only other gay guy in the group. His name was Robert and he was a sweet man but not that attractive, although he did make for good company.

He was a bad influence though. He was really big on the idea of shoving as many drinks down Kurt's throat because he heard Kurt was a little bit of a lightweight.

"What do you think about us leaving and heading back to my place?" Robert asked, trying to appear suave.

Kurt sized him up, trying to decide what the best move was… which was hard considering he was very drunk. He'd gotten better at holding his liquor since high school and the April Rhodes debacle, but he was still fairly pathetic. It was the main reason why he only drank with Sadie or other people he knew.

"You know who pisses me off? Blaine Anderson." Kurt slurred nonsensically.

Robert's eyebrow shot up, "The author?"

"Yes, he's a bastard! And I'm going to tell him that right now!" Kurt stood up so fast the scared Kurt a little.

"Why don't you sit down?" Robert said, trying to coax Kurt down, but it didn't work. Kurt continued to rant as he fumbled to pulled on his jacket. "Um, Sadie?" Robert called, thoroughly worried. When she hurried over from the bar he explained the situation and she called for her boyfriend. He was a big man with a wonderful personality and a soft spot for Kurt.

She relayed what was going on to him and he took Kurt by the shoulders, "Let's get you back to the apartment, okay?"

Kurt complied, his head spinning too much to really fight against Jason. The man led him to the cab and kept him upright all the way to the building complex then he wrapped Kurt's arm around his neck and started into the main lobby. Inside the elevator Jason said, "You're on the 64th floor, right?"

Kurt was silent for a moment looking sulky, "Go to 62."

"What? But Sadie said you live-"

"Change of plans." Kurt snapped, sounding almost fully coherent but Jason knew better. "Go to the 62nd floor, room 785. I have a bone to pick with Blaine Anderson."

Jason frowned at Kurt but didn't fight him. When they stopped at the 62nd floor Kurt stumbled out and stomped towards the door, knocking on it hard. Jason grabbed Kurt's lithe shoulders to keep him upright and a few moments later the door opened and a disheveled looking young man stood on the other side.

He stared at Kurt in confusion then looked at Jason. "I'm sorry man. He said he had a bone to pick with you and I didn't want to make him any madder than he already is. I know that he can be a bit of a bitch when he's drunk and doesn't get his way." Jason said, looking worried.

The man smirked a little, "Sounds like him. I'll take it from here, thank you."

He reached out to take Kurt's arm and help him into the house. Kurt almost immediately started ranting at him, his voice going higher in annoyance. "You are horrible. I try to get you out of my head and then you show up and now I'm thinking about you constantly. I feel like I'm back in high school and dealing my crush on Finn again."

Blaine pushed Kurt down on the couch and went to the kitchen to get him some water. He was barely listening. This was honestly the last thing he'd needed. When he brought the water back Kurt was still ranting but cut off for a moment to down the entire glass of water.

"I hate that you're still perfect. I hate that."

Blaine sighed, "Kurt, I'm hardly perfect. No one is perfect."

"But you apologize when you haven't done anything and you don't slam the door in my face because that would be impolite and you're never impolite." Kurt went on and Blaine grabbed a blanket to wrap around Kurt's shoulders. "And you're always taking care of me and you need to stop!" Kurt went on, getting a little hysterical.

Blaine kept his cool, for a semester he'd shared his apartment with a hysterical drunk during his last year of Yale so he knew what to expect. "Well, you need to stop getting into situations where I need to take care of you."

Kurt suddenly went silent and Blaine recognized that as a sign of something big coming. "I read your book. It was beautiful… but sad. Is Jamie you? Were you really that unhappy?"

Blaine swallowed, trying to force down the hard knot in his throat. "Most of the time I was. It got better after I met you though. I really started to like who I was."

"I like who you are too." Kurt mumbled. "I sometimes hate myself for breaking up with you. I think we could have been really good if I'd been willing to keep on trying."

Blaine pushed Kurt down against the cushions and smoothed Kurt's immaculate hair away from his face. "I sometimes think it was a good move."

"Why?" Kurt asked.

"I'll tell you sometime later." Blaine said, getting to his feet. "I'll make you pancakes in the morning-"

Kurt's next question stopped him, "Do you think we could ever be in love again?"

Blaine's heart hurt and he turned to Kurt who was staring at him with this intensely innocent and wide-eyed look. It was unnerving that he was acting so coherent. "I don't know. I'm afraid to know."

"You're afraid of what?" Kurt asked with a yawn.

Blaine tried to restrain his chuckle but couldn't. "I'm terrified of you Kurt. Now, go to sleep."

He hurried from the room and into his bedroom, closing the door behind him and locking it. He didn't know if it was to keep drunken Kurt out or to keep himself in. He dragged his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contact, stopping on a specific name.

"Chance Blaise." A crisp voice said sounding surprisingly alert and authoritative for this late in the evening.

"It's Blaine. I have a serious problem. Is Carrie there?"

"Oh, hey man." The voice dropped it's 'I'm all business' guise and sounded more natural. "She's actually dead asleep. What's going on?"

"Kurt Hummel is sleeping on my couch."

"What?" Chance exclaimed. He knew the entire story that accompanied Blaine's relationship with Kurt and had deemed Kurt forever a jerk.

Blaine shook his head violently even though Chance couldn't see him, "He got drunk and made one of his friends bring him to my apartment. He's been ranting at me and then just before I left the room he asked if we could be in love again."

"Don't do it man! I know you're too chivalrous to kick him out of your apartment now but save yourself the heartbreak and get him out of your apartment and your life. You don't need this guy around you."

"But I was so happy when I was with him."

"You're losing your ground. Buck up and fight your battles and get him out of your apartment because if you give him three hours with you he'll have you wrapped around his little finger again."

Blaine's frown deepened and he said goodbye to his friend. Chance hadn't helped as much as he'd hoped. That was why he'd wanted to speak to Carrie. She always knew what to do in these sort of situations.

It was true Kurt had a hold on him and Blaine had been thinking about him constantly since that first glance at the elevators. It was horrible how pathetic he was when it came to Dalton's most unappreciated ex-countertenor.

With a sigh he got back into his bed and curled up in his blankets making a cocoon around his body.

He knew Chance was right, but he just didn't think that he'd be able to pull himself away now that Kurt was forcing his way back it.

Blaine also didn't know if he wanted to.