Blaine arrived early to his shift at the coffee house the next day. When Blaine had taken the job behind the counter, the manager had said that they might be able to give him a spot singing some nights. Blaine was still waiting for this plan to work out, but in the meantime, he was going to make the best coffee he possibly could, and keep nagging the boss.

When Blaine, Kurt, and Rachel moved to the city, they knew that they would have to get some kind of work to afford their apartment, and after all the time they had spent in the Lima Bean back home, Blaine was fine with this one.

Blaine hummed a little under his breath as he placed two grande cappuccinos on the counter with a smile to the couple, before moving back to the register to take another order.

“What can I get you?” Blaine asked, before appraising his customer. The man must have been a few years older than Blaine, with light brown hair, and beautiful blue eyes. Blaine swallowed nervously, just managing to catch the man’s order.

“And my name’s Max, by the way,” the man said.

“Oh,” Blaine said, “We don’t actually need names here. We’re quite good with the whole facial recognition thing.” Blaine then took a moment to wonder why he didn’t just ring up the man’s order. Yes. Let’s do that.

“No, I know, I just wanted to tell you,” Max said. “Maybe I can get your name now?”

Blaine’s brain might have melted. Was he finally getting asked out?

“Blaine,” he replied simply.

“Well, Blaine, maybe we could get a drink sometime?” Max asked, while passing him the money for his coffee.

“Oh! Um, yes, I would like that,” Blaine said, hoping that his face didn’t reflect all of the excitement coursing through him in the moment. He felt like jumping up and down.

Blaine didn’t notice the looks of shock his coworkers, Monica and Helen, were giving each other. What? But Blaine had a boyfriend, they were sure of it! Then who was the cute guy always visiting him at work? They seemed like they were dating.

“Great,” Max said, and Blaine quickly wrote his number down on a napkin, before passing it to the man. “I’ll call you,” Max said, before moving off to wait for his order.

Blaine could not stop the huge smile on his face for the rest of his shift.

When Blaine got home and told Rachel and Kurt about his upcoming date, they humored him with a group happy dance, before Kurt immediately started brainstorming exactly what Blaine was going to wear on his date. Rachel interrupted only occasionally with opinions that made Blaine very happy that he had Kurt to help him.

So what if he hadn’t actually gotten the call yet? Someone, a male human, had expressed interest in him!

And he did get the call. The next day Max called and asked him to meet him at a coffee shop, after making sure that Blaine still liked coffee after making it all day. Blaine assured him that he did.

Kurt made sure that Blaine left the house looking casual, but stylish, with both he and Rachel giving him a peck on the cheek for luck. Rachel had told him that she and Kurt were going out for a few hours, so if he wanted to bring Max back to the apartment for a bit, he could. Blaine balked a bit at the implication, but Rachel just waved him off, saying, “Not for that!”

Blaine left the apartment with just enough time to make it to the coffee house-he didn’t want to look over eager- and immediately spotted Max in a seat near the back.

“Hi,” Blaine said, a bit awkwardly.

Max greeted him warmly, before suggesting that they head to the counter to place an order. While they waited for their drinks, Max asked him about his classes and his major, and as they went back to their seats, Blaine learned that Max was a junior and a finance major. At first Blaine was worried that this would give them absolutely nothing to talk about, but it turned out that Max loved music, even if he couldn’t sing at all, and Blaine regaled him with many stories about New Directions, Rachel and Kurt.

“We were like a big family,” Blaine told Max, “A slightly incestuous one, yes, but they mean a lot to me, especially Kurt and Rachel.”

Overall, Blaine thought that he was getting the first date that he had always wanted. A little awkward, very nerve wracking, but nice all the same. It was just like going for coffee with Kurt, even if the conversation didn’t flow nearly as easily.

Once they were done with their drinks, Blaine turned to Max.

“If you want to hang out more, you could come back to my place. Just to talk for a bit longer,” Blaine clarified.

“I’d love to,” Max said with a smile, gesturing for Blaine to lead the way.

On the walk back to Blaine’s apartment, the conversation returned to music, and Blaine refused to think that it might be the only thing that they could talk about. Instead, he happily chatted about a new CD that he had acquired, and promised to play it for Max when they got back to the apartment.

They were sitting on the couch, halfway through track 9 when Blaine heard the front door open, and Kurt’s voice called out playfully, “Honey, I’m home!”

Blaine smiled, and returned, “We’re in here!”

As Kurt walked into the living room he stopped, seeing Max, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know Blaine had someone over. Rachel met someone at the bar, so I thought I’d come home early, you know, let them ‘get to know each other’.”

“Max, this is Kurt,” Blaine said, moving over to him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

“Oh. Nice to meet you, Kurt,” Max said, shaking his head slightly.

“You, too,” Kurt said, “I’m just going to get a drink,” he added, pointing towards the kitchen.

Blaine smiled at him, before sitting back down next to Max, who was looking at the floor.

“Listen,” Max started, “I feel really stupid about this, but I kind of thought this was a date.”

Blaine immediately started panicking; crap, wasn’t it? Wasn’t he doing it right? He didn’t know, but he didn’t want to tell Max that this was his first date ever. He had purposely led the conversation away from dating histories for this very reason.

“What-,” Blaine started, but was cut off by Max, who continued.

“I mean, when you were talking about Kurt, it kind of seemed like he was, and I got a feeling, but I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. I’m sorry; I didn’t realize that I didn’t actually say this was a date.”

Rachel took this moment to walk into the apartment, yelling, “Kurt! I got his number, and-,” she stopped upon seeing Blaine, who had a slightly shocked look on his face, and said, “Oh, sorry, Blaine, I didn’t think you’d be here.” She was obviously fairly tipsy, color high in her cheeks.

Blaine ignored Rachel, and said, “Kurt’s not my boyfriend!”

“Oh no,” Rachel said quietly to herself. She wasn’t stupid; she knew how it looked when Kurt and Blaine were together. As a group, they weren’t exactly shy around each other. Being outcasts in high school had made them hold on tightly to those who accepted them, and it wasn’t unusual for them to link arms when they were out, and call each other pet names. Familiarity had taken away all normal boundaries in their relationship.

Blaine, apparently, had not noticed the difference.

“Why would you think that? Trust me, we’re just friends,” Blaine said.

Then Kurt was coming round the corner, saying, “Rachel? I thought I heard you.” He seemed to pick up on the weird tension in the room, though, and said, “What’s going on?”

“Well, Max here picked up on the undeniable chemistry between you and Blaine, and added it with the fact that you kind of act like you’re together, and assumed you were dating,” Rachel clarified, seeming totally at ease, and not weirded out by the situation at all. She sat down in her normal spot on the carpet, and then added to Max, “Oh, I’m Rachel, by the way. I’m Blaine and Kurt’s best friend and also roommate.”

Okay, now the situation was weird.

“Oh, no! Blaine and I aren’t dating. I mean, we’re best friends, and we are both gay, but-,” Kurt was interrupted by Rachel, who continued with a slight slur, “Don’t worry, Max, you’re not the first to think they were dating.”

“What?” Blaine and Kurt said at the same time. They shared a confused look, and Rachel continued.

“Honestly, all of New Directions were waiting for you two to get together since Blaine transferred. You got so close so fast, but you just kind of… never took the next step…” Rachel trailed off. “We never said anything to you guys, but I think that most of the school thought that you were dating anyway.”

Blaine and Kurt just stood there, shock evident on both of their faces.

“I mean, look at it this way,” Rachel said when it became apparent that the boys did not understand. “You hang out all the time, you’re basically inseparable, and you don’t have a problem with being physical with each other. Especially you, Blaine. I mean, I’ve never seen anyone hold hands and touch as much as you guys do without dating.” She paused, “Except with me, but we play for different teams, so it doesn’t count.”

Kurt and Blaine shared a quick embarrassed look, and Max continued to look varying degrees of awkward.

Rachel continued her speech, now apparently growing fond of the conversation topic, “You call each other pet names in public, and you can have conversations with just your eyes.” Rachel was now using her hands emphatically to prove her point. “But it’s more than that. We all thought it was just a matter of time before you guys got together because you have so much in common. Even I have a difficult time getting a word in with you guys when you talk, and that’s saying something.” Rachel nodded her head seriously. “Blaine, I know you think that you’ve never been on a date before, but to be honest? You and Kurt have kind of been going on little dates since you were sixteen.”

She stopped her speech, looking very proud of herself, finally giving Blaine time to rearrange his thoughts.

Oh my God, was she right? Blaine thought back to all the behavior that Rachel had pointed out, and did a sudden comparison to all the romantic comedies he and Kurt had watched over the years. She was right. But Blaine had never thought anything of their behavior. It just seemed so natural to treat Kurt like he did, and Kurt had never said anything to show that he had thought it was unusual. When he had a bad day, Blaine called Kurt because he would no doubt know how to cheer him up. If something interesting happened to Kurt, Blaine would always be the first to know. It was a comfort to him when they were able to share their deepest insecurities and Kurt would squeeze his hand and tell him that everything would be alright, but also manage to make him laugh like no other a moment later.

So why weren’t they dating? Blaine tried to think back to the time of his transfer, but all he could remember was feeling so happy that he had finally found someone who understood him. He had never thought about asking Kurt out.

Blaine shook his head slightly, trying to arrange his thoughts in order. In all the time that Kurt and Blaine had discussed wanting boyfriends, wanting someone to share their lives with, they had never thought of being that for each other.

Rachel was now asking Max about his major, and Blaine looked up to find Kurt staring at him with a weird look. Shocked, confused, but also questioning.

“Listen, Blaine, this was really fun, but I think I’m going to head home,” Max said, getting up from the couch, and moving towards the door. “Let’s do this again real soon,” he said, before opening the door, and rushing out of the apartment.

“He seemed really nice,” Rachel said.

Blaine looked back at Kurt, and found him smiling at Blaine, before walking over and sitting down next to him on the couch. He hesitated for only a moment before taking Blaine’s hand in his.

“Blaine, would you go on a date with me sometime?” Kurt asked.

Blaine could not help the smile that broke out across his face. “Yes, I’d really like that.”

Blaine was finally going to get his date, a real proper date; and with Kurt!

Rachel then proceeded to clap her hands together and squeal, “Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! I wonder if the New Directions Klaine Betting Pool is still running!”

And with that she flounced to her room, leaving Blaine and Kurt sitting on the couch hand in hand.