Blaine turned hesitantly towards the scoreboard, afraid of what he might see. Once he saw the bold number 1 next to his name, his face broke into a wide grin. He punched the air with his fist and used his remaining energy to jump up in the water before falling back down with a splash.

After giving himself a moment for excitement, he turned to the swimmers next to him to congratulate them on their effort. The South Africa swimmer to his right smiled warmly and patted Blaine on the back. Sebastian, who had swam on Blaine's left, scowled and took his competitor's hand begrudgingly.

A minute later, Blaine was out of the water and was immediately hounded by reporters. All of them wanted to know how he felt about his first win and his plans for the future. A short British woman managed to get a hold of him first.

"So tell us, Blaine, how does it feel to have finally won a medal?" She shoved the microphone at the athlete and looked at him expectantly.

"It's um…definitely unreal. I'm still a bit shocked, to tell you the truth. It's certainly a great feeling though, after all of this work." Blaine looked a bit overwhelmed as he spoke to the reporter, but a huge smile was plastered on his face.

"You were definitely moving pretty fast, but for a second there it looked as if your teammate was going to overtake you." The journalist looked at him, expecting a comment.

"Honestly, I didn't even notice Sebastian. I was just swimming, doing my best, and I was just fast enough to beat him."

"Wonderful!" the woman beamed. "So, once you're finished here, what are your plans for the future?"

"Well… I assume you mean my career. Truthfully, I don't know where I'm headed from here. I may come back in 2016, but who knows? What I do know is that I could definitely use a cup of coffee."

Wait. Coffee? Does that mean…? Kurt looked up from where he was wiping down the counter and back at the television. After seeing Blaine win, he had gotten back to work and was half-listening to the interview that was being broadcast live.

Blaine had said coffee. He had invited Blaine to come back for coffee after he was done competing for the games. Did that mean he was planning on coming here?

Kurt certainly did not expect that Blaine would take up his offer. Blaine had been voted hottest Olympic athlete by multiple magazines, people all over the world were in love with him, and now he was a champion. Kurt was just… Kurt.

He had played it cool when Blaine had walked into his shop that morning, pretending he didn't recognize him. Of course he'd known who Blaine was. Everyone did.

Kurt felt a tiny ray of hope begin to grow inside of him. Maybe, possibly, Blaine would stop by again.

One week later, Kurt woke up nervously. Yesterday had been Blaine's last event, and of course Kurt had watched every second of it. The swimmer had won silver, beaten squarely by an underdog from Australia.

That hadn't done anything to dampen the smile on his face, though. Blaine was ecstatic and stood on the podium with pride.

So now it was the day after, and Kurt was trying his best not to get his hopes up. He showered, got dressed, and made his way over to open up shop. It was five in the morning, and the sky was still relatively dark. There weren't too many people on the street, at least compared to the crowds that occupied the area during the day.

As he neared the door, he looked down into his bag and fumbled for his keys. He was so preoccupied that he hadn't noticed the man sitting on one of the chairs outside the entrance.

Kurt looked up, and started a little once he caught sight of him. While he found it difficult to make out the man's features in the dark, he saw the broad shoulders and unmistakable mop of curly hair.

"There you are," said Blaine. "I've been waiting for you forever."

Ten minutes later, the two were chatting hesitantly as Kurt set up shop for the day and Blaine drank his first coffee in months. Apparently, Blaine had been out late that night celebrating with his teammates. Around three in the morning, when the rest of them decided to head back, Blaine had walked over to the shop and was patiently waiting for it to open.

Blaine's eyes followed Kurt around the room, never once straying away. Kurt, well he was trying his best to not make a fool of himself in front of Blaine.

Soon however, the tension slipped away, and conversation flowed easily. Every once in a while, a customer would walk in and they would be interrupted. Each time, Kurt would pause the discussion, take care of the customer, and then return his full attention to Blaine.

They spoke about anything and everything. Their families, friends, homes. From Blaine's training schedule to Kurt's story about how he acquired his shop, no detail was spared.

Blaine stayed in the shop until midday. When Kurt noticed that he was falling asleep at the table, he packed up a sandwich and told him to get to bed.

"But I don't want to," Blaine said, his speech slightly slurred from exhaustion. "I like talking to you."

Kurt grinned. He had to stop himself from telling Blaine that he could stay.

"No. You should sleep. It's been way over twenty-four hours since the last time you were sleeping." Kurt shoved the package of food into Blaine's hands and led him to the door.

Blaine yawned. "Mkay. I'll come back tomorrow then?"

"Sure, I would love that," Kurt said earnestly.

Blaine smiled and looked upwards at Kurt through his long eyelashes. He was gorgeous.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Blaine murmured, and glanced one last time at Kurt before walking back to the village.

"Tomorrow," Kurt breathed after him.