June 18, 2012, 3:25 p.m.
Coffee Shop Soundtrack: Chapter 4 - I Like You
E - Words: 2,434 - Last Updated: Jun 18, 2012 Story: Complete - Chapters: 21/21 - Created: Mar 29, 2012 - Updated: Jun 18, 2012 1,186 0 0 0 0
He got to work at about six, and was happy to find Melissa there. He had been dying to tell her about Kurt. She smiled as he walked in the door, "Good morning, Blaine!"
He smiled back, "Morning. How are you?"
"Good, you?"
Blaine threw his bag in the back room then clocked in, "I'm good."
"Any developments with the cute boy?" She asked without wasting any time.
He laughed, "I was about to tell you about that. I took your advice."
"And did you figure out his name?" She asked, excited.
Blaine nodded quickly, "Yup, it's Kurt."
She raised her eyebrows, "So, did you get his number?"
He laughed, "I don't work that fast, Melissa. Hopefully he comes in again today and I'll get the chance to talk to him again. You don't know if he has a boyfriend, do you?"
"Sorry," She said, shrugging, "I don't."
"I guess I'll just have to figure that out," He said, smiling to himself.
It was about seven when Rachel and Kurt walked in, and Blaine sighed in relief because they had just barely missed the rush, which meant he could take his time making their drinks. "Hey new guy," Kurt said, smiling as he and Rachel reached the counter.
"Hey, how are you guys?" Blaine asked, smiling and glad he wasn't as nervous as he thought he was going to be.
"Great," Kurt said, looking at Rachel, then back at him, "Could I get a grande nonfat mocha and a grande white mocha for the lady?"
Blaine nodded, "Of course." As he took the money, he tried to think of something to say to keep the conversation going. "So, what are you guys up to today?" He asked, knowing it wasn't the most creative conversation starter, but figured it was at least something.
Kurt was quiet as he and Rachel shared a glance and she spoke up, "Class. We have an eight am."
"Sounds fun," Blaine replied, grabbing their cups and mentally cursing himself for not saying anything else.
"Yup," Rachel said cheerfully, apparently unfazed by Blaine's generic response, "Where do you go to school?"
Kurt trailed behind Rachel to the other end of the counter to wait for their drinks as Blaine started making them. Blaine hated trying to come up with a proper response to the question that Rachel had just asked. He always felt like no matter what he said, people judged him for being young and not being in school, like he was a failure. "I'm actually not going to school," He said carefully, "Just trying to work and figure out what I want to do."
Rachel smiled knowingly and nudged Kurt, as if to tell him to join the conversation. He coughed, "Well, this is definitely a good city to be doing that in."
Blaine smiled back as he handed his coffee to him, "It definitely is."
Kurt returned the smile then looked at Rachel as she took her coffee, "Well, we better get going. See you tomorrow Blaine." As they walked out, Blaine couldn't help but love the way his name sounded leaving Kurt's lips.
"See you tomorrow?" Rachel whispered as the door to the coffee shop closed behind them, "I thought you only got coffee in the morning when I was with you."
He shrugged, "What? I can't get coffee by myself?"
"I never said that," She argued back, sipping on her drink, "I just didn't know how often you went in there without me."
Kurt laughed, "Does it upset you?"
"No not at all," She replied, linking their arms together like usual. "How often did you go in there without me before Blaine worked there?" She asked, still getting used to using his real name.
He laughed again, "Does it matter?"
Rachel pretended to gasp, "It didn't until you answered my question like that."
Kurt shook his head, "I don't know Rachel. I don't keep track."
"Sure you don't," She pressed grinning up at him, "You'll have to let me know how coffee goes tomorrow morning."
Kurt rolled his eyes again, "Whatever."
Class went by quickly for Kurt, and by one that afternoon, he was waiting outside of Hayden and Rachel's last class, glad that his boyfriend and roommate had classes together. It was definitely convenient. The two of them emerged from the room together and Kurt kissed Hayden quickly before wrapping his arm around his waist. "How was class?"
Hayden glanced at Rachel who was busy texting, then back at Kurt, "Good. We have a ton of homework though."
"Lame," Kurt sighed, "Will you still be able to do something tonight?"
"Yeah, but I probably won't be able to get lunch with you tomorrow though," He said, looking at Kurt.
He shrugged, even though he was slightly disappointed. Hayden had been bailing a lot lately because of homework and classes. "It's okay. I'd rather go see a movie with you or something tonight." Usually, Kurt and Hayden had Wednesday afternoons to themselves because they each only had one class, and they'd spend their day getting lunch, shopping, or enjoying the city. Kurt was bummed that they wouldn't get to hang out, but decided it would be a good chance to get some work done too.
The next afternoon, Kurt got out of class at about eleven, and by eleven thirty, he was back at his apartment, bored and feeling uninspired. He needed to get homework for some of his classes done, but the small apartment was going to drive him nuts if he was there all day, so he decided (against his better judgment) to go get some coffee and food and work on his homework at the coffee shop. When he walked inside, he could see Blaine standing behind the counter, taking someone's order. Their eyes met over the other customer's shoulder and Blaine smiled and nodded a greeting to him, which Kurt returned.
Melissa started making a drink as the person in front of him in line sat down, and he stepped forward to order. "Grande nonfat mocha?" Blaine asked, smiling at him, and Kurt couldn't help but notice how his hazel eyes lit up.
"You know my coffee order?" Kurt asked, feeling stupid.
"Of course," Blaine returned, as if it weren't even a question, which for some reason, tugged at Kurt's heart. It was kind of adorable. He shook the thought out of his head quickly though.
Kurt smiled back at him, "Could I get a turkey sandwich too?"
"We're not really supposed to make those on Wednesdays," Blaine started, glancing over his shoulder at Melissa, "But I'll make an exception for you."
"Thank you," Kurt Replied, handing him his money.
Blaine had his coffee ready quickly and brought his sandwich to him like he had before, and just like before, Kurt stopped him as he was about to walk away. "Do you want to sit?" He asked, gesturing to the chair across from him. He knew he was probably being stupid in asking Blaine to sit, and Rachel would give him a hard time if she ever heard about it, but for some reason he didn't mind. He felt sort of rebellious, testing the waters with his cute barista, but still reminded himself that nothing was going to happen.
Blaine smiled, "As much as I'd love to, my break isn't for another hour." He glanced over his shoulder at Melissa, who was eyeing them, a small smirk spread across her face.
Kurt looked around the almost empty coffee shop, then said loud enough for Melissa to hear, "Well you guys definitely look pretty busy, so I understand if your manager wouldn't let you take your break early."
Blaine looked over his shoulder again, where Melissa waved him on, "Go on, I won't tell."
He laughed, "Are you sure?"
She nodded in return, "Yeah. But if we get a rush I'll need you."
"Thanks, Mel," He replied, sitting down. He then looked over Kurt's homework and sketches, "So what are you working on?" He couldn't help but be a little nervous. It was his first time actually talking to Kurt, not as a barista, but as a friend (or an acquaintance).
"Homework," Kurt sighed, "But I'm feeling completely uninspired." He couldn't help but notice how at ease he felt around Blaine, which surprised him since he had only really talked to him a couple of times.
"It doesn't look that bad," Blaine mused, picking up one of the sketches, "Homework can't be so hard if it's just drawing."
"I wish," Kurt replied, taking a sip of his coffee, "When you're a fashion design student, this is what all of your homework looks like, and it gets old fast."
"That's awesome," Blaine said, stupidly, still looking at the sketch.
"What is? Homework getting old? Cause if you think it's awesome you can do it for me," He replied jokingly.
Blaine shook his head, feeling dumb, "No, it's awesome that you're going to school for fashion design."
"Glad you think so," Kurt joked, "Right now it's kind of sucking."
"Well hopefully being here is somewhat more inspiring than sitting at your house doing it," Blaine joked, handing the sketch back.
"Definitely," Kurt took another sip of his drink, "That's exactly why I decided to come here." It was quiet between the two of them before Kurt spoke again, "So if you're not going to school, what do you like to do in your free time?" He couldn't help but want to know more about Blaine, despite the little voice in his head screaming at him that he shouldn't care because he had a boyfriend.
Blaine smiled, "Well, I'm sort of trying to pursue a career in music. It's my passion. I play shows every once in a while, but it doesn't really pay the bills yet, so that's why I work here."
"Hey," Melissa yelled from across the room, pretending to be offended.
"And I work here because I love Melissa!" Blaine called back, earning a smile from both her and Kurt.
"Why didn't you go to school for music?" Kurt asked, continuing the conversation.
Blaine shrugged, "I don't know. I guess college just didn't really seem like my thing. That, and I was scared that I was going to lose my passion for it." He had given that answer so many times, it came easily to him. The only difference between the other times and that one, though, was that Blaine didn't feel as if Kurt was judging him for not going to school, and that was a relief.
Kurt smiled knowingly, "I know how you feel. I'm sort of feeling that way right now." He gestured toward the papers on the table and sighed.
"Then don't work on it right now," Blaine said, shrugging, "Do it while you're feeling inspired. It'll be more fun."
It was a breath of fresh air for Kurt, hearing someone tell him not to work on his homework. Rachel was always bugging him about it, and sometimes Hayden would make him finish it before they hung out because he didn't want to be the reason for Kurt being behind in class. "Maybe I will," He said, smiling at Blaine.
Their conversation was interrupted for a few minutes when a group of people walked in, but as soon as their drinks were made, Melissa waved Blaine on in Kurt's direction again. "Go," She whispered, pushing him out from behind the counter.
"But-" Blaine tried to protest, glad that Kurt hadn't looked up from his phone.
"You two are totally hitting it off," She insisted, "Go sit. I'll let you know when I need you."
Blaine shook his head in disbelief, but made his way back over to the table Kurt was sitting at, "Hey."
Kurt smiled up from his phone, "Hey. I took your advice. Look, I'm playing games instead of working." He held out his phone and Blaine could see that he was playing Angry Birds.
He laughed, "Good." He sat down, and it was quiet between them again for a moment before he spoke up, "So, I totally meant to tell you this the other day, but I really like you sweater." Blaine knew that the compliment was totally lame, but it was true. He did like the shirt.
Kurt looked down at the shirt he was wearing, which just so happened to be a blue slim long sleeved shirt he had borrowed from Hayden on Sunday. He smiled, "Thanks, it's a friend's." Why he didn't tell Blaine that it was actually his boyfriend's shirt was beyond him, but couldn't really take it back. Rachel would kill him if she heard about it; he just knew it. Apparently, there was a little part of Kurt that didn't want Blaine knowing that he had a boyfriend. Not yet at least.
"Well you shouldn't give it back. It's nice," Blaine said smiling nervously, and then it was quiet between them again, this time slightly more awkward because Kurt was still trying to figure out why he didn't tell Blaine that he had a boyfriend.
"So, where are you from?" Kurt asked, finally breaking the awkward silence.
"Ohio," Blaine answered, hoping he hadn't said too much by complimenting Kurt, "What about you?"
"No way!" Kurt almost squeaked, excited, "I'm from Ohio too."
Blaine's eyes widened, "What a small world. How old are you?"
"Twenty-two," Kurt replied, smiling.
"So you were a year ahead of me," Blaine mused, "Where did you go to school?"
"McKinley."
"That's in Lima, right?" Blaine asked, glad that they had something in common.
"Yup," Kurt smiled, "Where did you go?"
"Dalton Academy," Blaine replied, "It's this-"
"All boys school," Kurt finished, "I was thinking about going there during my junior year."
"Too bad you didn't," Blaine mumbled mostly to himself, but Kurt still heard him. Just as he was about to say something back, Melissa interrupted.
"Blaine, Natasha is coming in soon, so you should come back here. I don't want you to get in trouble," She called, poking her head out of the back room.
Blaine sighed, "That's our store manager. I should probably get back to work."
Kurt smiled up at him, "Well, it was good chatting with you, Blaine."
Blaine smiled back, "See you tomorrow?"
"Maybe," Kurt smirked back, and then almost smacked himself as Blaine was walking away because he had definitely been flirting with him. He waved to Melissa and Blaine as he walked out a few minutes later, carrying his unfinished homework with him. The entire walk about to his apartment, he kept reminding himself that he wasn't that kind of person. He would never, in a million years, cheat on Hayden.
But he couldn't deny the fact that Blaine was pretty charming.