Rolling over carefully, Blaine glanced at the time on his clock radio.  Oh good, still an hour before the alarm.  He rolled back onto his side, mindful of where the edge of the narrow bed was. It had been an adjustment going from his large queen-sized bed to this narrow one, but at least hed never fallen out of it. But hed come close a few times. 

He was tired, but couldnt fall back asleep. His mind went to where it often went these days, wondering if there was really fraud at the company, how much, and who could be behind it. 

Although hed only been working at the company three years, it had always been a presence in his life. The senior staff were often invited to dinner parties at his parents elegant home. Blaine hung out with their children at the country club, playing tennis and swimming with them. Many of their kids attended the same prep school and university he did. 

It was just unfathomable that someone in that inner circle could have done this. Or his father or his partner, Charles Parker. Charles was like an uncle to Blaine. He had been married briefly, but never had children of his own, so he was often included in their family functions, like Christmas dinner. To think that his father, Charles or someone else he knew could be going to prison was just so unthinkable. 

Whenever Blaine discussed it with the lawyers or his father, they said the SEC wasnt revealing the results of their investigation. 

It was so stressful not knowing. Living in this limbo. He hadnt been charged with anything, but there had been no mention of Blaines suspension being lifted. It likely wouldnt be until the SEC investigation was done. 

Blaine glanced over at the clock again. There were fifteen minutes until his alarm, but he might as well get up. He wouldnt be sleeping more anyways. He pushed away thoughts of the investigation, knowing there was no point dwelling on them when he had no new information. 

Taking advantage that he was the only person in the building at this early hour, Blaine cranked the music from his laptop and hopped into the tiny shower. The water pressure wasn't the strongest, but at least the water was good and hot. Blaine missed his old shower, with the powerful, massaging jets of water. He had to be careful not to lift his arms too high while he worked in the shampoo, as he'd knock his elbows against the shower walls. 

Getting out of the shower, his towel was adequate, but nothing like the soft, thick Egyptian cotton ones he was used to. Opening the bathroom door to let the steam out, Blaine wiped the mirror and smiled at his image. He'd never had his hair so long before, and never let his whiskers grow out like this. He hardly recognized himself. At least curly hair was easy to handle. He just combed it free of tangles and worked a bit of product into it to keep it from getting frizzy. It would air dry fairly quickly. 

Singing along to Bruno Mars, Blaine went to his closet and pulled on a clean pair of jeans along with a long sleeved tee in a deep turquoise. He didn't miss the office clothes of dress pants, collared shirts and ties. He could happily wear jeans every day.

Moving to the kitchen, he looked in the fridge and then pulled out ham, cheese, onion and green pepper. Chopping up the ingredients finely, he sautéed the onion and green pepper until they were fragrant, and stirred in an egg. Turning down the heat, he topped the mixture with the ham and cheese and put the lid on the pan while he made toast. By the time it was done and buttered, he slid the egg scramble onto a plate, the cheese all melted. He sat down on the sofa to enjoy his breakfast, with a big glass of juice.

After eating, he quickly did the dishes and set them onto the rack beside the sink to dry. All the food was put away and the kitchen counter clear. 

Checking the time, Blaine saw that he had ten minutes. Opening his laptop, he checked his email. Chicago was two time zones away, and he often had many emails from family by this time of day. Cooper sent him a link to some rude jokes, and Blaine replied, thanking him for the laughs.

Down in the store, Blaine turned on all the lights and made a pot of coffee for the backroom. Tom arrived, and they took a few minutes to enjoy their coffees in peace before the busyness of the day began. Soon, there was a knock on the back door, and Blaine opened it for the delivery man, with his cases of fresh produce. Tom headed out to the front to prepare the till and then unlock the front doors.

Blaine and Tom worked steadily all morning. Blaine kept an ear out for the deliveries, and stocked the floor with the fresh produce, making it look full and appealing. By around 10:00 am, Blaine was helping with the bagging of groceries.

“Did you lose another tooth, Marisa?” Blaine teased the little girl with a long, brunette braid. She blushed under his attention, giving him shy glances.

Her mother Gina laughed as she paid Tom for her groceries. “She was playing with it all yesterday, and it came out right after dinner. Just in time for the tooth fairy, right Marisa?” 

Blaine widened his eyes in wonder, making Marisa giggle at him. “Did the tooth fairy leave you anything for your tooth?” 

The little girl dug into her pant pocket, and pulled out a small handful of coins. 

“Wow! That is quite a fortune. Lucky girl!” Blaine finished bagging the groceries, and passed the bags to Gina. 

He noticed that the customers seemed to only buy a couple bags of groceries at a time, since many of them didn't have cars and lived within walking distance. Many shopped two or three times a week as a result, and he'd gotten to know the regulars after a couple weeks. From bagging their groceries, he even knew their preferred foods and would let them know if there was a sale on them. 

___

After work, Blaine headed back upstairs. He splashed water on his face and washed his hands, and then changed into a fresh shirt. Putting his laptop into his knapsack, he put on a jacket and a hat, heading out the door with the bag and his guitar. Rushing a little, he got to a busy corner with lots of foot traffic. He was able to play with his open case out of the way of the pedestrians. 

Peppy, fun pop songs always seemed to get the public giving him smiles, appreciative nods and an occasional toss of coins or a bill into his case. He moved from Katy Perry to P!nk to John Legend to classic Beatles with ease, enjoying getting into the music. Often, he changed the tempo of the song slightly, giving it his own spin. 

A cute boy around five years old with coffee dark skin was dancing beside him for a bit, while his mother sat on a nearby bench. She often did this, taking a minute to enjoy the music and letting her boy dance. Blaine made the next few songs ones he'd loved as a kid, ‘Puff the Magic Dragon', ‘You Are My Sunshine' and ‘John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt'. 

Taking a break to grab his water bottle out of his knapsack and having a sip, he asked his young fan, “Is that your name? Is it John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt?” 

The boy giggled, shaking his head vigorously. “No!” His denial came in a sing-song tone, with a big smile.

“Sylvester? Benjamin? Alfonse?” 

Again, he got the vigorous headshakes and loud denials. 

His mother stood up, and grabbed her son's hand. “He's Troy, and I'm Yvonne. Thanks for the music. He looks for you every time we get off the bus at this corner.” She smiled at Blaine.

“Well, I always watch for my back-up dancer, whenever I play on this corner. We have a great act here, Troy. I think we should plan a tour and have t-shirts made.” 

Troy was giggling as his mother pulled him away, heading on their way home. They never left any money in his case, but their genuine smiles were priceless. 

---

The foot traffic calmed down to a trickle, and Blaine headed over to Fitzpatrick's. Going into the café, he waved to Mandy who was wiping down the tables and clearing away some dishes. Heading into the kitchen, he opened the fridge and took out the plate Tina had left for him. 

Popping the soup into the microwave, Blaine collected the dirty pots and pans, and put them into the large industrial sink and filled it with hot, soapy water, letting them soak.

Once the soup was heated, he carried his plate into the café and booted up his laptop. The Wi-Fi was faster here than at his apartment, so he slipped on a pair of ear buds and watched some fun you-tube videos while he ate his dinner. Today, Tina had left him borscht soup, a thick turkey sandwich and a bean salad. It had been a long time since the apple he'd eaten after work. It was good to rest his feet after being on them all day.

Doing a circuit around the café, he grabbed the remaining dirty dishes and carried them into the kitchen with his dishes. He loaded the dishwasher, and then hand washed the pots and pans, putting everything away afterwards. Grabbing the broom, he swept the whole café area, mopped the kitchen, and took out the garbage. Tina had made this deal with Blaine early on; dinner and coffee whenever he did the end of day kitchen cleanup. He didn't do it every day, but just texted her early in the day to arrange it with her when he could.

In addition to working in the cafe, Blaine was at the store frequently for other reasons. He often participated in the different book clubs, enjoying the lively discussions and reading the wide variety of books. He also came for the nights with live music, and then helped the staff with the cleanup afterwards. 

It was really amazing the number of people who came through the store regularly, attending the events or grabbing their daily caffeine fix. Tina and Kurt greeted many by name, taking the time to chat and catch up. Tom was an avid mystery novel reader and had been a member of that book club from the start. That's how Kurt had gotten to know him, and knew of the position there for Blaine. 

Even though Blaine had been living this way for about a month and a half, he felt comfortable. He was busy, had meaningful work, had friends. He shared good laughs and good conversations with many people. It was busy, working five days a week at the grocery shop, busking often, and cleaning at the café most nights. There was no point hanging around his empty apartment. He did have a quiet night here and there, reading books for the next book club or mysteries that Tom had enthusiastically recommended. Blaine was now a big fan of P.D James and Ian Rankin.

Sure, he missed the luxuries of his day-to-day life, like having bank accounts healthy enough to buy and do whatever he wanted without worrying about his funds. Now, he had to consider every purchase carefully. His only cash came from the busking, and there were times he played for an hour or two, and the money in his case had added up to less than ten dollars. But having limited funds made him realize what was important. He would occasionally go to a specialty store and pick up some really good cheese, the type Tom would never stock in his store, and ration it out over a few days, savoring every bite more than he ever would have in his past life.

He felt proud that he was getting by, and it was all based on his own work. Not because he was Keith Anderson's son. Not because he'd attended the best schools. 

All done his work at the café, Blaine sat down on the sofa, pulling out his latest paperback. But his eyes kept being drawn away from the book over to Kurt. 

The store was open for another hour, but there weren't many customers around. Kurt had moved a table to be near the line-up for the café, and was selecting books from various shelves and arranging them onto the table. Moving back to the cash desk, he looked through the cabinets, and pulled out a clear plastic sign holder. 

Blaine stashed away his book, and walked over to the table, looking it over. Kurt had picked a humour theme, with a printout of 'Books Guaranteed to Make You Laugh Out Loud' in the sign holder and books by authors like Tina Fey, David Sedaris, Nora Ephron, Dave Berry, and Chelsea Handler placed around it. Comic strip collections of The Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes and other similar books filled up the rest of the table. 

“This is great, Kurt!” Blaine grabbed a book of Calvin and Hobbes, laughing when it landed on a page of Calvin making an army of snowmen. “I used to do stuff like this in Chicago. It drove my mother nuts.” 

Kurt stepped closer to look at the book, chuckling along with Blaine. “Why did it bug her so much? I used to build snow forts and all sorts of crazy stuff all over the place.” 

Blaine sighed. “She always wanted the front yard to look perfect, like a picture in a design magazine. We were always having fancy dinner parties, with lots of business guests. Cooper and I could mess up the backyard, but she wanted the front yard to be smooth, perfect snow.” 

Turning back to the table, Kurt looked at it with a judgemental eye. “I'm thinking of changing this table up every week, reminding the café customers that this is actually a used bookstore too. Do you think it will work?” 

Blaine nodded. “It's a good idea. I came here just for coffee for ages, and never really paid attention to the rest.” He didn't add that it wasn't until he was busy with his crush on Kurt that he'd actually noticed the store. 

They had moved to a comfortable friendship in the past few weeks. Kurt had come over a few times to Blaines apartment to show him some basic cooking techniques, and had given him a beginner's cookbook. Whenever Blaine stopped by the store, they usually had a chance to chat for a few minutes, sharing funny stories about the customers they'd dealt with. 

But Blaine was still so attracted to Kurt. He still snuck glances at Kurt as he worked around the store, admiring his brave clothing choices, and the way they flattered his slim body. There were days when he wore black skinny jeans, and Blaine could hardly keep from staring. Tina had caught him a time or two, and given him a knowing smirk, but so far, Kurt didn't seem to notice. 

It was futile. Kurt had said he wasn't interested in dating, just wanted to be friends. And Kurt had been such an amazing friend to Blaine, there with quiet support whenever Blaine needed it. 

----

-Disclaimer: I own nothing.

-Busking: A busking scene from the amazing, awesome, sweet love story, Once is here. A street performer down on Pier 39, San Francisco, is JH Clarke... amazing clip here.

-Calvin & Hobbs snowmen: A video with images of snowmen in poses from the comic strip is here.