Cliché

Blaine didn’t know how he did it, but Kurt always managed to be at The Bean before him. Even when he arrived a good thirty minutes before their planned time, Kurt was always sitting there, by the window at the same table as always.

And today was no different.

Blaine had decided to walk to the coffee shop for a change, despite it taking around an hour and a half.  It was a nice day; the air was crisp and the sun was shining especially bright for November. Blaine left his apartment a good two hours before he and Kurt had arranged to meet. He strolled through the busy New York streets just soaking up the atmosphere he so often missed when taking a cab (his usual go-to city transport).

‘The City That Never Sleeps’ really is such an apt way to describe NYC. Everyone’s always in a rush, always with a place to go. However as bustling as it is, there was always something that Blaine found quite calming about it. Maybe it was the fact he could get completely lost in the concrete jungle and become anonymous to everyone around him. Maybe it was that there was always something new to discover. Or maybe it was simply because it’s the only place in the world he felt truly himself.

He noticed many things on his walk to The Bean: how dazzling the skyscrapers looked in the midday sun, the shadows cast on the pavement of the now almost bare trees, the bounty of people grabbing lunch in almost every cafe he passed; couples, office workers, groups of tourists.

Blaine tried to remain focused though, and not let his trade-mark distraction get the better of him (luckily there weren’t any interesting woodland animals in sight today) and arrived at The Bean in record time. At last Blaine thought I’ll finally beat Kurt.

Blaine was wrong.

As he walked past the front of the coffee shop he spotted Kurt, already sitting pretty at the front of the store. The usual spot; same table.

You’ve got to be kidding me, Blaine had an incredulous expression on his face.

He entered the shop and approached Kurt.

“Do you live here or something?” Blaine demanded.

“Excuse me?” Kurt looked affronted. Maybe that had come out a little more forcefully than Blaine intended.

“Sorry, that came out wrong. I just so wanted to be here before you today” Blaine had to resist the urge to stamp his foot.

“Any particular reason?”

Blaine was about to answer before he realised that, actually, he didn’t have a reason; he just wanted to.

“I just wanted to” Blaine replied with a shrug, blushing slightly.

“You just...wanted to?” Kurt cocked an eyebrow “You do realise you sound like a 5 year old when you say that”

Blaine looked down “5 and a half actually” He mumbled, a smirk appearing on his face.

A familiar peel of laughter escaped Kurt.

“Seriously though Kurt, are you always here early? Because we can arrange an earlier time to meet if you w-“

“No it’s fine” Kurt interrupted “I just spend a lot of time here is all”.

Blaine thought about asking why, but decided against it. “Fair enough” He smiled and left to get his coffee. Usually Kurt has one waiting for him when he arrives, but he was early so alas, was coffee-less.

As Blaine returned to the table, he noticed Kurt just staring out the window, the bright sunshine hitting his face, illuminating it perfectly. It was quite a sight. Kurt appeared to be deep in thought, so Blaine slowly approached the table.

“Watcha looking at?” Blaine murmured softly, not wanting to startle Kurt...again.

“Just the world passing by”

Kurt blanched “Wow, that was so cliché” He giggled, shaking his head.

“I get what you mean” Blaine thought back to his walk earlier.

“I just like sitting here watching the people passing by, wondering what they’re thinking, where they’re going. There’s always someone going somewhere, meeting someone”

Kurt’s eyes flicked over to meet Blaine’s. Blaine suddenly became aware he was staring at Kurt while he spoke and broke the eye contact.

“It’s like escaping to another world for a while. I’m sitting here, almost suspended in time, as life goes on” A silence had formed between them; Kurt had almost a look of longing in his eyes. It confirmed Blaine’s suspicions that there was way more to this man than meets the eye.

“So that explains the table” Blaine broke the silence.

Kurt – who looked like he’d just snapped out of a daydream – looked puzzled.

“You always sit at the same table, I was going to ask you why, but now I know; prime people watching spot”

Kurt smiled “In the winter yes, in the summer I tend to get an iced-coffee to go and sit in a park somewhere for a while”.

“I like the park”

“Oh look the 5 year old is back again” Kurt teased.

....

“5 and a half” Blaine replied with a wink.