'Seriously, babe - I was beginning to worry it was gonna fall off.'

Rachel often teased Kurt about how much he seemed to loathe meeting new people, and even though he knew that she would never have heard him pleasuring himself in bed at night - their rooms being fairly far apart, and him being a very quiet 'pleasurer' - he couldn't help but inwardly admit that his hand was feeling more and more like a very poor substitute for the feel of another warm body enveloping him and rekindling the dormant fire in his belly.

Rachel had dragged Kurt out with her and her friends on New Years Eve, shoving him together with a new guy named Brandon who was so far from being Kurt's type it wasn't even funny - and vice versa. They shared pleasantries throughout the night, but it was clear to them both that there was absolutely no chemistry between them, and Brandon was soon canoodling with a stranger they'd met at a bar earlier that evening. Kurt really wasn't phased though - Brandon's new beau had a head of dark curls, and while they weren't nearly as shiny and tamed as Blaine's, Kurt couldn't help but think of him when looking over at the two men giggling and whispering to each other playfully.

Little things please little minds, Kurt.

Kurt thought about Blaine again as midnight chimed in, and wondered if there was even the slightest possibility that Blaine was somewhere thinking of him too. He stared up at the rainy sky, allowing the drops to fall on his face for just long enough to cool his warm cheeks. Glancing around at the throng of people that surrounded him, hugging and kissing as they revelled in the dawning of another year, he screwed his eyes shut, wishing that Blaine was standing before him, his arms draped around Kurt's neck, swaying gently with him and brushing those beautiful lips against his own.

'... Sweetie!'

Kurt jolted, opening his eyes and receiving a large raindrop to the forehead. He looked down as his face was gripped by two hands and pulled into a sloppy kiss.

'HAPPY NEW YEAR!' Rachel squealed excitedly, and gave Kurt an enormous squeeze around the middle, pinning his arms to his sides and almost pulling him over.

'You too, hon.' He smiled, freeing his arms and enveloping the petite girl in a big bear-hug.

'This is gonna be our year - I can feel it. Love ya.'

'Love ya more.'

He may not have had the man of his dreams in his arms at that moment, but knowing that he had a friend as sweet and loyal as Rachel in his life was more than enough to be going on with.

***

Kurt's return to college was fairly uneventful, and he received praise for his peers for the script he'd worked on over the holidays. He was already forming ideas in his mind about his next one, which seemed to be taking on a somewhat romantic tone. Kurt couldn't imagine why.

A couple of weeks went by, without any more chance meetings with Blaine in the coffee shop. Kurt was beginning to think that he'd imagined him completely, but Susie the horny barista had been quick to mention having served Blaine a couple of times over the past few days, so he obviously hadn't been dreaming. Another Friday came around and Kurt decided to take a walk through the park on his way home after his final class of the day. Although bitterly cold, the air was crisp and the sky was beautifully clear. Kurt hummed as he walked, glancing across at a young couple who only had eyes for each other on a park bench. He smiled and silently wished them all the best for the future.

Once out of the park, Kurt couldn't resist a quick stop over by the ice rink outside the Rockefeller Centre. He hadn't skated for many, many years, and had no intention of starting again now, but he loved to watch the happy, smiling faces of the kids and adults alike who were enjoying a skate around the ice. He laughed as a family glided by in a long line, hand-in-hand, with the youngest child squealing with delight as she was dragged along by her siblings. It was times like this that he felt sure he'd made the right decision in accepting his place at NYU.

Ten minutes went by, and although he was now completely numb from the cold, Kurt just couldn't bear to tear himself away from the side of the ice rink. His cheeks were sore from grinning at the sights he beheld, and it was with a heavy heart that he adjusted the collar on his coat and turned to walk away.

'God, Blaine! Come on ... keep up!'

The young voice which shouted behind Kurt made him jump and he felt a flutter of excitement ... how many Blaines could there possibly be in New York? OK, probably quite a few, but Kurt couldn't resist spinning around and seeking out the owner of the voice anyway.

'I'm trying!' A familiar laugh rang out, and Kurt's heart leapt into his mouth. It was Blaine. His Blaine.

Kurt watched with his mouth gaping as Blaine stumbled across the ice behind a boy of probably ten or eleven, Kurt summised. The boy was gripping onto Blaine's wrist tightly, and looked extremely frustrated with how badly his companion was skating. He looked fairly tall and leggy for his age, with very pale skin and long, limp blonde hair which was flopping into his eyes beneath his woollen hat. Kurt was sure that this couldn't be a relation of Blaine's - they were as different as chalk and cheese. He watched as they did another lap of the circuit, Blaine veering off and almost ploughing into the barrier at one point. Kurt winced and looked away, feeling sure that when he looked up, Blaine would be in a broken heap on the floor, but happily he had remained upright and in one piece. As they rounded the corner nearest to Kurt again, Blaine gave another heavy stumble, flailed, and ended up flat on his backside on the ice, laughing hysterically.

'Oh my god, BE CAREFUL!!' Yelled Kurt before he even realised what he was doing. Everyone in the immediate vicinity looked up and turned their heads in Kurt's direction, including Blaine and his young friend. Blaine blinked wildly for a few seconds, and then knitted his eyebrows together, peering out at the man on the sidelines who now had his hands clasped over his mouth in horror.

'D'you know that guy?' Kurt heard Blaine's friend ask as he helped Blaine to his feet.

'Ummm ... yeah.' Blaine chuckled again, brushing off the seat of his pants and gesturing for his friend to help him over to the barrier.

Kurt didn't know whether to be mortified or excited at the thought of talking with Blaine again especially after such an embarrassing outburst. He didn't have time to run though, even if he wanted to, and before he knew it Blaine just feet away and smiling broadly at him.

'Hey' He said breathlessly.

'Hi' Kurt frowned down at the scuffs of ice on Blaine's sleeve, and instinctively brushed them off, recoiling slightly when he realised how overfriendly and weird this might seem. 'God. You OK?!'

'Thanks.' Blaine grinned, not seeming at all perturbed by Kurt's motions towards him. He gestured towards the ice 'What, that? Oh yeah, I'm fine. You obviously haven't been watching for long - that was, like, my seventeenth fall or something!'

'Jesus.'

'I'm fine!'

'Blaine?' The boy still at Blaine's side tapped him on the arm and snapped the men out of their locked gaze.

'Huh? ... God, Josh - sorry! What's up, buddy?'

'Can I skate around by myself for a while?'

Blaine's face tensed a little and he looked back out at the throng of people racing around on the ice. 'Hmmmmm ... I dunno, man ...'

'Oh, come on - please?'

'Well, alright. But stay close to the side where I can see you, and be back here in a few minutes, OK?'

The boy was already halfway out onto the ice and making skating look ridiculously easy in a matter of seconds.

'I give up.' Blaine shrugged, and smiled again at Kurt. 'So ... hey. Again.'

'Cute kid.' Kurt responded.

'Oh yeah, that's Josh. I'll introduce you properly if he ever comes back over here. He's one of my neighbour's kids ... I look after him from time-to-time when his mom has to pull a double shift.'

Kurt nodded in acknowledgement and gestured out to the ice, where Josh was currently whizzing past and waving nonchalantly. 'I'm guessing the skating was his idea.'

'That obvious, huh?!' Blaine laughed, clambering off the ice via the nearby exit. He put out his arm which Kurt instinctively grabbed to support him, and they made their way over to a nearby bench which had just become vacant. Blaine groaned as he bent down and unclipped the fastenings to his skates, dragging his feet out of the boots and adjusting the scrunched-up socks on his feet.

'Ugh. Who honestly enjoys this torture?'

Kurt laughed. 'Well most of those guys out there, I'd say. It's really kinda fun once you get the hang of it.'

'Oh, don't tell me you're actually good at it too?!'

'I can hold my own.' Kurt said, blushing at his choice of words.

'Haha. Maybe I should let you take Josh out there for a spin next time, and I'll sit on the sidelines being all nervous and over-protective.'

Kurt hung his head, unable to hide his embarrassment at having Blaine poke fun at his earlier exclamation.

'Oh, Kurt - I'm sorry. It was very sweet, really.'

He remembered my name.

He looked up and met Blaine's gaze, smiling at the warm glow coming from those captivating eyes and feeling instantly unashamed of his outburst - this guy totally deserved to be looked out for.

A telephone trilled between them and they both jumped at the intrusion. Blaine patted his coat pocket and produced his cell, mouthing 'Sorry' to Kurt as he answered the call.

'Hey, Dana ...... uh-huh ...... OK ......' Kurt couldn't help but stare at Blaine's lips as he spoke into the phone, little curls of breath escaping from his mouth and reminding him how bitterly cold it was. Kurt felt an almost irresistable urge to cover Blaine's mouth with his own, trapping that breath and warming both of their lips at the same time. 'Yep ...... OK. Cool. See you soon ...... OK, bye.' Blaine returned his cell to his pocket and smiled. 'Josh's mom - she just got home.'

'Ah.' nodded Kurt. 'Home-time for you guys too then?'

'Yes indeedy.' Blaine said, pulling a face of instant regret at saying something quite so cheesy. Kurt laughed and looked over at the ice rink, grateful that Josh was already making his way back to them and that Blaine obviously didn't have to fight tooth and nail with this kid to get him to co-operate.

'I should leave you to it.'

'Oh. Yeah, sure. I guess you must have other stuff to do too.' Blaine looked a little sad as he placed his hand on Josh's shoulder, steadying him as the boy removed his skates. 'Josh, we have to get you home now, but before we leave I want you to say 'hi' to my friend, Kurt. He's a really good skater and he'll be taking you out on the ice next time.'

Blaine winked at Kurt as he outstretched his hand to shake Josh's. Kurt threw Blaine a quizzical look and laughed, feeling giddy at not only being called a 'friend', but also for receiving the sexiest wink he'd ever seen!

'Hi Josh. It's nice to meet you'

'Hey ... um ... Kurt.' Josh replied, shuffling his feet and displaying a shyness that Kurt found endearing. He looked up at Blaine and mouthed 'aw' before waving silently to the back of Josh's head as he scurried away to the rental stand with his arms full of skates.

'Yeah, he's a keeper.' Blaine smirked. The two men exchanged a look and an awkward laugh. Kurt was beginning to worry that he was yet again going to say goodbye to Blaine and not have a clue when they'd bump into each other next, and he searched inside himself for the courage to ask for Blaine's number, or something, anything that could mean that they kept in touch. Then a thought struck him.

'Hey, my friend Rachel is singing at a bar over on 14th tomorrow night. She's seriously good, but it's her first time there and she's a little nervous ... I was gonna go along to give her some moral support. Would you maybe like to join us?'

'Ummmmm ... tomorrow night ...'

'Too short notice. I know - sorry, forget I asked.'

'No, it's not that. Just lost in thought for a sec. Umm ... would you mind if I brought someone else along too?'

Kurt's heart sank. Of course Blaine had someone else to think about when making plans. He tried not to look too disheartened. 'Oh no, absolutely you should - the more, the merrier, right?!' he replied, a little too enthusiastically for his own liking.

Josh returned moments later with Blaine's boots, and Blaine sat momentarily to pull them on. He stood up with a bounce and put his hand on Kurt's shoulder.

'So, 14th did you say?'

'Yeah ... the Moonlight Lounge, I think. It's kinda flashy - you can't miss it. Rach's set starts at eight-thirty.'

'OK, great. So, I guess we'll see you then ...?'

'Excellent' Kurt nodded, again with way too much exuberance. He was already dreading the thought of seeing Blaine with his 'significant other', having to act anything other than painfully lonely and jealous as hell, put he pushed those thoughts from his mind in favour of 'at least I'll get to see him again!' instead.

'Great. Say goodbye to Kurt, Josh.'

'Bye.' Josh mumbled quietly and turned his back, grabbing Blaine's sleeve and pulling him away at a slow but steady pace.

'Bye!' Blaine shouted and gave a small wave, disappearing from view in the crowd of people still milling around the ice-rink.

'See ya, Blaine.' Kurt murmured to himself, staring at the space where his gorgeous friend had stood just moments before. He slumped back down on the bench to the side of him and breathed a deep, heavy sigh.

Did all of that really just happen?? Shit! I need to go shopping.