Kurt wasn't the only one worrying over what outfit was best for the next interview - to say that Blaine was a little nervous was an understatement, and as he looked at himself in the mirror the following morning, his stomach gave a jolt. He glanced over at Michael, still sleeping peacefully in their bed with the covers wrapped tightly around him, and wished that they could change places. He resisted the urge to wake him up and ask just that though - Michael was far from a morning person, and even less of a nine-to-five office worker. Blaine adjusted his dark grey tie one more time in the mirror before heaving a disgruntled sigh and making his way out to the kitchen.

It was times like this that Blaine was pleased that Patrick, the owner of the apartment, worked long hours and was therefore hardly even home. As much as he liked the guy, they had so little in common, apart from their affection for Michael, that even making small-talk was often painfully difficult for Blaine. He had always prided himself on being a fairly approachable, friendly guy, but sometimes with Patrick it felt like he was trying to get up a very steep hill on roller-skates.

Blaine poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the small dining table, throwing his tie over his shoulder to avoid slopping it into his breakfast. He ate slowly, completely distracted by thoughts of Kurt and what working with him every day might be like. He couldn’t deny that just sitting opposite Kurt in his office had been exhilarating and nostalgic, memories of their almost unending chats in the Lima Bean back in Ohio flashing into his mind and making him smile to himself without even realising it. He’d even been caught by Kurt a couple of times, and the knowing yet bashful smile they’d shared had sent a tingle up his spine.

Blaine wasn’t even hungry, but he knew that not eating would result in some very embarrassing stomach growls during the interview, so he persevered with breakfast. He was just about finished when he heard Michael’s voice calling him from the bedroom. He rose to his feet with a yawn and pulled his tie back around to his chest as he walked back to their room. He was met by an extremely naked boyfriend splayed across the bed with a cheeky smirk on his face.

“What the -?” Blaine laughed, leaning against the doorway and folding his arms across his chest.

“Aww – you’re dressed already?” Michael whined. “I thought I could tempt you to a little lazy morning sex … you know, to calm any last minute nerves for the interview.” He grinned again, and Blaine shook his head.

“Sorry, babe – no can do. I’ll have to leave pretty soon if I don’t want to be late.”

Michael pouted and stuck out his arms, gesturing for a hug. Blaine complied, but his eyes said ‘Please don’t crease me too much’. He gingerly leaned in to his boyfriend for just a moment before pulling away and standing by their closet.

“Oh, come on - what was that?!” Michael frowned.

“Michael, you’re all sweaty … and I really can’t let you ravage me right now.”

“You’re no fun, Blaine Anderson … or should I say Blanderson …” Michael huffed, looking away.

Blaine shrugged, glancing at his watch and taking his suit jacket from the hanger behind him. He put it on and leaned back over to Michael on the bed, kissing him lightly on the cheek and stroking his hair.

“After the interview, I’m all yours, I promise.” He whispered into his boyfriend’s ear.

“I won’t be here then.” Michael shrugged. “Got classes and then dinner for one of the guys’ birthdays. Which reminds me, do you have any money?”

Blaine sighed and reached into his pocket, producing his wallet and checking for notes. “How much?”

“How much you got?” Michael replied.

“Well, I need some of it for subway fare and maybe some lunch …”

Michael rolled his eyes and took the wallet from Blaine’s hand before he could protest. He took forty dollars and waved it in front of Blaine, running the notes slowly across his toned chest and stomach with a wry smile.

“If you want it back you’re gonna have to beg for it.”

“No time - keep it.” Blaine said, leaning in for another quick kiss, this time on the lips. “And wish me luck.”

“Good luck … I guess.” Michael said, looking downcast.

“Don’t do that. I’ll call you around lunchtime.”

“Alright. Get the job, OK?” Michael called after Blaine as he left the bedroom and headed towards the front door, grabbing his keys as he went.

“I’ll try my best.” Blaine shouted back, pleased that Michael couldn’t see the way he mimed banging his head against the wall a few times before he left.

***

Blaine glanced up from the copy of the magazine he was hoping to soon be employed by and found Gina staring at him with a goofy smile on her face. She cleared her throat and quickly looked down at a file she was supposed to be working on. Blaine could only imagine the conversations she must’ve had with Kurt about him, but chose to keep his questions about that to himself. He did feel the need to break the silence somehow though, as Kurt’s assistant was clearly far from concentrating on her work.

“So do you know the sex?”

Blaine realised very quickly that this was the wrong thing to ask just as Gina was taking a sip of water, as she spluttered and promptly began to choke, gasping for air with pained tears streaming from her eyes. He dropped his magazine, jumped from his seat and ran around to the back of her seat, instinctively patting and rubbing between her shoulder-blades. Gina continued to cough loudly and Kurt’s door flew open, the man himself looking panicked at all the commotion. He jogged to the front of the desk and grabbed one of his assistant’s hands.

“Jesus, Gee – you OK?” He asked, glancing between her and Blaine with a furrowed brow.

Gina nodded weakly and waved her other hand dismissively, pointing up at Blaine before grabbing a tissue and rubbing at her eyes.

“Kind-of my fault” Blaine muttered guiltily.

Gina shook her head and fought to find her voice again. “No … you helped.” She rasped, turning in her chair to look up at him gratefully. “You have … um … good hands.”

Kurt and Blaine flashed one another a look, and Blaine gave a little shrug.

“I rubbed her back.” He said. “But I also caused the choking, so …”

Kurt frowned. “So you’re trying to send Gina into early labour?”

“Oh, god – do it again!” Gina pleaded, looking up again at Blaine with wide eyes.

Blaine laughed nervously and continued to pat her back. “I’d really rather not. And I think it might get me fired before I’ve even got the job.” He said, catching Kurt’s eye and tilting his head with a soft smile. Kurt had another mental flashback to every time that Blaine had ever been considerate or concerned about anyone in his company when they were together. It was one of the reasons that Kurt had fallen in love with him all those years ago, and his chest felt tight as he relived the memory.

“Wise move.” Kurt nodded, trying to look stern but failing miserably. He looked up at the clock on the wall and then back at Blaine. “It’s still a little early, but you wanna get started on this now?” He gestured towards his office. Blaine nodded back and walked around the desk, adjusting his jacket and tie as he went.

“Blaine?” Gina chimed having finally found her normal voice again.

Blaine and Kurt both turned around as they made their way through the doorway, raising their eyebrows in unison. Gina bit back a huge grin.

“The sex?”

Blaine’s mouth dropped open for a second before he realised what she was referring to. He turned, a little flushed, to Kurt, whose face was a picture of confusion and mild shock. “… Of the baby.”

Kurt looked noticeably relieved, and Gina chuckled, obviously proud of herself for making the boys so uncomfortable and embarrassed, because they really were just too cute.

“We don’t know for sure, but I’m thinking girl and this one has his heart set on a boy.” She nodded towards Kurt.

Blaine turned back to Kurt, unable to hide the questioning look in his eyes.

“… And this one is not the father, as much as that sounded like he might be.” Kurt insisted.

Blaine looked down at the floor and stifled a laugh, glancing back up at Gina and standing on tiptoes as if to peer over her desk towards her swollen belly.

“Well for what it’s worth, I’m gonna go with this one.” He smiled, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and turning back to Kurt, following his lead as he took the last few steps into the office. He gave a tiny, bashful wave as he closed the door behind him.

“You bet your sweet ass you are, honey.” Gina said under her breath.

***

“So … uh … thanks for coming.” Kurt breezed.

“Well I was hoping that I was going to get a job out of it, so it was kind-of a no-brainer.” Blaine laughed, following Kurt to his desk and taking the seat that Kurt offered him.

Kurt gave a small smile but quickly straightened his face, keen to maintain his authority over Blaine and not be seen as a pushover. Blaine noticed this and instinctively sat up in his chair, inwardly chiding himself for being too familiar at this point in the interview. Kurt looked down at Blaine’s resume in his hand, feeling a dull ache in his chest as he scanned over the ‘education’ section … much of that part he already knew. He cleared his throat.

“Blaine, whatever history we do or don’t have, it was clear to me during the group interview that you had the most drive and determination to cover this job, and there’s no denying that we were always very comfortable when we worked together on anything in the past.” He said, looking down again when a bashful smile threatened to spread across his face.

“We did, Mr Hummel, yes.” Blaine nodded, as serious as possible under the circumstances.

“Don’t do that.” Kurt shook his head authoritatively. “If we’re going to work together again now, I’m Kurt and you’re Blaine. Unless we’re in a big meeting or something … then the mister thing is a given.”

“Sounds fair to me.” Blaine nodded again.

“And I think it’s probably best if we consider the first month as a trial period, because the last thing I think either of us wants is to be stuck with one another for nine long months if it’s clear from the get-go that it’s not going to work out.”

Blaine nodded vehemently once more. His neck was beginning to ache. “Absolutely.”

“OK, so I’ll ask Gina to get a contract written up to that effect.” Kurt confirmed. “She’s keen to show you the ropes for a couple of days once you get started, just to ease you in gently. She’s pretty meticulous with how she likes her stuff being kept, so I’m sure she’ll give you lots of insight into that.”

“Alright. But only if she’s up to it.” Blaine replied, and Kurt felt another surge of affection for the ever-gentile man sitting before him.

“That’s never usually an option for Gina. What she says, goes.” Kurt smiled.

“Ah. Well I’ll make sure she stays off her feet and stuff.” Blaine said. “Kurt, I can’t thank you enough for even considering me for this. I mean, you could’ve just kicked me out the moment I walked through the door the other day.”

“I could’ve … but it would’ve been totally unprofessional and wrong of me to do that. And besides, despite what you may think, seeing you again like that was such a nice surprise, once I’d gotten over the initial shock of course. And everything you said and did reminded me very quickly why I cared so much for you.”

Blaine let out an embarrassed laugh, both men flushing at Kurt’s admission. They sat in silence for a few moments before Blaine spoke in a quiet voice.

“I missed you, Kurt.”

Kurt caught Blaine’s eye and tilted his head with a sad smile. “I know - me too. But we need to put the past behind us and focus on our working relationship now Blaine, or this really isn’t going to work.”

Blaine nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I can do that. I promise.”

“Good.” Kurt said, standing up and extending his hand. “Then all that’s left to say is welcome aboard!”

Blaine rose and took Kurt’s warm hand in his own, trying not to revel too much in the familiarity of the man’s touch, which had always sent shivers through him when they were together. He grinned from ear to ear, and Kurt’s heart melted just a little, proud to see him so happy when their last proper encounter before all of this had been such a painful one for both of them.

“Glad to be here.”

***