The strength and colour of the light filtering through the curtains wasn't enough to enable Blaine to roughly tell the time, so he reluctantly turned his head and raised it wearily to read the numbers displayed on the clock by his bed. His alarm wasn't due to go off for another twenty minutes, but there was little point in him lying in bed for any longer, he wasn't getting any rest.

He shuffled blearily through his morning routine of washing and dressing, exhaustion weighing down his body. He had barely gotten any sleep last night or Saturday night and instead had spent his time in bed tossing and turning, his mind too busy to allow for sleep. Endless thoughts of Kurt, Jeremy, Nick, and himself chased each other around in circles in his head whilst he lay there begging it to stop, praying for a straightforward solution to materialise.

To his surprise, the kitchen wasn't empty when he reached it. Nick was seated at their small table, staring intently at the screen of his laptop with several books and papers scattered on the table around him.

"You're up early," Blaine said, pulling the first box of cereal his heavy eyes landed on towards him.

Nick glanced at him briefly over the top of his laptop. "Oh, morning, Blaine." The tapping of his laptop's keys filled the small kitchen. "This assignment is due today and I just need to finish it off." He smiled distractedly at Blaine when he joined him at the table with his cereal, then did a double-take. "You look terrible."

Blaine pushed at his cereal with his spoon. "I haven't been sleeping much these last two nights."

Despite this, he could feel himself becoming more alert the longer he sat there picking at his breakfast. Anticipation at seeing Kurt fizzed in his veins like caffeine and the stuffed-up, sluggish feeling in his head was clearing. In a short while he would see Kurt and he would actually be able to talk to him without feeling creepy.

Nick frowned at him as if he could hear his thoughts. "Well, don't push yourself too hard today or the next thing you know you'll be falling ill."

Feeling more revitalised, Blaine grinned at him. "Don't worry, Mom I promise I won't overexert myself."

Nick just rolled his eyes without looking up from his computer.

After a few unenthusiastic mouthfuls of his cereal he dropped his spoon back into the bowl and abandoned his breakfast, disposing of the soggy cereal in the trash.

"I'm out of here," he informed Nick as he grabbed his bag and headed for the door. Nick called a reply when he reached the door and began pulling on his coat.

"Ok, see you later."

"Bye!" He stepped out onto the chilly landing and jogged down the stairs.

By the time he hit the streets he was starting to feel the bubble of nerves which weren't helped when he caught a glimpse of his reflection in the window of a café. Nick was right, he looked awful. There were grey crescents under his bleary eyes, his skin was pale and looked pinched and drawn, his shoulders were slumped with exhaustion, and his mouth was set in a weary line. 'Fantastic,' he thought moodily, stomping down the street. 'I'm getting to see Kurt and I look a mess.'

Sighing, he fumbled in his wallet for his Metrocard and swiped it, before descending the stairs onto the platform, looking around nervously. He chewed on his bottom lip as he made his way down to the far end of the platform, his eyes straining for a glimpse of Kurt as he drew closer to the spot where he usually waited. His heart sank when he scanned the people standing nearby, Kurt wasn't among them.

He was about to slouch against the wall and wallow in his disappointment when there was a shout behind him.

"Blaine!"

He turned, his heart leaping in his chest at the sound of the voice. Kurt was walking towards him, a smile on his face and looking beautiful as always. A smile broke across Blaine's face, all feelings of tiredness gone. "Kurt, hi!"

"How was the rest of your weekend?" Kurt asked when he reached Blaine's side.

Blaine shrugged. "Nothing special, just coming down from the buzz of performing on Saturday night and then I had some college stuff to do. How was yours?"

"Pretty similar to yours, mostly college stuff and my roommate wanted me to help her run through some lines for her acting class and that ended up taking a whole afternoon. Rachel is extremely ambitious and likes to make sure she has the script memorised and her lines perfected." He rolled his eyes, but there was a fond smile on his face. "That would be all great and completely reasonable if the date she was performing the part wasn't over two weeks away."

Blaine laughed. "Sounds like she can be a bit of a handful."

"She can be – she annoyed me a lot in high school – but I'm used to her now."

Blaine smiled, but the unspoken detail that this wasn't the first time he had seen Kurt at the station nagged at him until he could stand it no longer. "Kurt, I have a confession to make. I already knew who you were when you approached me on Saturday, and not just from seeing you at the NYADA show, and this is not the first time I have noticed you at this station. I've seen you almost every day here, you stood out to me, I don't know why."

"Probably my outfits," Kurt tugged at the collar of his bright yellow coat. "I've always stood out because of them." He paused. "It hasn't always been a good thing." His eyes searched Blaine's face for a moment. "I've noticed you as well. Ever since you bumped into me on the train a few months ago I've sort of…watched you." A blush stained his pale cheeks and he dropped his gaze. "I couldn't believe it when you stepped onto that stage on Saturday," he said, still avoiding Blaine's eyes. "New York is such a big city with millions of people in it, so I never expected to run into you there like that." He raised his eyes to meet Blaine's. "I'm glad I did though, I've wanted to meet you since I first saw you, but-"

"But introducing yourself to a random stranger on the subway is a bit weird," Blaine finished for him.

Kurt laughed and Blaine smiled at the sound, knowing he would be playing it back in his head later.

"Just a bit."

Their train arrived then and they headed towards it, now discussing Blaine's performance last Saturday. Although most of Blaine's mind was intently focussed on Kurt and their conversation, a tiny part of it was revelling at the fact that he was talking to Kurt – actually talking to him, not just dreaming about it – and Kurt was smiling and laughing at him. He never wanted this to end.

"So are you heading for work, college or…?" Kurt asked as the train pulled away from the station.

Blaine shifted his weight as the train swerved slightly. "NYU, I'm studying music there."

"Ah, no wonder you are so good at playing and composing music," Kurt said with a teasing smile. "You're taking classes in it."

Blaine pretended to pout. "I'll have you know I've been writing my own songs since I started high school and playing guitar and piano for longer than that."

Kurt became more serious. "Do you know what you want to do once you've finished your course? Are you aiming for a record deal?"

"A record deal would be fantastic, but I'm still not sure if I'd want to do that or do composing for movies or whatever. Although if I got a record deal I would be composing as well." He shrugged. "I guess I'll just see what happens when I've finished my degree." He nodded at Kurt. "You're heading for Broadway, of course."

Kurt smiled a little wistfully. "As much as I'd love that, and it has been my dream for years, I'm more realistic now than I was in high school. I know how hard it is to make it in theatre, so I'm not getting my hopes up."

"You have a better shot at it than others, you were the best at that performance I saw and I'm not just saying that, it's the truth."

Kurt returned his smile. "Thanks." The train slowed and he sighed when he saw what station it was. "This is my stop," he said sadly. The train came to a stop and people began exiting the train, Kurt reluctantly turning to follow them.

Blaine smiled, trying to hide his disappointment. "I'll see you tomorrow?" It came out as a question even though he knew Kurt would be on the train tomorrow.

"Same time, same place." Kurt smiled brightly at him, his blue eyes lighting up in a way that left Blaine momentarily speechless. "Bye, Blaine it was great seeing you again."

"Y- yeah, you too," he stuttered slightly. "Bye, Kurt."

Kurt shot him one last beautiful smile before he left the train leaving Blaine staring after him, his head full of Kurt's departing smile and his heart soaring.

Kurt made it half-way through the day before he was unable to keep it to himself any longer, unable to hide how unbelievably happy he was.

"I met Blaine over the weekend."

Rachel didn't look up from the script she was poring over and her lips continued to shape the words as she read. "Who?"

Kurt sighed, desperately wanting someone to share his excitement with. "Blaine, the guy I've been seeing on the subway for months, the one you told me to stalk."

Rachel looked up at him then, but her eyes were still unfocused and Kurt knew her mind was still on the script in her hands. "Why would I do that?"

"What?" Kurt asked, not understanding.

"Why would I tell you to stalk someone? Doesn't sound like the kind of advice I would give."

Kurt groaned. "Rachel, you are killing my buzz here." He snatched the script out of her hands, ignoring her shout of protest. "He was performing at Bar4 on Saturday night-"

"Wait, he was performing?" Rachel interrupted. "Performing what?"

"A mixture of his own songs and some covers of songs. He played the guitar and the piano." He was aware he was starting to sound like a teenage girl dreamily discussing her favourite celebrity, but he didn't care.

Rachel looked interested. "Was he any good?"

"He was amazing! He's really talented," he replied enthusiastically. "He has a beautiful voice," he sighed softly.

The sound of Rachel giggling pulled him out of his memories. "Someone's got a crush," she teased.

Kurt blushed. "I do not." The retort sounded weak to his own ears. "I just think he's a really interesting and talented guy who I'd like to be friends with."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. "Uh huh, sure."

Kurt ignored her. "I saw him on the subway again this morning, we talked. Turns out he is studying music at NYU."

Rachel clapped her hands together. "You sound perfect for each other! You could write Broadway musicals together! You could write the script, including a female lead for me, and he could write the songs!"

"He doesn't know if he wants to aim down the composing path or if he wants to try and get himself a record deal or do something else with his degree."

His phone buzzed and he automatically reached for it as Rachel continued to excitedly discuss the prospects for herself, Kurt, and Blaine on Broadway. She stopped abruptly when she saw Kurt's face fall as he read the text he had just received.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Kurt set the phone down on the table in front of him. "Tim just asked me out for coffee later today."

"Ti- oh."

"Yeah," Kurt said in a small voice. "Oh."