Chapter 5.

Blaine smiled as he put his phone down. He grabbed his clothes from his chair and changed. It’d taken him all evening after he’d come home to decide what he was going to wear to meet Kurt. He was quite happy with his choice, too. He stepped out and was glad he’d decided to wear his jacket. Even though the sun tickled his face, there was a cold wind that made it too chilly not to wear one. Winter would be here soon.

It wasn’t a long walk to the coffee house and he usually enjoyed it, but now he was too nervous and the walk seemed to be never ending. As he eventually reached Lima Bean he found himself a little out of breath. Kurt was already there, beaming up at him as he arrived.

He noticed his breath hitched in the back of his throat at the sight of Kurt and closed his eyes shortly, taking in a deep breath to relax before he walked towards him. “Hi.” Kurt smiled. Blaine found himself unsure of what to do: shake hands, hug, kiss?, and after a short moment of uncomfortable silence he settled for a simple “Hi” himself. He felt so stupid, as it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen Kurt before, and looked down. His eyes fell on a box Kurt was holding and he panicked. Had Kurt brought him a present? Was he supposed to bring one too? Would Kurt totally hate him now for being so inconsiderate?
“What’s the box for?” he finally asked, hoping he’d been able to keep his voice under control.
“Present for Sandra,” Kurt smiled, “it’ll get both of us back in her good books.”

“Belgian chocolates?” Blaine frowned as Kurt showed him the content.
“It’s her kryptonite.” Kurt winked, “she’ll love us forever.”
Blaine knew Kurt didn’t imply anything when he’d said ‘us’ but he felt a shiver ran across his spine as if he had just gotten an electric shock. “Let’s go inside then, cause I’m freezing.” He rubbed his arms and they walked inside.

The familiar smell of coffee relaxed Kurt’s nerves. It was nice to be in a familiar environment when everything about today was quite unfamiliar. As they walked to the counter his eyes met Sandra’s, who raised a knowing eyebrow at him before putting on a straight face again as she asked the customer before the two of them what he wanted. Sometimes Kurt wondered if Sandra knew, it certainly looked like she did but she also didn’t seem to mind, so actually he wasn’t bothered about it.

Kurt let his gaze go over the different coffee possibilities, his eyes darting over to Blaine. “You made your choice?” Kurt asked him. Blaine nodded and replied, “You going for the usual?”
Kurt shook his head “That’s only on Saturdays. I was wondering if you could recommend me something?”. Blaine’s features grew into a warming smile, making Kurt’s mind spin.
“So boys, what shall it be?” Sandra turned to them. Blaine ordered his drink and then blurted another order out what he thought would be fitted for Kurt. It almost sounded like rocket science to Kurt but Sandra nodded affirmative and got to it, “I’ll bring them down in a minute.” She smiled.

They made their way to Kurt’s favourite spot and sat down. “That was quite an order,” Kurt smiled.
“I promise you, you’ll love it. It’s quite a special one, not many people drink it.”
“I’m intrigued.” Kurt smiled. Sandra arrived and set their drinks down and he asked, “is it okay if we pay when we leave? We won’t be going anywhere for a while.”
Blaine felt his stomach contract and started to feel even more nervous. Sandra nodded, “That’s alright, Kurt.”
“Oh,” Kurt continued. “I brought you something,” he showed her the box of sweets.
She raised her hands to her face in surprise, “Oh Kurt! You shouldn’t have.”
“Your favourite right?” he smiled. She nodded in excitement, “you two are the sweetest.” She kissed both of them on the cheek and walked away.

Blaine chuckled, “Women and their chocolate.” He laughed before taking a sip of his drink. Kurt took his own cup and drank from it. He looked surprised at the sensation his taste buds experienced. Blinking, he realized that he wasn’t drinking his regular latte but whatever Blaine had ordered him instead. “Wow.” was all he managed to say. A smug looking Blaine winked at him, “You’re welcome.”
“It...it tastes like...,” Kurt paused and thought of a way to describe what he’d just tasted, “Christmas!” he finally said, feeling like that was the closest comparison he could make.
“That’s what I always compare it with, too. People never seem to understand me when I say that though. They always ask me what Christmas is supposed to taste like.”
“You should let them taste this.” Kurt said, taking another sip. The same feeling filled him again. Blaine shook his head, “I only ever let a few amount of people taste it.”
“I feel honoured.”
“So you should. Only very special people get to taste it.” Blaine smiled. Kurt could feel himself go red in the cheeks again, something that seemed to happen a lot ever since meeting Blaine.

“So, have you decided yet if you want to sing a song with me this week?” Blaine continued. Kurt nodded and replied, “I’d love to, but Blaine you’re so much better than I am.”
“That’s nonsense Kurt, and you know it. But great! It’s settled then!” he smiled, “we’re doing a song together.”

They sat talking for the whole afternoon and Kurt was feeling more and more lightheaded. He wondered if it was because of the drink but knew well enough that there wasn’t any alcohol in there, so it couldn’t be, and that it was basically caused by Blaine –unless you could get an overdose of Christmas. He grabbed his phone as it buzzed again, reading Santana’s message, “Mum’s wondering why you couldn’t come today?”, but ignored it. He didn’t feel like explaining himself to Santana and even less to her mother.

The hours passed and it was time for Kurt and Blaine to head back home. “This one’s on me.” Kurt said as he saw Blaine dive in his pocket to pay, he gasped, “Kurt, I couldn’t.”
“It’s the least I can do after you let me taste that delicious drink.” Kurt said and he chuckled as he noticed Blaine blush.

They walked across the city streets, small conversation was being exchanged but not any less comfortable as it had been earlier. As Kurt turned into a street and Blaine was still following him, he realized that maybe it was rude of him to assume Blaine would accompany him, as his house might not be in the same area as his. “You don’t have to walk me home if you don’t want to.” he flushed, hoping Blaine wouldn’t think he was suggesting something. “Oh...”, Blaine seemed to look for his words, “as much as I wouldn’t mind walking you down, this is actually my street.”

Kurt could slap himself. He felt silly for having assumed Blaine was walking him home, “Actually I thought you were walking me home.” Blaine smiled.
And that was exactly one of the reasons why Kurt liked Blaine as much as he did. Whenever he started to feel stupid or bad, Blaine always managed to make him feel good about himself.
“In that case,” Kurt chuckled, “I will gladly escort you home.”

They continued walking and Kurt felt Blaine slid his hand in his. A part of him wanted to pull away, knowing that if anyone saw them he’d be in a lot of trouble, but the biggest part of him never wanted to let go again. He laced his fingers with Blaine’s and they both smiled as their eyes met.

“This is me.” Blaine mumbled, his voice slightly hoarse, Kurt immediately thought of how sexy it sounded, before he felt Blaine releasing his hand from his and an instant feeling of loss filled him. “I had a great day.” Blaine smiled. Kurt nodded, not able to look at Blaine, feeling his eyes might betray his unspoken words, “We should do it again soon.”
“I’d love that.” Blaine agreed and before Kurt had any idea of what was happening, he felt Blaine’s lips brush his cheek.

He looked up meeting his gaze and saw his every feeling reflected in Blaine’s eyes. “I’ll, er, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Blaine muttered before hurrying inside. Kurt raised his hand to the spot where Blaine’s lips had touched his cheek. It felt warm to his touch.

Blaine felt like nothing could ruin his day anymore. He smiled at his mum as he entered the living room. She was on the phone, her face restrained which had told him enough already if it weren’t for the words she mouthed, “it’s your dad”. Blaine felt like a stone had landed in his stomach, all his excitement just as the thought of Kurt vanished.

Kurt walked the last few streets to his home feeling flushed. He’d grabbed the hem of his coat with the hand Blaine had been holding to try and maintain the same feeling. Of course, it wasn’t anything close but if he imagined it hard enough, it’d do for now. He made his way to his room, his dad wasn’t home from work yet, and let himself fall down on his bed. He stared at the stick-on stars on his ceiling. It was the one thing that stood out in his room like a sore thumb but it had been something he’d done with his mum when he was eight. He kept it there in memory of her, he liked staring at the stars.

The second his phone rang, he picked up, smiling. “Hey you.”
“Why don’t you reply to my texts?!” Kurt’s face fell as Santana’s shriek nearly deafened him.
“San, I’m sorry.” He apologized.
“Where’ve you been today, Kurt?” he rolled his eyes at her and sat up again. He saw his annoyed face being reflected in the mirror, “What do you care?”, he hadn’t meant to snap but he couldn’t help himself. The short pause on the other end let him know she was quite taken aback about it, before she, too, snapped back. “I care because all afternoon my family asked where my boyfriend was. I care because I’m not ready for the truth to come out. I care because....” she stopped, her breathing uneven, “I just felt trapped, okay.” Her voice sounded defeated.

“San, I’m sorry okay. I was out with Finn and Puck.” He felt bad about lying to Santana but he couldn’t exactly tell her the truth either.
“Oh...well, next time could you at least reply to my texts?”
“Promise,” he said, “I’m sorry.”
“That’s quite alright. Anyway, I’m off fluffbun. See you tomorrow.” She hung up before Kurt could even object to the ridiculous nickname.