It had been almost three weeks since Kurt had brought Erik into the shop, which means it was also almost three weeks since Blaine had seen or spoken to Kurt. Their predictable routine came in handy for hiding. Blaine would conveniently make some lame excuse to go to the back by 8:30 (I have to go take inventory, The new supply company stacked the boxes wrong in the back so I am going to go reorganize it, or the bathroom hasn't been cleaned in almost three days, it needs to be done again) and would magically reappear in the front of the house sometime after 9:00 when he knew the coast was definitely clear.

Did he feel guilty? Sure he did. Kurt had no idea what he had done wrong or that all of this was even his fault in the first place. He knew Kurt was probably looking for him but Blaine couldn't bear the thought of seeing him yet...maybe soon but not today.

Even through everything that had happened, it didn't mean that Blaine didn't still make Kurt's coffee order every morning. He would make it by 8:30, hand it Wes and tell him that he had to go do something and once he knew Kurt was gone, he would come back up. Wes was the only one that knew about Blaine's little crush on Kurt...well everyone in the shop knew, it was written all over their boss' face every time Kurt walked in, they were just too polite to say anything. Wes on the other hand was not shy.

Wes was Blaine's best friend and the older brother that Blaine never had. Well...technically Blaine had a brother, Cooper, he just was so much older than Blaine that they never really had a relationship all that strong up until recently. But that is another story for another time.

Wes was two years older than Blaine. They had meet at Dalton Academy Boarding School for Boys in Ohio when Blaine was a freshman and Wes was a junior. Wes had kind of taken it upon himself to take Blaine under his wing for the next two years which meant always telling Blaine like it was, no bullshit, which Blaine had grown to appreciate. When Wes graduated and moved to the bright lights of New York City to attend NYU as a music performance major, Blaine was devastated but nonetheless they had kept in touch over the years. Which is why he had been so excited after he had graduated from Harvard Law School and moved to New York to be partner at the New York office of his father's law firm. Wes had even let Blaine stay on the couch until he found a place of his own which didn't end up being until a year later.

That is when Blaine found this place, 'Interval Café'. A decent sized space...well by New York standards at least, with a long counter and a small sitting area. Well to be fair, back then it was 'Guiseppe's Pizzeria' but to him it was always 'Interval Café' and would always be 'Interval Café'.

Today was Wednesday, which meant hazelnut crème caramel latte day. It was 8:38; Blaine was cutting it down to the wire today. Kurt would be walking into the shop any minute now. He finally finished the drink, handed it off to Wes and rushed to the back with, "I need to organize next month's estimated gross quota. (Was that even a thing?) I will be back up in a little while. Do you think you can handle it by yourself for a little while?" This was a question that Wes had grown quite use to hearing over the past couple of weeks.

"Yes, I can handle it. That is why you hired me, isn't it?" Wes looked at Blaine with a poignant look.

"No. I hired you because you're my best friend and a struggling musician that needs money."

"True, but you also hired me because you know you can trust me." All joking had faded away from Wes. "But seriously, Blaine, you can't hide from him forever. He doesn't even know that he did anything wrong. All he knows is that his friend that he has seen for the past two year, 5 days a week, without fail, with the exception of the two times that you were sick for a day, has somehow mysteriously vanished from his life. It isn't fair to him. I know. He asks me everyday where you are and I have to cover up your ass because you are still too chicken shit to say how you feel about him. Maybe he is unhappy with the relationship on the inside because he is too afraid to show it. I mean we were all here. We all saw that guy. He was an asshole. You will eventually have to talk to him you know. He will always come in here looking for you. You mean too much to him to just walk away."

"Yeah I know. I'm good for giving him a kick ass cup of coffee and that is it. Nothing else." Blaine looked down and started to play with some invisible item in his hand.

"Well I guess we will never know if you don't talk to him."

"Yeah, well not today. I mean how do you come right out and say 'I know we have never had a single conversation outside of this coffee shop but I think that I am hopelessly in love with you.'"

"Well that was pretty damn good if I do say so myself."

"Yeah well, not today."
"Well then you better scurry off because your wannabe boy toy just walked through our front door and is headed this way."

"Oh shit." Blaine knew Wes would respect his wishes but that this conversation was not over and he would be reamed for it later. An argument was never done until Wes said it was done.

Kurt pushed on the silver metallic door handle that led to his haven. The place he liked to go to get away from everything, all the bullshit at home, at work, with his family, friends. He knew that no matter what, he would see that guy...that curly headed, hazel-eyed guy behind the counter. That guy that had had such a profound impact on him the first time that he had ever laid eyes on him two years ago. Kurt would be kidding himself if he didn't say that the short man with the messy curls and 1000-watt smile wasn't cute and sweet and kind and...what was he doing. He had a boyfriend, a loving (well not so much anymore), caring (also...not so much), reliable (ok, now that one is just laughable) boyfriend. It didn't matter though. Blaine wasn't gay, was he? He had never led on to Kurt that he was.

Kurt knew that as today was Wednesday, that he would get a hazelnut crème caramel latte from Blaine, except that even as he looked around for the second Wednesday in a row, he didn't see him.

Kurt walked up to the counter nonchalant. "Hey Wes. How are you?"

"Oh, you know, same old, same old. How 'bout you?"

"Not bad. Harper has been a bear to work with this past week. We were on a photo shoot yesterday and you would think that it says Creative Director on her office door instead of sitting behind a desk answering my calls." Kurt laughed at his own joke. He looked over at Wes who was awkwardly laughing.

"Yeah that must have been quite something." Wes trying to be polite while Kurt indulged a bit.

Kurt's laugh petered out. "It was." Had Blaine been here he would have gotten it. Kurt could tell Blaine anything. "Anyways, is Blaine here?" Kurt had asked everyday without fail for nearly three weeks.

"Um...no he went on vacation...and...he won't be back for at least another week." Wes tried to give a convincing smile but it lacked enthusiasm along with truth. "But here is your coffee." Wes handed over the rather large to-go cup filled with only the finest ingredients that Blaine secretly kept hidden from the rest of the staff for exclusive use for Kurt.

Kurt took one sip and knew that Blaine had made it. Kurt would know. Blaine had made him coffee at least 5 days a week for two years with the exception of two times that Blaine has been too sick to work and Wes had to make his drink. Even though Blaine had given specific instructions to Wes on how to make his order, it never quite tasted the same as the coffee made by Blaine. "Wes, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Honestly...did I do something wrong?" Kurt watched as Wes struggled to find the right words. "I mean...I know he's avoiding me, I just don't know why."

"It's complicated." Wes struggled with his decision to continue. "I wish I could tell you more than that but I can't. I would talk to Blaine."

"That's the thing. I want to talk to Blaine but I haven't seen him in nearly three weeks. I can't fix what is wrong if he isn't willing to sit down and talk to me." Kurt's eyes fell to the ground. This falling out, or whatever this was with Blaine, was affecting him more than he had anticipated. Blaine was his rock, the constant thing in his life that he could always count on when things were bad. He just wanted his friend back.

"I'm sorry Kurt. When he's ready, he'll come to you."

"Ok, thanks for the coffee Wes. I'll see you tomorrow." Kurt slapped down the money onto the counter.

"See ya," and Wes went back to ringing up the next customer in line.

"Is he gone?" Blaine peaked out from behind the wall that separated the front of the shop to the back where his office was.

"Yeah." Wes was really snippy with Blaine as he tiptoes around the corner looking out for Kurt.

"What? What did I do?"

"You are a fucking idiot is what. That boy wants you. He wants you in his life and he is hurting without you. He is trying so hard to play it off like he is completely fine that he just lost his friend, but he isn't, Blaine. You need to be there for him, even as a friend. Would you rather be his friend and see him everyday or would you rather live in this nightmare that you have been living in for the past few weeks torturing yourself by not seeing him?" Wes was inches from Blaine's face.

"But he has a boyfriend, Wes. A hot, successful, mature boyfriend. How could I ever compete with that?" Blaine's head slunk to the floor.

"Ok, first of all, older? Yes. Mature? Abso-fucking-lutely not. And second off, what are you talking about? Look around this place Blaine. Look at the reputation that you have build around here. You quit your job and practically built this place from the ground up and nearly lost all of your money doing it in the process. But now...now you are probably the most successful coffee shop in the West Village. No one can deny that, Blaine. What you have built here is beautiful. Every day from 6am until 2pm there is a line that wraps itself around the block just to get a cup of your coffee or one of those delicious pastries that the girls make. And third," Wes slaps Blaine on the shoulder.

"Ow."

"That's for thinking that you aren't hot. Blaine you are adorable. Anytime we go out the guys, and girls for that matter, all fawn over you. Hell even I'd fuck you and I don't even swing that way."

Blaine laughed. "Thanks?" Wes laughed along with him.

"So if Kurt can't wake up and see that you are a great catch, then he isn't worth your time."

Blaine sighed. "What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you?"

Wes gave a dramatic shrug. "Beats me. I ask myself that same thing everyday." The two men laughed together.

Blaine started to walk back to the kitchen to see how the new turnovers that Reese had been experimenting with were coming along. He turned back in the threshold. "Hey Wes." Wes turned in the direction of his best friend. "Thanks." Blaine gave a halfhearted smile and continued his path to the back.

Kurt walked into Interval Café on Friday running pretty late which was so uncharacteristic of him. He wasn't expecting much; he now knew that Blaine was avoiding him, but why? Had he done something wrong? Kurt saw Wes manning Blaine's usual post behind the espresso machine. He walked up to Blaine's best friend. "Hey, Wes. How's it going?"

"Just fine. A little less busy then usual, thank god." The two men snickered. "The lull is welcomed trust me but if you ask Blaine he would tell you that you could-"

"Never be too busy," the men said in unison.

"That would be Blaine." Kurt looked to the ground with a grimace. "How is he by the way?"

"Fine. He's uh..." Wes didn't finish but not because he was trying to find the right words but because someone had interrupted him.

"Hey Wes do you know where the..." Blaine came sauntering out from the backroom. He was no longer searching for his friend as soon as he saw the man that Wes was talking to. "Kurt. Hi." Blaine came over to where Wes and Kurt had been chatting. He had an unreadable expression on his face from what Kurt could tell. Wes slipped away unnoticed by both Kurt and Blaine. "So um...how have been?" Blaine said tightly.

"Fine. And you?"

"Fine." Both men sat there, neither one saying anything for several seconds.

Kurt was the first to break the silence. "I missed you."

Blaine cracked a smile. "I missed you too." Kurt's heart unexpectedly swelled.

"Then why did you stop talking to me?" Kurt looked at Blaine with an earnest expression.

"I...I met someone." Blaine was kicking something around on the floor from what Kurt could tell, avoiding eye contact.

Kurt light up, "That's great. Who is it?"

Blaine still was looking everywhere other than at Kurt. "Well, this person's a regular here. I know that they are seeing someone else and I don't know if I should tell them because I don't want to lose them as a costumer and especially not as a friend."

"Well I think that you should tell this person. From my personally experience it is better to get things out in the open than keep them all bottled up inside." Kurt gave a sincere reassuring smile. "Well come on. Who is it? Do I know them? Is it Amanda with the curly brown hair, real tall, brown eyes? She always seems to be looking longingly at you." Blaine looked at Kurt, the surprise written all over his face.

"Are you that daft, Kurt?"

"What do you mean?" Kurt bit back.

"If you can't tell that you are the only one that I have eyes for then you are more oblivious than I thought. Who else do I make special coffee orders for? Who else do I specifically stop what I'm doing just to talk to? Whom else do I get so flustered around that I can barely form coherent sentences?" Kurt had actually wondered the same thing many times but most times chalked it to Blaine just being super polite and very friendly with him being as he was one of his more loyal costumers.

"For two years straight, all I have wanted was to gather up enough courage to ask you out and the day that I finally do, you bring that stupid lug that you call a boyfriend, to prance around in front of me. And then, on top of everything, he treats you like dirt, in a public place no less." Kurt should get defensive. Blaine just insulted his boyfriend but oddly, Kurt feels nothing. He doesn't feel the need to ream Blaine for belittling the man that he had loved for two and a half years. The man that he came home to every night, no matter how much it had started to feel like they were just roommates, paying rent together, than boyfriends. He still loved Erik though, no matter what, Erik had been there for him in the beginning when he needed him the most. "You deserve much better than him Kurt. Not that I could promise to give you all the things that he does, like an apartment in Tribeca or swanky dinner parties, but for god sakes, I would sure as hell try hard, because you deserve it. You deserve everything. You are a kind, compassionate, gentle man and you deserve to be treated as such instead of the scum on the floor of the F train." Blaine stopped. Finally letting out the breath that he had apparently been holding. He must have finally realized what he had said and he looked up at Kurt with bafflement. Kurt's eyes were as wide as the saucers that Blaine served his coffee on.

"Blaine, I...I honestly had no idea. I didn't know you were..." Kurt trailed off not wanting to finish his sentence.

Blaine finished it for him. "What? Gay? Well now you know. Though I don't know how you didn't know already. I dropped enough hint to you over the years. I thought you had picked up on them but I guess not." Blaine gave an uncomfortable laugh. "I mean really Kurt, the day you walked in here we had a discussion about Vogue and fashion."
Kurt didn't know what to say. He was having a hard time processing all this new information. Not only was the guy that he had relied on to make him coffee everyday for the past two years gay, he was also completely infatuated with him.

Kurt's heart was racing. He needed to get out of here. He needed to be away from Blaine to try to figure out his feelings about the new predicament that he had found himself in. "I should get going." Kurt picked up the chai tea, threw down the money, and started to head for the door. "Thanks for the drink." Kurt forcefully pulled on the handle of the door to release him for the shop. Kurt could feel himself hyperventilating. Although it was an additional four-mile walk to the Vogue.com offices, he opted not to hop back into a taxi and instead decided that the smoggy 'fresh' air of New York would do him some good. Isabelle would already have his head on a platter for being so late but if he calmly explained to her the situation, he was sure that she would be more than understanding, because under that tough I'm-the-boss bitch mask lie a sweet woman that only ever wanted the best for Kurt.

Kurt had much to think about...about the man that he lived with and loved and had given his heart to years ago and inevitably about that curly haired beauty with the goofy smile that made his heart race every time he looked at him.