The coffee shop they both worked in was completely empty but for Bob, the homeless man that came in every afternoon for a small tea, and a pair of college students studying by the windows. They had recently begun to give Bob a large tea and a muffin, using their meager tips to cover the difference.

“Tina, he won’t even talk to me. We have a class together, an actual class, and he ignores me. I get that he has a boyfriend now but we were supposed to try to be friends.” Blaine broke down the empty cardboard box and tossed it into the back room.

Tina hit the button the coffee grinder and the din covered what ever well-meaning but pointless advice she was giving. Blaine knew that Kurt was a lost cause.

Blaine and Tina had moved to New York in June with brand new high school diplomas and college acceptance letters in hand. Tina would be attending NYU and Blaine had somehow impressed Carmen Thibodeaux enough to get into NYADA. They found a tiny apartment in Bushwick, not far from Kurt and Rachel’s and applied for part time jobs at every coffee shop in the neighborhood. Summer had been difficult with no air conditioning in their apartment and Kurt avoiding Blaine like the plague.

It was now almost October and they had settled into a comfortable rhythm of school and work. They had tried to start weekly dinners with Kurt and Rachel but Kurt always had some reason not to come. Then Rachel let the news slip one night over Tina’s famous pasta with peppers.

Kurt had a boyfriend.

His name was Adam.

He was twenty-four.

He was blond.

He was British.

He was in a band.

Kurt had moved on.

Blaine said nothing else for the rest of the meal.

Kurt had told him about Adam months ago but he had said that their few dates were awkward and there was no spark between them. He’d lied.

He wanted to be angry. He really did. But Kurt owed him nothing. It wasn’t any of his business who Kurt was dating so he made a point of trying to date as well.

There was the lanky guy in his dance class with big green eyes and red hair named Parker who he went out with once. Parker was graceful and polite in class so when he suggested a gay club in Alphabet City, Blaine was eager to have a fun night dancing with him. That is not what happened. Parker spent the entire night groping him and sneaking sips from a flask. When he excused himself to go to the bathroom, Blaine left without a second though and high-tailed it back to Bushwick. Parker didn’t even bother to ask him what happened and he really didn’t want to talk to him again. He overheard him telling one of their other classmates that he went to that club for anonymous hook ups. Blaine regretted nothing.

Then Tina introduced him to her friend Lawrence from NYU and Blaine was instantly smitten. Lawrence was a kind, sensitive artist with long dreadlocks and gorgeous dark skin. At only twenty-three, he was already a graduate student studying sculpture. Even though there was only a four year age gap, Lawrence seemed much more worldly and experienced than either of them would have expected. He invited both of them to a gallery opening and it became clear after about twenty minutes that his goal was to get them both into bed. They silently agreed to never speak of the Lawrence fiasco again.

“--But I know that he still loves you, Blaine. I can feel it in my bones.” Blaine snapped out of his daydreaming as the grinder shut itself off.

“Tina. Let’s just drop it, okay?” He leaned against the counter. “Maybe I just need to stop dating for a while. And to stop thinking that Kurt will magically wake up and decide to be with me again.”

The bell over the door jingled and Tina plastered a big smile on her face.

“Hey, Kurt!” she said cheerfully. Blaine stood up straight, crossing his arms over the red apron he wore over his clothes.

“Hey, Tina!” Kurt replied. He glanced towards Blaine and paused before saying, “Hi.”

“Hi,” Blaine responded, praying that Kurt hadn’t what he had said. “How are you?”

“Good. I’m good.” They all stood in awkward silence. Tina was suddenly fascinated by her manicure. “Well, um. I just came in for some coffee.”

“Right. Right!” Tina bustled over to the register. “What can I get you?”

“A non-fat medium mocha and an large tea. Earl Grey, if you have it.” Tina rang him up as Blaine started the espresso machine for the mocha. He reached for a large cup for the tea when it struck him. The tea. Earl Grey. It was for Adam.

“Tina, I’ll be right back. Can you finish these up?” A lump was forming in his throat and he couldn’t look at either of them as tears formed in his eyes.

“Um, yeah, sure. Everything okay?” she asked, watching him as Kurt signed his receipt.

Blaine nodded, moving towards the back room as quickly as he could. “Yeah, there’s just-- my contact feels weird,” he lied.

He tripped over the box he had tossed back there earlier and scrambled to his feet, rushing to the employee bathroom. He locked the door behind him, put the lid down on the toilet and sat with his head in his hands, letting the tears come. Blaine hadn’t cried over Kurt in months. He hadn’t let himself. Somehow, making a drink for Adam made it that much more real. Kurt was gone. Well, not gone. But he wasn’t his Kurt anymore. Any hope he had for Kurt coming back to him vanished as he had reached for that damn cup.

Blaine stood up and considered his reflection in the mirror. His face was puffy, eyes blood shut and his lips were chapped. He had definitely looked better. He turned the tap on, splashing water some on his face. Groping the dispenser for paper towels to dry his face, he resolved to move on. If Kurt could, so could he.