Kurt

Things got busy for Kurt really quick. He was finally finishing up his Master's Degree and applying for jobs. Spring was nearing its end and Kurt was also spending a lot of time on Skype with Vin, whom he crazy about. It seemed that his notion of finding Blaine had slowly dissipated as time went on, but whenever he was at his favorite caf�, he couldn't stop himself from looking around to see if the hunky bartender was there.

The more he thought about it, the more insane he thought he was for meeting a bartender and then suddenly rushing to his work place to get his number. Then what? They'd live happily ever after? Kurt began to think of his decision to do that made him a little stalker-ish and after the more time that passed and after never having time to go back to Jericho, the more he put off romanticizing the idea of ever seeing Blaine again.

Not to mention that his choice to have a date with Vin before he left to go back to Vermont proved to be a lovely evening. Vin was a great person. He was sensitive, supportive, headstrong, and despite the fact that he lived hours away, Kurt was developing feelings for him. Vin was older than Kurt, twenty-nine, almost thirty, but he never treated Kurt like he was too young. After all, Kurt had the drive of a teen and the ambition of a middle-age person, ensuring that his or her retirement would be "fruitful," to say the least. Vin and Kurt were pretty evenly matched.

Vin had come to visit twice since their first meeting in February and by late April, they were discussing the idea of Vin coming to stay for a month, when his school year was done, as a "live-in trial run." If living together worked out, then Vin was going to apply for teaching jobs in the area and move in with Kurt and Puck.

Puck thought Kurt was insane for moving things so quickly with Vin. They met in February and they were already talking about living together three months later. Kurt, on the other hand, thought he was being careful by suggesting the trial run.

"Promise me you'll be nice when he comes over today," Kurt commanded.

"Am I ever not nice?" Puck questioned.

"I mean it, Puckerman. I don't care how you feel about him and I moving in together, but I do care that my friends treat him with some respect."

"Got it. No worries, dude. He's cool. I'm cool. You're cool. It's all cool."

This was the last time Vin was coming to visit before the trial run and Kurt was really excited for him to come. Vin was sweet and thoughtful. He was so supportive of everything Kurt had in mind for his future and always looked at him like he was the most interesting person he'd ever met. Kurt had never had that before.

"When he is arriving?" Puck asked.

"I've got to run some errands and go food shopping, but his bus should arrive at the port authority around 3:30."

"Do you want to borrow my car so you don't have to spend all day on the subway or a ton of money on taxis?"

Kurt's mouth lolled open in surprise before he smiled. "I would love that! I'd kiss you if it wouldn't be incredibly weird. Thank you so much."

Puck grinned and nodded his head. "You're welcome. The keys are in the bowl by the door."

Kurt poured himself a cup of coffee and brought it to his room to drink while he picked out an outfit for the day.

By the time he got around to grocery shopping, he was rushing around the store because it was 2:45 and he had forty-five minutes to finish and get to the New York City Port Authority. It had been so long since he had driven in the city that he had forgotten how long it took to get from one place to the other.

He was looking at salad dressings, and not paying attention to anything at all because it was the last item he needed on his grocery list. He selected the raspberry vinaigrette he was looking for and turned and stepped quickly to his right, not knowing that there was another person in a somewhat close proximity. He slammed right into the shorter man. "Oh! Sorry!" Kurt exclaimed, holding onto the other person to help steady him. He paused for a second when he saw who he ran into. "Blaine?"

Blaine looked up and saw the face he'd been waiting to see for months. "Kurt!"

"I am so sorry. I am such a space case sometimes." Kurt was in shock. It'd been months since he saw Blaine and then suddenly there he was.

"No. It's okay. I wasn't looking either."

There was an awkward pause. "So, how are things?"

"Um. Good. Busy, but good. You?"

"Same. I graduate in in two weeks."

"Congratulations! That's great!" Blaine seemed really enthused. He was, but Blaine thought he acted a little overkill.

Kurt smiled. "Thanks. I'll be so happy when it's over." He was taken with the way Blaine looked when he smiled and Kurt remembered how much he liked it. Blaine's enthusiasm and approval still meant the world to him, though he wasn't sure why. They had barely spoken and he still knew almost nothing about him.

"I bet. You'll have more time on your hands."

There was a quick awkward pause. "Hey, you know, while you're here, I'm sorry about the last time we bumped into each other. I shouldn't have left like that."

"Oh. Please. Don't worry about it."

"Babe, do you care what brand of pasta we get? These two are exactly the same, but this one's cheaper." A sweet faced man with reddish/olive skin walked up to Blaine, staring at two boxes of penne. "Oh. I'm sorry. Was I interrupting something?" The man, who was slightly taller than Blaine, shifted his eyes back and forth between Kurt and Blaine, pausing a beat longer on Kurt as if he was appraising him with caution.

Blaine

"N-no!" Blaine said opening his body up towards the new comer. "Michael, this is Kurt. Kurt, this is Michael."

"I'm his boyfriend." Michael tossed both of the pasta boxes into a basket that Blaine was carrying and stuck out his hand.

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said with a nervous smile, taking Michael's hand and shaking it firmly.

"Pleasure. How do you two know each other?" Michael was clearly jealous.

"Um…" Blaine smacked his lips, not really knowing how to answer.

Kurt beat Blaine to the punch. "Friend of a friend. Or, well, not even then actually. He saved me from a lame pick-up attempt some months back."

"Y-Yeah. He was having some trouble with Sebastian."

Michael made a face, still looking at Kurt like he was slightly offended by his presence. "Honey, please don't tell me Sebastian is your type. I wouldn't go near that with a ten foot pole."

Blaine was quick to defend Kurt. He was annoyed at his boyfriend's disposition towards him. "No, Michael. Um. Sebastian approached him and wouldn't leave him alone. I was bartending at Jericho." The story Kurt and Blaine painted together wasn't exactly true, or even half true, but it was enough to get Michael to stop asking questions. Michael was clearly over-analyzing the situation in his head.

"Well, I've got to get going; I'm making dinner for a friend, but it was really nice seeing you again, Blaine. And it was nice to meet you, Michael."

"Likewise," Michael faked.

"See you around, Kurt." Kurt smiled one last time and walked down the aisle, heading for the check out center. Blaine couldn't help, but watch the gentle way Kurt walked and realized that this was the second time he was watching Kurt walk away without giving him his number.

"Jeez, I can't leave you alone for two minutes without someone trying to hit on you," Michael commented in a particularly bitchy tone.

"He wasn't hitting on me."

"Right, and the goofy smile on your face was a response to, what?"

"Nothing happened. You don't have to be jealous over Kurt saying hello." Blaine started to turn and look for the salad dressing he was originally in the aisle for.

"I'm jealous? Look at the pot, who's calling the kettle black."

"We're really going to do this in the middle of a grocery store?"

"What? Are you afraid your new boy-toy would hear us?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You look like you're going to rip my head off whenever you see me talking to anyone you don't know."

"That's because you don't have a particularly, good track record, Michael."

"And you're going to hold this over my head for how long? I thought we were going to give us another chance?"

"Well, maybe I was wrong. This was a stupid idea and you clearly haven't changed." Blaine put the basket down on the floor and started to walk away.

Michael caught Blaine by the arm tightly. "Wait. Please. I'm sorry."

"No. We're a disaster as a couple and I just realized something. It doesn't bother me to think of you with someone else. I only cared that YOU didn't care enough to make my attention enough for you. Don't come over tonight and don't call me. We're finished."

Michael let Blaine's arm go free and Blaine rushed himself to the store exit, hoping to catch Kurt on his way out. He stomped his foot and itched the back of his head when he realized he'd lost him.