Kurt heard the buzzing of the alarm clock in his ears and he groaned, throwing his hand out and searching for the snooze button on his alarm clock blindly. He missed and swung again. Another miss. He opened his eyes to see the time and realized the clock wasn't where he always had it. He shot himself up off the mattress and looked around. He wasn't in his room. He didn't know where he was. Kurt quickly lurched himself over and turned off the alarm clock. It was six in the morning.

He carded his fingers through his hair. His head was pounding. He had a hangover and was possibly still drunk. Kurt groaned again and got out of the bed. Thankfully he was fully clothed and alone, which meant that he had been on his best behavior, even though he ended up somewhere other than his own home. He rubbed his head again and took a deep breath before opening the bedroom door.

The morning light of sunrise immediately hit him and he winced as he covered his eyes. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he padded through the hallway silently. He heard soft, deep breathing and the second he looked into the room and his eyes sight cleared up, he knew where he was.

On a futon, on the other side of a room that was filled with musical instruments and sheet music, laid Blaine, curled up in a blanket and sleeping softly. Kurt smiled at how peaceful and beautiful Blaine looked. He blinked and as Blaine made a small noise and readjusted his sleeping position, Kurt remembered the events of last night.

After the shots Kurt bought Blaine and himself. Blaine bought another round of drinks for both of them and they sat down to talk. One drink turned into two and then a third, and so on. One conversation slid easily into another and another. Drink after drink; laugh after laugh, story after story, Kurt ended up more drunk than he'd been in years. He vaguely remembered Blaine asking Kurt where he lived and Kurt slurred out something about a kitchen and sex with a woman. Kurt knew what he meant to say now, but he can see how it would be impossible for Blaine to decipher it. What he was trying to say was that he lived in Hell's Kitchen with his room mate Puck, who was probably having sex with the woman he took home last night, but obviously that's what came out. So, instead, Blaine took him to his house and tucked Kurt into his own bed and fell asleep in the music room.

Blaine looked so peaceful as he was and Kurt didn't want to disturb him. He took one last look, thanked him silently for taking care of him, and headed downstairs, hoping his shoes were down there. Luckily they were and He silently made his way out of their house and began walking the three quarters of a mile to the subway station. If he hopped in a taxi as soon as he arrived in Hell's kitchen, he'd have just enough time to change his clothes, brush his teeth, wash his face, and down some aspirin for his headache. If Puck made coffee, he'd grab some of that too.

By 7:55, Kurt was walking into the theater and feeling like shit because his hangover was kicking his ass. Also, he had no idea where his cell phone was. He was just glad that he had his wallet and keys. Those he found in his shoes when he was putting them on back at Blaine's house.

"Hard night?" Sterling asked when Kurt walked into the office to punch his time card.

"Something like that."

"I don't really care. Just as long as you work and avoid throwing up in anything other than the toilets."

"Got it."

"You got here first so I'll give you the option of what to do. Set up the box office, dust this place top to bottom, or assemble all of the pieces that are in the boxes in the auditorium."

"I guess I'll go with the box office."

"Good choice. Dusting this place is a bitch. I'm going to give that job to Pepper because I think she'd be useless at assembly and she'd probably rather be as far away from me as possible."

"Probably."

"I like you, Hummel. You're easy to talk to." Sterling tossed Kurt a set of keys marked "BO" that Kurt assumed stood for "Box office."

"Thanks? Actually, I-"

"You might want to get going on that box office. You have a load of shit to do."

"Uh… yeah. Got it." Kurt left Sterling's office and passed Pepper and Kelly in the hallway. He nodded hello to both of them and went on his way.

At lunch time, Sterling took Kurt, Pepper, and Kelly out for lunch again. Kurt's hangover was nearing it's end. Lots of water helped. Near the end of the lunch hour, Kurt decided to ask Sterling some much needed questions about the job. "Um. Sterling?"

"What?" the portly man said with a chunk of sandwich on the side of his mouth.

"I was wondering if there was going to be a set schedule, or…?"

"Or what? Don't bullshit me, Kid. What day do you want off?"

"Uh, well, this Saturday is my graduation and my family is flying in on Friday night. I'll work Friday, but I was hoping to get Saturday off, just this once."

"Graduation? What are you graduating from?"

"Grad school, Sir. NYU." Normally Kurt would say that with pride, but he didn't want to see cocky to a man who seemed like he would fire Kurt just for asking for the day off."

"Grad school, eh? What in the fuck are you doing working for me then?"

"I needed a job immediately." Kurt left out the part about how this was only intended to be a summer job.

"Well, shit. I got lucky then, didn't I? I got an educated kid on my team." He bit into his sandwich again.

"So, can I get Saturday off?

"What?" Sterling asked. "Oh yeah. Sure kid. You can have the whole weekend off. Come back in on Monday at eight."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don't get too excited. I'm gonna need you to work late on Monday too. If you really wanna thank me, you can work a fourteen hour day and not complain."

"I can do that."

"Might as well get one weekend off before the show opens. Then you'll be working every weekend."

Around four o'clock, Kurt had spent nearly his entire day in the box office and it was starting to resemble one. He was looking forward to the end of his work day at five o'clock because he was exhausted. Sterling walked in holding, what looked like, a high end camera that photographers or the paparazzi used. "You know how to use one of these, Hummel?"

"A camera? Uh, point and shoot?"

"A simple yes or no would have sufficed, Wiseass."

Kurt grinned. "Yes. I do," he amended.

"Good." He handed Kurt an address and the camera. "I want you to go to that address and meet up with a guy named Pollo. He's the director of the orchestra. I want you to take a picture of all the orchestra members, the director, and a group shot. When you're done, bring the camera back, upload the pictures onto my computer, and you can be done for the day."

"Okay. Uh, Sir. I don't have a car." He paused. "Or money for a taxi."

"What? You think I was gonna make you pay cab fare for doing my work?" He grumbled something and shoved a handful of bills into Kurt's hand. "I want a receipt for the cab fare and the change."

"Yes, Sir."

"I like you, Hummel. It's always a yes from you. Doesn't matter what I ask, you always seem okay with anything."

"I try to-"

"Clock's ticking, Hummel. Better get going."

Kurt closed his mouth. After this being the second time today that Sterling told him he liked him and the second time Kurt tried to explain himself while being interrupted, he realized that Sterling probably never listens to a word anyone else says unless it involved telling him they were going to do what he asked. By any means, Ned Sterling was not a listener. "Yes, Sir."

"See? Always a yes. I like that in a guy." Sterling turned and left the box office.

Kurt put down everything he was doing and left the theater with the camera and address. Before hailing a cab, he stopped at a Starbucks for a cup of coffee. He was glad again for having a gift certificate. He only partially lied about not having money for a cab, but that was only because cab fare was expensive and he didn't want to be spending his money at work to be doing work.

Kurt had gotten out of the taxi at a place he knew well. He'd come here with Rachel on several occasions for moral support while she had auditions. He went up to the third floor and found the room he was looking for. He could hear the sounds of the many instruments and he smiled. He always loved the sound of live orchestral music. He poked his head in and waited for the conductor to acknowledge him.

"Are you Kurt?" the conductor asked.

"Yes." He held up the camera. "Sterling sent me. Sorry to interrupt."

Kurt assumed this guy was Pollo based on the fact that he was the director. "Everyone, this young man will be taking your pictures. Once you're finished with him, you can leave for the day."

Every face turned to look at Kurt and Kurt perked up when he saw a familiar face smiling back at him from the piano.

"We'll start with the woodwinds. You can go first. Blaine? You and the percussions will be last." Pollo looked back at Kurt. Take them in the hallway. There's a white back drop around this corner."

"I need a group shot. Before you send them out, can I get a shot of everyone playing?"

"Sure thing." He turned to his orchestra and lifted his baton. In precision, everyone raised their instruments properly. Well, the ones that could be raised. Kurt took a few pictures from different angles, but no one played a note.

When he was finished he waited for the band members to pack up their instruments. It took longer than he imagined to take everyone's picture. Everyone came out, one by one, and finally, at the very end, Blaine and the director came out as well. Pollo went first and then said goodbye to Kurt.

Kurt turned and aw Blaine waiting. He smiled and blushed a little because he was embarrassed that Blaine had to take care of him last night. Blaine held out Kurt's cell phone. "You forgot this at my house."

Kurt's eyes lit up. "Oh my god. I was wondering where that went."

"I found it in my bed. I got you to put everything in your shoes, so you wouldn't lose them, but you insisted on taking your phone to bed with you."

Kurt took the phone and put it in his pocket. By now, the battery was dead, but it didn't matter to him. He had it and didn't have to buy another one. That's all that he cared about. "Thank you. I am so sorry. I'm so embarrassed." He palmed his face and looked away from Blaine.

Blaine waltz up to Kurt and took his hands down from his face. "Don't be. It happens to the best of us. Besides… we had fun. Thank you for staying."

"Thanks for taking care of me… and- Oh God! Thank you for setting the alarm clock!"

"You told me you had to be at work at eight and that it took you an hour to get home from Brooklyn. I didn't want you to lose your job."

"Yeah. You're amazing. Thank you so much." Without thinking, Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine and hugged him. When he realized what he was doing, he let go immediately and stepped back.

"What do you do, by the way? Photographer?"

"Uh… no. Um, right now I work for a theater as a ticket agent, but for now, I'm sort of just my boss' errand boy. It's just until I get a job that utilizes my degree. Actually, I started yesterday. He sort of hired me on the spot."

"Well, then we had double the reason to celebrate. We both got jobs. We can really celebrate when I get a real job."

"Deal. You were there for me and I'll be there for you." Their eyes caught and they stared for a few seconds.

Kurt noticed that this happened frequently. There would be moments of silence and they'd just stare into each other's eyes, lost. It took just as long to snap out of it. He smiled and looked away. "So… about this picture." Kurt ended up taking more than enough pictures of Blaine than he needed to. "Thanks again for keeping my phone safe."

"Your welcome." Blaine put his hands in his pockets and looked down at the ground momentarily like he was trying to think up a reason to stay there talking to Kurt. "I woke up and you weren't there."

"You were sleeping and I had to get to work. I didn't want to wake you up."

"You could've. I wouldn't have been bothered or anything. I probably would have just went into my room and slept in my own bed."

"Thanks for that too, by the way. I probably would have felt guilty waking up next to another guy."

"Yeah. I figured. Plus, we just started to hang out and I didn't want it to be weird or anything."

"Weirder than having to take care of a very drunk me on the second time we hung out. Not to mention it was YOUR night."

Blaine smirked and laughed slightly. "It was fun. I had fun."

"I had fun too. I think. From what I remember I had fun."

Blaine and Kurt laughed at the same time and they went back into their staring contest again when they stopped. Kurt got lost in the honey color of Blaine's eyes and felt his heart beat picking up speed. Little did Kurt know that Blaine's heart had been racing since he saw Kurt walk through the door.

"I have a weird question," Kurt said after snapping out of their trance again. "Why did you have my phone on you?"

"We have a habit of running into each other at random times. I guess I was being hopeful."

There was another pause. Kurt crinkled his eyes. "Hopeful?" he asked.

"Wrong word choice?" Blaine blushed slightly and flicked his eyes away from Kurt's face. Shit. Seriously? You couldn't think of ANY other sentence? Damn it, Blaine.. You're going to make him think you're a stalker or something.

"N-No. I'm thankful, in fact, because now I have my phone." Inwardly, Kurt was hyperventilating at Blaine's word choice. He was hoping to see me? Hoping? What could that mean? Shit. Shit. Don't read into it. Friend. Friend. Blaine's a friend. Vin, boyfriend. Blaine, friend. Vin. Vin. He was beginning to feel guilty that he had to remind himself of these facts regularly these days. "Hey, um. What time is it?"

Blaine looked at his wrist watch. "5:30."

"Are you hungry?" The words were out before he had a chance to process them. I'm asking him out to dinner, aren't I? Kurt thought. Yep. I pretty much just gave the precursor to asking him to dinner. What's wrong with me?

"Yeah. I didn't eat much at lunch."

"Do you like Merlino's?"

"The Italian steakhouse?"

"Yeah."

"I've never been. It's a fancy resaurant. I don't get a chance to go to those too often."

"I, uh…" Kurt thought about his next words carefully. He probably shouldn't be asking Blaine out to dinner. He should be taking Vin out to a fancy restaurant like that. Not that Kurt was asking Blaine out on a date. It was just dinner to say thank you. At least, that's what he was telling himself. "I got a gift certificate to there for my graduation gift. Do you want to go with me?"

"Tonight?"

"Yeah. Or- well, if your not busy. I mean, it doesn't have to be tonight. It was just a thought. I wanted to thank you and I've never been there either-"

"Did anyone ever tell you that you're cute when you ramble?" Blaine was shocked at his own boldness to say something so flirtatious.

Kurt gawked at Blaine, trying to comprehend the fact that Blaine just said he was cute. He gulped. "It's a trait I picked up from my dad. He does it too."

"I'd love to have dinner, but I can't tonight. I have to work at Cabaret."

"Oh. Okay." Kurt tucked his lips inward and bit down.

"But some other time? I'd never say no to hanging out with you, if I didn't have to."

"Sure."

Blaine looked at his watch again. "I actually should be going. I have to go home and get ready and eat something before I leave."

"Yeah. I have to get back to the theater."

"I'm sure you're tired anyway. I'd probably bore you to death and you'd fall asleep in your soup."

Kurt smiled and batted his eyes. "Doubt it." He waited for Blaine to get his things together and they walked outside together, parting ways in different taxis.

By the time he finally got home, Kurt plugged in his phone and turned it on. He had a couple missed calls. One from Carol and one from Vin.

He ended up sending Rachel a text message first before answering either of the calls. "This is probably the dumbest idea ever," he said out loud to himself.

K- Wanna go to Cabaret tonight?

R- Sure!

K- I'll meet you at your apartment in an hour?

R- I'll be ready.

Kurt had a pot of coffee brewing while he showered. He rushed through everything. When he had a towel wrapped around his waist, he ran back to his room and picked out a simple outfit of blue jeans, a white Henley shirt, and a black vest. He poured himself a cup of coffee and downed it, practically burning his mouth and throat. He went back into the bathroom, and put moisturizer on his face before styling his hair. He drank one more cup of coffee, brushed his teeth, and laced his shoes. He was out the door in record time.

By New York taxi standards, who's drivers saw speed limit signs and took them merely as suggestions, Kurt got to Finn and Rachel's house in fifteen minutes. Rachel was ready to go, but she was just cleaning the remnants of her dinner with Finn up. She took one look at Kurt. "Have you eaten today?"

"Why?"

"You look thinner than normal."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"When it's caused by lack of nutrition, yes. Sit." Rachel made Kurt a plate of their leftovers and made Kurt eat.

He was grateful because he realized he had only eaten lunch today, but drank a lot of coffee. He sat and ate quickly and slowed himself down when he got the hiccups. Kurt made sure to drink two glasses of water to give himself some much needed hydration that he was sure he hadn't given himself that day. "Okay, done. Can we go?"

"What's the rush?"

Kurt shifted his eyes curiously. "No reason. It's almost eight. Doesn't it close at ten?"

"You sure this has nothing to do with Blaine?"

Kurt paused. "N-no. What makes you say that?"

"Because when you saw him and found out he worked here, you were just the tiniest bit preoccupied with the thought of him."

"I was not," Kurt protested.

"Okay. Well, whatever."

Kurt was surprised at how quickly Rachel leapt to the topic of Blaine. Was he that preoccupied with him? He didn't think so. If he was being honest with himself, they'd only spoken less than ten times and hung out twice. However, he did spend the night at Blaine's house last night and did ask him to dinner only a few hours ago, but he wasn't going to admit either one. Blaine and him were friends. That's all. Friends. Sure… sometimes Blaine made Kurt's heart flutter, but that's because Blaine was both hot and adorable and said things to Kurt like how Kurt was cute and he was flattered. That's all it was… right?

When they got to Cabaret, Kurt could already hear music coming from the stage. He wondered if it would be weird if he made it known to Blaine that he was here and he wondered if Blaine would think is was weird that Kurt showed up. He started to regret wanting to go there. He let Rachel pick the table and it was near the same place where they sat the last time they were there. He could see Blaine from where he was sitting. Blaine's face a staring hard at the sheet music. Kurt could see that this was one of those times that Blaine lost himself in the song because he was putting everything he had into the keys he played on. It was kind of moving actually.

Then the song was over and Blaine put the sheet music back together and placed it on top of the piano for the singer to retrieve. Feeling that he had eyes on him, he lifted his gaze and immediately caught Kurt's blue hued orbs looking back at him as if Blaine had lazers for eyes. He squinted for a second to make sure he was seeing who he thought he saw. Then he smiled and waved before someone else handed him their sheet music. Kurt smiled and waved back.

An hour later and Rachel was handing Kurt her folder of sheet music and ordered him to pick one to sing. He really didn't want to because it had been so long since he really sang, but after a lot of prodding, Rachel convinced him. He ended up choosing one that he assumed she had picked out for Finn in case he ever wanted to sing something because it was more suited for Finn's voice than Rachel's. He slinked over to Blaine and handed him the sheet music.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Blaine asked with a smile.

"Rachel wanted to come." Kurt lied. "It isn't weird that I'm here is it?"

"No! I'd never say no to seeing you. I don't care where it is." Blaine immediately wished he hadn't tacked on that last part.

Kurt smiled and blinked slowly, his long lashed unveiling his shiny blue eyes. "Okay. I didn't want you to think I was stalking you, or something."

"You can't stalk someone who likes when you're around."

The announcer called Kurt's name and he went up to the stage, feeling butterflies in his stomach. He wasn't sure if they were from Blaine's last comment or stage fright.

He took a breath and Blaine began to play.

It gets harder every day

But I can't seem to shake the pain

Trying to find the words to say "please stay."

It's written all over my face, I can't

Function the same when you're not there

Calling your name when no one's there

And I hope one day you'll see

Nobody has it easy

Still can't believe you found somebody new

But I wish you the best

I guess

Cause everybody knows but

Nobody really knows

How to make it work

Or how to ease the hurt

And we've heard it all before

That everybody knows

How to make it right

Wish we'd give it one more try

One more try

One more try

Cause everybody knows

But no body really knows

And we've heard it all before

That everybody knows

How to make it right

Wish we'd give it one more try

Cause everybody knows

But no nobody really knows.

Kurt held the last note, raising his pitch and ending on a high note. He took a breath and there was applause. He acknowledged the crowd with a head nod and as he exited the stage he saw Blaine smiling and clapping, while wearing a surprised expression.

Blaine, who'd be listening to Kurt's voice more than his own playing, was stunned. Kurt's voice was beautiful, and stunning, and breathtaking. He began to wonder if there was anything that Kurt could do to make Blaine attempt at not crushing on him. Kurt was perfect to Blaine and now, especially now, captivated by Kurt's presence and voice, Blaine knew Kurt was perfect for Blaine. It bothered him to think of Kurt as unattainable because Kurt was with another man and Blaine's only hope could only be that Vin treated Kurt the way he deserved and that he might make Kurt happy in a way that no one else could. He wished that for Kurt and as Kurt came back over to retrieved his sheet music, their eyes locked on one another. "You were sensational," he said.

Kurt smiled, unable to say anything in response, and took the papers. He let himself glance back at Blaine as he took his seat again and sighed, wishing he knew how to keep him out of his head.