Kurt went into the office and removed his coat, placing his messenger bag carefully on a hook next to the door. He figured he could attempt to distract himself with work before he had to meet Blaine. A jingle at the door informed him that his apprentice, Caryn, had arrived. He settled himself in the large leather swivel chair and pulled out his sketch pad and fabric swatches and set to work.

Before he knew it, it was 1:45. Kurt laid his pencil down, happy with the progress he had made. He grabbed his coat and bag and made his way out to the shop.

“Caryn I'm stepping out for a bit, will you be okay on your own for a bit? I have my cell if you need anything.” Kurt ran a critical eye over the delicate girls appearance, she wore black skinny jeans and a blood red polo neck jumper, accessorized with a black belt and knee high patent boots.

“Yeah Kurt, this isn't my first time here alone you know.” She raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at him in exasperation watching him button up his coat

“Okay, well I shouldn't be long. See you.” Kurt checked his reflection in the gilt mirror and stepped outside. It was a short walk to the coffee shop. He couldn't help but feel he should be more nervous as he pushed open the heavy glass door. He scanned the shop, no full head of curls here yet. Kurt smiled at the barrister he knew so well.

“Hey Kurt, usual?” She had already filled out the cup with his name.

“Hi Anna, yes please” He handed over his loyalty card and moved to the side to wait for his cinnamon mocha. He tapped his fingers absent mindedly to the latest Keane song. When his coffee was ready he made his way over to a small table by the window, it was a quiet corner of the shop, where conversation was less likely to be over heard. The glass door swung open, letting in a gust of cold air. Blaine searched the shop with those hazel eyes until he found Kurt, he raised a hand in greeting, which Kurt returned, and went to order his coffee. Kurt gripped his warm cup, watching Blaine interact with Anna like he had known her for years. Blaine had always been able to talk to anybody – Kurt envied that quality from the first day they had met. Blaine collected his beverage and moved over to Kurt's table. He took the seat opposite Kurt and grinned toothily.

“Hi.”

“Hi, you're late.” Kurt raised his watch to illustrate his point.

“I know I left late, still adjusting to being back in this country, you know how it is.” Blaine took a sip of his coffee, not taking his eyes from Kurt once.

“No actually, I don't.” Blaine raised his stupidly triangular eyebrows, but said nothing.

“I was a little surprised you agreed to meet me, I'm not complaining though. It's good to see you Kurt.” The honesty in Blaine's voice was palpable.

“I wasn't going to originally, Brett thought it would be a good idea.” Kurt wasn't sure what he expected when he mentioned Brett's name, certainly not a completely nonplussed Blaine sitting there like they had been meeting for coffee every week for their entire lives.

“Well I guess I have him to thank then.” Kurt didn't really want to jump straight into the serious conversation he was sure would come.

“So where have you been that's left you so jet – lagged?”

“Well I started in October in Bosnia, but then I had the last two weeks of November in Kuwait. It's not pleasant over there at the moment. It's really nice to be back here.”

“Wow, you get around a bit don't you? What's brought you to New York, some new fascinating story?” Kurt took a sip of his mocha looking directly at Blaine. He noted the dark circles under his beautiful eyes and the few laughter lines that had appeared since he last saw him.

“No actually I'm moving back here, for good. I just need to find an apartment and buy stuff – I've been living out of my backpack for the last three years.”

“That explains the hair.” Kurt watched Blaine raise a hand to his curls, tugging at one just above his eyes.

“Does it look that bad?”

“I never said it looked bad, the lack of an entire truck load of gel is actually a good thing.” Blaine smiled over at Kurt, lowering his hand to cup his drink again.

“It's nice to see you Kurt.” Blaine said earnestly. Kurt continued to look at him, assessing what to do next.

“What do you expect to come of this Blaine?” He crossed his legs and watched as Blaine dipped his head, caressing the lip of the cup with his thumb.

“I don't expect anything Kurt, I know how I left was wrong, I never expected you to speak to me again. But I've missed you.”

“Not enough to come back.” The words slipped out before Kurt could stop them. The raw emotion in his voice made Blaine look up. Tears were shining brightly in Kurt's eyes, but he refused to let them fall.

“Kurt it wasn't like that, I wanted to come back the minute I left. You know the pressure I was under. It never changed how much I lov - “

“Don't.” Kurt interrupted quickly “Don't tell me that. And don't give me that bullshit about what pressure you were under. I understood, I was there for you. I stood up to your ass-hole father and you just made me look like an idiot and left to work for him anyway. You have no idea what you put me through Blaine. You said you would never leave. You lied to me, of all people you lied.” Kurt's face was set in a hard expression, the tears still resolutely shining but not falling.

“I do have an idea, I was going through it too. You know I've always found it difficult to say no to my Dad, I tried I really did, I just wanted him to be proud of me, to look at me with something other than disgust.” His voice was quiet but powerful.

“You said you wanted me to be proud of you too. And I was, right up until you broke your promise and with it broke my heart and everything we fought so damn hard for.” Kurt's voice broke and a single tear worked a track down his pale cheek. Before he could stop himself, Blaine had reached across the table to wipe the tear away. Kurt caught his wrist, moving slowly. Blaine's skin was hot under his fingers, Kurt's heart beat wildly against his Adam's apple. He lowered Blaine's hand to the table carefully.

“I hate to see you cry.” The statement was simple. But the honesty in it was clear. Blaine withdrew his hand from Kurt's grasp.

“Okay, so what now?”

“That depends, what are you comfortable with? I don't want to ask for your friendship if you aren't ready to give it.” Blaine was empathetic as always.

“I don't know Blaine, honestly I don't know if I can handle us, even us as friends, can we – I mean, would it be OK if we just met for coffee again, got know each-other again? I know there is more to this than you're telling me, don't even try to deny it Blaine, I can read you better than anyone. But I don't want to force this. We have a lot of shit to work through here.”

“Of course, anything Kurt, I'm grateful for anything. You know you curse more now.” A weak smile graced Blaine's beautiful features. A smile that Kurt couldn't help returning.

“Shit happens.” They sat in contemplative silence for a while. Blaine used the time to take in Kurt's appearance properly. He seemed taller, and older – on the inside. Blaine was pretty sure that Kurt would be fifty and still have the skin of a twenty year old... he didn't seem to have gained any tell tale signs of the years they had spent apart. He seemed quieter too, more reserved. Kurt's fashion sense however hadn't changed. The jacket he was wearing today was deep black with purple trimmed pockets and buckles crossing from one side right around the back and attached to the opposite pocket. This teamed with charcoal grey skinny jeans and black knee high boots just screamed Kurt. Of course each piece of clothing fit Kurt perfectly, nipping in at the waist and hugging him in all the right places. Blaine noticed a simple silver chain around Kurt's neck that had definitely not been there before, he let his eyes linger on Kurt's neck just a fraction too long.

“It's a charm from Rachel and Mercedes, they bought it me for my 25th birthday.” Kurt fingered the delicate chain, raising it so Blaine could clearly see the little star dangling from it.

“It's lovely, more Rachel than you, but it's nice.”

“Hmm, it's not really me, but the sentiment behind it means a lot to me, at the time I didn't have a lot else in my life. The boutique was still in the planning stages, I hadn't met Brett yet and you were gone. I love it.”

“Kurt, I'm really sorry. I've never regretted anything so much. I hated leaving you.”

“Why didn't you call? The leaving I could handle to a point, but it was just like you dropped off the face of the planet. I felt like I was mourning a death, not just the man I loved leaving , and I really did love you Blaine.” There was no anger in Kurt's Glasz eyes now, just curiosity. It was this more than anything that gave Blaine the courage to speak.

“I wouldn't have stayed away. If I so much as heard your voice or saw your handwriting I would have come back, and I knew you probably hated me and I just couldn't bare to see that in your eyes.” Blaine spread his hands simply as if that's all there was to it.

“I never hated you Blaine.” Kurt's voice was so quiet.

“You didn't?” Hope shone in Blaine's honey eyes.

“How could I hate you? I loved you so much Blaine, that doesn't just disappear.” Kurt smiled over at Blaine for a second.

“I'm sorry Blaine I have to get back to the boutique, I left my apprentice alone and I've been nearly two hours.”

“I'm proud of you Kurt, you've done so much. I'm just in awe of you.” Blaine watched Kurt stand and throw his bag over his shoulder. He turned to look Blaine directly in the eyes, a determined expression on his face.

“I'll text you about meeting up again soon, just don't disappear on me OK?” He reached out and grasped Blaine's hand briefly before smiling and walking out of the coffee shop. Blaine watched him walk past the window, not quite sure what he should be feeling right now. All he knew was that Kurt didn't hate him and right now he was ecstatic with just that.