“Blaine I am TIRED” Tina made sure to emphasize the word. They had been walking around for four hours already with enough bags in their hands to completely cover them out of sight. “Its 10am I wouldn’t even be up now on a day off, I shouldn’t be up for another hour” she continued.

“Tina, don’t be silly this is all for the greater good of fashion. You will be singing a different tune when you are wearing those Michael Kors boots you snagged for 70% off” Tina looked down at the bag in question and smiled.

“You are right Blaine Warbler”

“I promise just one more stop and we can share a pretzel” he said looking around for a specific store. “There it is” he said pointing at small men’s boutique “I used to think that it was just a suit tailoring place with a hideous selection but it turns out that they have a small selection of vintage items” Blaine said excitedly as he led Tina down the mall.

The storefront was messy cramped with suits of different colors. There were a few people in there trying to buy ill fitted suits for 50% off but Blaine made his way to the back of the store. There was a small rack that held vintage Armani suits. He looked through the rack trying to find something that caught his eyes.  Tina was trying to make herself busy by looking around at ties and hats that were lying around on fixtures.

“Tina what do you think of this?” Blaine draped a navy blue suit over his body trying to give Tina a better visual. Tina walked over with a smile on her face “I think this might be good for Prom. I know I shouldn’t get ahead of myself but-“

“Blaine it’s perfect”                             

“I know I shouldn’t get ahead of myself” he repeated “but for 70% off-“

Tina cut him off “Blaine whomever is lucky enough to accompany you, will love it too”

Blaine felt his cheeks get warm “You sold me! I’m almost convinced that it isn’t just because you want that pretzel” he walked over to the counter ready to pay.

“Blaine” an older man said from behind the counter “I haven’t seen you in a while… Oh and the vintage Armani, such a great choice. Is this for a special occasion, did Kurt finally-“At this Blaine’s face went blank, he didn’t know what to say no one had mentioned Kurt to him in weeks. He felt like everyone in the world had known that they broke up so this caught him by surprise. “Roger no actually Kurt and I broke up” was all he could say. It felt like someone had pushed pause on their conversation. No one said anything for five seconds until Tina chimed in “Kurt is in NY right now, working at Vogue Blaine just got back from visiting him” trying to give the illusion that the break-up was mutual.

“Oh of course he would be working at Vogue, give him my best Blaine” he said face restored to its previous 100 watt smile.

“Of course” Blaine responded keeping up with the charade.

“Mr. Anderson I almost forgot I just got a batch of new vintage bow ties that came in last month.  You will die at this selection” before Blaine could protest Roger had already pulled out a small box showcasing a dozen or so. There was a flurry of different colors but only one caught Blaine’s attention, a small grey one with a blackbird sitting on a wire. He picked it up and put it up to his neck, “What do you think Tina?”

“It’s cute, but I thought you were over bowties?”

“You are right” Blaine slowly put down the bowtie trying to think over the purchase in his head. “Roger it’s okay I’ll just take the suit”

“As you wish” Roger smiled as he rung Blaine up and packed his purchase.

“What do you think about this one?” Kurt said while looking in the mirror. He turned to his right and left examining the fit of the blazer.

“That one is nice… so were the last four you put on though” Chase said trying to sound supportive but he was so obviously tired. They had been at the mall for almost five hours now and with the exception of their morning Starbucks they had nothing to eat.

Kurt looked over to him from the mirror “I know I know, I’m sorry it’s just I am looking for the perfect winter coat for my first winter in NY and you just can’t get deals like this at Saks, so just a few more minutes and I promise we can go share a cinnabon or something”

“Okay, I’m sorry I think I am just not a morning person” Chase said getting up and walking over to Kurt. He pressed his chest to Kurt’s back still holding his stare through the mirror “You know I think you look good in everything” he continued while pressing a kiss to the back of Kurt’s neck.

Kurt shivered he had never been this intimate with Chase in public and to be honest he was more hesitant than he was when he was with Blaine. He quickly turned around to break Chase out of the moment “Just stay here there was a Marc Jacobs coat I was eyeing” Kurt said as he ran off in a different direction. Chase sighed and held his head down as he heard Kurt walk away only to reappear a few seconds later.

“What do you think?”

Chase looked up to see Kurt wearing a baby blue coat. At a closer inspection he saw that there were a few buckles on the left side.

“Do you like it?” Kurt said while giving a small model turn.

“Um, it’s nice…I mean it had a bit of Balmain going on, the color is interesting” Chase rambled trying to find positive words.

“You hate it?” Kurt walked up to the mirror beside Chase giving the coat his own inspection.

“I don’t hate it! But the color is baby blue”

“Powder Blue” Kurt interrupted

“Whatever, I just think that you will stand out in a spring color. Does it come in black?”

“Black” Kurt said making a face “That’s so boring! Nevermind I think the lack of food is making you crabby enough to question my impeccable fashion sense let’s just leave”

They gathered their bags and headed in the direction of the food court. “So cinnabon or pretzel” Chase started. “ I personally would love to see you eat a cinnabon since I don’t think I will get another chance again, but I know that you will probably want to find a place with a fruit bowl or something” at this Chase heard Kurt’s name being screamed across the mall. He looked over to see a young Asian woman running up to them.

“Kurt” Tina screamed in her excitement she had completely forgotten that she had left Blaine Anderson waiting in line at the pretzel stand.

“Tina” Kurt screamed in a high pitch only dogs could hear. They excitedly hugged almost toppling over their bags. “Omg how are you? I haven’t seen you in so long?” he got out trying to go through topics so fast his brain couldn’t catch up. “You look so good. Ooh Michael Kors bag, where was this Tina when I was around” By this point Chase had caught up to them.

“The boots were actually Blaine’s idea” she said lowering her voice when she got to his name. At this she looked up to try to find Blaine and caught his eye. He had spotted her five seconds prior trying to decide whether he should walk up. Kurt caught where her eyes were trained and smiled in his direction.

He didn’t know what else to do he didn’t want to see him but at the same time all he wanted to do was see him. Watching him walk up to the group was like watching someone walk down for their death sentence. It was slow and somber and he wanted nothing more than to fast forward this part of their life.

“Hi” Blaine started

“Hey” Kurt said while looking down and back up at him again.

“Hello” Chase said breaking everyone out of their spell.

“Oh yes where are my manners, Tina and Blaine this is Chase, Chase this is Tina and Blaine” handshakes were exchanged as everyone in the group tried to ignore the elephant in the room.

“It’s so good to see you Kurt how long will you be in town” Tina asked trying to change the subject.

“Just until tomorrow afternoon, Chase has this big meeting Monday morning that he needs to get ready for…”

“Oh well no time to catch up then?” she said with a pout

“Not this time around but I will be back for Christmas vacation, and you can have me then” he said trying to not look at Blaine.

Blaine was taking in the situation, trying to concentrate on what Tina and Kurt were saying but kept looking over at Chase who had a smile plastered on his face but his body language screamed tense. The thought of this being an uncomfortable situation for Chase brought a small smirk on Blaine’s face, if anything Chase was on his turf.  Blaine waited for a lull to chime into the conversation.

“Kurt I just stopped off at Roger’s he has some new vintage suits in from last time we were there” he looked over at Chase to make sure that he got the point he was making. “He told me to give you my best but I am pretty sure he would love a visit” Kurt smiled at the moment he heard Blaine say his name. He wanted to be upset at him but it seemed like they were going to do this. Be civil, be friendly and to be honest it wasn’t really that difficult.

“That sounds good, I will make sure to stop by” at this their conversation had gone dry “Well I guess I should probably get going” they all grabbed their bags and started on goodbye’s. Tina and Blaine waved to Chase, and then Kurt walked up to Tina and enveloped her in a hug and then looked at Blaine. It was a split second decision but he closed him in a hug making sure not to make it last for more than a second. It’s amazing how much you can register in a second, at this Kurt had enough time to smell the cologne he had given Blaine for his birthday still on him, to feel the warmth from his hand plastered on his back. To feel his breathe on his cheek, all of which was too much for Kurt but not enough. They backed away both smiled as they walked away.

“Chase I just want to stop by to say hello to an old friend” he said walking in the direction of the small boutique.

“Kurt, babe my feet will not make it anymore” Chase said while carrying a dozen bags and pretending to drag his feet “You said we could go home after the pretzel not to mention the awkward run in with your ex” he continued while rolling his eyes at the mention of Blaine.

“Okay you big baby, I already apologized for that. You know I didn’t expect to see him! But I will let you off the hook why don’t you wait in the car while I make this last stop, I’ll be quick I promise”

“Sounds Greeeaaat” Chase responded while walking toward the direction of the parking garage.

“ROGER GET OUT HERE” Kurt yelled as he made it to the front of the store. At this Roger stopped helping a customer and with a smile on his face ran towards Kurt.

“If it isn’t Kurt Hummel Vogue worker –extraordinaire! He said hugging Kurt.

“I see Blaine has filled you in a bit”

“A bit, didn’t really say much after he said you broke up” Roger looked at him trying to gauge his reaction.

“Ah, that I really don’t want to talk about but I would LOVE to talk about you, how’s business? How’s the family? How are your vintage suits?”

Kurt and Roger started off talking walking through the store picking out some suits, ties, and hats.

“You know I always give my favorites a nice discount” Roger said while packing up his purchases. While waiting for his total something lying on the counter caught Kurt’s eye, he picked it up and held it to his neck.

“Oh yes, Mr. Anderson did the same thing. It seemed to have caught his eye but he opted not to get it at the last minute”

“I’ll take it” he smiled as he added it to his purchase

“As you wish” Roger said with a knowing smile.

“Tina, he looked sooo good, and that Chase guy looks like a complete asshole” Blaine said while walking through Bloomingdale’s. He had been talking about their short encounter with Kurt for the last hour and Tina could no longer make polite conversation about it.

“Blaine, you said that already”

“I’m sorry, it’s just he hugged me Tina HE HUGGED ME” he said grabbing Tina by the arms and shaking her at his words.

“No need to hurt me Blaine Warbler” she laughed “Let’s just get your winter coat so I can finally go home and go to sleep”

They walked up to a mirror as Blaine tried on a black Kenneth Cole pea coat.  “This seems pretty comfortable and affordable, Tina what do you-“Blaine turned around to find Tina almost half asleep on the couch in the dressing room.

“Okay, okay I get your point. I am just going to purchase this and-“ Before Blaine could finish something on the rack caught his eye. He picked up the powder blue pea coat and looked over at Tina

“Tina wake up” she shook out of her sleep to see Blaine hold out the blue pea coat. 

“Blaine that is a nice pea coat but definitely not your style”

“Tina I know, I just think that it would really match Kurt’s eyes” at that statement Tina got up to protest.

“No, no, no Blaine don’t do this. You just talked to him for the first time in a month. You broke up, don’t buy this for him especially not for” she stopped as she looked over the price tag. “It’s almost 300 dollars”

“What?” he said looking down at the same tag “This is a steal! It’s Marc Jacobs!”

Tina shook her head at his comment and continued “You want to buy your ex-boyfriend who you just talked to for the first time in a month a $300 Marc Jacobs pea coat? Are you serious?

“Why is that weird?” Blaine said gathering up the articles for purchase.

“No Blaine that is exactly what you would do” She said smiling and so ready to go home.

Kurt sat in his bed trying to pack up all his purchases from earlier in the day. He heard a knock on the door.

“Can I come in?” He looked up to find his father standing there with a huge grin on his face.

“Of course” he watched his father walk in carrying an extra duffle bag.

“I thought you might need this” he said as he sat on Kurt’s bed holding out the bag for him to take.

Kurt smiled at him as he threw his arms around his father. “You know me too well dad”

Burt held his hand to his son’s back holding him closer “I am your dad, plus this isn’t the first Black Friday experience Kurt” they both laughed as Kurt backed away from the hug and walked over to the rest of his bags on the floor.

“I saw Blaine today” he said while his back was turned to his father.

“And how was that?” Burt asked

“It was….effortless” Kurt said bringing over more bags to pack “I really wanted to be mad but somehow the anger melt away now it’s just hurt but I think I know how to deal with hurt.” His father smiled a sad smile.

“Kurt there is no time frame for forgiveness, there is also no right or wrong way to handle a break-up. If you want to be friends with Blaine you can.” Kurt stopped packing and looked at his father.

“I think I do” At this his father got up and gave him a kiss on his forehead and left him to simmer in his thoughts.

“See you at breakfast kid” was the last thing he said before he stepped out of the room.

Kurt sat on his bed moving contents out of the way to find his phone; he stared at the name Blaine Anderson for what felt like 10 minutes and quickly typed out a message.

“It was nice running into you today :  ) “

He hovered over the send key until he closed his eyes and pressed send.