So far, Kurt’s college life has gone by rather smoothly. He’s doing very well in his classes and all of his professors adore him considering he’s very outspoken and loves to engage in class discussions. He always has a comment to make about something. Outside of his classes, Kurt has a decent social life. It’s fairly similar to those of his high school days. He doesn’t have an enormous group of friends. He has a few acquaintances here and there and a few good friends. He hardly goes to parties, though he’s invited to them quite a bit. He really isn’t your typical college student, going out every weekend and getting completely wasted. His first experience drinking in high school didn’t go very well, and it ended in him retching all over Miss. Pillsbury’s shoes. And the second time he went out drinking was at one of the dorm parties. He underestimated the amount of alcohol his body could tolerate and had trouble remembering what happened that night. The one thing Kurt did remember, however, was that he ended up making out with a random guy that night.

It was the second time Kurt had kissed a boy. The first time, it was Karofsky throwing himself at Kurt. The second time, Kurt was drunk out of his mind and didn’t even know the guy’s name.

The following morning, Kurt had been absolutely mortified and a little disgusted him himself. After throwing up the contents of his stomach, he had brushed his teeth about three times and showered, hoping the steaming hot water would wash away the regrets from that previous night. It hadn’t really worked because three days later, he was still feeling absolutely horrible.

That had been Kurt’s first semester of college. Kurt had quickly learned his lesson. If he wanted to make it big he needed to focus. So, there was no time for parties every weekend. He needed to focus on his job and school work.

There were still those nights, though. On the days that he was stressed out because of an upcoming final or a paper due. Kurt would go a little crazy, letting the stress get the better of him. Then, his mind would wander, skimming over all of the things that were wrong with his life. Each and every time he would find himself wondering when his time would come and when he would finally meet that boy that he had been searching for, for years. When he would finally have a boyfriend. He would even briefly wonder if there was something wrong with him, though he wouldn’t let himself think about such a thing for very long. He had let himself once and wound up crying himself to sleep.

For that reason, Kurt doesn’t like getting his hopes up when he sees a cute boy smiling at him. He doesn’t let himself make these little fantasies up in his head. He did it back in high school, with Finn. He tried so hard, so very hard to convince himself that Finn would come around. That he would forget all about girls and finally realize that the person he wanted to be with was Kurt. Obviously, that hadn’t happened. And honestly, Kurt was happy about that. Looking back at it, Kurt wanted to slap himself for even being attracted to the boy.

So, Kurt is careful around Blaine. He doesn’t take those little smiles and waves as something more. Blaine is just very friendly. It’s in his nature. This is something Kurt has come to realize the few times he’s seen the boy interacting with customers. He always has this blindingly bright smile that has Kurt practically swooning, even when it isn’t directed at him.

It’s been two weeks since they officially introduced themselves to each other when Blaine wanders over to the glass window near the coffee stand. At first, Kurt doesn’t notice him standing there, observing the new display Kurt has been working on. His heart leaps when he does see Blaine, though, watching as his eyes scan the area behind Kurt before those bright eyes finally land on Kurt. Blaine types something out on his phone and holds it up.

Kurt nods proudly with a grin and resists the urge to respond with, “That’s why it looks so good.” Adam wasn’t involved on this project, thankfully. This one was all Kurt’s doing.

Blaine’s jaw drops for a moment and then he smiles, typing. “That’s incredible.”

Kurt laughs softly as he pulls out his own phone to type out, “Thank you.” And then after a short pause, he turns the screen back to face him as he types out another message. “I’m so glad you’re here. I need you to help me decide. Red or black?” He holds out the phone for Blaine to see. Once Blaine is finished reading, Kurt leans down to grab a red tie along with a black one, slinging them on either side of the male mannequin. He raises his eyebrows and tilts his head in question. Blaine stares for a few seconds, in thought. Finally, he points, mouthing out the word, “Red.” with an affirmative nod.

Suddenly, Blaine’s head perks up and he turns to face the coffee bar. Kurt can see one of the other baristas saying something to Blaine who nods in return and looks back to Kurt, still smiling. He mouths a quick, “Gotta go!” before giving a small wave and running back to the bar. Kurt waves half heartedly, wanting to punch himself for being so upset Blaine can’t stay longer. His eyes lower to the ground and linger there for a few seconds. He can’t let himself get in too deep. He’s been rejected once before and he can’t let it happen again. Not at this point in his life, anyway.

Kurt sees a pair of black shoes and quickly looks up to see Blaine holding up a piece of paper with a phone number on it. Below it, it says “Text me. We’re practically dead over there and I’m sooooo bored.” followed by a sad face. Kurt giggles and nods as he punches the number into his phone, heart fluttering.

Kurt and Blaine spend the next hour texting back and forth. Every now and then they catch each other’s eyes from the distance. Sometimes Blaine makes a funny face at him and Kurt laughs. Within that hour of talking, Kurt gets to know a lot more about Blaine. He finds out that he too grew up in Ohio. Actually, he was a member of one of the choir groups McKinley competed against. The Warblers. How could Kurt forget? The all boys school he considered transferring to, but never got the chance considering his dad and Carole couldn’t afford it. Kurt can’t help but briefly wonder if he and Blaine would have been friends. He glances up at Blaine, watching him as he prepares a cup of coffee. Kurt smiles. He’s sure they would have been.

Kurt also learns that Blaine has big dreams. He, too, wants to move to New York some day. Blaine is majoring in music therapy and Kurt’s heart nearly melts when he reads the message. Kurt hasn’t known Blaine for very long, but he’s gotten an incredibly amazing first impression. And second. And third. He’s artistic, talented, handsome, sweet and he wants to help people through the use of music. Kurt can’t help but sigh dreamily as he continues texting Blaine for the remainder of his shift.

The next day, Kurt doesn’t see Blaine. He feels a little silly when he finds himself looking over at the coffee bar every now and then. After about the fifth time of peeking over, Kurt figures today is Blaine’s day off. It’s Kurt’s day off tomorrow so he won’t see Blaine then either.

Unless…

Payday is two days from now. Kurt doesn’t have direct deposit so he has to stop by to pick up his check. He could conveniently mix up the days and show up tomorrow anyway. Stopping by the coffee bar for a quick coffee wouldn’t hurt. He needs his morning coffee. He’ll just conveniently forget to grab some at the Starbucks near the campus.

So that’s exactly what Kurt does. He quickly picks up his check at customer service the next morning and eventually wanders over to the coffee bar just outside the Nordstrom. His heart sinks when he notices that Blaine isn’t there. Is he off today, too? Kurt feels like a complete fool. What the hell is he even doing? Going out of his way to visit Blaine. On his day off. Making up excuses to see a boy who’s just a friend. Kurt bites his lip. He might as well buy a stupid coffee since he’s here anyway. So, he stands in line, pulling out his phone to distract himself.

Kurt is barely paying attention when the cashier asks him if he needs help. Kurt tears his eyes away from his phone, looking up to see--

Kurt tries not to look surprised. He thinks he’s failed because Blaine laughs. And Kurt’s sure it’s the most adorable, gorgeous laugh he’s ever heard.

“You look like you just saw a ghost,” Blaine says and Kurt never knew he could fall in love with someone’s voice.

“No, I--Sorry.” He laughs nervously. “I just thought you weren’t here. I didn’t see you a minute ago.”

Blaine grins. “I was in the backroom. Can I get you anything?”

Kurt nods as he finally steps up to the counter. “Grande non-fat mocha, please.”

Blaine nods as he scribbles the order down and rings Kurt up. Kurt hands him his credit card and Blaine quickly swipes it, handing it back as he moves over to the espresso machine to start on Kurt’s drink. “So what brings you to my neck of the woods?” he asks as Kurt watches his gorgeous hands for a moment and raises his eyes to meet Blaine’s.

“I forgot my morning coffee. I have trouble functioning without it. Today’s my day off but I came in to pick up my paycheck.” So, that’s half a lie, but Kurt can’t let Blaine know that he came just to see him. Because that’s incredibly creepy. And Blaine’s a boy. Probably a straight boy at that.

Blaine smiles at Kurt with a small nod. “I’m flattered you chose my place of business to get your coffee. I don’t mean to brag, but we’ve got the best coffee in the mall.” He finishes up Kurt’s drink, adding a bit of whipped cream to the top. Kurt usually doesn’t like whipped cream on his drink because it’s incredibly fattening, but Kurt says nothing because it’s a sweet gesture on Blaine’s part.

“We’ll see about that,” Kurt says with a small smile. Blaine flashes him another smile before sliding the cup over to Kurt who takes a sip. And, ok, this is probably the best café mocha he’s ever had in his life.

“So?” Blaine asks with a gentle arch of the brow.

“It’s ok.” Kurt rolls his eyes but grins.

“Whatever,” Blaine laughs. “You’re in denial.”

Kurt takes another sip of his coffee as Blaine watches him. When Kurt lowers the cup, he speaks up before he cant stop himself. “Hey, what time are you off?”

Blaine looks at his phone and says, “In about half an hour.”

Kurt grins confidently. “If you don’t have plans, we should have lunch. I think we’ve crossed the line between acquaintances to friends when you gave me your number.” Kurt’s heart his beating rapidly and he really hopes he isn’t blushing. Kurt has always been confident, so why is he so nervous asking Blaine to have lunch with him? Oh, yeah. He doesn’t want his crush on this boy to develop into something more.

“Sure,” Blaine says. “I’m starving.”

Kurt’s digging himself into a hole and he damn well knows it.