Blaine had never been an impatient boy. Helping his father raise four younger siblings made sure of that.

But the next few days following his audition were painstakingly slow and Blaine was about ready to burst with anticipation. It started with Blaine's difficulty focusing at work. Margaret scolded him on so many occasions, Blaine lost count. He knew it was serious when her trademark irritation became replaced with genuine concern. Blaine laughed a little when she asked if his family was alright. When he told her he was nervous about his audition, her worried eyes switch back to that stern glare. Blaine couldn't help but laugh when she rolled her eyes at him.

"The new kid starts today," Margaret informed him as she handed a rake to Blaine then reached for her own. "I'm going to need some extra help. And since you'll be so busy with rehearsal for your show..."

Blaine looked over at her and laughed a little sheepishly. "I haven't gotten the part--"

"Not yet," Margaret corrected and the way she said it made it feel like fact. These were the moments that made Blaine cherish his job and the woman he worked with. "His name's Samuel Evans, but he said he prefers Sam," Margaret continued, "He'll be joining you in the greenhouse this afternoon."

---

Sam was late. Twenty minutes late, so far.

With a sigh, Blaine rolled his eyes. What was the point of hiring new help if the guy wasn't going to do the job right? Punctuality was important.

Across the green house, the door creaked open and snapped shut. Blaine looked up from the flowers he was watering.

The hose almost slipped out of his hand.

When Blaine pictured Sam, he definitely was not expecting this. To be honest, Blaine hadn't had time to create a mental image for the new addition to their team. He just knew Tall, Broad Shoulders and Blonde Hair Guy seemed like he'd be more at home on the football team than standing in a greenhouse, wearing an smudged apron, clutching a pink watering can in his gloved hands.

Sam smiled and waved a little. He looked like had emerged fresh from the pages of a dime-store romance novella.

He also had really nice lips.

"Hey, I'm Sam. Sam I am. And I don't like green eggs and ham."

Blaine's eyebrows hiked at the strange introduction, but it managed to get a small laugh out of him.

"Hi, I'm Blaine and I...don't really have Dr. Seuss rhymes to go with my introduction."

Sam shrugged, "It's cool," he said with a crooked smile that made Blaine's stomach flip.

"So," Blaine said a little too loudly for his liking, "this is the green house." He gestured around, "and there's another hose over there." He pointed behind Sam. "I'm sure you've watered plants before?" Blaine questioned.

Sam nodded. "Oh, totally. My little sister got this obsession with gardening, like, a year ago and she makes me help her with it."

Blaine pressed his lips together to keep himself from grinning stupidly. He nodded with a laugh, "Cool."

From there, they talked for the remainder of their time in the green house. When they moved on to pulling the weeds from flower pots, Sam asked about Blaine's siblings.

"I have five sisters."

"Five? Holy crap, dude. Do they, like, put make up on you when you're asleep and stuff like that?"

Blaine hesitated because it was scary how right Sam was. "...Yeah," he finally muttered.

"Oh, man! That's awesome, I wanna meet them."

Blaine rolled his eyes with a chuckle, "They'll try to give you a make over, I guarantee it."

When the sun was high in the sky, beating down on their bare shoulders, Sam mentioned his love for comic books. Blaine's head snapped in Sam's direction. The taller boy laughed, pulling up hem of his tank top to wipe the sweat from his upper face. Blaine glanced down briefly at the flash of Sam's perfectly toned stomach.

"Ok, first question," Sam started, dropping his shirt back down. Blaine focused his eyes back on the little flower he was placing into the hole he dug in the soil. "Favorite super hero?" Sam asked.

"Ever?" Blaine responded. "I can't pick one."

"Alright, fine, first one that comes to mind."

Blaine paused for a moment to think. "I really like Captain America," he finally said sitting down on the grass when his legs started to cramp from squatting. "Some people think its kind of lame. That he's lame because he has no actual weapon. He just has the shield. But that's what I love about him." Blaine patted at the soil around the flower and began digging a new hole. "He doesn't need to use violence to defend himself and protect others." When Blaine looked over, Sam was smiling.

"I know a lot of dudes who would probably laugh at you for saying that, but I just think that makes you ten times cooler."

Blaine's heart skipped a beat. "Thanks."

---

When Kurt walked out of his last class Blaine wasn't waiting for him like he had been the last few days. After that afternoon Kurt convinced Blaine to hitch a ride with him, they had started carpooling. Every other afternoon of the school week, Blaine would wait for Kurt outside of the class room. Today, he was no where in sight. Kurt glanced down at his phone. It was Friday. Friday was one of their days.

Kurt hated the sinking feeling of disappointment weighing down in his stomach. It was far too similar to what being stood up felt like.

"See you Monday, Professor Hummel!" one of his students called as she rushed past him.

Kurt looked up at her, snapping out of his thoughts."Have a good weekend, Amy," he called back, putting on a false smile and pushing away that stupid feeling he refused to fully acknowledge.

Kurt wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that he was upset because Blaine wasn't waiting for him, or feeling overwhelmingly relieved and giddy when he saw Blaine waiting by his car in the parking lot. Kurt hoped his smile wasn't too obvious. He managed to recover rather gracefully with a laugh at Blaine's disheveled appearance.

"Have you been working down in the academy's secret mine cave?" Kurt asked pulling out his keys and unlocking the car.

Blaine blinked, looking confused before glancing at his reflection on the car's window behind him. "Oh," he said suddenly, self consciously rubbing at the dirt on his cheek only to smudge it further across his cheek.

Kurt giggled quietly, shaking his head. "Try not to make too much of a mess of my car," he teased as he tugged the driver's side door open and climbed in.

He hated how drastically his mood had changed just from the sight of Blaine waiting by his car.

---

"Um, Kurt?"

Setting his bag down on the couch, Kurt glanced back at Blaine who stood against the front door looking far too much like a kicked puppy.

"Would it be too weird if I asked if I could take a quick shower?"

Kurt laughed and shook his head. "Go right ahead. We can get to work when you finish up. Do you need a change of clothes?"

Blaine nodded. "Just a shirt. This one is really gross."

Kurt smiled and flicked his head a little, signaling the boy to follow him. He fished out an old button up shirt and tossed it in Blaine's direction. "No rush," he said, brushing Blaine's arm as he walked past him.

When Kurt heard the bathroom door click shut and the water pipes squeak and hum, he dropped onto the couch. Draping his arm over his eyes, Kurt groaned softly.

Before he could begin silently loathing himself for his stupid emotions, he was dozing off.

It felt like only a few minutes had passed when he heard Blaine's foot steps on the wood floor. Kurt moved his arm, sitting up and blinking against the light peeking through the windows to see Blaine looking down at him, appearing a little guilty for waking Kurt.

He looked smaller than ever in that shirt. The sleeves were rolled up neatly to his elbows, though the fabric hung loosely at his arms. The shirt was a little wrinkled, making Blaine look rumpled.

The sight was breath taking and heart wrenching all at the same time. It made Kurt want to cry.

"Are you alright?" Blaine asked, voice soft, a little concerned. "You look...really tired."

Kurt shook his head, reaching up to smooth his own hair down, "I'll be fine," he promised with a laugh. "It's been a long day with mid terms coming up and all." He heaved out a sigh, "Anyway. You ready?"

Blaine nodded with a smile. "I've got so much to tell you."

---

There was a new groundskeeper, Kurt knew that much. He had seen the boy on campus today. He was a cute kid with a young face and a not-so-young body. He was definitely the type of boy Kurt had been attracted to in high school.

Blaine spent a solid thirty minutes talking about the boy whose name was Sam Evans.

"I want to share something with you," Blaine said after a few moments of silence. Kurt set down the box he was carrying to look over at Blaine. "I don't really talk about it as much because kids at my old school used to sort of tease me over it. But, um, I'm gay." He said it so bluntly, so matter-of-factly.

Kurt smiled and hoped the gesture didn't come off the wrong way. "Thanks for telling me, Blaine." He sat down on the ground and opened the box, pulling out the picture frames wrapped in newspaper. "I'm sure it's no secret I am, too," he said, glancing over at Blaine who smiled at him and shrugged.

"It's not polite to assume."

"Well, thank you," Kurt said, genuinely.

Blaine slowly began unwrapping the picture frames and spoke up after a few moments without looking up. "I think Sam might be my first actual crush. Like, non-celebrity crush."

"You've only known him for a day, though," Kurt found himself saying, suddenly feeling defensive.

Blaine shrugged, staring down at the empty picture frame. "I think we really had a connection."

Kurt nearly rolled his eyes.

"How good is your gaydar?" Blaine asked, looking up at Kurt.

"My what?" Kurt nearly scoffed.

"Gaydar. You know, when you can tell if someone--"

"I know what gaydar means, Blaine, I'm thirty-two not eighty-two, jesus."

"Can you help me figure out if Sam is gay? I think he might be. It looks like maybe he dyes his hair...Do straight guys dye their hair? I mean, I know some do, but usually if a guy dyes his hair it means he's gay--"

Kurt sighed. "Asking him is the best option," he stated as he finished unpacking the box and moving on to the next one.

"Don't you think that's kind of awkward, though?" Blaine questioned slowly.

"Not as awkward as this conversation about you asking me to help you figure out some kid's sexual orientation. Moving to the next topic, they're announcing the cast this Monday and I'm pretty positive the role of Tony is yours."

Right. Move away from any conversation involving Blaine's sexuality and love interests. That would solve everything. At least it would for the moment.

---

By the time Monday rolled around, Kurt forced himself to forget his conversation with Blaine. He needed to move past these childish feelings. He was an adult and he knew how to keep his emotions in check. He had years of experience with this kind of thing.

But Blaine managed to make it so damn hard for him.

Especially when Blaine would look at him like he was now. With those huge, glassy eyes filled to the brim with emotion.

Blaine had gotten the part.

Adoration. Was that what he saw there as Blaine tossed his arms around Kurt? Kurt hugged him. Held him close as Blaine repeated "thank you" into his shoulder and "I would have never gotten this part if it wasn't for you, Kurt."

Kurt laughed as he pulled away and held Blaine at arm's length. "You did most of the work. I told you you'd get it."

Blaine smiled that genuine smile that Kurt loved so much.

"I'm going to take you out to celebrate," Kurt said.

Blaine looked confused and a little taken aback.

"We're going to the city and you're going to watch a Broadway show with me."

"Kurt, I--"

"Payment," Kurt interrupted with a smile. "Celebration for getting the part and payment for helping me out around the house? Okay?"

Blaine was silent for a few moments.

"Alright," he finally said, grinning.