No, Blaine was definitely not a stalker.

At least that was what he was telling himself. He was pretending that, in fact, he hadn't pestered Rachel until she told him that Kurt was in Rochester.

Moving in a few streets down was definitely a coincidence.

But that was it. Definitely.

But then he'd found that café. Java's Café. He'd found it, and fell in love with it. It was almost as if his high school life was calling out to him, begging him to return it to that idyllic place it was before. His life in Lima, Ohio. He wanted to, he really did. But someone was missing.

Java's Café was so, so similar to the Lima Bean it was almost scary. Everything in it seemed to remind him of some aspect of his old coffee shop… well, almost everything. Because there was a huge gaping hole where Kurt had been.

The breakup had been his idea. He wasn't sure at the time, but he thought he saw Kurt losing interest in the relationship. And, like the naïve teenage boy he was, he decided to just break up. Mercedes and Rachel had told him later that there had been no tears from Kurt, and that just furthered Blaine's belief that it had been the right thing to do. The right thing for both of them. They had to move on. After all, firsts didn't last. Not in the real world.

But maybe, him and Kurt would have. Maybe they could have gotten married, and moved to somewhere that let them get married, let Kurt go into fashion, let Blaine go into law.

But no.

That teenage side of him was still there, it was still taking charge of some of his decisions. And still it wanted Kurt back, even if its brain was trying to tell it no as powerfully as it can, but it still wasn't enough. The teenage side was still fighting.

Fighting hard, and winning.

And so he walked into that café every morning with his guitar, and he played. Played whatever he could. Whatever was on the top of his head, whatever the guitar wanted him to play, whatever came naturally from his fingers. He didn't pay attention to the music. He just played, played as loud as he could, hoping that maybe, just one day, Kurt would walk past. Kurt would walk past, and he'd hear the music, and he'd come in. It was such a long shot, but while there was still that minute chance, while Kurt was still living in Rochester, he was going to play.

With these thoughts going through Blaine's head, he sat down on another Thursday and started strumming.

He didn't know where it came from. From nowhere, really. It just popped into his head, and he started strumming. It probably was his overthinking of Kurt recently. But, whatever the cause, he'd started playing.

We'll do it all

Everything

On or off?

We don't need

Anything

Or anyone…

Blaine's hands froze for a split second. There he was. Kurt. Walking past. He'd stopped. Blaine looked down at the guitar, pretending to be completely absorbed. Kurt couldn't know he'd been seen. That would make him run away faster than anything else. It always had done.

And as he played, he saw Kurt come in. And finally, finally, for the first time in years, their eyes met. The moment was absurdly cliché, but Blaine really wouldn't have it any other way. They'd always been cliché, though. Always. Cliché and stereotypical. Not that he cared.

If I lay here

If I just lay here

Would you lie with me

And just forget the world?

Kurt came to stand in front of him, and Blaine let the chords fade away. "Hi," Kurt murmured.

"Hi," Blaine whispered back.

"What are you doing here?"

"To get you back. I missed you, so so much. Unendurably much. So… here I am." Blaine set the guitar down and gestured to himself, much like he had done when he'd told Kurt he'd transferred, back in their senior year.

Kurt took a step back, eyes widening slightly. "Oh," he breathed. "I'm sorry… Blaine, I'm so sorry. I've… I've got a boyfriend now."

Eyes blinking fast, Kurt walked out of the café. Blaine knew he'd never come back.

He also knew Kurt didn't have a new boyfriend.

But then, after all, not everything could be sunshine and rainbows. People split up. They move on. It's the way the world works.

Maybe Blaine would be better off remembering that.

Or then again, maybe not.

I'll be waiting for you

When you're ready to love me again

I'll put my hands up

I'll be somebody different

I'll be better…

To you.