It was pretty much his routine on these Fridays to do a final head count, lock the front door, and make a mental note of any major messes that he'd need to clean up in the morning. Satisfied with the state of the apartment, he turned to the back bedroom and walked right in.

Some part of him noticed the lingering smell of sex, and that Kurt and Sebastian were curled up together under the covers, but he was still stoned and really sleepy. Right now, he didn't care. Brushing his teeth took the last of his energy. He dropped his clothes on the floor, climbing in on his side of the bed. A brief hunt located the good pillow, then he promptly fell asleep.

“There's a stranger in my bed, there's a pounding in my head...” Blaine chuckled softly as he woke up to his ringing phone. Sometimes he thought Katy Perry had written that song just for him. He fumbled around, trying to find the source of the song, almost falling out of bed before he found his pants. By the time the phone was in his hand, his voice mail had picked up. He listened to the brief message from his boss at the Espresso Pump asking him if he could cover a shift that night, even though Saturday was his regular day off. He texted her back a quick affirmative. He could always use extra hours. Blaine looked up from his phone to meet Sebastian's drowsy, half-lidded gaze.

“Morning,” Sebastian smirked, disentangling his arms from the still-sleeping Kurt and gesturing him closer. Obligingly, Blaine met his boyfriend in a gentle kiss that Sebastian broke abruptly, making a face. “Ugh. You taste like weed. Brush your teeth, then we'll try again.”

Flushing brightly, Blaine slipped into the adjoining bathroom to clean up. His occasional marijuana use was something that Sebastian hated, but accepted because of how much he loved Blaine. The least he could do was remember to get the smell off before kissing him. He was just stepping out of the shower when there was a muffled squeak from behind him. Blaine half-turned to see Kurt frozen in the doorway. He followed Kurt's line of sight, making an equally less-than-manly sound, and hastily wrapped a towel around his waist.

“Um. So much for minimizing the awkwardness,” he chuckled self-consciously, pushing his damp curls out of his eyes.

“I'm sorry!” Kurt stammered.

“It's fine. It happened. We'll, uh, talk or something later. When I'm not naked,” Blaine replied, wincing at just how stupid he was sounding. He gave up the whole situation as a lost cause, and inched his way past Kurt towards the bedroom. “I'm just... excuse me.”

Door shut firmly between them now, Blaine finished drying off. A glance at the time prompted him to pull on a clean work shirt and pants, and leave Sebastian dozing on the bed. He took his messenger bag with him to the living room as he rummaged for his emergency back up hair gel, because there was no way he was going back into the bathroom with Kurt still there. If he left for work now, stopping for a bite to eat on the way, he'd be.... really, really early for the shift he'd been asked to cover. On the other hand, if he waited, Sebastian would wake up and pout at him for agreeing to work, and he would wind up having to kick out all the left over couch-crashers and start cleaning up, which he really didn't want to do. He paused at the entryway mirror to check his appearance, and bolted out the door with his coat.

“Large non-fat mocha latte, no whip, extra shot!” Blaine called out the order, setting it on the edge of the pick up counter. He moved back to the Cold Drink Station for the next order, and saw that the rush had died down. There was one more beverage in the queue, and then he could take a well deserved break. His hands moved briskly through the familiar motions, stirring and shaking and adding ice. “Medium iced chai soy latte, no whip!”

He finally poured himself a medium drip, dash of cinnamon, splash of skim, and untied his apron. “Hey, Becca? I'm taking my break. And I'm claiming the wonky croissant in the name of my starving belly.”

The redhead at the cashier station turned at the sound of her name. “Are you sure you don't want a low fat yogurt crunch bar, Muffin Top?” she inquired in a too-sweet voice, poking at his waist line.

Blaine pretended to scowl at the joke, wadding up a towel to throw at her, as he thought of an appropriately scathing reply. He had just began to phrase his come back, when a somewhat familiar voice beat him to it.

“Excuse me, Ginger?” Kurt Hummel was on the other side of the counter, giving Becca an icy glare. “Before you go around critiquing others on their physical appearance, you might want to consider bathing yourself, you dirty hipster. Also, digging out your camel-toe would be a step in the right direction. Never wearing those pants again would be better.” He waved one hand dismissively at her and gave a disdainful sniff.

Both baristas now gaped at him, before Blaine collected himself. “I- wow. I'm going to take my break. Let me take care of this?” he nearly pleaded with the girl, before popping around the counter to grab Kurt's arm. Before he could even get him to a table or ask him what the hell was going on, the floodgates opened.

“I asked 'Bastien where you'd gone to, and he told me that you got called in to work, and he told me you worked here, which is kind of funny because I intern over at Max Azria two blocks over and I was actually stopping to see if you wanted to get together sometime and sort through all of this craziness and apologize for this morning, but I got here, and you were busy so I waited and got a mocha, which is really good, by the way, and then I heard what that bitch said to you and that was just uncalled for! She has no right to say something like that to you!”

“Kurt! Breathe!” Blaine grabbed the younger man's shoulders, torn between annoyance and hilarity. “That was my boss.”

Kurt blanched. “I just called your boss a dirty hipster?”

“And pointed out her camel-toe,” Blaine agreed in an overly calm tone.

“Did I just get you in trouble?”

“I'm not sure yet,” Blaine said tentatively. “Becca is pretty cool, and she was actually just teasing me. It's kind of a joke. We had a guy that used to come in all the time and make fun of me, especially my weight, until Becca finally heard him. She threw him out, and banned him for life.” It was an abbreviated version of the story, but it would have to do.

Kurt closed his eyes. “So now she teases you and calls you Muffin Top?”

“It's meant in love.” Both young men jumped at Becca's interruption. “Blaine, you should get your things and go.”

“Oh my god.” Kurt looked like he was about to hyperventilate. Blaine was just confused, and a little hurt. He swallowed hard. He really liked this job. Sure, no one plans on working in a coffee house for the rest of their lives, but it was good work.

“Please don't fire him on my account, ma'am,” Kurt started earnestly. “This whole situation is my fault. Blaine had no idea I was going to be here. He had no idea I even knew where he worked! I apologize profusely for my incredibly inappropriate behavior, but surely you won't hold him responsible for my actions...” he trailed off helplessly, watching the corner of Becca's mouth begin to twitch.

Then she started laughing. “You should have seen your faces! Blaine, of course you're not fired. You have open availability.” She grinned. “Now get your new boy a biscotti for being friggin' adorable, and get the heck out of here. I can handle closing up. You two clearly have some talking to do.” She patted Blaine's shoulder companionably, and shoved him gently towards the employee area.

For a split second, Blaine almost protested the use of 'new boy' as a descriptor for Kurt, since it wasn't even close to being accurate. But the truth was entirely too weird, and while Becca was amongst the coolest bosses of all time, there was such a thing as an over-share.

He fetched his belongings and rejoined the two just in time to catch the end of Becca's statement.

“...honestly, I think it's cute that you jumped to defend him. Lord knows he could use a knight in shining Prada after that jerk he's been living with.” She smiled and winked at a flabbergasted Kurt, then headed back to the counter.

“See you Monday.” Blaine waved on his way out the door, clutching his newly retrieved medium drip as if it alone could save him from the strange humiliation that seemed to surround him in Kurt's presence. “Usually this would be where I suggest we go grab a coffee, but that would just make me sound stupider. More stupid,” he corrected hastily, and then finished under his breath, “as if it were possible.” Blaine pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Well, if you're still hungry, there's a great organic deli not too far from here,” Kurt offered tentatively. “My treat, since I'm pretty much ruining your life?”

Blaine gave him an incredulous look. “Why does this matter so much to you? It'd probably make both of our lives easier if we just avoid each other.”

“You're important to Sebastian, and Sebastian is important to me,” came the quiet reply. “I'm fully aware that I have been some kind of a drama-seeking missile so far, but I'm hoping that you'll give me another chance. I want us to be friends.”

It made sense. It made too much sense, and for a moment, Blaine almost felt sorry for this sweet kid who was going to get chewed up and spat out by Sebastian's lifestyle, unless he was a whole lot more resilient than he seemed at first glance.

“What the hell. Let's go.” If there was one thing Blaine was good at, it was going with the flow.