Blaine was fumbling. He’d just had three straight AP classes back to back with no break to hit his locker and the pile in his hands was on the brink of land sliding all over the floor. He was half successfully holding onto the pile with one arm, while his glasses slid down his nose and trying to spin the right combination into the dial with the other hand when he finally managed to flick the door open.

He dumped his books in with the relaxed sigh and pushed the glasses back up his nose. With his glasses now in place he was greeted by the vivacious smiling face of Kurt Hummel in the photos pinned to the door.

Kurt’s name chimed with reverence in his head. He was Blaine’s best friend and they had been best friends since they were seven years old, a full decade which in this day and age was something of a miracle. They’d somehow managed to sidestep the drama most friendships at this school suffered on a daily basis and had probably the most solid relationship of anyone else in the school.

Probably because romance was never a factor, at least not for Kurt, but Blaine on the other hand… Blaine had pretty much been a goner since seven-year-old Kurt had looked at him with those sapphire twinkling eyes. And it had only gotten worse as they’d gotten older.

As Kurt had catapulted up the social stratosphere Blaine had sunk slowly like he was stuck in quick sand eventually hitting the very bottom of the high school food chain. Even the janitors would avoid be see with him Blaine thought. His only friends were the handful of kids in glee club and of course Kurt.

Blaine might not be quite as far down as he was but with a sister like his Rachel fricking Anderberry it made him a social pariah. The girl had no filter and was loud – fourth of July vs. midday at New York pride loud…

His locker suddenly slammed and there she stood tapping her foot like a jackhammer. He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly before opening it again to block her face and grab his world history textbook. “I assume you had a reason for that snobbit,” he called her coolly. They’d both gotten the nickname hobbit… for obvious reasons and being a total snob about her ‘divine talent’ (her words no-one else’s) he’d taken to calling her snobbit.

She scowled and began drawling shrilly, “I hope you’re happy Blaine, I suppose you realise you’ve ruined my life… again!” He rolled his eyes for the second time reordering the books in his locker. “Hallelujah! It’s finally happened! Dear sister please inform he as to which of my many well calculated plans has finally succeeded in ruining your life.”

“Urgh you don’t even care you don’t even KNOW!” She was practically yelling in the corridor now. “For someone who spends so much of his time with his big nose stuck in books…” Blaine cut in, “Uh lets not bring noses into this one Rachel cause you and I both know you’re the one…” he was tapping the end of his nose but he didn’t get to finish his sentence because she suddenly gasped clutching her nose drama queen style and ran away up the corridor.

She shoved past Kurt who only laughed and walked up to Blaine, “What’s up with your sister today? Did you finally break the news that Barbara Streisand isn’t her real birth mother?” Blaine took his self allotted two seconds to drink Kurt in, his Hazelnut hair, snow white skin, rose petal lips and sparking sapphire eyes before switching back to reality.

“Don’t mind her she’s just pissed because… actually no idea this time, suddenly the topic of my apparently ‘big nose’ came up and well, you know I couldn’t just leave that one alone...” Kurt was shaking with laughter and Blaine smiled back pushing the glasses back up his nose. When Kurt finally managed to compose himself he bit his bottom lip and scrunched up his nose.

“Oh Blaine… Smart, wonderful, generous Blaine… I am in need of a favour,” at that he thrust a Lima Bean bag into Blaine’s hand. “This is a sweet attempt at bribery Kurt but you know I can get these for free at work right?” Kurt tutted “Yes I’m aware but for the sake of your borderline ass I’d never let you blow it up by eating the free muffins. Besides you only get the stale ones free, this one is fresh!”

Blaine relented and took the bag peeking in, starting to salivate slightly. “Ooooo Strawberry and White chocolate! My favourite, but the calorie count… oh jeeze this isn’t going to be a favour I’m not gonna want to do is it?”

Kurt looked sheepish but released the lip from between his teeth and started to babble. “The tournament is in one month and Brittany is flunking tremendously I don’t think the girl even managed to spell her name right on her last few tests. They don’t expect her to get a decent grade but she needs at least a C on her next Math and Spanish exam or they’re going to fail her! Santana is going to help her with Spanish naturally but we desperately need someone to tutor her in math and you know I barely make grade with the boring classes as it is! So I was wondering…”

“Oh Kurt no, god please no! The last time you left me in a room alone with her she spent the entire night trying to make out with me. How many times can you say I’m gay, this is not okay!?”

“But without Brittany we’ll be seriously handicapped and we need her for the dance solo. Without her we’re not going to place and then my dreams for New York are going to go up in smoke!”

“Kurt… it’s impossible, I don’t think she can even count there’s no way…” he cut of quietly at the end because he was suddenly aware of the light weight of Kurt’s hand on Blaine’s that was holding his text book. “Please pleeeeease Blaine,” Kurt looked Blaine straight on, pleading with those big doe like sapphire eyes.

“You’re going to have to make this up by baking me soooo many cookies…” but he couldn’t be heard anymore because Kurt was jumping and clapping and beaming. “Thank you thank you! I promise! And I promise to use the real ingredients this time, no more butter fakery!” And with that he picked up his bag and began to saunter away, suddenly twisting around with the grace of a ballerina he yelled, “I’ll see you tonight!”

Blaine grazed his fingertips over the skin of his hand where Kurt had just touched it. The spot was prickling with pins and needles.

* * *

It was about 8:45 on Friday night and The Lima Bean was deserted, the last person had left around 10 minutes ago and had spent the last couple of hours systematically licking the contents out of about 25 packets of sweet and low while a black coffee sat untouched beside them.

The only occupants on view were Blaine who was scrubbing the grinds of coffee off a tray he’d pulled out from under the grinder and Kurt who was sat perched up on the marble counter, legs crossed and leaning back on one palm the other hand holding his iphone effortlessly dancing across the screen with his thumb as he texted continuously.

Kurt was still in his Cheerio’s uniform having just left possibly his most gruelling practise yet. Sue was staging a performance to include sky dancing (or whatever it was you called those hanging silks circus performers used) and Kurt had rather indelicately complained of the aching in his quote ‘delicate regions’. He was a natural at multitasking conversations and though his eyes and thumb never left the screen he was managing to maintain a coherent conversation with Blaine.

“It’s like she forgets I even have a delicate region! I know I might sing and dance like a girl but I still have a…” Kurt yammered away until his voice seemed to phase out like someone had suddenly twisted the speakers low on a radio. Blaine had barely looked up from his scrubbing in 10 minutes, determined to rid every last spec of the grinds and happy to listen Kurt as usual as he regaled him on the social cliques in school he wasn’t a part of and cheerleading practise with Satan herself – Sue Sylvester.

He suddenly looked up at Kurt through his heavy lashes and wiped an arm across his just glistening forehead -“What? Did you finally short out your tongue? Although from what you were telling me earlier about Santana I’d of thought she’s be the one…”

Kurt broke in, “Hush! No, you’ll never guess, Finn just text me, Dad’s got one of those last minute deals on a flight to Hawaii next week. He and Carole are finally taking that honeymoon they’ve been talking about since the wedding… Sooo you know what this means?!” He looked at Blaine expectantly waiting for the answer which, seemed so obvious to him.

Blaine shrugged and replied: “They’ll bring you back that grass skirt you’ve secretly been wanting?” Kurt grabbed a handful of little pink packets of sweet and low and tossed them at Blaine, “No… well yes, no but argh! PARTY! P.A.R.T.Y!!” And while Kurt was beaming and doing something of a shimmying dance move on the bar Blaine was groaning and rolling his eyes.

“Oh come on how can’t you be excited? You can’t still be ticked off from the last time.” Kurt whined slightly. “Well yeah I can a little bit, you made out with my sister. And that’s the Disney translation of what went on between your mouths. I still can’t scrub that mental image from my mind. Even walking in on my dads couldn’t compare…” Blaine went on.

“Oh come on Blaine, I was drunk off my ass on Cherry flavoured wine coolers and even you have to admit in some lights Rachel does look like a butch Elijah Wood. Besides it was spin the bottle, it would have been rude to not plant one on her and if there’s one thing that I am most definitely not is rude.”

Blaine snorted and slid the tray back under the grinder. “As much as I might agree – although would outright deny it if Rachel were to ask me – with what you just said, that does not excuse you of the consequences that kiss lead to. Or are you forgetting her rendition of Natural Woman she performed for you in Glee club, which she made me spend a week practising on guitar so I could back her up?”

He moved around the bar and started collecting the few stray coffee mugs and paper cups that were left over from the pre movie rush just a couple hours before. “You know Blaine, although you may not believe this statement you can just say no to Rachel, in fact I’d seriously advise it, the only good idea she ever had was dragging you into Glee Club in the beginning. But since then, she hasn’t managed to get a single thing from her wardrobe to her set list right since. And besides I let her down very gently.”

“You thanked her for solidifying your status as a homosexual and suggested she ditch the bobby socks if she wanted to win the affections of a straight man in future,” Blaine stated grimacing at the sticky mess of jam from an abandoned knife left on one of the tables. “That was constructive criticism and the 21st century equivalent of it’s not you it’s me. Translation: it’s not you it’s your hoo har, I prefer ding-dongs,” he finished giggling.

Blaine very nearly dropped everything out of his arms and non-to subtly stumbled clacking all the mugs in his arms. Kurt laughed out louder and then resumed his texting.

“Anyway, Finn has set me up with the perfect segway from ding dongs, he’s already scored food for the party – not that the cheerio’s will be consuming any. Sue’s put us on the strictest of diets yet: mung bean broth with cyan pepper and for snacks - leather, like we’re supposed to chew it or something, good for the teeth and gives your mouth a distraction or something.... anyway thank Gaga I’m still allowed to drink coffee, well just straight black coffees, something about piping hot enemas or something else disturbingly grim, but my skinny mocha a day habit is out till after the tournament.” Kurt’s eyes never left the screen throughout his monologue.

Blaine was about to interject, after all Kurt didn’t need to worry about diets, his body was perfect…. beautiful… soft… His mind was wandering through this train of thought when the door banged open and a group of three boys and two girls strolled in.

The distinctive Navy blazers with red piping and embolic Ds gave them away as Dalton Academy students - they’d sung against this school last year at Regionals and the uniforms were kind of hard to miss, Blaine had to admit they made just about every boy in them about 20% hotter. He assumed the girls were from the sister school Crawford Country day although he wasn’t familiar with their uniform.

The girls were hanging off the arms of an Asian boy and a boy with blonde hair the colour of sand whilst the third boy sauntered up to the bar with the air of a boy who had everything and cared about nothing. He took an exaggerated look at Blaine’s name tag, gave him a quick look once up and down and smirked opening his mouth: “Right Blaine I’ll have a latte with a shot of courvoisier and I imagine my less cultured acquaintances will have hot chocolates.” His voice was oily and one of the girls cut in somewhat shrilly “Make ours diet.” Blaine was momentarily stumped as he watched the creeper rake his eyes up and down Kurt’s body still perched atop the counter only now just looking up from his phone.

Blaine finally found his voice and stated “I’m sorry you can get an ice coffee from the fridge but the coffee machine is turned off.” The boy in the blazer opened his mouth and said, “That’s kind of funny cause I feel nothing but turned on.” He winked at Kurt leering like some kind of feral Meerkat in heat. Blaine had never so instantly disliked a person so much before.

Kurt pursed his lips but looked intrigued giving something of a casual glance at this boy as well. Blaine couldn’t argue, the boy was hot, his hair was quaffed in a casual by stylish way hinting at a high price tag with a strong jaw line and gleaming pearlescent teeth, like some lecherous shark Blaine thought. Kurt placed the phone next to him, which buzzed with a new message and placed his hands candidly in his lap. “You and your horde look somewhat familiar, wait a minute... didn’t we trounce you last year at regionals?” Kurt reflexively fluttered his lashes and smirked.

“Impossible, I’m a new senior at Dalton, I just transferred from school in Paris. But perhaps you trounced my halfwit boys here, is that right Jeff?” He said to the blond boy as the other was somewhat occupied with his female friends tongue. “Hey you might of beat us last year but you’re not gonna stand a chance after what you hear what my boy Sebastian can croon.” Figured his name was something pretentious like Sebastian Blaine thought, the slutpig probably had crabs to match his name.

The banter might have gone on if Blaine’s assistant manager Puck hadn’t just crashed out of the back office with his bang buddy (Puck’s words, not his) Lauren Zizes. They were flushed and he was somewhat hurriedly grabbing his coat. “Right Ken dolls, we’re closing up early, me and the Zeizmonster are taking my Rover up the dirt trail for a little round four, I’d explain but I think you’ve pretty much nailed that lesson.” Blaine was revolted and mortified whilst Kurt flipped him off and resumed texting on his phone although not with quite as much concentration as he afforded a subtle glance under his lashes at blazer boy.

The Blazer clag boys and girls were being herded out the door by a hurried Puck but Sebastian took a final moment to drawl something at Kurt. “Was nice to finally meet you Kurt.” Kurt sat bolt upright surprised and the boy carried on, “Yes of course I know who you are Kurt, there’s only one male Cheerio who’s to quote my reliable source ‘sex on a stick’.” He leered one final time before disappearing out the door with his cohorts.

“Come ON Lame Anderberry, you know the magic of the Zeizmonster will break at midnight.” Puck whined as Lauren laughed from the doorway giving something of a meaty come hither stare as she walked away. “We’ve still gotta cash up and put these cups away, you know Quinn’ll bust a lung if we leave this place in a tip again.” Blaine interjected referring to the manager of the coffee shop.

“Whatever, lock up when you’re done and don’t be late tomorrow, dunno when I’ll be in, depends how long I go tonight,” Puck said flinging the keys at Blaine. Kurt cut in just as Puck was leaving the door, “I thought you said her ‘magic’ ended at midnight?” Puck looked over his shoulder to make sure Lauren was out of range and stated. “There’s plenty more fish ready to swim in my tank after I’m through with Zizes,” he then slammed the door shut rattling the open sign. Blaine stalked over to flip the sign around and locked the door to stop any more vagrants like Sebastian slithering in.

“Well that was a little slice of interesting in an otherwise average Friday night at the Lima Bean.” Kurt mused hopping off the bar at last and brushing his uniform of imaginary lint. “That’s one way to put it…”

Blaine was distracted, he hated that nickname, I mean a gay nerd in high school is cause for a lot of creative nicknames but that name had stuck since he was eight years old and a group of already somewhat burley boys had first called him it and pushed him in the mud in the playground. Kurt had been doing headstands on the swings during the altercation but had run over and taken him into the bathroom to wash his hands and clothes as best he could. Had even given him his purple sweater to wear the rest of the day.

Not to mention Blaine was still reeling from the spanner in his works, i.e. Sebastian. It was one thing to be completely in love with the hottest boy in school but at least when that boy was gay in a small town in Ohio. Kurt didn’t have a lot of choices in the dating pool so he didn’t have to often go through the pain of watching Kurt flirt with attractive boys, boys like Sebastian…

He picked up the last cup and started to put them in the sink ready to wash when Kurt gasped holding onto one of the Lima bean paper cups. “Sebastian left me his number!” Kurt squeaked. The cup in Blaine’s hand fell out of his hand and smashed in the sink.

But Kurt barely registered this as he started to babble. “I mean he was sort of cute in a, I look like I just stepped off the runway and I so know it kind of way but he goes to that school and you know how much of a sucker I am for a cute blazer, and he just came out of school in Paris, PARIS! Do you know what kind of things that boys probably seen and learnt?!” I can just imagine what the slutpig learnt in Paris Blaine thought then suddenly hissed loudly.

While Kurt had been babbling he’d unsuccessfully tried to extricate the broken crockery from the sink and there was now a small red gash oozing blood from his hand. Blaine hated the sight of blood, Kurt was a big fan of Greys's Anatomy and had made him camp out with him one night to get season 6 DVDs, he had to shut his eyes through half of it. So the sight of his own blood was enough to make him a little more than woozy.

Kurt rushed around and took Blaine’s bleeding hand in his small ones, which Blaine very half-heartedly tried to brush off. However Kurt stubbornly took the finger gently but firmly and put it under a cold tap, which he then proceeded to run. “Geeze Blaine your finger is bleeding like a geizer, I’m gonna grab some bandages. Keep it there till I get back, don’t worry, I’ll look after you.”

And even though both Blaine’s finger and heart were throbbing painfully he couldn’t help but notice that no matter the circumstances Kurt could always raze pins and needles when he touched him.