III

After years of the same routine, waking up before Rachel, kissing her forehead softly as she slept, before quietly slipping out of bed, showing, making himself breakfast and pulling on the best, most fashionable clothes that he could find; working for Vogue for as many years as he had definitely had its perks. He was pretty sure he hadn't bought any of his own clothes for about three years. Things were pretty much the same since he moved to New York, eight after graduating. Okay, so he was older, he was twenty six, and they had moved out of the apartment that they had first moved into as soon as they had enough money and slowly settled into a familiar routine with each other.

Today was no different. He kissed his long term girlfriend, got out of bed, had breakfast and headed to work. He had been with Rachel for so long. It wasn't as though they didn't want to move on with their relationship, they did, Kurt did at least, he just wanted to be sure that they had a solid ground in New York first. It had just taken longer than he had anticipated. A proposal was something that had been playing on his mind a lot in the recent months though, and he just had to find the time to go and buy her a ring when she was not hovering over his shoulder- which is hard to do when Rachel Berry is your other half- he was going to do this properly. Every morning when he woke up it was the first thing that crossed his mind. When he saw her lying there, peaceful and beautiful he wished he could wait for her to wake so he could kiss her properly, and on the rare occasion he could, it was perfect.

When he arrived at work, he parked in the lot and headed for wardrobe to see what they would want him to be wearing today. Grabbing a coffee on the way, he strolled down the hallways, greeting everyone with a friendly smile and a quick 'hi' as he did, raising his coffee to the few who he saw daily. Reaching the wardrobe department, he placed his cup down on the side as he was handed his outfit, nodding and thanking Mark, the guy that no one sees yet the one who no one would be anywhere without. If it wasn't for him and his insane ability to organise each model's outfits into order and who is wearing them and when they are wearing them in about ten minutes flat, Kurt and the rest of them would have to be in work at least an hour earlier.
Outfit hooked over his arm, he was on his way to his dressing room to change before he was ready for the first shoot of the day. He strutted his way to the photo area, clad in tight black leather pants and a T-shirt, hugging him in all the right places, showing off the muscles in his arms topped with a light blue checked button down, that was left completely open. He casually stood in front of the screen, with the camera already in place as he waited for the photographer to walk in, giving him a smile as he did. It was rare when there would be a photographer that he didn't recognise, but today was one of those days. He was wearing red pants, which stopped at his ankle, with yellow sunglasses hooked into the pocket, matched with a white button down shirt, and pink bowtie, not what Kurt would have personally put together, but he couldn't deny it suited him.


When Blaine walked in to the unfamiliar room he looked around, taking in his surroundings before his eyes found the man that he was going to be taking shots of all day. He could see why this guy was a model, he was gorgeous, and there was no denying that. With his piercing blue eyes and perfectly coiffed hair, Blaine couldn't help wonder if he had help to style it, or if that was how he always wore it. Blaine didn't miss the fact that he also had a figure to die for, he wasn't too skinny, yet his muscles were not hard to miss. He walked over to him, clearing his throat and praying that he wasn't going to make an ass out of himself,

"Hi." He smiled slightly, "You must be the guy I have the pleasure of taking photos of all day. I'm Blaine." Blaine held his hand out, offering it to the model.

"Yes, that's me. I'm Kurt." The taller of the two men took Blaine's offered hand , "I've never seen you before. New?"

Blaine waved his hand nonchalantly in front of his face, "New photographer to Vogue, you could say. I heard the guy who was meant to be doing this, Scott, I think his name was," he squinted his eyes as he tried to remember the name, and Kurt nodded, "Yeah, him. Anyway, I heard he was sick or something, so they were looking for anyone who could make it short notice, and here I am. But no, I've been a photographer since I graduated high school. A long time ago." He chuckled, and Kurt echoed him,

"Tell me about it. It feels like forever ago that I stepped into a school."

The two men chatted for a while until it was time for the shoot, before Kurt shot off quickly, saying a quick goodbye to Blaine and heading home to Rachel. It wasn't as though Kurt wasn't sociable, he was one of the easiest people to talk to, he just felt that with Blaine they had connected. There was something different about the new photographer and Kurt was intrigued to din out more.


"Hey, honey." Rachel greeted him as soon as he stepped through the door, she was lying on the couch, watching what looked to Kurt like reruns of America's Next Top Model, and he furrowed his brow, as he walked closer, sitting down next to, kissing her when he settled next to her,

"Hi. What are you watching? You don't even like this show."

"Well I thought I'd start liking it. I mean we have been together for ages and I know how you're a model. Is this what it's really like everyday when you go to work?" She asked looking from her boyfriend to the TV and back again, seeing that he was shaking his head,

"Not really. I mean in this they are trying to be the next model. I am already a model, I don't need to prove anything to anyone. Plus, in these shows they usually work with the same people; whereas there are normally different photographers and wardrobe people and anyone else who is needed coming in and out all the time. For example today there was a new guy taking the photos, it was a spur of the moment thing. Happens all the time." He shrugged it off, "Most of them come for a couple of shoots and then leave; some only stick around for one." He said, thinking of Blaine. He was a great guy, and for the short time they were chatting they did get on, but it was a very short time, and Kurt was unable to get more than a first impression from him.

"Oh." Was all Rachel said, "So not really like this at all."

"Not really. Did you really think it was, I mean it is a television show, sweetheart." She smiled and leant into Kurt for a cuddle,




When Blaine left, on the other hand his mind went back to Kurt on his journey home. He knew he shouldn't. He was going back to Dave. His Boyfriend. He shouldn't be thinking about another guy, should he? He shrugged it off, it was all completely innocent wasn't it. He didn't know anything about Kurt, he was just a model that he spent all day ogling behind the camera, it was normal that he should think about him, right? Anyway, from what he had overheard in snippets of conversations earlier in the day, Kurt was going home to his other half. His Girlfriend. He was taken and straight, so nothing was going to happen, so all he had to do was stop thinking about him, and once he was in his partner's arms he would, for sure. Or so he thought.

Dave was in the kitchen when Blaine arrived home, cooking something, which smelt amazing, for dinner, "Hey, gorgeous." Blaine snaked his arms around Dave's middle from behind, raising himself on his toe's in order to see over his shoulder, and rest his head there.

"Hey, you. Good day at work?" the other man smiled and leant back into Blaine's touch, "We are going to do something about this height thing, baby." He teased, leaving the wooden spoon in the pot and turning around kissing him, sweetly.

Blaine nodded and stuck his tongue out playfully, keeping his arms around him, as he kissed him back quickly, "I cannot help it if I am vertically challenged. I'm just lucky you love me."

"Hmm, I guess I do." Dave laughed, "And luckily for me you like your men taller. Even though, it would be hard to find someone shorter than you." He joked, "I'm kidding. There are probably a couple of people we could find for you. I mean I'm sure you could turn Tom Cruise."

"Oh, really. Then maybe I will." Blaine continued the playful banter, "Now, finish cooking, some of us have had a hard day at work." He teased as he released his grip on the taller man and flopped down on the couch in the living room, turning his head to look at him, and let out a soft sigh. Why did he even think about Kurt like that when he had the most perfect man to come home to everyday?

It still didn't stop the model from crossing his mind.