“Can I get some extra help on the registers please? After school rush is about to start” Jenny, the manager at The Lima Bean asked collectively to her staff as the small coffee shouse started to fill up. Blaine took on the request and picked up a Sharpie on his way over to the counter. With his charming Lima Bean smile, he started to take the coffee orders of the growing line in front of him.
Almost all of the customers that wore the navy blue Dalton Academy blazer gave Blaine the ‘I know you from somewhere’ look before shaking their heads and walking away. Blaine had been the hot gossip headline at Dalton after Claire was born and he dropped out of school. For months people still talked about ‘the gay kid with a kid’ until some freshman was the victim of a cruel Youtube prank.
“Hi, what can I get for you?” Blaine smiled as a tall, pale, stylishly dressed guy and a shorter, equally stylish, African-American girl came up to the counter,
“Medium Drip” the boy replied quickly before turning to his friend who had an indecisive look on her face “Mercedes?”
“I don’t know” she sighed and was met with soft groans from the long queue of people waiting behind them. With a genuine smile, Blaine looked at the menu board and picked up a cold drink cup.
“How about a Mocha Frappe with Whipped Cream with a shot of Caramel?” he suggested simply picking a drink at random.
“Ooh that sounds good, I’ll have that” she smiled and watched the young barista write her name on the cup “And the boring Medium Drip is for Kurt”
“It’ll be ready for you in just a couple minutes”
“Thanks”
Kurt and Mercedes soon turned their occasional coffee dates into a daily ritual after Glee rehearsals. With Rachel Berry in their Glee club, they needed the caffeine after a draining afternoon. Of course neither Kurt nor Mercedes were complaining about seeing the cute barista especially after both expressed their attraction to him.
Whenever they managed to get served by Blaine, Mercedes always pleaded for him to decide her drink order. She just took it as an opportunity to flirt much to Kurt’s dismay. Blaine tried to serve the pair as often as he could purely for the brief conversation. They always asked how his day was going and in the four or so months they had been coming to the coffee house every day, they managed to get to know each other a little.
Blaine discovered that Kurt’s favourite flavour muffin was Blueberry and that Mercedes loved Gingerbread. They also found out that spending time with family was Blaine’s favourite thing about Christmas but the barista hadn’t told them about the most important family member, his daughter Claire. Blaine liked talking to these two even if it was only for a few minutes every other day while he took their coffee orders. When the only person he really talked to at home couldn’t reply back with more than a giggle or a faint ‘dada’, he made the most of it at work.

XXXXX

“No Mercedes today?” Blaine chuckled as Kurt came up to the counter alone. Escaping the heat of the late summer sun outside, he acclimatised to the cool air conditioning before looking up at the young barista.
“She got the solo for our Glee Club’s start of semester performance so she’s practicing” he answered with a smile “I on the other hand couldn’t get out of that school soon enough... no air conditioning”
“Ouch”
“Indeed so I’m going to shamelessly stay here and cool down”
“Would you like some company? I finish in a minute and I’ve been ordered to stay out of the house for the afternoon”
“Ordered out of the house?”
“Something about a girl’s only tea party, I don’t know” Blaine chuckled. Emily and their Mom were babysitting Claire together while Michael was away on business. Jane didn’t get to spend as much time with her granddaughter as she liked so she was going to make the most of it while her husband was away. They were having a tea party with all the fixings as a bit of an early celebration for Claire’s first birthday which was next month. “What would you like to drink and I’ll bring it out with me”
“Surprise me”
“Really?”
“I’ll find us a seat”
Blaine started to prepare their drinks as Kurt found them an empty table, a secluded one in the back corner. Balancing an Iced Chocolate, a Mocha Frappe and a Blueberry Muffin in his hands, the young barista made his way to the table without dropping anything.
“Impressive” Kurt laughed as Blaine sat down and pushed the Frappe and muffin toward his friend “I didn’t pay for my drink”
“On the house”
“Blaine...”
“I get a free coffee every shift and I don’t usually grab one before I leave so my manager started a tally. I have to use them” he chuckled and took a sip of his drink.
“And the muffin?”
“I know they’re your favourite” Blaine grinner and was a met with a soft smile on Kurt’s porcelain face. Kurt couldn’t help but zone out slightly, mesmerised by the other boy’s adorable smile “You said something about Glee Club, you sing?”
“Huh?” Kurt asked snapping back to reality “Yes. I sadly enjoy a slushie facial every other day because of it but I love the stage too much” he smiled “Do you sing?”
“At home”
“Your school doesn’t have a Glee Club or a Choir?”
“I...uh...” Blaine stuttered trying to think of how he would word his sentence “I don’t go to school anymore. I had to leave about a year ago” he spoke softly fearing Kurt’s reaction. Blaine was worried he’d stereotype him as just another Lima Heights drop kick.
“May I ask why you left?” Kurt wondered as he looked up from his Frappe at Blaine. The young barista considered pulling out his wallet, showing Kurt the photo of Claire and telling him everything before deciding against it. How was he going to explain his life to this guy? They barely knew each other and Blaine didn’t even know where to begin telling Kurt about Claire.
“I had a family issue I had to deal with and it all got too much after a while. I chose family over school” Blaine shrugged. He couldn’t have worded that in any other way without having to explain everything. If this friendship went any further then Blaine would tell him.
“Fair enough, family is important” Kurt smiled hoping Blaine would expand on what he’d said but knew he wouldn’t. The teenager didn’t want to push the issue but Blaine couldn’t completely forget about school, he was still only sixteen. “Have you ever thought about going back to school?”
“I looked into it before summer and spoke to a couple places. I know I need to go back to school but I’ve missed a whole year...”
“There’s no shame in being a year behind your normal grade, just lie about your age to your friends” Kurt laughed hoping it would brighten Blaine’s glum expression. If they were anything alike, Blaine wouldn’t want to be stuck in Lima forever and graduating high school and going to college was their only way out.
“I don’t want to work in a coffee shop my whole life”
“You could do anything with your life if you wanted to. You could be a fire fighter or a doctor or a Broadway star” Kurt chuckled
“There’s so much more than Lima out there” Blaine sighed softly. All he’d wanted since Claire was born was to give her everything. A life in Lima wasn’t everything. He wanted more for her and more for himself.
“Who says you have to be stuck here forever? Who says we can’t all escape one day?”
“School is my only way out. I have no hope otherwise right?”
“I wouldn’t say no hope but school does help. Out of state colleges are so much better than anything here. If for nothing else, go back to school just to get the hell out of Lima”
“It’s only a week before school starts; it’s not too late to apply somewhere?”
“Of course not”
“I should go then and organise everything. I don’t own a school bag anymore” Blaine chuckled as he stood up. By organise everything, Blaine needed to get his school transcripts together as well as get Claire into day care at McKinley High. He wasn’t going to go back to school if he couldn’t have her in day care. “Thanks Kurt”
“What for?”
“For being here”
Confused, Kurt wasn’t quite sure what Blaine meant by that but watched as the barista walked out of the coffee house with a slight spring in his step. If anything, Kurt had reassured Blaine that he could go back to school. Blaine just had to get Claire organised and he was on his way to getting out of Lima and eventually Ohio. Claire deserved a better life than this.