November 26

Hello Kurt.

Wes.  What’s up?

Listen, there’s something of mine at Blaine’s apartment.  My boxing gloves.  He mentioned it in passing the other night and I kind of want to get them.  Trouble is, I don’t really want to run into Blaine.

And you’re texting me because...?

Well, I figure you might be able to let me into his apartment somehow.  I don’t have a key anymore.

I do have a key, yes.  Am I allowed to tell Blaine what you’re doing?

I’d rather him not know I’m coming over, but he can know afterward.

Okay.  When do you want to do this?

Blaine’s got class till 8, could you meet me there around 6?

Sure, I can do that

Thank you so much!

No problem

Kurt.

Class is so boring, Kurt.

*

Awww, poor Blainey

Why the *?

It reminds me of you.

Cheesy.  I love it.

Huge dork, right here.

I love it

Aw, stop... You’re gonna make me blush in class, and the prof is gonna catch me texting.

Oh, like how I’ve made Rachel burst out in laughter during class?

Yes, like that.  I mean, it’s a lecture kind of class, and no one really laughs.  Or blushes.

Oh, are you talking about death and destruction?

Nah, but it’s reallllllly boring.  You know, in Harry Potter, how they have to sit and listen to the ghost teacher drone on and on about history of magic?  It’s like that.

NERD ALERT.

Harry Potter <3 I feel your pain

It’s like the life is being sucked out of me.  I don’t even know what’s happening in the lesson.

Oh dear.  That really sucks

How is your day so far?

Pretty good, had the day off work

Ooh fun!  What kind of day off fun are you getting into?  And can I play too?

Nothing exciting, really.  Watching movies at home.  Went to Starbucks earlier.  Just a boring day

That sounds as boring as my class.

My life isn’t the most exciting when I’m alone

When I’m alone, I’m usually hulled up in my room writing music.

Or at least playing it.

Music is nice, though

It is.  It’s probably competing for the spot of my favorite thing.

Among what else?

Snow.  Sunlight through the leaves on the trees.  Texting you.

Cute :D

Think I’m making it up?

Are you?  Making it up, I mean.

Of course not.  Though, they’re not all tied for the same place.  I think... music and texting you takes the top spot.  Followed closely by snow, and then the sunlight through the leaves on the trees.

I see

Not impressed, I see.

No, I’m impressed.  Music and texting me.  My two favourite on that list

Good, good.

So, your classes go till 8 tonight, right?

Yeah.  Too late, if you ask me.

Sucks

Mhm.  So, got any plans for the rest of the evening?

Yeah, I’m meeting a coworker really quick in a couple of minutes, actually, and then I may go to Starbucks again

Oh! I’ll be stopping there on my way back home.  Maybe I’ll see you there.

I’d like that :)

Looking forward to it, Kurtlet.

Alright, Blainey

Way to make me blush.

Oh, didn’t I tell you?  That’s my new life’s goal.  No more attempting to change your font

As long as font means hairstyle, we’re good.  You can try to make me blush forever.  It’s my new life’s goal to NOT blush when you try.

Wes knocks at the door to Blaine’s apartment, putting his hand back in his pocket.

Kurt glances up from where he has been sitting, Blaine’s couch, and puts his phone on the coffee table before getting up to answer the door.

“Hi Wes, how are you?”

“I’m fantastic, how are you, Kurt?”

“Honestly, I’ve been bored all day.”

“Here?  I can imagine.  Blaine doesn’t even have cable.”

“Actually, I only arrived here about ten minutes before you.”

“Oh, well, that’s good.  Wow, the place is really clean.  That your doing?”

“Possibly.  So you’re getting your boxing gloves, right?”

“I am, yes.  They’re most likely in Blaine’s room.  Either under his bed or in the closet.  Mind if I go look?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Wes makes his way to Blaine’s room, opening the door and glancing around.  He checks the closet first, looking first on the shelf above the bar, and then on the floor.  Coming up empty, he shuts the door and gets down on his knees and looks under the bed.  Smirking, he pulls something from where he’s looking, then calling to Kurt.

“Hey, I think this is yours.”

“What?  What’s mine?”

“Well, I’m only guessing.”

Raising his arm in the air, Wes holds up a snowflake for Kurt to see.

“Oh.  Yeah, that’s mine.  Thanks.”

Having come to Blaine’s bedroom door, he steps further into the room and holds out his hand to take the snowflake.

Wes looks up at Kurt and places the snowflake in his hand, making sure to let his fingers linger there for a second before pulling his hand away, and dragging the boxing gloves from beneath the bed.

“You found the gloves.  That’s good.  So, you’re done here now, right?”

“I am, but, listen.  I want to make up for any inconvenience I’ve given you.  Can I buy you a coffee in thanks?”

“Um, sure.  I guess so.  I was going to go for coffee anyway.”

“That’ll be great.  Shall we?”

“Sure, I’m just going to make sure everything’s tidied up in here, and then we can head out.”

“Well, hop to it I guess.  I’ll wait in the living room.”

After a few moments, Kurt returns to the living room and glances at Wes, biting his lip.

“Ready.”

Wes is leaning next to the door, his arms folded, when when he sees Kurt come back into the living room.  He offers the other a very un-Wes-like smile.

“Awesome.  Let’s go.”

Slightly unsettled, Kurt nods.

“Alright.  Let’s go.”

Wes motions for Kurt to come along and opens the door, placing his hand, out of force of habit, on Kurt’s back as he passes.

“So, what’s your coffee order?”

Kurt can’t help himself and flinches slightly as Wes touches his back, recovering quickly, though.

“Grande nonfat mocha.  What about you?”

Wes doesn’t even notice Kurt might not be comfortable, and continues to the street.

“Grande 2% spiced chai tea with a shot of vanilla.  It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s so delicious.  Like so many things in life.”

“That does sound delicious.  But I like my chocolate.”

“I like a little spice mixed in with my vanilla.”

Smirking and raising one eyebrow just slightly, Wes glances at Kurt.

“Oh?  That’s cool.”

Kurt catches Wes glancing at him and looks away.

“You should try it sometime.  Mixing things up is always fun.”

“I dunno, I like what I have right now.”

“You never know.  You might end up liking something else too.”

“I’ve been getting the same drink for years.  It’s the only one I like.”

“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.  The saying is true.”

“I’ll take my chances with what I’ve got.”

“If you say so.  I’m telling you though.  Take a chance every now and then.  You might surprise yourself.”

“Whatever.  Thank you for that nice bit of philosophy.”

“Of course.  I’m always available for philosophical conversation, Kurt.”

“Good to know.  Oh, we’re here.”

“Great.  Now I can buy you your drink.  Grande... what was it again?”

“A grande chai latte with a shot of hazelnut.”

Kurt glances triumphantly at Wes.

Wes smiles wide, also slightly triumphantly.

“And a grande white chocolate mocha for me.”

“Looks like we’re both stepping out of our comfort zone this evening.”

“Just a little.  You’re going to let me try yours, right?”

“Uh... sure.  If I can try yours.”

Kurt tries to sound confident despite being taken aback.

“Oh absolutely.  Of course.”

Once their drinks are ready, Kurt takes his and walks to an empty table, sitting down.

Wes takes his drink and follows Kurt, standing at the seat across the table.

“Would it be alright if I sat for a bit?”

“Um, yeah.  Sure.  Go ahead.”

Pulling the chair out, Wes takes a seat, sipping his entirely too hot drink.

“Thanks.  Hmm.  This isn’t half bad.”

“I wish I could say the same.  I definitely prefer my regular drink.”

“Let me try it.”

“Okay, um, here.”

Kurt pushes his drink across the table.

Wes takes a sip, staring at Kurt while he does so.

“Not bad.  The hazelnut gives it a warmer taste than the vanilla.  Here, try mine.”

Pushing his own drink across the table, Wes watches Kurt.

Kurt takes a tentative sip.

“The white chocolate is interesting.  I usually get dark chocolate.  But it tastes good.”

“See?  I told you that trying something new wasn’t terrible.”

“I guess you were right.  Although I still don’t like that chai latte.”

“The spiciness of that will grow on you.  You’ll start to crave it.  It’s kind of weird.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

“Someday, you’ll just be sitting there, and you’ll glance at your drink, and think to yourself, ‘Man, I could really go for that chai right now.’  I promise.  Speaking of promises, I just looked at my watch, and I’ve got to run.  It’s been fun talking though.  Maybe... we can do this again sometime.”

“Oh, um, it’s been interesting, for sure.  We could do this again, I guess.  Talk to you later.”

“Take care, Kurt.”

Wes gets up, and takes his own drink from the table, casts a wink at Kurt, and heads for the door, smirk firmly planted on his face.

Kurt bites his lip, unsure of what has just happened.  Wes makes him uncomfortable.

After class, Blaine heads for the coffee shop, excited to see Kurt and be out of class.  He walks in and spots Kurt, making a pitstop at the table before getting a drink.

“Kurt!  Hi.  Have you been here long?”

“Oh, hi Blaine!  Um, not very long.  How were your classes?”

“Boring as usual.  Except for the comp class.  That’s the only reason I’m really going at all.  The gen eds can take a hike.  Can I have a sip of your mocha?”

“Oh, um, I decided to change things up a bit today.  Got a chai latte instead.  I don’t like it, though.  So you can have it if you’d like.”

“Oh, here, I’ll take care of that for you.  Give me a sec.”

Blaine takes Kurt’s drink up to the counter and talks to the barista who’s standing there.  In two minutes, he’s back at the table, with a grande nonfat mocha for Kurt and his own medium drip.  He winks.

“I gotcha.”

“Thank you.  Much better.”

“So, anything interesting happen while I was in class?  I know those two hours after we talked were the worst for me.  By the way, you never texted me back.”

“Oh?  I, uh...”

Kurt reaches into his pocket, looking for his phone.  It isn’t there.  He glances back up at Blaine, realizing that he forgot his phone in Blaine’s apartment.

“I’m sorry.  My phone died, so I had to leave it at home to charge.”

“Oh.  That’s okay.  I guess I should have been paying attention anyway.  Grades and whatever, you know.”

“Yeah.  That’s one thing I don’t miss about school.  One reason I’m glad I got an internship instead.”

“I’m only a little behind where I should be, credit wise, but I’m still going to graduate soon.  Probably next winter.  If I really kick it into gear and stop taking the minimum amount of coursework required.”

“That would be nice.”

“Yes.  And as a reward, I’m going to go visit my friend Jeff down in Miami for spring break.  Do you remember Jeff?  He was in the Warblers.”

“I was about to ask, actually.  Yeah, I remember him.  The only blond in the group, wasn’t he?”

“Just about.  He goes to University of Miami.  Told me a while back that spring breaks down there were crazy.  I’m not sure if I’m really all about ‘crazy spring breaks’ but you never know till you try, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Is everything alright? You seem really.. in thought.”

“Oh, I’m fine.  My coworker cancelled last minute on our meetup, though.”

“Oh.  I’m sorry to hear that.  You have me though.”

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re here.”

Blaine smiles at Kurt, trying very hard not to let his stupid little blush show through.  He takes a sip of his coffee and peeks at Kurt from over the cup.

“I’m glad you’re here too.”

“I have something to tell you.”

“Okay... what’s going on?”

“I... Wes texted me earlier today.  Said he wanted to get something of his from your apartment.”

Confused, Blaine makes a face.

“Why didn’t he just text me?  What did you tell him?”

“He didn’t want to see you.  So he wanted me to let him in with that spare key you gave me.”

“D-did you?”

“Um... yeah.  I did.  He didn’t want you to know until after.  I’m s-sorry...”

“Oh.”

Blaine’s not really sure what is going on in his head at the moment, and looks at his lap, uncomfortable.

“And my phone’s sitting on your coffee table right now.  Nothing happened, he came in, found his stupid gloves, and left.”

Blaine looks up.

“Gloves?  The boxing gloves?  He said he didn’t want them.”

“Maybe he decided he wanted them after all?”

“He doesn’t even box.  I got them for him for Christmas a few years ago because he was always so interested when I was practicing.  He used them once, for a minute and a half.”

“That’s... weird.”

“Yeah.”

“... There’s more.”

In silence, Blaine stares at Kurt, unsure of what’s going on.  He’s nervous, mostly because he knows how Wes can be, but also because of the way Kurt is talking.

“When he left, I left with him.  We came here.  Had coffee.  Just as casual acquaintances, nothing more.”

“Oh.”

“It... nothing happened.  He was relatively tame, as far as Wes goes.”

“No, no.  It’s fine.  Not a big deal.”

“I’ve had enough coffee today.  Could we go back to your apartment so I can pick up my phone?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Blaine stands up and pushes his chair in.  His face is blank and his eyes are completely unreadable as he heads for the door ahead of Kurt.

Feeling nervous, Kurt follows after Blaine, unsure at how effective his explanations were.

The second Blaine closes the door after Kurt leaves, he locks it, and pulls out his phone.

Wes.

Yes, Blaine?

What were you doing, texting Kurt to get your gloves back?

I didn’t think you were up for a confrontation.

Do you think I’m stupid?

Blaine Anderson.  Why would I think that?

You tell me.

All I’m saying is that I thought it might be less of a hassle to talk to Kurt about it.  

I’ve known you for a very long time, Wes.  I know that there is always an ulterior motive with you.  

Your apartment is really clean, by the way.  I expected it to be filled with junk and SoCo bottles.  

Wes.  Leave Kurt alone.  I know what you’re doing.  Don’t do it.

Whatever do you mean?  I bought Kurt a drink.  There’s no harm in buying a friend a drink.

Kurt isn’t your friend.

He will be.

Stay away from him.

Wes, I’m serious.

You’d better leave him alone.

Yes, that is a threat.

Kurt?

Yeah?

You should stay away from Wes.

Why?  He’s harmless

He’s not harmless.  He’s not your friend.  

There’s always an ulterior motive with him.

Why are you freaking out about this?

I’m not freaking out.

Okay, I’m freaking out a little. (unsent)

I just... don’t really want to share you.

Excuse me?

I’m just trying to warn you.

I don’t want you to get hurt.

I’m an adult, Blaine

I’m a year older than you

I can take care of myself

[silence]

You started this

I’m not trying to start anything.

Wes is a jerk.  I’ve lived with him for three years.  I’ve known him for five.  Trust me.

You weren’t saying that when he was your boyfriend

Why are you getting defensive?

I’m not

[silence]

You’re overreacting

[silence]

Hey Wes

Well, hello there, Kurt.  How are you?

I’m good.  I never did finish that chai latte, though

Aww, why not?

I didn’t like it.  How are you doing?

It’ll grow on you.  Chocolate will get boring, and the spice will be there to save the day.  And, I’m just fine.  Bored though.

Better to be bored, than frustrated

What’s wrong?  Anything I can help with?

Just a friend being stubborn

I’m sorry.  What can I do to make you feel better?

I don’t know, try to make me laugh?

I saw an advertisement on a shop window that said, ‘Television for sale: $1. Volume stuck on full.’ I thought to myself, ‘Well, I can’t turn that down.’

I’m really bored, Kurtie

I’m sorry, Kurt, I just... I’m trying to look out for you.

HAHAHA that’s hilarious!  Thanks, I really needed that

It wasn’t really meant to be funny.

Ohmigosh...

…

I’m sorry, Blaine.  That wasn’t meant for you

Yeah, I figured that out.

I haven’t done that in a while

It’s so great that it happened right now too.

And that means...?

Nothing.

Right.  Well.  We aren’t being very productive right now.  So I won’t leave that other person hanging

Yeah.  Tell Wes I said hi.

Way to assume.  I’m not talking to him

[silence]

Haha, that was awesome!  It really did make me laugh.  Sorry for the late response

It’s completely okay.  I’m glad I could make you laugh.

:) Oh, if Blaine asks, I’m not talking to you.  Okay?

Sure, sure.  I won’t say anything.

Thanks.

You’ll find that I’m pretty easy going.

Good to know.  More people should be like that

They really should.  I mean, life is about living, not doing everything perfectly.

Yeah, definitely

You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.

Why thank you.  You’re not as bad as I thought.  No offense

None taken. I’d expect you’ve heard some terrible things.

Well, I knew you at Dalton.  And Sebastian always said you were horrible

I was horrible.  Really in it all for myself back then.  That was years ago though.

I see.  I am glad we’re starting to get to know each other now

I’m really not as bad as everyone thinks.  I can be a nice guy.  And I’m so glad that we’re starting to get to know each other after all this time.  It’s refreshing.

It is.  Thanks for cheering me up, by the way

Of course.  Any time you need me, I’m here.

Great :)

I hope the same goes for me.

Yeah, definitely.

Rachie

Yeah?

Miss you.  Miss talking to you

I miss you too

We should hang out

You really hurt Kurt, you know

I know.  But we talked at Chandler’s house

I’m still pissed off about that

I know.  I’m sorry

Movie

Excuse me?

Twilight.  Sit through it with me

Alright?

We’ll talk before and after

Oh, alright!  Thanks Rachie

Seb, we’ve been friends for a couple of years.  I could never turn my back on you

I’m glad.  I was worried, since you’ve known Kurt longer

You’re right.  I have known Kurt longer, and we’ve been through a lot

but you were good to Kurt

well, we thought you were

Stop

you acted good to him

Sorry?

We’ll talk at the movie

Alright.  Sorry.

Love you, Rach

<3 Sebbie

You haven’t called me that in a bit

I know.  <3

<3

I’m sorry.

I wasn’t trying to start a fight or anything.

Can you forgive me?

*

I don’t know.  Can you believe me that I can look after myself?

I know you can.

I guess I forgive you

Can I make it up to you?

I don’t know.  Probably.  You’ve done it before