December 1

The evidence of last night’s dinner and movie still remains.  The burned down votive candle on the table and a lone knife sit peacefully while the rest of the dishes actually made it to the sink.  The dvd box lays open on the coffee table, and the dvd player is still on, though the tv isn’t.  Blankets that normally are folded neatly and hung over the back of the couch are bunched up on the cushions, and the couch itself is abandoned.

“Are you sure you have to leave?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to break my promise to that coworker.”

Blaine, fully dressed but lying in the blankets on his bed, facing Kurt, offers up his most pouty face, puppy eyes included.

“Positive?”

Kurt sighs and almost pulls out his phone to text Wes, but bites his lip.

“Positive.  I don’t get nearly enough social time with my coworkers.  They think I’m antisocial.”

“Well, I don’t want them to think that.”

Blaine sits up, letting the blankets fall down, exposing his ungelled hair, which is curly and very much unruly.

“Your hair looks ridiculous.  I love it.  No gel.  Perfect.”

“Are you serious?  I could never go out in public like this.  You’re lucky I even let you see it.”

“You really should get over that insecurity of yours, sweetie.”

“But the gel makes my hair behave.  Without it, I’m like... superman without his cape or something.”

“One of these days I’m going to get you in public without gel.  Maybe I’ll work with some hairspray.”

“If you go out without doing your hair, then I’ll go out without doing mine.”

“Fine.  I really have to go, though.”

“Okay, okay, fine.  But I need to give you something to remember me by.”

Blaine scrambles out of the blankets and off of the bed, stumbling over to Kurt and pulling him close, his hands on the other’s waist.  He kisses Kurt, letting his lips linger on Kurt’s for just a moment, and leaving a trail of kisses down his neck before backing away.  He offers Kurt an innocent wave.

“Have fun with your coworker.”

Kurt stands still, letting Blaine show his affection.  He feels a bit guilty about what’s about to happen.

“Th-thanks.  I will.  Have a great day, Blainey.”

“You too, Kurtlet.  Oh, hey.  I love you.”

“Love you too.”

Wes is in the park, across the street from Starbucks, heading toward his destination. He glances at his phone, noting the time, and quickens his pace.  At exactly 2PM, he walks through the door of the coffee shop, and sets his phone to silent.  He orders his grande 2% vanilla chai, and finds a table out of the way to sit and wait for Kurt.

Kurt arrives at Starbucks and walks in, glancing around for Wes.  When he sees him, he takes a deep breath and walks over to the counter, ordering a hazelnut chai latte and takes it over to where the other is sitting.

“Hello, Wes.  How are you today?”

Wes watches Kurt come in and order his drink, and he smiles when Kurt turns in his direction.

“Kurt!  It’s so great to see you!  I’m fantastic.  How are you?”

“I’m great.  The past couple of days have been just amazing.”

“Really?  Why’s that?”

“Just been spending some quality time hanging out with my friends.”

Wes, who had looked down at his cup while Kurt explained, looks up very quickly at a certain key phrase.  His eyes flash a bit of jealousy for a second, but he gets himself under control.

“That’s nice.  I mean, I like when I get to spending time with friends.  I haven’t been spending nearly enough time ...hanging out... with anyone lately.”

“You really should hang out with your friends more often.  It might be good for you.”

“Maybe you and I could hang out a little more often.”

“That would be nice.  I like the Wes I’m starting to get to know.”

“And I like the Kurt I’m getting to know.  You were so quiet back at Dalton.”

“I didn’t think you noticed me back then.”

“I’m bad with names, but faces are another thing.  How could I not remember a face like yours?”

“I’m flattered, Wes.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.  Sometimes my words get carried away.”

“No, it’s okay.  I’m surprised you haven’t noticed the drink I got.”

“Well, would you look at that.  I thought you didn’t like them?”

“I’ve been giving them a chance.”

“Really?  Just because of what we talked about before?”

“Maybe.”

“Aww, Kurt, now I’m the one that’s flattered.  You’re going to make me blush.”

“Can’t have that, now, can we?”

“I would be so embarrassed.”

“I thought you would be too composed to blush.”

“I don’t think anyone is too composed to blush.  Sometimes, the things certain people say, they can have an effect on you.”

“I know the feeling.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, people tend to have that effect on me.  A lot.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Depends on the person.”

“Ah, I see.  How about the chai, as an example.”

“What are you asking me?”

“The chai.  Was me suggesting the change, you know, a good thing or a bad thing for you?”

“I guess it’s half good, half bad.”

“Okay, explain that one.”

“Good because I’m branching out and trying new things.  Bad because I really, really don’t like them.”

“I told you that the spice grows on you.”

“It had better start growing on me soon, because right now I can’t stand it.”

“Maybe you should try it with vanilla.”

“Maybe I will.”

“You know, the combination of the cinnamon and the vanilla is almost explosive.”

“Is it now?”

“Oh, it is.  They just compliment each other so well.  It’s warm and inviting.”

“I’m almost tempted to try it.”

“You should.  Here, you can try mine.”

Wes slides his cup across the table, leaving his hand on it as he looks up at Kurt.

“Thanks... I guess...”

Kurt reaches out towards the cup, not looking at Wes.

“Go ahead.  It’s good.”

Kurt tries to take the cup, raising his eyebrow at Wes’ hand still on it.

Wes pulls his hand away, letting it lay flat on the table near the cup.

“Thanks.”

Kurt picks up the cup, taking a small sip.

“That is good.  Better than the hazelnut chai.”

“It’s the vanilla.  You know, that makes it so good.  Mixing with the cinnamon.”

“Really?  Interesting combination.”

“I know.  You don’t think it’s going to work at first, but then you realize that it goes together even better than, say, vanilla with chocolate.”

“I thought vanilla and chocolate was supposed to be a good mixture?”

“Oh, it is.  And it works well.  But it’s like you’re not expecting the cinnamon to be so good with the vanilla.”

“I wasn’t expecting it.  But it’s actually pretty good.”

“Isn’t it?  Before long, you’ll be craving that combo.”

“We’ll see.”

“Yes, we will.  Listen, I was thinking of going for a walk.  Do you want to join me?”

“Um, sure.  I don’t really have any plans.”

Wes, where are you?

We were supposed to meet a while ago

Are you okay?

Wes?

What’s going on?

“That’s great!  Let’s go into the park.”

Wes still has his phone on silent, and he stands up, offering a hand to help Kurt up.

Kurt stares at the offered hand and hesitates for a moment before taking it and letting Wes help him up.

“Alright.”

Wes helps Kurt up, letting his hand linger on Kurt’s for a moment before he lets go, letting his fingers slide along Kurt’s palm but making it seem purely accidental.  He heads toward the door.

Kurt shivers just slightly and follows Wes out of Starbucks, biting his lip and staying silent.

Wes heads toward the park across the street.   Making sure that Kurt stays with him, Wes nonchalantly puts his hand on Kurt’s back for a second, just as they step up on the curb and into the park.

“You know, even though the leaves are gone, it’s still pretty in here.”

Kurt tries to ignore the hand on his back.

“Yeah, it is.  I haven’t been in the park in a while.”

“Even more reason to be here.”

“Yeah.  It’s nice.”

Bending down, Wes picks up a bright red leaf from the path the two are walking on.  He looks at it for a minute.

“So, you work at Vogue.  I heard.”

“I do.  I got an internship there a few months after I graduated high school.  I love it there!”

“That’s great!  What do you do there?”

“Mostly, I put together outfits for shoots.  It’s one of my talents, being able to pick out an outfit.”

“I’ve noticed that, actually.  You always look so nice.”

“Oh.  Thank you.”

Wes twirls the leaf in his fingers, and glances up, sort of shyly at Kurt.

“I mean that.”

“Really?  I-thank you.”

“Of course... Any time.”

Wes reaches out and takes a hold of Kurt’s hand, giving him the red leaf, and tracing the shape of his palm.  As if he’s just realizing that he’s so close to Kurt, he looks up, hesitating before leaning in and kissing Kurt softly.

Kurt stares at Wes, not sure what is going on.  It isn’t until he is suddenly being kissed that he realizes what is happening and immediately pulls back, away from Wes.

“Wh-what was that?”

“I... I’m sorry.  I wasn’t thinking.”

“N-no.  Blaine was right.  I... I need to go.  D-don’t...”

“Kurt, it was a mistake, I’m sorry.”

“No, Wes.  Don’t.  I’m going home.  Don’t text me.”

Wes’s face goes stone cold, and he shakes his head.  He turns around and starts to walk away, mumbling.

“Don’t worry about that.”

Kurt takes another route out of the park, heading home to his own apartment, and Rachel.

Sitting in the coffee shop, third pumpkin spice latte in hand, Sebastian stares miserably at the door, wondering if Wes is ever going to show up.  He has thought about leaving, but he likes his coffee too much to just get up and leave.  Staring down at his phone and the messages he had sent to Wes, he sighs.

Wes, seriously.  Where are you?  Do I need to send out a search party?

I’m sorry, Sebastian.  I got caught up in something.  I’ll be there really soon.

Fuck you Montgomery.  I have half a mind to just go hang out with Chandler instead

Don’t even.  If you so much as think about hanging out with Chandler, shit is going to hit the fan.  He’ll never amount to anything.  Especially in the hanging out department.

Go to hell.  I’m sure he’ll be just fine to hang out with.  At least he’ll actually be there

Fuck you.  I had shit to take care of.

More important than hanging out?
Pretty fucking important.

So what?  Are we still going to hang out or what?

Yes, you don’t have a choice.

You’re lucky you’re hot

You’re lucky I’m around the corner.

How long are we going to stay at the coffee shop?  Or should I just meet you outside?

Fuck the coffee shop.

That would be uncomfortable

I’ll meet you outside

We’ve done more uncomfortable things than that.

And I’d better see you outside when I get there.

Already outside, asshat

“Fuck you, Smythe.”

“Yes please.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

“Can we at least hang out... not in public?”

“You have no sense of adventure.”

“That’s not what you said last week.”

“Oh, that’s true.  How could I forget about that?  You ought to make me remember.”

“I will.  When we’re not standing in the middle of a crowded sidewalk.”

“No sense of adventure.”

“Piss off.”

“I like it when you talk to me like that.”

“Screw you.”

“Mhm.  As soon as I fulfill your only other demand, getting you off this street.”

“I hate you.”

Wes grabs Sebastian’s sleeve and practically presses his lips against the other’s ear.

“I could just slam you up against this wall, Smythe.”

Sebastian shudders.

“Asshat.”

Before he moves away, Wes takes a nibble at Sebastian’s ear.

“Keep it up.”

“Jerk.  I was sitting in the stupid coffee shop waiting for you.”

“I can’t tell you what I was doing.”

“Why not?”

“It would ruin the surprise.”

“Maybe I should just find someone else to hang out with.”

“You don’t want it then?  The hanging out or the surprise?”

“I don’t want to deal with your crap.”

“Fine.  I understand.  I see how it is.”

“That’s it?  You’re not even going to fight?  Asshole.  I thought we were together.”

“We are.  That’s why I was working on something for your ungrateful ass.  You want a fight, I’ll give you a fight.”

“Well excuse me.  I was stood up.  Of course I’m upset now.”

“Stop whining.  It’s annoying.”

“Fuck you.”

“You said I wasn’t allowed to on the crowded street.”

“Then let’s go somewhere.  I haven’t seen you.  I need to hang out.”

“That’s what I thought.  Let’s go to Chandler’s. He’s not home.”

“Finally.  Yes.  Lets.”

Without another word, Wes turns and heads down the street.

Sebastian follows, almost eagerly.