Blaine and Cooper had been following Monroe around the Metropolitan Museum of Art all afternoon and they were exhausted. It was Sunday, which was always a day set aside for the three Anderson men to spend time together. No work, no school.

Blaine felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. It had been going off constantly all day. He knew who it would be, Simon. Blaine couldn't fault the man for sending mixed signals. It was kind of refreshing to not have to wonder what his intentions were.

Blaine hadn't made any progress figuring out what had happened with Kurt. While he still came in almost everyday to get his coffee, Kurt kept his answers short and his eyes down. Kurt never got a muffin anymore, even when Blaine went out of his way to make the banana muffins with pecans instead of walnuts, just like Kurt liked it.

Blaine retrieved his phone when it buzzed insistently again. The message said,

So am I going to get to see you later?

He had told Simon that he was spending the day with his family, but the other man had been pretty insistent. They had been texting back and forth all week and Simon frequently came into the Coffee Bean while Blaine was working.

He liked the guy. They had some things in common, like their interest in music. Simon loved to talk about all the places he wanted to show Blaine around the city. Even though Blaine couldn't say he was falling head over heels for him, he did enjoy the attention.

Maybe coffee later. Blaine typed back.

He slid his phone back into his pocket, turning his attention to the painting Monroe was pointing at.

They were currently in the Impressionism section on the museum, which had always been Blaine's favorite period. He always thought that each painting changed with his mood.

"What do you see in this one, Monroe?" he asked, pointing to Starry Night. Sometimes Blaine had a hard time setting aside the teacher in him.

Before Monroe got a chance to say anything they were interrupted by a petite brunette woman, tugging on Cooper's arm with a surprising amount of force.

"Mr. Anderson! What are you doing here? Can I run this scene by you? I have some ideas and I have been dying to practice it."

Blaine didn't think the girl had even stopped to breathe at all during her bombardment.

"Oh hello, Rachel. It's nice to see you too. Actually, I'm here with my son and brother. I'm sure whatever you have is good. We can talk about it in class on Monday."

It seemed that Rachel had just noticed that Cooper was not alone. She turned and looked at the other two bewildered looking Andersons.

"Goodness, I am so sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Rachel Berry. It's nice to meet you," Rachel backpedaled with a broad smile. She stuck her hand out to Blaine to shake.

"Hello. I'm Cooper's younger brother, Blaine, and this little guy is Monroe." He responded as he shook her hand

Blaine stopped himself from ruffling the little boy's hair, remembering that is bothered the kid.

Rachel knelt down and shook Monroe's hand.

"Wow you are quite the looker, young man. So, what brought you to the museum today?" Rachel was clearly quite good with children.

"I love art museums! We come here every weekend," Monroe replied. He always liked when adults talked to him like he was a grown up.

"Oh really? Which is your favorite?"

Monroe started dragging Rachel over to Monet's Rose Path at Giverny.

"Wait, Monroe. I am sure Rachel has more important things to do today than hang out with us," Cooper said, stopping his son.

"Actually, I was just wandering around the museum. I needed to get out of my apartment and my fiancé and roommate were both busy. I would love the company," Rachel assured Cooper.

She held out her arm for Monroe to take and off they went.

Buzz

"Wow your phone has been pretty active these past few days. I don't think I've heard it go off this often since you moved to New York," commented Cooper as they trailed behind Rachel and Monroe.

"It's just this guy," Blaine shrugged.

Blaine hadn't told his brother about Simon because he still wasn't sure how he felt about the man. He knew he liked the attention and the company. It was nice to have someone else to talk to, even if they mainly talked about Simon.

This caught Cooper's attention, "Just this guy? Who? How long has this been going on? I need the deets!" he badgered Blaine excitedly.

"His name is Simon, and we met at the Coffee Bean. We are just getting to know each other; there's nothing to tell."

But it seemed that Cooper was not about to let this go.

"Have you been on a date?"

Blaine sighed. "No, not yet. We are trying to figure out a time that works around his schedule and mine. Not that I mind watching Monroe, but between that and work, there isn't a whole lot of down time."

"You know you're allowed to have your own life. I don't want us stopping you from having a boyfriend," retorted Cooper.

Blaine tried to reassure his brother. "Trust me. You are not stopping anything. I love spending time with Monroe and would not trade that for anything."

Cooper looked relieved.

"Plus I don't think I'll be using the "b" word anytime soon."

 "Alright, alright." Cooper said, slinging his arm over his much shorter brother. "But we're still going to have to see what we can do about getting you some time to yourself."

As they walked up to Monroe and Rachel, the two were debating where the rose path in the painting led to. Both had some pretty creative ideas.

"Sorry to interrupt you two. Monroe, it's almost time for the museum to close. We need to head home."

Monroe's face fell. "But Rachel and I aren't done yet."

Blaine could tell this situation was going to go downhill fast. Monroe had skipped his nap and was probably a little hungry and very tired, which meant he could blow at anytime.

"I know bud, but we can't hold Rachel hostage," Blaine said, attempting to soothe the boy.

"How about this? Maybe next weekend we could meet at the museum earlier and we would have the whole day to hang out," Rachel quickly added.

"Daddy, Daddy! Can we do that?" Monroe began tugging on his dad's sleeve, making puppy dog eyes.

As usual, it worked.

"That sounds like a plan," Cooper conceded. "You know, Rachel, even though Blaine helps out with Monroe, we could always use a babysitter," he slipped in.

"Oh! I would love to do that. What do you think, Monroe? Want to hang out with me sometime when your dad and uncle are busy?"

"YES!" Monroe shrieked. He looked like a kid on Christmas.

"Let's exchange numbers. We might end up needing you this week," said Cooper

Cooper glanced over at Blaine, giving him a meaningful look. Blaine had a feeling that the meaning had something to do with his dating life.

"Sounds good. My fiancé is meeting me outside to walk me home. This was so fun. I'm glad I ran into you three," Rachel gushed as they left the museum.

They parted ways when they stepped onto the sidewalk. Blaine saw Rachel rush over to a tall, dark haired man, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before taking his hand. He did a double take, but he was pretty sure it was the same man he saw with Kurt in the park.

What's that about? Blaine wondered as they headed home.

Later that night, while Monroe was helping Blaine bake the muffins for the next day, he asked Cooper about Rachel.

"You know Blaine, you are awfully curious about Rachel. Want to tell me what that's about?" Cooper asked after the ninth question about his pupil.

"Oh it's nothing. It's just that I would swear that the guy we saw Rachel with is the same guy I saw Kurt with," muttered out Blaine.

He knew it was none of his business and that he should stay out of it, but he couldn't help it if he still had feelings for Kurt. He was concerned, that was all.

"Look Blaine, I really like Rachel and I've met Finn. He seems like a nice enough guy. I don't know what you saw, but stay out of it. I don't want you meddling in our first good babysitter's life."

Blaine could tell Cooper was serious because he was pointing quite dramatically at him.

"Fine. I'll leave it."

The next day at work, Blaine was cleaning up during a slow period, when Simon bounded into the Coffee Bean.

"I can’t believe it! I got a callback!" exclaimed Simon, not trying to hide his excitement.

Simon had told Blaine he was up for a small role in the Book of Mormon and had been stressing about it all week. It was just another one of the many Simon-centric conversations they had had.

"Congratulations. How about I take you out to dinner tomorrow to celebrate?" asked Blaine.

"What? Are you finally off rugrat duty?" Simon didn't hide his dislike of children very well.

"One of Cooper's students offered to babysit, so I could have a night off every now and then," explained Blaine.

"Well then, it's a date!"

Simon leaned over the counter, invading Blaine's personal space. Despite appreciating the clear signals, Blaine didn't always like Simon assertive behavior. Blaine needed more time when he was getting to know someone new before he was comfortable with physical affection. He couldn't help that he was a little old-fashioned that way.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind them made Blaine jump back.

"Ahem, may I order my coffee?"

Blaine looked up to see Kurt, waiting behind Simon, looking very unhappy.

"Of course Kurt, the usual?"

A quick nod from Kurt and Blaine started his latte.

"So Kurt, have you heard back from the Mormon casting department yet? I just got called in for a second audition," Simon said, turning to face Kurt but keeping himself between Kurt and Blaine.

"Actually yes, I got a callback too." Kurt said through gritted teeth.

Blaine could feel the tension between the two men at the counter.

"So how do you two know each other?" he asked, trying to ease whatever was going on between them.

"Kurt and I run into each other a lot at auditions. We are actually both up for the same part in the Book of Mormon right now," Simon replied.

Blaine knew he should be rooting for Simon, but if he was honest with himself, he hoped that Kurt got the role.

He tried to make eye contact with Kurt, but he wouldn't look at him. He was doing a good job of keeping his aloof facade in place.

Blaine handed Kurt his coffee and took his money.

"Have a good day, Kurt," Blaine said to his retreating back.

"How do you know Kurt?" Simon asked, probably a little sharper than necessary.

"Hmm? Oh, he's just a regular. He comes in almost as much as you do," answered Blaine.

"Well enough about Kurt, tell me what you have planned for tomorrow night?"

**********************************

It was the day of Blaine's first date in a long time and he was ready for it to be over before it had even started.

Cooper had started nagging him as soon as he entered their kitchen in search of coffee.

"Good morning baby bro! Today's the big day."

Cooper was some sort of freakish morning person.

Blaine ignored him, grabbed a mug of coffee, and retreated back to his room. He knew he should be more excited for his date, but something was bothering him.

Blaine had the day off and was planning on taking Monroe to the park until he had to drop him off at Rachel's. He wondered if Finn would be there.

After a day running around the city, Blaine had cleaned himself up nicely and was walking Monroe to Rachel's apartment.

He was starting to feel a little nervous even though he and Simon had already spent a considerable amount of time together. There was something about the title of "date" that made everything seem more intense.

Blaine and Monroe had turned the corner onto Rachel's street and Blaine's heart skipped a beat, just like it did every time he saw Kurt.

The man had disappeared into the crowd so quickly that Blaine couldn't even be certain that the man he had seen was actually Kurt.

Blaine shook his head. He was trying so hard to stop thinking about Kurt. He was going on a date with another man, for goodness's sake.

They walked up the five flights of stairs leading to Rachel's apartment and knocked.

The door swung open and Rachel's giant of a boyfriend was standing there, all smiles.

"You must be Monroe. Judging from how much Rachel raves about you, I think I might have a little competition," teased Finn. "Come on in"

As they entered the apartment, Finn offered Blaine his hand.

"Finn," he said slowly, studying Blaine's face.

"I'm Blaine. Nice to meet you," Blaine said, introducing himself.

As the two shook hands, both were clearly trying to figure the other out.

Blaine wondered if Finn recognized him from the day at the park. 

Blaine knelt down to say good bye to Monroe and remind him to mind his manners when he heard a gasp.

He looked up to see Finn gaping and pointing between the two Andersons.

"You. You are the guy from the park that upset Kurt."

Blaine panicked. He didn't know what to do, but his flight instinct was kicking in.

"Listen. I have to go. Don't say anything and I will keep your secret," Blaine said, trying to get a handle on the situation. He was surprised Finn would even talk about his boyfriend in his girlfriend’s apartment.

He needed time to think.

Blaine turned to Monroe, "I will be back around 10. Be good."

He escaped the apartment, leaving Finn with a very confused look on his face. He was running late and knew Simon would not handle his tardiness well.

He had made reservations at a small french restaurant that Simon had picked out named La Grenouille.