Eventually, Kurt was all but pushed towards to other table, holding a poker face and ignoring the odd comment as he handed out the drinks. He could put up with this for a while to get enough for his goals, he’d put up with a lot worse. He’d worked in a fast food restaurant before, at least here he could get a little entertainment and not feel physically nauseated by the sight of what he was working with. He got back to behind the bar, placing the tray back on the pile and smoothing down the uniform, looking up when his boss mentioned that once he’d served the new guy on the other side of the bar, he could take a break; to which Kurt sighed and began moving along the narrow crowded bar. That’s when he saw him and all but groaned, stopping dead in his track and turning to look like he was busy sorting out the glasses.

It was one thing that he hadn’t actually told Blaine he was back in the state and that was reason enough to avoid him so it wasn’t more obvious that he was purposefully avoiding him for the time being. Maybe it was the costume - that’s what he was telling himself anyway- or maybe it was because he was entirely confused and kidding himself about feeling completely platonic towards him; it’s not like he made it easy not to with his damn politeness, good looks and charm. Kurt winced when he heard his name, nodding to his boss before turning around and placing himself in front of Blaine, aiming for an air of nonchalants. “What can I get you?”

Blaine leaned his forearms against the bar counter in front of him, folding his hands on the surface top as he glanced idly down the end of the bar, innocently eyeing a table of a rather large group of jocks - to no surprise - creating quite the ruckus not too far away from him. When he noticed a fairly threatening pair of eyes meet his from the table he held the gaze uninterestingly before turning away and spotting what looked like a makeshift stage off in the corner of the crowded bar. He smiled ever so slightly at the dingy lit platform whilst running a couple fingers through his partially gelled hair until he heard a voice directed towards him in particular. Blaine turned to surprisingly see a familiar face in an unfamiliar cheerleading outfit, his facial expression something that he hadn’t really ever seen before. Raising an eyebrow at the man and dropping his hand from his dark brunette hair he noticed the nonchalance in his voice. He could have sworn he wasn’t supposed to be back in New York yet….

Blaine lowered his eyes, realizing what he thought to be the problem. He wondered for a moment if he had done something wrong the last time he had been near him, or even talked to him for that matter. But he couldn’t really think of anything, so when he finally glanced back up he met his gaze just as casually as he could manage, “Whatever you have on tap would be nice, thanks.” Blaine forced a light smile until the man behind the bar turned as if to move, but the change in his facial expression and the slight pull inside his chest as he started to walk away made him want to say something else. Before he got too far Blaine reached a hand to wrap his fingers around the man’s wrist, gently enough to not alarm him but with enough force to get him to stop, “Kurt…”