A loud noise jolted Kurt awake.  He looked down to see a head full of dark curls lying next to him.  It wasn’t Blaine.  He didn’t know who it was actually.  Shit.  Kurt heard the noise again, but this time he knew exactly where it was coming from.  Shit!  Kurt jumped up, pushing at the boy next to him.  

“Hey!  Get up!  My dad is here.  You need to go lay in the other bed.”

The boy let out a muffled “hmmm?” as he rolled out of Kurt’s bed and into the perfectly made one on the other side of the room.  Kurt picked up last night’s shirt from the pile of clothes on the floor and pulled it over his head.  He kicked the rest of the clothes under the bed before running to the door.  Kurt carefully pulled open the door just far enough so he could block the entrance with his body.

“Blaine?”

He greeted Kurt with a big playful smile.  “Hello, stranger.”

For a second Kurt forgot how to breathe.  He hadn’t seen Blaine in over two months and he was still gorgeous as ever.  Kurt wanted nothing more than to pull Blaine into the room with him, but he couldn’t.  He felt awful.

“Hi.. Umm, what are you doing here?”

“I missed you.  I know we haven’t really talked in a while and I’m sorry.  I’ve been so busy working and school applications all over again, you know?  I finally got a few days off work and I just said ‘fuck it!’ and drove here.”

Haven’t talked in a while?  Kurt hadn’t talked to Blaine in over a month, save for a few random texts here and there.  It wasn’t really something that happened on purpose.  Kurt learned that keeping himself busy made the pain of missing Blaine easier to ignore.  It wasn’t all Kurt’s fault though.  A friendship goes both ways.

Blaine continued, “I thought I could stay with you here for a few days, maybe help you pack and move everything home.  When is your last final?”

“It was yesterday actually.  My dad is coming today to pack up most of my stuff.  I thought you were him.”

“Oh, sorry to disappoint you.”

Kurt smiled and nodded, continuing to block the doorway as silence took over and Kurt mentally debated what he should do next.  Blaine probably wouldn’t be interested in meeting his friend from the night before.
Blaine raised an eyebrow and said, “Well are you going to let me in?  Do you have a boy in there or something?”, with a slight laugh.  Kurt stared back without saying a word and watched the smile fade from Blaine’s face.

“Blaine--”

“No, it’s fine.  Really.  I should have said something.  I’ll go.”  Blaine quickly turned for the exit, but Kurt reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Blaine!  It’s not what you think.  Just, please, don’t go.  Give me 20 minutes.”

“Fine.”

“Meet me at our coffee shop?”

“Okay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

****

Kurt walked in, eyes searching for Blaine, but his attention was immediately drawn to the barista calling out his name.  Kurt grabbed his coffee and made a mental note to compliment Blaine on his timing.  He found Blaine sitting at a small table in the back of the room, focused on a newspaper.

“Thanks for the coffee. Right on time, too”, Kurt said as he pulled out the chair to sit.

Blaine looked up, surprised for a second until he realized the voice belonged to Kurt.  “Oh, yea.  No problem.  I figured I still owed you from the last time we were here.”  And just like that, Blaine’s head was back down, refocusing his attention to the paper.  Kurt played along, cautiously drinking the hot coffee, and admiring the boy sitting across from him.

After a few minutes, Blaine folded up the paper and began fidgeting with the almost empty cup.  Kurt could tell he was searching for words.  “I’m sorry I interrupted you with your boyfriend this morning.  I should have called.”

“Blaine, he’s not my boyfriend.  He’s not even my friend.  A random hookup fueled by alcohol and loneliness.  I don’t even know his name.”  Kurt spoke like it was a joke, trying to hide the embarrassment of his admission.

“Oh?  And does this happen a lot?”

There was something about Blaine’s comment that bothered Kurt.  He suddenly felt defensive.  

“You know, I don’t think I should have to explain myself.  You’re not my boyfriend, it shouldn’t matter who I mess around with or how often.  I’m free to be with anyone I want, remember?  You said that when you left for New York”

Kurt was proud of himself and it helped to relieve some of the shame he was feeling about his actions.  He knew he shouldn’t feel bad, but he still did and the look in Blaine’s eyes wasn’t helping either.  Kurt reached out to take Blaine’s hand in his.

Kurt sighed, “Blaine, this was the first time and nothing really happened.  I was drunk and he was cute and he was giving me all this attention.  It was easy.  We kissed and that was it.  I didn’t let it go any further.  God!  You have no idea how much I miss you every day.  We haven’t talked in so long.  I figured you found someone else or you didn’t want me anymore.  And now you’re here like nothing has changed and I just-- I don’t understand.”

The last few words catch in Kurt’s throat as he’s suddenly overwhelmed with feelings he’s tried to hard to forget.

“I want you to come live with me in New York.”  The words flew from Blaine’s mouth, rushed.

“What?”

“For the summer...or permanently...or whatever you want.  I miss you, Kurt.  More than I thought possible.  Everywhere I go, everything I do, I think of you and I want you with me.  I thought talking to you less would help make it easier, but it didn’t.  God, I must sound like Ryan Gosling from ‘The Notebook’.”

Kurt let out a slight laugh at the reference, but returned to the seriousness of the conversation.  “Blaine, I don’t know what to say.”

“I know.  I know.  You don’t have to decide right now.  Just consider it, okay?”

“Okay.”

****