The following day was Saturday, which meant another full day of working at his father's shop, but Kurt didn't mind so much anymore. It’s not like he had any kind of social life that he was missing out on. Keeping busy and getting his hands dirty kept his mind off of Blaine and his shattered New York dreams. Kurt figured he'd better get used to spending his weekends at the shop because in another ten years he would own Hummel Tires and Lube.

He could hardly wait.

Bent over the engine of a newer model Ford sedan, Kurt straightened at the sound of a car pulling up to the bay. He turned and saw a familiar pink Fit rolling to a stop.

'Ah,' he thought to himself proudly, 'a little bit of kindness rewarded with the prize of a customer.'

This might turn out to be a good day after all.

Kurt smiled as he saw Brittany's blonde ponytail emerge from the passenger side of the car.

"Hey, Britt," he called out from his station, "I'll be with you in a minute." He was actually glad to see her car, knowing that he would be doing tire and alignment work. He was getting tired of oil changes. He was just wrapping up his fifteenth oil change of the morning

He saw the driver’s side door open and braced himself, preparing to hear the berating voice of Brittany's acerbic girlfriend. He kept his smile plastered firmly in place. That was the curse of the customer service racket – having to deal with customers. But his smile turned into a scowl when he saw a head of curly, raven-colored hair, followed by hazel eyes turn and look his way.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kurt snarled as he blew past Blaine on his way to the front counter.

"Britt's father didn't want her driving on three bald tires and a spare, so he asked me to take her to get them fixed,” Blaine explained, looking exceedingly proud of himself.

Brittany walked up to the counter, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Kurt," she sang, "my dad told me to come in and do all that stuff you said."

Kurt smiled at her.

"That's great," Kurt said warmly, ignoring Blaine's presence at his side. "Why don't you go have a seat inside and I'll get this taken care of for you?"

"Okay," Brittany agreed, bouncing off to the waiting area, sticking her earbuds in her ears. Kurt couldn't tell if they were actually attached to an mp3 player or not.

"Why didn't he bring her himself?" Kurt hissed when Brittany was out of earshot.

Blaine chuckled at the mental image of Brittany’s dad behind the wheel of her pink car.

"He's kind of a big man," Blaine said with an amused smile. "He doesn't fit in the Fit."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine’s intended pun.

"What about Santana?" Kurt continued, stabbing at the keyboard viciously as he entered Brittany's information.

"She's taking care of her grandmother,” Blaine explained. “Poor lady's got the flu."

"What about, oh I don't know, anybody else?" Kurt growled.

Kurt came out from behind the counter, glaring at Blaine with daggers in his eyes. He grabbed a clipboard and headed off to Brittany’s car with Blaine tailing close behind. Kurt opened the driver’s side door to the Fit, purposefully ignoring Blaine as he leaned inside to take down the car’s mileage.

"Come on, Kurt," Blaine begged. "Please? I told you I was sorry."

Kurt stood up and swung around, raising a fist to further emphasize his point, but Blaine acted swiftly and took Kurt's hand. He grabbed the clipboard out of Kurt’s other hand and tossed it in the front seat of Brittany’s car. Then he took that hand as well.

"I know what you're going to say," Blaine rushed out, cutting Kurt off, "and I know I was wrong. I cost you so much, and I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you." Kurt struggled for a moment to free himself from Blaine's grasp, but Blaine held on, looking deep into Kurt’s furious eyes. "I promise. Please, just...stop being so mad at me."

Kurt struggled again, but then stopped and sighed, more in defeat than frustration, and Blaine saw a chance; a crack in Kurt's armor. Blaine lifted Kurt's hands to his lips and kissed his fingertips, one at a time, pleading between kisses.

"Please?"

Kiss.

"Please?"

Kiss.

"Kurt?"

Kiss.

"Please? Kurt?"

Kiss.

Kurt felt his defenses crumbling. He couldn't help it. Blaine was sickeningly adorable, and the smile that danced inside his eyes told Kurt that Blaine knew he had won.

Blaine smiled wider, all lush pink lips and white teeth reaching his eyes, his eyebrows bobbing up and down eagerly.

Kurt threw his head back to hide the smile growing on his face at the embarrassing antics of the boy in front of him.

"Alright, alright," Kurt relented, though he was in no hurry to rush Blaine away while he was still peppering Kurt's hands with kisses. “You’re forgiven.”

"Yay!" Blaine squealed, high pitched and ridiculous. Kurt laughed.

"Now, let me get to work." Kurt pushed Blaine on the shoulders half-heartedly. Blaine pulled Kurt against him, his arm winding its way around Kurt's waist while the other held on to Kurt's hand. Blaine hugged Kurt tightly, swaying a touch as if they were dancing.

Blaine sighed into Kurt's neck, and Kurt melted against him.

"Please believe me when I say I wasn't trying to hurt you," Blaine whispered against Kurt's skin. "I would never do anything to hurt you. And I'm sorry that I didn't let you make your own decisions. I just...I couldn't watch...I couldn't..."

Kurt swallowed hard when he felt a small tear roll down his neck. Blaine nuzzled into the crook of Kurt's neck gently as another tear fell.

Kurt smiled, finding the courage to place a kiss to the top of Blaine's head.

"Thank you," Kurt said, rubbing his cheek along Blaine's curls, "for feeling like you needed to protect me."

“You’re welcome,” Blaine said. “And, I’m sorry for not respecting the fact that you didn’t need me to.”

Kurt nodded, holding on to Blaine tighter, feeling like someone in this hick town finally understood him.

Kurt didn’t care that other customers were watching them, or that work was backing up; now that he was in Blaine’s arms again, he suddenly had an urge not to spend all of Saturday in his dad’s shop.

“I should probably get started on Brittany’s car or it’ll never get done.” Kurt pulled reluctantly out of Blaine’s arms. Blaine’s fingers trailed over Kurt’s body in an effort to keep a hold of him, but Blaine let him go and sat on a stool nearby to watch as Kurt repaired Brittany's Fit. It wasn't even discussed. Blaine pulled up the metal stool from Kurt’s station and sat. Blaine’s stool. Once again, all was a little righter in the world. Kurt smiled to himself, thinking how this had become a thing with them, that no matter what Kurt did in the shop, Blaine always stayed close by.

Before Kurt got into Brittany’s car to pull it up onto a lift, he looked around the shop, trying to locate Mark, but apparently Mark had gone on another one of his legendary breaks because he was nowhere to be seen. Kurt bit his tongue to keep from cursing. He couldn’t do the alignment by himself, and there was no way he was waiting for Mark to get back.

Kurt suddenly had an idea.

He bit his lip and turned his eyes towards Blaine, who looked back at Kurt’s change in expression with interest.

"Hey, Anderson,” Kurt said, “ever do an alignment?"

***

Blaine held on tight to the tire rod as Kurt adjusted the nuts. Kurt was grateful for Blaine's willingness to help, but as soon as they started working, Blaine’s helping became distracting. When Blaine lifted his arms over his head to hold the tire rods straight, his shirt lifted up, exposing tanned skin and his defined abs. Kurt couldn't help but steal glances at them as he tried to finish his work. Even worse was when Blaine shifted on his feet to get a better grip - Blaine's shirt hitched a little higher but his jeans slid a fraction lower and holy shit! Kurt was staring. A loud bang against the floor told both Kurt and Blaine that Kurt had just dropped his wrench, barely missing his left foot.

Blaine turned his head to shoot Kurt a look.

"Are you doing alright over there?" Blaine teased, and Kurt knew he had been caught.

"Yeah," Kurt said, bending quickly to pick up the tool and cover his rapidly coloring cheeks. "Yup, everything's fine over here." Kurt lifted his head to chance a peek at Blaine's amused face, but he caught sight of something else instead - a jagged scar that traveled over Blaine's ribs and disappeared further up his shirt.

Blaine could see the shift in Kurt's expression and took a guess at what Kurt had found.

"Blaine?" Kurt walked over to him, examining the faded injury. "What is that?"

"Nothing." Blaine cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It's just...I got into a fight at a school dance a long time ago. But that’s ancient history. It's better now."

Blaine held his breath as Kurt ran careful fingers over the smooth, silvery scar; any thought of his past tragedy dissolved beneath the heat of Kurt's touch.

"Kurt?"

Blaine's voice trembled. Kurt looked into Blaine's eyes, his pupils dark and wide, his expression slightly pained in the most tempting way.

Kurt heard another engine cut outside the bay doors, and the sound snapped the magnetic pull that was drawing him to Blaine's vulnerable body, which he realized was trapped beneath Brittany's car.

"Oh, God, right,” Kurt muttered apologetically. “Go ahead and let go.”

Blaine lowered his arms and shook them, trying to bring the blood back to his aching limbs. A shy smile spread over Blaine's face as he looked up through his lashes at Kurt. It was a look that made Kurt’s heart lodge in his throat.

“Uh, thanks…for the help,” Kurt stammered, wiping his sweaty hands on his pants. “Now shoo so I can get Britt’s car down.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Blaine said, saluting Kurt as he turned on his heels and headed back for Kurt’s station.

Kurt lowered Brittany's car as Blaine wiped down Kurt’s tools and started putting them back in their places. Kurt smirked as he watched him.

"You vying for my job, Anderson?" Kurt remarked. Blaine grinned, but didn't look up at him.

"Maybe I could get a job here," Blaine mused, "that way I could see you more often."

"More often?" Kurt laughed. "I can barely get rid of you as it is."

Blaine laughed louder. Kurt took a moment to examine Blaine's smile. Kurt realized he was beginning to love Blaine's smile - the way the corners of his eyes crinkled up, the way Blaine scrunched his nose and his eyebrows came together. Kurt loved Blaine's laugh as well, and his voice, and dear God, the way this boy smelled. That couldn't be normal. It had to come from a bottle and if Kurt could just find it, he would spray it on every article of clothing and linen he owned. Blaine looked up then and caught the dreamy look in Kurt's eyes.

"Do you see something you like, Hummel?" Blaine asked, looking back down at the tools before shutting the cabinet door.

"Yes," Kurt admitted boldly, spurred on by the smoldering look that had settled in Blaine's eyes. "Something I'd like to kiss, actually."

Blaine's eyes snapped up to meet Kurt's. Kurt licked his lips slowly. Blaine's eyes followed the subtle movement, lips parting slightly as he swallowed hard.

Kurt walked past Blaine, heading to the counter, and Blaine slipped his hand smoothly into Kurt's as he followed.

Blaine broke away and walked ahead to the waiting room to summon Brittany. Brittany bounced over to the counter and handed Kurt her credit card. Surprise of all surprises, it was bright pink and had Hello Kitty’s face smack on it. Kurt looked it over once with a judgmental shake of his head before he slid it through the card reader.

"Thanks, Kurt," Brittany said, taking the impossibly pink Visa card back from him. "And I wanted to say thanks again for working your magic for me yesterday. And I still have your coat. I would have brought it back but it smells like lavender so I put it under my pillow. But I promise I'll give it back next time I see you."

"Of course," Kurt said, handing her a receipt and a pen.

"If there's anything you ever need…" Brittany spoke slowly, concentrating on signing her name, "just ask. Ok?”

"I will," Kurt assured her, though he wasn’t sure what Brittany thought she could help him with. Still, no one in the world is so rich as to turn down a friend.

That’s what his mother always said.

Kurt walked Blaine and Brittany to her car. Brittany hopped into the passenger seat as Blaine opened the driver’s side door. Kurt shook his head and laughed.

"What?" Blaine asked, mocking offense.

"Just...this car does not suit you," Kurt said with a chuckle.

Blaine took a moment to look over Kurt's face - his precisely sculpted eyebrows, his amazing glasz eyes, the sharp slope of his perfect nose. Blaine leaned in closely, eyes trained on Kurt's soft, delicate lips.

"I should just kiss you now," Blaine whispered.

"But, you won't," Kurt said, breathing in that intoxicating scent that was all Blaine, "because you're a gentleman."

"You're right," Blaine agreed. "I promised myself I wouldn't kiss you unless you asked me to."

"And I promised myself I would ask you to.”

"Yeah?” Blaine said, sounding deliciously breathless.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, nodding vigorously. "Soon."

"Well…." Blaine pulled away from Kurt, "can I come by later?"

Kurt smiled.

"I'll be waiting."

Blaine lifted a hand to push a hair out of Kurt's face. Kurt's eyes fluttered closed at the touch. Kurt felt Blaine's fingertips skim down his cheek, over his jawline, down his neck. Kurt trembled slightly as Blaine's fingers continued their journey over Kurt's shoulder, down his arm, and slipping into Kurt's hand. Kurt opened his eyes as Blaine slowly lifted his hand. Blaine lowered his head a bit, looking up through a fan of lashes as he kissed Kurt's knuckles - another little ritual that made Kurt's heart swell - but this time Blaine's tongue escaped the seam of his lips to travel slowly up between Kurt's index and middle finger.

Kurt almost moaned. The sinful sensation of Blaine's tongue dragging across his skin rushed straight to Kurt's groin, filling his entire body with heat. Blaine broke away, enjoying the fire that had ignited in Kurt's normally cool eyes, reveling in the fact that he had put that fire there.

"Good bye, gorgeous." Blaine winked at him, the grin on his face shameless.

Kurt backed away as he watched Blaine climb into the tiny car and start the engine. Brittany was breathing on the rolled-up window and drawing pictures in the vapor, completely oblivious to the two boys flirting behind her.

"Oh, and Blaine," Kurt said before Blaine backed away, "when you come back, could you come back in something domestic?"

Blaine blew Kurt a kiss.

“As you wish.”