Chapter 1

"Can I get a blackjack," asked Blaine. The bartender nodded and turned around to start the drink. Blaine sat down in his chair and rubbed his face while sighing. Thankfully, the day was over and he just wanted to have a drink, make a few phone calls, then head back upstairs to his hotel room and watch TV until he fell asleep. These last couple of days were quite stressful and Blaine just needed to chill out for at least one night.

The bartender returned with his drink, setting it in on a cocktail napkin and sliding it towards him.

"Long day?" she asked, taking a washcloth and wiping down the counter.

Blaine huffed in annoyance as he took his first sip. "You have no idea." She smiled at him and continued to clean up a little. Blaine pulled his cellphone out and opened his calendar. He had so many meetings to go to this week, it was becoming overwhelming. He sighed again as he mentally noted the times of the meetings and who he was going to be talking to.

"Seabreeze, please."

"Sure thing," said the bartender as someone sat two seats down the bar from him. Blaine ignored them and continued to look at his schedule for the rest of the week. It seemed like he would never get a break from this. His whole life seemed to be running from one place to another, but that's how Blaine liked it. It meant he would never have to worry about the little things, or have enough time to think. Time to think never led to anything good for him. Usually it depressed him and he'd end up lying around doing nothing. Life on the run was a good fit for him.

Blaine picked his glass up and drained it, feeling slightly refreshed as the cold drink slid down his throat. He took in a breath and sighed, setting the glass down gently.

"Another one?" asked the bartender.

"Please," said Blaine with a wink.

"Whoa, you must've had a rough day," said the voice beside him.

"Too long," said Blaine without looking up.

"Hard working, or hardly working?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Hard working." Why was this person talking to him? He was clearly busy.

"I know what you mean. What better way to cope than with alcohol."

"Yep." Wasn't it obvious that Blaine didn't want to talk? Damn, some people are so clueless.

"But I'm obviously not an alcoholic, I just get drunk once a day," the man joked.

Blaine was annoyed from the day, and whoever was speaking to him was getting on his nerves.

"How about you-" Blaine began, about to snap at him, but once he turned and looked at him, he had to keep his mouth from falling to the floor.

Wow.

Was it possible to be that good looking? The man stood there in a gray suit with a black tie, his skin extremely pale and his chestnut hair was perfectly coiffed up. His thin smile made Blaine's insides squirm a little and Blaine had to bite down his gasp.

The man looked at him with a raised eyebrow, waiting for Blaine to continue, but he couldn't seem to find any words.

"Uhh..." he said. Uhh? That's the best your dumbass could come up with? Blaine kicked himself mentally for his stupidity.

"You were saying?" he proposed.

How about you come to my room.

"It's been a day from hell," chuckled Blaine.

"I can agree with you on that," he laughed. "Kurt," the man said, standing up and holding his hand out.

"Blaine." They shook hands and sat back down. The bartender came back with his drink and set it down.

"Need anything else, hon?" she asked sweetly.

"No, no, here" said Blaine a little harshly and throwing her a 20. She glared back and snatched it up, leaving them alone.

"So, Blaine, what's your day from hell been like?" he asked. That was strange. Normally people wouldn't give a shit about anyone else's day.

"Oh, I'd just bore you with details..." said Blaine with a laugh.

"Oh, you wouldn't. Not after my day," Kurt joked. Blaine sighed. "Long story short, I'm trying to keep my crew together without falling apart from the stress, and I've barely managed today."

"And what is it you do, if I may ask?" Kurt asked with a smile. Blaine couldn't help but return it, smiling equally as big because someone actually took an interest in him.

"I'm a film producer and we're just finishing up the preproduction phase, and there are still quite a few things to do before we start filming. I might actually die from being so stressed, which I always thought was a myth."

"A film producer! How exciting, Mr. Blaine. Although doesn't sound too exciting for you right now."

"No, no, I love my job, it's just that the constant traveling sometimes gets to me," said Blaine. He really did enjoy his life. "Going from city to city is...amazing, but exhausting at the same time."

"Ah, must be the life, huh? Going places to places for work, and on your down time, just doing whatever the heck you want..." Kurt seemed to drift off in a daydream, and Blaine admired the sight of him, his chin on his hand as he looked up, imagining a world for himself that would be the perfect life.

"So," Kurt said, snapping out of his trance a few seconds later, "where are you from?"

"Oh," Blaine huffed as if the question could be the worst thing to ask. "I lived in Westerville."

"Ohio?" asked Kurt perking up.

"Yeah! How'd you know?"

"I lived in Lima!"

"No way!" Blaine said, a huge grin on his face.

"Wow, we really weren't that far from each other! What school d'ya go to?" asked Kurt with enthusiasm.

"Dalton Academy. It's a private school that no one's basically heard of. Basically all of us were shipped there because of our wealthy parents-"

"Wait, the school that wore the navy blazers with red lining?"

Blaine cocked his head in confusion.

"Um...yeah! Wow, not many people know about Dalton."

"I did. My dad and stepmom actually looked into getting me in there because some bully in high school threatened to kill me."

"That's horrible," said Blaine with a frown.

"I know, but we couldn't afford it, so I was basically forced to stay there. But it seemed like a really good school to go to."

"It really was! Wow, I can't believe we lived so close to each other. What a small world," said Blaine.

"No kidding," said Kurt incredulously. "I was at McKinley, though not much went on there at all. The only thing that got me through high school was the glee club."

"You were a member of the New Directions?" Blaine basically screamed.

"Yeah! How'd you know? Wait...now that you mention it, you do kind of look familiar."

Blaine stood up with his drink in hand and moved to sit right next to Kurt so they could face each other while Kurt studied his face.

"Yeah, I was part of Dalton's glee club. We were-"

"The Warblers!" they both said together, Kurt finally connecting the dots and reveling in discovery.

"Holy shit, what a small world," said Blaine again with a grin. "You guys were impossible to beat. We thought we were good until we went up against you guys. Mainly that Jewish girl who seemed to sing every song."

"Don't remind me," said Kurt with a roll of his eyes. "She never shared the spotlight, so we all swayed in the back. She's actually in New York on Broadway right now. Anyway," said Kurt with a pat to Blaine's hand. It sent a shiver up his arm with the sudden, yet delicate touch. "I remember we were pretty shaken by you guys, though. Weren't you the head Warbler? Or main boy, or head bitch, whatever you call it?" joked Kurt.

Blaine chuckled and nodded his head.

"Yep, I was basically the equivalent to that Jewish girl," said Blaine.

"Wow," said Kurt, awestruck. "I still can't believe of all people I would see here, you'd be the one. We literally went to school not an hour away from each other," Kurt said taking a sip from his drink.

"I know, who would've thought we'd meet like this," laughed Blaine. "So what brings you here to Chicago?" asked Blaine, taking a huge gulp from his own drink.

"I'm the set designer for Broadway, so I basically go to the major cities that host Broadway productions and work for them for as long as they need. I actually just came from the Bank of America Theatre after meeting with the light crew."

"Wow! That sounds like quite the busy life yourself," said Blaine incredulously.

"It is, but I wouldn't want any other job. Being on stage was my dream...I got to live it for a while, but I got sucked in doing the behind-the-scenes and I just loved it. I love getting to see the results of my work and my crew, that incredible feeling you get when you've finally accomplished something you've worked so hard on. I'm sure you know how that feels, Mr. Producer," smiled Kurt.

Blaine nodded, "Oh, yeah. After months and months of constant planning and moving around, you get to see the end result and be completely proud of it. There's no other feeling that's better."

This was so easy. Talking to Kurt was as simple as any other daily activity and Blaine loved it. He always had to put on a façade when meeting with others and having a change of pace by talking to someone that seemed genuinely interested in you and not your money was quite refreshing.

"Another round, boys?" asked the bartender with a bite of disdain. Blaine turned to Kurt who shrugged with a smile.

"Sure! This one's on me," he said, winking at Blaine. Blaine smiled and drained his cup.

"Fine, but the one after that is on me," he said with sly grin.

* * *

"No, no, and what was with that one judge who was a nun and former exotic dancer?" slurred Blaine as Kurt roared with laughter. They had talked for about two more hours and were about three more drinks deep, both just laughing and enjoying each other's memories from their high school competitions.

"I feel like the committee ran out people who actually wanted to judge show choir competitions and paid random people from the street," said Kurt, wiping tears from his eyes.

"I don't know how you guys even won with that male lead that couldn't even take two steps without tripping over his clown feet." Blaine laughed but Kurt didn't even let out a sound. He turned to him and noticed he had a serious expression.

"The lead with clown feet is my step-brother," said Kurt with accusation.

"Oh, shit, Kurt. I'm sorry, I didn't know," said Blaine with sincerity. Kurt's lip quivered and then he broke out into more laughter.

"I wish you could've seen your face, it was priceless!" Blaine laughed along, feeling heat creep up to his cheeks. He'd been tricked!

"But seriously," continued Kurt, "he really is my step-brother, but his dance moves are worse than my constant shimmy's. And that's saying something."

They laughed as the bartender came up to them.

"Bar closes in half an hour," she told them.

"Oh, shit," said Blaine. "This turned out to be a really fun night," said Blaine.

"Indeed," agreed Kurt. "What's more fun than enjoying a couple of drinks with someone you may have gone to school with?"

"I wish we would have. Imagine the fun we would've had!" laughed Blaine.

"Oh, I was too good in high school to have too much fun," said Kurt.

"What? A hot guy like you not having fun?"

Kurt's cheeks flushed red at the statement. Did I really just say that? Shit...

"Well, Blaine, I didn't know you swing that way."

It was Blaine's turn to flush a shade of red as he fiddled with his thumbs.

"Ha...well, now you know."

Kurt reached out and placed a hand on his side. "It's okay...I do too." A spark of arousal coursed through Blaine's body as Kurt pressed his hand more firmly. What's the harm in having a little fun? They were here together at least for the night, and they were very tipsy, so why not enjoy the windy city in all of its glamor?

"Good to know," said Blaine, his voice lowering to give Kurt the hint. His eyes flashed and one end of his lip tilted up into a devilish grin.

Blaine stood up and pulled his wallet out to leave a tip for the bartender. After dropping a few bills, he pulled out a card and dropped it in front of Kurt. It was his spare bedroom key.

"Let me know if you need anything," said Blaine, taking his finger and dragging it ever so slowly up Kurt's arm as he walked behind him. He could feel Kurt's skin quiver beneath the fabric of his suit. Blaine placed his other hand on Kurt's shoulder and tickled his neck with his fingernail.

"And I mean..."

Blaine leaned in to Kurt's ear. He shivered at the sudden proximity.

"...anything," he whispered. With that, he walked off to exit the bar and headed for the elevator to his room. Maybe he'd show up, maybe he wouldn't, but at least it was out in the air.

Blaine walked until he reached the end of the hall, only then turning around to see Kurt walking his way with his room key in hand and lust blown eyes.