Blaine woke up the next morning still tired. He hadn't slept well. He kept waking up randomly and then the sleep he did get was restless and full of strange dreams.

At one point he had laid in bed and would have sworn he heard someone else in the house. It freaked him out. But now as the warm sunshine streamed though his window his nighttime fears seemed childish.

He got up and stretched, letting the sun warm his face. He needed a plan of action. What room to start unpacking first? Actually, he needed coffee first. He may be leaving most of his exploring for when he was completely unpacked, but finding a local coffee place was the first item on his to-do list.

As Blaine walked down the hall towards the bathroom he noticed the faint sent of roses in the air, but didn't think much of it. He opened one of his boxes marked "important bathroom stuff" and found what he needed to shower and do his hair.

He was a little disgusted that he had slept in his clean sheets still sweaty from moving in, but yesterday had been a long day. After he was cleaned up he styled his hair with just a little gel and put on a pair of nicely fitting jeans, boat shoes, a white button down shirt and a soft gray and charcoal striped sweater. Topping it off with a dark fedora he forgot he even owned, but had fallen out of one of the boxes he was rummaging through.

He felt good, despite his lack of sleep, as he walked out into the crisp air and sun of San Francisco.

He knew he should probably look up near by coffee places on his phone, but he just felt like wandering a little. He walked down his street lined with vintage town homes before he got to a more commercial part of his neighborhood. Blaine hadn't even wondered very long before, by lucky chance, he ended up in front of a little shop called "Sugar & Spice". It looked like they served pastries, baked goods and coffee. Perfect.

The little silver bell above the door chimed as he walked in and was immediately surrounded by the smell of sugar and coffee. There were a few customers lounging about in plush, bright colored chairs or sitting at tables, sipping coffee and nibbling on morning treats.

Blaine walked up to the young man behind the counter and gave him a dazzling smile.

"Good morning! I will have a medium drip and..." Blaine glanced at the pastry display. "I don't know. What do you suggest?"

The man at the counter looked a little younger than Blaine, probably still in college. He had dark brown hair and sparkling eyes to match. He smiled at Blaine and leaned forward on the counter. There was no one else in line, so it seemed he was going to spend some time talking to Blaine.

"That depends," he said with a little wink, "What kind of morning are you having Mr. Medium Drip?"

Yeah, Blaine liked this place.

"Mmmm, a sleepy one." he answered. "I just moved in down the street and I needed some coffee before I started my day of unpacking."

The man glanced over to the pastry self. "Well then I'd go with the blueberry muffin, is a staple and it is filling, so it'd be a good way to start the day."

"Great! I'll take one... James." Blaine said glancing at the man's nametag.

"And who is the order for?" James asked.

"My name is Blaine", he held out his hand to shake.

James took it with a smile, "Pleased to meet you Blaine."

"And it's on the house!" James said as Blaine reached for his wallet. "Cute-first-time-costumers-who-just-moved-into-the-neighborhood discount."

Blaine gave him another heart-melting smile, "Thanks."

James seemed to want to chat as he poured Blaine's coffee. "So where in the neighborhood did you just move to?"

"Oh, that blue old Victorian townhouse up the street." Blaine answered, "But I guess that description could apply to many houses around here."

James placed his coffee and muffin in front of Blaine and gave him a funny look. "Not the pale blue one on Jefferson Street? That one has been empty for years."

"That's the one!" Blaine laughed, "You aren't going to come and stalk me are you?" Blaine leaned forward and smiled giving James his best flirty eyes.

James looked flustered for a moment, cheeks gaining color. "No. I- it's just that. There is something wrong with that house."

"Not that I can tell," Blaine said straightening back up, "It's lovely and well kept, and updated."

"Yeah but... don't you... know about it?"

"That it's haunted? Yeah, that doesn't bother me." Blaine said cutting to the chase. "I don't really believe in that kind of stuff." Blaine was surprised that he new home had a reputation in the neighborhood though.

"It's not just that," James answered, "I don't think I could live in a house where something like that happened."

"Something likewhathappened?"

"Oh god!" James cringed, "I am so rude. You just moved in there, you don' want to hear this. I am sorry. I should just say, 'Welcome to the neighborhood!' So you know, 'Welcome to the neighborhood!" James plastered a cheesy grin on his face.

Blaine knew he should probably just let it go, but he had the strange urge to know what had happened in his house. "Thank you James, I appreciate that, but I love a bit of good gossip. So give. What happened in my house?"

James seemed to lose all of his reservations as he leaned forward and lowered he voice conspiratorially, "A few years ago, when I was in highschool, people died there."

Blaine chuckled, "Yeah, but it is a really old house. I bet a few people have died there."

"Not like this. It was amurder suicide. Apparently pretty brutal too. A few months after it happened a young couple moved in, but moved out again just a week latter saying the place was haunted. They were really spooked too. And no one has lived there since." James finished using a mock creepy voice as if he was telling a ghost story.

"Until I moved in that is." Blaine said.

"Yup, until you moved in."

Blaine took his coffee and blueberry muffin, "Interesting. Still I'm not worried."

"Good." James smiled, "I hate for you to leave the neighborhood. Keep me updated though Blaine. I love ghost stories." he winked again.

Blaine laughed good naturally, "Will do!"



Blaine spent the whole rest of the day listening to music, unpacking boxes and dancing around his new home. He ordered more take out decided he really did need to do some grocery shopping sooner or latter. He got calls from his parents, Cooper and Wes, all checking in to see how he liked his new place and asking when they'd get to come and visit. All in all, it was a great day, very productive.

By time Blaine pulled on his pajama bottoms and a t-shirt he'd forgotten all about the strange noises he'd heard the night before and about the murder suicide James told him about. He slid under his cool covers feeling accomplished and soon drifted to sleep.