The man at the beach haunted Kurt, he didn't know why. Maybe it was those honey eyes, the little curls that escaped his gelled locks, that voice-like-sex. He hadn't seen the man again, but it didn't mean he hadn't looked for Blaine. He most certainly had, and by the next week Kurt was about mad. Rachel noticed Kurt's distant stares over breakfast, the way he smiled into his cereal. Everyone loves Fruity Pebbles, but not that much. Kurt refused to talk about the man at the beach, perhaps to avoid the crushing disappointment of probably never seeing him again.

Kurt sighed and lifted himself up off the sand. The sun was up now, hovering over the ocean, and beach was beginning to bustle with joggers- muscle-men and typical L.A. moms running in the sand, babies in tow. That was one thing he didn't like so much about California. The posh-mommy culture. He'd thought soccer moms were scary- before he'd moved to the golden coast.

Dusting off his feet and slipping his shoes back on, Kurt made his way up away from the beach to his normal coffee shop.

"Hey you!"

The voice startled Kurt, who had been staring into the window of a blown-glass shop. He looked up to see Blaine reflected in the window and flushed. The one thing about having porcelain skin and a perfect complexion was that he couldn't hide the red that spread up his cheeks. Kicking himself a little for being such a dork, he turned,

"Hey you."

Blaine beamed at him. He looked different without the gel and bowtie, and while Kurt didn't usually prefer the sweaty post-workout look, he couldn't help but stare at the few beads of sweat that traced slowly down the man's bare torso, the way his damp curls stuck to his head, how his shorts sat maybe a little too low on his hips. Kurt could get used to it. Blaine seemed to notice his staring and squirmed a little under his gaze,

"Headed... somewhere?" Blaine bit his bottom lip, nonono. Idiot. You sound like an idiot. Blaine let out a little laugh, "Headed somewhere?" he asked again, more confidently.

Kurt nodded, "Coffee. You?"

"Nowhere, really. Just cooling off."

Unsure of what to do with his hands, which suddenly felt extremely awkward at his sides, Blaine dug into his pockets and motioned with his head back up the hill, the way he'd seen Kurt headed from the beach before he'd caught up. Admittedly, he probably could've done so sooner, if he hadn't dropped in the sand and done mountain-climbers, throwing in a couple crunches and a few pushups. And removed his shirt, throwing it over his shoulders. Okay. So he wasn't quite proud of that, but he knew his abs looked especially nice after a run, and he just wanted to make sure all the muscles were tight. Wes would've laughed at him, and he was actually glad his friend has wimped-out of their morning run.

Taking Blaine's cue, Kurt started back up the hill toward the café.

They walked quietly, exchanging a few comments about the unopened stores they passed. They passed a baby store, Kurt made snide remarks about the hundred-dollar knit dolls and thousand dollar, elaborately decorated sand strollers in the window.

"You're not from around here are you?" Blaine laughed.

"No. Where I'm from, strollers are for transporting children, not a status symbol," Kurt said with an eye roll.

"Hah. Where are you from?"

"Lima, Ohio, most boring place on Earth."

Blaine blinked, "No way! I was supposed to go to Dalton in Westerville, if you've heard of it. Then my dad switched firms and we moved out here."

"Small world, I went there my sophomore year, just for a while." Kurt was pretty sure the man was gay, if the bowtie and gel was any indication, then again, he'd been wrong before, so he added, "I was the only kid out at my old school, the bullying got pretty bad."

Sad hazel eyes met his own, as Blaine nodded, "Ohio's not the easiest place to be gay. That's the reason I decided to transfer there too, before we came out here, of course."

The boys walked a while more in silence, both trapped in their own heads, and Kurt was glad to have finally reached the coffee shop.

"It was nice seeing you again, Kurt."

"Yeah, you too," Kurt fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.

"So," Blaine said awkwardly, unsure of whether he should ask for a number, or if he should just leave, or invite himself to coffee, or if he should just find a building to jump off.

Kurt laughed at the awkward man in front of him who looked more like a boy when he bit his lip and glanced around, avoiding eye contact, "Do...you wanna join me for coffee? I mean, if you have nowhere else to be..."

"Yeah!" Fuck. Blaine made a mental note to smack his head against a wall later,"Um, yeah... Coffee sounds great."