“You okay?” the smiling man asked quietly, reaching over to brush the other man’s hair away from his face gently.

“Of course I am, James.”

James flinched slightly at the way his partner moved away from his touch, but he didn’t press the matter further, tucking his hands into his pockets and taking a step forward with the others in the line. The pair remained silent until it was their turn to place their order and the smiling worker behind the counter asked politely what they would like.

“Your usual, Kurt?”

“Medium Drip, please,” Kurt murmured and this time James’ frown deepened. He placed the order, handing over some money and giving the barista his name before they moved to the side to wait for their drinks.

A slightly awkward silence settled between them as they waited, neither wanting to speak until they had some of that warm caffeine coursing through them. As soon as their order was called, they grabbed the drinks and headed to a small table in the corner of the room.

James waited for Kurt to speak, but when the other boy failed to break the tension first he was unable to stop the sigh that escaped him.

“What’s wrong, Kurt?”

“What are you talking about?” Kurt feigned innocence, raising his coffee to his lips and taking the smallest of sips.

“You ordered a Medium Drip.”

Now Kurt really was confused, merely quirking an eyebrow in response.

“That’s your ‘something is wrong’ drink.”

“Excuse me?” Kurt spluttered.

“You think I don’t notice you only deviate from your non-fat mocha when you’re in a certain mood? And that it’s always a Medium Drip?”

“You know my coffee order?”

“Of course I do.”

“And then you get that far off look in your eyes, like you wish you were anywhere else but here.” James was beginning to get frustrated and brought his hand up to run roughly through his tussled hair. “The look you’ve got right now, as a matter of fact.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, James,” Kurt mumbled his response into the lid of his take-away coffee cup, barely taking a second to glance at the man across from him.

“Oh please, Kurt, we’ve been together for six months, I’m not stupid.”

“I’m crazy about you.”

Kurt chose not to reply, swallowing another sip of his drink and not really knowing what he could say at this point to convince James that what he was saying wasn’t true. If he was completely honest with himself, he would admit that this was because he didn’t really care about James, not in the way one was supposed to care about their boyfriend.

The blonde felt himself sighing again as he gazed across the table at the guy he had fallen for pretty much instantly when they had met at the beginning of the Summer, taking in the hurt that seemed to be permanently present in Kurt’s eyes and coming to realize what was actually going on.

“Why are you doing this to yourself?” James cringed at his own words, knowing that forcing Kurt to talk about something that made him uncomfortable would only anger him. He took note of the defeated gaze that stared back at him, before pushing on with his questioning. “Why are you with me when you’re clearly still in love with somebody else?”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The words hung in the air between them, stretching and swirling, playing over and over in the thick, tension filled silence that followed. James knew he had said enough, that it was up to Kurt now to make the next move.

The blonde watched as various emotions played over the younger man’s face, shocked at what he was seeing. It was strange to him that Kurt, who normally hid his thoughts so well, was so plainly and easily showing his feelings and distress; whoever he was thinking about must have really been eating him up inside.

After several long moments of James patiently gazing at him, concern etched into his features, Kurt murmured one word, so quietly it was nearly lost in the general hustle and bustle of the caf�.

“Blaine.”

“Sorry?”

“His name is Blaine,” Kurt choked out louder this time. “The guy I think about, his name is Blaine, and he always gets a Medium Drip. Or, he used to at least.”

“Your first love?” James spoke dryly, disbelieving that he was having this conversation, that this was how his relationship was falling apart.

Kurt merely nodded.

“So, what happened?” James asked when he realized that Kurt, with his wide unblinking eyes, was not going to speak and that he himself would have to continue to carry the conversation.

Kurt swallowed hard and gazed around the caf�, not really observing the other patrons but eager to find somewhere to look that wasn’t on the man in front of him. “We couldn’t handle the distance I guess. We fell in love in high school, and then he ended up at Brown and I ended up here. It’s not even a huge distance, we just couldn’t handle not seeing each other every day and we were so busy with class. And now, well, since graduation I can’t stop thinking that…”

Kurt trailed off after realizing what he was saying and what he was admitting to. His boyfriend had asked him who he was in love with and he’d said another man’s name.

“I’m so sorry, James.” There were tears in Kurt’s eyes as he finally looked up at the man across from him.

“It’s okay, Kurt, I understand.” James sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day before draining the remainder of his coffee; as much as he wanted to be there for Kurt, his heart wasn’t sure how much more he could handle. “I’m going to go, okay?”

He stood slowly, giving Kurt the chance to say something, anything that would stop him from leaving. When it became evident that Kurt was going to stay as silent as he’d been all morning, James let out another slow breathe. “I think you need to work through some things, either go back to this guy or find a way to come to terms with it all. I’ll consider things with us over, I’m fairly certain you’re no where near ready to be with someone else.”

Kurt nodded but didn’t move from where he was seated, gazing up at his now ex-boyfriend.

“Don’t hesitate to call me if you really need someone to talk to, okay?” James was sincere in his plea, making sure to catch Kurt’s eyes and take in their beauty one last time. “I don’t want you hurting.”

He was greeted with a sad smile of thanks, which he returned, even if it was incredibly forced on his part.

And with that, James turned and left Kurt to the dregs of his coffee, the noise around him finally fading away to nothing as his mind zeroed in on the thought that had been repeating itself over and over since a certain phone call the previous night. Blaine was now living in New York.