Kurt left the party. It really wasn't his scene. There were too many people, LA people to be exact, who he just couldn't be bothered making conversation with. Rachel had told him that the Lotus Esprit was not his kind of car, but any car was his kind of car this evening if it got him away from the dreadful party she had thrown for him. And of course, he did know how to drive a car with a stick shift, for goodness sake.... well, he kind of did.

All he hoped was that he would be able to find his hotel, somewhere at the bottom of this hill, in the middle of Beverly Hills. The car drove wildly out of control as he flew around the corners of the mountain, but finally, as dusk was creeping into night, he found himself deep in the streets of LA, still lost, but definitely a lot closer to his hotel.

"Hey, baby, are you looking for a date?" he heard as he drove past the endless shops and busy roads full of people going about their evening.

***

Blaine's alarm woke him out of his slumber but despite sleeping all day, he was feeling refreshed and ready to go for the night. Ever since he had arrived in LA his life had changed, and now, sleeping during the day and being awake all night was like second nature. ‘Wild One' played over the radio as he got ready for the night. He ruffled out his hair, admired the slight amount of re-growth showing on his face and picked a pair of jeans that were just tight enough to show the ample curve of his butt. It was one of his greatest assets. He hummed along to the words of the song, put on his shoes, ran a hand through his curls one last time and went to walk out of his apartment.

Blaine approached his front door and stopped when he heard the overbearing and annoying voice of his landlord resonating through the door. He knew why he was there. Rent was due. He returned to the bathroom to collect the money that he and Sam kept reserved for their rent, hidden in the toilet, only to find it was all gone. ‘Shit!' Blaine thought to himself, ‘No rent money!' He sighed angrily trying to keep his emotions in stock. He would have to find Sam to sort this out, but for now, it looked like it was going to be a down-the-fire-escape exit tonight, and the landlord, well, he was just going to have to wait.

The music was pumping in the Blue Banana Club when Blaine arrived. He gave the bar a quick scan. The place was full, the music loud, and the lighting dark red and hazy. It would take him forever to find Sam if he searched every dark little corner of the place.

"Hey Pops, has Sam been in here?" Blaine asked calling over to the barman.

Schuester nodded and signaled to the second floor, "Upstairs, in the pool room."

Blaine gave him a quick nod in appreciation and headed off to the stairs.

"Yo, Blaine!" Sam exclaimed, lowering the comb he had been using idly in his hair.

"Is it all gone?" Blaine asked angrily. Sam ignored his question.

"Tina, you know my roommate, Blaine," he said casually, introducing his female companion.

"Sam!" Blaine repeated the frustration ever so apparent in his voice.

"Tina sold me some great shit, we just had a party. I was the host!"

"I can't believe you just spent our rent. What is going on with you Sam?" Blaine yelled over the music. He grabbed Sam by the arm and pulled him to his feet.

"I needed a little pick me up!" Sam cried.

"Oh, but we need rent money!"

"Calm down, gorgeous," Tina suddenly interrupted. She gave Blaine the eye over. She couldn't stop herself any longer, Sam's roommate looked delicious. "He only owes me another $200."

"Another $200 dollars! Sam!" Blaine cried throwing his hands into the air.

"You can always work that off with me," Tina teased. She moved closer towards Blaine and rubbed her hand up and down his chest. Blaine flinched. It wasn't that he didn't do girls. He always went down that avenue when he was down on cash. He just didn't like it when they were girls who were known to be dangerous pimps. Tina had powerful people behind her in the Asian underworld, Blaine had heard the stories, and she was someone he really didn't want to get involved with.

"Don't worry about him, Tina," Sam stepped in, knowing that Blaine was feeling uncomfortable. Sam grabbed Blaine's arm. "Come on Blaine, let's go."

He quickly led Blaine away before Tina could get another word in. Sam was all too aware of Blaine's aversion toward her, even though he believed that Tina could possibly be of some assistance to their current cash flow problem.

They headed towards the stairs. It was time to get down to work and get the night started. They were behind now and they couldn't waste any more time. Blaine however was disgruntled and he couldn't help himself. He never liked it when Sam did drugs. The only time Sam could have taken them was when he had been resting during the day. 

"You took the drugs while I was sleeping?" Blaine asked, shaking his head. Sometimes he just couldn't believe how he had ended up in this situation, with Sam, in this bar, in this life. What had happened to his dreams, his ambitions?

"You were unavailable for consultation!" Sam snapped back. He was starting to get riled up that Blaine was still going on about the drugs and the rent money. After all, what was life if you just couldn't live it right then and right there?

"Besides, it's my apartment!" Sam muttered. He pulled Blaine towards the bar and began to select some fruit garnishes that Schuester had put out for drinks.

"Yeah, well I have to live there too, Sam!" Blaine argued.

"Look you came here, I gave you some money, I gave you a place to stay, and some valuable vocational advice, so don't irritate me!" Sam gave him a quick glare and went back to selecting some more cut up fruit slices.

"Hey, this is not a buffet, Sam!" Schuester called from the other end of the bar. 

Shouts of angry men suddenly reached their ears as two men, only a short distance from them, started laying into each other. Blaine shrunk away. He hated violence.

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Blaine asked Sam looking around exasperated.

"Out of where, where the fuck do you want to go?" Sam asked confused. He couldn't think of anywhere else he'd want to be. This was where life was, where it was all happening.