The ride in the limousine was laced with sexual tension and small talk. They discussed their day, shared a drink and tried to ignore the electricity that sparked between them when their hands accidentally brushed against each other. Their eyes continued to lock and by the time they arrived at the restaurant, neither could stop themselves from touching the other flirtatiously while they spoke.

The limousine pulled up outside of the restaurant and Kurt sighed; time for business.

Blaine tried not to gaze at the restaurant around him. He had never been in such a lavish place before. All of a sudden he felt overwhelmed again and tried to remember all the tips that Finn had given him that afternoon when he had gone to him for help.

"Mrs. Lopez," Kurt said holding out his hand and giving it a shake. She nodded in return and introduced the man beside her.

"This fireball is my cousin Sebastian," she said trying to smile but Blaine caught the emptiness there. He could see the anger in her eyes and decided straight away that there was something to like about Santana because even though she was dressed so elegantly, she looked like she could rip their heads off in one clean sweep.

"I don't know about the fireball part but cousin is true enough," Sebastian said with a short laugh and flashed them both a gracious smile. He shook their hands and they proceeded to take their seats.

Blaine followed suit with the handshakes. He needed to calm his nerves however and he decided that the best place for that would be the bathroom. It was so overwhelming, the restaurant, the clothes, the company they were with, he was sure he was going to make a fool of himself.

"Excuse me," Blaine whispered to Kurt.

"Where are you going?" He asked rising to his feet as Blaine stood shakily to his.

"I'm just going to go to the bathroom," he said trying to keep his voice even.

"Shall I order for you?" Kurt offered kindly. He was concerned, he didn't know why Blaine had suddenly decided to leave.

Yeah!" Blaine stopped himself and responded again more politely. "Please do so, thank you."

And Kurt realized what was going on. He noted Blaine's attempt to match the elite and polite atmosphere in the room, noted his shaky his hands and the croaky edge to his voice. Kurt couldn't help the pang he felt inside when he saw how much Blaine was really trying to make a good impression for Kurt. Kurt gave him a reassuring smile and couldn't take his eyes off him as he left the table. 

***

"Mr. Hummel," Sebastian said in his assertive business tone, "my cousin here firmly believes that the person who creates a magazine should be the one who controls its destiny."

The conversation had turned to business by the time Blaine had returned to the table. He tried to follow everything that they were saying and he believed for the most part, he knew what was going on. But now, as Blaine looked at the silverware in front of him and the dish he had just been given, he had other things to worry about.

The silverware did not match up to what Finn had shown him earlier in the day. They continued to talk business around him but Blaine couldn't follow their words, all he could think about was the amount of silver before him.

"Where's the salad?" he whispered to Kurt.

"The salad comes at the end of the meal," Kurt responded pausing from the serious conversation to give Blaine a soft smile.

"That's the fork I know!" Blaine blurted out. Kurt smiled again and he knew that Blaine had no idea of how endearing and innocent he was being. He was so stressed he even missed the soft and interested gaze that Sebastian sent his way.

"I don't know about you," Santana suddenly spoke relieved as well to have an opportunity to stop talking about business. "I've never been able to figure which goes with what." She gave Blaine a wide smile and went about her food in a casual manner. It was comforting to see this extravagant beautiful woman eating her food in an everyday way but it definitely didn't match the restaurant they were in.

"There was a time when our magazine was number five in the country," Sebastian continued trying to return everyone's attention back to the issue at hand.

"Who ordered this?" Blaine asked worriedly as a plate of snails was set before him.

"It's snails. It's a delicacy, you should try it," Kurt said leaning in ever so subtly. Blaine tried to resist the urge to shudder. He stared at the plate wondering what he should do, he really didn't want to eat them but then Kurt gave him an encouraging nod and held up the tongs. Blaine realized that he was going to have to go through with it.

"Mr. Hummel, if you were to get control," Sebastian asked starting to get frustrated with Kurt and the way in which the conversation kept getting off track, "and I don't think you will, but if you did, what do you plan to do with the magazine?"

Blaine held the tongs in his hands and examined them.

"That's easy," Kurt replied and he elegantly rested his chin on his hands, his view of Blaine never leaving his peripheral vision. "We plan to revamp it and give it a whole new demographic, change the face of it and turn it around."

The tongs went gingerly down over a snail and Blaine gently twisted them around trying to judge the best angle at which to try and pick one up.

"I'm sure you understand that I'm not thrilled with the idea of you turning ten years of my work into your afternoon project," Santana said her voice suddenly cold. "This magazine has been my life!"

The tongs slipped over the top of one snail and Blaine frowned, this was definitely harder than it looked.

"For the price I'm paying for your magazine, Mrs Lopez, you're going to be a very rich woman," and there was an edge to Kurt's voice now too.

"I'm rich enough," she nearly spat insulted by his words.

Blaine spied another snail and decided that it was the one that was going to be eaten. He just needed to use a little bit more extra force. He clamped the tongs around the snail and he visibly sighed in relief as he managed to lift the unfortunate creature free from the plate. His eyes fell on it and then, to his horror, the tongs slipped around its shell the force sending the snail flying through the air. It sailed across the table only to be caught by the sharp reflexes of one of the waiters.

Blaine's cheeks went bright red.

"Slippery little suckers," he said with a silly grin all over his face.

***

"I met your father once, what's his name?" Santana asked.

"Burt," Kurt told him and an immediate shadow fell over his face. He didn't want to talk about his father. It was a topic that he preferred to keep hidden in the background.

"He's not quite the bastard he says he is," Santana continued unaware of Kurt's discomfort.

"It doesn't really matter now, he passed away," Kurt said firmly and leaned back from the table. He didn't want to embarrass Santana but how else was he meant to tell her. Blaine's eyes fell on Kurt too, surprised by the sudden admission. It was such horrible news and all he wanted to do was lean across the table and wrap Kurt up in his arms.

Santana was taken aback, "I hadn't heard, I'm sorry."

I'm sorry too," Blaine said earnestly.

Kurt ignored the both of them. His father was a sore topic to say the least. He hated that he had never come to terms with Kurt's preferences, he was sure that Burt could be more supportive and maybe somewhere, somewhere else, he had been the complete opposite to the man who had practically shut him out. Kurt snapped his attention back to the table. They were thoughts to have at another time. 

"Mrs Lopez you asked for this meeting. What can I do for you?" Kurt asked rigidly and it was all that was needed to put Santana back into business mode and her previous sympathies were quickly forgotten.

"Leave my magazine alone!" she demanded.

"I can't do that," Kurt replied shaking his head. It was impossible.

"I've heard enough of this!" Sebastian said sharply. He began to rise to his feet. "Blaine, it was a great pleasure to meet you. Sorry Santana, I need to go get some air." Sebastian gave Kurt one last look. "Mr. Hummel." And then he was gone. Blaine looked at Santana and knew she was going to follow her cousin's steps. She rose steadily running her hands over her slim body ensuring her clothes were straight.

"I better go join my cousin. You two enjoy your dinner," she said but it was directed at Blaine. She turned back to Kurt her face full of fire.

"Watch out Hummel, I'm going to tear you a part!" she hissed and Blaine's eyes rose in surprise. He had no doubt she was capable of it. Kurt however was not phased one bit.  

"I look forward to it!"