They stop outside the tiny, cream-painted coffee shop where Blaine had tripped over Kurt's feet and found his way back into Kurt's life. Blaine glances across at Kurt and sees that he has recognised where they are.

"I really am sorry for walking into you like that," he says, looking contrite. But Kurt catches the glimmer in his eye.

"No, you're not."

"I am!" Blaine protests. "Well, I'm sorry for walking into you, because that could have hurt you. But…no, I'm not sorry really, because I got to talk to you again." He grins, unabashed, clearly unaware of the fact that Kurt's insides have now gone all wiggly. It feels a little bit like his intestines have turned into very energetic worms.

"You're doing wonders for my ego," Kurt says after a second's pause. "Feel free to continue." No amount of false nonchalance can hide his blush, however.

"How about some coffee instead?"

"I suppose it'll have to do," Kurt sighs, mock-afflicted. Blaine pokes his tongue out, his mercurial mood switching to 'childish', and pushes the door of the café – 'Warbling Away', according to the sign – open, the action setting the bell tinkling.

Kurt ducks under Blaine's arm and into the shop, inhaling the heady smell of coffee. "Oh…" he breathes, closing his eyes for a second. The café is warm and bright, painted a cheerful blue with pretty paintings hung on the walls. Kurt has never been anywhere that has felt so immediately homely.

"Is this where you work?" Kurt asks, looking back at Blaine.

"Yep," Blaine answers. "Do you want coffee?"

Kurt nods. "A grande non-fat mocha, please."

"You're very specific," Blaine comments, shoving the bills Kurt tries to give him back into his hand.

"I don't take my coffee lightly. And please let me pay for my own drink." Kurt frowns, holding out the money stubbornly. He's not quite sure why it's so important that Blaine doesn't pay for him – maybe because, if he did, it would seem too much like this is a date, and Kurt's confused enough as it is.

"Kurt!" Blaine whines. "You just gave me fifty dollars, to start with, and besides, I asked you to get a drink, I should pay."

Kurt decides that the only way to clarify things is to ask. "Blaine…is this a date?"

Blaine's eyes are a little too wide, but he answers calmly enough. "Do you want it to be?"

"Don't turn this back around to me; I asked you. Is this a date for you? You asked, after all."

"Well, considering I don't even know for certain if you're gay or straight or what, it'd be a bit much to presume that this is a date, wouldn't it?" Blaine folds his arms, pleased with his logic.

Kurt chuckles. "I'm very, very gay, Blaine. That okay?"

"More than," Blaine says, smiling. "And in that case, yes, this is a date. If you want, that is, I mean, I don't want to assume…" He trails off, looking at Kurt a little nervously.

"I guess I'm okay with that," Kurt says slowly, trying not to grin too widely. "But you're still not paying."

Blaine sighs dramatically, but he's definitely smiling now, broad and happy. Kurt finds himself staring at it, wanting to make Blaine smile more. "You are so stubborn. Fine, give me the money," Blaine says, holding out his hand to Kurt, who gives him a handful of dollar bills.

Blaine approaches the counter and examines the bell sitting there for a moment before deciding to ignore it. "Jeff!" he yells. "I know you're out there! How about you come and do some work?"

A blonde head pokes about the counter. Kurt stares at its owner, bemused, wondering why on earth he was sitting down there.

"Yes, Blaine?" the man – Jeff, one can only assume – says dryly. "Did you call?"

"Not at all," Blaine shoots back sarcastically. "But since you are here, do you think my companion and I could receive some libation? We are rather thirsty." His voice has taken on an odd twang, some accent Kurt can't quite place. His eyebrows knit themselves together as he watches Blaine's back, trying to work it out.

"Why, I'm quite certain that we can manage to rustle something up for you both," Jeff answers, using the same accent.

"Splendid. A grande non-fat mocha and a medium drip, then, please."

"Are you actually paying, or are you taking advantage of Wes' generosity again?" Jeff asks, his voice returned to normal. Or, at least, what Kurt assumes is normal; he can't really be certain, as he has heard Jeff say barely thirty words.

Kurt can't see his face, but judging by his tone, Blaine is outraged – or at least pretending to be. "When would I ever do that?" he asks, sounding hurt. "Besides, a gentleman always pays on a date, and doesn't take advantage of his very generous employee discount."

"Date?" Jeff raises his eyebrows and glances at Kurt. Something seems to click and his eyes widen in recognition. "Are you…?"

"Yes, this is Kurt," Blaine says quickly, as if wanting this moment over and done with as soon as possible. Thinking about the reactions of Tina, Quinn, Lauren and Santana, Kurt sympathises entirely.

"Kurt from the bar Kurt? Kurt who filled your space as Blonde Robert's next victim Kurt? 'Oh my God, he's so beautiful, I wish I could see him again' Kurt?"

Blaine's reaction could be described as mortified, but the adjective doesn't really have enough weight to be accurate. Blaine turns a startling shade of scarlet and glances back at Kurt before quickly returning his attention to Jeff. Even the back of his neck is bright red.

"Yes, that Kurt," he says, sounding like his teeth are gritted. His tone becomes more smug as he adds, "He's the editor of Glee magazine."

Jeff's mouth drops open, forming a comical 'o'. "No way. You must be joking. That's not on, Blaine."

"I swear, I am not lying. Scout's honour," Blaine says, holding up three fingers.

"Blaine, we've known each other since we were five years old. I know for a fact that you were never a scout."

"You could just ask me," Kurt says, speaking up to rescue Blaine, who is floundering. He's a little bewildered by the pace and content of Blaine and Jeff's conversation as it is.

"Yes, thank you, Kurt. Go on, Jeff – ask him."

Jeff peers at Kurt over Blaine's shoulder. "Okay, Kurt, are you really the editor of Glee? 'Cause I love that magazine."

"I am," Kurt answers. He smiles, but he's a little dazed. Popularity amongst teenagers is one thing, but a permanent and apparently extremely enthusiastic adult audience – well, that is more than he ever dreamt of. "I run it with some of my friends from high school. We were all in glee club together."

"Oh. My. God." To say that Jeff is impressed is something of an understatement. He turns away from Kurt and Blaine and calls, "Nick! Trent! Wes! You have to come and meet Blaine's date!"

Three brown-haired men appear out of thin air. Kurt knows logically that they must have just been out of sight round the corner, in some back room or office, but it really does seem as if they were magicked into existence by Jeff's call.

"Blaine has a date?" one of them asks. "Please tell me it's not some weirdo like Robert from the bar."

"Oh, don't be mean," one of the others chastises. "I always thought he was quite nice."

"And that more than anything, Wesley, proves your heterosexuality beyond all doubt."

"Can we leave Robert, d'you think?" Jeff chimes in, perhaps seeing Kurt's raised eyebrows and Blaine burying his face in his hands. "This is Kurt. That Kurt."

Three pairs of eyes widen simultaneously. "Oh," says the one named Wes, smirking a little. "I'm glad you two bumped into each other again – we've been getting sick of his moaning." He tilts his head towards Blaine, who groans, slumped against the counter.

Kurt flushes rosy pink. He has an idea that Blaine might like him (there's a wealth of evidence to support this assumption, after all), but hearing one of his friends say something like that is nice nonetheless.

"Um, hello? Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too, Kurt. I'm Wes, this is Trent -" he gestures to a plumpish man standing at the back of the group "- and this is Nick." He points to the man with dark hair standing next to Jeff. They both nod and smile, seeming genuinely glad to have met Kurt, though Nick's eyes glitter mischievously as he glances between Kurt and Blaine.

"Anyway, now we're all nice and acquainted, how about I tell you why I called you all out here?" Jeff says. Everyone apart from Kurt and Blaine glances at him eagerly, eyes bright. "Kurt is the editor of Glee magazine," Jeff announces, sounding smug about knowing this before the others.

Kurt feels himself blush an even deeper shade of red than before as everyone turns to stare at him incredulously. Blaine still has his face pressed into the countertop.

"No way," Nick breathes.

"Oh, way," Jeff counters. "Ask him yourself."

"Are you…?"

"Yes," Kurt confirms. This is so surreal; he's beginning to think that Blaine's friends might all be a little bit mad.

"That is so cool." Wes looks impressed, and Nick and Trent nod in agreement. "We were all in show choir in high school, and we kind of miss it sometimes. Your magazine is like a trip down memory lane for us. Not to mention," Wes adds thoughtfully, finger denting his chin, "the girl who writes the music reviews is hot."

Kurt chuckles. "Santana, you mean? I'll be sure to let her know. You won't get anywhere, but she likes to keep up-to-date with these things."

"Boyfriend?" Wes asks, face falling.

"Girlfriend."

Wes groans and rolls his eyes. "Just my luck."

Kurt glances at the other men standing behind the counter. "Any of you guys want me to pass on the message?"

"No, thank you," Trent says, nose wrinkled slightly. "She's about as much our taste as we are hers."

I beat she is, Kurt think, glancing at Nick and Jeff, who are now standing much closer to each other than they were originally, and are both looking at each other out of the corner of their eye whilst missing the other doing exactly the same. "Okay, then, duly noted."

"Anyway…" Kurt glances round and sees that Blaine has recovered enough from his embarrassment to stand upright again. "If you've all finished giving Kurt the third degree, we're just going to go and sit over here whilst you make some coffee like I asked." He grips Kurt's arm lightly and steers him away to a table in the far corner.

"You paying, Anderson?" Wes calls out.

"Nope!" Blaine shoots back, pulling out a chair for Kurt.

"Yes he is," Jeff says, sotto voce, to Wes. "He said he wants to be a gentleman." The four men behind the counter laugh at that; Blaine chooses to ignore it.

"I'm so sorry about that," he says, sitting opposite Kurt, his face flushed.

"Don't worry about it, honestly. I mostly had no idea what you were talking about."

"Really?" Blaine cocks his head to one side. "Like what?"

"Like, what was up with you and Jeff's accents when you first started speaking?"

"Oh, that?" Blaine laughs, bright and happy. "It' silly, really. Jeff was born in England, you see. His parents moved here when he was tiny and obviously he doesn't usually have an accent, but when he was a teenage he would occasionally…acquire one, normally when he was mad about something. We just like to take the piss out of him."

Kurt raises his eyebrows. "That was an English accent?" he asks incredulously. "Really?"

"Don't be mean," Blaine says, pouting. "I never said it was good."

"Never said what was good?" Jeff asks, sliding two mugs of coffee onto the table, one each for Kurt and Blaine.

"None of your business," says Blaine sniffily, sipping from his mug.

Kurt takes pity on Jeff, who is pouting, bottom lip poking out. "Your English accents."

"What's wrong with my English accent?"

"It's kind of awful," Kurt says, never one to hold back. "But don't worry, Blaine's is worse."

Blaine glares, but there is no force behind it. Jeff shakes his head, looking disappointed in Kurt, but says to Blaine, "I like him. Don't screw it up this time."

"Why is everything my fault all of a sudden?"

"Maybe because you're an idiot?" Jeff calls over his shoulder as he walks away.

Kurt looks at Blaine, eyebrows raised. He doesn't say anything, but Blaine isn't stupid; he knows what Kurt is asking.

"According to all of my friends, all my previous break-ups were my fault," he explains. "It's a point of some contention."

"I can sympathise. Whilst the break up isn't usually my fault, my friends do insist that I constantly pick guys who seem nice but are actually jerks, and date them until everything literally crashes down around my ears. The girls moan that they're the ones who have to pick up the pieces, so they've taken to intimidating every guy I date." Kurt takes a long sip of his coffee, savouring the taste of a decent mocha. "But I'll spare you the gory details."

"I think we both have a bit too much baggage to share it all now," Blaine reasons, and Kurt nods in agreement. They smile a little nervously and mutually move onto other, more neutral topics of conversation. Over another two cups of coffee (one of which Kurt insists on paying for), they exhaust colleges, music, musicals and how much they hate Ohio. It's a pleasant surprise to discover than Blaine is from Westerville, about a two-hour drive from Lima; and that the only tie they both have to the state is their family.

Kurt checks his watch at half-past three and blinks, shocked at how late it's gotten. "I should get going," he says reluctantly.

"Really?" Blaine asks, his face falling.

"Yeah. Everyone will be wondering where I've gotten to."

"But I thought you were in charge."

"Only technically," Kurt says wryly. "Everyone knows Tina and Quinn, my assistant editors, really run the ship. I'd be a complete mess without them."

Blaine chuckles softly. "That's kind of adorable." Kurt flushes and looks down, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mea-"

"It's fine," Kurt says quietly, and smile forming along with the deepening red on his cheeks. "I really need to go, though."

"Okay. Can I…can I see you again?"

"I'd like that. A lot. Call me sometime," Kurt says. He feels like he should pull a pen out of his pocket and scribble his number down on a napkin, cheesy though it is, but there wouldn't really be much point, as Blaine already has his number. He almost does it anyway, so he can see Blaine smile and tuck the napkin into his pocket, but he stops himself – he doesn't want to seem like a complete weirdo (though, honestly, Blaine's friends are plenty weird enough for anyone; Blaine could probably handle Kurt's crazy, limited as it is).

"Thanks you, Kurt" Blaine says. "I had a really nice time." There is an awkward pause where they try to decide how they should say goodbye. Do they shake hands? It seems too impersonal, but even a kiss on the cheek feels a little too much. In the end, Blaine opens his arms, inviting Kurt to step forward, which he does, wrapping his arms around Blaine in turn. They cling to each other for a long moment, until one of the men behind the counter coughs and they break apart.

"Um…bye."

"Yeah. Bye."

Kurt smiles and waves goodbye to Blaine and all of his friends before pushing open the door of Warbling Away and stepping out into the street.

Goddamn, Blaine is a good hugger.