Blaine Anderson hadn’t expected a lot of things when he first met Kurt Hummel.

He hadn’t expected him to sit with him, for one.

Blaine spent a lot of time at the Lima Bean when he wasn’t at Dalton. The coffee shop was the perfect place to go to get away for a little bit, and on most afternoons and weekends, he could be found sitting at a table by himself. Usually he had a book to keep him occupied, but really he just enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the coffee shop and watching the time go by.

Dalton was a great school and he loved it there, but he still needed time to himself. That wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to come by at a boarding school, especially when it was summer. Even with the majority of the students gone, he still didn’t have a room to himself, and having some of the Warblers there meant his time was almost always occupied with friends around. Taking summer classes had been his idea, because he wanted to enroll in more advanced classes in the fall and had some catching up to do. It was all going to be worth it, he knew – he just had to get through them.

He had amazing friends and couldn’t have asked for much better than the Warblers, but sometimes he just needed to get away. When he’d started there, he’d sought out a place where he could go and stay to himself. That was how he’d found the Lima Bean. He would readily admit that he was a bit of a coffee addict, so it was the perfect place. Never mind that the cute logo had drawn him in, it had turned into a safe haven where he automatically escaped whenever time would allow.

There was something almost soothing about the sounds that came from behind the bar – milk steaming, coffee beans grinding, the bang-slam of grounds being knocked out of the porta-filter as the barista got ready to make the next drink. The constant hum of conversation blended into the background, white noise to Blaine’s ears as he lost himself in the atmosphere of the café.

Crowded days were his least favorite. It could get a little hectic: mothers with numerous children and strollers taking up more than their fair share of space, book clubs spread out over multiple tables and having loud conversations about vices of literary characters – though Blaine sometimes did think of joining them one day – and knitting groups containing themselves in the far corner but still managing to add to the craziness simply by adding to the number of people there.

It was one of those crowded days when it happened. Blaine had been sitting and listening to the book club, considering his own viewpoints on Jane Eyre, when he’d glanced over toward the counter and seen him. Blaine was fairly big on people watching, though a lot of the time it was done absently and without realizing he was doing it, but he definitely noticed that time.

The boy standing at the counter, arms folded across his chest and foot tapping somewhat impatiently on the floor, was someone worth noticing. Blaine could see his profile, the sharp angles of his face and the way his hair swept up away from his forehead. He was dressed impeccably, each little detail perfectly in place, and as he stepped up to order, Blaine caught himself staring at the way his mouth moved as it formed words. He was beautiful, but staring was rude no matter how attractive the person was – did it make it more rude when they were exceptionally attractive? – so Blaine opened his book again and stared down at the page.

“Excuse me.” His attempted concentration on the words in front of him was broken by a soft, lilting voice from above, and he glanced up before quickly looking back to his book under the pretense of marking his place. Really, it was to prepare himself for the fact that when he looked up again, he’d be looking right at the person he’d been nearly leering at minutes prior. He schooled his expression into what he hoped was nonchalance, set his book down, and raised his gaze again. Any impassiveness he’d managed to obtain was completely ruined by his immediate quest to figure out exactly what color the boy’s eyes were.

“Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full,” the boy said, gesturing around with his free hand and indicating the mass of people swarming around the café.

“Oh, sure!” Blaine replied, moving to clear off the table. It wasn’t like he’d made a mess, there wasn’t even much on it, but he felt like he should make room for him. “Yeah, it’s a little crazy in here today.” He paused, watching as the boy slid into the opposite seat, and he held his hand out across the table. “I’m Blaine.”

The boy glanced at Blaine’s hand, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smile, and then slipped his own hand into it. “Kurt.”

He hadn’t expected Kurt to talk to him.

They exchanged pleasantries, as strangers might when they were suddenly put into each other’s presence, but Blaine hadn’t thought it would get much further than that. Kurt had pulled a book out of his messenger bag soon after sitting down, and Blaine figured they were both going to sit there and read and maybe exchange an awkward goodbye once one of them was done and decided to leave. What else should he have expected?

Although they didn’t sit there for hours discussing current events, they definitely had conversation enough to feel comfortable. Kurt seemed interested in Dalton – Blaine hadn’t even bothered to change out of his uniform before going to the Lima Bean that day, so it was an easy thing to pick out – and Blaine was more than happy to talk about it. It was easy to talk about the place where he spent the vast majority of his time, after all.

Kurt kept his answers simple and brief, at least to the somewhat personal questions that Blaine asked. He wasn’t trying to be pushy, just trying to get to know him, though he found it hard to keep from asking for his complete life story when he was sitting there looking into those eyes that kept sparkling every time Kurt smiled. He was mostly trying to get him to talk more, because Kurt’s voice sounded as incredible as the rest of him appeared. Blaine’s coffee cup had been empty for a while, but he hadn’t found a reason to leave.

He hadn’t expected Kurt to give him his number.

It was written on a napkin and slid across the tabletop as Blaine finally gathered his things to go. He hadn’t realized it was happening at first, too busy trying to fit his book back into his bag (it had somehow become a complete mess in the time since he’d gotten there) to notice it. He’d even thought that maybe Kurt was pushing the napkin toward him because he’d left it accidentally and should throw it away, because why on earth would be expect Kurt to throw away his trash for him?

Except then he’d grabbed it and thankfully seen the digits written across it before he would have balled it up in his fist. Kurt was smiling almost shyly at him when he looked across the table, and Blaine plucked the pen out of his hand to tear off a piece of the napkin and write down his own number before getting up to leave.

He hadn’t expected Kurt to text him – especially not as often as he did.

The occasional greeting or random whim was one thing, but Kurt was a texting maniac. It was as though any thought that popped into his head was immediately put through his cell phone and sent directly to Blaine. Not that Blaine minded this in the least bit; it just made him wonder if Kurt had anyone else to talk to – though he immediately felt horrible for that thought, because of course Kurt had other people to talk to. Early on into their texting-friendship, Kurt had told Blaine that giving him his number had been a complete impulse, but it had felt right at the time so he’d gone for it. Blaine couldn’t agree more, because he couldn’t remember how he spent his time between classes before he’d had Kurt’s number. Texting him was second nature almost immediately.

It hadn’t taken long at all for the texts to turn overtly flirty. Who started it? Blaine couldn’t recall. Either one of them easily could have, it would have been an easy progression.

He hadn’t expected Kurt to turn up at Dalton one afternoon to see him.

He hadn’t expected Kurt to kiss him.

He hadn’t expected to have Kurt in his room and be doing a lot more than just kissing.

That’s what happened, though. Once, and then with added frequency. It wasn’t scheduled, planned, wasn’t a defined thing, it was just something that Blaine couldn’t quite put his finger on. That was what was nice about Dalton – no parents to get in the way and notice when people were being sneaked up to rooms. His roommate Wes was good about not asking questions, not saying anything about whatever he was doing with Kurt. All Blaine had to do was say “I think Kurt’s coming over…” and the room was his.

It helped that it didn’t happen very often, he thought, because then Wes might actually be bothered by it. Honestly he was shocked that he hadn’t been given a light lecture on the rules and policies regarding visitors to the dormitories, because if there was anyone who abided by the rules it was Wes. Kurt seemed to have a busy summer schedule, and it wasn’t as if Blaine didn’t have classes and homework to focus on, but every so often Kurt would be there.

It wasn’t something he ever would have expected, and definitely not so fast, but everything with Kurt just felt right. They spent so much time talking that it felt like they’d known each other for years, not just weeks, and every little step further felt natural. It felt that way the first time they’d kissed, as well as the first time they’d lay on Blaine’s bed for a long, luxurious make out session with tentative hands brushing along each other’s bodies. And then later, when clothes started to come off and they both admitted this wasn’t something they’d never done before – that felt completely right, too.

He knew he’d never forget that first time, that first night, when he was laying there completely exposed, a light sweat covering his skin, with Kurt clutched against him. His heart felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest, and it was loud in his ears as he stared down at Kurt and he knew, knew without saying, that everything was right. It was in how Kurt looked at him, so trusting and earnest – and Blaine would want to add lovingly but he thought maybe that was him projecting. His name never sounded nearly as sweet as when it came from Kurt’s lips, and he’d heard it so many times that night.

They’d stayed close afterward, stretched out on Blaine’s bed with legs intertwined and fingertips tracing along bare skin. It was the kind of moment that Blaine wanted to live in forever. He’d never thought that meeting a boy in a coffee shop would have turned into something more so easily, so quickly, but nothing about it felt wrong. Kurt had said something along the same lines, so he knew he wasn’t the only one, and that just made it even better. They’d shared that with each other, given that to each other, through strokes of hands and hips rocking together, and Blaine couldn’t really help but be in awe of it all.

Blaine hadn’t expected himself to be completely fine with semi-secret rendezvous.

He wasn’t one who could even fathom a one night stand in theory. Hell, he wasn’t even normally one for the casual makeout between friends. He was raised well, taught to be a gentleman. That was the Anderson way, after all. He was a romantic, deep down, and yearned for that connection that would make him want to serenade someone in the middle of a crowded restaurant, park, city square, anywhere.

That was exactly what was happening with Kurt, though. It felt like a summer fling – no strings, no discussion of what the future held between them, just those moments and times together. Despite what Blaine felt about Kurt, felt about them, that’s what it was. It wasn’t just about physicality; it was never just about that. Sometimes they would just lie there and talk until Kurt’s phone would go off and he would have to leave. Their friendship started because of them talking and it was still the biggest staple between them. There were no commitments, no definitions, it was just what they had in that moment and left at that. Blaine assumed it was because an actual relationship would have been difficult, considering their conflicting schedules and lives.

Blaine hadn’t expected his dad to lose his job.

He never would have thought it could happen – not to his father who had worked at the law firm for as long as Blaine could remember. There was only so much Blaine was told, the rest kept in hushed tones away from his ears. Boarding at Dalton meant that he’d missed any indication that there were problems, and he didn’t hear about it until everything was done.

The prospect of going back to public school gave Blaine a slight feeling of anxiety. The whole reason he’d changed to a private school was to feel safe, secure, not like he was going to be hurt just for being himself. That was what had happened at his previous school, after all. His time at Dalton had helped him get over the Sadie Hawkins incident and had given him confidence, not to mention a start in on a hobby of boxing, so he didn’t feel as much dread about the potential of being attacked as he would have thought had he been asked about it a year or so prior.

It did hit him with an overwhelming feeling of sadness when summer classes ended and he had to pack up all his belongings. Wes and the rest of the Warblers were right there by his side, helping him carry everything out of the dormitory and pack it into the car. It wasn’t like they wouldn’t see each other again, because Blaine very much planned on visiting as much as possible, but it was different knowing that they weren’t going to see each other every day like they were used to.

The only thing keeping him going was that he would be attending William McKinley High – Kurt’s school.

He hadn’t expected Kurt to be dating someone when he got there.