Kurt rolled his eyes at Rachel, even though she couldn’t see him, and pushed the hangers apart on the rack of clothing in front of him.  He pulled a garment off the rack and tossed it toward the garment bag lying across the large wing chair in the corner of the room.  He continued searching through the rack and pulled two more pieces before moving onto the next rack.

“Rachel I don’t care how many times you beg, plead, or sweet talk me, I am not dropping your name to anyone.”

“Kurt that’s unfair. If you asked me-”

“I wouldn’t ask you so the point is moot.  I have a professional reputation to hold up here.  I’ve worked my ass off to get where I am.”

He heard her sigh on the other end before speaking.  “I know I’m sorry.  I guess my ambition hasn’t changed much.”

“That’s not a bad thing.”

“So your first solo shoot. What’s it for?”

Kurt picked a pair of shoes off the floor and put them into a large bag.

“It’s just a piece for a Southern California magazine, but it has a pretty large circulation down here. It gives me decent credit for my portfolio and essentially a foot in the door.”

Rachel squealed through the phone and he grinned and rolled his eyes. “That’s so exciting Kurt! You’ll have to tell me everything that happens.”

“I will.”  Kurt walked over to the chair and placed all the garments in the long bag before zipping it up.  “I have to go Rach, I have to get myself and these clothes down to the shoot.  “I’ll talk to you in a few days okay?”

“Don’t forget I want a detailed retelling of everything!”

“Bye Rach.”  He ended the call and sighed loudly before hanging the bag up on the end of the rack and grabbing another off of a shelf.  He began packing another set of dresses into a bag and set it next to the last one before running down the hall in the small studio to grab his styling kit.  He hadn’t expected Rachel to call fifteen minutes before he had to leave for a photo shoot. As much as it pained him to admit it, he missed her a lot.  He didn’t know many people in Los Angeles. and it got a little lonely for him at times.  Having his best friend in a different time zone was proving to be more difficult than he originally thought.

He grabbed his kit and the garment bags off the rack and reached for his keys before hurrying out the door to his car.  It had taken him two months to convince his boss to get a photo shoot by himself and he didn’t want to be late.

~*~

Kurt carefully draped a scarf around the tall blonde model’s neck and adjusted the folds of the fabric to his liking.  He shuffled the layers on the top around before nodding and giving her the go ahead to leave.  He gently pushed her toward the photographer and began arranging the next pieces for the model currently walking in his direction.  He pulled a tan cropped leather motorcycle jacket out and handed it to the girl to throw on over the long chiffon dress. He tossed a belt around her waist and cinched it tightly and stepped back as she turned around. He nodded and she left as he hung her previous garments up on the rack in front of him.

He reached for the pair of heels lying on the ground and heard a small commotion coming from the doorway.  As he stood up he crashed into a solid object and lost his balance. He felt a pair of arms shoot out and wrap around him, keeping him from falling awkwardly to the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” said the person he’d bumped into. “I didn’t see you there.  Are you okay?”

Kurt nodded and slowly braced himself before speaking.  “I’m fine. I should have looked before I moved.”  He stood up carefully and turned and found himself looking at the most gorgeous man he had seen since moving to LA.  “It was completely my fault.”  He couldn’t help but stare at the warm whiskey colored eyes looking back at him, and he missed what the man said.   “I’m sorry what?”

The owner of the eyes grinned and held his hand out.  “I’m Blaine.”

“Kurt.” He shook the man’s hand.  “I really am sorry about running into you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”  Blaine reached out and touched the side of his bicep lightly.  “I’m really glad you did.”

Kurt’s jaw dropped slightly before his brain quickly recognized it and snapped it shut.  Was he flirting? There was no way he could be doing that.  “Well I’m glad I did too then.”

“Blaine, get your ass over here!”

Blaine rolled his eyes at the girl and turned around.  “Just a second, Santana.”  He looked back at Kurt and grinned.  “Sorry, it seems that I’m needed.  Are you going to be here for a bit?”

“Until the end of the shoot, and probably after.”

He grinned and started walking backwards.  “Good. Me too.  Don’t leave before me.”  Blaine turned and walked toward the brunette who was tapping her foot, leaving Kurt staring after him, wondering who he was and what he wanted with him.

~*~

Kurt walked back through the door and over to the corner of the room to grab his messenger bag and the last bag of shoes he had brought.  He took one more look around the space to make sure he wasn’t leaving anything behind.

“Surely you aren’t leaving without finding me first?”

Kurt jumped and turned around with a hand over his chest, and blushed when he found himself staring at Blaine.  He bit his lip before hitching the strap of his bag higher onto his shoulder. “God you scared me.  I wasn’t leaving yet.”

Blaine grinned and raised an eyebrow.  “You sure about that?”

“I was just cleaning up my area.”  This man was making Kurt nervous for some reason and all coherent thought processes were quickly flying out the window.  “I wasn’t leaving.  So,” he said, changing the subject.  “You’re the photographer?”

Blaine shrugged and walked towards the wall next to Kurt before leaning back against it and propping a foot up.  “Someone’s got to do it. Well, I’m one of them at least.”  He took a bite out of the apple he was holding and gestured back at Kurt.  “I loved the clothes you put together.  It’s a different style than I’m used to seeing.  You must not be from this area.”

Kurt shook his head and leaned against the wall behind him, unconsciously copying Blaine’s body language.  “New York City, and Ohio before that.”

That seemed to get Blaine’s attention and his eyes got wide. “Ohio? You’re kidding.  Where in Ohio?”

“Lima.”

“What a small world, Kurt.  I’m from Westerville.”

Kurt’s jaw dropped; there was no way.  “You’re kidding.”

Blaine shook his head and rolled on the wall towards the taller man.  “Nope. I was born and raised there.  Graduated high school and got the hell out.  I thought about New York but that wasn’t enough distance for me.”

“Not enough distance from what?”

Blaine shrugged and took another bite out of his apple. “Everything.”  He threw the core into the trashcan around the corner before looking back at Kurt.  “Why did you leave?”

Kurt sighed and dropped his messenger bag to the floor.  “Many, many reasons. Sadly being gay was only part of it.”

Blaine nodded and slid down the wall to the floor as Kurt mirrored the position.  “Being gay was only the small part of the entire equation for me too.  I unfortunately had many factors.  It sounds like you understand though.”

Kurt felt Blaine’s eyes watching him as he stared at a spot on the floor.  “Probably more than you know,” he spoke quietly.

Blaine broke his gaze and stood up from the floor, seemingly unable to stay in one position for long.  “Well Kurt, what are your plans for the rest of the day?”

Kurt looked up in confusion as he stood.  “I was going to return some of the clothes from the shoot and then head home. Why?”

“Do you have to return them today or can it wait until tomorrow?”

“No it can wait.  Why?”

“I was thinking we could go get coffee or grab a bite to eat and get to know each other.”

“Why on earth would you want to get to know me?”

Blaine gave him a deadpan look before tilting his head to the side.  “What do you mean why?  You and I seem to have a lot in common and I want to get to know you better.  You’re an interesting guy.  So what do you say?”

Kurt shrugged before picking up both of his bags.  “Fine but I’m driving myself.”

~*~

“So Kurt…”

“Hummel.”

“So Kurt Hummel. What’s your story? How did you get here to sunny California?”

“That’s a loaded question.”  Kurt reached for a tortilla chip and dipped it in some guacamole before raising it up to his mouth.  “Kurt Hummel.  Twenty-four.  Born and raised in Lima, Ohio.  Went to Fashion Institute of Technology for college.  I did an internship at the New York branch of the stylist company I work at and, after doing every possible shitty job in the world, they hired me out of school. I worked as a general assistant there until four months ago when they offered me first assistant here in LA.  I didn’t really want to come, but New York is expensive and I don’t have to live in a shoebox here.  Plus my family talked me into it.  I couldn’t really say no after that.”  He took a sip of water before shrugging and smirking at Blaine.  “And that’s my tragic story.”

“That doesn’t sound so tragic.”

“Trust me, there’s a lot of subtext in it all.  What about you? How did you get here?”

Blaine shoved a chip in his mouth and brushed his hands on a napkin to get rid of the salt on his fingers.  “Westerville, Ohio, born and raised. I went to private school until freshman year of high school when I begged my parents to let me go to public school.  I made it halfway through my first year before I had to transfer to private again.  I went to Dalton Academy, sang lead in the glee club there, graduated, and went to UCLA against my families wishes.  They cut me off completely and I haven’t talked to them since.  Anyway, I graduated and then went to NYFA for a Master’s degree here at the LA campus. I had interned at UCLA, but I didn’t have time while getting my other degree. When I graduated I emailed them and they had me start the next day.  I’ve been working there since.”  Blaine grabbed another chip and took a sip of soda as he finished.

“Hmmm.” Kurt tilted his head and took all the information in.  “Well, Blaine…”

The curly-haired man smirked and ran a hand over his face. “Anderson.”

“Well, Blaine Anderson, you are a very intriguing person.  Good education, no family, defies authority; you’re a walking television show waiting for the USA network to pick you up.”

Blaine burst out laughing drawing a few looks from the lunch crowd around the restaurant.  “Yeah, but I don’t steal anything,” he managed through his laughter.

“How do I know that? For all I know being a photographer is a cover for your con-man ways.”

Blaine rolled his eyes through his laughter before calming down.  “I swear I’m not.  I’ll even give references if you want them.” Kurt rolled his eyes but smiled so Blaine knew he wasn’t serious.  “So tell me something about you.”

“Something about me?”

Blaine nodded as the waiter approached their table and set the food down.  He thanked them and turned back to Kurt. “Yes, something about you.  All I know is where you went to school and what your job is.”

Kurt nodded and chewed his lip debating what to tell this man he’d just met. “I wanted to be a singer and star in a musical on Broadway.  That was my dream.”

“Really?”  Blaine sat up straight and finished chewing his food.  “That’s amazing.  I miss singing and performing.  I was in the Warblers in high school. I had so much fun with them.”

“Wait, wait, wait, you went to that Dalton Academy?”

“Oh boy, now I have to know what that means.”

“I went to McKinley High.”

Blaine choked on his soda and immediately reached for a napkin.  Once he stopped coughing he shook his head in disbelief.  “You’re kidding. New Directions right? We competed against you one year.  You guys kicked our asses.”

“I didn’t compete that year against you; I had to be homeschooled my junior year.  I was in the audience though, cheering on all my friends who were onstage.  You guys were good.”

“They were better.  You were homeschooled?”

Kurt nodded and pushed his food around on the plate trying to come up with an easy answer.  “Yeah, I was bullied really badly by a senior that year, and my family decided that it would be safer for me.  I got to go back my senior year though.  It’s why I didn’t get in to the musical theater program at NYU.  Apparently junior year is the year that counts the most.  It all worked out in the end though.”

Blaine nodded thoughtfully at him before taking another bite of his food.  “You and I have more in common than I originally thought.”

Kurt furrowed his eyebrows.  “What do you mean?”

Blaine swallowed and placed his hands in his lap before taking a deep breath.  “I, uh, I was bullied before I transferred to Dalton.  I came out the summer before I started freshman year.  I wanted to go to a public school like all the normal kids.  My parents had money and I was sick of getting preferential treatment.  After a lot of talks and discussions they let me go to Westerville High.  After about a month I started getting bullied; just small stuff at first.  Then it escalated to slamming me into walls, calling me names, stuff like that.” He paused and took a sip of his soda before continuing.

“There, uh, there was this dance.  Sadie Hawkins.  Will Crowley was the only other guy out at my school, we were friends.  We decided to go together. Just as friends.”  Kurt noticed him start to play with his hands and realized how hard this was for him to talk about.  “We were outside the gym waiting for his dad to pick us up, and these three guys, just, snuck up on us and beat the shit out of us. I missed the rest of my freshman year and had to repeat it.  Will’s parents took him and moved. I never heard from him again.  I transferred to Dalton after that.  They had a zero-tolerance, no bullying policy.”  Blaine shrugged, uncomfortable, and reached for his soda, giving his hands something to do.

Kurt’s hand shot out and he placed Blaine’s hand in his.  Kurt’s heart sped up when Blaine’s eyes widened and then softened, and Kurt heard his breath hitch.  He squeezed his hand in reassurance and waited to speak until the other man was looking at him.  “I’m sorry that happened to you.  It shouldn’t happen to anyone.  Did they catch whoever did it?”

“They got one guy but we weren’t able to see the other two and he wouldn’t say who they were.  Needless to say I had a rough time for about a year.”

“Anyone would.”  Kurt smiled softly at him and rubbed the back of the other man’s hand before he reluctantly let go.  “My junior year there was this Neanderthal, David Karofsky.  He decided to make my life a living hell; physical, emotional, everything.  One day I had enough and I followed him to the locker room to find out what his problem was.” Kurt took a deep breath and saw Blaine reach across the table to place his hand back over his.  Kurt welcomed the gesture; it made him want to talk. “He, uh, he kissed me.  In the locker room.”  He heard Blaine’s breath hitch but quickly kept speaking.

“That was traumatizing enough.  But then about a week later, he threatened to kill me if I told anyone.  I was teaching my dad and step-brother to dance for my dad’s wedding a few days later when Karofsky came by and he gave me and my stepbrother a not-so-nice gesture.  Dad caught it and made me tell him what was going on, and all the school did was suspend Karofsky for a week.  I was the only out kid at my school; no one cared what happened.  The next week I started homeschooling.  I got to go back for my senior year since most of the bullies had graduated, but I still missed a lot.  Every once and awhile it still bothers me, missing a lot of those experiences, but that’s life right?”

Blaine squeezed his hand and placed his other one under Kurt’s, twining their hands together.  “I’m sorry. At least you were able to go back to your friends.  But I’m sorry you had to endure it for so long.”

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger right?”

“Oh God I hate that phrase; it’s so cliché.”

“Me too but it’s unfortunately appropriate.”  Kurt smiled back at him and noticed that Blaine hadn’t pulled his hand away, and he felt his face flush a little.  “What a conversation for a first meeting huh? For some odd reason you make me want to talk about everything.”

Blaine chuckled and squeezed his hand before pulling away as the waiter walked up to drop the check.  “The same goes for me.  Not many people know about my life before I moved here, but for some reason, all I want to do is tell you everything.”  He threw the bills back at Kurt that he had placed and replaced them with his before passing the bill to a waiter walking by their table.  “My treat, I asked you.”

“Blaine Anderson…”

“You get it on our next date. How does that sound?”

“Oh, okay, yeah, I can do that.”  Kurt stood up and quickly followed him outside into the warm California sun a little flustered.

The next date? Did he consider this a first date?

They turned right onto Beverly Boulevard and headed down the crowded walk toward their parked cars.  He didn’t know what it was about Blaine that made his former high school self come back but he was quickly lowering all the walls he spent year building up around himself.  He wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

~*~

“I am never one to complain or talk shit, but that guy is one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever worked with in my life.”

Kurt looked up at his boss as he reached for the denim jeans that were hanging on the rack.  “Yeah,” he agreed. “He’s already made a few passes at me regardless of my answer.”

“Well if he does it again you have my personal permission to tell him to fuck off using any means necessary. In fact I’d probably enjoy it.  Oh look, here comes the douchebag now.”

He tried to stifle his laughter as the taller model sauntered over to them.  He hadn’t known anything about the guy until Sarah had warned him on their way to the shoot; now having the guy in front of him made his skin crawl.

“Hey hot stuff.  You know I don’t mind you staring if you so choose. I actually encourage it.  No need to be shy here.”

Sarah shook her head in disbelief as Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed the button up shirt off the rack and threw the denim pants at the man’s chest.  “Sebastian, believe me when I say the last thing on earth I’m interested in is staring, or even glancing, in your direction.”

“Ouch Kurt, I’m hurt.  How will I ever recover from being rejected from such a fine individual as you?”

“Funny.” Sarah jumped in.  “You said the same about Blaine Anderson, and six hours later you were fucking his best friend’s girlfriend in an empty studio.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and sneered at the blonde woman.  “Please, she asked me for it and Blaine Anderson is just a tease who won’t put out and enjoys stringing people along.”

Kurt felt his mouth run dry and the mention of the man’s name and suddenly a thousand questions raced through his mind.  “You, uh, you know Blaine?”

The model scoffed and threw on the shirt that Kurt handed him.  “Blaine Anderson is a teasing jackass that-”

“Can it Smythe, unless you’re running your mouth off about yourself, in which case by all means feel free to continue.” The brunette woman walking towards them had her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed in Sebastian’s direction.

“Hello Satan.  Can’t handle the truth about curly cue?”

The Latina rolled her eyes and shot Kurt a friendly smirk before stepping up flush against Sebastian.  “Listen here boy wonder, I’m going to give you a choice.  Either you turn around and head back to whatever hole you crawled out of and we all forget that you’re an ass, or the three of us will report you for harassment with the agency.  Given your, let’s say previous discretions, you’d probably end up working the stripper pole at some dive in West Hollywood. Your choice.”  She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and sneered at the woman before turning around.  “See you around Kurt.”  He grabbed the shoes Sarah was holding out and walked back toward the shoot.

Kurt rolled his eyes at the idiot before turning toward the woman who’d spoken so sharply to Sebastian in curiosity.  “Well clearly the man has an ‘I hate Sebastian’ club.”

Sarah excused herself as the other woman held her hand out.  “Santana Lopez, Blaine’s best friend and assistant. I wanted to meet the guy who’s had my best friend thinking with his dick and daydreaming at all hours.  It’s nice to know his good taste has resurfaced after the incident with dickhead over there.”

Kurt crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.  “Are you always this brazen with people?”

Santana shrugged her shoulders and smiled.  “I’m an acquired taste.”

Kurt scoffed and picked Sebastian’s discarded wardrobe up off the ground and began to hang them back up.  “Sweetheart, I lived in New York.  Nothing you say can surprise me.”

“I like you. Listen,” she spoke quietly, and Kurt saw her face soften as she draped an arm across the garment rack.  “Blaine likes you. I haven’t seen him feel this way about anyone in a long time.  Whatever that jerk said about him, ignore it. Sebastian’s pissed off because Blaine wouldn’t sleep with him.  I saw him talking to you and just needed to tell you that.  Contrary to his reputation Blaine doesn’t date many people and most of what people say is just jealousy.”

“We aren’t-”

“Don’t give me that, Kurt. I’ve seen the texts you’ve sent back and forth; they aren’t sent from someone who isn’t interested.  Blaine’s a good guy; just misunderstood by a lot of people.  Give him a chance.” 

Kurt nodded slowly and smiled softly.  “You’re a good friend, Santana.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes but smirked.  “You tell anyone I was less than a bitch and you will find yourself stripped and tied up to the Hollywood sign.”

“Deal.”  Kurt laughed a little as she walked away and turned back to his task at hand.  He and Blaine hadn’t spoken much since lunch last week, but he had felt a connection to the man that apparently Blaine had felt too.  Kurt pulled out his phone and sent a quick message off before hanging the rest of the items up.  He felt his phone vibrate and unlocked the screen.

(5:17pm)

Bad day? –B

He grinned and typed out a reply.

(5:18pm)

You have no idea. –K

(5:20pm)

Busy later? –B

(5:23pm)

I don’t know am I? –K

(5:26pm)

2 hours. Santa Monica Pier. Be there. –B

(5:29pm)

See you there. –K

Still smiling, Kurt pocketed his phone before Sebastian’s angry voice flooded the studio space.  He rolled his eyes and sighed; two more hours.  He could hang in that long surely.

~*~

Kurt climbed the wooden steps to the pier and paused to look around.  It didn’t seem to be too crowded, and he glanced around before he found Blaine on the opposite side staring out at the surroundings.  He took a minute to stare at the man since he hadn’t been noticed yet.

Blaine was wearing a pair of khaki colored knee-length shorts and a well-worn hoodie; obviously one of his favorites.  He was leaning on the wooden railings with his forearms resting on top and his hands clasped.  He had a small smile gracing his face and appeared to be watching something that was going on down below.  Kurt slowly made his way to Blaine’s spot and slid up quietly next to him.

“So what’s going on that has captured your attention?”

Kurt saw the wide smile appear on Blaine’s face out of the corner of his eye as he nodded to the sandy beach below them.  “There are two kids down there; I think they’re brothers.  They’ve been playing for awhile and it’s just sweet and entertaining.”  Blaine straightened up and held his hand out for Kurt, and the taller man carefully placed his hand in Blaine’s.  “So let’s walk and have some fun and you can tell me about this bad day of yours.”

Kurt sighed and let his head fall back as he slowly swung their joined hands back and forth.  “Can we put a hold on the bad day talk and just have some fun? I promise I’ll tell you everything, I just need some fun.”

“Well then fun we shall have.”  Blaine tugged him over to the ticket booth and purchased a wristband for both of them despite the other man’s protests and quickly placed them around the other’s wrist.

Since Kurt made his position vehemently clear on his incredible dislike and distrust of Ferris wheels, they skipped that and went straight to the rollercoaster.  The wind in his hair and the cool salty breeze helped Kurt to relax, and he let go of his stress as they flew through the air above the pier and its patrons.

After the fifth straight time, Blaine finally begged to go on something else and dragged him over to the Sig Alert bumper cars.  Kurt grinned and laughed as he watched Blaine turn into a little kid, bumping into the other kids’ cars, then spinning around and driving straight into him.  Kurt felt himself loosening up and having fun with Blaine; he couldn’t remember the last time he had simply set loose and have fun.  He chuckled at Blaine’s pout when the cars locked and waited outside the gates as Blaine high-fived the kids on his way out. 

Blaine waved at the blonde twins on his way through the gate and came face-to-face with a grinning Kurt.  “What?”

“Nothing,” he turned and the two walked back along the pier.  “It’s just nice to see adults acting like kids every once and awhile.”

“Awwwww they were cute and lots of fun.  So are you having fun now?”

Kurt tilted his head back and closed his eyes laughing.  “Oh yes.  I honestly haven’t had this much fun in a long time.”  He turned his head towards Blaine and smiled.  “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, but you are very welcome.  Up for talking yet? Santana said your day was probably worse than you let on.”

Kurt nodded and sighed audibly before speaking.  “I had a photo shoot today with my boss.  Which is fine, I love working with her, she’s great.  On our way to the studio she said she had to warn me about one of the models that would be there.”

“Well I wish I could say that it wasn’t normal but some of the models are complete assholes and think they’re better than everyone else.”

“Yes well this one was a total jackass and wouldn’t leave me the hell alone.  Then he brought you into the conversation.”

“Me?” Blaine had a quizzical look as he tried to think. “Who would talk about-oh.”

Kurt shrugged as they found an empty bench facing the water and sat down.  “Yeah. Sebastian started saying a lot of things about you and Santana stepped in and told him off.”  He heard Blaine sigh and glanced over at the man who was rubbing his hands over his face. “Blaine-”

“I’m going to have to explain a few things to you, I think.”

“Blaine don’t-”

“No Kurt, please, just let me tell you okay?” He sighed and clasped his hands together resting his elbows on his knees as he gazed out at the water. “I met Sebastian at a photo shoot. He was one of the models for some magazine piece; I can’t remember the name. Anyway, all day he kept flirting with me. He kept making suggestions and comments and aside from the fact that it was really unprofessional. I told him that I wasn’t interested and just ignored him for the rest of the day.”

“Okay but-”

Blaine side-eyed Kurt before sitting back. “I’m not done yet. I saw him a month later at some party for a friend of mine that’s a photographer and he kept flirting with me all night. At some point I think I just said fine; we’ll go out once. About an hour later he had his tongue down some other guy’s throat. I don’t, I’m not that kind of guy Kurt. I’m a one-guy kind of person. Anyway, he took it personally and since then he’s been talking all kinds of shit about me.  I’m sorry you had to witness it and be around him.”

Kurt laughed and placed his hand on the man’s arm. “Blaine, I never believed him. You forget I’ve lived in New York. I’m used to people like him.”

Blaine smiled and sighed in relief. “I know it’s stupid but I really like you, and I didn’t want something like that to get in the way of anything.”

Kurt bit his lip for a second before nervously grabbing Blaine’s hand and interlocking them together. “Don’t worry, it hasn’t.”

Blaine let out a shaky breath and reached his free hand up to lightly frame Kurt’s face. “Good.”

Kurt’s heart pounded as Blaine lightly traced his face with his fingertips. He’d never felt like this, and he wasn’t sure if he was going to take off flying or pass out from his rapid heartbeat.  He wasn’t used to the feelings coursing through his system.

Blaine trailed his fingertips over Kurt’s bottom lip and inhaled audibly. “I really want to kiss you right now.”

Kurt swallowed and gently squeezed Blaine’s hand. “What are you waiting for then?”

Blaine’s lips curled up slightly at the corners before leaning in and gently brushing his lips across Kurt’s.  The taller man quickly rested his hand on Blaine’s shoulder and inhaled deeply before deepening the kiss. Blaine dropped both of his hands and grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulling them closer together.

They slowly broke apart gasping for air and Kurt rested his head against the side of Blaine’s as he tried to catch his breath. He ran a hand through the thick curly locks as they both tried to calm their breathing.

“Why do I feel so comfortable with you?” He asked.

Blaine dropped a kiss under his ear. “I know. I feel like I’ve known you all my life.”

“Mmm,” Kurt mumbled as Blaine continued dropping kisses down his jaw line. “Me too.” Blaine got to his chin before Kurt laughed and swatted him away. “Okay, okay, enough of that. Come on, it’s getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow.”

Blaine groaned and reluctantly pulled back before running a hand through his hair and standing up. “I do too, but I was trying to ignore that annoying fact.”

“Not a morning person?”

“No way.” Blaine intertwined his fingers with Kurt’s before grabbing his hand as warmth spread through him from the touch. “I’m a night person. Mornings are too early.”

“Oh come on, mornings are great. The start of a new day, the fresh air…”

“Oh god, you’re a morning person aren’t you.”

“Yes sir.”

Blaine shook his head and grinned as they made their way down the steps and across the sand to the parking lot. “Oh no, this relationship will never work. We live on opposite schedules.”

They reached Kurt’s car and he leaned back against the SUV before smirking and glancing up at the night sky. “Oh I don’t know, I could probably be persuaded that nights are superior.”

Blaine slid his arms around Kurt’s waist and rested their foreheads together.  “Oh really now. Hmmmm. I wonder what powers of persuasion I could come up with.”

Kurt laughed and crashed his lips on Blaine’s before pulling back and grinning. “No, we can’t start something that we can’t finish right now.” He ran his hand through Blaine’s curls as the man nuzzled his head against his hand. “Call me later?” Blaine nodded and Kurt gave him one last peck before climbing into his Navigator. He sighed and started the engine, grinning as he backed out and pulled away with Blaine smiling in his rearview mirror.

Kurt had never thought that Los Angeles would ever be a place he could call home, but as he drove up Wilshire Boulevard he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.