“… Thank you for flying with Air New Zealand.”

Blaine hopped up out of his seat and made his way off of the plane. He collected his belongings and proceeded through customs in a daze. The twenty-three hour flight had completely drained his energy and all he wanted to do was sleep. He wandered out of the airport and jumped in the taxi that was waiting for him at the roadside. As he was driven to his new apartment, he looked out the window to take in his new surroundings. It was a lot different to home. He came from Nelson; a small city by the ocean at the top of the South Island of New Zealand. Now he found himself on his way to a new home in Manhattan, and he couldn’t help but gawk at all the tall buildings surrounding him.

Blaine had left his life in New Zealand for a number of reasons. He had been planning on running for a long time and had finally plucked up the courage to purchase a one way ticket to New York. He had gotten rid of his old phone, deleted his profiles on any social networking sites, deactivated his email and changed his bank accounts. There was no way anyone from back home could find him. He had effectively cut them all out of his life.

The taxi pulled up at the foot of the apartment building and he threw a few notes at the driver as he hopped out. After he had made his way to his floor, he placed his key in the lock and opened the door. The apartment had been fully furnished for his arrival which Blaine was thankful for; he really couldn’t be bothered sorting out furniture. He placed his bags in the living room and dropped his keys on the couch before heading to his new bedroom and flopping down on the bed. Within minutes, he was snoring lightly.

Blaine awoke at 3pm. His body clock was completely messed up and it was going to take a while for him to get used to the new time zone. After spending so long on a plane the previous day, he decided he wasn't going to stay shut up in his apartment all day and ended up wandering the streets.

Soon enough he came across a small, cozy coffee shop. There was an open fire place in the middle of the right hand wall that had comfortable chairs situated around it and the left wall was just one large bookcase that was full to the brim of old books. In the background there was quiet piano music playing and Blaine was pretty sure he had just found his new favourite place. After he had gotten his coffee, he went and sat in front of the fire and let his mind drift.

Not long after, he heard the doorbell chime and looked up to see a man walk in. He was wearing a black, leather trimmed pea coat with a white scarf around his neck and skinny jeans. He met the man’s eyes, which were a striking blue, and watched a faint blush rise high on his cheekbones. The stranger wandered up to the counter and asked for his usual. His voice chimed high and proud, and as cheesy as it sounds, reminded Blaine of an angel. Blaine didn’t realise he had been staring until the man glanced back over his shoulder and met his gaze with questioning eyes. Now it was Blaine’s turn to blush as he quickly looked away.

The man made his way over to the fireplace and sat in a seat opposite Blaine. Blaine glanced all around the room, looking everywhere but at the man in front of him. Both of his hands were clasped around the warm mug in his lap and they were suddenly very interesting. After staring at his hands for a couple of minutes he peered up at the man from under his eyelashes, and was surprised to find that he was already staring at him. The man gave him a small smile and huffed out a laugh as Blaine looked away quickly.

Blaine’s head snapped up as he heard the man speak to him. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

The man moved to a seat closer to Blaine and offered his hand. “I’m Kurt. It’s nice to meet you.”

Blaine grasped his soft hand before replying with, “Blaine. The pleasure is mine.”

Kurt’s right eyebrow lifted and his head tilted slightly to the left as he heard Blaine’s accent as he spoke. “Where are you from?”

“New Zealand.”

“Oh, wow! I’ve heard it’s beautiful there. How long have you been in New York for?”

“I actually just arrived last night.”

“And what brings you to this part of the world?”

Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his seat and scratched the back of his neck before responding with, “uh, it’s a long story.”

Kurt eyed him carefully, “hmmm, I’ll get it out of you soon enough,” then lifted his cup to his lips before taking a gentle sip with a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

Blaine just looked at him, blinked twice, cleared his throat, and proceeded to ask, “and how do you plan on doing that?”

Kurt smirked at him, “I have my ways.”

Blaine felt the back of his neck heat with that response and took a gulp from his drink so he wouldn’t have to reply.

Kurt laughed at Blaine’s obviously uncomfortable reaction before reassuring him that he wasn’t that kind of guy. “I’m old fashioned. I don’t just go pick up a guy and take him back to my pad for a good old screw.”

Blaine spluttered and choked on his coffee before letting out a loud laugh. He looked across at Kurt who seemed delighted with his response. His eyes were sparkling with amusement as the smile on his face grew.

The pair fell into comfortable conversation and found out a lot about one another. It turned out that Kurt was a Fashion Design student which explained his impeccable style. Not only was he a designer, but he also sang. He had big plans to go to NYADA and end up with his name in lights, but this dream was ripped away from him when he didn’t get accepted. Blaine heard all about the story of how he blew his audition out of the water, but his close friend choked and still managed to get into the school. At first Kurt had been jealous and bitter about it, but now he was thankful. He had still made it to New York and he loved the life he had now. He was the top of his class and had met so many amazing people while he had been here.

Kurt heard all about Blaine and the place he calls home. He found out that Blaine had taken a gap year after high school and was then accepted to a number of different Universities and Institutes, but he never accepted the offer of a place. He didn’t go into details as to why, and Kurt decided not to question it. Instead of going to University he came to New York and now here he was telling a stranger about his life.

After a few moments of comfortable silence Kurt spoke up. “Hey, do you wanna get out of here? Go for a walk or something?”

Blaine nodded eagerly before hopping out of his seat and following Kurt out of the store. The pair walked a few blocks just laughing and joking around before arriving at Central Park.

When Blaine realised where they were, he jumped up and down like a child before realising he was in the company of a very attractive man. He scrunched up his nose before turning to face Kurt who was watching him with thoroughly amused eyes.

“Sorry. I’ve kinda always wanted to come here…”

Kurt giggled before telling him that it was fine because it was adorable to watch, which made Blaine’s cheeks flush pink.

As they wandered along the path, Blaine couldn’t help but notice how close Kurt was. How every so often, the sleeve of his coat would catch against Blaine’s. How the back of his hand would brush against his own. Or how his fingers would flick out and connect with his every so often. Eventually, Blaine tentatively flexed his fingers before intertwining them with Kurt’s. This caused Kurt to stop halfway through his sentence and glance over at Blaine with a small smile on his lips. He gave his hand a gentle squeeze before carrying on with his story about his first college roommate.

As the sun began to set, Blaine stopped Kurt in his tracks and raised his free hand to rub the back of his neck nervously. “I was wondering if uh maybe you’d like to come to my place for dinner?”

“I’d love that.”

Blaine smiled but then his face dropped.

“What’s wrong?” Kurt questioned with concern obvious in his voice.

“I just remembered I have no food… How do you feel about doing groceries?” Blaine asked with a worried smile on his lips.

“Sure! There’s a store not far from here.”

Their shopping trip was full of laughter as Blaine was drifting his shopping trolley around corners and cracking jokes every so often. He was sure that he would never tire of the sound of Kurt’s delicate laugh.

When they turned into the final aisle, Blaine’s face lit up. The confectionary aisle. He raced over to the bulk section and grabbed a bag. He placed it under the container of pebbles and pulled the lever and began filling the bag. When Kurt wasn’t watching, he poured some pebbles into his hand and threw them at Kurt’s head. As Kurt turned slowly, he went back to what he was doing and acted as though nothing happened.

“You threw pebbles at my head.”

“What? No I didn’t?”

“Yes you did. You waited till I was distracted and vulnerable and poured pebbles into your hand and threw them at my head.”

“I think you’re losing your mind. Nobody threw any pebbles!”

“Huh. So the pebbles all over the floor are just a figment of my imagination?”

“Totally.”

Kurt turned to the closest container, which happened to be chocolate covered raisins, and filled his hand with them before throwing them at Blaine.

“You threw chocolate raisins at me.”

“What? No I didn’t?”

“Kurt, I saw you!”

“I think you’re losing your mind.”

“That’s it.” Blaine filled his hands again and dumped them on top of Kurt’s head. They continued having their candy fight until the aisle was littered with all kinds of sweets. They made their way up to the counter as though nothing had happened where Kurt told the checkout operator that they might want to clean up aisle 12. “It looks like someone’s had a candy fight. It’s utterly immature.” Blaine disguised his laugh with a cough before leaving the store with a smug look on his face.

Blaine placed a plate in front of Kurt with a shy smile on his face and told him that he hoped he enjoyed it. He had taken the time to set out some candles on the table that they had bought earlier and had dimmed the lights. In the background he had piano music playing softly. They ate in comfortable silence for a while before Kurt began to ask him more questions about his life back in New Zealand.

After they had cleaned off their plates, they sat together on the couch and Kurt reached over and gripped Blaine’s hand in his own. Blaine reached up and gently placed his hand on Kurt’s cheek. Kurt leaned in to Blaine’s touch before leaning forward and pressing his lips lightly to Blaine’s. He pulled back after a moment and rested his forehead on Blaine’s before murmuring, “I’ve had a really good day today.” Blaine responded with a quiet “me too” before kissing Kurt again with more pressure. They remained tangled on the couch for a while before Kurt pulled back and grasped both of Blaine’s hands and said, “you still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

Blaine looked up from their tangled hands and met Kurt’s curious gaze. “I needed a new beginning.” He brought their hands up to his face and lightly brushed his lips across Kurt’s knuckles. “I think I found it.”