When Blaine woke up to a text from Kurt that simply said, “Meet me at the Lima Bean at 2,” he assumed that the job search had reached another impasse or was expected to do so in the next few hours. Kurt, he knew, searched out caffeine and company for consolation. His misery could often only be tempered by a sympathetic ear and a grande nonfat mocha.

He’d been applying to jobs everywhere over the past few weeks with no success. His father had offered to give him a raise at the shop in order to keep his workers in line while he was in Washington, but without Burt there, Kurt didn’t feel right working on the cars his father would be tending to. Burt and Carole had left a month ago to look for a home in D.C. and although Kurt’s often empty house left a lot of leeway for bedroom shenanigans, being there alone all day was difficult for his boyfriend. So, Kurt began looking for a job while Blaine spent four days a week doing shows at King’s Island.

He’d expected Kurt to be seated with coffee in hand, so it comes as a shock to him when he comes into the coffee shop at 2:05 and Kurt is nowhere in sight. He heads for the register, ending up in line behind what looks like a fourteen-year-old girl on her first coffee exploration. Blaine turns around each time the door opens, hoping to see Kurt walking in. When it becomes clear that Kurt is running behind, he decides to help the girl pick her poison, leading her through the flavors and sizes. They finally reach the verdict, grande nonfat mocha, and Blaine thinks, “what the hell?” and says, “Make that two and a medium drip, please.” He drags his wallet from his pocket, noting the girl’s surprised glance. After paying, he sees that she’s looking at him with bright doe eyes, her gratefulness almost overpowered by a strange kind of...hope, maybe?

They wait for their coffee at the other end of the counter, the girl saying, “Thank you so much for the suggestion, I was completely lost.”

Blaine smiles kindly. “It wasn’t a problem. I wasn’t in a rush or anything.”

“I’m Anne, by the way,” she says.

“Blaine,” he replies, holding out his hand.

She grins, looking almost frightening with the size of her smile.

“So,” she says, drawing the word out, “who’s the other coffee for, your girlfriend?”

Blaine laughs at the idea of having a girlfriend and her manic grin grows impossibly wider. Blaine realizes his mistake, having not thought of the implications of laughing at her remark. He wonders briefly how he’s supposed to tell this girl he isn’t remotely interested in her eyelash-fluttering femininity when he hears a familiar voice. “Oh, sweetie. You’re barking up the wrong sexuality.”

Blaine looks up to see Kurt decked in a Lima Bean apron and a smirk for Anne.

She sighs, picking up her coffee with a grumbled, “Always the nice ones” and shuffling to a table in the corner.

Kurt winks at Blaine, who beams and says, “I see you found a job.”

His boyfriend’s smile is radiant as he whispers, “Marry me, and I hear you can get a fifty percent discount on coffee.”