Chapter I: Surprise

A.N.: Soo…after a while of sitting on a writer's block the size of Russia I finally managed to write again. This little AU came to me while I was brooding over TBU and I figured than everything was better at canon at this point.

Story Notes: This is a Klaine college!AU and even though I tried to make Kurt and Blaine as much themselves as I could, it is not canon compliant. Most of the things of their High School careers as depicted in canon still happened, but they never met until the came to New York. The story picks up after about a year after they met.

Chapter Notes: None of this would have ever even happened without my beautiful beta Daria (starsandunicorns over on tumblr), who did not only turn my messy scrawl into something readable, but also listened to my endless whining and encouraged me to actually post this. She did a great job in picking out my mistakes, but whatever is left is all my fault :)

Warnings: None for this chapter.

Disclaimer: Glee belongs to FOX and RIB. In fact I do not own anything you recognize. I am just playing with other people's toys. I promise to return them unharmed.

Enough rambling for now. Enjoy :D

"Hey there handsome." Blaine Anderson smiled as his best friend flopped down in the seat next to him, dropping his head on his bag on the table. "Bad morning?"

Kurt Hummel let out a low whine and Blaine laughed softly, pushing his coffee over to his friend, who looked up at that.

"You look like you need it more than I do."

Kurt looked like he was about to argue, but after looking from the coffee to his friend, who was looking at him with a teasing smile on his face, he relented and took a long sip, letting out a low moan as the hot beverage ran down his throat, making Blaine look away with a cough.

"Gods, thank you Blaine, I owe you for this." the brunet finally smiled.

Blaine busied himself with setting up his things for the lecture, not quite looking at Kurt, but unable to hide the soft smile playing on his lips.

"Don't mention it, you have come through for me more than once. Besides, that's what friends are for, right?"

Kurt nodded, reaching out to briefly squeeze Blaine's arm in thanks, before setting up his own things. His thoughts drifted back to when they had first helped each other out, which also happened to be the first time they met.

It had been over a year ago, back when Kurt had first come to New York, just before his classes started. Rachel had dragged him out to 'Enjoy the New York nightlife.' bringing them to a bar, filled with people around their age and older, and a small stage for live music…

ooOooOooOoo

Kurt was sitting near the stage by himself, frowning into his drink waiting for Rachel to return from whichever guy she had locked lips with now in an attempt to get over Finn. If only so he could drag her out of there and finally go back to their apartment, but there seemed to be no sign of his loud friend. He settled with a sigh, eyes scanning the room.

There were people drinking and dancing to the music coming from the speakers, some playing pool at the far end of the place and others sitting at tables in small groups, or pairs chatting quietly. Kurt was starting to feel really pathetic, having a lot harder time to find friends than Rachel seemed to, when he heard a loud crash and a curse coming from the semi-dark behind the stage somewhere.

Abandoning his now empty drink, Kurt jumped up and hurried over there, finding a curly haired boy…man, probably about his age, lying on the floor, buried under what looked to be an assortment of instruments, muttering a string of curse words under his breath.

Kurt chuckled softly, bending down, breath catching in his throat as staggeringly beautiful amber eyes settled on him, looking confused.

"I…um…h-hi? You looked like you might need some help?" Kurt held out his hand before he realized that the boy couldn't really reach it right now anyways, and dropping it back to his side. "I-I'm Kurt?" he offered hesitantly, amber eyes never leaving his.

After a moment of awkward silence, in which Kurt could hear his heart hammering away in his chest, the boy on the floor finally grinned and wrenched his arm out from under the keyboard on top of him, holding his hand out to Kurt.

"I'm Blaine. And you're right. I could need a bit of help."

Kurt shook the boy's hand, holding onto it for a little longer than strictly necessary, before he realized that the boy…Blaine…was still on the floor, buried under the instruments, so he pulled his hand away, blushing, before helping Blaine carefully lift the stuff off of him, without (further) damaging anything.

When they had finally properly set up the keyboard and the guitar, complete with chairs and sheet music, Blaine smiled brightly at Kurt.

"Thank you so much for this, I owe you."

Kurt laughed, shaking his head, but he was curious now, and didn't want to let Blaine go just yet.

"So…do you work here?"

"Oh…No I don't, not really. I'm meant to perform here tonight."

Kurt's eyes widened.

"Wow, that's great." After a moment of silence he added "I should let you get to that then."

The raven haired boy smiled again.

"Maybe. But, listen, I figure I at least owe you a drink after you helped me out earlier, so um…will you be around for a while yet?"

All thoughts of going home to watch some crappy television forgotten Kurt nodded eagerly.

"Sure. I mean I can't just leave before I know whether you're any good."

The boys laughed, before Blaine excused himself to take his place on the stage, and Kurt made his way back over to his still empty seat, watching as Blaine greeted the crowd and started to play, feeling slightly breathless at what he saw.

Blaine was really, really good. He alternated between accompanying himself on the guitar and the keyboard, playing a wide variety of songs, even taking requests. Kurt's eyes never left him, and the brunet couldn't help but feel a strange sense of pride at seeing how well Blaine was doing, even though they had just met, especially when Blaine kept sneaking small smiles at Kurt.

Kurt only took his eyes off the boy on the stage, when someone sat down on the chair opposite him. Expecting Rachel, he smiled, but his expression became unsure when he realized that it wasn't his friend, but instead a guy, probably a few years older than him, leering at him.

"Hey there pretty boy. Those pants look fantastic on you, but do you know where they'd look even better? On the floor next to my bed."

Kurt stared at the guy, who seemed to have had more than enough alcohol for the night, barely keeping himself from rolling his eyes, because 'Really?', before wanting to turn back to Blaine, but a hand caught his arm and Kurt flinched involuntarily as the guy was suddenly leaning uncomfortably close.

"Come on, I have been watching you all night, sitting over here all by yourself. You should let me buy you a drink."

"No, thank you." Kurt replied, trying to lean away from the guy's stale breath and almost painful grip as far as possible, without pissing him off.

"You could repay me with a blowjob. Come on, it's a shame for a pretty little thing like you to be here all by…"

The guy's words were drowned out by Blaine's voice, coming from the speakers, but also, from where he was standing at the edge of the stage, holding the mic and looking down at Kurt.

"This next song is for someone really special." Blaine winked at Kurt and the guy who had been cornering him let go off his arm, as the attention of the whole club suddenly seemed directed at them. "Kurt, this is for you."

The drunk guy scuttered off as the crowd aww'ed, Kurt blushing furiously when Blaine sat down at the keyboard, playing the opening sequence of a song that Kurt was rather familiar with.

You think I'm pretty

Without any make-up on

You think I'm funny

When I tell the punch line wrong

I know you get me

So I'll let my walls come down, down

Before you met me

I was a alright

But things were kinda heavy

You brought me to life

Now every February

You'll be my valentine, valentine

…

A couple of songs later Blaine was done, gratefully accepting the applause, before hopping off the stage whispering something to one of the waiters, who was flitting around collecting empty bottles and glasses and bringing drinks to people sitting at tables, making his way over to Kurt, who beamed at him as he sat down.

"Blaine, you were fantastic. No wonder they let you perform here. And…" Kurt blushed "I really appreciate what you did back there…when that guy…you didn't have to do that, so thank you." He finished awkwardly, avoiding Blaine's eyes.

Blaine smiled, briefly squeezing his arm reassuringly.

"You looked really cornered over there and well that's what friends are for, right?"

Kurt finally met Blaine's eyes, and couldn't help but smile at the hopeful expression he found there.

"Yeah. I guess it is."

ooOooOooOoo

Kurt couldn't help, but smile a little at the memory of that night. He and Blaine had sat together for at least 2 hours after that, figuring out a lot of similarities as the night went. Like their love for Vogue and music, the fact that they both loved musicals and Disney, or that they both were going to start at NYU that semester, figuring out that they were actually taking several classes together, having chosen music as their major.

It was the first time since it happened that Kurt felt like the fact that he hadn't gotten into NYADA with Rachel would not be the worst thing that had ever happened to him. They had left that night after a rather inebriated Rachel fell into Blaine's lap, telling him that they should have good looking and talented babies together, saying goodbye with quick hugs and each other's numbers in their phones.

After dragging Rachel home and getting her safely tucked into bed, Kurt couldn't hide a grin when he found a message from Blaine upon checking his phone. They had texted for a while after that, and Kurt had fallen asleep with his phone in his hand, smiling softly.

Things had just developed from then on, and left Kurt and Blaine as best friends over coffee and movie-non-dates and shared classes and studying.

Kurt was pulled out of his daydreaming when Blaine nudged him, and Kurt noticed that the class was already over and students were slowly packing their stuff away and piling out of the room.

"Mhh?"

Blaine laughed.

"Come on, sleepyhead. What do you say I buy you coffee and you tell me what happened to you this morning?"

Kurt nodded quickly, following Blaine as they made their way to their favorite coffee spot, where he proceeded to tell Blaine that Rachel managed to set their kitchen on fire again and, in an attempt to kill the fire, managed to assassinate their coffee machine as well.

"Hence why I didn't have any coffee with me this morning." Kurt finished piteously, sitting back as he found a waiter approaching their table.

"Anything else I can get you?" the tall blond asked, smiling sweetly as he looked at Kurt.

Kurt blinked.

"Um…no thanks, I'm good. Blaine?"

Blaine, who seemed lost in his thoughts, staring at the waiter with a slight frown, startled at the sound of Kurt's voice.

"Oh, no thank you, I'm good, too."

The blond hardly acknowledged him, putting his hand on Kurt's arm instead, still smiling.

"Well. If that changes, just let me know ok? I'm Tyler by the way."

Kurt suppressed a laugh at that, which was made more difficult because he could hear Blaine snorting into his Medium Drip, because 'Yeah, I can see that on your name tag. Duh.' And held out his hand instead.

"Nice to meet you Tyler, I'm Kurt."

ooOooOooOoo

Kurt and Blaine had left the coffee shop soon after that, going their separate ways because they didn't have any classes together anymore that day. Kurt had asked Blaine whether he wanted to hang out at his and Rachel's place later, but Blaine had declined, saying he was busy.

As usual when they weren't actually together, they had kept up a near constant stream of texts during the day, having a laugh when Blaine called later that evening, because Kurt realized that Tyler had actually managed to sneak him his number.

It wasn't really anything unusual to Kurt anymore, he was used to being flirted with, and he had even been out on several dates with guys he had met. Back in the beginning of his time at NYU he had even had a boyfriend for almost a month, which definitely was a nice change from his life of solitude back in Ohio, but nothing had ever really worked out.

Kurt had a suspicion why that was, but he wasn't ready to confess that to himself yet, even as he fell asleep, the image of warm amber eyes locked in his mind.

ooOooOooOoo

The next morning when Kurt stepped outside to collect their mail, still half asleep, he almost broke his neck as he stumbled over a package standing in front of their door.

"What the…" he stood and stared at the thing for a while, before bending down to look whether there was a message or anything.

Indeed he found a bright yellow rose, and a small note attached to it. The note only said his name, so Kurt gathered the package in his arms and carried it inside, stunned when he found a small, but definitely fancy (a lot more so than the old thing they had used before that), coffee machine inside, staring at it dazedly.

He had no idea who could have sent him this.

His first thought was Blaine, but he dismissed that quickly, because, while he knew Blaine would definitely do that for him, Blaine was a destitute student, just like him, who lived off the money he made with the small gigs he played and he didn't have money to randomly buy Kurt a gift like this.

He thought of his father then, but in that case the rose would make no sense, and how would Burt have pulled this off anyways?

After another while of thinking, he realized that he would be late for class if he didn't hurry, and he left the machine where it was, running off to get ready.

ooOooOooOoo

He was still confused later, as he slid into his seat next to Blaine, smiling gratefully as he saw that Blaine had actually bought two cups of coffee this morning, pushing one over to him.

"You're an angel." he gushed "You have to let me treat you to dinner for this…Or…well we are really due another movie night anyways, so why don't you come over tonight and I cook for us? I'm pretty sure Rachel has rehearsal for something-or-other anyways, so we would have the apartment to ourselves? Or you know…not if you have other plans I mean…I didn't want to assume that you don't have any plans, because I know that you…"

"Kurt…hey." Blaine cut off his rambling, reaching for his hand and smiling. "I'd love to come over later, you know I would."

Blaine's heart fluttered at the wide smile that spread on Kurt's face at that.

"Can't wait. And…sorry for being weird I guess."

Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand.

"You're not being weird, but has something happened? You seem jittery."

"Nothing happened. Well nothing bad at least. But,…Blaine someone left a coffee machine for me in front of the door of the apartment. And…and a rose? A yellow one. With a note…it only said my name though."

Blaine tilted his head to the side, expression unreadable.

"And you have no idea who could have left it for you?"

Kurt whined, calming slightly as Blaine ran his thumb over his knuckles soothingly.

"I…no. I don't. It's a really fancy machine, too. I didn't even set it up yet. I don't know what to do. I mean…I'm pretty sure that the thing was expensive…I mean…if I don't even know who sent it, how am I supposed to ever…thank them? Or pay them back?"

Blaine could tell that Kurt was getting pretty worked up about the whole deal, so he leaned forward and hugged him, slightly awkwardly, because he didn't let go of his hand, and because they were seated next to each other, but Kurt calmed down anyways, sagging into the hug, letting the comfort of Blaine's warmth and smell wash over him, until they pulled away after a while, Blaine prompting Kurt to look into his eyes.

"Ok, listen. It's a really nice gesture, but if that person didn't leave a name or anything, then maybe they really just want to do something for you and don't expect anything in return?"

Kurt nodded lightly.

"I'd still like to thank them...tell them I appreciate the gesture."

Blaine smiled at that, nudging him gently.

"I'm sure that whoever it is already knows that you are grateful."

He watched the brunet relax and lean slightly into Blaine, dropping his head on his shoulder, without ever letting go of his hand. Blaine smiled, dipping his head so that it rested on top of Kurt's, and they didn't move again until their professor walked in to start the lecture.

End Notes: Ok. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'd love to hear what you thought about it :)

I estimate around 5 chapters for this story overall, together with an (optional) epilogue. I hope to be able to post the next chapter within the next few days.

The song used above does not belong to me, it is Teenage Dream by Katy Perry.

I will be putting up the first chapter to this on my scarves&coffee account since I don't entirely trust atm, the link should be on my profile page.

Thank you for reading, and I hope I will be seeing you again soon :D