Blaine had been trying to get a moment alone with Kurt for weeks, and the words "would you like to go on a date with me?" were always on his lips. But they were either surrounded by their co-workers, or Kurt would be called over to take a customer's order or, worst of all, in his opinion, Blaine would back out at the last second, too afraid of rejection to take the leap.
Kurt fascinated Blaine. He really, really did. Blaine had first noticed him on his second day at the diner, and he had felt himself falling for the man and his perfect hair and his beautiful eyes and…and everything about him. Kurt was utterly perfect. Blaine had stared longingly at him from a distance for a few days before they had both been given the graveyard shift and Kurt had been forced to introduce himself to avoid making things awkward.
"Hey, you're the new guy, right?" He'd asked, smiling awkwardly as he wiped down a table. Blaine idled nervously nearby, wringing a cloth in his hands.
"Uh, yeah, yeah, I started last Monday…" he trailed off, glancing down at the tiles- they were in need of a clean, he noticed, he'd have to do that later.
"And do you have a name, new guy?" Kurt asked, smirking slightly to himself at how adorable this kid was. It was so obvious that he was just out of high school and had never had to work a day in his life before.
"Oh!" Blaine blushed, mentally scolding himself for being so stupid, "Yes, I-I do. Obviously."
"And it is…?"
"It's-it's Blaine. I'm Blaine. Blaine Anderson."
Kurt smiled, moving on to the next table and dunking his cloth loudly into the bucket of soapy water next to him with a splash.
"Well Blaine Anderson, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Kurt Hummel."
Blaine had fallen for his handsome co-worker even more after that. He and Kurt weren't friends, not really, but they shared the occasional smile or "hello" and it always- without fail- made Blaine's heart race. And Blaine was settling in well at the Spotlight Diner- his other co-workers were nice, he was good with the customers, and he was always highly praised for his performances. On top of that, his classes at NYU were going very well, and his new roommates Sam and Tina were pretty cool. So Blaine's life was pretty much perfect right now- the only thing that could possibly make it better was if he had Kurt to call his boyfriend.
One evening, four months after Blaine had started his job at the diner, he found himself once more on the graveyard shift with Kurt and another girl, Dani, who Blaine was pretty sure was dating Santana, his co-worker and one of Kurt's roommates, if he'd heard correctly. He assumed the short, loud girl called Rachel with the dark hair and the amazing voice was the other one, or Dani's at least, as the four of them seemed to be pretty close. In any case, Blaine was more than a little nervous-he'd been on the graveyard shift several times since that first time, but never with Kurt. He'd said something to Gunther the manager about early classes, Blaine thought. This was the first time he'd even been anywhere near Kurt since and it was as terrifying as it was exciting.
He and Kurt were on dishwashing duty this time, and he couldn't stop himself looking stupid this close to him. He was nervous and shaky, stuttering over his words as he and Kurt made casual, light conversation. He even spilled the dishwater all over the floor, to his embarrassment, and dropped a plate as he tried to clean it up, wincing as it hit the floor and shattered with a smash. He looked at Kurt helplessly as the older man rolled his eyes and got down onto the floor, picking up the soapy shards of china and dropping them into the trash.
"I-I'm really sorry Kurt, I'm never normally like thi-"
"Look, don't worry about it. Why don't you go help Dani? She's filling the salt shakers. I'll take care of this."
Blaine nodded, flushing in embarrassment and walking quickly out of the kitchen area- slipping slightly on the wet tile and hoping to a God he'd stopped believing in when he was ten that Kurt hadn't seen- towards where Dani was sitting, a collection of salt shakers next to her. She looked up as he walked over, his shoes squeaking on the tile and the bottom of his pant legs dripping wet, and raised an eyebrow.
"I, uh, I've to help you with the salt shakers…" he mumbled. Dani nodded and pointed to the seat across from her. Blaine dropped into it with a heavy sigh and a glance back to the kitchen, where he could see Kurt mopping up his mess.
"You like him, don't you?" Dani asked suddenly, her voice low as she jerked her head towards the kitchen. Blaine's eyes widened and his hands fumbled with the salt shaker he had just pulled towards himself.
"I-I-I…no, no, I don't…"
"You clearly do, so don't argue with me. That's why you've been so clumsy tonight. Why haven't you asked him out yet?"
"I…" Blaine tried to think of an excuse, "I don't know. I really want to, but…but he wouldn't want me, right? I'm just…I'm just a freshman, a clumsy, stupid, stuttering freshman who can't even wash dishes without almost flooding the diner," he finished, looking sadly down at the table, moving some spilled salt around with his finger.
"You're also hot," Dani provided, "and that's coming from me. I should probably add that my girlfriend thinks so too. So does everyone at the diner. Kurt included," she added the last part in a low, teasing, sing-song voice, trying to contain her smile at the hopeful look in Blaine's eyes as he looked up at her.
"He…he thinks I'm hot? Really? But…I'm short and my hair's too curly so I use too much gel and my eyebrows are a weird shape and-"
"And it suits you. Just ask him. You'll probably be more successful than you think. I'm gonna send you back into the kitchen now and act like I'm not here so you can get on with it. And I want a full report on your success tomorrow morning or I will find you and slap you in the face with a dirty dishcloth. And you know they're not hard to find around here," she warned, grinning at him. He found himself smiling back at her.
"Go on. Get back into the kitchen."
Blaine stood up, mouthing a quick "thank you" and walked towards the kitchen, his stomach twisting nervously and his mouth dry. Kurt looked up as he appeared at the doorway.
"You're back," he stated. Blaine nodded and stepped in hesitantly.
"I'm back. If that's okay…"
"Sure, it's fine. There's some stuff that needs putting into the fridges if you're up to that. Please don't drop anything."
He nodded and blushed, making his way over to the delivery boxes.
"So," Kurt started, breaking the silence, "how are you enjoying it here? We haven't really spoken since that first graveyard shift."
"I-I think it's great here," Blaine stammered, "the job's good, it pays well, the customers are mostly nice, and I love getting to perform here. A-and the…the other employees are really awesome too," he added, turning away to hide his blush. God, he had it bad.
"Well, you're certainly a performer. Your solos are breathtaking," Kurt complimented nonchalantly without looking up from the dishes, making Blaine's face go redder and taking his breath away. He tried to thank Kurt, but he seemed to be totally tongue tied. When he eventually managed to stammer out a response it was quite different to what he had originally planned to say.
"I uh…uh…listen, Kurt. Would you…would you maybe…wanna go for a coffee or something when we're done?"
Kurt stilled and looked up, a surprised look on his face as Blaine held his breath.
"I…you…tonight? It-it's 1am Blaine, I think everywhere'll be closed…"
"Well, tomorrow then. Or the next day. Whenever you're free," Blaine persisted.
"Is…is this…will Dani be invited?"
"Well," Blaine hesitated, "I was kinda hoping that….that it could be just you and me, if that's okay."
"So…this is a date and…and not a friendly gathering?" Kurt clarified, shaking the water off of his hands and reaching for a towel without breaking eye contact with Blaine.
Blaine exhaled and nodded jerkily.
"Yes, yes it's a date. I'm asking you on a date."
There was a few seconds of silence in which Blaine thought he was going to pass out, but after what seemed like years Kurt nodded.
"Well in that case, my answer is yes," he replied, placing the towel down and moving towards Blaine.
"Y-yes?" Blaine asked, looking surprised, "Really?"
"Really," Kurt affirmed, suddenly right in front of Blaine, his eyes twinkling as he smiled, "you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to ask me that. I've thought you were utterly adorable since that first graveyard shift," he admitted, inching closer, his lips so close to Blaine's. Blaine's breath hitched at the compliment and before he even knew what he was doing, he had leaned forward, closing the gap between his and Kurt's lips. He gasped, a hand reaching up to grab Kurt's jaw and biting back a moan. He was actually kissing someone, kissing another man. He was kissing Kurt, of all people. Kurt responded enthusiastically, his arms settling around Blaine's waist, pulling him close. He pulled away for a moment, inhaling deeply.
"I've", a kiss, "waited," another kiss, "so long," a longer kiss that left Blaine's head spinning, "for this," he panted, his thumb stroking the younger man's hip as he tried desperately hard not to moan, because, well he didn't want to seem desperate, and Dani was practically in the same room. Besides, hopefully he'd have plenty of time to get to know Blaine over coffee.
"Me too," Blaine breathed, "I'm so glad you said yes. And I'm glad we got that out of the way, because now the coffee-date we're having tomorrow isn't going to be awkward."
"No," Kurt laughed, "It's definitely not."
Later that night, as Kurt and Blaine were walking out of the diner hand in hand, talking shyly but excitedly about their plans for the next day, Blaine glanced back to see Dani hanging up her apron. The girl winked at him and gave him a discreet thumbs-up behind Kurt's back, mouthing "you're safe." He grinned back and turned back to Kurt, squeezing his hand gently. Yep, his life was completely perfect now.
Quick A/N: I'd like to say a little thank you to the people who favourited and reviewed. But I'd also like to say in response to the reviewer who told me off for calling Blaine hot that I was not trying to exaggerate his attractiveness, I personally find him much hotter than "cute at best" and that is my opinion. Have a nice day.
