"You've been sitting there for, like, an hour and forty minutes."
The blonde froze at the accusing tone, causing his pencil to stop mid-sentence. A little annoyed that someone had broken his concentration, he slowly looked up from the writing in his notebook and blinked at the source of his interruption.
One of the baristas was staring down at him with a small frown while holding a mostly full coffee pot in one hand. He wore an unbuttoned red and blue flannel shirt over a black top with blue skinny jeans, cut off slightly above the ankle. On his black apron bearing the name of the establishment, Grindhouse, there was a name tag that read Blaine.
The blonde hesitated for a moment and dropped his pencil. "Um, is there a problem?"
Blaine's free hand scratched at his temple under the unruly mess of brunette curls on his head for a moment and he shrugged. "Well, not really. But do you want a refill or anything?" He lifted the pot and gave the blonde a pointed look.
He peered into the bottom of his long-forgotten regular, black coffee. Half of it was still there, but had obviously gone cold, causing the both of them to grimace.
"Nah, I'm fine," he answered with a small and animated shake of his head, causing his soft blonde hair to fall slightly out of place.
"Because if you're just gonna sit there and not drink our coffee to —" he raised an eyebrow as he took note of the blondes reading material "— take notes on The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, then maybe you should, like, do that at the library or something."
"Oh," he laughed nervously. "Um, sorry. It's for a psychology class."
"Uh-huh," the brunette said slowly with a short nod. "Look, I don't mean to be rude, but you can't just buy one cup of coffee and then sit the—"
"I can't go to the library," he interrupted in a desperate rush, sounding slightly crazed. And then his eyes widened at the blondes tiny outburst who suddenly looked embarrassed and mortified.
Blaine looked at him oddly. This boy, by far, was one of the weirder customers he'd ever encountered. And that was saying something, considering some of the more zealous hipsters he'd served in the past. "Why? Do you need directions or something?"
"No," he replied quickly with a firm shake of his head. "I, uh, I don't like to study there."
Blaine blinked at him. "I thought that was the whole point of a library? You know, with all the books and the learning?"
"It's too quiet," he mumbled, looking down at his notes and doodling a tiny tornado in the corner of the page.
Blaine furrowed his brows at that. "Too quiet?" he repeated incredulously.
The blonde lifted his head to give Blaine an unsure look. "Yeah. The quiet makes me crazy and I like a little noise. But I can't study at home, either. I know, I know. 'Just play a little music or turn on the TV for some background noise.' Well, I can't do music because even though I love music — I mean, come on, who doesn't love music? Other than the deaf, but I think that's a different scenario — I always end up focusing on whatever I'm listening to instead of doing any actual studying. And I can't turn on the TV because all the different voices and sounds are just way too distracting for me," he rambled, gesturing wildly with his hands the entire time.
Blaine was starting to look a little overwhelmed, and even a bit frightened.
The talkative blonde didn't seem to notice and continued, "Over the years, I realized that coffee shops were the best. The occasional noises from all the grinders and the machines, plus the soft and quiet chatter... it all kind of... relaxes me, I guess. And, of course, the smell of coffee is always a definite bonus," he concluded with soft smile.
Blaine's eyebrows shot up when the boy finally finished. "So... yes on that refill?" He held up the coffee pot with a little shake.
"Oh," he blushed and ducked his head, realising that the brunette probably hadn't cared to hear any—if not all—of his rambling. "That would be great." Still looking down, he pinched the napkin her coffee mug was sitting on and shyly pulled it across the table for Blaine to refill.
Blaine chuckled at him. "Good thing the refills are free, yeah?" he smirked, pouring the cute blonde a new cup with an amused shake of his head.
"Thank you," he muttered quietly, still looking down as he took a small sip of her coffee. He grimaced at the taste but didn't say anything.
"No way," Blaine breathed, his jaw dropping a bit. He pointed a finger at the boy accusingly. "You don't even like coffee!" he spluttered, eyes widening dramatically.
The blonde jumped in his seat and nearly choked on his mouthful of coffee. His tiny fist thumped his chest a few times."I do, too!" He protested weakly, coughing mildly.
Blaine glared at him, unconvinced. "Yeah?" he challenged, "Then why didja make this face, huh?" And then he scrunched up his features in an exaggerated impression of her previous grimace. "Huh? Why'd ya make that face?" And then he somehow managed to scrunch up his features even further.
The studious boy blinked rapidly and gaped at him, absolutely stunned. "I—what?"
Blaine crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously. "Are you, like, some sort of weird coffee shop squatter?"
He opened his mouth wordlessly and tilted his head to the side with deeply furrowed eyebrows. After a moment, he only repeated himself. "I—what?"
Blaine sighed, deeply and dramatically. "Why are you drinking the coffee if you don't even like it?"
A bright red coloured the blondes cheeks. "I like to study in coffee shops but I can't just sit down without ordering... and, um, regular coffee is the cheapest thing on the menu, so..."
Blaine gave an amused scoff. "Wow," he breathed.
The boy winced and looked at him with his sharp blue eyes. "A—are you going to kick me out?" He asked quietly with drooping shoulders.
Blaine deflated slightly, suddenly feeling bad for giving this boy a hard time. "No," he muttered with a shake of his head. "Just... finish studying," he sighed with a dismissive wave of his hand.
He instantly brightened and beamed at Blaine. "Will do!" And then he gave him a two fingered salute and he was pretty sure it was the cutest thing he'd ever seen.
Blaine rolled his eyes and turned to walk away. "You're just lucky you're cute," he grumbled under his breath.
The blondes head shot up and he frowned. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"
Blaine's eyes widened and he quickened his pace back to the counter. "Nope, just have to clean up my station! Enjoy your lukewarm coffee!"
–
A couple of days passed by and Blaine saw no sign of that weird, but admittedly rather cute, blonde.
But on a rare slow Saturday afternoon, the chime above the door signaled a new customer and when he looked up from wiping down the counter, he was pleasantly surprised to see his favorite coffee shop squatter.
"Hey!" he greeted cheerfully with an easy grin. He opened his mouth to ask if the boy wanted his usual cup of black coffee when he bounded up to the counter, a little frazzled.
"Hi," he shot back breathlessly, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair hurriedly. He bit his lip and then inhaled deeply, seemingly gearing himself up for something.
"Uh-oh," Blaine muttered under his breath, bracing himself for some sort of inane rambling.
"Look, I know it kind of irked you last time when I just sat there with the same cup of coffee and did my homework." He shifted the strap of his book bag and looked at Blaine with pleading eyes. "But I have a giant exam I need to study for and an even bigger paper to write. Could you please, please just let me sit here and do it all? I tried the library a few times this past week and I just can't do it. The quiet was driving me insane."
Blaine blinked at him. "Ohhh-kaaay..." he said slowly, not sure how to react to the rambling.
"And I know this is, like, super rude to ask of you, but could you just walk by every so often to refill my coffee?" He rummaged through his pocket and counted the few bills and change he had. "Here's... four dollars and fifty-seven cents. I know, I know! I'm being really difficult, but I'll be too focused on my homework to ask for a refill and I really don't want to be that coffee shop squatter you accused me of being."
Blaine furrowed his brows at the money. "Coffee's only two seventy-five. And refills are free."
The blonde blushed. "Well, yeah, but I'm just paying you for being such a crazy and difficult customer," he muttered, averting his eyes. "Look, if you don't want me to stay, that's fine. I'll just—"
"If I agree to refill your coffee, will you stop talking?" Blaine interrupted in exasperation.
The blonde looked a little offended but then fully processed what Blaine had said. "Yes! Yes, I'll stop talking!" And then because he was adorably dorky, he even mimed zipping up his lips and throwing away the key over his shoulder.
Wow, Blaine didn't even know people still did that.
He shook his head, snickering slightly. "Keep your chump change. I promise I'll come by and refill your coffee." He reached for the pot and poured the coffee into a bright yellow mug.
With a huge sigh of relief, the blonde beamed at him. He slapped three dollars on the counter and pocketed the rest. "Thank you!" He gushed, turning around to sprint to his favourite booth.
"Whoa, hey!" Blaine called after him retreating back.
"Yes?" He frowned, turning around in confusion.
"Uh, forgetting something?" Blaine smirked with a raised eyebrow.
When his look of confusion deepened, he held up the cup on a matching saucer and nodded his head toward it, arching his brow up even further.
"Oh!" The boy exclaimed cutely, running over and taking it gratefully from his grasp. "Thank you," he paused, eyes flicking to his name tag before meeting his again with a warm smile, "Blaine."
Blaine waved him off good-naturedly. "No problem. Kick ass on that paper," he laughed with a wink.
The blondes eyes widened and he blushed. "Oh, uh, thanks," he stuttered, suddenly becoming shy. "I'm, um... I'll just... uh." He gestured wildly about and then looked pained while Blaine snickered in utter amusement. "I think I'll just go sit down," the blonde finished flatly, rushing to his preferred booth in the back, careful not to spill his coffee.
Blaine felt himself grinning stupidly as he watched the cute boy take his seat and begin unpacking his book bag.
–
"Here," Blaine murmured softly a while later, placing a new red cup in front of the boy who was focused entirely in his studies. "You look like you could use a break."
The blonde looked up at him in surprise, before glancing at his new drink and then back at Blaine "I didn't order another drink," he said after a moment of hesitation.
Blaine opened his mouth and then closed it uncertainly, shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "It's, uh, it's on the house," he coughed slightly, "since you don't like drinking it black."
The taller boy gasped at that. "Oh, no, you don't have to do that!" He hurriedly picked up his previous yellow cup. "I love black coffee!" He declared wildly, taking a long sip and powering through an intense grimace. "So—bleeeh—delicious!" He topped everything off with a cheesy thumbs up. "Yay!" He cried weakly.
Blaine scoffed, partly exasperated and partly amused. "Yeah, uh-huh. Real convincing." He gestured to the new drink he had just set down and shrugged casually. "It's not a big deal. It's just a regular latte, nothing fancy, but yeah."
The blonde hesitated and nibbled at his lower lip. "Are you sure?" He asked quietly but his hands were already reaching out for the red cup.
Blaine rolled his eyes playfully and made little 'go on, go on' gestures with his hands.
The boy finally peered properly into the cappuccino cup and gasped in pure delight. "Wait! Is that—?"
On the surface of his latte, Blaine had drawn a little bow tie using steamed milk.
Blaine laughed at his reaction. "Do you like it?"
"Oh my gosh!" He squeaked excitedly, looking up at him with a wide smile. "That's so cool!"
Blaine scratched the back of his neck nervously. "The bow ties actually pretty simple, so don't be too impressed." He shrugged and grinned, "Well, last time you were here, you we're wearing a bow tie."
He grinned at Blaine and took a sip. "Hm," he murmured blissfully, "So much tastier than black coffee." The blonde shot him an incredibly grateful look. "Thank you so much for the latte, Blaine. I really appreciate it."
"Don't worry about it," he said with a warm smile. Blaine watched him enjoy the latte for a moment when he realized something. He cleared his throat to catch the boys attention. "So, uh, I never caught your name."
"Oh." He blinked in surprise and paused from taking another drink. He set down his cup and held up a hand. "I'm Kurt," he said with a light laugh that made his smile widen into a toothy grin.
Blaine shook it enthusiastically. "It's nice to formally meet you," he joked.
"Yeah, well, you can't call me the Crazy Coffee Shop Squatter forever," Kurt said with a roll of his eyes.
"That's a shame, since it rolled off the tongue so nicely," Blaine said sarcastically.
Kurt, and it was nice to finally, finally, know his name, bit his lip to keep from smiling and Blaine watched him bring the cup to his lips. He blew slightly before taking a small drink.
Blaine placed a hand on the blondes table, the other on his hip, and leaned in toward her. "So, uh, Kurt."
Kurt blinked at him, all confusion and innocence and really, it was totally adorable. "Yes?"
Blaine opened his mouth to flirt with Kurt some more when suddenly, a voice called out.
"Blaine Anderson! Stop flirting with all the customers and clean up the counter!"
Blaine flinched and straightened up, snapping his jaw shut. "Coming!" he shot back over his shoulder dejectedly. He turned back to Kurt sheepishly. "Uh, sorry. I have to go," he sighed, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
Kurt quirked a brow at him suspiciously. "So you flirt with all of the customers, huh?" He tried to sound stern, but Blaine could see the amusement in the other boys eyes and hear the laughter in his voice.
"Just the cute ones," he shot back with an easy smirk and a tap on Kurt's nose.
Kurt turned bright pink and ducked his head into his cappuccino cup. "Get back to your job," he muttered embarrassingly.
"Aye, aye, Capt'n!" Blaine chuckled, copying the salute he gave him the other day.
No longer able to hold back his laughter, Kurt shook his head as Blaine walked back to the counter, his smirk widening the entire way.
–
Blaine was in the middle of busting a table when he noticed Kurt getting up out of the corner of his eye. Kurt was starting to gather his things together so Blaine quickly finished up and walked over to Kurt's table, placing the rag in his back pocket.
"Getting ready to leave, I see. So did you finish your paper?" Blaine asked curiously.
"No," he sighed with a small shake of his head, "I promised my dad I'd be home to make dinner, otherwise I'd stay here for another hour or so to finish it. I still have another paragraph or two, an entire conclusion, and then I need to revise the whole thing." When Kurt placed the last of hid belongings into his bag, he shrugged at Blaine. "And I'm still not positive that I'll ace that final so I need to study some more for that as well."
"Wow," Blaine breathed, feeling a little bad for the boy.
Kurt sighed again and nodded. "Yep. Luckily, I'm caught up in all my other classes and I should be able to get everything done by tomorrow night. My paper's due Monday morning."
"So," Blaine started in a low voice, a smirk slowly inching its way across his lips, "since you've got more studying and writing to do... I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"
The cute blonde blinked, startled at Blaine's inquiry. He finally gave a small chuckle and tilted his head to the side playfully, blue eyes sparkling with delight. "I guess you will," he grinned.
"Bye, Kurt. I'll see ya later," Blaine said as Kurt walked past him with a small little wave. Blaine waited until Kurt exited the coffee shop before whipping out his cellphone and quickly dialing a number.
"Hey, Puck, you workin' tomorrow? Yeah? Let me take your shift, dude."