Kurt gave his name to the server behind the counter and watched as the black ink of the marker stained the white cardboard of his to-go cup, smudging slightly. He gave her a polite smile as she looked up again but was distracted by a ghostly familiar laugh coming from round the end of the counter. Its source was beyond the large coffee machine with its many cogs and dials that Kurt should probably know how to use having worked in a diner, but currently just blocked his view. He blinked several times, it had been years since he'd heard it but still recognised the breathy tones.
"That's $2.69, sir? Sir?" Kurt took himself and stole his wandring eyes back to the till, delving into his long overcoat for his wallet and handing over three dollar bills, waving away the change as a tip.
Taking a deep, not un-nervous breath, he made his way round the edge of the counter, following its curve past the machine where a man was making his order and talking amiably to a short, dark haired man with a to-go cup already clutched in hand. The bright, wide smile that already lit his features as he leant over the counter listening was just as warm and endearing to Kurt as it always had been, and his name fell from his lips without conscious need to summon it.
"Blaine."
As the slightly younger man turned his head to see his addressor, Kurt's eyes began to take-in the differences. The helmet of smoothed down hair was now free, thought he thought he detected some use of clay to wrangle the unwieldy curls. His neck was absent of bowties or even a collar as he wore a simple t-shirt and hoody, though it looked as though he'd tried to hide it with his long parka and more familiar tight jeans. The acutely round pools of brown that now focused on him were alight with surprise but also – to Kurt's pleasure – delight.
"Kurt!" Blaine laughed, again strongly familiar and came forward instinctively in a hug which Kurt had to break quickly as his name was called to collect his order. His ex accompanied him to the counter, leaning back over to say, "I'll catch you tomorrow, Steve." Before turning back to Kurt and asking, "How are you?" with great enthusiasm.
Kurt retrieved a sleeve for his cup, replying "Good , good, yeah, you? Are you in a rush or can we sit?" a little cautiously but also genuinely pleased to see his old flame.
"No, I've got time," Blaine smiled, leading them through the labyrinth to already seated customers to a table for two and pulled out a chair. "I've just come from a rehearsal actually, hence…" He waved at the t-shirt peaking between this open coat flaps.
"Oh, wow, what are you rehearsing?"
"Oh, well, um," He looked sheepish, clutching his cup between his hands. "I'm one of the ensemble in this season of Wicked."
Kurt gasped, a wide smile spreading his face and reached a hand to clasp Blaine's forearm. "Blaine! That's fantastic! Congratulations!"
"Thanks," he said, bowing his head in embarrassment and also to hide the great smile of pride that always erupted whenever to talked about the show. "You're welcome to come; I can get you a free ticket when I start – but what about you?" He rushed, "What've you been up to?"
Kurt withdrew his hand gently, taking a sip from his cup and crossing his legs as he leaned forwards conspiratorially.
"Well, I've been working with this small production company – quite a few NYADA Alumni actually – anyway, we're working on this new production that recently got picked up to start touring!" He exclaimed quietly, still bursting with the excitement he'd had first receiving the news. Blaine's own face lit with a wide smile.
"Wow! Kurt, that's fantastic! Who else from NYADA's in it? Anyone I know? I presume not Rachel!"
"Oh, no – no! I assume you've heard about her?"
"Of course, understudy for the lead in Phantom in the West End, hard to miss on the radar!"
Kurt nodded, proudly, smiling at the ease with which their conversation had flowed. "Yes, so not Rachel. I'm just trying to think who was in your year – oh, Danielle was, wasn't she?"
"Oh, yeah, yes! She's nice, I'm glad she's doing well. I still see Eddy sometimes, so I knew they'd broken up but lost track of her after that see…" Blaine trailed off in thought, thinking about his other classmates who'd he hadn't heard about. Kurt, meanwhile, felt a slight tension at his next thought and pursed his lips to draw in breath through his nose in an attempt to relax himself; trying to pretend it was a question like any other.
"What about you? You still with Matt?"
Blaine paused for a second, a slight grimace shadowing his face and Kurt's stomach suddenly dropped like a stone. He opened his mouth to attempt to withdraw the question but the boy before him raised his hand in assurance; closing his eyes for a second longer than was necessary to be a blink before beginning.
"It's alright. We broke up a few months ago. Long distance got hard once he was touring and we decided it was for the best." He shrugged and stole himself to look directly at the steady blue eyes before him. Before Kurt could offer any sympathy however, he continued, "What about you?" dropping his eyes back to his cup and taking a sip.
Kurt took in the lack of eye contact but knew that had this conversation occurred three years ago, when Kurt had last seen Blaine at his graduation concert, Kurt would've been sobbing buckets.
"I've been seeing this director guy, been a few months," Four and a half – Kurt knew exactly, he still got butterflies thinking about him. "He's nice."
Blaine looked up and smiled, not quite the usual radiant, full teeth smile but still genuine.
"I'm glad," He said. They looked at each other for a few moments, their eye contact steady and not uncomfortable, just stagnant. Kurt took in the thick neck protruding from Blaine's t-shirt and thought of the amount of choreography he knew the ensemble in Wicked had to do, tempted to ask if he was a flying monkey. Blaine meanwhile was taking in Kurt's posture, still upright and proud and yet less haughty and in your face than it had been when they'd first met when Kurt felt like he had everything to prove.
Kurt took a breath, trying not to remember how those same chocolate and hazel eyes had once looked at him so fondly and blurted out, "You stopped gelling your hair." There was a pause and Blaine seemed to absorb the word and then burst out a laugh that swept all the tension from the table and Kurt's shoulders. The man before him swept a hand through his loose curls whilst recomposing.
"Well, not quite. There's still a bit of product up there but, I've abandoned the sheen, yeah."
Kurt nodded. "It looks good," he said with an honest smile, then leaning forward with a wicked grin on his face that pushed out the bright red circles that still graced his cheeks and asked, "what about the bowties?"
Blaine seemed to blush, rubbing his hands down his face before responding, "Only for special occasions I'm afraid! I still wear my shirts and polos when we're not required to be doing dance rehearsals – which at the moment is not a lot, to be honest! But no, the bowties make an appearance at parties and dos. Still a good conversation starter!"
There was another pause where they both sipped their drinks. Kurt was rather glad he'd got a to-go cup, despite having ended up drinking-in as he thought his neglected coffee would've gone cold by this point. Blaine made a satisfied noise and dropped his own cup back on the table, the hollow clunk signifying its empty state.
"So," he started, crossing both his arms on the table. "You're still involved in the fashion stuff?" He waved a hand lazily Kurt's put together outfit. With a small flutter in his stomach, Blaine now spotted a familiar little hippo peering at him from Kurt's lapel. He grinned at it fondly.
"You think I'm likely to of dropped Vogue and opted for Sport's weekly?" Kurt teased, receiving an eye roll in response.
"I meant professionally, but hey, I don't know you could be a Yankees fan now!"
"Yeah, actually," Kurt smiled, "I mean the fashion. I mean a just picked up touring show doesn't pay very much."
The curls nodded understandingly at this. "And I'd say I'm one of the lucky ones. I do some free-lance writing for , thanks to my connections there. Some of the others in the cast are working in phone sales and things."
"I think you got the better bargain there!" Blaine agreed.
There was a faint buzz, and Kurt's hand darted into his pocket with an apologetic look that Blaine waved away with a smile. Kurt's hand deftly entered his phone's passcode and speed read the text, fingers tapping out a quick response, before looking up.
"My boyfriend's outside." He uttered and the smile before him stayed strong if slightly firmer, as Blaine began to rise. Kurt followed suit saying quickly. "Look, if you were serious about that ticket, I'd love to come and support you."
The bright smile rekindled the light in the brown eyes. "You just want a free ticket to see Wicked!" He laughed, winking. Kurt laughed along too and for a moment they both realised that five years ago Kurt would've been pouty and defensive – and Blaine would've reconciled him with kisses. Their eyes met as they laughed and Kurt replied, "It helps!"
"Yeah, course, I'd like that. I can maybe get your boyfriend one too if he'd like?"
"I'll ask, he's not actually big on musicals," Kurt admitted conspiratorially, "My number's still the same so-"
"Ah." Blaine cut in, rubbing a hand over the back of his head awkwardly and admitted. "I have a new phone, so I lost all my old contacts like… a year ago?"
Kurt nodded with an, "oh." And retrieved his phone from inside his coat pocket and handed it to Blaine to quickly type his new number. Not to Kurt's surprise, a hand fell on his shoulder and a deep yet soft voice said, "Kurt?"
He span automatically at the familiar touch but did not go in for his usual kiss saying, "Hey sweetie!" with deliberate lightness and choice of words, not keen to seem as though he was getting some random guys number. "Sorry I kept you waiting – this is Blaine, an old friend."
Blaine extended his hand and shook the much taller males with a gentle "hi" before handing Kurt back his phone.
"Well, I'll let you two get on," he said breezily, darting in for a quick hug with Kurt. "It was good to see you."
"You two," Kurt replied as Blaine withdrew back to his seat, showing his intension of staying. They smiled warmly at each other and Kurt allowed himself to be guided back through the maze of chairs and tables.
Blaine watched him go, seeing the familiar sashay of hips and smiling to himself. At a particularly tight spot involving a pillar and an overcrowded table for four, Kurt's boyfriend was forced to release his waist and Kurt genteelly allowed him to go ahead of him. It was at this momentary break that Kurt allowed himself to look back. He caught the dark eyes under the soft black curls almost at once and for a moment they shared a small, sad smile between them.
Kurt thought about their break-up, how he'd once thought they'd put it all behind them and now they'd be married and happy. How he wouldn't have to request a ticket to see Blaine perform, it would just be expected.
Blaine thought that I could be his arm around Kurt's waist, his steady hand guiding him through the mess of chairs, through New York to their shared apartment.
But then they might not be where they were now and where they were now was pretty damn good. And at nearly the exact same moment that Blaine looked down at Kurt's cup, Kurt turned back to automatically retrieve his boyfriend's hand.
In one universe, that would be the last time Blaine Devon Anderson ever spoke to Kurt Elizabeth Hummel.
In another, Kurt would go to Blaine's first night at Wicked and the two would develop a long a nd strong friendship.
And in a million others, they fall back in love.
But it's your choice. I'm happy for them.
Author's Note:
Don't get me wrong, I love Glee. I just can't help but feel that for such a brave show, the writers got a bit too cowardly. Not cowardly by way of plots, but in terms of their fans. The shipment for these two was so big and strong, I think the writers were scared to fracture it for too long. Due to this, I feel they missed some key opportunities to develop some new interesting gay or possibly bi characters to contest that ship.
I love the ending, I think season 6 was very strong comparatively but it also highlighted the prime opportunities missed to tell some other stories.
So this is my salute to lost development.
Some people have told me I expect too much from "just a TV show" but I believe that if you don't expect it, it'll never be delivered. A watched pot won't boil – not true if as long as you've turned it on and the waiter's unlikely to bring you tea if you don't order it!
Never lower your standards folks – be it film, TV, anime or fanfiction!
Thanks for reading!