I don't know how this story happened exactly. It is for my friend, Adrian, and was mainly written because we figured out what a pedicab is, though it isn't heavily featured.
Honestly, I think this lost it's story line somewhere cause I'm tired and I am not sure what I am writing. :3 Though I believe it still sounds ok.
I don't own Glee.
Entering college frightened Blaine more than he was willing to admit. His whole life was changing, and he couldn't quite say he was comfortable with that.
It was his dream school, and he really should have been happy, but NYU meant leaving behind everything he'd ever known. In many ways it had been a relief, to finally get away from Ohio, but the first few days had only amplified the fear he always tried so hard to repress.
Everywhere he went, he couldn't help but feel people were silently judging him.
Blaine hadn't always felt this way. In fact, he had been quite a confident child. The only time he had expressed self-doubt his father had been there to encourage him. "Son," he had said this so proudly, so confidently, "you're an Anderson, and everyone loves an Anderson. Just be yourself."
The last time Blaine had heard his father say that was about five years ago, before Blaine had come out of the closet and before Mr. Anderson decided 'being yourself' wasn't such a great thing anymore.
The next year Blaine entered high school and got beat up for trying to dance with a boy.
If he hadn't spent the last three years of his life at Dalton Academy, Blaine would have thought it impossible for anyone to like him for who he was. The life he had there had become a sort of safe haven, and he was scared that leaving everything he had there meant going back to the harshness of reality.
It wasn't until the fourth day that he realized he had nothing to worry about. Blaine had been walking between his classes, as usual, when he'd accidently bumped into a girl. The coffee in her hand instantly went flying everywhere. Blaine was quick to apologize for it. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean to- I mean, I really should have been watching whe-"
"Stop," the girl said, but she didn't sound mad. In fact, she was smiling. Her shirt was obviously ruined, but she seemed to be more interested in Blaine. "It's ok, alright? It was an accident, and besides," she giggled, giving him a once over, "you're cute when your flustered."
Blaine blushed more from embarrassment than anything, but the girl took this as encouragement, and continued talking before Blaine could say anything else.
"So, I think you owe me a new coffee, what do ya say?" She winked, and Blaine tried his best to not show how uncomfortable he was with all this.
"Like that?" Blaine knew he should have stopped this before it could get any further, but he didn't want to be rude. He gestured to the large coffee stain on her shirt.
"You're right. We could go to my dorm first."
"I'm gay," he said suddenly.
"What?"
"I'm gay!" He blurted out, louder this time, and she seemed to finally understand. Blaine knew what was coming next. She would become suddenly very disinterested in him and get away hurriedly, if she didn't out right try to insult him first for being who he was. Blaine hated that he had to expect the worst out of people, but he had expected the best out of his parents, and that hadn't gotten him too hopeful for strangers' reactions.
The girl bit her lip, as if trying to remember something. She pulled out her phone and looked at it, and Blaine couldn't help but brace himself, waiting for her excuse to get as far away from him as she could.
It wasn't the first time the girl would manage to surprise him. "Well, you still owe me another coffee," she said suddenly. Picking up her bag, she started to walk in the direction she'd come from, and motioned for Blaine to follow.
He did so numbly.
"Hey um…"
"Rachel."
"Rachel, right. Um, why-"
"Here it is," she cut him off, pointing to the building in front of her. Blaine suddenly realized how close they were to the University's main coffee shop and how unbearably hot the drink must have been. He had to admit that he was rather impressed that the girl had managed to flirt so brazenly with scolding hot coffee drying on her shirt.
Rachel was scary. It was as though she had become a whole new person. Her determination was incredible, though Blaine didn't know what for. Of course he was going to get her the coffee; it was only the right thing to do.
"What kind of coff-"
"I'll get it, you pay, sit here."
"Wait, Rachel I-"
"Just do it!" She demanded, and Blaine felt there was no other choice. He watched the girl drift into the long line, and knew it was going to be a while. Though he kept his eyes trained on her for a little bit, he got bored and let his eyes wander around the rest of the place.
Blaine was a coffee addict through and through, but hadn't managed to come in here yet. He noticed it was a nice place, and relatively popular. The smell of coffee was enticing, and everyone looked genuinely happy. He sighed, easing his tension a bit, and leaned back into his chair.
Rachel was taking forever. He didn't understand why she wanted him to just sit here.
"Excuse me." Blaine was startled out of his thoughts, quickly turning around to look at who had spoken into him.
In front of him had to be the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. Blaine had to resist gaping at him openly. "Can I sit here?" The boy asked hesitantly. There was no lack of available seats, Blaine noticed, but he nodded anyway.
"Yeah sure." It was only a table for two, but if Rachel really wanted to sit there too, she could pull up a chair.
"Thanks… I'm Kurt by the way," the boy said, as he sat down opposite him, a pleasant smile on his face. He looked a little distracted, but Blaine didn't want to be nosy.
"Blaine," he responded, reaching out his hand for the other to shake. Kurt looked a little bit confused, but he shook his hand anyway. He realized at that moment that he'd never told Rachel his name, but dismissed the thought quickly. He'd tell her when she came back.
They sat there awkwardly for a few seconds as Kurt stared out the window, and Blaine tried to look elsewhere. That was when he noticed Rachel was no longer in the line. He whipped his head around to scan the place, but she just wasn't there. He must have looked thoroughly shocked, because Kurt had slowly turned his gaze back to him. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm fine; I was just with this girl and she disappeared on me."
Kurt looked truly sympathetic for him, and Blaine realized how that must have sounded, so quickly continued. "I mean, I just met her. It's just I had actually made her spill her coffee all over herself, so I promised to get her a new one. Except, she demanded I sit here while she got the coffee herself and that I just pay for it, except now she's just gone and I-"
"Blaine." Kurt interrupted, and Blaine stopped for the sole reason that it was nice to hear his name coming from this boy's mouth. "Was this girl… really demanding, brunette?"
"Um…yes?"
"Was her name Rachel?"
"Yes," Blaine replied, confused, as Kurt rolled his eyes and muttered something inaudible as he began to stand up from his seat. "Wait, Kurt- do you know her?"
"Of course I know her, she's my best friend."
"What? Kurt, I don't understand, she-"
"Set us up. Look Blaine, really, it was nice to me you, but I really need to find her. I'll see you late, maybe."
Blaine felt unable to form words for a second, but finally managed to yell for him to wait, just as Kurt was about to reach the door. Kurt turned to look at him, and Blaine got up and hurried over to where he was. "Can I at least buy you a coffee?"
"… I'm sorry, I am, but I really need to find her," he said, though Blaine swore he contemplated it for a second, he looked like he really urgently needed to find Rachel.
"Oh, well…" Blaine dropped his gaze, and nodded. He couldn't really stop him, he didn't have a reason to he reminded himself. "I won't stop you then, but-"
"I'll have coffee with you." Blaine knew he was getting cut off an uncanny amount today, but he couldn't stop to think about that long, as he just stared at Kurt, surprised.
"What?" He asked, completely flabbergasted again.
"I'll have coffee with you," he repeated, looking a little fidgety as he walked back to the table. "Come on."
Blaine followed him, back to the table, but didn't sit down. He asked him what he would like and then went to go stand in the line. As he stood there, he couldn't help but chance looks over at Kurt, who didn't show signs of leaving. Blaine couldn't help but notice the obvious distress on his face though, and he suddenly realized he wanted to know what was bothering the boy. He didn't deserve to look so unhappy.
"So, what made you change your mind?" Blaine asked a little bit boldly, as he set Kurt's coffee down in front of him, and took a seat with his own.
Kurt grabbed it slowly as he turned to look at him. He sipped it contemplatively before answering. "You looked disappointed."
Blaine blushed, realizing just how lame he must have looked.
Before Blaine could come up with some excuse, Kurt was talking again. "and I think I can trust you, since I can't find Rachel."
It took a second for Blaine to register exactly what had just been said. Before, Kurt needed to find Rachel, presumably to tell her something. Now he was going to tell him.
"Though I am flattered that you feel you can trust me, I don't think you should tell me secrets."
"It isn't really a secret, and I mainly just need to tell someone… I think you'll understand." He said, sipping his coffee some more, looking nervous.
Blaine didn't want to know why he'd understand, but nodded anyway. Kurt stared at him for a second, before taking in a deep breath. "It's this guy I know… he, well he likes me. I mean, I really had no idea, and I feel bad because I can't return his feelings. I just don't like him in that way, but I don't want to tell him. I wanted to tell Rach because she knows who I'm talking about. He confessed to me the beginning of this year, but I haven't given an answer yet, but today he approached me… asking, and I just… I want to tell him I just want to be friends, but it's hard."
That was an avalanche of information Blaine just hadn't been prepared for. First of all, he was pretty sure Kurt had just told him he was gay, which he was happy to find out. That however wasn't the main focus here, and he managed to school his face into the right expression. One of genuine concern. "Kurt, you can't just keep giving this guy hope then. You have to tell him."
"You think I don't know that."
"No, no of course. I know you do, but I think you really have to before it gets any worse."
Kurt sighed. "No, I really know I do, I just wanted someone else's opinion I guess." Kurt smiled, and started to stand up to Blaine's utmost disappointment. "Sorry, Blaine, but I really have to go now. Thank you."
Blaine didn't stop him this time, he just let him go. "See you later…maybe." He told him as he left. Blaine's coffee was cold now, so he just threw it away.
The fact that Blaine had just missed class wasn't the main thing on his mind as he left the coffee shop.
It was crazy. Blaine couldn't get Kurt, and by extension, Rachel out of his mind. The encounter had just been so strange, but he really wouldn't have minded meeting either of them again. He had to admit a little bit shamefully that he wanted to see Rachel because she could get him to Kurt, but he also thought the girl could be fun to hang out with as well.
Despite these things consuming his thoughts, he proceeded to go through the next few days without seeing either of them again. Although he knew he had the best chance of spotting them again at the coffee shop, he had only made it there once. Needless to say, he didn't have any luck.
Even as he tried to find those two again, he managed to find other people. The next week went by greater than he could have imagined. People were way nicer than he could have given them credit for, and he started to develop all kinds of associations with people he knew he had a chance of becoming good friends with soon.
That Friday night, Blaine had been trying to sneak back from one of his new friend's dorms to his own. It was late and night and he was past curfew, so there didn't seem to be a single soul out there. It was creepy, he had to admit, but he managed to make it all the way back to the front entrance of his building without incident.
That was when a pedicab flew past him. He couldn't clearly see who was driving it, but he was fairly sure it wasn't its owner. In front of each building there was a rack for bicycles. Blaine had a moped strapped in his spot, and quickly moved to unlock it. His strong sense of justice compelled him to go after the person, though he knew he could be in trouble for being up so late at night.
The thief had a head start obviously, but Blaine managed to catch up to him. "Stop right now." The thief hadn't seemed to notice he was there until then, turning in his surprise. He looked angry and just pedaled faster.
Despite being rich, Blaine's father wasn't compelled to spend so much money on his youngest son, so Blaine's moped was rather old. It was making some atrocious noises, and started to slow down. Determined, Blaine pressed on the gas pedal, and pulled off a maneuver where he swerved in front of the thief. Unable to stop, the thief crashed straight into Blaine and they both fell to the ground in a crumpled mess.
Blaine tried to tackle the thief, but he was about three times his size, making it difficult. Blaine was starting to regret this decision when he suddenly heard an all too familiar voice, causing Blaine and the thief to stop, mid fight.
"David, Blaine?"
"Kurt?" They said in unison, and stopped to stare at each other with a bit of disdain, before turning back to the boy in front of them, who was staring at them as though they were both somehow idiots. "What are you doing?" Blaine quickly asked, still tangled up with the boy whose name was supposedly David. He had clearly just been about to punch him, which probably wouldn't have had the best outcome.
Instead of answering immediately, Kurt sighed. "Will both of you please just get off the ground?" There was something that compelled them to both scramble up immediately.
"Blaine, can you go?" Blaine looked mortally offended. "I need to talk to David, alone." Kurt was staring at him; like he was trying to tell him something with his eyes, but Blaine wasn't getting the message. " Please Blaine. I'll explain it to you tomorrow… at seven." Because he didn't want to upset the boy, Blaine nodded, feeling defeated. It wasn't until he was driving on his moped, sourly back to his dorm, that he realized that Kurt had specified a time. He sure hoped the place was the coffee shop.
The place was the coffee shop, and Kurt came to meet him the exact time he said he would. It started out awkward as they both got coffee, but Kurt quickly got into explaining everything. That guy's name had been David Karofsky, and he had been the person Kurt had been telling Blaine about before. Kurt had taken his advice or reassurance rather, and had told David how he felt. According to Kurt, David appeared to have accepted it, but he knew he would be taking it hard. The guy had only recently come out of the closet and apparently been a really bad person before he had come here, but had changed, so Kurt had mostly only seen the nice side of his. He just hadn't liked him that way. David, having wanting to prove himself, took the pedicab in desperation. He had some plan to impress Kurt with it, though after he and Kurt talked, he realized how stupid the plan was because someone would have noticed it was stolen. Kurt talked it all out with him, and they agreed to just be friends.
"I see…" Blaine expected to be a bit more articulate than this, but he just couldn't get out any words. The whole thing was kind of surreal, the way he managed to see Kurt again. Blaine quickly explained how he ended up there, and his story ended with both of them crying tears of laughter. Honestly, the whole situation had just been silly.
Blaine hadn't seen Kurt again for more than another week, to his dismay. Both of them had still failed to exchange numbers, and Blaine hoped that was just because both of them had forgot rather than Kurt not wanting to get in contact. He had been about to give up hope, when he suddenly came across Kurt, waving at him frantically
"Kurt?"
"Does that thing carry two?" He asked, gesturing to Blaine's moped, already hopping onto it. "I need to get to my class." Blaine assumed that meant he was really late, and sped off as soon as he was sure Kurt was secure.
"Hold on tight," he had warned him, relishing the feel of Kurt's arms around his waist. Kurt had directed him where to go, and Blaine delivered him there.
"Thanks!" Kurt shouted as he hopped off and started running.
Blaine knew Kurt was late and needed to go class but he couldn't stop himself. "Kurt! When am I going to see you again?"
Kurt turned and smiled. "I guess the next time you run into me!"
That wasn't assuring, but at the same time, Blaine couldn't help but smile because he knew no matter what, he probably would never fail to run into Kurt.
"Yeah, ok." He said back dazedly as Kurt headed off into his class.
Blaine drove off on his moped to his original destination, already longing for the next time he could run into Kurt. As he did so, he learned more and more about him, and eventually their meetings would no longer be a string of coincidences. He smiled.
Complete strangers weren't so bad. After all, they were only strangers until you talked to them.