"Kurt? Kurt Hummel?"

Kurt looked up from his phone, with which he'd been texting Blaine, to see a strangely familiar face hesitantly looking him over. "Holy shh... Dave Karofsky. Hi!" Kurt smiled over-enthusiastically and put his phone down on the table. "What are you - "

Dave looked pretty similar to the way he had in high school - strong, clean-shaven, dressed in unflatteringly loose casual clothes - and the look on his face was apprehensive, hopeful.

"Why don't you sit?" Kurt gestured to the chair across from him.

"You want me to... join you? Are you sure?" Dave looked around the diner, then back at Kurt. "Are you waiting for anyone, or..."

"Just sit down." Kurt rolled his eyes. He was stylishly dressed and his posture was straight, legs crossed. He looked surprised but unworried by Dave's sudden appearance.

Dave did as he'd been told, and breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled, and huffed out a laugh. "I can't believe how random this is. Do you come here often?"

Kurt raised a judgemental eyebrow.

"Shit. I didn't mean that how it sounded. I'm not trying to pick you up or anything. I just meant..."

Kurt pressed his lips together, but a laugh snuck out anyway. "Suuure you're not. We both know I'm the hottest piece of ass in the place."

Dave gulped and turned bright red, just as a waiter arrived and said: "Can I get you anything to drink?"

Dave sputtered, "Uh, um, Coke."

"Water for me please."

Once the waiter had left, Kurt snickered, and waited until Dave looked more composed and less mortified. "I do come here often actually. It's close to campus, and the food is delicious, so..."

Dave grinned, still blushing. "That's cool. I've never been here before."

"Ah, well then you should definitely get the antipasto platter."

Dave scanned Kurt's menu. "How do you know I'll like it?"

"Because if you don't like it you have absolutely no taste and there's no helping you. Trust me. Just get it."

Dave looked up and met Kurt's eyes. "Ok. I trust you."

It was strange how easily they fell into conversation, like they'd been friends all along. Apparently time had made them both calmer and more amenable. They chatted about their chosen fields of study, and how weird it was to see each other again after all this time, until their food arrived.

The antipasto platter turned out to involve bread, olives, a selection of cheeses, some kind of sausage, some pickled green things... Dave tasted one of the slices of cheese.

Kurt tsked in mock annoyance. "No, no, you can't eat the ingredients one at a time, Dave. Here..." He reached over and stacked several pieces of food together on top of a slice of bread, "Like this," then took a bite of the combination. "Mm." He finished eating it as Dave watched, then wiped his fingers on his napkin. "The fresh baked bread is unfairly delicious. It's like cake. Seriously. Try it. But properly this time."

Dave followed Kurt's example and the result really was delicious. "Mmmm. 'S good. I should just let you order me around all the time."

"God, where was this easy, compliant attitude back in high school, hm?" Kurt laughed.

"Uh, am I the only one that remembers you blackmailing me? I pretty much had to do whatever you said back then."

"Well I wish I'd thought of that at the time! Think of the fun we could have had..."

Dave blushed and said "Kurt, are you hitting on me?"

"Oh, god, I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. I really didn't mean to give you that impression."

Dave watched Kurt's wide-eyed flailing with amusement.

Kurt said, "It's just that I'm not single -"

"No, it's cool. I'm not, like, pining over you or anything."

"That's good. It's been like two and a half years. That would be creepy." Kurt's eyes crinkled, like he was just teasing.

Dave chuckled. "Yeah." He shook his head. "So who's the guy you're with?"

"Still Blaine."

"Is that the guy that...?"

"Yeah, you met him."

"Wow." Dave whistled. "You guys have been together a long time. Congrats."

"Thanks." Kurt took a bite of his sandwich and swallowed before speaking again. "What about you?"

"Oh, I... You know. I've been with a few guys, but none of them worked out."

"How come?"

"I dunno. No reason." Dave shrugged. "It's like I attract these total doormats. Guys that don't think for themselves. The last guy was just so passive. He wouldn't even pick a place to go out to eat, it always had to be me. 'Let's do what you wanna do.' I dunno. I guess that's not a reason to break up with someone. Maybe I just got bored."

Kurt nodded. There was a bit of an awkward silence as they both ate their food for a moment. "You're going to get bored with me in a minute, if I don't come up with something to talk about." They both snickered. "Um. How's school?"

"Ugh. Don't ask. I'm constantly this close to falling behind. I stay up late to get shit done and then fall asleep in class and miss everything anyway so I never catch up."

"What's the problem? Is it too hard?"

"No. I just get distracted. It takes me forever to do my homework. There's just so much internet, you know?"

Kurt laughed.

"It's like it's easier to work in the middle of the night, because there's no one to talk to. But I'm just tired all the time."

"Dave, seriously? Just set a bed time and stick to it. No problem."

"Yeah, easier said than done."

"Look. Do your homework early tonight, and then go to bed. Just this one time. I bet you can do it."

Dave laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, sure."

"I'm going to call you and make sure you do." Kurt was pointing a finger sternly, but he had a twinkle in his eye, like it was a joke.

"Give me your phone. You can't call to check on me unless you have my number."

"Touché." Kurt handed over his phone.

"You won't believe who I ran into at lunch today." Kurt set a pot of water on the stove to boil, then walked over to the couch, where Blaine was flopped over, decompressing from the day.

"Tell me."

"Dave Karofsky." Kurt made a can you believe it? face and nestled in beside Blaine. He laid his head back and hooked one leg over Blaine's.

"Oh no. Do I have to help you bury the body? Were there any witnesses?"

Kurt laughed. "Relax. He was actually really nice. It's like getting out of high school made him into a decent human being."

"You're kidding."

"I actually kind of suspected he'd turn out ok. Ever since he apologized that time."

"With the crying? I still wish I'd been there to see that."

"Blaine..." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Man, I wanted to punch that guy in the face."

Kurt laughed. "He wasn't that bad."

Blaine tilted his head down and gaped at Kurt over the top of his glasses.

"Ok, he was that bad, but only at first. Once I got back to McKinley he was fine."

Blaine shook his head. "If you say so."

"I had actually forgotten how it was, you know? All those old feelings just kind of... faded away."

"So you forgive him?"

"I guess so." Kurt took Blaine's hand and stroked it idly. "Huh. I guess I do."

Blaine smiled bemusedly. "Probably for the best."

"Yeah. I think I'm gonna keep in touch with him. I told him I'd call tonight."

Blaine taunted him in a singsong voice: "Oooooh, Kurt has a boooyfriend..."

Kurt shoved him. "Shut up, it's not like that."

Blaine shoved back, and they had a brief battle for dominance, both laughing, until Kurt came out victorious, straddling Blaine and pinning his arms down.

"Honestly, there's nothing relationshippy about it. It's just to check in. To make sure he gets enough sleep. It's a completely platonic... bedtime phone call."

Blaine cracked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Dave?"

"Hi Kurt." Dave sounded like he was smiling.

"It's ten o'clock. Do you know where your pyjamas are?"

Dave laughed. "Ok, I know I said I'd go to bed early, but I kinda got caught up in something and I'm not done my homework, so..."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Is any of it due tomorrow?"

"No, but -"

"Then go to bed."

"But if I do the essay now, I'll have more time tomorrow for this statistics project -"

"Dave. Get a full night of sleep. Trust me, you'll get a lot more done tomorrow when you're rested and alert."

"Well that makes sense in theory but -"

"Go. To. Bed."

Dave laughed. "Yes, sir."

"That's more like it. If I find out tomorrow you stayed up for another hour, you'll be in big trouble."

"Not gonna happen."

"Good. Now get some sleep."

"Thanks Kurt. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Kurt hung up smiling and weirdly turned on. He put his phone on the bedside table, then rolled over and whispered in Blaine's ear. "Are you too sleepy?"

Blaine mumbled, sounding only half awake: "If this is going where I think it's going, then no."

Kurt laid back with his hands behind his head. "You should suck my cock."

Blaine grinned and opened his eyes. "Yes, sir."