A week later finds Kurt sitting in a coffee shop, studying as hard as ever, sipping an iced coffee. The barista laughs at Kurt when he offers it, seeing it's a cold winter day in England. Kurt argues that it helps keep him awake and alert.
The bell on the glass door tinkles softly and a short, sturdy body clad in a thin shirt and jacket and skinny jeans stops at Kurt's table. Kurt looks up after a minute, finally noticing the man.
"Hey, you made it." Kurt smiles at Blaine, but, almost instantly, his smile drops. Blaine's face is, if possible, darker and covered in even more bruises. Blaine seems to notice Kurt's object of focus and quickly looks away.
"Yeah. You're studying?" Blaine says, more a statement than a question.
"Yeah, I'm a full-time student. What about you?" Kurt tries striking up a conversation.
"Uh, no. What are you studying?"
"Fashion," Kurt returns with a small smile. "I guess it could have been predicted."
At this point, Blaine's sitting down, just staring and smiling at Kurt. The young, blonde waitress shuffles over to take his order. Upon setting eyes on Blaine, she turns up the charm. Blaine ignores her and keeps his eyes on Kurt while he orders a warm coffee.
Kurt, however, notices the waitress. And a surprising feeling takes over him. Jealousy?
"So, what've you been doing lately?" Blaine asks casually.
"Nothing really. I have a boyfriend, we live together, go to the same college. What about you?"
Blaine's heart falls.
"Oh... That's nice. What's his name?" Blaine tries to keep the pain out of his voice.
Kurt smiles fondly. "Jeffrey. He's 6'1, has strawberry-blonde hair and chocolate eyes. He's really nice to me. What about you?" Kurt adds on suddenly.
"Oh... Uh... I... I kind of don't have.. one boyfriend..." Blaine usually doesn't offer up this bit of information to people. "I… I don't really know. I'm really poor and…" he trails off, knowing that Kurt already understands.
"Oh my god..." Kurt murmurs. Blaine looks up and is startled to see tears instead of revulsion. "Blaine... Is that why you have… you know..."
Blaine chuckles slightly. "All these bruises? Yeah, that's why. I'm a whore. That's my job."
Kurt flinches at the casual use of the word "whore." But he leans across the table and cups Blaine's cheek.
And suddenly... Everything in the world is right. With that one little touch, Blaine knows he's going to be okay, and Kurt knows that Blaine's tough. Kurt can see the man he fell in love with all those years ago.
And he's falling for him again.
