Happy Saturday! I hope you all had a fantastic week and are enjoying the weekend!

Thank you so much for all the amazing reviews in the last chapter. You guys remain the best readers in the fandom!

I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well!

I own nothing!


He was not falling in love with Blaine Anderson.

Those words kept echoing over and over again in Kurt's head. He checked his bag at the airport (I am not falling in love with Blaine Anderson), walked to his gate (I am not falling in love with Blaine Anderson), sat in the waiting area with a coffee to kill time until his flight (I am not falling in love with Blaine Anderson), and he very, very stubbornly told himself to stop being such an idiot.

An innocent crush? Sure, he could handle that. Kurt had thought Blaine was attractive the first time he had seen him, stepping into his classroom wearing a blue sweater vest and carrying a stack of old, well-loved books. Back then, Mr. Anderson's charming appearance was a cause of motivation to get up insanely early for his Wednesday Lit class. He was nice to look at. That was not a crime.

Right now, falling in love with him - even considering it a possibility - was almost dangerous.

I'm just in desperate need of a boyfriend, Kurt thought as he got comfortable in his seat once he was on the place. It's been a while. I should go out more. There is just no way I'm falling in love with Blaine Anderson…

His whiskey eyes, the rich tone of his voice, the gentle way in which he curved his hand over the back of Max's head when the baby fell asleep in his arms, the smile stretching his lips when he opened the door for Kurt in the morning…

I'm not blind, he's attractive. But he's also my boss and my teacher. Could not get any more complicated. Could not be any more inappropriate. Seriously, Kurt, as soon as you get to New York, you're finding someone you can go on a date with. New Year's Resolution.

He had enough to worry about without silly teenage crushes. Including the fact that he seemed prone to develop feelings for any man who showed even a smidge of decency to him.

God, be any more pathetic, will you?

He leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes. There was so much to do when he got home. A whole new semester to get ready for, to keep his mind occupied. There was no need to think about Mr. Anderson's beautiful smile and…

That's it, he though. As soon as he got home, he was letting Rachel set him up on a blind date.


The beginning of the new semester meant life went back to being hectic, not enough time for breakfast in the morning, replying emails about faculty stuff, setting up office hours. But this time, Blaine didn't really mind. He welcomed the feeling of always being so busy, kept him distracted from some of the dark thoughts he'd had over the holidays.

Blaine sipped his coffee as he waited for Kurt. It was snowing lightly outside, New York City turned into a winter wonderland, like it was clinging to the holidays to never let go. But the charm of Christmas lights, trees in every window, was gone now. It was back to reality for all of them, and no one was grateful like Blaine was.

There was a knock on the door, and Blaine pulled away from the counter, where he had been leaning watching Max play under the table on his mat, to open it. Kurt was wrapped in a lovely maroon coat, snowflakes caught on his shoulders, on his hair, even on his eyelashes. He was flushed with the cold, cheeks pink, lips dark.

"Hey! Look who's back, Max!" Blaine exclaimed with a bright grin, moving aside to let Kurt in.

Max looked up at the sound of his name, and his gorgeous blue eyes widened in obvious excitement before he began crawling desperately towards Kurt, sitting at his feet to make grabby hands up at him, all the while babbling incoherently in his sweet baby voice.

Kurt laughed and immediately bent to pick the boy up, hugging him close to his chest. "Hi Max! Did you miss me? I missed you so much."

Blaine closed the door and watched them, smiling. "Well, I can't say he's ever received me like that…"

Max made delighted sounds as Kurt swayed him side to side, like they were dancing together. "Oh shush, there's no need to be jealous. Max has enough love for the both of us." He placed a kiss on the kid's tiny nose. "So, ready to get back to work?" He asked, as he put Max back down on his play mat to unbutton his coat.

Max protested by throwing a teddy bear against the refrigerator.

"No, Max, darling, don't do that," Kurt reprimanded him sweetly but firmly. "Teddy gets super sad when you throw him around. Go get him and put him right with Miss Bunny, before he starts crying."

Max blinked up at him for a moment, before he crawled towards the teddy to bring him back to the play mat.

Blaine's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "The Baby Whisperer returns."

Kurt rolled his eyes, delighted laugh bursting out of him. "Oh please. He's an angel. So, work?"

"Oh, yeah!" Blaine replied, going towards the coffee pot. "I'm actually glad to get back, even if I'm going to be regretting that in about two weeks. This semester's bound to be a terribly busy one. Are you in any of my classes again?"

Was Kurt blushing again or was it the cold still painting his cheeks pink? "I am, actually. Contemporary Lit."

"Ah, so many great authors to read. I'm looking forward to getting to all the Beat Generation authors the most. I love teaching Kerouac," Blaine said, grabbing Kurt's favorite blue mug from the cabinet and filling it with coffee, before handing it to him.

"Kerouac? I've never actually got around to reading anything by him. Some people say he's overrated," Kurt shrugged and took a sip from his coffee.

Blaine arched an eyebrow at him. "Then I take back what I said. What I look forward to the most is proving those words wrong."

Kurt smiled at the challenge in Blaine's eyes. "Can't wait."

After a few minutes, Blaine kissed Max's head, squeezed Kurt's shoulder goodbye, and left for work. The snow welcomed him into the streets, the cold already sipping into his very bones, and Blaine didn't mind.

It was a new year. Maybe it was going to be a better one.


Kurt had truly, truly missed Max, and only now that he had him back in his arms did he realized that. The sweet little boy had become a part of his life so quickly, so effectively, that now his days seemed a little emptier without him. He loved that innocent smile, the deep blue of his eyes, the words he kept babbling at him, completely meaningless and meaningful at the same time. He loved sitting on the floor, for once not caring about wrinkling his pants, and playing with him for hours, or just cuddle him as Max stared at the TV, mesmerized by a Disney movie.

Maybe he had got it all wrong - maybe it was a different Anderson he thought he was falling in love with.

After lunch, once the mess of mashed potatoes and peas was all over and cleaned up, no signs of the meal on Max's cute face, Kurt put him down for a nap and found himself with a few hours to kill until Blaine got home. Usually, he brought school work with him, so he could catch up while Max didn't need him, but since the semester hadn't officially started for him yet, he was free in a way he hadn't been in a very long time.

He began to change the channels on the TV, but nothing held his attention for longer than a few minutes. There were a few magazines on the coffee table, but nothing he could find interesting (he didn't know Blaine was into sports, huh). In the end, he got up from the couch and began to browse Blaine's bookshelves.

He had never paid much attention to them, except for the family pictures on the frames. There was something so intimate about going through someone's personal library, that he had felt like it would be overstepping. But Blaine had offered, back when Kurt started working for him, free use of his books whenever he wanted, when he wasn't busy with Max.

He ran a fingertip over the spines, reading titles. There were old, leather-bound volumes, and well-loved paperbacks. There was a particularly thick volume of Shakespeare's works, and two copies of Dante's Inferno. He found a first edition of The Lord of the Rings, and The Handmaid's Tale signed by the author. He had all the A Song of Ice and Fire books, and all of the Harry Potter series, and a shelf dedicated exclusively to poetry, and another one for authors of different nationalities. He scanned the pages of Jorge Luis Borges' The Book of Sand, and found a copy of Rimbaud's Les Ilumminations in French.

He didn't realize his heart was thumping rabbit-quick in his chest until he paused for a moment, taking it all in.

Kurt couldn't explain why, but just looking at this felt like looking into Blaine's soul. He was unraveling his mysteries, knowing the deepest parts of him, and all without Blaine needing to even be in the room with him. Blaine was a man rich in words, and every single book looked like a puzzle piece, like Kurt was putting them together to understand.

Some books even smelled like him.

Shaking his head to try to clear it a little, Kurt grabbed Kerouac's The Dharma Bums from the shelf and took it to the couch with him.

The snow kept falling slowly outside as Kurt read page after page. He got up once to check on Max, who was still sleeping peacefully, and made himself some coffee. Then he went back to the living room, curled up with the book and continued reading.

He couldn't stop.

Are we fallen angels who didn't want to believe that nothing is nothing and so were born to lose our loved ones and dear friends one by one and finally our own life, to see it proved?

Two hundred pages devoured in just a couple of hours. Max made a noise from his bedroom and Kurt went to check on him, only forty four pages more to go, and helped the little boy out of his crib, changed his diaper. Kurt was so absorbed in his reading that he was glad it was time for the annoying little show that Max loved, the one with the catchy songs that drove Blaine crazy. Max curled next to Kurt on the couch and watched his show, and Kurt read his book, and the afternoon was perfect.

Blaine arrived home a little before four, and found them there, cuddling and quiet, each in their own world. He recognized the book in Kurt's hands and leaned on his elbows on the back of the couch to look at him.

"Got a head start on your assigned reading, I see," he said with a smile, and Kurt looked up at him, eyes dazed from all that reading.

"I love it," he murmured softly. "I didn't think I would but…"

"Overrated my ass," Blaine said, rolling his eyes. He looked down at Max guiltily. "Sorry, kiddo. You didn't hear a word."

"Is this book going to be in the syllabus? Which one should I read next?" Kurt asked eagerly.

"On the Road is the one in the syllabus, actually," Blaine explained, walking to his shelf. "It kicked off the whole Beat-Generation period, so I kind of had to include that one. But if you really liked this one, you should try Big Sur. It's the best he's done, in my opinion."

Blaine walked back to the couch, another paperback in his hands, and gave it to Kurt.

"Sorry for going through your books," Kurt said as he stood up, shrugging apologetically. "I couldn't resist."

"It's always a pleasure to see someone enjoying them, so don't worry about it."

Kurt gave him a quick review of Max's day, which hadn't been particularly exciting, before putting his coat on to get ready to brave the weather and go home. Blaine walked him to the door.

"I was actually meaning to ask you…" Blaine said, as Kurt wrapped his scarf around his neck. "If you'd mind working extra hours on Friday night?"

Kurt slid his bag's strap over his shoulder. "Sure, no problem. They got you working on a Friday night?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'm actually going out on a date. My friend Sam insisted he has the perfect guy for me."

Kurt felt slightly breathless. "Oh. That's… that's great. What, uhm, what time should I be here?"

"Can I get back to you on that? I'm supposed to call this guy tonight and agree on a place and time," Blaine replied. "I'm really sorry to ask you this. I'm sure you have more exciting plans for a Friday night."

Kurt blinked and did not tell Blaine he had zero plans. No plans at all. Nada. "It's fine, don't worry."

"Thanks, Kurt, you're amazing."

Kurt left, and as he walked to the subway station, he told himself that the extra weight he felt he was carrying had everything to do with the book in his bag, and nothing to do with the fact that Blaine had a date.


Rachel was still slightly subdued. She reminded Kurt of one of those old television sets - no matter how many light comments or jokes she made, she still looked gray, colorless, as if something fundamental was missing. He knew there wasn't much he could do except be with her, offer his comfort, let her vent when she needed it, but it still killed him every time he looked at her, wearing her broken heart on her sleeve no matter how much she tried to hide it.

On Friday afternoon, when Rachel got home from the theatre, Kurt was busy in the kitchen. She kissed his cheek hello and watched him take a tray of freshly-baked cookies from the oven.

"How was your day, Rach?" He asked, placing the cookies on the counter and moving them onto a rack to cool.

"It was good," she said quietly. The fact that she didn't immediately fill him in on every single drama that had most likely transpired that day only confirmed that she was still in a weird mood. "Would you like to order a pizza and watch a movie tonight?"

Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry, I have to go back to work. Blaine asked me to watch Max tonight because he has a date."

He didn't mean to make it sound like it did, a little sharp, as if he thought the idea of going out on a date could be potentially stupid and maybe even dangerous.

Rachel arched an eyebrow at him. "Does he, now? And why the long face?"

"What long face? This is not a long face. My face looks perfectly normal, thank you." Kurt pretended to be very interested in his cookies.

Rachel leaned against the counter and stole a cookie from the rack before he could stop her. "Do you have a crush on him or something? I mean, you always used to say he was attractive…"

"Oh, please. It wasn't always. I may have mentioned it. Once, twice. Maybe three times," Kurt protested, indignantly. "It wasn't more than four times."

Rachel huffed out a little laugh. "Kurt, you took a class with him every semester, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with your major."

"Now you're making me sound like a hormone-crazed teenager," Kurt crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. "He's a great teacher, Rachel. That's all."

"Yeah, sure." Rachel rolled her eyes. "So, he has a date."

"He does. Apparently one of his friends set him up. I mean… I'm happy for him? He deserves to go out and have fun and stop worrying so much, but I…" Kurt groaned. "Okay, fine. I have a little crush. I'm just being stupid. Don't encourage it."

"I wasn't going to," Rachel shrugged and stole a second cookie. Kurt didn't even try to stop her this time. "It is definitely not a good idea for you to fall in love with the guy who's not only your professor, but your boss."

"I know," Kurt gave up and grabbed a cookie too. "And it's not like anything is ever going to happen, so…" He chewed his cookie thoughtfully. Once he said his next words, there would be no going back. "Maybe I should try the dating thing again. It's been a while. Do you think you could…?"

"I have like three perfect guys in mind already," she interrupted. Kurt wasn't sure he liked this anymore. "Just let me know when you're available and I'll work my magic."

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Kurt said, now a little more seriously. The last thing he wanted was to hurt Rachel even more by asking her to do this.

She shrugged again. "One of us should have a healthy love life, for a change."

Kurt really couldn't argue with that.


Later, Kurt arrived at Blaine's apartment again carrying a box of fresh-baked cookies and telling himself he was just being silly. Yes, Blaine was attractive. Yes, he had always appreciated how good-looking his professor/boss was. Yes, he had been in a bit of a dating dry spell for a while now. Yes, he probably needed to get laid.

That was all it was, really.

Blaine opened the door for him with his usual smile. He was dressed in tight black jeans that looked really good on him (and oh, okay, Mr. Anderson had a nicer ass than he had originally thought, okay), and a light green button up with tiny white dots. He smelled very good, even more than usual, and the ends of a bowtie were hanging around his collar.

Kurt forced himself not to look at him for longer than it was appropriate, and became very busy unbuttoning his coat and practically giving Blaine a very detailed weather report. He knew he was talking a little quicker than Blaine was probably used to, but at least by the time he was done, he felt slightly calmer.

"Oh, I brought some cookies for Max!" He exclaimed, showing the box to him. "Can I give him one or two after dinner? They're sugar cookies, and I made them with organic ingredients, so they are as healthy as cookies can be."

"That's really nice of you, Kurt," Blaine said with a warm smile, and if he noticed anything weird about Kurt, he didn't mention it. "Two after dinner should be fine. Don't give him more than that or you won't be able to get him to sleep at all."

"Duly noted," Kurt said, as he placed the box on the table for later.

"Thanks again for coming over tonight," Blaine muttered sincerely. "I hope I didn't ruin any fun plans?"

"You actually saved me from watching Funny Girl for the millionth time with my roommate," Kurt rolled his eyes. "I should be thanking you."

Blaine chuckled, before he glanced at the time. "I should finish getting ready. Max is in the living room."

"Got it," Kurt nodded and went into the living room.

Max was sitting on his play mat, completely mesmerized by Toy Story playing on the television. His blue eyes were open wide as he stared at Woody and Buzz bickering on the screen. He looked up when Kurt sat down next to him and wordlessly pointed at the TV, as if saying "can you believe this shit? Woody is being a jealous asshole."

"I know, right?" Kurt said. "Like Woody can act all high and mighty wearing that horrible cowboy outfit."

He heard Blaine huff out a laughter from his bedroom.

Buzz was falling out of Andy's window and the toys were crying murder at Woody when Blaine reappeared, bowtie tied, hair perfectly in place, jacket on. He fidgeted with the jacket, trying to get it to sit just right on his shoulders, and Kurt watched him in silence, fingers itching to smooth the fabric for him, to run his hands down his arms…

Blaine frowned down at himself, as if unsure, before checking the time again. "Shoot. I'd better leave or I'll be late. Kurt? My phone will be on, and I don't expect to be back too late. I left money and take out menus for you on the kitchen table, and Max's food is in a container in the fridge, so you just need to heat it up. I can google the restaurant's phone number before I go just in case…"

Kurt smiled up at him. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. I'm sure you having your cellphone is more than enough. And anyway, Max and I are going to have a quiet evening. I don't expect any trouble. You just, uhm, have fun."

Blaine smiled back at him, a little hesitant. "Thank you. I'll see you guys later." He bent to place a quick kiss on Max's head, and then he was gone, out the door and into the arms of some guy…

Woah, Kurt, calm down.


Blaine arrived at the restaurant five minutes late. He gave his name to the host at the entrance, who immediately guided him towards a table near the back, already occupied by another man. Blaine could only see the outline of his back and his dark hair. He was broad-shouldered, visibly taller than him.

"Daniel?" He said softly when he reached the table. Big, dark brown eyes looked up at him. "Hi, I'm Blaine. I'm really sorry I'm late. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

Daniel stood up (yes, he was certainly taller than him) and smiled at Blaine warmly. His lips were plump and lovely, the kind that were incredibly irresistible to kiss. "Blaine. Hi, how are you? Please, don't worry. I just got here myself."

They shook hands, which had always seemed slightly awkward to Blaine during dates. But now he didn't mind - Daniel's hands were strong, firm. His fingers wrapped around him with the perfect amount of pressure.

As they sat down, and the waiter promised to be back soon with the wine list, Blaine stole a few quick glances. Daniel was the definition of dark and handsome. He made a mental note to congratulate Sam on his exquisite taste on guys.

"So, how do you know Sam?" Blaine asked, deciding that was a safe topic to start.

"Oh, we were classmates back in college. We only started hanging out towards the end, though, and unfortunately we haven't stayed in touch as much as we should have after graduation. Life gets in the way," Daniel shrugged a bit, like he was sure Blaine understood, and Blaine actually did. Life certainly had a funny (and sometimes very far from funny) way of changing your plans. "He told me you two work together at NYU?"

"Yes, I'm a professor in the English Department there," Blaine said, and then thanked the waiter with a smile as he left the wine list and said he'd be back soon with the menus. "We actually started at the very same time, so we kind of bonded over being the new guys in campus. He's my best friend now."

They interrupted their conversation for a moment to choose a bottle of wine, and once the waiter was gone once again, Blaine settled more comfortably on his seat and leaned over the table, looking at Daniel with interest.

"So, what do you do?"

"I'm a journalist. I write for a sports magazine, amongst other things," Daniel answered.

Blaine asked a few questions about the magazine, and about which sports Daniel wrote about. He found his job honestly interesting, and it didn't bore him to hear him talk about it - Daniel was clearly passionate about what he did, and that was something Blaine always cherished and respected about other people.

They paused again when their food arrived (Blaine got the risotto with calamari, and Daniel ordered the ravioli), but immediately plunged back into it as soon as they were alone again. They praised the food (Blaine loved this restaurant, and it had been forever since he'd last been here, because it wasn't exactly baby-friendly), and their conversation centered on lighter topics as they ate.

Inevitably, the topic of family came around, just after they had pushed their plates away, full and satisfied, slightly warmed by the wine. Blaine let Daniel talk first, because he had actually dreaded this part of the evening quite a lot - he didn't want to ruin what was currently going so well, and talking about Cooper and Sara was never easy on him.

Daniel came from a Mexican family. His parents had moved to the United States before he was born, with only the money they had in their pockets, a couple of suitcases, and his older sister only a few months old. They had settled in California and Mr. Herrera had found work as a gardener. His wife, who had been a teacher back in their small village just outside Guadalajara, gave Spanish private lessons at home, which allowed her to care for their children as they grew up. Daniel was the second of five siblings, and the first of them to be born in the states. His parents had taught him from very early on to be hard-working, respectful and kind. After graduating high school with honors, he had earned a scholarship for college. Blaine could tell, just by the way he talked, that he had followed in his family's advice. He certainly seemed like a nice, hard-working man.

"When I graduated college, and started working on a newspaper, that has since closed, I met Henry. He was one of the other writers there, from the financial section." Daniel looked down into his glass of wine, and seemed lost in thought for a moment. "You know that phrase, "fell madly in love"? That's what it was for Henry and me. We met, and three months later we were living together. A year later, we were married. It was all… like a hurricane, you know? There was never time to think things through, we only just went ahead and did what we felt." He took a sip of wine, and Blaine guessed he was buying himself some time. "My family came over for Thanksgiving a couple of years ago. It was time to carve the turkey, our tiny apartment was too crowded and I couldn't find Henry to come give me a hand… and then I found him and one of my cousins having sex in our bathroom."

Blaine's eyes widened. "Oh my god. That's…"

"Really tasteful, don't you think?" Daniel arched a dark eyebrow, ironically. "Anyway, I don't want to bore you with the details, but it did end with me throwing all his clothes out the window and down onto the streets."

"Sounds fair," Blaine said with a little smile. "I'm sorry. It must have been hard."

"It was," Daniel admitted. "Later on, I found out that he had been sleeping with a guy from his gym, and one of our neighbors, too. Apparently he was some sort of incurable Casanova and I was the only one who couldn't see it."

"Wow," Blaine blinked at him incredulously. "What a douchebag. I bet you wish you could have done more than just throw his clothes out the window, huh?"

Daniel laughed. "To be honest? I'm relieved I caught them. Can you imagine? I might still be married to him if I hadn't. I could still be the poor idiot who gets cheated on with half of New York and doesn't even have a clue."

The waiter arrived once again, this time to offer them some dessert, and they decided to share a piece of Tiramisu. There was a slightly awkward silence after the waiter left them once more, and Blaine knew he was the one supposed to fill it, but he didn't even know how to start…

Daniel's hand brushed his carefully, and he looked up to find those mesmerizing dark eyes on him, full of compassion.

"To continue with my honesty… Sam told me about what happened to your brother, Blaine. I can see you are struggling to talk about it, so don't worry if it makes you uncomfortable or you don't want to tell me. It's fine. I understand."

Blaine felt very touched by the gesture. He smiled at him softly. "Thank you. I think it's… I'm having fun, you know. I can't remember the last time I had fun. I'd rather not ruin it."

"You wouldn't," Daniel assured him calmly, and then removed his hand, giving him space. "But I understand, like I said. I hope… maybe we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk about that?" He said bashfully, hopefully.

Blaine truly liked the sound of that.


Kurt left the bedroom door ajar and went back into the living room. He turned the TV off. It had taken a while to get Max to fall asleep - he seemed a little moody without his uncle there - and he didn't want to risk waking him up again.

He very pointedly did not glance at the time. He made himself a cup of tea and did not glance at the kitchen clock hanging on the wall. He sat on the couch, took a sip from his mug, and got comfortable to read for a while, while not checking the time on his phone. He read and he definitely did not stop every ten lines to look at the time.

He magically guessed midnight was drawing closer when he heard voices outside in the hallway. He could tell they were trying to be quiet, and for a moment Kurt was grateful because if anyone woke up Max he would murder them. And then he realized it had to be Blaine and his date, and before he could step all over his impulse like it was a fire he needed to put out, he got up from the couch and raced to the door to look out the peephole.

Blaine and The Guy were standing there. Blaine was fidgeting with his keys, and they were chuckling. Apparently The Guy had said something funny. And then his hand was on Blaine's cheek, and after a second's pause to see if Blaine would pull away, he leaned closer and kissed him.

He was kissing Blaine.

Kurt waited to see if Blaine pushed him away, but Blaine's hands settled on the other man's arms and kissed back, and Kurt had never imagined before what Blaine might look like while kissing someone, and now he wished he didn't have to know. He wished he didn't know his eyelashes painted black thick lines on his cheekbones, that his jaw went tense and then pliant in a matter of seconds as he moved into the kiss, that his fingers dug a little deeper into The Guy's jacket…

Kurt realized he had stopped breathing and moved away from the door, afraid his sudden exhale would alert them that they were being watched. He walked back to the couch and very pointedly did not count the minutes it took for Blaine to finally open the door, whisper one more goodbye to The Guy, and get into the living room.

"Hi, Kurt," he said, and his voice was really soft.

"Oh hey," Kurt replied, closing his book and shoving it into his bag.

"How was everything? Did Max give you any trouble?" Blaine asked, as he sat on the arm of the couch. His lips were very pink.

"Not at all, you know he's an angel," Kurt said, standing up and stretching his arms over his head, just to give him something to do. "He ate all his dinner, his two allowed cookies, and we watched a movie for a while. Then I put him to bed. It took a while to get him to fall asleep, but it was alright."

"You're a lifesaver," Blaine said warmly, smiling at him.

"Uhm, did you have a nice evening?" Kurt asked, because he knew it was the polite thing to do.

Blaine looked down for a moment, but he was still smiling. "Yeah, it was nice."

"I'm glad," Kurt muttered, and wished he could mean it. "Well, I'd better get going…"

"Hold on, let me call you a cab," Blaine said immediately, reaching for his phone. "You're not going all the way to Bushwick at this time of night by yourself."

"It's fine, really," Kurt said, a little uncomfortable. He just wanted to get the hell out of there.

"I insist. I'll feel terrible and I'll worry if I let you go on your own. It'll only be a few more minutes."

Since he couldn't exactly refuse, Kurt sat back down on the couch and played with the strap of his bag absently. Blaine went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and Kurt took the opportunity to run a hand down his face, telling himself to just stop being such an idiot already. What had he expected?

It felt like the cab took forever. He didn't know what to say to Blaine, what to talk about, but the silence was almost deafening. He asked what he'd had for dinner, and then told him there was leftover Thai in the fridge if he wanted it.

Blaine walked him to the door when the cab arrived, and pushed money into his hand to pay for it, even though Kurt tried to protest. "Please, Kurt. Just take it. And text me when you get home, okay?"

Kurt couldn't keep fighting. He just wanted to get out of this apartment. "Sure. Thanks, Blaine. I'll see you on Monday."

"See you on Monday! Have a nice weekend, Kurt!"

Kurt sat on the backseat of a dark cab and watched the city passing by his window, the eternal lights of New York City that never seemed to go out, slowly morphing into Brooklyn, and then darkening gradually as they made it to Bushwick. He bit his lip and told himself he wouldn't cry for something as stupid as this. What the hell had he expected?

He was not falling in love with Blaine Anderson.

Except that he definitely, stupidly, illogically, helplessly was.


Please let me know what you think of this chapter :)

Have a great week and I'll see you again very soon!

Love,

L.-