8th February 2024

Blaine sighed as his supervisor took the mug of cappuccino out of his hands and poured it away, giving him the look he always gave him when he failed to get the milk frothy in the right way.

"Come on, Blaine," he said sternly, "you're going to have to get this right soon or we're not going to be able to keep you on." Blaine nodded silently, praying for his break to come sooner rather than later. He turned back to the till, putting on a fake smile so that he could serve the next customer.

"Hi, welcome to Starbucks, how can I help you today?" He grinned emotionlessly.

"Blaine?" Blaine looked up and saw Lucas, grinning at him across the counter. His face flushed bright red. He was dreading the day when he'd bump into anyone he knew while he was working there. At least the first time was someone who he only really classed as an acquaintance more than anything. "What the hell are you doing here?" Lucas asked, his face lit up.

"Uhm… I… uh…. I actually work here…" Blaine nodded, still embarrassed.

"I can see that," Lucas smiled. "Wait… does that mean you're living in New York now?"

"Yup," Blaine nodded.

"That's so awesome," Lucas said, still grinning, his eyes twinkling as he stared at Blaine in shock.

"Thanks… uhm… I should probably take your order now or my boss is going to kill me or fire me or both." Blaine smiled gently.

"Oh hell no, I'm not ordering from you," Lucas laughed. "When's your break?" Blaine glanced up at the clock.

"About half an hour?"

"I'll wait, then." Lucas winked before starting to walk away. He quickly turned back to Blaine before finding a table. "Wait, Blaine, what's your coffee order?"

"Uhm… medium drip," Blaine said, slightly confused.

"Medium drip," Lucas repeated before smiling at him again. "Ok, I'll be right here," he pointed to a vacant sofa, "see you in half an hour."

Blaine felt a little awkward at Lucas sitting there waiting for him as he worked the rest of the first half of his shift for that day but, he couldn't help but feel incredibly flattered too that Lucas was so intent on talking to him that he was prepared to wait. He pulled off his apron as he walked out from behind the counter towards Lucas once his break had arrived. Lucas looked up from the book he'd been reading while he'd been waiting for Blaine, and smiled.

"Hey," he said brightly.

"Hey," Blaine half-smiled, fiddling with the apron in his hands as he sat down across from Lucas. He had no idea whether or not Kurt had told him what happened at the wedding. As far as he knew, Lucas might think that he was some kind of awful, selfish liar who would do anything to get his hands on Kurt.

"Wait here a sec," Lucas smiled as he got up to go and order the coffee he hadn't wanted to order earlier. He came back with two coffee's, placing one of them in front of Blaine. "Medium drip," he smiled, pleased with himself. Blaine laughed gently, thanking him and taking a sip. "So..." Lucas raised his eyebrows, smiling at Blaine.

"So…"

"I'm just gonna cut straight to the chase here, ok?" He asked.

"Ok." Blaine nodded, taking another sip of his coffee, his heart racing as he expected Lucas to start yelling at him or similar for the way that he treated Kurt.

"What the hell happened to you at the wedding?" Blaine paused for a few seconds, blinking a few times at Lucas, in surprise.

"Wait… what do you already know?" He asked, confused.

"Nothing!" Lucas laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "All I know is that you left the room and Kurt went looking for you and then came back about half an hour later looking like he'd been crying for a year. I asked him where you were and he said that you left and he didn't want to talk about it." Blaine bit his lip, playing with the lid of his coffee cup slightly. He should've known that Kurt wouldn't have stooped so low as to tell everyone what had happened. "So, what happened?"

"Well, the short story is that I saw Alexander cheating on Kurt on the morning of the wedding and I tried to tell him but he didn't believe me and thought I was just trying to break up the wedding. He told me to leave and that he never wanted to see me again."

"Why did he think you would do that?"

"Because I told him I loved him after his bachelor party. Actually, more precisely, I kissed him after his bachelor party and then told him I loved him." Blaine rubbed the back of his neck with one arm, nervously. Every single time he went over the story, he felt like it made him sound more and more like a douche and he hated it.

"Wait… you finally told him you loved him?" Lucas said, leaning forwards and smiling widely.

"…You knew?"

"Of course I knew," Lucas laughed easily, sitting back in his chair. "I've known for years. I also knew that he loved you too…"

"Yeah… loved being the operative word there," Blaine said sadly. Lucas nodded. He wasn't sure if Kurt did love Blaine or not but, considering he didn't dare even mention his name anymore, he had no way of really knowing and he didn't really see Kurt often enough for him to delve any deeper anyway. "So did… did Kurt get married?" Blaine asked, not really certain if he wanted to actually know the answer.

"Yeah," Lucas nodded.

"Is he happy?"

"He seems to be," Lucas shrugged his shoulders. "Although, if you're right about Alexander cheating on him then I don't know how much longer that'll be for."

"I hope he's happy forever." Blaine said, decidedly. Lucas glanced at Blaine and smiled gently at him. His devotion was nothing but the sweetest thing Lucas had ever seen.

"Well, personally," Lucas said, leaning forwards as if he was telling Blaine a secret, "I think he's a bit of a fool for passing someone as incredible as you up." He winked as he relaxed back into his seat. Blaine smiled shyly, thanking him as he distracted himself by sipping more of his coffee. "So, how come you're working here? I thought you worked for your Dad or something? Unless your Dad owns Starbucks…"

"No," Blaine laughed, "I… I quit." He smiled. It was something that he actually felt incredibly proud of himself for finally doing. "I hated working for him anyway. And I got the opinion that some people thought I was kind of lazy and living off of my Dad's money…"

"By that you mean, Kurt," Lucas pointed out. Blaine grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, Kurt." He nodded. "Anyway, I hated that he had that opinion of me so as soon as I got back to Ohio from the wedding, I quit. It meant that I lost everything, my job, my house, everything… but it was worth it." Blaine shrugged.

"Wow," Lucas furrowed his brow and reached forward to place his hand over Blaine's. "That must have been really tough."

"Yeah it was," Blaine said, slightly distracted by the tingles that Lucas' hand was giving him. "Anyway I, uh, I needed a job and wanted to come to New York so I managed to convince the manager here to take me on and here I am." Blaine shrugged, gesturing to the shop. "Plus he lets me perform once a week in the shop which is a fun bonus."

"Why New York, though?"

"Honestly?" Blaine asked to which Lucas nodded. "I thought it might bring me and Kurt back together again. Like my being physically closer to him might force him to see me. When I moved I tried contacting him a few times but he'd blocked his number and email address… I don't even know where he lives now…"

"I'm really sorry about that…"

"It's not your fault," Blaine shrugged as he finished his coffee.

"It's not fair, though," Lucas frowned.

"Isn't it?"

"Well…. Do you want me to be honest?" Lucas asked, concerned.

"I guess," Blaine shrugged, preparing for the backlash.

"Blaine, I love Kurt but you were there for him when his Dad died, you told him you loved him and still supported him when he turned you away and you tried to protect him by telling him about Alexander… When do things start working the other way around?" Lucas asked simply. Blaine's heart raced as he listened to him.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked. He wasn't sure if things were supposed to be the other way around, was it really such a bad thing for him to be there for Kurt?

"Are you really trying to tell me that there haven't been times when you haven't needed him to be there for you?"

"I guess…"

"Has he been there for you?" Blaine exhaled and smiled gently, not sure how to go ahead with this conversation.

"It… It's not that simple… The things that I've needed him for have been… well… self-inflicted… I've lashed out… normally in Kurt's direction and he takes it… he's taken everything I've thrown at him over the years. The years I tried to ignore him, the years I've slept around, the stupid year that I started drinking…"

"Aren't you mad, though?" Lucas asked. "I mean, just the fact that you were there for him through everything with his Dad, sort of makes you amazing on its own."

"I'm more mad that he didn't believe me about Alexander," Blaine shrugged, staring at his cup to avoid Lucas' gaze. "Other than that, I'm mostly just sad. Plus, I may have helped him through his Dad's death but, that's not to say that I didn't throw a bunch of stuff at him just afterwards… Not to mention how awful some of the things I said to him once I'd had a drink were or the number of times I've practically forced myself on him when we've been drunk…" Blaine sighed, not sure if he was getting his point across in the best way. "Neither of us are perfect, is what I'm trying to say…" Lucas nodded, understanding at least a small amount of the complexities in Kurt and Blaine's tumultuous relationship over the years. "…I should probably get back to work," Blaine smiled, not wanting to talk about it anymore and getting to his feet. Lucas stood up with him agreeing that he needed to get back to work also.

"Blaine…" Lucas started, placing a hand on Blaine's arm soothingly, "I'm really sorry if you thought I overstepped by talking about Kurt just then…

"Oh, it's fine," Blaine smiled. "It's nice of you to try and stand up for me like that…" Blaine blushed gently at the attention and concern that Lucas was directing his way.

"Listen, Blaine," Lucas spoke hesitantly, "you and Kurt…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think there's any chance of you two making amends and getting together now? Any chance at all?" Blaine paused for a second, considering the question.

"No…" Blaine shook his head. "Kurt's married and he kind of hates me now so no, I don't think there's any chance of that happening."

"Good," Lucas smiled gently, "then I'm free to do this." He placed his large hands softly around Blaine's face and pulled him forwards, kissing him lightly. Blaine moved his lips against Lucas' for a second, holding gently onto the front of his top to steady himself until Lucas released him. He stood in stunned silence, gazing up at Lucas who smiled softly and stepped away. "Call me, ok?" He said before leaving.

Blaine stood in his spot, astonished as he watched Lucas walk away, still feeling the soft touch of his lips on Blaine's own. He brought himself back into focus again and returned to behind the counter where one of his female colleagues nudged him gently, teasing him about the kiss. He smiled politely at her before carrying on serving the customers.

He'd never really thought of Lucas as an option for dating, always being so focussed on Kurt but, now that he thought about it, the guy was very good looking, kind and clearly very interested in Blaine. Maybe, he thought to himself, this'll be a great way to move on from Kurt, finally. His heart skipped a beat as he thought about what he would say when he called Lucas later because, if one thing was for sure, it was that, especially after how hot that kiss was, he would definitely be calling Lucas later that day.