Day 9 – How Sweet It Is to be Loved by You by James Taylor

I needed the shelter of someone's arms, and there you were.

It was an odd truth of New York life that the more people one was around, the more alone one could feel. Kurt walked quickly down the bustling sidewalk, keeping up with the other overly-busy New Yorkers who somehow managed to slip past one another and miss colliding by inches. He was focused on his destination, aware enough of his surroundings to not get flattened by a taxi, but barely paying attention to anyone in particular.

Perhaps that was how the dark-haired stranger managed to approach, slip an arm through his, spin him 180 degrees, and start walking Kurt back the way he came.

"Walk with me," the stranger said, leaning into Kurt's hear to be heard. He'd tucked Kurt's arm into his side, pressing it firmly but gently.

"Excuse me," Kurt protested, pulling his arm back and making an attempt to step away. The flow of foot traffic carried them onward, though, and the stranger spoke again quickly, retaining his firm grip.

"I'm not a weirdo or a pervert, I'm not kidnapping you, and I'm not trying to hurt you, I promise. I just," he paused, flashing a glance over his shoulder, "I need you to walk with me for a couple of blocks. Please." he implored.

They'd come to an intersection and had to wait for the light to change. It was the perfect opportunity for Kurt to put a stop to this madness. He was not about to let some maniac drag him down Fifth Avenue in the middle of the afternoon. Turning to said maniac, he opened his mouth to tell him off, but stopped as soon as he saw his face.

"I know you," he blurted.

The stranger – well, not stranger, apparently – blushed. "Y-you do?" he stammered.

"You're…" he halted, not wanting to finish with the words that came to his mind first, which were the gorgeous singer from the café where I eat lunch all the time. Kurt cursed himself for not having immediately recognized him, but the abruptness of their meeting had caught him off-guard.

"Blaine," the other man supplied, interpreting Kurt's pause as a request for his name. The pedestrians around them began moving forward in a wave, indicating that the signal had changed. Kurt, feeling less like a future subject of an episode of Nightline, stepped forward when Blaine did.

"You perform at the Midtown Café," Kurt said, sidestepping as a woman with a hideously oversized shoulder bag passed a little too closely.

"Yeah, I gig at a couple of places, but I like that one the best. It's just a side job while I finish my degree at NYU," Blaine answered.

"So, Blaine, do you care to tell me why you grabbed me in the middle of the sidewalk and hauled me back uptown?" Kurt asked as they crossed another intersection.

Blaine blushed, dipping his head down and away. "Here," he said, looking around and guiding Kurt close to a doorway that offered a shelter from the river of people. He glanced nervously down Fifth again, seeming to be searching the crowd for someone in particular.

"Blaine?" Kurt was becoming concerned. "Blaine," he called louder, gaining his companion's attention. "Is someone following you? Are you in trouble? I'll call 911 if you need," he offered, slipping his phone out of his pocket swiftly.

"No, no," Blaine replied, placing a hand on Kurt's arm to stop him. "It's not like that, I, um…" he trailed off, staring at the sidewalk and mumbling something incoherent that got lost in the cacophony of horns and traffic.

"What was that?"

Blaine lifted his head, embarrassment written all over his face. He sighed. "I saw my ex-boyfriend with his new boyfriend," he admitted, rolling his eyes in frustration.

Kurt winced. "Ouch. How long since you broke up?"

Blaine grimaced. "Two months. But I think the term you're looking for is 'got dumped,' not 'broke up,'" he added bitterly.

"So, you saw your ex with his new boyfriend, and that led to you snatching me how, exactly?" Kurt inquired, his tone not unkind.

Blaine huffed out a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I, um, well, I saw Nathan coming towards me, and I panicked. I wasn't ready to see him, especially not with some new guy, and especially not today, so I turned around, planning to dive into a store or down a side street. Then I spotted you, and it was like…" Blaine halted, eyes widening as if he had let a secret slip out.

"Like?" Kurt prodded.

They locked eyes, and Blaine took a half step forward when a large group of tourists filed past. Blaine spoke quietly, barely audible, but Kurt heard every word. "All I could think was that I didn't want to be alone. I felt like I needed the shelter of someone's arms, and…there you were."

"Blaine, that's so," Kurt fumbled for the right word. Beautiful? Romantic? Perfect? "Why especially not today?" was what came out instead.

"What?"

"You said you didn't want to see Nathan, especially not today," Kurt repeated.

"I did?" Blaine groaned when Kurt nodded in the affirmative. "Today's my birthday," he grumbled.

Kurt felt the corners of his mouth lift in a smile as he settled on an idea that had been brewing since Blaine mentioned his ex. "Oh, well in that case, come on," he announced, sliding his arm through Blaine's and striding back towards downtown.

"What – where are we going?" Blaine stammered, tripping a few steps trying to keep up with Kurt's brisk pace.

"Do you see them?" Kurt said instead of answering.

"Kurt," Blaine tried.

"Do you see them," Kurt repeated, emphasizing each word. There was a good chance that Blaine's ex and the new guy had passed them by while they'd been talking, but there was also a chance they'd stopped somewhere along the way. Kurt was hoping for the latter.

Blaine, still confused, scanned the oncoming crowd. Kurt felt him tense, and followed his line of sight in time to see a couple exiting a store half a block ahead.

"Head up, Blaine, you've got this, and I've got you," he encouraged, speaking quietly into his ear. He quickly slipped his arm out of Blaine's, taking his wrist to put Blaine's arm around his waist and mirroring the position. "Don't stop walking. Address him by name, say hello, and keep moving," Kurt instructed, pulling Blaine tightly to him.

Within seconds, they were a few feet away. Kurt need not have worried about Blaine speaking up, as one of the two men, presumably Nathan, recognized Blaine first. The man appeared disproportionately shocked, not to see Blaine, but to see him with someone else, if the way he regarded Kurt was any indication. Rude. "Blaine?"

"Hey, Nathan," Blaine greeted him coolly. True to Kurt's direction, they kept walking.

"Three, two, one," Kurt counted under his breath before turning to plant a kiss firmly on Blaine's cheek.

Blaine looked over sharply. "What was that for?"

Kurt grinned. "It was for a couple of things. One, I knew by the look on Nathan's face – you can do better, by the way – that he'd be craning around to watch you walk away. Two, it's your birthday. And three," he paused, steering Blaine around a corner to stop walking. "I've wanted to do that since the first day I saw you at the Midtown Café."

"You have?"

Kurt chuckled and shook his head fondly. "Blaine, the food at the Midtown is good, but not good enough for me to eat there three days a week in a city with a thousand restaurants. Why did you think I kept coming back?"

It was Blaine's turn to smile now. "You know, I play there four days a week," he teased.

"Well, I didn't want to seem desperate," Kurt teased back.

They shared a laugh, and then an awkward pause. "So, I suppose you were actually going somewhere before," Blaine began, frowning slightly. "I hope I didn't mess up your afternoon too much. I should probably-"

"-let me buy you a cupcake for your birthday? Yes, you should," Kurt interrupted. He cheered internally when Blaine's smile returned.

"Kurt, that's kind of you, but you don't have to do that," Blaine protested.

Kurt simply took Blaine's hand and started down the street towards a bakery he knew well. "I insist. Everyone should have something sweet on their birthday, don't you think?"

How sweet it is to be loved by you.

A/N: I hit the wall trying to write this one. I didn't get a chance to edit it as well as I'd like, and I'm not happy with the ending, but it's the best I've got for tonight.