Author's Note: This is the 3rd part in the series I am writing with JayhawkWrites: In Every Lifetime. This is my contribution for the Klaine/CC Valentine's Day Challenge. Special thanks to my fantastic beta, JayhawkWrites. Your encouragement makes all the difference. :)

"What are you doing for Valentine's Day?" Mercedes asked casually as she and Kurt waited in line at Starbucks.

Kurt shrugged. "Nothing I guess. I'll just stay at home and watch Moulin Rouge. That's what I've done every Valentine's Day since Nick."

"You can't do that!" Mercedes protested. "You need to get back out there. Haven't you met anybody to go on at least one date with on that dating app yet?"

"Here's your non-fat mocha and your grande black coffee," the barista interrupted, handing the two of them their drinks.

"So," Mercedes prompted as they found a seat at a corner table, "have you met anybody? You haven't been out on a date for a while."

"I hate going on blind dates," Kurt complained, taking a sip of his drink. "You know this, Cedes. It's so impersonal, and so many of those guys are just looking for someone who will put out. I'm not like that."

"You're not. But, what if you find your soulmate?"

Kurt gave her a look. "Do you really believe that stuff?"

"Yeah! Don't you?" She knocked back a swig of her coffee. It was hard for Mercedes to believe, her friend, one of the biggest romantics she knew, might not believe in soulmates.

"No. I've never met anyone who found a soulmate. I mean, I know they exist. There are a few celebrities that have them. I just don't think that stuff's real for everyday people like us."

"Well, I think you could have a soulmate," Mercedes defended, flipping her hair back. "And I'm setting you up on a date for Valentine's Day." She grabbed Kurt's phone from its spot on the table and swiped the screen, quickly typing in his password.

"Hey! Give me that back!" Kurt protested, making a few feeble grab attempts at his phone.

"Nope!" she said, holding his phone out of reach. "You can have it back when we find you a man!"

"Can't I just go out with you? What are you and Sam doing?"

"Going on a date. Because it's Valentine's Day." She gave him her best 'Really?' look.

"Oh, yeah. Right," Kurt mumbled, looking at the floor. "What if I promise not to watch Moulin

Rouge?"

"Kurt." Mercedes put her hand over his and patted it reassuringly. "We're going to find you a nice guy to go out with tomorrow. Even if you're not soulmates, you can at least have a nice time on Valentine's Day. Right?"

"Fine," Kurt said, sighing. "Fine. But, if this turns out anything like the last blind date I went on, you owe me." I absolutely cannot take another night of somebody talking my ear off about how great they think I am. Yeah, I like to be complimented, but not every five seconds!

"Okay! Okay!" Mercedes held up a hand. "I'll buy you dinner if it's anything like last time." She grinned as she began looking through pictures on Kurt's phone after putting in a few criteria details. "And, I'll call you about two hours into your date and make sure you haven't been kidnapped."

"Thank you," Kurt replied, giving her a fake glare over his drink. "At least you can pretend you care about me." He waited silently as Mercedes looked through pictures and thought about all the things he had left to do back at Vogue. He could agree to go on this date and then bail and stay late to work. But, Mercedes would know. She always stopped at his desk before she left for the day. Damn. Guess I'm stuck going on this stupid date. Maybe I just won't agree with any of her picks. With that plan in mind, each time she showed him a picture, he silently shook his head.

"Kurt! Seriously?" she asked after a while, beginning to get irritated. "What's wrong with all of these guys?"

"They just don't look like interesting people, Mercedes!"

"You can't tell that by their profile pictures!"

"Well, how can you tell that they are just by their profile pictures? Maybe I just really don't want to do this," he whined.

"I'll just pick someone for you, then," Mercedes replied, done with Kurt's attitude at the moment, flipping the phone back.

"No! That's not what I meant! I meant I don't want to go on a date!"

"Too bad. Someone as awesome as you deserves more than Moulin Rouge and ice cream on Valentine's Day. You need to put yourself out there. And if you can't pick someone, I will." She continued to look through pictures for a few more minutes, finally settling on one with a smile.

"Who is it?" Kurt wanted to know.

"Hold up!" Mercedes said. "Let me set something up!"

"Ugh!" Kurt grumbled. This was not the way this coffee date was supposed to go.

"There! You're meeting Adam at Grooves tomorrow at six."

"Adam who? And why did you pick Grooves? I hate that place!"

"Adam Crawford. And I didn't pick Grooves. Adam did. He said there's some kind of Valentine's Day dance there, and it looked like fun. Also, you don't hate Grooves. You hate the guy who left you there."

"Stranded. Not left. He stranded me there."

"Anyway, Adam will meet you there at six. You guys can eat and then dance. You'll like it. Plus, you can have some drinks, lighten up and maybe, just maybe, you'll enjoy yourself a little."

"Ugh. Fine," Kurt said exasperatedly, throwing his hands in the air. "Just don't forget, if he's like the-"

"-last one, I owe you. Right. I got it. He won't be boring. He's from Britain, so you guys can talk about all that British stuff that you love." She flashed him a smile. "Just try to have fun?"

"I'll try," Kurt promised with a huff. "Now, can we talk about something more fun? I'm officially done talking about guys until Valentine's Day."

"Which is tomorrow."

"Yeah, but I don't want to think about them until then."

"Fine. Tell me what you're dying to talk about." Mercedes settled back into her seat and grabbed her coffee.

Kurt took another drink of his mocha. "So, last night on Project Runway..."

"Hey! We're all going out for drinks after work, Blaine. You wanna come?" Wes asked, sticking his head into Blaine's office.

"No. Thanks, though, man," Blaine replied not looking up from his computer.

"What are you doing? Going out with Elliot again?" Wes wiggled his eyebrows at his friend as he

walked into Blaine's office, silently closing the door behind himself and taking a seat.

"No. We're going out tomorrow night, though, so I just want to go home tonight."

"Is he coming over then? Gonna wear you out?"

"What is wrong with you?" Blaine asked, not really mad, but not wanting to talk about his purely sexual relationship with Elliot. "I'm not going to talk to you about this."

"Oh, you're shy all of a sudden?" Wes joked, unable to stop the teasing.

Blaine sighed. "Did you need something work-related? I'm actually trying to work in here."

"Look, man. I'm sorry." Wes leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. "But, what's the deal with this Elliot guy? I'm supposed to be your best friend, and I've never even met him."

Blaine smiled. "It's okay. And, I don't know if I want you to meet him yet. It's not really that serious."

"How many dates have you had? Won't tomorrow be your, like, fourth date or something?"

"Yeah..."

"So, is it soulmates then?" Wes asked, craning his neck to see Blaine's wrists over his desk. "I don't see any glowy thing." He looked at his friend, confused.

Blaine scoffed, Elliot was most definitely not his soulmate. A good lay? Yes. Soulmate? Not so much. "Why would I tell you it's not serious if we were soulmates? Besides, I don't think I really believe in that stuff."

"I don't really either." Wes gave him a reassuring smile. "So, if it's not that serious, why are you still going out with him?"

"He's fun to talk to?" Blaine shrugged. He knew his friend wouldn't give him any crap if he just told him the truth. The thing was, Blaine had always been a bit of a flirt on the outside because he was so desperate for something real. He hadn't found anything close to what he was looking for in a man, so he was supplementing with what he could get. It helped that he had a nice body, something that men wanted. He just wasn't always proud of himself and his relationships. "I don't really know. He just asked me, and I figured it was better than spending the night alone watching a movie or something."

"You could always hang out with me. Layla has to be home early tomorrow because she has a six o'clock shift at the hospital."

"I already told him I'd go with him. Maybe I'll meet somebody at the bar."

"You're soulmate?" Wes joked.

Blaine fixed him with a look. "Sure."

"So, will you please go out for drinks with us? It's just a few of us guys. We're going to talk about that group that Schue heard play today. I think he's going to sign them."

"Really?" Blaine asked, disappointed. "They weren't very good. And no, I don't want to go out drinking. I already told you; I'm going home tonight. I don't want to be out late. I'm going to need some extra sleep if I'm going to be worth a damn on my date tomorrow. We're going to Grooves."

"I know, right?" Wes asked, sticking his tongue out and dry heaving. Then, "Grooves, huh? Why there?"

"I guess they're having some kind of dance? Elliot's not really into that, but he knows I love to dance."

"And flirt!"

"Hey!" Blaine swatted as his friend. "I'm not that big of a flirt."

"You are when you have too much to drink," Wes pointed out with a wink.

"Whatever. Leave me alone. I'm not going out for drinks tonight. I'm trying to finish up this track for The Warblers. Then, I'm going home."

"Please come have drinks with us?" Wes pleaded. "We won't be out too late." He crossed his heart. "Promise!"

"Wes, I told you! I don't want to."

"But, Blaine. We never get to hang out with you. I miss my best bro," Wes pouted, putting his hands together in front of his face as though he were praying for Blaine to go. "Please..."

"I dunno, man..."

"Please?"

Blaine sighed deeply. "Fine! But, I'm only having a couple. Then, I really have to go home."

"Understood. Close up shop here, Anderson. We're leaving in five." Wes stood, stretching.

Blaine rolled his eyes. He'd have to finish the track in the morning. "Fine. Now get out." He pointed to his office door.

"Fine! Fine!" Wes said with a grin. "I'm going. See you there."

"Yeah. See you." Blaine rolled his eyes as his friend left the room. Having drinks with the guys would probably be fun, but he didn't know how much more ribbing he could take about Elliot. It wasn't even that serious! He sighed again as he shut down his computer. Why had he even agreed to go to Grooves for Valentine's Day?