Blaine loved the Lima Bean, it was his favorite place in New York City. Perhaps because of its lowkey decorating and laid-back taste, but mostly because it seemed to be the easiest place to go incognito. That was the thing about Bushwick, everybody was always wearing leather jackets, oversized frames, and beanies, so it didn't draw the same attention as it did wearing them in Manhattan.
He hated waiting in line though. Not because he was famous and wanted special treatment and fast service, because standing there in one position so long gave everyone the chance to really get a good look at him. Especially the barista that watched him come in everyday for the past couple weeks.
"One Medium Drip please." He smiled at the attractive café server as he ordered.
"Okay one Medium Drip. Name?" The boy didn't respond to Blaine's smile, which made his spirits sink a little. He felt like superman when he was Clark Kent, if he weren't undercover the boy would probably be all over him just for his fame and money alone. But that's not what I want.
"Should I just put 'Blank Stare' on here or do you have a name?"
"Sorry. It's Blaine." Blaine realized too late that he should probably have used a fake name like all the other times. What did he go by here? He could hardly remember. Nightbird? No, Tony. That's right.
"Okay, I'll have that ready for you in a minute." Blaine gave him another smile that went unnoticed. Which is what I want. To be unnoticed. He sidestepped down to where the cups were picked up. Nobody had been in line behind him, so the barista took his time making the drink.
Blaine leaned against the counter. "I figured you would have my drink memorized by now."
"I have most people's." The barista muttered quietly. Blaine grinned.
"Am I not most people?"
"You sure are different." Blaine only smiled wider. The barista was talking to him. That was a step in the right direction.
He unceremoniously placed Blaine's cup on the pickup counter. "One medium drip for the talkative hipster." Kurt gave him a fake smile.
Blaine picked up his cup and looked at the writing. 'Baline'
"Nice. I see how it is. Have a good day, Kurt." Blaine turned and waved as he made his way out of the shop.
Kurt was surprised the man knew his name, then he remembered he was wearing a nametag. He looked down at where the clip should be before realizing it wasn't there. He had lost it a week and a half ago. He blushed enough to pretend it was just from the steaming coffee in front of him.
The next day Blaine showed up in the tightest jeans he had and passed up on wearing his glasses. It was a risk, but he felt the need to be noticed by the barista who hardly gave him the time of day. His manager, Sebastian would be pissed if he found out Blaine was risking exposure just to impress a guy, but Sebastian would do way worse things just for a one-night stand. And that's not what Blaine was going for.
He briefly considered removing the beanie, but that would be a step too far. His hair was not something that easily went unnoticed. His hair was best described as a statement piece, especially when it wasn't gelled back in his signature style. With his hair covered and his bravest face, he went into the Lima Bean.
The place was nearly deserted, which made Blaine happy. He wasn't used to empty buildings at this point in his career. He missed the vast halls of Dalton that he could roam on a Sunday evening without once coming across someone.
He was in a daze when he heard a snap. Kurt was behind the counter again today, same angry, beautiful face as always.
"What can I get you?" Kurt asked in a none too pleasant tone.
"Sorry. Medium drip please." Blaine smiled like he did every time he had ordered.
"Name?"
"Katy Perry." He knew the boy was playing hard to get. He had to have known his name.
"Well the jeans are a step in the right direction. But you are two nipple cupcakes short of true Katy Perry status."
Blaine chuckled and looked down shyly. "So, you talk now?"
"I'm just trying to do my job and upsell."
Blaine placed his hands on the counter and leaned close. Kurt shifted onto his back leg as he wrote on the cup. "I'll buy two cupcakes, but I might need help finishing them."
"I'm sure there's someone out on the street whose day would be made with a cupcake." Blaine's head dropped.
"Touché."
"Two cupcakes and a medium drip. Anything else?"
"I should say no before you upsell me out of all my money." He looked up in time to see the corners of the barista's lips turn back down. Was he just smiling before? I made him smile. Blaine's heart leapt.
"Twelve dollars."
Blaine handed him a twenty-dollar bill. "Keep the change."
"Clearly being hustled out of all your money isn't a concern." Kurt raised an eyebrow at him as he opened the register and put the money in.
Blaine just shrugged with a grin and stepped out of the way. Kurt opened the bake case and retrieved two cupcakes. He made the drink and set it all on the pickup counter. Blaine smiled and thanked him before picking the cup up and looking at it. Kurt had walked back down to the register already.
"Cupcake nipples? Really? Can we go back to you spelling my name wrong?" He looked down at Kurt who was trying to hide a smile. Blaine looked at the way his eyes sparkled even when he refused to turn up his lips.
Blaine made his way out of the coffee shop making sure to swing his hips a little in his extremely tight pants. He had been noticed, now was time to turn the attention in the right direction. Kurt watched him walk out. He let the smile show when he was sure Blaine was out the door. He blushed as he thought of the way those jeans were so tight on his ass. He cleared the thought from his head as a customer approached.
She ordered something annoyingly complicated. He nodded his head as he wrote all the specifics on the cup. He looked out the window and saw that Blaine was squatting beside a homeless man on the other corner. He was handing him both cupcakes and some cash out of his pocket. He smiled and drew his attention back in before the stressed woman bit his head off.
"Thank you. Bless you."
"I'm sorry it's just cupcakes and nothing substantial. The cute barista talked me into it. Here's some cash for you to go to the store and get some food and drink. It's not a lot but I don't carry very much on me."
"Thank you."
He smiled at the man. He was grateful that his career had gotten him to where he was, otherwise, he was sure he would be living a similar fate.
"You're that guy."
Uh oh. I stood in one place too long. Blaine looked down at the homeless man. Who reached around himself and pulled a crumpled and dirty looking magazine out of his pile of belongings. He pointed to the front cover of Rolling Stone.
"Blaine Anderson. You're a Rockstar."
"That's not me."
"Yes. It is."
"Please. Don't tell anyone you saw me. This is the only place I don't get recognized."
The man thought about it. If he drew a bunch of people over to the celebrity, maybe he would have a chance at more tips and donations for spotting him. He looked over the young star and noticed the way his eyes kept flitting toward the coffee shop.
"You're in love." Blaine looked down at him. Drawn from where he was staring at Kurt through the shop window.
"I will sign your magazine and you can sell it or whatever. Just please, don't tell anyone I was here."
"I won't tell anyone. If…" Blaine waited nervously for the man's demands. "If you tell me whether or not you are in love with that waiter."
"What?"
"It's been a while since I've been in love, but I think I know it when I see it."
"He's handsome and interesting-." Blaine began, not wanting to admit something he wasn't sure about.
"Someday you will realize that it's better to throw yourself into something you are unsure of rather than sit outside the opportunity and stare at it like a lost puppy. I won't tell anyone your secret Blaine Anderson. You are a good man." Blaine smiled at the man. Here was a person that could benefit greatly from him. He had him in a position where he could literally ask for anything and all he did was provide him with insight.
"Thank you." Blaine nearly whispered. "I wish you the best of luck."
"Alright spill. You haven't listened to a single word I've said all morning. What. Is. Up. With. You." The woman sitting at the counter by where Kurt was brewing a fresh pot of coffee was snapping her fingers at him.
"Sorry. I'm just zoned out I guess." Kurt said drawing his attention back to the coffee beans spilling all over the counter. "Shit." He murmured trying to coral them before they hit the floor.
"Zoned out. Clumsy. Boy, If I didn't know any better, I'd say you saw a man."
"Mercedes. Me being stupid doesn't always mean there was a guy. Maybe work has been stressful lately."
Kurt's best friend tilted her head at him. Looking up with her eyebrows raised.
"Okay. Fine there is a guy."
"Ooooo. Is he cute?"
"The cutest."
"What's his name?" Kurt's face fell. He wasn't sure if he should tell Mercedes this part. The part he had been dreading. The reason he had been acting the way he had around him. He knew it was Blaine Anderson, the Rockstar.
"Uh. Tony. I think." Kurt covered for himself.
"You think?" Mercedes's brow furrowed as she took a sip of her latte.
"He uses different ones."
"And you're sure he's gay?" She always did this. She was very protective of her little white boy. One time he came onto a straight man and almost had the shit beat out of him and she wouldn't let him go near a boy now unless he was basically waving the pride flag above his head and singing along to Lady Gaga.
Kurt thought of the ass tight jeans Blaine had been wearing earlier this morning. Not to mention the article in Rolling Stone last month where Blaine Anderson had squelched all rumors of him being straight. He told them that he was gay, out, and proud of it ever since high school. "Yeah. Definitely gay."
"Why don't you ask him out?"
"I can't."
"Does he not like you?"
"He flirts with me incessantly."
"Then ask him out."
"I can't! Drop it, okay?" Kurt slammed the coffee pot on the counter under the machine and pressed brew before storming off toward the store room.
Mercedes stared after him unsure of what could possibly make him act like this over one coffee crazed guy.
"Blaine, you're late. Again." Sebastian rolled his eyes when he saw the cup Blaine was holding. With the dumb little bean on it. "You know there is a Starbucks inside this very building."
"I don't like it there."
"Do they not the make the drinks to your liking, diva?"
"I was thinking more in the way of customer service."
"Well if you want to get serviced by a barista you don't have to go all the way to Brooklyn to do it. So, who's the guy?"
Blaine scoffed and rolled his eyes animatedly. "There's no guy. I just—" He scrambled for an answer. Damn how did Sebastian know him so well? "I like going there because I can be out and about without anyone noticing who I am."
"Is that so?" Sebastian smirked in a way that made Blaine want to smack him in the face.
"Yeah." Blaine said, suddenly unsure. What did his manager know?
Sebastian put his phone up to Blaine's face. Twitter was open on a specific tweet.
Is that Blaine Anderson giving food to a homeless man? No way.
*Attached Photo*
Location: The Lima Bean
"Damn."
"Damn is right." Sebastian snatched his phone back. "You were spotted and also you were doing something completely out of your image. Blaine if we are going to sell this new album. You have to really sell it. Giving food to a homeless man is great but it doesn't sell rock and roll. Gay and angry and hooking up. That sells music. Want to be a good guy? Do it backstage. Send an anonymous donation to the Trevor Project. I don't care, but don't get caught being decent."
"Sebastian I really don't think my new image fits." Blaine took the beanie off and ran his fingers through his messy hair. "It feels too forced."
"You always said at Dalton you would love being an actor or a singer." Sebastian turned and headed toward the conference room. "Here's your chance to be both."
Blaine sighed and took a long sip of his medium drip before following after his annoyingly correct manager. People in this world didn't want to listen to a good guy, they wanted to listen to a partyer. They wanted to look up to a life they couldn't have. Blaine thought back to Kurt's quiet life as a barista. The life that he wanted but couldn't have.