Chapter Three-

Kurt was sitting at the same table the next morning, a fresh magazine in front of him. Blaine took a moment to stop and stare, before a slow grin grew on his face. He was about to have a date! A real live date, this time. It wasn't all in his head. True, Jeremiah had let him down easy after their disastrous fifth 'date', when Blaine had tried to kiss him, but it was still humiliating to think about.

Shaking off the memory of Jeremiah's last, patronizing words, Blaine strode forward and sat at the table.

"Hey!"

Kurt looked at him, mouth hanging open as if surprised to see him.

"Guess what?" Blaine continued jokingly. "I'm wearing a corset."

Kurt's mouth tightened into a frown and he closed the magazine with a snap. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know, because we were talking about-"

"Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I have a closet full of fetish gear."

"But, I-"

"Okay, yeah, I wore one corset." Kurt stood, grabbing his bag off the floor, leaving Blaine to gape at him in confusion. "Just because you Neanderthals have no sense of fashion..."

"Wait!" Blaine stood, ignoring the stares of the other customers, and latched on to Kurt's arm. "I don't get it."

Kurt yanked his arm away. Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine noted Mercedes hurrying towards them.

"What's not to get?" Kurt sneered. "I am not a joke."

"I didn't say that!" Blaine could feel himself getting angry in spite of himself.

"What's going on?" Mercedes asked once she reached them.

Kurt heaved a sigh of relief. "Mercedes. Thank god someone here gets me." He paused, eyeing her outfit. "When did you start working here?"

Wait a minute...what? Blaine looked to Mercedes for help, so confused his head was starting to hurt. "Is this some kind of joke?"

Mercedes grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away from the table, Kurt watching the two of them warily, arms crossed over his chest.

"I don't know what your game is," she said, "but you've gotta step away from my boy."

"I don't have a game," Blaine protested. "We were supposed to meet here-he agreed to it!"

Mercedes face softened then. "Oh. Well. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Kurt has no idea who you are. Head injury, you know? They do freaky things to a person."

"Head injury?" Blaine glanced back to where Kurt still stood watching them.

"Yeah," Mercedes said. "He and his dad were in a car wreck last year. Kurt was in a coma for about a month and when he woke up...well, he thought it was the day of the accident, before the wreck."

"But you said that happened last year."

"Head injuries are funny things. He thinks it's the day of the accident every day he wakes up."

Blaine gaped at her. "But...we had a date."

Mercedes looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry, but he doesn't remember you. At all. You might as well give up now."

Blaine looked back to Kurt, his heart twisting painfully in his chest as the remembered glow of their first meeting. It had went so well, too. He couldn't give up this chance. He just couldn't.

"What am I going to do?" Blaine moaned, flopping back on his bed at Dalton later that day.

Wes looked up from his algebra book and raised an eyebrow. "You could just leave the guy alone."

"You are so unromantic. I don't know how your girlfriend puts up with you."

"At least I have a girlfriend."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I really want me one of those."

Wes finally turned from his book, twisting in his seat to face his friend. "Look, Blaine, I can tell you like the guy, you've made that abundantly clear. Why don't you just seduce him, sleep with him, and leave it at that? He'll never remember you anyway."

"That's horrible." Blaine stared at Wes, aghast. "He's brain damaged."

"Fine. You go do your thing. Woo him with coffee or whatever, just leave me out of this. I have to study, you know. Finals are coming up."

Finals. Right. Blaine flopped back onto the bed with another moan. He hadn't even started to study yet. His parents would flip if he came even close to failing his senior year. With a sigh, Blaine grabbed his book and tried to concentrate on the page in front of him.

x

Nothing worked. No matter how hard he tried, Blaine couldn't get Kurt out of his head. They had to see each other again.

But the first time he tried to walk back through the cafe doors, Mercedes blocked his way, arms crossed over her chest and feet planted firmly on the ground like she expected him to push past her. If Blaine had been one of those jerks from the other day, he might have, but his parents had taught him better than that.

Instead, he put on his most charming smile. "Good morning, Mercedes."

"Can it, prep school," Mercedes snapped back. "What are you doing back here?"

Blaine glanced inside to where Kurt was sitting.

"Oh, no. No, no, no. You are not trying to get with my boy."

"W-what! No...okay, yeah, but-"

"It's not like he'd ever go out with you anyway."

"He wanted to the last time we met."

"A fluke."

"Not really, no."

Mercedes threw Kurt a fond glance. "I bet you twenty dollars that you can't get another date with him."

"You'd bet on your brain-damaged friend's love life?"

"I need a hat. Kurt would approve of my sacrifice for fashion."

"Okay." If this was what it took to get near Kurt again. "You're on."

Mercedes stepped out of the way. "You are so going to get shot down."

Taking a deep breath, Blaine headed towards Kurt's table.