Wednesday, of course, didn't go as planned. Rachel had made reservations for their favorite Italian restaurant in Midtown and Kurt had double checked that his assistant manager, Mark, was coming in promptly at three. That meant he'd be able to leave at four, rush home to freshen up, and still meet everyone at six thirty.

What he didn't plan on was Mark having the flu and sending him home an hour into his shift. He sent out apology texts to Blaine and Rachel, and not a second later, his phone rang.

"Kurt Hummel!" Rachel screeched on the other end. "Are you bailing on me?"

"I don't have a choice, Rachel! Mark was this close to losing his lunch all over a stack of Tahari dresses that just came in this morning. I would have killed him if we had to eat that cost. He luckily made it to the office," Kurt huffed, grabbing the hangers and moving the dresses far, far away from the mess. "Kels is out of town on vacation, so that only leaves me to lock up."

"I can't believe you're bailing on me," Rachel whined, as if she hadn't heard a word he said.

"Listen. We close at nine, I should be out of here by ten, at the latest, earlier if we're slow. If you're still out and about then, let me know where to meet you." The last thing Kurt wanted to do after a twelve hour day was be social, but he figured it was the least he could do.

Rachel called him at nine forty-five, just as Kurt was locking the doors to Selene & Endymion. "I'm at home, but you could stop by on your way back and I'll tell you everything." Rachel sounded drunk, so Kurt knew he'd get the most detailed intel that way, and stopped at the Wagner's brownstone before heading to his own apartment.

"Sorry for bailing on you guys," Kurt told Frank when he let him into the house. "I really didn't want to."

"No bother," Frank said, waving him upstairs. Rachel was probably already in bed. "So, you and this Blaine used to date?"

"Yeah, in high school. A long time ago."

"Huh," was all Frank said before heading back into the living room. Kurt could hear the news on in the background.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurt called after him, finally heading up the stairs when Frank merely shrugged.

"Kuuuuuuuuuuuuurt," Rachel whined when he headed in the bedroom and flopped belly first onto the bed. Yeah, she was drunk. "Why weren't you there, Kurt?"

"I had to work, sweetie," he said, climbing up towards the pillows so he could stroke her hair. "How did it go?"

"Good. Todd's a nice guy, I guess. Tall, taller than Frank." Kurt bit his lip to keep from laughing - Blaine was probably taller than Frank. Rachel's husband was good looking, he'd give her that, but tall he was not. "Dark and handsome too. But..." Rachel trailed off, tracing her fingers on the pattern in Kurt's scarf.

"But?" Kurt probed. What was the catch? There had to be one.

"But ..." Rachel sighed heavily and looked up towards Kurt. "He's not the one, Kurt. He doesn't love Blaine. Blaine deserves better. Blaine deserves you."

"Oh, Rachel." She sure was laying it on thick. "What a good friend you are." He ran his hand down her hair, mindlessly stroking it. "What does he do anyways?"

Rachel groaned. "He works at some bookstore in LA. He was kind of pretentious about the whole thing - but not in a good way! He just had this air like he was better than us and I wanted to say, look, man, you work at a bookstore!" Rachel dissolved into giggles at that point and Kurt joined in.

"Oh, I really wish I'd been there to witness that. I really, really do." Kurt wiped at his eyes, tears forming from laughing so hard.

"So, what are you going to do to get him back? You need a plan, Kurt," Rachel said, very serious all of the sudden.

"Blaine needs to figure out that Todd's wrong for him on his own, honey. It would be nice if I could push that along, though." Kurt's phone buzzed and he pulled it out of his pocket to find a text from Blaine.

Sorry you couldn't make it - we missed you! We'll have to plan something else soon!

"What does it say, what does it say," Rachel begged, rattling Kurt's arm back and forth. He laughed and told her, typing out a response as quickly as he could with one hand.

Wish I could have made it too! Keep me posted as to when you guys have free time. My other asst manager is back on Fri & things should calm down for me.

"Alright, you," Kurt said, patting Rachel on the head. "I better go get my beauty sleep if I have to be at the shop all day again tomorrow."

"Yes, you need to be beautiful for Blaine," Rachel said, patting his leg in the same fashion, albeit much more haphazard.

"Rachel, I'm not seeing Blaine any time in the immediate future," he said, climbing off the bed.

"You never know!" she called out, sinking back into her pillows and waving goodbye at him.

Kurt really, really should have asked her to clarify.

-

Thursday was a busy day with a steady stream of clients. It finally died down around eight, and Kurt told his three sales associates they could start cleaning up then and leave when they were finished, even though the store was open until nine. Kurt had frankly had enough, and he really doubted someone was going to swoop in that late and drop thousands of dollars. Anything less wasn't worth it to him at that point. Kurt was really glad Kels would be back the next day to open and he could actually sleep in.

There wasn't much tidying up to do, so Kurt was alone by eight twenty, and by eight thirty he headed to the back to get through some paperwork. He heard the doorbell chime at eight thirty-eight, and why hadn't he locked the doors? "I'm sorry, we're closed," he said, rounding the corner and seeing Blaine standing in the middle of his store. "Oh. Well, the management always does reserve the right to change his mind," Kurt said with a smile. He self-consciously ran a hand through his hair. He knew he had to look like a dead man walking after two twelve hour days of being on his feet in a row.

"Oh, that's good then," Blaine replied, grinning and playing along. "I've heard this shop has exceptional management."

"I really am sorry about last night," Kurt offered, gesturing around. "As you can see, we're a little short staffed at the moment."

"I noticed! I'm sorry about coming so late, I think I had the cab driver from hell on the way here. I had no clue it would take so long. I could come back if you want. I actually - I'm looking for a suit for our opening next week." Blaine shoved his hands in his coat pockets and laughed, eyes trailing down to the floor. "I still can't believe it's happening, but it is, and I need to not be naked - I mean," Blaine stammered, blushing fiercely, and Kurt needed to keep his mind on track before it ran with that comment, because it could go so downhill so fast.

Kurt laughed nervously and walked over to S&E's suiting section. "Yes, that's not really advised for your Broadway debut. People would certainly be talking about you, but for all the wrong reasons." He glanced from a rack to Blaine, trying to make his selections. In the end, he picked out four suit combinations and shuffled Blaine to a fitting room. The first one was a 'god, no, turn right back around and take that off immediately,' the next two were just so-so, but the last one - when Blaine stepped out of the fitting room, Kurt couldn't resist drawing in a breath.

"Good, right?" Blaine asked, stepping in front of the three-way mirror. Good was an understatement. Red had always been a favorite color of Kurt's on Blaine, and the burgundy hue stood out beautifully on his skin. The jacket nipped in perfectly at Blaine's waist (and he was still so narrow in the hips, damn him) and the pants were a little loose, but that was nothing a little tailoring couldn't fix (Blaine's ass could look much more fabulous - Kurt knew firsthand).

"I think this is the one," Kurt said in a sing-song voice, coming up behind Blaine to straighten the suit out. He walked over to the tie selection. "Do you still love bow ties or would you prefer a regular one?"

Blaine let out a low chuckle at Kurt's question. "I can wear either. Surprise me."

Kurt picked out a plaid bow tie in a navy and red colorway that had just a hint of the burgundy without being too matchy-matchy. "Here," he said, standing behind Blaine to tie it for him. He was close enough to hear Blaine's breathing, slow and steady, and he made himself concentrate extra hard on the bow tying as to not get lost in it. "Perfect," Kurt said, stepping back to admire his work (and okay, maybe perhaps the man inside of it just a little bit).

Blaine nodded. "Yeah, I think you're right. This is the one." Their eyes met in the mirror and Kurt held Blaine's gaze for about ten seconds longer than he should have, but he just couldn't help himself.

Finally breaking eye contact, Kurt walked over to the table to grab his pincushion. "The jacket is pretty perfect but the pants need to be taken in." Kurt tried to focus as he worked silently, trying really hard not to accidentally catch Blaine's skin with a pin. Kurt could feel the lean muscle of Blaine's legs with his hands though, which made for quite a distraction. Blaine stayed silent as well, realizing Kurt shouldn't be distracted by conversation or just finding it epically strange that his ex-boyfriend was pretty much feeling up his legs.

"There," Kurt said, standing back up and looking at the silhouette of the pants in the mirror. "Hopefully I didn't prick you. With the pins, I mean." So much for not sticking his foot in his mouth.

Blaine either didn't catch Kurt's faux pas or chose to ignore it. "It looks great. Thanks, Kurt." He smiled at him in the mirror reflection, and Kurt nodded.

"Be careful taking it all off. I don't want you to tear your legs to shreds." If Kurt glanced at Blaine's ass as he walked back into the fitting room, it was just to make sure his tailoring was fine. At least that's what he told himself.

Kurt had moved behind the counter when Blaine returned from the dressing room, suit neatly folded. "So, I'm sure a gorgeous suit like that isn't cheap, what's my damage?"

"On the house," Kurt said, motioning for Blaine to put his wallet away. "Just pimp us out if you're asked what you're wearing. Broadway stars are the only people Frannie lets me give stuff away to, and last I checked, you were definitely one of those," Kurt added with a wink.

"Kurt," Blaine said warningly, before admitting defeat and starting to give in. "You really don't have to do this." Blaine rubbed aimlessly at the back of his neck, and the long sleeved tee he showed up in (probably the one he rehearsed in all day) rode up a little bit, showing off just a sliver of skin, and Kurt had to make himself physically look away because his mind was already in a not-so-pure place. Blaine sighed and said, "Okay, fine, on one condition. You let me buy you a drink tonight."

Kurt was suddenly a whole lot less tired than he was an hour ago.

-

There was a bar just across the street where Kurt had been with his coworkers after the closing shift when no one wanted to go home just quite yet. Kurt was sure Blaine would whip out his phone and invite Todd along, since Kurt had missed out on meeting him the night before, but it never happened. He and Blaine slipped into two stools in the corner of the bar and once their drinks were delivered, Kurt turned to Blaine.

"I really am glad you stopped by the shop," Kurt said, picking up his glass. Vodka was probably a bad idea, but he was past worrying about such things. "I didn't want to think I was making up an excuse about work to skip out on meeting the love of your life or something." He grinned at Blaine before taking a sip of his drink, and just about choked at the words that came out of Blaine's mouth next.

He chuckled a little, picking up his own drink and saying, "Todd's hardly the love of my life."

Well, then.

Kurt raised his brows questioningly, because what do you say to that? Blaine grimaced at his words, probably realizing that was a bit too much info for an ex you've barely seen since you broke up. He sighed and took a long sip of his drink before continuing. "Todd and I started seeing each other back in January. We met at a mutual friend's Christmas party. It's just – it's gone on longer than it should have, we both want different things. I was just too stupid to do anything because I didn't want to make it seem like I was too good for him now that I'm on Broadway, you know? God, I can't believe I'm telling you all this, I'm really sorry." Blaine rested his elbows on the bar counter and sighed into his hands. "This was the last thing I wanted to talk about."

Kurt sipped at his drink and let the new information settle. Blaine kept using the words 'seeing each other' not dating, and with them both wanting different things – this had started as something purely sexual and one of them wanted more. Kurt wasn't sure which, but he had a pretty good idea. Kurt was by no means judging – Kurt had been there before – and fairly often, if he was being honest with himself – in the recent years. He rested his hand on Blaine's arm comfortingly. "Blaine," he said, waiting for Blaine to turn and face him. "It's so not my place to say anything, but you deserve to be happy. You should do whatever makes you happy."

Blaine opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but then shut it and reached for his drink. "Thanks, Kurt," he said after a long sip. "Okay, enough about that. I have five years of Rachel antics to catch up on! Most insane thing she's done – go!"

Kurt returned his hand to his glass and laughed loudly. "Oh, Blaine, where do I even begin?"

-

Kurt wasn't drunk. Two hours, six drinks, and what seemed like a hundred different stories passed back and forth later, Kurt wasn't drunk.

At least that's what he tried to tell Blaine when Blaine point blank asked him if he was drunk.

"I think you are. I've never seen you drunk," Blaine said, grinning wildly and swiveling to face Kurt. Blaine seemed quite toasty himself. "Your cheeks are bright red," he added, poking at Kurt's left cheek with his pointer finger.

"Stop it," Kurt scolded, batting away Blaine's hand, which was stupid. Blaine was touching him, why was he stopping it? To compensate, Kurt reached for Blaine's hand and held it between his palms. Blaine's hand was solid and warm, and Blaine didn't pull it away, just rested his chin on his other hand which was propped up on the bar. "You should feel lucky. Most people don't get to see me drunk." Kurt wasn't fond of being drunk – before or after. Tipsy, he enjoyed thoroughly, but drunk was a rare occasion.

"Are you happy, Kurt?" Blaine asked out of the blue, and oh, they were back to that again. He moved his arm from the bar counter and reached for Kurt's hands, which were still holding Blaine's left one. "You seem happy," he said, earnestly, rubbing his thumb over Kurt's knuckles. "I want you to be happy, too."

"I am," Kurt replied honestly, "I really am. I have a good job and good friends and am actually making it work in this crazy city, which was all I ever wanted." Kurt chewed at his bottom lip, contemplating saying something else, pointing out the one area his life was lacking, but decided against it.

"What?" Blaine asked, never missing a beat, as always. "What is it?"

"Nothing!" Kurt said quickly, probably too quickly to be believable. "It's just – I mean, my life isn't perfect, but for the most part yes, I am happy."

Blaine smiled at him and that was one of the things Kurt always loved about Blaine. Whenever he smiled at Kurt he just knew it was coming from a place of honesty and love. "Good," he said simply. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm happy too. I guess this is just – well, it's a big deal, you know? And ten years from now, when I look back on this moment, I just – I just want everything to be perfect. I know it's kind of selfish, but." Blaine shrugged and turned his glance to their oddly entwined hands.

"It should be perfect, Blaine. This is huge, and it's only going to happen once, and you have every right to be a little selfish. It should absolutely be perfect. Like I said, you really do deserve to be happy." Blaine glanced up at him at that point, and god, he still was the boy who wore his heart on his sleeve and showed every emotion on his face. That's the only excuse Kurt had for what came out of his mouth next aside from copious amounts of vodka.

"I could make you happy."

Blaine's expression turned to shock for a moment before switching to something darker (lust?) and oh, god, Kurt did not just say that. He'd been thinking it all night with the explicit instructions in his brain to not say it. It was cheesy and wrong and this is why Kurt didn't drink. He had to get out of there. He needed air.

"Kurt," Blaine whispered, and before he could continue, Kurt interrupted him.

"No, Blaine," he started, pulling his hands away from Blaine's. "I – I'm sorry, that was totally uncalled for and if we could just forget I said it, and I think I'm just going to have to thank you profusely for the drinks and leave because – well, yeah."

Kurt scrambled off his barstool, reaching for the counter to steady himself. "Kurt, wait," Blaine said, reaching for his arm, but Kurt pulled away from the bar.

"Goodnight, Blaine. Thanks again," Kurt said, locking eyes with Blaine for just a second before turning and walking away, hoping Blaine knew how sorry he was. Kurt felt more mortified than he ever had, and he had survived public school in Ohio, for goodness' sake. He made his way to the door, turning towards Blaine one last time before forcing himself out the glass door and into the cool night air.

-

Kurt had enough of his wits about him to drink a full bottle of water before collapsing into bed when he got home, and when he finally rolled out of bed the next day – well, it could have been a lot worse. He didn't feel too horrible, but looking in the mirror told another story. Kurt looked downright awful; there was no way around it. He hadn't slept much, tossing and turning all night and trying to forget about what had happened, which didn't actually work.

When he arrived at the shop, he looked bad enough that Kels thought he caught Mark's flu. She insisted he turn right around and head back home, seeming a little guilty that she'd been off while it was going around. Kurt wasn't in the mood to argue, so he grabbed Blaine's suit out of his office and headed home, figuring he could at least finish that there. It would give him something to do to keep his mind off the whole situation.

Kurt had just about finished his sewing by dinnertime, and he figured he should take a break to eat something – even though his stomach was telling him otherwise. He was staring at his kitchen cabinets, waiting for inspiration to come, when there was a knock on his door.

His stomach did another flip-flop, and it was probably for the best he couldn't figure out anything to eat. He really hoped Blaine hadn't figured out where he lived from Rachel, but then decided Blaine would at least have the decency to have Kurt buzz him up. Rachel was the only one who liked to sneak in behind his neighbors.

"Yes, Rachel?" Kurt said, opening the door with a sigh.

"Why haven't you been answering your phone? I've been texting you!" Rachel proclaimed, barging in past him. "God, you look awful."

"Nice to see you too, Rach, come right in!" Kurt said, his voice laced with sarcasm. He'd discovered his phone was dead on the way to work and then plugged it into the wall socket when he returned back home without even looking at it. He shuddered to think how many texts and voice mails he had from her – let alone if he had any from Blaine. He walked over to the kitchen where his phone was and scrolled through the notifications. Nine missed texts – all from Rachel. Kurt felt conflicted as to whether or not he should feel relieved or disappointed there were none from Blaine.

"Earth to Kurt!" Rachel was saying as she snapped her fingers in front of his face. Crap, she had been talking.

"Sorry, what? And please don't talk so loud." Kurt walked over and collapsed on his couch, Rachel following behind, tossing his phone on the coffee table.

"What the hell happened last night? Why is no one telling me anything?" Rachel demanded, jabbing him in the ribs with her fingers. "You and Blaine are both ignoring me."

"Rachel, Blaine is in dress rehearsals for a Broadway show. He might be a little busy," Kurt pointed out. "And I legitimately didn't check my phone until you walked in. I'm sorry, okay?"

She pursed her lips, keeping silent until Kurt realized she was waiting for the story of what happened last night. "Why didn't you tell me he was coming to the shop? This would have been important information to know." Rachel just shrugged and pleaded with her eyes for more info. Kurt leaned back into the couch cushions and groaned. "We decided to go for drinks. Which, what was I thinking? I know, I know, I wasn't. It was fine, at first. We had a really great time, and shared stories. California treated him really well, I think." Kurt trailed off, trying to collect his thoughts and figure out how to explain it all to Rachel.

"And then?" Rachel probed – she wasn't going to give it a rest was she?

Kurt sighed and turned to face her. "And then I opened my big mouth and said he deserved to be happy and that I could make him happy. What was I thinking, Rachel? Why did I let myself say that?" Kurt groaned again and covered his face with his hands.

Rachel curled her arms around Kurt to give him a hug. "Oh, Kurt, that's kind of adorable and not really that bad."

"Not really that bad? Rachel, I just told my ex-boyfriend that I haven't really seen in five years I could make him happy. Coming from a drunk person, that not only sounds crude, but kind of creepy." He sighed heavily and slumped down to rest his head on Rachel's shoulder.

"Kurt!" Rachel exclaimed, trying to hold back a laugh and failing. "This is Blaine you're talking about. I'm sure he knew you meant it with the purest intentions."

Kurt refrained from making a comment on anyone's intentions and kept his mouth shut. "Honestly, Kurt, it could have been a lot worse. This doesn't mean you're never going to see him again, right? You can't hide out here forever!"

Kurt sat back up and glanced over at his worktable with Blaine's suit laying on it. "No, I have his suit for his opening night. I'll have to get it to him somehow. That would be kind of shitty of me to make one of the sales associates deliver it."

"Yes, it would be, and I won't allow it. Have you heard from him yet?" Rachel asked, releasing her grip on Kurt and settling on the other end of the couch.

Kurt picked up his discarded phone from the coffee table. "No. Is that … weird? Why didn't he? Am I overthinking this?"

"Yes," Rachel said immediately. "And this is coming from me, of all people. Kurt," she said, shoving the phone back in his hands when he tried to put it back down. "You know Blaine. He's giving you space because you implied you needed it. The ball is in your court. Don't drop it like you did last time."

Kurt smiled warmly at Rachel. "I am still impressed you know all those sports metaphors from when you dated Finn. He'd be so proud."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Just text him, Kurt."

"Okay," Kurt said as unlocked his phone. He could do this. What did he have to lose at this point?