Hey guys, and welcome to the official first chapter of this story I would like to thank AnimeAngelRiku for collabing with me on this and we hope you all enjoy.
Kurt Hummel took a sigh of relief when the professor finally told them that they could leave. Had he imagined it, or had the lecture lasted longer than usual? He was now 20 years old, living in New York City and going to NYU. Not exactly a Broadway star yet. Everything at its own pace, he often told himself.
It'd been five years since Camp Sing Along, and Kurt's life had changed a lot-more than he could've imagined. Since then, he'd had four relationships, two of which were serious... somewhat. If "serious" meant having a little fun but not going all the way.
He was in school as a fashion major and only had two years left, thank God. Of course, if there was a God. So much for being an atheist... He was currently in a relationship, but he knew it wasn't going anywhere and that he should probably cut it off.
After class, he went to his favorite coffee shop (his favorite place in all of New York), Gimme! Coffee, drinking his usual order. He was going to meet with a friend from high school, who lived in his same building, to go over their plans for the weekend. Maybe Kurt could even mention his rotten relationship and get advice from her.
He waved her over the minute she stepped through the door. "Hey, Rachel!"
Rachel Berry, annoying as could be, was the only person that Kurt had been able to talk to about his dream of being in Broadway. A theatre fan herself, Rachel had become Kurt's closest friend and almost confident. Their original plan hadn't been moving to New York together, but since they met again at the airport and they'd gotten apartments at the same building, why not?
"Hello, Kurt," she said, a bright smile on her face as she sat down across him. "So, ready for tomorrow's show?"
"Absolutely," he answered her, a little breathless. They were going to watch Wicked for the first time right in front of them, and he couldn't wait. "Okay, wait, before we get into the conversation regarding the show, I need to ask you for advice."
"Advice?" She raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Relationship advice."
"I'm not the greatest option to ask advice from," Rachel said with a little shrug. "But all right."
"I think I should break up with Andrew," Kurt said as he took a sip of his grand non-fat mocha like it didn't matter in the slightest.
"WHAT?" Rachel asked, a little too loudly, then lowered her voice when people turned at her outburst. "I thought you two were happy?"
"It's not going anywhere, Rach. Not that I want it to, anyway."
"Why not?"
"Andrew's getting too pushy for my taste," Kurt answered. "I swear, it's like I can't do anything without his permission or without him knowing about it." He shook his head to himself. "It's getting on my nerves. What am I, his wife?"
"First of all, you would technically be his husband," Rachel said, but quickly turned away when Kurt shot her a deadly glare. "And secondly, Kurt, if you're in a relationship, it's normal, you know, to be a little possessive. I mean, not in a bad way-"
"'A little possessive,' like you call it, Rachel," Kurt said, "is when he holds your hand when he catches someone staring at you. It's when he tells you how important you are to him in front of an ex. It is not when he calls you every ten minutes to ask where you are, or when you respond to his e-mail later than you promised because you got held back at the university and he starts asking stupid questions."
Rachel gawked at him. "I... I didn't know any of that. Why hadn't you mentioned it before?"
"It didn't seem important then," he replied honestly. "But now it's getting frustrating and I literally feel like the guy would breathe on my neck twenty-four/seven if he could."
"W-well," Rachel stammered. "Then I think it's better that you break it off with him." She nodded securely, as if this had been her decision to make and not his. "Do it kindly, though! I mean, he's a good guy, even if he's a little... extreme."
"Extreme isn't the word for it, Rach," Kurt said as he stood up from his seat to throw his empty coffee cup away. "I need to go get this over with."
"You're absolutely right, Kurt." They said goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, promising to get in contact later as Kurt made his way to the door. "Call me after! I want to know how it goes!" Rachel shouted after him. He turned around one last time, flashed her a quick smile, and walked out of Gimme! Coffee at the same time as another person was about to walk in. He threw open the door with such force that he knocked the stranger to the ground.
"Oh, gosh!" Kurt cried, hurrying to his side. The man was on his back, both hands over his head, and Kurt couldn't help but notice the guitar case sprawled open beside him. The instrument had the letters BA written in tiny handwriting at the hold, which resonated deep inside Kurt's head for a reason he wasn't sure of. "I'm-I'm so, so sorry, sir, I didn't see you!"
"Oh, no, that's-ow-that's fine!" the man replied, sitting up, one of his hands covering his face. "I was lost in my own little world, I should've been watching where I was going."
He uncovered his face, and when he and Kurt locked eyes, Kurt suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. His mouth parted; when he tried to speak, his voice sounded nervous. "I'm... I... do I know you, by any chance?" he asked-this man seemed familiar to him, especially his hazel eyes, but he couldn't quite remember from where.
The man opened his mouth to talk, then closed it, then opened it again. "Y-yeah, I-you do look familiar..."
In a flash, memories flooded into Kurt's brain so fast and harsh that he was almost knocked off his feet himself. A camp with sing-alongs, a stage, an open mic night, a shy boy with an original song, a guitar with BA sharpie-written, a bonfire, the same shy boy crying over the divorce of his parents, a promise to stay in touch that was forgotten as soon as summer ended...
"Oh my God," the man breathed, apparently also remembering the moment they had met. They both stood up at the same time, their eyes still glued together. "Kurt Hummel?"
Give it up for Blaine Anderson!
"Blaine Anderson?" Both men broke into a slightly nervous laughter, and before Kurt knew it, Blaine had pulled him into an embrace.
"It is you!" Blaine exclaimed in apparent excitement. "How long has it been, about five years?" Blaine asked, his breath ghosting over Kurt's ear.
"Yes, since-since Camp Sing Along, right?" He pulled away from the hug after a moment, but they were still smiling a little. "It's been a while, huh?" He felt the need to smack himself. Hadn't Blaine just said it'd been five years?
"It's really been, yeah." Blaine nodded to himself. "So, I'm..." He sighed with a hint of sadness. "I-I'm sorry for never getting in contact with you after Camp. What with my parents' divorce..."
"No, no, don't worry," Kurt told him, remembering how woeful Blaine had looked after the phone call in which his mom had dropped the bomb on him. "I never contacted you, either." An uncomfortable silence settled around them and yet neither of them made any move to walk away or break the silence. Kurt cleared his throat, trying to avoid the awkwardness. "Um, we should, you know, get a coffee or something, to catch up after so long."
"How about now?" Blaine asked, almost in a hurry, as if he had to spell out the words before they got stuck in his throat. "I was about to come and get my usual, actually."
"Oh, I was just leaving." Kurt frowned; then his eyebrows relaxed and he smiled. "But how about we switch numbers and catch up another time? It could be right here," he said while he glanced back at the coffee shop. "This is where I come any time I need a good dose of non-fat mocha."
"It's always nice to meet other coffee addicts," Blaine joked. "But yes, that sounds great!" They took out their phones and added themselves as a new contact in the other's device, handing them back afterward. "I'll make sure to call you this time."
"If you don't, I will be forced to call you," Kurt added with a cocky wink. Blaine laughed and nodded again. The two men shook hands, waving each other goodbye with a "See you later!"
To say the least, Blaine Anderson had a smile on his face so big, so happy, that it seemed to create a rainbow in front of him. The girl behind the counter didn't take her eyes off him for a couple of seconds after he ordered, and not in a good way. Blaine had to repeat his drink order before the girl finally nodded and went to make his coffee.
He'd been starving for his daily dose of caffeine, but now that he was sitting at a table by himself with his medium drip in front of him, Blaine could only stare at it, his chin propped up on his palm and the stupid smile attempting to crack his face in half.
When he first saw Kurt Hummel, it was at the beginning of Camp Sing Along. He didn't know who he was; he only knew that this boy was the most beautiful human being to ever walk the face of the Earth. He remembered wondering if he was even a human being and not some image his brain had conjured for him.
It wasn't that Blaine had a crush on every single guy he met. It was just that when he had a crush on somebody, he tended to fall way too hard, way too fast. When he was fourteen, he kind of believed that the new kid at school was the love of his life. Before Camp Sing Along, he'd written a song to the boy living across the street. And at the camp, he was convinced that the beautiful blue-eyed boy was meant to spend the rest of his life together with Blaine.
And then the boy was talking to him, talking to him instead of being with everybody else at the bonfire, but discovering that after that night they wouldn't be talking again, Blaine started to get paranoid. Well, he didn't exactly know that his parents' divorce would be so... ugly, but that was half the reason he didn't call Kurt like he'd promised. He wanted to, he almost did. Then he'd remembered the new kid in school never even glancing at him and the boy across the street calling him a fag, and he couldn't do it. Talking to Kurt would lead to falling in love with him and Blaine simply couldn't stand thinking about rejection coming from Kurt; so he started to guard his heart as he grew up, eventually guarding it so much he didn't think he would ever fall in love again.
After bumping into Kurt, however, Blaine felt like this was fate giving them the chance to become friends-just friends-and he could deal with that. He totally could. Right? Blaine thought so.
That was what prompted him to call Kurt in the next forty minutes and ask if he wanted to catch up over coffee the next day. They had already sort of agreed to do that, but there was nothing wrong in making sure. Now here Blaine was, sitting at the same table in Gimme! Coffee, waiting for Kurt to arrive. He smiled as he saw Kurt coming in through the front door.
Blaine got up, walking to the register, his smile still present when Kurt showed up right beside him. "Hey. Thanks for coming," Blaine said, rubbing the back of his neck and not knowing what else to say.
"I told you I would," Kurt said as they moved up in the line. "I was just glad you called me this time."
Blaine nodded. They got to the front of the line and he started to order. "A medium drip and a-"
"Grand non-fat mocha, please," Kurt said, cutting him off and pulling out his wallet.
"Don't even think about it." Blaine took out his wallet a second faster than Kurt and handed the girl behind the cashier a $10, telling her to keep the change. "This is on me."
Kurt sighed, but he was smiling, so Blaine knew he wasn't actually angry. "You don't have to do that."
"I invited you here, I'm paying." Blaine went back to the table where he'd been sitting minutes ago and took a sip of his coffee, relishing in the taste. He was just being nice. A friend could pay for both his and his friend's coffee, right? No big deal.
"Well, okay, but I get to pay next time," Kurt muttered, drinking his mocha.
Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Next time?"
Kurt seemed to be taken aback by the answer, which was kind of funny, really. He set down his cup before he spoke. "I just mean... I... you... and we-"
"Kurt..." Blaine laughed, completely cutting off Kurt's rambling. "I was kidding, man! Of course there will be a next time. I want to get to know you after so long." Kurt exhaled loudly.
"Good," he replied, breathing a sigh of relief. "So," he began. "Tell me, what's been going on with you since Camp Sing Along?"
"Well, my parents' divorce was worse than I originally thought," Blaine said, looking away. "And they fought over custody for me. My mom won. Thank goodness." He shook his head to himself, like he couldn't quite stand to think otherwise. "My dad only wanted me to come home with him because he wanted to turn me straight." He took a deep, shaky breath.
Kurt didn't say anything for a while, but then he looked sympathetically at Blaine, as though he perfectly understood. "I'm sorry, Blaine." He frowned. "What else has been going on, though?"
"I went to Dalton Academy, a private school in Westerville, after camp, and I actually ended up as their lead singer." Blaine smiled proudly at the memories. He remembered the competitions, his friends... "I do, however, wish I would have stayed in public school." He drank from his medium drip.
"Stayed?" Kurt raised a questioning eyebrow.
Blaine nearly choked with the drink. He hadn't meant to spill that bit of information, but now there was no turning back. "I, uh-I left after I was forced to come out," he said. His throat began to constrict the same way it did every time he recalled the... He forced himself to keep his calm. "I got beat up at a school dance after taking a friend of mine," he said, almost too quickly. He just wanted to say the words and push them to the bottom of his esophagus again. "And, well, now I feel like a coward for running."
Kurt's hand was suddenly over his, thumb stroking comfortingly his knuckles. "Blaine," he said, his voice tender and full of understanding. "You're not a coward, do you hear me?" Blaine had to look up at him. Kurt sounded so sure... he sounded meaningful. Blaine had forgotten how it felt to have someone on his side. "You did what you had to be safe," Kurt continued. "It would've been foolish to stay where you were. There's nothing wrong in worrying about your own well-being. Don't punish yourself over it."
His hand was gone as soon as it had been there, but Blaine could still feel his touch over his skin. For some reason, his face was starting to heat up. He wondered if his brain remembered that he and Kurt were just friends, because it really didn't seem so.
This was going to be tougher than he thought.