So, have a little bit of fluff, sprinkled with a tiny bit of angst, and some progress as the cherry on the pie.
As usual, it is unbeta'd. I will never be ashamed to admit I love feedback, and concrit is always welcomed!

When Kurt arrived at his office at a quarter past five the next morning Sebastian was waiting for him, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. The realization that the model had arrived empty-handed made Kurt's stomach twist, but he pushed down the feeling as he put the key in the lock and let himself into his office.

"You're late," Sebastian said, following him inside, and Kurt gave him a sideways glance.

"I'm never late," he said grumpily, "nor am I ever early. I arrive precisely when I mean to."

The truth was that he was late, though, and more than just fifteen minutes. After the near-perfect general rehearsal the previous day he'd allowed himself to go home and catch up on some sleep, only to sleep through the alarm he'd set. It set him back almost an hour before the day had even begun, and Kurt chastised himself when he found himself wishing that today, of all days, Sebastian would have brought him coffee. Or donuts. Something. With or without his number scribbled on the side. The fact that he hadn't brought anything at all somehow made the day appear even worse than it had started already.

"As much as I would like to believe you always come on time," Sebastian said, winking at Kurt as he pointed towards the wall, "seeing as your diploma says 'Art Institute, New York' and not 'Hogwarts, UK', I'm gonna take a leap here and say you're bluffing."

Kurt merely glared at him, still barely half awake and not in the least bit ready to deal with Sebastian's double entendres.

"I'd love to demonstrate, but unfortunately I've got a fashion show to run today, so either get out or tell me what you're doing in my office."

"Well," Sebastian said, hopping on the desk and taking a picture frame showing a broadly smiling Burt and Carole, "we were all getting properly excited for the show, you know, getting our hair done, taking out our best clothes - some of us even got out the guyliner, if you'd believe. It was promising to become a nice party, really."

Kurt snatched the picture out of Sebastian's hands, putting it back on the desk with more force than was strictly necessary.

"The point, Sebastian?" he asked tiredly.

"Anita got a call from the florist, they might not be able to deliver all the orchids."

"They WHAT?"

In an instant, Sebastian had Kurt's full attention, his initial annoyance immediately making place for anger, and then panic. There really wasn't a thing going to go right today, was there?

"There was a problem with the cooling system of the freezers where they were keeping the things and they started heating up," Sebastian said matter-of-factly. "They're still assessing the damage but at least a quarter of the flowers are ruined. Anita didn't know what to do so I volunteered to come get you while she's trying to get more details. You should come and watch, they're all running around like headless chickens, it's quite the spectacle."

"I'm sure you had a lovely time watching that," Kurt sneered. "But when did this even happen, why didn't you call me?"

He didn't even bother to wait for a reply as he walked around the desk to his computer, quickly drawing up his list of florists to try to figure out which one would be able to help them out on such short notice.

"Not sure if you've been paying attention this past week," Sebastian said, leaning backwards onto his elbows so he could follow what Kurt was doing, "but I was the one giving out phone numbers, not you, so..."

Kurt stomped him not-so-gently in the side.

"Not you 'you', anyone-in-this-freaking-building-who-has-my-number 'you'!" he said indignantly, scribbling down a few numbers. "Now shut up, get out, get dressed and keep everyone away from me. God I don't know why I thought I could just go to sleep last night, this never ever goes the w-"

He stopped mid-sentence because Sebastian had grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him back.

"Seb-"

"Don't bother with those," Sebastian interrupted him, nodding at the numbers scribbled on the back of Kurt's hand before he continued in a calmer, more determined voice. "They're gonna rip you off and seeing as your orchids are as out of season as they can be, chances are low they're gonna be able to deliver quality flowers anyway. Take away the ones you were planning to line the red carpet with, they'll only serve to make people break their necks, and if you time it well you can forego those at the buffet for now too - you have half an hour between the end of the show and the reception, that should be enough for 5 to 6 people to take the ones from on-stage and move them. Scores you points for recycling, too. As long as they can get you 60 to 70% of the flowers, which, as I understood, they can, you should be able to pull that off."

Kurt stood baffled, staring at the man in front of him as he tried to process not only what had just been said but mainly where Sebastian had even gotten the knowledge to make that particular -and, now that Kurt thought about it, surprisingly plausible- analysis.

"H-how... you don't even workhere!" he finally managed, but Sebastian just laughed, turning him around by the shoulders and slapping his ass.

"I'm pretty, not stupid," he said, pushing Kurt in front of him as he led them outside. "Now you go and save the day, they're waiting for you."

.

Sebastian's suggestion solved most of the flower problem, which fortunately turned out to be almost the only disaster happening that day, and by the time the guests started arriving Kurt felt he could start breathing just a little lighter for the first time in weeks. Just 6 more hours and the worst of it would be over.

He barely saw Sebastian during the rest of the day, restricted as he was to the backstage section while Kurt's presence was required on and around the red carpet to give interviews, smiling at the right people and keeping away from the wrong ones, and it was more by chance than anything else that Kurt passed the changing rooms just as Sebastian was putting on his coat.

"Going home?"

"What gave me away?" Sebastian asked, frantically patting himself as he looked over his clothes, pretending to be confused. "It's the pants, isn't it? It's always the pants."

Kurt let his eyes trail over the item of clothing in question -a simple pair of jeans, a size too big, the fading blue color clearly the result from being worn extensively rather than from being stonewashed-, an unimpressed smirk on his face.

"If anything those jeans gave me serious doubts," he said, looking back up to Sebastian, "and may I add that the fact you actually work in fashion is a seriously aggravating factor here. I'd almost think you can't afford a decent pair of pants."

"Are you offering me a raise?" Sebastian asked, cocking an eyebrow. "Because, you know, I'd be up for that."

Kurt just shot him an amused glance, choosing to ignore the comment - they both knew Sebastian was more than paid well for what he did.

"I haven't actually thanked you yet," he said instead, suddenly feeling oddly bashful. "You know, for this morning..."

Sebastian made dismissive motion with his hand.

"Don't mention it. I mean, even if the quality of some of the orchids on that side runway weren't quite on par with the rest, I'm sure nobody saw."

If the comment would have been made a couple of hours earlier, Kurt would've probably freaked out -he'd worked hard to place the few half-withered plants he'd been forced to use just so that it wouldn't show too much- but now all he could do was smile and wonder exactly how observant Sebastian was. Either that, or the models had way too much free time on their hands during a show.

"Anyway," Sebastian interrupted Kurt's thoughts, directing a small bow towards him, "it was my pleasure meeting you, I'm sure we'll see each other around."

It was inconspicuous enough, and if it had been anyone else Kurt would have probably just lifted his hand in goodbye and turned around - he had Sebastian's number, after all, he could call and they could meet some time next week, maybe, once he had recovered from the madness that had ruled his life these past days. But there was something in Sebastian's voice as he said goodbye, a certain finality that gave Kurt the feeling they wouldn't actually be 'seeing each other around'. Still it wasn't until Sebastian was nearly at the door that Kurt understood he was really planning on just leaving.

"Wait, you're just gonna walk away?"

There was genuine surprise on Sebastian's face when he turned around, and he looked back and forth between Kurt and the door a couple of times before he answered.

"Seeing as I am currently on the inside, and the door leads to outside, and I was actually planning to walk out the door, I would say that's a valid statement, yes."

He doesn't really want to take you out, you know.

It hurt, strangely, to see Sebastian willing to walk away from him without a second thought, without so much as a goodbye even if it hadn't been for Kurt passing by at the right time. It wasn't so much that Sebastian's apparent interest in Kurt turned out to be less genuine than Kurt had thought -or hoped?- it was: he'd been warned about that, and he wasn't conceited enough to think he was that good of a catch. But Sebastian and him, they'd made a connection. Kurt had felt it, and he was sure Sebastian must have felt it too - that feeling of being on the same page without having to work for it. It was the same feeling Kurt had gotten when he first met Blaine all those years ago, and then Eric some time after that - he wasn't about to let that go this easily. Not yet.

"What happened to asking me out?" he asked defiantly, crossing his arms in front of him. He wasn't angry, per se, but he felt he needed to make some kind of statement, at least.

"Yeah, well," Sebastian shrugged, "been there, done that, you said 'no'. Dwelling on the past has never done anyone any good, time to move on!"

He pumped his fist in the air, smiling mischievously, but there was a shift in his shoulders, a hesitation in his voice Kurt was sure he wasn't imagining.

"I think you should ask me again," he said, more confident than he was really feeling. "I might have changed my mind."

"Is that so?" Sebastian asked, the amused twinkle back in his eyes as he gave Kurt a once over and then made an apologetic face, holding his hand over his heart. "But I'm sorry, I don't think I'm quite ready to set myself up for that kind of heartbreak again."

"Then go out with me."

Kurt stepped forward, unable to suppress a smile when he saw the bafflement on Sebastian's face.

"You don't wanna ask me again, fair enough. So I'll ask you: go out with me."

He expected a sneer, a joke, some kind of veiled insult, even, but the answer was surprisingly short and simple.

"No."

"No?" Kurt repeated, incredulous and just a tiny bit hurt, and he must have looked like he saw a ghost because Sebastian started laughing.

"No," he said. "That means I won't go out with you. But I guess you figured that out."

He's only interested in you as long as you're not interested in him.

Kurt cocked his head, and for a moment he contemplated to just let Sebastian walk out. If he wanted to play childish hard-to-get games that was his prerogative, after all, and Kurt wasn't in the least bit inclined to play along.

But it was fascinating.

Not to mention Sebastian was the first guy in the industry he met that seemed to be level-headed enough not to get carried away by the glitter and the glamour of the front stage. And he'd already proven to be able to keep up with Kurt's antics.

"Why?" Kurt asked. "Why would you waste every moment you spent with me hitting on me when you weren't even interested in actually taking me out?"

"Why would you call it a waste of time?" Sebastian countered. "We had fun, didn't we?"

"Then why won't you let me take you out?" Kurt insisted.

He stood his ground as Sebastian looked him up and down once more, unwavering under the grey-green gaze.

"You really are a tenacious one, aren't you?"

"I know what I want," Kurt said, "and I want to know why you won't let me take you out."

"Because I. don't. date."

Sebastian made the words sound like a challenge, and Kurt could tell it would be useless to ask why again - he would just be getting another non-answer and they'd be stuck here until the sun came up.

"So let's have coffee," he changed tactics, and he had to suppress a smile when he saw a look of confusion cross Sebastian's face. "We're friends, right? Friends have coffee together all the time. So - let's grab a coffee some time."

"Coffee," Sebastian repeated slowly, as if he wasn't sure he'd heard it correctly. "Friendly coffee."

Sebastian had always seemed so composed - he knew what he wanted, had an opinion about most everything and wasn't afraid to voice either of those loud and proud. Seeing him like this, indecisive and unsure of what to do, was almost unsettling.

"Friendly coffee," Kurt nodded, watching Sebastian inquisitively.

"Not a date."

"Not a date," Kurt confirmed again, slowly losing his patience.

"Why would you even want to do that?" Sebastian asked, obviously not convinced, and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Because I like my coffee with company!" he exasperated. "Look, Sebastian, I'm not asking you to marry me here - it's a fucking cup of coffee, get over it already!"

Sebastian seemed to be taken aback by his outburst and for a moment Kurt was sure his impatience had blown any chance he might have possibly had. He wasn't even sure anymore why he was being so insistent, it seemed nothing more than a matter of principle at this point. He was just about to tell Sebastian to forget about it when the other man nodded, almost imperceptibly.

"Come here," he said, avoiding Kurt's eyes as he gestured for him to come closer, fishing a pen out of his pocket. "Need to give you my number."

He grabbed Kurt's wrist, scribbling something on the back of his hand, and Kurt was about to protest that he already had Sebastian's number, when he glanced down to see what Sebastian had written.

"This is not the number you gave me before," he said incredulously, looking up, and Sebastian chuckled.

"Well done, Sherlock, you may now proceed to the next round!"

"You gave me a fake number?"

"Oh no, the number is very real," Sebastian said, his complexion suddenly very serious, "it's just not mine."

Kurt shook his head, staring at Sebastian in disbelief. He could have known, of course, maybe he even should have known, after what Bing had said, but somehow the thought had never even crossed his mind.

"So how do I know this one's real?"

"You don't."

Sebastian laughed, his eyes sparkling mischievously once more, and after how out-of-character he had appeared before Kurt found it almost relieving, despite the rather worrying implication.

Finally Sebastian turned around, making for the door with one last wink at Kurt, but as he walked out an idea flashed through Kurt's mind and he hurried after Sebastian, getting out his cell and typing in the number on his hand as quickly as he could - he didn't run out, though, waiting in the door instead, keeping an eye on Sebastian's back as he pressed 'Call' and waited for his phone to make the connection.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

And a ringtone starting up not 20 feet away.

A grin spread over Kurt's face when he saw Sebastian pat his pockets, take out his phone and turn around after he'd glanced at the screen, and despite the darkness Kurt could see a similar grin appear on the other man's face.

"I'm onto you, Smythe!" he called out. "And you're having coffee with me whether you like it or not!"