Author's Note: Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts. Your thoughts are my fuel. I really hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Two

Blaine staggered into the street, trying to locate the club by watching out for a sign and listening for thumping music. He couldn't hear beyond the bits of karaoke songs breaching from the pub and on this street there wasn't any night club, just some other bars and restaurants that were already closed. He walked around for a bit, hoping Rachel wouldn't follow him immediately and catch him all disorientated on the street.

Eventually, it was a group of skimpy skirts that led him to his destination. The girls passed at the other side of the road and Blaine took a chance, following them around the corner in hopes of success and soon enough a sign came in sight saying "39" with a respectable line of people wanting in. Blaine sighed and hoped waiting around there like a tool would be worth it in the end. He liked clubs and dancing but going all alone was kind of sad. Sure he could always claim to be waiting on someone, and really that wasn't even a lie but he had no idea if she would actually show up.

Slowly, Blaine got closer to the entrance, being slightly pushed forward by some latecomers. The bouncer asked Blaine for his license. He produced it willingly being used to the process. He was twenty-three but at home he had to show his ID at any chance and apparently here he had to do the same. It just irked him a little since this night club, like most in Europe opened its doors to everyone older than eighteen. He shrugged it off, when he was forty someday this would come in handy.

After he payed seven pounds to get in and the bouncer returned his license with a curt nod, Blaine made his way through the door and down a narrow stairway which led to the chic cellar club. The walls were black, safe for some white and green cubes as decoration. There were places to sit in dim light, a long bar lit up indirectly by LEDs behind the rows of liquor bottles, a DJ isle at the far wall and an already crowded dance floor in the middle of it all. The crowd was mixed, if he was polite but his initial thought was that he'd involuntarily stumbled into an open audition for the next season of Jersey Shore. The music was appropriately dull and mindless enough as well.

He took a deep breath and headed for the bar, ordering a Gin and Tonic for while he waited. He decided to give Rachel until midnight to come find him. This gave her another hour to show up. If she didn't he'd call it a night and see if Grayson still needed a Counter Strike partner. But he had a feeling she would come, she just had to. God knows, he really hoped she would.

Rachel Berry shifted on her bar stool, watching her friend Tina sing a beautiful rendition of 'True Colors'. She could hardly focus on it though. The American had left half an hour before but she still thought about his offer. Usually when someone tried to chat her up she discarded them quickly. Rachel Berry didn't sleep around. She didn't get with men she met at a bar. The only relationships she had, had stemmed from friendships and even those hadn't proved very fertile. She was too wary to wander off with strangers or get distracted from her career by some hazel eyed Adonis. No matter how cute his smile was, how shiny the eyes or how sexy the accent.

But she couldn't deny there was something about Blaine. He was really really good looking and seemed sweet and kind and he was from New York City to top it all. The city of her dreams, her one true love. She wanted to talk to him about it, having seen it from a tourist point of view, racing her Dads from museum to museum but she had never really talked to an actual citizen. But he was gone now and her principles forbid her from chasing after him. She just wouldn't.

"Rachel!", Mercedes punched her in the arm, ripping her out of her internal dialogue.

"Ow", she complained, rubbing the now sore spot, "What was that for?"

"For ignoring me the last five times I called your name", her friend said with raised eyebrows, tilting her head with pursed lips, "You know if you wanna go after him, you should"

"I don't want to go after him", she shot and then paused, "I mean..who are you talking about?"

"Damn, chill out, he's fine girl, we all think so", Mercedes sighed and Sugar nodded fiercely in agreement.

"I would go with you", she offered, leaning further over the table which made her seem like a caramel colored little hen, waiting for some food to fall off the table that she could pecker on. Some food in the shape of a hot American she could get with if Rachel wasn't interested.

A weird image of Sugar pecking all over Blaine filled Rachel's mine and her forehead furrowed in response.

"No, I'll go alone", Rachel said resolutely, decidedly not wanting Sugar anywhere near him.

She rose from her stool and grabbed her jacket and purse. Really that did it. Before Sugar could get any ideas, Rachel was gonna claim her date. She wouldn't just pass him on to Sugar.

"Hey where are you going?", Tina said through the applause of her just finished number, then took a good look at Rachel and understood.

"Hey, if he tries anything funny, call me", she said, holding Rachel's wrist, "And don't drink anything you haven't seen being made. Best just stick to beer bottles that you open. And don't let them out of your hands"

"I promise, Mom", Rachel said, swept into her friends arms by a drunk rugby player and a wave of affection, holding her tightly. Sometimes Tina worried about her more than her own parents. Almost more than Sam, which was a hard thing to do.

"Go geddit, girl", Mercedes said as goodbye, not bothering to get up and Sugar tried one last time to be Rachel's 'wingwoman' but the latter wouldn't be fooled. Her friend was hot for Blaine but Rachel had dibs because he had asked her to come, not Sugar and as long as Rachel wasn't stepping down, Sugar had no business pining over him.

She gave a last salute to her friends and walked out of the bar, getting some more pats on her back for her song, like she usually did at the joint after every number she sung. Outside, she strode towards the "39" and wondered what the hell she was doing. Was she just gonna walk in there and be like, "Hey, your weird coming on to me miraculously worked, now entertain me"? Wouldn't that be painfully embarrassing.

Oh good god, yes it would be. What was she gonna say to him? Wouldn't he be painfully smug that he'd got her to come in the first place – and alone? If he was really meeting a friend like he'd said wouldn't she be the odd one out? Maybe she should get Sugar after all. But no. Not her. Mercedes and Tina didn't want to go. And she didn't have to go either. It was stupid, it was embarrassing. And wost of all, it could end up being humiliating. A fate worse than death for Rachel Berry.

She turned around and walked in the opposite direction. She couldn't go back to the pub and act like nothing had happened, that would make her look like too much of a wimp. So she would just take the last bus and go to bed. Yeah, that was a decent plan. Just forget it ever happened.

You're not going home now Rachel Barbra Berry, her inner voice scolded, what kind of baby are you, what's the worst that can happen?

I don't know, he could be a serial killer and I could be walking right into his trap, she disputed herself quickly.

- You got Tina and Sam on Speed Dial and a knife and pepper spray.

It could be really embarrassing if I show up and there's just us and I have nothing to say.

- When did you ever in your life have nothing to say, Rachel Berry?

But...he could try to...to kiss me. Or something.

- Oh my God, he could kiss you. How horrendous! What would you ever do if a good looking Yankee wanted to lay those exquisite sexy lips on yours and smooch you for a while, how would you cope? Get your head out of your ass and turn around right now.

"Ah, fuck it", Rachel mumbled to yourself and turned again, heading back towards the "39" before she could change her mind. She would just peek inside, see if he was still there and then maybe talk to him. Just to see if they had anything in common. And if he tried anything funny she would tell him where to shove it. It couldn't be that bad now could it? She could always just leave. Nothing to worry about. That's what big girls did, they took charge and control and came when they pleased and left when they pleased. She was a big girl. Showtime.

Blaine sat at the bar sipping on his second Gin and Tonic and watched the minutes tick by on his swiss watch. Ten more and he would be out of there. He winced in regret, thinking about his last night in Europe spent with a dude on a rancid couch shooting CGI people in the head. He could try to pick up some other girl but the joint didn't really hold a lot of 10s (or even many 7s or 8s for that matter) and somehow he doubted any other girl would manage to hold his attention like Rachel did. Even if she was really hot. Maybe Halle Berry. But the odds for her turning up where even slimmer than for Rachel to do so.

Plus, he didn't really want to find some cheap substitute. It wouldn't do for him and it would be kinda unfair to the girl. It was just no use either way. He wanted Rachel and it would be her or his hand tonight. Those were the option. He glanced down at his right hand clutching his drink and sighed.

Maybe it's just us then, he thought and downed the rest of the drink. The glass hit the counter with a cling and Blaine's deep, resignating sigh was almost louder than the music.

He's just accepted that it was probably time to give up when a little hand tapped his shoulder and he turned around to find Rachel standing there a little awkwardly. He could feel a huge grin rip at his mouth, splitting his face in half with undisguiseable joy. She'd really come.

Ha, I might not be needing you after all, he thought triumphantly, addressing the hand he wiped dry on his pants in case she wanted to shake it. She didn't.

"So my friends were super boring and went home but I wasn't tired yet, so I figured I could as well drop by", she said casually and waited for him to reply with something equally as casual as that.

"That's nice", he said lamely instead, "I'm glad your friends are boring then"

She nodded with a small smile. And he nodded with a huge idiot grin. She could as well be Halle Berry. And then he stared at her for some odd seconds, thinking that she was way above his league and really he had no idea how to communicate with women of her caliber at all.

He was dimly aware that this hadn't always been the case. In fact, the week before the last he was pretty sure he could've gotten an Italian model to hook up with him but something about Rachel's dark eyes and tough demeanor made him feel twelve and unprepared.

"So..", she started and pursed her lips, blinking up at him.

"So...", he said, wobbling his head in a way that felt unnatural and awkward even to him, "Do you want a drink?"

Rachel let out a somewhat relieved breath as she nodded, "A beer in a bottle. With the cap on"

He nodded at her request (he was doing an awful lot of nodding this night, his neck started to hurt a bit) and headed to the bar, bringing two unopened beers back with him. Rachel produced her key chain and opened the bottles swiftly, passing his on with a little clunk for a cheer.

"Let's sit down, shall we?", Blaine suggested, hoping to get to know her a little and hopefully retrieve a bit of his lost charm, if he could get some more coherent words out that was. She followed him willingly to the slightly separated lounge area where the light was a little brighter and the music a little less thumping.

They sat down at a free spot in the corner. It was less an actual table, than just a low white plastic cube standing by the lime green padded sofa which lined the entire back wall. These little tables and others, slightly higher lime green padded cubes were scattered around the lounge and most were occupied by skimpy skirts and weird guys wearing Ed Hardy shirts.

"Classy joint", Blaine mused sarcastically.

"Yeah", Rachel agreed with a smile, "Nice of your friend to order you here and then leave. Or where is he?"

That's right, Blaine had forgotten his cover story, "He, um, well, he couldn't make it. But I wanted to wait in case you decided to show up"

He could tell Rachel saw straight through him but gladly – probably because she was a really good person – she didn't call his bluff and played along, "Lucky for me that you waited then"

Blaine grinned, a sincere, wide, toothy grin because that was just sweet. If she'd really been the cocky kind of stuck up bitch like she'd pretended to be earlier at the pub she wouldn't have let him off the hook. It made him honestly happy that she wasn't. It would have been a crying shame, for someone so beautiful and outworldly like her. There was a pure, kind person beneath the stunning exterior and it made Blaine almost proud that he had somehow known and seen through her armor of superiority. Or maybe she was like one of these gang girls that were horrible and humiliating with their friends 'round but nice in seclusion. He opted for the first possibility because he wanted to rather believe that one.

"So, tell me about you, Rachel", he said, not because he suddenly remembered how to talk to women again but because he really wanted to know and when you were legitimately curious, talking became a lot easier, "How does one get pipes like yours?"

"Good genes", Rachel smirked, "My biological Mom is a Musical Theater actress, she's been Elphaba on the West End for the longest time"

"Wow, that's impressive, I loved Wicked in New York"

"I've seen it too when I was there but my Mom will always be the best wicked witch for me. Power of habit"

"Are you an actress too?"

"Not yet", Rachel scooted a little closer to drown out the music, "I'm finishing college and then I want to go audition for schools"

"What's your major?", Blaine was aware that he was grilling her a little but now that words flowed he wanted to put them to good use.

"Publishing", she replied, not seeming to mind at all, "It seemed logical with my brother dealing with all that stuff. I always have something to fall back on now and Sam could always get me a job if the acting thing blew over"

"That's very wise"

"I don't know, I lost a lot of time", Rachel said in thought, her lips pursed.

"But you got your bases covered now, that's a good thing and your still young"

"I'm twenty-two", she protested, "That's not young in show-biz years"

"Listen, I can't imagine someone with your talent not making it big in some way, it'll be fine"

"That's very sweet of you to say", she smiled a 800 watt smile which made him sit straighter all by itself.

"What can I say, I'm a sweet guy", he shrugged, mainly to regain some sort of casual posture, rather than practically sitting in her lap like a puppy waiting for treats.

"I hate to say it but I kinda begin to think so too", she said and her eyes glimmered even in the dim light.

Blaine grinned stupidly but he couldn't do anything about that or about bursting out the next question, "Do you want to dance?"

"Sure", she replied with a smirk and Blaine's face sretched into another grin. He was on his feet in no time, waiting for her to follow him.

He attempted to lead her onto the stuffy dance floor but she quickly took over. She was tiny and a woman so she could part the masses for them with a wink and a smile and step into the opening spaces with ease, creating a pathway for Blaine to follow her. She took his hand so she wouldn't loose him. That little touch sent shivers down his spine that had nothing to do with the hideous remix of a nineties song blaring from the speakers. But then she let go and stopped, apparently happy with their position somewhere near the DJ booth and turned around flinging her hair.

"They totally butchered this song", she yelled over the beat and Blaine laughed and screamed back how he agreed.

But Rachel started moving her hips anyway. Like she had on the stage earlier and Blaine was once again a goner. Her moves were hypnotic and he hardly noticed that he himself had started dancing, he just kept starring at her, his eyes falling down her frame occasionally.

This damned soft curve of her hips, the tiny waist and her boobs in that top, holy cow. He couldn't get over it.

He wanted to keep looking but then Rachel's hand flew to rest flat on his chest and she got on her tiptoes to talk next to his ear, "You look at me all funny"

Blaine coughed quietly, the spot where she touched him burning up and he couldn't resist the temptation to wrap his arm around her waist, resting his hand on her back, just above her exquisite ass.

"It's just that you're really beautiful", he confessed and then leaned in closer, "And very sexy"

Rachel laughed like she thought he was joking but he hoped that she knew he wasn't.

She leaned back again but their hands stayed where they were as they kept dancing.

Blaine lost track of time. They spun around together and before long they both got closer and more handsy. It wasn't anything scandalous but he made sure she knew that he was interested in going through some of these motions in another location. Hell, he would've had sex with her right there on the floor but he was pretty sure Rachel wasn't into that kind of attention.

Rachel had turned to dance with her back to his front and she felt his hard-on distinctively as their hips mashed together. She wanted to giggle but her stomach had knotted itself into a dense pit, spreading heat and tingles through her body. She couldn't breathe and was as amused as she was turned on. Blaine was a good dancer, he led her around with ease, always a reassuring hand somewhere on her body, sometimes wandering, sometimes pulling her closer. Either which way doing a damn fine job making her dizzy.

She wanted him, there was no denying. She'd thought he was good looking in the pub but right now she wanted to jump him. When he'd told her he found her sexy he'd sent a current through her body that seemed to glow after because god, could she repay the compliment. He had short thick pitch black hair that lay in soft curls on his head as if it was waiting to be ruffled, she could hardly resist the temptation.

Blaine was a little taller than her but she was tiny, meaning he wasn't very tall either, she still could've reached into his hair easily. The short height didn't matter though, his frame was defined and very well-proportioned, whenever she got to touch his back or stomach she could feel the right amount of muscle tense and relax under the white T-shirt he wore. Overall, his body seemed to die for but his face...his face was what kept her staring, kept her looking up to memorize one or the other feature at a time.

Features like his almost almond shaped, bright hazel eyes, his pronounced but not broad lips, his slightly wider nose and that masculine, angular jawline, topped only by his high cheek bones giving him an extra edge. He was a beauty.

"Where's the catch?", she thought aloud but she must've looked at him in a way that made it seem like she was talking to him.

"What?", he asked her, louder than she'd been, to get through over the music.

"I just...", she started, not really sure if he was meant to know what she'd thought at this point but then decided it couldn't hurt, "Um, I was just wondering what your catch is, if you're a serial killer or a Republican or something"

Blaine laughed heartily and pulled her closer to answer, "Not a Republican, not a serial killer either, promise"

"Well, that's a relief"

"But I do have some weird habits", he said.

"Tell me", she ordered and he teased her a bit, bringing his chin up, mimicking uncertainty and then nodded, as if she'd won his inner struggle.

"I sing in the shower, I sing along to TV-show themes, I really like Celine Dion, and I mean absolutely un-ironically and -", he paused and his features changed from animated to serious, "And I'm leaving tomorrow to go back to New York"

Rachel could feel her eyes pop as the rest of her face fell apart.

"Tomorrow?", she repeated and noticed somewhere distant that they had stopped moving.

"Yeah, it's my last night in Europe", he said, his brow furrowed with something that might have been regret.

Rachel nodded. She could've asked him earlier what he was doing in London and how long he was staying. She'd just kind of assumed he would be there for longer but until that moment she wasn't aware that the fact that he wasn't made her quite sad.

"That's the catch", she muttered.

He looked down to her and held her gaze. The intensity of it made her break the connection, she'd just felt something very weird. Like he'd seen inside of her, stripped off layer after layer and saw her, raw and pure and something had clicked within her, running through her whole body, hitting her like an earthquake. But it wasn't the ground that was trembling, it was her.

She had a massive, big fat idiotic crush on him. What the hell?

Probably just because he was leaving. Why else would her stupid drama-relishing brain decide to fall for a guy she knew for about three hours? She always did that, she radiated towards men she couldn't have or who were totally wrong for her.

Now Blaine...Blaine would probably be totally right. But he would be totally right at the other side of the world. And that was apparently enough for her twisted mind to lock on him. The perfect target to cause her heartache. She cursed herself inwardly.

"We should have shots", she declared, wanting to numb her silly brain and cushion the blow of her revelation.

Grabbing his hand, she strode through the dancing crowd and finally scooted into a vacant seat at the bar. Blaine waited behind her and attempted to hand her money for the Tequila shots she'd ordered but she waved him off.

"I got it", she said and passed his glass and lemon on.

She swept the flesh of the lemon over the top of her hand, sprinkled it with salt from the little shaker the bartender had given her and waited for Blaine to do the same so they could cheer.

When he was ready she mustered a brave smile, "Let's toast to a memorable last night"

"Let's", he agreed and they clinked the glasses together.

Rachel threw her head and the liquor back, soothing the bitter taste with licking the salt off and biting the lemon in a rapid succession.

Blaine hit his empty glass on the bar just seconds after she did and they smiled at each other for a second.

"It's almost three in the morning", Rachel said, "They'll gonna close soon and if we want to get our coats out before the big run we should leave now"

"But I'm not tired yet", Blaine said, a glimmer of sadness in his eyes and he looked and sounded more like a toddler that wanted five more minutes to play. He was the most adorable sexy thing in the world.

"Neither am I", she said quickly. She was but she didn't want the night to end yet, saying goodbye would mean for good and she wasn't ready for that yet, "We can go for a walk, watch London at night"

Blaine's face lit up at the idea and he almost instantly demanded her coat stamp to pick it up for her and told her to wait by the staircase.

They parted and Rachel's heart hammered to her throat. It seemed like the crush was intensifying by the second rather than the minute. Stop it stupid brain, stop it, stop it, stop it.

She reached the door and produced her cell phone from her purse, typing a quick text to Tina.

He's a dreamboat. But he leaves tomorrow for the States :(

Just when she'd pressed send, Blaine was back at her side, handing her her black leather jacket before slipping into his navy blue H&M coat.

"Shall we then?", he asked and held out his arm gallantly for her to slip into, like a true gentleman and her heart took a leap.

"We shall", she nodded and scooped her arm under his, following his lead up the stairs.

Thoughts?