Kurt Hummel cared about many things. He cared about his appearance, he cared about his family and friends, he cared about his education, and he cared about health and staying fit. So why did Kurt own a coffee shop that dealt heavily with sweets? Because most of all, out of anything else, Kurt cared about happiness, and over the years, he had found that a way to a person's happiness was definitely through Coffee, and the occasional pastry. So he and his best friend in the entirety of the universe, Mercedes Jones, had put together their savings, renovated a corner store, and now were the proud owners of Sweet Talks, New York's most successful hole-in-the-wall coffee shop.
"Oh, god, Mercedes, how am I this tired?" Kurt asked, tossing the towel into the sink and collapsing against the counter. Mercedes looked over at him, taking in his appearance, clad in an apron, and covered in flour.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you got here at six, worked all day and it is now..." she glanced down at her wristwatch "10 o' clock and you just cleaned every bowl and spatula in here." she smiled at him "you're going home, going to bed, and you can come in late tomorrow."
"Mercedes, no-"
"Absolutely not. I will run things until you get here, just sleep." she grabbed him and tugged the apron off, pulling him into the other room.
"But, the shipment-" he argued as Mercedes tugged him across the floor
"I will handle that." she said "jeeze, this is our shop, count on me for something, will you?" Finally, Kurt gave up and allowed himself to be dragged across the shop and out of the door saying,
"Fine. Okay. I'll get some sleep."
"Thank you."
oOo
Blaine Anderson ran down the street in the afternoon, heavy-lidded with his feet dragging. His guitar swung behind him in it's case, he slowed his pace as he smelled something. He paused and sniffed again. Coffee. Oh thank god, he needed some coffee. He turned around and looked at the small shop tucked between two stores he hadn't known the existence of until that moment. He opened the door and walked in, hearing the little bell ding as the door shut behind him. A girl popped up from behind the counter, she smiled brightly at him.
"Hi!" she greeted him with a large smile, which melted almost instantly into worry "oh, you look dead on your feet." she crooned as he walked up to the counter and smiled at her
"I am, which is why I will take a large coffee." he said, eyeing the assortment of creams and such on the counter.
"Will do, and you want a cupcake with that? I would have to recommend them, not just because I'm working here, either."
Blaine grinned and looked down through the glass at all the different cupcakes, he could honestly say it was the larges assortment he'd ever seen.
"Uhm. Yes. I'll just have that chocolate one down there, please." the girl, Mercedes, Blaine had read from her name tag, bent down and took out a chocolate cupcake and began to get the coffee. Blaine took it and paid for the stuff, went over, put two sugar cubes in his coffee and sat down at one of the small tables by the window.
"What's your name?" Mercedes asked from behind the counter, Blaine swallowed his first sip of coffee and looked over to her
"Blaine." he smiled "this is really good."
"Wait till you try the cupcake. I can't bake for my life, so Kurt came up with all the recipes." she shrugged "we started this place together."
"Really?" he asked, "that's awesome." he took another sip and looked at his watch "oh shit."
"Late?" Mercedes asked
"Incredibly." Blaine said, packing up his things "I'll come back to tell you how the cupcake was." he smiled and was out the door in a matter of seconds. Mercedes smiled and shook her head.
oOo
Kurt woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock. He squinted at the glowing green numbers, 3:00
"oh my god!" he practically fell out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. He ran around the corner to the bakery, he was about to run in when something smacked straight into him, making him lose his balance and falling to the ground. He hissed as his hands scraped the concrete.
"oh, god, I'm sorry, are you okay?" someone asked and a hand was in front of his face, obviously offering to help him up, Kurt took the hand and grunted as he was pulled upward.
"Hi." he said dumbly "sorry, I wasn't paying attention-"
"No, it's my fault, don't worry about it." the man said, smiling "I was in a rush, I apologize."
Kurt blushed at the wide smile on the man's face and the way he was still clutching Kurt's hand.
"It's okay...really." he eyed the strap hanging over the man's shoulder. "You're a musician?" he questioned, Blaine nodded
"I like to think so, at least." he chuckled "I play at a bunch of bars...I'm sort of in the middle of finding a record label right now." Kurt nodded, and looked down at their conjoined hands. The man followed his gaze and blushed
"Oh my god." he said, snatching his hand away and covering his face with it "that was awkward, I'm sorry...again." Kurt laughed, high and light and happy
"It's okay." he said for the millionth time. "Really, but I've really got to go, I'm late as it is." he said, walking into the shop and turning around to smile at Blaine, who smiled back goofily.
"Okay." he said and followed Kurt back into the store.
"What are you doing?"
"Talking to you."
"I'm working." Kurt smirked, heading behind the counter and tying and apron around his waist.
"I'm your only customer." Blaine said, gesturing around to the empty shop. Kurt smiled and leaned against the counter.
They talked on and off for the rest of the day, people coming and going, while Blaine conversed with Kurt over pretty much everything. That is, until the clock struck 7 and Blaine cursed and rushed to say goodbye and head to one of his gigs. Kurt sighed, and Mercedes walked over to him,
"He's definitely on your team." she said "...you should ask him out."
"What?" Kurt gasped "I mean, I just met him, we-we I don't even know him!" he furiously wiped down the counter, desperately trying to make the color recede from his cheeks.
"So...Isn't what a first date is for? Getting to know each other better and then deciding if you want to go out again or awkwardly avoid each other for the rest of your lives?"
"I guess," Kurt smirked "I should have gotten his number."
"Well...I have a feeling he's going to come back tomorrow." she winked.
oOo
Kurt had quickly learned in his friendship with Mercedes that she was rarely wrong, actually, it was pretty frightening how often she was right. So it wasn't a big surprise when Blaine walked into the coffee shop the next morning. Kurt's face lit up and he waved a bit. Blaine's smile spread all the way across his face as he skipped -yes skipped- up to the counter.
"Hey! Can I get a large coffee?" he asked, Kurt nodded
"Absolutely, anything else?"
"How about...one of those red velvet cupcakes?"
"Ahh, my personal favorite." Kurt smiled. He quickly made Blaine's order and doubled it, one for Blaine and one for himself. He handed Blaine his order and refused it when Blaine tried to pay.
"What? I have to pay you." he argued and Kurt smirked
"Not if you allow this to be a date, because I'd probably insist on paying anyway." he smiled and grabbed his own coffee and cupcake. Blaine's eyes went wide for a minute before they crinkled up in a smile.
"Well if you put it that way, then I absolutely agree to let this be a date." Kurt visibly relaxed and called into the back room,
"Lexy, would you come out here, I'm taking a break!" he slid out from behind the counter as a small, redheaded girl bounded out in an apron and smiled at him. Blaine set his stuff down on a table by the window and pulled out Kurt's chair for him.
"Well, aren't you a gentleman?" he giggled, Blaine shrugged.
oOo
Over the next few weeks Blaine had become a regular at Sweet Talks, he would come in, order his regular, and leave for a gig. He would talk to Kurt and joke around with Mercedes, Kurt would take little breaks and talk to Blaine, having one of their regular coffee dates. Blaine would joke and laugh and make Kurt laugh along with him, loud and carefree. Kurt found himself falling, and falling hard. Which is why his heart filled with pride when Blaine called him one day to turn on some obscure radio station and there it was. Blaine's voice, his own lyrics, his own music and it was so beautiful. Kurt had never been prouder.
oOo
"Really, you're from Ohio?" Kurt gasped "I was right in Lima, went to McKinley High!"
"You're shitting me." Blaine said, staring right at him "No, really, you're lying. I was in Westerville, I went to Dalton, I could have drove there."
"I was actually considering transferring to dalton." Kurt admitted, taking a sip of his coffee. Blaine took a bite out of his cupcake and hummed before swallowing
"I can guess why, but why didn't you go? You would have been a grade below me."
"My friends mostly, they really helped, and the...the guy uhm, he got expelled, so." Kurt shrugged "there was really no reason not to stay." Blaine smiled
"Ohio can suck it." he said "Sorry, I just, I probably seem really bitter right now."
"Oh, don't worry, I am too," he smiled "and if I had been a fancy private school boy, I'd be cursing like a sailor now." he winked and Blaine blushed
"I did get more...vulgar." he shrugged "guess what's what New York does to ya." Kurt laughed and Blaine watched him, he really liked Kurt's laugh. He glanced down at his watch
"Damn. I have to go...but I'll be back tomorrow." Kurt nodded
"I'll see you then."
oOo
As it turns out 'Tomorrow' would be three days later, and Blaine would walk in with a black eye and a sour expression.
"Oh shit." Kurt hissed and ran around from behind the counter, stopping directly in front of Blaine and grabbing his face. Blaine swatted his hand away. Kurt shook it off,
"Are you okay?" he asked, Blaine raised a brow, "Okay, obviously not...you wanna talk about it?"
"I don't know you." Blaine said suddenly "Seriously."
"Yes you do. I'm not a stranger, Blaine, talk to me."
"I thought all this bullshit was over." he said suddenly "I know you can never truly escape prejudice but this is just ridiculous. These guys, I was at a bar, I just, FUCK!" he growled, balling his hands into fists and visibly shaking. It was a lie if Kurt said he wasn't scared, because Blaine was really starting to frighten him. He took a step back and Mercedes and three other girls ran out of the back room.
"Hey! What's going on?" Mercedes asked, coming to stand between them at the look on Kurt's face.
"Mercedes, no, Blaine's not-"
"I'm not mad at Kurt." Blaine said, still shaking. "I'm not going to hurt him if that's what you all think, so you can take your asses back into that room and let me talk to him." Kurt almost gasped, this wasn't Blaine. Blaine, all the time's he'd seen him, was happy and upbeat and something was really wrong.
"Guys...we're just gonna close up for the day, okay? You can go home." Kurt said softly and all the girls shuffled out, Mercedes locking the door behind her. Kurt and Blaine stood for a moment after the girls left, Kurt looking at Blaine with obvious concern, and Blaine glaring at some point on the wall behind Kurt's head. Finally, Kurt grabbed Blaine's fisted hands and dragged him into the back room. He grabbed an apron and slipped it over Blaine's head.
"What are you doing?" Blaine asked in a voice Kurt had never heard before. It was hoarse and tired and slightly unstable.
"We're baking."
"I can't bake."
"Well I can." Kurt said and tied the apron around Blaine's waist. He handed him a giant bowl and got out a bunch of ingredients, laying them all out on the table. He made Blaine measure everything and gradually saw him beginning to relax. Blaine cracked the eggs and scooped out the shells that he accidentally dropped in. He took out the red food dye and dropped four drops in and mixed it up until he was satisfied with the color. Kurt stood back and watched as Blaine mixed the batter, a little too hard and a little too fast, until eventually some splattered up and over the edge of the bowl. Blaine let out a broken breath and Kurt sighed, halting Blaine's wrists and taking the bowl from him. He pulled Blaine into his arms and realized that this was the first time they'd really been in contact like this. Blaine stiffened for a moment before hiding his face in the crook of Kurt's neck and wrapping his arms so tight around Kurt's middle he thought his ribs would crack.
"The things they said, Kurt." he gasped "I have never felt that fucking shitty about myself since I got out of Ohio." he sniffed loudly "Maybe they're right, I'm never going to make it as a singer, I'm never going to be anything, maybe-"
"Hey, hey, no, Blaine, there's no way that they're right. This is not the guy that I've gotten to know, you were so happy." he pulled away and took Blaine's face into his hands "you have such an amazing talent, Blaine. That day you were on the radio, I was so proud of you. If people can't see just how amazing you are then you don't need them anyway." Blaine looked up at him with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. Suddenly, Blaine was out of Kurt's arms, but back before Kurt could truly miss him. His arms wrapped around Kurt's neck and his lips crashed into Kurt's, fast and urgent and nothing like Kurt had pictured their first kiss to be like, but perfect either way. Kurt felt moisture on his cheek's from Blaine's and reached around to settle his hands on Blaine's hips. Blaine pulled away just slightly to rest their foreheads together, but still close enough that his lips brushed Kurt's as he said
"Thank you, thank you, thanks you."
oOo
Kurt and Blaine pulled apart once more when they heard the ding of the oven.
"You ready to see your masterpieces?" Kurt asked, Blaine smiled, still traces of red around his nose and eyes, but the gleam was back in his eyes and the goofy lopsided smile back on his face.
"They won't be as good as yours but we'll see." Kurt grabbed the oven mitts and pulled them out. He and Blaine iced a few before pulling the wrappers down and held their cupcakes up to the other's mouth. The took a messy bite, getting icing on their noses and chins. Kurt closed his eyes for a moment,
"You sure you've never done this before?" Blaine laughed
"Never. I'm just glad nothing caught on fire." Kurt giggled and went to lick his lips, but was stopped with an insistent "No, no, no." from a smirking Blaine. Blaine leaned over and licked the icing from the corner of Kurt's mouth before sucking it off his bottom lip. He leaned back and smiled
"Still not as good as yours." Kurt rolled his eyes and leaned in
"Well I think they're perfect."
Welp. Another prompt from OrangeCoyote! I'm in love. Is that weird? I hope not. I hope I didn't scare you away, I need your prompts!
ANYWAY the original prompt was Mercedes and Kurt owning a cupcake shop but I kind of changed that...so I hope you still like it!
ps. Had to include some angsty Blaine because I love angsty Blaine ;)
reviews and prompts would be awesome, guys!