So I'm giving you guys this chapter tonight, with the promise that there will be a meatier one coming tomorrow. This chapter is necessary to progress the story, but we'll get to the good stuff later. I hate using my job as an excuse, but it's a very real reason why writing time is so hard to come by. A few of you have asked what I do. I'm the manager of a museum, and that means that I work ridiculous and unpredictable hours. I love my job, but it's definitely crazy. I have the day off tomorrow, though, and I'm devoting it to finishing the next chapter (much of it is already written). I hope you enjoy!

Come say hi on tumblr, practical-amanda.

"Damn, Boy, you're home late," Unique said, as Kurt was walking through the door. She was sitting on the couch watching the Late Show with David Letterman. "Your 'dates' with Adam never last longer than like two hours. You told me spending time with him was like dating dry toast."

"Yes, boring, and only slightly better than eating nothing at all," Kurt replied plopping down on the couch next to his room mate. "I ended up going home with someone else," he added wiggling his eyebrows slightly.

"I see! Unique is officially intrigued," she said, turning the TV on mute and turning so that she was fully facing Kurt. "Tell me everything. Was he cute? Was he hung?"

Kurt laughed, "yes, and maybe. It wasn't like that 'Nique. He's just a friend who needed a friend," Kurt said, sticking his hand in the bag of chips that were already on the couch, and shoving a large hand full into his mouth. He only continued when Unique gave him her 'I'm not impressed' look, "I met him at the club the night I went to see you perform. He's a total closet case, and he needed someone to talk to. I happened to see him at the restaurant with his beard, so I went back to his house so we could talk. He's sweet and cute as a button, but he's pretty messed up in the head right now. The last thing he needs is some predatory gay coming onto him."

Unique seemed to accept that explanation, "maybe in the future, though?"

Kurt thought for a minute, he hadn't even allowed himself to entertain that idea, but now that he was being forced to think about it, he realized that the idea had been in the back of his mind all along, "maybe in the future."

One of the things that I always appreciated, and still appreciate to this day, about Unique is that she always knows when she shouldn't press. She's pushy, and nosy as hell, but she always knows when asking the next questions will cross the line. She knew I was intentionally leaving out any personal information about this mystery man, but she also knew that the truth would come out in it's own time. There was no need to fish for more.

Unique stretched her arms over her head dramatically, and made a show of putting the volume back on the TV. She knew when the conversation was over, but she couldn't help adding one thing, "leave it to the fishiest queen this side of the Mississippi to bring out the shiest of our kind."

"You're nothing if not modest," Kurt said, rolling his eyes and settling back to watch the program with his room mate.

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"Anderson, it's bad enough that you're publicly dating Rachel Berry. Did you have to get sloppy on us as well?" Blaine's agent had called him, and curiously enough, Kurt into a meeting in Blaine's dressing room, to rage about a recent tabloid headline about him wearing cheap clothes.

"It was just a popped button," Blaine cried, throwing his hands in the air dramatically. "Don't you think you might be over reacting just a touch?" he added, crossing his arms in frustration.

"I'm your manager, Blaine. It's my job to care about these things," he replied. "A week ago, I would have let it go, but your reputation can't take another blow—not even one as small as this."

Blaine let out a huff, and Kurt took this as his opportunity to speak up, intuiting that Blaine might need a minute to stew quietly, "if I may.." he cut in, "...this is all very interesting, and as a fashion expert I never give up an opportunity to talk about style, but why exactly am I here?" he questioned.

John seemed relieved that Kurt cut in. He didn't like fighting with Blaine. He liked the guy, but someone had to play hardball, or Blaine would never have gotten to where he is today, "well, it's been apparent to me for a while now, and I think that last night's incident was the tipping point, but I think that someone of Blaine's status should really have his own stylist," John explained. "I called you in here to see if you had any recommendations. You know, someone who could dress him for events, act as a personal shopper. It would just be a part time gig."

Trust me, I know what you're thinking. At this point I could have suggested that I could be Blaine's part time stylist, and then we could become closer and closer, fall madly in love, and run off into the sunset. I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to, but I couldn't. I was over-worked as it was, and agreeing to be Blaine's stylist would have just been selfish. I wouldn't have been able to do either job as well as I wanted. Instead, I did the next most selfish thing I could think of.

"With all due respect, Sir, I don't think Blaine really needs a stylist," the last thing Kurt wanted was another one of his fashion friends getting his or her grubby paws on Blaine. "I've told him a million times not to pick at the threads on his clothes. If he can break that nervous habit, then we won't have to worry about it," Kurt chanced a glance at Blaine to see how he was reacting.

He looked equal parts relieved and grateful. The last thing he needed was someone else hovering over him, "I'll work on it, sir, and if you want someone to style me for the red carpet that's..."

"I can commit to doing red carpet events. They don't happen that often," Kurt cut in.

John looked between the two men, but finally appeared satisfied with the plan, "fine, but if anything else happens I'm finding someone myself," he said before checking his beeper and swiftly exiting the room.

Blaine slumped back in his seat the minute the door closed behind him. Things had been...different between the two men since that night in Blaine's apartment. It would have been impossible for it not to be. Blaine had confessed to a crush at the very least, and had spent the better part of the night quietly crying out years of pent up emotion while Kurt held him, mourning soothing words, and occasionally planting kisses in his hair, "thanks for that," he finally said.

"No need to thank me. I was telling the truth," Kurt said, shrugging and taking a sip from his water bottle. "You don't need a stylist...I actually kind of like the way you dress. It's...cute."

Blaine looked up at that. He wasn't sure what to say, "glad to hear it," he said, settling on simplicity. "Any big plans for the weekend?" he asked, trying to deflect from how it felt to hear Kurt call him cute.

Kurt looked at his watch and realized that the weekend was actually only about an hour away at this point, "not really," he replied. "Unique and I talked about having a spa day, and I might try to get some pieces done for myself" he said shrugging. "I usually spend Sunday mornings doing the crossword puzzle at the diner by my apartment."

"The one we went to after..." Blaine began, hoping he wouldn't have finish the thought.

"The very same," Kurt confirmed. "Anyway, I better get going. Unique's face won't exfoliate itself."

Blaine gave him a look like he didn't know what he was talking about, but nodded and waved anyway, "see you around, Kurt."

"See you around, Blaine."