Author note: So. They finally met. The slow burn is over and they're back in each others lives. I know you have been waiting a long time for that and I apologize if some of you think I dragged it out too long. But my story, my rules. And now, I bring you chapter 9 ;)

"Jeff!" A completely frazzled Blaine storms into the apartment. "I need to talk to you!"

"Whoa, Blaine." Jeff is on the couch watching TV and fiddles with the remote control to put his show on pause. "What's going on?"

"I...he...we...I..." A huff as Blaine drops down beside him. "Help."

"Okay, slow down and take some deep breaths, I've never seen you like this before."

"I...I found him." Blaine stutters, wide eyes turning on his friend.

"You found who?" And okay, Blaine does not have the patience for this right now.

"Sponge-Bob Square-pants! Who do you think?!" He snaps.

"Wait...hold on...Kurt?" Jeff asks in disbelief, ignoring his friend's outburst.

"Kurt." He nods.

"The Kurt?"

"The Kurt." Blaine confirms.

"Elliott!" Kurt barges through the doors of the diner, eyes frantically searching for the one person who can advice him. "El!?"

"Hold your horses, cowboy." Elliott says as he strolls out from the kitchen, tray in hand, a couple burgers on it. "I heard you the first time, what are you even doing here? You don't have a shift today."

"No shit, Sherlock." Kurt deadpans. "I need to talk."

"Awh, you came all the way over here on your day off just to see moi?" Elliott flutters his eyelashes. "I'm touched. Alright, let me just..." He turns to deliver the burgers, but Kurt grabs his arm, yanking him back and almost making him drop everything. "What the hell, Kurt?!"

"Yeah, that's not gonna work for me."

"Kurt, I can't just..." Elliott protests.

"SATAN!" Kurt bellows and as a demon being summoned, she appears. "Take these burgers to table...?" He sends Elliott a questioning look and he holds up 4 fingers. "Four." He can tell she's about to make some kind of sarcastic remark, but she backtracks at his glare. "And by the way, El is taking his break now."

"I am?" Kurt sends a pointed look his way and it's scary. "Um. I mean. I am. I totally am." And then he's being dragged to a table in the most remote corner.

"Okay, are you gonna tell me wha..."

"I found him! Or rather, he found me or we found each other? I'm not really sure."

"What are you talking about?"

"Blaine!" Kurt almost yells, then lowers his voice. "Blaine. I saw Blaine today."

"Blaine?" Elliott ask. "The Blaine?"

"What other Blaine could I mean?" Kurt asks exasperated.

"But how, where, when?" Elliott looks perplexed. "Weren't you going straight to the theater this morning?"

"Yes." Kurt nods, just waiting for his friend to catch up.

"But that would mean..." Elliott is putting it together in his head. "He's in the play."

"Yup." Kurt confirms. "Guess who's playing Julian to my Romeo."

"Wait." Elliott is now bouncing in his seat, not believing his ears. "Are you serious right now?"

"I've never been more serious in my life."

"But...how...where?" Jeff asks. "Last I heard you were going to spend the whole day at the theater. When did you have time to..." Jeff stops, looks at Blaine. "No freaking way. Is he in the play?"

"Oh. He's not just in the play, Jeff." Blaine cryptically answers.

"What do you mean?" There's a loaded pause where it seems like Blaine is trying to smother himself with a pillow, then...

"He's playing Romeo."

"What!?" Jeff's mouth drops open in shock. "But you're Julian..."

"Yup."

"And he's..."

"Yup."

"And you're both..."

"Yup."

"Holy shit." Jeff exclaims. "This could get complicated."

"You don't say." Blaine deadpans. "It gets worse though."

"How could it possibly get worse?"

"He's engaged." Blaine whispers.

"Oh, Blaine. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, so am I." Blaine sighs.

"This is priceless." Elliott grins. "Way better than I had expected. I fucking love the irony of the universe."

"It's not funny!" Kurt almost whines.

"It's a little funny." Elliott says and smiles at the face Kurt makes.

"I don't know what to do. I wasn't prepared for him to just show up like that."

"But this is perfect, Kurt. I know you've been trying to find the courage to contact him for months and now fate did all the work for you."

"It wasn't fate."

"Are you sure? Seems like fate keeps throwing you two together."

"It's...not...fate."

"I do think thee protest too much." Elliott says in a thick British accent.

"Elliott." Kurt warns.

"Fine, whatever you say. Not fate. Got it."

"Thank you."

"Except it absolutely is."

"Shut up!" If looks could kill Elliott would be dead.

"I thought you were getting over him though?" Jeff asks.

"So did I. But that was until I saw him again. It all just came flooding back. And Jeff, he's just...even more magnificent than I remember." Blaine whines. "I'm so..."

"Screwed?"

"Yes, that."

"So...are you gonna leave the show?" Jeff prods carefully.

"What? NO!" Blaine is looking at him like he's just grown a second head.

"But you can't work back to back with him for months! It will break your heart."

"I am gonna have to, not only do I need this job to pass school, this is my big break Jeff. I can't throw it away over a crush."

"You do realize that you are gonna have to kiss him eventually right?" At his friend's guilty look Jeff startles. "Blaine...tell me you didn't."

"El?" Kurt's whisper comes after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"Yeah?" Elliott's soft voice responds just as quietly.

"He's gorgeous." Kurt sighs, bangs his head on the table and leaves it there. Elliott very carefully lifts his head and shoves some napkins under it, then puts it back down.

"So is Blake." It's a statement, not a question.

"So is Blake." Kurt agrees as he fiddles with his ring.

"And he wants you."

"And he wants me."

There's silence again, both contemplating the situation.

"Does Blaine want you?" Elliott carefully asks after a minute or two.

"I don't know. Maybe?" When Kurt lifts his head again, he looks guilty. "El...I think something kinda happened today."

"Between you and Blaine?"

"Yes."

"Tell me everything."

"Julian, meet your Romeo. Romeo, meet your Julian."

"Kurt."

"Blaine?"

"So I take it you two know each other? Excellent."

Silence follows where Blaine keeps shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other and Kurt tries and fails to look anywhere but at Blaine. Every time their eyes meet, it's like stepping into quicksand, both are just unable to move or break away.

"Hi." Kurt whispers shyly and clears his throat, it feels dry.

"Hi." Blaine smiles that damn smile of his, the one that can be seen from the moon, then runs his hands through his hair nervously and Kurt notices for the first time that Blaine's let up on the gel. He is finally seeing the man without the product, the way he wished he could have years ago and it doesn't disappoint. Blaine's curls are falling adorably across his forehead, still subdued a bit but not smothered anymore and Kurt has a fantasy in his head about twirling one of those curls around his finger. He wonders if it would bounce back like a spring, then quickly snaps out of it. He is just in time to catch Blaine staring at his sweater where he's left two buttons open, thereby exposing his throat and some of his chest. Oh.

They somehow drift closer and closer to each other and their eyes meet again; Kurt swallows, making Blaine's gaze trail down to watch his Adams apple bob before it moves back up to his face, or more accurately Kurt's lips and Kurt can't help but lick them subconsciously - the sexual tension can be cut with a knife.

Blaine is pretty sure that if it wasn't for the buzzing crowd surrounding them, that he would have jumped Kurt right then and there. The ring be damned. He can't help but absolutely loathe whoever put that ring on Kurt's finger. His Kurt's finger. Even though he has never met the man. It's not like him to dislike someone he doesn't know, but despite everything there is still something inside of him screaming that Kurt is supposed to be his. That the ring is a mistake and he has the right to take what is rightfully his. Then he immediately feels ashamed, because Kurt is not a thing to possess, he's a human being, free to choose whoever he wants to marry, even if that person is not Blaine. But, it hurts. Having the evidence that Kurt doesn't love him shoved right in his face. It doesn't help that the ring is now somewhere behind Kurt's back - out of eye, out of mind doesn't work here, Blaine can still picture it perfectly. It's nothing like what he would have chosen for Kurt. For some reason he pictured Kurt wearing stylish titanium or silver, maybe with a single diamond, not traditional plain gold.

He shouldn't be thinking these things though. He doesn't have the right to judge anything in regards to Kurt's love life. Kurt belongs to someone else, the knowledge burns like a simmering ache in his heart and still he can't turn his back on this; this role, this opportunity, Kurt. If he can't have Kurt the way he's always dreamed of, he will settle for friendship - because now that he got the man back in his life, he is not letting him go again. He won't make that mistake twice. He also won't make the mistake of hitting on a clearly taken man, he's not that guy, he's not a home-wrecker.

The problem is though, that they have ended up standing way too close and now Blaine can't focus on anything but Kurt, can't stop staring at his lips, can't stop smelling his cologne, can't stop moving closer still. Suddenly he finds himself in Kurt's personal space, but Kurt is not pushing him away and it's confusing. When he looks up and sees Kurt staring back at him, not breathing or moving, the part of his heart that craves Kurt overrides the logic of his brain that knows better. Suddenly he's convinced himself that Kurt wants this too and he starts to lean in. Kurt's right hand lands on Blaine's chest, but instead of stopping him, Blaine swears Kurt is actually pulling him closer. They're only centimeters apart when a voice brings them back to reality.

"Whoa guys. I appreciate the enthusiasm to get started, but save it for official rehearsal tomorrow. This is meet and greet, now mingle." Artie grins as he wheels by and Kurt and Blaine jump apart like they have been burned, both flushing red.

Shit, what just happened?

What did I almost just do?

They look equally alarmed at each other, both not really knowing what to do or where to look. Blaine is rubbing his neck, Kurt is wringing his hands together. There seems to be a mutual understanding not to talk about it. It's just all too much right now. Too overwhelming. They were not prepared for this.

"Um." Kurt says. "You heard Artie. I guess I am just gonna go...over there." He gestures somewhere randomly.

"Yeah, sure...of course." Blaine stutters. "I'm gonna...um...I'll just be, I'm going to talk to these guys." He says as he points behind him and hopes there's at least one person standing there, because he hasn't really checked. "It was...eh...nice seeing you again."

"Yeah...eh...you too, Blaine." Kurt then turns around quickly, almost tripping over a prop and Blaine winces. He's not doing much better though, as not a second later he almost crashes into a costume rack.

They spend the next couple of hours mingling with the rest of the cast, while sneaking glances at each other. They're caught a couple times and both know that they are gonna have to talk sooner or later because none of them can work like this. Everyone seems to wanna talk to the two stars of the show though, so it's not until the meeting is coming to an end that they have a chance to hash things out. Kurt catches Blaine's eye as he exits the stage and signals him to follow, Blaine does. He would follow that man anywhere. He finds Kurt out in the hall on a bench and sits down next to him.

"Hey." Blaine greets him.

"Hey." Kurt smiles at him and that does things to Blaine that he refuses to acknowledge.

After the initial shock of seeing each other again, they have both had some time to cool down and get their heads in order. They still sit a little bit further away from each other than what is necessary, leaving a big space between them since neither of them completely trust themselves in the presence of the other and they don't want a repeat of whatever it was that happened on the stage. None of them are quite ready to talk about that either.

"I can't believe we just bumped into each other again like this." Blaine says. "What are the odds?" Kurt doesn't wanna think about the odds or how fate having a finger to play in it comes to mind. It's not fate. It's just coincidence.

"I know, what a coincidence."

"Yeah. Coincidence." Blaine looks like he wants to say something else, but he keeps it in.

"How have you been?" Kurt asks.

"Oh, ya know. Good."

"Good."

"You?"

"Good, yeah."

"Good."

Conversation is so incredibly stilted and awkward, nothing like it was the moment they first met and Blaine fears they may have lost their connection. That thing that was so special to him. Maybe they changed too much and now they have nothing in common anymore? The thought makes him sad. But then Kurt chuckles.

"Gosh, this is ridiculous." He says. "We're ridiculous." And Blaine can't help but laugh with him, because he's right. And then they can't stop. They laugh and laugh and every time they try to stop, they end up looking at each other and burst out laughing again and just like that the tension breaks.

"I've missed you Kurt." Blaine says once they finally calm down. "I've thought about you a lot over the years." He doesn't mention how he tried everything to track him down or how it almost broke him when he couldn't find him.

"Likewise, Blaine." Kurt smiles, cheeks red from laughing or maybe something else, Blaine can't tell. "I've never met anyone I connected with as easily as you." Kurt doesn't mention how he never forgot about Blaine or how he was always with him wherever he went - and Blaine doesn't ask the question on the tip of his tongue; 'Not even your fiance?'

"Well, it looks like we are back in each others lives now." Blaine says instead. "We should catch up sometime."

"Sure, that would be great." And in that moment Kurt forgets that Blaine doesn't know he already has his information saved on his phone. "I'll call you." He pales the second he says it, sure that he's been caught, but Blaine just hands him his phone - probably assuming it was an invitation to exchange numbers and Kurt plays along. Whew. He puts in his digits and Blaine seems to be beaming at his new contact before typing something quickly and putting the phone back in his jeans. A few seconds later Kurt's cell vibrates with a new text and as he picks it up and reads it, he snorts.

From Blaine:

Oh Romeo Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? ;)

"You are such a dork." Kurt grins before he answers. Blaine checks his phone when it pings and grins.

From Kurt:

Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this? :D

"Pot, meet kettle." He says which earns him a shove from Kurt and they share a look that quickly turns intense. They catch themselves this time though and avert their eyes before they can be sucked in again by whatever this is between them. It can't happen. Blaine doesn't know what came over him earlier, but now that he's thinking clearer, he knows he doesn't want to force himself on Kurt and make a cheater out of him. It wouldn't be fair. To either of them. He likes to think they are both better than that.

"Well." Kurt says. "It's getting late." He doesn't wanna leave, but he needs to get home. Blake will worry and he still has to stop by the diner to talk to Elliott first. His mind is in chaos and his heart in uproar and he can't face Blake feeling like this. He feels drained and he simply doesn't have the energy to mask his turmoil right now, it will be painfully obvious that something is wrong and he doesn't want his fiance to prod at a cause that he himself is afraid to confront.

"Right. You're right." Blaine concedes but seems a little disappointed. "I should be going too."

"I'll see you tomorrow at rehearsals."

"Yeah. Bright and early."

He doesn't really know who moves in for the hug first, but suddenly Blaine finds himself with an arm full of Kurt and he savors it with closed eyes. He can feel Kurt melt into him as he does the same and the hug lasts a few seconds longer than what's probably appropriate. When they part, they smile at each other and for the second time in his life Blaine watches Kurt walk away from him with ice in the pit of his stomach. This time it's not like the last time though. But it still doesn't change the facts. Kurt may be back in his life, but just like 4 years ago, Blaine still hasn't made this man his and now it's too late. When Kurt vanishes around a corner, Blaine makes his own way home, mind racing and heart bleeding.

"Wait. So...you almost kissed?" Elliott asks.

"I think so?" Kurt says. "I'm honestly not really sure what happened or who started it, it's a little fuzzy."

"Wow."

"Indeed."

"But Kurt, you did nothing wrong. Nothing happened." Not this time, Kurt thinks and wonders if he would have pushed Blaine away or not, had Artie not interrupted. "Listen, whatever you decide to do, I think it would be best to sort out everything in your heart, before you make any rash decisions." Elliott says. "And be considerate of Blake, I know I wasn't his biggest fan before, but he doesn't deserve to be treated like shit. Don't be that guy, Kurt." Elliott pauses and Kurt thinks he's done, but apparently not. "Blaine, I don't know but if you like him as much as you clearly do, he must be a good guy, so be careful with his feelings too." Kurt just nods stiffly, even though he knows everything his friend just said is true, it makes him feel a little defensive. Like he's doing something really wrong here. He probably is, on some level, but what do you do when life is suddenly not as black and white as you thought it was when it comes to love. Maybe Elliott has been right all along and you can love multiple people at the same time?

Tense silence follows, then...

"Kurt Hummel almost getting it on 5 minutes after meeting a man. That is so not you. That's me. He must be really hot." Elliott winks and it instantly lightens the mood.

"That's what scares me." Kurt smirks. "And you have no idea."

"Oh, hah hah." Elliott grins. "But seriously, Sebastian has a name for guys like that. What was it...oh right...'Sex on a stick'...that's what he calls them. You gotta admit it's catchy."

"That is gross." Kurt wrinkles his nose. "How did he even come up with that?"

"Apparently he invented it for one of his college fuck buddies, I think. I am yet to meet the guy."

"And this doesn't bother you?" Kurt asks. "Why would you wanna meet a man that the guy you're dating is obviously so attracted to that he felt it necessary to invent a nickname for him and his...'stick'...?"

"Just curious if he lives up to the hype." Elliott shrugs. "Besides, it's not like that between them anymore."

"And you know this how?"

"He told me. They're just friends now. Nothing more. And I believe him." Elliott says. "Besides, weren't we talking about you and your dilemma?"

"Ugh, don't remind me."

"You can't keep hiding or running from this, Kurt."

"I know."

"It's gonna catch up to you."

"I know."

"You have to make a choice."

"I know."

"And I wanna meet him."

"Not in a million years."

Elliott's pout is epic.

"What were you thinking?" Jeff asked.

"There weren't a lot of thinking involved."

"Gee, you don't say." Jeff deadpans. "You don't throw yourself at taken men, Blaine."

"I swear that I didn't mean to."

"I sure hope not. I'm really disappointed in you." Jeff sighs. "If someone tried to do to Nick, what you tried to do to Kurt...I would kick his ass. It's just disrespectful."

"Please Jeff, you know I'm not like that." Blaine pleads. "I know I messed up, okay?"

"Okay." Jeff says. "But seriously. You can't do things like that. You can't screw up his relationship or he will never forgive you. Not to mention his fiance will track you down and kill you - and I would miss you."

"What should I do then? I was...am...still so sure that there's something there, Jeff."

"Be his friend. If he loves you, then he will come to you, but he has to be the one to make that decision. You can't make that call for him."

"And do you think he will? Come to me I mean."

"Knowing you...if he has any sense, Blaine. Trust me, he will."