Author's Note: A Don't Blink side story. Set between Dust On Every Page and Every Hour Has Come To This.

Take A Cup Of Kindness

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
We'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
~Auld Lang Syne, Robert Burns

It's after nine when Josie arrives at Kurt Hummel's apartment in Hell's Kitchen. She'd stayed at her office later than she'd intended, elbow deep in research for a case, and by the time she got out, the city streets were already overflowing with throngs of people descending on Times Square and every other New Year's Eve celebration going on in the city. She'd been a part of that insanity once, years ago when she'd still been in law school, coming down from Boston over winter break and letting Quinn drag her to Times Square along with Rachel, Kurt, and Santana Lopez. It had been Quinn's first year living in New York, and they'd all frozen their asses off in the middle of a million people to watch the ball drop before getting drunk off their collective asses.

She doesn't need to repeat that particular experience.

She could be attending the party that her brand new boss is hosting from his penthouse apartment uptown, but Josie has only been working at the firm for a few months, having just moved down from Boston, and, frankly, she doesn't yet know any of her co-workers well enough to want to see them outside of business hours. So she'd been grateful for the invitation from Kurt—no doubt at Quinn's prompting—to a low-key celebration at his place.

Josie is only a little surprised when Rachel Berry opens the door, wearing a brilliant smile and a black sweater featuring a large, knitted champagne bottle, tipping glass, and an array of colorful confetti. Josie would never wear it, but somehow on Rachel, it looks perfect—or maybe it's just the skintight jeans and boots that she's paired it with. "Josie, hi. Happy New Year," Rachel greets, pulling her into a warm hug before pulling her inside the apartment.

"Happy New Year," Josie echoes back, presenting a bottle of Devaux. "Champagne for the host," she offers, glancing into the surprisingly crowded apartment. This is Kurt's idea of low-key? "Where isthe host?"

Rachel laughs. "Oh, he's in there somewhere," she says, waving a dismissive hand before she accepts the bottle. "You really didn't need to bring anything."

"My mother taught me to never show up at someone's house empty-handed," she explains as she unbuttons her coat.

"She also taught you how to prepare the perfect cup of tea and cut the crust off of cucumber sandwiches," Quinn points out with a grin, having slipped into the entryway to stand next to Rachel during their exchange, "but you drink coffee and eat crusty bread."

"But I can host a killer Afternoon Tea if I want," Josie fires back, shrugging out of her coat.

"I'm going to run this into the kitchen," Rachel says, tapping the bottle with a fingernail. "Quinn, baby, toss her coat in the bedroom and then go find Kurt and tell him what a terrible host he is."

"This is what you get for agreeing to help him throw this party," Quinn chastises playfully. At Rachel's exaggerated pout, Quinn rolls her eyes and quickly pecks her girlfriend's lips. "Go." Rachel grins and rushes into the apartment while Quinn holds out her hand to take Josie's coat with a smile.

"I was expecting less people."

Quinn shakes her head. "So were we, but Kurt invited a few of the people he's been working with on his label, and his current boyfriend, Alan, invited a few of his friends, and Santana brought her friend with benefits, Janelle," she says with another roll of her eyes, "and…well," she hedges, shrugging, "Rachel and I invited Sarah so she wouldn't have to be alone."

Josie pauses at that revelation, gaping at Quinn. Of course, she's heard all about Quinn's ex-girlfriend moving to New York, and she knows that Quinn has spoken with Sarah a few times over the last few months, but she certainly didn't think they were chummy enough for Quinn to bring her along on a New Year's Eve date with Rachel. "You and Rachel invited her?" she clarifies suspiciously.

Quinn laughs a little. "Well, Rachel wasn't thrilled about it at first, but she's pretty much a sucker for a poor, unfortunate soul."

Josie frowns in confusion. "Since when is Sarah Cartwright a poor, unfortunate soul?"

"Oh, she isn't, really," Quinn acknowledges, "but she's all alone in the big city, miles away from everyone she knows, with nowhere to go and no one to spend the holiday with," she points out with a smirk. "I just had to pluck the right heartstrings."

"And Rachel fell for that?"

Quinn blushes lightly. "I might have had to bribe her a little, too."

"Must have been one hell of a bribe," Josie teases, noticing the expression on Quinn's face and comparing it to what a good mood Rachel seems to be in tonight.

"It served its purpose," Quinn admits with an embarrassed smile.

Josie chuckles as she follows Quinn further into the apartment until Quinn briefly disappears down a narrow hallway to dispose of her coat. It's a really nice place—spacious and modern, with clean lines, large windows, and a beautiful view of the city. There's music playing just loud enough to be a pleasant background track to the conversation and laughter happening around her. A few people here look like they walked out of a magazine—models most probably—but the majority of them are casually dressed in jeans and sweaters, although no one else went the festive route that Rachel chose. That's probably a good thing.

"Josie Deveraux! Hello, hello," Kurt twitters, rushing over with a glass of wine to give her a kiss on her cheek. "Happy New Year, and welcome to my humble abode."

"Thanks for inviting me," she returns with a smile.

"There are hors d'oeuvres on the kitchen island and…well, scattered around the room, by now," he informs her jovially, "and there are various wines and champagnes in the kitchen, so help yourself."

"You are a terrible host," Rachel scolds, coming up beside him with a wine glass in each hand, one of which she extends to Josie. "Cabernet Sauvignon, if I remember correctly."

Josie nods, impressed. "You do. Thanks."

She turns to Kurt with a haughty look. "And that's how you do it," she crows before taking a sip of the pale, pink liquid in her own glass.

"Excuse me," Quinn cuts in with a frown. "Where's mine?"

"I only have two hands, Quinn, and unlike Josie, you already know where to find everything."

"Gee, thanks, sweetie," she drawls, unimpressed, but Rachel only smiles and kisses her. When they part, Quinn runs her tongue across her lower lip with a thoughtful hum. "The Chardonnay would have been better," she muses.

Rachel playfully pokes Quinn in the side before she's snagged by the waist and pulled into the curve of Quinn's body where she settles comfortably into her embrace.

Kurt rolls his eyes at them and reaches for Josie's hand. "Come on. I'll make some introductions so that I can no longer be accused of being a poor host."

Josie chuckles and lets herself be led around the crowded room while Kurt recites a list of names that she knows she'll never remember tonight. They pass by Santana, who used the occasion to dress up in the tightest, little red dress that Josie has ever seen her wear. She has a glass of wine in one hand and the ass of a pretty, short-haired, African-American woman in the other.

Santana grins a little drunkenly when she sees her. "Wha' S'nu, Pussycat?"

Josie lets the familiar greeting slide by without comment and shakes her head in amusement. "Who gave you the night off?"

Santana snorts, letting go of the woman next to her. "The one and only perk of still being a med student. No one wants to babysit us tonight. This is Janelle, by the way," she gestures before turning to her companion. "Janelle, Josie. Quinn's hot friend from college."

Janelle huffs in mild exasperation but smiles politely at Josie and extends her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Josie returns, with an equally polite smile, shaking the woman's hand.

"Oh, speaking of college friends," Kurt interrupts, still at Josie's side despite his obvious distraction with observing all of his other guests, "I believe you have another one over there." His voice holds a noticeable air of coolness as he points to the far corner of the room.

Josie follows his line of sight, unsurprised to see Sarah standing close to the wall, seemingly involved in a conversation with an attractive guy that Josie hasn't yet been introduced to. She supposes that she understands Kurt's lack of enthusiasm—he's Rachel's best friend first and foremost—but even though she has her doubts about how successful this whole attempt by Quinn to befriend her ex-girlfriend will be, Josie had always liked Sarah back in their college days. Maybe she hadn't been the most spontaneous person in the world, but she'd been smart, sweet, and cute in that shy, slightly nerdy way that Josie found kind of endearing.

She's still cute, though her current posture suggests that she isn't all that comfortable—whether it's the party in general or her present company specifically, Josie can't be certain. "I believe you're right," she agrees distractedly. "If you'll excuse me."

Josie juggles her wine as she navigates around bodies and furniture. The closer she gets to Sarah and the guy, the more clearly the conversation comes into focus, and Josie realizes that it's not so much a conversation as the guy talking at Sarah about his job as a paramedic. Oh—no—wait—his job playing a paramedic on some television show.

"I was only supposed to be a background character in one episode when they hired me, but they liked my looks so much that they kept me around. I'll practically be a regular next season," he boasts. "You should really watch it. It's a great show."

"I don't really watch much television," Sarah mutters with a strained smile.

"Oh, come on, honey. Everybody watches television. It's the national pastime."

"Actually, that would be baseball," Josie interrupts with a smirk, suppressing a laugh when they both turn to her with matching expressions of surprise. The guy (who actually does look a little familiar now that Josie can really get a good look at him) goes from annoyed to interested in the blink of an eye, but Sarah is nothing but relieved to see a familiar face. Josie has always considered herself to be pretty adept at reading body language, and even without the inappropriate "honey," she'd bet a year of her salary that actor guy has been attempting to chat up a very uninterested Sarah.

Grinning wickedly, Josie slides an arm around Sarah's waist, momentarily ignoring the way her body stiffens under the unexpected touch. "Josie, what…?"

"Here's your wine, Sarah, honey," she purrs, cutting off Sarah's objection and offering her glass to the woman. "I'm sorry I left you alone for so long." Josie turns to actor guy with a grateful smile. "Thanks for keeping her company while I was gone. I'm Josie, by the way. I'd shake your hand, but," she trails off meaningfully, glancing back at Sarah, who finally seems to shake off her bewilderment as she clumsily reaches for the wine glass in Josie's hand. Josie smiles gratefully and extends her now free hand to actor guy.

She has the pleasure of watching him gape at them in confusion for a moment before he recovers and takes Josie's hand. "Nick Paul," he mumbles.

Josie shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you," she lies smoothly. "So, did I hear you say that you're an actor?" she questions dumbly. "Would I have seen you in anything?"

He looks slightly affronted, and she braces herself to listen to his resume. She's fairly certain that he hasn't been in anything significant, but she thinks she might have seen him on some crime drama as the drug dealer du jour. "You know what," he finally says, holding up his hands in silent defeat, "you probably wouldn't have. It's been nice to meet you both. Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year to you," she replies cheerfully, waiting until after he walks away to release her hold on Sarah's waist. She doesn't really dwell on just how comfortably Sarah had fit into her side.

Turning to Sarah with a smile, Josie reaches out and snags her glass back, lifting to her lips to take a sip before she casually asks, "So, how have you been? It's been what? Almost five years?"

Sarah flushes pink and shoves her hands into the pockets of her black jeans. "That…you…I," she stammers before she puffs out a frustrated breath and glances away. "Why did you do that?" she finally manages to ask in a coherent manner.

"Well, you looked like you were either praying for the building to collapse or trying to figure out if you could survive throwing yourself out the window," Josie explains teasingly. "But if I was wrong and you were enjoying that conversation, then I'm sorry," she apologizes sincerely. "It probably was an unnecessarily rude way to interrupt," she admits with a shrug.

Sarah nods. "Rude…but apparently effective. And it was the window," she confesses self-consciously, digging her hands deeper into her pockets. "I'd never want the building to collapse."

Josie laughs. "That would certainly put a damper on the party." Plus, Sarah's livelihood is tied to erecting buildings, not destroying them. "Although, you don't seem like you're having much fun," she notes conversationally before taking another sip of her wine.

Sarah shrugs, dropping her eyes as she mumbles, "Parties aren't really my forte. And I don't really know many people here."

"Did Quinn and Rachel just abandon you to your own devices?" Josie asks with a frown, giving the room a cursory glance and spotting the couple, side-by-side, talking to one of Kurt's friends.

"No," Sarah denies quickly. "They…well, Quinn meant well, I think," she defends weakly, looking more than a little uncomfortable. "To be fair, I…I guess I'm not really in the mood to watch them together for an extended period of time."

Josie can feel her eyebrows inch up as she breathes out a quiet, "Oh." The idea that Sarah might still be carrying a torch for Quinn bothers her, for a multitude of reasons—a few of which she's not in the mood to analyze right now.

Sarah's eyes widen. "Not that I'm…there's nothing…I'm over Quinn," she insists clumsily, dragging her hands out of her pockets and crossing her right arm beneath her breasts to nervously rub at her left arm. "It's just…awkward."

Josie also isn't in the mood to analyze why she feels quite so relieved at that confession. She smiles sympathetically. "I know awkward. My ex hired my mother to plan his wedding in August," she shares, quirking her lips in bitter amusement.

Sarah visibly cringes. "Ouch."

"I know." She'd dated Keith while she'd still been in law school, and they'd had an amicable breakup almost three years ago, so she's been over him for a while, but that doesn't stop her from wishing that her mother had told him to take his business elsewhere. She supposes that's what she gets for having dated someone whose parents and hers have been friends for a good twenty years.

"So how have you been?" Josie asks again with genuine interest, leaning against the wall. "Quinn said you're working at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on Wall Street."

"Oh…um…yeah," Sarah stutters, seemingly caught off guard that Josie knows that. She fidgets a little with her hands before returning them to her pockets. "That's…the job is great, actually. It's a lot of hard work, but I'm learning so much. Um…what about you? Last I knew, you were back in…Boston, right?"

"I was. I actually just moved in November. A friend of mine from law school gave me a line on a job here, and it just felt like a good move, you know."

Sarah frowns. "Not really."

Josie shrugs a single shoulder. "Well, it's good for me right now. I have a few friends that ended up living in the area, and Megan isn't very far away in Allentown. If I feel the urge to visit my parents, Boston is just a four hour drive away."

Sarah nods at that—her expression growing wistful. "Must be nice to be so close to them."

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no," Josie says on a laugh. She'd gone back to Boston to be closer to her family, mostly because she'd wanted to spend more time with her late grandmother before she'd passed, but it didn't take long for her to remember that it is possible to be too close to your family. She thinks a little distance will be better for everyone.

Sarah smiles slightly and shifts her weight. Her eyes dart around the room in that unfocused way that happens when someone is looking for something to say and hoping to find it flashing in some magical dialogue box in the sky. Josie wonders if she's making Sarah especially nervous, or if it's just the effect of her being in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. Josie has never had a problem feeling comfortable in these kinds of situations, but she understands that not everyone is like her.

"So," Sarah begins, drawing out the word a little too long as she forces her gaze back to Josie, "do you just transfer your law license from state to state?"

Josie chuckles and shakes her head—she wishes it was that easy. "No. I sat for the New York bar at the same time that I sat for Massachusetts. Luckily, I passed them both; otherwise I would have had to take the exam again to practice law here." There are some waivers to that requirement, depending on the state, but most of them demand more years of experience as a practicing lawyer than Josie currently has.

"Wow," Sarah murmurs with admiration glittering in her eyes. "That's kind of impressive."

"Or crazy," Josie laughingly corrects. Studying for two bars had been extremely stressful, but it really had been better in the long run to give herself an extra option from the very beginning. "What about you? How does the whole architectural license thing work? I mean, you're working here now, but…well, according to Quinn, Michigan is still the final destination."

"It is," Sarah confirms without hesitation. "For a small fee," she explains with a caustic grin, "I'll be able to apply for reciprocal registration once I meet all the requirements. So right now, I'm just focused on working toward my license."

Josie hums thoughtfully. "What exactly does that entail?"

"I…are you really interested," Sarah asks uncertainly, "or are you just making polite small talk?"

"I thought we just finished the polite small talk," Josie responds with a grin. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't interested," she assures her.

Sarah's cheeks grow pink again. "Oh…um…okay. Just…tell me if I start to bore you," she cautions.

"I spend my days buried up to my elbows in law books," Josie points out. "Trust me. You won't bore me," she promises.

And she isn't lying. Once Sarah starts to talk about her job and the project that she's currently working on, it's like watching a flower bloom under the sun. Her posture opens up, her hands come out of her pockets, and her eyes stay focused on Josie, sparkling with passion. Josie finds herself thinking that Sarah isn't just cute—she's absolutely lovely. That long muted buzz of attraction that she'd ignored back in college for obvious reasons suddenly starts coming in loud and clear.

The conversation flows easily once Sarah relaxes, and it even weathers an interruption by Quinn and Rachel when they come over to check on them. Josie snags two glasses of wine, and then she snags two prime seats on the low-set window seal while they talk politics, and before she knows it, the room is counting down to midnight. Sarah is smiling freely as she counts along, and when the moment arrives and the room erupts into loud cheers and a chorus of Happy New Years, Josie gives into her instincts and leans over to softly brush her lips across Sarah's in a brief, chaste kiss.

Sarah inhales sharply just as Josie pulls back with a crooked grin. "Happy New Year," she murmurs, barely audible beneath the impromptu rendition of Auld Lang Syne. Josie can hear Rachel's voice ring out clear as a bell above everyone else.

"Um…y-yeah," Sarah whispers with a pretty blush. "Wh-what was that?"

"It's tradition," Josie answers lightly, despite the heaviness in the air between them. "The person you kiss at midnight is supposed to indicate the tone for the year to come, and so far it's been a pretty good night with great company and even better conversation. I figured we could both do with more of the same," she offers with a hopeful smile. "And having another friend in this city certainly can't hurt."

Sarah's cheeks darken, and she bites back a shy grin as she nervously tucks her hair behind her ear. "I…I think I'd like that."

Josie's smile widens. She suddenly has the unshakable feeling that it's going to be a really good year.