Author's Note: First, thank you to electrictoes for coming in and agreeing to beta my fic so late in the game. And then for putting up with my weird hours. Thank you to andintheendtheloveyoutake for being the first beta for my fic. You have no idea how grateful I am for having a pair of eyes that I knew take a look at my fic before anyone else did. Thank you to voicelikehelvetica for putting up with random vague ramblings about my fic, and never once complaining. And thank you to killerquinn, I am so excited to have art for this fic!

Posted as part of the Kurt Hummel Big Bang

It was June and Kurt was looking for an apartment. At 21 he was living in New York City, and his step-brother was marrying his best friend. He had originally come to New York with Rachel with the intention of majoring in musical theater in order to fulfill his Broadway dreams. After two semesters at NYADA however, Kurt had found that he wanted to study fashion instead of musical theater. Yes, he enjoyed the stage and some of the people at NYADA, but at the same time, he'd had more fun with costume design than anything else he'd done there. So he'd finally made the decision in February to apply for a transfer to FIT. He could learn fashion in NYC. He'd still be near Rachel and Finn and the friends he'd made at NYADA, but he would also be able to pursue fashion. Plus, he could use his connections to his advantage.

Fast forward two years to April of his Junior year of college. Finn and Rachel had decided it was time to "finally" get married. They set the date for the end of July, with the wedding taking place in Ohio so that everyone could come. Plus, Rachel loved the idea of an outdoor wedding. Once they had settled on a location, they had asked Kurt to help them plan it. This had been followed by an assurance that he could still get an apartment with them in the fall. He would rather have to deal with a strange roommate than being their third wheel any longer. Perhaps he could get a place a bit closer to FIT and his new job at the Spotlight Diner.

That was how he'd ended up sitting in the coffee shop he frequented during midterms and finals, searching the internet for a roommate. After an hour he'd managed to email ten different possibilities about setting up an appointment to meet with them and then tour the apartment. His top three choices were: a guy named Henry Smith who lived about eight blocks from the main part of campus, another guy named Blaine Anderson who lived closer, but had slightly steeper rent, and Paul Richards and Billy Goodman who lived six blocks away. All of his possibilities were undergraduates or graduate students and they all had places that seemed a reasonable size by New York standards. It was only a matter of whether or not he could see himself getting along with the people living there, the price, and what the place looked like.

Five days later and he'd already met with options one and three. While the first one seemed like it could work (the guy seemed nice enough and the place was tidy), Kurt didn't want to commit if he didn't have to. The guy was 26 and had made it sound like he was getting pretty serious with his girlfriend. Good for Henry and his girlfriend, bad for Kurt and his desire to not have to move out soon. Option three was crossed off his list right away. The apartment was a mess to put it lightly. Beer bottles everywhere and clothing not even contained to their respective bedrooms.

And that was how he came to be standing in front of an apartment with the initials "B.A." written on the door. He was actually about a half an hour early because he had planned some extra time in case he got lost. As he was debating skulking outside the door for twenty minutes before knocking versus just knocking and catching - he glanced down at the note he was holding - Blaine Anderson off guard, Kurt heard footsteps approaching him from behind and someone breathing heavily. He spun around, and then froze. There was a man standing there bent over, panting. He was about the same age as Kurt and had short, curly brown hair.

After a moment the man looked up at him and, after wiping his hand on his shorts, held it out for Kurt to shake. He looked Kurt straight in the eyes and Kurt froze momentarily, taking in the warm hazel eyes that were looking up at him, before grasping the other boys hand to shake it.

"Blaine Anderson."

"Kurt Hummel."

"Oh! So you're here to look at the apartment then?" Blaine glanced down at his watch slightly confused before looking back up at Kurt again and smiling politely, "I'm sorry, I totally thought we said noon-"

"We did, I just planned to get lost four or five times on my way here, but instead I actually had no trouble at finding the place, so I'm here early." Kurt paused and then hurriedly said, "If that's a problem I can go find a coffee shop or something and come back in fifteen minutes?"

"Oh, no it's not a problem at all. You can come in now, just let me throw on some clean clothes or something – or, would you mind if I grabbed a shower real quick? I'm like covered in sweat right now." As he said this, Blaine glanced down at himself and made a face.

"Yeah, sure, that's fine."

Kurt watched Blaine's sweat-covered shirt cling to his back as he walked to the kitchen and pulled two glasses out of the cabinet, filling one with water. "Would you like anything to drink while you wait?" he asked while gulping his own water down. "I could make you coffee or something if you'd like?"

With a small laugh Kurt waved him off. "I'm sure I can find everything on my own, you go shower."

Blaine looked slightly unsure for a moment, but then he merely pulled at his shirt while scrunching up his nose in disgust. "I am kind of really gross right now, a five mile run in this heat was a dumb idea. Alright," he said backing towards the archway and speaking in a business-like manner, "mugs are in the cabinet by the microwave, coffee beans are next to that. Make yourself at home while you wait. I should only be ten minutes or so." Turning, he walked out of the kitchen and through a door into what Kurt assumed was his room.

Kurt stood in silence for a minute, staring at the spot that Blaine had had just been standing, before mentally shaking himself and turning to the cabinet that Blaine had pointed out. Peering in, he saw a dozen mugs sitting there; at them all, he saw a few plain, solid colored ones, a red polka dotted one, a "World's Best Brother" mug, a few NYC ones, one with a fancy (slightly familiar looking) D emblazoned on it, and a crazy looking Disney mug. Picking out a New York mug Kurt began making his coffee while poking around the kitchen curiously, trying to get an idea of who Blaine was and how he lived.

By the time Kurt heard Blaine turn off the shower, Kurt had poured himself a cup of coffee and settled in at the kitchen table, leaning back against his chair and gazing out of the window. When Blaine re-entered the room, heading straight for the coffee, Kurt took in his appearance. Blaine was wearing a navy blue t-shirt with the same red letter D that had been on the mug in the cabinet and a pair of tan capris. He was barefoot, and still wearing his watch, and his curly hair was now clean and damp. Blaine finished pouring coffee into his "World's Best Brother" mug and sat down at the table across from Kurt.

Blaine took a sip of coffee while observing Kurt over the rim. Kurt finally drank from his own mug, and, after lowering it back down again, began to speak. "So how long have-" he stopped, looking from his coffee to Blaine. "Wow this coffee is really good. And I know it wasn't my amazing button pushing skills that made it this delicious. How on earth is this so good?!"

Blaine let out a laugh. "I can't just go around revealing my coffee bean mixing secrets to strangers now can I?" His eyes dancing as he spoke. "Then I would have to take 'coffee wizard' off my resume."

Kurt chuckled and set his mug back down, looking up and smiling at Blaine. Before he could start asking his question again, Blaine spoke. "You want a tour? We can take the magical coffee with us if you want," he teased. "And then we can talk about the place." Kurt nodded and they both stood up.

"So this is the kitchen, I use it for general food storage purposes and coffee drinking needs."

Laughing, Kurt nodded his head. "You cook food in here too sometimes?"

"Yeah occasionally," Blaine shrugged. "I'm not all that great of a cook though, so I mostly stick to the stove top and the microwave."

"Well if I become your roommate, maybe I'll teach you how to cook some meals... if you're lucky."

"You cook?"

"Yup. I started making dinner for my dad a few years after my mom died because I was tired of the three meals he could competently make."

"Lots of practice then, I'll have to keep that in mind." Blaine led them out of the kitchen and back into the living room. "This is the living room. My parents insisted on giving me a flat screen. But my favorite part of this room is the view from the balcony. I didn't actually think I would be able to get a good view without being in a skyscraper, but, look," Blaine gestured outside.

Kurt walked out onto the balcony/fire escape and saw that Blaine was right. He had an excellent spot to look up and down the street and people watch. Retreating back inside after a few minutes, Kurt took in the piano that was adjacent to the balcony, the bookshelf, the stereo system, the flat screen TV, and the matching sofa set in the living room. He raised his eyebrow questioningly at Blaine, because this was not your average college-age student apartment.

Blaine blushed slightly. "Oh, the furniture and stuff? Yeah, umm," he scratched the back of his neck somewhat nervously. "When my parents came down after I first moved in last summer my mom was appalled by the mismatched run down furniture and insisted on replacing it all. I told her not to bother but when I came back from class the day they left this was here." He paused for a moment gazing at it all. Laughing slightly he continued, "For a second when I walked in I thought I'd somehow gone in the wrong apartment…"

"Wow, your parents sound really amazing to have done that for you."

Blaine shrugged, "I think it's the only way they know how to show support. They weren't exactly thrilled when I told them I was going to go to college over five hundred miles away from home. They'd hoped I was going to be a bit closer, but grudgingly let me go because they could see how much it meant to me and because of the whole 'Columbia' thing."

"My dad felt the same way. I mean, he always knew I was going to leave Ohio the second I could and head for New York, but it didn't make it easy when the day finally came."

"You're from Ohio? I'm from Westerville! It's like a half hour outside of Columbus."

"Wow! Small world," Kurt replied. "Glad to see someone else made it out then."

They studied each other for a moment both wondering if they'd crossed paths before and what else they might have in common. Mentally shaking himself Blaine closed the fire escape window. "I guess it's onto showing you the rest of the place then?"

Kurt nodded. Blaine led them a few steps and pulled a door open. Gesturing inside he said "This is my room." Kurt poked his head in and looked around. In the brief look that he got, he saw that the room had a simple design and sleek wooden furniture. There was a bookshelf in the corner that was filled with a myriad of books and trinkets. On the wall was a collage of pictures that seemed to be from various stages of Blaine's life. There was sheet music on the floor and a record player in the corner. Next to it was a large collection of CDs, records, and DVDs. The room as a whole was a bit cluttered, but none of it really surprised Kurt.

Moving further along Blaine pulled the next door open. "And this, this will be your room if you decide to live here. The bathroom's right next to it and everything!"

Kurt gazed around the room from the doorway, and then walked in. Circling the room, he took in the plain walls, the two windows that afforded him a lovely view, and the decent sized closet in the corner.

"Would I be allowed to paint and decorate however I want?"

"As long as you don't mess up the carpet you'd be free to do as you please with the room."

Kurt smiled. "Excellent!"

As they walked out of the room, Kurt's phone began to ring. Pulling it out and checking the caller ID, he saw that it was the caterers for Rachel's wedding. "Shoot! I have to take this. It's the wedding caterers," he said, sending an apologetic look at Blaine.

Blaine looked at him, blinking confusedly. "The wedding caterers…?"

"Yeah, my friend Rachel is marrying my step-brother in a few weeks and I'm planning the wedding."

"Oh! Okay." Blaine said, eyes darting around the apartment. "Umm, so to wrap this up real quick then; if you want to move in or have any more questions you can just give me a call in the next few days and we'll go over the details and such?"

"Sounds great! I'll call you soon then. It was great meeting you." And with that Kurt waved goodbye to Blaine, turned around, and left the apartment closing the door softly behind him while simultaneously answering the phone.

Kurt called Blaine two days later. He confirmed the price of his half of the rent and told Blaine that he wouldn't be moving in until the beginning of August because he would be home for Finn and Rachel's wedding. This had led to a discussion about summers in Ohio and how they compared to New York. Thirty minutes later Blaine had realized that he was running late to class so they quickly wrapped up the call with an agreement to meet up at Blaine's apartment the next day around eleven to sign the paperwork and such.

After he hung up the phone, Kurt looked around his dorm room and smiled to himself. He was kind of really looking forward to living with Blaine. Not only would it be nice to no longer have to deal with the dorms, but it also seemed as though he and Blaine had a lot in common and would become fast friends. For now though, he had the wedding to be excited for (even though he still found it ridiculous that Finn and Rachel weren't waiting until after college to get married). Between that and orchestrating his move to the apartment, Kurt had a lot to figure out before he could get completely excited for moving in with Blaine.