New Year's came and went, and Kurt was on his plane back to New York. Kurt knew that there was no way he would never get used to kissing Blaine goodbye, ever. No matter how much time they got together, separating again was never easy. The look on Blaine's face as he made his way through security killed him, the way Blaine's eyes welled with tears and he hugged himself around the middle just watching Kurt walk away from him. They were both hoping these next six months would be the fastest six months of their lives. The plane ride back was quick; Kurt spent almost all of it staring out the window lost in thought. As much as he loved New York and his apartment, it wasn't the same without Blaine that was for sure. It just felt so...empty.

Kurt hated this, once he got back to New York it would mean he was officially back to his everyday normal. Which meant relying on his phone to be his only connection to Blaine, he was back to being alone now, back to sleeping alone in his bed meant for two, back to cooking meals for one, back to feeling incomplete knowing half of his heart was in Lima. So till Blaine's next visit he would just focus on working as hard as he could, planning their wedding and keeping himself as busy as possible. A movie night with Santana would probably be good for him right about now; she had a tendency to make him laugh and maybe some retail therapy with Rachel as well.

He'd been considering inviting Puck up to visit him again for a couple weeks, now that Kurt wasn't depressed he'd probably be much better company. With Puck's recently sexuality epiphany, maybe coming somewhere like New York, that had a lot more to offer as far as men-wise would be a good place for him to hang out for a bit. Get him away from Lima for a while and show him there's a much bigger world outside it with a lot more opportunity. Kurt had also been toying with the idea of setting Puck up with Alex if he did come. Maybe just for drinks or something and see if they hit it off.

He'd kept in contact with Alex since their disaster date turned friends night out, they got along surprisingly well and Kurt had learned a lot about him, after everything he knew now, he thought that he and Puck might be good together, they were both attractive and Alex was a good guy, he was sensitive and understanding, he had money, had everything he could really want when it came to materialistic things, he had been all over the world and was already set in his career path; at this point the only thing Alex was missing was someone to share it all with, and he loved kids. Apparently Alex had a four year old niece who had him wrapped around his finger. So maybe...someone like him would be good with Puck, he'd have to meet Alex for lunch or something and show him a picture, maybe tell him about him a little bit and see what he thought or if he was willing to give it a shot. Couldn't hurt right?

*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*
Alexander Ballatori considered himself a happy individual. He had a good life, he had great friends, a job that had allowed him to travel the world and make more than enough money to live on. The only problem was he was simply...lonely.

The first time he'd met Kurt Hummel he'd been surprised at how talented he was, he seemed as though he'd been working in the fashion industry for the last twenty years, the fact that he was fresh out of high school was baffling to him. Even though Kurt hadn't been his normal 'type' he'd liked him, he'd admired him. But at the end of the day they really were best as just friends, even if Kurt hadn't already found the love of his life, he doubted they would have worked in the long run. So Alex was satisfied with simply being his friend. He'd heard all about Blaine and the proposal while Kurt had been back home for Thanksgiving, he'd even had the chance to meet Blaine while he'd been in New York for Christmas having run into them one morning at a coffee house. It was more than a little obvious the two of them were meant for each other. While Alex was happy for the both of them, it had just been another reminder that he was alone. At 22 Alex considered himself to be a success, he had a beautiful condo he loved and more money than he knew what to do with. All he wanted though to be honest was someone to come home to at the end of the day, someone who he could share things with, and someone who could come with him on his travels. He was tired of being alone all the time. What was success without someone to share it with? Nothing.

When Kurt had asked him to have lunch with him at work a few days after he got back from Lima, he'd naturally said yes. He had certainly not been expecting Kurt to ask him if he would be even a little interested in meeting a newly bisexual friend of his who was looking for a serious relationship and had had a hard life and just needed someone he could love and trust and build a life with, Alex had simply said 'Why not?' and asked if he had a picture. Needless to say, Noah Puckerman was a seriously attractive man, honestly Alex wondered if he'd ever considered modeling and even if they didn't hit it off he'd at least introduce him to his agent and see if he could help him out a bit. The more Kurt talked about Noah, the more interested Alex became, he had baggage that was for sure, a daughter from a teen pregnancy who he had given up for adoption only because he wasn't able to care for her, and still had contact with, the bad luck with relationships and women who had essentially gone out of their way whether they meant to or not to make him feel as worthless as humanely possible, His lack of father figure and being constantly told he would never amount to anything. It sounded to Alex like Noah Puckerman needed someone to treat him right and show him what it was like to have someone put HIM first for once. So he agreed, if Kurt could convince him to come to New York, Alex would meet him and see what happened.

*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*

When Kurt had asked him how he would feel about escaping to New York for a few weeks, Puck had jumped at the opportunity no convincing necessary. He needed a break from Lima, so why not head to New York to hang out with his best friend? Maybe he'd get lucky and meet someone while he was there, he wasn't against moving away from Lima, if anything he was desperate for it, but he didn't want to ask Kurt if he could stay with him while he got on his feet, it wouldn't be right and he highly doubted the Hobbit would be cool with it. Which he totally understood. But maybe while he was there he would look for work and see if he found anything, obviously his pool cleaning business was going absolutely nowhere, and he really didn't get paid as much now that he wasn't sleeping with any of his customers. Not his fault he wanted a real relationship, he was tired of being used as a sex object for a bunch of desperate lonely women who didn't give a shit about him. He needed something more now, something of substance. Which meant until he found it, Puckzilla was going to abstain from sex for the first time since...well...he was still a virgin actually.

He'd packed his bags and was on his way to New York only two days after Kurt's phone call. No time like the present, not like anything was keeping him in Lima, he had no life here. Puck would admit he liked New York, well...who didn't really? But he just enjoyed it, all the different people. It was the perfect place to start fresh.

Once he made it to New York and set himself up a spot on Kurt's couch. He was feeling pretty good about life in general. He just had a feeling something good was going to happen while he was here in New York. Since it was Friday he pretty much had Kurt's place to himself while he was at work, he'd been told to make himself at home, given a spare key to keep on him and the address to Kurt's work in case of emergency and the time he got off and should be home. Because Puckzilla wasn't one to sit still very long he'd pocketed the key, shoved his wallet and phone in his pocket as well alone with the paper with the address to Kurt's work, slung his guitar over his shoulder and headed out to explore a bit. The last time he'd been here he'd spent the majority of his time in the apartment with Kurt and the girls attempting to make sure Kurt wasn't going crazy with depression, the only time they'd really left had been to go to that one bar where Kurt sang and left in tears. It felt good to be here on better terms. He'd walked until he found himself at a coffee shop that was apparently around the corner from Kurt's work and sat down with a coffee outside at a table and pulled his guitar over his shoulder and started to just strum away unthinkingly.

He closed his eyes and just played, he never noticed that people had stopped and started to listen to him, so when he opened his eyes and saw a small crowd had gathered he'd paused for a moment before shrugging and continuing. He started to sing along with the song he'd started playing and looked at the people who had stopped to listen, as he scanned the crowd he stopped on a pair of emerald green eyes that were staring at him intently with almost a disbelieving look on his face. To put it simply...Green eyes was probably the best looking man Puck had ever seen...in his life. Princess included, and that said something. He kept his eyes locked on the handsome stranger as he put more feeling into his song. When he finished everyone clapped and a few people offered him a tip which he tried to brush off but they had shoved into his hand with a laugh saying someone who sounded like him should get paid to sing. Setting down his guitar and taking a sip of his coffee he kept his eyes on the man who was still watching him as the crowd parted only now his face held a vaguely amused smile. With a quirk of the brow Puck gestured to the seat next to him, his face breaking out into a pleased smile when the man walked towards him and sat across from him at the table setting down his own coffee.

"Hi" Puck said simply.
The man laughed and his eyes crinkled at the corners "Hi there, is this the part we introduce ourselves? And pretend we haven't been watching each other the last ten minutes?" He asked smiling.

Puck nodded and offered a hand "I guess so....I'm Noah Puckerman"

The man took his hand gently in his "Alex, my name is Alex Ballatori and it is very nice to meet you Noah Puckerman"

Puck grinned at the slightly flirtatious tone the man had taken; perhaps this meant that the incredibly handsome Alex Ballatori was interested?

"Oh is it? Why is that?" He asked leaning forward and looking into the man's eyes.

"Because Noah, I'm convinced that we were meant to meet, its fate. That settles it." Alex responded leaning towards Noah who looked a little confused.

"Really? How'd you figure that out?" he asked curiously.

"Well you see...I'm a friend of Kurt Hummel's... we work together actually and he was just telling me earlier today that his friend Noah Puckerman was visiting from Lima and he thought he should introduce us. Apparently it's not necessary now, we've met. You know what that means don't you?" Alex asked with a sly grin.

A thoroughly surprised Puck shook his head and responded with a slow "That is a coincidence...and No...I don't know...what does it mean?"

"It means Noah...that you... should come have dinner with me tomorrow night, if you'd be willing there's this incredible place that not too far from my place that serves Italian " Alex said confidently catching Puck's hand in his and holding it lightly.

Puck was more than a little bewildered at the sparks he felt the each time Alex had touched his hand, and that made his decision for him. "I...Uhh...sure...It's a date" he whispered staring down at their hands marveling at the sensation. Alex squeezed his fingers lightly and caressed Puck's knuckles with his thumb.

"Perfect, so how about this, why don't you come with me back to the office so you can say Hi to our dear friend Kurt, he'll probably get a good laugh out of us meeting without his interference...besides he has to congratulate me on scoring a date tomorrow night with this incredibly handsome guitar player I met outside a coffee shop"

"Sure why not, and thank you... So what do you do? Are you a designer like Kurt?" Puck asked picking up his guitar and slinging it back over his shoulder tossing his coffee and walking with Alex in the direction of his and Kurt's work.

"I'm a Male Model actually" Alex responded dryly with a roll of his eyes. Puck grinned and turned to look Alex up and down slowly obviously checking him out which got a sincerely amused grin from Alex who turned in a slow circle for him. "I can definitely see it...your kind of gorgeous you know? Well...you probably do...people take pictures of you for a living" Puck flushed embarrassingly turning to walk again towards the building only to have Alex catch his hand and stop him "So are you...gorgeous I mean. Have you ever considered modeling? If not...you should." Alex said trailing his eyes down Puck's body and back up lingering on his face with a smile.

Puck's eyebrows shot up in surprise "Umm...no I haven't actually...thank you, I'll keep that in mind I guess" he mumbled ducking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. He'd never felt this flustered in his life; he'd never been so nervous and unsure of himself. Alex was...so good looking it was almost hard to look at him, the man was beautiful, his eyes so green and sparkling that when you looked into them it was easy to get lost. This was insane...he was Noah Puckerman...Puckzilla...Puckasaurus...he didn't do nervous and shy. But apparently in front of Alex Ballatori, Puck was reduced to some shy bumbling idiot who couldn't help but stare. How in the hell was he supposed to go on a date with a guy like this?

*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*

Kurt had actually been astonished when he looked up from his cell phone in the break room and saw Noah walk in with a grinning Alex, who had been right, he had laughed when they told him they met outside a coffee shop and had a date tomorrow night. If this didn't prove to him in some way Alex and Noah were supposed to get together, he didn't know what would. It was fate, and Kurt was a genius.

After work Kurt had essentially rushed home to find Puck sitting awkwardly on the couch waiting for him, it was easy to see he was thinking about something and nervous if the way he was twiddling his thumbs were any indication.

"Hey Puck...you alright?"

"Yea Princess...I'm...okay...just thinking about that Alex guy I guess" he admitted staring down at his hands.

Kurt sat down next to him with a small smile "Would you like me to tell you about him?"

Puck nodded and turned to face Kurt "Please...Ive never felt this completely out of sorts around anyone before and its messing with my head, maybe if I know more about him it will make him seem more human and less super-hot male model"

So Kurt told Puck everything he knew about Alex to date, including their incredibly awkward first date were Kurt ended up talking about Blaine the entire time. He told Puck how nice of a guy Alex was and how he was incredibly understanding with a good sense of humor and that he was really just looking for someone to love and have a relationship with, someone who wanted him for more than the fact he was a good looking guy. While Puck thought it was nice to hear all about Alex, he still thought the guy was too good to be true. Sure he sounded great, and seemed nice...but this guy had probably dated wealthy and successful people from all over the world, how could Puck ever compare with that? He'd never been someone who seemed to lack confidence, but now he was just worried. What would they talk about? Would Alex think he was stupid? Would he be disappointed that Puck really was just some loser from Ohio?

The following day, Kurt helped Puck get dressed and tried to get him to calm down. Puck had showered, shaved, gotten dressed and still felt like he looked as if he just rolled out of bed in comparison to Alex.

"Maybe I should just cancel..." He said flopping down on the sofa and putting his head in his hands

"Noah...stop, you are not going to cancel, you are going to go out with Alex and you are both going to have an incredible time I promise" Kurt said squeezing Puck's shoulder in support. Puck just shook him off and resumed his pacing.

"No...Kurt you just...you don't understand, people like Alex don't go for guys like me. I'm nothing, no one; my most valuable possession is my piece of shit guitar, and Alex? He's a male model....a fucking MODEL Kurt...he's traveled all over the world, has more money than he knows what to do with...what they hell is he going to want in some punk from Lima Ohio? I've got a shit job, a shit LIFE...I have nothing to offer to anyone in a relationship, let alone a guy who has everything...so maybe...maybe canceling would be best...I can just call him and tell him flat out this isn't going to work, save him the disappointment of actually getting to know me and turn me down himself" He ranted frantically

Kurt was staring at Puck wide eyed from the couch. Never...had he EVER heard Noah Puckerman this insecure in his entire life. So he calmly got up from the couch, walked up to Puck...and slapped him across the face much to Puck's surprise.

"Noah...Enough. You are an incredible man, and anyone, Alex included, would be lucky to have you...so stop with all this insane self-doubt, you are amazing okay? Alex is going to love you, he's pretty much already told me he thinks you are wonderful, you had him half in love with you just by hearing you sing. He wouldn't have asked you out if he wasn't interested in you, so just...give him a chance, and give THIS a chance. For all you know Noah Puckerman, you are exactly the sort of man he is looking for and wants, but you'll never know that if you run away before you even have a chance to find out."

Puck groaned and pulled Princess into a hug, why did he always have to make sense?

"Alright...ok...I'll go, but if this goes badly...its on you for making me do this, deal?"

"Deal, and WHEN this goes amazingly, you will simply have to owe me for life" Kurt said with a grin poking Puck in the stomach.

*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*K&B*

By the time Alex was walking Puck to Kurt's front door, Puck had a permanent smile etched onto his face. The date had been amazing. Alex had taken him to an incredibly restaurant and they'd talked for over an hour, just laughing and getting to know each other. Then the two had gone for dancing and drinks next door. When Alex pulled up to Kurt's apartment building, he'd parked, gotten out of the car and opened the door for a stunned Puck who took his hand and got out closing the door behind him, he hadn't expected Alex to lace their fingers together and walk him to Kurt's front door. One they were outside the door, Alex had smiled at him softly grabbing his other hand in him also and asked if he had a good time.

"I had a great time actually" Puck admitted honestly. Alex smiled wider and tugged him a little closer by the hand.

"Does that mean its not too soon for me to ask you out again?" he asked quietly.

A grin formed on Puck's face as he shook his head. "No, not too soon. Not at all"

"I really hope this isn't to forward and doesn't change your mind...but I really...REALLY want to kiss you" Alex whispered letting go of Pucks hands and putting on his waist and brought the other to rest against the side of his neck.

"Then kiss me" Puck said softly looking straight into his eyes.

So he did. The kiss...was perfect. Fireworks went off in both of their heads and they parted wide eyed, looking at each other before going back in for a second kiss. By the time the realized someone was giggling on the other side of the door, Alex had Puck pressed up against it with a leg slipped between his kissing him as if his life depended on it. They pulled apart panting and Alex rested his forehead against Puck's.

"so...how...about...that...second date? Tomorrow? Is tomorrow too soon for me to see you again?" He asked running his hands up Puck's sides.

"Tomorrow...is perfect. Coffee at noon and we'll go from there?"

Alex sighed in relief and dropped his head into Puck's neck. "Coffee...is perfect, and you are wonderful...and if you don't get inside I'm going to start kissing you again and I can't promise I'll be able to stop"

Puck let out a breathy laugh and pecked Alex twice before untangling himself from him.
"Till tomorrow?" He asked

"Tomorrow. Sweet dreams Noah" Alex whispered pressing one last lingering kiss to his mouth before smiling at him and turning to walk back to his car.

Puck unlocked the door to find a madly grinning Kurt leaning against the couch. "Did you two come up for air long enough to make a second date?" He asked cheekily.

Puck laughed and nodded "I...had...the most amazing time...Alex is...he's fantastic. He's so...nice and funny and real, and god can he kiss"

Kurt grinned "Sooooo the moral of the day was...Kurt is always right and Puck needs to learn to listen to him." Kurt said with an emphatic nod.

Puck smiled and laid back on the couch "I don't even care right now, I just had one of the best nights of my life, he's just...something special, It would be impossible not to fall for him after tonight"

When Kurt finally gave up teasing Puck, he settled in to bed noticing he had a text from Alex on his phone when he opened it all it said was 'He's amazing...and I think I'm falling for him already. Thank you so much Kurt, goodnight!

Kurt Hummel went to bed with a smile on his face, he could officially cross match making off on his list of accomplishments.