Lee had hidden out in the office for much longer than she normally would have been back there after Blaine had headed out front to start work. It’s not that she felt she needed to hide, per se, it’s just she figured that she wanted to try and sort her thoughts out, figure out something that she could tell Blaine, before she went out there.

She still didn’t have anything good in mind, at least nothing that made sense, but as the minutes ticked by, Lee was starting to worry about what Blaine would be thinking. The longer she took, the more worried he was likely going to be. He had pretty much told her he was in love with her, after all, and all she had been able to do was say thanks and give him a hug.

So finally Lee stood up and made her way to the front of the bar, immediately seeing Blaine standing in his normal place against the wall. Giving him a smile, even if it was slightly nervous, when their eyes met, Lee made her way around the bar, checking on things as she normally would. But Lee did made her way over to Blaine. She always did, even if it was just to check in and say hi and see how each other were doing.

But then she reached Blaine, and Lee’s mind went blank. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say to him, and that was odd because they rarely had trouble talking to each other. ”Hi,” She finally said. At least it felt like it took forever to say that. It was probably only a couple seconds.

”I am happy about what you said,” Lee eventually blurted out. ”I really am. It’s just…” Lee trailed off as she started chewing on her bottom lip again.

Blaine noticed Lee was staying in the back much longer than usual, but it honestly didn't surprise him. After he was so stupid, he'd have been surprised if she came out to see him at all. Part of him just wanted his shift to end so he could go home.

But then she came out, and her smile was met with an awkward one of his own. And then she was standing right in front of him and time seemed to freeze, with mere seconds lasting an eternity.

He finally nodded. "That wasn't quite what I was trying to..." he started to say, but then paused. "I mean...I'm not the best with words...I was just trying to say..." He paused again. Then shook his head slightly. "Just...never mind."

Lee saw that when she came up in front of Blaine, his eyes fell on her. And stayed there. They didn't continuously dart up and around the bar before returning to her. Instead, Blaine was simply staring straight at her.

Lee took a deep breath, her eyes dropping for a moment before looking back up at Blaine. ”I know it’s not,” she said, as quietly as she was able to while still being heard in the bar. ”And I never once said it was a bad thing you said it. It’s just…”

Again, Lee trailed off. She knew that this would go so much better if she didn’t do that, but at the same time it was just so hard to find the right words. ”I told you to start with that I didn’t even know if I could again. And for you to understand why, there’s so much more to tell you that I can’t even start getting into here. But I do care about you very much.”

"That's all I was trying to say...that I care about you. What it means to me that you'd worry about me taking some unseen injury that I'd never know about. And somehow I just made a mess of it..." He sighed again, his eyes dropping to the floor. His face was red and his thoughts were cloudy.

"I'm sorry," he murmured as he looked back to her. This was precisely why he tended to keep his feelings to himself. He didn't verbally say it, but unbeknownst to him it was etched all over his face.

Even if that’s all Blaine had meant to say, Lee wasn’t so sure that that was all he actually felt. But Lee wasn’t going to comment on that. At least not here. Maybe later, after work or on another day, but she wasn’t going to say anything about it here.

But then Blaine said he was sorry, and at this Lee frowned. ”What are you sorry about?” Lee asked. ”Cause I don’t think you have anything to be sorry about.”

He could feel his emotions wrenching inside of him, coupled with the confusion and the strong urge just to leave. But he didn't. He stayed where he was, occasionally remembering to do his job.

"I feel like I do," he murmured, looking away again. " This may be why I tend to keep my emotions to myself..." His voice was quieter this time, and he kept his eyes on the bar. "I can't help but feel that I'm to blame."

Ok, more Lee was extremely confused. First Blaine had all but said that he loved her, and now he was upset, talking about how he should have kept his emotions to himself, and he was to blame for whatever this was.

”Alright Blaine, just stop,” Lee said, her tone louder and much firmer than if had been. ”You have nothing to be sorry for. I would not be saying so if I thought you did. We can talk about this more later, but I'm not upset or anything.”

Her firmness sort of caught him off guard, but it didn't make him feel any better. He was still beating himself for...whatever the hell this was, after all. And whatever it was, he didn't like it.

"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather not talk about this," he said softly, his tone a little darker than intended. That was another reason he kept his feelings bottled up: once they were out, there wasn't much one could do to contain them again. And now, his mood was rather dark, with a hint of self-loathing.

After he spoke, he slowly pushed himself up off of the wall, walking away to go make his rounds. Maybe doing his job would help clear his mind a little. At least, he hoped it would.

He didn't want to talk about it at all. And not only that, he was seeming to grow more upset with each passing moment. And then Blaine was pushing his way away from the wall and walking away without another word.

Lee hadn't been upset before, but she was a bit more now. He wasn't going to leave, Lee was sure. Watching after Blaine, Lee could see him doing his normal rounds around the bar. If he were going to leave, he would have done it already.

Finishing her quick trip around the bar she had already started, Lee made her way into the back once more. Apparently, she needed to think through what exactly she was going to say a lot better. But Blaine was kidding himself if he honestly thought she was going to let it go just like that.

Oh, he was certain she wasn't going to let it go, but he at least needed some time to get his head together. He hated this whole mess, and he'd thought about leaving, but something in him told him that would only make things much worse, for his relationship and his job. And now that he wasn't fighting anymore, those were really the only two things in the world that he cared about.

He sighed, making a few rounds around the bar, mingling with some of the regulars, and then going back to his place next to the door. Every now and then, he looked towards the door, but he finally just made his way to the other side of the building, leaning against another wall. He wasn't leaving, though he wasn't looking forward to the inevitable conversation that was bound to take place later that night, either.

Lee had stayed in the back, working on first stuff from the bar, then dug into her bag to pull stuff out from the boutique to work on. That kept Lee busy for most of the night, though in the back of her mind the wheels were turning. And quite frequently Lee found herself simply staring across the office.

This...Lee had not counted on this when they had decided to give a relationship a try just a couple of weeks ago. But, it wasn’t like it would be impossible to fall in love again. It wasn’t, right? Lee’s brow creased as she sat there. Would she even know, if it was with someone else, someone where the risks were so great and had to be so consciously decided first, someone who had been able to make her lose control and just passionately react with a simple touch?

But, Lee realized a minute later, hadn’t that already happened with Blaine?

Finally, it was just about close, and Lee decided that it was about time for her to head back out front if she was going to catch Blaine before he escaped. Deciding to make things easier, Lee brought her bag and coat with her. And then as an afterthought, Lee stopped and grabbed Blaine’s jacket as well. That way he couldn’t avoid her too easily, and she wasn’t going to have to go to the back again.

Stepping out into the front of the bar, Lee didn’t see Blaine at first and her heart skipped a beat thinking that he had in fact left, not even taking his coat with him. But as her eyes scanned the bar, Lee saw him over against a different wall. That was good, at least, and Lee flashed him a small smile. Now here came the hard part...

The rest of the night would have dragged on, but thankfully, Blaine had a couple of regulars that he sort of mingled with while he did his job. They never talked about anything serious, just mostly sports and fighting, and of course hearing Blaine share some of his more graphic stories. That made him feel better, at least until the guys left and it was getting time to close.

Then, as if right on cue, Lee walked out and smiled at him. And she was holding his jacket. This, he had to smile at; she had him all figured out. Just one more thing he lo--really liked about her. Well, it seemed it was time for him to take his lumps, as much as he didn't look forward to it. Though he'd rather do that than run; though he thought about running, it was something he could never bring himself to do. It didn't make any sense.

Moving from his spot, he walked over to her, giving her kind of a smile, but inside he was bracing himself for whatever was to come.

He sort of smiled when he saw her smile. That was good, hopefully that meant that he wasn’t still as upset as he had seemed earlier. For whatever reason he had been upset. But he walked over to her with that slight smile.

”Are you ready to go?” Lee asked, holding Blaine’s jacket out toward him. ”I know I’m more than ready to get out of here.”

Once Blaine took his jacket, Lee put her own on, readying herself to go outside.

He nodded, taking his jacket and putting it on. "Yeah, I am too," he murmured, looking at her. Though he'd been mildly upset earlier, mostly at himself, and at his own confusion...he couldn't deny that he really cared about her. Maybe more than he realized.

Though the night itself wasn't exactly routine, what Blaine did next was the same as he'd done every night. He took her by the hand, walking her to the door and letting her out first before they began the long walk to his apartment. He spent it in relative silence, but...he didn't take the walk with her for granted. As always, he enjoyed it.

But then, somewhere between forty-five minutes and an hour later, he was standing in front of the door to his apartment. Taking his key, he unlocked the door, leading her inside before shutting the door behind her. And then, as he always did, he hung his jacket up and then took his seat on the couch.

The good news was that Blaine didn’t seem to be upset like he had been earlier. And, once they both had their jackets on, Blaine grabbed her hand just like he had every other night that they had left together, and Lee smiled slightly as they made their way to the door. And out into the cold night air to make the walk to Blaine’s apartment. Because, despite everything that had happened earlier, and the fact that there had been no more words spoken between them, there seemed to be no question about the fact that she was going over to his place again.

The not so good news was that the walk was silent, and the silence was far more uncomfortable than it generally was between them. At least Blaine was holding her hand the entire walk, and that made Lee smile.

But finally, they made it to Blaine’s apartment, and out came his keys to open the door. Still in silence, Lee watched as Blaine took his jacket off, hung it up, and went to sit down on the couch. Shaking her head, Lee followed suit, though she stopped at the fridge on her way to grab a couple of beer; this conversation was going to take at least a drink, if not more than one.

Once she sat down, Lee opened the bottles, handing one of them over to Blaine. ”Why did you get so upset earlier?” Lee asked, her voice soft. ”That’s the one thing I haven’t figured out.”