As soon as Blaine and Kurt said their farewells, accompanied by ‘I love you’s, Blaine picked up his sketchbook and began to draw. By the time he finished the picture it was midnight, but when Blaine looked down at the finished art, he knew that the four hours were worth it. He quickly placed the book back on his couch before going to his room and collapsing onto his bed. With a content sigh, Blaine fell into a dreamless sleep.
The next morning Blaine woke early and decided that today he was going to actually go to his art class. He tried to make himself look more presentable than usual, though with little success. In his opinion, Blaine still looked like a beach bum. At 9 sharp, Blaine entered his art class and took a seat near the back of the class. If Mr. Frantica was shocked by Blaine’s arrival, he sure did a good job of hiding it. Slowly but surely the rest of the class showed up.

Some of the students gave Blaine no notice, while others did a double take before staring as if to ask “Who the hell are you?”

Once everyone seemed to be seated, Mr. Frantica walked to the middle of the room. “Hello class,” he said pleasantly, “How are you all this wonderful morning?”

There was a general murmur in return and Mr. Frantica just brightened his smile. “So, you all got your assignments yesterday, would anyone like to show their progress so far?”

Blaine gulped back the lump in his throat as he slowly raised his hand. When his teacher’s eyes settled on him he was shocked. Blaine suddenly felt self conscious as his classmates turned are stared. “A-actually,” Blaine began, his voice wavering only slightly, “I’ve finished mine.”

“Really?” Mr. Frantica asked with a raise of his brows, he quickly composed his features into a bright smile as he motioned Blaine forward, but it was obvious in his eyes he was worried

“So, er…” Blaine paused before turning to the older man, “Can I give an introduction to my work? It’s kind of important.” The older man gave a slight nod, and Blaine turned back to his classmates. “Er… Hi. I’m Blaine Anderson,” Blaine tried to look at each of his classmates. Courage, Blaine, he thought to himself. “And, um, well…” Blaine opened his sketchbook to the finished charcoal sketch, “This is my portrait. It’s of—”

“Isn’t that Kurt Hummel?” One of the girls asked.

“Yeah, it looks like him,” Another added.

“Yes, it’s Kurt.” Blaine replied with a tender smile, “He’s my muse. Has been since high school.”

“Wait, you know Kurt Hummel?” A perky redhead in the front row asked. Blaine nodded slowly.

“Oh, please,” One of the guys said, “I highly doubt that.”

“Trust me, I know Kurt Hummel.”

“Blaine, the eyes…” His teacher said slowly, “They’re complete.”

“Well it’s not really a portrait without eyes, is it?” One of the males in the back of the room demanded.

“Ah… You see I… well, I haven’t been able to complete a drawing since Kurt and I parted after graduation,” Blaine replied, “And for the longest time I just felt like an artist who lost his touch. It wasn’t until I met up with Kurt recently that I was finally able to complete this.”

“Awe, I think that’s one of the most romantic statements ever,” One of the girls said with a dreamy sigh, “You must have girls hanging off you with all that charm.”

Blaine couldn’t help but chuckle as he closed his sketchbook. “I play for the other team, actually.”

“Oh…” There was a pause before she looked at him quizzically. “Are you and Kurt together, then?”

“Please, Kurt’s not gay. Isn’t he dating that Tia chick?” Someone said from the other side of the room.

“If I may,” Blaine interrupted politely, “He is in fact gay. And, well, we were dating and now we’re… well we’re complicated.” His classmates seemed shocked by this information, and Blaine gave a slight chuckle before turning back to his teacher.

“Well, I think this class has learned enough about my personal life for one day.”

“Well, the drawing is fantastic Blaine. Definitely worth an A. I’m glad you’ve finally managed to get your muse back.”

“Thanks, Mr. F,” Blaine said freely, a bright smile in place.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Wow, Kurt. You really went all out tonight, didn’t you?”

Kurt spun around to face Tia with a big smile. “So it was okay?”

“Are you kidding? You were phenomenal!”

Kurt laughed airily as they walked towards their dressing rooms. “I guess I’m just giddy that everything is finally looking up.”

“Oh?” Tia raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, and Kurt smiled mischievously. “Kurt! You better tell me!” She called as he walked away from her and into his dressing room.

When he emerged nearly an hour later, Tia was waiting patiently outside his door, phone in hand and blonde hair tied into a messy ponytail.

“Wow, okay, it’s not that big of news!”

“Please, Kurt,” Tia replied and Kurt had to bite his lip to stop his laughter at her stance. There she stood, one hand resting on her hip, with one eyebrow raised as she looked at him expectantly. “I haven’t seen you this happy since… well since Blaine came to see the show.”

Kurt was embarrassed by the giggle that escaped his lips and his eyes went wide, hands moving up to cover his mouth immediately.

It seemed to take Tia a minute to process, but as soon as she did a smile played on her features. “Kurt… what happened?”

“He… we… Oh, I don’t know how to explain it, Tia! But it was romantic, and… and he still loves me.” Kurt’s smile was bright and he felt happy tears forming in his eyes.

There was a happy squeak from Tia before she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug as they both laughed happily. “Of course he does, dummy! Anyone could’ve told you that!”

“But Tia, he forgave me.” Kurt breathed happily as Tia linked her arm in his, leading him towards the exit.

“There was nothing to forgive, really.”

“Did you have the, er, pleasure of meeting Ellington? He walked in on me acting like… well, acting like a whore to be honest!”

“And he was furious and decided to leave. But you didn’t see him the morning he left, Kurt. The boy was heartbroken. I swear he spent a full ten minutes just staring at your sleeping form before he walked away. You made a mistake, Kurt, and he knows that. It may’ve broken his heart to see you like that, but Kurt he adores you. He wouldn’t just let you go, not fully.”

Kurt stared at Tia with his mouth hanging open in a way that Kurt just knew made him look like a complete idiot. “What?” She demanded after a moment.

“That was… well, Tia, to be honest that was amazingly insightful.”

Tia unhooked her arm from Kurt’s and stood back, a look of feigned hurt on her face.

“What are you trying to say, Kurt?” They exploded into another round of giggles that left them both gasping for breath and clutching their stomachs. Kurt rubbed at the tears that had formed in his eyes and he had never felt so carefree… so happy then he did in that moment. Kurt felt like Kurt again.

*~*~*~*~*

The next five weeks of their lives passed Kurt and Blaine in a blur of happiness. Blaine became more involved in his schoolwork and made friends with his fellow students while Kurt continued to amaze crowds of people each night he performed.

Blaine’s teacher actually managed to get him a spot in one of the big art galleries and told Blaine to complete at least three pieces. Amazingly enough, this was no longer a problem for Blaine. Ever since he completed the portrait of Kurt, drawing, painting; art in general has come easily again. Not only that, though. Blaine was playing again, and singing. He was writing music and most importantly; Blaine was living again.

After his success in the art show, Blaine was approached by a group of important-looking people. A tall lady looked down her nose at him and they all approached. Blaine almost gagged at how snobby they looked. He forced a fake smile onto his face, though, because he was an artist and he was going to be professional about this.

“Hello,” The tall lady said as they approached, “I’m assuming you’re the artist behind these?” She gestured to the paintings behind him.

“Yes, ma’am.” Blaine replied with as much charm as he could muster.

“Well they’re quite nice. How much are you selling them for?”

Blaine was taken aback. Selling? The thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. “Er, I hadn’t really—”

“—Oh, fine. I’ll make an offer,” She interrupted before turning to face a short, plump man, “Artists,” she sighed, “They can be so stubborn.”

Blaine just stared at her in disbelief. Rich people, he thought, they can be so selfish.

“Okay, Mr… er…?”

“Anderson.”

“Mr. Anderson. I’ll give you $2, 000 for that one.” She pointed to a painting Blaine had done looking up from the waterfront. The city was illuminated by the bright lights of the buildings and the neon signs that shone bright when the nightlife of Seattle was in full-swing.

“$2, 000?” Blaine’s jaw dropped. He had to admit that, yes, the painting was good. But $2, 000?

“Yes, $2, 000,” She said slowly, as if talking to a toddler. “Do you accept the—”

“—Yes! Yes, of course I do!” Blaine interjected quickly. She continued to talk but Blaine simply smiled and nodded. He stopped paying attention to her and instead began planning. With that money he could easily go back to find Kurt. Surprise him somehow… Blaine smiled brightly at the woman, who just looked a bit worried and even a tad frightened. If only she knew just how glad Blaine was to get that money.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Hello?” Tia asked calmly. An unknown number had shown up on her screen, and you’d think being a Broadway star she’d know better than to answer it, but she took her chances.

“Oh, Tia, great! It’s Blaine.”

“Blaine…? How on earth did you get my number?”

“Oh, Kurt gave it to me while I was there. Something about emergency purposes?” The boy on the other end of the phone sounded way too happy, and it was making Tia nervous.

“And is this an emergency, Blaine?”

“Well, kind of. I mean, it’s not really a bad emergency. I want to surprise Kurt, but I’m going to need your help.”

“Surprise Kurt?” She asked dumbfounded, “In what way?” Blaine went on to explain his plan to her, and Tia’s smile grew with each little detail. Blaine seemed to know every little thing that would make Kurt smile, and each and every one was included in his plan.

“Yeah, our last night is tomorrow… Yeah, no your plan is fantastic, Blaine. One question, though. Where on earth did you get the money for all this? I thought you were a struggling art student?”

“I got my touch back. My teacher set up an exhibit and there were a group of people who bought all three of my paintings. I ended up getting $10, 000 for them! And one of the ladies commissioned me to do another one, said she’d pay me another $3, 000!”

“Wow… you must be good.” Was all Tia could say in response. “I’d be delighted to help, Blaine. And this is going to mean the world to him, you know.”

“I hope so. I should’ve never let him go, and I just hope this makes up for it. Even if just a little bit.”