Kurt Hummel was not having a good start to his Monday morning.

He had awoken late for work when his alarm had failed to go off, so Kurt had had to skip his morning skincare ritual, the one he'd been practising since he was thirteen years old and had discovered the horrors of pubescent pores. He'd then tried to make his daily grande, non-fat mocha and had discovered a lack of milk. He then decided to pop over to Puck's apartment and sneak some milk into his coffee because, good lord, were those boys in his debt for food stealing, and had been greeted with a half-naked Blaine who'd just stepped out the shower, the water droplets still glistening on his hard-toned torso.
A red-faced Kurt had mumbled something about red sky in the morning being shepherd's warning and had swiftly left, the slamming front door causing a slight breeze that Kurt, fortunately, hadn't been around to witness.
Standing in the rain, outside the building where he lived, Kurt had hailed a taxi in the way he always did - with a wave worthy of the Queen of England, and had promptly been splashed by a passing school bus. He could almost hear the children's cackles of glee from behind the two inch glass and it hit him like a slushie to the face.
So, safe to say, by the time Kurt Hummel finally reached the Vogue building where he worked, he was pissed off, soaking wet and a little turned on.

"Good morning, Mr Hummel," drawled Beatrice from where she was wedged in behind her desk. Beatrice was his fifty year old secretary, and with a resume boasting experience from the most fastidious businesses in the tri-state area, he'd hired her without batting an eyelid. Unfortunately however, soon after this transaction, Beatrice had arrived home to find her husband of 26 years of marriage lying in bed with a skinny blonde's legs wrapped around his neck. She made the courageous decision to walk out of the apartment and pretend that nothing had happened. Instead of finding solace in signing the divorce papers, she'd run to the loving arms of comfort food. Two years on and she'd gained an impressive 450 pounds, a high blood pressure and surly disposition.

"Yeah, hi, Beatrice, how are you?" Kurt muttered distractedly as he attempted to wring out the purple velvet blazer he was wearing. Without waiting for an answer, he marched toward his office door, flung it open and stepped inside. He shut the door behind him, then placed the leather satchel he was carrying down on the table and slowly walked towards the floor length window which loomed over his office.
He pressed his forehead to the cool glass and sighed as he watched the rain lash down on New York City.

He shook his head as the mental image of Blaine's bare chest floated into his mind. He sighed again. This had been the first time he'd been alone with his thoughts since Blaine had bounded into his life again and he didn't really know what to make of them.
Did he want to get back together with Blaine? His heart still twanged painfully at the thought of his name, it had dulled over time, but it still hurt that the only person he'd ever opened his heart up to trust had just cheated on him. He didn't know what the normal protocol was in this situation, but was he supposed to forgive and forget just because it had been five years? Or hold on his pain and hurt even if he was missing out on a potentially wonderful relationship with a man he was still in love with?

He banged his head against the drizzly glass. He really didn't know what to do.

...

"I'm really glad you decided to stay Blaine," Puck grunted through a mouthful of pancakes. Blaine smiled faintly.
He was sitting at the breakfast bar with Puck and Finn, sipping his coffee and pretending to read the New York Times. Quinn had taken Beth to school a few hours ago and had not returned so he didn't know if Beth had told her mother about last night's confrontation.

"Yeah, me too," said Finn, and cleared his throat, "it's so great that you're going be sleeping on our coach for the next few days... weeks... months...?" he trailed off with an air of nonchalance.

Blaine hesitated, he didn't know how long he'd be staying. He didn't have anywhere else to go.

"Um, I'm not really sure, Finn," he said awkwardly, "I'm really sorry, I'll try and help out with the bills as much as possible but I don't have that much money unfortunately."

"It's fine, Blaine. Stay as long as you want!" Said Puck enthusiastically. Finn smiled half-heartedly.

"Maybe," Blaine started, "maybe I could help out with your pool cleaning business, you know for free, and you could put my would-be wages towards paying the bills?"

Finn's eyes lit up, "Yeah!" He cried, and looked at Puck, "Do you know what this means? We can expand our company, go for bigger pools and have richer clients!"

Puck whistled and fist-bumped them both. "This is gonna be sweet!" He said. The three of them cheered and Blaine felt an unfamiliar feeling of light heartedness wash over him as a comfortable silence fell in the tiny kitchen. He cleared his throat.

"Hey, guys?" he asked, timidly. They looked up at him concernedly. Blaine got the feeling that Puck sometimes thought of him as a little brother whom he needed to guide through life and bestow wisdom upon.
"Yeah?" asked Finn.

Blaine swallowed nervously, "Do you - do you think I should try things again with - with Kurt?" His voice broke as he spoke Kurt's name. He cleared his throat again, slightly abashed.

Puck nearly leapt out of his chair, "HELL YEAH!" he yelled, thumping Blaine hard on the back in what Blaine took as encouragement. Finn didn't say anything, he just looked down at his coffee mug.

"Finn?" Blaine asked uncertainly.
"I don't know Blaine," Finn paused, "I mean, I've never seen him so distraught as when you two broke up and you know that you hurt him real bad?"
Blaine nodded solemnly.
"But I've also never seen him so happy as when you two were together or when he was talking about you and the stuff I never really understood but you did understand, you know?"
Blaine nodded again, his eyes began to fill up and he tried furiously to blink them away.
"So, I guess what I'm saying is, maybe it's time for Kurt to be happy again," he finished, his expression still neutral. Blaine glanced at Puck, did he have permission from Finn or not? Then Finn's face broke out into a smile, and Puck was beaming at him and his vision began to go blurry and Puck was yelling "Group hug!" and he was filled with a feeling of elation that he hadn't felt in five long years.

...

Quinn turned around the corner from the school which she'd just dropped Beth off at. She huddled into her jacket as the rain pounded down on her, battering across her makeup-less face. She spotted her bus trundling along the flooded pavement and began speed walking towards it, racing it towards the stop.

As the bus slowed to a halt in front of her, she waited for the doors to open. She clamoured up the steps and her feet squelched as water seeped into the thin soles of her shoes. She paid for her ticket then made her way to the back of the bus and sat down.

The bus had just begun to move again when she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She picked it up and looked at it, her brow furrowed. It was from an unknown contact. She double-clicked it and the text popped up, projecting brightly in the reflection of her green eyes.

"You can't run forever Quinn."

...

Kurt entered the apartment after another long, tedious day at work hoping to relax on the sofa and catch up with the next few episodes of Jersey Shore, a show he'd obsessed over since his teenage years. Unfortunately however, he as he stepped through the threshold, he was greeted by an excitable Finn.

"Hey man!" He said, slapping Kurt playfully on the back. Kurt glanced behind him to see his little kitchen filled with Puck, Quinn, Beth and Blaine. He looked back at Finn, eyebrows raised.

"Finn?" He said, warningly but Finn just grinned.

"We're having a little celebration!" He said indicating the ensemble behind him. Kurt noticed a huge 24 inch pizza box lying on the table. Kurt opened his mouth to ask why but Puck interrupted.

"Blaine's going to join our pool cleaning business!" He practically yelled, and then turned to high five Blaine, who returned the gesture half-heartedly, looking anxiously at Kurt. Kurt carefully avoided his eye.

"And who paid for the pizza?" Asked Kurt, knowing full well that Puck and Finn did not have to budget to be throwing parties and buying ridiculously sized pizzas, not when they were trying to run a pool cleaning business in the middle of New York City where there was not a swimming pool in sight.
Finn looked awkwardly at Puck.

"Um, you're the breadwinner of the household, Kurt!" Puck said defensively. Kurt just sighed and helped himself to a slice, which, he had to admit, was pretty darn good.

"I suppose I'm paying for this wine too?" he asked, noticing the bottles on the table. Finn just shrugged, his mouth full of pizza. Puck ignored him. He seemed distracted, and his eyes kept flickering towards Quinn who had been silent the whole time. Kurt in turn, could feel Blaine's eyes upon him, but he kept his head down. He still wasn't sure what he wanted.

"Are you alright Quinn?" asked Finn concernedly. Quinn's head snapped up, and she stared at them all, like a deer caught in headlights, then, to everybody's surprise, she turned to Blaine.

"Hey Blaine, what was that guy's name that you said you married?" She asked. The whole kitchen went quiet, Puck cleared his throat awkwardly. Kurt gasped as a foot collided with his leg, obviously aimed at Quinn. Kurt glared at Finn who was the only was uncoordinated enough to miss the person's leg who was sitting right next to him. Blaine glanced at Kurt uncomfortably, then turned his honey brown eyes to Quinn.
"I didn't actually marry him," he said, so quietly that Kurt almost couldn't hear him. Finn tried to start a conversation with Puck to fill the deafening silence in the room, which seemed empty then and lifeless. The two began to discuss their upcoming business plans while Kurt picked at his food, trying unsuccessfully to block out Blaine and Quinn's muttered conversation.

"Whatever," said Quinn, "Just tell me his name again."
"Why?"
"Just because," she snapped.
Blaine lowered his voice even further until it was barely even a whisper, "He was called Eli."
There was a pause. Kurt glanced up to see Quinn stare at Blaine with a horrified expression. He averted his eyes again as he accidentally met Blaine's.
"And did- did you ever tell Eli, tell him about your past?" Quinn asked her voice equally as quiet.
"Do we have to talk about this now?" came Blaine's voice and Kurt could feel his eyes on him once more.
"Yes!" said Quinn hurriedly.
"Okay, yeah, I talked to him about my past, but that's no big deal, right? I mean we dated for four years, we had to talk about something-"
"Did he ever tell you about his past?" Quinn interrupted.
There was another pause, Kurt could picture Blaine's mouth curving down into that little frown he did whenever he was thinking hard about something. Kurt heard Quinn gulp audibly as if she already knew what the answer would be. Then Blaine spoke once more.
"Now I come to think about it, I don't think he ever did."
Later that night, when the small party had disbanded and the pizza and the wine had made them fou and lethargic and giddy, Kurt found himself sitting on the sofa in the living room of the apartment he'd bought with his best friend, Rachel Berry when the two of them had been young and full of foolish dreams, with Blaine Anderson, the man who'd cheated on him as a boy. Kurt turned his head slightly and gazed unabashed at Blaine, surveying his face as if searching for something, or a sign, maybe, that he turn around and walk out of Blaine's life as he had done to him when he was eighteen.

Blaine also turned his head to face Kurt, there was a pretty wide gap between their two faces and both of them felt it with a feeling of remorse. Blaine glanced up at Kurt‘s eyes, as if for permission, then scooted along the couch so their noses were barely inches apart.

"Hey beautiful," Blaine said, smiling up at Kurt through his thick eyelashes. Kurt smiled.

He breathed out slowly as he felt the tension leave his body, he just wanted all the hurt and pain to evaporate for a few moments so they could be Kurt and Blaine again. He'd been fighting it for too long, fighting his emotions and trying to cover up all that he'd been feeling for the past five years.

"I'm exhausted," he said simply. Sorrow seemed to fill Blaine's eyes for a brief second.
"I'm sorry, Kurt," he said, still gazing at Kurt as if he only had so much time to look so he wanted to remember every aspect of Kurt's face, every line, every freckle.
"It's okay," Kurt said and Blaine reached out gently to hold his hand and Kurt let him. It was nice, he thought.

They sat like that for a while, simply looking at each other in a comfortable silence.

"Kurt," Blaine began, and paused as Kurt leaned into his shoulder, "I was wondering if maybe, you would do me the honour of, agreeing to go on a date, maybe, sometime?"
He let the question hang in the air. Kurt looked back up at Blaine surprised.

"Well, what did you have in mind?" Kurt said, and Blaine smiled again, taken aback that Kurt hadn't immediately turned him down.

"Um, anything really... coffee? A movie? Dinner?" Blaine said, sounding more hopeful. Kurt glanced at him again, still unsure if he was doing the right thing.

"How about just a coffee?" He said, "Just for just now."

Blaine's smile widened as if it was better than anything he could of hoped for. Kurt admired the way his eyes seemed to light up and the crinkles around his eyes deepened. They were still gazing at each other, faces closer now, barely centimetres apart. Blaine glanced from Kurt's eyes to his lips, then leaned in.

Kurt abruptly let go of Blaine's hand, which was still intertwined with his, and stood up, walking swiftly towards his bedroom door. He glanced back at Blaine's small frame sitting abandoned on the couch and turned towards his door.

"Remember to lock the door on your way out," he said, then disappeared into the swallowing darkness.

...

"Quinn!"

Kurt's shrill voice broke out across the apartment, breaking the calm quiet which had filled the Saturday morning air. Kurt stared at Quinn as she came crashing into his room, hair askew and brandishing a curling iron. Beth hot at her heels.
Seeing Kurt alone in his room, holding a pair of tight pants against his legs, she glanced around uncertainly.

"Kurt?" She asked, lowering the curlers, "Are you alright?"

Kurt turned to her, still clutching the pants, "Yeah," he said, "I just need you to help me figure out what to wear on this not-date."
Quinn sighed exasperatedly, "Shit, Kurt, you scared me!" She said, her tone raising in anger, "I thought there was someone attacking you or something!"
Kurt rolled his eyes, "Jeez Quinn, why so jumpy?"

Quinn ignored him, then glanced at her reflection in the mirror. There were dark bags under eyes, and the fine lines on her face where deepening. She rubbed her forehead agitatedly, then noticed Beth watching her in the mirror behind her. She shook her head, then turned smiling to Kurt.

"I think you should definitely go for the tightest pants you can find, the tighter your pants, then the tighter Blaine's are gonna become, if you know what I mean?" She said winking at him. Kurt glared at her, covering Beth's ears with his hands.
She laughed and pulled Beth towards her for a hug.
"So where's he taking you for this date?" She asked.
"I've told you, it's not a date," Kurt sighed, "It's just two old friends, catching up, drinking coffee-"
"Having sex..." Quinn added thoughtfully.

Kurt gasped, "Quinn!" he said, throwing his pillow at her. She threw it back grinning. Kurt couldn't help but smile, it was nice seeing Quinn happy for once, even if she was bullying him about Blaine.

"So, got any gossip?" Kurt said, trying to change the subject as he hair sprayed his carefully coiffured hair.
"Um, fat headed Rachel is dating fat assed Finn again," Quinn said in a bored voice, as if Rachel wasn't worthy as the subject of her gossiping.
Kurt tutted at her but he was used to Quinn and Rachel's swipes at each other so it really didn't faze him anymore.
"When did that happen? I thought she was having an affair with Brody."
"Still is."
"So she's cheating with Finn on Brody, who is cheating on his girlfriend with Rachel?"
"Yup."
"Wow, it's like slutception."

They both went quiet for a moment. Kurt thinking about infidelity and how Rachel went about it so casually when he, Kurt, hadn't been able to come to terms with it after five years. He looked at Beth, she had been conceived by cheating. Quinn had cheated on Finn with Puck. Finn had cheated on Rachel with Quinn. Rachel had cheated on Finn with Puck. Rachel had cheated on Brody with Finn. Brody had cheated on his girlfriend with Rachel. Then Blaine had cheated on him. But why had it hurt so much? Why was it so different when Blaine cheated on him? Everyone else had done it and got over it. Why were he and Blaine so different?

Quinn was thinking about Rachel. About how she had everything, a good job, her own apartment, money, a boyfriend or two, but she was always looking for something more. Nothing could satisfy that girl. She'd finally reached her dream of being on Broadway, of thousands crying at the sound of her voice, but it just wasn't enough. Meanwhile, Quinn had nothing, except for a beautiful daughter and a loyal best friend.

...
Kurt took a deep breath before pushing open the door to the coffee house. He wasn't just walking into the café that he drunk coffee at everyday. He was walking into a new life, into forgiveness and, hopefully, peace of mind at last.
He surveyed the room as he walked in and quickly spotted Blaine, huddled in the corner at a tiny table of two. He was gazing out the window, a dog eared novel open in his hands. He must have been here for a while.

"Hey," said Kurt as he approached the table. Blaine seemed to snap out of his trance and he stood up, and spread out his arms wide like he was going to hug Kurt but then thought better of it. He swung his arm up as if stretching, Kurt just suppressed a smile.

"Hey," was all Blaine said back, as they both sat back down. Kurt noticed the two coffees sitting in front of them, he looked up at Blaine who was watching him anxiously.

"Is this for me?" Kurt asked, indicating the mug.

Blaine nodded, "Yeah, but, um, it might be a bit, um, cold now.". Kurt took a swig and then nearly choked in surprise. Blaine's eyes widened in panic as Kurt spluttered in front of him.

"Are you alright, Kurt?" He asked anxiously.

Kurt nodded, and gulped quickly, "You remembered my coffee order?" He said, a sense of urgency in his tone. His eyebrows were furrowed, and his eyes were staring at Blaine with confusion.

"Of course I did." Said Blaine, still looking with concern at Kurt. Kurt felt his heart leap a little in his chest as he remembered a similar conversation the two of them had had when he was 17 and Blaine, 16. He remembered the way his cheeks had flushed when Blaine had ordered his coffee without a blink of an eye, he also remembered the way his mind had flickered to their future. Blaine in college, him at NYADA, them meeting up at Starbucks on their lunch breaks to talk about their futures. It was funny how things had turned out.

Kurt looked down abashed. He'd been gazing at Blaine, his thoughts a million years away. He felt like the shy little school boy who'd fallen in love with Blaine Anderson the moment he'd grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hallway, telling him that he knew a shortcut.

"It's been a while," said Blaine, as if Kurt's thoughts had been projected across the room on Sue Sylvester's megaphone. Kurt nodded, then looked up a Blaine again. He had to know, if he was to move on, or if anything was going to happen between them again, he had to know.

"Blaine?" Said Kurt, biting his lip, Blaine just looked at him. Sadness filled his eyes as if he knew what Kurt was going to ask, and was afraid of his own answer.

"Why did you do it?"

Blaine reached across the table and grasped Kurt's hand, Kurt didn't protest. It was actually soothing. He sighed and looked down at the table.

"You probably didn't realise it, Kurt, but, at McKinley, I didn't have many, or any, friends. All my friends were your friends. And after you left, I realised, they'd only been nice to me because they liked you Kurt and they wanted you to be happy. Don't get me wrong, they were nice to me and everything but they weren't really my friends." He paused. Kurt was watching his every move, looking for every hint of emotion, every blink, every movement.
"So, I was lonely, Kurt. It's a pitiful, pathetic excuse, but, yeah, it's true. I was lonely. I wasn't invited places anymore. You weren't answering your phone. I just spent hours on end, alone, with my thoughts. I don't know, that level of loneliness, it does something to a person, you know."

Kurt nodded, he knew what it was like to be alone. Before glee club came along, he had his father and that was it. And that wasn't a good feeling.

"So anyway, one night," Blaine's voice sounded strained, as if it physically pained him to think of what he'd done, "I don't know, something snapped inside of me, I just, I just got really, really angry. Angry at everyone at school, angry at my parents, even angry at you."
He looked up at Kurt through his thick eyelashes. Kurt could see the tears forming in Blaine's eyes and he had to blink away his own. His heart was pounding in his chest, he felt scared. He didn't want to be the cause but he knew he was.

"So, I went to the only person who'd shown me any sort of compassion over those few months," he said shakily. Kurt wiped away the tears with his free hand. They were still clutching onto each other, even more desperately than before. "I don't even remember most of it, it's like I was this whole other person. I just know, I didn't get any pleasure out of it. And after it happened, I could see clearly again and I nearly threw up right there in his room. ‘Cause I knew Kurt, I knew nothing would ever be the same from then on. I knew that you were the one and I'd just broken everything we could ever have had."

Kurt's hands were shaking, still enclosed in Blaine's warm clasp. Blaine's eyes were shut and he was sobbing quietly. Carefully, Kurt pulled his hand out of Blaine's and reached over to touch his face. Blaine, surprised, opened his red eyes and simply stared at Kurt, just looking, as if he never would get the chance again.

"I forgive you," whispered Kurt, and Blaine's lips met his and it was as if, in that moment, the universe had stopped spinning just for the two of them to be Kurt and Blaine once more.

...

"It must look so beautiful in the winter time here," Blaine commented, as he walked hand in hand with Kurt in the twilight in central park. The midnight stars were twinkling brightly high above them, it was an odd sight to see under the bright lights of New York City.
"Mmm," Kurt mumbled, snuggling into Blaine as the walked. It was summertime but it was still chilly. They'd sat in the coffee house for four more hours, just talking. Then had decided to see Rachel's show- Kurt had VIP tickets - after, they had gone out for dinner and chatted some more. Blaine had then noticed how beautiful the sky had looked so Kurt had suggested that they take a stroll in Central Park because they had nothing better to do other than go home.

"So, who's going to break the news to Puck?" Blaine said, smiling down at the boy on his arm. Kurt looked up at him, a smile also playing about his lips.
"About what? The cinnamon muffins going up by a nickel?" He teased. Blaine laughed softly.
"I think he'll be happier than I am right now, if that's possible," said Kurt.
"He won't be happier than me, Kurt, I don't think it's good for humanity to have this much happiness in the world right now, it would probably implode or something," said Blaine, as Kurt just shook his head at Blaine's ramblings. He'd missed them so much.

"Is that your phone?" Blaine asked as a light tinkling sound suddenly disturbed the tranquillity of the park. Kurt groaned, he just wanted it to be him and Blaine tonight. He didn't want Puck asking if he could have the frozen pizzas or Quinn asking him to baby-sit Beth, or Finn asking him for a job because he didn't think the pool cleaning business was working, or Rachel asking for advice on which lover to dump. He just wanted time alone with the man he loved with every cell in his body.

"Just answer it," said Blaine, "it'll take two minutes."
Kurt groaned then tapped the button on his phone as Finn's name popped up.

"What is it, Finn? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now," Kurt snapped before Finn could say anything. Suddenly Kurt fell silent. Blaine watched the look of terror wash over Kurt's face and drain all the colour from it.
There was silence, then, "Okay, I'll be there as soon as possible."

Kurt turned off the phone, then turned to Blaine, his face as white as a sheet.
"You need to take me to the hospital. Dad's had a relapse, it's spread to his lungs and he can't breathe." Kurt choked and then he gripped Blaine's hand. Blaine could feel his little fingers shaking underneath his palms.