After his breakup with Kurt, Blaine moved into his own studio apartment in Brooklyn which was equally as tiny as the apartment the he had shared with Kurt. The only difference was that it was all completely his. For the next few years he continued on with his college life, eventually getting his degree in music theory and production. The only thing that really changed in him was his love for music. He had gotten his degree but his passion was gone; he didn't know what to sing about anymore. His guitar was left unplayed and gathering dust in his closet. Singing about love seemed clich� to him and not at all what he wanted anymore. Singing about falling in love in a coffee shop seemed like a laughable concept to Blaine now.

After college he decided to go into teaching music. Just because he lost is interest in writing music didn't mean he couldn't help kids find their own voices. HIs days were spent at the high school nearest to his apartment and his nights were spent walking through the city; desperately trying to find something or someone to trigger the spark of imagination in his mind. He tried to keep in touch with people from high school - the New Directions - but the only person who still seemed to care about hearing from him was Santana. He was pretty sure Kurt had asked Finn not to talk to him after the break up since he would never return his texts or phone calls. He would ask Santana how Kurt was doing every once in a while; just out of curiosity but she would always say that she never heard from him either. He always wondered if she was just covering up for him; not wanting to make it harder for both of them to move on by bringing them up to each other all the time.

However, after a long time it was even difficult to get a hold of Santana. She was always busy with work and things that were going on in her own life. So after a while Blaine just stopped trying. he let himself fall off the map; he made a few new friendships. Mostly just co-workers from the high school that he was teaching at. He even tried dating after a while but it never stuck for too long. No matter how much he tried, it always came down to him. He thought his expectations were set too high and every relationship that he started was just doomed to fail. And he just let them fail; he figured that nothing would have ever come of them anyway, they would just end up hurting each other in the long run. Because of this most of his time was spent alone in his apartment. It was lonely life to live, Blaine knew that but eventually he didn't know how to escape it.

Now, at 28 and single he stood in the middle of his apartment holding an invitation that would force everything back in. Force him to stand up and face everything that he has become over the last eight years, which he realized wasn't much. He had basically become Mr. Shue and he wasn't sure if he should be proud of that. He went through his whole life thinking he was going to become a famous singer to show his father that he was someone he could be proud of and now he wasn't even proud of himself. He threw down the invitation and tried to rub the exhaustion out of his eyes; this was too much for him to deal with. His first thought was that of course he just wouldn't go. He laid down on the couch and smiled as he realized that no one was going to expect him to be there; so why bother traveling all that way for nothing. He was going to stay in New York and let himself slip back into his normal life.

But after a few days of thinking it over and trying his best to not think about it in his day to day life, he got a text from his mother. She had heard through the grapevine that the reunion was coming up and she ended the text saying how excited she was that she was going to be seeing him. Although he was sure she didn't intend it to be, the text made him feel extremely guilty about wanting to skip the whole thing and stay in New York. It had been almost three years since the last time he went back to Ohio to visit his parents. He would have to go, at least to visit his parents. Once he got there he figured he could make up an excuse not to go to the reunion.

Weeks later he had his suitcase packed and a plane ticket in hand as he was about to make the journey back home to Ohio. He really had no idea what to expect when he got there. He was going over different scenarios on the taxi cab ride to JFK airport. One where he walks into the reunion and he the spotlight falls on Kurt across the room and they dance to Fuckin' Perfect by Pink and they run off into the sunset together. The other, more frequent daydream was Blaine walking into the reunion and right in the shaking hand of Kurt's boyfriend of six years; they are planning their wedding in June and everyone is invited except Blaine. He snapped out of it when the cab pulled up the unloading area of airport and Blaine climbed out of the car and into the mass of people finding their way around the crowded airport. This was it, it was too late to turn back now.

He stood, looking up at the house that he grew up in and something washed through him. He took a deep breath. Fight or flight. He remembered each and every one of the monumental amount of memories that this place held for him.

"Shhh...I don't want to wake my parents..." Blaine harshly whispered as he let Kurt up the stairs and into his secluded second floor bedroom. Kurt just smiled back at him and made a gesture to show that he was going to zip his lips. The last thing either of them wanted was to get caught sneaking around this house. However, once the door was closed behind them and they were safely inside Blaine's room they took a moment to breathe. They silence penetrating all around them.

"So what's going on? What did you need me to come over for?" Kurt asked innocently but before he could flash a smile to go with his meek voice Blaine's lips were on his. Kurt knew that he was Blaine's first real boyfriend but he sure didn't kiss like it. At this point they had only kissed before on one occasion; in the study at Dalton Academy and since then Kurt had been wondering when they were going to do it again. Kurt leaned into the kiss naturally. It seemed like they had been kissing for hours before Blaine started moving. Moving in the direction of his bed on the other side of the room. Kurt, for a moment, broke the kiss.

"Uhm...are you sure this is what you want to do?" Kurt asked so sincerely that it nearly broke Blaine in two. His Kurt, so kind and innocent that it threatened to build itself into more than just a ball in his throat. He had to choke back everything he wanted to say in that moment. He knew it was a big moment, a big step for Kurt. All the nervousness that he usually felt about situations like this; everything that he usually kept so boxed up and protected was about to melt away.

"This is everything." Blaine whispered against his lips. He could see the words brighten Kurt's already shining eyes as he leaned forward to kiss Blaine again. The kiss was sweet, not as rushed as it had been before. Kurt was the first one to reach the bed and Blaine soon followed. Kurt laid his head down on Blaine's forest green pillows and Blaine leaned over him for another kiss; taking the first button of his Dalton blazer between his fingers and undoing it. He let his blazer fall beside the bed as Kurt continued to kiss him and run his porcelain fingers through Blaine's curly brown hair. It was in that moment that Blaine knew that he was truly in love with this man; everything about him was going to change him forever. No matter what happened to them, this moment changed them both for the rest of their lives. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion; it was all sweat and fumbling fingers. Blushing cheeks and nervous laughs that quickly turned into hushes moans that grew from the back of the throats and trickled out of their parted lips. Shudders and exploration; it changed their chemistry. At the end of the night, with the sunrise threatening them they laid in tangle underneath Blaine's thick comforter. Blaine on his back as Kurt laid his head gently on the crook of Blaine's shoulder, his pale skin flushed. Blaine leaned down and kissed the crown on Kurt's head, pulling him a bit tighter; a bit closer, afraid of this moment ending. If he could have had any wish granted it would have been to be able to lay in that moment forever.

But it didn't last forever. The memory faded from Blaine's mind as he heard the front door of his parents home swing open and watched as his mother stepped out of the house.

to be continued...