Kurt lay facedown on his mattress, tears soaking from his gritty eyes into the fabric of his pillowcase. The world had shifted. What had previously been concrete and certain was now unsure and risky. Nothing was to be taken for granted.

Blaine.

Oh, god. Blaine. He'd been with someone else. He'd kissed someone else, maybe even slept with someone else. He'd betrayed Kurt. Completely and utterly betrayed him.
God, how could he have been so stupid? How could he believe that a wonderful, talented, hot guy like Blaine would ever be interested in him? How could he believe that Blaine had cared? How could he have allowed himself to trust once more, when all his instincts had been screaming at him that it would never work? He should have gone with his gut. He should have acknowledged that deep down, he knew that no one would ever see him in a romantic way. All his past experiences spoke against it, everything he knew told him that it wasn't real, that it was too good to be true. But he went with it. And why? Because Blaine had never been remotely close to Kurt's past interests. Blaine had been amazing. He had been sweet, and kind, and trustworthy, and... There. He had been there, when no one else ever had been before. He had been all that Kurt ever wanted.

Moonlight shone through the window of the Dalton dorm room as Kurt sat on the bed, knees hugged up against his chest, watching his father's Jeep pull out from the parking lot below. He gazed around his small single room, eyes resting on the cell phone resting on his desk, which was still buzzing due to text messages from his friends at Mckinley, who wanted to know why he hadn't attended school that day. How was he supposed to tell them that he'd chickened out? That he'd ruined everything and been horribly selfish? That he'd abandoned New Directions and his friends, and that he'd taken his father's honeymoon savings in order to go to the posh boarding school in Westerville? Kurt sighed. Nothing he did was ever adequate. He was simply a failure as a person. Couldn't stand up for himself, couldn't defend himself. Couldn't just be normal like everyone else. Why, he wondered, did he even have friends at all?

"Moping, are we?" Blaine poked his head into the room with a smile that faded a little when he saw the look on Kurt's face.

"Come downstairs to the common room, we're throwing you a welcome party!" Kurt felt the urge to roll his eyes at Blaine's enthusiasm. Oh, well. He supposed moping could wait for later. Time to resume the mask that was all the outside world ever saw.

"Sure," Kurt smiled up at his friend, taking the hand that Blaine was offering him.

"Let's party."

"Kurt!" Rachel yelled as she clomped into the apartment in her high-heeled boots.

"Kurt! Come on, you need to get up! You haven't moved since they left this morning, and I won't let you wallow in self-pity any longer." The girl grasped Kurt's hand and pulled him into an upright position, frowning at his tear-stained face.

"Get up and get showered. We're going to Lima," she said flatly, the effect somewhat ruined by the open concern on her face for her friend.

"Kurt," she said more gently, when he didn't move.

"Kurt, I need to go there. I need to talk to Finn, and I need to finish this madness. And please, I need you with me." Kurt raised his eyes and acknowledged his friend at this, heaving a long sigh and he slowly rose out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. Rachel was his friend, and she needed him. Therefore, he would go, despite his enormous dread of facing a certain ex boyfriend in the choir room, which he knew he would be forced to visit.
Kurt shuts the bathroom door quietly behind him and turns to face the shower, undressing slowly and finally stepping under the warm spray where he washes off the last physical traces of his pain. No more tear tracks on his face. No more grit in his eyes. No traces of his lips left on Kurt's from that last kiss in the doorway. He finishes washing himself and steps out onto the bath mat, wrapping a towel around his waist and gazing at himself in the full length mirror on the wall. Nothing about him indicates his relationship with Blaine. The promise ring he'd treasured so much was in the trash, torn apart in ironic similarity to the promise it was supposed to represent. The matching bracelets he'd gotten Blaine and himself on Blaine's birthday, that unique design of the two intertwined strands, one hazel and one blue to represent their eye color, with the heart charm that said K&Bon the back in fancy lettering that he'd worked on for hours to engrave by hand, well, that was where it had fallen between his bed and the wall where he'd thrown it last night. To an outsider, he might appear to be completely alright, if it weren't for his eyes. Those blue eyes flecked with yellow that Blaine had spent so long admiring... Those seemed lost in a deep sea of pain. Kurt's eyes seemed dull and lifeless. Only through them could it be seen how he truly felt about Blaine.

The plane sped up the runway, lifting off the ground and beginning to rise steadily into the air. Kurt gazed out of the window at New York City, which was receding quickly below them. Stars lit up the evening outside, seemingly close enough to touch. Rachel leaned over Kurt's shoulder to look outside as well.
"I wonder which one is mine..." She speculated, thinking of the star that Finn had given her for Christmas the previous year. She sighed, looking at her friend. How was it that things had gotten to this point? How could Blaine have done that to Kurt? Everything was falling apart. Events weren't going as planned. Finn should be training to be an actor in New York. Kurt should be studying at NYADA with her, still happily committed to Blaine. As for Blaine... Well, she didn't know exactly what she expected Blaine to do. Certainly cheating on Kurt shouldn't have been part of his schedule though.

The intercom crackled as a voice filtered through the speakers embedded in the ceiling.
"Hello, this is your Captain speaking. We have successfully taken off from JFK airport in New York city, and should be arriving in Ohio in under two hours. On behalf of myself and the crew, I hope you enjoy your flight."

Kurt stared at the lights in the city below. Two hours. Just two hours until he would be landing in Ohio and driving home for the first time in two months. Two hours before he would have to knock on his father's door, arriving unannounced, looking like he was. Two hours. He hoped it would pass slowly. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and retrieved his iPod from where it sat nestled among chapstick and a few pens. He swiped the screen open, feeling a pang in his chest when he saw his backround picture--him and Blaine at his senior prom. Blaine's curls frizzed wildly around his head, and his hands clutched at Kurt as they sat atop the plastic dinosaur together, obviously caught laughing as the photographer snapped the picture. he quickly opened the music application and set it to play his relaxation playlist, relaxing back in his seat to wait out the flight. He knew the first song, it was 1, 2, 3, 4 by The Plain White T's. He never could listen to it without thinking of Blaine. His eyes closed as he listened, and a crease formed between his eyebrows. He was determined to finish the song. Changing it meant giving up, and that was something Kurt swore he would never do. He relaxed visibly as the song ended, but not for long. A simple piano melody started playing into his ears, and tears filled his eyes when he recognized the song.

You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on.
You think I'm funny, when I tell the punch line wrong.

"Kurt?" Rachel leaned over him, concerned.
"Are you alright?" Worry creased her forehead as she looked at her friend.
"Yes," Kurt responded quickly,
"I'm fine. I just need to... Go to the bathroom..." Making good on his words, Kurt rose from his seat and moved towards the bathrooms, leaving his iPod on the chair. Rachel frowned, leaning over to see what he'd been listening to, and noticing the title of the song

Teenage Dream (Acoustic) From Blaine to Kurt with love

Her eyes welled up with the same tears Kurt had left to hastily to shed. Anger rose in her chest at the boy who had hurt her best friend so, who had dared cheat on him. Of course, she herself had cheated on Finn once before, but that had been completely different. She'd had an actual reason. Blaine was just... Being a sleaze.

The plane touched down on the ground, slowing to taxi into the gate and then finally coming to a standstill.
"Thank you for flying with us today. Please remember to take all personal items off the plane with you. We hope you enjoyed your flight" The intercom interrupted Kurt's train of thought as he looked out at the same Lima sky he'd slept so many nights under. He and Rachel went through security and were out in the open air in under an hour. Kurt simply continued gazing around, feeling oddly detached. Nothing seemed real. No, nothing was real. Nothing had been real since Blaine had cheated, because that could never happen in the real world. It just wasn't possible. Unfathomable. Rachel stepped forward and hailed a taxi, shoving him slightly when he didn't move to get in. He sat down numbly in the worn leather backseat as Rachel spoke to the driver and gave him directions to her fathers' house, deciding that Kurt was in no condition to speak to Burt at present, so he would just have to stay with her and speak to his parents tomorrow.
Twenty minutes later, the cab pulled up in front of a familiar blue house, and Rachel paid the driver for his services, then opened Kurt's door for him and pulled him out.
"Come on," she said.
"My dads are on vacation, but I know where they keep the spare key." Making good on her words, she reached into a flowerpot by the door and retrieved said key, unlocking the door and pulling Kurt inside. She half dragged him down the hall to the guest bedroom, which she knew was kept prepared at all times. She shoved Kurt gently on the bed.
"Go to sleep Kurt. We're going to high school tomorrow." Rachel tucked him in and left the room, closing the door softly behind her and retreating down the hall to her own familiar pink bedroom, where he promptly collapsed on her own bed. And if there were tears stinging her eyes and leaking into her pillow as she stroked the teddy bear Finn had won her on senior ditch day? Well, it had been a difficult 24 hours.

"Mr. Schue!" Rachel raced to hug their old choir teacher as he emerged from his car in the parking lot, balancing a cup of coffee on the roof of his vehicle.
"Rachel! What a surprise! And Ku-Kurt..." Mr. Schuester did a double-take when he saw the look on Kurt's face, but said nothing, obviously already aware of what had happened between him and Blaine.
"You know what? It doesn't even matter why you're here! Come to the choir room, glee is first period this year!" Kurt smiled slightly at the enthusiasm of their old teacher, but it didn't reach his eyes. The teacher made to walk to the school and gestured for them to follow.
"Come on! They'll be so excited to see you. Speaking of which, Rachel, you do know that Finn is here, right?" He inquired.
"Yes, I'm aware of that," Rachel said crisply.

Together, the three strode down the familiar hallways to the room that they knew better than any other, finally approaching the door. Mr. Schue entered first and spoke to the club, the entirety of which was already sitting in the risers.
"Guys, I know we took a trip down memory lane yesterday when an old friend came to visit-" He looked at Finn, who was sitting in the first row of risers next to Tina.
"Well, today we welcome back two more old members--all the way from the city that never sleeps--Rachel and Kurt!" The two strode into the room, smiling at all their old friends, pretending to care. All the upperclassmen members of the club broke into whoops and cheers, smiling broadly as their friends entered their lives again for the first time in months.

Blue eyes met brown.