Chapter 24: Gone
TPD: Born This Way

Ever since they'd gone to that concert at McKinley, Kurt had been almost nonstop about how much he missed his old friends. Blaine tried so hard not to take it personally, but each time Kurt mentioned it, he felt it chipping away at all of his happy thoughts.

Blaine deflected or tried to change the subject constantly, but eventually he had to talk about it. He played the Karofsky card. After all, if Kurt went back that closeted bully was still there. Nothing had changed. And Blaine wouldn't be there to protect his boyfriend. Of course, Kurt could probably take care of himself, but Blaine would spend every day worried out of his mind that maybe Karofsky would somehow trick him into a dark corner of the parking lot and beat the living crap out of him. The thought made Blaine nauseous with anxiety.

Which is why the news that Dave Karofsky wanted to meet with Kurt sent him reeling.

"My dad will be there. It's a meeting with both our dads. Principal Figgins will be there. I'll be perfectly safe."

Blaine stared at Kurt sitting on the foot of his bed. "But..."

"Blaine, I love that you care enough to be worried, but there's really no reason."

So Blaine forced a smile and dipped his head in a half-nod until he could force it into his eyes. "Okay," he replied. "You're right. Just promise you won't go back if he seems... If you think there's any chance it could be an act. I couldn't stand it if you got hurt."

Kurt smiled shyly. "Why, Mr. Anderson," he said and wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck. "That is the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day." He grinned and kissed Blaine briefly before leaning in for a proper hug. "Besides, you'll still have me after school and on the weekends."

Blaine felt relief flood him and try to escape through his eyes. "What?" Kurt asked. "You think I'm not painfully aware that this means less us time?"

Blaine laughed a little. "It's just nice to know you haven't forgotten all about me already."

"I could never."

Blaine was glad the conversation ended there and they popped in the movie they'd picked out and cuddled. This was one of his favorite date activities. He could picture his life like this. It already felt like they were an old married couple- the kind that loved each other so much that they still spent their spare time together even though they were too old to be physically intimate. Maybe it was because he and Kurt weren't physically intimate. But they had that connection, right? He hoped so. He didn't want this to be a fluke. He... wanted to grow old with Kurt. He wanted to be old men cuddling on a sofa, watching old black and white movie musicals. Or, in this case, Moulin Rouge.

The next day, Blaine waited anxiously for Kurt's text about the meeting, trying (and failing) not to hope for it to all go south, for Kurt to tell him Karofsky seemed insincere, that he would be staying with Blaine.

But it didn't happen like that. So Blaine skipped his last class to swing by McKinley and found the first New Directions member he knew: Mercedes. They plotted deep into the night- well, afternoon- and Blaine talked to the Warblers the next day. He'd picked a fairly simple song, but it was perfect in every way. The Warblers learned it quickly and they all took a field trip to McKinley.

Blaine sang. The sun was in his eyes, but he forced them open. He wanted to see Kurt, wanted him to know he meant it. Blaine watched his fellow Warblers pat Kurt on the shoulder in farewell, and felt tears threatening to stop him singing when Finn hugged his boyfriend. This was happening. Kurt was leaving.

This was goodbye.

Kurt was accepted into the New Directions circle for several more hugs and Blaine struggled for control. He was not going to cry. Especially not in front of a bunch of strangers.

As he reached the end, Kurt turned and walked toward him. Blaine finished and Kurt pulled him into a hug.

I'm never saying goodbye to you.

Blaine pulled away, hoping his watery eyes would say it all before he turned and started to hurry up the steps from the courtyard to the parking lot. He was not going to cry in front of a bunch of strangers at a public school without a strong anti-bullying policy. He turned back, seeing Kurt smiling with all of his McKinley friends.

It would be okay. Kurt loved him. Blaine loved Kurt, and that meant that this was where he needed him to be. Kurt was going to be a lot happier at McKinley. He'd liked Dalton well enough, but Blaine could see that the New Directions were family to Kurt. Not just classmates.

The next day at Warblers practice, Blaine found himself thinking about his friends at Dalton. He liked them and considered them good friends, but it wasn't family. Not like Kurt had at McKinley.

"Alright, so who can hit that high D?" David asked.

"It's just not in my range," the freshman tenor 1 fretted.

"So we'll get you some tighter pants. Pull them up when you need to hit the note."

Blaine grinned and glanced surreptitiously to his left.

Right.

Kurt wasn't there.