As the leaves were coated in a layer of snow on the ground, Blaine and Kurt settled easily into the cottages. It soon became as comfortable as them as McKinley once was, but they both knew that it was only temporary.

What lay beyond the cottages wasn’t an idea that either of them thought of often, knowing that eventually they would meet the end by way of donations. They were machines, born and bred to give until they could no longer.

But none of that mattered, not in the cottages. It was a place to get to know fellow students of other schools, a place of limbo.

Mornings passed, and Blaine found himself waking early to have breakfast with the others in his cottage. In the few months since arriving, he had become quick friends with Mike, the quiet boy somehow countering him perfectly. He couldn’t help but watch with wide, interested eyes as Mike and Brittany danced around each other – literally and figuratively – in a cadence that Blaine found himself nearly jealous of at times.

If he wasn’t such good friends with Mike, he was sure that he would be.

“It’s about time, don’t you think, Mike?” Blaine looked into the window, catching Brittany’s reflection as he poured a glass of juice, before he turned with a confused glance to the pair sitting at the table. Sitting next to Mike was Kurt, curled into the chair, and Blaine couldn’t help but be reminded of a cat.

“About that, it was November when we went, wasn’t it?” Kurt and Blaine exchanged a confused glance as Blaine headed to the table, sliding Kurt a glass of juice as he sat down.

“I realize that we’re new here and everything, but secrets don’t make friends.” Kurt pointed out, a bit of an irritated expression on his face as he glanced up to meet Brittany’s eyes, who simply giggled in response. Blaine reached over, touching his arm gently in a bid to make sure he didn’t snap at the girl.

In the years they had been friends, Blaine knew by now the signs that Kurt was getting irritated. Blaine couldn’t fully blame him however; he too wanted to know what exactly Mike and Brittany were going on about.

“We want to take you to Westerville!” Brittany stated, a bright look in her eyes. “They have kittens who eat flies there!” Blaine glanced over to Mike, who simply shrugged, unable to decode the girl’s strange words.

“Westerville?” Kurt asked slowly, narrowing his eyes slightly at the thought. It was clear that he wasn’t sure what it was, and Blaine didn’t know exactly either, but he thought that he heard Santana and Quinn, the girls that he had seen on that first day at the cottages, talking about it the other day.

“Yeah, it’s a town about two hours from here. They let us take one of the vans if we go for the day.” Mike explained a bit more, and it began to make sense to Blaine.

They wanted to go out into the world, a place that he had never been before.

Blaine would be lying if he said he wasn’t nervous about the idea of going out, but he knew, too, that it would be something that needed to happen. Eventually, he would have to experience the world as it was meant to be, not how it was conditioned for them.

Casting a glance to Kurt, he could see that his best friend was excited. In fact, Blaine wasn’t sure that excited was even the right word, Kurt was downright ecstatic at the idea of going out into the world, that much was obvious from the bright glint in his eyes.

“When can we go?” Kurt questioned, glancing around the room with wide eyes. Blaine sighed softly, knowing it would be a losing battle if he were to try to fight it now. Kurt had made up his mind, and when that occurred, there truly was no arguing with him.

“In a few days, we have to put in a request with our superintendant.”

A few days, that was what Blaine had to prepare himself for the idea of going out to the world, to walk amongst people who lived normal lives, who more than likely had no idea what went on behind closed doors.

Blaine however, and the others, knew all too well what they were to do, and what they couldn’t do as well. Of course, that played a major role in his hesitation to accept the idea of going to the city, because it would show him exactly what he could not have.

---

The room fell silent as Miss Emma turned slowly to face them. The children, all no older than thirteen, stared up at her with wide eyes. This angry person was a side they had never seen from Miss Emma before, and none of them understood it in the least.

“None of you will see the world. None of you will become actors and actresses, none of you will become police or firefighters. None of you will do anything except live the life that has already been planned for you from start to finish. You will become adults, but not for long. Not long after you become adults, you will start to donate your vital organs. And sometime around your third or fourth donation, your life will complete.”

---

If there was anything that Blaine would remember all too well from McKinley, it was that day that he learned the truth. As they grew older, they were told it was a heroic deed, if it was even mentioned at all. That they were contributing to society, but in reality, they were simply being used and tossed aside.

Blaine knew he had taken it the hardest of all of them, he had stashed it away in his mind and revisited that day constantly. Kurt, on the other hand, showed no remorse about the fact, as he spoke in excited tones, using his hands to gesture, about what he was most looking forward to in Westerville.

---

Blaine woke with a start the day they were to head to Westerville. He had slept later than expected, and quickly tossed on a sweater and pair of jeans, before heading down the stairs to the kitchen.

The sight that greeted him made him nearly flinch, Sebastian bent over Kurt’s chair, massaging his back while discussing the outing with Mike and Brittany.

Normally, it wouldn’t bother Blaine as much, but Sebastian clearly had no idea what these gestures meant. At McKinley, relationships were not encouraged, and the students had no way to discover what it meant to truly be in one. But since coming to the cottages, Mike and Brittany had been a prime example for Sebastian to follow, as had the few films that they had available to them.

Blaine didn’t claim to understand them himself, but he at least wouldn’t do them mindlessly, as Sebastian seemed to be doing with Kurt.

Shaking it off, he turned away, headed to the fridge and pulled out an apple, leaning against the counter as he bit into it. He watched with curious eyes as Sebastian fussed over Kurt, and Kurt looked nearly stoic to the contact.

Blaine wished, not for the first time, that he was able to read Kurt’s emotions like a book.

Snapping out of his reverie, he glanced over to Sebastian as he came to the sink, washing the dishes slowly. Blaine turned on his heel, so he was facing the same direction as him, the question itching at his mind until he spoke.

“Why do you touch him like that?” Blaine asked, blinking a bit, before slowly turning his gaze to Sebastian, who was still working at the dishes.

“I’m allowed to touch Kurt.”

“It’s the way you touch him.” Blaine started, pursing his lips for a moment. “Everything you do, I’ve seen it in those movies we watch.” He kept his eyes on Sebastian, who opened his mouth and promptly shut it again. “It’s true, Sebastian.”

With that, he took a few steps away from Sebastian, nodding to Kurt with a gentle smile as he headed outside to wait.