“I’m nervous,” Blaine admitted.

“What do you mean?” Kurt asked, sitting up from his place against Blaine’s chest.

“It’s nothing” Blaine said, trying to dismiss the topic as quick as possible.

“Don’t play smart with me Blaine Anderson,” Kurt warned. “Just because I have a new look doesn’t mean I don’t know when my boyfriend is on ends about something.”

“I got a letter a while ago,” Blaine admitted, “I was going to tell you and we were going to celebrate but then…well this” he waved his hand around “happened and it doesn’t matter anymore so don’t worry about it.” He finished.

“Don’t worry about what Blaine?”

“It’s nothing-“

“Tell me.” Kurt insisted. Blaine let out a shaky breath as if he was preparing for some sort of backlash from Kurt.

“I got into Mannes.” He said.

“Oh.” Kurt said, trying to compose himself, smiling too-wide with false cheer. He wanted to be a good boyfriend. He wanted to but his heart was ice cold and in the pit of his stomach. Everyone was leaving him. No-he had to be strong, for Blaine. “That’s great!” he said. Blaine let out a humourless laugh.

“Yeah it would be.” He said, “if I were going.” Kurt’s smile dropped.

“Blaine. You are going. I am not letting you stay here. Mannes is your dream. You spoke about it like it was this far off thing. And now it’s not. Mannes was your NYADA, it is your NYADA. If you got in, you’re going. Whether I’m following you or not doesn’t matter—“

“You matter!” Blaine shouted. Kurt withdrew from Blaine’s side. “You matter to me. More than Mannes. More than any dream, Kurt. You’re my dream.” He said. Kurt’s heart melted at the words, but he wasn’t letting Blaine off. Not this time.

“Blaine. You are going.” Kurt said. His words were stiff, but they held the weight of an iron tone. Blaine gave a small smile, a spark of hope burning in his eyes.

“I’m going to Mannes,” he said quietly, beaming at Kurt.

“Yeah you are,” Kurt laughed.

They stayed that way, laughing and crying and planning Blaine’s future apartment and kissing until their mouths ran dry. Finally Kurt took his leave when he realized he was supposed to make dinner for Burt and Carole that night and that if he didn’t leave right then, he’d never make it home by seven.

He smiled, kissed Blaine’s cheek, and said goodbye to Mrs. Anderson. He got in his car, and started the drive home, listing off recipes in his head.

It didn’t hit him until halfway through the drive home. He was alone. He was going to be truly, and utterly alone and trapped in this city without even Blaine to fall back on. It felt like an earth quake inside his mind, tremors filled his body. Violent sobs escaped form his throat and tears finally ran freely down his face. It was all over.

Everything he had dreamt of was gone and there was nothing he could do about it because he had to let Blaine go, he knew Blaine would have done the same if it were him staying in Lima. But that didn’t change the fact that it crushed him inside.

When he pulled into his drive way he sat in his car for a good five minutes, cleaning himself up so it didn’t look like he had just bawled his eyes out. He looked in the mirror and saw someone else. Not someone bad or someone good, just someone different. He saw pink hair and piercings, he didn’t see Kurt Hummel. But that was something he liked, for once. He couldn’t recognize himself because who was he? He was a scared boy with dreams that were crushed and that was okay. He liked this Kurt, though. This Kurt wasn’t going to take this shit from the world. This Kurt was going to fight.

He liked the piercings and the hair dye and the chains that he wore oh-so-fashionably. He liked himself, and that wasn’t something he had before. He smiled and strutted into the now-familiar house with a Honeys, I’m hooomee!

And stopped dead in his tracks.

There was someone in his house, sitting patiently on the sofa, dressed impeccably with an air of confidence that could only be earned by living in a large city and ruling it with an iron fist.

“Hello Kurt Hummel?” the lady said. Kurt nodded nervously.

“I’m Jennifer. “ She said, shaking his hand. “I’m the head of internship for the New York base of Vivienne Westwood.” Kurt blanched.

Well then. This could be a game changer.