"Ow."

"Hold still."

"Ow!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!"

"But it hurts!"

"Well, if you would just let me do it, it would stop hurting!"

Blaine huffed and gave his injured hands back to Santana. After the 'incident' at the mall, Santana had to literally drag Blaine back to the hotel. He hadn't stopped shaking since they'd flopped onto the ground and let go of the chains they'd been climbing. Sure, The Sins had been trying to get rid of him, he'd known that and had come face to face with death on multiple occasions but this was the first time he'd actually had time to process what was going on and panic. He really had thought he was going to die.

Santana dabbed the cuts on his palm and fingers with cotton balls soaked in alcohol. She had been very quiet since they got back to the suite and Blaine was starting to notice.

"What?" he asked, causing her to look up from his stinging hands. "What's wrong?"

Santana didn't answer, just pressed her lips into a hard line and continued to wipe his abused skin. Blaine waited patiently and she eventually mumbled.

"Sorry."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at this.

"What?" he laughed. "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"It was my idea," she clarified, finally facing him. "If I hadn't tried to catch that stupid Sin, we never would've had to go through any of that!"

"Santana," Blaine sighed, "you were only trying to do what was best. I probably would've wanted to try it eventually."

"You don't know that!" she stated.

"Neither do you," Blaine countered. He could see how guilty she looked and Blaine smiled. "Besides, now we know that the Sin here is a guy. That's something."

"If there's only one," Santana muttered.

They both fell silent as Santana finished wrapping Blaine's hands in thin bandages. The unspoken question of what to do next hung heavy in the air. After this, Blaine knew that, somehow, The Sins knew where they were all the time, so trying to find them was out of the question. They didn't have any idea who The Sins were, what they wanted or where they were hiding. There was only one thing they could do.

"We have to figure this out," Blaine stated, then clarified when Santana gave him a confused look. "Why they're after Kurt. We have to know."

Santana made a small 'ah' sound and nodded gently in agreement. She flexed her hands and said, "Well, at least we know it has something to do with his mother, right?"

"Right," Blaine confirmed. He furrowed his brow and propped his chin up on his knuckles as he thought. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about what he had seen in Kurt's bathroom. That, doubled with the mysterious trip to Tokyo, Blaine was starting to question what Kurt's mother was doing.

"I've got a feeling about her, Santana," Blaine admitted. "Kurt's mom. Something doesn't sit right with her."

"Then you'll be pleased to know I dug up a little dirt on her," Artie chimed in his ear. 

Blaine sat up straight, attentive.

"What is it?" he asked hastily.

He heard Artie clear his throat before he started talking.

"I did some research and it turns out Mrs Hummel took a lot of spontaneous, inter-national trips. Paris, Bangkok, Beijing. She's been everywhere. I also thought it was strange how she died. People say it was a freak accident but I'm sceptical. Here, listen to this: 'Locals of Lima, Ohio were in shock when resident Florist, Elizabeth Hummel died tragically. The 34-year-old was driving in her car when a telephone wire dropped on top of her. The electricity caused the car to explode, taking with it, Hummel's life.'"

Blaine couldn't help but feel sick. That was Kurt's mother. He couldn't imagine what it must've been like for an eleven year old to be called out of class and be told his mother had just exploded. It made him want to barge over to Kurt's apartment at that very second, wrap him up in his arms and tell him everything was okay.

Santana clicked her tongue. "That's got Sin written all over it."

Blaine's eyebrows shot up.

"You think The Sins killed her?"

"Well, that explains the motive, doesn't it?" Santana asked. "Maybe this chick pissed them off and when they killed her, it wasn't enough, so they're after her son to."

"I don't think so," Blaine disagreed. "If that was the case, they would've already killed Kurt and Burt."

Santana sighed but nodded her head. They both sat in silence for a few minutes before Santana spoke up again.

"So, if they're not trying to kill him," she began. "Why are they trying to get Kurt?"

Blaine didn't respond. He wished more than anything that he had the answer to that question. But he didn't and it scared the crap out of him.

----------

Blaine knocked on the door of Kurt's apartment with two blunt raps. He had come straight here after his conversation with Santana and Artie. He just needed to see Kurt. After what had happened at the mall and all the talk of death, he just needed to see his shining eyes and smiling face. 

When Kurt opened the door, he was awarded with just that. Kurt's cheeks were flushed red and his lips were parted as his breath puffed out in small clouds. He was just as breathtaking as the day Blaine had met him. Feeling the heat rise to his cheeks, Blaine coughed awkwardly, looking away.

"Blaine," Kurt said in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you. What're you doing here?"

Blaine cleared his throat and turned back to the man in front of him.

"I was just, uh, in the… the area and thought you would, maybe, want to, um, take a walk with me?" Blaine finished lamely. 

Kurt was looking at him with a very amused expression as he smiled fondly. He seemed to find Blaine's discomfort funny and laughed lightly, rolling his eyes.

"Of course," Kurt replied. "I'd love to. Just give me one second, okay?"

Blaine nodded quickly as Kurt dashed back inside. Blaine felt warmer and lighter already and congratulated himself on coming here. For once, he felt like he was doing something right. 

Kurt reappeared in a pale blue peacoat that matched his eyes. He called over his shoulder, back into the apartment.

"Rachel! Mercedes! I'm going out for a while, bye!"

He didn't wait for them to reply, just slammed the door behind him and turned to Blaine, looking fresh and excited.

"Let's go," he breathed, beaming.

Blaine couldn't think of anything to say so he just nodded and led Kurt down the stairs and out onto the side walk. They decided not to take a taxi and opted to walk to Central Park.  They made small chit chat as they walked and Blaine couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this normal. As much as he loved the Task Force and everybody in it, he couldn't help but miss fragments of his old life.

He didn't miss the bullying or the awkward home situations but he did miss the simplicity of being able to do average everyday things. He didn't even go to the store and buy his own groceries anymore. Instead he just got food delivered to his apartment. It was all very odd at times and he often found himself wondering how his life got to way is was.

It was when Kurt mentioned the mall that Blaine began to pay attention to what he was saying.

"It was a total train wreck," Kurt was gushing. "Everyone was so freaked out, I mean, what if I had decided to go shopping that day? I might have fallen to my doom and that would've wasted perfectly good Doc Martins, thank you very much."

"You mean the, uh, elevator?" Blaine asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Kurt answered. "Apparently, you could hear it hit the ground a mile away. Shook the whole mall. That's just freaky, right? I mean, when does stuff like that actually happen?"

"More times than you think," Blaine muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Kurt asked, leaning closer.

"Nothing!" Blaine squeaked but noticed Kurt didn't move back away and secretly relished it.

When they finally found themselves at a snow pattered Central Park, Kurt took Blaine's hand and lead him down one of the many pathways. He stared down at their hands in confusion then faced Blaine, his eyebrows drawn together questioningly.

"What happened to your hands?" he asked, picking at the bandages.

Blaine inhaled sharply as he remembered the cuts spread across his palms and fingers.

"I just," Blaine began, "kind of, fell over and grazed them."

Kurt rolled his eyes but seemed to buy Blaine's lie. He slapped his wrist lightly and scolded him, "you have to be more careful, Silly. Or else you gonna really hurt yourself."

"Believe me, I know," Blaine sighed, his mind elsewhere.

Kurt didn't ask anything else, just continued to lead him through the lines of trees until they reached the lake. Being the middle of Winter, the water had completely frozen over to a thick layer of ice. People of all ages were currently skating over it, laughing joyously and twirling around.

Blaine looked away from the pretty sight to Kurt in confusion. 

"Um, Kurt?" he started. "Not that this isn't nice or anything but what are we doing here?"

Kurt tugged him towards the lake and said over his shoulder with a smile. "You haven't had the full New York experience until you go ice-skating in Central Park."

Blaine turned cold and it wasn't from the chill air. He stopped dead in his tracks making Kurt abruptly stop as well. When Kurt turned to him in question, Blaine laughed nervously and averted his eyes to the ground.

"Thanks, for the - the offer," Blaine stuttered. "But, you know, it's such a nice day, let's just keep walking around instead."

Blaine went to turn around but Kurt's hand on his shoulder stopped him. When he faced him again, Kurt had a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Blaine," Kurt whispered, his voice threatening to turn into a laugh. "Don't tell me you've never been ice-skating before."

When Blaine didn't answer, Kurt out-right laughed. Blaine flushed and crossed his arms, huffing in embarrassment.

"Oh, Blaine," Kurt cooed, hugging him over his folded arms. "You really haven't lived, have you? Why haven't you ever tried this?"

Blaine raised his chin indignantly. "I was an uncoordinated child," he explained. "My parents didn't want to put me in a position that I could potentially maim anyone and I was fine with that."

Kurt was grinning now and dragging Blaine down the snow covered steps. 

"Well, you're a big boy now and I don't think you're going to 'maim' anyone, so come on."

Blaine reluctantly, but not really, followed Kurt down the snowy trek to the side of the lake. Kurt rented their skates and handed Blaine his. Blaine didn't move as Kurt quickly laced up his skates with swift fingers. When he tied the last knot and turned to Blaine he shook his head.

"Do I have to stuff your feet in there and tie them up myself?" Kurt questioned incredulously.

Blaine shrugged and replied, "probably."

Kurt rolled his eyes again and gently  pushed Blaine's shoulders so he sat down on the bench resting behind his knees. Kurt picked up the skates sitting lonely on the ground and forced them into Blaine cold hands. He looked him in the eyes and said, laughing a little.

"Stop acting like such a petulant child and put the damn skates on."

Blaine mock gasped as his hand flew to his heart dramatically.

"Kurt! Look at the mouth on you!"

Kurt laughed properly this time but didn't reply. He waddled to the edge of the ice and gave Blaine a coy look over his shoulder before stepping onto the frozen surface and easily sliding away. Blaine watched with something akin to awe as Kurt effortlessly slid and twisted around the lake, his hands folded neatly behind hid back. Dressed in the light blue coat, he looked like some kind of magical creature that only appeared in the Winter. Maybe a fairy or an elf of some kind.

Blaine then made a promise to himself that one day, no matter what, he would tell Kurt how he felt. By sitting there and watching his pale skin illuminated by the texture of his soft, brown hair and bright, sparkling eyes, Blaine knew that he would never be able to forget his face.

Nodding decisively, Blaine laced up his skates and stood up on shaking legs. He took a deep breath and tried to focus on not falling on his ass as he shuffled towards the lake. When the tip of his skates finally found the ice, Blaine carefully stepped forward, trying not to think that a foot beneath him was water that he could freeze to death in. He tried to take off like he'd seen Kurt do, only to have his feet slide forward to quickly and send him falling backwards. He screwed his eyes shut, only to have two strong arms catch him. His eyes fluttered open to find Kurt grinning down at him.

"I'm getting a weird sense of deja vu," he chuckled, helping Blaine back to his feet.

Blaine blushed and gripped onto Kurt's arm tightly, afraid to fall and actually hit the ice.

"I can't believe you've really never done this before," Kurt remarked again as they slowly began to move across the slippery surface.

Blaine hummed as he revelled in the warm emanating from Kurt and was for once grateful for his clumsiness. If it meant he could snuggle into Kurt's side, he would fall over a hundred times.

"Well, believe it," he finally answered. "This is actually pretty terrifying."

"Why?" Kurt asked as if he couldn't comprehend it. "What're you so scared of?"

"Well what if the ice breaks and I fall in?" Blaine suggested, absently clutching Kurt's coat tighter. "I've seen The Deathly Hallows and it doesn't look fun."

"You're such a drama queen," Kurt sighed, smiling. "And I'm currently living with Rachel berry and Mercedes Jones, so that is really saying something."

"Whatever," Blaine grumbled, to which Kurt pinched his cheek affectionately.

Blaine inhaled sharply as Kurt wrapped his arm around his waist in support as he began to lead them around the rink faster. Blaine tried to follow Kurt's on, two sync but ended up catching the tip of his skates blade against a chunk of ice and stuttering in his step. But Kurt was there again to save him, easily leading him back onto his feet and continuing in the anti-clockwise direction like nothing even happened.

Blaine knew if he'd been out here with Santana, she'd have laughed mercilessly at him overtime he tripped up (though he doubted she would do any better). It was nice to have someone to support him for a change. Blaine had almost forgotten what that type of comfort felt like. Hadn't felt it in years.

As they continued to skim across the ice, Blaine's confidence slowly increased, as did his balance. When he looked over at Kurt, he had a peaceful, serene look on his face, his eyes alternating between looking down at their feet and staring around at the beautiful, snowy scenery.

"You're really good at this," Blaine commented as they finished another lap.

Kurt shrugged, still gazing at their surroundings.

"It was something my mom taught me," he responded softly. "Every Winter break she my dad and I would go out to this little cabin and there was this tiny lake that would freeze over. She would take me ice-skating and every time I fell, she was always there to catch me."

Blaine gave a tentative smile and nudged him with his elbow.

"Sounds like someone I know."

Kurt looked at him that time, his eyes wide and grateful. The smile that graced his lips was thankful and gorgeous.

"Thank you," Kurt whispered, his voice sounding thick with emotion.

Blaine nodded wordlessly, entranced by the endless sea of blue that sloshed and swirled around in the depths of Kurt's eyes. In fact, he was so entranced, neither of them noticed the large clump of crumbled ice sitting innocently in the middle of their path. Their skates reached the bump in the road and they unceremoniously topple over and fell the the hard ice in a tangle of limbs as they both yelped in surprise.

Blaine grunted loudly and winced as he felt a sharp sting on his elbow, knowing a bruise was already blooming there. It was only when he felt something shift underneath him that Blaine looked down and saw Kurt sprawled out beneath him, looking flustered and startled as well. Flushing from head to toe, Blaine tried jumping to his feet but too late remembered that thin blades were currently attached to his feet and fell back down on Kurt, resulting in the taller boy letting out a pained 'oof!'

"Sorry," Blaine stammered, wriggling off Kurt until his backside was pressed against the cold ice, water seeping through his jeans instantly.

Kurt simply giggled and got to his feet, holding out a hand to Blaine.

"Don't do that," he scolded. "You'll get your pants wet." 

"Too late," Blaine grunted as he accepted Kurt's hand and let the other boy pull him up.

"Well," Kurt's teeth chattered as he wrapped his arms around himself, "this has been fun, but what's say you and I head back to my place? I'll make us some hot chocolate and you can dry off your pants."

Blaine nodded gratefully.

"Thanks, I'd like that."

Kurt smiled and as they made their way off the ice and towards the path, they were completely oblivious to the pair of green eyes, squinting and watching them from a distance.