They finished their lunches and talked for hours about New York, New Directions, and how Burt was managing to run the shop along with his duties in Congress. Kurt really missed being there in Lima with his family but he knew Blaine was right when he said that he was ready for New York.

After their conversation had turned quiet, Kurt and Blaine said their goodbyes and headed back to Blaine's. Once they got in the car, Kurt noticed that it was 7:00 and they'd spent 5 hours at his house. "Oh, I didn't realize so much time had passed," he said.

Blaine smiled. "Don't even worry about it. You needed to catch up with them; it makes you happy. Which makes me happy."

Kurt blushed as he turned up the volume of the A Chorus Line CD that had made its way into the CD player. They belted out "Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love" and Blaine even let Kurt sing "Nothing" even though it was one of Blaine's favorites.

They pulled into the driveway and exited the car with songs still on their lips. Blaine smiled goofily at Kurt as he took the speaking role in "Sing!" as Kurt laughed riotously when Blaine danced his way to the front door, practically tripping on the doormat as he attempted to pirouette on the concrete.

They crashed through the front door still laughing before noticing that the house was eerily quiet with all of the lights turned on. The still quiet in the Anderson household was rare and unusual, the house was normally bustling with activity and laughter even if it was just the three of them together. The second they walked through the door, it was like Blaine's personality shifted from bubbly and happy to concerned and dark. Kurt locked the door behind him as Blaine quickly walked through the house looking for his parents. He remembered that Blaine was worried about his parents when they left this morning, but Kurt was sure that everything was fine.

Was it really fine?, he thought to himself as Blaine turned the corner from the kitchen, still not finding his parents. He really looked worried.

"Blaine, what is going on? You look like your parents might have disappeared. I'm sure everything is fine," Kurt said soothingly.

Blaine leaned against the wall, crossing his arms across his chest. "Do you ever get the feeling sometimes that you just know something is wrong?" he asked.

Kurt shrugged. "Not really. Then again, I'm not nearly as perceptive as you." Seeing the distress on Blaine's face, he stammered, "I mean, not that anything is wrong, it's just you have a way of gauging the temperature of the room and you notice a lot about… I'm really not helping am I?"

Blaine sighed and walked over to Kurt, placing his hands on his shoulders. "I know you're trying. I just, I don't know. I feel weird. Like something is off."

Kurt looked at him, unsure of what to say or think. Blaine turned away and started yelling for his parents.

"Mom? Dad?"

Kurt heard a noise come from upstairs, probably the den. The door creaked open as Mrs. A hollered down. "We're up here honey."

Blaine looked at Kurt, seeking comfort in his eyes. Kurt smiled and nodded toward the stairs, suggesting that Blaine go and talk to them and implying that he'd be here when he came back down. Blaine smiled knowingly, mouthed thank you, and rushed up the stairs and closed the door to the den behind him.

Kurt's gaze switched from the upstairs den back down to the living room where he was standing. He felt awkward knowing that the Andersons were having a family meeting upstairs while he was a guest in their house. He wasn't sure what to do, so he decided to make himself scarce while they were talking upstairs. Walking toward the back of the house, he slipped out the sliding glass door and sat under the overhang of their back patio. The Andersons had a great view of the local golf course and a nearby lake from their back porch, so he contented himself to sit quietly on the porch, admiring the view as the sun started setting over the horizon.

Sure, he loved New York, but there were still parts of Lima that he always liked. New York had green space, but Lima felt so open and airy. He breathed in the cool night air as his phone dinged with a new text message. It was from Rachel.

How's Lima? How's Blaine? Did everything go okay?

Kurt laughed. He knew Rachel really was wondering about how things were going in Lima, but every time they talked about home he knew that in the depths of her mind she wanted to know about Finn.

Lima is, well, Lima. Blaine is good. He's talking with his parents about something right now. And yes, everything went more than okay.

He clicked send and smiled as he realized that things really did go more than okay. He and Blaine were more than okay. He was pulled away from his thoughts with another message from Rachel.

I'm glad everything went okay. And I know what 'more than okay' means… you guys totally did it!

He rolled his eyes. Somehow Rachel was still stuck in middle school. She was almost worse than Puck with how often she assumed that they had sex. It wasn't like they had sex all the time, despite what Rachel thought. Their relationship was healthy and, yes, they had sex. But it was always about more than that. They never felt pressured – well, except for that one time at Scandals, but that shouldn't count – and they did a great job showing each other how much they loved each other whether or not sex was involved. It was something he knew Rachel understood, but the straight kids from New Directions switched partners as often as he switched clothes.

Oh please, you're just jealous. You know it's not always like that.

He hoped that would silence her for a little while but as soon as he put his phone away, it pinged again. He sighed, hoping that it wasn't another quip from Rachel, but he saw that it was Blaine.

Where'd you go?

Rather than reply, Kurt yelled toward the house, "I'm outside, Blaine." He turned back to face the sunset, admiring it one last time before the sun dipped below the horizon. A few seconds later, he heard the sliding door latch click and Blaine was soon sitting next to him. Kurt put his arm up on the back of the glider he was sitting on with the expectation that Blaine would lean back into it. Instead Blaine stayed sitting forward, putting his elbows on his knees and keeping his head tucked into his chest slightly.

Kurt knew something was wrong Blaine was avoiding looking at him. "Blaine? Is everything okay? What's going on?"

Blaine sighed and coughed slightly, trying to suppress a sob. "My dad lost his job."