Blaine spent the rest of the weekend thinking about his conversation with Burt and sleeping. Now that he had a light of certain hope shining in the horizon with the possibility of getting back together with Kurt, he felt slightly better and was at least capable of a few hours of good sleep.

He started thinking about how to tell his parents that he was taking control of his own life and doing everything he could to be happy, hopefully without completely breaking the relationship off with them. They were still his parents and even though it seemed impossible, Blaine couldn't let go of the dream he had buried deep inside of him where they finally accepted him and loved him like he'd yearned for all those years. But still, he'd made a decision: he would try his best, but at the end of the day he would put himself first. He would put Kurt first.

He had never been more terrified and excited at the same time in his entire life. He was finally doing something to get out of that huge hole of unhappiness he had lived in. The only thing Blaine needed was to find the best way to explain to his parents.

A grown man should not feel as intimidated by that idea as he was.

Kurt didn't want to bake anymore.

At first, he only stopped making all of Blaine's favorite pies, cakes and muffins. Then he realized certain ingredients reminded him of a particular kiss, of Blaine's shampoo, of that especially sweet morning they had spent eating breakfast in bed, of Blaine's attempts at cooking, of everything. It was no use. Blaine was everywhere.

One morning he woke up and actually considered not opening the bakery for the day, but ended up deciding against it when he realized he would probably spend his time moping around the apartment, which had now turned into a mess since Blaine was gone. There were tissues everywhere, he barely bothered picking up the empty cups of coffee or tea, there were clothes everywhere… it was so unlike Kurt.

All his strength was focused on hanging on and being as patient as possible as he waited for Blaine to come back to him, but his energy was slowly running out. He wasn't so sure any more about whether Blaine would come to realize that there was no point in being apart. He was even starting to believe that what Blaine had said had been true: maybe Blaine didn't love him, after all.

But then he realized he couldn't afford to think like that. Thinking Blaine didn't love him only made his entire world crumble and he couldn't allow it. He had no idea when Blaine had gotten so deeply under his skin, when he had become of the crux of his whole existence, but now… now Kurt could see how much he needed him. He could clearly see how lonely his life had been until Blaine had arrived in it. Kurt had spent years and years convincing himself he didn't needed a man by his side to be happy, but Blaine had changed everything.

Finn had dropped by one Sunday to visit. He knew his brother was depressed because Blaine had broken up with him and he had decided to check up on him. The problem with this idea was that he had brought Puck with him, too.

"Look, Hummel, this is easy," Puck said as he shoved three cookies into his mouth at the same time and started chewing. "You need to get over this dude and the Pucksaurus…"

"Is he still calling himself that?" Kurt asked, covering his face with his hands and staring pleadingly at his brother.

"… has the solution," Puck continued, ignoring him. "Next Friday, you are going to a party with me."

"Why do all your plans include parties?" Kurt wondered, picking at a loose thread on his sweatpants, and oh God, he was wearing sweatpants when he had company. He definitely had hit rock bottom.

"I'm gonna get you so much dick that you'll have no option but to forget about that jerk," Puck nodded, sure of himself.

Kurt sighed. "Noah, I appreciate your kind, yet extremely creepy offer, but I'm gonna pass."

"Are you kidding me? I'm giving you a magic solution here, Hummel!"

"Sleeping around won't make me forget Blaine," Kurt answered, standing up and taking the empty plate of cookies to the kitchen to get more, because it was obvious Finn and Puck would continue eating. "Actually… I don't want to forget Blaine…"

"Maybe you should, bro," Finn said with a sad smile.

Kurt swallowed and looked out the window at the building in front of him. The window of Blaine's office was nothing but a black square, empty at least until the next morning. "Not yet."

He had no idea when it would be too late to give up on his hopes, but he felt like he needed more time. Just a bit more, he said to himself, just a bit more time and then I'll let it go.

The thing was, he wasn't really sure he could actually let it go any more.

It seemed as if Blaine was there to stay, it didn't even matter if he was really there or not.

It started out as a normal, boring day. Blaine woke up like he did every morning, had a cup of coffee as he watched Robert eat, then put him on his leash and took him for a quick walk before he took a shower and put one of his many suits on. He drove to work, stopping for a moment to stare longingly at the bakery, hoping to see Kurt for just a second and then went up to his office, where he started reading information for his cases, took phone calls, had meetings with clients. Blaine wasn't expecting any more than that to happen.

He had just finished eating the chicken sandwich that Lucy had bought him from the place around the corner (God, he missed Kurt's food so much) and was getting ready to read what looked like the biggest file in the pile when his phone rang. He distractedly reached out and pressed a button.

"Yes, Lucy?"

"Your father wants to see you in his office, Mr. Anderson," she informed him politely. "His secretary said something about a new case."

Blaine sighed. "Fine. Thanks."

Reluctantly, he stood up, brushed off the few crumbs that had fallen on his pants when he was having lunch and left the office, directing a small nod at Lucy as he walked down the hall to meet his father.

Katherine wasn't at her desk when he arrived, so he knocked quite loudly on the door. He had already learned his lesson and didn't ever want to find Walter in any other compromising positions. A voice instructed him to come in, so Blaine took a deep breath, as he did every time he was about to suffer through his Dad's company and opened the door.

Katherine was pouring a cup of coffee for Walter, moving around the office in her tight, tiny skirt with a smile that looked too plastic for Blaine's taste. He paused just past the doorway and stood there, patiently.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked in a calm voice.

Walter grinned and pointed towards the chair on the other side of his desk. "Yes, Blaine, please take a seat."

Blaine thought it must be a very important case to make his father look so smug. There had to be a lot of money involved. He sat down as Katherine crossed the room, swaying her ass rhythmically (and so, so intentionally) and left.

"There's a new case?" Blaine asked, hoping to get this over with so he could go back to his own office. He never felt comfortable in this room, surrounded by all of his father's expensive possessions. It was one of the largest offices in the whole building and Blaine constantly felt like he was being swallowed by the furniture, by the leather-covered books, by the walls. He hated it.

"Indeed," his father's smile seemed out of place in his usually serious face. Blaine shifted awkwardly in his seat, not really sure what was going on. "I think you'll be very interested…"

Walter pushed a button on his phone and Katherine's voice purred on the other end. "Yes, Mr. Anderson?"

"Send my client in, Katherine," he said, his eyes never leaving Blaine's face.

Blaine looked over his shoulder when the door opened, almost hoping to find someone he knew, something that would explain his father's weird behavior. The boy that stepped in, though, was a total stranger. He had blonde hair and was wearing a letterman jacket. He looked strong and healthy and Blaine was sure he couldn't be over nineteen years old.

"Blaine, this is Ryan McAllister," Walter and Blaine both stood up. He extended his hand to the kid before he turned to Blaine. "Ryan, this is my son Blaine Anderson. I think he'll be perfect to help us with this case."

Ryan shook Blaine's hand. Blaine felt even more confused. His father was somehow praising him? Since when did Walter consider him perfect for anything?

The three men took their seats before Walter started talking again. "Ryan, I would like you to tell Blaine why we're here. Tell him everything from the beginning."

"Okay," Ryan nodded. "So… a couple of weeks ago, I went out with my roommate. We watched the game at a bar and then we came back to our dorm. I go to Columbus, I'm in my second year. We were walking across campus towards the building when we saw this guy named Henry Brown I know from my Philosophy class. He was standing next to a car talking to someone. Then we realized it was another dude and they were kissing."

Blaine felt his breath catching in his throat. His head jerked to the side and he glanced at Walter, who was still smiling and looking at him impassively.

"What happened then, Ryan?" Walter asked nonchalantly.

"Then the guy I don't know got in the car and drove off," Ryan continued. "Henry stood there, finishing a cigarette since we're not allowed to smoke in the building. My roommate went inside because he needed to pee, but I stayed back, telling him I wanted to smoke, too."

Blaine's hands were shaking. He didn't like where this was going.

"Keep going," Walter encouraged him.

"Then we were alone and I just told Henry what I thought," Ryan shrugged, as if he wasn't saying anything out of the ordinary. "I told him that what he was doing was disgusting and that if he wanted to be a faggot I didn't want to see it."

"Dad…" Blaine whispered, his hands gripping the edge of his chair tightly.

"What did Henry do?" Walter said, ignoring his son.

"He started talking about how he had the right to be whoever he wanted to be and… I don't really know, he said a lot of shit about equality and all that nonsense…" Ryan rolled his eyes, completely indifferent. "So I punched him in the face so he would stop talking. He tried to hit me back, but I pushed him, he tripped and fell back."

Blaine was starting to feel sick, but he seemed paralyzed. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He couldn't believe what his own father was forcing him to hear.

"He wouldn't shut up about how I was ignorant and how I had no right to tell him who to love and I just got so sick of listening to all that crap. So I punched him again. And when he still wouldn't shut up, I started kicking him, too. I didn't stop, I was so angry, so disgusted…"

Blaine stood up abruptly. "Just… just stop."

"No, Ryan, keep going," Walter said softly. "What happened after that?"

"After a while, I heard a crack and I stopped. He was screaming and crying and begging me and I thought maybe I had finally made him understand that he was wrong," Ryan was glancing between Blaine and Walter now, with curious eyes. "So I told him I hoped he was cured enough for God to forgive him and I left."

Blaine couldn't breathe. He could feel his body shaking and his legs were weak, as if they weren't going to hold him up much longer. "Henry…" he mumbled. "What happened to Henry?"

"Someone must have heard him screaming because an ambulance showed up shortly after. The crack was his spine," Ryan explained, with no sign of remorse in his voice. "He had a few internal bruises and he's cruising around in a wheelchair now. Apparently no one knows if he'll be able to walk again. That ought to straighten him out, right?"

Blaine's head was buzzing, he was shivering and heaving and he was sure he'd be sick soon. He turned to his father. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm not doing anything," his father raised his hands in a gesture of innocence. "I'm just having Ryan fill you in on our new case."

Blaine shook his head immediately. "No… no, I'm not helping you with this…"

"You know, Blaine," Walter said, thoughtfully. "I'm thinking that maybe if those kids at that Sadie Hawkins dance had done a better job of beating you up, you would've straightened up too…"

"How can you even…?" Blaine felt his stomach twisting, his heart pounding painfully in his chest, his ears buzzing, his vision blurring.

"Of course, maybe a sound beating isn't enough for some people," Walter continued, so calm it was surreal for Blaine, who was just standing there feeling every nerve in his body about to explode. "People like that Hummel fag, for example, they have no solution…"

"Don't," Blaine warned, through gritted teeth.

"There's only one thing to do with people like him," Walter smiled. He smiled, "kill them."

Blaine didn't even know what he was doing. One second he was trying to hold himself up and the next one he was rounding the desk and punching his father in the face. The chair flipped over and fell, taking a shocked Walter down. Blaine grabbed him by his clothes to force him up and push him against the nearest walls. Walter's eyes widened, as blood trailed down his nose and dripped over his chin. Blaine couldn't even hear Ryan yelling for help or the door opening when Katherine rushed into the office. He was gone. He was furious and so, so done with everything.

"I'm so sick of you," Blaine rasped, his voice hoarse, unrecognizable. "I've put up with a ton of crap from you all these years, but I'm done. You've gone too far. You can't play with people's lives like this…"

"You, that Hummel kid and all the other fags like you are an embarrassment…" Walter choked out. Blaine's hand was pressing against his throat without him even realizing what he was doing.

"Kurt's much more man that you'll ever be," Blaine spat. He had never felt so out of control in his entire life. He had no idea where the strength to hold his father up against the wall came from. "And I'd far rather be with him than be your son…"

"Blaine…" Walter croaked, his voice low and scratchy for the lack of air.

"I quit. Now you can have what you always wanted," Blaine pressed against him a bit more tightly. "Haven't you been telling me for years that you would've rather not had a son at all than me being gay? Well, you're not my father anymore, so now your dream has come true."

Blaine let go of Walter so suddenly that he fell to the floor in a mess of limbs. Blaine took a few steps back, still breathing heavily.

"Walter!" Katherine screamed as she rushed to get to his side and help him up.

Blaine turned around. Ryan had been watching the whole scene with wide eyes and flinched a bit when Blaine looked at him.

"I hope you spend the rest of your life paying for what you did," Blaine ground out, feeling the adrenaline wearing off, but the disgust remained.

He walked down the hall with fast, long steps, not stopping, for once not caring the people around him that stared at him in curiosity, or the whispers that followed him. Lucy stood up, concerned, when he arrived at his office, but he rushed inside and went into his private bathroom, dropping on his knees and throwing up violently into the toilet.

Everything that had just happened kept replaying in his head, fueling his retching, making him feel sicker and sicker every second. He couldn't believe that his father had gone as far as he had. He couldn't believe he had finally stood up to him and told Walter what he had been bottling up since he was a teenager.

There was a soft knock on the door and he angled his head to the side to see who it was.

"Mr. Anderson?" Lucy said, uncertainly, softly. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head before lowering it back into the toilet, where he threw up some more. He cleared his throat and wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket, not even caring anymore. "I can't… not anymore… I quit."

To his surprise, Lucy smiled slightly. "Good for you, Mr. Anderson. You need to get out of here."

She helped him stand up when he was done and rinse out his mouth, letting the bitterness of it all go. Then he went back to his office with shaky legs and put his coat and scarf on. He looked around, realizing he didn't care about any of the things he had there. He didn't need to take any of that crap with him. He was done.

Lucy pulled him into her arms, surprising him a bit. "You're a good man. You deserve so much better than what this place can offer you."

"Thank you, Lucy," he mumbled against her shoulder. "I'm sorry I'm leaving you like this."

"Well, you have my cellphone number," she pulled away and smiled at him. "If you start your own firm, call me. You're the best boss I've ever had."

He thanked her and hugged her again and then he practically ran out of the building. He stopped when he reached the street, thinking about going straight to Ellie's and pulling Kurt into a kiss, but he couldn't do it. Not now, not while he was a mess and was still freaking out inside. So he went for his car and drove to his apartment… or what used to be his apartment.

It was his parents'. They had bought it for him when he graduated from Harvard and came back to Ohio to work with his father. Like everything else in his life, even the place where he lived had been chosen by them. That's why it had never been a real home. Because it was just another thing, another part of his life that they had controlled to fit into what they expected of him.

Robert wagged his tail happily to see Blaine earlier than usual but instantly tilted his head to the side in confusion when the man started going around the apartment, frantically picking up the things that were dearest to him, putting them in bags and boxes. His cameras, the pictures of Kurt, his favorite books, some clothes, he started throwing everything together, packing up as quickly as he could. He didn't want to be there anymore. This was the breaking point. This was where he changed everything. This was when he started living.

But once the bags and boxes were in his car with Robert sitting quietly on the passenger seat, he wondered: living, where? Yes, he wanted to break free from everything, but what was his plan?

His first thought was Kurt. He knew he could go to the bakery, tell him he loved him and Kurt would gladly let him stay with him. But Blaine was still shaken, he felt lost and anxious and he didn't want to do anything to ruin things with Kurt before he even got the chance to fix them. And Kurt could even say no, he could be hurt and angry at him and Blaine wouldn't blame him…

He had trouble breathing again as he reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. He went through the contact list until he found the one that had just popped into his head. He closed his eyes and dialed it, hoping for the best.

The voice on the other side sounded distracted. "Hello?"

"I punched my dad in the face," Blaine blurted out.

There was a pause. "You…"

"I lost it. I punched him." Blaine panted, gripping the steering wheel tightly with his free hand.

"Blaine, breathe."

"I can't. I'm freaking out. I did it. I just… I was so tired, I…"

"I said, breathe. Where are you?"

"In my car. I… I told him I quit, then I came to my place, grabbed my stuff and…"

"Are you going over to Kurt's?"

Blaine shook his head, trying to control his breathing. "No. No, I can't let him see me like this."

"Do you think you can drive here to my house? Or do you need me to pick you up?"

"I… I think I can do it," Blaine swallowed and tried to force himself to inhale and exhale normally.

"Good. Then I'll be waiting for you. Take your time, stop for a while if you think you can't drive and meet me there, alright?"

"Y-yes, okay." Blaine mumbled shakily.

"And Blaine, everything will be fine."

For once, Blaine believed those words. "Thank you, Burt. I'll see you soon."

Burt Hummel smiled on the other side of the line. "You're welcome, buddy. Now come home," he said, so that's exactly what Blaine did.