Blaine set his coffee cup down and sighed. Finn had asked Blaine to meet him at the Lima Bean for Coffee and “Super-Secret Conversation” and, while being friends with Finn was definitely better than constantly being told to sit down, there were times when Blaine found his goofy and clueless mannerisms tiring.

As Finn continued talking (“Come on, don’t you think that Hummus and Pita Frampton would go over really well with vegans like Rachel?”), Blaine continued nodding in the hopes of appearing interested. When Finn started off on “O.J. Shrimp-ton,” however, Blaine had to change the subject.

“So you invited me for coffee to talk about something top-secret?” Blaine asked, directing the discussion toward the reason for their outing.

“Oh, yeah. So, Graduation is coming up and I have an idea about gifts for Kurt and Rachel. Dude, I totally need your help. I was thinking.”

“Woah, don’t hurt yourself by doing that too much,” Blaine laughed, taking another sip of his medium drip in hopes that Finn would think he was kidding.

“Yeah, I won’t, thanks dude. But have you bought Kurt anything yet?”

Blaine shook his head. “No. He keeps hinting about an Andrew McQueen scarf, but I can get him that for any holiday. I want his graduation gift to be really special. I’m not sure what to do.”

“Look no further, Blaine, because I have the perfect idea!”

“Really?” Blaine asked skeptically. While any advice was certainly welcome, Blaine wasn’t sure that Finn, the person who bought Kurt pink Nikes for Christmas because “he didn’t already have a pair,” was necessarily qualified to assist when it came to something so important.

“Yeah. I want you and me to take Kurt and Rachel on Vacation! Like a double date or something. I already talked to Burt and the Berrys about it, and they were cool as long as we paid for it.”

Blaine tried not to look too surprised as he responded. “That’s actually a great idea, Finn. Instead of giving Kurt something that will just hang in his closet most days, I can give him a couple more memories to take with him to New York for when- when we’re separated.”

He looked down as he stumbled over the last few words, hoping that Finn had not noticed. While he was proud of Kurt for getting into NYADA, more proud of him than he had ever been of anyone or anything, he dreaded the imminent separation of hundreds of miles.

“I know you’re going to miss him, Blaine. Before I made the decision to go with her, I had to think about what it would be like without Rachel for a long time. I know that I’m just going to be working a lot, maybe going to a community college and eventually NYU if I get my grades up, but at least I had the choice. I know it has to kill you being stuck here.”

As Finn continued, Blaine shook his head, hoping to change the subject; to focus on anything but what was tearing him apart. As each morning turned the pages of his desk calendar forward, time elapsed one day closer to having to walk the halls of McKinley without the biggest reason he had even transferred in the first place. And Finn was right, that was the worst part- knowing he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

“Look, I know you don’t want to talk about it. But I’m here if it ever gets to be too much and you don’t want to worry him about leaving you, because you and I both know he’ll blame himself if you’re upset. But honestly, Blaine, If I were you I wouldn’t be worried about the distance. He listens to Teenage Dream every night because it makes him feel like he’s falling asleep with you- and if I know Kurt at all, which I’m starting to think I might, he’ll be counting the days until you come home to him.”

Blaine looked up and smiled softly. While Finn certainly wasn’t always the most sensitive person Blaine had ever met, there were certainly times he knew exactly what to say. It was times like these when Blaine realized why the New Directions had elected Finn leader in the first place. Even more, it was times like these when Blaine wondered why this Finn had faded into the background.

“Thank you, Finn. I know those things, but it is nice to hear them out loud now and again.” They shared a small grin; finally comfortable with the way their complicated relationship had resulted in friendship. “But I really think your idea is great. Where did you have in mind?”

Finn’s face lit up. “Alright, so I know that I don’t have a lot of money, especially now that I’m moving to New York, so I was thinking we could- wait for it… Go Camping!”

And just like that, perceptive Finn disappeared. Blaine closed his eyes and bit his lip, holding back the laughter and the “Are you serious?” that threatened to escape. Finn looked at him expectantly, and Blaine almost didn’t have the heart to say no.

“I mean, I could drive to the campground, and we wouldn’t have to pay for anything but food and the rental fee,” Finn blabbered, trying to convince Blaine of his genius. “We could sleep under the stars and go swimming. What do you think?”

Blaine sighed, trying to find the most delicate and gentlemanly way to let Finn down.

“I think that your heart is in the right place, Finn, I really do…but do you know Kurt and Rachel? All they would do is complain. Rachel’s constant singing would disturb the wildlife and Kurt would just go on and on about how he’s going to have to alter his moisturizing routine to compensate for the humidity in the air.”

Finn’s face fell and Blaine tried not to feel guilty, hating the disappointment he knew he had caused.

“I guess you’re right,” Finn reasoned, playing with the cardboard holder on his Lima Bean cup.

“But, I think those are really good ideas for the summer,” Blaine began, hoping to salvage some of Finn’s good intentions. “We could lie in your backyard and watch the stars; maybe separately, maybe together, we can decide that when the time comes. And a daytrip to Lake Erie wouldn’t be the worst thing, as long as I can coax Kurt with a beach umbrella and high enough SPF sunblock for his skin.”

Finn laughed, his eyes regaining the spark Blaine had unintentionally destroyed in shooting down the idea.

“Yeah, cool. But those are things we can do any day. I wanted their graduation gift to be something special.”

Blaine held his breath for a moment, carefully thinking about how he was going to pitch his vacation idea.

“There is…there may be something I can do,” he began, sure to make it perfectly obvious, even to Finn, some work was going to be necessary to pull off his plan. “When my brother, Cooper, graduated from high school four years ago, my grandparents paid for him to travel in Europe for a week. Their gift to him, you know? It may take a little convincing, but I think I may be able to get the money out of them early if I tell them I want to go with my friends.”

Finn’s eyes widened in excitement and Blaine forgave himself for declining the original camping idea.

“No way. Do you really think they would do that for us? I mean, I know your family is kinda rich or whatever, but sending four of us to Europe? That would be the best gift ever!”

Blaine nodded, trying to suppress the thousands of thoughts floating through his head. Getting his grandparents to agree to this was not going to be simple, especially because they disapproved of his “unnatural tendencies.” He was almost certain that there would be no money for a trip if it included taking a boyfriend. But he had an idea- One that he was not proud of and that, if it worked, he could never mention to Kurt.

“Here’s the thing though, my grandparents don’t exactly support my- my being gay. They- they’ve said a lot of horrible things in my presence, Finn, so I want you to know that I can’t guarantee I can get the money.”

Finn’s face fell once more, dejected. “Dude, why would you tell me about this and then take it back? You’re like breaking bro-code or something!”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. I said there’s no guarantee we’re getting the money, but I didn’t say we weren’t going to try. While my grandparents would never pay for me to go to Europe with my boyfriend, I don’t think they’d ever say no to letting me go with my girlfriend and two best friends. I just. I might need to borrow Rachel for a night.”

Finn raised his eyebrows, comprehension etched across his features.

“I understand,” he said, spinning the coffee cup in front of him. “But what about-“

“That’s just the thing,” Blaine said, ashamed that this is what it would boil down to. “I want to make him so happy. His happiness is more important than my own. So if we do this, if I get the money- we can’t ever tell Kurt how.”

Finn tilted his head to the side, realizing the weight of what Blaine was pitching.

“Deal.”