Kurt was already at the coffee shop when Blaine arrived.

He sat with his back to the door, two take-away cups in front of him as he absently picked at a piece of cake dejectedly.

"Hey..." Blaine said softly, nervously glancing around the coffee shop as he stopped at Kurt's side.

"Hi." Kurt glanced up from the table for barely a second.

"Kurt... if we're going to do this – if you're going to stay with me this weekend…we...we need some... we need rules. Lines which we're allowed to cross, and lines that we aren't."

Blaine didn't know what Kurt wanted with this arrangement – whether he wanted the sex or not, but it seemed smart to have rules regardless.

"I agree." Kurt's voice was barely audible. "David... We're not allowed to discuss David."

Blaine hesitated before taking a breath and nodding.

"Are we restricting ourselves to the apartment this weekend?"

Kurt nodded. "It's safer that way."

"And we're…pretending?"

Kurt nodded again. "If…if you…don't mind."

They were silent for a few seconds, trying to decide which rules were more important.

"I want you to sleep on the couch tonight." Blaine said softly. "Or you can take the bed, I don't really care. But I just…I don't want to be with you at all tonight."

Kurt swallowed hard but nodded. It was understandable, given the way Kurt had been treating him. He really was using him, he could admit that. But it was just until he could be sure.

And even still, he wasn't sure.

In all honestly, Kurt was just using him again.

But as long as Blaine could keep up this game, Kurt could justify it.

They finished their coffee in silence, and walked out to their cars together.

"I'll meet you at mine?" Blaine asked softly.

Kurt gulped, nodding.

"Yeah."

^.^

Blaine had the couch set up minutes after they arrived. Kurt stood around awkwardly, not sure if he should help or not.

"You can have my bed, and I'll sleep out here." Blaine offered, flicking out a blanket.

Kurt shook his head.

"No, it's your house. I'll be fine on the couch." He said softly, wrapping his arms around his waist and refusing to meet Blaine's gaze.

"Kurt..."

"No. It'll be fine." He said firmly. Blaine opened his mouth again to protest, but Kurt shot him a look. "Can we just...not?"

Blaine bit his lip, nodding.

"Okay." He agreed as he made his way to the kitchen. "I haven't gone grocery shopping yet this week, so is take-out okay?"

Kurt nodded. "It's fine. You can pick."

Blaine nodded, looking around for his wallet and keys.

Kurt grabbed his own wallet, taking out a couple of hundred dollars. "Here. For dinner and also for letting me stay."

Blaine shook his head firmly. This at least he could say no to.

"Blaine."

"No Kurt. I'm just helping out a friend. I would have let anyone stay if they needed it."

"But I've been staying for a while..."

"Kurt." Blaine said firmly. "You asked for my services...I don't expect you to pay for them."

It stung, and Blaine watched Kurt's smile die. He turned away from him, picking up his car keys on his way to the door.

"I'm going to go get dinner. Make yourself comfortable." He called back over his shoulder.

Kurt bit his lip, watching Blaine go.

"Okay." He whispered.

^.^

Blaine sat in the car for a good long time afterwards – before he even turned on the ignition.

Was this the right thing to do?

Kurt had seen the error of Dave's ways – finally – and he was getting away for a short amount of time – punishing him. But what did Kurt want from this temporary arrangement? Did he want them to go back to the way they were? Sleeping together and being a couple and then leaving for work and pretending it never happened?

Blaine didn't know if he could do that any longer.

He wanted a relationship. He wanted to settle down.

He wanted Kurt.

But Kurt didn't seem to want him that badly.

He thumped his head against the steering wheel, taking a deep breath in.

What was he doing?

^.^

It didn't take Blaine long to get back with the food, and they ate in an awkward silence, both of them staring blankly at the TV.

Blaine excused himself to bed not long after he'd finished, and Kurt stared after him sadly, curling himself under the blanket on the couch.

David hadn't texted him yet, and he didn't really know why – whether he was pissed that Kurt hadn't come home, or that he'd stayed late at work and hadn't even found Kurt's note yet.

Kurt didn't really care. He just... he just didn't want to be scared anymore.

^.^

Blaine was woken by an odd noise, only a few hours after he'd gone to sleep. He rubbed at his eyes sleepily, listening carefully.

It sounded like crying – coming from the living room.

Kurt...

He gave a small sigh, letting it go. He'd be fine. He was a big kid.

Half an hour later, Blaine could still hear the faint sobs.

He sighed again, rolling out of bed and making his way to the lounge.

"Kurt, you okay?" he murmured.

Kurt jumped, looking up from where he was hugging his knees to his chest.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He choked out.

"Do you need anything..?" Blaine offered.

"No." Kurt whispered.

Blaine shrugged, turning to go back to his room.

"Yes."

Blaine only heard it faintly, but it was enough for him to turn around again.

It looked like Kurt was struggling to talk.

"I..I..I don't know what I need..." he whispered into his knees. "I just...I really don't want to be alone right now..."

Blaine sighed quietly, moving to sit next to him on the couch.

"Shh." He soothed. "It'll be okay. Shhh."

Kurt let himself lean into the comfort Blaine was offering, crying onto his shoulder as Blaine hugged him close, patting his back.

Eventually, Kurt's sobs stopped, and he made himself pull away from Blaine.

"Thank you." He murmured, and Blaine shrugged as he stood back up.

"It's fine."

Kurt watched him head back to his room, and spoke just as he reached the door. Blaine paused halfway inside his room.

"I'm scared."

"Of what?" Blaine asked gently.

"Of everything. David. Work. You sometimes...I just don't know how to take it all and it scares the crap out of me." Kurt admitted.

Blaine still hadn't moved out of the doorway of his room.

"Why?" he prompted.

"Work - because what if I stuff up? What if I lose everything I've made, and end up with nothing? You, because what happens when one day I need you, and you won't be there because you've finally managed to move on, because you've realised how fucking stupid I am. David, because..." Kurt laughed shakily. "David because he's David. I know one day he's going to go too far, and I'm going to get hurt – far, far worse than he's already hurts me..." he choked back a sob. "And I'm scared all this will spiral into consistency, and I'm never going to be able to get out of it."

There were several ways Blaine could approach this. So Kurt knew this was stupid. That was good to know. David… Blaine had always suspected more than just physical abuse – he figured there'd be some emotional abuse in there too, and he figured that was what Kurt referred to. Consistency though.

"Why do you insist on going back to him?" Blaine asked, kneeling in front of the sofa and taking Kurt's hands. "Because going back to him this time will put you into that loop."

Kurt looked at him.

"He used to be this amazing, gentle guy... and I know that that part of him is still there somewhere." Kurt shook his head. "I have to…I have to get him back, and if jumping into that loop is the way to do it, then I have to." His eyes closed and he shook his head, swallowing hard. "Sorry. This...this was one of the lines that we weren't going to cross..."

Blaine regarded him seriously, trying to disguise the hurt that was making it's way up his throat. Kurt loved David far more than he gave Kurt credit for. And Kurt loved David far more than he loved Blaine.

And Blaine was going to have to realise how stupid this really was.

He would have to move on.

But he couldn't just pack up and leave. That was too easy.

Kurt still needed help, regardless of his feelings.

Underneath all their history, they were still friends.

"Sometimes, rules are meant to be broken. Loopholes that you jump through, just to avoid being hurt."

Kurt glanced at Blaine.

"How do you figure out which ones you can jump through, and which ones to leave alone?"

Blaine sighed. "Find out what's more important. Your health...or David."

Kurt stifled a sob. "I don't know. I can't make this decision..."

"You can." Blaine said firmly.

"I can't do this by myself." Kurt whispered.

Blaine shook his hands gently, forcing Kurt to look at him.

"You don't have to."