PROLOGUE

14th February 2025, Lima, Ohio

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream. The way you turn me on, I can't sleep. Let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back. My heart stops when you look at me. Just one touch, now baby I believe. This is real, so take a chance and don't ever look back, don't ever look back.

Kurt froze, when he heard the voice of Blaine in the living room. He was sure, that his husband wasn't there. No, this had to be some recorded version of the song he used to love, when he was a teenager. He stopped with his work and went to the living room, desperately wanting to know what was going on in there. His lips formed a sad smile when he saw his daughter dancing around, while listening to the CD, Blaine had given to him, after their daughter was born. It was a CD where Blaine had recorded all the songs he used to sing and the first one was 'Teenage Dream', the song he kind of sang to him, when they first had met, years ago, in Dalton Academy. He felt a tear running down his cheek, the second his seven-year-old daughter Elizabeth turned around.

"Papa, what's the matter?", she asked. Kurt didn't say a word. He quickly sat down on the comfy sofa, trying to calm down.

"Nothing, sweetheart...just...memories", he managed to get out and tried to wipe his tears away, but he couldn't stop crying.

Elizabeth sat down next to him and gave him a squeezing hug. "I just found this CD and Daddy's name was on it and I missed him...I...I just wanted to hear his voice..", she whispered and smiled.

Kurt had a small smile on his lips. "I know, sweetheart, I know. I miss him, too.", he said and pulled Elizabeth closer to him. There were some days he managed to go on with his life and then there were these days where he hated Blaine for what he had done to him and to Elizabeth and it made him cry all the time. He still couldn't understand the reason for Blaine's decision. Wasn't he happy with his family? Wasn't he happy with him? Why did he have to go? Why was he not texting him or calling him, anymore? Was he even still alive?! Kurt shivered at that thought. This would be the worst case he could imagine, next to the thought of Blaine now living with another man having another family being happy. Oh God, he didn't want to think about that.

"Papa? Do you think Daddy will come back?". His daughter looked at him with teary eyes.

Kurt sighed and took a deep breath. "I don't know, honey. I hope so...", he just didn't know what to say to Elizabeth, to make her happy again. Elizabeth squeezed him even more, just like she was afraid of losing him, too. But she would never lose him. He had no intention of leaving her alone. He was there for her, every time. Kurt stroke Elizabeth's curly hair affectionately. It was astounding. Elizabeth just turned seven today and she acted like an adult already, trying to calm down her father and knowing what her daddy Blaine had done to both of them. Kurt was so proud of her. He tried to smile a happy smile.
"What about we two watch this movie you got for your birthday, honey?", he suggested. He sighed in relief, when Elizabeth agreed to that. Maybe the movie will distract him from his thoughts of his absent husband. He didn't even know, if Blaine still was his husband, that's what he hated most about that. This uncertainty. He didn't know, where Blaine was at the moment, what he did, who he was with, even some of his closest Warbler friends didn't know where to look for Blaine. It was like he had fallen of off the face of the earth, without anyone noticing it, including Kurt.

He got up and put the DVD of Cinderella into the DVD player and pressed play. As he was sitting down Kurt couldn't help think how easy everything would be if you could solve your problems with wishes like Cinderella did. He held Elizabeth close and they started to watch the movie .She snuggled to him and Kurt smiled. This time it was a real smile. His daughter just had this effect on him, to calm him down, just like Blaine did. She reminded him so much of Blaine, the curly hair, the optimism and her smile. Sometimes Kurt thought, the only things she had from him, were the color of her eyes and maybe the form of her nose. Elizabeth was much more similar to Blaine, than to him, but he was okay with that. He loved his daughter more than anything else and nobody would ever be able to change that. But sometimes, when she was sad, he wished that Blaine could make her smile again. But he wasn't there. He wasn't there at all! He just fucking wasn't there for his daughter. For him. He left him and Elizabeth behind and, god, how long ago was that? One year? Something around that. And through all the time there was no sign of life, not really. The only things, that made Kurt hope, that Blaine was still alive were the birthday cards he and Elizabeth got every year, punctually, on their birthdays, just like today. But since you can set standing orders, where these cards are delivered on the same day every year, he wasn't so sure anymore, if this should be the glowing sign, that his beloved Blaine was still alive. Kurt sighed and tried to concentrate on the movie again. "Papa? Do you think, we will get a fairy like this one and then you and I have both one wish? Do you think this can happen?"

He smiled a little, even though it didn't look like a real smile. "Maybe, honey. You know, everything is possible, if you just believe in it.", he said, while pulling her closer and giving her a soft kiss on her curly hair.

Elizabeth snuggled more to him, like her life was depending on it, and then she looked at him, smiling. "I love you, papa. And I'm sure, daddy loves us, too. He will come back, if we believe in it, right?"

Kurt laughed a little and nodded. "Right. I love you, too, cupcake."

14th February 2025, Los Angeles, California

"Could you please give these to Misses Blackwell? She knows, what to do with them". The jail guard turned around and looked at the man in front of him, who held a bunch of envelopes through the bars of his jail cell. He looked at the envelopes and then at the man. "I have to ask her about that, first. You know, guys like you, they are sneaky with such things like normal letters, which turn out to be a plan for escaping the jail."

The man sighed. "Go ask her, you'll see, you can trust me." The jail guard took the envelopes and left. It was oddly silent today. No one was screaming or banging on the bars, which had began to sound quiet musical after some time..

It wasn't long until the jail guard came back, but it felt like an eternity had flown by.

"Okay, Misses Blackwell said, she will set them up as standing orders for the next nine years.".

A weak smile appeared on the lips of the man. "Thank you.", he said, then turned around and sat down on the mattress.

The jail guard looked at him for a couple of seconds, before he spoke. "You really don't look like one of these bad guys, I have to admit that."

The man in the jail cell threw back his head and sighed. "Because, actually I'm not a bad guy. Not at all. I just got into this fucked up situation and, well...here I am now...", the man slowly said and looked at the jail guard.

"Man, that's really fucked up. These letters..." - "Birthday cards" The man, who was still sitting on the mattress, smiled a little. "You're the first person, who asked me that, since I'm here, except Misses Blackwell. She's a really nice person. Like you." Luckily, they had a very bad lightning here, so the prisoner couldn't see the jail guard blushing.

"You must be a newbie, because the other jail guards love to tease and provoke me. What's your name?" The jail guard froze, when he heard this question. Suddenly he heard the prisoner laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not the type for haunting you and ripping your head off, after that. I'm more the type for bringing you some nice chocolate or stuff."

It was the first day of the jail guard and he really started to like it, this prisoner was nice and maybe he could get used to just hang out in front of his jail cell and talk to him. "David. David Karofsky. So, these birthday cards...they are for your wife and your child?" He took the next stool and sat down, still watching every move of the prisoner, trying to get used to his new job. David was quite sure that the other prisoners wouldn't be as nice as this one.

"Umm...yes, they're for my husband and my daughter...She turned seven this year." The voice of the prisoner suddenly broke and he lowered his head.

"Oh. I see. Don't you see them like twice a week or something like that?" Normally the prisoners were allowed to see their family and friends.

"No. They don't know about...this. I couldn't tell them. I was afraid of their reaction and so I thought it would be best for them to not know about the whole situation of me and the reason for me being here."

The jail guard looked at the prisoner. "In your file they say you shot a woman during..." - "During a bank robbery. Yep. Of course. I...you wouldn't understand. I just want to serve my sentence and then go home to my family after that...if they still want me. I don't know." The prisoner rubbed his eyes. "God, I'm so tired..."

David smiled a little. "That's not an odd thing, it's late already. I'll be here, tomorrow morning, again. Good night, Mister..." - "Blaine. You can call me Blaine, I don't like this Mister, it makes me feel old." The jail guard nodded slightly. "Good night, Blaine." The prisoner, Blaine, finally lay down on the mattress and closed his eyes, hoping to find some sleep this night.

Blaine found himself sitting in a van, holding a Beretta-Model-12 in his hands. The man next to him started to talk. "Believe me, guys, that's a great idea for some of you to pay back their debts, you know. It's easy. We just go in there, point our weapons at the bank clerks, get the money and then get out quickly. Nothing can go wrong!" Nothing can go wrong. These words were a lie. Blaine would find that out, very soon. But first they had to do this. They had planned this. Most of them. Puckerman had forced him to do so. And he agreed, but only because he knew that Puckerman was aware about his family. He didn't want to lose them, so he had to agree to this damn stupid idea.

The whole story with him and this Puckerman was just crazy. He was the one who got him into this whole shit. He was the one who had called him years ago to tell him, that he wanted to do a new musical and he thought that Blaine would be just perfect for the main male character. Blaine accepted the offer and told Kurt that he would move to L.A. now, and he would try to get things set, so that Kurt and Elizabeth could come to L.A., too. Everything seemed to finally be good for him. He married his high school love, had a beautiful daughter and maybe he would soon be on Broadway, doing what he could do best: singing. Bullshit. Puckerman's musical wasn't good and suddenly Blaine had a bunch of debts to pay. Not only to the bank, but also to Puckerman. He started gambling, hoping he would be able to pay back his debt this way, but failed completely. And then Puckerman came up with the idea of a bank robbery. Blaine wasn't the only one who owed Puckerman money. In fact, there were six other men and now they sat in this van, holding their handguns and hoping, that everything would go off without a hitch.

They waited for Puckerman's sign, then they got out of the van, rushing to the Los Angeles National Bank. Of course everyone wore a mask, so that no one could see their faces. Still carrying the Beretta in his hands, Blaine followed the other men into the bank. Puckerman was the one, who directly went to one of the bank assistants pointing his gun on her and forcing her to fill the bags. Blaine wasn't sure how much money he wanted, but it had to be a lot, because he carried two bags. Hopefully this would be enough to pay his debt.

Meanwhile, Blaine and two other men paid attention to the people in the bank. There was an elderly couple, their bodies shaking, as they lay down on the floor, after they were told to do so. Then there was a little boy with his father and some younger people, maybe teenagers, he wasn't so sure about that. And last but not least, maybe four steps away from him, there was a young woman, holding her huge belly, crying and breathing harshly. Blaine couldn't look away from her. She was pregnant, maybe in the fifth month or something around that time. His throat felt constricted. He forced himself to look away. Puckerman threw one of the bags to another man. The bank assistant froze, while Puckerman was turning around, carrying the second bag full of money. He looked into Blaine's direction, nodded, to tell them the work was done. He knew that the bank assistant had pushed the button to call the police, so they had to get out of there, quickly, now.

They were just about to leave, when a gunshot was triggered, followed by a scream and then there was blood... He was the only one who jumped to the young woman, trying to help her somehow, while the others ran away, leaving him there alone. Of course the police thought he was the one who shot the young woman, although it had been Puckerman, who accidentally shot her. Such an idiot. The police didn't want to believe him, when he told them, he was innocent and the only person who could have proved his alibi, was dead now. And then he was arrested, having his own jail cell, for something he didn't do. He wanted to help the young woman, that was the real reason for his hands full of blood. He just couldn't leave her there dying without even trying to help her.

He heard footsteps, coming near him and then there he was: Puckerman. Looking at him, laughing and while he stabbed the knife through into Blaine's chest he whispered "Now your debt is paid, Anderson."

Suddenly he opened his eyes, breathing harsh, feeling like he just had taken a bath in the sea. But it was just a nightmare. A nightmare, which was, in fact, true, except the part where he got stabbed, but Blaine could imagine, that Puckerman would do this without blinking an eye. He looked at the ceiling, thinking about his beloved husband Kurt and his daughter Elizabeth, before he fell asleep again.