Kurt rubbed his eyes and stretched before bouncing out of bed excitedly to get started on his morning routine of showering and moisturizing. He took extra care today, being sure he was completely clean and relaxed and that there wasn't a blemish in sight anywhere on his body. After he had his hair properly fixed and spent about 20 minutes trying to decide what he was going to wear on such a special day—the outfit he had planned out the night before simply did not suit him today—he traipsed downstairs to greet his family.

When he walked into the kitchen, he immediately noticed the brightly colored streamers dangling from every corner of the dining room that was connected to it. There was a large, shimmery banner on the far wall that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" in multicolored letters and sitting at the table was his family—Burt, Carole, and Finn—with a large tray of freshly baked wild berry and lemon poppy muffins splayed out on top of the table. Kurt of course already knew that he would find these muffins when he came downstairs, not only because he could smell them baking from the moment he stepped foot out of the shower, but because it had been a Hummel birthday tradition since before his mom had passed away.

"Happy Birthday!" his family chimed as they each leapt out of their seats to give Kurt a hug

"Thank you." He grinned at all of them. "So, who's ready for breakfast?"

"Me!" Finn yelled. Before anyone could stop him, the boy was sitting at the table, his plate already piled with at least half a dozen muffins. They all couldn't help but laugh at Finn and his constant eagerness towards anything food related.

The muffins, made by Burt, were delicious as always. After breakfast, Kurt moved to help Carole wash and dry dishes like he always did.

"Uh-uhn, mister!" Carole chastised him, "It's your birthday. You can have the day off." And with that Carole plopped her step-son back in his seat at the table and planted a kiss on top of his head.

"So, bud, what do you have planned for today?" Burt smiled warmly at his son.

"Well, Rachel, Mercedes, and Tina are taking me to lunch at Breadstix and then we're going shopping. Then I was planning on having dinner here," Kurt returned his father's smile, "and then Blaine apparently has something planned for later tonight. He refuses to tell me what though." Kurt's brow furrowed in frustration and his father laughed. "It's not funny! You know how much I hate surprises like that!"

"Kurt, you love surprises."

"Yeah, I do. But I really want to know what we're doing. Actually, now that I mention it, I think I'm gonna go call Blaine."

"Don't pester the kid!" Burt called after his son, "You'll make him nervous. It's a miracle you haven't already scared him away!" But it was too late, Kurt was already in the next room over and had his phone out and was dialing Blaine's number.

Blaine was standing in his family's kitchen humming to himself as he packed the picnic basket for Kurt's birthday surprise when his cell phone went off.

"Well, hello there, birthday boy!"

"Hi." Blaine could hear the smile in his boyfriend's voice. "So, I was wondering…"

"Yes."

"Could you possibly give me a teensy, tiny hint as to what we're doing tonight?" Blaine chuckled. "I mean, I need to know how I'm supposed to dress. Is it casual? Or fancy?" Kurt paused, "Not that I'm expecting anything fancy!" he sputtered.

Blaine felt his smile growing at how adorable his boyfriend was being. He could just picture Kurt sitting on the couch in his family's sitting room, fidgeting with that childlike excitement that everyone gets on their birthday.

He began turning the key in his hand over in his fingers as he thought. If everything went according to plan, the rain would hold out until late in the night. "Dress for outdoors."

He heard Kurt's affronted gasp on the other end of the line. "Outdoors?"

"Yep. You heard me right."

"Oookaaay…"

"Just trust me. I'll pick you up at 8:00. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Oh, and Kurt?"

"Yes, Blaine?"

"Happy Birthday."

"Thanks." Blaine could almost hear his boyfriend blushing when he hung up the phone and went. He took the now full picnic basket and placed it in the bottom of his fridge. Tonight was going to be a night that Kurt would never forget. And with graduation in two weeks, he needs to make the ones he has left count.

Shopping and lunch with the girls was great. Kurt had a fantastic time and he had almost forgotten his worry about Blaine's surprise plan until the four of them were in the parking lot walking back to Kurt's car and he noticed storm clouds in the distance. He thought he should call Blaine and tell him, but then he felt foolish. Of course Blaine would have a back-up plan. That boy thought of everything.

It was almost 7:30 and Blaine wasn't anywhere near ready. Water was dripping in his eyes and his hair was a mess. His clothes were completely soaked through and he was going to have to change. But at least he'd managed to salvage most of the picnic and it was now sitting in the passenger's seat next to him. He'd been stupid to set everything up as early as he did and stupid to ignore the warning signs of the clouds that were rolling into town earlier in the afternoon. Luckily, he'd had the sense to get in his car and drive back to the spot he'd picked for the night when the wind began to pick up in that eerie way it always does just before a storm.

He was so pissed. He'd had everything planned out perfectly. The spot on the hill that he had found a few miles outside of town was perfect for the picnic and the clearing around them would have made it easy to watch the lunar eclipse that happening later on that night. He was going to feed Kurt some of his favorite foods and sing to him until he was too tired to even kiss him anymore. But nooo. The fucking storm front had to come through about 8 hours earlier than they said it was going to on the news that morning.

He fumbled, reaching in his pocket for his phone to call Kurt and tell him he was going to be a little late. He figured he could set things up on the floor in his bedroom. Sure, it wouldn't be the same and they couldn't watch the eclipse anymore and it was extremely less romantic, but at least it was a plan.

"Shit!" the phone slipped out of Blaine's still wet hands and onto the floorboard of the car. Blaine double checked the road in front of him. It was a rural area so the chances of a car suddenly appearing were very slim. He ducked down and snagged the phone as quick as he could and then popped back up.

Blaine looked out his windshield again, it was smeared with rivulets of rain water so he kicked up his wipers a speed. When his eyes met the road again, there was suddenly a large black creature that looked almost like a boar merely 30 feet in front of his car. Blaine slammed on his brakes and jerked his steering wheel to the right to avoid the sinister animal. Seconds later he heard a loud crack from the back of his car and suddenly he was sliding off the road and then rolling. And then everything went black.

Kurt had just finished his last slice of pizza and was about to stand and carry his plate into the kitchen to help Carole with the dishes—despite her protests— when it hit him. Something twisted in his gut and he felt a chill run all through his body. His head began to spin and he immediately sat back down. Then, just as soon as it came, the feeling was gone.

"You alright, kid?" Burt stared at his son with concern.

"Y...yeah. Just a head rush I guess. I think I'm gonna go call Blaine and make sure our plans haven't changed because of the weather."

Kurt's fingers fumbled slightly as he dialed in the oh-so familiar number. Ring….ring….

Kurt felt the dizziness begin to return with the sixth ring. And then…

"Hey! You've reached Blaine! Sorry I'm unable to answer the phone right now, but if you'll leave your name and phone number then I'll get back to you as soon as I can!"

Kurt's blood ran cold before he shook it off. Everything was fine. Blaine was probably just getting ready… which is exactly what he needed to be doing. With that Kurt rushed off up the stairs and to his room to change before his boyfriend's arrival.

Blaine was standing in the middle of the dark country road as the rain poured around him. He looked around but there was no one in sight. Not knowing what to do, he began walking in the direction of what he hoped was town. "Odd…I could have sworn I was just…" Blaine's thought was cut off as he stumbled over something round. He bent over to pick it up and found that it was an apple. "Kurt's picnic…"

Now Blaine began to panic. He spun around and saw the flames no more than a hundred feet away from him. They were coming off of his car that was now in a ditch and pinned up against a tree.

"NO!" Blaine sprinted over to the flaming heap of metal that used to be his car. "Shit! Shit! SHIT!" He reached into his pocket for his phone but it wasn't there. Suddenly, images of him picking it up off of the floorboard of the car flashed through his mind and then him flipping on his windshield wipers and then…had he really seen a boar?

His phone must've still been in the car. He began to approach the car to see if he could maybe see it and snag it, but then a burst of fire spit out of the driver's side window and Blaine didn't dare get any closer. There was no way in hell he was ever getting it back.

Blaine dragged his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. Then everything stopped and he felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck. "But how did I end up down the road?"

And that's when Blaine saw his body enveloped in flames.