"Do you have to go back to school right away?" Blaine practically begged Kurt, pulling on his hand and dragging Kurt closer to him and farther away from the parking lot where his car was waiting to take him back to McKinley and away from Blaine once again.

"Yes Blaine, not all of us get to start summer break a week ahead of public schools" Kurt said, laughing and allowing Blaine to wrap his arms around his waist. He liked the feeling of being held by Blaine. As the smaller boy squeezed him tight, Kurt was finding it very difficult to justify going back to school.

"Please? You only have a week left and it's not like you have exams or anything… You're already done with Glee with Nationals being over and everything…" Blaine continued. He really really didn't want Kurt to go. Especially after just telling him that he loved him.

"Blaine" Kurt whined, "Stop having such a convincing argument, I really can't stay! Sam and Mercedes left ages ago and I don't want to get in trouble my last week of junior year"

"You won't get in trouble" Blaine grinned at Kurt and then quickly planted a kiss on his cheek.

"You'll be in trouble if you make me late" Kurt teased. "I'm not going to be very happy if I have to have detention this close to summer" Kurt said, indicating the 'this close' with his thumb and forefinger.

Nonetheless, Kurt smiled at Blaine and leaned in to give him a kiss on the lips. He brought his hands to Blaine's face and smiled into the kiss, grinning at the fact that in the few days he'd had off from school, Blaine had gotten some very sexy stubble.

"Okay, no" Kurt said, pushing Blaine's face away as Blaine gave him a devilish grin. "I will not be tempted into staying here, I will not."

"Then leave" Blaine said very slowly, leaning in once again and stopping just an inch from Kurt's face. "No one's stopping you."

Kurt looked up and down at his very giddy boyfriend, noticing very surprisingly that Blaine had changed his cologne recently. He smelled like how Kurt imagined all of the Hollywood classics. Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, the guys that Kurt had grown up watching on the screen with his mother.

And damn. He was so tempted to just close that inch of space and never let go.

So Kurt darted in for a quick peck before pulling away. "I'm leaving now" Kurt said as he took a step back and smiled at his boyfriend. Blaine's eyebrow darted up his forehead and he gave Kurt his signature smirk.

"Fine. Have fun in Glee" Blaine said while waving slightly at Kurt.

"Thanks" Kurt said as he felt his hand reach his car. Blaine stopped waving and turned his back to Kurt's car, starting to walk towards his own. Kurt felt a little guilty. He hadn't really bothered to ask Blaine what he did while Kurt was at school for several hours. Did Blaine go back to his family? Or did he spend it with his Dalton friends?

Kurt chewed on the inside of his lip as he tried to shake off his guilt. He was always feeling too guilty anytime he wronged Blaine. Even if it was something as minor as this.

Kurt shook his head as he tried to get out of his own thoughts. Blaine was already in his car, reaching to turn on the radio. The second he pressed the power button, Kurt could hear the Katy Perry from the other side of the parking lot.

Kurt laughed at him. Blaine wasn't the unpredictable type.

As Blaine looked over one last time before shifting his car into drive, Kurt waved and pressed his fingers to his lips, blowing a kiss to him one last time before he drove away.

Blaine just puckered his lips at Kurt and Kurt laughed. Ever the dork his boyfriend was.

Kurt unlocked his car and climbed into the driver's seat, reaching towards his own radio. Thank god Sirius had a Broadway channel.

Kurt shifted his own stick into drive and watched as Blaine left the parking lot. His car went down the "out" ramp and Kurt looked back at his dash. The time on the clock read 8:43 A.M.

Crap. Kurt was already way late.

Kiss me too fiercely
Hold me too tight
I need help believing
You're with me tonight

Any day where Wicked came on the radio was going to be a good day. And now Kurt could say he'd sang Wicked on a Broadway stage. That made his favorite musical all the more important to him.

My wildest dreamings
Could not foresee
Lying beside you
With you wanting me

Now that Kurt thought about it, this song was kind of like him and Blaine. Kurt saw a lot of himself in Elphaba.

His Glinda was Rachel and his Fiyero was Blaine. Kurt loved his family and they were kind to him. Elphaba wasn't so lucky. But she was teased mercilessly like Kurt. And she knew she was meant for better. She believed she could do anything. And in the end she got the guy and the friend, and when Idina Menzel played her, she got the voice.

She was actually a lot like Kurt.

And like the end of Elphaba's story, Kurt got the guy.

And even though he'd had trials and tribulations and heart attacks and bullies, Kurt Hummel had had a pretty good year.

Thanks to Blaine.

That's when Kurt heard it.

There was a screeching of tires and the sound of metal crunching against metal and glass shattering. Kurt let go of the steering wheel in surprise and his foot came off of the brake holding his car in park. Gathering himself, Kurt put his foot on the brake and moved the stick into park.

People were opening the door to the coffee shop and peering outside looking for where the noise was coming from.

Kurt opened his own car door and looked around, realizing the loud noise was coming from up the street, behind the shop that he had spent so many hours with Blaine in.

Somebody had already rounded the corner, Kurt had parked kind of far away from the shop, given the Monday morning crowd, and Kurt could hear people gasping and even a little girl scream. A man in a very serious looking business suit whipped out his cell phone and dialed only a few numbers. It didn't take Kurt long to realize he was talking to the police.

"Yes, I'd like to report an accident on the corner of Shady Grove and Shorecrest. Um- There are two cars: One's a big kind of black SUV like a Suburban or something and the other looks like a kind of compact car. It's red but I can't tell much more."

Kurt realized he'd been standing still, just 5 feet behind the man, the corner of the shop still obscuring his view of the wreck.

"Are they breathing? I don't know… I'm not close… Hey! Can someone tell if they're breathing?" The man shouted at the people around the corner while covering the mic on the phone.

Kurt heard a few men shout back something like "We'll check"

Then, for the second time that day, Kurt was thrown off guard.

A loud explosion sounded in the air and the businessman immediately dropped his phone in shock. He cursed as he looked at the shattered wreckage, and Kurt, with someone no longer able to tell him second handedly found himself edging slowly around the corner.

It was a nightmare.

The cars that had crashed were about 50 feet away from Kurt as he rounded the corner. He saw all types of people backing away, and it looked as if some people had even been hit by the explosion that had come from the black SUV the man had described.

Kurt, being raised by a mechanic, recognized the Escalade's engine on fire. The explosion from said engine had caused the other car in the wreck to be flipped over and moved about 5 feet from the Escalade.

Kurt couldn't tell from where he was standing, but it looked as if the man in the Escalade had not survived. He was slumped over the steering wheel, his head covered in blood.

But despite the explosion, and all of the people backing away in a hurry as sirens sounded in the near vicinity, Kurt couldn't help but move closer. He didn't know what was causing him to become so intrigued by this crash, but all of his attention was absorbed in moving one foot in front of the other and examining the damage done to the 40 something driver of the Escalade.

It wasn't until Kurt got to about 15 feet away that his heart nearly stopped.

The red compact was closer to him than the Escalade, and he didn't realize that he hadn't paid attention to it before.

Until now.

Upside down to his angle, on the bottom right of the back of the car, was a Warblers decal.

And then Kurt recognized the car as the Audi Blaine's parents had given him for his sixteenth birthday.

The sound went out in Kurt's world, and he couldn't hear the sirens or the people shouting at him to back away from the car. The only thing he could feel was panic. All he could see was the Warbler decal that he knew belonged to his boyfriend.

And then he heard the second explosion. And there was bright light.

And Kurt felt nothing.

Say there's no future
for us as a pair

"Shoot 100 of morphine, we gotta get his heart rate down"

"Okay boss, but I don't know if that's going to work"

"Put his oxygen on! What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sorry sir."

"Don't be sorry, just do it dammit!"

"Alright alright! He's mostly stable, he's going to be fine!"

"Sorry I overreacted. Just- Try to keep him stable until we get to the hospital. He's got a long way to go."

"Boss?"

"What?"

"I think he's waking up"

Kurt looked around and saw the white ceiling of what he quickly realized was an ambulance. To his left there was a morphine drip and one very frantic looking EMT and to his right there was another EMT, equally frantic, and yet he still looked like he was in control.

"I said keep him stable! And you know how to achieve the exact opposite of that? To let him wake up!"

"Okay, sorry boss!"

"Stop saying sorry just do it!"

"Okay!"

And then there was nothing again.

Kurt opened his eyes slowly this time. He didn't want to throw any EMTs off guard.

And suddenly he remembered again.

"Blaine…"

Kurt tried to force himself to sit up in his bed, but for some reason, his body wouldn't move. He felt like there was a great weight resting on his chest and no matter how hard he pushed, his body wouldn't.

"Kurt?"

Kurt moved his eyes towards his right at the sound of his name.

Carole was at the side of the bed squeezing his hand very tightly.

"Did you just say something? Kurt? Can you hear me?"

"Carole… Lower your voice, he just came out of surgery."

Kurt didn't have the energy to turn his head towards the other side of the bed, but he still recognized his father's voice.

And surgery? Surgery for what? From the stabbing pain in his side, Kurt could probably guess.

"Sorry Burt, I just thought I heard him say something"

But I did. Kurt closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath.

"Dad…"

Kurt felt Carole squeeze his hand tightly once again.

"See? Did you hear that?"

"Yeah… I did. Kurt? Kurt, can you hear me?"

Kurt opened his eyes slowly once again and turned to look at his dad.

He didn't have the energy to say anything this time, but he felt his dad's hand in his.

And he squeezed.

"Carole! He squeezed my hand! I felt it! He can hear us!"

Kurt didn't think he'd seen his dad so happy since his second wedding.

And that scared him.

Was it really that bad? Was he really in that much trouble?

"Dad?" Kurt barely whispered, trying his best to say anything he could.

Burt's attention immediately turned back towards the bed.

"Kurt? What is it? What's wrong?"

Kurt closed his eyes and tried to gather his thoughts. He wasn't sure he wanted the answer to his next question.

"Where's Blaine, Dad?"

Kurt didn't hear anything as silence slowly spread across the room. Kurt didn't need to open his eyes to know something was horribly wrong.

Carole suddenly let out a great sob and Kurt wrenched his eyes open. Her face was stained with tears, and the hand that wasn't in Kurt's was clasped over her mouth as she shook her head slightly. Kurt looked to his dad as he sought any sort of comfort.

But he found none there. Burt's eyes were swimming with tears as he gave Kurt's hand another hard squeeze.

"Dad. Where's Blaine?"

Burt still didn't say anything. Kurt didn't know how he managed it, but he wrenched his hands out of both of his parents and pulled himself up in his bed.

"Dad! Where is Blaine?"

This time, his dad didn't respond, but Carole did.

"Kurt I'm so so sorry…"

Kurt could barely understand her through the sobs, but he heard her scared tone. And he knew something was wrong. Maybe more than he had originally thought.

"Will someone please just tell me what is wrong?" Kurt shouted as tears began to run down his face. "Will someone just tell me where the hell my boyfriend is? I need him here! I need my boyfriend! I need Blaine! Where the hell is Blaine?" Kurt continued shouting when he found that suddenly, he couldn't breathe.

He brought his hand to his chest as he became overwhelmed with sobs.

Carole wrapped her arms around Kurt and squeezed as tight as she could.

"It's going to be okay Kurt, it's going to be okay"

"Blaine was in a car accident."

"Burt!" Carole whipped her head towards Kurt's father as she shouted at him, her tone accusatory.

"He needs to know Carole. He was there, he's not oblivious."

"I know, but-"

"But nothing". This time it was Kurt who spoke. He placed his hand on Carole's lightly. "I need to know where he is"

"Kurt…" Carole said slowly.

"It's alright Carole, I'll tell him" Burt said.

Carole looked up at her husband with a slight frown, but she nodded. She tightened her grip on Kurt's hand and pulled it up, giving it a light kiss.

"I love you sweetie."

Carole left Kurt's hospital room, but not before she gave one last look inside. As she closed the door behind her, Kurt noticed she wiped a tear away on her cheek.

"Kurt…" Burt said slowly as Kurt's attention was still focused on his hospital door.

Kurt turned back to his father and noticed the large crease on his forehead and the slightly redder than normal eyes. His father had been crying.

"Kurt…" Burt began again. "Blaine—he, um, he-"

"Dad, please just tell me" Kurt begged him, his eyes watering quickly with tears as the realization began to hit him like a train.

"The explosion that hit you today, it came from Blaine's car, and- um- well, it was a pretty strong explosion, and- well,"

"Dad, please. Tell me what happened already!" Kurt shouted at him once again, causing his father to jump back slightly.

"Blaine didn't make it."

Kurt was laying on his back staring at the solitary crack in the plaster above him.

It started at the wall and continued to the center of the ceiling.

And that was it.

That's where it ended.

But Kurt had been staring at it for hours.

Several nurses had come in since he had woken up that day, and Kurt had ignored all of them.

"More morphine?"

"More pillows?"

"Some water?"

"Jello?"

Kurt's eyes hadn't left the ceiling.

His dad had begged him to say something. Anything.

Carole had cried for hours on end.

Mercedes had held his hand until it was clammy.

Rachel had even offered up all of her solos.

Kurt hadn't moved.

Kurt didn't want to move.

Kurt didn't want to think.

Kurt wished he didn't have to breathe.

"Kurt?"

Kurt wished they'd all just leave him alone.

He wished everyone would just leave him alone.

"Kurt, come on, talk to me"

Please just leave me alone.

Why was this ceiling made of plaster?

Why wouldn't they fix a crack?

They shouldn't leave a crack.

There should never be cracks.

"Kurt, this isn't healthy. You can't just lay here all day. You have to talk to someone. You have to talk about it. Blaine wouldn't want…"

"How the hell would you know what he would want?"

Kurt had suddenly sat up in his bed, and he was glaring as hard as he could at his step-brother.

"You don't know anything about him."

Finn Hudson didn't look as if he'd been crying, but his face was caught in a tight grimace and his eyebrows were knotted. He was clasping his hands together and his shirt's shoulder was stained with tears. Rachel's presumably.

But Kurt's eyes never left Finn's.

Kurt just couldn't believe him. Standing there, acting as if he knew anything about…

And then Kurt's breath caught in his throat.

Kurt still couldn't say his name. He was already tearing up and he hadn't even said it. All he'd done was lay in his bed. All day. And he couldn't even manage one thought. One thought about him. Was too much.

It was all too much.

"Kurt…"

Kurt's eyes had dropped to his lap and Kurt knew that Finn could see the tears streaming down his face.

"Kurt… It's going to be…" But even Finn couldn't bring himself to say it was all going to be okay.

Because it wasn't.

Finn's hand came down on Kurt's shoulder and Kurt's entire body shuddered.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"Okay, I'm sorry" Finn said quietly, retracting his hand.

Kurt didn't tell him it was okay.

Nothing felt okay.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Kurt laid back down in his bed and exhaled as slowly as possible.

"Do you want to talk to someone else about it?"

Kurt's eyes wandered back to the ceiling.

The crack was still there.

It wasn't fixed.

"Kurt? Do you want to talk about something else?"

Why was the crack still there?

"Do you want to sleep?"

The crack wasn't too long. But it was still there.

And it started at the wall.

"Kurt?"

"He said he loved me Finn."

He felt Finn's hand rest on his.

"Don't. Touch. Me."

"Sorry"

Finn's hand moved off of his.

Kurt closed his eyes.

Maybe he needed some sleep.

Maybe he wouldn't wake up.

If he was lucky.

"Kurt! I know you got in late, but come on! I want to hear about New York!"

Kurt's eyes were still closed, but he knew he was slowly drifting into consciousness.

Sleeping had worked.

The problem was now… He didn't want to wake up.

"Please just leave me alone. Can everyone just leave me alone?" Kurt said calmly, keeping his eyes shut as he rubbed his temple.

But his surroundings were slowly coming into focus.

He wasn't in his hospital bed.

He wasn't wearing that horrible hospital gown.

He no longer smelled the hospital.

It actually smelled like, like, coffee.

That wasn't possible.

Kurt opened his eyes slowly.

He was in the Lima Bean.

Kurt looked across from him and suddenly, he couldn't breathe.

Blaine cocked his head to the side and his eyebrows knotted in concern.

"Kurt? What's wrong?"