It was a chilly October morning when the leaves started to fall and Blaine Anderson walked out to the newsstand to purchase the paper. He had been in a fairly good mood. His birthday was a few weeks away and he was busy planning the dinner he had in organized for his closest friends. He purchased the paper and started to walk back to his apartment.

The outside of the building was brick red surrounded by several bushes and small white lights. The lobby was warm and bright and the autumn colored rug made him feel warm as he stepped in the elevator. He knew it was silly to get out of bed at 8 in the morning only to come back home and rest until 10 but Blaine loved New York in the morning. He lived in a fairly quiet neighborhood but in less than the 5 minutes it took to get to the newsstand he'd enter a world that was only known to New York. He sighed as the elevator dinged to signal that they had arrived to his floor. His apartment was rather large, made to house a family of 3 or 4. It had 3 rooms each with its own bathroom, a living room, a main bathroom, a dining room and a kitchen. He had lived there with two friends from collage for a year before they decided to marry and get a home of their own, knowing full well that Blaine would get along fine without them.

Blaine had lived there for a total of 6 years after he had left collage and started working for a law firm. He was very well off but he was lonely. Sure, he had friends, most everyone that met him wanted to befriend him but he wanted more. He had tried dating so many people but by the 2nd or 3rd date memories of Kurt would pop into his head as if to constantly remind him of what he had lost. Yes, he stilled loved Kurt. They'd been apart for 10 years yet he still remembered his high pitched giggle and the way his hair always looked perfect, how his eye colored changed from icy blue to emerald green and how he would always cross his legs and place his hands on his lap before they would start talking. He sat on one of the black chairs that surrounded the dinner table and set his paper down so he could sip at his coffee. The memory of his freshmen year at collage was still engraved in his brain and for once he closed his eyes and allowed the memory to come back at full force.

After Dalton, Blaine had decided to move to New York having accepted a scholarship to study law. He remembered Kurt looking at him sadly as he crossed the gate to get into his plane, "I'll call often! I promise!" he yelled as various passengers started to push and shove. Kurt smiled and waved at him "I'll go to New York too! Just wait for me!" Blaine was pushed in and could no longer see his energetic brunet but texted "Always" before he started to tear up and put his phone in his pocket as the woman who was sitting behind him asked him if he was okay.

He kept his promise so Kurt and Blaine stayed in contact often, be it through text, IM, wall posts or even phone calls when they wanted to hear each other's voice. As a result the year went by easily and their feelings for each other didn't waver. As finals started to approach they started talking less, only calling each other when the need to talk was almost impossible to ignore. Kurt had applied for collages months ago but was now waiting for the results as Blaine tried to get through his final exams and the random projects he had to finish.

One day as Blaine was making his way back to his dorm; his phone pinged at the arrival of a new text. "I'm going to study fashion in New York! I'm going to be able to see you again!" He was thrilled and they started texting back and forth making plans for when they'd be together again. Blaine was walking on air by the time he got back to his dorm. His friends saw the dorky grin on his face and he could only mouth "Kurt" so they guessed that the boy was finally going to get to see his boyfriend again. They decided to celebrate and invite a few friends to their dorm room. There was dancing, singing and alcohol. More and more people started coming in and by 9, Blaine was trashed. He was dancing on a table and didn't care as an older, blond boy climbed up next to him and began dancing against him. By the end of the song their arms were around each other and they crashed their lips together in a rough and wet kiss. He remembered hearing a few catcalls and his eyes stayed closed as various flashes of light were shot his way. The party continued and before long it died down, leaving Blaine and his roommate Andrew passed out inside their trashed room.

They woke up with a hell of a hangover but decided that cleaning the room was more important. They had just gotten back into their beds when the door burst open and a red-headed girl ran into the room jumping on Blaine's bed shaking him awake by the shoulders.

"Blaine! Blaine! Wake up!"

She had dark eyes and pale skin, her red hair was shoulder length with various specks of black running through it. She was thin and had a cute baby face usually devoid of blemishes or makeup but was now washed over with panic as she tried to rip the covers from Blaine's hands.

"Mandy, let me sleep or I will bite you."

"No! Blaine! You have to look on Facebook! Your future depends on it!"

"I don't think it's that serious Manatee." Blaine stuck his head out from under the covers to see Mandy's twin brother leaning against the door. He had the same pale and unblemished skin that Mandy had but he had striking blue eyes and his hair was jet black, except for the orange –red steak that Mandy had asked him to get through his bangs. The boy was as thin as his sister but he wore black eyeliner and tighter clothes than his sister.

"Danny! Tell Blaine he has to get up!" She pled Dan, staring at him with her puppy dog eyes, something she had mastered long ago. Dan looked indifferent but cursed himself on the inside for still falling for his sister's tricks.

"Uh… Blaine? Manny is sort of right. You might want to see the pictures those douches took yesterday."

"Pictures? Of what?"

"Of you! Kissing another boy! Not that we didn't know you were gay. We've always known. Not because you look gay! You told us, remember? It really shouldn't have taken me by surprise though… not because I don't think you're awesome! Uh… wait what was my point…?" Blaine stared at the girl until it made sense. Pictures of him… kissing another guy… online. Where Kurt would be able to see them. He jumped off the bed sending the light girl rolling off the side. He logged on to his account and saw that he had 27 notifications. Twelve of them were of photos he was tagged in and 15 of comments made on the pictures. He started to look through the pictures. The first weren't bad, just him singing and dancing on the table, by the 4th the blonde had joined the picture and by the 8th they had their tongues in each other's mouth. He turned around to see Mandy biting her nails and Danny's cool façade had faded a bit and he was frowning at the screen. Blaine's face was unguarded and he stared at his friends pleadingly.

"Check the comments and then Kurt's wall." Dan said sternly.

"Yeah! Maybe Kurt hasn't seen the pictures yet! We can find the people who put them up and tell them to take them down!" Blaine turned around quickly scanning through the comments. Most of them were supposed to be funny and if it had not been about him he supposed he would have laughed. Kurt hadn't commented on any of them and Blaine made his way to Kurt's wall. He saw with horror that Kurt had been online 5 minutes ago meaning he logged out when Blaine logged in and he had indeed seen the pictures but decided to not say anything.

"He saw them… He defiantly saw them. He's gonna be so mad at me! OH god, what am I gonna do!"

"Give him some time to cool off then tell him you were drunk and that you're sorry?"

"Yeah Blainy! Tell him you're sorry! He'll forgive you!" Blaine nodded and hoped that they were right.

He waited 2 weeks before he tried to contact Kurt. He IM'd, texted and called but Kurt never answered. He figured that Kurt needed more time and decided to wait another 2 weeks until the time that he and Kurt had agreed that Blaine would pick him up from Ohio and bring him to New York to spend the vacations here before he started collage. The 2 weeks passed slowly for Blaine and when it was time for him to go to Ohio Mandy, Andrew and Dan loaded into car and prepared for the 11 hr ride.

They arrived half an hour early and Blaine was awed at how much he still remembered about his boyfriend's old house, from the green garage door to the creaky stair that led to the front door. He told his friends to wait in the car as he made his way to the door. He rang the bell and heard 2 pairs of feet run toward him. The door burst open and he saw Finn and Carol panting. Finn's face was red and Carol's hair was starting to slip from the bun she had put it in. They were both dressed formally; Finn in a suit and Carol in a dark blue dress and he could tell that the woman had lost weight.

"Oh my god, Blaine? What are you doing here?" Carol looked immensely happy but confused.

"Hey dude, I thought you were Rachel, what are you doing here?" Blaine smiled at them and figured they must have forgotten that he was here to pick up Kurt. "I'm here to take Kurt to New York. He said I should pick him up at the end of his senior year so he could spend the summer with me at his new campus."

Finn looked at him blankly and Carol looked sad. "He didn't tell you? Kurt is gone."

"What? What do you mean "gone"? Like shopping? Sleepover at Mercedes'?" Blaine was freaking out by now and he had taken Carol by the shoulders and looked at her with frightened eyes. "Where did he go!" He heard heavy footsteps come from upstairs. "Kurt?" He cried out hopefully.

"You're close."

"Burt?" The man came down and stared at Blaine for a minute, his eyes tired and slightly red. He was also in a suit but looked uncomfortable and frowned as he spoke. "He left yesterday. To Paris"

"What? Why? He said he was going to New York to study fashion!" Blain felt the tears in his eyes well up.

"He was" Burt explained calmly "but two days later he told us that he had decided to take the scholarship they had offered him in Paris instead. We were as confused as you but it's not our life – it's his, so we let him go. When we asked him why he laughed sadly and said it was a new start… from everything…" He looked at Blaine expectantly, his eyes full of questions he was afraid to ask. By now Blaine had broken down, he was openly crying his tears running down his cheeks freely and he fell to his knees. Dan was by his side in no time.

"Blaine? You okay? He's gone isn't he?" Blaine nodded.

"He's gone. It's all my fault! I'm the reason he's gone!" Blain was yelling angrily and Finn and Carol stared wide-eyed at the usually calm boy while Burt just looked sad.

"Hey, calm down. Breath. It'll be okay. You'll see, we'll get through it." Dan turned toward the Hummels "Thank you for your time and for understanding" He walked a quivering Blaine to the car and put him in the back seat. "Mandy, I'll take care of Blaine. I need you to drive. Andrew, get in next to her so we don't get lost."

They both did as they were told as Blaine curled up in the back, his head in Dan's lap, still sobbing and hiccupping – unable to stop. Dan stroked his hair calmly and waited for him to calm down. They drove for a 2 hours and Blaine had fallen asleep at sometime. He started to wake up but he heard his friends talking and decided to listen to what they had to say.

"…He should have told Blaine." Andrew was staring at Dan's phone and Blaine wondered what he meant.

"You know why he didn't. He was hurt" Dan sighed "can't say I blame him. I probably would have done the same thing." Dan lowered his hand to stroke Blaine's hair and Blaine found that he wanted Dan to keep his hand there.

"I think you're right Danny. Kurt was angry so he left. Mainly though, I think he was hurt. Blaine just has to understand that he won't be able to do anything about it for now." Mandy sighed.

"Are we talking about the same Blaine? You know how much he loved Kurt. He's not going to forget him anytime soon." Andrew looked pained as he glanced at Blaine, who was still on Dan's lap.

"It's going to be hard, but I think he can make it, we're all going to have to help though. You guys up for it?" Dan smirked at them, anticipating their answer.

"You have to ask?" Andrew smirked back.

"Of course, I love Blainy!" Mandy raised a fist to the air and his car shook a bit before she grabbed the wheel again "…sorry?"

They laughed and Dan lowered his hand again. It was warm and the boy's petite hands reminded him of Kurt's. He felt the need to keep crying but he had to be strong. The summer passed by in a flash. He buried himself in work and interned at various law firms and his friends kept the promise they had made to each other. They were all incredibly supportive and one of them always accompanied him to various events or meetings. When the school year started he was more than prepared. He coursed through his classes and the year went by without a hitch. Time started to erase itself; he did well in classes, so well in fact that he no longer needed to pay attention and the time would go by in a blur. Senior year ended like Junior and sophomore year had and when he graduated he was immediately offered a position in a well-respected firm. Mandy had married Andrew a year after they graduated and Dan lived fairly close by, so he saw him often.

Blaine felt the tears running down his cheeks and he let his head fall in between his hands. "I have to be strong."

He told himself. He smiled as he thought of Kurt again and drank his coffee. He set his cup down and picked up the paper flipping through reading the various things that had occurred over the past few days. He paused at a page and he paled visibly. He read the article twice before he put it down and ran to make a call as he was about to reach for the phone it rang. "Hello? Blaine Anderson speaking."

"Blaine!" he heard two voices yell at the same time.

"Mandy? Andrew? Yeah it's me" he heard a beeping "wait hold on another call."

"Blaine? You there?" A calm voice asked over the phone

"Dan? That you?"

"Who else would have a voice this great?"

"Haha, wait a sec Mandy and Andrew just called, I'll three-way." He pressed the button and held the phone against his ear. "Kay guys, Danny's here too."

"Did you see the paper?" All three voices shouted over the phone. Blaine remembered the title and his jaw tightened so much that his gums stated to hurt.

"Yeah." It was silent until Dan muttered.

"'Famous designer Kurt Hummel is releasing his new collection in New York'"