Just remember to breathe.  In and out.  In and out.  Blaine choked back a sob, blinking back tears so he could focus on the road.  He couldn't break down while he was driving.  He just had to get home.  Once he was there and safely ensconced in his own room he could lose it.  Just a little longer. Blaine's hands shook where they gripped the steering wheel precisely at 10 and 2.  In and out.

An eternity later Blaine parked his car in the dark, empty driveway in front of his house.  His parents were still out.  How unusual, he thought sarcastically.  For once he was glad to come home to an empty house.  It suited his mood perfectly and he didn't want his mom around when he well and truly lost it. 

He trudged up the stairs dully, not noticing the pictures adoring the wall along the staircase.  Turning right, he walked into his room.  Blaine glanced at his immaculately made bed briefly before changing his mind and turning back towards the bathroom.  Shedding his clothes unceremoniously on the way, he turned on the water with a shaky hand before stepping in.  The second the hot water hit his shoulders, Blaine's tight grip over his emotions finally slipped and he was sobbing.  Loud, choking hiccups that he didn't realize he was making overwhelmed the soft sounds of water against ceramic as Blaine slid to the floor of the tub, wrapping his arms tightly around his torso.  Tears streamed unchecked down his cheeks, wiped clean by the strong spray as quickly as they formed.  Blaine closed his eyes, finally allowing his mind to go back to dinner earlier that evening.

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Kurt was late.  Blaine found that particularly odd, Kurt was almost never late.  And the few times he was, it was usually because of Blaine's influence in some form or another.  Blaine fidgeted with the cloth napkin, relieved when Kurt finally slid into the booth across from him.  His relief was short lived; dissolving the moment he got a really good look at his boyfriend.  Kurt looked nervous and miserable.  His Dalton blazer was unbuttoned and the tie loose and off-center around his neck.  Kurt kept shifting back and forth in the booth, and his eyes were red-rimmed.  Crying was hardly an unusual state for Kurt, staring too long at an adorable puppy was often enough to turn on the water works, but this didn't seem like an ‘awww' kind of situation. 

“Kurt, baby what's wrong?” Blaine asked urgently, grabbing his boyfriend's hand over the table.  He didn't care who might be looking, not when his boyfriend was this distressed.  Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand, his eyes darting back and fourth as if he was looking for someone.  Finally, he retracted his hands, clutching them together before him.  Kurt swallowed, briefly closing his eyes in that way he had prior to a major reveal. 

“What is it?” Blaine tried again, looking around the restaurant himself as if he could figure out what Kurt was watching for. 

Kurt's eyes slowly opened, the blue in them clear and bright with steely determination.  “Blaine.  I need to talk to you about something.  Something important.”  Blaine nodded, eyes glued to his boyfriend's. 

“I've…something happened.  Something pretty big and, well, I think we need to take a break.  For a while.”

Blaine sat back, stunned.  Whatever he thought might've come from Kurt's mouth; a break-up line wasn't anything he'd even remotely considered.  They'd spent just last weekend in each other's back pockets and Kurt had looked about as happy as Blaine had ever seen him.  Dalton was on spring break and Kurt had gone home for the week to spend family time with Burt, Carol, Finn and visit with his McKinley friends.  Blaine hadn't wanted to interfere with Kurt's home time and limited himself to the occasional text.  He didn't worry overly much when Kurt hadn't gotten back with him.    

“What? Why? Kurt, what is going on?  We're fine.  We talked on the phone for 2 hours not three days ago.  Everythings fine.”  Blaine swallowed, “Isnt it?”

Kurt stared down at his hands, unwilling to me his boyfriend's, ex-boyfriend's, eyes.  “I…something happened.  And I just need some time.” 

“What! What happened, Kurt?  I need more than that.  I deserve more than that!  Are you in some kind of trouble?  Is someone after you, is that why you keep looking around?” Blaine demanded, his voice getting louder with each question.

“Blaine!” Kurt hissed.  “Quiet down.  And no, no one is after me, okay?”

Blaine opened his mouth to demand more answers when a gorgeous guy in a Dalton polo wandered over.  “Hey, Kurt.  Everything okay over here?  You about ready to go?”  The guy was tall.  Not Finn tall, but certainly bigger than Blaine.  And he was stunningly handsome.  The polo stretched across wide shoulders while its sleeves struggled to contain the sizable biceps hidden underneath the thin fabric.  He definitely had the ‘tall, dark and handsome' thing well in hand.  Black hair, effortlessly and perfectly messy, framed bright, chocolate brown eyes that regarded Blaine curiously. 

“Yeah…yes.  I'm almost ready, Shane.”  Kurt swallowed, smiling weakly up at the young man.  The guy, Shane apparently, grinned and put a hand on Kurt's shoulder, squeezing gently.  Kurt turned into the touch, a look of peace briefly overtaking his haunted expression.  Blaine felt his stomach drop.

He couldn't breathe. This was real.  It was really happening.  Apparently Blaine wasn't enough, and the second an upgrade made an appearance Kurt was all over that.  Blaine swallowed.

 “I'm so sorry, Blaine,” Kurt murmured.  It wasn't fair.  Kurt's voice shouldn't sound so sweet and gentle when he was dumping Blaine.  Kurt reached for Blaine's hand on the table.  Blaine yanked it away, willing the tears not to show.  He had to maintain whatever shreds of his pride he had left.  He slid to his feet, not caring that he'd shouldered Shawn out of the way as he stood.

“Don't call me,” he told Kurt harshly.  “Don't stop me in the hallway at school.  I don't want to hear your voice ever again.”  Blaine was darkly gratified when fresh tears appeared in Kurt's sky-blue gaze. 

“I understand,” Kurt whispered, gulping back what looked like sobs. 

For a second Blaine wanted to take it back, to hold his boyfriend as he always did on those rare occasions when the world was too much for Kurt to handle and he needed to break down.  He suppressed the impulse.  What right did Kurt have to be upset, anyway?  He was the one who was ruining their relationship.  HE was the one breaking hearts completely out of the blue, not Blaine.

Blaine turned and walked away before he caved in the face of Kurt's misery.  He paused at the door looking over his shoulder and seeing the two standing together.  Blaine had to admit they made a beautiful couple.  Shawn was holding both of Kurt's shoulders while Kurt resting his forehead on Shawn's muscular chest as his whole body shook.

Confused and miserable, Blaine made his way out of the restaurant to the parking lot and the relative safety of his car.  He reached over to the passenger seat, grabbing the wrapped gift where it innocuously rested on the leather.  It contained a silky black scarf, a limited edition that Blaine had looked far and wide to find.  He stared at it for a minute, then threw it out the window as hard as he could.  Shifting the car into reverse, Blaine began the journey back to his house.  Just breathe.  In and out.

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