If there was one thing that could be said about Kurt, it was that Blaine didn't know what to expect next from him. Out of nowhere, Kurt was suddenly overcome with grief for Whitney Houston. Her songs were played on repeat all day in the house, his room had a shrine made out to her, and in addition to New York and NYADA, Kurt had also added her to his most frequently spoken about things. Burt and Carole didn't seem to mind, citing that she was a classic. The rest of the boys meanwhile were slowly dying from insanity.

If Kurt had even mentioned her before she died, Blaine might have bought it, but instead he was as flabbergasted as the rest of the other boys in the Hudson-Hummel home by his sudden devotion to the deceased diva. According to Finn, Rachel was also in an extreme state of mourning for Whitney, as was Mercedes according to Sam, and Santana according to Brittany. The four of the mourning parties had even gone through the halls singing How Will I Know in an abrupt display of their love for Whitney. They argued over details of Whitney's life, including all the 'what-if's' related to her various scandals, and had sleepovers where they debated the fine points of The Bodyguard.

Meanwhile, when Kurt wasn't gushing about Whitney, he had gone on New York overload - obsessing over what to wear, what to sing, and how to act for his NYADA audition. Blaine never heard about anything else, and though he wanted to be with Kurt, it became too annoying to spend time with this Kurt, who seemed so obsessed with the future he didn't seem to see what was right in front of him now.

Maybe it would pass. At least Blaine hoped it would pass. Once that NYADA audition was done and over with, maybe, just maybe, they could return to being the couple they were meant to be. Maybe Kurt would see past the fog of his future and see Blaine again.

In the meantime, Blaine spent more time with the guys, while Kurt gravitated to the female divas. They barely made out lately with the separation, not that Kurt was very available anyhow between his student council meetings, planning for NYADA, and glee - but it hurt Blaine because Burt was gone five days of the week in Washington so they had a lot of opportunity to be together freely.

And Blaine didn't even want to think about how long it had been since they had fucked. Too damn long. His hand was getting more action than it had in a long time to the point he had cramps in his palm.

It made writing his notes in class difficult.

He has also been regressing a bit - at least that's what Finn and Sam said when they were stopping Blaine from toilet dunking some hockey asshole who thought he didn't hear it when he called Blaine a fag.

Should have dunked him anyhow.

Kurt and Blaine didn't even sit together as much in the choir room. Last practice Blaine had sat in the usual spot, thinking Kurt would join him, only to watch as Kurt came in, arguing with Santana about which performance was better when it came to one of Whitney's songs. He had been so engrossed in the argument that he had actually sat with Santana and left Blaine alone in their usual place.

That afternoon no one was around to stop him when he washed all the hockey players cups in a blend of bleach and hot sauce. He planned to attend their next practice to enjoy the results of the prank.

Once he got back to his locker after doing the cup bathing, he found Kurt there, waiting for him apparently. He wished his stomach didn't turn when he saw Kurt there because he just knew Kurt wasn't there because he wanted to see Blaine, but because he wanted to bounce ideas off Blaine for something New York or NYADA related.

And, unfortunately, he was right. Kurt wanted him to join him on a trip to Between the Sheets to determine which Whitney song to sing for Whitney week, as if he hadn't heard enough Whitney Houston lately, and also find a number to sing for his NYADA audition.

"I... uh... I already made plans to meet Brittany." Blaine lied. He honestly just didn't want to spend another afternoon existing with Kurt instead of really interacting with him. "Just text me afterwards."

Kurt's disappointment was evident as his face fell, and Blaine felt a pang of guilt for being the one to cause that, but he was more relieved than sad about not having to go. When Kurt had left, Blaine went back to the locker room, changed, and went to the weight room to punch the boxing bag for a half hour until Sam finished swim practice and they could leave together for the Hummel-Hudson home.

He and Sam had been hanging out a lot more lately as the adopted children of the home. The difference was that Sam actually missed his family and generally called them every night. Sometimes his family would even come up to Lima to visit, though usually he went down to visit them on the weekends. Sam and Blaine were the ones who shared confused looks whenever the Hummel-Hudson's partook in their own traditions and in-jokes, like always purposely making an odd number of cookies even though there was an even number of people in the house, and Sunday tea time complete with crumpets and fancy little tea cups.

Cooper still called regularly, and Blaine had to give him credit for keeping true to his word when it came to keeping in contact. Cooper also relayed how frustrated he was with their parents. Apparently both his mother and father denied any wrongdoing despite being presented with the facts. They had also both made quite a number of insulting comments about Blaine according to Cooper, to the point that Cooper didn't even want to talk to them anymore because of how miserable they were. Cooper apologized profusely for that, feeling bad that he hadn't believed Blaine initially, and angry that his parents would treat them so differently. Blaine told him there was nothing to be upset over, he was just happy to have his brother now.

"Cooper says hi." He told the Hummel-Hudson home at dinner that evening after speaking with his brother. They all smiled and asked the obligatory questions - how was Cooper doing? What was he up to? Did he plan on visiting anytime soon?

The only person not asking was Kurt, who was smirking at something on his phone. Maybe a game or a funny picture - like the ones Brittany always sent him. Lord Tubbington had his very own set of memes.

Like always, Kurt crawled into bed with Blaine that night, but they weren't even cuddling much anymore. They just went to sleep, side by side, like two corpses in the ground.

The hockey practice was hilarious. Blaine had even invited the one person he knew would appreciate the humor - Puck. They had sat up high in the bleachers, pretending to work on homework while they watched the hockey players fall squealing, one by one, onto the ice while their coaches looked on in stunned silence for a moment before calling for help.

The McKinley gossip allowed them to find out that the bleach had managed to dye a few of the players junk, while the hot sauce had effectively crippled them from engaging in any sex for awhile. Both Blaine and Puck were named as possible culprits, but with no evidence, and no real motive, neither were even brought into the office or questioned.

"So I say we go after the golf team next." Puckerman whispered over to him during glee club practice after Brittany and Santana had sung Dance With Somebody.

"What's your beef with those assclowns?" Blaine whispered back. Kurt hadn't even noticed that Blaine was talking to Puck, so glued to his phone for the past twenty four hours.

"They're just so... pretentious - you know? In their fancy polos with their fancy gloves. Golf's not even a real sport man - you hit a ball, you walk after it, you hit it again."

Blaine nodded thoughtfully and then whispered back to Puckerman that he'd think about it and what they could do. They fist bumped and went back to tuning out Mr. Schuester's latest lecture about pitch or some shit.

The next day Joe and Quinn sang some sappy shit, Saving All My Love or some nonsense. Again, instead of tearing up and looking at Blaine with those heart eyes he could make, Kurt had his eyes locked on his phone, grinning stupidly at whatever was going on with it.

By the third day, with Rachel and Santana singing So Emotional, Blaine had it. Not only was Kurt not paying attention to two of his best diva girlfriends, but he was again ignoring everyone else in favour of what was going on with his phone. Blaine's eyes met Sam's, sitting on the other side of Kurt, and Sam shrugged. He had picked up on the change in Kurt too, and couldn't figure it out.

But Sam was closer, and took the opportunity to sneak peeks at what Kurt was doing on his phone while the girls sang.

"You should... you should talk to him about it." Sam muttered, clearly hiding something when Blaine asked him what he had seen.

"Just fucking tell me man! What is it?"

Sam frowned and shook his head, "I don't want to be the one to say anything... but you should talk to him."

So that night, while Kurt left his bedroom to prepare them some snacks for their Being Bobby Brown night, which Blaine had only hesitantly agreed to, Blaine took his chance, grabbed Kurt's phone, and started going through it.

He didn't even have to look far, because as soon as he started his search, he received a message.

From: Chandel Kiehl: Can you sing into my voicemail? I want to make your voice my ringtone.

Blaine's brows immediately shot up as he read it, and the more he went back into the texting history, the angrier and more confused he got. He copied Chandler's number down and then deleted him as a contact off Kurt's phone before placing the phone back where he had found it.

He could have won an emmy or golden globe or some amazing acting award for the bit he did that night with Kurt, pretending like nothing was wrong. He even kissed him, his mind screaming cheater all the while.

When he got back to his room, he grabbed his phone and texted Chandler, posing as Kurt.

Hey. My phone broke and I got a new one with this new number. How do you feel about meeting tomorrow? - Kurt

Sounds fab-u-lous! Where at? - Chandler

Lima Bean? - Kurt

Total date! Can't wait to see you and your "asp" there! - Chandler

God he was going to make this kid pay.

"Blaine! No! Finn! Grab him!"

Kurt's screams were all that was keeping Blaine from pummeling the twink he was holding up against the alleyway wall beside the Lima Bean. Sam had asked Blaine earlier on in the day if he and Kurt spoke, and Blaine had stupidly responded that they had, so Sam asked Kurt if he and Blaine were okay after Blaine found out about the texting.

The rest seemed obvious in Blaine's mind. Kurt checked his phone, found Chandler deleted, and followed Blaine here intending to confront him about going onto his phone. Kurt had made Finn and Sam tag along because without Blaine and Kurt at the school, they didn't have any rides back home otherwise.

It didn't take Blaine long to determine who Chandler was when he got to the Lima Bean. Waiting just outside the coffee shop was a little blonde creep who bounced on his toes and was clearly waiting for someone. When Blaine approached him, he asked,

"Chandler?"

"Why yes! That's me!" The little twink responded before confusion set in his eyes, "Do I know you? Usually I'm quite good with faces, but I don't seem to recall yours and -ERK!"

Blaine had grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the alley, out of sight and held him up against the wall despite the little boy's cries. That's when Kurt bounded in with Finn and Sam on his heels.

Blaine glowered, weighed the options in his mind, and then tossed the small boy to the side, letting him fall into a pile of garbage bags where Kurt rushed to his side to check if he was okay before casting an angry glance up at Blaine, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"What am I doing? What AM I DOING?" Blaine started talking but it became a yell as he snapped at Kurt, "Trying to save whatever is left of our relationship! You know, the one you've been CHEATING on!"

Finn and Sam were hanging back, definitely out of their depth, but too afraid to move.

Chandler meanwhile coughed a few times and then pulled away from Kurt, "Crazy... crazy..." He uttered and ran off, between Finn and Sam and away from them all.

Kurt stood up, glaring at Blaine and pressing a finger at his chest, "You had no right to do that! You had no right to go into my phone!"

"You were CHEATING Kurt. You clearly were flirting with the guy and you clearly liked him!"

"Are you kidding me? They were texts! I wasn't cheating - and even if I was, that doesn't give you the right to do that to a person!"

"Uh... we're... we're just gonna go into the car..." Finn uttered, though neither Kurt or Blaine looked away from one another to see them retreat.

"It IS cheating. You've been ignoring me for days and then I find out it's because your mind and heart are elsewhere? Fuck that Kurt. You may not have fucked the guy, but you were well on your way to it."

"This. Is. Insane!" Kurt's hands swept out to either side, "I did not cheat. It was texting. I just was enjoying someone who would compliment me for a change!"

"I don't compliment you? Are you fucking kidding?"

"No. You don't. You tell me my ass is hot and you want to fuck me at every conceivable moment, but you don't tell me I look nice or that I did something amazing - unless it was a blowjob. It's all about sex with you. I'm not all sex Blaine. I want to be appreciated for other aspects of me."

"Then tell me that! Don't do... that... don't cheat."

"I DIDN'T CHEAT!" Even Blaine was blown away by the yell of protest Kurt gave to that. He had never heard Kurt be so loud. "It was texting! It's okay!"

Blaine shook his head sadly, "No... it's not okay Kurt. It's not right, and it's definitely not okay."

He left Kurt there then, walking to the car. Finn was in Kurt's car, and Sam was in Finn's - the one that Blaine had driven here. Clearly they had decided to split up to provide appropriate moral support, but Blaine didn't want to talk on the ride home, and when they got home, he locked himself in his room where he found he couldn't sleep without Kurt there beside him.

He was angrier than he had ever been.

Even when Carole had tried to come in, and then Sam, and then Finn, Blaine kept the door locked up. Apparently it was the same scene on the other side of the hall because they were also trying to get into Kurt's room who also had it locked up.

Blaine even waited until Kurt had left the next morning before getting ready for school himself. Sam had waited for him, and together they quietly went to McKinley, where Blaine avoided Kurt until glee club where he felt like if he didn't say something, he would explode.

And in a manner of speaking, he did explode, singing a Whitney Houston song of all things. It's Not Right But It's Okay. Those who hadn't been privy to the gossip yet gave Kurt questioning looks as he insisted that it was insane and he hadn't cheated. When he had gotten the whole of the song out of him, he stormed off, back into the locker room where he could punch the shit out of the boxing bag again.

And the process continued much like it had the day before. He waited for Sam to finish swim practice before riding back to the Hummel-Hudson home in silence where he locked himself in his bedroom for the whole night. He didn't leave the room unless he needed to take a piss, and actually took up an offer from Puckerman - spending Saturday night over at his place playing video games and definitely not talking about him and Kurt.

When Monday came, Blaine wasn't angry anymore - he was numb. How many times did he and Kurt have to go through this cycle? Or was this the final round?

He got something of an answer when Kurt sang that day in Glee - I Have Nothing. It was all sung to Blaine, and this time the looks were given to him instead of to Kurt by members of glee club. He even had to tell Mike to fuck off when he looked at him inquiringly.

He just didn't want any of them to see the tears building up in his eyes.

But he wasn't ready to just forgive Kurt like that. He had spent much time in his life thinking little of himself. He wanted Kurt to see that maybe he was worth fighting for.

So he wasn't surprised when Kurt asked him to join him in Ms. Pilsbury office for a couples counselling session.

"That would imply we are a couple Kurt." Blaine said stiffly, not looking at Kurt as he shoved his textbooks into his locker.

He didn't miss the sharp intake of breath coming from Kurt. The same sound he used as a last resort to crying. "Please."

Blaine sighed, pressed his forehead against the cool metal of the locker once he closed it, and stared down at the floor. "Why?"

"Because I need you. I love you..."

"Fine." God he was a sucker.

Ms. Pilsbury was definitely no master of counselling, but the space was safe enough that Blaine felt he could tell Kurt exactly what he had been feeling.

"All you've been talking about is New York and NYADA... it makes me feel like you're not happy with things here. Your whole existence right now is all about New York, and I may as well not be around because it's clear that's all that's important to you. I'm just expecting you to get to New York and find someone so much better and exciting and dump me... so I've been pulling away... yes... because I don't want it to hurt as much when it does happen. I've changed so much for you. I let you dress me and decide what I eat... because I love you and want you to be happy, but it never seems like it's enough."

Kurt swallowed a choked sob as he watched Blaine go on his tirade, and Blaine recognized then that Kurt wasn't even aware of what he had been doing. The realization was just hitting him now.

"You're the love of my life Kurt... I just worry... that I'm not the love of your life and you're realizing how much better you could be doing."

"No!" Kurt's hands shot over to take Blaine's, so cold and clammy from how nervous he was about putting this all out there. Kurt's warm, soft hands encircled Blaine's cold ones and cupped them in his own. "I love you Blaine, and as far as I'm concerned, you'll be right there with me for all of New York. When I've been excited... I've been excited for both of us...."

"But... I don't even know what I want to do yet... who knows what I'll be doing. Meanwhile you're going to go to this exclusive college in a special program with all these talented people and maybe you'll find someone new and amazing...."

"No. Blaine.. you're not listening. I love you. Only you. I want to be there with you. I want to come home to you every day in New York. I don't care what you do. Be a teacher, be a doctor, be a mechanic, hell, be a house boyfriend for all I care. So long as I get to come home to you. I love you."

Blaine winced his eyes shut tight, forcing the tears back into his eyes. He saw a picture in his mind then, of the two of them, in some apartment together that overlooked so many buildings in New York - eating supper together and smiling happily at one another. So this is what it's like to envision a future.

"I love you too. So much..." Blaine murmured then leaning toward Kurt who readily wrapped his arms around them. They stayed connected like that for a solid minute before a creak in the desk reminded them there was a third person in the room and they awkwardly shuffled out.

"Storage room?" Kurt queried.

Blaine smiled weakly and nodded to Kurt, taking his hand and leading the way there.

Things got better. For starters, Kurt started coming back to Blaine's bed at night so that Blaine was able to sleep again.

And Blaine made the effort to compliment Kurt on more than just his ass or his fabulous cock. It wasn't that it was hard to find things to compliment Kurt on, it was just that Blaine hadn't really thought it necessary before. Brittany helped him though, showing him all the articles on how women liked to be told nice things about themselves and how it helped validate them and all that bullshit.

Whatever, if it made Kurt happy, he could do it.

And while Kurt was at a student council meeting, Blaine got advice from Puckerman on how chicks dug gifts and displays of manliness while they were hiding shrimp shells in the golf team's bags - sure to stink them up after a couple days. Whatever he could do to improve things, Blaine was willing to try.

And things improved in that way. Blaine recalled how he made a big effort to woo Kurt when they first got together, and channeled that. He realized he had gotten complacent with their relationship and needed to put the effort into it to get anything out of it.

It was going so well that when Cooper called the next week, all Blaine could do was gush about Kurt. Things had really turned on their head, and he was happy to share his happiness with his brother. When Cooper was finally able to get a word in, it was the last thing Blaine expected to hear.

"Mom moved back to the Philippines."