“I assume you're going back to Lima after the break?”  Santana quizzed Kurt, looking over at him from over the top of the book she was otherwise buried in as they studied.

“Yeah… I mean… not for the whole time.  I have work here… and Adam…”  He blushed softly as he admitted it, thankful he had his own book blocking Santana's view of his cheeks.

It had been well over a year since he and Santana had made the journey to Chicago.  He had required intensive intervention on Santana's behalf to not run back to where Blaine was and try to break him free, but, eventually, Kurt realized he couldn't save Blaine - especially if Blaine didn't want saving as was obviously the case from that little back-and-forth over the console.  He let his heart go numb, letting Blaine fade from its memory, and in the past couple months had even begun dating a senior named Adam.

“Right.”  Santana snorted from behind her books.  “Adam.  What date are you on?”

“Seven.” Kurt said with a light, sing-songy tone.  

“And seven means what according to your ridiculous list?”

Prior to agreeing to date anyone, Kurt had checked out dating websites and even consulted his own dad on what the normal progression was for a relationship.  He didn't want anyone to see him as some floozy like a couple of the guys in the fashion program had come to be known as, and he also didn't want to be seen as frigid - though his dad was quick to assure him there was nothing wrong with that either.  

“Seven means he can use tongue when he kisses me.”  Kurt hummed, knees bumping together under the table as he felt a rush of excitement pass through him at the thought.

“Hmm… boring.”  Santana looked back into her book and Kurt just grinned.  As much as Santana tried to be outwardly dismissive of his romantic life, he knew that she lived vicariously through him since she couldn't date freely like she wanted - at least not with someone she wanted.

They stayed in the library until it was closed and the henpecking old librarian ushered them out in irritance.  Santana returned to her dorm and Kurt skipped happily to his, not caring who saw him doing so.  He was at the top of his class, he was dating Kent State's most eligible (gay) bachelor, and was on the brink of summertime where all he had to worry about was work.  Life was good.

Of course that meant it all had to come crashing down around him.

As he approached his room, he slowly, seeing a figure sitting in front of his room, spinning a rose in his fingers.  Curly black hair and compact form gave him away long before he even turned his eyes towards Kurt's approaching figure and looked directly up at him with soulful amber eyes.

The first thought that Kurt had was that it was Blaine, and he was alive and alright, and free.

The second thought was that Kurt needed to either hide him away or get rid of him because the top student in the fashion program couldn't be seen with someone wearing the ill-fitted suit Blaine had on, looking like he was swimming in it as he stood up and clearly purchased in the ‘no one will ever buy this in a million years' bin at a second hand store.

The third thought Kurt had was conscious guilt over the second thought.  Who was he to judge Blaine for what he was wearing?  (Aside from, as mentioned, the top student in the fashion program).

But instead of feeling the guilt his mind told him he should feel, or the sadness that was reflected in Blaine's eyes, Kurt felt angry.

“What are you doing here…?” He growled towards Blaine, shoulders tensing and back straightening as he approached the other man.

“I…”  Blaine seemed taken aback, like he was not at all expecting this reaction out of Kurt.  “.. I'm free… I wanted to see you….”

A slap echoed through the hall as Kurt dropped his books to the floor so he could point at Blaine accusingly, “I TRIED to see you!  Remember!  You can't just come and go from my life at your whim!”

“But I…”  Blaine sputtered, looking at Kurt so pleadingly with those puppy dog eyes of his.

“NO!  You know that Santana had to sleep with me at night so I wouldn't run off to try and see you?  She let her own grades slide to save me from making a damned fool of myself, making me go to class and eat and sleep!  I cried myself to sleep for months Blaine.  MONTHS.  That after I worried sick for months beforehand not knowing what had happened to you!  You were supposed to be my best friend!”

Blaine stuttered a little, taking a step back and looking lost as his eyes roamed Kurt's face, “I was in service Kurt… I just… I just couldn't see you….”

“Right.  You signed yourself away so your asshole parents could be free to be assholes again.”  Kurt huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.  Miraculously, no one had come out from their rooms to see what the drama was.

“I thought I was doing the right thing….”

“Well you didn't.”  Kurt snorted, leaning down to grab his books and shove past Blaine to unlock his door.  “You chose them over me.”

“I didn't mean to choose anyone Kurt…..”

“Well you did.”

Kurt got his lock open and went into his room, letting Blaine follow him in and hesitantly close the door behind him.  “Please Kurt… I didn't want to do it… but…”  He sighed, “If it had been you and your dad - wouldn't you have agreed to it?”

Kurt eyes went round as he turned around and looked towards Blaine, “Of course I would… but the difference is that my dad would never had done that to me.  Your parents always put their own interests before you Blaine and yet you still believed that doing something as idiotic as that could endear yourself to them.”

Blaine nodded, not speaking and just looking towards the floor in defeat.   He knew.  Somehow he had figured it out and it had been too late.  The anger dissipated within Kurt as he watched the boy, so obviously broken, standing weakly in front of him.  Sympathy flooded him where anger had been and he stepped forward and embraced Blaine without thinking.

“They said I was an adult… that I could look out for myself now….”  Blaine whimpered against Kurt's shoulder as he melted against him and the cracks in his form began to show as sobs started to wrack his body.

“Shh…”  Kurt stroked his back over, again and again as he worked to soothe Blaine, pulling him tighter into his hold.  The guilt now felt free to attack Kurt since the anger had gone away and he cursed himself for giving Blaine a hard time - even though he did need to get all his frustration out that he had been carrying for the last year and a half.

“They said there was no place in the family for someone who whored himself out like I had… they said…. they said… I wasn't their son.”

It crushed Kurt's heart to hear Blaine quote his parents, and suddenly he wished he had managed to sneak away one of those nights Santana was trying to keep him out of trouble and somehow rescue Blaine.   

Kurt pulled Blaine to his single bed and sat back, tugging Blaine along with him so that he could cry himself out in a more comfortable position with Kurt's arms snug around him.  He still looked as beautiful as Kurt had remembered him.  Those curls still framed his face perfectly, and his eyes held so much emotion.  There was not a flaw to be found on his face, save for the sadness that seemed to overwhelm it at the moment.

Eventually Blaine cried himself dry of tears and just held onto to Kurt, breathing heavily for a long while before he spoke again.

“I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to hurt you… I didn't want to hurt you.”

Kurt fingered Blaine's curls idly as he replied, “I'm sorry I got mad at you… I just… I thought I had gotten past it all…”

“It's okay.  I deserved it.”

“You didn't.”  Kurt assured Blaine, tipping his head down to press a kiss to the top of Blaine's forehead.  “I'm sorry about your parents….”

“I didn't know what to do or where to go when they said I wasn't welcome…. I don't even know where Cooper is living or if he'd even take me in.. and all I could think of was you…”  Blaine admitted quietly.  “I'm sorry.”

“Don't be…”  Kurt cooed softly, continuing to stroke his fingers through that amazing curly hair that bounced back perfectly after each stroke.  “You can hide out in my room for now and we'll go from there…”

He let Blaine gather himself back up, emotionally speaking, as Kurt went to the vending machine to get them a meal very reminiscent of their time together in the warehouse.  Blaine explained that the suit was all he could find to wear when he left service since they only him leave with the clothes he had transferred with - which, considering he had been at club doing lap dances - weren't public appropriate.  It was discovered in a garbage bin and he had done his best to wash it up before putting it on to see his parents, who, as he had explained, had refused to let Blaine rejoin them, slamming the door on his face.

Then he had hitchhiked to Ohio, remembering that Kurt had said he would be attending Kent state and hoping he still was.

“What did they have you doing at that manor anyhow?” Kurt asked quietly after Blaine had given him the runthrough of his journey to the college.

Blaine's lips pursed together and he shook his head, “Can I tell you later?  I'm just… I'm not… I mean I don't want to… I…”

“It's okay.”  Kurt assured him, though the curiosity surged inside him with the deflection.  “Why don't you rest.  You must be exhausted.”

Blaine nodded, and glanced around, “Uh… I can take the floor…”

“Nope.  You'll cuddle with me and deal with it.”  Kurt said with a grin, earning one in return from Blaine.

He loaned Blaine a set of pyjamas and the pair of them curled up together and chuckled together, forgoing sleep in favour of reminiscing about things they had done and their youth they had shared until Blaine dozed off beside Kurt and Kurt watched him entranced.  

How had he been able to go on without this in his life?