Waking up the next morning had been… an experience.

Blaine had already been awake when Kurt managed to drag himself into consciousness, a decision he immediately regretted. In sleep he'd been warm, comfortable, and rather content. Now he was just warm. The two of them hadn't moved much in their sleep, so Kurt was still curled up to Blaine's side, and he had a moment to hope that the look of discomfort on the god's face was because Kurt had cut off feeling in his arm rather than their position.

As soon as Blaine noticed that he was awake, he tried to move into a sitting position, but Kurt wasn't awake enough to realize that meant he needed to move, which caused Blaine to fall back down and smack his head rather hard against Kurt's. Letting out an admittedly pathetic sounding moan at the sudden pain in his head, Kurt forced himself upright and rubbed at the sore spot in an attempt to… something. It certainly wasn't making his head hurt less but rubbing it just felt right. Blaine muttered an apology before standing up and pulling out something for breakfast, refusing to make eye contact.

They ate in silence; Blaine was tense which set Kurt on edge, and anything he tried to say ended up dying in his throat. What was there to say? Kurt could deal with Blaine being angry with him, but this was just… nothing. He almost wished Blaine would start yelling at him because at least that would be something he could defend himself against. But Blaine didn't even look at him, and the silence stretched on.

They packed up their camp in the same strained silence before Blaine started walking in what could have been a random direction for all Kurt knew. When an hour had passed with still nothing, Kurt snapped. He had spent his life being either taunted or ignored, and he wasn't going to do it again. Not with Blaine.

“I'm sorry for asking Quinn to kill me. It was stupid and cruel, and I shouldn't have done that to you.” Blaine said nothing. Kurt tried again. “I panicked, and I just… I didn't realize exactly what I was getting you into until Quinn said that you'd already done this before and what would happen to you if… if we got caught.”

Blaine still refused to look at him, and his back was tensed again. Kurt comforted himself with the knowledge that he was at least listening. “I… I don't want you to be mad at me, but… it's better than you pretending like I don't exist.”

“Once upon a time th—”

“What does that mean?”

“I have no idea. Once upon a time there was a girl named Marpessa. I loved her. Not as much as you, for obvious and infuriating reasons, but I still did. And do you know what happened to her?” Kurt shook his head, feeling rather confused at the point of this. “She choose a mortal over me because she was convinced that when she got older, I'd lose interest.”

Kurt nodded slightly, not sure how he was supposed to react to that. “I'm sorry that she did that?”

“It was a long time ago, I rarely think about it. Which sort of proves her point, you know?” Blaine laughed bitterly, and Kurt flinched at the sound. “I really did stop caring about this pretty little mortal. I stopped thinking about her before she was dead, I'm sure. Your lives go by so fast. How are we expected to keep track? Why worry about some mortal who didn't want us when they'll be dead in a few years anyway, and in the meantime Artie has managed to trap Brittany and Puck in a large net so we can laugh at them getting caught again?

“Mortals don't matter to us. You're… temporary playthings. It doesn't matter to Artie when Brittany suddenly gives birth to yet another demi god, because why should it? The father will be dead before too long, what's the point in getting upset about it?” Blaine paused for a minute before adding, “Unless you're Terri. But she gets mad about… everything.”

“So… I don't really matter to you?”

“Of course you do. But you shouldn't. I met you when you were six. Six! And I just… I knew we were supposed to be together. I wasn't sure how, but I knew we were. And I realized you were way too young for that. I'd have to wait a few years for you to become old enough for me to act on that realization. So I waited. We don't do that.”

“For a year,” Kurt pointed out. “I would have been declared off limits a year later when my mom got pregnant with our sister. If our lives go by so fast that you barely notice, then a year must have felt like nothing.”

“You think I stopped because Schue said I had to? Ten years! Ten years I've known my soulmate was right there, and there was nothing I could do about it!”

“You can't make me feel guilty because I was too young for you when you found me!” Kurt yelled back. “I'm not going to apologize for not being born soon enough for you.”

“Do you really think that's what this is about?”

“Yes! I think you're still mad at me for not measuring up to the idea you had of me when you saw a child. I know I've messed up since we actually met, but you don't get to hold that over me!”

Blaine stopped walking and instead stared at Kurt in shock, like the idea had honestly never occurred to him. “That's not—I haven't been. No. That's not the problem it's…” he trailed off and looked both horribly confused and upset. “You were supposed to love me back,” he finally whispered, looking slightly broken at the admission.

Kurt sighed, and reached out to hold Blaine's hand. “I'm sorry about what I said to your sister. I'm sorry that don't always think things through before I do really stupid things like get in between you and… your sister. I'm sorry that I dragged you along on this trip when it's putting you in so much danger.  And,” he took a deep breath and forced Blaine to look him in the eye. “I am so sorry that I don't love you the way you want me to. But Blaine… I can't be sorry for not being who you thought I should be when you saw a six-year-old.”

Blaine tugged on his hand, forcing Kurt closer and wrapped his free arm around him. “I don't want to watch you die. Not when you're going to be gone so soon anyway.”

Kurt returned the hug, resting his chin on Blaine's hair as the god buried his face in Kurt's neck. Absently, he wondered if Apollo made himself that short for that purpose. “I know, I know. I'm so sorry for that.”

“It's like you keep trying to get yourself killed and I just want you to be safe.”

“I'm only doing that because I want you to be safe too.”

“Well… just don't.”

“I'll work on it.”

Blaine nodded. “Does that mean you're going to let me visit when this is all over?”

Kurt felt his breath freeze in his lungs, but forced himself to actually think about what he was going to say to that regardless. “You've already got your warning about staying away from me. Do you really think you should risk that?”

Blaine let out a sound of impatience. “Marpessa knew I wasn't going to care about her in a few years. But you have to understand by now that it's not an option for you. I've been… Styx, this sounds horrible and creepy, but I've been following you around for years and you didn't even know I was there.”

“That… that is a little weird, Blaine.”

“I know. But the point is that I just… I can go back to that, but… please don't make me. I don't want to sit around and watch you slowly get older and older and then die and know I can't even talk to you.”

Kurt pulled back out of the hug to actually look at Blaine's face. For the most part he just looked… defeated. “You know I'll do that anyway, right? Wouldn't it be easier to just… wait until I come back?”

Blaine shook his head rapidly. “I'm not... I don't know if I will find you when you come back. I'm not going to miss out on the time I do get with you.”

Kurt sighed, but nodded his agreement. “When all this is over, we'll figure out a way that you can visit me without drawing attention.” Blaine's answering smile really was as bright as a sunrise.

~

The large rock face they were standing in front of and staring at (for the past half hour) was… completely ordinary. There weren't any special markings, it didn't look either grand nor threatening. There was moss growing on it in a way that spoke of life, and Kurt could not wrap his head around it.

“That's the entrance to the Underworld?”

“For the millionth time, yes,” Blaine replied as he dug through his quiver for something. Kurt was fairly certain he was stalling, because he'd never had to actually look for something in the quiver before, it always just appeared when you wanted it.

“It's a rock.”

“I always knew you were incredibly smart, and yet every day you continue to astound me with your heightened skills of observation and cunning use of word play.”

Kurt glared, Blaine ignored. “How are we going to get in there? Do you have some sort of magical key in your quiver that you've neglected to tell me about?”

“Music. Something I'm highly gifted in. You play a song, the entrance opens up, but I can't find my lyre.”

“So… we're stuck outside the Underworld because you forgot to pack your lyre?”

“I don't usually need to pack it. I just… summon it. Unfortunately, I can't do that as a mortal.”

Kurt was unimpressed. “Can we… I don't know, sing to it or something?”

“Sure, do you know any paeans?” Kurt gave him a blank look. “Of course you don't, you hated me. Um… yes. You try singing something, and I'm going to see if I can find a rainbow.”

“Is that supposed to make any sense at all?” Kurt called after Blaine's retreating back, but didn't receive an answer. Shaking his head at the ridiculousness of his life, Kurt went back to staring at the supposed entrance to the Underworld. Trying not to feel too self conscious about serenading a rock, he began singing. It was a song his parents used to sing to each other, about sunlight and being with each other forever and… his entire life was centered around him meeting a sun god, wasn't it? Styx.

“That was beautiful!” a decided female voice said to his right. Jumping around and trying not to scream, Kurt stared, wide eyed at a gorgeous woman with bright red lips, short hair, and flawless dark skin. “I'm impressed, but I have to wonder why you're singing to that particular rock? Don't get me wrong, I think you and my mother would get along famously, but I'm not entirely sure why you're trying to sneak into some place you shouldn't be to, presumably, talk to my husband. Now speak up.”

To his credit, Kurt did try to follow her obvious command, but his voice seemed to be stuck. Something in his brain did click though, and when his voice managed to get unstuck he asked weakly, “You're Persephone?”

The goddess in front of him flinched and glanced around in a manner so similar to Blaine that Kurt almost laughed. “Don't use that name again, mortal, or you'll get an express ticket straight to Charon with no coin.” Kurt muttered a weak apology, and don't-call-her-Persephone continued speaking. “I'm in hiding, you see. And you have no idea how hard it is to tamp down on all of this, but it's gotta be done. So if you tell anyone that you saw me—”

“Unique! What a… surprise!” Blaine had returned and he made his way back to Kurt's side, wrapping an arm around his waist in what Kurt assumed was supposed to be a protective gesture of ‘don't kill my mortal, Unique'.

“Apollo? What are you doing here?”

“It's Blaine, I think. Or should we just go ahead and call on Deme—”

“Okay! Okay it's Blaine!” Kurt looked back and forth between the two in confusion.

“It's summer,” he finally realized. Blaine grinned at him, but Unique actually pouted.

“It is. The flowers are in bloom, the crops are growing, mother is thrilled to have me back again, and my husband is destroying all of the hard work I put into our palace! Do you have any idea what state my garden is in when I get back? It's horrible! And I'm expected to just… just take that? I'm Queen of the Underworld and mom is treating me like a child!”

Blaine made a noise of sympathy, “That does sound horrible, my lady. But we are in a bit of a rush, so—”

“Oh no you don't. You are just as forbidden from being in there as I am! So you had better have a very reason why you're sneaking into my kingdom to see my husband while I am not there!”

It was Blaine's turn to pout, “It was one time and you weren't even married yet! You can't still hold that against me!”

Unique's glare intensified. A green glow started to surround her body. Blaine, wisely, stopped talking.

“He's not here for… for your husband,” Kurt spoke up. “I… my dad is sick and Blaine was helping me to… to get here so that I could… um. Beg Sebastian to… to let him live.”

Unique looked between the two of them thoughtfully. “Blaine, dearest, you're not allowed in the Underworld, you're really not allowed to interfere with someone who's soul is already here, and you are certainly not allowed to tell a mortal our names!”

“Special circumstances of the Aphrodite variety?”

“Is that code for a threesome, because I will risk mom finding out I am here to turn you both into flowers.”

“No!” Kurt yelled. “Oh, styx no. No. Never. No.”

 Two gods blinked at him for a second before Blaine asked, “Should I be offended?”

 Kurt's face went bright red, “Well obviously I'm going to have to sleep with you eventually, but I'd rather not do something like that with Sebas—”

“Have to? Have to? I'm so glad that my soulmate sees me as an unpleasant obligation!”

 “Soulmate?” Unique interrupted before Kurt could defend himself. “Gods don't get soulmates, Blaine. We don't get extra lives, therefore—”

“I sensed it, Brittany confirmed it!”

“You're lying, and I want you to leave my Kingdom.”

“I'm not lying, and if you make us leave, I'll tell Mercedes where you are!”

“I'll tell Schue and Sebastian that you were trying to sneak into the Underworld with a mortal!” Unique must have realized how serious her threat was, because the blood drained out of both Kurt's and Blaine's faces. “What's going on?”

“You can't,” Kurt whispered. “You can't tell Schue. Please. We'll… we'll leave. Sebastian can… he can take my dad, but you… please, don't tell Schue.”

“Pulling a prank on Hades will make him retaliate, and trying to guide a mortal will get you a lecture from his Royal Uselessness. What's the big deal?”

Blaine sighed heavily. “I'll make you a deal, if you let us go, I'll send you to someone who will explain everything. But you have to swear on the River Styx not to tell anyone you saw us until after you hear them out.”

Unique looked more confused than angry, and she slowly nodded. “I swear it on the River Styx.”

“Go find Quinn and Brittany. Between the two of them, they know the whole story. Just… just don't tell anyone. Please.” The goddess nodded before snapping her fingers, causing a doorway to appear in the rock.

“If I find out you're just doing this to buy time while you cause damage to my kingdom…”

“You can turn me into a flower.”

She nodded again and vanished.

Taking a deep breath and still not moving his arm from off of Kurt's waist, Blaine led the two of them through the doorway.