Sitting at the piano, Blaine looked out over the crowd of gathered students, teachers, friends, and families, imagining that he could pick out his parents and Cooper, Kurt and the Hudson-Hummels, Mr. Schue and the New Directions, and Sebastian and the Warblers out from amongst the masses.

As valedictorian, he'd been expected to make a speech, but, in deciding to keep up with glee club tradition until the very end, he'd decided to sing instead. Principal Figgins had been tripping over himself to accommodate Blaine since he'd returned to school in April, so he'd been more than willing to allow for the break from tradition.

Blaine took a deep breath and put his fingers to the keys. And then he started to sing.

I am unwritten, 
Can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, 
The pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips

Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

-----

On June 8, 2013, nearly three months after being attacked, Blaine walked across the stage in the McKinley High auditorium, accepting his high school diploma to loud cheers from family and friends in the crowd and switching his tassel from the right to the left with a grin.

-----

The summer passed by in a flurry of activity. Blaine quickly decided he wasn't going to stay in the dorms when he had so many friends moving to New York already. Sam had gotten into a small art school that Blaine had encouraged him to apply to after seeing the macaroni art and comic books he worked on his spare time, and Tina was planning to attend Columbia-and Blaine had laughed when he told her she'd be in the same incoming class as Sebastian. Artie, as it turned out, was also going to New York in the fall for film school, surprising no one.

Kurt offered Blaine a place in the Bushwick loft, but he turned it down when Sam and Tina approached him about getting a place together. The three combed over apartment listings in the Lima Bean or the Hudson-Hummel living room for hours on end, and Blaine spent two different weekends in New York visiting Tisch and checking out apartments with his parents-and Kurt, who wanted to give his own stamp of approval on whatever place Blaine chose.

Blaine also spent a memorable weekend in LA with Cooper, watching him film a commercial, seeing different touristy sights, and even hanging out with Mercedes, who took him on a tour of the recording studio where she was working on her debut album.

Between sorting through his belongings deciding what to take to New York and what to leave behind, Blaine also spent a lot of time with the New Directions, sometimes at gatherings of just the older members when they made it home for the summer; sometimes with just the younger members who wanted to spend time with the graduated seniors before they left; and, on a few occasions, both.

Watching Mike and Jake go at it on a marathon session of DDR before Unique and Mercedes, home for a few days, took over the karaoke machine that had been set up in the Hudson-Hummel basement had been particularly memorable, especially after they'd pulled Blaine in to join them and his knee hadn't given a single twinge in protest.

Blaine also slowly started working back up to boxing once his PT cleared him, though he found it less necessary the more he worked on his own music, which he began testing out at a few open mic nights in Columbus. However, there were still some times he just needed the physical release that pounding a punching bag provided as well as the exhausted blanket of peace that settled over him after a particularly intense session.

And Blaine spent time with Sebastian and his other Dalton friends. He spent the Fourth of July weekend at David's family's lake house with a group of Warbler alums, and he hadn't realized until then how much he just needed to get away from it all for a little while and just have some simple fun without worrying about being judged or photographed.

On the last night at the lake house before they planned to head back to Westerville, Blaine was sitting a bit further back from the group, nursing a beer. He was just this side of pleasantly buzzed but nowhere near as drunk as some of his friends. The sun had long since set and they had a fire going in preparation for making s'mores. Blaine might have worried about drunk people and fire safety, but Wes, home for the summer, was supervising so he let it slip from mind.

Blaine blinked when Sebastian flopped down against a log next to him and saluted with his beer. Blaine raised his bottle in reply and took a sip as Sebastian settled himself on the ground. He saw Wes glance over and raise an eyebrow-he'd been furious when he'd heard about the slushie incident, and though Blaine had talked him out of flying back to ream out the Warblers, he knew Wes was more than a little wary of Sebastian and the friendship he and Blaine had rekindled in the wake of everything. Blaine shook his head slightly, and Wes gave a short nod before turning back to his conversation with David.

"He doesn't like me," Sebastian said.

Blaine frowned, glancing over at his friend. "Who?"

"Montgomery," Sebastian replied, nodding toward the group gathered around fire.

Blaine had attended the Dalton graduation the previous month with Wes, and the other boy been downright chilly toward Sebastian during the Warbler party that night; Wes had also joined the Warblers in attending Blaine's graduation but, again, had remained cool toward Sebastian, preferring to talk to Blaine, Kurt, or the other Warblers.

"He's kind of protective," Blaine replied. "He took me under his wing when I first transferred to Dalton. I was really skittish and quiet back then, after the dance." He felt more than saw Sebastian shift to look at him directly. Blaine, though, kept his gaze trained on the campfire as he spoke. "He got me to join the Warblers and helped pull me out of my shell. I owe him a lot. But he remembers me at a pretty low point in my life, so-"

"The protective instincts kick in around the guy who nearly blinded you," Sebastian finished. "I get it."

"Sebastian-"

"No, Blaine. It's fine. I deserve it," Sebastian replied with a shrug as he took a long pull of beer.

"I forgave you," Blaine said softly.

"Doesn't mean I didn't hurt you."

Blaine sighed but didn't push the topic further. He wasn't sure how much Sebastian had had to drink but didn't feel like indulging him in case he became maudlin.

"So what are you doing by yourself back here?" Sebastian asked after several silent minutes. "You know the guys are dying for you to lead another drunken sing-along.

Blaine blushed and shrugged. "Thinking."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't the point of this trip not to think for a few days? There'll be plenty of that in the fall."

"No, it's not that."

"Then what?"

Blaine looked up at the stars as he considered what he was trying to say, mind absently tracing constellations he'd learned as a child, lying in the backyard alongside his father and Cooper, his father pointing out the different patterns and telling the stories behind them.

"I'm just thinking about how grateful I am to be able to experience all this, I guess."

Sebastian shut his eyes, no doubt thinking about that night as well. The attack had affected them all deeply, and Sebastian had told him a little about how scared he'd been to hear the attack and to find Blaine, broken and bloody, in that parking lot. Blaine felt terrible that Sebastian had those memories when Blaine himself didn't and likely never would, outside of the brief flashes he'd recovered in the first few weeks after he'd woken up.

"I'm glad too," Sebastian said quietly, opening his eyes again.

They fell into silence after that, listening to their friends bicker over the best way to toast marshmallows over the fire while Wes tried to corral them.

"Do you think about it?" Blaine asked after a time, unsure of what prompted it.

Sebastian frowned. "About what?"

"About what could have been? Between us?" And now who was getting maudlin?

Sebastian inhaled sharply. "All the time," he murmured. He paused. "I'd have broken your heart, you know. Back then."

Blaine took another sip of beer, thinking back to the Sebastian from junior year. "I know." But he'd had his heart broken anyway; there didn't seem to be any way around it.

"But in the fall, if you'd transferred back-"

"I'd have broken your heart," Blaine interjected. Sebastian frowned and Blaine turned to look at him. "I was too much of a wreck and hung up on Kurt."

"And now?" The question was barely more than a breath.

For a moment, they stared at each other, Blaine watching the shadows from the campfire play across Sebastian's jawline. He leaned forward and Sebastian sucked in a harsh breath, eyes slipping shut. Blaine placed a gentle, chaste kiss on Sebastian's cheek before sitting back on his heels.

"I think," Blaine said as Sebastian's eyes opened, "that in some parallel universe, you and I are amazing together."

"But not this one."

Blaine smiled sadly. He knew where his heart was and always would be, at least in this universe. "No, Bas. Not this one."

-----

Kurt was in a hurry as he grabbed his keys and checked his phone for another message; but there wasn't anything new since Blaine had texted I'm downstairs ten minutes before. Blaine had been tight-lipped about the apartment he, Sam, and Tina had ended up signing a lease for, only promising Kurt that he would approve. They were planning to have a housewarming party later that week, but Kurt was getting a sneak preview tonight.

"Say hi to everyone!" Rachel called as Kurt headed for the door.

"Take pictures!" Santana added.

"You're going to see it in a couple of days, you know," Kurt replied, pausing at the door to look back at his roommates, who were sitting on the couch in the living room.

Santana shrugged. "Doesn't make me any less curious as to what kind of hobbit hole Frodo and Samwise are being so secretive about." She raised an eyebrow. "And, at least I'm not following you there. Clearly I'm growing as a person."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Tremendous personal growth there, Satan."

Santana just threw him a wicked grin in return. "Don't worry, Hummel. We won't wait up. I think we all know what ‘sneak preview' really means."

Kurt felt heat creeping up the back of his neck. As much as he might want to go there with Blaine again, Kurt was doing his best to respect his boundaries; Blaine needed time after everything he'd been through, and Kurt was giving him that. They'd stayed in contact all summer and had seen each other on Blaine's visits to New York and Kurt's visits to Lima, but they were still firmly in the Just Friends category.

"Santana," he groaned.

"Wanky."

At that, Kurt was out of the door as quickly as he could go, though he heard Santana cackling as the door slid shut with resoundingly thud behind him. He took a breath to collect himself and then headed down the stairs, mind already going to how he could potentially get Blaine to spill about this mysterious apartment before they actually got there.

"Excuse me." The familiar voice made Kurt froze in the middle of the stairs, and he turned to see Blaine, a smile on his face, leaning against the entrance to the floor Kurt had just passed. He blinked in confusion. "Can I ask you a question? I'm new here," Blaine added, glancing around the building.

"Blaine? What-?" Kurt asked, his heart racing at the reminder of the day they'd met.  What was Blaine doing?

"You wanted to see the new place, right?" Blaine asked. Kurt nodded dumbly and Blaine's grin widened. "Well, come on then," he said, pushing himself upright and waving for Kurt to follow him into the hallway.

As he climbed the few stairs back up to the landing, Kurt finally registered what this must mean. "Wait," he said, reaching out to grab Blaine's arm, stopping the other boy. "You got an apartment here?"

Blaine opened his mouth to reply but was cut off when Sam stuck his head out of a door down the hall. "What's the holdup, man? Where's Ku- Oh," he said, brightening. "Hey Kurt!"

"Hi Sam," Kurt managed squeak out in surprise.

"You didn't tell him!" Sam accused as Blaine and Kurt made their way toward him.

"I was just about to," Blaine replied in exasperation before turning to Kurt. He grinned as they came to a stop in front of the open door. "Welcome to our place. It's still a work in progress, but-"

Kurt cut him off, throwing his arms around Blaine. Blaine gave a small oof in surprise but quickly wrapped his arms around Kurt in turn. "You were right, I approve," Kurt whispered.

Blaine chuckled, and Kurt felt the vibrations in his own chest. "You haven't even seen it yet."

"Doesn't matter. It's here. You're here," Kurt told him, stepping back. Blaine was giving him a thoughtful look, and Kurt suddenly felt self-conscious as he did his best not to squirm.

"Are you guys going to stand in the hallway the whole night?" Tina called from inside, effectively breaking the spell. Blaine laughed again and gestured for Kurt to follow Sam inside and shut the door behind them.

The space was open, much like the space Kurt shared with Rachel and Santana a few floors above, but Blaine, Sam, and Tina had already started putting up dividers for their individual spaces; it was a lot more put together than Kurt had been expecting for them only having been in the apartment for a couple of days.

"Hi Kurt," Tina waved from the kitchen.

Kurt waved back as Blaine and Sam pulled him along for the brief tour of which space belonged to whom and which were the common areas. They already had a couch in the living room and a dinner table set up, but they were all still sleeping on air mattresses since their beds were supposed to be delivered the next day along with some other furniture like bookcases and dressers.

"I can't believe you're living in the same building," Kurt said, still in disbelief, once they'd all sat down at the table with the pizza they'd had delivered.

Blaine shrugged, though he was smiling. "Once we saw the ad about an open space here, we jumped on it."

"It's kind of out of the way, but the rent was cheaper and it's got way more space than a lot of places we were looking at," Tina said between bites.

"And we need plenty of space for the adventures of Nightbird and the Blond Chameleon," Sam chimed in.

"And Asian Persuasion."

"You made your apartment choice based on your superhero alter egos?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked between the other three. Sam nodded like it was obvious.

Blaine ducked his head, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "Well, that wasn't the only reason."

Kurt felt his stomach swoop and glanced away quickly, so he missed Sam and Tina exchange a knowing look.

"We're going to get ice cream," Sam announced, rising.

Blaine looked up in surprise. "Oh. We'll come."

But Tina shook her head. "We're just going to run to the store. We'll bring some back."

A strange expression crossed Blaine's face then that Kurt couldn't read, but he seemed to be having a silent conversation with Tina. Finally, Blaine nodded and seemed to deflate in his chair a bit. Interesting.

"Okay," he agreed. "We'll be here."

Once Tina and Sam were gone, Kurt turned back to Blaine, who wasn't meeting his eye. "What was that about?" he asked. When Blaine didn't say anything, Kurt frowned. "Blaine?"

Blaine looked up at that and there was startlingly open look on his face. "There was actually something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Something Sam and Tina couldn't be around for?" Kurt asked, trying to sound flippant to cover the nerves rising in his gut.

Blaine hesitated a moment before reaching across the table and taking Kurt's hand. Kurt's eyes widened as he looked between Blaine's hand on his and Blaine's face. Could this...?

"I think I'm ready," Blaine said after what seemed like an eternity. "To try this again. Us. If you want."

Kurt's breath caught in his throat. "Really?"

Blaine nodded, finally looking up. "I'm still in love with you, Kurt. I never stopped loving you. But I don't want to make the same mistakes we did before. And I guess I needed some time to before I could trust myself not to fall back into those old habits."

"But you did?" Kurt thought his heart might pound right out of his chest.

Blaine nodded.  "I think I did."

"I've thought a lot about it too, you know." Blaine's brows furrowed and Kurt gave him a small smile before adding, "About my habits."

The things Blaine had said during the fight in the Anderson library had stuck with Kurt, and he'd mulled over Blaine's words for weeks into months, doing his best not to just be defensive but really think about his own part in the breakup. He'd thought he had already done that, but hearing the things Blaine had been holding onto for all that time had forced him to reevaluate a lot of things. So yeah, he knew what Blaine meant about taking the time. In hindsight, they both probably needed it.

"And I love you, too," Kurt said quietly. "But you knew that."

Blaine took a breath and said, "Kurt Hummel, would you like to go out on a date with me on Friday night?"

Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and he wondered if the other boy could feel his heart racing through the contact. "I would be honored."

Blaine's smile was blinding, and Kurt was pretty sure his was just as bright.