When they went back inside most of the bar-goers had either left or were beginning to leave. It was unusual for the place to have many attendants past two. Blaine felt like this was the perfect setting to finally sing for Kurt.

As Blaine walked up to the stage to give his request to sing Kurt touched his arm tenderly. Blaine wondered if hed ever stop feeling a spark every time Kurt simply touched him.

"You dont have to sing if you dont want to," Kurt said meekly.

"We had a deal, didnt we?"

"Yeah but I dont want you to do this just because I pushed you into it. I think Ive done enough of that tonight."

"Our deal was that I would think about it. I thought about it, and I decided to sing," Blaine told him matter-of-factly.

Kurt grinned. "Okay, good. Oh," he said, pulling something out of his back pocket. It took Blaine a few moments to register that it was his bow-tie, which Kurt had taken off of him at the club. "If youre going to go up on stage by yourself," Kurt mused, pulling Blaine close to tie the fabric around his neck, "you cant look like you just walked out of a nightclub. Its probably not the mood youre looking for." Kurt straightened out his bow-tie and rested his hands on his shoulders.

"Youre acting like Im going up there to sing for the President."

"I just can tell how much this means to you, even if youre only singing for me. Baby steps."

Kurt kissed him gently on the cheek and went to go sit at the table closest to the stage. "Sing like its the first time youve sang in three years!" He called to him.

"Very funny, Kurt," Blaine mumbled as he sat down at the piano, which Blaine had been dying to play ever since his friends started going to the bar.

Blaine gave an introduction, even though there were probably five people left besides Kurt. "Hi, Im Blaine. You probably remember me from about ten minutes ago…when I ran off the stage…" Blaine looked down at Kurt, who mouthed at him sorry, to which Blaine mouthed back its okay. "This song is for Kurt, who is probably the most interesting person Ive ever met."

Blaine laid his fingers on the keys and took a deep breath.

He looked at Kurt—whose smile created warmth inside Blaine—and began to play.

As soon as the words starting pouring out of his mouth he wondered how he could have allowed himself to ever stop.

Word came through in a letter,
One of us changing our minds.
You wont need to guess who
Since I usually do not send letters to me
That are mine

Kurt was staring at him with complete concentration, and every time Blaine would look up at him Kurt would smile fondly, although as the song progressed the smiled began to seem more forced as Kurts eyes became sad, and eventually filled with tears.

And so here we go bluebird,
Back to the sky on your own.
Oh, let him go bluebird,
Ready to fly,
You and I,
Here we go.
Here we go.

Blaine focused on his own words and pushed through the climax of the song as he too became emotional.

Oh, let him go bluebird
Ready to fly,
You and I,
Here we go.
Here we go.
Here we go…

"Thank you," he murmured as the room remained silent after he finished. Kurt was still and his eyes were red, and Blaine was afraid that he had done something wrong.

Blaine walked off the stage and sat next to Kurt, who didnt even acknowledge his presence. "Was it okay? I know Im rusty but-"

"I want to take you somewhere," he said, softly interrupting Blaine, yet he didnt really mind.

Blaine looked at him with a confused expression. "I know, you said that when we got here."

Kurt felt one hundred miles away again, but this time like he was lost in his own head. "I just need to take you there…" Blaine could barely hear him, and it was almost as if he was talking to himself.

"Ill go anywhere you take me," Blaine finally said, which broke Kurt from his trace-like state.

Kurt looked up at him and lifted an eyebrow. "Anywhere?"

"Well itd be a little hard to hop a plane to Paris at two in the morning."

"I dont even have enough money to pay for a cab home let alone plane tickets." Kurt took Blaines hand, "Come on, we dont have much time left."

Kurt pulled Blaine down the streets of New York, except this time much less playfully and with a lot more urgency than before.

"Kurt!" Blaine called, trying to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"You never—I mean you dont have to—but you never told me what you thought of the song…"

Kurt stopped and turned around abruptly, suddenly throwing his arms around Blaines shoulders and kissing him with an intensity and passion hed never felt before. The warmth of his lips contrasted with the chill of the late city air and Blaine felt like they were the only things hed ever need to stay warm. He slid his arms down and held Blaines neck steady as he deepened the kiss, and only when Blaine needed to breathe did he finally pull away.

"That is what I thought of the song."

"Oh," Blaine breathed. "Well Im glad you liked it."

"Im pretty sure if speed walking was an Olympic sport wed have broken the record by now," Blaine said after five minutes of having his arm pulled off.

"I just dont want it to get too late."

"Its already three in the morning and youre worried about it getting late."

"Well I was hoping to get home before sunrise. I dont need my roommate asking questions."

They slowed down to a normal pace and walked side-by-side. "How long have you known her?" Blaine asked.

"Rachel? Since high school." Kurt sighed. "A lot of bad memories came out of that place."

"Yeah. I only started going to Dalton because the bullying got so bad at public school."

"Youre lucky," Kurt said under his breath.

"Lucky that I got bullied into private school?"

Kurt shook his head. "Lucky that you got out of there."

"But I ran. I never stood up for myself."

"And neither did I, because no one ever told me I had the choice." Kurt stared intently at the ground in front of him as they walked, and Blaine kept silent.

After what seemed like an eternity of walking they stopped at a fancy high-rise apartment building, which was probably one of the tallest buildings in the city.

"I thought we werent allowed to go back to your place tonight…"

Kurt burst out into laughter. "I do not live here. But Im glad you think so highly of me."

"Then why are we here?"

"Because if youre willing to face one of your fears, Id like to show you something."

Kurt pulled Blaine through the lobby, which Blaine felt was too expensive to stand in without dress clothes on. "Were going to have to take the elevator in the back, this place isnt really too keen on visitors," Kurt said as they bypassed a man standing by a large elevator.

"Kurt, are we doing something illegal?"

"No…we just cant really get caught."

On their way up the elevator Kurt explained, "My old roommate Santana had a girlfriend who lived here and she would invite us to a bunch of dinner parties all the time. Once, it got so overwhelming…everyone always acting like they were so much better than you…that I just walked out. I didnt realize the elevator was going up until it let me off and I was on the top floor."

The doors opened and Kurt took Blaines hand. "Then I noticed the stairs, and I kept going up." He led Blaine through a door and a tiny stairwell that went up about two more stories.

"Is the door locked?" Blaine asked when they reached a door that had a sign that said Do Not Enter.

"Yeah. But I learned that night that if youre angry and push just hard enough…" Kurt started jamming his shoulder so hard into the door that Blaine thought he would hurt himself. "It opens."

The door flew open to reveal the roof of the building, which looked out over the twinkling city with probably the most beautiful view of it Blaine had ever seen.

"Wow," Blaine whispered in awe.

"I know." After Blaine didnt move Kurt nudged his shoulder. "Its safe, you wont fall."

Blaine smiled and took Kurts hand, threading their fingers together. "Im not so sure about that."

Kurt lifted an eyebrow before leading Blaine to the ledge.

"Wow its high," Blaine said shakily.

Kurt let go of Blaines hand and rested his arms on the ledge. "I used to come here almost every night." His next words werent really to Blaine, but more as if he was saying them to himself. "Ive never shown it to anyone before."

"Thank you for bringing me here."

Kurt gazed at Blaine. "Im glad you were the one to come with me."

They stared out at the New York City skyline for what seemed like ages. Blaine couldnt believe that Kurt had this view of the world, when he himself had barely seen it. The lights and colors before him painted a portrait of life that Blaine never grasped within the white walls of his apartment. It was open, inviting, and terribly addictive. He could hardly tear his eyes away when Kurts voice filled the air around them.

"This was my escape. I didnt think Id actually need one after I left Ohio. I always thought New York would be an escape in itself."

"Life has a way of following you wherever you go, I guess." He looked at Kurt, whose features were being lit just perfectly, especially his lips, which were parted slightly. And for those few moments all he could think about was how much he wanted to-

"Do you think it would ruin the moment if I told you just to kiss me already?" Kurt said effortlessly.

Blaine shook his head and leaned forward until his lips met Kurts. He lifted his hand and rested it on Kurts cheek while Kurt pulled him in by the waist. The universe fell silent around them, and the only thing Blaine could hear was the sound of their staggered breathing. Blaine sucked on Kurts bottom lip pressed his hips against Kurt, who let out a quiet whimper.

Kurt stopped them for a moment and chuckled, "I wasnt expecting that from someone who Im pretty sure hasnt kissed more than two people in his life."

Blaine couldnt help but laugh. It was strange how easy it was in that moment. He wasnt nervous or afraid like hed been at the club or the karaoke bar; he could tell Kurt sensed it, too.

Their next kisses were rough and needy, and his whole body burned with Kurts every touch. "Did you feel that?" Kurt asked, although there wasnt any urgency to his words.

"Feel what?" Blaine held Kurts neck and pressed kisses to his jaw.

Kurt hummed and tried to continue, finding Blaines lips and murmuring, "The rain."

And then Blaine felt it. A rain drop fell right onto his cheek. And then another. And another.

Within seconds it was pouring rain.

"Shit," Blaine muttered, trying to pull Kurt to the door.

"Blaine," Kurt laughed, his smile wider than ever before. "Slow down!"

They ran inside and shut the door quickly. Kurt slid down the wall, his body shaking with laughter.

"Why are you laughing?" Blaine questioned.

"Your face…when it started raining." Blaine could hardly understand what Kurt was saying he was laughing so hard.

Blaine sat down next to Kurt. "I didnt want to get wet!"

"Is it because of your hair? Because I heard gel and water dont mix."

"No…because if we got drenched youd have to go home," Blaine mumbled.

Kurts laughter stopped, and he stared at Blaine, his eyes apologetic. "I have to go home eventually, Blaine. And besides, who says we cant walk around New York totally drenched? Its probably what were going to have to do unless we just sit here for the next few hours."

"So you still want to go somewhere?" Blaine asked, remembering that it was his turn to pick where they were going to go next.

Kurt nodded. "Of course."

"Good. Then I really hope you like coffee," Blaine said as he stood up.

Once Kurt was on his feet he straightened Blaines bowtie and smiled at him thoughtfully. "Coffee sounds wonderful."