“The blue suit clashed with the lining of the coffin.” Paul Karofsky looked anxious.

“I really don’t think he would complain.”

“I could order another casket from Columbus. Something that would work better with the blue. But it would cost $1,700.”

“Then why haven’t you done that already?” Blaine could feel his blood pressure rising. He closed his eyes trying to breathe deeply and count to ten without exploding.

Paul Karofsky rubs the back of his neck. “We could have it ready in time for the Memorial.”

“I thought yesterday was the memorial.”

“No. The memorial is for everybody to get together and celebrate your father.”

“Isn’t that exactly what we did yesterday?” Blaine’s face reddened. He was having troubling seeing through his anger.

Paul gives Blaine an odd look almost not believing that he has to explain all this. “That was the viewing. The memorial is this Saturday and there a lot of people coming.”

“When is the funeral?”

“A week from Sunday.”

Blaine freezes. Tidal waves of anger rush through him. “A week from – a week from Sunday? A WEEK FROM THIS SUNDAY?!?!?” Blaine stomps out of the room into the main parlor of the funeral home. He kicks an ornate pedestal sending it and a potted fern crashing to the ground. Several people step into the entry way staring at him curiously. Blaine notices the attention he’s getting for his tantrum and turns towards the small crowd. “WHAT?!?” he spits out at them before marching back to Paul and his father’s casket.

“You listen to me and you listen to me very carefully,” Blaine is breathing heavily, the vein in his forehead standing out prominently against his red face. “Everything, I mean everything will be done no later than this Sunday. I will stay an extra day if need be but no longer. Do you understand?”

Blaine pushes his finger into Paul’s sternum enunciating his point. He is channeling his mother now. The older man’s face is pale and shocked at Blaine’s outburst. Paul just nods.

“Good.”

“Is there any way to get you to change your mind about the other thing?”

Blaine only nods in a manner that says he’ll consider it. Paul Karofsky smiles and releases a nervous breath.

Later, Blaine is standing on a high school football field talking on his cell phone. Paul Karofsky and Jesse St. James are standing by an entrance to the school motioning for him to follow. He holds up a hand indicating for them to wait.

“Mom, are you entirely sure those were his exact wishes?”

“Blaine, darling, I’m not even entirely sure when all this is going to hit me or when I’m going to crash. But I am finitely sure that right now, your brothers and I are learning to fix the car, I’m learning about organic cooking, I’m going to salsa dance, and later I’m going to fix the toilet without having to call someone. It’s all five minutes at a time”

Blaine can hear Everett shouting in the background, “Please come home Blainers.” His voice is exhausted from trying to keep up with the hurricane that his mother has become.

“Mom I think you need to slow down.”

“And do what? Cry? Everyone says to take anti-depressants. But I’m out there. I’m moving forward. That has to count for something!”

“Please take the anti-depressants. Or better yet, give them to me.”

“You sound exhausted. When are you coming home?”

“There’s a memorial at his high school gym this Sunday –“

“Who’s planning all this?” Julia Anderson’s voice is filled with suspicion. Blaine cringes, knowing what is about to happen. “Blaine Theodore Anderson. Who. Is. Planning. All. This?”

“Paul Karofsky… And…” Blaine swallows hard, twice before continuing. “Jesse St. James.”

There is silence on the other end of the line. If Blaine knows his mother, he can see her drinking wine directly from the bottle. That can only mean one thing…

“Jesse St. James is there? JESSE ST. JAMES?”

An explosion.

“He’s… He’s a con man. Jesse St. James still owes your father $12,000! The cheapest man in the world! Four years ago he did something that I will never tell you about, but it almost ruined this family! And he wears orange –“

She’s getting off the topic at hand, so Blaine does the only thing he knows to do which is cut her off. “Mother, listen, focus --“

“Jesse St. James?”

“Last time I’ll ask –“

“Blaine, I know it’s all very charming with the flatness, and the salt licks, but –“

“Mom! Are you sure about the cremation? I need to know because this is kind of going to stick for a while.”

“If Jesse St. James is there, then definitely cremation!”

“Ok, I’ve got to go.”

“And you can tell Jesse St. James and Paul Karofsky that I’m coming!”

Blaine ends the call and joins the others in the high school gymnasium. He claps his hands as if stating here’s the tough news guys.

“Well, gentlemen, it’s definitely cremation. And my mother is coming.”

Jesse St. James nods resolutely. A look of sheer panic crosses his face. Paul Karofsky’s jaw drops and he clutches at his heart. “We don’t do cremations in this town,” he says, voice broken. “You’ll have to go to Tiffin."

“I’ll go to Tiffin, then.” Blaine says defiant.

Blaine is walking through the lobby of the Wyndham, passing posters of Mike and Tina, holding a map and crematory documentation. His cell phone rings in his pocket. He answers as he walks.

“Hello?”

“Aloha! I talked to my friend Santana who had a girlfriend who had a kid who was extraordinarily loud like Beth.”

Blaine is a bit weary. Definitely not up to Kurt’s energy level.

“Oh, hi, aloha.”

“What, are you tired of me already?”

Blaine pauses leaning against a column. “No, no, I just didn’t get much sleep. I’m sorry. How’s Hawaii?”

“Well, I’m checking out this cute guy.”

Blaine frowns, a little annoyed. “Why are you telling me that?”

What Blaine doesn’t notice is that standing twenty feet behind him is Kurt… In the hotel lobby. Kurt takes his brooch off of his shirt and pops a balloon attached to a poster of Mike and Tina. The sound echoes through the lobby causing Blaine to turn around. The lobby is curiously empty.

“Where are you?”

There is no answer. Blaine looks at his phone seeing that the call has been disconnected. Before he has time to react a pair of hands cover his eyes spinning him around. Kurt is right there in front of him.

“How could I leave you in distress?” Kurt presses a chaste kiss to Blaine’s lips. “Let’s go get you dressed. We’re going out.”

Blaine’s cheeks turn pink as Kurt grabs his hand dragging him to the elevator.