“Where’s your dad?”

Blaine stops dead in his tracks. “Shit! I left him downstairs in the lobby.”

They run back down the hallway towards the elevators at full speed.

The purple urn is the only bit of color in the lobby. The remains of one Thomas Anderson still sits next to wall where the two men declared their love for each other not even twenty minutes earlier.

“Whew!” Blaine says, “That was almost really bad.”

Blaine looks at Kurt, who seems lost in his thoughts.

“I’m sorry Nick couldn’t be here. That guy is a fucking jerk.”

Kurt looks over at him, smiling slightly. “He’s not a jerk. He’s just a brilliant actor who gives himself permission to be preoccupied.”

“Come on! Really, Kurt? There is nothing better than realizing that your life is just as black and white as people say it is. And this guy “Nick” who clearly takes you for granted… Who constantly takes advantage of you… Is bad for you. And what I’m saying is what you need to hear… It’s good for you. See what I mean? Black and white. You shouldn’t have to be anyone’s “substitute person.” That guy should be right here, right now, doing what I’m doing.”

Blaine kisses him lightly.

“Maybe so.” Kurt says, blushing.

“He’s lucky I’m such a train wreck.”

He kisses Kurt again.

“I know why you say that, but just tell me again so I can see it from your perspective.”

“See, I know what you deserve…”

Kurt raises an eyebrow. “And what do I deserve?” There’s a hint of desperation and longing in his words. Blaine is pacing circles around Kurt. Almost predatory.

“You deserve a guy who says ‘I can’t imagine a world without you.’ We’ll start a winery when we’re 70…”

Kurt shudders at this.

“We’ll go skiing every December and one day we’ll take our kids…”

Kurt blushes and smiles at the mention of children.

“We’ll have twin red Mustangs with license plates that read: Blaine and Kurt. You deserve all this and more.”

Kurt laughs, this time there is no joy behind it. It is bittersweet.

“It’s not you, I know.” Blaine is staring at his feet as he says this.

“Don’t take this as rejection. I do love you, but it’s… Complicated.”

“I really don’t.”

Blaine finds Kurt’s mouth and then there is no turning back. They sink to the ground as Blaine pushes the urn off to the side. This is what it’s really like to kiss Kurt Hummel. They break apart after an interval. Blaine is feeling a little light-headed. They regard each other, and this new and sudden difference between them, for a moment.

“Nick’s very lucky. All we did was kiss,” Blaine says with a grin.

A thoughtful moment passes.

“Most of the sex I’ve had wasn’t near as personal as that kiss,” Kurt adds with a grin of his own.

Kurt wakes the next morning with a groan. He jumps out of bed quickly taking in his surroundings before he remembers the events of last night. Carding his hand through his hair, he sighs deeply chancing a look at Blaine’s sleeping form.

“Putting my shoes on now,” Kurt says purposely flopping on the edge of the bed. He looks over his shoulder for signs of movement. There are none. Kurt gets up and walks over to the television. There is some Lima Travel Bureau advertisement on. He switches it off.

“Hey! Absence of noise…” Blaine stirs a little, but doesn’t budge. Kurt “accidently” knocks himself against the side of the bed.

“Oops. Excuse me. Sorry.”

Now he loudly drops Blaine’s backpack. It falls, noisy with keys and change. Blaine doesn’t register the noise.

“I’m walking out the door,” Kurt says musically, “in last night’s clothes.” He’s giving Blaine extra chances. There is only silence. He moves towards the door. Still nothing.

“Hey Kurt! Don’t leave. Stay, let’s have breakfast.”

Blaine doesn’t move. His quiet snores are the only sound in the room. Kurt takes a moment and looks at Blaine. It feels like goodbye. He knows he loves him, but the timing is all wrong. Kurt bends down for one last goodbye to Blaine’s sleeping form.

“I will miss your lips and everything attached to them.”

Kurt turns and walks to the door, only stopping to say goodbye to the purple urn.

“See ya Mr. Anderson,” he takes the lid of and peers inside. “Now we’ve both seen each other naked.” Kurt replaces the lid and leaves.

The lobby of the hotel is alive with activity. It is the most crowded that it has been in a while. Kurt is making a failing attempt at grace in last night’s clothes. He turns a corner to exit the lobby.

“Hey Kurt!”

The voice stops him dead in his tracks. It wasn’t the voice he expected to hear. It wasn’t the voice he wanted to hear. Kurt turns around slowly to see Nick standing near the reception desk. A large bouquet of flowers in his hands, he smiles broadly at Kurt. Nick’s face falls when Kurt doesn’t return the smile.

In a flash, Kurt realizes his error and over-corrects. He sprints across the lobby and dives into Nick’s arms. Nick lets out an obvious sigh of relief. “You scared me there for a minute,” he says.

“How are you here? What about Georgia?” Kurt is breathless, kissing Nick’s face and neck.

“Funding fell through. There’s no movie,” his voice is tinged with disappointment. “But at least I get to spend more time with you.”

Kurt pulls away momentarily, gazing lovingly into Nick’s eyes. He should feel guilty about what happened last night with Blaine, but doesn’t, he’s only the curly haired man’s substitute person. He falls back into holding his boyfriend.

“Kur – Nick? Nick! What are you doing here?”

Blaine’s voice pulls Kurt out of his revelry. This could not be happening. Nick withdraws himself from Kurt, running over to Blaine pulling him into a tight hug.

“Kurt! Come here! I want you to meet one of my best friends from high school,” Nick calls across the lobby. Kurt awkwardly shuffles over to where the two men are standing. “Blaine Anderson, this is my boyfriend, Kurt Hummel. Boyfriend, meet best friend.”

“We’ve met,” Kurt manages to squeak out.

Nick looks confused for a moment until Blaine adds, “I’m in town for my father’s funeral and we both kinda gate crashed a wedding that’s here in the hotel.” It’s not a complete lie, but Blaine can tell this situation is going to be messy enough without adding un-necessary details.

“I’m sorry to hear about your dad, Blaine.” Nick offers with a sympathetic smile.

“We all have to go eventually. And you know as well as anyone else that I wasn’t exactly his favorite.” Blaine shoots Nick that million dollar grin that causes to Kurt to go weak in the knees.

‘Could this get any worse?’ Kurt thinks, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. Kurt opens his eyes to see Nick and Blaine looking at him expectantly. He panics.

“I’m gonna run home and get cleaned up. Why don’t you get settled into your room and we’ll go for lunch in… An hour?”

“Yeah, sure! See you then!” Nick kisses Kurt. “Love you babe! See you later Blaine!”

Nick walks off towards the elevators. Kurt all but sprints out of the lobby into the parking lot, without a look or word to Blaine.

“Hey!”

Kurt doesn’t turn around at the sound of Blaine’s voice.

“Kurt! Wait, damn it!”

Blaine finally catches up to him, grabbing his elbow to stop him.

“What is it Blaine? What do you want from me?”

“Four days ago, I made an error in an ad I was working on. I lost my company close to a billion dollars. And by tomorrow afternoon, the whole world, everyone will know about it. There’s going to be an article published that pinpoints me as the most spectacular failure in the history of all of advertising. And I’m here, in a town that I hate, trying to be responsible and charming and a whole list of other things I’m not… And all I really want is to… Not be here. Do you understand?”

Kurt nods. It’s all spilling out without a filter.

“What you’re seeing is not me – Everything that has happened between us is not who I really am at all. It’s an incredible recreation. The real me is a joke, so feel free to laugh, but those are the skeletons in my closet.”

Kurt is stilled at this confession. “A billion dollars, huh?”

“Yeah,” Blaine nods gravely.

“Was it your money?”

“No.”

Kurt explodes in relief. “Then what are you so damn worried about?”

Blaine tilts his head, looking at this man. He’s puzzled by his gaiety.

“Because it was my fault.”

“No! No, you don’t get to do that anymore, Blaine Anderson,” Kurt is a little angry. “Some of it was your fault. Not all of it! Not everything that happens on this god forsaken planet is your fault!”

Kurt laughs. Blaine immediately turns frosty.

“Well, I’m so glad I could entertain you—“

Kurt is glaring at him.

“What?”

“I’m sorry; I guess I thought there was some small part of you that would be sad to see me go. Sad to see me in Nick’s arms. But I guess this is all really just about some stupid billboard or whatever.”

“Of course, I’m sad to see you go and it kills me to see you two together. I never once said anything anything like that!”

Kurt becomes instantly serious. This is who he is. “Some company took a gamble on you because it’s their business to gamble… It’s also their business to use you as a scapegoat. Come on. You’re an artist, Blaine. It’s in your blood to push boundaries, to live out loud, not accept blame and bow out gracefully. Of course they were going to screw you over if they could!”

Blaine is stunned at the quality of Kurt’s advice.

“You’re welcome. Now quit trying to break up with me!”

“Kurt–“

“You’re always trying to break up with me, we’re not even together!” Kurt is angry now.

Blaine is relieved and then suddenly disappointed. “We’re not?”

“No, Blaine. In case you missed the last hour of our lives, my boyfriend just checked into the hotel you’re staying at! We’re the substitute people, remember?”

Blaine is about to open his mouth to respond when a voice cuts through the tension.

“Everything ok here, gentlemen?”

Blaine turns to see Sebastian.

“Seb – Sebastian?” Blaine is utterly dumbfounded. He thought they had broken up. Why was he here?

“Oh, just fucking perfect,” Kurt mutters under his breath.

Sebastian takes a few steps forward enveloping Blaine in his arms, kissing the shorter man’s temple. “I’m so sorry I was an insensitive prick. Your mom called and told me everything. I came as soon as I could. I wanna make things better between us.”

The sound of a car starting makes Blaine pull away from Sebastian. Kurt backs out of the parking space, rolling down the window of his Navigator. He is all business.

“I’ll see you at the memorial if I can make it.”

Kurt rolls the window up and drives away, watching in the rear view mirror as Sebastian pulls Blaine into the hotel. A single tear slides down Kurt’s cheek.

“So much for snowboarding,” he whispers.