Kurt pulled away all too soon.

"I missed you too," Blaine said breathlessly.

"Oh yeah? Then why did I hear about you trying to make an escape? If I hadn't texted Finn to tell him to keep you here you'd be gone by now," Kurt shot back.

"I – how did you know I was here?"

"I saw you in the audience," Kurt said quickly. "I believe your avoiding the question."

"I didn't think you'd want to see me."

"Why wouldn't I want to see you?" This is a loaded question and everyone in the room knows it. Kurt seems to think better of it and quickly changes the subject. "Are you coming out with us all tonight to celebrate?"

"Oh, I don't know…"

"Blaine! It's my big night! You just saw me perform on Broadway. Come."

"Yeah, okay."

"Good," Kurt grinned. He turned to address everyone else and they were all silent, watching Kurt and Blaine. He didn't miss a beat, "Everyone ready to go?"

"Hope your not leaving without us," Burt said entering the room.

"Dad! Carole!" Kurt explained before being pulled into a hug by both of them. "I missed you so much," He spoke into his father's shoulder.

"I missed you too, kiddo."

"Now is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes!" the room exclaimed.

After dinner Blaine was reluctant to leave Kurt. He didn't have a chance to speak to him throughout the meal. That was fine, of course, this was Kurt's time to shine, but now that he finally got to see him again after almost five years, and all he wanted was for him to never leave again.

"Dude, we need to grab a coffee before I go back to LA," Sam insisted.

"Yeah, absolutely," Blaine assured but he could see Kurt leaving over Sam's shoulder. Slipping around Sam he said "Call me tomorrow?" without waiting for a response.

He caught up with Kurt with seconds to spare. "Do you live close by?" Blaine asked quickly.

By Kurt's expression, he wondered if he could have chosen better wording. "Yes."

"Could I…walk you home?" Blaine offered hopefully after almost everyone had gone home or back to their hotels.

Kurt nodded, "Okay."

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Blaine finally got the courage to speak. But once he opened his mouth he had no clue what to say. Finally he settled for "It's really good to see you."

"You too. Thank you for coming to night it really meant a lot."

"You were amazing up there tonight, Kurt. Everything I always knew you'd be."

Kurt stared at him for a moment then seemed to think better of it and looked away. "Thank you," he whispered. "So," he continued attempting to break some of the tension, "What have you been up to? Santana said something about you opening a music store a few months ago?"

Blaine nodded. "Yep. It's actually doing pretty well. I never really took myself for the business type, but I knew I wanted to do something with music and I walked by the empty shop one day and it just seemed right, you know?"

"It is very you," Kurt agreed. "Do you still perform at all?"

"I sing at this bar on Saturday nights. It's what I love, but it doesn't exactly pay the bills."

Kurt nodded, "What about writing?"

Blaine hesitated.

"I'm sorry," Kurt quickly apologized.

"No, it's okay. Just not used to people asking loaded questions right off the bat," Blaine smiled, "but I shouldn't expect any less from you."

Kurt looked offended.

"No, no. You were just never one to make awkward small talk. It was never your style. I haven't been writing much though, no. Sometimes I mess around with it a little when something pops into my head, but all of the good songs I ever wrote," he paused realizing he probably shouldn't be bringing up their relationship, "were always about you."

"Oh."

"You asked."

"I did."

For a while, they went back to silence. At one point, Kurt stopped walking, and Blaine assumed that they had reached Kurt's apartment. However, Kurt was just watching him.

"I forgave you a long time ago, you know," Kurt said.

"I don't deserve that."

"Yes, you do. Everybody makes mistakes, Blaine. You don't have to feel guilty about it forever. Part of what happened was my fault – "

"No," Blaine said over top of him. "Don't try to excuse it, Kurt. I cheated on you. You loved me and trusted me, and I broke that. I'll never stop being sorry for that. There is no excuse for the way I treated you."

"Maybe not. But there was also no excuse for the way I treated you." 

This made Blaine stop for a minute. It hadn't really occurred to him that Kurt even remembered how much he had shut him out those few weeks before he cheated. Blaine wouldn't look at him now, but Kurt kept talking, "Everybody makes mistakes and ours really hurt each other, but we're both past that now, so can we please just be friends?"

"You want to be friends with me?" Blaine asked incredulously.

"Of course I do! You know you weren't just my boyfriend, right?" Kurt asked sad at the thought.

"You were my best friend," Blaine whispered.

"And you were mine," Kurt whispered back. He held out his hand. "Friends?"

Blaine smiled. The second his hand touched Kurt's his entire arm began tingling. Blaine sucked in his breath and hoped to god Kurt didn't notice. He didn't want to ruin this already, but Kurt made it so hard to control himself.

"I looked you up once," Kurt stated sadly and began walking again.

Blaine followed. "You did?"

Kurt nodded. "After you graduated I thought –"Kurt shook his head. "I just really wanted to see you and heard you were in the city. I heard that you worked at that coffee shop down near where your store is now."

Blaine wanted to interject and ask how Kurt knew where his store was, but he was afraid if he stopped him he wouldn't finish and that's the last thing he wanted to happen.

"So one day after I got out of class I went to see you, and there was this guy."

Blaine tensed up and really hoped he wouldn't elaborate. He had dated one guy in his first year in New York and when it came to him there was only one place this story could go.

Fortunately, Kurt didn't seem too keen on rehashing the details either. "I just didn't want to complicate things so I left. I should have tried to talk to you over the years because I'm sure you didn't feel like you could have approached me, but I just didn't."

"Kurt, it's okay. We're both here now, right?"

"Right," he stopped walking again. "That one across the street is my building," Kurt supplied. He leaned forward and hugged Blaine quickly before pulling away.

"It was really amazing to see you."

Kurt smiled and nodded. "I should really go," he paused and looked down at the ground. "Unless you wanted to come inside."