DREAMS: His dream is to be in New York, happy, free, and successful. Where do I fit in?

The Hudson-Hummel residence is quiet except for the sounds of the rustling pages of textbooks and pencils scratching against loose-leaf paper. Rachel and Kurt sit on the floor, their books on the coffee table in front of them. Occasionally, they would murmur something to each other relating it the history homework they're working on. Finn sits in the armchair to the left of them, hunched over his Geometry textbook as he tries to make sense of the problems in front of him Blaine lounges on the couch across from Rachel and Kurt with his legs tucked under him and his SAT Prep workbook on his lap.

Blaine tries to concentrate, but as his eyes travel over the words in front of him, his brain retains nothing. His eyelids feel heavy as he fights back a yawn. He's been having troubling sleeping recently. His dreams have become more and more vivid and...scary. Blaine constantly wakes up in the middle of the night sweating and clutching his sheets in absolute fear. Blaine quickly glances at the others and figures that he can allow himself a moment of rest. He blinks a few times before he feels his eyes close.

It's the same dream each time. He's alone on the roof of his middle school in the pouring rain, just standing on the ledge. The sky is dark and the area is completely deserted. Blaine stands, listening as the thunder rumbles above him and the rain hits the metal vents on the rooftop. He takes a tentative step forward, his heart beat stuttering as he moves. He only has a second to reconsider when his legs slip from out under him and he's over the edge. Quickly thinking, he juts a hand out to grab onto something, anything, to save his life. Blaine lets out a gasp as his fingers wrap around a horizontal metal pole. 

Now his heart is beating in his ears. He knows it's raining too hard for him to keep his grip for long. He feels warm tears start to well up in his eyes. Blaine quickly glances down to the ground. He swallows as he watches the raindrops splash against the hard black concrete below. This is it. This is how it's going to end. I didn't want to die, Blaine thinks. I just didn't want to live. A voice in the back of his head laughs at him and tells him that it's the same thing.

Blaine starts to lose his grip. He feels his fingers slide against the cold, wet pole. His throat burns. He wants to cry. He wants to scream.

"Help," he yells. He scratches his fingernails over the metal, but it's no use. His grip becomes weaker and weaker.

"Help!" he tries again. "Somebody, anybody, help!" Blaine starts to shiver and he once again looks down at the ground. He feels like the rain is weighing him down and he closes his eyes. He knows how this will end.

"Kurt," he calls. His ears try to tune out the rain to listen for the tell-tale sounds of footsteps. Nothing.

"Cooper! Mom. Dad. Anyone!"

But nothing. No one's there. He's alone. All alone. Blaine doesn't even open his eyes as he feels his hand slide off the pole and he falls to his death.

An explosion of laughter shocks him awake. Blaine whips his head around, confused about where he is. Oh yeah. Kurt's house, Blaine reminds himself. He sits up suddenly, nearly knocking the workbook off his lap. His eyes dart to Finn who he guesses must have been asleep too because his eyes are half-lidded and a thin line of saliva trails from the edge of his mouth to the bottom of his chin. Finn wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and looks down at Rachel and Kurt who are doubled over laughing and clutching their sides.

"What happened?"Finn drawls. He blinks rapidly to wake himself up. Rachel looks up at him and wipes a tear from her eye.

"Oh, nothing, honey," she says. "We were just talking about New York."

"Oh" is all Finn says. He glances at Blaine, but Blaine lowers his head, pretending to not have heard because he was too concentrated on his book. He wonders if the others can hear his heart because of how hard it's beating.

"Kurt was just telling me about his aunt that camped out overnight in the snow for rush tickets for Wicked only to be told that there are no shows on Mondays," Rachel says.

"You remember my aunt Marilyn at the wedding, right?" Kurt asks. Blaine guesses that Finn nodded because Kurt continues. "Well, she was horrified. She complained about it for months."

"Oh my god, I feel like that's going to be us in the future," Rachel says to Kurt.

"This time next year we'll definitely be camping out for cheap Broadway tickets," Kurt replies.

"Uh," Finn starts.

"Finn, you'll be there too. Don't you dare think you won't! We'll force you," Kurt says sternly, but Blaine can practically hear his smile. Blaine feels a tickle in the back of his throat and tries to swallow it down. He can't cough. He just wants to make it seem like he's not even there. They'll forget about him and finish the conversation and Blaine will just be invisible because he's not going to be there with them in New York. This conversation has nothing to do with him.

"I'm not really into Broadway like you guys," Finn tells them.

"But you'll be there to give me moral support, right, honey?" Rachel says.

Blaine hears the armchair creak as Finn shifts in it. "Yeah," Finn says.

"Hey, give me moral support too, or will I have to bat my eyelashes at you like Rachel?" Kurt jokes. Blaine almost laughs until he remembers that he's not a part of this conversation. He's supposed to be invisible.

"You don't need me to give you moral support. You'll have..." Finn trails off. Blaine sucks in a breath and the back of his neck heats up. He's sure Finn looked over to him and he's sure Rachel and Kurt followed his gaze. He can feel them staring at him and a few beads of sweat break out on his forehead, but he keeps his head down, staring at his book even though he has so no idea what he's reading.

There's an awkward silence and Blaine swears all the air has been sucked out of the room. He stays as still as possible with baited breath until he hears Kurt cough.

"Maybe we should get back to our homework," Kurt says. Rachel and Finn mumble affirmatively. Blaine can feel Kurt's gaze linger on him. He knows how it feels when Kurt's looking at him, but he keeps his eyes glued to the workbook. He hears Kurt let out a breath and turn back to his own work.

Blaine's whole head is hot now. He usually tries not to think about Kurt leaving for New York. Everyone leaves eventually. It's just a part of life. Blaine feels the sting of tears and he swallows down a sob.

"Blaine, are you okay?" he hears Rachel ask. He blinks back his tears and lifts his head to see three concerned faces staring back at him. He tries to speak, but his throat is dry. He swallows again and nods.

"You look pale," Rachel comment.

"Are you sick? Finn asks.

"Want me to get you water?" Kurt asks, rising from the floor. Blaine shakes his head.

"I'm just-" He pauses. He's surprised at how hoarse his voice is. "Maybe I should go home."

Kurt knits his eyebrows and checks the clock on the wall behind the couch. "It's just 9:30," he says.

"I know, but..." Blaine racks his mind to find a good excuse. "I promised to help Cooper with something at 10."

"You can't stay a little longer?" Rachel asks.

"No, I have to go," Blaine says, his eyes not leaving Kurt's. Kurt looks disappointed, but he smiles.

"Well, bye, man," Finn says.

"We'll see you at school tomorrow," Rachel adds.

"Okay, if you have to go," Kurt says. Blaine nods and stuffs his workbook into his bag. He puts the strap on his left shoulder and grips it. He walks over to the front door and he can feel Kurt right behind him. Blaine reaches the door and he tenses slightly when he turns to face Kurt, who is just a few inches in front of him now.

Kurt smiles at him, the sides of his eyes crinkling. "I hope you feel better," Kurt says.

"I will," Blaine replies. "It might just be a cold or something." He looks awkwardly to the ground.

"So, I'll call you later. Don't forget, okay?" Kurt says. Blaine nods and attempts to turn when he feels Kurt's hand on his shoulder. He stares at it dumbly. "Blaine, are you really okay?"

Blaine looks at Kurt whose eyes are full of concern. Blaine takes a second to get lost in his blue-green eyes. This is Kurt. His Kurt. Who loves him more than anything. Blaine smiles weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answers. Kurt lifts an eyebrow.

"Really? Because you were about to leave here without giving me a kiss," Kurt says with a playful smile. Blaine grins at him and leans forward, brushing his lips over Kurt's. His eyes flutter closed as he feels Kurt's hand on his neck pushing him closer. He barely has a second to breath before Kurt kisses him deeply, parting his lips and sliding his tongue out before it knocks against Blaine's teeth. Blaine opens his mouth and slides his own tongue out. He breathes out his nose, reveling in the feel of Kurt's tongue against his own. Blaine doesn't know how long they've been standing there, licking and sucking and biting with their hands roaming over each other's bodies, before they hear

"Oh."

They separate, looking sheepishly at each other.

"It's always Finn," Kurt says under his breath. He turns to his stepbrother and in a louder voice, he asks: "What is it?"

"N-nothing," Finn stammers. "Rachel was just wondering where you were. She needs help with a problem."

Kurt lets out an exasperated sigh. "I'm just saying bye to my boyfriend," he says.

"I'll tell her you're busy," Finn says quickly, turning.

"No," Kurt says. Finn stops in his tracks, stumbling slightly. "I'll help her now." Kurt turns to Blaine and smiles brightly. "Bye, honey, get better soon. For me."

Blaine nods. "I will. For you." Kurt gives him one last smile before walking back to the living room with Finn. Blaine turns and opens the door, allowing the cool night air to wash over him.

It doesn't take him long to get home which surprises him because he thought he had been driving for hours. It certainly felt like hours. He spends too much time in the car just thinking and by the time he pulls into his driveway, his mind is racing.

Kurt loves you.

Kurt loves everyone.

He wants you. He chose you. You're his boyfriend.

He didn't really have a lot of guys to choose from. Actually he had to other guy to choose from other than his former bully who he is quite friendly with now.

It was just coffee. You went out for coffee with Sebastian. That doesn't mean you're cheating on Kurt with him.

I would never cheat on Kurt.

And you think Kurt would cheat on you?

No. Kurt would never cheat on anyone.

Blaine tries to shake these thoughts as he slides the key out of the ignition and opens the car door. A soft breeze moves past him as he makes his way to the front door. When he opens it, he sees Cooper leaning on the banister of the front stairway.

"Hey, Coop," Blaine says, closing the door behind him. Cooper looks at him surprised and then confused. He checks his wristwatch.

"Whoa, someone's early," Cooper comments.

Blaine shrugs. "Yeah, I had to-... I just had to come home."

Cooper moves off the banister. "Did something happen at Kurt's place? Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. It's just...me," Blaine mumbles. Cooper walks over to him.

"You?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Blaine says. He walks away from his brother and toward the stairs.

"Blaine, you know you can tell me anything," Cooper calls after him. Blaine halts, his hand on the mahogany handrail. HE turns to his brother slowly.

"There's no point in telling you, Coop. You'll just get into another fight with Mom and Dad and leave again," Blaine says wearily. He's tired of having this conversation. Time after time Cooper tells him that he's always there to talk and time after time he's gone whenever Blaine needs him the most.

Cooper takes a step toward him. "Blaine, look, I'm sorry. I'm like the worst brother ever, I know, and-"

"They started talking about New York," Blaine says, cutting him off. A sharp intake of breath comes from Cooper.

"Oh," is all he says. Cooper stares at his brother, not knowing what to do.

"Yeah," Blaine replies.

"Then what?"

"I felt sick and came home," Blaine answers. He looks his brother in the eyes. He feels like he's begging for his brother to do something; to make everything better. To make him better.

There's a pause and then Cooper asks: "It's killing you, isn't it?"

Blaine shrugs and gazes at the ground in front of Cooper's feet. "If it doesn't hurt, it isn't love," he says. Cooper moves toward him, but Blaine shakes his head and Cooper stops.

"Blaine, love isn't supposed to hurt," Cooper says. Blaine looks back up at his brother. He almost wants to laugh at how wrong that statement is. He knows first-hand how wrong that statement is.

"But it always does," he states. Blaine turns and runs up to his room, leaving Cooper in the silent hallway staring at where he stood.