He slipped the piece of paper in his hand under Blaine’s phone on the nightstand, took a deep breath and pulled his wedding ring off his left hand before backing out of the room. He wanted his last memory of Blaine to be a good one. He moved quickly back into the living room, took the handle of his suitcase and opened the front door.

Kurt allowed himself one last look around, biting his lip. He hesitated a moment but took a deep breath, steeling himself.

It was better this way.

He made his way silently through the New York streets, getting lucky and hailing a cab outside the apartment building. The doorman looked confused and concerned to see Kurt leaving in the middle of the night; Kurt could see it on his face. He didn’t say anything though, and neither did Kurt.

Kurt gave the driver an address and then slumped back against the seat.

He just had to keep telling himself it was for the best.

To say that Rachel was surprised when he showed up on her doorstep with a suitcase in hand was an understatement.

“Oh, Kurt,” she breathed out when she saw him.

Kurt couldn’t say anything, the words clogged up in his throat and unable to come out. He couldn’t let them.

It hurt too much.

She hugged him tightly and then led him inside and shut the door.

*

Blaine stretched and then winced, the pain in his lower back and ass area reminding him exactly what he’d done the night before.

A large smile crossed his face and rolled over slowly onto his back.

He would never forget any of it – the way they’d touched each other, the feel of Kurt inside him. He’d finally, finally told Kurt that he loved him and Kurt hadn’t run screaming from the room. Kurt hadn’t returned the sentiment but that was okay with Blaine. It would take time and maybe Kurt wasn’t there yet.

They would probably have to talk about what this change in their relationship meant, but Blaine was willing to put that off a bit longer if necessary. He knew how fragile Kurt could be, how closed off he could get sometimes. He didn’t want to scare Kurt away.

He leaned up on his arms, suddenly realizing he was alone in the bed. He paused, listening for any sounds in the apartment. Blaine didn’t hear any and glanced at the clock to check the time.

That’s when he saw it.

Kurt’s wedding ring was sitting on the nightstand next to Blaine’s phone. Blaine’s stomach churned as he reached out and picked it up, seeing the white piece of paper under his phone now.

His hands trembled as he moved his phone out the way and lifted the paper up to read it.

I can’t do this anymore.
I’m so sorry.
-Kurt

Something twisted inside Blaine then and tears burned hotly behind his eyes.

No.

He didn’t understand.

Blaine got up as fast as he could manage and then went to his closet, ripping it open. Several pieces of Kurt’s clothes were gone. He stumbled blindly into the guest room (because that’s what it was. Kurt had never really even slept in there) and nearly took the closet door off its hinges. More things were gone, and so was Kurt’s suitcase.

Of all the things that Blaine had suffered in his life, he didn’t think anything had possibly hurt as much as that moment – not his gay bashing, not Sebastian’s abandonment, not his parents’ disownment, and not even Cooper’s neglect.

For the first time in his life, Blaine truly knew what it was to feel broken-hearted. His legs went weak and he slumped back into the wall, sliding down to the floor. He drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, holding tight. Kurt’s letter was clenched in his fist.

Kurt was gone and it was all Blaine’s fault.

*

“You look terrible,” Rachel said quietly when Kurt got back from the shower the next morning.

“You try sleeping on your floor and you see how you feel,” Kurt replied, but there was no anger in his voice. He was bone tired. He hadn’t felt this bad since right after his father’s death.

“What happened?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kurt answered. “It doesn’t matter. That part of my life is over now.” The words sounded hollow to his ears. Rachel’s eyes went wide.

“I thought you two had a fight or something,” she hissed. “You’re leaving Blaine?”

“Yes,” Kurt told her, his voice soft. “It’s for the best, Rachel.”

“Kurt,” she said, reaching up and pulling on his hand so he was sitting on the bed next to her. “Are you sure this is what you want? I’ve see you two together. You love Blaine, I know you do.”

Kurt blanched, feeling like he’d been punched in the stomach.

“No,” he replied, his voice low. “No, I don’t.”

Rachel stared at him in surprise.

“Kurt,” she began.

“Can we just… not?” Kurt muttered. “I have to get to work.”

Kurt grabbed his satchel from inside his suitcase. “Thanks for letting me crash here. I’ll be out of your hair as soon as I can.”

He could feel Rachel’s eyes boring into him as he left.

*

Blaine snapped up his phone the moment that it rang. “Kurt?”

“No, it’s Rachel.”

“Rachel, have you-"

“He was here,” Rachel interrupted. “Blaine – what… what happened?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine told her honestly. He had his suspicions, of course, but until he talked to Kurt, he really didn’t know. He’d blown off classes, unable to face the crowds of people and worrying about homework and finals for the moment. He’d probably regret it later, but he figured it was just one more thing he could add to his list of mistakes. “We had a great night and I woke up this morning and he was gone.”

“You guys didn’t have a fight?” Rachel asked, sounding surprised.

“No,” Blaine answered. “He won’t answer his phone and I don’t know what to do.”

“I’ll talk to him,” Rachel promised. “I’ll get him to call you.”

Blaine sniffled. “Thank you, Rachel.”

“You two are my best friends,” she said. “I know you can work out whatever this is. Love conquers all, right?”

“Right,” Blaine echoed weakly.

“I have to get to dance class before my bitch of a teacher, but I’ll call you later, okay? And I’ll get Kurt to call you.”

“Thanks, Rachel,” Blaine repeated and then hung up.

He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t face classes and he had hours to kill before Kurt would be home from work.

He didn’t know what made him do it, but he dialed his phone before he could rethink it.

“Blainey!” Cooper’s voice rang out. “To what do I owe the honor?”

Blaine smiled sadly at his brother’s excited tone. “I need some advice.”

“Is someone in the doghouse?” Cooper teased.

“You could say that,” Blaine muttered, wiping away a stray tear from his eye. He’d thought was all cried out but apparently not.

“Tell your big brother all about it,” Cooper encouraged. “Did you forget to dry clean only his favorite shirt? Burn dinner? Forget to call when you were late?”

“I told him I love him,” Blaine said.

“And he said?” Cooper asked after a moment of silence.

“He left me.” With that, Blaine broke down, tears dripping down his cheeks as he spilled the story (slightly edited because there was no way he was divulging any information about his sex life to Cooper, no way). “What do I do, Cooper?”

“Wait for him to call you,” Cooper told him. “If you run after him, Blaine, I think you’re going to make him run farther away.”

“What if I’ve just misread this entire situation and he doesn’t love me?”

“First of all, if that’s the case then he’s an idiot and not worthy of you.” Blaine squeaked out a tear filled laugh. “Secondly, a blind person could see how much he loves you when he looks at you.”

“Thanks, Coop,” Blaine said. “I really needed to hear that.”

“Thanks for calling me,” Cooper replied quietly. “I’m glad I could help.”

Blaine hung up after promising Cooper he would call and tell him how it went. Blaine sighed and stared at the clock on the wall.

It was going to be a long day.

*

“Good, you’re here,” Rachel said as she walked into her room and shut the door. Kurt raised his eyebrows at her over his sketch book but didn’t say anything. “We need to talk about Blaine.”

“I don’t have anything to say, Rachel,” Kurt told her. “I asked you to drop it.”

“I called him,” Rachel replied. Kurt dropped his pencil and jerked his head up to stare at her.

“You did?” he whispered. “What – what did he say?”

“That you guys had a great night and he woke up and you were gone,” Rachel answered. “So now you’re going to tell me what’s going on here, Kurt.”

“Rachel,” he protested.

“I am your best friend!” she exclaimed. “I can help you.”

Kurt sighed, feeling resigned. “Blaine and I… we’re a marriage of convenience.”

Rachel sat down on the edge of her bed, staring at him. “What does that mean?”

“Do you remember how bad things were, after my dad died?” She nodded and Kurt took a deep breath. “That was because the bills were piling up and we had no way to pay them all. We were going to lose the tire shop if I didn’t do something.”

“Oh, Kurt,” Rachel replied.

He didn’t let her say anything else, just continued on with the story. “I found a casting call in the paper for an acting job and it turned out to be Blaine. He wanted to hire an actor to be his husband so he could claim an inheritance.”

“So you and Blaine aren’t actually married?” Rachel asked, looking shocked.

“No, we are,” Kurt hastened to answer. “We really did elope, we had to. But it was just to get his money.” He paused. “He said he’s in love with me, Rachel, and I can’t…”

“Of course, if you don’t feel the same way,” Rachel agreed. Kurt studied the sketch in front of him without saying a word. “You need to tell him. Call him.”

“It’s best if I don’t.”

“Kurt, I mean it. Call him. Even if this is nothing but a business deal gone wrong.”

Kurt hadn’t considered that. Of course Blaine would want his money back. He swallowed hard.

“Okay,” Kurt agreed. Rachel handed him the phone and he dialed with shaking hands.

*

Blaine lunged for the phone the moment it rang. He’d been working on revising his final paper for class and nearly sent all his research flying in his haste. He grabbed the phone and answered it, thrilled to see Kurt’s number on the caller ID.

“Kurt,” Blaine breathed out.

“Hello,” Kurt replied after a pause. “I thought we should… talk.”

“Not over the phone,” Blaine said. He couldn’t say what he needed to say to Kurt over the phone, couldn’t articulate it as well. “Please, just… come home.”

Kurt hesitated, and then the phone went muffled and Blaine figured he was talking to Rachel.

“All right,” Kurt agreed, coming back on the line. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Thank you,” Blaine replied, feeling his eyes well up again as he hung up the phone. He took a deep breath and centered himself. He couldn’t act like this when Kurt arrived. He needed to get himself together.

His marriage depended on it.