The three weeks until graduation passed in a blur for Kurt. Before he knew it, he'd taken his final high school exam and all that was left was to graduate.

The McKinley High School class of 2012 graduation ceremony was held at 7PM on Wednesday night, May 30th in the auditorium. New Directions were performing and during that time, Kurt Hummel was locked in his bedroom with a pile of boxes as he prepared for his departure for New York in a little over a week. There wasn't much he was taking with him. He had little from Lima he wanted to take with him. He packed most, but not all, of his clothes neatly into boxes. Even though most of it was purchased with his uncle's money, he needed something to wear. Almost everything else he was leaving. His laptop, his cellphone, his iPod, anything that had been given to Kurt as a gift from his uncle was being left in a box on top of his desk. He wanted nothing to remind him of the farce of a home he'd occupied for so many years.

Kurt took apart his easel and packed and his other art supplies, pausing when he reached for the art set Blaine had gotten him for Christmas. The wooden box, and the boy who had given it to him, caused Kurt's chest to tighten and pressure to start building up behind his eyes as he placed it in the brown box to follow him to New York. He'd managed to steal it back from his uncle; it would be a waste if he left it behind. It would be the only thing in New York to remind him of the boy he was desperately trying to push from his heart.

He took another moment when he picked up the pictures from his nightstand. There was the one of him and Blaine that his uncle had used as a weapon, one of New Directions during the last competition he'd performed in with them, and a picture of his parent's on their wedding day.

Kurt focused on the picture of his parents. He wondered if they would be proud of him; if they would praise him for getting out of such a terrible situation and getting out of Lima, all by himself. He liked to think that they would. But then again, if they were around to praise him, he would never have been in such a terrible place to begin with. He didn't blame his parents for any of it; He couldn't. He knew that they loved him so very much on the days they died, and they wouldn't have left him if they didn't have to. He'd been left alone, but he never felt abandoned. He didn't believe in God (how could he) so he didn't believe in angels, but he knew that somehow, if by nothing more than memory, part of his parents stayed with him through everything. It was the main reason he was walking out of this with his head held high.

Rachel convinced Kurt that while he most definitely needed to get out of his uncle's house on the day he turned eighteen, he didn't have to run to New York right away. So instead of blowing out candles, Kurt spent his birthday packing everything he was taking with him in the back of Rachel's car while his uncle was at work. He left nothing but the box with the things he didn't want any more and a note that simply read 'goodbye' on the kitchen table and went to take refuge in Rachel's bedroom until they would both leave for New York in a week. It would be just like they had planned.

They would take on the journey to New York together.

�

A couple of nights after Kurt had moved temporarily into Rachel's bedroom, he and Rachel were lying on the bed late at night whispering about how much they were excited about their impending move to the Big Apple. They'd just finished deciding how they were going to decorate the loft that they would be sharing (mostly thanks to Rachel's parents) while in New York. Kurt's excitement about the whole thing made his entire body buzz with an electricity he couldn't control. They fell into a comfortable silence, both of them staring at the ceiling listening to the music that was coming from Rachel's laptop.

"Do you miss him?" Rachel asked quietly.

Neither of them had mentioned Blaine since Kurt moved his entire locker into Rachel's after Kurt had stormed out of the choir room leaving Blaine with some angry last words. But just because he wasn't mentioned didn't mean that he wasn't constantly on Kurt's mind.

Kurt closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, before opening them and continuing his upward gaze into the mostly dark room, "Terribly."

"You should talk to him," Rachel suggested, her eyes still focused on the ceiling.

"I just," Kurt started, his voice catching, "I don't know if I can forgive him."

"The only thing he's guilty of is loving you Kurt," Rachel said turning her head to the left to look at Kurt who continued to look towards the ceiling, "He did something I should've done a long time ago."

Kurt finally turned his head to look at Rachel, "And why didn't you? I mean, other than me asking you not to, why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Because I was afraid you'd never speak to me again. That's what makes him better than me. He was looking out for you; I was looking out for myself."

"But nothing's changed."

"Hasn't it?" Rachel asked said sitting up, and Kurt pushed himself up on his elbows to follow, "You're safe and you're free. Free from your uncle and free to love Blaine like you should've been since you met; the way you couldn't before."

"I'm still leaving," Kurt explained.

"I'm pretty sure that he doesn't care. You could be moving across the world and he'd still love you."

"I'm scared," Kurt said looking away from Rachel, focusing straight in front of him.

"I know," Rachel said grabbing Kurt's hand, "and that's okay. But you've got to tell him how you feel or you could miss out on the most amazing thing that could ever happen to you.

Kurt sighed. Maybe she was right. Of course she was right. The truth was, Blaine loved him enough to accept that Kurt would hate him after he'd told Miss Pillsbury. And that made Kurt love Blaine a whole lot more than he had a second before. But that still didn't change the fact that the last memory Kurt had of Blaine was his blood drained face before he'd stormed out of the choir room. "Let's say I can forgive him. I wasn't exactly nice to him. I said some really awful things to him the last time I talked to him."

"How awful?"

Kurt looked back towards Rachel as he spoke, "I told him that if I died, that it would be his fault."

"You didn't!" Rachel said loud enough to wake her neighbors, if not her parents.

"I did," Kurt said in a hushed voice, "and now here I am free of everything because Miss Pillsbury is so gullible that she believed me when I said nothing was wrong and the last thing I said to Blaine was that if I died it would be his fault. I'm such an idiot."

"You were scared," Rachel said trying to rationalize Kurt's behavior, for herself and for Kurt.

"Maybe. But that doesn't excuse my terrible behavior. I should've been nicer to him. He deserves to be treated better than the way I've treated him. He's been amazing and I was too involved with myself to show him how much he meant, how much he means to me," Kurt confessed.

"You love him don't you?" Rachel whispered leaning her head on Kurt's shoulder.

"With everything that I am," Kurt said, "This wasn't exactly how I pictured my fairy tale, but I certainly found my Prince Charming."

Rachel had insisted on hosting one final Glee party that served not only as a bon voyage party, but also a birthday party for Kurt. He'd insisted that this party bring no attention to himself, especially since Kurt hadn't been part of New Directions in quite some time, but Rachel didn't seem to care about Kurt's wishes and began organizing what she was calling the 'Glee party to end all Glee parties'. But the truth was, this was probably going to be the last time that every single one of them would be in the same room together. There were going to be promises to keep in touch, but most of them wouldn't be kept. And while he'd been convinced to delay his departure from Lima, once he was gone, he had no intention of ever coming back.

So despite the fact that there was a giant cake in one corner of the Berry's entertainment room, and a pile of gifts in another, Kurt made the most of the time he had left with his friend. Half way through the night, after spending most of it at Rachel's side, Kurt stood quietly against the wall as everyone else moved around him, paired or grouped together in various conversations. For a group that spent most of their time with one another, they sure had a lot to discuss all the time. In the corner next to the gifts, Blaine was talking animatedly with Tina about something, a smile on his face as his hands gestured wildly.

"I couldn't not invite him," Rachel said as she came to stand next to Kurt.

"No, I know," Kurt said, his eyes still watching Blaine, "He's your friend. Just because things are tense between us doesn't mean you should suffer."

"He's not here for me," Rachel said and Kurt rolled his eyes in response, "You should talk to him."

"I don't want to ruin the night."

"You standing here looking like a lost puppy is ruining my night," Rachel said, "If you forgive him, he'll forgive you. Bring him up to my room and talk to him. No one will bother you."

Kurt's eyes went wide and he shot a look at Rachel, surprised that she'd make such a suggestion.

Rachel laughed, "I'm not saying you should do that. But it's the only place in the house that you're going to be able to talk without the risk of someone hearing you."

Kurt took a breath and squared his shoulders but before he could take a step, Rachel was pushing him forward. Kurt continued walking but shot Rachel a glare before he approached Blaine and Tina.

"Hey guys," Kurt said to the both of them before looking Blaine in the eye, "Can I talk to you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure."

They both excused themselves and Kurt led them quietly up the staircase to the main level of the house and then motioned for Blaine to follow him up another.

"Where are we going?" Blaine questioned but followed anyway.

"Rachel's room," Kurt said stopped at the top of the stairs, "I can't risk anyone else hearing what I have to say."

Blaine nodded and followed as Kurt led them to Rachel's bedroom, closing the door behind them once they were inside.

"I owe you an apology," Kurt said once the door had clicked shut.

"It's okay," Blaine responded and Kurt couldn't help but believe that Blaine had only been so forgiving because of the situation Kurt had been in. Blaine had been so upset with Kurt when he'd been pushed away before he knew the truth, and now he seemed to be taking pity on Kurt.

"No, it's not. Can you just listen to me for a minute? I'm probably going to ramble."

"Okay," Blaine said softly.

"I've spent most of the time since my parents died relying on myself. I love Rachel and her dads to death, and I appreciate every single thing they've done for me. But I've known for a long time that the only person I could trust without a shadow of a doubt was myself. A couple of dead parents and an abusive relative can leave a guy with some trust issues. I don't trust people easily. But I trusted you. And I trusted you to keep my stupid secret, but I shouldn't have. Not because you're untrustworthy, but because I shouldn't have expected someone who cared about me to not try to keep me safe. I knew all along that what I was asking you to do was wrong, I did. And when you did the one thing that no one, not even myself, was strong enough to do, I lashed out because I was scared. I was afraid of not getting out of Lima. Yes, I was afraid that my uncle would do something crazy, but I was mostly afraid that I would get stuck in Lima because there would be charges and a trial and then everyone would know and everyone would pity me. Poor Kurt. He got a shitty hand dealt to him," Kurt took a breath and looked Blaine in the eye. The hazel eyes he'd come to find so much comfort, and most importantly safety inside, "I said some really awful things to you Blaine when what I should have been doing was thanking you. I should've been thanking you for loving me enough to try to save my life."

"What good that did."

"I'm here aren't I? And I'm free of my uncle and I'm free for the first time in years to be myself and to do the things I want to do. I just graduated high school and am about to go to the top fashion design school in the country. I never thought I'd make it this far. And it's all because of you."

"That's crazy, Kurt."

"No, it's not. Before I met you I had resigned to a life of being alone; at least while I was in Lima. I had pushed everyone that I cared about and who cared about me away because I couldn't risk exposing them to my life and my secrets. I was getting by, but I wasn't living. And then there you were at my locker and in English and you were persistent when I wanted nothing more than for you to leave me alone. Because if I couldn't have my friends, why should I have you? Why should I have something that made me happy? But you kept pushing and when I finally had to let you in for fear of you making a fool of yourself, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was because of you that I fixed my relationship with Rachel; it was because of you that I got the chance to kind of get my friends back. And I'm going to New York, seriously lacking in the major life experiences a teenager is supposed to have in high school. Except one."

Blaine shot a questioning gaze in Kurt's direction.

"Falling in love."

Tiny gasp escaped Blaine's lips and Kurt couldn't stop his lips from forming a smile, "Yeah?"

"It's been killing me not being able to say it out loud; to not say it to you."

"I'm sorry, Kurt. I really am."

"Don't be. Please don't ever be sorry for showing me how amazing you are."

"But where does that leave us?"

"We leave in a couple of days, Blaine. And I'm never coming back to Lima. I can't."

"I've been thinking," Blaine said, "And I think I want to go to school in New York too. I've been looking over some of Rachel's programs for NYADA, and I think I want to apply."

"You—Really?"

"Yeah, and even if that doesn't work out, New York is full of performing arts schools. If I want to make it on Broadway I should be in New York right? And if you're there too, it would just make everything that much better."

"And until you get to New York? What are we supposed to do?"

"We…figure it out as we go. I want to get a job this summer and I can save money and come visit before the school starts, and on long weekends."

"You sound so optimistic."

"Don't you want to…try…to make this work?"

"What? No, of course I do. I'm just…scared."

"So am I. But we'll figure it out, alright? Because I love you."

"I love you too."

Blaine took a step to close the distance between himself and Kurt, reaching a tentative hand up to cup Kurt's cheek. When he leaned in to press their lips together, Kurt was certain that he'd done what he thought was impossible. As their lips moved together soft and slow, that he'd somehow found the light at the end of the tunnel while still in Lima. Blaine was what was waiting for him at the end of the broken, bruised and beaten path that he'd been forced to take through life. He'd spent so long thinking that it would be New York that would save him and take him out of the darkness. But it was the boy who held him close at the waist, the boy whose neck he had his own arms wrapped around, the boy who for the first time in a very, very long time made him feel like he had a place where he belonged.