Kurt shifts in sleep, tightening his arms around Blaine but all they embrace is emptiness. His hands search the sheets for the warmth but all they touch is cold sheets. His eyes shoot open and he sits up, swaying dizzily at the rush of blood from his head. He blinks, adjusting to the dark but the bed is empty, a slight indent and rumpled sheets the only evidence that someone had lain there. 

"Blaine?" He calls out softly. When only the soft rustling of the shingles in the cold night breeze in the empty room replies, his heart constricts. 

His shivers as he disentangles himself from a blanket someone had thrown over him and slides out, bare feet shuffling across the soft wood floors, the air chill against his warm skin. 

Wrapping his arms around himself he slips out of the room silently, wincing at the creaking of the door as it squeaks open. Padding lightly across the hallway, Kurt slows when he reaches the main room. A small candle is lit and flickers in the corner, illuminating a lone figure sitting on a piano. His shoulders are hunched, and he presses lightly on the keys. One at a time. Not making a melody, just quiet notes staining the silence.

Kurt hovers at the doorway, simply watching Blaine sit at the piano.  The Capitol had sent it as a "congratulations gift" and it had just stood there for days, gathering dust. Blaine pointedly avoided it, but Kurt had seen him stare at it when he thought no one was watching. He didn't know that Blaine had stared at it because it was the same piano that was on the train. The same piano where he broke down, the same piano where he had decided he wouldn't give up. That he wouldn't lose himself. On that bench once sat a girl with wispy blonde hair. That bench was where they had laughed as the rising morning flickered through the windows. Laughed as if the world wasn't watching. Laughed as if time had stood still. Laughed as if one of them wasn't going to their death.

Kurt didn't know.

And he never will.   

Suddenly, Kurt's feet are carrying him to the piano bench, and he slides in beside his boyfriend. Blaine doesn't look up, simply squeezes back when Kurt gently takes his free hand. After a few long moments, Blaine lifts his hands and brushes lightly across the ivory keys again. He looks up at Kurt, face blank but eyes asking a question.  

Kurt forces a small smile on his face and nods encouragingly. "Sing."

Blaine looks down again, voice choking as he mutters, "What do I sing?"

"Whatever you can't say."

It's quiet again, and Kurt fears that Blaine changed his mind. But then, Blaine is playing softly, the sounds stumbling and tripping hesitantly until they form a quiet melody. He clears his throat once. Twice. And then he is singing, liquid voice leaking across the room. It's been so long Kurt thinks and he closes his eyes, feeling like he could just melt at the sound. But Blaine is forming words, and Kurt sits up, watching his face carefully.

I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if it is at an end

I wish that it would just end

'Cause its presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

And I held your hand through all of these years

But all that's left

Are pieces of me

Kurt watches, heart feeling like it's slowly ripping itself apart for the boy next to him. Blaine is looking intently at the keys or at the distance, anywhere but Kurt.  His eyes are glazing over, and leaden tears begin to drip lightly down his cheeks. His voice cracks consistently, but his fingers never stop making their music.

It had never occurred to Kurt till that moment their lives, so closely interwoven, could unravel with such speed. If he'd known, maybe he'd have kept a tighter hold of them. Held tightly to all the pieces before they had fallen apart and shattered.  

Blaine seems like he's about to stop, but he takes a shuddering breath and continues.

You still to captivate me

By your resonating light

But now I'm bound by the lives I left behind

Their faces that haunt

My once pleasant dreams

Their voices that chased away

All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

He opens his mouth to continue, but it seems like he can't take in a breath, let alone sing. He chokes, and releases a small stuttering sob. Kurt's heart just breaks, but doesn't take his hand or wrap him in his arms.  He lets him shake, lets him fight to breathe. Lets the pain finally come.

Lets him finally start to heal.

Blaine's hands still on the keys, the tears dripping down his nose and onto the ivory below. The candle flickers in the corner, sending dancing shadows across his face. Even wrought with sadness, Kurt can't help but think how beautiful he is.

Then Kurt is lifting his hand and gently covering Blaine's fingers with his own. The porcelain of his skin against Blaine's tan contrasts sharply in the candle light. He feels Blaine shiver beside him at small touch. He looks up at him in confusion, hazel eyes shining beneath long lashes, but Kurt just smiles gently at him, before moving his hand slowly atop Blaine's, pressing his fingers lightly against the keys.

Eyes still locked with Kurt's, the fingers resume the melody hesitantly. Taking in a deep breath and trapping Blaine's eyes with his own, Kurt sings softly but firmly.

When you cry, I'll wipe away all of your tears

When you scream I'll fight away all of your fears

And I'll hold your hand through all of these years

You still have, all of me

The tears are steadily streaming down Blaine's face, and his shoulders shake as he cries silently. Kurt moves in closer, and removing his hand from Blaine's and lifting it to his face, brushing the tears lightly away with his thumb. They're so close, and Kurt shudders at the feeling of Blaine's warm breath slide across his skin. He smiles at him, blue eyes glazing over as he hesitantly leans in for a kiss. When their lips meet, Blaine is still, but then he is kissing him back. The kiss deepens, and Kurt pulls Blaine closer with his free hand, cupping his face gently. Kurt can taste the salty tears on Blaine's lips which open to allow Kurt's tongue access. He feels Blaine shiver as their mouths slide together, seamlessly, as if they were never parted. He feels his stuttering heartbeat through the thin fabric of his t-shirt. Feels his ragged breathing as he clings to Kurt like a lifeline.

Kurt pulls away gently, cradling Blaine's face in his palms, pressing their foreheads together. Their breaths intertwine between them, their fingers tangling together involuntarily between their bodies.

"I love you so much." Blaine chokes out.

Kurt looks up at him, getting lost and drowning in his wet hazel eyes. He couldn't believe that there was once a time that he could have lost him. Can't even imagine this moment, this life, without him. Then he whispers "I love you too." before finally pulling Blaine in his arms.