"I'm in love with you," Blaine whispered, his eyes still closed once we pulled apart.

What?

My head snapped up, staring at him in shock and confusion. Did he just say...?

"I love you, Kurt." He said more loudly this time. He seemed to smile while he said it, too. Was this...was this a part of the act? Was this for the effect of it all?

"Blaine, I-"

"Please say you love me too, Kurt." He said, his smile fading.

Do I love him? Wait, what? No, what is going on? This can't be real. Why is he doing this? We seemed to have gotten Rachel and Finn's attention, I could see them watching us out of the corner of my eye.

"I-I can't Blaine."

"Do you love me, Kurt?" he said more firmly this time, his eyes tearing into mine again.

"I can't Blaine, I'm sorry. I-I just can't."

Blaine's face reddened in embarrassment as he looked down at his shoes, his hands dropping from where they were resting on my arms.

"I'm so, so sorry Blaine. I-I just-"

"I get it," he said, a humorless smile finding its way through his features. "I'm going to um...I need a few minutes to myself, I think."

I nodded in understanding, my feet glued to the floor as I just stood there and watched him. My mind seemed paralyzed. So many emotions had flooded through my brain at the same time that I couldn't recognize any of them for what they truly were. In that moment, I felt incredibly empty, heartless, and completely distant from myself.

"I think I'm just going to head back to the house, if that's alright. Can you get a ride with Finn?" Blaine asked with a dispassionate voice. I hesitated for a moment before agreeing. I'd already done enough damage to his dignity for one night, so not letting him be alone would be incredibly unkind.

I reached into my pocket, grabbing my keys and handing them to Blaine. He nodded, looking me in the eyes one final time before he turned around and headed out of the living room.

It wasn't until the TV was turned off that I realized that everyone was silent, and staring at me.

"Kurt..." Rachel said sensitively from beside me.

I stepped back, feeling the couch against the back of my leg and letting myself drop on the seat as I ignored her. My eyes were attached on the doorway where Blaine had been a few moments before.

"Kurt, I don't understand," Rachel tried to talk to me, sitting down slowly. An ironic breath of air left my lungs as I bowed my head down, carding my hands through my hair.

I wouldn't expect anyone to understand.

Silence penetrated the environment as the first of my many emotions finally found its way through the hazy fog in my brain.

Guilt.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I tensed, demanding myself not to cry. Why is this happening? When did everything suddenly become so goddamn complex? Why didn't I just lie to Blaine, and say that I loved him? I mean, it's not like every other part of my life isn't a lie right now.

No, don't think about this now. Not now. Not here. You can't fall apart here.

"There's nothing to understand," I finally responded. "I just...don't feel the same way."

"But you two are perfect for each other," Sam said, walking closer. "You said so yourself."

I let out a shuddering breath, raising the palm of my hands to my eyes and pressing them hard against my face. Just a few more lies, Kurt. Just a few more lies and you can get away from it all.

"But that doesn't mean that I...love him." The words left such a sour taste on my tongue. "I barely even know him." I cringed as soon as that left my mouth because, god, that was not supposed to come out. "He doesn't open up to me. How could I love someone who's so distant?"

"That's complete bullshit," Finn said, stepping forward. "I've seen you, you adore him, and you both adore each other. It's in the way you look at Blaine, Kurt. I've seen it."

"You thought he was abusive," I half-whispered, lifting my head out of my hands to look at my step-brother.

"Yes, Kurt, I've thought a lot of stupid things before. I prayed to a sandwich for a fucking week in high school. I'm not the brightest kid on the planet."

"Why are you running, Kurt?" Sam spoke up.

No, no, no, no, no, please stop talking.

"Why are you running away from something that's obviously so great? Why are you afraid to tell him that you love him?"

"Why do you care?" I snapped back, from deep in my throat. "You guys never gave a shit about my love life before, why are you all the sudden so invested in this relationship?"

"We'd never seen you in love before, Kurt," Rachel said from beside me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"I'm not in love, okay!" I shrugged Rachel's hand off of my shoulder. "Just, god, get that idea out of your heads!"

Mercedes moved closer to me, "Kurt, denial isn't going to solve anything."

"I'm not in denial! What the fu-" I took a deep breath, closing my eyes as I attempted to calm myself down. "I'm going to use to restroom, or whatever..."

The next thing I knew, I was walking myself out of the room, and jogging quickly upstairs. A few involuntary tears leaked out of my eyes as I reached the top of the steps, and I walked quickly to the closest bathroom, immediately shutting the door behind me. I slumped into the tile wall across from the sink, closing my eyes tightly as I let my hands pull at my hair.

God, I hate this.

Why won't they just mind their own damn business? This has nothing to do with them! I swear, those people have never understood the meaning of privacy.

A moment later my breathing was slowing a little, I dropped my hands and my eyes began to open again. I looked up at my reflection in the mirror across from me. All I could see was this sad excuse for a person staring back at me with tear marks on his face.

Liar, I thought to myself, all you are is a liar.

I slid down the wall. I didn't want to look at myself any longer. My head leaned back to rest against the cold tile wall, and I stared at the ceiling.

What am I going to say to Blaine when I get back? God, that's going to be so awkward, especially if he really was telling the truth. I mean, obviously he was. There's no reason he would say that if it was a lie.

Why does he even love me in the first place? I'm a total bitch. Why would someone like him want to be with someone like me? He's kind, and compassionate, and he pretty much never thinks of himself. What did I ever do to make him fall in love with me? Blaine...cares about life and people with this depth that I've never been able to reach as a person. He has to be the sexiest, most dapper and charming person that I've ever met. Not to mention the fact that his sense of humor is pretty much spot on, and he's made me laugh more in the past week and a half, than I have in my entire life. He's made my life exciting, and fun, and spontaneous and god, what is my life going to be like without him?

My eyes widened and my mouth hung open in shock as the realization hit me.

Maybe I really am in love with him.

Oh...my god. I'm...I think I'm in love with the man.

So this...this is what it feels like? I think Rachel was right. I don't think I'd ever been in love before. That would explain why I didn't recognize the feeling. My stomach swooped at the thought and-

That! That could be it! The feeling in my stomach whenever I think about him - the way I haven't been able to be my sarcastic bitchy self around him lately - the way I can only seem to smile and blush when my brain keeps telling me to roll my eyes - that permanent happy feeling that settles inside when I'm close to him - the way I just can't seem to stop kissing him. That's...love, isn't it?

How do I fix this?

I got up from off the ground, wiping my eyes furiously and then trying to make my hair what it was before. Taking a few deep breaths, I gripped the doorknob and walked out of the bathroom. I was ready to mend the damage that I made five minutes ago.

When I walked back into the living room, most of the Glee club had gone back downstairs already. The only people left in the room were Finn and Rachel, Mike and Tina were making out on the couch, still in their drunken haze.

"Finn?" I murmured, leaning against the doorway. Finn looked up from where he was talking with Rachel. "Do you think you can bring me home now? I...I really need to talk to Blaine."

Finn smiled and walked over to me, putting his arm around my shoulder. "Of course I will, little brother."

"I'm older than you, Finn," I said with a sigh.

"Yes, but I'm taller," he included quickly, "I'll be back in a little bit, Rachel."

"Take Mike and Tina with you! These couches are super expensive and they look like they're two seconds away from reproducing. Plus, they shouldn't drive home anyway," Rachel said, rushing over to stop me and Finn from leaving.

"Goddamn buzzkill," Mike groaned, his head falling back onto the arm of the couch.

We all left, Finn leading the way to the car, with me walking behind, my hands in my pockets. Tina and Mike stumbled in back of us, trying their best to be able to cling to each other and make it successfully to the car at the same time.

"So, what are you going to talk to Blaine about?" Finn asked, his grin still on his face right after we dropped Mike and Tina off at Tina's apartment.

I looked at him for a second, deciding not to answer the question, and then went back to staring out the window of the passenger seat.

"Wait, you're not breaking up with him, are you?"

"No, I'm not going to break up with him."

"So you changed your mind?" Finn asked with a hopeful expression.

"About what?"

"About breaking up with him."

"I was never going to break up with him Finn, I was just...shocked, that's all." I folded my arms across my chest, shifting myself around in the seat.

"And you've realized that you love him?"

I looked down at my hands. "I think so."

Mike and Tina lived pretty close to our house, and we were already pulling into our street. "Well, I'm happy for you dude. Blaine's a great guy. I know I doubted him before, but now I couldn't be surer."

I let out a thankful chuckle, looking back down at my hands again.

"You know, Kurt, it's weird. I've only seen you two together for like, a week, but now I honestly can't picture you with anyone else."

My eyes widened, and I looked at Finn in astonishment.

"I know that's kind of, ya know, weird...especially coming from me. But you two really are great for each other. And I can tell that Blaine really does love you." With that Finn pulled into the driveway and put the car in park.

"Thanks, Finn," I half whispered, still not believing that he actually just said that. "I'll talk to you later, okay? Thanks for the ride."

"Anytime, little bro," he replied as I got out of the car. I smiled, rolling my eyes and not bothering to correct him as I closed the door.

Finn pulled out of the driveway, and disappeared down the street as I walked up the driveway. The garage was closed, and the light on the porch was off, so I assumed that my parents weren't home yet. I passed my Navigator before my footsteps came to a halt, and I widened my eyes, turning around.

"Where's Jackie's car?" I said to myself in the silence of the night.

My mind reeled as I walked over to the door, unlocking it to find the only light coming from the kitchen. The pace of my walking became faster and more urgent as I made my way to my room, and by the time I got there I basically burst through the door.

Blaine wasn't there.

His clothes, his guitar, and all of his things were gone.

This isn't happening. No, this can't be real. I'm dreaming or something. I've been dreaming about this whole day, no, the whole past two weeks have just been one long, crazy, fucked up dream. Why is this happening?

I collapsed onto my bed, closing my eyes tight and running my hands roughly through my hair again, for the third time tonight. A tiny flame of anger flickered in my stomach, and the next thing I knew it was taking me over completely.

Who the hell does he think he is? How dare he steal Jackie's car! Who the fuck runs away in the dead of night just because someone tells them that they're not in love with them? I can't believe he would be so...so...careless. What the hell am I supposed to tell Jackie?

Oh god, Jackie.

She's going to murder me. Like, not even figuratively. She's legitimately going to kill me. Why the hell did she even let me take her car in the first place? I knew something terrible like this was going to happen, I just knew it. Oh god, I'm the worst friend in the world. She's going to think I'm absolutely psychotic for trusting a hobo with my keys.

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling, realizing that this was the first time I had thought about Blaine in that way for a while.

Because you're in love, said a voice from the back of my head.

No, just stop. No. You're not in love with him Kurt. How could you be in love with him? You've only known him for less than two weeks. This isn't love, Kurt, and if it was, you would have told him that earlier at Rachel's house. If this was love, you wouldn't hesitate at all. You would know, because you wouldn't be able to hide it. Love is completely identifiable, Kurt. Why wouldn't it be? How could something that's supposed to be so magnificent and awesome be hard to recognize? They don't make love like that, Kurt. That's not how it works.

No, he can't be gone. He just...he can't be.

I got up from my bed, rushing up the stairs and calling Blaine's name. I went to every room, upstairs and downstairs, turning on lights and repeating his name every moment or so. All that answered was silence, each room lifeless and void of motion. My voice became hoarse as I descended the stairs after my search, turning off lights on my way back to my room.

He's gone. He's really gone. There's nothing I can do about it.

I crawled onto my bed, dropping my body over the sheets and letting my face mesh into one of the pillows. The fact that the pillow was the one Blaine had been sleeping on all week hadn't occurred to me until his scent filled my lungs.

Tears finally welled up in my eyes as a wave of misery came over me. I don't know why, but I missed him so much in that moment. I missed his cool, calm nature that would tell me everything would be alright when I freaked out. I missed the way he insisted on holding me at night, and the safety of waking up in his arms. It hadn't even been two hours since I'd seen him, but I just...I missed Blaine.

I curled my arms around his pillow, holding it tight as I finally allowed myself to cry. Time passed by slowly as I let my tears soak into the fabric, memories of the week flying through my head and anxiety of what the future held torturing my mind. I was overwhelmed with emotion about the fact that I had virtually no control over anything. Everything was falling apart, and all I could do about it was lay here and slowly saturate a stupid pillow.

Eventually my eyes grew tired from crying, and I lay my head on the pillow that I had squeezed to death, waiting for my hiccups to stop. Without realizing it, I fell asleep.

I woke up to sunlight and memories of Thursday night.

Kurt was still freezing. He and Blaine had just gotten back from their double date, and walked inside after staying out on the porch for ten minutes. After he got ready for bed, he slipped under his covers quickly, trying to warm himself under the blankets.

"Still cold?" Blaine asked, coming out of the bathroom.

"Yes, and you sure seem to be taking your time over there."

Blaine smiled, tilting his head in confusion as he put some socks on his feet. "Well we sure are clingy tonight, aren't we?"

"It's a lot warmer when you're here," Kurt replied, rubbing his arms under the blanket. "and I'm pretty sure that I'm cold blooded or something."

"You are anything but cold blooded," Blaine lifted up the covers and got in on the right side of the bed. Kurt turned his body in his direction, still slightly shaking with chilliness. "C'mere," Blaine sighed, opening his arms and pulling Kurt against him.

Kurt sighed, contempt as he felt his limbs start to warm up.

"Baaaaaby Baluuuuuga," Blaine sang softly, under his breath.

"That's an insult, isn't it," Kurt murmured into Blaine's shoulder.

"No, it is not an insult. But it's stuck in my head for some reason. I think it's because Beluga Whales are warm blooded mammals."

"So you see me as a whale, how comforting."

Blaine laughed. "I might see you as a very thin, very cute, tiny version of a Beluga Whale."

"You're calling me a whale, Blaine."

"A thin whale."

"I can't decide whether to slap you, or kiss you because that was oddly adorable..."

Blaine smiled, "You get very honest at night, Kurt," he observed.

"...I should probably go with the latter," Kurt continued.

"Even if did call you 'whale' in a bad way, you called me the Cheshire Cat tonight, so I think we're even."

"The Cheshire Cat is adorable, though."

"You're on drugs, aren't you?" Blaine asked, moving back to look Kurt in the eyes.

"But you're adorable, so that means the Cheshire Cat has to be adorable."

"Fine, then you're a pretty Beluga Whale."

"Thank you, charming Cheshire Cat."

"That seriously makes me cringe."

Kurt smiled back triumphantly. "As does 'Beluga Whale'."

Blaine smiled back, "Then it's settled, Beluga Whale." He moved his head forward, kissing Kurt sweetly on the lips.

"Ohhh Cheshire Cat!" Kurt moaned, a second after their lips had disconnected.

"Oh god, no. Truce, Kurt, truce. I won't call you 'Beluga Whale'."

Kurt smiled, pressing his lips against the dark haired man's one more time before closing his eyes. "Goodnight, Blaine."

"Kurt?" Burt's voice called from outside my door. I sat up, quickly wiping a few stray tears with my sleeve.

"Yeah?"

My dad walked in, a set of keys in his hand a confused look on his face. "This was in our mailbox this morning," he said, tossing the keys onto my bed.

They were my keys, and there was also a note that was rolled up into the loop of one of my decorative key chains. My heart began to speed up as I pulled it from the metal and unfolded it.

Kurt,
I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess.
I'm sorry for making you lie.
I'm sorry for any feelings I may have caused.
I'm sorry for temporarily stealing Jackie's car.
-Blaine

I stared at my blanket in distress, then looked towards my dad.

"You mind telling me what the hell is going on, Kurt?"