When Blaine woke up it was still dark, but he could hear birds chirping. It must be morning, he thought. He shifted, causing the bed to creak. Blaine ignored it and snuggled back up into the blankets.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that he was back at home in his own bed. It was comforting, and Blaine felt the tense muscles in his back start to relax. He was just about to drift back off to sleep when the smell of frying bacon alerted his senses.

Would Kurt and Rachel let him stay for breakfast? He was almost afraid to ask; worried that he would be overstaying his welcome. But Blaine was a teenage boy, an underfed teenage boy, and this time his stomach overpowered any of his thoughts.

Blaine quickly slid out of the bed and put on a pair of socks before walking out of the room, still in his pyjamas.

He followed the scent down the hall until he came to a little common room with a kitchen and a few couches. One of those couches was occupied by Kurt, who was reading some magazine. Rachel was by the stove, cooking what smelled like bacon and eggs.

Blaine's stomach growled loudly. Kurt must have heard it because he looked up from what he was reading and giggled at Blaine, who was blushing heavily. After a moment though, Kurt seemed to remember the situation and the icy look returned to his eyes.

"Rachel, he's awake."

Rachel turned around with a large smile on her face. "Blaine, good morning! I'm making breakfast, you're welcome to stay and eat."

Blaine let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded, relieved that Rachel had offered for him to stay. The food really did smell delicious.

He remained silent as Rachel divided the food onto three plates. Along with the bacon and eggs, there was also toast with butter. Blaine's stomach growled again as he took in the sight. This was the first full meal he had eaten in a while, and he wasn't planning on letting any of it go to waste.

The three of them sat down at a small wooden table and began to eat their meals. Kurt and Rachel took small bites, and stopped to chat a few times throughout. Blaine, on the other hand, barely left time to breathe as he shovelled forkfuls of scrambled eggs into his mouth. He knew he must have looked like a pig, but he couldn't help it. He was starving.

"Blaine, do you like coffee? I'm about to brew some for Kurt and I, and if you'd like I can make some for you too." Rachel asked, and Blaine swallowed a mouthful of toast before answering her.

"God, yes. I'd love to have some, if it isn't too much trouble."

Rachel giggled and turned on the kettle.

The rest of the morning flew by in an instant, and Blaine kept finding himself wanting to stay in the abandoned university. It was warm and comfortable, with running water and food, and Blaine had even made a friend.

The only problem was Kurt.

The boy showed an obvious resentment towards Blaine, and to be honest it made him feel a little uncomfortable. Kurt seemed nice enough when he was talking to Rachel, and she obviously thought of him as a wonderful person, so was it only Blaine that made him act like this?

Yes, Blaine would have loved to stay, but staying in someone else's home? That was something that he couldn't do without feeling extremely guilty.

Which was why Blaine was in his room, packing away his stuff.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

As soon as the door opened Blaine knew it was Rachel, because she began talking right away.

"So you're leaving?" She didn't try to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"Yeah." Blaine replied simply.

"You could get killed out there."

Blaine hummed in agreement as he folded up the pyjama pants and put them in the bag. He was startled when a hairbrush came hurtling by his head. It came from Rachel's direction.

"Blaine, are you even listening to me? You could die out there, and it's dangerous on you own. So why leave?" Blaine remained silent. "Is it because of Kurt?"

Blaine sighed and sat down on his bed, momentarily forgetting about the half-empty bag that needed packing. "Maybe?"

Rachel glared at him.

"Okay, yeah, it is. I'm sorry, I know he's your friend and I'm sure he's a nice guy, but... I know that he doesn't want me here and I don't want to mess up his life any more. His father's missing; he's going through a tough time."

"You're going through a tough time, too."

Blaine stuttered through his reply. "Um--no, actually, I... Wait, can you like, read my mind or something?"

Rachel laughed. "No, I can just tell. You're travelling alone. It must be for a reason."

"Maybe I just like being alone?"

Rachel shook her head. "You don't. You said you came here because you were lonely."

Blaine just stared at her. "Man, you're observant."

"Anyway, my point is that most of our lives are crumbling to pieces right now, and that it might be easier if we stuck together. We're staying here for five more days. You stay with us for that, and then when we leave, we can part ways if that's still what you want. But you'll always be welcome to stick with us." Rachel stuck out her hand. "Deal?"

Blaine shook his head a little, but smiled at the ever-so-persistent girl. "Deal."

"So, tell me about yourself."

Blaine and Rachel were sitting in the front lobby on lookout while Kurt was visiting a nearby grocery market to restock their supplies.

The question caught Blaine off guard. "Um..."

Rachel smiled at him knowingly. "You're uncomfortable. Here, I'll go first."

Before Blaine could say anything, Rachel had shifted in her chair and began to speak.

"I'm from Lima, where I went to high school with Kurt. When we graduated we both moved to New York. I went to medical school, and Kurt went to Parsons."

"Kurt's a designer?" Blaine didn't know where the question came from; it just sort of popped out.

"Yeah, he studied fashion for two years before the epidemic struck. He was pretty good at it, too! Though you wouldn't be able to tell, lately he's mostly just been wearing t-shirts and jeans..."

Blaine nodded, before continuing on with his questions. "And you went to medical school, huh?"

"Yeah! I was training to be a cancer researcher. I was only a student for two years, but when they thought that the cure had gone wrong, they made everyone--student or not--contribute to the effort and study the virus. The plan went horribly wrong when we found out it was contagious and half of the doctors went mad..."

"You were a part of the research team? So you must know a bit about how the virus was spread."

"Well, yes, but only a little bit. It's spread through the interaction of bodily fluids, like blood or saliva--"

"My--my brother got it from kissing his girlfriend; she was given the treatment. He...killed himself before he could hurt anyone..." Blaine trailed off quietly.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Rachel reached over and laid a hand on Blaine's shoulder.

"Hate to kill the moment, but I'm back. And I brought alcohol."

The two whipped around to see Kurt standing there with two bags of what seemed like groceries in one hand, and a case of beer in the other. The usual scowl was gone from his face; in place of it a triumphant grin. The smile faltered a bit when his eyes caught Blaine's, but he continued to speak in a happy voice.

"The rest is in the car. I figured we could have a sort of party tonight. I know we both need it, Rach. And by the sounds of it, so does Scruffy over here."

Blaine grunted and self-consciously rubbed his hand over his chin. He hated to say it, but Kurt was right. Blaine hadn't shaved in over a week, and a beard was starting to grow in. He took note to remind himself to shave later.

Rachel turned towards him with a smile on her face. "You want to join us for a few drinks, Blaine? It's going to be fun!"

Blaine looked at Kurt for a second (he didn't seem nearly as angry as he usually did--probably because he found alcohol) and then back to Rachel before replying.

"I'd love to."