Prom was more than Kurt had dreamed of since he turned eleven. Before that, he'd still had his daydreams of dancing with a wonderful boy amongst all of the other couples, eating fruit snacks between songs, and sharing one super long gummy worm like Lady and the Tramp. Only one of those things still made Kurt's list, and he was amazed to actually get the chance. From the moment they arrived until the moment the king and queen were announced, Kurt stayed planted in Blaine's arms.

"I love you," Kurt breathed as they swayed to the final song of the night. Blaine nuzzled in against his neck and Kurt's skin sang at the contact. He loved that feeling, how sensitive just a slight brush made him feel. This was home, right here in Blaine's arms was unlike anything he had ever had and ever would have again. But in a few weeks, it would be gone.

Blaine kissed his neck. "I love you, too. So much."

Everyone around them started clapping as the song finished. For a few moments longer, they swayed together, until Finn and Sam dragged them away for after-prom dinner. Kurt zoned out for a lot of it. Little glimpses skipped by for Kurt; Blaine's hand on his thigh, a kiss on his cheek, Rachel and Finn laughing and then blushing when their eyes met. But nothing seemed to cling to him anymore.

Time was gushing in and out and everywhere Kurt wished it wouldn't. Soon prom night was over, then he woke up with Blaine cuddled up behind him. Another day, then a week slipped through his sights with longer hugs and slower kisses. They were memorizing without speaking and Kurt felt sick in the pit of his belly the further into June they stumbled.

Two days before the seventeenth as they arched and panted into each other's mouths, Kurt broke. He came with tears on his cheeks and a sob ebbing away in his throat. Blaine wasn't much better as they sunk down into the covers and clutched each other tightly.

"Shh, it's–I'm still here." Blaine kissed his forehead and held him so tightly to his chest Kurt thought he might split in half. He hoped he would. Life wouldn't be anything worthwhile without Blaine to share it with anymore.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry," Kurt gasped weakly. He pressed his face into Blaine's neck and sniffled. "Two days. That's all we have left. Why can't we just go back to how things were a few months ago and stay there?"

Blaine was quiet, rubbing his hands over Kurt's slick back until his tears slowed. It was only when Kurt sat back that he saw the tears on Blaine's eyelashes. Blaine tried to smile, but it fell before it reached his lips.

"I've been trying not to say anything. I know this is hard for you, too, and I'm just making it harder by crying," Kurt started to apologize. Blaine shushed him quickly.

"No, don't. Nothing is going to make this easier for us, okay? But being quiet about it only hurts us more," Blaine said. He wiped his eyes and nearly choked on Kurt's diving kiss. "Love you, too."

"There's proof of that on your belly," Kurt teased. He sniffed and turned around to sit between Blaine's bare legs as Blaine wiped his stomach off. "I'm scared about how much I'm going to miss you on Saturday. I already miss you more than I've miss anyone before."

"I am too," Blaine said. He wrapped his arms around Kurt's chest and held on tight. "I don't even care if I complete this mission anymore. I just want to stay here with you, have a second chance–a real chance–at a life. College in New York, beating you to a proposal, our wedding, and babies. Lots of babies and kittens."

"A dozen," Kurt said with certainty. "I want a dozen with your eyes."

Blaine laughed a little and pressed his face into the curve of Kurt's shoulder. "You do not. You'd strangle at least six of them."

"That's–well–okay, a dozen is pushing it," Kurt admitted.

"That's shattering it, even for my time," Blaine said. Kurt turned his face to argue and Blaine kissed him roughly. For a long moment, Kurt moved his lips, tried to capture that taste and texture and the brush of cinnamon that always lingered on Blaine's lips from who knew where. When they broke apart Kurt breathed deeply.

"I love kissing you," Blaine said quietly. "I love everything there is about you."

"You ought to be more careful," Kurt said. "You're in love with a boy who's in love with a dead man."

"There's nothing else I'd rather be." Blaine leaned back into the pillows, Kurt slumping back against his chest as their tears dried. "I was thinking we could skip tomorrow, spend the day together and then the same on Friday."

"We can't skip the last day, it'll look weird," Kurt said. "I think they have some sort of weird attendance policy about the last day, anyway. It's only a few hours, then we can–we'll spend the day together."

"Right, yeah. Every minute," Blaine agreed. "How about dinner? At that fancy place across town."

"Okay," Kurt said. "I've been wanting to try their shrimp for awhile now."

Thursday whipped by them. They slept in, spent the morning in bed with the house to themselves, and then cooked dinner for everyone. It was quiet for a Thursday. Even Finn wasn't gesturing wildly as he talked them through his latest sports practice. He might even be finished for the year. Kurt wasn't sure of much beyond the scope of himself and Blaine right now.

After they ate, Carole pulled Blaine into a tight embrace and refused to let go for almost ten minutes. Eventually Finn pried her off and left them alone to watch a Reds game with Burt. From what Kurt could see, Burt wasn't faring much better, but he was quieter about it. As Blaine watched the game, Kurt watched his dad stare at each of them until his eyes gleamed. It was hard enough having to face this on his own, but watching everyone else do it made it worse. Especially when Kurt caught them watching him.

"Let's go to bed," Kurt suggested at the seventh inning stretch. "I can't–"

Blaine nodded like he'd been watching Burt, too. They got up, said their goodnights, and curled up in bed together. For a while they talked about what they wanted to do after their last classes tomorrow morning, then fell silent. Kurt tried to convince himself that Blaine had fallen asleep, but neither of them slept that night. Shortly after sunrise, they helped each other out of bed, showered, and headed to school.

Kurt had always heard moments like this were like a dream, but this was no dream. Dreams always felt real until they ended and you woke up and deflated. Maybe it would be like that tomorrow, but for now it was like a blunt ax in the face. Hard, sharp, too tangible to be his life. They went to their first class together, then their second and last. Everyone was in this period since it was choir; it was such a pointless day. Two classes, both shortened, only so the county could say they'd met their required number of school days for the year.

Around the choir room, little groups burst into song. There were jokes and laughter and Kurt wished he could remember how to join in. How could they all be so happy when Blaine had hours left? But nobody carried that horror with them like he did. Nobody got it, not even Blaine. What was there to look forward to anymore? Summer was just going to be a false seal over his heart.

The bell rang. Everyone rushed the door in their hurry to get to the pool, the beach, anywhere but here.

At the doorway, Blaine had latched onto Sam. Kurt met them slowly.

"Hey, I'll see you tomorrow, doofus. We're all going to play baseball at the park across town," Sam was saying. He caught sight of Kurt and raised his eyebrows. Kurt didn't answer. "You can both play, you know. This isn't, like, goodbye or something. It's summer. We'll see each other even more."

Blaine extracted himself carefully and sniffed. He was trying not to cry and Kurt couldn't bare it. None of this was fair. As Blaine tugged Mercedes and then Puck into tight hugs, Kurt watched. That was all he could do, all he'd been able to do this whole time. After this it would be his life. For years, he would watch everyone else fall in love, maybe get married, have children, be the happiest they'd ever know how. But for him, that moment was passing. In a few blinks, it would be gone.

"Bye! We'll see you tomorrow!"

Kurt waved the pair off at Blaine's side. He thought he'd feel numb today, but his skin felt like it was stung, little pricks and zaps traveling over his body. Blaine slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled his watch out. Kurt couldn't bear to look, but he didn't need to.

"Eight hours, thirty–thirty-four minutes." Blaine swallowed and groped for his hand. Kurt latched on quickly as they headed outside. "Let's do lunch instead. Then we don't have to worry about the dinner crowd–"

Kurt's phone rang just as they reached the parking lot. He had half a mind not to answer, but it was his dad's ringtone.

"Hi, Dad."

"Kurt, it's Carole."

He frowned and stopped right beside his car. "Carole? Did Dad forget his phone again? We can take it to him."

"No, it's not– Kurt, we're at the hospital," Carole said slowly. "He's back with a doctor now."

His chest froze solid at her words. "He's with–is he okay? Please, tell me he's fine."

"Kurt?" Blaine's hand clutched his shoulder.

"He had chest pains when he woke up," Carole said. "This is not like last time, okay? But–"

"We'll be there soon." Kurt hung up and unlocked his car.

Blaine climbed in without a word, and despite the frown on his face, he got it. There was only one person that conversation could have been about and Blaine's only word was to reach for Kurt's hand as they pulled out of the parking lot.

The hospital was in chaos when they arrived. From what Blaine could gather as Kurt plowed through, there'd been some sort of pile up a few miles east along the highway. As they darted around people rushing beds in all directions, Blaine tried not to memorize some of the bloody faces. How many of them would he see in only a few hours? He glanced at the clock on the wall and swallowed. Seven hours and fifty-one minutes.

On the fourth floor, everything was relatively quiet. Kurt bustled to the main desk and was directed to Burt's room.

"I'm sure he's fine," Blaine said as they galloped down the hallway. "He's tough."

"His heart isn't," Kurt said, but he deflated as he stopped in the doorway of room 447. Burt was sitting up, in his own clothes, looking tired but otherwise fine.

"Look, I'm fine," Burt was saying as the doctor insisted he keep his shirt unbuttoned. " It was just some twinges."

"Dad, shut up, and do what she wants you to do."

Everyone glanced at Kurt, even Blaine. This was too much, on top of everything else today meant.

Burt looked between them for a moment and sighed. "All right, for you. But this is pointless."

"Burt, it can't hurt to keep you in for a few hours just to be sure," Carole said, and by her tone Blaine was certain it was dozenth time she'd said it. "You'd rather be here where there's immediate help if this is something big."

Kurt took a seat by Carole as Burt reluctantly changed out of his shirt and into a hospital gown. The doctor did a few tests, then left to get a nurse to run an IV and a monitor for his heart. But the nurse didn't show up. They sat there for well over an hour before someone came in, and it wasn't good news. They were backed up the emergency room, and until everything slowed down, it was going to be a while.

Blaine sat tense and nervous beside Kurt. His last few hours were going to be spent in a hospital. Funny how that happened this time around, though it wasn't even for him. It never had before.

"Our dinner date," Kurt said quietly as Carole sat on the bed with Burt and tried to relax him. "We're going to miss it."

"It's fine," Blaine said. "We've had lots of dinner dates. We'll– we can go get ice cream before..."

He let his words trickle off as Kurt looked away. There were tears in his eyes that Blaine didn't need to see to know. Why was Time so linear here? Couldn't it just expand, just this once, for them? It was a selfish thought, but Blaine let himself cling to it for a few moments.

"Hey, why don't we go down to the cafeteria instead?" Blaine suggested. He took Kurt's hand and kissed his knuckles. "We can sit at one of the tables in the corner and make out like a couple of teenagers."

"We are a couple of teenagers," Kurt sniffled. He wiped his eyes and looked at Blaine with a soft smile.

"Then we ought to act like it," Blaine said. "Carole? We're going to go get something to eat downstairs. Do you want anything?"

Downstairs, it was quieter, but still very busy. Kurt and Blaine dodged down the hallway to the cafeteria and grabbed a couple of sandwiches, two for them and another for Carole. They hid away in a corner and ate, chairs tucked together, arms linked with Kurt's head on Blaine's shoulder.

"Five hours," Kurt said, eyeing the time display on his phone. "This isn't how I wanted to say goodbye."

"Me either," Blaine agreed. He kissed Kurt's forehead and ate the last bite of his sandwich. A dry ham and cheese sub with wilted lettuce. That was going to be the last thing he ever ate, wasn't it? Here or Between or elsewhere. Blaine swallowed and it tasted like carpet. Rough and clingy and not at all filling. "Kurt? I, um, I want to go back to where... to the parking lot right before its time."

"Back there? But why?" Kurt sat up and stared at him. It wasn't a kind look, but it wasn't snarling either.

"It just feels right," Blaine said slowly. "That place has haunted me for so long. I've always come back there for these long jumps, it's a part of me, that spot. I guess I just want to give myself a chance to see it without that day turning it red."

"But–I mean, that makes sense," Kurt said, "but my dad–"

"I want you to stay here," Blaine added carefully. "With him and Carole. That's where you belong, Kurt. Not chasing after someone who isn't real anymore."

"But you are real," Kurt almost snarled. "You're mine, you're–I want to be there with you."

"Kurt," Blaine started, but he was cut off by Kurt's tears and his fist hitting the table.

"No! I am going to be right by your side for this," Kurt insisted. "If these are your last moments ever, then I'm going to be right there to hold you through whatever happens."

"And I can't let you do that," Blaine argued. "No, Kurt, listen. I don't know how this is going to end, okay? I might get run over or shot or hit by a train. I don't know how this is going to end, and I can't let you risk your own life for this."

"For us, you mean," Kurt snapped. He took a deep breath and let Blaine's arms guide him back against his side. "I don't want to say goodbye until I don't have a choice."

"And for us, there's not much left. No matter how much we dream, Kurt, this is it." Blaine wiped the tears off his own face and sighed. "I don't want you to see whatever happens. I don't want to have to worry that you're still down here and hurt because of me."

"I'm already hurt," Kurt said. It was like a reflex, and the whiplash of it hit Blaine before he could blink. There was no way around hurting each other anymore. Maybe there never had been. "Okay, I'll–we'll say goodbye here."

"Okay, I'll take the bus back across town in a few hours."

"No, just take my car," Kurt said. He sat up and tugged his keys out of his pocket. "Here, don't crash, okay?"

"I won't."

Back upstairs, Burt had been given an IV and a heart monitor. The nurse was just finishing a blood draw when they shuffled in.

"Here's your sandwich. It's a little dry, but." Blaine offered her the bag.

"Ham and cheese? That one's always dry," Carole said as she took it and unwrapped it. "I think it's the ham they use."

The nurse left them alone with a promise to return soon. Burt sat up a little and stared over at the three of them.

"How much longer, kiddo?"

Blaine's stomach wriggled at the reminder and the three pairs of eyes on him. He pulled his pocket watch loose. "About three. Sometimes it's right on time, other times its early."

"Can it be late?" Kurt asked hopefully.

"It never has been before," Blaine said. He put his watch away and looked at each of them slowly. In a few hours, he would never see these faces again. Only in his memories, in the moments that were already fading into each other and into nothing but ideas. "I should go soon," he said quietly. "I want a little time to just be there."

"You aren't staying here?"

Blaine glanced over at Burt and nodded. "I don't know how this is going to happen this time and I'd rather it just be me so nobody else is hurt."

For a moment he thought Burt was going to argue, but he didn't. He only nodded and motioned him over to the bed.

"Come here," Burt said as Blaine sat down. "This wasn't how this was supposed to go."

"Nothing is how it's supposed to go," Blaine countered. Burt tugged him in for a tight hug and Blaine started crying. He'd never have a hug like this again; a father who loved him without pause.

"You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to my kid," Burt said in his ear. "I'm going to miss the hell out of you, but I am not going to let anything happen to him after you're gone, okay? You go find your peace now and someday we'll see you again."

Blaine took a shaky breath as he peeled himself out of Burt's embrace. This was so wrong. Why did he have to leave the best home he'd ever known?

"You're the best dad I've ever met," Blaine said lamely. "If I could, I'd be just like you someday."

"You just keep being yourself, and you'll be all right."

Carole scooped him into her arms next. There were no words with her, just tears on his shirt and neck and a lot of sniffling. She stretched up on her toes and kissed his forehead just as Finn rumbled into the room.

"I just got your message, Mom. We had the Play Station on and the volume all the way up and–oh. Is it time for you to leave already?" Finn stared at him for a long moment and then at Kurt. "But don't you get more time because you two love each other? That's how it works in the movies, right?"

Blaine didn't even bother asking how Finn had figured it out. The hints had been there for months now. "Movies aren't real life. Well, a handful are, but mostly this is what there is." He raised his arms at himself and was knocked back into the wall by Finn's diving hug.

"Be safe, okay?" Finn said as he stepped back. "Well, does it matter since you're dead? Just, uh, good luck, I guess."

"Thanks." Blaine gave him another tight hug until Finn lifted him off his feet. They were both laughing when he was set down again, but when Blaine looked at Kurt, his last laugh caught in his throat. How could he say goodbye to Kurt? Why did he even have to?

Kurt didn't say anything as he rushed into Blaine's arms. He wasn't crying like Carole or sniffling like his dad. His body was shaking in little earthquakes and fits that made Blaine want to vomit. The pit of his stomach felt like it was being carved out and everything was falling through it, through him, through what they'd found together since September.

"I miss you already," Kurt whispered in his ear. "Sometimes, I think I've missed you since that first day we met. I don't–why can't you stay?"

Blaine shivered, his throat closing up and the tendons in his neck tight. "I want to, I want us and life and you so much. I'm sorry."

For the first time, Kurt didn't tell him not to be. It was almost nice to be allowed that second of acceptance for the guilt that always nagged at him. As much as they'd agreed to let themselves be, it hadn't stopped that and for one moment, Kurt gave him that apology without knocking it down.

"I love you," Kurt said quietly. He leaned back to look at him. His eyes swept Blaine's face, but there were still no tears there, just a trembling lip and shaky breaths. "I'll be okay. Don't worry about me, all right?"

Blaine smiled slightly and shook his head. "I couldn't stop even if I wanted to, you know that right? God, I don't even know if I'll still exist after–I have no idea if I got any of this right. But it doesn't matter. I found you and there's nothing wrong about us."

Some of Kurt's trembling stopped when Blaine pressed his lips to Kurt's. They stood there for what felt like a lifetime, arms tight, lips molded together and then Blaine tasted the salt. The tears were falling, but whether they were his or Kurt's, he didn't know. Kurt eased back for a breath and their foreheads pressed together.

"I love you," Blaine said. He didn't know what else to say now. Nothing could make either of them feel better about this and nothing was going to solve any of the problems ticking towards them.

"I love you, too. Only you."

They kissed again, softly and more shakily. Blaine stepped back first. One step, then two, then a third that made Kurt's arms fall away from his shoulders. His hand clutched the doorknob behind him as he looked over each face one last time.

Burt, in his hospital gown and bed, and Blaine could only hope everything was all right with him, that this wasn't a sign of someone joining him in two hours.

Carole with her arms tight around herself and her eyes sparkling with tears. She'd done so much and Blaine couldn't figure out how to form any of his love for her into words.

Then Finn, awkwardly huge and frowning like he still didn't quite understand any of this. But he wasn't stupid for that. Blaine wasn't sure if he got any of this either because leaving had never hurt him or anyone living so much before.

Kurt looked too much like he had that first day at McKinley. Yet somehow, he was nothing like him at all, too. Blaine took in the sharper line of his face, the slightly longer jaw, and how strong and stiff his shoulder had become. He was still that little boy–Blaine could see it in the freckles sprinkled over his nose–and Blaine hoped that little frown wouldn't come back once he left for good.

"G-goodbye," Blaine said softly as he pushed the door open. "It's been–thanks. For everything."

The door shut loudly behind him and Blaine hurried away. If he stayed, he'd hear Kurt break down and then he'd never leave. Trying to explain whatever would happen to him while he was in a hospital would be nearly impossible. He left the hospital at a run, bolted into the parking lot and then fumbled through opening Kurt's car. Once, a long time ago, he'd taken driving lessons, but it had been so many years since then that he didn't remembered much of it.

Blaine checked the clock on the dashboard before he pulled out. An hour and a half. Forty of that would be spent getting back to McKinley, maybe more because of the pile up from earlier. He put the car into park and drove, out of the hospital's district and then onto the highway. It was a rough ride and Blaine almost wished he had let Kurt come. He had no business operating a car, and it showed.

Forty-five hectic minutes later, Blaine eased the car into several parking spaces at McKinley and shut it off. He was shaking, both from the drive and the clock. Less than an hour and he would never see this world again. For the first time ever, he didn't want to say goodbye.

The evening air was cool on his face as he climbed out. Somehow, he'd managed to turn the heat on in the car while trying to flip to the air conditioning. As his sweat cooled, Blaine locked the car with the key and then stared at it. Should he leave it in the car, unlocked? Under the tire? He decided to leave it inside, under the seat. Kurt would figure it out. Or Carole. Whoever came to get it later tonight or tomorrow.

It was quiet all around him. No other cars, no practices on the fields, not even traffic on the road on the other side of the metal-link fence. Blaine took a few paces along the back side of the lot, his eyes lingering on the tarred in pothole ten feet away. His chest still got sore when he looked at it, but it was more reflexive than the sharp, gasping throb it had been.

As Blaine sat down at the edge of the hole, he realized he must look ridiculous. Nobody came to a high school parking lot at sundown to sit by himself in a parking space. Blaine ran his fingers over the tar. It was still smooth, a few years old at most. Maybe a repaving on an older fill in. But nothing sent terror zapping through his limbs, nothing made him want to look away and run anymore.

Lee was still here in this space with him; so were the other boys and the kids from his graduating class. His grandfather was here, with his stony looks and harsher words. Grandma April even popped up for a few seconds. Everything from that life was right here, all bundled up and tucked under the tar. This was all that was left of his old life, but it was quiet now; gentler. None of that would ever leave him, but none of it had to hold him back anymore. It was time to say goodbye.

"I'm ready," Blaine said quietly as he touched the spot once more. It was still hard, but it was soothing, too. "I'm not scared anymore. Not of this at least."

Yet he still shivered with nerves. Kurt was without him, left with a broken heart while Blaine went away. Would he go Beyond now? Or had he failed? Blaine sat his pocket watch on his lap and clicked it open. Twenty-one minutes.

He watched the second hand slowly ease towards the four on his watch dial. Twenty minutes until goodbye. Only there was nobody left to say goodbye to.

There was a sudden squeal of tires on pavement. A second later, Finn's rumbling little station wagon careened into the lot and pulled in next to Kurt's car. Blaine stood up, confused. What was Finn doing here?

Then Kurt climbed out of the car and dashed into his arms.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he babbled against Blaine's neck. Blaine only hugged back on reflex. "I know I shouldn't be here. I know I promised, but I–do we really have to say goodbye?"

Blaine breathed deeply, took in that scent of jasmine and vanilla and what he could only called home. But his mind was buzzing with fear, too. Kurt shouldn't be here. He shouldn't see what was going to happen–whatever it was this time–and he might even get injured.

"You shouldn't be here," Blaine said softly. Kurt pulled back and wiped his eyes and Blaine's chest constricted. "It's not that I don't w-want you here, but if you get hurt–"

"I'll leave, I will," Kurt said. Then he pressed back in and captured Blaine's lips with his.

Blaine only breathed, his jaw relaxed and let Kurt's tongue dip in. They hadn't kissed like this back in Burt's hospital room. As open and supportive as Burt and Carole were, it hadn't felt right to be so passionate. Kurt's arms tightened around Blaine's neck as he pressed closer, until Blaine's head was tilted up and back and he was clutching Kurt's hips.

"I missed you," Kurt whispered when they broke apart. "You were only gone for an hour and..." Kurt sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "I just wanted to see you again, but I'll go, okay? I know it's almost time."

Blaine glanced at the watch still open in his fist. Eleven minutes. Probably less if the other times were anything to go off of.

"You're, um, the keys are under the driver's seat for when..."

"Okay," Kurt said. He took a deep breathed, but didn't step back. Instead he stared at Blaine, his eyes tracing over his cheeks, eyes, mouth, jaw. Like he was memorizing the same way Blaine had been for weeks. "You're my best friend, you know that? Don't tell Mercedes, but you are."

Blaine laughed a little even though it felt hollow and rough in his throat. "You're mine, too, but you can tell Sam that. It'll be fun to watch him pout." He pulled Kurt back into a hug and kissed his neck, below his earlobe, his jaw. "I love you so much. I'm sorry I can't say that to you every day until we're old."

"It's fine," Kurt said weakly. "It's–you've said it enough for me to hear it on my own."

On my own. The thought was like a gash right through Blaine's torso. It would be Kurt now. He had his dad and Carole and his friends, but what would happen to him beyond today? It scared Blaine more than anything that he might never find out how Kurt dealt with this.

"I love you," Kurt said. "I'll go. Just... get in the car a-and drive back home. My dad's going to be fine. He was getting discharged when I left. He wanted to let you know."

Kurt continued to babble and Blaine only held him. Pulled him close and ignored the part of his mind bellowing to get Kurt away from here. There were minutes left, maybe only seconds, and then something awful would happen. He hoped it would only happen to him.

"Kurt, shh, let's get you to the car, okay?"

"Right, r-right." Kurt backed up, stumbled a little over rocks and pebbles. He stood at the trunk of his car and only watched and Blaine realized he wasn't leaving. Not until this was over. How could he when they would never see each other again?

Blaine looked at his watch and shivered. Time was up. Nine months and two weeks were behind him, but he was still here. He swallowed and pulled his phone out next. Three minutes past when he should have left. That wasn't right.

"Is it time?" Kurt's shaky voice called.

"No," Blaine said uncertainly. "It's–what time does your watch have?"

"Um, nine forty-nine," Kurt said. He took a few steps back towards Blaine."Maybe my phone's fast."

"No," Blaine said as he stared at the face of his pocket watch. "It's past time. That–this doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe, maybe you get to stay," Kurt said breathlessly. "It's never been late before and–what if you don't have to leave? We could–"

A Bon Jovi song started playing from Finn's car. The ringtone for when Burt called. Kurt hesitated, leapt forward to kiss Blaine quickly and then dashed towards the car to answer it. Blaine turned away towards the fence and shook his pocket watch. This wasn't right. What was the hold up? It wasn't that he wanted to go back, but something was definitely not right about this.

"Dad? No, I'm fine. Blaine's still here! He's–"

A horn blared, and then a fierce light bowed towards Blaine. Kurt screamed and it was only his voice that made Blaine turn and avoid getting hit dead on by the car. It had appeared so suddenly, blasting through the fence blocking the parking lot from the road, that Blaine had no warning. It clipped his right side, right along his chest and arm and the scar that still blazed red against his skin.

"...Blaine? Please, please, stay with me. Blaine? Please wake up?"

The moon was blooming in the sky overhead. At least, Blaine was pretty sure it was the moon. Everything was blurred and his chest felt caved in. Kurt was leaning over him, his phone to his ear and one hand stroking Blaine's face.

"Kurt?" His voice came out wheezy and slurred. "What's–"

His vision grew dim then, like a fog was falling all around him.

"Yes, my boyfriend's been hit by a car. We're at McKinley High..."

"Kurt?"

Still, something was wrong. Blaine could feel it in his numb arm and the pain radiating from his chest. He could breathe; his lung wasn't submerged in his own fluids.

"It's not–Kurt, I'm–"

"Blaine? Blaine!"

His head was swimming now. Everything was rushing up around him. Pops of light, splatters of sound, inside his own skull or maybe around him. Then everything stopped at once. Blaine felt the carpet in his hands, the rough texture of the floor under him and against his back. But even as he blinked his eyes open, everything still ached. It was still fuzzy and almost crooked, like his sight was a painting hanging lopsided on the wall.

"Blaine? Bud, come on."

His grandfather. That was his voice, wasn't it?

It came back in such a rush then. Despite the pain and the aching in his body, the sight of his grandfather and Thomas standing before him brought it all back. He was in a room much like the one he'd first woken up in here, only this one was cleaner.

"K-Kurt? Where's–I know I messed up. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have given in to any of it," Blaine rambled as tears started down his cheeks. "I didn't mean to fall in love and you can punish me or whatever you want, but I can't–just let me see him."

"Blaine, it's all right–"

"No! I-I'm sorry I fell in love–"

"Don't ever apologize for that," his grandfather said as he cupped Blaine's face, "because falling in love was exactly what you were supposed to do."