Kurt hadn't let his Dad sit with him in the airport after he dropped him off that morning. If there was one person who hated goodbyes more than he did, it was his father, and seeing him cry would probably crumble Kurt's already weak resolve.

He felt like he needed Rachel right now. She would no doubt have some sort of method of making him feel better or convince him that this was the right decision to make. For that brief moment he regretted deciding to stay back a week longer in Lima and join Rachel in their tiny New York apartment a little later. He figured the longer he had with his family and with Blaine, the easier it would be. He was wrong.

As much as Kurt knew that the goodbyes would be hard and heartbreaking, he had in fact hoped that the excitement of getting accepted into one of the most competitive schools in the country would outweigh the loneliness of sitting in a relatively empty airport coffee shop, drinking a Grande non fat mocha with no medium drip sitting opposite him. He knew that everyone hurt when they parted ways with people they loved for a long time, when they left for college, for jobs, to follow their dreams, but he couldn't understand why he wasn't feeling any kind of relief from the weight pressing down on his chest that made him want to curl up under the table and cry. He hadn't felt this way since the days when Karofsky would push him with full force against his locker and he would wait helplessly on the floor hoping that someone would help him up. That's how he felt at the moment. Helpless.

This is what Kurt had been most terrified of when leaving Lima. The doubts, the second thoughts that he was having right now. In the weeks leading up to his departure, all he had to do was picture his life as New Yorker where he would be able to be himself, act the way he would want and pursue his dream like he'd always wanted. His lifelong dream had always to get out of Lima, get out of a small town and hit the big city, become a star and live in the limelight. Of course it was still a dream of his, something he thought about every time he sang in the glee club, every time he stood on stage in the Mckinley auditorium, but he wondered if perhaps it was what he wanted the most right now. People have many dreams in their life, but surely some rank higher than others? Perhaps he had made himself believe that being a star in New York would make him the happiest man on earth, but of course... there was Blaine. And the dream that he had kept with him since he had been a teenager that came with Blaine- to be loved.

He couldn't get his and Blaine's last encounter out of his head. He had refused to let Blaine ride with him and Burt to the airport and said goodbye to him at the Hudmmel household instead. They had had a whole day together the day before he was due to leave, and all they had talked about was New York, as much as they both had wanted to avoid the topic.

*

Blaine held Kurt snugly in his arms on the bed as they finished up the last movie in their Disney marathon, Pocahontas. It wasn't until the ending that Kurt realised what a foolish choice that movie probably was to watch, considering, and tears started to roll down his cheeks silently. He didn't want Blaine to realise he was crying.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Blaine has some kind of sixth sense when it came to knowing when Kurt was upset, and he immediately sat up, bringing Kurt up with him and turned his boyfriend towards him, his eyes softening when he saw that they were wet and slightly red.

"M'sorry," Kurt said quietly, more tears escaping now he had stopped trying to keep them in.

"Hey, hey. Hey..." Blaine soothed, rubbing Kurt's tears away softly off his face, shushing him as he did. Blaine hated seeing Kurt cry. Out of all the sights in the world that made his stomach turn inside out at the thought that he couldn't do anything to help, this was the worst of them. Kurt's crying face just made him look like his heart was breaking in two right down the middle and that nothing on earth could make him smile again. What made these moments even worse for Blaine was the knowledge that his boyfriend had definitely made these faces many more times before he had come along and there had been no one there to pick him up.

Despite his best efforts to be the strong one for the both of them, Blaine's own eyes started to well up and before he had even realised it, he was crying as well, cupping Kurt's face in his hands and knowing that nothing needed to be said at that moment.

It was Kurt who broke the silence first, "How am I going to survive a year without you?" he asked, sounding pitiful and defeated "What if it's more than a year Blaine, what if you can't even join us next year, what I am going to do?"

Blaine shook his head and looked Kurt in the eye, a gesture that always seemed to make Kurt's heart lighter in the past- the direct eye contact. "Sweetheart... you are the bravest person I have ever met in my life. You won't even realise I'm not there because you will light up the entire city by just being you and you'll be so busy having the time of your life that you won't feel sad anymore, I promise."

And Kurt wanted to believe him so much, more than anything in the world. He wanted to be on Broadway so badly, but he couldn't face the idea of spending over a year without Blaine to do it.

"Blaine..." he started, his voice sounding smaller and more vulnerable by the second "I'm... I'm so frightened," he admitted, and that statement alone was enough to shatter his heart. "I just... I don't know what I'm going to do without you! I spent so long waiting for you and now I have you and it just seems like we've had no time, not time at all, and I just... oh my God I can't imagine not having you... Blaine..."

Blaine didn't even try to calm Kurt's ranting like he normally would when he got himself wound up seeing as he was trying to hold it together, so instead he just said, "I love you."

This seemed to calm Kurt down a little, like he just needed to be reminded of that and the underlying message that came with that statement that meant everything would be ok.

"I love you... more than I even thought was possible considering how clueless I was at the start," he continued, trying to hold his sobbing back "And if there's one thing I've learnt from being at Dalton while you were at McKinley is that, the ones you love... as long as you keep them in your heart, you take them wherever you go."

Kurt had kept Blaine in his heart from the moment they had met. But it wasn't the same. Even though he still hadn't left Ohio, none of it was the same. He needed to heart Blaine's laugh, he needed to see Blaine's eyes as they flirted and giggled over their obligatory morning coffee. These were the things that even his heart could not replicate, even though he loved Blaine more than he could ever express out loud.

But Blaine had said he could do this. Blaine thought he was strong! And Kurt was sure that Blaine would be so proud of him when he finally joined him in New York, even though it would be hell on earth surviving the year without him.

Kurt looked at the lonely cup of coffee in front of him, then at the till behind him. Feeling a little heavy on his feet, he got up and walked over to the slightly tired looking girl at the counter.

"Hi, could I please have a medium drip?" he asked, handing her the money, a little surprised at how horse and sad his voice was. The girl took the money from him with a smile and when she gave him the steaming hot coffee, Kurt walked back over to his table and placed the medium drip on the opposite side of the table.

"Kurt, I just want to ask you to do something for me," Blaine had continued, sounding all too serious for Kurt's liking and he wasn't sure if he liked where this was going. By the look on Blaine's face, Kurt knew that he had been wanting to say this for some time, and the fact that Blaine looked guilty was sending a horrible nervous feeling down Kurt's spine. "I want you to have the best years of your life at this college. I want you to be able to look back at these years and say that you didn't have any regrets," Blaine explained "And that's not going to happen... if all you're doing is thinking about me..." he said.

Kurt shook his head, too upset and too congested from weeping to make sense of his boyfriend "I don't understand," he said.

Blaine took a deep breath and just decided to get it over and done with, "I want you to be free to see other people." He wondered whether Kurt had caught the break in his voice as he spoke, but by the shocked look on his face, he figured he wasn't really paying attention.

"You..." Kurt tried to find some kind of response but it was like trying to find a response to someone who had spent the last five minutes talking to you in a different language. Once he actually took 30 seconds to realise what Blaine had actually said and all of a sudden he felt so hurt he could barely speak.

"You... you want to break up with me?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Blaine sighed and ducked his head down, feeling ashamed, but he shook his head before looking back up. "No, no that's not what I want to call it, because that implies that I don't want to be with you, and Kurt, it's what I want more than anything in my life." He reached out for Kurt's hands and took them in his own, the gesture so familiar that Kurt didn't even try to pull away even though he felt like sobbing at Blaine's confession.

"Then I don't understand... why..."

"... Because there is no way that I could say I love you without letting you go Kurt," Blaine said "It would be selfish of me to ask you to tie yourself down to me when we're states apart, and it would be cruel of me to not give you the opportunity to fall in love because you would feel guilty over cheating on me sweetheart," he explained, new tears now welling up in his eyes, but Blaine simply tensed his facial muscles to try to get to the end of this. "I'm not saying that I don't want to ever speak to you again Kurt... I'm not saying he have to break up... I just don't want you to feel like you have to deny yourself happiness for my sake. It's not fair, and it's not what I want. It's not what I've ever wanted."

Kurt suddenly felt a little ashamed that he could ever have thought that Blaine could have meant wrong by this idea, and even though he didn't like it at all, he took a moment to gaze at his boyfriend in awe at just how perfect and caring and loving he was and he couldn't believe that Blaine even existed.

"I'd wait for you..." Kurt said quietly, and it took him two tries to get it out as his crying had almost robbed him of the ability to speak. "I'd wait for you for the rest of my life, I..."

Blaine could almost have died from the hopeful and needy look on Kurt's face, so he just placed a finger on his lips and cupped the side of his face, "I know sweetheart, I know you would... but I don't want you to. You waited for me to realise I loved you, you waited to be able to be with me in the same school, and now you'd have to wait God knows how long to be able to be with me again." He took a shaky breath and continued "Sweetheart, I don't want you to spend your whole life waiting."

Kurt just ducked his head down, squeezing his eyes to keep from crying anymore, but he couldn't. Small, pitiful sounds were escaping his lips and instead of arguing with Blaine like he wanted to, he deciding on throwing his arms around him and climbing onto his boyfriend's lap and planting his head into Blaine's shoulder where it met his neck, like he was meant to sit there for the rest of his life.

Now that Kurt couldn't see his face, Blaine finally let tears and tears and tears spill from his eyes, but he tried his best to still stay quiet, stay strong.

"Kurt..." he muttered into his boyfriend's shoulder "If you promise me that you're going to forget about Lima, forget about the life you left behind and focus on your studies and live the life you always dreamt out in New York..." He paused for a moment before saying the next part "... and by the time I show up, I'm lucky enough that you're still single and still want me... I'm going to marry you."

Kurt ended up drinking both coffees feeling depressed and unhappy that the medium drip hadn't helped in making him like his boyfriend was still with him. He sluggishly took out his phone to see what the time was, annoyed that time till boarding couldn't move any faster so that he could just get on the plane, fly to New York and get on with living his dream that he knew would be amazing once he touched down in JFK. Instead, it seemed like time was almost battling against him, keeping him in the coffee shop and letting himself throw a pity party until he lost all the will to be excited about his new school, a fresh start, an amazing chance to enjoy life.

*

The next morning, Kurt had to wake up early, and had woken up to the feeling of Blaine dragging the backs of his fingers against his cheek, and oh God how could he possibly ever live without this!

Burt had graciously, not only let Blaine sleep over that night, but also let Kurt and Blaine snuggle together in Kurt's bed, finally understanding his son enough that he knew Kurt only craved intimacy with his boyfriend, not necessarily sex or even any kind of sexual contact. He was more than grateful, as Blaine's warm and strong arms around him the other night were the only thing that managed to get him to sleep in the end.

Before he knew it, Kurt was standing in the doorway of his house, suitcase by his feet and Blaine standing in front of him, as always, adorably just that bit shorter than Kurt.

It felt too much like their goodbye on the steps of McKinley all those months ago when Kurt had transferred to his old school. Only this time Kurt wouldn't be a two hour drive away. Blaine wouldn't see Kurt's face in person for over a year.

Kurt slowly wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, tears falling, again, unbidden from his eyes, and Burt and Carol looked like they were too, about to burst into tears at the look of pain on Kurt's face at leaving. The two of them left the hallway into the other room to let Kurt and Blaine say their final goodbyes.

As much as Blaine knew Kurt wouldn't judge him if he broke down crying like a baby, he refused to let himself cry in front of Kurt. He would sob for days to come after he left, but NOT now. He could be the strong one. He could be the strong one for Kurt's sake.

"I told you once I would never say goodbye to you and I meant it Blaine Warbler," Kurt whispered "This isn't over. This isn't it, do you hear me?"

They finally broke the hug and Blaine smiled a bittersweet smile at Kurt, not wanting to tell him that he was wrong, that Kurt would tire of waiting for him and that it wouldn't work out. But he wouldn't dash Kurt's hopes, not if they were making him happy for now, just for now.

"Oh God, I'm going to miss you," Kurt sobbed, his face screwing up again, and he looked down so Blaine didn't have to see him like this.

After a few seconds of staring helplessly at his boyfriend, Blaine brought a hand to cup the back of Kurt's neck, stroking the pad of one thumb across the hair there, smiling at how Kurt automatically leant into the familiar touch and seemed to calm and relax under Blaine's fingers.

"Sweetheart," he said, and Kurt looked at him "Would you smile for me? One more time?"

Kurt wanted to so badly. He wanted to smile and laugh and do anything to make Blaine happy but he physically couldn't stretch his mouth out even if he had any happiness in him.

"I can't" he said hoarsely, shaking his head.

Blaine smiled weakly and embraced his boyfriend again, wrapping his arms more securely around Kurt as if he were the most precious and priceless thing in the world- it really wasn't far from the truth.

He started to move his and Kurt's bodies ever so slightly from side to side, humming something under his breath so quietly that Kurt couldn't make out what kind of tune it was. After a few seconds, he heard Blaine half whisper, half sing, "You... make... me... feel like I'm living a... teenage dream... my... heart... stops... when you look at me..."

Kurt nestled his face into Blaine's neck again and let any inhibitions about crying his heart out go. He brought a free hand up to his face to one cheek to wipe some wetness away, but despite the pain in his heart, a smile did finally appear on his face, and Blaine, somehow knew, because he stopped singing and whispered, "That's better my darling."

Kurt sucked air through his nose, making a snuffling sound that Blaine found both adorable and heartbreaking at the same time.

"You were made for me," Kurt sobbed quietly "I'm never letting you go."

*

Kurt's train of thought was interrupted by a loud voice coming through the overhead speakers telling him that his flight would soon be boarding. Taking one more look at his coffee, and thinking of New York, Kurt stood up to prepare walking up to his gate.

He thought about what Blaine had told him. That he didn't want him to live without any regrets. That he wanted him to have the time of this life, and possibly even find a new man to share it with. Kurt tried. He tried to picture someone else in Blaine's place. Kurt knew that he and Rachel would have an amazing life in New York together until Blaine came and joined them, perusing what made them happy, and life of stardom, freedom and Broadway. He could come home after long days at the college and sit by the window with a view of the empire state building watching the lights of New York light up the sky.

But who would be the one to bring him his warm milk in the evenings? Who would be the one to sing him to sleep when he was feeling down or too stressed or simply angry that something hadn't gone right. Who would enjoy the early morning walks in central part with him and hold hands with him through the busy streets?

There would never be any man but Blaine in his mind who could fill those shoes, and he never wanted anyone else. And if there was anyone in the world worth fighting for, it was Blaine. Who had spent all those hours visiting Kurt when they were best friends to help him get through the bullying. Who had sent him text after text after text to make him feel like he could see another day. Who had left his friends, everything he knew, everything he loved at Dalton, the security and the safety and come to McKinley for Kurt and only for him. Blaine had sacrificed more than Kurt ever realised to make Kurt happy and had given up his own desires and was prepared to give up even more now. Was prepared to give up Kurt if Kurt found someone else just to see him happy.

In the background, Kurt was vaguely aware that the waitress he had ordered his coffees from had turned on the radio behind the counter, probably to keep herself company in the early morning quietness, but before Kurt could make out what it was, a light buzzing in his jean pocket stole Kurt's attention and he took out his phone to see a text from Blaine that simply said:

COURAGE

A half mad smile stole Kurt's face for the first time that day, and it wasn't because of thinking about fame and Broadway, or posh schools or fancy apartments or more designer shops than you could afford. It was because Blaine had just given him enough courage to realise that it wasn't New York that he couldn't not give up on, because next to possibly losing Blaine, nothing else seemed important.

And if Kurt believed in God, he would have suspected some sort of evil yet magical plot was being put in store because at that moment he finally made out the tune and lyrics to the song being plaid on the radio,

You make me

Feel like I'm living a

Teenage Dream

And Kurt finally knew that his real teenage dream wasn't New York, it was him, Blaine and a trivial year of waiting for his true love to graduate so they could ride off into the New York sunset together.

As Kurt put his phone away, almost mad with happiness, he heard a final announcement for his flight being called over the speakers, and promptly ran in the opposite direction towards the exit.

Kurt thought that if he could sell his soul to make the cab driver go faster, he really really would! There was nothing more in the world right now that he wanted than to see Blaine and tell him everything! Although as much as he wanted to see Blaine, he did need to tell his Dad he was in fact, staying, first. It seemed like the decent thing to do after all!

He started to rethink his stance on God giving him a magical second chance seeing as it seemed he was doing everything in his power to delay Kurt's arrival back home. It was pouring it down with rain, there were traffic jams and accidents on the road.

When the cab finally turned into Kurt's estate, and hit more traffic, Kurt gave a growl of frustration, told the driver to stop, chucked a handful of notes at him and proceeded to run down the road in skinny jeans in the pouring rain, pulling his suitcase behind him. The only thing that was on his mind was that Blaine had better appreciate the fucking romantic gesture!

After running for a solid five minutes, Kurt felt a little pissed off with himself to find that the traffic jam was not in fact that big and that by now, the roads were practically clear, however, nothing else mattered once he caught sight of a very familiar car driving his way. Despite being thoroughly confused by Blaine's presence at his house, he started waving his hands in the air like crazy in the hope of attracting his attention in the grey murky rain, and thankfully, Blaine pulled up by the side of the road.

He got out of the car, and adorably opening an umbrella on his way out, probably to make sure he didn't get his hair gel wet, and Kurt laughed at the cuteness of it, thinking oh this is definitely love.

Even through the rain, Kurt could tell Blaine had been positively sobbing for quite some time it seemed and he hated himself that Blaine had felt the need to be strong for him. But now he would be the brave one and he would make Blaine happy for once.

"Sweetheart what are you doing here, have you forgotten something? You're going to miss your aeroplane!" Blaine said, seeming genuinely worried. However, all Kurt could come out with was,

"You've been crying..."

Blaine paused and made a defeated sort of gesture, like he really was tired of being strong, and took a deep breath through his nose, forgetting it was too blocked to breathe through and ended up just snuffling like a puppy. "I've already gone through 2 packs of tissues," he said miserably.

Kurt was just stunned into silence for a few seconds, not even knowing what to say to him. He hadn't even thought this through, hadn't made a speech, and hadn't done anything to prepare for this.

"I don't want anyone else," he said finally, having to speak rather loudly over the sound of the rain hitting the pavement and the metal of Blaine's car. "I'm staying in Lima. I'm staying with you. Because for once in my life Blaine, it's time for me to be strong for you. It's time for me to give something up so we can be happy."

Blaine's face would have been rather comical if Kurt wasn't so nervous to hear his reaction. He resembled a very large and very stunned goldfish.

"Get your ass back to that airport and get on that plane Kurt Hummel, I'm not letting you give up your future because I'm crying like a girl, I'm serious Kurt, get the fuck back there, or I'll... I'll..."

Kurt smiled so wide he thought he might burst and walked a little closer to Blaine, saying boldly, "You'll what? I'm taller than you." He smirked when he saw that Blaine was fighting the urge to laugh and he couldn't believe he ever thought he could live without this.

"I came back for me..." and Kurt couldn't believe he was going to be as cheesy as this, but he was too happy to care "Because I can't stand to be apart from the person I love." Blaine's eyes widened and Kurt wondered if he could actually see hearts floating around in them. But they sparkled with something that Kurt knew wasn't just the tears. And just to see Blaine's smile once more, Kurt added "I'm fabulous enough that New York can wait for me another year," and lifted his chin up and put a hand on his hip to emphasise just how fabulous he actually was.

Blaine did laugh at this, his head tipping down a little and his smile seemed to light up the limited space between them. But then he looked at Kurt with pleading eyes, but he looked beaten, like he knew nothing he said would do any good.

"Sweetheart..." Blaine tried to reason with him "This is your dream... I'm just a boyfriend... you can't do this."

Kurt finally walked up to Blaine and took the umbrella away from him, throwing it somewhere to the side so he could see his boyfriend's face in all its glory. He looked absolutely stunning and Kurt found it hard to breathe.

Knowing that being unbearably cheesy and making references to Blaine's favourite movies was a sure fine way to make sure he didn't try to talk him out of it and just would kiss him, Kurt said,

"You were my new dream," and he shocked himself at how his heart swelled in his chest when he said it, because he knew, finally, that he meant it.

Blaine's eyes widened a little and he knew by the beating in his heart that there was no way he could say no to this. He needed Kurt and he would never let him get away from him again. He wrapped one arm around Kurt's waist, holding him snugly against him while the other hand came up to cup his cheek and he said with tears in his eyes,

"And you were mine," before hiking Kurt up by the bottoms of his thighs so Kurt instinctively wrapped his legs as far round Blaine as he could with a huge, carefree laugh. It took about two seconds for Kurt to gaze down in awe at the perfection that was the love of his life before he leant down and kissed Blaine sweetly, like a promise, listening to the rain pour around them like a song and feeling it drip of his and Blaine's hair, their clothes, their cheeks where it mingled with their tears.

Oh yes Kurt thought, tightening his grip on Blaine This is definitely definitely love