Kurt’s eyes drifted around the room in search of a face that he knew he wouldn’t find. Suddenly, his heart ached with longing. He missed Blaine. There was nothing else to say. He missed talking to Blaine; he missed holding Blaine; he missed just knowing that Blaine was there any time he needed to talk. Deep down, he knew that Blaine was still there for him—the almost two months of texts and voicemails and gifts had proven that—but ever since he found out that Blaine had cheated, he hadn’t felt like he could count on Blaine anymore. It might have been a little harsh—after all, he had started to take advantage of Blaine during the weeks leading up to that night—but he couldn’t help it; Blaine had taken all the trust Kurt had placed in him and broken it.

Kurt sighed as he thought back to what Isabelle had said earlier in the week. In my experience, it's always easier for me to move on if I've either had my apology accepted or in your case, accepted an apology. You know, sometimes it's the not forgiving that holds us back. Kurt knew he was nowhere near ready to forgive Blaine, but he did know that the boy was truly regretful of his actions. He’d asked Tina about Blaine after seeing the boy almost break down on stage—he knew how self-deprecating he could be—she had told him that Blaine was almost to the point of hating himself for what he did. Even though he wasn’t ready to move past the indiscretion, he didn’t want the boy that he loved to hate himself—in all honesty, Kurt couldn’t even hate him for what he’d done.

Kurt glanced over to where Brody and Rachel were flirting for the 800th time that night. So much for not needing a man, Kurt thought to himself. He watched the two talk animatedly about something for a moment before Rachel threw her head back and laughed loudly. Suddenly, the sting of tears was present in Kurt’s eyes. On an impulse, he grabbed his phone off of the table and dialed the number from muscle memory. He quietly went out on the fire escape and waited for the boy on the other end to answer.

Kurt’s heart skipped a beat as the sound of Blaine’s voice filled his ears.

“Hello.”