“If I could find a way to see this straight I’d run away to some fortune that I should have found by now. And so I run down to the things they said could restore me, restore life the way it should be. I’m waiting for this cough syrup to come down. One more spoon of cough syrup now, whoa-oh.”

“Blaine, that was beautiful,” Kurt said as the song finished and smiled lovingly at his boyfriend. “Your voice sounds amazing, as always.”

“Thanks.” Blaine approached Kurt where he was sitting on the stool in the auditorium as the backup band gathered their gear and left. Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt’s lips. “It’s all true though.”

Kurt leaned back to look at Blaine with a raised eyebrow. “What, that you’re high on cough syrup?” Kurt teased with a laugh. “I didn’t think that’s what they gave you for your eye.”

Blaine shook his head and Kurt’s smile and wit faded as he caught on to how serious Blaine was. Blaine took a breath and folded his fingers with Kurt’s. “You didn’t know me before we met, before I transferred to Dalton,” Blaine begun in a low voice, avoiding Kurt’s eyes as he spoke. “I was in a very dark place at my old school. I’d come out, I was bullied, teased and harassed. I had nothing good in my life. I had… nothing to live for.”

“Blaine…” Kurt whispered but his voice broke. His boyfriend was standing in front of him looking deeply saddened and all Kurt wanted to do was to make him feel okay again.

Blaine ignored Kurt’s comforting hand on his arm and kept talking. He had to say this because he’d never said it before. Not to anyone.

“One day I came home from school. None of my parents were there, which I was happy about. I had been punched right in the eye on the parking lot after school; the guys had ambushed me. I managed to outrun them when they’d only punched me once. I ran all the way home. Those soccer practices paid off that way.” Blaine laughed a little without humor.

He paused and met Kurt’s eyes. They were teary but Kurt watched him encouragingly, unaware of what was coming.

“I was looking for aspirin in the medicine cabinet in the kitchen when I found… the bottle of cough syrup.”

A tear fell down on Kurt’s cheek at Blaine's words, and Blaine wiped it away with the back of his hand.

“I had nothing to live for, I didn’t want to keep being in a world where everyone hated me and brought me down. I was really gonna do it. I remember snatching the bottle and taking a gulp right from there. It tasted like licorice - I still remember how good it tasted. But when I turned around… Cooper was there. I hadn’t even heard him come. When he saw my black eye, my tears and the cough syrup he knew what I was planning to do. He talked to me for hours, until our parents came home that evening. But the thing was; he didn’t have to. As soon as I saw the sadness in his eyes I changed my mind. Someone cared about me.”

“Of course Blaine, they loved you,” Kurt said brokenly. “There is always someone who loves you.”

Blaine nodded. “I didn’t know that then, but I do now. This was after the Sadie Hawkins dance, my second day back. I had just had enough. But seeing that I wasn’t alone helped me. I’ll never know if I would’ve actually gone through with it if no one had stopped me, but it felt like I would have.”

There was a pause where no one said anything and Kurt took a moment to process everything.

“I’m so sorry Blaine,” Kurt said shakily and another tear escaped his eye. “I had no idea.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Blaine put his hands on either of Kurt’s cheeks and kissed his forehead. “I transferred to Dalton, I got friends and my life got better. And… I met you, Kurt. You have no idea how much you mean to me.”

“I love you so much, Blaine,” Kurt replied and kissed him softly. “That will never change.”

“The reason I brought you here, and sang this song to you,” Blaine said, “was because I wanted you to know what my life was like before I met you. You have helped me so much, and even though Dalton helped me too, I would never have been where I am now if it wasn’t for you. I feel so blessed that I’ve got you. You make me so happy.”

Kurt nodded, feeling unable to speak. He brought Blaine in for a tight hug and whispered in his ear. “I’m so happy that I have you, you have no idea.”

Blaine’s breath caught in his throat. He was so full of old emotions he hadn’t touched in ages. But it was good to get it out and talk about it. “And this song,” Blaine finished as the bell rang out in the hall, “was perfect before. But it’s not anymore. Not anymore. ‘A dark world aches for a splash of the sun’. You are my sun, Kurt. You’re my fortune. My everything.”

“If I could find a way to see this straight I’d run away to some fortune that I should have found by now. And so I run down to the things they said could restore me, restore life the way it should be. I’m waiting for this cough syrup to come down. One more spoon of cough syrup now, whoa-oh.”