“I’m leaving.” The words flow out of Kurt’s mouth before he can think and fall to the tarmac, a puddle of black around their feet.

Blaine’s eyes widen and he turns to look at Kurt, horror crossing his face. “What?”

Kurt smiles and reaches out his hand to fit the curve of Blaine’s cheek. “I’m going to New York, Blaine. An internship with Vogue. I leave in about a week.”

Blaine’s mouth drops open and his eyes fill with tears. “You waited til now to tell me? Kurt, what about us?”

Kurt smiles at Blaine again, his own tears threatening to overflow as he wipes with his thumb at the tears spilling over Blaine’s cheeks. “I’m sorry, I was trying to find a way to tell you, I promise. You and I…Blaine you know I’ll never say goodbye to you but…”

“But what?” Blaine asks, his voice high and tight, hysterics setting in as he feels the only true happiness he’s ever felt slipping away.

Kurt sighs and closes the distance, his hand slipping from Blaine’s cheek down to hold the younger teen’s hands. “But, I need to do this on my own, Blaine. I need to spread my wings and learn to live life on my own for a while. I love you, I do and you know I do but I can’t make you live the next year waiting on a Skype call.”

Blaine chokes on the sob rising in his throat, bursting into tears as his heart breaks. “You promised!” He shouts into the night air and Kurt glances around to check no-one’s watching the young men. “You promised me I wouldn’t be alone! Kurt, you said we’d be okay and you’d call and Skype and-”

“We will! We can, you won’t be alone. We can go back to being friends for now. I,” Kurt sighs and rakes a hand through his hair. “I love you, but we both need to learn how to be without each other and we can’t if we’re still together. I still see you at the end of my life and next year when you graduate if you come to New York we can be together but-“

“If?” Blaine shrieks and Kurt raises a hand to calm him, glancing around again, there’s no way no-one heard that. Blaine’s face starts to turn red and Kurt readies himself for the anger he knows is justified. “I love you Kurt! Is that not enough for you anymore, is – no. Ok Kurt, you want this over. We’re done. Enjoy New York.” Blaine’s eyes go hard and he rips his hand out of Kurt’s as his now ex-boyfriend’s jaw hits the ground and Kurt’s eyes well up. The hazel eyed teen turns on his heel and walks away, crying bitterly and leaving the other teen crying on the bench they’d been stood by.

“Kurt hurry up!” Burt shouts up the door and shakes his head fondly at Finn who’s put the last of Kurt’s things in the U-Haul and is leaning against the doorframe, waiting for the main man to appear.

A muffled bang and sound of boots on carpet follows a shout of “Just coming!” and suddenly Kurt is at the top of the stairs, breathless and excited. Burt grins up at him, he truly didn’t want to say goodbye to his son but he needs this, deserves this and if nothing else, it will be good for him, to live life and become the man he’d set out to be.

There’s a soft knock at the door and Finn turns around, coming face to face with a nervous, messy, drained-looking Blaine. Finn blocks the door, glaring the younger man down and Burt turns to see, looking between the young man at the door and Kurt who’s stood stock still at the middle stair.

“Um, hi. Can I talk to Kurt please?” Blaine’s voice comes out in a broken squeak, unnaturally cautious and formal as he flinches under Finn’s glare, looks at Burt pleadingly and tries to look past them both at Kurt.

Finn starts to growl and step forward, enjoying the look of terror that fills Blaine’s face, all friendly feeling towards the black haired man gone in the week since Kurt had come home crying.

Kurt sighs before Finn can do any damage and waves him off. “Finn, down boy. It’s okay. We’ll talk in the front garden.”

He walks down the last few steps, moves Finn to the side gently and walks past Blaine into the sunshine. “What do you want Blaine?” He asks wearily. Since the night in the park they hadn’t talked and Kurt hadn’t expected them to talk ever again after Blaine’s reaction.

Blaine blinked back tears and sighed, trying to take Kurt’s hand but it stayed firmly in the other man’s pocket. “I came to apologise, and see you off. I had some time to think about it and you’re right. Time apart would be good for us. I’ll miss you, so, so much but in the end we’ll be together, if you still want that. I know I acted like a child but Kurt; I have nothing else but you. All I want to do is get far away from here, my parents and just be with you and it sucks I have to wait to do it. I’m sorry Kurt, I love you and I always will, so if you’ll have me, I’m in. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Kurt smiles and closes the distance held created between them and wraps his arms around his ex. “Oh Blaine what am I going to do with you? I love you too and I’ll miss you. Of course I’ll take you back, but the deal still stands.”

Blaine nodded against Kurt’s neck. “Of course. I love you Kurt.”

“I love you too Blaine.” Kurt whispered as they separated, kissing softly and walking back to the house holding hands.

It ends like that. Kurt heads off to New York, waving at Blaine stood in the driveway, out of sight before the younger man sinks to the driveway, crying his heart out onto the tarmac.

They text continuously, Kurt keeping him up to date on life in New York and the fast-paced passion of everything happening around him. Blaine texts about school, jobs, things he does and keeps words like ‘I miss you’ and ‘come home’ to himself to swim in his head while he’s dreaming.

Holidays are short, internships aren’t like school and Kurt’s time at home is short when he’s there. They use their time wisely, spending time at the Hummel-Hudson home, keeping the rules strictly to friendship but when they get to the Anderson house all vestiges of propriety are gone and they fuck like rabbits until Kurt has to leave again. It’s how they survive and Blaine can see the future unfolding, Kurt by his side instead of the be-all and end-all.

They fight about Blaine’s college choices once he lies and tells Kurt they’re all New York based. He finally comes clean and tells the glasz-eyed man about LA, Michigan, San Francisco and, however much he wants to leave, Ohio. He watches the disappointment in Kurt’s eyes over the lies and goes to sleep with a wet pillow, dreams of the future hazy and broken.

The first time it happens Blaine isn’t sure what to think. He sees another man in the Lima Bean and attraction rears inside of him before shame takes over. He uses the excuse of Kurt not coming home this holiday for an excuse but the second time, and the number he takes home from the bar shatter Blaine’s views of himself. When he closes his eyes he still sees him and Kurt, happy and in love at all life’s junctures but in these moments, he’s scared he’s about to lose everything.

He kisses someone else. He hadn’t meant to do it and he doesn’t ever want to do it again and keeps the secret from Kurt, a momentary lapse, something he’d never stop being ashamed of. The man’s lips weren’t Kurt’s, they were wet and slippery and thin compared to his ex-boyfriend’s warm, supple, plump ones and the tongue in his mouth felt like a snake, filling him with poison as he betrayed the memory and future he’d have with the pale angel.

He was seen though.

Of course he was.

Sebastian was at the same club, drinking at the same bar and though he’d brushed off his advances he’d still kissed the man whose number he’d gone home with nights ago. Sebastian had called Kurt and Finn, just for revenge, before he’d even finished his drink.

Blaine woke the next day to a pounding on the door and a towering ex-friend growling into his face. “Tell me why I shouldn’t flatten you right now.”

Blaine had had no response but to crumble to the ground crying, begging Finn and trying haltingly to explain the whole stupid mess. The arm around his shoulders were unexpected, as was the whisper that everything would be ok.

Finn had nothing else to give him though and left quickly. Blaine had raced upstairs and logged onto Skype, it was a Sunday; Kurt would be relaxing at his and Rachel’s apartment right now. Usually they talk in a few hours after Blaine’s morning run and Kurt’s morning routine of skincare and bagels with Rachel. Today it takes a full 3 minutes before he sees Kurt’s face swim into focus, a livid Rachel in the doorway behind him.

“Kurt I never meant it to happen.” He says, the words slipping out before Kurt says anything. Rachel scoffs and Kurt looks back at her momentarily before typing instead of speaking.

Why did you do it?

Blaine types back, unsure of how much Kurt wants to hear his voice and knowing he’s about 5 seconds away from breaking down anyway.

I don’t know.

Try harder. The reply comes and he looks at Kurt to see angry blue eyes staring back at him.

I really don’t know Kurt. I was attracted to him. I never thought I’d be attracted to anyone but you but he was nice and looked vaguely like you. I guess I just felt lonely. I made a mistake. He sighs, hits enter and waits, hoping the sorry, pathetic look on his face is enough to sway the angry teen.

You’re lonely? Blaine I’m lonely but I don’t go around kissing random guys and letting Sebastian see me! Kurt replies and Blaine feels more ashamed of himself than ever.

I know and I’m so, so sorry. All of this is my fault I was stupid and wrong and I’m sorry. I love you so much. I don’t want to fight over this, Kurt it was a stupid moment and I can’t take it back but it’ll never happen again. I want to move to New York and everything to be right again. He presses enter and lets the tears slip down, wishing again he was right there, holding the man he loves.

Kurt shakes his head and replies. It’s not like you cheated on me, I’m not your boyfriend.

Blaine gasps, feeling his heart shatter. The rational part of him knows Kurt is saying it as a defence mechanism to hurt him but his mind flies to the summer, moving somewhere else and no-one waiting for him on the other end. Kurt don’t say that. Please I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

He watches Kurt crying on the other end and sees Rachel come forward to hold him. Kurt types a few words then breaks down on Rachel’s shoulder and Blaine’s heart breaks completely in his chest. I don’t know, Blaine. I can’t do this. Tell Finn where you’re going when you decide. Don’t call me.

He ends the session and Blaine spends the rest of the weekend crying. He’s a mess at school on Monday and for the rest of the week he hears nothing from any of the Hummel-Hudson’s or Rachel, even his friends start looking at him differently.

Finn turns up on his doorstep on Saturday, wordless but expecting. Blaine hands him the acceptance letter from Juilliard and Finn nods, walking down the path without a word passing between them.

The rest of the school year flies by in weeks and months. They win Nationals, Blaine goes to prom alone and stands in a corner until Brittany tugs him onto the dance floor and he forgets the mess of his life for a few hours.

Kurt never calls him again and he gains word a month after their last call that Kurt had changed his cell phone number. Sebastian comes around, gloating about his completely single status and mentioning his own. He comes on to Blaine so Blaine feels justified in knocking him out, dragging him out of the door and laying him on the pavement a little ways down the street for anyone to see.

Summer finally comes and he graduates. There’s no-one for him in the audience, his own parents could care less and Burt and Carole haven’t spoken to him since the last time he spoke to Kurt. He doesn’t see the two pairs of green eyes watching him from the back of the auditorium.

Blaine packs his things into a U-Haul two weeks after school ends, sighing at the memory of watching another U-Haul disappearing down a different street a year ago. Cooper drives them both to New York, his only comfort since Kurt formally left him. He’d called him an idiot too but had stuck by his side and called him whenever possible to check in.

Blaine feels the van jerk to a stop outside an unfamiliar apartment block, waking him from sleep and he looks at Cooper confused at the warm smile Cooper gives him. He’d let Cooper sort out his living arrangements, he’d decided living in residence was easier. There was no way he’d live in an apartment on his own.

Suddenly his phone lights up with a text message. Unknown number. He opens it and reads the words across his cell. Second floor, 2B.

Blaine’s out of the van before Cooper can even speak,  racing into the building and up the stairs, his brother’s laugh somewhere behind him.

At the top of the stairs stands Kurt, flawless in a simple blue top and black jeans, his hair messy as if he’d spent hours running his hands through it and skin glowing.

“Hi.” Kurt whispers, holding his hand out to Blaine, their eyes connected.

Blaine walks up the last two steps and takes Kurt’s hand, closing the space between them; he brings a hand up to cup Kurt’s cheek and replies. “Hi.”

Their lips meet in a slow kiss that quickly turns passionate and they wrap their arms around each other, the rest of the world falling away.

“Jeez, get a room.” A voice says behind them and they break away, looking at Cooper, returning the grin he sends them, his arms full of the box Blaine had labelled ‘Blaine’s Stuff’ that Cooper had relabelled ‘Blaine’s bowties’. Blaine glared at him and Kurt raised an amused eyebrow.

“Thanks Cooper. You can put that anywhere. Come on baby,” He waves dismissively at Cooper then croons at Blaine. “Let’s go talk about the rest of our lives.” He takes Blaine’s hand and leads him into their apartment as Cooper squawks indignantly, saying something about being hired help.

Blaine laughs but couldn’t care less at this moment as he watches Kurt walk ahead of him and watches the way the denim stretches across his boyfriend’s perfect ass. Kurt turns as soon as they’re inside and catches him looking. He loops his arms around Blaine’s neck and Blaine forces himself to look up from staring at Kurt’s crotch. “So,” Kurt whispers seductively. “This is the part where we tear each other’s clothes off and ravish each other because we’ve missed each other so much.”

Blaine’s eyes widen and he grabs Kurt under the knees, sweeping him up into a bridal-style hold and rushes into the bedroom, Kurt’s scream and laughter filling the air and floating out into the hallway where Cooper closes the apartment door and backs away down the stairs.

Words would be had later. Long conversations about why’s and what’s and when’s and how’s but right now all they have is each other, and that’s all they really need.