And if it hurts this much

then it must be love.

Kurt lay on his back in his bed watching the light from the street lamp outside and the traffic passing in the street play on his bedroom ceiling. The apartment was silent - Rachel was out to dinner with Finn - the only sound was the constant rumble of traffic and the sounds of New York City on a Wednesday night. It sounded distant to Kurt as he lay there with his head circling through memories. Flashes of different emotions running through him as moments from the last few years of his life continued to play out in his mind, but his heart remained heavy and painful in his chest.

A meeting on a staircase...

A kiss in a common room at school...

Lying side-by-side on a bed gazing into each other's eyes...

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, a tear slipping down his cheek as he ran his thumb over the promise ring on his finger. 'Three more nights,' he told himself. 'Just three more nights.'

Keeping me awake
it's been like this now for days.

The bed felt cold, lonely, and far too big - Blaine always struggled to get comfortable. He let his hand stretch out and trail down the sheets on the other side of the bed - Kurt's side of the bed. After a few seconds he pulled his hand back and curled it against his chest, before rolling over onto his side so that he was facing his nightstand. He didn't know how long he lay there with his eyes on the framed picture of Kurt he kept by his bed, but the house had reached a new level of stillness and silence which Blaine recognised from nights of lying awake for hours as meaning it was well after midnight.

Closing his eyes, he willed sleep to come, willed himself to fall into the world of dreams where he wouldn't be weighed down with the pain of being so far away from his boyfriend and from having gone so long without seeing him. Where Kurt would be by his side instead of miles away in New York. Sleep didn't come quickly, though. It was at least another hour later when he finally drifted off into an unsettled sleep, curled up in a small ball under the blankets as close to the nightstand as he could, and the hand with his promise ring curled close to his chest.

Am I keeping you awake?
If I am then just say.

"I miss you." Kurt said, longing for his boyfriend clear in every syllable. "I miss you so much."

"Me too, I hate not being able to see you every day other than on a webcam. I love that you are at NYADA and are living your dream of studying musical theatre there, but I hate that you are so far away from me."

Kurt pressed the phone closer to his ear, as if he could be closer to his boyfriend by doing so. "Just two more nights and I'll be back in Ohio and it's not all that long until you will be joining me out here."

"Yeah, I know. It just feels so much longer."

Kurt smiled softly. "I know." He heard Blaine yawn on the other end of the line. "I'm keeping you awake, I'm sorry, it's late. I'll let you go to sleep now; I know you have to be up early for school."

"I'm fine, Kurt, really." Blaine protested. "I can talk for longer."

Kurt shook his head. "No, we've been talking for hours. You go to sleep and I'll talk to you again tomorrow. I need to be getting to bed as well."

"Ok. I love you."

Kurt smiled. "Love you, too, Blaine."

I'm losing sense of time
and everything tastes the same.
I'll be home in a day

The dance theatre buzzed with a myriad of different conversations being held around him as he sat slumped in his seat waiting for the class to start. He didn't know if he was early to the class or if he only had to sit through another minute with his own thoughts before he got a distraction in the form of a contemporary dance class. Looking around him he guessed he was probably early, judging from the fact that a lot of his fellow students were eating lunch. Was it lunch time already?

He pulled out his phone and checked the time, blinking in surprise when he saw that it was after 1pm - where had the morning gone? Time was passing by like drops of honey; sometimes it flew past in a large dollop and a whole morning was gone before he realised, other times it dragged on, his day passing by in little trickles.

Realising he had better eat something as he would need the energy for this class, he pulled a sandwich out of his bag and ate it mechanically, tasting nothing. Seeing the date on the screen of his phone cheered him up; it was Friday and tomorrow morning he would be on the first flight out of New York heading to Ohio. He would see his dad and Carole, he would see Blaine...

Feeling revitalised, he leapt to his feet when the teacher strode into the room five minutes later to begin the class, and he threw himself into his dancing with a new energy and optimism. 

That night, I slept
on your side of the bed so
it was ready when you got home.

Blaine smiled as he hung up the phone and placed it on his nightstand. Hearing Kurt's voice was always the best part of his day and today it was even better knowing that he would be back in Ohio tomorrow - he would be home with him again.

He went to pull back the blankets on his bed and paused, his eyes on the other side of the bed where Kurt always slept when he spent the night. He walked around to the other side of the bed, pulled back the blankets and climbed into bed, tugging the blankets up around him. Kurt's side of the bed felt different to the side he slept in, but it was a good different. He inhaled deeply, smiling when he caught a faint trace of the familiar scent of his boyfriend from the pillow. 

That night he fell asleep quicker than he had in days, curled up on Kurt's side of the bed and with the comforting smell of his boyfriend surrounding him.

Will we be always, always?

Blaine checked the arrivals board for the fifth time before peering at the doorway ahead of him through which the passengers who had just gotten off flights came through. The board had been saying that the flight from New York had landed for at least five minutes now and Blaine didn't know why he kept looking at it, maybe he just liked seeing proof that Kurt was back in Ohio again and was now only metres away from him instead of miles.  

People started streaming out through the arrivals area and Blaine searched the crowds, looking for the familiar pale skin, coiffed hair, and bright blue eyes. And there he was.

"Kurt!"

He ran forwards to meet him, the smile almost splitting his face widening when Kurt's eyes landed on him, his whole face lighting up in delight. He threw his arms around his boyfriend, burying his face in the taller boy's neck and holding him so tightly that Blaine would be worried that he was hurting Kurt had Kurt not been gripping him just as tightly.

"Blaine..." Kurt murmured and Blaine felt a few tears fall - he had missed him so much.

They eventually loosened their holds on each other and pulled back slightly, meeting each other's eyes. Kurt had tears on his cheeks as well and he and Blaine smiled at each other for a moment, their eyes hungrily taking in each other's faces.

"I missed you," Blaine said, before leaning in and pressing his lips against Kurt's in a passionate kiss. Kurt returned the kiss with so much enthusiasm that Blaine smiled against his boyfriend's lips.

"I love you," Kurt murmured against Blaine's lips. "I've been looking forward to these holidays for weeks."

Blaine brushed his lips across Kurt's in another quick kiss. "Me too, but like you said the other night, not long until I join you in New York and then we won't have to go weeks without seeing each other again." When they broke apart from another kiss, he spoke again, "And I love you too."