They were going to live happily ever after.

Fucking record labels.

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Senior year had ended about a month ago, and the euphoria of being done with high school forever was slowly wearing away to reveal the more bittersweet reality beneath: Glee club, friendships, living at home, walking to the coffee shop every day; it was all coming to a close and as the summer marched on the nerves were just as potent as the excitement.

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But it was okay. Kurt had it all planned out. He and Blaine were going to move to New York together and they were going to get an apartment and Blaine was going to play at caf�s and write music and Kurt was going to go to class and then at night they'd go for a walk through the park and nobody would glare and they'd go home and watch musicals and snuggle and fall asleep and it was going to be perfect, perfect, perfect.

And that's the way it was. And Kurt may or may not have mapped all this out in a notebook in his room under his bed to set his mind at ease.

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Blaine's hands were shaking as he stared at his phone. It seemed so cruel, to drop a bomb like this via cell phone – via text message – of all things. Normally he'd do it in song, but there's just not a single one anywhere about having all your dreams come true except you need to be on the other side of the country, sorry boyfriend (and believe me, he'd looked) and he could never hear or understand what anybody said when talking on the phone and he couldn't bear to look at Kurt's face as he broke the news that he needed to move to California for a record deal, so text message it was.

But still.

After another five minutes of staring, his decision was made for him because the screen lit up and Kurt's name appeared and it started vibrating in his hand.

He answered, and before Kurt could say a word he told Kurt to come over, he had something he needed to tell him and hit the end button before he lost his composure.

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He was pretty sure he'd never cried so much at one time in his life. He felt like he was drowning and dehydrated all at the same time but it didn't even matter because he was pretty sure his boyfriend had just broken up with him and he knew that Blaine was right and he knew that long distance was stupid and it never worked and he knew that they were eighteen and their lives were more important than their relationships but still.

He knew this was the part where he was supposed to burn everything that reminded him of Blaine and go cry to Mercedes and Rachel and Tina and Brittany and watch old movies but he didn't. Instead he put on Blaine's Dalton hoodie that was too short in the waist and sleeves and too broad in the shoulders and chest and sat on his bed in the dark and brooded over why life was so unfair.

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He wondered why all his dreams coming true felt like the worst thing that ever happened to him.

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He packed his bags and moved to New York early because what was left for him here?

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He sat at the train station with his duffel bag and his cell phone and his favorite hat and tried to get excited about going to California to start his dream career and tried to ignore the fact that his dreams had a lot more to do lately with his ex-boyfriend (and christ did that prefix sound wrong) than with singing.

The muffled voice over the PA announced his train and the roar of the engine made it so much easier to silence his thoughts. But the girl next to him was bopping her head along to her iPod and humming a bit and he doesn't even hear it until he recognizes the tune of the first song he ever sang to Kurt before he knew he was anything other than a new student who didn't have his uniform yet and shit now he's crying and oh god oh fuck fuck fuck what has he done?

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New York is everything he thought it would be and more. He wanders into the same little restaurant that he and Blaine had lunch in during their senior year when they came here for Nationals and he doesn't really know why he's torturing himself like this when he's in the city that occupied his dreams from when he was six until the day he met Blaine. Several times he picks up his phone to call, to send a message, just a hey how's it going, how's the studio, how's California, I hate you, I hate you, I hate you because I loved you.

But he doesn't.

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He wonders if the record company will be mad that he didn't show up. Maybe he should call once he gets to Lima.

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He starts looking for someone living near the campus who needs a roommate, just until the fall because when school starts he's gonna move into the dorms and he's gonna take as many credits as he can and he's gonna get a job and he's gonna audition for every show in the area because he just can't stand the idea of any free time or time alone with his thoughts because dangerous things happen when he's depressed and thinking too much, just like that time he almost jumped out a window a couple weeks before he was sent to spy at Dalton.

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Too late. He's too late, Kurt already went to New York and damn. He's running out of money for all these expensive tickets. Thank god for rich douchebag families. Yes ma'am, one ticket to New York please. When's the next available flight?

And in his heart he knows it doesn't matter anymore, too late too late, Kurt left Lima, he's over Blaine now he must be. He's gone and Blaine will never find him again, because he'll blend into the streets of New York and he won't see Blaine even if he's standing right in front of his face because it's too late but it doesn't matter, he has to try.

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Why does Finn keep calling? Kurt so does not feel like picking up the phone right now. It had better be important.

Oh? Blaine's on his way to New York? Who the fuck is Blaine? Nothing but an ancient memory, faded in the corners of his mind, and it's not like it's only been a month since he left him and it's not like he still can picture his face and hear his voice so clearly and smell his cologne so strongly that it hurts his eyes and ears and nose and soul. No, it's not like that at all.

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Well he didn't really think this through, did he? Now he's at some airport in New York City and he doesn't really know where to go from here. He considers asking this janitor-looking guy for help but he's picking his nose so eww, no, he'll find his own way to Kurt. Maybe Finn knows where he's staying. Sorry, mom and dad. This cell phone bill will be the icing on the cake of all those travel expenses.

Well, sorry mom anyway.

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Kurt spots another roach on the wall and can't help but feel that this shitty motel is a little beneath his dignity, even for a college student.

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Blaine sees the shitty motel Finn described and his first thought is that it looks a little below Kurt's dignity.

But it doesn't matter now because he's there, he's so close to Kurt even though he still feels so far away.

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He's got a lot of nerve, does he know that? Kurt was fuming. Who the fuck did he think he was, just waltzing up to his door and begging forgiveness, and saying he sees now how wrong he was, and he loves Kurt, and can't Kurt please at least let him in so they can talk about it?

It's so stupid and impulsive and adorable and so very, very Blaine. But it's not good enough. If he was impulsive enough to break up with Kurt once then what's to stop him from doing it again? Kurt thought that their relationship would withstand Blaine's usual behaviors, but apparently not, apparently Kurt really wasn't worth any more to him than Jeremiah or Rachel or that one night stand he'd had at that party he told Kurt about once he was drunk enough not to be embarrassed.

And that was what hurt. And Kurt refused to take him back because that was the only way to avoid losing him again.

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So now he had no job and no boyfriend and nowhere to live. Biggest screw-up on the face of the earth?

Yep.

But he's not about to quit. He gave up everything to be with Kurt and goddamit he's gonna be with Kurt.

He found an apartment and started plotting.

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A midnight serenade outside the motel window is not enough to win him back.

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Neither is a box of chocolate sent to his door with a red rose attached.

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Neither is a long, mushy love letter clutched in the paws of an adorable teddy bear and now he's running out of ideas.

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Blaine had almost forgotten that Rachel was going to move to New York too until she did and showed up at his door one day with her hand on her hip asking him what the hell did he think he was doing and this was no way to go about this.

She asked what she could do to help and Blaine poured his heart out to her and she told him how simple it was, just tell Kurt all that stuff he just told her.

But Kurt loves romance.

No, Kurt loves you.

And he thanked her and she left, back to wherever she was living and Blaine barely said goodbye before he was gone, out the door, in a taxi, and hoping he wasn't too late again.

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Kurt couldn't believe how weak he was, his resolve to shoot Blaine down until he gave up failing already as he watched the curly-haired man fall to pieces in front of him.

It was almost enough.

He at least figured he ought to take Blaine out to dinner or something. After all, he did travel all this way. He knew in his mind that this was just an excuse to spend more time with him but he blocked that part out.

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Blaine knew he was walking on eggshells with Kurt, but he couldn't restrain the little happy dance at the dinner invitation. He wasn't sure if he should pretend not to notice the smile play at the corner of Kurt's lips.

He hurried back to his place. Kurt was letting him back in, and he'd do anything not to ruin it this time. So he took a shower and combed his hair and wore those jeans that Kurt always said made his ass look amazing and tried not to start jumping up and down when Kurt actually showed up.

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They kissed that night and everything was right with the world.

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And maybe Kurt was still a little mad at him but hey, he would wait until the next time they had an argument to bring it up again.

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And then it was fall and Kurt was in class and Blaine was bored, and he wrote some songs and did some street performances. The change filled up his hat and that was somehow incredibly satisfying.

And when Kurt was out late at work or rehearsals Blaine would light some candles or cook something romantic and when Kurt came home they would fall into bed and Kurt began to realize that his fantasies of life in New York with Blaine weren't all that accurate but that was okay because this felt much better than falling asleep just cuddling.

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Blaine may be the only person in the world who was lucky enough to be discovered twice, Kurt mused, in two very different places: Once in Lima by a random stranger (who knew the Gap Attack would be such a success after all) and after Blaine never exactly showed up in California, he was discovered again playing in a New York city bar that he wasn't old enough to be in yet anyway.

So he made some albums and they didn't sell all that well but whatever, it was fun and at least now he got paid a little more when he played at bars and caf�s.

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And once day Kurt woke up and he looked at Blaine sleeping and realized he'd forgiven him.