It didn't feel real.

He was standing in the middle of the living room - filled with only cheap furniture and a lot of boxes - of what would soon become his new house. Well, his, Santana's and Rachel's. The extremely tiny apartment they'd managed to rent was nothing special, but it had, miracourously, three separate bedrooms and, most important, was in New York.

Kurt was going to live in New York.

He was finally out of Lima.

He stroked the surface of a cupboard, eyes big as he took in the interity of the room, needing to feel that this was real, not one of the many dreams he'd had during his high school years.

The sound of someone climbing the stairs shocked him out of his thoughts, and he realized he'd actually stood for god knew how long staring into nothing. He turned, fully prepared to help whoever was coming up with his things, but he freezed on the spot. Because it was Blaine - beautiful, amazing, loving Blaine - carrying a box which looked as big as him, the muscles in his arms tensing with the strain of supporting its weight and sweat shining on his forehead. He had a flash of images so vivid that the breath caught in his throat, of him and Blaine buying their first apartment together, in a nice little neighbourhood of New York, gathering at the front door all their belongings. They'd be busy almost all day, but they would do it gladly, with the excitment of starting a new chapter of their life. Together. And then, after a whole day of work, they would lay on the mattress sprawled on the floor, too tired to do anything more than trading lazy kisses and delighted giggles, looking around them in disbelief.

"-rt? Kurt? Are you okay?"

He blinked a few times, noticing that Blaine was still standing in the doorway, looking concerned.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I must have zoned out. You were saying?"

"Your dad went out to buy something to eat, figured we are all pretty hungry. This is the last box anyway."

He nodded, watching Blaine move within the room.

Except that flash wasn't reality, not even a little bit, because in a couple of days Blaine would go back to Ohio with his dad, leaving Kurt to start a new chapter of his life alone. The realisation that he wouldn't be able to hug and kiss his boyfriend for god knew how long, that he couldn't comfort him when the pressure felt like too much, that he couldn't be held and lulled to sleep by warth of Blaine's arms - it all came crashing down on him all at once, stealing his breath and squeezing his heart, stomach, and body in a painful grip. He had been so careful to avoid thinking about it, not wanting to spend the last few weeks of summer dreading the day he'd be moving to New York, instead concentrating on spending as much time as he could with Blaine, because he knew the day would come when he'd be forced to say goodbye. At least for a few months. Hopefully weeks, but he was realist enough to know that, once school and courses started up, the time to actually talk on the phone, not to mention visit, would be consideratly reduced.

Kurt knew how much the situation pained Blaine. After that disastrous period of miscommunication and unsaid things at the end of his senior year, they had spent several afternoons talking about their feeling, about how much they meant to each and how much they wanted to make this work, cuddled so close to each other that their breaths mingled, as if trying to erase the distance they knew they would be feeling. Kurt knew it, and yet here Blaine was, helping him moving out and building, albeit metaphorically, a house for his new life. Wanting - always wanting - to make Kurt happy in every way he could.

Warmth surged through him like a flood, soothing the pain in his heart and leaving a bittersweet ache in its way, and he suddenly was so overwhelmed by all the things he was feeling that he felt tears prickle at the corner of his eyes. It was only when the touch of Blaine's fingertips on his cheeks brought him back to reality that he realized that some of them were escaped.

"Kurt? Honey, what's wrong?"

Kurt took a deep breath, staring into those beautiful, worried hazel eyes, and the only thing that escaped past his lips in a breath, laced with everything he didn't know how to express, was, "I love you so much."

He watched as understanding filled Blaine's gaze, and, before the pain and everything else could join it, he stepped close, backing him against the wall and gently capturing Blaine's mouth with his own.

The kiss was slow, sweet. Even when the soft brushing of lips gave way to a deeper exploration it remained lazy, tongues stroking and twirling against each other without hurry, both of them pouring into the kiss everything they couldn't say. When they finally broke apart, slightly breathless and flushed on the cheeks, Kurt drew back just enough to look at Blaine, foreheads still touching.

"I love you too," Blaine whispered, blinking his eyes open as a slow smile spread on his lips. "I'm gonna miss you so much, Kurt."

Kurt retourned the smile with a tiny one of his own.

"I know. I'm gonna miss you too." He sighed, closing his eyes again and raising his hands to stroke at the back of Blaine's neck, fingers tangling in the few curls that had escaped the gel.

"It's only a year, after all. Then I'll be here too."

"Yes."

He couldn't deny that the thought of a whole year in a new city, with no friends except for Rachel and Santana (and oh god, how could he survive a whole year with those two as roommates?) and nothing sure ahead of him scared him. A lot. A whole year away from Blaine. What if it somehow drew them apart? But, even as the thought crossed his mind, he knew that wasn't fair. They'd gotten together not because there was no alternative, but because they loved each other. They talked about everything. They could make this work.

He hummed a few notes under his breath, and he suddenly giggled as a thought occurred to him.

He raised his eyelids to find his boyfriend looking at him quizzically.

Smirking, he asked, "How will I measure this year, Blaine?"

He saw the sparkling in Blaine's eyes, knew what was coming, and as corny and ridiculous as it sounded, it still made his heart beat faster.

"Well, I think you could still measure it in cups of coffee, but I would very much like to measure it in love."

Kurt laughed, carefree for the first time that day, and he just hugged Blaine close, basking in the warmth of his body and listening to him breathing against his neck.