"Kurt hey! Nice to see ya man, what's up?" Kurt turned to see Sam standing next to Tina, holding out his hand. Kurt shook it and Sam brought him in for what he and Puck call a 'bro hug'.

"I came to watch you guys perform at Sectionals of course." Kurt replied, noticing the stream of people filling into the theater. The show was about to start.

"Ah, you mean you came to see Blaine perform tonight." Sam teased, gaining another blush from Kurt.

"No! I came to see you guys too! I mean...dammit." Kurt huffed and then flung himself on a nearby chair, burying his face in his hands.

"Hey, hey, Kurt, I'm sorry. I know you came to see us too. I just couldn't resist teasing you a bit. You'll see him perform. In fact..." Sam looked over at the clock on the wall to check the time. "..you will be seeing him perform in about ten minutes." That made Kurt's head shoot up.

"Ten minutes? But I thought..." he flipped open his program and looked at the list. "...the Warblers are performing first..." then it dawned on him. "Blaine...Blaine went back to Dalton?" Sam sighed then nodded. "When?"

"About a month ago." Sam admitted.

"And no one thought to tell me?" Kurt looked pissed, and Sam fidgeted.

"Well...I mean...Tina said she was going to and she tried...but then as soon as she mentioned Blaine's name you got silent , so she switched topics..." Sam bit his lower lip and scrunched his face in concentration. " Things at the school got tense. These new jocks transferred in. Glee had been tense too with sectionals coming up. Blaine...he got cornered by these jocks and...well let's just say the whole thing ended with me and Tina waiting in a waiting room at the hospital, Tina on the phone with his brother Cooper, and, a cast for a broken arm later, ice cream and movies at his house. Even with glee being cool , things happened. Fights. Some physical and some not. His parents pulled him a month ago. Even Cooper said it was for the best. Blaine told us as much as he wanted to stay, he didn't have anything to stay for so...but he still comes to visit plenty. And we hang out with him a lot out of school..." Suddenly the lights flashed, signaling for people to sit down. Sam gave him a sympathetic look. "I gotta go..."

"Yeah yeah. Of course. Break a leg." Kurt gave him the best smile he could muster. He knew it wasn't entirely believable. Sam smiled back and then went to sit with the rest of New Directions. After the usual shpeal by the host, the curtains parted and...

He looked good. Well he looked like Blaine. And to him, Blaine always looked good. And seeing him in the outfit he fell in love with him in...oh there was that little stomach flip. They sounded great, all of them. He saw Jeff, Nick, Trent. David had graduated last year, along with Thad. Some newbies. Others he knew and...no Sebastian. What?

That was odd.

After the show, and a tie between the Warblers and New Directions, Kurt went to congratulate his old friends, and then went to congratulate the Warblers.

"Sebastian got sick. But it's been like...a month. I think his parents are going to be moving back to Paris and taking him with them." Nick answered the unasked question from Kurt, of whom promptly blushed. What was with all the people making him blush tonight? Nick rolled his eyes, but he smiled. "It's good to see you Kurt. We missed you."

"I missed you guys too. I wish I could come visit more..."

"No you don't Kurt. And that's fine. Ohio is no place for a rising star like you. You can't shine here. But we all know you'll make it big in New York. We'll be rooting for you. Don't forget the little people when you're famous." Nick joked, giving him a sly wink. Kurt laughed.

"I won't I won't." Kurt mocked. Nick smiled. "So uh..."

"I think he is walking back to his car. Buuut I know for a fact that he's parked in one of the furthest spots away, so if you want to catch him, you'll have to run." Kurt's eyes betrayed him when they lit up. "Go! Go go go! East lot!" Nick said, shooing him away with his hands. Kurt bolted out the door before Nick could finish saying a second 'Shoo!'. As soon as he ran out, it began to rain. Figures.

"Blaine!" Kurt called out in the now heavily pouring rain. "BLAINE! STOP!" Blaine spun around, in street clothes, his umbrella in one hand, a suit bag with his Dalton uniform in the other. Kurt ran towards him, feeling the pouring rain soak through his clothes, ruining them for sure.

He couldn't find it in him to really care.

Blaine stood there, frozen in place. His car was right next to him. He could make a run for it if he was really, really fast. Avoid the confrontation he was sure was about to happen. But he just stood there, frozen, as the love of his life ran towards him in the rain, and he felt his heart break. He still loved Kurt more than anyone else in this world, but he was no longer his, and after that nasty fight they had over the phone awhile ago...

"Blaine..." Kurt finally got to him, a bit out of breath. It was a big parking lot, he had to admit. When he finally felt fine, he looked up to see that Blaine had put his umbrella over him as well, his face etched with concern. "Hi..." Kurt could have smacked himself then. Hi? That's what you say to the boy you haven't seen in months, the love of your life, the person who would have broken your heart if he hadn't already taken it? Hi? Good Gaga what the ...

"Hi." Blaine replied, still looking at Kurt, concerned but amazed, his heart beating fast. "I uh... I'm...I'm sorry I didn't tell you I went back to Dalton, it's just..."

"No no, don't be sorry, it's not like..." Kurt sucked in a breath, sucking some water in with it. It was still pouring...

"I um...look, do you want to go grab a coffee or something and talk?" Blaine found himself saying the words without thinking, and inwardly smacked his forehead. Jesus, you broke up with him, what are you doing? He probably hates you now. And oh god, he is just staring at me and ...

"Blaine I...I want to ask you two questions. And I want you to answer them truthfully okay?" Blaine nodded. "But first, put your uniform in your car so it doesn't get ruined. Please." Blaine nodded again, stunned, before slowly moving to unlock his car and put his uniform inside. When he turned around , he started and dropped his umbrella. Kurt was standing right behind him. Close. He could almost feel his breath in the cold. Almost. "Now, Blaine, my first question is straight forward. Why did you break up with me?" Blaine sighed and looked at his feet. He knew that one day he'd probably have to tell him. He never actually did give him a real reason.

"I was holding you back Kurt. We both know that. I was an...unnecessary tie back to Ohio and it needed to be cut. I was a distraction. Kurt...you are destined to be a star. Whether it's in the fashion industry or Broadway, or both, you are going to be great. You will be successful. But I will just hold you back. You'll grow to resent me and... I saw how happy you were in New York Kurt and how excited you were about your internship at Vogue. And then you told me you had managed to get the weekend off from it even though they were working on this big project, and all I could think was that I was holding you back from something you obviously really enjoyed. I was the reason you weren't working on that project. It was something you wanted to work on but couldn't because I was around... and what would it be like when I was there? What if I got sick or something? You'd want to stay home and take care of me, and I realize you probably could work from home for some of it but..." Blaine finally looked up at him and Kurt felt his breath catch in his throat and his heart break, because oh Gaga, Blaine was crying now he was sure of it and... " I didn't want to be the one who...the reason why you don't achieve your dreams. And I thought that it would be easier for you if I was the one to break us up because then you wouldn't have to worry about talking to me about it and...yeah. So that's it. That's why I broke up with you." Blaine looked back down at his feet. "What was your other question?" Blaine forced himself to look back up at Kurt, unsure how to go on with this conversation. Kurt looked stunned.

"I...my other question...right. Ah... do you...do you still love me?" Blaine looked right into his eyes at this, a serious expression, a cross between anger and hurt, on his face.

"Of course I still love you Kurt! I will always love you. I wasn't lying when I said that you were ....you are the love of my life. You always will be. I ..." Blaine was cut off by the press of Kurt's lips on his own, and felt his back hit his car door behind him. It took him a second to register what was happening, but when he did, he returned the kiss with fervor, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and holding him impossibly tighter. After a couple of minutes, when air became a cumbersome necessity, they broke apart, panting heavily. Kurt sighed, then laughed a bit, before pulling Blaine back to him and resting his forehead against his.

"I love you too." the words felt so familiar to his tongue, yet so distant. It had been awhile. " I love you so much Blaine that sometimes it terrifies me. And you are ridiculous sometimes. Blaine...when we broke up, I cried for a week. Any time I got left alone. My mentor thought I was having some kind of mental break down. Then, after that week, I could barely concentrate..." Kurt closed his eyes, as if remembering something important. "You aren't a distraction Blaine. You aren't keeping me from my dreams. You're my muse. One of the things that helped me through each day was the thought of you, whether I could finish my projects in time to have a Skype date with you, how every day that went by was another day I could tick off the list of days when you finally joined me in New York... Blaine... . Yes, you're right. I could rise to the top, become famous, a household name. Fashion. Broadway. Or both. But I can still do that all with you. And I can assure you Blaine that none of it, none of it would mean three quarters as much to me, make me more happy or proud of what I have achieved, without you by my side. I love you so much, and I have this vision for our lives together, and I have this vision of my life, and that vision just does not work, is not as good, without you." Kurt brought his right hand up to rest on Blaine's left cheek, slowly removing tears and rain drops from his skin. "And I'm sorry about what I said during our argument over the phone last month. It was cruel, uncalled for, and childish, and I regretted it right away but it was too late. I was just still so upset and I thought that you didn't love me anymore and..."

This time it was Blaine who cut Kurt off with a kiss.

Ten minutes later, when the rain had slowed to a lazy drizzle, Marley Rose walked out of the theater and headed towards the east parking lot, dress and purse in hand, tired but happy. When she approached her old pickup truck, where she had parked it next to her friend Blaine's car, she stopped, then her smile became wider. There, leaning against her friend's car, was her friend, and that boy he had talked so much about, Kurt. She knew from talking to Blaine that he was the love of his life. She also knew they had split. But from the way they were acting around each other now, close together, hands on arms, and what she could swear was a dopey smile on Blaine's part, things had been worked out. Good, she thought, they were cute together and she had hated seeing Blaine so down.

This was the continuation (or was it the start?) of something magical, she knew it.

And when Blaine turned his head and smiled at her, waving lightly, she waved back, equally all smiles, and she mouthed 'All good?' and he mouthed back ' Fantastic!' and she gave him the thumbs up, walking past his car to her own.

All was well.

The End