Cruel Summer Chapter 15 - Teenager in Love

Word Count: 7,483/189,000

Rating: PG-13

Summary: After Kurt was rejected from NYADA, we were dying to find out what happened next. We couldn't wait for the September premiere. Here is our take of what happened from the letter opening and beyond.

Author's Note: Happy day after Glee season 4 premiere day! It was AMAZING! Sad to see Klaine separate like that, but I’m looking forward to seeing what is in store. Buzzing a bit as Ryan Murphy tweeted me last night too. BTW, notice how broken Kurt was at the beginning. That is our Kurt! We are working on a new storyline right now, and I think you are going to love it. Kurt’s breakdown has just about run its course I think. But never fear, Badass!Kurt and Geek!Kurt is never truly gone…just call it an alter ego. Aligned Stars (my silent partner like Teller in Penn and Teller) waves hello.

You know it’s coming…Disclaimers: Neither KurtsieKalanai nor AlignedStars own Glee. If we did, we’d bring Rory back and actually give him a decent storyline. Second, we don’t own the songs in the fic. We do use songs like the show but they fit into the story. Songs will be explained at the end of chapter. Third, this is AU so things do not work EXACTLY like canon. As we pass the train scene, it will get WAY AU. We try to stick to canon the best we can, however. We are trying to not let the S4 ep’s color our writing. Characters may be OOC, but there are reasons why, as you will soon see.

Thanks: Wayne Kotke and Gleekast, we are ever your servants. Thanks for the shoutout on your cast, btw! Also, to Ryan Murphy who will probably never read this, but you inspire me, sir. I would never start writing if not for you, Chris, Darren, and the rest of the cast.

********

Rachel found Kurt sitting at the picnic table, his head in his hands, sobbing. This wasn’t a disappointed sobbing, like when one lost a competition or failed a test. This was a sobbing like one’s heart had been violently ripped out of their chest and then ripped into several small pieces. Rachel had never seen Kurt this upset, and that included when his dad was sick in the hospital. She rushed to her best friend and sat down beside him. He didn’t bother looking up. 

“Kurt, sweetie, what happened?” she asked, putting her arms around her heartbroken friend. “I saw Blaine rushing away in his car. I tried to stop him, but he just ignored me.”

Kurt looked up at Rachel. The makeup he wore was all over his face, tears were streaming down his cheeks, and he was having a hard time breathing. “Rachel, I.. I can’t breathe. I.. I feel like I’m going to pass out. Please tell me I’m dreaming?” he begged pathetically, his words punctuated with sobs. “Please tell me these past three days were one big hallucination and we’re about to go to glee practice? Why do bad things keep happening to me? I don’t think I can take it anymore.” His eyes searched Rachel’s face for any answers she might provide him.

Rachel sighed. She did not see herself as someone who fixed problems. She was more a motivator: the one who pushed people forward to accomplish goals and usually those goals benefited Rachel in some way. Helping Kurt deal with Blaine’s inane behavior was not her forte, but she was a good friend and resolved to help Kurt any way she could.   

“I’m afraid we can’t go back a week and have a do-over, Kurt,” Rachel replied sadly. She put her hands on Kurt’s arms. “Come on, honey, you’re hyperventilating again. Just take slow, deep breaths.” Kurt tried to slow his breathing but it just panicked him more. 

“Ra-rachel, I feel l-like my soul just died,” wailed Kurt sounding more and more like a hurt little boy. “Blaine left me.” Kurt emphasized the word “left” quite loudly to Rachel so she could understand the severity of the situation. Once the grieving boyfriend realized she got it, Kurt added, “He said I was choosing you and New York over him and that h-he couldn’t do it anymore.” Kurt burst into more desperate tears. 

Rachel stared at her best friend in shock. Kurt and Blaine were forever! They were as solid as she and Finn were. This couldn’t be possible! The four of them were going to buy a luxury apartment someday in New York and maybe a country house in Connecticut or possibly the Poconos! Fighting back tears, she advised, “This has to be a misunderstanding, Kurt. You guys could never break up.” She pulled out her phone. “This can be solved by a quick phone call. I’ll give Blaine a call and…”

“Don’t bother, Rachel,” Kurt interrupted, his sobbing starting to subside. However, the tears still flowed. “I think I finally pushed him over the edge. This is all my fault. After all the stuff he told me about his dad, I did…” He realized he might have said too much and put his hand over his mouth, smearing the last of his lipstick all over the palm of his hand. Kurt looked at his hand and threw it down in his lap. He rolled his eyes as he realized how ridiculous he must look like right now: a sad, clown-faced, recently dumped, ex-boyfriend with black make-up all over his face. He searched his pockets for something to clean himself up. Finding nothing he looked at Rachel.

Rachel dug through her purse and pulled out her little package of wet wipes for Kurt. She remarked in a matter-of-fact voice, “You’re a mess, Kurt.” She handed Kurt one wipe for his hand and she took another to start cleaning up his face. After clearing away most the smeared black lipstick and eyeliner, she looked at Kurt curiously. “His father? What’s wrong with Blaine’s father?” she asked seriously.

Kurt shook his head. “I can’t say anything, Rach. I promised Blaine I wouldn’t. He may be my ex now…” he said and let out another sob, realizing what that really meant, and continued, “but I can’t betray his confidence like that.” He took a deep cleansing breath. “Let’s just say I found out something extremely disturbing, and I basically just made everything worse by telling him about New York. I’m sooo stupid sometimes!” Kurt started to cry again.

“But Kurt, I thought you had it all figured out! You and Blaine and New York. You said Blaine was on board with everything!” stated a clearly flustered Rachel. All this drama and sadness was getting to be too much! Rachel was confused and a little frustrated by the spinning emotions all around her. And she thought New Directions had it bad when it came to drama!

“We did, but I think all my drama and the thing he confided in me changed things. He thinks I’m abandoning him…Maybe I am…” Kurt whispered, worried he was the one who had created an irreparable rift in his relationship with Blaine by holding the knowledge of Blaine’s treatment by his father hostage. Kurt was worried that maybe Blaine thought that Kurt would tell everyone. Kurt was over analyzing the situation, and unbeknownst to him, that wasn’t the situation at all.

“Come on, stop talking like that,” Rachel said soothingly as she brought Kurt’s head onto her chest and wrapped her arms around him again. She started gently rocking and said, “Just give him some time and you can talk this out. He knows we want him in New York as much as I want you there, right?”

“I don’t think this can be fixed, Rachel. I should just accept it now. I also don’t think I’m doing the New York thing. This was a sign that I should just stay home for now,” Kurt said resolutely, using the sleeve on his t-shirt to wipe at his eyes. It left black streaks across the fabric and Kurt stared at the stains in horror.

“I might as well throw this t-shirt away! Getting eyeliner out of fabric could be a nightmare and besides, the t-shirt was cheaply made anyway,” Kurt thought absentmindedly. He shrugged his shoulders, looked directly at Rachel and asked, “Do I have much make-up left on my face?” 

Rachel reached in her purse and pulled out more tissues and her mirror compact. Offering them to Kurt, she said, “Come on, Kurtsie. Let’s get the rest of that silly makeup off your face.” She let out a mischievous smile and tickled Kurt on the side. 

Kurt squirmed away and playfully slapped her hand away. “It is pretty silly, isn’t it?” said Kurt with a sad chuckle. “And Kurtsie is the most ridiculous name.” He put his finger to his lips and looking up thoughtfully, added, “But it DOES kind of grow on you.”

Rachel rolled her eyes. “The nickname or the black bedlam all over your face? I would suggest no makeup, unless you want to wear it. I would rather see your tragically handsome face without all that black stuff, especially with your compulsion for emoting,” she said with a smile and started helping Kurt remove the remaining makeup. Kurt tried to return the smile, but he wasn’t sure if he would ever smile again. It felt like a piece of him was missing.  

“Better?” Kurt asked after he did some additional cleaning.

Rachel nodded her head and added, “You’ll need to do a good clean up once you get home, but you can pass as semi-normal.”

Kurt declared with a wicked grin, “Never! I’ll never be considered normal in any circumstances. I’m actually proud of my non normalness…non normality? Non normalocity? My uniqueness!” but then his face turned somber again.

Refusing to be deterred, Rachel said, “You need to come to New York, Kurt!” 

Kurt shook his head and continued with his reasons to stay in Lima, “Dad needs help at the shop now more than ever. Besides, it might be fun to be Finn’s boss, that is until you both move to New York. At least Finn and I have some stuff in common now.” He was thinking of the video games talk he could have with his brother. It would pass the time during those particularly slow times at Hummel Tire and Lube.

Rachel realized this was not the time to argue with Kurt about New York. “I promise you’ll work this out,” she replied. “If you and I could get over that spectacularly dramatic fight last night, you and Blaine will work this out. He really upset me, too, but I know he was hurting over something, so I let it go. I had no idea how he actually felt about me. He was jealous of ME? I guess that makes me oblivious, huh?” 

“Well, if you’re oblivious, then I’m clueless!” Kurt retorted sarcastically.

Rachel pulled her phone back out of her purse and sent off a text to Finn while saying, “I’m going to get Finn to send everyone home. I think you just need some alone time, Kurt.”

“Please don’t leave me alone?” Kurt asked frantically, grabbing Rachel’s arm. She jumped because she was concentrating on the phone and texting.

“Goodness, Kurt! Warn me before you manhandle me!” she scolded. “Of course I won’t leave you alone. I mean alone time as in no New Directions. I’ll be here as long as you need me,” she assured. 

Kurt nodded his thanks to Rachel, and took one last stab at cleaning off his face, still more black! Yep, he was definitely going to have to rethink wearing all this makeup. He considered it a war paint of sorts. There was a time and a place for it, and for now, this war was over. He was calling a cease fire.

“Rachel?” Kurt asked. 

Rachel looked up from her phone and replied, “Yes, Kurt?”

“I really thought he was the one. I was thinking of asking him to marry me after his graduation,” Kurt revealed his inner most feeling about Blaine and he started weeping again. “When will this emptiness go away?” he lamented, “I feel like there’s a gaping hole inside and I just want to die.”

“I’m not sure if it ever really does,” Rachel said and recognized her comment was totally the wrong thing to say. She tried qualifying it with an explanation. “I felt the same way when Finn and I parted ways in junior year. I mean, it will go away in time. But I don’t think Blaine will be away that long. He’ll realize that he is missing you and come crawling back for forgiveness.”

“I doubt it,” replied Kurt, his poor nose all stuffed up from crying. He gave Rachel one last hug and stood up. “I should be the one begging for forgiveness. I really just want to go home now. Promise you’ll stick around?”

“Anything for you, Kurt. I think we should stop at the store and pick up some more ice cream and potato chips…the fried kind, not baked. Then we can find the stupidest movie on the TV and laugh till our sides split,” she said and put her arm around the black-haired man. “We’ll get through this, I promise.”

Kurt looked at his best friend with surprise. It seemed she was actually concerned for him. And not in a way that would benefit her. She was being selfless. Kurt looked around to see if a comet was barreling towards them. Was it December 21^st yet? “Thanks, BFF,” he said and offered his pinky.

“You’re welcome, BFF,” she responded and linked her pinky with his. They left the quad with their pinkies linked. For now, things were going to be okay. Kurt had his Rachel, but all he wanted was his Blaine. 

**********

Blaine pulled into the Berry’s driveway. He didn’t know where else to go. The Father Berrys were the first people he could think of to talk about his predicament with Kurt. “I loved Kurt so much but I just let him go,” Blaine thought to himself, launching into an inner soliloquy. “I knew I would have to set him free eventually, because once Kurt was in New York, all the guys there would discover how cute he really was and Kurt could have his pick of anyone! Why would he want to stick with me in that case? It was better to let Kurt go first, so I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of being dumped. I’ve always heard that dumping was better than being dumped. Then why did it feel like shit?” Blaine put his head on the steering wheel and continued thinking, “I had hoped to buck the system so to speak and make a high school romance work forever, even a long distance one. I believed Kurt when he said it could be done. Well, I wanted to have total faith that Kurt will remain true to me, although sometimes it didn’t seem realistic. At least that was what everyone else tried to tell me. That I was just living a romantic fantasy. So only one question remains. What am I going to do? I can’t pick up my stuff at Kurt’s, and the very last place I want to be is home. God, I want my boyfriend!”

Blaine could picture his mom taunting him once she found out he had broken up with Kurt. “See I told you he would break up with you!” she’d say to him. “You’re damaged goods, Blaine. Nobody wants you. You’re not worthy of anyone’s love. You’re such a failure.” His mom always knew the most hurtful things to say to him, and he tried to so hard to make her love him. Hell, to make everyone love him.  

He irrationally flirted with the idea of calling Sebastian, but that jerk would just take advantage of his vulnerability. Besides, that would just make everything worse, especially if Kurt found out. Kurt still talked to several of the Warblers so word would most certainly get back, even if the visit was innocent. Blaine just needed someone to talk to, and Hiram and Leroy Berry were good mentors. They would understand what he was feeling, right?

He figured Rachel would be with Kurt, consoling him. That is what girlfriends do, right? Blaine let out a large exasperated sigh, frustrated and angry with himself. That was not fair at all. It was also completely ridiculous. He knew Kurt was loyal to him, but Blaine always wondered if it came down to it, would he choose Rachel or him? “I guess I just made him choose,” Blaine thought. “What did I do? I just made a huge mistake. Blaine, you’re a dumbass!” Right now, he just needed to talk to someone. He would figure out his next move later.

Blaine turned off the engine and sat in his car, not sure what to do next. He knew he should be upset, but instead he just felt sort of numb. He had never really broken up with anyone before and wasn’t sure of the protocol. Should he change his status on Facebook? He decided to wait on that one. Blaine didn’t think he wanted to face changing through the entire roster of relationship statuses going from “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated” to the kiss of death “single.” 

Just to make sure, he checked Kurt’s relationship status. Oh, good! They were still a couple. It was a well-known fact that Kurt spent all his time on three different websites: YouTube, Ru La La, and Facebook. If Kurt had wanted to, he could have already changed his status. The fact that he hadn’t was a small comfort to Blaine.

Blaine wasn’t even sure if he wanted to be broken up. But letting Kurt go was the right thing to do, wasn’t it? Blaine felt that he was just holding Kurt back. That was why he wanted to talk to Hiram and LeRoy. They might help him figure everything out. The contradictory feelings threatened to start him on another panic attack.

Blaine shook his head as if to dispel all these conflicting thoughts, got out of his car and made his way to the front door. Before he could knock Hiram opened the door and cried, “Greetings, Sir Blaine of Anderson! Welcome to our humble abode. Please, come in and make yourself at home!” Blaine hadn’t told them what was going on, just that he needed someone to talk to.

Blaine took off his shoes, a habit he had from being raised in a house with white carpets, and asked, “Is Rachel here?” Blaine knew full well she wasn’t. But he needed some excuse to talk to her dads. “I kind of wanted to talk to her, too.” Well, that part was true. Blaine didn’t want to talk to her now but he knew he would want to talk to her later. Now that he was starting to think rationally, at least somewhat, he wanted to at least apologize and talk to her.

“I’m sorry, she isn’t here,” said LeRoy, entering the hallway. “She’s still over at your boyfriend’s house.” Blaine’s brave face fell and his bottom lip gave a slight quiver. Sensing something was wrong at the mention of Kurt, he added, “Blaine, are you okay? You’re looking a little pale.”

“No, I don’t think I am. I really need to sit down. Is that okay?” Blaine asked with the most polite tone he could muster. He didn’t think the two men were buying it, though.

“Of course, of course,” invited Hiram. “Please, take a seat. You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Can I offer you a cocktail…oh wait…strike that…can I offer you a soda?” Ever the host, Hiram briefly forgot his young friend was underage and knew he would catch hell from Rachel and Kurt if he offered Blaine alcohol. A little birdie had confidentially told the two fathers of Blaine’s inability to refuse libations at one of Rachel’s famous karaoke nights.

“Just water would be fine,” said Blaine, his voice cracking. Actually alcohol sounded great right now. Drinking himself into oblivion sounded like an awesome idea. “You’re not getting into that again!” he scolded himself.

As Hiram went to fetch his guest a bottle of spring water, LeRoy led Blaine over to the couch. “Please, sit.” Blaine sat, barely keeping in the emotions that were threatening to explode from him. “So Mr. Anderson, what brings this not-so-happy visit? Like I asked before, are you feeling… What do young people call it nowadays?” he called to Hiram, snapping his fingers.

“I believe okay is still the proper colloquialism,” Hiram called back, amused.

“Are you feeling okay?” LeRoy asked sincerely.

Asking a clearly upset person if he or she was “feeling okay” is always a bad idea. The tears that threatened to spill finally did. “I left Kurt!” Blaine solemnly declared in a tone suggesting there was no chance for repairing this relationship and he had no future worth pursuing. Simply put, Blaine’s world had come to a tragic end. There would be no reason to get out of bed tomorrow, no reason to get showered, no one to plan his outfit(s) for the day, no one to bake cookies for or make out with, no purpose whatsoever. Yes, Blaine felt the whole reason for existence had vanished, and as much as he wanted to endure this great loss stoically it was written all over his face.     

“Well, I’m sure you’ll see him tomorrow!” LeRoy assured. “Ah, young love. You leave each other for a few hours, and it feels like forever.”

“No, sir…I mean we broke up. I LEFT Kurt!” he said and started sobbing in earnest. “We had a big fight about going to New York and I…I said I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m sure Ra-rachel told you about what has happened to Kurt the la-last few days.” Blaine stopped and realized what he said to Rachel. “Oh my god, Rachel!” he cried and put his head in arms. “I said som-some really mean th-things to her!” he hiccupped. Hiram returned from the kitchen with the water and handed to Blaine. Blaine paused long enough to thank him, open the bottle, take a long drink, and continue back with his crying discourse. “Now that I th-think about it, it’s..it’s completely stupid and ridiculous!” He ended his speech with a cry, “How could I doubt Kurt like that?”

“What did you say to Rachel?” asked Hiram with concern. He was very protective of his little girl, and he wouldn’t be happy if Blaine did anything to harm her.

“I..I swear I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings, Mr. Berry!” said Blaine, eyes widening in slight fear as he realized just to whom he was talking. Rachel was these two men’s entire world. Blaine hung his head down and continued his tirade of self-loathing, “I..I’m such an awful person. I just kn-know she’ll never want to speak to me again!” Blaine started hiccupping again from his crying jag so he fortified himself with another swig out of the bottle of water. He braced himself and went on, “I basically accused her of stealing Kurt from me. I also accused Kurt of going ‘straight’ for Rachel. Oh my god, I’m such a moron!” Blaine let out a heavy moan, put his head on the back of the couch and wailed, “How does anyone ever put up with me?” Then with complete sincerity he looked Hiram directly in the eye and asked, “Can I have that cocktail, now?”

“NO!” LeRoy replied and then turning to Hiram, exclaimed, “And no to you giving him one, either!”

“Nice try, Blaine,” admonished Hiram. He returned a look over to LeRoy and mumbled an apology to his husband saying the offer had slipped out earlier. Then the two shared a brief moment and something crossed between them. LeRoy nodded and left the room. Blaine looked at them with a pang of jealousy. He always wished he and Kurt would be like that, linked almost telepathically. Sometimes it was like that. All Kurt and Blaine had to do was gaze at each other from across the room and know what each other were thinking and feeling. Not anymore. Those days were over.

Hiram took a quilt from the back of the couch and stood up. “Blaine, please, put your feet up. When LeRoy gets back, we’re all going to have a little talk.” Putting his feet up on the couch made Blaine feel a little uncomfortable; was this turning into a therapy session? But he had been raised not to argue with his elders so he put his feet on the couch. Besides, wasn’t that the reason for the visit anyway, to talk? He was so glad he’d already removed his shoes. Hiram started to cover him with the blanket.

Blaine went to protest, “But it’s summer!”

Hiram ignored him and explained, “When Rachel had a crisis, we always used to cover her in her favorite quilt and make her some hot cocoa and then talk it through.” Blaine nodded his agreement. Starting to relax, he bunched up the quilt and gave it a gentle squeeze. Just knowing it belonged to Rachel changed his attitude. He honestly began missing her and felt deep remorse for the cruel taunts he had shouted at Rachel while on the stairs in the school courtyard. She was only looking out for Kurt, much the same way he looked out for Kurt, too. Blaine could see that now, and he felt a deep shame settle over his body. He struggled with not crying and was resolute not to make remarks that could be perceived as mean or cruel to Rachel anymore; unless, of course, she truly deserved them. Even then, he promised himself that he would talk to her first.

After Blaine and Hiram were settled, the older man asked, “Okay, Blaine. Start at the beginning, please. What happened?”

“Well, it’s way too complicated to explain everything,” Blaine started. “Don’t cry,” he told himself and asked for a tissue so he could blow his nose. As long as no one yelled at him, talking things through calmed him down. “As you know, Kurt didn’t get into NYADA. He kind of went a little crazy, to put it mildly. Things kind of went to hell, he had a huge fight with Rachel and basically flipped off the entire New Directions.” At that last piece of news, Hiram put his hand on his chest and gasped in shock. Kurt was always so kind and polite!

“Well, Rachel was trying to make things better and inadvertently angered Kurt,” Blaine explained. LeRoy came in carrying steaming cups of hot cocoa piled high with whipped cream and shaved chocolate. He put the mugs on the coffee table, and after thanking him, Blaine continued, “Eventually, things were resolved and it seemed like everything was going to be alright. Then Kurt got some news that upset me. He had an opportunity for an internship in New York. I felt like I was losing him all over again, so I flipped out. What the hell is wrong with me?”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Blaine,” said Hiram, patting Blaine’s hand comfortingly.

“There’s way more to it than that, but I really don’t want to talk about it right now,” Blaine said. He wasn’t going to explain his fear of his father. He couldn’t. He was just too scared. “I just feel like I’m being left alone while Kurt is going off to New York to have adventures with your daughter. Feeling left out is kind of an understatement. I’m terrified,” he whispered.

“That’s completely understandable,” advised LeRoy. “I must ask you this, though. Do you really want to break up with Kurt? What does your heart tell you?”

“That I was being completely stupid and, no, I don’t want to leave him,” answered Blaine honestly. The more he talked about it, the more he realized that Kurt WAS his soulmate. Rachel was rapidly becoming his best friend and so was Finn. Now truthfully, Blaine was a little scared Finn would kick his ass, and Rachel would disown him. Those were the two people closest to Kurt, other than himself of course. “Well, I used to be the closest,” he thought bitterly.

“And do you think he really wants to say goodbye to you?” asked Hiram.

“I don’t think he wants to, but I feel like I’m holding him back. I figured I could force his hand. I don’t want to be the one who keeps him in Lima, right? I mean, that would be amazing, but that’s so selfish! I know I just sound like a stupid teenager in love, but this feels like something much more than a high school relationship. I guess I’m just scared that if he leaves for New York without me, he’ll find someone new. I just projected my fears onto Rachel.” Blaine shook his head and continued, “I adore your Rachel, but sometimes she just makes me feel like I’m second fiddle with Kurt.” 

Blaine grew a little fearful his comment about Rachel might upset her dads, but they didn’t seem mad at him. As a matter of fact, Hiram and LeRoy looked at each other and smiled knowingly. Blaine was a bit confused at the reaction but waited for a response “Blaine, I hope you have some time because we’re going to tell you a little story,” informed Hiram.

“It’s not like I have anywhere else to go right now,” Blaine said. He hoped he didn’t sound rude. Rachel’s dads smiled. Feeling a little braver, Blaine went on. “Would you mind if I stayed here for the night? I’m still not sure what I’m doing with Kurt, and I just need a place to think,” he asked shyly. 

Blaine hated sounding too needy, but he really felt this was the right place to get help. Hiram and LeRoy never judged him or belittled his feelings, and he wasn’t sure where else to turn. He would usually turn to Carole in a situation like this, but that wasn’t an option, either. “No one is going to be home tonight and I don’t want to be alone,” he added quickly, covering up his fear of going home. It was a little white lie. Blaine thought his parents might be gone. They traveled all the time and he hadn’t had any texts from them. Besides, returning home to his parents or an empty house would be torture any way you looked at it.

“Of course,” said LeRoy kindly. “We can make up the spare room for you.”

“So, let’s commence story time with our heroes, Hiram and LeRoy,” Hiram interrupted and turned to Blaine. “Did you know that LeRoy and I met not too long after our 18^th birthday? That’s very close to the age you are right now!”

“Well, Kurt did just turn 18 a couple months ago, and I’ll be 18 in a few months,” Blaine informed.

Hiram nodded and continued, “Well, we weren’t from the same area, but we met in that famous show choir, Up With People. You may be a little too young to remember them, but they were not unlike New Directions, just much, much bigger and filled with international members.”

“Can’t say that I have,” Blaine responded and smiled, realizing how much of an age difference there was between the two married men and him.

Hiram continued, “That’s neither here nor there. Anyhow, LeRoy and I became friends first. We were kindred of spirits!” LeRoy nodded blissfully in agreement at Hiram’s romantic declaration of their boyhood crush phase.

“It took a while for anything close to a relationship to start. I was scared to ruin whatever we had. This starting to sound familiar?” Hiram asked, probing Blaine to interact.

“Yes,” said Blaine, blushing. “I was scared to start something with Kurt in case something like this happened.”

Hiram continued, “Now before you start jumping to conclusions, Mr. Anderson, wait till the end of the story. The group travelled around the world, singing at various fairs and carnivals. It really was a great life. As we traveled, LeRoy and I got closer. We eventually decided to stop denying our feelings for each other and officially become a couple.”

“Awww, how romantic,” said Blaine sincerely. What a great idea for a chick lit story! A true guilty pleasure for him, Blaine liked to read both teen-girl romances and choose-your-own adventures books. Once of his happiest days had been finding a book reading app for his phone so no one could see the covers of his favorite style of book. The teasing from the Warblers had been merciless, and if any of the jocks from McKinley found out, slushies would be the least of his worries! 

“It was romantic,” Hiram said wistfully. “But as things were starting to get really good, disaster struck. The group split up into some sub-groups, and LeRoy and I were put in separate sections. That meant a year of touring apart. To a young 18 year-old couple, this was the worst thing to happen!”

Blaine sat forward, engrossed in the story. The parallels between these two men and him and Kurt were eerie.

“It was absolute agony, and I’d be lying if I said some road blocks weren’t thrown in our way. But we made it, and we are so much stronger for it. As you can see, we are together and more in love than ever,” LeRoy said and gave a loving look to his husband.

“Yes, and we adopted our little Rachel, and we now have a happy little amily that will grow to include Finn and his family, although a little sooner than we’d prefer. Rachel will be Kurt’s sister-in-law, and you never know, you may become Rachel’s brother-in-law if you can work things out with Kurt,” Hiram added. “Speaking of which, that is another story that may help you.”

“What’s that?” asked Blaine. He was sincerely interested in what these two men had to say. It was really helping him. It was also comforting to know there were others in this world that went through sometime similar and understood his angst.

“Well, I’m sure you met Miss Shelby Corcoran last year when she was working at the school, correct?” asked LeRoy. Blaine nodded. Although he didn’t know the former teacher and coach of Vocal Adrenaline very well, Kurt filled him in on her situation. It was amazing that Rachel’s birth mother tried to come into her life in such an invasive way, barely acknowledging that Rachel existed and adopting Quinn’s baby, Beth, at the same time. It was a really shitty thing to do, actually.

“Very good, that will save some time here. When we were looking for a surrogate for Rachel, we met her through a personals column. She was a bit younger than us, but we struck up a very close friendship. Well, I should say that Hiram did,” explained LeRoy. “I was still close with her, but nothing like the bond that Hiram formed with her.

“I was devoted to LeRoy, but Shelby was my best friend. The musicality of her flowed all around and I adore a good Broadway style performer,” added Hiram. “Unfortunately, because of a breakdown of communication, LeRoy was convinced that I was actually having an affair with her because we spent so much time together.” Blaine’s eyes widened. The parallels just kept coming. “Now, Blaine, do I look like someone who would have an affair with a woman?”

“I’m not sure if I should answer that, sir,” Blaine chuckled nervously.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I am as gay as a three dollar bill…wait, that’s not the right phrase,” Hiram dismissed and continued, “Anyhow, things got pretty bad and we almost split. All because we couldn’t talk to each other about our concerns. Eventually, it blew up in a spectacular fight between all three of us. We all realized that our relationships were way too important to throw away like that, so we sat down and talked. I mean Shelby, LeRoy, and myself. Everything got sorted, but I learned a very valuable lesson, which I am about to impart on you, young man.”

“I’d take anything right now,” said Blaine. He was blown away at this story. He just needed to replace the three adults’ names with himself, Rachel, and Kurt, and the story would be the same. Except for the surrogate pregnancy thing, of course. He didn’t think Rachel would be interested in doing anything like that anyway if Blaine and Kurt asked her. Actually, Blaine wanted to adopt a cute Chinese baby and name her Rose or Orchid or something just as lovely as he knew the baby would be. He realized his mind was drifting to some weird shit so he shook his head to eject them.

“If you take anything away from this conversation, remember this: The single most important thing about a successful relationship is open and honest communication. You can’t let things fester. You can’t keep feelings from your partner. You need to make sure you are both satisfied, and not just physically. This is a partnership and you need to make sure it’s balanced,” advised Hiram and patted Blaine on the knee.

“I really should know this, shouldn’t I?” Blaine snorted bitterly. He felt so clueless at times. 

“Sometimes, you just need to be reminded every once in a while,” said Hiram with a smile. “And you are young and not so stupid, but it’s easy to forget.”

LeRoy added, “And the same goes for your friendships. When something is bothering you, you need to talk to your friends. We aren’t that close with Shelby anymore, but we do keep in touch and remain friends. I encourage you to talk to our little Strawberry. She’s not that unreasonable, you know!”

Blaine let out a little giggle and asked, “Strawberry? Are you talking about Rachel?”

“The very same,” answered Hiram. He leaned into Blaine and whispered conspiratorially, “But you won’t call her that, right? She would have our heads.”

Blaine kept from laughing and promised, “No, your secret is safe with me,” as he nodded knowingly and tapped the side of his nose. He hated fibbing to the two men. However, he was going to use that cutesy little nickname at his first opportunity and every opportunity thereafter. “I know exactly how I’m going to pay her back for the pictures. And wait till I tell Kurt! Kurt would have a field day! Oh wait…” he thought with a start. Kurt being around was always a given. It was a shock to realize otherwise.

“Sorry, we Berrys tend to be longwinded,” said Hiram. “But did that help at least? Do you have any questions?”

“Not really, but thanks,” said Blaine with a small tight smile. “I really should learn to take my own advice. I said almost the same thing to Kurt yesterday when he had the fight with Rachel. I think I want to talk to Kurt, but not until tomorrow evening. I just need some down time, then I have some errands at home. Are you sure I can stay here?”

“Of course! You’re always welcome here, Blaine. You should know that by now. Are you hungry? We were thinking of ordering some food from Breadstix. They deliver, you know!” asked Hiram.

“Starving!” exclaimed Blaine. He loved that awesome creamy pasta from the Italian restaurant. He realized he hadn’t eaten much for dinner. He had taken off in mid-meal. He reached into his pocket for his wallet. “At least let me help you pay for half,” said Blaine, pulling out a couple of twenties and offered them to Hiram.

“Nonsense!” said Hiram and pushed Blaine’s hand away. The younger man smiled and stuffed the money back in his pocket. It was only polite to offer!

Blaine spied the baby grand across the room and started to have itchy fingers. It felt like it was weeks since he was able to play. While LeRoy was on the phone ordering the food, Blaine called, “Mr. Be…Hiram, would you mind if I played a little? It’s such a beautiful piano, and it seems to be calling my name.”

“By all means, please do!” Hiram exclaimed. “It seems like forever since we have had a good ol’ fashioned sing along. Rachel practically lives over at Finn’s lately!” After LeRoy finished the call, Hiram walked over to his husband and excitedly said, “Guess what? Young Blaine here is going to give us a concert! This is turning out to be a wonderful evening indeed!”

Blaine grinned and took a seat at the bench. He started by playing nothing in particular, some random classical song he learned when he was younger. He continued with “Firework” by Katy Perry and hummed along. This was a great way to distract him from the gaping void in his heart.

“Strawberry…er, I mean, Rachel would be so pleased that you know that song,” informed Hiram. Blaine laughed and continued playing. While he played, he thought back to the conversation with the two older men. He confessed his deepest feelings to them and told them that he felt like a stupid teenager in love…

“There’s a song I want to play, but I don’t know how off the top of my head. Would you happen to have the sheet music for the song I’m thinking of?” asked Blaine. It was a long shot, but the Berry’s had an entire library full of songbooks, so it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Blaine gave the song title to the delight of Hiram and LeRoy.

“Oh, that brings me back!” exclaimed LeRoy, clapping his hands happily. “Remember how the men’s portion of the choir used to sing that acapella?”

“Ah yes, precious memories,” said Hiram with a smirk. “It just so happens we do have that sheet music. Shall I fetch it?”

“Yes, please!” Blaine responded. He was feeling so much better, but he was really missing Kurt. He hated having his boyfriend - was he his boyfriend again? – having his boyfriend home alone torturing himself like this. Maybe after dinner he would send Kurt a text, even to say he wanted to talk. Hell, maybe Kurt hated Blaine for what he did. Blaine played the piano aimlessly until Hiram returned with the music.

“Victory!” cried Hiram as he entered the room. The Berrys sure could enter a room dramatically, that’s for sure. It looked like Rachel learned from the best! “I took the liberty of grabbing some other sheet music as well. It might be a long evening,” he added with a joyful glint in his eye. Any excuse to sing was a good one in the Berry house!

Blaine beamed and accepted the sheet music, placing it on the piano. He did a couple practice runs while humming along to the music. He was a whiz at picking up new arrangements so it didn’t take long. “Okay, so ready?” he asked.

“Ready!” called the other two in unison.

Blaine started playing and the two older men sang backup with some awesome harmonizing. It almost felt like singing with the Warblers again. Blaine took lead on the first verse and sang: 

“Each time we have a quarrel
It almost breaks my heart
'Cause I'm so afraid that we will have to part
Each night I ask the stars up above
Why must I be a teenager in love?”

Hiram and LeRoy were always impressed by Blaine’s singing and signaled him to take backup while they took over:

“One day I feel so happy
Next day I feel so sad
I guess I'll learn to take the good with the bad
'Cause each night I ask the stars up above
Why must I be a teenager in love?”

Hiram took over at the piano and Blaine stood behind, reading the music as he wasn’t sure of the words. There was nothing like singing a song to express emotion. Blaine always had a soft spot for these old songs. If he wasn’t born in this time period, he would want to be a child of the ‘50s. Everything seemed to be so much simpler then. All three men sang the last part of the song:

“I cried a tear for nobody but you
I'll be a lonely one if you should say we're through
Well if you want to make me cry
That won't be so hard to do
If you should say goodbye
I'd still go on loving you.”

It looked like Hiram was going to play the song again so Blaine opened his mouth to start at the bridge and chorus again, but was interrupted by a female voice from the hallway:

“I cried a tear for nobody but you
I'll be a lonely one if you should say we're through
Well if you want to make me cry
That won't be so hard to do
And if you should say goodbye
I'd still go on loving you.”

“Each night I ask the stars up above
Why must I be a teenager in love?

Why must I be a teenager in love?”

Blaine spun around to see Rachel standing at the doorway, looking nervous and wringing her hands. “Daddy and Papa used to sing that to me when I was a baby as part of their fifties popular music set list. They have songs from every era, you know. It was one of my favorite songs growing up. How did you know, Blaine?”

Hiram and LeRoy smiled widely at their pride and joy. They were proud their little girl knew them so well. 

“Rachel…” whispered Blaine and walked up to his friend nervously. He knew how Rachel could get when she was mad and he didn’t want to be anywhere near her if she was going to blow. “How’s Kurt?” he asked timidly.

“He’ll be fine. Finn is taking care of him,” she said coolly. “How are you?”

“Better, thanks to your dads,” Blaine said, relieved that Rachel wasn’t going to throw anything at him. He pulled in closer, “Rach, I think we need to talk.”

“I think we do,” Rachel agreed, grabbing Blaine’s hand and pulling him to the couch.

“We’ll leave you kids to talk,” said Hiram with a smile. “Blaine, can you keep an ear out for the food?”

“Of course, sir,” Blaine responded. After the men left the room, Blaine turned to a stony faced Rachel and said, “So…”

“So…” she answered, crossing her arms. This was going to be a very uncomfortable talk.

*******

A/N: We had so much fun writing about the Father Berrys. We wanted to bring them back because we introduced them way back in Chapter 1. We hope to bring them back from time to time. They seem to be great mentors for our favorite couple. Song is an oldie but a goodie, “Teenager in Love” by Dion and the Belmonts. We figured it would be a great Father Berry/Blaine song.

Cruel Summer Chapter 14 - It's a Fine, Fine Line

Word Count: 8,214/189,000

Rating: PG-13

Summary: After Kurt was rejected from NYADA, we were dying to find out what happened next. We couldn't wait for the September premiere. Here is our take of what happened from the letter opening and beyond.

Author's Note: Welcome back all! This is a pretty major chapter for me. It was the first time I actually cried while writing, so it means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy it. Not much to say as it’s pretty self-explanatory…just remember it’s part of the story, and chapter 15 comes in a couple days, so don’t hate us, cause we adore you.

We also wanted to give a huge shout out to Bookie Fan, who gave us an incredible review. It really touched us and it’s people like you that we write for. All of you have been nothing but supportive in this endeavor. Also we have decided that Cruel Summer will be 2 books. More info on that later.

Dislaimers: Neither KurtsieKalanai nor AlignedStars own Glee. If we did, we would do a spinoff that would be just Klaine, Finchel, and Barole called Hudmelberry Anderson, or something like that. It would have very special guest stars from McKinley. Second, we don’t own the songs in the fic. We do use songs like the show but they fit into the story. Songs will be explained at the end of chapter. Third, this is AU so things do not work EXACTLY like canon. We try to stick to canon the best we can, however. Characters may be OOC, but there are reasons why, as you will soon see.

Thanks: Our beta Wayne Kotke and Gleekast. Seriously people, if you like podcasts, check them out. Oh, one more thing! I (KK) have a twitter so follow me at KurtsieKalanai. I’m still trying to talk AS into getting one, hehe. As usual, we love feedback. Thanks and love you all!

***********

“Kurt Hummel is returning to McKinley!” Kurt cried happily. He ran down the stairs of the patio and over to hug Blaine, who was on the lawn looking confused along with the rest of the New Directions. Kurt’s announcement was not what the gang was expecting. 

Brittany yelled out triumphantly, “Looks like I’m not the only second-year senior!” Then she leaned over and whispered to Santana, “Do you think he’ll run against me for class president again? Or do you think I should hire him first to be my campaign manager?” Everyone stopped to stare at Brittany.

Santana patted Brittany on the hand and said, “I think he means something else. Give him a moment to explain.” 

Blaine was side-eying Brittany with an odd combination of pity for her joy at being a second-year senior and slight horror at the thought that Kurt might have to be one, too. Kurt was certainly no Brittany when it came to intelligence or lack thereof.  Blaine turned back to Kurt. “What do you mean?” asked Blaine. “Are you not graduating? Is that what Mr. Schue was telling you?” The rest of the gang was looking on, wondering what the hell was going on.

Kurt laughed and hugged his boyfriend. “No, no. Nothing like that, Blaine.” He turned to everyone and announced proudly, “Ladies and gentlemen, you are now looking at the new part time glee club assistant and anti-bully task force representative! Wow, that’s a mouthful!”

Everyone looked at him, trying to process what he just said. He rolled his eyes and added, “It means I’m working at the school in September!! I get to hang with some of you for a little while longer.”

“Are you messing with me, babe? Is this getting back at me for the picture incident earlier?” asked Blaine, shocked at this turn of events.

“Not the picture and not the popcorn you put in my pillow. Nice try, by the way,” Kurt said as an aside to Blaine. To the rest of the kids, Kurt assured them, “I swear, I’m telling you the truth!” He turned back to where Will was rejoining the adults and called, “Hey, Will! These dummies don’t believe me! I’m going to be working at the school starting in September, right?”  

“That he is!” said Will, smiling at everyone.

Blaine’s face lit up with a beaming smile. “Oh my god, that’s amazing news!!! I’m so excited, Kurt! I can’t tell you how happy that makes me feel right now.” Blaine could hardly contain himself; he wanted to do a happy dance all over the yard while kissing the man he loved. Kurt having a reason to stay in Ohio with Blaine was a dream come true.  

But then Rachel launched herself into Kurt’s arms pushing Blaine aside and screeched, “Kurt, that’s great news! I know how much you love New Directions, and you’ll lead the group to Nationals victory for a second year in a row. I’m so proud of you! Then next year, you and Blaine can join me in New York!” Blaine felt a little put out. This was his time to be with Kurt. But he held himself in check and didn’t complain. He walked around the back of Kurt with the intention of pulling Kurt away for a private victory kiss.

Kurt was having none of Blaine’s attentions. Instead he smiled at Rachel. New York didn’t sound so bad anymore. He pulled Blaine over to one side and pulled Rachel in to the other and whispered, “I don’t want everyone to know this yet, but there’s a small chance I might be in New York sooner than that.”

“What?” probed Rachel and Blaine in unison. Unfortunately, their reactions were opposite. Rachel was ecstatic. Blaine, not so much.

“I’ll explain after the party,” Kurt said and turned to his boyfriend. “I promise, this is good news. If this happens we may be set, Blaine.”

The news was bittersweet to Blaine. He felt his world cave in. The euphoric high he felt a few moments before faded instantly, and it was replaced with heavy dark clouds of resentment. This was not fair, not fair at all! Kurt had gotten Blaine’s hopes up high, really high. For the first time in days he had felt true happiness. Contentment for a brief moment was dashed to the ground. Why would Kurt go and ruin this happy moment by saying he might be leaving again? 

Blaine’s anger flashed towards Kurt and it scared him. He truly felt he loved Kurt and thought the feelings he had for him were of the grown-up kind. It was real, not the puppy love feelings his mother carelessly accused him of having to hurt him. 

Blaine really liked the idea of Kurt in the choir room. Actually, that would be perfect, wonderful… no, heavenly! But the idea of Kurt leaving for New York when there was a perfectly good reason for him to stay here with Blaine for another year was devastating. But then again, Kurt did say if he got a job and could support them, Blaine would get a ring on his finger. Everything was conflicted. What could be bad might be good. Not knowing didn’t make Blaine feel any better. 

Blaine gave a small smile, but inside he wanted to cry. He tried to be supportive of his boyfriend, but these last few days had been so chaotic, and now there was more chaos piled on top. He just needed to get away for a while to process everything.

He successfully pulled Kurt away from Rachel and asked, “Kurt, do you mind if I go lie down in your bed? It seems I have developed a bit of a headache from all the excitement.”

Kurt looked at Blaine with concern. “Oh no! He’s mad at me!” Kurt thought frantically. “Blaine, are you okay? I can go up and take care of you,” he said, touching Blaine’s arm.

Blaine really wanted to be alone, so he said with a fake smile, “No, I’ll be fine. This party is for you. I just need some painkillers and a bit of quiet time. I’ll be back in no time.”

Kurt looked worried. “Okay, but text me if you need me,” he said and gave his boyfriend a quick kiss.

As Blaine started to walk away, he could hear Rachel shuffle to Kurt and whisper, “So, what’s going on with New York?”

“God, she’s so irritating,” Blaine thought. “No one cares about my feelings!” Blaine wanted desperately to punch someone or something. His anger quickly switched from Kurt to Rachel. She was the real reason Kurt would pursue New York. She was the one who kept pulling Kurt away from him. Blaine began to perceive Rachel as his main threat to happiness and he mentally began to plot out ways to take her out of the equation. 

“Not right now, Rach. I told you I’d tell you all later,” said Kurt with worry in his voice. Blaine was secretly thrilled to hear Kurt blow her off. As Blaine walked further away, he could feel Kurt’s eyes on his back. It was kind of creepy that way. He could always feel when his boyfriend was around, like a sixth sense.

Blaine, while deep in Rachel-loathing thoughts, slowly walked up the stairs and into the kitchen through the back door. Carole was at the sink preparing some ice for drinks.

“Hi Blaine, would you mind helping me…” she asked then saw the look on Blaine’s face and stopped. She walked over to him and inquired, “Are you okay?”

Blaine avoided her gaze. If she saw the upset in his eyes, she would make him talk. “It’s nothing,” he muttered. “Just not feeling well, that’s all. Too much sun or something.”

Blaine tried to excuse himself and politely pushed his way by, but Carole commanded, “Freeze, mister!” Blaine groaned but smiled, remembering that Kurt said a similar thing the day before.

Kurt. Thinking about Kurt hurt his heart right now. The smile quickly disappeared.

“Have a seat, Blaine. I’ll make you some tea. I was going to have one myself, anyhow,” she said and gently pushed Blaine to the kitchen table. Blaine sighed. A Carole talk was the last thing he needed right now. Blaine just wanted to be alone, but she was a grown-up and he had been brought up to respect adults, so with some reluctance Blaine sat down. Besides, he didn’t want to hurt Carole’s feelings by being discourteous. 

Blaine forced a pleasant smile and looked directly at Carole. He said in an overly cheerful voice, “I’m fine. Really. I just have some thoughts I‘m working through.”

“Blaine, don’t bullshit me. A mother knows,” she admonished. Carole wasn’t buying Blaine’s fake “everything’s just fine” act. By the same token, Blaine looked shocked as he never heard Carole swear. Maybe she really was treating him like an adult! Carole went on, “You don’t have to tell me, but it might make you feel better.”

Blaine gave another sigh and said, frustrated, “I’m just conflicted.”

“In what way?” asked Carole.

“I think with all the craziness of the past few days, I’m just tired and frustrated and why the hell does life have to suck like this??” exclaimed Blaine as he slammed his hand on the table. “I’m so sick of being strong. It’s exhausting,” he said a little quieter.

Carole brought over two mugs of tea and put them on the table. Outside, there was the sound of a flurry of activity and Blaine could hear Kurt screeching about something. He must have joined in on the game of Charades they were playing. Blaine laid his forehead down on the table. He felt a headache forming. 

“Blaine, you’ve dealt with things that someone your age should never have to deal with. Of course you are tired!” advised Carol.

Blaine raised his head. “You can say that again,” he muttered. A little louder, he said, “It seems like things are changing so quickly that I’m getting a case of mental whiplash. Not even five minutes ago, I just got two pieces of news. One I’m ecstatic about, the other is a bit upsetting. Can I have an aspirin?”

“Sure.” Carole got up, grabbed her purse and pulled out a small bottle of pain relief. She handed it over to Blaine and asked him, “Are you talking about Kurt working at the school and the New York thing?”

Blaine looked at Carole, surprised, and said, “How do you know?” and added a thanks before opening up the bottle. He debated taking three pills instead of two but Carole was watching, so he opted for two. Blaine felt this compulsive need to over-medicate at times.  

As Carole was putting sugar in her tea, she said, “Emma called me this morning before everyone was up and told me the news. I was going to tell you before Kurt got up, but Finn interrupted our conversation.”

“Oh,” Blaine said, disappointed. He really wished he heard about it earlier, so he could prepare himself. Now Kurt thought that Blaine was mad at him, and that was not the case at all. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m elated that he’ll be at the school, but I’m dreading him possibly leaving. I had just accepted he was going until we got the news about NYADA, and now I have to accept it again. It pisses me off.” He put his head in his arms and let another big sigh. “And Rachel is really making me mad.” 

Carole thought for a moment, and looking deadpan at Blaine, stated, “And Rachel… Well, we love Rachel.”

Blaine cracked up briefly. He really needed to work through his feelings about Rachel. He groaned and put his head back down on the table. 

Carole put her hand on Blaine’s head and stroked his hair. He flinched because he was not expecting it, but he didn’t pull away. Unexpected moments always made him antsy. He was just better at covering it up than Kurt was. Why couldn’t he have a mother like this! Carole could make him feel better with a few words and a hug, something that his mother could never do. “Look,” she said. “I know this is a lot of information to process, but I want Kurt to be the one to explain things to you. Keep in mind this opportunity is a long shot, but if he gets it, it’ll help his confidence immensely.”

Blaine looked up at Carole and asked, “Really?”

Carole smiled at him and nodded as she said, “Yeah, it will. If this does happen, you know that you can always go visit him. New York isn’t that far away, after all. If you get really lonely, you can come over here to spend time with us. I think Burt is going to miss Kurt as much as you do, and he always mentions how much he likes watching the game with you. Next thing you know, it’ll be next year and you’ll be off on your own, too!”

“I guess,” Blaine said, still not convinced. “And this will be really good for Kurt?” Carole nodded. “I just wish I knew what was going on. I suppose I’ll wait for Kurt to tell me if I have to.”

“That’s the spirit,” said Carole, patting Blaine’s hand. “Believe me, I know how much you’ll miss him. Remember, Burt is away a lot, and most of the time I stay here by myself. Also remember that this is a small chance. I think the best thing to do is concentrate on the good things, like Kurt working at the school. We can deal with the rest as it comes. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Blaine and tried to smile. However, a smile just wouldn’t come. His head was spinning with too much information. “I think I’m just going to go to Kurt’s room now. I need to think this through.”

“Of course, Blaine,” agreed Carole. “What should I tell the others?”

“Kurt knows I’m in here, so it’s all good,” Blaine answered. He gave Carole a hug and was about to make his way upstairs to some blessed quiet when Finn came running in the back door with panic on his face.

“Dude, you need to get out here right now. It’s an emergency!” Finn said breathlessly.

“Oh god, what now?” said Blaine as he rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take!

“Kurt and Rachel are both out there doing a re-creation of that stupid musical, and there’s about to be a mutiny!” yelled Finn.

“Wicked?” asked Blaine and snorted. Leave it to those two to put on a show in the aftermath of all this stress!

“Yeah! Can you come out here and stop him? There’s murder in the gang’s eyes,” encouraged Finn and took off out the door again.

Blaine chucked and followed Finn. When he was outside, he had to hold in a laugh. Kurt and Rachel were acting out the scene before the song ‘Popular,’ and the rest of the group was forced to sit on the lawn and watch. They all stared at the duo with severe aggravation. Rachel was playing Galinda, and Kurt was playing Elphaba.

Rachel/Galinda said in her best high pitched squeaky voice, “But that was the milkflower’s fault, not yours! That may be your secret, Elphaba, but that doesn't make it true. Oh look, it's tomorrow! Elphie... do you mind if I call you Elphie?”

Kurt/Elphaba responded in his low voice, “Well, it's a little perky.”

“I’ll give you perky,” interrupted Santana.

Rachel gave a dirty look and continued. Every performance was bound to have its hecklers. This was good practice! She said sweetly to Kurt, “And you can call me... Galinda. So... Elphie... now that we're friends, I've decided to make you my new project!”

“I can think of another project!” moaned Puck suggestively. He really loved Kurt and Rachel, but this was just getting ridiculous! Quinn smacked him on the arm. “What? What?” he exclaimed to Quinn while acting all innocent. “What is it with you women smacking me?”

“You said it, Puck!” Finn agreed, but shrunk at Rachel’s glare.

All of a sudden, Kurt realized that this was a sinking ship, and spying Blaine on the steps, decided to cheer him up. He dramatically pointed at Rachel and yelled, “YOU REALLY DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT!!” That should make Blaine laugh. He learned it from Blaine’s brother, after all.

Rachel looked scandalized. She stomped to Kurt and hissed, “Kurt, you know very well that is not the stage direction! This is good practice for when we are playing opposite each other so get your head in the game!” Kurt just looked at her with mock shame. Best to let her think he was sorry. 

Rachel cleared her throat. Before the song was to start, Rachel said, “I know, that's what makes me so nice!”

“Somebody PLEASE kill me now!” yelled Puck. Quinn gave him another smack but this time it was merely half-hearted. She was beginning to agree with Puck. 

Sue turned to Will and excused herself from the party claiming the baby was about to strangle herself on the umbilical cord in an attempt to escape this mockery of an American classic. “I feel her pain, Will. Can’t you do something about these kids?” Sue beseeched him. Will shrugged his shoulders. He was actually enjoying the performance.

Emma, on the other hand, looked horrified at Sue and asked if she need to call an ambulance. Sue assured no and got up from her chair as gracefully as someone of undeterminable months of pregnancy could and bid them farewell.  

“As much as I would enjoy Porcelain and Pint Size Lupone fighting over the lazy but incredibly sexy Fiyero, I must be leaving to, you know…have a life!” Realizing she just revealed her knowledge of the musical, she left with as much dignity as she could. As a parting shot, she called. “You know how it ends, right? Spoiler alert! She dies!!!” Will just shook his head, knowing what actually happens.

Rachel ignored them and started singing: 

“Whenever I see someone less fortunate than I,
And let's face it, who isn't less fortunate than I?
My tender heart tends to start to bleed.” 

“If you don’t shut the hell up, I’m going to make SOMEBODY bleed,” Santana called. “Remember the razors in my hair?”

Blaine figured it was time to put these two out of their misery. He ran down the stairs and said, “Woah, guys! Stop please!” Kurt looked relieved, but Rachel looked livid. This was not good Broadway etiquette! 

Blaine ran up to the two thespians and whispered, “Guys, this might not be the best time. I promise later this evening I’ll let you re-enact the entire show! I’ll even play Fiyero!” Blaine offering a compromise was the only way to keep this party from getting violent. Besides, it might be fun, although Blaine secretly wondered why he never got to play a lead. Maybe it was because Rachel always insisted on taking the starring role and never shared a part she perceived as hers. 

“Always the ball-hogger huh, Rachel Berry???” Blaine thought maliciously and felt some of those bitter feelings towards Rachel returning. If only she would stop pushing Kurt towards New York, Blaine could feel better about her but right now he didn’t like her very much.  

Kurt put his mouth to his boyfriend’s ear and whispered, “Thank you. You just saved my ass, but please play along.” Then he said loudly, “Blaine, it’s MY party and I can act if I want to!” Rachel looked pleased that her best friend had stood up for her.

“That is a great song,” interjected Brittany. Everyone just stopped what they were doing and looked at the small blonde. After a split second, they all shook their head and looked at the scene in front of them. Brittany’s bon mots got them every time!

“I’m sorry, Kurt,” said Blaine, putting his head down contritely. Might as well lay it on thick. “But if we don’t eat soon, the food will burn on the grill. Why don’t we just call this intermission.”

“And by intermission you mean never having to listen to these two sing this damn show again?” asked Santana. She looked over to Brittany and exclaimed, “Oh my god, I was thinking of living with these two!!”

“Not the time, Tana,” said Blaine.

“Fine, whatever! Let’s just put on some real music, cause if I have to listen to ‘Popular’ one more time, I think I’ll deafen myself with a fork!” Santana said, moving over to the iPod dock.

Rachel ignored Santana and called to everyone, “After refreshments, we’re going to do the second act, and Kurt and I will reverse our roles. So for those who aren’t following, I will be playing Elphaba, the tragically misunderstood witch, and Kurt will be playing Glinda, the flighty yet kind sorceress. Then we can show you how truly versatile we can be in our roles!”

Kurt knew he wasn’t going to get involved in that one. He subtly walked away and hid behind Blaine. Kurt could almost see the steam coming out of Santana’s ears. Blaine turned to Kurt and offered, “I could play Glinda for you.”  

“Are you nuts? I don’t know who would smack you down more, Rachel or Santana! No, Blaine. Trust me on this one. Stay out,” Kurt whispered fiercely into Blaine’s ear. 

Blaine shrugged his shoulders and pulled away from Kurt. So that’s what Miss High-and-Mighty Rachel thought of his acting, huh? Well, he could show her a thing or two about the craft. After all, he’d performed at theme parks and community theaters and Christmas spectaculars and well, lots of places! Rachel couldn’t hold a candle to all the places he had performed. Blaine was quite capable of playing any role in Wicked, and he knew it!  

He was certain Rachel didn’t want to act opposite him again as he had been better than her in West Side Story. That was it! Blaine wasn’t exactly thinking rationally at this point because his anger at Rachel was taking over his thought processes. Blaine went off on another tangent, ranting in his mind about the unfairness of Rachel getting to do what she wanted with Kurt and Blaine being left in the dust.

“Kurt was, first and foremost, my boyfriend. Not Rachel’s. No, my boyfriend! And the sooner she comprehends that, the better,” Blaine thought furiously. His thinking had turned a very disturbing corner, and he was determined to tell Rachel just what he thought of her once everyone had left. Blaine didn’t want to cause a scene, of course. 

Santana turned to Sam and Finn and yelled, “You boys best be holding me back, because I’m about to go all Lima Heights on some crazy hack actors over there!” She then started spouting enough Spanish profanities to make anyone blush. 

After everyone got their food and found a spot in the backyard to sit, Kurt and Blaine found a quiet corner of the yard with their food. Blaine debated talking about Rachel and his growing resentment of her with Kurt, but the opportunity wasn’t there.

Instead he stared in amazement at Kurt’s plate of food. 

Kurt had fixed a burger with two patties and double the cheese and put them on a white bread bun! Blaine was astonished. Kurt never ate hamburgers. The closest he ever came was just the patty with no bread, cheese or anything. He might add a small salad on the side and claim it was like eating a hamburger, but Blaine knew it wasn’t the real deal. 

“Thanks for bailing me out, Blaine,” Kurt said and took a big bite of his hamburger. He gave a moan of pleasure and added with his mouth full, “Why have I been depriving myself for so long?”

Blaine, with his country club etiquette, let out a grimace and said, “I don’t need to see your see-food diet, babe. That’s disgusting.”

Kurt looked confused at first, then gave a horrified look and put his hand over his mouth. He might have changed, but that was not a good reason for bad manners! He swallowed a bite and said, “Sorry, Blaine. It’s just sooo gooood! I can see why Dad likes them so much.”

Blaine was about to tell Kurt about the triple cheeseburger meal he had with Finn but thought better of it. It might be a good idea to ease him into junk food gently. “Just don’t eat these too much, you don’t want to end up in the hospital at 30,” Blaine joked.

Kurt gave him another look and Blaine realized he stuck his foot in his mouth yet again. “I swear I might as well shut up for the rest of the night and keep myself out of trouble,” said Blaine, shaking his head.

“It’s fine. But I think it’s time to register you for sensitivity training,” ribbed Kurt. Blaine choked on his food and Kurt laughed and passed him his soda.

Blaine was about to ask about the New York news when Rachel with Finn horned back in and Rachel asked first. “Okay, Hummel, spill,” she ordered. “I think you’ve kept us in suspense long enough!”

Blaine rolled his eyes and was about to tell her to get lost when Kurt chimed in. “Let me at least eat first!” Kurt exclaimed. At Rachel’s “do it now!” look, he said, “Fine!” and put down his hamburger. “Be right back, I need to go get the information,” he added, standing up and brushing the grass off his pants.

Blaine sent dagger eyes Rachel’s way. She was so damn bossy. Mentally he yelled at her, “Go away, Rachel! I don’t want you near Kurt! He’s mine, and I’m going to keep him here with me until we go to New York!” But Rachel, who was incredibly skilled and talented in many aspects, was not a mind reader. She totally ignored Blaine and carefully watched Kurt’s every move.  

Kurt made his way over to the patio table and grabbed the file folder that he was keeping with Carole. After having a few words with the adults — he had to be polite after all — he walked back to his friends. He sat back on the grass and passed over the folder.

“So Emma gave that to me,” Kurt said, pointing to the information packet. “Her cousin works for Fallen Angel Productions…”

“The one that does all those reality shows?” squealed Blaine. He clapped his hands together with glee. He watched his share of those guilty pleasures, so he was well aware of the company. Maybe this was a good thing, after all. 

“Exactly!” said Kurt, thrilled his boyfriend knew about the company. “Anyway, they are looking for interns to start this fall, after Halloween. Emma said that her cousin will forward my application to the hiring committee if I’m interested. I really think I want to do this. It’s not what I planned or expected, but it is an opportunity!”

“Kurt, that’s amazing!” cried Rachel, putting her food on the grass and flung herself at her best friend, knocking him over. “We can go apartment hunting this summer!” Blaine shot her an irritated look. He should be the one hugging Kurt, not her. 

“Rachel, not so fast. This is a long shot. You look for apartments with Finn, and we’ll figure something out if I get it,” Kurt said, laughing from the ground where he was knocked over by Rachel, and looked at Finn. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed like Finn had an uncomfortable look on his face. “In the meantime, I work at the school.” He looked at Blaine and said, “This is going to work out.”

Blaine looked at Kurt and his heart broke. He had to be happy for his boyfriend. Otherwise, he was just being selfish. “That’s great Kurt, really,” he said, faking a smile.

Kurt knew that tone. It was Blaine’s “I’m upset” tone. He remembered it all too well, from the Chandler incident, after Blaine sang that Whitney Houston song and slut-shamed Kurt. Kurt knew that he was putting all this information on Blaine, and it wasn’t fair. But Blaine should be pleased! If Kurt got this job, this would set the couple up for a new life in New York. It was what they both dreamed of. Blaine was confusing him. What was his problem?

“Blaine, are you okay? You’re looking a little green,” said Rachel with concern. Blaine was looking at nothing in particular, as if in another world. Rachel started worrying and touched Blaine’s arm.

All of a sudden Blaine flinched, refocused his eyes, and stood up. “I can’t do this. I gotta go,” he said and quickly started walking down the driveway to the front yard.

“Blaine, wait!” cried Kurt and jumped up to follow his boyfriend. Kurt realized he really should have talked to Blaine in private, so they could discuss their options in peace. He just didn’t understand why Blaine was so upset. They had worked out the long distance thing when he thought he was going to NYADA.

The rest of the gang looked on with curiosity and concern when they saw the look on Blaine’s face. They knew that face. Blaine was not happy. After the two men left the yard, their conversations turned to the scene they just witnessed.

Blaine pulled the keys out of his jeans and made his way to his car. “Where are you going?” asked Kurt. Blaine just ignored him and got in the car, turned on the gas, and pulled out of the driveway. “Blaine!” Kurt yelled in frustration. He started running after the car but realized Blaine was going too fast to catch up to it, and besides, Kurt wasn’t strong enough to stop the car anyway. Kurt raised his arms up quickly and slammed them down at his sides in an angry defeat. Blaine was already halfway down the street with no intention of stopping. Kurt raised his hand to his mouth to stop himself from crying. 

Kurt started to panic. Blaine finally did it. He left him because of his behavior. He was about to open the door to his own SUV when he heard Rachel calling.

“Kurt, wait! Where are you going?” she asked.

“Blaine took off. I need to follow him!” Kurt said frantically.

“I’m going with you,” said Rachel. She was worried about Blaine too. He was being so strong for Kurt. The look on Blaine’s face when he left the yard scared her. She hoped this wasn’t going to be a repeat of what happened to Kurt. Badass Blaine would be too surreal.

“Just stay here, Rach. I can handle this,” commanded Kurt. Rachel would just get in the way.

“Stop arguing with me and get in the damn SUV,” ordered Rachel, starting to feel some of the panic Kurt was projecting.

The two best friends jumped in the car, buckled up and tore out of the driveway. Rachel sent a text to Finn letting him know what was going on and asking him to entertain everyone until they got back.

“Where is he going?” asked Rachel as she looked up from her phone and saw Blaine’s car. He was driving erratically and she worried for her friend’s safety.

“I don’t know, but we can’t let him out of our sight!” said Kurt. He wanted to cry, but he had to concentrate on the road. They didn’t need an accident. He was losing Blaine. It finally happened.

They pursued Blaine for a bit, following behind at a safe distance. At one point they lost him, but Kurt knew where he was heading. “He’s going towards the school,” Kurt whispered.

“Dalton?” asked Rachel. She wasn’t really paying attention to Kurt, but watching out for Blaine’s car, so she didn’t recognize the route they were taking.

“No, McKinley, Berry! Pay attention!” Kurt almost yelled, reverting for a moment. He realized he was taking his worry out on the wrong person. “Sorry, Rachel,” he apologized and grabbed his friend’s hand. Rachel gave a reassuring squeeze in response.

Kurt had to talk about something, anything, to keep from freaking out. “Oh my god, what have I put him through these last few days? When I took off, all I was thinking about was the hurt. I didn’t even consider how it might affect anyone else. I’ve been so selfish,” he lamented. “So damn selfish!”

“Kurt, don’t,” comforted Rachel.

“No! Seriously, I’m as self-centered as I claimed you were! No wonder he wanted to leave! All I cared about was my happiness. Blaine is my partner in all of this, and I didn’t even consider him,” Kurt said and his eyes went wide. “Shit, this is NOT happening,” he said, breathing deep and trying to keep control. He lost the battle with his willpower and slammed his hand on the steering wheel. A honk blasted from the car. Luckily, there were no cars on the side street they were driving down. 

Rachel felt she had to do something. This was very quickly spiraling out of control, and she was empathizing with her best friend’s pain. “Kurt, just park the car here. We can walk. It’s only a couple blocks from the school. You aren’t in a state for driving right now anyhow,” she said gently.

Kurt didn’t respond, but he knew Rachel was right, so he pulled over at the next available parking spot. He wanted to get to Blaine as soon as possible, but he didn’t want to get into an accident either, or even worse, hit someone with the car.

Kurt got out of the car, locked it and set the alarm, and started walking quickly towards the school. He forgot all about Rachel. Blaine was the one he wanted to see right now.

“Kurt, just wait will you? Blaine isn’t going anywhere,” called Rachel. Kurt realized how crappy he was treating Rachel and stopped, waiting for her to catch up.

“You need to keep calm, Kurt,” said Rachel, touching his shoulder. “You know how your emotions are all messed up right now.”

“Instead of flying off the handle?” asked Kurt quietly, giving a small smile. He could never resist quoting Wicked, even when things were going to hell. His mind went back to their sing-off before that epic fight and remembered how Rachel said that line to him. At least it was calming him down.

“Exactly. Any issue in life can be solved by that amazing show,” informed Rachel, smiling. She had to distract Kurt. They also had to find Blaine. She grabbed his hand and threaded her fingers with his. “Come on, let’s get Blaine. How about we continue our show while we walk?”

“Okay,” said Kurt, resigned. And that is how they walked to the school, hand in hand and singing to distract themselves from worrying about Blaine.

***********

Blaine parked his car in the student parking lot and made his way to the gym. He noted a few cars in the lot. He might be in luck. He wasn’t sure if it would be open or not, but based on the amount of vehicles around him someone might have reserved it. The community often used the gym at the school as there weren’t too many amenities like it available in the area.

Blaine saw that the side door to the gym was open so he slipped inside. He debated whether to box or do laps at the track to release his frustrations. But first, he had to find somewhere to sit, because he was quickly starting to descend into a full-fledged panic attack. 

He hadn’t had a panic attack like this for several years. His therapist showed him deep breathing techniques when he felt the tightening in his chest. It wasn’t working this time, though. Blaine felt he knew what he was going to do. Knowing what to do next seemed to calm him down, or at least to keep him from wanting to pass out.

There was a basketball game going on in the gym. It looked like a student/faculty pick-up game. He spotted Coach Beiste and gave her a small wave. Coach Beiste was always nice to Blaine. She let him shower separately from the other guys. She thought it was because of Blaine’s homosexuality, but Blaine had other reasons. He had secrets he needed to hide. Blaine knew he was too small for most contact sports, but Beiste offered him opportunities in other arenas such as track and boxing. She’d even discussed with Blaine the possibility of heading up a team for a boxing group as the school lacked one for competition. Yes, he liked Coach a lot. She was one of the good guys at the school.  

Blaine gave a small nervous smile and gave a small wave while trying to breathe. He made his way around the gym and let himself out another side door to the central quad. This was Blaine’s favorite part of the school, and the site for some bittersweet scenes between him and Kurt. It seemed fitting to be there at the moment.

Blaine sat on the picnic table, put his head between his knees and tried to force himself to breathe deep. It wasn’t working. He started going over in his mind the last couple of hours spent with Kurt. Telling his boyfriend about his dad was a terrible idea. It just opened a can of scary worms he didn’t want opened. It also made him realize that he was going to be alone. Again. He thought the loneliness was all over when he met Kurt. He was convinced they were going to be together forever.

“Always the hopeless romantic, aren’t you Blaine?” he asked himself, his breath hitching. This self-torture was manifesting into chest pains.  

He had to be realistic. Kurt and Blaine would be together for the summer, then as soon as Kurt moved to New York, Blaine would be forgotten. Blaine knew this game. Everyone in his life was the same way. His parents. Cooper. Hell, half of the Warblers hardly ever talked to him anymore, although Sebastian probably had something to do with that. And when they grew apart, the New Directions would do the same and leave him alone at McKinley.

Finally, the tight band surrounding his lungs began to loosen, at least a little bit. He was able to take several deep breaths.

“How could he do this to me?” asked Blaine. He wasn’t thinking rationally anymore. In his mind, he was convinced that Kurt was going to dump him and find a new man the second he got to New York. “After everything I’ve done for you. Goddammit, Kurt, I hate you!” he exclaimed. He gasped and put his hand to his mouth, realizing what he just said. He didn’t hate Kurt. That was the problem. It would be easier if he did. All of a sudden he started sobbing again, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever stop.

**********

Kurt and Rachel finally arrived at the school to find the doors locked. They saw Blaine’s car in the student lot but didn’t see the curly-haired man.

“Shit!” yelled Kurt, pounding on the door. “Where in the hell did he go?”

“Kurt, your face is looking like a tomato again. You might want to calm down that blood pressure,” informed Rachel as she looked around. She spied the gym door and grabbed her best friend’s arm and pointed to the opening. “Kurt, over there! I bet he went into the gym.”

“Good eyes, Rach,” Kurt praised as he started running to the door. They made their way inside and noticed a game going on. They were almost around the gym and were about to enter the school proper when the players realized who entered the gym and the changes he had undergone. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared.

Kurt stopped and stared back, “Take a picture, it’ll last longer!” he said sarcastically.

“Looking good, Hummel!” said Brian Smith, one of the students. He was never mean to Kurt but was stunned by his transformation. Kurt looked like he was about to kick someone’s ass. 

“Not the time, Brian!” called back Kurt. “Has anyone seen Blaine come through here?”

“Yeah, he came through here a few minutes ago. He’s at the steps outside,” responded Brian. “Is he okay? It looks like he was wigging about something.”

Kurt ignored the boy. “Thanks,” he said, giving a wave. Rachel stayed silent, which was a rarity for her, and followed Kurt. The students resumed their game but talked about Kurt once he left the gym. It seemed people really DO change after graduation.

*********

Blaine had his head in his hands, trying to make sense out of everything when he heard a voice yell, “Blaine!” He looked up to see Kurt hurrying towards him with Rachel following behind. He jumped up and started making his way up the stairs and away from Kurt. He couldn’t do this right now.

Kurt looked at his boyfriend, confused. What was Blaine doing? “Blaine, where are you going?  Don’t run off. We need to talk about this,” he said with a panicked voice.

Blaine stopped running up the stairs and spun on Kurt, saying while pointing to Rachel, “Why bother? Your girlfriend is there with you, and you know how she can’t keep her nose out of it. We all know how you’re choosing her over me.”

Rachel gasped! Is this what Blaine thought of her?

Kurt took a step back. What in the hell was wrong with Blaine? He had never shown any sort of jealously in Kurt’s friendship with Rachel. He put his hands on his hips and stared back, but inside he had a rubbery feeling of panic. “Blaine, stop being stupid. Now come down here so we can talk about this, please?”

“Why should I?” asked Blaine, his chin coming up, almost daring Kurt to come get him. It was a childish stance but Blaine didn’t feel very adult right now.  

Rachel stepped up to Kurt’s back and whispered, “You two need to be alone. I’ll meet you back at the car.” Kurt nodded and handed Rachel his keys so she could use the radio and AC.

As Rachel was about to walk away, Blaine began taunting her, calling, “Hey Rachel, make sure you enjoy my ex-boyfriend in New York! You win! Do you understand, Rachel Berry? Does it make you feel good inside knowing you stole him away from me? YOU WIN!” The last two words were screamed, and a couple of the students looked out the gym door to make sure everything was okay. When they saw there was no violence, they shrugged their shoulders and continued with the game.

Rachel turned and looked at Blaine with hurt eyes. All of a sudden she burst into tears and ran back to the gym.

Blaine gave a bitter smirk and said sarcastically, “I’m sure she’ll use this as an excuse to sing some stupid song.” He looked at Kurt, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and said, “I gotta go.” He didn’t mean to say “ex” but it just came out, and he refused to back down now.

Kurt looked back, stunned. Did Blaine just call him an ex-boyfriend? “Blaine, did you just call me an ex?” he asked with tears in his eyes.

“So what if I did?” Blaine asked, shrugging his shoulders. Those walls he so desperately spent several years tearing down were starting to rapidly build again. “Might as well cut ties now. Seems you’ve made your choice. Her over me. I’m glad you’re leaving. Good riddance!”

“We haven’t even talked about whether I was going to do this!” exclaimed Kurt. “Blaine, I’m surprised at you! You know that I’m absolutely head over heels in love with you! Nothing could ever come between you and me. Blaine, you’re my soulmate! Why would you say those mean things to me?”

Blaine had to protect himself, because things were going to start really sucking. “Then why are you leaving me for Rachel?” he asked. He knew he was being ridiculous, but it was the only way to deal with the rising panic and rage he was feeling.

Kurt was starting to get frustrated. “I’m not leaving you for anyone!” he practically screamed. He stopped, took a couple deep breaths, and continued, “I already said it was a long shot. Blaine, think about it for a second. What is…what?...7 months apart over the rest of our lives? Even then we can visit each other all the time. Just calm down and think.”

Kurt recognized he shouldn’t have told Blaine to calm down and think, at least in that way, because Blaine’s eyes flashed. “I really have to go, Kurt,” he said and started to walk back up the stairs.

Kurt had to do something to stop Blaine. “Blaine, you’re being a hypocrite! You spent the last three days telling me not to run away from everything, and now you’re doing the exact same thing! I know I deserve everything I get! I deserve you leaving me, but I also deserve an explanation. So before you go, can you at least give me that?”

Once again Blaine stopped on the stairs and slowly turned around. Tears were streaming down his face. Kurt expected him to look upset but discovered Blaine's eyes were full of anger.  

Blaine walked down the stairs and said, “Fine, please sit at the picnic table. I’ll give you a few more minutes, and then it’s over. I can’t do this anymore, Kurt. I’ve reached my breaking point.”

Kurt started shaking but nodded his assent. He sat on one of the benches at the picnic tables. Blaine sat on the table and thought about taking Kurt’s hand but changed his mind. Touching Kurt would just make things more difficult. Refusing to look into Kurt’s eyes, Blaine looked at the gym door and began to sing:

“There's a fine, fine line between a lover and a friend;
There's a fine, fine line between reality and pretend;
And you never know 'til you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb.
There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.”

Kurt shook his head. This wasn’t happening. He was going to ask Blaine to marry him, eventually! Maybe sooner than later if everything worked out. He tried to get Blaine to look at him, but he refused. Blaine just continued singing:

“There's a fine, fine line between a fairy tale and a lie;
And there's a fine, fine line between "You're wonderful" and "Goodbye."
I guess if someone doesn't love you back it isn't such a crime,
But there's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of your time.”

All of a sudden Blaine jumped off the table. Kurt tried to grab for him, but Blaine pushed his arms away. He stared at his ex-boyfriend and started singing angrily:

“And I don't have the time to waste on you anymore.
I don't think that you even know what you're looking for!
For my own sanity, I've got to close the door
And walk away...
Oh...”

Blaine started calming down. The time was almost here. He had to be calm, because if he wasn’t, he wouldn’t be able to leave. He touched Kurt on the shoulder and finished singing:

“There's a fine, fine line between together and not
And there's a fine, fine line between what you wanted and what you got.
You gotta go after the things you want while you're still in your prime...
There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.”

“Why, Blaine?” sobbed Kurt.

“I just don’t have the strength for us anymore,” said Blaine, who was also sobbing. “I really need to go. Just give me some time. I’ll call you.” He touched Kurt’s face and walked away.

“Blaine?” asked Kurt.

Blaine stopped but didn’t turn around and said, “Yes, Kurt?”

“Remember, I do love you. And all you need is courage,” Kurt whispered. “We will find our way to one another, I promise.”

“We’ll see,” said Blaine simply. It wasn’t mean. It was just a fact. With tears streaming down his face, Blaine walked out of Kurt’s life.

Kurt sat on the bench, put his hand over his mouth and started sobbing anew. He sat there crying for over a half hour then texted Rachel to come get him. He couldn’t be alone right now.

Blaine watched Kurt from the shadows. He wanted to forget everything he just said and run to his soulmate. It just wasn’t possible anymore. Blaine had to let Kurt go. He pulled out his phone, dialed a number and said, “Hello? It’s Blaine. I need somewhere to go.” After talking for a minute or two, he hung up and made his way to his car. Blaine thought he might have found the right place to go for comfort. 

********

A/N: Ahhh the creys! This chapter just about ripped my heart right out of my chest. It was inspired when Chris and Darren said they want drama and speedbumps, and it was written quite a while ago. Well, there you go Misters Colfer and Criss, more drama than you can shake a stick at! Don’t worry though, guys. I’m a chronic Klainer. It will be alright. Song is It’s a Fine, Fine Line from the Avenue Q broadway show.