Kurt continued talking to Tina and Brittany about how wonderful the play was, how lovely the costumes were, and how his internship at Vogue was the best job he could have dreamt of. But as nice as it was to see his friends again, he wasn't completely at ease. Because he had come back to Lima for a specific purpose, to tell Blaine that they were done, and as much as he needed to do it, a small part of him was trying to convince him otherwise. He had been anxiously waiting for that dreaded conversation with Blaine ever since getting on the flight, and that anxiety had only increased since he and Blaine had made eye contact during one of Blaine's scenes.
Blaine hesitated at the end of the steps. He had been so shocked to see Kurt in the audience that he had almost missed his next lines. He had avoided looking anywhere near where Kurt was seated lest he forgot all his lines and made an ass out of himself. In front of Kurt. But he dared to let his heart hope again, because Kurt had come to see him after days and days of ignoring his calls and messages. That had to be good, right? So once the curtains went down, he had rushed off to change quickly, not even bothering to shower because he could not afford to waste a single second knowing that Kurt was out there in the auditorium. But when he reached the steps not far off from where Kurt was chatting with Tina and Brittany, he found that he couldn't take those final steps forward. What if Kurt saw him and changed his mind, deciding he was much better off without anything to do with Blaine? He couldn't blame Kurt for that-he had screwed up badly, and didn't deserve the second chance he was getting. But oh, he wanted it so badly. He looked at Kurt and opened his mouth-not even sure what he was going to say, when suddenly Kurt looked up right into his eyes.
Kurt froze. This was what he had been waiting for all night, and suddenly he couldn't think what to do. The first time he had made eye contact with Blaine that night had done nothing to lessen the impact of the second time. What did one do when they were suddenly face to face with their first and only love, the same love who had broken their heart? Still, Kurt knew that he had to do something, and braced himself for that. Tina and Brittany had been watching the scene in front of them nervously, and Tina awkwardly said something about "leaving you two alone" before leaving, pulling Brittany by the hand behind her.
The awkwardness was further intensified by the newfound silence.
"Blaine-"
"Kurt-"
They both spoke at the same time, stopping immediately after they realized that. They would have laughed, had this been a couple of weeks earlier, but Blaine had slept with someone else and now they weren't comfortable enough around each other to do anything but give small, awkward, lopsided smiles. Then-
"I'm breaking up with you," Kurt said quickly before he lost his nerve. "For good."
Blaine just stared at him, stunned. How stupid he was not to have expected this. Why would Kurt have wanted to take him back anyway? He had stupidly been thinking about breaking things off with Kurt and had jumped into Eli's bed before he could even talk to Kurt about it. Kurt definitely deserved better than him. But he had been trying to be better ever since that awful night in New York.
"Kurt," Blaine implored. "Please don't do this. I know I screwed up. I am screwed up. But I swear-I've been working on all my issues. You've helped me so much these past two years and I thought I was fine, but I realized I couldn't cope by myself once you were gone. And I should have learned how to, instead of going around all depressed until I ended up doing that. But I am trying now, and I promise I'll treat you the way you deserve. I'll treat us the way we deserve." Blaine's eyes were now shining with tears.
Kurt desperately held back his own tears at Blaine's emotional speech. He paused until he thought he could trust himself to speak without his voice breaking.
"That's good, Blaine. You need to sort your issues and you need to be happy. But not with me."
"But, Kurt-"
"Us being together is not going to be good for either of us. You need to work things out by yourself and learn to be your own person. And I need to be sure I'm with someone I can trust not to hurt me."
Blaine was more anguished than ever at this last statement. Of course Kurt was right. Kurt was always right, and this time he didn't want it to be so. But it was the truth. He had hurt Kurt, he had hurt them, and in doing so he had hurt himself. He couldn't stop himself from crying properly now. He wouldn't be able to get over Kurt-didn't want to get over Kurt-but he had to stay away from Kurt. Give Kurt a chance to be happy. And he had to fix himself. He didn't think he could ever be happy again, but he had to try to function properly.
"Maybe someday I'll give you a second chance. But don't count on it."
Blaine looked up, hardly daring to believe his ears. This was something he could work towards.
Kurt smiled at him sadly. "Take care, Blaine." Then he turned around and walked out of the auditorium, the tears finally rolling down his cheeks. He didn't turn around when Blaine called out "You too! I love you."
"I love you too," Kurt said quietly, too soft for Blaine to hear, as he walked towards the carpark, anxious to be alone so he could sob like he wanted to.