Blaine pulled the key from the ignition and rested his arms on the steering wheel, glancing up at the apartment block. He took his time approaching his best friend's apartment, for once, reluctant to see her. He'd left it to the last possible minute, but now he had no choice – he had to talk to her. After taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.
"Blaine!" Quinn's face brightened as she opened the door, and pulled him into a hug. "Feels like I haven't seen you in ages!" she giggled, leading him through her apartment.
'Yeah, that's because I've been avoiding you' he thought, but ended up just chuckling and mumbling a comment about work.
"Sorry, I was just cleaning the bathroom" she called as she skipped through the apartment, removing the rubber gloves from her hands and leaving them on the side.
"It's ok, there's actually something I needed to talk to you about" he called back, perching on the arm of the couch.
"Ok, shoot" she replied, putting various bottles back into the cupboard under the sink before joining Blaine.
"Kurt got the part on Broadway" Blaine smiled, his worry for Quinn masked for a moment by pride.
"Blaine that's incredible!" Quinn grinned, jumping up and wrapping her arms around him. "I'll have to phone him tomorrow" she made a mental note,
"He's only an understudy, but yeah, it's something we're both really excited about" he nodded,
"This is amazing" she stayed standing, glancing around her apartment as she started listing things to do, "I'll need to send some flowers, and I have to come and see it, I'll have to-"
"Yeah, great, but listen to me Quinn" Blaine grabbed Quinn's hands, and she froze, and felt a flash of panic - only a moment though, before her attention returned and she calmed down. She looked back at him, and knew something was bothering him. So she stayed quiet, and waited for him to tell her whatever had him so agitated.
"I'm- I'm going to New York, to be with him" Blaine watched Quinn's face fall for a second, before she recovered her composure. She was still Quinn Fabray, and that fake smile looked as convincing as ever.
"Of course you are Blaine, I wouldn't expect anything less" she nodded, pushing back the tears.
"But I need you to say yes first" Blaine's hands moved to interlock their fingers.
"I just did, didn't I?" Quinn tried to avoid eye contact with Blaine, without him noticing. But of course, he noticed.
"You know what I mean Quinn, I need to know that you'll be… ok" Blaine struggled to find the right words to describe his anxieties. Quinn immediately pulled her hands away from Blaine's, suddenly feeling disgusted by his touch. She self-consciously pulled at her jumper sleeves as an irrational anger took over her.
"What, you mean you need to know I won't try to kill myself again?" she spat, her words laced with poison.
"Well yeah but-" Blaine reached for Quinn, but she was already storming across the room and into the bathroom
When she returned, Blaine noticed the glint of something in her hand,
"You need to know I won't take this razor and drag it across my wrists-"
"No, no, NO! Quinn just SHUT UP for a second" Quinn took a step back, slightly shocked by Blaine's reaction. He was never one of the ones who'd shout back at her; tell her to get her life together. He always had a softer approach.
"I need to know that me leaving isn't going to send you over the edge like Sam leaving did. I need to know that you're not going to shut yourself off from everyone else, that you're going to keep going to your therapy sessions, that you're going to go for dinner with Rachel, and watch movies with Santana and Brittany and go out to a club and have a good time with Puck and Mike. I need to know you're going to have someone to talk to, to call a 3o'clock in the morning when you feel like cutting, who's going to be able to be over here within 10minutes; because as much as I'll want to, I won't be able to. I need to know you're going to keep being you, even if I'm not here" Blaine fell back onto the couch and dragged a hand across his face. He couldn't leave Quinn, why had he ever thought this was going to work?
"Blaine, Blaine look at me" Quinn knelt down before him, placing the razor on the table in the process. She looked down at her shaking hands, and took his hands back in them, trying to stop it. "I can't promise I'm not going to cut, or want to cut. I can't promise that I'm not going to miss you, or call you at 3o'clock in the morning" Her voice was shaking to, but Blaine knew she meant every word, "I can promise that I'm going to keep being me, because all of those things are a part of me. My scars are a part of me, and you're a part of me. I can promise that I'll keep going to therapy and I'll be ok. Sam's been trying to convince me to move to Tennessee and live with him anyway, maybe I could go" Quinn shrugged, a small smile dancing on her rosy lips. "And you're going to go to New York and be with Kurt. I know how much you've missed him. Give him my love, won't you?" Blaine nodded, placing his forehead against Quinn's. "We're going to do this. And we're going to be ok" Quinn whispered.
"Promise?" Blaine had never sounded so vulnerable.
"I promise" Quinn had never sounded so strong.
They stayed like this for what felt like forever, before curling up on the couch as Quinn began to fall asleep. Blaine smiled as his eyes fluttered closed, enjoying the scent and familiarity of Quinn's lavender shampoo.
He gently awoke to find her still in his arms, but had to quickly shift as he noticed the time. He left her on the couch, wrapping a light blanket around her and planting a kiss on her forehead. He snatched the razor from the table as he quietly left the apartment, throwing it into a nearby bin as he approached his car. He checked to see his suitcases still on the backseat, before pulling out and heading to the airport, his mind at ease, and an effortless smile gracing his face.