(A/N): This is just another idea I had floating around in my head since S3. Let me know what you think!

Summary: Just a few things to go over so there isn't any confusion. This story is AU and basically my take on S5 of Glee. Kurt and Rachel were both accepted to NYADA at the end of S3 (as it should have been) and moved to NYC with Finn at the end of summer. Blaine remained in Ohio and the break up did happen like canon (grrrrrr).

Rating: M for some chapters, but not all.

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, or any of it's characters. Nor do I own the Anderbrothers, who belong to Neaf and Emily. Lets face it, they wrote our boys better than the Glee writers did and their blog kinda sparked this idea in my head. :)

Bright Lights, Big City

New Beginnings

"On my count lift it up ok? One, two, three."

Kurt and Blaine carefully lifted the large flat screen into the wall mount, holding it steady as Cooper quickly secured it into place. It had been a long day of heavy lifting and they were all happy to be almost done.

"And that takes care of that, guys," Cooper said, taking a few steps back to admire his handy work. He turned his head back to glance at the boys and smiled at the sight of them. Kurt stood behind his brother; his arms curled around Blaine's chest and his chin resting on his shoulder. Blaine sighed contently as he leaned back into the embrace, staring absently at the TV.

Cooper chuckled softly as he picked up the remainder of his tools from the floor. He couldn't believe how quickly time had flown by. It seemed like only yesterday he was comforting a hysterical Blaine after they had said their goodbyes Kurt & Finn at the airport – on their way to the bright lights of New York City. He remembered staying up all night with his little brother as he cried onto his shoulder, completely heartbroken.

It had been a difficult year for Blaine, he was certain of that.

"Alright guys, how about I make us some dinner?" Kurt asked, breaking the silence. He slowly untangled his arms from Blaine's chest and straightened out imaginary wrinkles from his shirt. "Blaine, how about you pick tonight?"

"Do we have everything for stuffed shells?" Blaine asked. He walked over to help Cooper break down the cardboard box the TV came in.

"I think so," Kurt said, making his way over to the kitchen cabinets. "Why don't you guys clean up and I'll start on dinner."

"I'll help you." Blaine volunteered, setting the cardboard next to the others by the door to be recycled, before walking over to the kitchen.

"It's okay, honey," Kurt called over his shoulder as he pulled out the giant shells and spices he would need. "I made you guys do most of the heavy lifting anyways. You guys get cleaned up and relax. This shouldn't take long."

"No. I – I really want to help," Blaine said quietly, leaning against the kitchen counter. "I've … um … been looking forward to it."

Kurt turned around just in time to catch Blaine biting his bottom lip nervously, avoiding eye contact. Kurt knew that look; since their reconciliation Blaine was always cautious when it came to moving forward with their relationship, making sure it was always Kurt who set pace. Kurt smiled and set down the parmesan cheese he pulled from the fridge. He walked over to Blaine and cupped his cheeks in his hands, gently forcing Blaine to look directly at him. He looked into his boyfriend's nervous hazel eyes and smiled warmly. "Ok. Take a quick shower and I'll get everything out. I promise I won't start without you."

Blaine's eyes lit up as he pulled Kurt into his arms. "Okay, I'll be a few minutes," he said, giving a Kurt a quick kiss on the lips before walking to their bedroom.

Their bedroom.

Kurt sighed dreamily. He couldn't believe that Blaine was finally here, living in New York City - with him.

"There you go, getting that dreamy look on your face," Cooper smirked as he put his tools away in the small storage closet by door.

Kurt promptly came out of his dreamy state and pointed his finger jokingly at Cooper. "Hush you," he grinned, "I've been waiting for this for months. I still can't believe he's finally here with us."

"I know." Cooper said, glancing over at the doorway where Blaine had disappeared to. "It's nice to see him happy again." His face fell when he turned back to Kurt and noticed the tears threatening to fall from Kurt's bright blue eyes.

"I'm ok. Happy tears! I promise!" Kurt explained holding up his hands. "It's just after everything that happened this past year… I didn't think …" He paused to wipe the tears from his eyes and compose himself. "But now, having him here with me … He's happy. I'm happy. It's so much better than I could have ever imagined, and he's only been here a week!"

Cooper laughed softly and handed him a tissue. "I know what you mean. I kept telling him if he could just keep it together for a year and focus on getting into NYU, he'd be here in no time. The two of you can make a new life here together. You guys really deserve it, Kurt." He said earnestly.

"I know," Kurt said softly, wiping his eyes with the tissue. All the dreams that he and Blaine talked about when they were in high school were finally coming true. The past year had been one of the toughest times in their lives. After moving to New York, Kurt found it difficult to balance his time between classes at NYADA and his part time job at Vogue. Though he was happy to be pursuing both of his dreams, his time with Blaine was limited.

With Kurt gone, Blaine joined every club at school while maintaining his duties as Glee Club's lead singer and Class President. He tried to keep himself busy to fill the empty void in his heart, but despite his best efforts, life without Kurt was more than what he could handle. Without his anchor he was lost.

Mistakes were made.

Hearts were broken.

Trust was lost.

It wasn't an easy reconciliation. In order to forgive each other, they had to forgive themselves first. And once they moved past the pain and guilt, they were able to slowly move forward. Rebuilding that broken trust from the ground up wasn't easy, but over time it was restored and their love grew stronger than it had ever been before.

New York would be their new beginning.

"Alright, I'm ready. Bathroom is yours Coop!" Blaine called walking back into the kitchen. Kurt's breath caught in his chest at the sight of his boyfriend. Blaine wore a pair of old sweat pants and a Dalton Academy shirt, his curls still damp from the shower. Seeing Blaine out of his usually dapper Dalton-boy appearance was quickly becoming Kurt's favorite thing in the world. He quickly walked up to Blaine, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck before pressing his lips against his.

"Aaaaand that's my cue to leave," Cooper laughed, shaking his head. "I'll set the table when I get out." He jogged over to the bathroom on the other side of the apartment and closed the door behind him.

"Wha – What was that for?" Blaine asked, slightly breathless when Kurt pulled back from their kiss. He rested his hands on his boyfriend's hips, his thumbs rubbing slowly against a small patch of exposed skin from where Kurt's shirt rode up.

"I'm just happy to finally have you here with me. It still feels like I'm dreaming." Kurt whispered as he rubbed his hand up and down Blaine's biceps, and then intertwining their hands.

"I know what you mean." Blaine sighed, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch. "Part of me still feels like I have to get on a plane tomorrow and go back to Ohio."

"Never again," Kurt whispered. He turned his head to place a soft kiss to his boyfriend's temple.

"Never again," Blaine repeated, sighing happily.

"Come on," Kurt said giving his boyfriend a playful slap on the butt, "Let's get started on dinner. I've found Cooper gets extremely grumpy when he's hungry." Kurt laughed. He gave Blaine a quick kiss on the lips before pulling him back into the kitchen. "How about you get started on the shells and I'll work on the ricotta cheese mix?"

"Sounds good." Blaine replied with a smile.

Thirty minutes later the three men were settling down to enjoy their dinner. Kurt had brought in a few flowers from downstairs to create a nice center piece for the table and Blaine had plugged in his iPod to Broadway tunes, much to his brother's annoyance.

"Alright, let's eat!" Cooper said rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Kurt, could you please pass the salad?"

Kurt set down the glass of water he was drinking and handed the salad bowl to Cooper, who scooped a rather large serving onto his plate.

"Whoa! Coop! Since when did you eat salad?" Blaine asked, staring at Cooper in disbelief.

"Since Kurt decided to become a nagging housewife." Cooper teased as he served himself a helping of stuffed shells.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Cooper." Kurt said sarcastically, serving himself and Blaine a helping of salad while sending a glare towards Cooper. "When we moved in together, we decided we need to establish a few ground rules," he explained.

"Ground rules?" Blaine asked, setting his napkin on his lap.

"No singing after 9pm!" Cooper chirped.

"No jumping on furniture." Kurt said flatly.

"No insanely fancy décor in this apartment. This isn't Martha Stewart's house!" Copper said with his mouth full of salad.

"No bringing random girls up for a night of sexcapades." Kurt huffed.

Blaine set down his silverware to stare at Cooper pointedly. "What? I said I was sorry." Cooper laughed, feigning innocence.

"And, finally, we eat healthy." Kurt continued, talking a small bite of a cherry tomato. "Since I am the only one with culinary skills, he agreed to eat whatever I make for us." Blaine turned his attention from Kurt to stare at Cooper in complete shock. He was always so envious of his brother's ability to chow down his beloved fast food daily and still maintain his ripped body with minimal exercise.

"Don't give me that look," Cooper said, pointing his fork at Blaine. "I know what you're thinking, B. You're thinking I gave up fast food," he said leaning back in his chair. "But I promise you I didn't. Kurt agreed that we could still have it once or twice a week."

"Plus, I promised to make some his favorite meals so he wouldn't go out and waste money on greasy food," Kurt said has he drizzled Italian dressing on his salad.

"Wow…" Blaine said, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm surprised this place hasn't turned into a battlefield. You two are complete opposites. I wasn't sure if this arrangement would even work."

"Well we did have a few close calls didn't we, Sweetcheeks?" Cooper grinned. Kurt started choking on his water as his face turned an interesting shade of red. Cooper howled with laughter as Blaine gently patted Kurt's back.

"Yes. Well, I think we managed to get everything under control just before you arrived, Blaine." Kurt said once he caught his breath.

"Alright, enough of this, I propose a toast," Cooper said, sitting upright and holding up his glass of ice water. "Here's to all of us finally getting out of Lima … and the many adventures we will have in New York City."

"To us!" Kurt and Blaine repeated, reaching up to clink their glasses together. They continued on with their meal, talking about all the things they wanted to explore in the city before the boys had to start school. This eventually led to Kurt talking about rushing for Broadway tickets and Cooper explaining, once again, that Broadway was dead.

And, as Blaine sat there in his seat, watching the two of them arguing playfully with one another, he couldn't help but think for the first time in his life – he was finally home.

That night, as they lay in their bed with the radio softy humming in the back ground, Kurt leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Blaine's forehead, whispering a heartfelt 'I love you.' He could feel his boyfriend smile sleepily against the crook of his neck. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, pulling him closer so that their bodies were completely intertwined under the sheets.

Kurt was certain that he could lay like this for the rest of his life; one hand threading through his boyfriend thick curls, the other brushing gently against the light dust of hair on his bare chest. He kissed Blaine's temple, breathing in the light scent of soap and sweat that clung to him. Pulling back, Kurt watched in the warm candle light as Blaine closed his eyes at the gentle touch, his thick lashes fanning against his cheeks in his blissed out state.

"Thank you," Blaine murmured, nuzzling closer to Kurt to place his lips lazily against Kurt's neck.

"For what …?"

" … For never saying goodbye."

Kurt wrapped his arms tighter around Blaine, careful not to wake him as he watched him slip into a blissful sleep. "I'll never say goodbye, Blaine," he whispered. He lay there for a while longer, cradling his boyfriend in his arms until sleep overtook him, and all that was left was the gentle beating of two hearts.

(A/N): Special thanks to Danicadaisy for being an amazing beta once again, and to all of you who took the time to read. Thank you!

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