A/N: I would just like to say I have no clue how the education system in America works. I did do a bit of research and asked around but I was still slightly confused. If I've screwed it up completely, let's pretend I either a) didn't or b) a lot has changed in five years. And I apologise in advance for the little things that make it obvious I am not American... but Australian xD

They had to be at the airport by nine the following morning, so they left fairly early to beat the rush.

Sam smiled up at Blaine, "I had a great time Blaine. Uhh, have I thanked you lately for not pressuring me into sex? I'm sorry you have to hold out but it's just –"

"Sam. Trust me it's not a problem ok?"

She smiled, "so you never did tell me how things went with that old friend of yours yesterday?"

"Things were eventful, to say the least. He left before we finished our conversation"

"He's very talented"

"Yeah, he is. He was like that in high school too. He sung a solo the year his glee club won the national competition"

"So, why did he leave?"

"Circumstances, circumstances"

"I think he's got a little crush on you"

"Mmm, not likely."

Sam shrugged as they exited the bus, dragging their luggage to the check in point.

"Passengers, please fasten your seatbelts we will begin our descent into Port Columbus International Airport shortly"

The landing was neither overly rough nor smooth, with Sam silently freaking out besides Blaine. She was a good flyer until it came time to land, then she panicked.

Breathing a sigh of relief as the plane's engines turned off, she pulled their carryon luggage from the overhead compartments and lead Blaine off the plane, chatting rapidly about how amazing the trip was, how amazing Blaine was and, surprisingly, how amazingly talented Kurt was.

"Sam," Blaine said cutting in, "do you think you could not mention Kurt to my parents? Especially my dad, something happened in high school and I'd really rather it not resurface."

"What is it honey," Blaine cringed at the term of endearment but it went unnoticed by Sam, "you know you can tell me, right?"

"Maybe later," he pressed a kiss into her hair, "but for now let's get our luggage and head home. I'm sure our parents want to hear about the trip, and lecture us on whether we had sex or not. Seriously, your parents are not good with the trust thing."

"They just want our morals upheld," Sam replied in a hurt voice.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just tired from the plane ride and the trip, ok? C'mon, let's go"

He intertwined his fingers with hers, attempting to forget the thought of Kurt's hand within his again, as they walked over to collect their luggage.

A week passed since their return and still Blaine had said nothing to his father about Kurt; neither had Sam, thankfully.

His words still replayed themselves in Blaine's head, stop acting like a coward and start acting like the boy I love.

Blaine couldn't help but wonder if he should tell his father and what would be the outcome. Would he be forced to live on the streets, or try and get some dead end job to support himself? Kurt's right, he was a coward; always taking the easy option and never struggling.

He didn't doubt when Kurt said he had moved to New York with little to no money. His family had never been wealthy, especially after having spent their savings on Kurt's Dalton tuition. And then Carole had the baby, and Kurt's savings were put into his fees for college.

Blaine knew this of course, and he considered the possibly of him doing the same. He could still sing, although his voice was rough from the lack of use. He would never expect to work on something as high profile as Kurt, his acting skills weren't up to scratch, but the thought of him singing in a cafe brought a smile to his face. The thought of Kurt sitting in the crowd watching hi- no, not Kurt. He had to do this for himself; he needed to muster up some of Kurt's courage.

The following day, he was home alone. His parents had gone out for the day and Sam had gone back to her own place (her parents wouldn't even let them live together until they were married so Blaine was stuck in his parent's hell house). He knew exactly what he wanted, no needed, to do today. He didn't just want to leave and scrape a living. He wanted to study.

Things had changed slightly in the last few years and it wasn't as hard to get into college, even after failing out of first semester straight out of high school, but it still wasn't easy. He spent the day researching programs which he might have a chance at getting into but only a couple caught his eye, one in particular: the undergraduate music program at NYU.

He knew he would need some sort of support to study there, unless he managed to find a way to steal the money from his parents or convince them that he wasn't some unnatural sick human being. He snorted at the idea of both of them.

Timidly his fingers punched in a number on his phone, his hands shaking slightly. They answered on the third ring,

"Hello, New York University, College of Arts and Science, Vanessa speaking"

"Uhh hi, my name is Blaine Anderson and I was wondering about your scholarships; the ones for the undergraduate music program. But I graduated high school five years ago"

"I'll transfer you through to the scholarship line, please hold"

Music blasted through his ears and his breath hitched. Hold music wasn't exactly known for being current so he wasn't surprised the music was over five years old but the song: Katy Perry's Teenage Dream was fucking blasting into his ears. Fabulous timing for that. Not.

"Hello, Scholarships at College of Arts and Science, Wesley speaking how may I help you?"

"Uhh, my name's Blaine Anderson and I wa-"

"Blaine?"

"Wes?"

"Yeah, it's me. Wow, I haven't spoken to you since, well..."

"Since I was a complete and utter asshole and screamed at you for bossing me around too much?"

"Yeah, then"

"Good times, good times"

"So, how can I help you Blaine? You're the last person I'd expect to be calling here for two reasons. One, wouldn't you have graduated college already? And two, you are someone who I highly doubt needs a scholarship"

"I, I – you're not going to make fun of me, are you?"

"That would be unprofessional"

"Right. I kind of flunked out of college in my first semester, I'm living at home with my homophobic asshole of a Dad pretending I have been cured from being gay. I am also engaged to a very religious girl by the name of Sam. My dad also has a hold over all my finances so he knows where I am, all the time. I'm supposed to be starting an internship at his company next month. Which I really don't want to do"

"You flunked out of college and you're pretending to be straight. What the hell happened to you man?"

"I thought you'd said you wouldn't make fun of me. Now, can you help me? I really want to get away from here and I want to study music. I'll do anything, I swear. I'll be a janitor at the school for no pay if that's what it takes. I just need to start my own life"

"I honestly can't believe I'm hearing this from you of all people. You were voted most likely to succeed at graduation Blaine. I voted for you! I mean, why did you throw that all away?"

"Look Wes," Blaine said annoyed, "I did not call this line to be judged. You want to know the whole story? Fine! Kurt and I split to go our separate ways before college. I got depressed and stop caring and as a result I failed out of college. My dad threatened to kill me at knife point if I didn't stop being a fucking fag so excuse me for being a coward for five years of my life. Now are you going to help me or not because if not I really don't have the time to waste talking to you."

"I, I – of course Blaine; I'll see what I can do about getting you an audition and in the running for our non-school leavers scholarship. Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry, ok?"

"Thank you Wes"

The phone call ended after the two exchanged numbers with Wes promising to ring him back with details.

Blaine's head was still filled with the lyrics of Teenage Dream

I finally found you,
my missing puzzle piece

I'm complete

His eyes flicked towards his closet and, for the first time in years, he found himself opening his shoebox filled with things that reminded him of Kurt, or of their time together.

Tickets to the Prom, photos of the two of them together, a pressed flower Kurt had given to him before graduation, a napkin from the Lima Bean, programs to plays the two of them had attended and other seemingly worthless items. Blaine's hand dived down to the box searching for the little item he desired the most.

Pulling it out he felt tears prick to his eyes as he rolled the ring over in his finger tips. The promise rings the two had exchanged on their first anniversary. Quickly, he slid the ring that connected him to Sam off and replaced it with Kurt's. He wondered if he still had his hidden away somewhere but he doubted it. Kurt seemed as though he'd well and truly moved on.

A yell from downstairs startled him, "Get your ass down here boy or I'll fucking come up there and get you myself"

Blaine slid the ring off, replacing it with Sam's, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"Coming" he yelled back, unable to keep the bitterness out of his voice

It wasn't until two weeks later that Blaine finally received a call from Wes,

"Blaine? I've managed to get you an audition for the scholarship but that was the best I could do. It's not guaranteed, you know that right? You're up against about fifty other candidates and, it's going to be tough."

"I didn't expect anything else Wes. When's the audition?"

"Thursday"

"Thursday! But it's Saturday now! I can't afford to get a flight to New York by Thursday and even if I could how could I explain it to my parents I mean –"

"Blaine, shut up. It's all taken care of, ok? I, I booked you a flight. You leave Thursday morning at 6am, arriving in New York at 11, and your audition is at 2pm. I've got you a hotel for the night and you go back to Ohio Friday morning. You'll be back before lunch"

"W-what?"

"I do not want to repeat that"

"But why? I was an asshole to you, I don't deserve anything"

"You were also one of my best friends in high school. We were inseparable at one stage, you me and David. Those were some of the best times of my life. I'm going to choose to remember them, and not the yelling and you being an dickhead"

"But I don't know what to say"

"Say 'thank you Wes, I'll do my very very best in the audition and I'll be going to NYU soon'"

"Thank you Wes, I'll do my very very best in the audition and I'll be going to NYU soon"

"Smartass"

"No, but seriously Wes. You have no idea how much this means to me. No idea"

"I'll email you through the details, ok?"

"Thanks Wes"

"You're welcome Blaine"

There was a pause,

"Wes?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry"

"I know"

The next few days passed quickly with Blaine practising every moment he had alone. He knew he wasn't up to his own personal standards but there was no way he was giving up. He knew he could sing, he just had to show them.

He wasn't nervous about the singing though. He was more nervous as to what else they would get him to do in the audition and interview. Would they bring back old memories? Of course, that was a given. Surely they'd want to know why he had failed out of college the first time, and if he was worthy of a second chance.

On Wednesday night he made his way down the stairs, to inform his parents that he would be away for the next day and a half.

"Mum, Dad, I just thought I'd let you know that I'll be going to Sam's tomorrow and staying there overnight so don't be surprised if I'm not here when you wake up"

"Are you sure this is ok with her parents Blaine?"

"Dad, she's 24 years old, I don't think she needs her permission for her fiancé to stay over. But yes, they know. And no, we're not going to have sex"

"Maybe I should call them to make sure. I still don't trust you"

His dad's voice was flat and unemotional, but with an almost annoyed and bitter state to it.

"Fine, call them," he replied, hoping he wouldn't call his bluff, "but you do understand that once we're married we will be moving out right? You won't have full control over me but I," he paused briefly, "I promise you that I have been cured of being gay. It was wrong of me to choose to live that way in high school. You can definitely trust me Dad."

Their eyes met for a brief second, Blaine praying his lies didn't show.

"Fine. You can go"

"Thank you, how considerate"

"Don't push me"

"Sorry."

Blaine ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time wanting to scream out in anger. But he just quietly shut the door behind him and swapped rings, like usual, he began to pack a small smile forming on his face.

A/N: I never intended the chapters to be this short. Sorry about that :/