Oh my god it's been AGES since I last updated... and you know what? I'm not even going to come up with excuses because I don't have any... all I have to say it I'm sorry... :)

Chapter 3

I'll be good, I'll be good

And I'll love the world, like I should

Yeah, I'll be good, I'll be good

For all of the time

That I never could

-James Young – I'll Be Good

Blaine fell asleep in the first few minutes of the car ride and Kurt was thankful for that. He was glad that Blaine was finally getting some rest after god knows how long and he was also glad that he didn't have to deal with the awkwardness. Kurt had no idea what to say to Blaine and Blaine still seemed very uncomfortable for accepting the help that Kurt was offering and that was understandable.

Kurt knew he didn't owe Blaine anything, he didn't have to meet Blaine at the airport, he didn't have to offer him a place to stay, hell he didn't even have to stay on the line after he heard Blaine's voice but he just didn't have it in him to hang up on Blaine, he never did. He couldn't believe that it's been four years since he had last seen him because he could remember the times when they were walking down the street of Lima, Ohio without a care in the world like it was just yesterday. Kurt thought that he remembered every single day that he spent with Blaine. He could remember everything that they did, everything that they talked about. And now, looking at Blaine's sleeping face when he was supposed to be looking at the road, he remembered something else. Something that felt like a joke at the time but now, it was too real. Looking at Blaine in a military uniform, injured, possibly from a bullet, brought that memory back.

"Kurt," Blaine said, not looking away from the clear, star filled sky.

"Hmm." Kurt had his eyes closed and was just enjoying the peaceful night spent with Blaine near him. They had a picnic that lasted longer than they expected and when they saw the first star appear they decided to stay for a little longer since they have never been stargazing before.

"Did you ever wonder what goes through people's minds when they decide to join the army?" Kurt didn't expect a question as such and especially not from Blaine.

Kurt thought for a bit, "No, not really." He answered honestly. "Why?"

"I don't know. I was just wondering. People do it knowing that they can potentially get sent into combat. They know that when they sign the contract that they have no way out of it." Kurt was now looking at Blaine, who seemed to be actually truly interested in what he was talking about. "I mean it's not like it's any regular job. You can't just quit because you don't like it. But they join anyway. Did you ever wonder why?"

"No, I didn't." Kurt never wondered about things like that. The US military force was never one of his interests. He never even thought about anything related to it until now. But Blaine seemed serious and talked about it with confidence which meant that he knew what he was talking about. "Did you?" Kurt asked, now interested in hearing what Blaine had to say.

"Well, I guess these people want to be helpful. And not in the sense like 'oh look, I cleaned the dishes' kind of helpful, like actually helpful, like 'serving your country' kind of helpful. It's kinda cool actually, knowing that you are fighting for your country and protecting your loved ones." Blaine sounded like he really thought deep into the topic and Kurt wondered why it interested him so much.

Kurt was snapped back into reality when he heard a very loud car horn behind him and he realized that the light turned green and he wasn't moving. The horn also made Blaine jump up, alert. He hissed slightly as he moved his injured arm but what surprised Kurt was that he didn't even look sleepy after just waking up. His eyes were wide, not a trace of sleep left in them and he looked around, calming down slightly after realizing where he was. Kurt remembered that Blaine was a pretty heavy sleeper, at least before all this. He would have continued to sleep, without even stirring. But things were going to be different from now on, Kurt thought.

"Sorry," Blaine mumbled, settling back into his seat, but not relaxing completely.

"It's fine. But maybe you should go back to sleep. You still have about 40 minutes considering there's traffic, not to mention how tired you looked before." Kurt suggested, hoping that Blaine would do exactly that but was disappointed when Blaine merely shook his head.

"I can't sleep anymore… I mean I don't want to." Blaine quickly corrected himself but Kurt didn't believe him. He knew Blaine was still tired, 10 minutes of sleep didn't do him any good. He might not know a lot or anything for that matter but he knew exactly why Blaine couldn't go to sleep anymore. But he didn't pressure him into anything, he didn't know the guy sitting next to him anymore, he might've before, but not anymore.

Kurt thought back to the little flashback he had which made him freeze in the middle of a busy road. Why didn't he ever think about it before? It never even crossed his mind that Blaine might genuinely want to join the US armed forces. And looking back now, he knew that he should have. If he had, he might have spent less time trying to figure out where Blaine disappeared off to when they broke up, not that it would've calmed him down any, it would've done exactly the opposite. Who wanted to suddenly find out that someone that someone they loved risked their life every single day?

When Kurt pulled up into his parking space, he pulled the keys out of his car and turned to Blaine, who by some miracle was still awake and wasn't giving into sleep but there was no doubt that he wanted to. His eyes were droopy and he had dark bags under them. Kurt noticed now that he aged, quite a bit. Probably it was because of everything that he'd been through.

"We're here. The apartment is kind of small but I have a couch that you can take while you're here." Kurt said.

"I can't thank you enough for everything that you've done for me already. I can reassure you that I won't stay long. Only a couple of nights." Kurt smiled slightly because he recognized this side of Blaine. Being polite was something that Blaine was really good at his whole life and now Kurt knew that it hadn't changed.

"Stop that. I told you that you can stay as long as you need. I speak from experience when I tell you that I know how hard it is to find yourself in this city. You won't believe what I went through to get this apartment." Kurt spoke before getting out of the car and motioning for Blaine to do the same.

He looked at Blaine, who just stood there taking everything in, looking around himself with a faraway look in his eyes. Kurt frowned a little. He saw how much Blaine had changed, it was even more prominent now. He didn't know why, but he had an urge to help Blaine get to settle in this city and he truly wanted to figure him out. He wanted to get to know Blaine again because as hard as he tried to forget him, to get over him, he never did figure out a way to do so.