*** I don't own Glee or the songs in this chapter***

Chapter 4

At 2pm Blaine, Kara and Ali met with the building manager in the lobby. He took them upstairs. "Ok we have 2 available right now" He took them to the 6th floor and showed them the available apartment. It was really nice and he could see himself being happy there. It only had 2 bedrooms though and he had really been hoping for at least 3 that way one would be a guest room/office. He did like it though. They got back in the elevator and headed down to the 5th floor which is the one across from Kara, when the manager opened the door, Blaine fell in love. Not that he let the manager know that. He walked around looking at everything, asking how old the appliances were, as well as the heating/cooling unit. He was advised that the apartment had been remodeled 4 months ago when the old owner moved out and put it on the market, the appliance were all brand new. Blaine had thought they looked it but looks can always be deceiving.

Blaine saw that it actually had 4 bedrooms so it was bigger than he had originally intending on getting. He loved the master an master bath which he could tell had been remodeled. It had a huge walk in shower with rain shower heads. The bedroom across from the Master that would be Ali's and the third bedroom had a bathroom connecting them. The only thing that he would change in the room that would be Ali's would be painting. Everything else was perfect.

He walked in the living room and saw the wall of windows Kara had talked about and it was beautiful. He could see a piano in front of it. He could see a Christmas tree there as well at Christmas time. Off the living room was the fourth bedroom that would be the guest room/office, and beside it was a full guest bathroom. This would be perfect.

Now to negotiate the cost. He might look like someone who didn't know much about real estate but when he bought his house in Cambridge he had gotten them to knock $5000 off. Let the games begin.

"I am not sure if this place is worth the amount you are asking for it. I think I want to look around a little more". Still holding Ali he starts to walk to the door.

"How much do you see paying for it"

Blaine quotes a price never thinking they will go down that far and is surprised when after the manager called and talked to the owners he says "if you can pay closing and sign today they will except your offer"

"Done" says Blaine, he carefully reads over every page of the contract. The manager looks at him "Are you a lawyer or something" almost jokingly. Blaine looks up from the paper work in his hand long enough to say "Yes, so is my father and my grandfather before him"

After seeing everything was in order Blaine pulls out his pen to sign the contract. The manager looks at him like he was crazy. Don't you want to contact your bank and make sure you can get it financed?"

"No I won't be financing" Blaine said, and then he wrote out the largest check he had ever written in his life. He thought the one he had written for the house was big but nothing compared to this one.

When Blaine hands the man the check he sees that he wasn't expecting that. He stepped away from them called the bank to verify the funds were available to cover the check, was advised that yes they were and then he was handing Blaine the keys to his new home

He waited for the manager to walk out and shut the door before screaming excitedly. He loved this place.

Kara was just staring at him. "I thought I did some negotiating when I bought my apartment, but you just talked them down $60.000, and did you see his face when you handed him a check to pay for it. I thought he was going to crap his pants."

Blaine wasn't normally that impulsive, to just buy something this big the first time he sees it, but he had fallen in love with this apartment, the location was perfect, plus he would have the absolute best neighbor in the world.

He picked up his cell phone and asked his mom to call the real estate agent she knew, and advised his parents that yes he would be transferring. He told them about the school he had found for Ali, about the apartment, and getting excepted at Columbia.

OoOoO

Blaine and Kara leave the apartment and go shopping. The first stop they make is Marc Jacobs to get Blaine a whole new wardrobe. Kurt sees Blaine before Blaine sees him. He had just walked out to the show room because he was supposed to be meeting a client to have a suit tailored.

"Blaine, what do you think about this one" Kara holds up a suit

"Oh wow, I like the look of that, the cut, the style. Hold on to it for me I will try it on."

Kurt watches as they move around the store. He was thrilled because the suit "Blaine" as the woman had called, had liked was one of Kurt's own designs. They hadn't noticed him yet, but he watched the different suits they picked up, every one of them that they chose was personally designed by him.

"Daddy" Kurt watches as "Blaine" squats in front of her.

"What is it Baby Girl" he says so patiently

"Potty"

"Oookkk" "let's see if we can find you one.

Blaine stands up and hands Kara all the suits he had been holding, and bends down and unbuckles Ali and then picks her up out of the stroller, kissing her on the cheek. When he turns around the first person he sees is "HIM" with a tape measure around his neck. "Sorry to bother you, but would you happen to have a restroom my little girl can use"? Blaine asks

Kurt pretended like he had just walked up, and hadn't heard the whole conversation. He did kind of wonder why the dad was taking the little girl to the restroom instead of the mom, but who was he to judge.

"Sure, if you would like to follow me." He took him to the employee only bathroom that they usually didn't let customers use, but when I child that young needs to go, they usually allow it.

"Thank you so much" Blaine says maybe staring a little longer than he should have

When Blaine and Ali come back out of the restroom HE is nowhere in sight, Blaine once again reminds himself that he really needs to stop thinking about him.

While they are there Blaine ends up buying 8 new suits, about 10 pair of jeans mostly skinny, 4 Black, 3 stone washed, and 3 dark blue, and a handful of dress slacks. He bought 12 button downs, polo's, t-shirts, shorts, boxers, socks, and ties, both straight and bow ties which he used to wear all the time but Travis hadn't liked them, so he had stopped. It was weird buying so many clothes for himself at once, but this was replacing his whole wardrobe, and if he counted what he had at home right now this would be roughly the same amount.

They were starting over, creating a whole new life. They would be bringing very little from their past into their future. Blaine wanted to leave those memories in the past and build new ones. After Blaine paid for everything, Blaine carried all the bags and put them in the trunk of the car as Kara pushes Ali in the stroller behind him.

They head next to the furniture store. He had a map that the building manager had given him with room sizes, dimensions and the layout. He headed first to the children's area to look for Ali a new bed. The one he picked was a shale pink color that had designed rails that went midway down the length of the bed on each side, the head board and foot board reminded him of a sleigh bed and it came with a canopy, it was what they called a grower. It had an extension that could be used later so it would accommodate a twin size mattress. He loved it. With it he bought a matching dresser that came with a pad on top so it could be used as both a changing table for now and a dresser. He then bought the matching nightstand so he could put a lamp by her bed.

A little further down he found a bookshelf that was the same color and had the same look as the bed. Luckily they had bedding so he wouldn't have to go to a department store for it. He was able to find himself new bedroom furniture he liked in queen; it was an oak color and was completely different from his old one. He wanted nothing that looked like what they had, had before.

He bought bedroom furniture for the room that would be the guest room and a desk to set up in there as well. He could see the lay out in his head.

He then moved into the area that had the dining room furniture. He found both a kitchen table set, and a Dining room table set, he was also able to find a booster seat for Ali that was going with them today. He found a long sectional, 2 arm chairs for the living room, end tables and a coffee table.

He set up delivery for Friday because they would be in Cambridge on Wednesday and Thursday cleaning out the old house and meeting with the re estate agent his mom had set up.

He figured the rest he would wait on until he inventoried his house to see what else he needed to replace. Towels, washcloths, bedding for his room, pots, pans, dishes. He knew he wanted to go by the store he always bought Ali's clothes at. He would get her a new wardrobe from there; he liked the style and durability they had.

By the time they left the furniture store they were all tired, getting hungry and Ali was getting a little cranky.

Blaine felt like things were finally straightening out, but at the same time he felt more like it was falling apart. This time last week he had had a happy home, a wonderful boyfriend (he thought) a beautiful little girl. He had been happy and content with his life. But in the course of 5 days his world was turned upside down.

He was tired, he was tired of dragging his little girl from one place to the other, and she had been on more planes this week than she had in her whole life. He wanted to get everything settled so he felt like she had the stable home life she deserved. He would push himself until he had that for her, but in the process he was pushing her too.

They ate dinner at a local Italian restaurant that Kara liked. He owed her so much. She had put her week on hold to help him. Yes he would have done the same for her, but still. He was ready for everything to be done be back to normal, so his little girl knew where her bed was, where her things were. That above all else she was loved.

After eating they went to Kara's he got Ali ready for bed, sat with her until she fell asleep, and then went back into the living room. Kara had already gone to bed but he was just too wired, he had too much on his mind that still needed to be straightened out, organized so him and his daughter could get back to a normal life.

He thought about HIM. He shouldn't but how do you stop your mind from taking over. He pulled out his phone.

From Blaine: Hi, how was your day?

From Kurt: It was long but good. How did the apartment looking go?

From Blaine: It actually went good. I took it and I start moving tomorrow. I have a lot of things to settle at my old house, getting stuff packed up. I am meeting with real estate agent tomorrow and putting it on the market. I need to clean out a lot of junk. It has been a long week.

From Kurt: I know the feeling. I forget that you have just starting going through this. For me the hardest part is over. Getting rid of things. I am 6 weeks in and you are what 5 days in. I can imagine you still don't know which end is up. It gets better I promise, when I can't tell you but it does.

From Blaine: Hopefully soon I am tired of going from one place to the other. Spending days at my friend's house, then days back at mine I am just ready for it to be done finally, to be back to some kind of normal life, whatever that is. With everything that has happened, everything I have found out, I wonder if I will ever know what normal is again.

From Kurt: I hope you will soon. You seem like a nice guy. You texted back someone you didn't know because of a text they wrote that made you nervous. Most people would have ignored it.

From Blaine: Thanks, and I guess you are right, a lot of people would have ignored it but I couldn't, and now I am glad I didn't

From Kurt: I am glad you didn't ignore it as well

From Blaine: I want to ask you a question, I know we are strangers, but sometimes, talking to a stranger is easier than talking to someone you know. Have you ever seen someone that in that instant stops your heart, takes your breath away? That happened to me today.

From Kurt: Actually yes, recently I have. I saw this really nice looking man, he looked like he would be someone really special. He took my breath away. Funny thing is, that in that instant, I felt something I have never felt for anyone else, not even with my ex boyfriend. I felt this person could be home. I know that sounds completely crazy.

From Blaine: Not as crazy as you think, because I felt the same. My heart fluttered, I felt a hitch in my breath. The world became just a little brighter in that moment. I keep telling myself to forget about it. I just got out of this really bad relationship, I need to focus on getting my life back together, it is too soon to feel this, but I just can't stop.

From Kurt: I feel the same, I have been thinking about this man all day, what he would be like, to spend time with. Was he as good as he seemed, even though I really didn't even talk to him other than saying hi. For a minute I swear it felt like the world stop spinning, like in that moment it was just me and him. And I feel the same, it is too early to feel this. But then I stop and ask myself, is it really? I am not the one who did wrong in my relationship, why am I punishing myself. Stopping myself from possibly being happy with someone else.

From Blaine: You and me think so much alike. I wasn't the one that cheated, but I am the one who feels like I will never be able to have a normal relationship again. Will I ever be able to trust someone that much. Will I have too much baggage for that person to feel I am worth it.

From Kurt: Everyone has baggage of one kind or another. No one is free of it. But I believe there is one person out there for everyone, their other half. I thought I found mine, but looking back I think I just wanted someone. I now know, he wasn't it. So I have to keep looking until I find him. I have to believe that not all men are cheating jerks. There have got to be some good ones still out there. My person is still out there.

From Blaine: I like that. I have always believed that there is someone for everyone that missing puzzle piece, you just had to keep putting the puzzle together and then it will appear. I know how crazy that sounds. I thought for a while Travis was mine. But I now feel like I fell into it instead of finding it if that makes since. High school sweetheart and all that. The signs were there I just had my blinders on. Rose colored glasses as it were. Lol

From Kurt: Hey, don't down rose tinting. It makes life pretty for a while.

From Blaine: Lol. True tis true. Oh well I am going to call it a night. It has been a long day and I have an early flight in the morning. If it is ok, I will text you again tomorrow.

From Kurt: I would like that. Have a good night Blaine.

From Blaine: Night back, have a good one

OoOoO

Once again Blaine, Kara and Ali are flying back to Cambridge, in what feels like the home stretch. The first thing Blaine does when they get to the house is makes note of all the things he has in the kitchen that he knows he will want to replace. Some things he will just remember but others he won't think about until he needs them like measuring spoons and cups. Once he does this he starts placing things in boxes, putting newspaper between plates so that they won't get broken. He also used kitchen towels and washrags to help with cushioning.

After packing the dishes and pans he went through the cabinets wondering what to do with the food. He stopped and looked on the internet to see if there was any kind of food bank or soup kitchen in the area he found both. The food bank could take everything in his cabinets and the soup kitchen would take the freezer stuff. He decided after the real estate agent left he would run everything over. The boxed and canned goods he put in bags and took out to his car. He would grab the frozen later. He did throw away everything in the refrigerator though and washed it down.

Once the kitchen was cleaned out, even the junk drawer that really lived up to its name. He went into the living room. He pulled all the photo albums down off of the shelf. The old family ones were easy to go through. The ones that had him and Travis was a different story. Not so much their pictures but the ones that had Ali in them. If she wasn't in them they went in the trash. The others he was taking, he couldn't throw any of his baby's pictures away even if the jerk was in them and it wasn't until that moment that he realized just how very little Travis was in any of the pictures with Ali.

When Blaine felt his phone vibrate he pulled it out of his pocket and saw he had a text from Kurt. What he saw just made him smile. It was nothing but a pair of rose colored glasses.

From Blaine: thanks so much, I so needed that.

From Kurt: I kinda thought you might. Didn't want to disturb you, just wanted you to know someone is thinking about you.

From Blaine: Thank you I needed that too. Can I still text you tonight?

From Kurt: You better. Have a good day.

Blaine just kept smiling as he continued packing things and throwing others away. He stopped for a minute looked over at the playpen to make sure that Ali was still ok and realized she had really out grown it. When had that really happened. He almost wanted to cry.

After he got the pictures sorted he moved on to knickknacks wrapping the breakable stuff in newspaper and putting them in boxes.

"Ok, that has the bathrooms cleaned out, the towel and washrags I put in garbage bags to take to good will and your other stuff like you said I threw away. Where there any of your old clothes you wanted to keep?"

"No, anything that is hanging up is going; I will look through the boxes of stuff and see if anything important is in there". "Oh I called the food bank and once I get everything signed to get the house on the market, I will run the food over there and I will stop and grab us some lunch on the way home, if you don't mind sitting with Ali for a few minutes."

"Nope works for me" "you might want to look through Ali's clothes because I am sure there are going to be a few things you are going to want to keep, like the outfit you brought he home in and all that"

"Thank you, you are right. Some of her stuff I will want to keep. I didn't think about them for sentimental value. Thanks. I also need to look through her toys, some of them she is really attached to and will probably need to be taken with us".

Blaine finished in the living room everything going with them in one corner marked to go and the rest in boxes marked to stay. He had called a moving company to move what he needs to, to his new apartment. It won't be much but more than he can see taking on a plane. They were supposed to come by tomorrow morning to pick everything up. Blaine is going to get a U-Haul in the morning also to pack everything he plans on taking to good-will that way he can take everything at once. The furniture and the area rugs would all be staying with the house. If the future buyer didn't want it they could do with it what they wanted.

Not really knowing why he did it, he took out his phone and took a few pictures of his kitchen and living room, all the boxes. He texted them to Kurt,

From Blaine: See I have been really busy

From Kurt: Bad thing is you are going to have just as much fun unpacking it as you did packing it. Good luck with that.

From Blaine: Oh none of this is going with me, it is all going to good-will. Very little of my stuff from my old life is going into my new one. Plus it would be a pain in the ass to move all this stuff from Cambridge to New York lol. So not worth it.

From Kurt: NEW YORK BLAINE… I live in New York. How did we never ask where each other lived.

From Blaine: I don't know. I guess it never really came up. So you live in New York huh. Small world we might have to meet up one day. After Friday I will be a New Yorker lol. That is when my new furniture gets delivered. YEAH.

From Kurt: I would like that. Oh well work calls. Talk to you tonight

Blaine put his phone away smiling, so Kurt lived in New York. It would be nice to have another friend there.

Blaine finishes up the living room an heads to the spare room. He tears down and packs his desktop computer. He had left his laptop at Kara's, he didn't feel he would need it. He then looks through the books in there. All the law books were put in the go stack and most of the others were in the stay. He packed all the papers, he would go through them later to determine what was important, and what wasn't. One more room done. The desks and bed would go with the house.

Blaine moves on to the hall closet, he had forgotten about it when he was packing up Travis things. He found 2 of his jackets 1 of Ali's that she out grew last year. Blaine had a few hoodies and a jacket in there as well. He put them all in a trash bag to take to good-will. Looking at the floor of the closet he found a couple pairs of shoes those went in the bag and then that was it.

Leaving it cracked that way he would know it was done he went into Ali's room. He looked around. Remembering decorating it only after she came home, he had known she would be coming here, he even helped pick out the crib, dresser and changing table. But didn't really feel anything until he saw her the first time and that was it. He had painted the room, hung all the little pictures painted a poem on the wall by hand. Oh how he had loved that baby girl, this was a room created with love. And now someone else would be there.

He quickly went through her clothes. Pulled out a few that were special. The outfit she had come home in, her first Easter dress, her little Christmas outfit and pajamas she wore the first year. The rest he put in a bag to be taken away. He grabbed a duffel bag out of her closet and packed some of her special toys, the ones he knew she would miss and then threw the rest away.

Carry out the bags, and her room was done. He heard the doorbell ring, the real estate agent was here. She looked over the house took down notes on when the roof had been fixed last, how old the appliances and air system was. She noted the furniture that would be staying. She said she would come by this weekend and take pictures of the interior. He signed the contract for the company she represented to sale his house, he handed her the key that had been Travis's. She took some pictures of the exterior, and the fenced in back yard, placed a For Sale sign in the front lawn, and then she was gone.

Blaine quietly walked back in the house, shut the door behind him, leaned back on it and then slowly slid all the way down to the floor. Bringing his knees up to his chest wrapping his arms around his legs. He placed his forehead on his knees and broke down for the first time since Friday, when everything had happened, when life as he knew it had ended, how had Travis done this to him, to them.

Kara found him like this. She sat down beside him, she put her arm around him and pulled him close. She knew he needed this cry and had for a while. It was a long time coming.

They sat like that for about 20 minutes until he hears Ali, "Daddy….. Potty."

"Do you want me to take her?"

"No I have it, but thanks" he say hugging her tight one more time before going over to the play pen and picking up Ali, kissing her on the forehead and then carries her into the bathroom. When he comes out he realizes they have everything packed and ready to go. He drives to the closest u-haul store rents one of their vans, and goes back to the house, gets everything loaded in and then goes to good-will. When he gets there thank goodness the workers come and unload the van. He takes it back get his car and goes back to the house.

"Can you watch her for a few more minutes" Blaine asks when he gets back to the house "I want to run the food to the food bank, and then I'll grab us some lunch and then be right back" "I want ask your opinion on something"

"Yea, go ahead and can you grab me a diet coke on your way back, I am a little watered out"

Blaine takes the food and drops it off at the food bank, and then goes and drops off the frozen food at the soup kitchen. Deciding that he wanted Chinese he swings by the restaurant he always liked, and then went through McDonald's drive through grabbed Kara and himself a diet coke, and a happy meal with chicken nuggets, fries and milk for Ali and then heads home. He is almost there when a song comes on the radio that if he had been standing, would have knocked him to his knees. Cry by Kelly Clarkson it used to be one of his favorite songs

If anyone asks I'll tell them we both just moved on

When people all stare I'll pretend that

I don't hear them talk.

Whenever I see you I'll swallow my pride

And bite my tongue pretend

I'm ok with it all act like there's

Nothing wrong is it over yet

Can I open my eyes?

Is this as hard as it gets?

Is this what it feels like to really cry?

Blaine quickly turned off the radio, and had to pull over. He broke down and cried like a baby. When would this pain end, as long as he is angry he was ok, when he is with someone he is ok because he can be mad, talking about things he could be angry. But when it gets too quiet, when he is alone with just the thoughts in his head, he is really not ok, but he sure has mastered acting like he was.

He was finally able to drive the rest of the way home, drying his eyes; he doesn't want to worry Kara any more than he has too. This was his relationship that fell apart. No one else needed to suffer through it, especially Kara, and Ali. Taking a deep breath placing a smile on his face, he grabs the food and drinks and head inside.

After they ate, Blaine asks her opinion on something he was thinking about "You know how I was planning on trading in both cars, and then buying a new one and having it shipped and then hiring a mover to take all this stuff. I was thinking, what if I just sale Travis's car, pack all this stuff in mine and just ship it that way. It is less than a year old and Travis never even rode in it once."

"Or, we can takes Travis car in the morning load everything in yours and just drive. It will probably take maybe 6 hours that way we don't have to put Ali on a plane again". "She has been doing good, but the last time she was antsy. Or, since it is only 1:30 we can take his car now check on selling it, come back load up your Cherokee and leave out first thing in the morning."

"You know that might not be a bad idea. We could go now and take the mustang to the dealer and see if they are interested in it. And, since I wanted to go to Baby Knows and get Ali some more clothes, now might not be a bad idea. I really need to get her a potty chair anyway since I so completely forgot it." "And you were right she did get a little antsy and whiny on our last flight toward the end, she has been doing good but I don't want to push her."

"I can't remember the last time I went on a road trip" Blaine says "and she does like to ride, I need to upgrade her car seat first though maybe find one that might be more comfortable"

"Well if you want we can leave now, I can drive the 'stang one more time, we can go pick little munchkin out some clothes, get everything packed and loaded in the car and leave out first thing in the morning." "That way if you want to paint anything before the furniture gets there we can knock that out."

Blaine pulls out his phone and cancels the moving companies for his car and things in the house. This is probably going to work out better.

They head out to the car Blaine straps Ali in her carseat and then they head to the dealership. They jump at the car for the price he offers it, it is only 2 years old and has less than 6000 original miles since it was only driven local. He goes and deposits his check in his account and that is when he realizes he hasn't set up a new bank yet. Crap he will just worry about it later. He has his debit card and his checks so he is good there, he does however give them his new address, goes to the post office and sets up forwarding for his mail only. Let Travis deal with his own.

They drive by Baby Knows gets Ali a complete new wardrobe including new pajamas. He picks out a bigger more comfortable looking carseat and potty chair and heads home. He unhooks her old carseat puts the new one in and carries the old one to the curb. He had always heard that car seats were something that should always be purchase new, and not reused. Since he wouldn't put his own child in a used one, he wasn't going to donate the old one so someone else can. He would feel to guilty about it.

While Kara watches Ali, Blaine carries the boxes that they would be taking with them out to the car and then reloaded his and Ali's clothes, leaving enough out for tomorrow.

" Hey when we get there tomorrow I need to order a washer and dryer. I refuse to go to a laundry mat with a 2 year old." "Thank goodness the utilities and cable are included in the homeowner fees. That will save me from having to wait to get everything turned on".

After Kara and Ali go to sleep, Blaine walks through the house. Looking in every room, thinking about every memory he will be leaving behind. The day they brought Ali home, he had painted the room to match the nursery furniture and hand painted on her wall

May you touch

Fireflies and stars

Dance with fairies and talk to the moon

May you grow up with

Love and a gracious heart

And always know how loved you are.

He had seen it on a mural when they were shopping for the baby furniture for Ali's room, at the time not really caring. The baby would be Travis's to deal with. Looking back now he can't believe how stupid he was. How much joy and love that little girl brought into his life, once he looked in those little eyes she had his heart and he never wanted it back.

For that little girl he would do anything. Live through anything.

Pulling out his phone he sent a quick text

From Blaine: Hey just wanted to send you a quick text to tell you good night

From Kurt: Night back. Are you ok

From Blaine: not really but getting there. I put the house up for sale, and sold my extra car I don't need any more.

From Kurt: Hopefully it will get better for you soon. When do you fly out tomorrow?

From Blaine: Actually me and my friend decided to drive there. I was hiring a company to move my car and then another one to move what little bit of my stuff that would be going with me and decided that was stupid, I could just drive and pack the stuff I am taking in the car. Plus to be honest right now I am a little over planes.

From Kurt: Hopefully you won't have to take another one anytime soon.

From Blaine: Oh well, I guess I am headed to bed, can I text you again tomorrow?

From Kurt: I would really like that.

Blaine stops and checks on Ali before heading to bed, ready to get the move started, get the next chapter of his life started, and maybe once all the pain is gone, he might learn to trust and love again.