Sorry to anyone who are hating the New York trio right now, don't worry they go back to normal (mostly) pretty soon. They just needed a wake up call of some sorts ;)

Brief mention of self-harm!

Thank you to everyone for reading this story, I swear some real cute KLAINE fluff is coming sooon!

Chapter 6: Of Adaptations

New York City

The drive back home had been very quiet, with the occasional snarky comment here and there where they were mostly trying to convince themselves that they were not in the wrong. It's not that they really felt so much better than anyone, moving to the city had been quite hard for them too. It was just easier to pretend as if everything was fine, as if they were on top of the world and better than everyone; because the reality was far from it.

Santana still didn't know what to do exactly with her life, and was still crashing at Kurt and Rachel's place. She did enjoy the company of Dani very much, the young woman was nice and caring. She wasn't too haughty, and was very good at calming her when Snix wanted to come out. She didn't forget about Brittany and the look of absolute fright when she had tried to touch her. The Latino had tried to text her friend on a few occasions, but it was still radio silent on the blonde's side. She had tried to text Quinn to see if she had any news, but had been disappointed with the answer.

To Quinn: What's up with Brit's parents?

From Quinn: Hello to you too Santana, it's lovely to hear from you. I'm afraid I don't understand your question, things with her parents are same as usual.

To Quinn: Then why the hell is she living with Procelain's family?

From Quinn: Isn't it obvious?

To Quinn: If it was I sure wouldn't be asking now would I?

From Quinn: It's the same as always: they just don't care.

To Quinn: Wdy mean same as always?

From Quinn: Come on San, do you really think good parents would let their daughters get a 0.0 GPA?

Santana stared at her screen flabbergasted, how could she had never noticed? Sure, Brittany's parents were always a little off, but they meant well.

From Quinn: Look, I need to go to class. I'll talk to you later. You might want to call her, she sounded much better when we talked last time. She could use a friend.

She let a sigh escape her lips before pocketing her phone and leaving the apartment. It was easier to ignore all the feelings that she was feeling, than dealing with; at least for now. She'd fix this when they go back for regionals.

Rachel took a different approach to dealing with her guilt: she ignored it completely. True to her nature, she dived into her classes at NYADA and resumed enjoying her budding relationship with Brody. Did she think about Finn? Yes, all the time. Did she tell anyone about it? No, never in a million years.

While the three of them had silently agreed to be better people, Kurt was the one trying the hardest. They had all stopped the excessive partying, drinking and other substances consumption; trying to find back their identity. He had taken a silent vow to talk more to his dad; his disappointment had hurt more than anything else he had ever lived. So, the regular phone calls, and even the odd texts here and there, returned. Kurt made sure that his dad knew all about his life; even his semi-relationship with Adam (he still wasn't too sure about that one). But most of all, he had tried to reach out to Blaine once more. Yet, for all the texts and calls he had made, he hadn't received an answer. Until he did.

From Blaine: Stop.

To Blaine: Stop what? Please Blaine, I just want to help. I told you before, you're still my best friend.

From Blaine: Just stop Kurt. This really isn't helping him.

To Blaine: Him? Who to hell is using his phone?

From Blaine: Finn.

Getting slightly riled up that his half-brother was preventing him from talking to Blaine, he picked up the phone and quickly called the cellphone of his old lover. Finn picked up after the first ring, but didn't speak.

"Finn, what the hell? Put Blaine on."

"No Kurt, there's no chance that I'll be doing that. You have to stop trying to talk to him."

Sigh. "Finn, I just want to talk to him. I saw how in bad shape he was last week; I want to help him. I still-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence." Finn spat out with anger in his voice.

The hate seeping through Finn's voice froze Kurt on the spot and rendered him speechless. He had rarely heard his brother so angry, and frankly it was not a situation he liked being in.

"I-I mean; you don't how it was Finn! You weren't even there! In fact, why in the world do you have Blaine's phone."

"True I wasn't there, but I am now." What remained unsaid was the you are not, yet Kurt heard it loud and clear. "He's not allowed to have his phone right now, he's doing well and he doesn't need you right now."

"How can you say that? You don't know how he feels; you don't know what we have? Why would I not be allowed to talk to him, but you are? TELL ME WHY?!" He yelled.

"BECAUSE WE FINALLY GOT HIM TO STOP TRYING TO KILL HIMSELF! And YOU will just ruin everything! He's in a fucking bad place and we're trying to pull him out of the shadows. You talking to him will just bury him back there. You. Are. Not. Helping. Don't call again."

The line went dead as Finn hung up and Kurt was left to stare at his phone in the middle of his loft; alone. He was still trying to process what had been said. Was Blaine really in such a bad place that he was attempting to-? Just the thought and image was enough to send Kurt running to the bathroom where he proceeded to empty the content of his stomach. He quickly cleaned himself up, sent a quick text that he had a migraine and didn't want to be disturbed, and curled up on his bed crying himself to sleep.

When he woke up, the nauseous feeling he had yesterday was still very much present. He had tried to call Finn once again, but he was convinced the latter had blocked his number. Realistically he knew that he couldn't go back to Ohio this weekend, he had work to do and midterms coming up as well. He would have to wait until Spring Break when they'd go up to Lima for regionals. In the mean time, he had to do everything he could to occupy his mind and not think about what state Blaine could be in.

He took every possible shift at the dinner, stayed at school to practice at every opportunity, and even took some extra credit work when possible. If the girls noticed that he was busier than usual and that he was running himself down; none commented on the situation. As for the Adam situation… well that was a problem he had yet to fix. He knew very well that he did not have any romantic feelings for the Brit, but he didn't quite know how to tell him. The last time he hard tried to break up with him, when they had returned from Ohio, it had not quite go how he had planned as Adam had instead blurted out that he loved him. Feeling too cheap to dump him then and there, Kurt had simply smiled and said that he wasn't ready to say it now. Since then, he had tried as hard as he could to distance himself and ignore the cute blonde; hoping that he would get the message. He did not.

A little more than a week later, on the Friday morning that kicked off Spring Break, Kurt, Rachel, and Santana stood frozen in the middle of the airport as they stared at their "better halves" of New York.

"Wh-what are you doing here?"

"You guys have been so stressed since coming back last time, we figured maybe you'd like some backup this time. Surprise!"

Surprise indeed. Was it a good one? Well that depends on who you ask.