"I don't think you should have run."

"I know."

"I hate that you feel like you can't come back to your own damn house. This is your place too."

"I know, dad."

"As far as Detective Parker we told him that we as a family decided to send you to Westerville last minute when I got hospitalized because it was closer than Michigan and we knew you'd be safe with some family friends while things got handled."

"Alright."

"You're safe there?"

"Yes, dad."

"You said they're okay with you staying there as long as you need to?"

"Yeah, dad. They say you're welcome to come visit when you're feeling better. They don't want us to have to go the whole summer without seeing each other because of this."

A grunt on the line. "Makes two of us. This isn't over Kurt. We're not just giving up."

"Okay, dad."

"I mean it, bud. We'll talk more about this later. The doctor's want to look me over one last time before they finally release me."

"Alright." "I love you."

"I love you too, kiddo. Always."

Kurt sat on the swing set in the backyard, the phone beeping as the call came to an end. He turned it over in his hand, giving a small sigh. He just had to keep telling himself that by this time next year he'd be off to New York City. He just had to make it through one more year. One year sounded like a long time. Maybe he could just start with this summer and baby step his way there.

"Hey, Kurt. We're gonna swim. You joining?" Jeff called, walking across the yard to the pool, already in his swim trunks.

"Sure." Kurt said with a smile, standing up from the swings.

…...

Blaine let out a sigh of relief when he sunk into the seat of his plane to go back home. Maybe a last hurrah could have been a little more toned down. He rubbed his eyes a bit, trying to get himself to wake up a bit, the sounds of other passengers boarding and getting settled mostly washing over him. His mother was two seats up, both preferring window seats. Honestly, he was kind of thankful she wasn't too close. Even after a shower and a pep talk from Cooper, he still felt like she would be able to tell.

When he lowered his hand he noticed the lingering ink from where Sebastian had wrote down his number because Blaine hadn't had his phone on him, still turned off and in the hotel room, something he'd ribbed him for but only a bit. He'd tossed back and forth between putting it in his phone, even with the number washed off, Blaine's brain was a cage of information. Maybe it wouldn't hurt. They would be going to the same school in a few months.

Both to appease his over thinking and hopefully distract himself, Blaine finally turned on his phone, pulling up his contacts and typing in the number, saving it as Sebastian, and leaving the rest blank. Not that he really knew what to put in anyway. Spared from more over thinking, his phone buzzed, notifying him of the text messages he'd missed. There were only a couple good nights and good mornings from Kurt, who looked like he stopped after Blaine didn't respond. Whining texts from Jeff asking when he would be back and start replying again but those stopped a few days ago. And oddest of all, there was one from Nick who simply texted –

Nick: Text when you land in OH.

No reason why stated, no super urgent sounding tack on. Just the request that he text him when he was finally back headed home. He wondered what could have happened? There wasn't any important updates to the Warbler group text that could have been why. His emails weren't showing anything suspicious or new and his Facebook was same as always. Maybe it was a family thing? But normally he would give more context to avoid causing worry, and nothing Blaine could think of seemed to fit. Instead he just replied and hopefully Nick would shed more light.

Blaine: About to board. Be in Columbus in a couple hours. Westerville by noon? Give or take.

Blaine: Everything okay?

He looked at his phone clock. It was still early even by Midwest standards, Nick was more than likely still sleeping. He probably wouldn't hear from him until he was in Columbus at the earliest. So he sighed and pocketed his phone and tried not to fall asleep. His mother spared his fight by bringing back two cups of coffee, one of which he gratefully accepted.

He didn't know that back in Westerville Nick was indeed asleep, but not everyone in his room was. Kurt had been on and off asleep, knowing that today was Sunday. When Nick's phone buzzed it caught his attention. Who was texting Nick this early in the morning? A niggling part of him hoped it might be Blaine and when he checked the screen his heart leaped. It was.

He almost answered the text, but decided against it. It was Nick's phone. He could text Blaine but that would require giving him his new number and explaining why he needed a new number. That was a conversation he'd been saving under the 'in person' category. He could be patient a couple more hours. So he set the phone back on the night stand and laid back down with a soft sigh.

Instead he waited for his flight to start boarding, downing the last of his coffee by that point and turning off his phone once again, knowing he'd have to for the flight take off. Might as well do it now. He gave it to his mom to keep in her purse. He had a knack for dropping and losing things while on planes, and he didn't want his phone to be one of them.

…...

Columbus airport was officially too familiar with him in his mind. He was ready to not need to see this place until maybe his trip to New York City. Though he was still holding out on convincing the guys to take a drive up rather than to fly there. They had already flown there for Nationals, but how cool would a road trip be? Yeah, it was on the goal list. His mother gave him back his phone when they got in the car to go home but he didn't automatically turn it back on, opting for dozing in the passenger seat.

They finally made it into their drive way a little before one o'clock, getting out of the airport taking longer than they had anticipated. Not that Blaine minded. He grabbed his bag and suitcase and went to take it to his room. He had unpacking to start on and hopefully some food that wasn't from an airport shop or local take out place. He actually missed having a fridge at his disposal.

He tossed his clothes in the laundry straight from his suitcase, dropping his toiletry bag on the counter of the bathroom to get to later. He wanted to shower anyway. So he did while he let a chicken and grilled cheese sandwich slowly warm up in the oven. Once he had his general 'back home' list of things knocked away – clean, fed, and vaguely unpacked – he went to make sure he got everything out of his suitcase. That's where in the zipper pocket he found an air mail envelope.

That's odd. He didn't remember putting that there. He took it out, looking at the address on it. It was from Kurt. To the hotel address. Kurt had air mailed him a letter? His mother hadn't said anything about it. His brain went to worst case scenario. What if he was warning him? He tore the opening, pulling out the letter.

Dear Blaine,

I don't honestly know how to begin this letter. Part of me wants to just write everything down, maybe in the hopes that it will seem less ridiculous if I write it all out. But I also don't want to break my rule about putting in dark details in these letters. I don't want these letters to immortalize the mundane and never ending gross chaos of life. The real world does enough of that.

I guess I should preface the rest of the letter with the assurance that I am fine. I am becoming quite acquainted with the Lima PD though, which may or may not be a valuable thing. Though I'm sure you could just google Lima news and you'll be able to catch up on all the latest gossip. If my surname isn't in at least three of the top five gossip lines I will be very surprised.

How is your time in LA going? You haven't been texting so I'm assuming your phone is off. Or something happened to it. Either way, I know you were looking forward to your family time and I hope it's turning out better than your expected. I think it's nice that you're all reconnecting like that. And maybe a little summer break is just what your family needs.

I might be traveling by the time you get back, my family is still tossing around ideas. If anything gets decided I'll do my best to pass along a note, or maybe just a text. I really miss you, is that weird? I know I wouldn't see you every day regardless, but just knowing you won't be writing. Maybe it's silly, but it's true. Maybe we can have a best friend night some time when you get back.

Maybe I should have gone to LA too. Alas, still on Ohio soil.

Natively yours,

Kurt

He read it slowly, a little confused. Lima PD? Kurt needed the police to get involved again? That could only mean something had gone wrong again. What could they have possibly done in the summer? Kurt was already kicked out of school, the glee club was gone. He almost took his advice about googling, but he didn't know if Kurt was being serious and if something did happen he wanted to hear it from Kurt himself, not from a second hand article online. His eyes went to the bottom of the letter.

P.S. I'm getting a new phone number. Keep you posted.

That didn't sound very good. Maybe that's why Kurt had stopped texting him. Something probably went wrong with his phone and he didn't text him with the new number yet, or hadn't gotten a new one. Texting. Speaking of phones. He found his own phone, turning it back on again. It buzzed immediately with a new text message. Not surprising, from Nick.

Nick: Talk to you when you land.

Blaine: That doesn't sound ominous at all.

Blaine shot back a reply, chuckling mostly to himself. He set his phone down, but it wasn't on his bed for more than a few seconds before it buzzed again. He was puzzled. Was Nick answering him that quickly? He picked up his phone, the answer being apparently yes.

Nick: You free?

Blaine: I can be. Why?

Nick: You're going to want to come by the house.

Blaine: What's wrong?

Nick: We've got a situation.

Blaine: What kind of situation?

Nick: Best friend emergency. Pretty serious.

Blaine: I'll be there in 15.

Blaine grabbed his keys and wallet and went to leave, making it about halfway down the steps before his mother caught him, a not surprised expression on her face as she took in his items and looked at him with a 'really?' face.

"Nick said it's an emergency." he said.

"Already?" Pam asked with a small smile.

"Mom, it's Nick. He doesn't use the word lightly. He sent me a message telling me to let him know when we got back and he isn't explaining anything over the phone." he explained.

"Alright, alright," Pam conceded, not looking to talk him out of going. She just wanted to make sure. "Just remember curfew is eleven-thirty."

"Yes, ma'am," he said, jogging the rest of the way down the stairs and kissing her cheek good-bye on his way out to the car.

Half of him thought about grabbing the souvenirs from LA, but if something serious was going down that might be an exchange for a later date. Nick sent a confirmation text that 'we'd' be waiting, implying that multiple people were there. He could probably guess Jeff. After the letter from Kurt he was a little worried. Was this emergency anything to do with Kurt? He felt a little bad for keeping his phone off now. But it wasn't time to play the blame game.

He found that the drive way was already a little busy when he pulled up and parked exactly fifteen minutes later. Steven and Tyler were being dropped off by a group of their friends in a dirt caked van, looking very unwashed and sun tanned from their camping trip. They nodded in greeting to him, and he gave a small wave as he got out and walked closer.

"Good trip?" he asked them.

"Boss trip, man." Tyler nodded with a grin. "Yours?"

"Pretty good, thanks." Blaine said. "Are Nick and Jeff home?"

"Yeah, back around at the pool I'm pretty sure." Steven said. "Warbler stuff?"

"Not sure yet." Blaine said. "But thanks."

They nodded back and he took his leave around the side of the house on the stone walk to the backyard. He could hear someone splashing around, catching sight of Jeff first, trying to backwards paddle on one of the rafts. Nick was outside of the pool, walking to the patio, his back to Blaine.

"Blaine!" Jeff piped up, breaking the chance of surprise.

Nick turned at Jeff's announcement, finally seeing their friend too. He looked happy to see him, before turning and giving a look to Jeff.

"I told you as soon as you got in he was going to get here." he said, shaking his head.

"It's fine. I already know the whole story." Jeff said, making no move to get out.

"What story?" Blaine asked, walking to the patio.

"Blaine?" a voice caught his attention.

Blaine turned to the sliding doors as Kurt came out in swim trunks and a t-shirt, a beach towel over one of his shoulders. It was so normal looking that it kind of threw Blaine for a moment. Seeing Kurt look so comfortable in this part of his life, he just wasn't prepared for it. But then his brain registered that Kurt was here – in Westerville, at Nick's house.

"Hi."