Blaine pushed the send button for the third time this hour—

Kurt, I love you and I'm sorry. Please call me.

It's been two days since Blaine walked out of Kurt's house, feeling like he had been hit by a bus. What had started out as a good day spiraled quickly out of control and by the time the day was over, they had….what? Broken up? He couldn't even fathom that being the case. They would get through this. They had to. He couldn't even imagine his life without Kurt in it.

For the last few nights Blaine had done nothing but lie in bed thinking about why this had happened. What was supposed to have been the best night of their life instead was like a roller coaster ride without a harness. It was bad enough that Kurt had walked away from him for a few hours. What if this time, it was for good?

I didn't lie to him, Blaine tried to justify to himself. I went to speak to Burt because I was worried about Kurt not being informed. But he understood completely why he was upset with him. It made it seem as if Blaine was trying to make sure that when Kurt was with someone else, he would be ready. Now that he thinks about it, the mere thought of Kurt being intimate with someone other than him brought waves of nausea. It would kill him. He tried to get the images out of his head of someone else kissing Kurt…touching him in the ways that he had touched him. This can't happen.

And this is why Blaine was staying in the guest house instead of at Dalton. He had changed nothing since he walked out of there to look for Kurt that morning. The sheets were still a tangle on the bed. The boutonnière was wilting on the desk. The pillows were still propped up where they had laid their heads down together. Where they made love to each other.

Kurt looked at the screen on his phone for the third time in an hour. His heart ached every time he read the messages from Blaine. But what he had done was unthinkable. Something so personal, just for them, and he talks to his father about it? Kurt felt as if all of his fears and weaknesses had been thrown up in the air for everyone to look at and judge. He always felt he was not good enough for Blaine. In Kurt's head, this was proof that Blaine felt the same way.

Blaine didn't go to class on Monday or Tuesday. Why bother? He wouldn't be able to concentrate anyway. He traveled both days to Lima to see if he could just get a glimpse of him. Yesterday, he didn't see Kurt's car, and today was no different. Blaine was parked in an area along the street where no one could see him, and where he had a clear view of the parking lot. He saw Finn's car pull in, and was sure that Kurt would be with him. Finn got out. Alone. Blaine wondered if he should take the chance of going to Kurt's house. If he were there, he'd be alone. Maybe the element of a surprise visit would disarm Kurt enough so that he could reason with him.

This could go either way. He will either listen to me, or shut me out completely. But where to start? First with bringing up the whole money issue with Burt. He was just trying to help, wanting to make Kurt happy, but he should have clued Kurt in as to his plan about the guest house. And of course, why on earth wouldn't Kurt be upset hearing that his boyfriend had spoken to his father about his lack of sexual knowledge. The look of horror on Kurt's face was impossible to forget.

Blaine pulled along the curb instead of using the driveway. He didn't want Kurt to have the opportunity to hide from him. Walking up the steps, Blaine tapped on the door. What would he said once it opened? If his recent history has proven anything, he needed to choose his words wisely.

After a few more knocks, it was clear that Kurt either wasn't home, or was hiding in his room. As he retreated back down the driveway, Blaine glanced into Kurt's car. What he saw shocked him to where he had to put his hand on the rear view mirror to steady himself. Laying on the seat, neatly folded, was a McKinley football jacket. Stitched across the front—D. Karofsky.

No. No. No. This can't be happening. Blaine ran back up the driveway and began to bang on the door. "Kurt!" he yelled at the solid door that only days ago led him to a place where he felt welcome and loved. "Kurt, please…open the door". Blaine walked around to the back of the house, trying to look inside the windows but not quite clearing them. He leaned back against the fence and slid down, hitting the ground hard. Oh my God…had I driven him to the person that he feared the most? Blaine began to sob at the thought of his precious Kurt anywhere near David Karofsky.

"Hey, what's going on?'' Mercedes had come out of the house holding an overnight bag with the initials "KH" on it.

"Mercedes. Please tell me where he is."

"You know I can't do that. He's my boy, and I'm not going to sell him out like…" She stopped short just shy of an accusation.

"I didn't sell him out. Why can't anybody understand that I just wanted him to be safe. We weren't a couple yet, Mercedes. He was my friend, and I didn't want someone taking advantage of him.

Mercedes just looked at Blaine for a moment. He was a mess. The one thing she could always say is that Kurt's boyfriend always had it together. Not a hair out of place. But this Blaine looked like he hadn't slept for days. She stifled a chuckle when she thought of what Kurt's reaction would be if he saw the state he was in now. Especially the hair.

"I love him, Mercedes." Blaine was still sitting on the ground, looking up at her.

"And he loves you. That doesn't change overnight. But he's hurting right now, and you need to respect that. And he's in good hands right now," which Blaine took to mean that he was staying with Mercedes.

"What can I do to fix this? You have no idea what has happened between he and I over the last few days. This can't be it for us. He is breaking my heart"

"Blaine, lets be completely honest"…she reached down to grab his hand and help him up…"you broke his first."

Kurt was so irritated with Finn. How could he have grabbed the wrong jacket? And did it have to be Karofsky's? He didn't want anything that belonged to that animal anywhere near him, not even in his car. But Finn was borrowing the car tonight, and was going to return the jacket to its rightful owner. Thank God. He hated looking at it.

I love him.

These three words danced in Kurt's head all day. The sound of his voice when he said his name…holding his hand…how he smelled. Kurt reached for his wallet, and pulled out a small piece of fabric, pressing it to his face. There it was. Kurt began weeping into the material for what felt like hours, missing him.

"Finn? It's Blaine. Please don't hang up"

"I'm listening.'

Blaine wasn't sure how to even ask this question. "Is Kurt with Karofsky now?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

Blaine couldn't believe he had actually said those words. He just had these pictures stuck in his head now. His beautiful, frail Kurt being pushed around- or worse- by this guy. "I saw Karofsky's jacket in Kurt's car. I just…"

"Dude, when were you near Kurt's car? It hasn't moved from the driveway in days. "

" I went to your house today, to try to talk to him. I saw it through the window".

"And you just assumed that Kurt would go running to someone else just like that? You don't know him very well if you think that he would want anything to do with Karofsky after what he did to him. And yes, Blaine, I know that he kissed him. Kurt told me to let him handle it, even though I want to strangle the guy. And his jacket is in the car because I picked up the wrong one after practice. I'm using Kurt's car tonight and tossed it in there. Any other weird questions about my brother that you'd like me clear up for you?'

"No. Thank you for not hanging up on me. "

"Don't take this as me making nice with you, but he misses you. Just saying."

Click.

Burt opened the door to Kurt's room and said "Kurt, I need to talk to you."

"I'm quite sure I don't have anything to say. Maybe you can call Blaine and chat with him"

"Get up here. I know you're mad, but this is still my house, and you will have respect here"

Kurt came up the stairs and walked over to the sofa. "What is it? The girls are picking me up in about 20 minutes."

"Sit down. I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen". Kurt folded his arms across his chest, and looked at his father.

"What I said to that young man was way out of line."

"Really?"

"Kurt, I know you feel that your confidence was betrayed, but I want you to think about how brave it was for Blaine to come to me, your father, to talk about…what we talked about. I can't even tell you how sorry I am about what happened the other day. If anyone should feel betrayed, it's him."

"Dad…"

"No, let me finish. He has done nothing but be honorable in every respect. And at his age, trying to come up with ways to make this family's life easier as far as you going back to Dalton. Where was the harm in that?"

Kurt didn't know how to process what his father was saying. He was defending Blaine.

"Dad, he thought I was going to be with someone else. He..."

"Kurt, he didn't. Do you think for a second that Blaine wanted you with another guy? Did you see the look on his face when you told him you wanted him to leave? Kid, this is someone that you should not turn your back on. How many times has he tried to contact you since he walked out that door?"

"A few".

"How many, Kurt?"

"Eleven".

"Eleven. So even after being rejected ten times, he still kept trying. What does that tell you?"

Kurt didn't answer. He couldn't.

"Go finish getting ready before your friends get here. Son, I can't tell you what to do. But I can tell you that Blaine was more of a man through this whole thing than either one of us. I think we owe him more than he's getting right now, don't you?"

Mercedes and Rachel pulled up and honked for Kurt. As he came slowly down the driveway, he looked down at his phone.

Kurt, I love you and I'm sorry. Please call me.

"So here's the plan, my man. We're heading up to the outlets because it's "Lima Idol" day up there, and I know no one likes a human train wreck more than Kurt Hummel. Just think of it…the bad songs, the bad outfits…this will bring a smile to your face."

"Plus…there's a new Ralph Lauren store. It's like your mother ship", Rachel said with a laugh.

"I'm fabulous, and you're jealous. Admit it." Kurt looked around the outlets. "I'm heading to Ralph Lauren. I won't be long"

"I'll get our coffee, then meet you both over at the pavilion. I want to make sure we get front row seats", Rachel shouted back "Not too long, Kurt. I know how you get when you are surrounded by couture " Kurt waved her off, and headed in the opposite direction.

Mercedes sat down on a bench and waited. As she scanned the crowd near the pavilion, her eyes stopped suddenly. Amongst the group of people waiting to perform, there was Blaine. He looked awful, just like he did yesterday at Kurt's house. What is he doing here?

She looked towards the coffee shop, and saw Rachel walking slowly back with a tray holding three cups. Mercedes caught her eye, and signaled for her to move a little quicker. "Rachel, hurry up. It's Blaine".

"Where?"

Mercedes spun her around so that she was pointing to the stage area. While they both stood there, almost hypnotized, Blaine walked up to the microphone and began to speak—

"My name is Blaine Anderson. A few days ago, my world fell apart. You see, the man I love…his name is Kurt Hummel…well, I hurt him pretty badly, and now he won't talk to me…"

"Rachel…go and get Kurt…hurry"

"I don't think that's a good idea, do you? He doesn't want to see him."

"He'll want to see him like this. Girl, hurry up and find him." Mercedes took the coffee tray and put it on the bench.

"…since he won't talk to me, or answer my calls, if any of you know Kurt, please tell him that I love him. And I miss him more than he knows.". Blaine felt tears against the rims of his eyes, and wiped at them with the back of his hand. "This is one of his favorite songs, and even though he's not here, I'm sending all of my love to him…and I'm sorry."

Rachel found Kurt at the Ralph Lauren store, holding a bottle of some cologne that had him transfixed. "Kurt, come on, you need to come with me" and as Rachel grabbed his arm, Kurt raised his other hand and made a "she's crazy" sign at the sales clerk for the outburst in the store. "Rachel, are you nuts? What's going on?"

"Kurt, there's something you need to see".

"If it isn't Burberry, I'm not interested"

Just then, he heard it.

"Rachel?"

They looked up and saw Mercedes, who walked over to them as quietly as she could".

Kurt was frozen in place as his heart pounded. It was Blaine. He knew that voice anywhere.

"So darling, have a heart,

Don't let one mistake keep us apart.

I'm not meant to live alone

Turn this house into a home.

When I climb the stairs and turn the key

Oh, please be there

Still in love with me."

Kurt felt like he couldn't catch his breath, and tears were running down his face.

Mercedes spoke first, while Rachel took his hand in hers…"Kurt, baby, go talk to him. He just told a whole crowd of strangers how much he loves you and wants to be with you. Do you know how once in a lifetime that is?"

Kurt looked through the crowd as Blaine thanked everyone for listening. Even with the messy hair, and the mismatched clothes, he is beautiful.

As he let go of Rachel's hand, Kurt turned away from where Blaine was and said, "I have to go."

It was all that Blaine could do. He wouldn't answer his texts, so he stopped trying. It was the one last grand gesture, to tell Kurt through song what he wasn't being allowed to tell him in person.

Wandering around the outlets, Blaine wished deep down that Kurt had heard him, so that he would understand that he was sorry, and that he wanted nothing more than to be holding his hand…kissing him….lying next to him in what Blaine now refers to as "their" bed at the guest house. He didn't want to go home yet, so he drove to Dalton, where he spent a few hours talking to David and Wes. He asked for their advice, but they had none. It was all up to Kurt now.

He looked at his watch. It was just before 8pm, and getting dark out. If he drove slowly, it would prolong the time before he was alone with his thoughts. Maybe sleep would come easier tonight. Almost as a reflex, he pulled his phone out to check for a message. Nothing.

Pulling into the driveway, he felt something roll from under the drivers seat and hit the back of his feet. He shook his head when he came to a stop and realized that it was the missing Walgreens bag. He left it where it landed, and slid out of the car.

As he turned the key and pushed the door open, his heart jumped in his chest as Kurt stepped out of the bedroom, holding the wilted boutonnière from the other night in his hand.

"Blaine Anderson, you have 10 seconds to remind me where we left off the other night…."