Blaine pulled into Hummel's Tire and Lube ten minutes later and he looked around to make sure Kurt wasn't there. He walked briskly into the office and saw Burt sitting at the desk working on some paperwork. Blaine adjusted his glasses and approached the desk.

"H-Hi Burt."

Burt looked up and a wide smile took over his features, "Well hey Blaine. It's been a while, kid. How's everything?"

Blaine nodded, "Good…well, for me it's good. I'm actually here to talk about Kurt."

Burt's smile immediately faded, "What is it? Is he okay?"

Blaine frowned a little, "I don't know, that's why I'm here. He's been so quiet and walks around with his head down. Today I took him to coffee and he opened up a little but immediately fell back into his new quiet self as soon as we returned to school to get his car. I'm kind of worried about him, sir. Have you noticed anything different with him?"

Burt removed his baseball cap and rubbed his head, "Yeah, he's seemed quieter since you boys broke up. Even before then he was starting to cut our conversations short. I don't know what's wrong. I wish I did."

Blaine felt his heart sink, 'Kurt isn't even spending time with Burt. This isn't good.' "Okay, well sir, if it's okay I'd like to try to break him out of his shell again. I don't think he wants to…date me right now, but I'd like to try to be his friend. This might mean spending excessive time at your house until I can get him to go out and about again."

Burt smiled kindly, "As long as you stop calling me 'sir' we have a deal. Try to get him to eat, too. I've tried everything; I can't get him to eat a full meal."

Blaine nodded and smiled, "Thank you si-Burt. I'll do what I can. Can I have your help for something I want to do tonight?"

Burt looked at Blaine curiously but nodded to show he was listening.

Kurt sat on the couch of the family room while watching an episode of 'Project Runway' and sipping a glass of water. His eyelids were beginning to droop when he heard a knock at the door. He sighed and slowly made his way to the front door. When Kurt opened the door, he was immediately confused and his heart started beating quickly. Blaine stood before him with his arms laden with bags of all shapes and sizes.

"Hey, Kurt. Can I come in?"

Kurt nodded and stepped to the side to allow Blaine to enter. He watched as Blaine toed off his shoes and immediately headed to the kitchen to set down his bags. Kurt followed him slowly. 'What the hell is he doing?'

Blaine turned suddenly to look at Kurt once he had set down his bags. He adjusted his glasses, "So. I had a lot of fun today and it gave me some fun ideas. I remember when we did those stations on our first date and I kinda wanted to do that again."

Kurt shook his head lightly. 'I can't date you, you're leaving me.'

"It's okay. Think of this as a friend date. Just something fun for two friends to do."

Kurt reluctantly nodded his head and shifted in his spot. "What did you bring?"

Blaine's smile warmed Kurt's heart more than it should have. Kurt felt like he was whole again with Blaine next to him. He watched as Blaine unloaded a bunch of different things from his bags.

"First, let's have some fun with something I know we both love. Let's sing to showtunes!"

Kurt felt his heart sink. 'I don't even talk, how the hell am I supposed to sing?'

"Come on Kurt! It'll be fun!" Blaine said enthusiastically, Kurt couldn't help but be pulled in.

It was slow at first; Kurt couldn't bring himself to sing loud and proud like he usually did with Blaine and he really couldn't get his feet to dance. As soon as 'Not The Boy Next Door' came on, Kurt lost all of his worries. He sang loud and proud and danced around the whole family room. When the song had finished, he was panting from all the movement and he turned to see Blaine smiling widely at him with adoration in his eyes. Kurt blushed and reached over to turn off the music.

"What's next?" Kurt said quietly.

"Ah! Let's do some art! I bought us each a journal and I figured we could decorate the cover and write a little something on the first page and exchange them. So, you make one for me and I'll make yours. That okay?"

Kurt studied Blaine for a moment. 'What is he doing? What's his angle?' "Okay."

XXXX

They sat at the table for the next hour and a half, talking and decorating. Kurt was really proud of his when he was done. The cover had music notes around a guitar that was placed on a stage where a glittery spotlight shined on the guitar. The first page was the hardest for Kurt. He had many things he wanted to say that he knew would be inappropriate. 'I love you.'

After much thought, Kurt settled on two quotes:

The first was from the film 'Where the Heart is' and he wrote in a deep blue pen:

"OUR LIVES CAN CHANGE WITH EVERY BREATH WE TAKE."

The second was a quote from James Dean, which he wrote in a green pen:

"DREAM AS IF YOU'LL LIVE FOREVER; LIVE AS IF YOU'LL DIE TODAY."

As Kurt waited for the pens to dry before shutting the cover, he felt tears sliding down his cheeks. 'Blaine deserves to reach his dreams. He deserves the stars and more.'

Kurt decided to take a chance and grabbed an orange pen before adding very in very small print on the bottom corner of the page:

"I love you Blaine. You are my shining star. Thank you for being you and never straying from that. Chase your dreams and never look back. XO Kurt"

Kurt nodded and waited a second before shutting the cover. He wiped away a stray tear and looked to Blaine. He was staring seriously at the page he was writing on and had matching tears rolling down his cheeks.

Blaine sniffled and looked down to his page. He had taken his time to make sure everything he wanted to say was written down for Kurt. He took a deep breath and read his page over again. It was written in a deep purple pen that had some glitter built into the ink.

"Kurt: Please remember how beautiful and amazing you are. You deserve to have the world bowing at your feet. You are so strong and brave and I can't thank you enough for everything you have done for me since last summer. You make me proud to be in your presence. I will leave you with two of my favorite quotes and I want you to remember them when you are having a bad day and you need a little inspiration to do the things you aspire to do:

HELEN KELLER:

'The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart.'

ELEANOR ROOSEVELT:

'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.'

Please remember to have the COURAGE to follow your dreams and reach for the stars. I love you forever. XO B"

Blaine nodded and wiped his tears from his cheeks as he waited for the pen to dry. Once he was satisfied he shut the cover and looked at it once more. It had a drawing of Kurt dressing a mannequin in a shop surrounded by different bolts of fabric and drawing easels. Underneath the picture, Blaine had written "FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS" in a neon pink pen with glitter stuck to the 'F'.

Blaine looked to Kurt and saw that he had also finished and was watching Blaine finish his work. Blaine smiled and his heart lightened as Kurt returned a smile.

"Okay, are you ready to exchange?" Blaine asked and saw Kurt nod.

He held out the journal to Kurt and accepted the one that Kurt held out to him. They took a few moments to study the work that the other had done on their journals. Blaine couldn't stop the sob that erupted from his throat as he saw that Kurt had put a little of everything that Blaine loved on the cover. On the inside, Kurt had given him his blessing to head to New York and chase his dream, as well as reminding him that just like how their relationship went from bully/nerd to boyfriends in a single breath of time that was the previous summer, that many things in life change just as suddenly. His eyes zeroed in to where Kurt had written in small print, as though he was afraid to actually say what was written. 'Kurt loves me? We both used star references? Just like those nights we spend under the stars…Kurt loves me?'

After a few more minutes, Blaine heard a loud sob erupt from Kurt. He looked over and saw the boy completely curled in on himself while hugging the journal. 'Well, shit. Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all.'

"K-Kurt? Is everything okay?" Blaine said through his own tears.

Kurt shrugged, "I-I-It's just so many emotions. T-thank you, B. I-I love…it. I love it."

Blaine felt his heart sink that Kurt wouldn't openly say he loved Blaine, but decided not to say anything. He had pushed Kurt enough. Blaine rose from his chair and walked the few steps separating him from Kurt. He took Kurt's hand in his own and Kurt looked up at him. Blaine opened his free arm as though to ask for a hug. Kurt jumped to his feet and threw his arms around Blaine's neck and pulled him in tightly. Blaine took a deep breath and wrapped his arms tightly around Kurt's thin waist. They stood there, hugging and crying, for fifteen solid minutes.

When they finally pulled apart, Blaine wiped away the few tears that hadn't dried on his face yet. He sniffled and adjusted his glasses as he observed Kurt's emotionally swollen face. He smiled and stepped over to the last bag he had yet to unload.

"Alright, I have one last thing. Dinner time."

Blaine heard Kurt squeak lightly and he looked over to meet Kurt's worried gaze.

"My family is going to be home soon, I have to make them dinner!" Kurt sounded absolutely panicked.

Blaine shook his head, "No you don't. I talked with Burt this afternoon after we went our own ways and asked him to take Carole and Finn to dinner so we can spend dinner together. I figured you wouldn't want to go out so that's why I asked to have dinner here together."

Kurt's eyes widened and Blaine feared he had crossed the line by talking to Burt. "You talked to my dad?"

Blaine nodded, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to surprise you."

Kurt shook his head, "No, no it's fine. I bet he was happy to see you. I'm just surprised that's all."

Blaine smiled widely again, "Well, that was the plan. Alright, will you help me with this?"

They spent the next hour preparing pasta, grilled chicken (of which Burt had promised would already be in the refrigerator), salad and fresh cut fruits. When they finally sat down at the table, they were tired and hungry. Kurt took a small bite of everything before setting his fork down on his plate. Blaine's brows furrowed, he knew Kurt didn't eat much anymore but this was worse than he had expected.

"Does it taste okay?" Blaine asked, feigning ignorance as to why Kurt had set down his fork.

Kurt nodded, "I'm just full. The coffee this afternoon filled me up."

Blaine sighed, "Kurt, you should eat more. I-I just want you to be healthy and not eating isn't healthy." Kurt looked to his lap and Blaine saw him mumble something. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

Kurt sighed and spoke up, "I really am full. I'm not used to eating a lot. I'm fine."

Blaine felt his heart fall, 'Get him to eat. Don't let him give up.' "Okay, well just eat a little more? I feel like a fat ass by eating so much over here." Blaine laughed in attempt to make Kurt break a smile. He only received an eye roll in return.

"You're not fat. Fine." Kurt picked up his fork and speared a piece of watermelon before popping it in his mouth.

Blaine smiled but noticed for the rest of the meal that Kurt didn't take another bite; he only pushed his food around his plate. 'Progress. He took an extra bite. He has been speaking. He rolled his eyes. We're getting somewhere.'

XXXX

Once the dinner dishes were cleaned and Blaine had packed up everything he had brought with him, except for Kurt's new journal, he headed to the front door to pull on his shoes. Once he was all set, he turned to face Kurt once more.

"I'm really glad we got to spend so much time together today. We should hang out again soon." Blaine said hopefully.

Kurt nodded, "Yeah. Thanks for everything, B. I had a great time today."

Blaine smiled but noticed how sad Kurt's tone sounded. 'Why are you so sad, Kurt? Please tell me so I can fix it.'

Blaine hugged Kurt and walked out the door into the warm evening with his mind trying to comprehend everything that had happened that afternoon. When he sat down in his car, he placed his journal in the passenger seat right next to him. He smiled down at it. 'Kurt loves me…but why is he so sad? Don't push. He made progress. Kurt loves me.'

A/N: I don't own Glee or its characters. Nor do I own 'Not The Boy Next Door'. Well...I'm not too pleased with how this chapter turned out but that's okay. I hope y'all enjoyed nonetheless! Thanks to everyone who followed/favorite since last update. Special thank you to those who reviewed! MUAH!