What Brings Us Closer Together

by CrazedLunatic

When Kurt is attacked, Blaine instantly leaves college to take care of him. With one decision, their entire relationship is changed and their futures reshaped. It also makes everyone around them realize just how close they really are. AU.

26. Chapter 26

Maybe waiting until four days after his project had been turned in and cornering his boyfriend hadn't been the smartest idea Kurt Hummel had ever had, but the tension that had built up in the house was becoming unbearable. Kurt had expected it to die off four days ago when he came home and announced that the project was turned in and they'd gotten excellent marks but this had not happened. No, instead Blaine had asked why he'd still gotten home so late, why he needed to work in the studio, and whether or not Alec stayed at the studio after classroom hours to work. The older boy had said it in what was supposed to be a nonchalant way, but Kurt knew what was really being asked. And it had pissed Kurt off to no end, but he'd kept his mouth shut for four days.

Not only that, but Blaine kept ignoring him—just like he had been for a few weeks. It was one thing for Blaine to be grumpy, but it was another for him to completely ignore Kurt all together. What if Kurt had been calling because he'd been in a car accident? What if something had happened to Burt, Melody, Carole, or Finn? What if Kurt had died? Well, if he'd died he wouldn't have been calling but that wasn't the point. The point was that Blaine had turned into an immature school girl and was refusing to even talk things out. Instead things seemed to be getting worse and not better.

This was so unlike most of their fights. Usually Kurt would start them off with some insensitive comment or something of that sort. Blaine would retaliate, Kurt would get more upset, they would be angry for a few hours, and one of the two would cave and bring the other cheesecake, coffee, Taco Bell, or anything else they would know would ease the tension.

Kurt had brought the older boy Taco Bell two nights in a row and still he stuck to his 'Mmh's and 'Mmkays.' Had Blaine tried anything to end it? No. Why? Presumably because Kurt was working on school work after school. Yes, Alec was in the studio too. Maybe they even sat across from each other and had short chats during breaks (very short breaks, might he add), but what did that matter? It wasn't like they were the only students in the studio after classes working on stuff. It wasn't like they sat the whole time and talked. It wasn't like they were fooling around. In fact, it was so obvious that Alec was madly in love with his med school boyfriend that the fact that Blaine would think anything else was hilarious. He supposed he should have talked to Blaine about everything, but he was stubborn. He was stubborn and he'd done nothing wrong. He truly hadn't. Why couldn't he stay at school after class and work on projects? And why didn't Blaine trust him to tell the truth when he said that was where he was?

Yes, Kurt knew he was the immature one in the relationship. He would throw hysterical fits over nothing at all, he would get worked up because of the tiniest thing, he would sometimes be grumpy and cause arguments just for the purpose of causing arguments. Which was why the entire thing was throwing him off. Blaine knew how to put up with stuff like this. Kurt just got frustrated, which was a lot like what his father did. So, how was Kurt supposed to deal with it? He just wanted it over with so everyone could move on. He hated how there was tension, so much freaking tension.

It probably would have been wiser to let Blaine come to Kurt himself, but Blaine was not a fan of talking about personal things. They could have been forty by the time anything was resolved. Which is why Kurt, rather dumbly, decided to take things into his own hands.

"I want this out now." He walked into the bedroom. Blaine was sitting in his pajamas on the bed, reading his Norton Anthology of British Literature. In retrospect, Kurt should have saw the huge book he was reading and waited for him to be reading something more interesting—Blaine hated reading that damn anthology so of course he would have already been in a grumpy mood.

Blaine looked up, scowled, and said in an even and controlled voice, "I'm busy right now, Kurt."

"Well I don't care." Kurt took the book, snapped it shut, and put it on the nightstand. "My project has been done for four days. Why are you still acting like this?"

"Do not come in here and try to get all confrontational on me." Blaine said calmly, reaching for the book.

"No. I'm sick of coming home every night after working on school stuff and not knowing whether or not I need to tiptoe past the room to avoid a pointless argument. I'm sick of feeling like I've done something wrong when I've done absolutely nothing." Kurt moved in front of the book so Blaine couldn't grab it. "I know you've got this problem where you hate talking about personal things—."

"I do not have a problem!" Blaine snapped. Clearly Kurt had struck a nerve.

"You've got a problem with talking about personal things just like I have a problem freaking out and throwing fits anytime I'm stressed. At least I know and admit to what I have a problem with, Blaine."

"I can talk about things. I just don't want to."
"Then tell me what the problem is."

"You know what the problem is."

"Oh my God! How is anything supposed to get fixed if you always hold everything in?" Kurt exclaimed, his eyes widening in frustration. "How?"

"Do you want things to go back to normal?" Blaine asked slowly.

"Of course I do."

"Then maybe you should actually spend some time at home with me and not with some boy you hated two months ago!"

"I'm home on the weekends!"

"Yeah but during the week you get home really late, and you're all cheerful and hunky-dory and then you go to sleep! We live together but I feel like the only time I get a straight conversation with you is Friday night, and Saturday and Sunday. But even then, you talk about that… that home wrecker!"

Kurt took a step back and laughed loudly, unable to hold it in. "Home wrecker? I thought I was the dramatic one?"

"It's not funny! You would rather spend time with some guy you barely know than me!" It sounded angry, but Blaine looked pitiful and Kurt could tell he was upset by looking in his eyes.

"Blaine, I wouldn't rather spend time with him over you." Kurt stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "I love you. I could never love anyone but you."

"I don't believe that." Blaine pulled back, almost roughly. "Look at you, Kurt. You're gorgeous. You're absolutely gorgeous. I was the first openly gay kid you ever met, okay? But now you're going to CCAD and you've probably got tons of gay boys in your class and you're going to…" he trailed off.

"Going to what, Blaine?"

Blaine just shook his head, looking anywhere but at Kurt.

"I just want to fix whatever this is, Blaine. And I can't do that if you don't let me."

"You're going to find someone else. How stupid am I to think that someone like you would ever want to stay with someone like me? And you're going to find someone tall with straight blonde hair and blue eyes like Alec. And you're going to end up with them because I'm just an English major who is too short with terrible hair and all of these issues—not to mention David and Wes are amazing, but they scare off anyone sane after too long." Blaine rambled on.

"Stop that." Kurt moved forward again and grabbed both of his hands. He spoke very softly. "I could never find someone better than you, Blaine Anderson. I love the fact that you're two inches shorter than me."

"An inch and a half." Blaine muttered.

"I love your hair—curly or gelled. I love your beautiful hazel eyes. I love that you're an English major. You love to read and write. You're so smart and one day you're going to law school. So don't say you're just an English major. You're going places… and David and Wes, as insane as they are, are just a part of the Blaine Anderson Package. You got Dad, Carole, Finn, and Melody and I get two controlling Warblers. It kind of evens out, don't you think?"

"I don't think this is funny and you're trying to be all nice and sweet and joke around. I don't want to joke around!"

"I know it's not funny, Blaine." Kurt said, a little desperately. "I'm just trying to make you feel better and I just don't know what to say… I… This can't really be about me working on school work."

"It's not about that!" Blaine's voice rose a bit.

"Then what's it about?"

"It's about the fact that I don't understand why this semester is totally different. You're never home. Never!"

"Blaine, I can't help that my night class on Tuesdays and Thursdays doesn't get out until late! I can't help it!" Kurt should have lowered his voice but this wasn't going at all like he'd planned. He had planned for them to sit down, talk it out, hug, and make up. He hadn't wanted it to lead to an actual argument and he was pretty sure that was where it was going. "I know I've been home less, but I've been working on school stuff. It's not like I'm going out partying or having an affair. I'm doing school work. And I don't understand why you're acting this way over it."

"Oh, so you don't get home until almost midnight every night and then go back to class all day the next day? What about the days you get out earlier?"

"I just told you! I stay after and work on my projects! It's like you're trying to trick me into saying a different answer or something. What's your problem?" Kurt felt tears stinging his eyes but refused to let any of them fall. He hated the look on Blaine's face. Absolutely hated it.

"My problem is you staying out all hours of the night and even driving up to campus on some weekends. Because it looks like—."

"What?" Kurt said sharply, taking a step towards Blaine. He was sick of the insinuations, the hints that something more than simply school work was going on. He narrowed his eyes, almost daring Blaine to say it, yet knowing the boy would never voice it out loud. Why wouldn't Blaine suggest it? Because deep down he had to know that the idea was utterly ridiculous. "What does it look like, Blaine?" He made sure to put an emphasis on Blaine's name—something he generally only did when he was displeased.

"You—don't you try to turn this around and make me the bad guy! You're overworking!"

"Overworking?" Kurt scoffed. "Overworking? Oh-ho no you don't. Don't you dare try to bring my health into this. Don't you even fucking dare. We both know that you aren't worried about my health or you wouldn't go around mumbling and slamming goddamn shit around with that look on your face."

"What look?" Blaine scoffed.

"Admit it, Blaine. Do both of us a favor and just admit it. You're jealous. I can't believe you even went onto his Facebook."

"Fine," Blaine said in a way that almost rivaled Kurt's trademark fine. "Fine. I don't like you spending time around him." He lowered his voice. "I don't like it. Ever since it- Ever since you two did that project and became best buds," Blaine gestured wildly with his hands, "You've been going around, texting him, laughing at stuff he says or does, working on school work together."

"So do you have a problem with the fact that I have a friend at school or that he's a gay guy?" Kurt asked slowly. "I mean, it's bad enough that you hate Rachel for seemingly no good reason and try to get out of seeing her at any cost, but now… you haven't even met him, Blaine. It's like any time I'm friends with anyone that isn't Mercedes or your friends, that you can't stand them. He's nice. Alec is a nice guy and—."

"Oh, he's nice? What color are his eyes, Kurt?"

"I don't know! I've never paid attention to his eyes!" Kurt suddenly shrieked. Instead of trying to stop an argument before it started, he had caused an even bigger one. This was not going well. "Just stop it! You can't tell me that I can't stay after school and work on stuff because you don't like someone who happens to be in my classes and happens to be in the studios! Why don't you say what you want, what you really think, now and we'll just have it out?"

"I don't want you staying after school." Blaine said, voice raising more. "I don't like it. I don't like you driving home so late."

"Wrong. Try the real reason." Kurt sneered. It was one thing to walk around and insinuate things. It was another to deny it, to deny what they both knew he thought. The real reasoning behind all of this tension. "You think you're big and bad enough to walk around starting arguments every other day. Well be a man and carry it out. Why don't you want me staying after school?"

"Because I don't want you around him!" Blaine shouted. "I don't like that one day you hated him and the next he's your best fucking friend! I'm supposed to be your best friend! Not him! He sounds like an asshole!"

"You are my best friend!" Kurt shouted right back. He hadn't expected Blaine to shout, but it only fueled his own rising anger. "And right now you are the one being an asshole!"

"No! No, not anymore I'm not! You'd rather spend all day with him! You used to want to spend time with me, Kurt!"

"Yeah, that's part of it! That's part of your problem, Blaine, but why don't you talk about the rest? Why don't you talk about what's really bothering you? Or am I going to have to wait another three years to hear you say it?"

"Don't act like that!" Blaine's face looked pained, but Kurt felt just as pained as Blaine looked. "I don't want to talk about it!"

Kurt gritted his teeth. "You're a coward, Blaine. You're a fucking coward."

Blaine's hazel eyes widened in shock as the words sank in. He hated hearing those words thrown at him when it was the one thing he hated about himself. What made it worse was that Kurt had said it. He knew Kurt wasn't talking about his past, only the present argument, but that didn't make Blaine feel any better. It just made him even angrier if that was possible. Blaine hadn't felt so angry in a very, very long time. "And you're a fucking idiot!"

"Excuse me?" Kurt shouted, tears filling his eyes again. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold these ones in, though. He knew these would fall. How could Blaine have said that to him? It wasn't that Kurt thought he was an idiot, or even that he thought Blaine thought he was one. It was just the sheer fact that Blaine had said that. How could Blaine have said that? He would probably feeling insanely guilty for calling Blaine a coward later, he may have even felt a little guilt immediately after saying it, but Blaine calling him an idiot… Whether or not it was said out of anger, it stung.

"Let's get serious, here. If you think I believe this late classes and homework thing, you're a fucking idiot!" Blaine responded, eyes narrowed. He didn't even look sorry for his words, he just looked angry.

"So I'm an idiot because you're a scared little boy who can't even properly stand up for himself in an argument? Because you have to hide behind lame excuses like overworking and money? You're a fucking asshole, Blaine! You're a s-s-scared asshole!" Kurt threw the bedroom door open and made his way into the living room. He could hear Blaine following him and he was pretty sure Blaine reached out to grab his arm but relented.

"Kurt, stop!" Blaine said, coming to a halt several feet across from him once they were in the center of the living room.

"Don't—Don't you fucking call me a fucking idiot. What, is it because I'm not at some university like you? Or is it because I can't maintain two jobs while taking seven classes? Or is it because I can see through your pathetic excuses of why you're upset?"

"No! You're an idiot because you think I don't know what's going on with Alec!"

"Don't fucking bring up this Alec thing until you're man enough to say what you really think!" Kurt shrieked, throwing his hands into the air. "Man up! Man up and say something!"

"You want to know what I think?" Blaine questioned, stepping closer.

"Yes! Let Blaine Anderson enlighten the world with his oh so secret thoughts! Please tell!" Kurt's voice seeped with sarcasm, the tears still stinging in his eyes. "What do you think, Blaine?"

"I THINK I WISH YOU'D GONE TO NEW YORK!"

A stunned silence filled the entire apartment. Kurt put a hand over his mouth, blue eyes wide and pained. Blaine took a few steps back, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked too angry to have even registered what he'd said only seconds before.

Finally, there was noise. Kurt choked back a sob and whimpered, "I can't believe you j-just said that to me."

"Well it's what I think." The older boy said simply, as if he'd just told Kurt that two plus two equaled four.

Kurt choked back another sob, pushing past Blaine.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The younger boy just ran into the kitchen and fumbled quickly with the dog cage, scooping Kreacher into his arms before the dog could make a run for it. He snatched his keys off of the coffee table and pocketed his wallet with his free hand. "I can't b-b-be around you l-like this! Y-you're acting awful!"

"Kurt!" The anger in his voice very quickly turned into fear. "Wh-Where are you going?"

"You know what, Blaine?" Kurt, who had had his back turned to his boyfriend as he walked to the door, turned back around and spoke in a very quiet voice. "I wish I'd gone to New York too. There, are you happy now? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Blaine's hazel eyes widened and he took a few steps forward, vision zoning in on his boyfriend's tearstained cheeks—and he had caused that. He had really told Kurt he wished he'd gone to New York. Why had he done that? How had he gotten so angry? "I'm sorry, Kurt. I-."

"No. You don't get to call me a fucking idiot and say that shit to me. I k-know you've h-had a hard time, okay? I know you've got a-all this pent up anger inside. But that is not an excuse. I'm not your mom or your dad. And I'm leaving. Because you just went too far, Blaine. Way too fucking far."

With that, Kurt turned and ran to his car. Within seconds he was gone and Blaine was left wondering what in the hell had actually happened.

***WBUCT***

"It's not that I don't want you here, kid. I just want to know what happened."

Kurt sighed and took a rather large drink of his coffee. He didn't want to talk about showing up after eleven at night. Honestly, he thought his dad and Carole would be asleep. He'd planned to simply sneak into his bedroom and not announce his presence until the next morning when he had a clear mind, but that hadn't happened. They had been up with a fussy Melody and had jumped up the second he entered the house, asking frantic questions. If he'd known that they had been up, he would have made sure to sit outside until the puffiness around his eyes went away. His father had, of course, tried to get the information out of him right then and there but that had only caused a fresh batch of tears. Only after Carole had told Burt to go to put Melody to bed, that she would take care of it, did his father finally stop his questioning. Thankfully, Carole hadn't persisted when Kurt had mumbled that he just wanted to go to bed.

He knew Burt would question him. It didn't mean he was ready for it.

"You don't just show up crying in the middle of the night unless something happened. What's going on, Kurt?"

"It's nothing, Dad." Kurt rubbed his face in an attempt to wake himself up. Not that he'd slept much, though. He'd spent most of the night tossing and turning, hugging his dog close to him as if Kreacher was a teddy bear or his security blanket. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Well I do. You can't just show up in the middle of the night with no explanation. Did Blaine hurt you?"

"Burt, that's ridiculous." Carole exclaimed as she came into the kitchen. "Absolutely ridiculous. You know Blaine!"

"Blaine would never lay a hand on me, Dad." Kurt sighed, setting his cup down.

"Then what did he do?" Burt urged in his gruff voice, ignoring Carole. "What happened?"

"We just got into a fight! I don't want to talk about it! I'm tired and it's the weekend. I just wanted to come home, alright?"

"Sweetie, you can't come home every time you and Blaine get into a fight." Carole said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It was a p-p-pretty big fight." Kurt said, tears filling his eyes and his lip starting to tremble. He hadn't wanted to cry anymore. He didn't know why he was so emotional anyway. Other than the fact that his boyfriend wished he lived in another state, far away. That was nothing to cry over, right?

"Oh, hon." Carole squeezed his shoulder, sitting in the seat next to him. She shot Burt a look that clearly said 'Don't even open your mouth' and scooted closer. "Hon, do you want to talk about it?"

"H-H-He thinks I'm c-cheating!" Kurt wiped his eyes furiously.

"What?" Burt exclaimed.

"W-We had this project and I had to work with s-someone else, a guy. And we would stay after and work in the studio to get it done because I live so far away. And we kind of b-became friends but it was nothing like that! I love Blaine!" Kurt added the last part almost pleadingly.

"We know you do, sweetheart." Carole ran her fingers through Kurt's uncharacteristically messy hair. "So you got into a fight because you're working on a project with someone he doesn't like?"

"S-sort of. B-but, see, it's so much easier to get my w-work done in the studio and I've been doing that so I can spend my time at home on the weekends not doing w-work the whole time. So the project is over but I've been s-staying and doing school work still but he thinks I'm having some affair because t-the other guy works on stuff in the studio too. And he says I a-act happier but its just b-because I'm getting work done faster a-and now I have a friend who understands the school stress."

Carole nodded, looking sympathetic. "He maybe feels a little left out?"

"He shouldn't! I'm just doing school work. He keeps saying he's worried about my health and my safety, but it's really that he thinks I'm cheating. A-And I tried to get him to just say it because he keeps hinting a-and he told me I was an idiot."

Burt stood. "He said what? He called you an idiot?"

"He said I was an i-idiot if I thought he didn't k-know what was going on. A-and then he…" Kurt trailed off.

It would not have been a wise idea to tell Burt about Blaine's NYU comment, but honestly he didn't feel as if he could even repeat those words out loud even if he'd wanted to. Truthfully that had hurt more than being called an idiot. The idiot comment could be written off as anger… but saying that about NYU ran deeper. Much deeper. Kurt had said some bad things too, though. Kurt wasn't innocent. His intentions had been good, but if he was honest with himself... calling Blaine a coward was nearly just as bad.

"He what?" Burt asked.

"That was pretty much it." Kurt took a deep breath to calm himself, trying to ignore the slight tingle in his chest as he did so. He really needed to calm down. He wasn't sobbing, he was barely crying any more. He was just incredibly upset and anxious. He felt the intense urge to just drive back to Cincinnati and curl up against Blaine. He wanted this to be over. Over. Done.

"So Blaine called you an idiot?" Burt asked slowly.

"Burt, please." Carole glared at her husband and ran her hand up and down Kurt's back. "Does Blaine know where you are?"

"I just got Kreacher and left. I didn't bring anything else. I didn't tell him where I went or anything, I basically just left." Kurt responded, still deciding it best to leave out what words had been exchanged right before his departure.

"I think you both probably said some pretty mean things, didn't you?" Carole asked gently.

"Y-yes. I didn't mean to. I was just trying to make it n-not be an argument and it turned into one so fast and he got so mad and then said things and I got mad because he said things but not the right things and…" he just trailed off, wiping his eyes.

"Everyone says things they don't mean when they're arguing. I'm sure Blaine doesn't really think you're an idiot, just like I'm sure you didn't mean some of the things you said. Your father and I have said some pretty mean things in the heat of the moment too, hon. It's a natural part of living together and being in a relationship." Carole moved so she was hugging him. "Everything will work itself out soon. I promise."

Kurt nodded, hugging her back.

"I know you might not want to hear this right now… but he's probably worried about you. Even if you're fighting, you should still call him or text him and let him know you're here and safe." She gave him a tight squeeze. "Okay? Can you at least do that so he doesn't worry about you?"

Kurt nodded and freed himself from her arms, standing. "I'll go do that now. Thanks, Carole."

"Kurt, you can stay as long as you want to." Burt said gruffly, eyes on his son. "Alright?"

"Thanks, Dad." Kurt offered a small smile and left the room.

"He needs to go home to Blaine." Carole whispered as soon as she thought he was out of earshot, but he heard her begin to speak and paused outside the door.

"That boy called him an idiot."

"Kurt said himself that Kurt said some bad things too. It was just a fight, Burt. Kurt's made Blaine cry too, remember? And do you remember how hard you were on him for it?" Carole responded. "I know he's your son and you want to protect him, but this isn't that Dave kid at McKinley. This is Blaine. The same Blaine that you let live in this house and that you go to football games with."

"You baby Blaine too much. You're biased." Burt grunted, glaring.

"I baby all four of them, Burt." Carole sighed. "Look, they are two young gay men. Kurt is dramatic, and we both know that Blaine doesn't handle being upset very well given what happened last year. If both of them leave home for days or weeks each time they have a fight they'll never learn to handle fights like adults. I'm not saying either of them is in the wrong. I'm saying that you can't get involved."

"I'm not getting involved." Burt said stubbornly.

"You're telling him he can stay as long as he'd like. The longer he stays, the longer the fight lasts. That is getting involved. Kurt knows he can stay as long as he wants. Don't make a point about it and secretly hint you'd rather him stay." Carole sighed a gain, shaking her head.

"He's my son. I just told him he could stay in his house."

"Don't get involved, Burt."

"I'm not getting involved."

"Don't get involved."

***WBUCT***

Blaine may have gotten a text from Kurt the other day saying he was safe and in Lima, but he couldn't help but worry. He hadn't remembered much of the fight right after, but in pieces it had all came together in his mind. It had escalated quickly, much too quickly, and Blaine was sure that was why he'd lost his temper so fast.

He kept thinking back on the coward comment, not sure how to take it or how upset he should be. Surprisingly, nearly two days later he felt… Annoyed. He wasn't upset, he wasn't overwhelmed with hate for Kurt. Because maybe Kurt had a point. Maybe he was being a coward by not coming out and saying how he felt. He'd been an asshole, just like Kurt had said.

It wasn't that he thought Kurt wasn't in the wrong too, but he'd said something much worse. And, to make it even worse, Blaine had made Kurt cry. Yes, Kurt calling him a coward was offensive… but it hadn't made him cry. Blaine had crossed a line saying he wished Kurt had gone to NYU. He'd been an asshole saying Kurt was an idiot, but when he brought NYU into it he'd not only crossed the line, he'd jumped up and down and the line and then ran past it. Several times.

He felt awful.

Blaine felt awful for what he said. Of course he didn't wish Kurt had gone to NYU. He loved their little apartment, he loved that they'd compromised to live between their own schools, he loved curling up with his head on Kurt's chest as he fell asleep or vice versa. The only thing he didn't love was the fact that he was spending time with a home wrecker.

No. Blaine was not going to get angry again. He couldn't tell which was worse—the fact that he'd said terrible things and was now feeling guilty or the fact that he had suspicions Kurt was cheating.

It was ridiculous, right? It didn't feel ridiculous though. Blaine really and truly felt as though something else was going on in that studio. He didn't like it either. At all. He felt like this boy he had never even met was forcing himself between the two. He felt insecure, like Kurt would realize he wasn't that special after all and would latch onto the other guy. Latch onto him after running away, screaming from Blaine.

He wished he had someone to run off too. It was all fine and dandy for Kurt—if he got into a bind he could run home to his daddy and the man would take him in with open arms. If Blaine tried to call his father, the man would probably commence with insults so harsh that Blaine contemplated suicide again.

No. It wasn't the time to think about that either.

No.

It was Sunday and, for once, Blaine found himself wishing he was taking five days of classes again just so he wasn't stuck in an empty apartment all alone. He even found himself wishing Kurt had left Kreacher. At least Kurt had company, Blaine was all alone.

He had been sitting in the kitchen and miserably snacking on stale chips when he heard a knock on the front door. He knew without a doubt it wasn't Kurt, but he kind of expected David to show up as a result of Blaine's incessant texts. He was very shocked to see Burt when he pulled the door open and his eyes widened.

Not good.

This was not good.

"Look, I'm sorry." Blaine said quickly before the man could even speak. "Things just got really out of hand and I lost my temper. I shouldn't have and I—."

Burt interrupted him, holding his hand up and giving Blaine a stern look that he'd seen the man give Kurt on more than one occasion. "We need to have a little chat, Blaine." He said gruffly, moving past Blaine and closing the door. "Actually, I'm going to talk and I'd rather you just listen."

"I—." Blaine opened his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly and just nodded.

"Sit down." Burt said, pointing to the couch.

Blaine considered his two options. He could sit down, or he could not. Sitting down would probably be best, he mentally noted, because Burt looked madder by the second.

"Do you have any idea where Kurt is?" The man asked slowly after Blaine was seated.

"He texted me and told me he was in Lima." Blaine said softly. If he'd felt guilty before, he really felt guilty now. How upset must Kurt have been for his father to show up?

"Do you care to tell me why my son showed up at almost midnight the other night when I'm putting Melody to bed?" Burt asked, his voice very low… low and angry. "He shows up with that hyperactive dog and he's crying. He wouldn't even talk to Carole and I until yesterday morning… and he says you called him an idiot?"

"I already… I… I was angry, okay? You don't even know the whole story. I wasn't even thinking. We were fighting and it just came out!" Blaine said, his voice rather high.

"I don't need to know the whole story to be mad that you called my son an idiot, kid. This is my turn to talk and your turn to listen." Burt interrupted him, holding his hand up again. At least he knew where Kurt got that annoying habit from. "Last fall I sent Kurt up here with you, Blaine, because I trusted you to take care of him. And he comes home in the middle of the night, near hysterical. Does that sound like he's well taken care of to you? First of all, don't you ever say that my son is an idiot. Don't you ever imply that he isn't smart, because that boy is damn smart. I seem to recall more than one occasion where you were at the house until after midnight after he got back from Dalton because he was helping you with French homework. I don't know what makes you think you can call him an idiot. Now I know you may have been taught in a fancy private school all your life, but that does not make my son any less smarter than you. You got that? My kid is smart. That boy could go to any damn university and get better grades than half the nimrods in college right now, and yourself might just be included in that category."

"I didn't mean to call him that. I know he's smart. I just got angry and—."

"I don't care how angry you got, kid. You don't disrespect my son that way. I know something else went down and he won't talk about it. If I find out that you hurt him…" Burt trailed off, eyes still not having left Blaine's. "Before I could trust you to take care of my son. To make sure he was taking care of himself. I felt like Kurt was in good hands. I know he's been slacking on certain things, I know he's been difficult, I know he's hurting still. But at least I knew that you were there… to make sure he was at least eating when you were home. That you'd make sure he got at least a few hours of sleep at night. I knew that you loved him, were providing for him. I thought he was safe here with you. After Friday night, I don't know how safe I think is he now, Blaine."

Blaine snapped, no longer able to hold it in. He could barely hold it in until Burt quit talking. "I don't know what else you think happened, but I would never hurt Kurt! I said something stupid, but I would never lay my hand on him, I would never hurt him like that. The fact that you're even saying this to me makes me sick to my stomach! That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life!"

"I'm just letting you know that if I ever find out you did—."

"Why are you even here? We had a fight! I called him an idiot, he called me a coward! We yelled! We yelled and he stormed off and I went after him and he got his dog! We yelled some more and he left! I have never laid one hand on your son! Not like that!" Blaine shouted, now standing. His stomach was twisted into knots and he could feel his hands shaking. This wasn't fair. This wasn't fair at all. Blaine didn't deserve this. "Never! Yes, it's difficult! Sometimes I want to punch a hole in the wall because he refuses to put his damn sketchbook down and eat or sleep! But I would never put a hand on him like that!"

"You disrespect him like that, why should I think you won't?" Burt questioned, eyeing him.

"IT WAS A FIGHT! We had a fight! He disrespected me as much as I disrespected him!" Blaine voice rose even more. He hadn't even known he was capable of being so loud or so angry.

Not good.

Very not good.

"My son would never look you in the face and tell you that you weren't smart, like you didn't matter. I won't handle anyone treating him like that. Am I making myself clear? At the end of the day, kid, if I want him to break up with you, I'll have it. I'll pack his stuff myself and he'll live in Lima and I'll pay to send him to New York next year if that's what I want! Because it's my job to protect him, even if that means protecting him from you. If I don't feel like my son is safe with you, he won't be with you." His boyfriend's father spoke in a calm voice, but the anger was evident in his face.

If Blaine hadn't been so angry, he would have been very scared. He was experiencing an adrenaline rush like no other, though, as he continued on. "You want your son to be safe? You want to protect him? Tell him to not be at school all hours of the night! Is that safe enough for you? Maybe he can walk to his car alone and get raped this time! Or maybe this time someone will actually kill him! Is that safe? Isn't it your job as his father to protect him? Protect him from that!"

Finally Burt's voice rose. "Don't talk to me like that! The real reason you're mad is you think Kurt's off sneaking around!"

There was no way Blaine was backing down now. He was too angry and upset by the entire situation to do that. "The reason I'm mad right now is you thinking it's okay to run to the rescue any time the smallest thing happens! How is he supposed to grow up with your holding his hand every time he gets his ego hurt?"

"Kurt is growing up just fine on his own."

Blaine scoffed loudly. "No! No, he's not! He's not growing up and he's not taking care of himself! He's in this nice protected bubble his Daddy's made for him! You're not always going to be there to grab his hand! He's never going to take care of himself! If you want Kurt to ever take care of stuff himself and grow up, stop this! You have no right to be here! You have no right to come to our house and yell at me! Let him clean up his own damn messes and take care of himself! Maybe if you didn't get involved in every aspect of his life, practically putting a metaphorical band aid on everything that goes wrong—Maybe he'd grow the fuck up! Every time you do this, no matter how much better he's gotten, he takes fifteen leaps back!"

"He's my son and I have the right to get involved if I want!"

"No! No! You don't! He may be your son but he is not a little boy! The second he moved out of your house you lost that right! You have no right to drive out here to try to intimidate me!"

"It is my right to protect my son!"

Blaine finally lowered his voice, arms crossing over his chest. "No. You're not protecting him. If anything, you're hurting him. That, and you crossed a line. If Kurt and I got involved in your stuff, how would you feel? What if Finn told you how to spend your paycheck? What if Kurt and I told you and Carole how to live your lives?"

Burt took a deep breath and lowered his own voice, eyes narrowed. "The issue at hand is not that. The issue is you not showing my boy the respect he deserves two nights ago. I trust my son to make good decisions. If Kurt is staying after school to do homework, then I trust that he's doing that and that he's being safe about it."

"It's amazing." Blaine said, letting out a hollow laugh. "Now I see where Kurt gets it from. Now it all makes sense. Thank you, oh so much, for clearing this up."

If possible, Burt looked madder than he had the entire time they'd been arguing. He stomped towards the door and pulled it open. "You just remember what I said, Blaine."

"You have a nice day too, sir!" Blaine called cheerfully. The second he heard Burt's car start, he banged his head several times into the wall. He had decided he was having the worst week of his life.

…

"Hello." Burt grunted coming into his kitchen several hours later, tugging his jacket off and throwing it over the counter. He tried to maintain a normal voice as he spoke, not wanting his son to sense something was off. Not that Kurt would know Burt had gone to see Blaine, but his kid was pretty damn smart. Burt knew Kurt would find out eventually, but that day didn't have to be today. "Dinner smells good."

"Thanks, hon." Carole said, smiling warmly at Kurt. Kurt, however, was just sitting at the table and staring into his cup of herbal tea. His eyes were red and puffy. Burt got the feeling he'd been crying not too long before. Burt had began to feel slightly guilty an hour into his drive home, but seeing his son so upset still took that guilt right away. He'd done the right thing. No one messed with his son.

"Hey there, kiddo." Burt said a little louder, going over and awkwardly patting down some of Kurt's hair.

Kurt sighed and grabbed his cup. "I think I'm going to go lay down. I don't feel very good." He stood up.

"Dinner will be done in half an hour, sweetie." Carole said gently, patting his arm as he walked past.

"Thanks, Carole." Kurt whispered before disappearing upstairs.

Burt watched Kurt disappear up the stairs and let out a long sigh. "How was he today? Did he say anything else?"

"No." Carole said quietly, shaking her head and she stirred the content on the stove. "Not really. He's been very quiet for the most part. He cried for a while about an hour ago… I think you're right. More happened than he let on. I'm worried about him."

"I'm worried about him too." Burt grunted, glancing up in the direction of the stairs. "That's why I went to see Blaine today."

"Burt, no." Carole gasped, turning to face him. "I told you to not get involved in this!"

"I had to, Carole! Look at him!" Burt said in as quiet of a voice as he could. The last thing anyone needed was for Kurt to find out about his and Blaine's argument. And there was no way around that—that had been a full blown fight. "He's not even being sarcastic. Something happened. I had to talk to Blaine."

"Burt, no. No." she repeated. "What did you say? What did you do? Is he okay?"

"Carole, he did something to Kurt."

"No. No, he didn't." Carole whispered harshly, glaring at him. "They had an argument. Kurt said himself that he was just as rude to Blaine."

"I think something else happened." Burt said gruffly. "I think that Blaine has been getting physical with him."

Carole reached over and turned the pot down to simmer, and turned her full attention to him. "Please tell me you didn't go over to Blaine and Kurt's house and accuse that sweet boy of hitting Kurt."

Burt looked at her, shocked, and then spoke in an even voice. "I just asked him what happened."

"What did you say?"

"I told him what I thought! I told him that he disrespected my son and that if I ever found out he laid a hand on him—."

"You can't just go and get involved in stuff like this!" Carole whispered again, voice frantic. "Why didn't you listen to me? Kurt is nineteen! He lives on his own, Burt!"

"If it were Finn—."

"Finn and Rachel break up twice a year, Burt, and I don't even say a word about it. Why? They're young adults. It is their decision what they do and how they do it!" Carole exclaimed, her eyes wide. "Blaine didn't lay a hand on your son, Burt! Blaine loves Kurt more than life itself. It's painfully obvious how in love he is with Kurt and sometimes I think Kurt could do a tiny bit more to show his appreciation. How could you do this?"

Burt opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to think it better to keep his mouth shut.

"Watch this. I've got to call Blaine and make sure he's alright. I can't believe you did this. You just made this ten times worse. I can't believe you had the bright idea to get involved in your teenage son's love life."

"Carole—."

"No. We're not finished. We'll be talking about this later tonight, Burt. Watch the dinner!" Carole pointed a finger at the stove, gave her husband an angry look, and then abruptly left the room.

…

"Alright, Anderson. Get in here." David sighed, holding his front door open for his short best friend later that same night. "What's this about a nervous breakdown? And no, I don't have whipped cream so don't ask for it."

Blaine trudged into the room, frowning and pulling off his scarf. "Kurt likes scarves, you know?"

"Fuck. Hold on." David left the room, coming back with his laptop. "This is going to require Wes, isn't it? I can tell."

"Uh-huh." Blaine said miserably, sinking onto the couch. "You'll side with Kurt is why. Wes is loyal, like a puppy. He'll always side with me."

David rolled his eyes, signing onto Skype. "Speak of the devil. There he is. Hey, Wes!"

"DAVID! AND BLAINE! Hey, I thought we had an agreement about you two cheating on me? We agreed that there would be no get togethers."

"You live across the country. Blaine lives twenty minutes away. Get your fat Asian ass over it." David said, plopping down by Blaine. "The gay one is depressed."

"It's okay, gay one. The Asian one still likes you." Wes chirped.

"This isn't funny." Blaine moaned miserably. "Don't make jokes out of it."

"Well tell us what's wrong and we'll be the judges of that." David said calmly. "Our full attention is on you, Anderson."

Blaine took a deep breath, attempting to gather his thoughts, before he began. It seemed like he couldn't think straight since his 'run in' with Burt earlier that day. "Firstly, we're all aware of my thoughts on Kurt and his Home Wrecker, right?"

David rolled his eyes and Wes just shook his head. They were all very familiar with the subject—a little too familiar in their opinion, as it was mostly all Blaine could talk about lately.

Blaine chose to ignore them and continued on, rolling his own eyes. "It's true. So just accept it. Friday Kurt and I got into a big fight… He was trying to ease the tension, but I was…"

"An ass?" David offered.

"The biggest of asses." Wes nodded before Blaine could even confirm nor deny.

"How can you tell?" The shortest boy asked miserably.

"Every time you're an ass you get this puppy look." David explained. "Your eyes are all big and you frown like that."

"But continue." Wes added, almost eagerly. "Don't let us interrupt."

Blaine nodded and began again, feeling more and more guilty as he spoke. "I was an ass… He kept telling me to say what I really thought about the whole Home Wrecker thing and… I wouldn't. So he called me a coward, and it kind of struck a nerve. I told him he was an idiot for thinking I didn't know what was going on."

David actually hit himself on the head repeatedly. "Blaine, why would you… just… Go on."

"And he started to cry." Blaine sighed heavily.

"You made Kurt cry?" Wes looked at him, shocked. "But he's such a little thing. I mean, I know he's taller. But he's like the baby of our little foursome."

"Foursome?" Blaine questioned.

"Kurt's pretty much a part of our group now." David shrugged. "We've always liked him a lot. You know that. We text him occasionally, he texts us. Not as much as we talk to you, but we'd consider him a good friend."

Blaine sighed. Normally he would have felt excited over this tidbit of information, and he knew Kurt would have been very excited to hear his friends talk about him this way. But he was just too depressed to even properly react. "Well, yes. I suppose I made the baby of the foursome cry… and then when he was leaving I told him that… I wish he'd gone to New York."

David gasped, turning to look at him. Whatever Wes had in his hands fell to the ground and his jaw dropped.

"Why would you say something like that?" David asked, eyes wide.

"I don't know! It just came out!" Blaine exclaimed, looking even more upset. "I was so angry and it just came out. As soon as I said it h-he left and I tried to get him to stay but he wouldn't."

"Of course he wouldn't." David said, still staring at him in shock. "You told him you wished he lived in New York."

"Hey, now." Wes said very seriously. "Blaine was upset. People say stuff when they're upset. It's okay, Blaine. Just give him some time to calm down and then you can apologize."

"I can't believe you. You really are an idiot sometimes, Blaine." David said, practically speaking over Wes. He even went as far as to turn the computer volume down, prompting several scoffs from Wes.

"I'm not finished." Blaine said miserably. "So earlier today Kurt's dad came by… and we… got into it. I don't think I've ever shouted at someone like that in my life."

"Wait… Kurt's dad came and you fought with him? What did he say?" Wes questioned after David turned the laptop speakers back up.

"Kurt told him that I called him an idiot and 'wouldn't say what else happened' or something. And he had the nerve to act like I hit Kurt or something!" Blaine said, feeling his chest tighten all over again. "I love Kurt! I try to treat him so well and h-how could anyone think I would hurt him like that?"

"You've got to be mistaken, Blaine. There's no way anyone would ever think you could do that." David said, shaking his head.

"No. He seriously thought I got physical with Kurt." Blaine sighed, blinking rapidly to keep tears from falling. "And he's like, If I ever find out you hit him and If I don't want him to be with you, he won't be with you. You disrespected him. He disrespected me by coming all the way to my house and accusing me of… just… I can't even think straight!"

"You're serious, aren't you?" Wes asked, staring blankly through the computer screen.

"Yes." Blaine said, and it came out mostly a whimper. "I'm so upset. I haven't been this upset in a long time."

"Why would he think that? I know Kurt can be dramatic but he'd never say anything like that, right?" Wes asked.

"I guess Kurt didn't tell him about the NYU thing and he jumped to conclusions." Blaine took a deep breath.

"He shouldn't have been involved in the first place." David said, looking angry. "And to drive all the way to Cincinnati to confront you? I get being protective and all, but Kurt's not sixteen anymore. That was entirely uncalled for."

"Don't even worry about it, Blaine." Wes sighed, no longer even able to think of something witty to cheer his friend up.

Blaine wiped his eyes and sniffled, feeling like everything was about to come crashing down around him. "You don't understand. We were seriously arguing. I don't think I've even argued with my own dad like that. He looked like he wanted to hit me once or twice."

"Well he had some nerve going and accusing you of hitting Kurt!" David said loudly.

"I don't know. Maybe I should just apologize."

"No!" Wes and David both said together.

"You can't apologize. You can't let Kurt's daddy walk in, do shit like that, say that to you, and then go apologize! He was way out of line. He should apologize. You did nothing wrong, Blaine." Wes said in a firm voice, surprising both Blaine and David. "This fight was between you and Kurt. It is up to you and Kurt how you live your lives—including how you fight."

"It's none of his damn business." David added. "Don't you dare apologize."

"Did Kurt send him?" Wes asked.

Blaine scoffed and shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe. Probably not, though. Not how it went. And he showed up so early. I think he came when he was supposed to be at the garage. I don't think anyone knows but him and me. Not yet at least. Carole called and left a voice mail earlier but I couldn't even listen to it because I was so upset."

"That's not the point anyway." David said, still looking furious. David had always been pretty protective of Blaine and was the first person to have let Blaine's father have a peace of his mind after Blaine 'moved out.' At church, even. He didn't take well to people messing with Blaine. "He had no right butting into your business like that, no matter who he told."

"It was way out of line." Wes nodded. "Don't apologize."

"How can I not? How am I supposed to go to dinner on Fridays with Kurt without apologizing? I've got to."

"No. Don't go to them. If anyone apologizes it should be Kurt's dad. Don't you dare apologize, Blaine. You didn't do anything wrong. Couples argue all the time and mommies and daddies don't get involved." David said firmly.

"At least most people have mommies and daddies to get involved." Blaine mumbled, looking down.

"Hug him! Hug him!" Wes exclaimed, pointing at the screen. "Get on it, David!"

David reached over, giving Blaine a big hug. "Don't start a pity party, Blaine. Kurt shouldn't have run home and Kurt's dad shouldn't have gotten involved. Okay? We all know what's going to happen. Kurt will come home, you two will make up, have make up sex, and go back to being the most adorable gay couple in the world. He'll have his freak outs over clothes, you'll coo over your fishie cup, and you two will go back to cuddling every day. Then you get married, have babies, get gray hair, have grandkids¸ and then die. The end. Okay?"

"You could have left the very last thing out." Blaine mumbled into David's shoulder.

"The point is everything will work out. It's just a fight." David sighed and ruffled Blaine's hair. "Try to stay away from the drama for a bit. Don't text Kurt about it or anything. Just let everything wind down a little bit before you say anything, okay? I'm sure Kurt's dad will try to get more stuff out of Kurt and Kurt will tell him he's a fucking idiot and then Kurt will come home and everything will work out."

"Can I stay here tonight? I don't wanna be alone again." Blaine said, and David was pretty sure he heard a bit of a sniffle.

"Of course you can." Wes said through the screen, beaming.

David just rolled his eyes, hugging Blaine closer. "Sure. As long as you don't grab my ass when I try to make you leave."

"I'll try." Blaine mumbled.

"I guess that's all I can ask."

***WUBCT***

"Hey, hon!"

Blaine, who was sitting outside the next night and studying, looked up from his book in shock. Carole was standing in front of him, a big Tupperware bowl in her hands. He hadn't even heard a car pull up outside the apartments so the last thing he had expected was someone speaking to him. The most human contact he'd had in the past few days, excluding his brief stay with David, was an old bald man asking him where the nearest gas station was. Needless to say, he was very surprised to see Kurt's stepmother.

"Don't look so surprised, sweetie. C'mon. Let's go inside. I brought you dinner because I know you're not the master at cooking like Kurt is." Carole said, smiling warmly at him.

Blaine stood and closed his textbook wordlessly, quickly opening the front door. He held it open for her and she walked straight into the kitchen as if it were her own home, setting the dish on the counter. For a few seconds he contemplated not even looking at her, half afraid she was going to confront him about he and Kurt's fight like Burt had. He didn't think he could handle Carole displeased with him, although he was sure she probably was.

"Come here, sweetie. You about look pitiful." She approached him, pulling him into a hug. He hugged her back tightly, letting out a relieved sigh. He had never been happier to see her in his life. "How are you doing? You did eat today, right? You're taking care of yourself?"

"I'm surprised you don't hate me." Blaine mumbled. "After yesterday, I mean."

Carole looked slightly irritated. "Burt's lost his mind. I don't know what on Earth made him jump to conclusions like this but, believe me, I gave him a piece of my mind. I think he feels like getting involved is the only way to stay in Kurt's life now that he's moved out or something. I'm just furious with him, Blaine. Absolutely furious. I hope you told him off good. I think he's more stubborn than Kurt and, Blaine, that is saying something."

Blaine let out another relieved sigh, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. He knew he and Kurt would make up eventually, but he had been extremely worried that Burt and Carole would end up hating him. Although, he had to admit, he was unsure things would ever be back to normal with Kurt's father. "Did he… tell Kurt?"

Carole just gave him a look. "Of course not, hon. If he did that it would firstly be admitting he was wrong and secondly would be a death wish. Kurt's about two words from going off on Burt himself. He keeps trying to get Kurt to go into details about what happened and, honestly, it's none of his damn business."

"What did… Kurt say? Did he mention… New York?" Blaine sat at the table.

Carole took a seat by him. "New York? Why would he mention New York?"

Blaine sighed heavily and rubbed his face. Every single time though about those words he felt ten times worse than the time before. He really was an idiot sometimes. In this case, he had been a jealous idiot. Yeah. He was jealous. Most definitely jealous. "After… Well… I'm just stupid, Carole."

"Of course you aren't!" Carole said.

Blaine lowered his hands and looked at Carole sadly. "Kurt called me a coward because I wouldn't talk about this guy that he's always talking about and hanging out with. He thinks that I think he's cheating."

"Do you?" Carole asked, in a way that led Blaine to believe she already had an inkling of this. Clearly she and Kurt had talked.

"Maybe… I mean, yes." Blaine looked down. "And then I told him he was an idiot for not thinking I knew about it… and then we fought some more… and he went to leave and I just got so mad. I told him I wish he'd moved to New York."

"Ahhh." Carole nodded, looking as if everything suddenly made more sense. "See, Kurt didn't mention that… He started to say something, I think, and stopped. He was really upset. I knew it was bigger than just calling each other names, but he didn't tell me what else happened."

"I didn't mean to say that to him. I'm just so frustrated and I feel like I'm… I'm losing him or something. I don't understand why he's always there. It wasn't like that last semester, so why is it like this now all of a sudden?" Blaine looked up at her, eyes big and sad. He sounded so desperate that it was heartbreaking. "I wish I hadn't said it. I wish he'd come home."

Carole reached over, pulling him in for another hug in an attempt to comfort him. "Oh, sweetie. He's coming home even if I have to make him. Don't you even worry about that. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit." Blaine admitted. He hadn't eaten all day and, now that she brought it up, he realized just how hungry he was. His stomach growled and he gave her a weak smile.

"Let's get you fed!" Carole immediately stood and went to make him a plate of food. As she did this, she continued to chat with him. "Hon, I think you should really talk to Kurt about how you feel… Honesty is important."

"Kurt's not being very honest right now." Blaine mumbled.

Carole brought the plate over and sat, putting her hand on his arm. "Blaine, Kurt loves you very much. He's extremely upset by this entire thing too. I think he was trying to stop this from happening."

"It sure didn't sound like that when he started it." Blaine picked at his food, staring down at it.

Carole sighed. "I know it's hard, sweetie. I know. But keeping it in and not getting your feelings out is just going to make it worse."

"Do you think he is?" Blaine looked back at her, eyes still as big and sad as before. "Do you think he's…?"

"Do I? Of course not. But I'm not the one you need to be asking. Kurt is." Carole squeezed his arm. "This will all blow over soon, sweetie. I promise."

Blaine took a bite of his food and nodded. "I guess it always does."

"Don't look so sad, hon." Carole gave his arm another squeeze. "But I want you to promise me something."

"Alright." Blaine sighed. "What's that?"

"That you'll take care of yourself and that when Kurt comes back you'll talk to him. It doesn't have to be that day or the next day… but promise me that you'll talk to him about what you're feeling. I think you'll be surprised at how much better you feel."

"I'll try." Blaine promised. And he would try, but he didn't see himself actually opening up enough to ask Kurt if he'd cheated. It was definitely not a discussion Blaine wanted to have. He couldn't decide if this was because he was afraid of the answer or because of the aftermath of asking the question. Either way, Blaine didn't think it would end well.

***WBUCT***

Kurt sat outside of the apartment in his car for several minutes, staring at it blankly. He was ready to go home, to see Blaine, to try to make things better. He had a feeling, though, that it wasn't going to go back to normal very quickly. He still felt his insides run cold when he thought of what Blaine had said—that Blaine wished he had gone to New York. Even if it was said in a moment of anger, it still really hurt.

But maybe he had kind of brought it on himself. He hadn't approached Blaine in the nicest way. In fact, he probably shouldn't have tried to force anything out of Blaine. He knew he shouldn't have called Blaine a coward. It was a low blow, and one that he felt bad about.

They hadn't actually spoken in four days. Four days. Unless you counted texting Blaine to say he was in Lima and he really didn't think that counted. It wasn't that Kurt didn't want to talk to him. He was just… hurt. He couldn't believe that things were so bad and that the argument was so heated that Blaine felt the need to make a comment about wishing Kurt lived in another state. Just thinking about it made him feel as though his heart was breaking. He hadn't been able to bring himself to talk to Blaine. He hadn't even told Blaine he was on his way home. Truthfully, he had been kind of hoping Blaine wouldn't be there that way he would have had some more time to mentally prepare himself. Because the drive from Lima to Cincinnati had not done a good job of that.

Kurt had to get out of the car eventually. What did he expect to do, sit in his car forever? The entire point of coming home was to come home. It didn't make it easier to reach over, get his puppy that wasn't so much a puppy anymore, and go into the house. He turned to look at Kreacher, who was eagerly looking out the window in the direction of the house.

"Did you miss Blaine, Kreacher?" Kurt questioned, scooping him up. "Should we go see Blaine?"

Kreacher licked his face as he pushed the car door open.

"I hope I don't regret coming home." Kurt whispered, walking to the front door and pushing it open. He didn't have to go far to find Blaine, who was sitting on the couch and blankly staring at his computer screen but clearly not looking at it. He didn't even look up when the door opened so Kurt cleared his throat a bit.

Blaine's head snapped up so fast that he probably got whiplash and his eyes landed on Kurt.

"Uh… hi." Kurt said awkwardly, leaning down and setting Kreacher on the floor. The dog immediately darted off in the direction of the bathroom where he knew toilet paper would be waiting to be shredded. Neither Kurt nor Blaine could be bothered to stop him, though, and they hadn't bought the expensive vacuum for it to sit in the closet their entire lives.

"H-hey." Blaine sat his laptop down and stood, hesitantly walking towards Kurt.

"I'm…" Kurt sighed and looked Blaine directly in the eyes. He wasn't ready to say he was sorry yet. He was still trying to determine whether he had anything to be sorry for this time—although he was pretty sure he did. After all, it did take two people to fight. "I missed you… I missed you a lot."

"I missed you too, Kurt." Blaine said, relief flooding his face. He briefly extended his hand out but pulled it back almost instantly and shoved it into his pocket. He took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too." Kurt sighed. As long as Blaine was going to say it, Kurt figured the least he could do was to say it too. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before reopening them. "That just… I shouldn't have tried to pressure you to talk and I shouldn't have made that comment about you being a coward. I was upset… it's not an excuse… and I shouldn't… I shouldn't have left. It was really… immature. I just didn't want to deal with the aftermath of the fight is all…"

"You shouldn't be sorry… well, not for trying to talk to me." Blaine mumbled.

"I didn't exactly begin the conversation in the nicest way possible, Blaine. I thought through what I was going to say so many times and that came out and it was rude and demanding. I just… I really wanted to fix things before they got to that point and, of course, I'm the one that pushed it to that point."

"You were frustrated. It's understandable. I made it get to that point. I wasn't exactly approachable. I haven't been for a while." Blaine pulled his hand out of his pocket, grabbed Kurt's hand and led him to the couch. "I think we need to talk about this."

"Can't we talk about it later?" Kurt asked. He knew they had to talk about it. But he was more than a little afraid it would lead to an even bigger argument than the one they'd had four days before. He didn't think he had it in him to hear something else like that, to cry for four more days.

"If we don't talk about it, we'll just put it off… and things will fester and blow up." Blaine answered. "I think we need to talk about it now."

Kurt nodded and moved so he was facing Blaine on the couch, sitting Indian style. Blaine turned to face him as well and they sat, knees pressed against each other. "Well… I guess I can start. I just didn't know how to deal with you ignoring me and… and hinting at things… and starting tiny, silly arguments. I felt like no matter what I did, you were still going to take it in a negative way. And I've felt like that since you first found out that I was staying late to work on the project… You don't usually act like this. I've never seen you act like this. I was just trying to talk it out so we could, you know… move past it. So that's why I tried to get you to talk about it. But I went about it in the complete wrong way and, really, the moment the talk began like that it had been set up to be… bad."

Blaine nodded. "It was set up to be bad… but I shouldn't have made it go that far."

"You didn't make it go that far. We both made it go that far…"

"Kurt, I don't really wish that you had gone to New York." Blaine said quietly, making eye contact with him. "I don't."

"You said it in the heat of an argument though, Blaine… people only do that when they've been… thinking about it." The last part of Kurt's statement came out barely above a whisper, and he looked away.

"Sometimes I wonder if NYU would have been best for you." Blaine admitted. "Sometimes I think if you'd gone to NYU you'd be happier and in a better place."

"In a better place?" Kurt mumbled, not looking up. How could anywhere have been better without Blaine there?

"If you're going to be gone all the time anyway, you might as well be somewhere where you're happy." Blaine looked away as well.

"I'm fine. The only thing that is wrong with me right now is this thing between us." Kurt said, shocked.

Blaine opened his mouth, as if he was going to speak, but closed it. Kurt got the feeling there was something he wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to actually do it. Finally, he spoke again. "It's so stressful, Kurt. This whole thing stresses me out. You taking so many classes, you never being home, never knowing if you've eaten or slept enough, and now… this thing. Sometimes I think if you were at NYU there would be…"

"What?" Kurt tried to maintain an even voice even though his chest was tightening. He couldn't decide if the talk was making him sad or angry. It was probably a little bit of both, but he was trying his hardest to not give any snarky responses. This wasn't the time. Because even if it wasn't about the Alec thing, he could tell that Blaine was opening up about something else—something possibly bigger?

"That maybe you'd take care of yourself better. Maybe you'd be able to get out of this thing you're in." Blaine said softly.

"What thing?" Kurt asked, voice rising a bit. He had to remind himself to lower it the next time he spoke. They were talking, not arguing. Talking.

"Kurt, come on." Blaine sighed. "Don't take this there. Can't you just take what I have to say and listen? That's why I think you'd do better in New York. You'd have to take care of yourself because no one would be there to do it for you. I don't want you to go to New York. I just think that you'd be… better off."

Kurt took a deep breath, feeling stressed out. He once again refused to make eye contact. He liked to think that he did take care of himself. He didn't ask Blaine to stay up late. He didn't ask Blaine to make sure he ate. He was a big boy. It was his own responsibility, not Blaine's. It wasn't something Blaine needed to be stressed about.

Finally, he spoke again. "That's fair, I guess… That you're stressed, I mean. But you don't need to be. It's not your responsibility."

"I'm supposed to take care of you." Blaine challenged. "But I don't want to dwell on this right now. It's not even related to our fight the other day. Not really."

Kurt nodded, although he had the feeling it was a little more closely related than Blaine would have admitted. "Fine. Then that's beside the point… But some of the other stuff isn't fair, Blaine. I would never… I just…" He trailed off, unable to finish. How could he even fathom having a conversation about how he would never cheat on Blaine? How could Blaine ever truly think he would?

"Look, the main thing is that argument never should have gotten as big as it did." Blaine sighed once again. "But it did, and that is where we're at now."

Kurt finally looked up at him and nodded. "That's where we're at now."

"Are we okay?" Blaine whispered.

"We'll always be okay eventually." Kurt leaned forward, kissing him quickly.

Blaine kissed back briefly before pulling away. "Can you just… try to be home a little more? That way I know you're taking care of yourself? That way I know you're eating and sleeping?"

"You don't understand that I'm doing school work there so I can spend more time at home." Kurt tried to explain, grabbing his hands. "If I get it done at school, when I'm home we can spend time together."

"But that isn't really happening." Blaine sighed. "Because you're rarely home."

"I'm home as much as I can be. It's really hard for me to get stuff done with you and Kreacher here." Kurt sighed. "But I'll try to be home more, okay?"

"Thanks." Blaine said softly, nodding.

"I'll make dinner." Kurt turned himself and then stood up, unable to even think clearly anymore. "It shouldn't be too long."

"Okay." Blaine said softly, nodding. "I'm going to finish my reading then."

Kurt ruffled his hair before walking off, not feeling the sense of relief he thought he would after the discussion of the argument. There hadn't really been a resolution. There had been apologies, words had been exchanged, but Kurt didn't feel that any real progress had been made.

At least, he thought to himself, they hadn't argued or yelled. That in itself had to be progress, right?

***WBUCT***

Blaine had thought that after their talk things would get better. They had both been upset by the explosive argument. That much was very clear. After the post-fight discussion he had expected Kurt to be home from school more. Instead, Kurt wasn't home any more before and now he didn't even sleep in the same bed with him. It was incredibly frustrating that they had had what was supposed to be a heartfelt discussion and that nothing had come out of it. In fact, it was worthless. Kurt wouldn't even sleep in the same room with him! No, instead he would fall asleep at the kitchen table with his sketchbook or asleep on the couch with the Kreacher curled up at his side. He hadn't expected things to become back to normal after their huge fight, but he had expected them to get somewhat better.

Blaine was still bothered by the fact that Kurt was still staying after school. Kurt didn't dare talk about funny conversations he had on breaks like normal, but there was just something in the air. He knew Alec was there too and he still had suspicions Kurt was eager to stay after school for his… company. He was finding it harder to ignore his frustrations each time Kurt walked through the door at nine or ten or eleven. But, he reminded himself, he had been miserable during their last fight when Kurt had left. Absolutely miserable. Anger was better than misery. Right?

"You're being really quiet today." Kurt said a few days later, coming into the kitchen. It was Saturday, Blaine had steadily refused to go to Friday Night Dinner the day before, (which had really frustrated Kurt, who was obviously still clueless about Blaine and Burt's argument) and Blaine had—true to Kurt's words—been very quiet. He didn't see how he was supposed to be cheerful, though, considering their talk had done nothing. Not a freaking thing.

Okay. Maybe they hadn't so much talked about him spending time at school—time with Alec, he mentally corrected. And maybe he had turned the conversation to anything else he could grasp to avoid talking about the… thing. They'd beaten around the bush. Blaine was very good at beating around the bush. How else would he have gone so long without explaining why he'd been arrested several years ago?

"Blaine?" Kurt questioned.

"What?" Blaine asked, letting out a very audible sigh. "What do you want, Kurt?"

"What's wrong?" Kurt came forward and sat beside him at the table.

"The same thing that has been wrong." Blaine snapped. Kurt had to be playing innocent. There was no way he couldn't know what was wrong. He wasn't stupid. Just hard headed.

Kurt straightened a bit. "What did I do? I'm not going to campus today. It's Saturday. I got everything done yesterday."

"Exactly. What time did you get home?" Blaine questioned.

"Don't start this." Kurt stood. "We were going to calmly talk about it five days ago and you went off on another thing. You had your time to handle it like a grown up and you let that time pass. You brought New York into it."

"Of course I brought New York into it! That's why I said that about New York!" Blaine exclaimed. "I wasn't just pulling things out of thin air!"

"You were supposed to talk about why we were fighting!" Kurt exclaimed as well.

"And you were supposed to stay home more! You promised that you would be home more! That you would do work at home!"

"I've been bringing it home! I've been bringing it home and staying up getting it done because it takes me longer here! That's why I want to work on stuff there because there are—."

"Distractions! Yeah, I know!" Blaine scoffed. "I find that hilarious given the distractions you have there."

"Oh? Oh? What distractions, Blaine? Enlighten me!"

"You're seeing him!"

"Seeing as in he's in my line of vision?"

"I mean you're dragging him into a janitor's closet and fucking him!" Blaine shouted. He hated that expression for it—fucking someone. There was no emotion behind it. And to think that Kurt was doing—that—with that—person.

"What did you just say?" Kurt shrieked, roughly pushing the chair he had been sitting in under the table.

"I said you and your little gay friend are running off and fucking!"

"How can you say that to me after you're the one who told me to get a friend? Who said I'd be happier? And I make a friend a-and I'm happier and you accuse me of cheating?"

"When I said get a friend I didn't mean a fuck buddy!"

Kurt visibly flinched, taking several steps back. "You have no right to—to say anything, Blaine! You have no reason—you don't even—I—how can you—."

"You can't say anything because you know it's true!" Blaine stood, gesturing angrily.

"Blaine! Please!" Kurt whimpered. "I would never cheat on you!"

"Oh? Oh? You've known why I was upset for weeks! Why not say anything?" Blaine moved closer.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that I haven't cheated on you! You should know I haven't cheated on you because you should know me!" Kurt took another step back. "I live with you, I love you! I'm not cheating on you, Blaine! You should know that! If I wanted to be with someone else I would leave you and then be with them! Not sneak around behind your back!"

"Kurt, it doesn't make sense! You work on a project with him, always talked about him before the last fight, and you always stay after school to 'work on homework' even though the project was done. And you're so much happier! Just—Just admit it, Kurt! Just admit that you're having an affair!"

Kurt attempted to move past him, but Blaine kept side stepping so the younger boy couldn't leave.

"You wanted to talk about it! Let's talk! Who made the first move? Does he fuck you or do you fuck him?"

"Stop it! Stop it!" Kurt roughly pushed past him. "I hate when you're angry like this!"

"Sorry I'm not always perfect, Kurt! Newsflash: You aren't perfect either! And when you push someone so many times it's bound to happen!" Blaine grabbed his arm. He didn't grab it hard at all—he just gently grabbed it to keep Kurt from walking away. "Let's talk about it, Kurt! Let's talk about how I sit up waiting until you get home making sure you make it home! But do you thank me or even care? You don't because you're out fucking that home wrecker!"

"I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU!" Kurt finally shrieked. "I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU! I AM NOT HAVING SEX WITH ANYONE BUT YOU! IN FACT, I BARELY EVEN HAVE SEX WITH YOU!"

Blaine took in a deep breath, only looking angrier. "Stop lying!"

"IF ANYONE SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT SOMEONE SLEEPING AROUND, IT'S ME! LOOK AT YOUR PAST! LOOK AT HOW MANY PEOPLE YOU HAD SEX WITH JUST BECAUSE IT FELT GOOD! HAS SOMEONE WALKED UP TO YOU RECENTLY? DID YOU HAVE SEX WITH THEM?"

"Don't you do that!" Blaine's voice rose even more. "Don't you fucking bring my past into this!"

"Your past has everything to do with this!" Tears filled Kurt's eyes. "That's the only thing that can explain you being so paranoid! Are you accusing me b-because you're cheating? Are you having sex with someone, Blaine? Because if either of us would cheat it would be you because you're sex obsessed!"

"Of course I'm sex obsessed! I'm a nineteen year old guy living with his gorgeous boyfriend! I usually sleep in the same freaking bed with you and I've barely had any sex in three months!"

"You didn't answer my question!" Several tears fell down Kurt's face.

"No! No, I'm not having sex with anyone! But I think that you are!"

"I'm not! I'm not h-h-having sex with anyone!" Kurt's face crumbled. "I've loved you since the day I met you! I have never l-loved anyone like I love y-you and I n-never will, Blaine! I wouldn't risk l-losing you over something like s-sex! He's nothing! He—He's a friend, Blaine! Why don't you believe me?"

"I just don't! I just find it hard to believe you're not cheating! He clearly makes you happier than I do! Clearly you'd rather spend more time two hours away from me, sitting across from him! Well if you want him that bad, go take him!"

"Please, Blaine. Please, don't s-say things like that b-because I don't like it! How could you ever think I'd do that?" Kurt whimpered. "Please."

"I can't stop saying things like this! You have pushed me to this!"

"I can't d-do this. I don't c-care if it's immature. I'm getting out of here."

"Run home to daddy, sweetheart! At least you've got a daddy to run home to! What do I have? Nothing! And why is that? You!"

Kurt didn't say anything. He didn't even look at Blaine, just rushed past him. This time, though, Blaine didn't feel the urge to go after him. He angrily punched the refrigerator and let out a groan of frustration. He knew in an hour or two the argument would hit him like a ton of bricks. Soon he would feel awful about what he'd said, and soon he'd also feel awful about what Kurt had said—about his past, how he was more likely to cheat. Then, though, all he could worry about was the fact that the 3:00 deadline for posting his homework assignment had passed and Kurt had, yet again, caused another problem for him.

***WBUCT***

If there was one thing Kurt knew he would never do again, it was staying over at Finn and Puck's dorm. It wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go, though, and they had been more than willing to risk getting into trouble to have Kurt stay. He had suspicions this was because they needed the place cleaned, but he was just grateful that he didn't have to find somewhere else to go—namely, his parents house.

Kurt had gotten there the night before. Unlike the first fight in which Kurt had been incredibly upset and hurt, Kurt was pissed. Livid, angry, whatever you wanted to call it. The drive hadn't been spent crying about how mean Blaine was. Instead it had been spent silently fuming about the fact that Blaine Anderson was the biggest asshole on the entire planet.

It was Kurt's fault Blaine's parents were jerks? No, it wasn't. Kurt had asked Blaine to move back to Ohio when he was on drugs. Blaine could have said no if he'd really wanted to. Sure, Kurt probably would have cried. But he was to the point now where he barely remembered anything about the hospital visit. And if Blaine was going to act like that now, maybe Kurt wished Blaine hadn't done came back in the first place.

No. That was taking it too far. And maybe Blaine had said exactly the right thing. Truthfully, Kurt always brought Blaine's past into things and it probably—okay, it wasn't usually justified. Blaine had done the exact same thing to him. Now he knew how it felt to have something thrown in his face. It felt like shit. Blaine had to know, though, that it wasn't solely Kurt's fault his family didn't speak to him. If it hadn't been Kurt it would have been another boy, another drama, and another excuse for them to cut Blaine off. He knew this for a fact. It was only a matter of time.

And for Blaine to actually accuse him of cheating? To look him in the face and say—okay, shout—it? To say that Kurt was fucking Alec in a janitor's closet? Clearly Blaine had lost his mind on some desert island. Fucking? Kurt Hummel did not fuck. And if he were to fuck, it sure wouldn't be in a janitor's closet. Nonetheless with Alec Davis. He didn't even know Alec that well.

Besides, Kurt really liked making love with Blaine. It wasn't just sex. It was… It was love. There was emotion behind it. It was breathtaking, it was sweet, it was gentle, it was perfect, it was them. He couldn't imagine making love with anyone but Blaine. He didn't want to imagine making love with anyone but Blaine. And he couldn't imagine himself ever having sex with Blaine simply for the sake to have emotionless sex to get off. Everything he and Blaine did was filled with emotion. Fucking was emotionless sex. No. Just. No. Blaine was an idiot. As if Kurt would fuck anyone, and as if he would make love to anyone but Blaine. Never. No.

Just. No.

He was past upset and hurt. He was definitely hurt by the accusation. By the fact that Blaine could even think he would do something like that. But he was more pissed than hurt. He had never been so angry before in his life. Not even the time his dad hid all of his designer clothes before telling Kurt he'd sold them all to pay off the credit card Kurt had used at the age of sixteen for a fashion emergency. And Kurt had been pretty damn pissed then.

He was attempting to calm down though, if only for the fact that Finn was so sick of hearing the words "Blaine" and "ass" in the same sentence. He had distracted himself from his anger for three hours the day before straightening up the dorm room but even Kurt had to admit defeat when he hadn't been able to get the questionable gunk off of the 'table' and the smell out of the air. There wasn't enough Febreeze and Lysol in the world.

Distractions. That was what Kurt needed to stop himself from calling Blaine and becoming the bitchiest that Kurt had ever been. It was lurking. Kurt had to work very hard to keep it in.

While he would have loved to call Blaine, scream until he was hoarse, and then hang up on the older boy he was refraining. Kurt had not been perfect. Blaine had retaliated. Kurt retaliated all the time. Blaine didn't scream his head off when Kurt retaliated in the past. He was just going to have to play the waiting game. He was going to have to wait until he had been distracted well enough that his anger had ebbed away. Then he would rationally consider the argument they had just had—or at least try to. He found himself unable to remember half of the angry shouts. It was jumbled in his mind and he couldn't put the pieces together quite then.

He would just think about what had happened, he would calm himself, and he would go home. He would go home and attempt to have another heart-to-heart with Blaine. And they would either come to a resolution or Kurt would find himself once again in the middle of a fight he had no idea how to handle. Either way, he knew after he went home this time there would be no leaving. Mainly because he didn't have anywhere else to go.

Kurt was desperate for distractions that would cause his anger to subside. Deep down he really did want to go home. He was just so angry. The fact that he'd spent hours straightening Finn and Puck's apartment and it was now almost as bad as it had been the night before was definitely not helping. Nor the fact that it smelled like nasty gym socks.

"It reeks in here. And there are dirty socks everywhere." Kurt scrunched his nose up, staring around the small dormitory bedroom. "I just straightened up yesterday. How did you two manage to destroy it again so quickly?

"Well, duh." Puck said, rolling his eyes. "Finn and I are two dudes living together."

"Well my apartment looks nothing like this and I live with another 'dude.'" Kurt retorted. "And how many socks can two people possibly go through in a day?"

"Well your dude is gay or bi or whatever." Puck challenged, not even bothering to answer the sock question.

"That 'dude' has a name." Finn pointed out from where he was sprawled out on his unmade bed. Kurt hoped for the sake of sanitary reasons that those blankets had been washed since the start of term, but he knew it was doubtful.

"Right. Blaine Warbler." Puck shrugged a bit. "Feel free to tidy up a bit, bro."

"I am not your bro. The only reason I'm here is I don't want Dad breathing down my neck about Blaine and I getting into another argument." Kurt had to refrain from making a sour face as he said his boyfriend's name. He loved Blaine, he truly did. But every time he replayed the older boy's words in his mind, he would get incredibly angry. He found himself wanting to hit Blaine upside the head several times with something heavy but he had to remind himself that that would be illegal and that he loved Blaine's head too much to ever hurt it. Even if Blaine's head was very stupid right now.

"I still don't get why he thinks you're cheating." Finn said through a mouthful of chips. The chips came from a bag that he pulled from under his bed, causing Kurt to shudder with disgust. He could only imagine what else was under there.

"Yeah, you two need to make up." Puck added, reaching over and grabbing some of the chips. "You're… is the word cute when it's two guys? Yeah. You're cute."

"Now that we've established what I need to do, let's establish what you need to do." Kurt said irritably. "Stop talking to Quinn. She's got a boyfriend, Noah. And you're going to create a big mess. What ever happened to Lauren? I thought you were madly in love with her."

Puck scowled, but the look didn't seem to be aimed at Kurt. "We're on another break. Only I think this one might be a break up."

"Dude, you didn't tell me you and Lauren broke up or that you were talking to Quinn. Since when are you talking to Quinn? Not cool, dude." Finn sat up straight.

"The break or break up is recent." Puck shrugged nonchalantly. "And I've been talking to Quinn off and on since around Christmas time."

"Why?" Finn and Kurt asked together.

"WewenttoseeBeth." Puck said quickly.

"Oh my God." Kurt excitedly sat on Puck's bed. "Did you get pictures? Whose eyes did she have? How big was she? Was she talking? Can I see?"

"Chill, Lance Bass." Puck fished his phone out of his pocket and clicked on the screen several times before showing Kurt a picture of an adorable toddler.

"Oh my God." Kurt cooed, taking the phone and staring at the picture with a silly smile on his face. "Oh my God. She is precious."

"She is." Puck took the phone back and snapped it shut, frowning. "We just wanted to see her and then we talked about… having her and giving her up. That's it. We're just talking. There is absolutely no reason to jump on the rumor bandwagon, Hummel. I'm not about to confess my undying love for her."

There it was. He had found the perfect distraction from Blaine and any argument involving his boyfriend. He had found something to take his mind off of his anger. And it was something fun. Kurt knew exactly where this was going. He knew he was going to get to play matchmaker again.

"Is there undying love?" Kurt asked eagerly. "Oh my God, Noah! Are you in love with Quinn? You have to tell me now! You can't just say something like that! Because if you are, you should know I'm great at setting people up. I even have references! Remember David? Well I introduced him and Mercedes officially on New Years and I'm more than certain they'll be dating within the month. They're doing this endearing texting back and forth thing. And my dad and Carole! I practically set myself up with Blaine if you think about it—only clearly I shouldn't use us as an example because we're fighting, and—."

"I. Am. Not. In. Love. With. Quinn." Puck said firmly, interrupting him. "I will never be in love with Quinn again."

"Again? Aw, you were in love with her." Kurt sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry, Noah. I've got this."

"Ten minutes ago you told me to never talk to her." Puck arched his eyebrow. "Why the sudden change of mind?"

"That was before I knew you had an undying love for her!" Kurt exclaimed.

"Puck, you've got Kurt on a mission now. Way to go." Finn grumbled. "Now we're going to expect calls from him on the hour with Quinn updates after he goes home. It'll be worse than hearing him call Blaine an asshole for hours on end."

"He calls me every hour, I break his fingers." Puck threatened, giving Kurt a look that was clearly meant to scare him.

"He didn't deny it!" Kurt threw his hands in the air, unbothered by Puck's glare. "Oh God! You're so in love with her! Poor Lauren though…. But you're in love with Quinn! Don't worry. I'll get the scoop. I happen to know Quinn and her boytoy had an argument last week. We're already all having a Skype date during your football practice to cheer me up, but I'm sure I can get some info out of her. And if not today, definitely soon. I'll keep you posted."

"You don't seem to need cheering up now." Puck grumbled. "I'd rather you not get involved, Hummel."

"Dude, you got him involved when you gave the slightest reaction after the mention of Quinn's name." Finn sighed. "He loves playing matchmaker. Apparently it's his second calling."

"And I'm fabulous at it." Kurt said cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "Excellent. This is just what I need."

"Wait, Rachel won't be involved in this Skype date right?" Finn asked warily.

"What, do you think I'm an idiot?" Kurt scoffed. "Rachel and Quinn on the same Skype chat? No thank you. Besides, she'd only make it worse…. But why?"

"Well, she kind of hinted that she was glad you were fighting with Blaine and that she hoped it stayed that way." Finn said sheepishly, looking like he regretted bringing it up. "I don't think that'd make you feel any better about Blaine."

"Excuse me?" Kurt's mouth dropped open in shock.

"She wants to be the cutest couple. I told her that was stupid though, dude."

Kurt scowled, cheerful mood gone instantly. "She really said that?"

"You must be stupid, bro." Puck said, looking over at Finn. "Why would you tell him that?"

"I've been hearing that a lot lately." Finn sighed and gave a hopeless sort of shrug. "Mom says I shouldn't be allowed to make contact with humans sometimes."

"I can't believe Rachel said that." Kurt repeated, barely hearing Finn and Puck's conversations. What business was it of hers if they fought or not? He knew Rachel could be… well, Rachel… but it was just ridiculous for her to say that.

"Yeah. 'Cause no one is cuter than you and Blaine." Puck said. "No one."

Finn snorted loudly. "I think someone has a crush on your relationship, Kurt."

"Well, thank you, Noah. I think we're pretty cute too." Kurt flashed Puck an adorable grin. He knew there was a reason he liked Puck.

***WBUCT***

"Stop looking at me like that." Blaine sighed, arms crossed over his chest and sitting up straight in bed. He may or may not have been on Kurt's side of the bed because it smelled like him¸ but he'd never admit that —if he were, that is.

Kreacher, who was lying miserably on the opposite end of the bed and looking at Blaine with big puppy eyes, scooted closer and whined.

"No." Blaine shook his head. "Absolutely not."

Kreacher just scooted even closer, whining louder. He had been very quiet since Kurt had left the day before, sulking around and whining for Kurt. If Blaine hadn't despised the evil dog so much he would have felt bad for it. As it was, though, Kreacher was still Blaine's number one enemy.

"Kreacher, you're not making this any easier." Blaine sighed as Kreacher finally reached Blaine and started nuzzling his side, right under Blaine's arm. "You are not laying with me."

In response, Kreacher stood and turned around three times before settling down with his little head rested on Blaine's waist.

"I can't tell who is more spoiled, you or Kurt." Blaine surrendered and began petting Kreacher's head. "I don't like you, you know? I think you are a very, very mean dog. You go around and eat my things and steal what little time Kurt has at home from me. You also never let me or Kurt leave because you bite onto our socks when we're putting them on. This is not cool."

Kreacher just put his paw over one ear, clearly signaling that he was not listening.

"I'm going to bring home a cat. A kitten. And he will be much cuter than you. And much tinier. And he will see right through your evil little games. Got that? Do you understand, you evil dog?"

Kreacher scrambled onto his chest and put his front legs on Blaine's face.

"Now you're trying to kill me." Blaine grunted, struggling to move Kreacher off of his face. This only resulted in Kreacher animatedly crawling all over him, yipping playfully.

"I bet Kurt put you up to this, huh?" Blaine grunted, finally grasping the dog in his hands and pulling him into the air. Kreacher stared down at him, legs still kicking and tail wagging. Finally, he sat Kreacher next to him on the bed and curled up with the dog. "He's pretty mad at me… He won't even text me. I guess I didn't text him either, though… I don't like not talking to him. Do you think he misses me?"

Kreacher just licked his face, looking rather happy to be in such close quarters with Blaine, who usually ignored and avoided him at all costs.

"You're right. I made him pretty mad. He probably doesn't miss me yet." Blaine sighed and nuzzled his face into Kreacher's fur. "I miss him, though. You miss him too, don't you? I don't even think you've done one bad or annoying thing since he's been gone. Apart from the slip up where you crawled all over me a minute ago… but I'm willing to let that go if you sleep with me, okay? I can't believe I'm talking to a dog again. I think Kurt's causing me to lose my mind, Kreacher."

Kreacher yipped once, snuggling up to Blaine once again.

"Are you sad? I'm sad too." Blaine moved so that they were both more comfortable, burying the side of his face into his pillow and trying to will his mind to shut off so he could sleep. "I'm sad too."

***WBUCT***

"Sorry I had to cancel the Skype date, guys. Assignment came up with school. You know how that goes." Mercedes said late the next day, waving at Quinn and Kurt. "And by that I mean Rachel came over and we all know how that would have gone…"

"Is Rachel Berry seriously going around saying she wants Blaine and I to break up so she can have the cutest couple?" Kurt asked, scoffing. He still wasn't quite over that yet and was pretty sure he would be angry about it for a while. "Is she, Mercedes?"

"Why does anyone tell Finn anything?" Quinn wondered aloud.

"I didn't tell him, Miss Bossy Pants did." Mercedes said. "Besides, they are dating. She practically tells him every calorie she eats per meal on a daily basis. It's extremely annoying."

"Do you live with her?" Quinn questioned. "I didn't think you two were roommates."

"We're not but she's here a lot. It's not always bad, though. Sometimes it's nice to have the company." Mercedes answered. "Oh, wait. I just got a text. Hold on."

"Is it Daaaaaavid?" Kurt asked in a sing-song voice, grinning a bit.

"Who is David?" Quinn raised her eyebrow as Mercedes disappeared.

"The guy I introduced her to at New Years. Remember? Tall, dark, and handsome?" Kurt said, making himself comfortable. "God, this room smells disgusting. I need to make friends in that I can stay with that are not Finn and Puck."

Mercedes sat back down, a huge smile on her face. "I'm back, guys. Did you miss me?"

"Nope." Kurt teased.

"Alright, White Boy. Have you talked to your boyfriend since the second argument?" Mercedes sighed after rolling her eyes. Clearly she was not one for small talk when it came to Kurt and Blaine arguments. Which left no opportunity for Kurt to test the waters on a Puck conversation.

"No." Kurt sighed, trying and succeeding in hiding his disappointment. There would be other times to play matchmaker.

"Not at all?" Quinn asked. "You didn't even tell him where you went?"

"Nope." Kurt sighed. He was pretty sure Finn had called Blaine an hour after Kurt arrived, though, so he didn't feel too bad about this. "Wasn't this supposed to cheer me up? I don't want to talk about him right now."

"This isn't to cheer you up. This is to get you home. Baby, things can't possibly be bad enough that you'd live in a room with Finn Hudson and Noah Puckerman. Does your dad know you're there?" Mercedes asked, while Quinn nodded in agreement.

"No. Dad thinks I'm at home with Blaine and we're doing fine and dandy. I can't even begin to explain how annoying he was after the first fight." Kurt sat up straight. "I don't even want to think about what he'd say if he knew I went home and we got into another fight."

"You kind of brought it on yourself going home in the first place." Quinn said quietly. "I know that isn't what you want to hear, though."

"No, I know. That's why I came to stay with Finn this time." Kurt sighed. "You're exactly right."

"No. You're staying with Finn because you want to run away again but you're afraid Carole will make you come home and Burt will interrogate you again." Mercedes corrected. "And Finn is too dumb to see why you're really staying with him."

"He's not too dumb." Kurt sighed again. He should have known Mercedes wasn't going to be very sympathetic towards him. After all, this date was probably keeping her from precious texting and flirting with David time. "He probably just wanted me to clean this place up. He definitely knows why I'm here."

"You are going to go home though, right?" Quinn asked, looking at him curiously.

"Yeah, eventually, I guess." Kurt shrugged. He knew he had to go home soon but he didn't want to. He was still upset and wasn't ready to put that aside quiet yet. "I mean, of course I will. I just… It's hard to want to go back when I know it's just going to lead to another argument about why we said what we said and why I left and how he thinks I don't take care of myself and how he thinks I'm cheating on him. Seriously, what gives him the right to say that?"

If he were any more upset, he probably would have let slip that he should have been more worried given Blaine's past, but luckily he'd done very well in not mentioning it. After all, he was frustrated. However frustrated he was, though, would never warrant bringing up Blaine's past to other people. He wanted to reiterate, again, the fact that if anyone had to worry it should be him. If only so someone else could tell him that was idiotic. He hadn't even thought about it until that angry moment, but now he couldn't get it out of his mind. Why was Blaine so paranoid? Could that have been why?

"But… Kurt… you are taking care of yourself, right?" Quinn asked worriedly.

"He better be taking care of himself or I'll come down myself and knock sense into him." Mercedes responded before Kurt could even answer.

"Of course I am." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"You're eating three full meals a day, getting at least seven hours of sleep each night, and spending some time away from school work?" Mercedes asked.

"Well…"

"A 'yes' better follow that 'well', boy." Mercedes said.

"It's not like I'm not eating and not sleeping. There's just a lot of school work." Kurt fought the urge to roll his eyes. He got it from Blaine, Carole, and his father. He had a feeling even Taylor was trying to subtly drop hints. Just how many people were going to get on his case? "I can't help that my classes are long and that I'm on campus a lot. I only stay after an hour and a half after classes. Even if I went to a normal college I would spend that much time studying. I don't get what the big deal is!"

"Maybe you should take fewer classes?" Quinn suggested. "You'll be under less stress. I remember you telling me that you were taking more than the average student."

"It's too late to drop classes now." Kurt said irritably, not liking where this conversation was going. "I'm fine. It's a lot of work but it's manageable. At least it would be if Blaine didn't get so frustrated at me for always doing school work. He can't even talk. He had classes all five days last semester and was always picking up shifts."

"But you have to look at it from his point of view, baby." Mercedes sighed. "His boyfriend is never home. He just wants to spend some time with you. If I had a boyfriend, I'd spend as much time with him as I possibly could."

"He was never home last semester! The only reason he's noticing so much more is because now he only has classes two days a week!" Kurt snapped. He didn't want to get annoyed with his friends, but he didn't see why everyone told him to look at it from Blaine's point of view. He highly doubted anyone was telling Blaine the same thing. "It wasn't a problem last semester! He just doesn't understand. He can take the max amount of classes and work, but if I try to take a ton of classes and stuff, it's unacceptable. I'm not in the wrong here, Mercedes. And I don't know why me staying after classes makes him think I'm cheating but I'm not. If I stop going to the studios after classes now it will look like I'm admitting I did something wrong and he'll think I was cheating!"

"It's not admitting you've done something wrong. It's compromising on an issue for the guy you care about." Quinn said very calmly. "Besides, Kurt, you can not be wrong yet also not be right at the same time. You know it bothers Blaine and you won't step down. It's a relationship. It takes work. He came to you with a problem and you ran away from the fight."

"He didn't come to me. I had to force it out of him. And I know relationships take work but this is a stupid thing to have to work on." Kurt grumbled.

"It's not stupid to him." Mercedes sighed. "Look, baby. You love him, right?"

"Of course I do." Kurt said, almost impatiently. "I love him very much."

"Then tell him. Tell him that you don't appreciate him accusing you of cheating because it isn't true, but tell him you'll stop seeing Alec."

"I don't want to stop seeing him. He's my friend. And I've done nothing wrong."

"Stop being so damn stubborn." Mercedes snapped. "Both of you have turned one little thing into a huge week long massive argument explosion. Blaine is being an ass for jumping to conclusions and refusing to talk about it, but you're being an ass for not stepping up and trying to help the situation. You can sit here and whine all you want, Kurt, but it's not going to get you anywhere. The only thing that will get you anywhere is getting out of Finn's dorm, going to the home you share with your boyfriend, and telling him you want to come to an agreement."

"You sure do feel the need to offer all sorts of advice lately." Kurt scowled.

"Someone's got to." Mercedes said. "Eventually someone has to get through to you."

"Go home, Kurt." Quinn said softly. "Mercedes is right. The longer you're gone, the longer until this is over. We're not trying to upset you, but it's the truth."

"I don't want to fight again." Kurt looked down. "I don't like how he gets when he's like that. He's like a completely different person."

"You get pretty bad yourself when you're in a bad mood." Mercedes joked. "In all seriousness though, baby, you've got to go home. Besides, I think living with Finn and Puck has gotten to you. Just look at your hair."

"It's only been two nights." Kurt sighed, but cringed when he surveyed his face on the screen. "Fine, fine, fine… I guess you're right. I should go home."

"We miss you." Quinn gave him a sad smile. "You should be home more so we can have Skype dates and stay caught up on each other's lives."

"If he won't stay home for Blaine he won't stay home for us." Mercedes laughed. "Go pack up and go home, Kurt. I'm sure your boyfriend and your puppy miss you. And I know you miss them."

"That's debatable." Kurt muttered, shaking his head. "I do miss them. Especially Blaine even if he's acting like a jerk… I just don't even know what to say when I get home. The last fight I left because I was hurt… but by time I got home, I was just so ready to be back to him. This time I left because I'm pissed and I'm still kind of—no. I'm still pissed that he'd even accuse me of that. I'm going home pissed. It's going to end in another argument."

"That's fine, baby. Argue it out when you get home. You two need to get these things out in the open and if it means arguing, then argue. But stay at home. Argue, make up, and then tell him you're willing to compromise. After you make up don't lock yourself away working on school work all night. Sleep in the same bed as him. Tell him you're willing to compromise and then show him you're willing to compromise."

Kurt opened his mouth to speak, but Mercedes held up her hands.

"Go! Go, now! Get off of the computer, pack your back, and drive your fabulous self back to Cincinnati. I will call you in two hours and if you aren't there, Kurt, I will… I don't know what I'll do yet but it won't be pretty. Bye, Kurt."

"Bye, Kurt." Quinn gave him a sympathetic smile and waved. "It's for the best. We promise. Trust us."

"Fine, fine. I'm going, I'm going!" Kurt snapped his laptop shut and stared around Finn and Puck's disgusting dorm room for a few seconds. He may not have been excited at the prospect of going home, but he was very sure of one thing. He definitely was not going to miss the smell of this place. At all.

***WBUCT***

The last thing Blaine expected to see when he got home from school and the bank was Kurt's car. Initially he felt a surge of excitement because Kurt was actually home before sundown for once. It didn't take long for him to remember exactly why he shouldn't be excited, though. He and Kurt were in the middle of fighting and that definitely was not something to be excited about. Truthfully, he had expected Kurt to be gone much longer than two and a half days after what Blaine had said. He felt as though the second fight had been much worse than the first one was, so he wasn't sure why exactly Kurt had come back.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered, shutting his car off and going into the house. Kurt was sitting on the couch with Kreacher curled at his side, eating pasta and staring down at his tablet. He didn't even look up when the door opened, nor when it closed. Blaine watched him for several seconds, trying to decide if it was wise to talk to him or not, before speaking. "Hey, Kurt."

Kurt looked up, blue eyes meeting Blaine's hazel ones. Blaine waited anxiously for any sort of response. The longer it took for Kurt to answer the more Blaine began to mentally prepare himself. Maybe he didn't want a response, now that he thought about it. Maybe he should have just walked past Kurt and gone into the bedroom to live alone for the rest of his life. Finally Kurt spoke in a very calm voice. "There's some Tortellini on the stove still if you want some. It hasn't been sitting for very long."

"I'm not very hungry." Blaine mumbled, shocked. That was all he got? Something about food? No 'I'm sorry I left again'? No almost teasing 'Did you miss me?' All he got was 'There's some Tortellini on the stove'?

"You just got back later than usual from school. Of course you are." Kurt stood, no longer even looking at him. "I'll make you a plate. I want more anyway."

"I don't want anything to eat." Blaine said, following Kurt into the kitchen. Why was Kurt so determined to not talk about this? Why was Kurt so insistent on pretending nothing was wrong? "I'm not hungry."

Kurt got a second plate and filled both of them without a word, still not even looking at Blaine when he passed the plate to him.

"I don't want anything to eat!" Blaine suddenly exclaimed, surprising himself. "I'm not hungry!"

Kurt finally looked up at him, looking in his eyes. "You've been at school all day. There's no way you aren't hungry. There's practically nothing in the fridge. Have you even been eating?"

Blaine slammed the plate onto the counter and walked out. Maybe he felt bad about that because if it had slid any farther it would have slid into Kurt, but he couldn't find it in himself to even apologize. Like Kurt could act like he was so concerned now. Where was his concern a few weeks ago when this all started? Where was his concern one week ago when he was living home alone and feeling guilty for upsetting Kurt? Where was it yesterday?

"Fine." Kurt called after him, sounding frustrated. "Why are you being such an ass? I knew I shouldn't have come home."

"I didn't ask you to!" Blaine called right back, stopping in his tracks and turning to face the kitchen. "I never asked you to come back!"

"Well sorry I wanted to work things out! Clearly you don't care about making up!"

Blaine walked back into the kitchen. "I don't care? I don't care? Who keeps leaving? Who keeps spending more time with that home wrecker than their own boyfriend?"

Kurt threw his hands into the air, letting out a groan of frustration. "Oh my God! Shut up with it already, Blaine! Just shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Blaine shouted. Kurt thought he was frustrated? Blaine was frustrated. His opinion clearly didn't matter on anything anymore. It didn't matter that he thought Kurt was cheating, it didn't matter that he had only gotten angry with Kurt in reaction to Kurt's bitching, it didn't matter that he didn't want to eat, and now he couldn't even talk? Kurt was not frustrated. Blaine was frustrated.

"Then stop talking and I'll stop saying it!"

"You're impossible and this is impossible!"

"I'm impossible?" Kurt scoffed, jaw dropping. "This is impossible? What is this? Is this us? Are we impossible? Is that what you're trying to say?"

Blaine took several deep breaths, looking away. The yelling needed to stop so the fighting would stop. "No. No, Kurt. I didn't mean that. I'm just angry!"

"You're not the only one!" Kurt snapped. "I just tried to give you food and you jumped down my throat!"

"No, no, no. Stop. We need to… We need to stop fighting. We have to stop doing this." Blaine said, more to himself than to Kurt.

"Then stop accusing me of cheating!"

Blaine looked back at him again, gesturing with his hands. "I'm jealous! I'm jealous, alright? All you do is spend time with him! Why can't you spend time with me?"

"I'm not spending time with him! I'm doing school work in a studio!"

"You're lying! You're lying! You have got to be lying!"

"I'M NOT LYING, BLAINE!"

"Then stop staying after school! Stop seeing him!" Blaine hated that he sounded so desperate, but he couldn't help but feel like he was losing Kurt to some random guy that Kurt met at school.

"NO! I am not going to stop seeing someone because you don't like them! Because you're jealous! No!" Kurt shouted.

"See? If you weren't having an affair, you would stop seeing him!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! If you weren't having an affair, you would stop seeing him!" Blaine repeated.

"Do you want me to take a fucking lie detector test or something, Blaine? I. Have. Not. Had. Sex. With. Anyone. But. You!" Kurt pointed. "You! I am not cheating on you! I have never done anything with Alec outside of school that didn't directly link to our project! I have never done anything inside of school with Alec that didn't directly link to our project—and that includes sex! And while we're on the matter: Kurt Hummel does not fuck!"

"Not unless it's with the Home Wrecker!"

"Oh my God!" Kurt threw his hands into the air and stormed out of the room. "It's like talking to a brick wall! A brick wall!"

Blaine followed him into the living room, not caring that this was probably only prolonging the fight. If he'd been smart perhaps he would have given Kurt a few moments and then calmly went after him to end the argument. Blaine wasn't very smart in that moment. "Stop seeing him!"

"No." Kurt crossed his arms over his chest. He was no longer shouting, but he spoke very calmly and clearly. "You're acting like a jealous little boy, Blaine."

"I want you to stop seeing him!"

Kurt moved forward until he was directly in front of Blaine, still speaking calmly. "I'm not going to stop seeing him, Blaine. I am not cheating on you. I have never cheated on you. I will never cheat on you. I haven't done anything wrong."

"Why did you throw out that statement then? About how I'm more likely to cheat because of my past?" Blaine challenged.

"Because I was pissed! Because you pissed me off!"

"Well you bringing up my past pisses me off! I was fifteen years old! Just because I had a lot of sex when I was younger doesn't mean I'm a whore!" Blaine shouted, feeling his chest tighten. "I'm not a whore!"

"I never said you were a whore, Blaine!"

"You asked me if I'd fucked anyone that walked up to me in the street!"

"I was making a point! The likelihood of you fucking someone who walked up to you in the street is the likelihood of me fucking Alec!" Kurt stared at him as if he had grown five heads. "Why are you making such a big deal out of everything?"

"You just can't not bring it up! No matter what we argue about, you always have to bring my past into it!" Blaine exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to have it thrown in my face, Kurt? I wish I hadn't done it, okay? The first few times I was drunk and after that —no! I don't have to justify my actions almost five years ago to you! No! I want you to stop bringing up my past! I don't care if you're making a point or not! Maybe I can start bringing up the fact that you tried to set your dad and Carole up to get close to Finn! Or the fact that when you were sick your treated me and your dad like absolute shit!"

"I was on medicine!"

"What's your excuse now?"

"Stop it!" Kurt's voice came out strangled almost and Blaine felt a little guilty when tears welled up in Kurt's eyes.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" he whispered.

Kurt blinked rapidly, looking away from Blaine and refusing to answer him.

"I know it does. That's exactly how I feel every time you bring up my past. You couldn't control your emotions when you were on the medicine? Well I couldn't help it when I was fifteen! I w-was alone and I made some mistakes but do not throw it in my face!"

Kurt sniffled a bit and opened his mouth as if to speak but quickly closed it again.

"And while we're on the subject of your dad, did you know he came over here? Yeah! And accused me of hitting you! And telling me that he was going to make you leave me if he saw fit! He came here to our house and fought with me, Kurt!"

"Wait, what?" Kurt asked, looking up. He stared at Blaine blankly. Clearly nobody had told Kurt that Burt had dropped by. It was very evident that he had no idea.

"Your dad came up here and started a fight with me!"

"Wait, wait. He said that he was going to make me break up with you?" Kurt repeated very slowly, staring at him in shock.

"Your dad seems to think I beat you." Blaine tried to not look upset as he said this, and Kurt couldn't help but notice the sassiness in his voice as he spoke. It never failed to amuse him when Blaine would unintentionally say something sassy. Unfortunately he couldn't go up and ruffle Blaine's hair like he normally would because they were fighting. Blaine definitely wouldn't have appreciated being called cute in the middle of an argument.

Kurt pushed that thought aside and continued the argument, now extremely confused when he repeated Blaine's words in his mind. "But… When did this happen? I wasn't staying with Dad. I was staying with Finn. I didn't even tell Dad that I was back in Lima, Blaine."

"The first fight! He came when you were staying with them! I have never felt —so—."

Kurt's eyes widened and he scowled, becoming agitated. "I cannot believe that Dad came up here."

"Well I can! He's always involved! You never have to deal with anything on your own! Your Daddy is always there to save the day! Eventually you're going to have to stop running home to Daddy! How are we supposed to deal with our problems if you get other people involved?"

"Like you didn't tell Wes and David! Like Carole didn't come up here and see you!" Kurt exclaimed.

"I didn't tell Wes and David what you said! About how you wish you'd gone to New York! But you have noooo problem telling your parents that I called you an idiot! You went around playing the victim, Kurt! You started the whole fight! And then when it got too much for you to handle, you ran away. Twice!"

"You act like I'm in the wrong so much, but you could have just came to me and talked to me! None of this would have ever happened! And I play the victim? What was with you telling me that you lost everything because of me?" Kurt scoffed.

"They cut me off, Kurt! Because of you! I lost my family, my financial support, my home, probably more than half of my personal belongings!"

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO STAY! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO COME BACK! YOU COULD HAVE GONE BACK TO SCHOOL!" Kurt shouted, feeling as though he'd been slapped in the face. "I hate to break it to you, Blaine, but it would have happened anyway! It would have happened sooner or later! I may have sped up the process, but we both know that they would have done it eventually anyway! So don't you try to act like I play the victim! At least I don't blame my family issues on you!"

"There is nothing in the world that you could possibly blame on me! When you act like this, I wish I had gone back to UK! You wish you'd gone to NYU? Well sometimes I wish I had just gone back to UK! Do you know how simple my life would be? Do you know how much stress would be cut out of my life if I didn't have to constantly take care of you? Right now I can honestly say that I wish you had never asked me to leave UK."

"Well I'm sorry I asked you too, Blaine! I've apologized before! I don't know what else you want from me apart from an apology!"

"I want you to realize—to really realize—what I gave up for this. For this. Standing here arguing and screaming at each other. Who looks stupid now? Me or my parents?"

Kurt stared at Blaine again and swallowed hard.

"I need some time to myself right now, Kurt. Please. I don't want to talk to you right now. Just let… Just let me have a while to myself and we'll talk later but I'm really upset and nothing good is going to come from this." Blaine said shakily.

Kurt blinked several times, trying to decide what he was supposed to say, before nodding. "Okay… I'll just… go to the bedroom then."

"Fine." Blaine turned and sat on the couch. He grabbed Vogue off of the coffee table before curling up and opening the magazine, pointedly not looking in the direction of his boyfriend. He didn't look up until Kurt walked away. He sighed softly as he watched Kurt leave the room, wondering when things would ever go back to normal. If he even remembered what normal was anymore.

…

"Jeff, put my dad on the phone." Kurt said before Jeff even had time to finish the routine way of answering the phone at his father's garage. He had gone directly to the bedroom and was dialing the number before he'd even made it completely inside. He should have waited until he had calmed down to call his father but he was already so wound up that he couldn't wait.

"Woah there, Sparky, calm down." Jeff laughed. "Your papa is right here."

"Is that Kurt?" Kurt heard his father ask and then the phone rustling. "Hey, kiddo. What's up? Everything alright?"

"You came to my house and accused Blaine of hitting me? And said you were going to make me break up with him? Have you lost your mind?" Kurt exclaimed. He was too angry to even say hello.

"Kurt, you are way out of line. You can't just call me at the garage and talk to me like that. I'm your father and customers are around." His father said gruffly. "I don't appreciate you calling me and talking to me like this."

"Well I don't appreciate you insinuating that Blaine hits me, and saying you have a choice in who I decide to date. It is my choice who I date, Dad! Not yours! I am not sixteen anymore!"

"What was I supposed to think when you ran in crying, refused to talk about it, and cried for four days?" Burt spoke in a hushed voice and Kurt knew he was probably trying to not be overheard although it was getting late enough that customers shouldn't have even been there anymore.

"You were supposed to think that I had a bad fight with my boyfriend, Dad! Blaine would never hit me! Blaine would never hurt a fly!"

"What happened to make you that upset then?" Burt demanded.

"It shouldn't matter to you! It's my relationship! It's between Blaine and me! But since you're sooo concerned, fine! Do you want to know the full story? I tried to force him into talking! And he calmly tried to tell me to stop but I kept pushing and pushing! I called him a coward, he called me an idiot!"

"You told me this, but there's more and I think you're hiding it because he—."

"He told me that he wished I'd gone to NYU! And I said I wish I had too! Okay? Blaine didn't touch me! Blaine would never lay a hand on me like that! That's what I didn't want to tell you, Dad! That! He didn't hit me! We just argued! We said some really horrible things that we probably didn't even really mean! And I was upset that it got so serious and my feelings were hurt by the NYU comment! But I was just as bad as him! In fact, I was probably worse! No. I was worse!" Kurt exclaimed. He would have been shouting if it weren't for the fact that he didn't want Blaine to overhear.

"It doesn't give him the right to talk to you that way! I don't care how angry you make him! That is disrespectful!" Burt argued. "I'm supposed to protect you and make sure you're taken care of!"

"You can't protect me anymore! I'm nineteen, Dad! I don't live with you anymore! You have no right to get involved in my arguments with my boyfriend! No wonder Blaine wouldn't go to dinner on Friday! And you just sat there like you had no idea why!"

"I'm your father. I have every right to get involved." His father's voice rose.

"No! No, you don't! You had no right to get involved in our argument and you had no right to come over here and try to intimidate Blaine! You weren't protecting me when you did that! You just crossed the line! I don't need you to fight my battles for me! It was my fight! Mine and Blaine's! I shouldn't have come home to you in the first place! If you wanted to help, you should have told me to go back home! I'm nineteen! I can't just run home to you anymore! You should have made me leave!"

"I'm not going to force you to go home to someone who is treating you like crap!" Burt said, now almost shouting.

"Blaine doesn't treat me like crap! We just had a fight! We had a fight and I need for you to tell me that you'll never get involved again!" Kurt said, his own voice rising a bit. "Tell me!"

"I'm not going to tell you that. If I feel like I need to be involved, I'm going to be involved!"

"No! No! I'm nineteen! Promise me that you are going to stay out of my relationship—my relationship—issues!" Kurt took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "So say it. Tell me that you'll stay out of mine and Blaine's business."

His father was silent for several long seconds before he spoke. "Fine. I still think I had every right to go down there and voice my opinion, but fine. I will no longer get involved."

"You had no right to say those things to Blaine. They were completely unfair to him. I don't care that we're fighting, you don't talk to my boyfriend that way."

"You should have heard some of the things he was saying to me!" Burt exclaimed.

"You probably deserved whatever it was he said to you, Dad! You came into our house and accused him of hitting me and said you'd make me leave him! I think anyone in their right mind would be pretty pissed off!" Kurt shot back.

"So you think that it's okay for him to talk to people like that?"

"I don't know what he said, but yes! I'm sure each and every single word he said was completely justified! Because I know Blaine and he doesn't talk back unless it's deserved! What did you expect to happen when you drove to our house? Did you expect him to just pack up my things for you to take home? Or did you expect him to just stand there and take all that? Just because you're my dad?"

His father sighed. "Kid, it's not about what he said to me. If he gets that kind of attitude with me, I can only imagine how he treats you!"

"I can handle this myself! I do not need you getting involved in our fights, alright? There is no way for you to possibly be in the right here. You are so wrong that the right side isn't even visible. Not only that, but you've made this ten times worse than it needs to be and now I have to figure out how to fix it!"

"You two are still fighting?" Burt asked. "You said everything was better."

"Because it's none of your business if we're fighting, Dad! I just want to make sure we're both on the same page here. You do not get involved in mine and Blaine's problems. And, just so we're clear, it is my choice who I date and who I do not date. Do not tell Blaine you can make me break up with him because that will never happen. And if we ever did break up—which we never will—it wouldn't be your decision. It would be mine. Alright?"

Burt didn't answer.

"Alright?" Kurt repeated, a little louder.

"Alright, Kurt. Fine. You're right." Burt said gruffly. "Are you going to be at dinner Friday?"

"I haven't decided yet. But when I do it'll be my decision." Kurt huffed.

Burt sighed heavily. "Fine, kid."

"I have to go. Bye, Dad." Kurt said and barely even waited for an answer before hanging up the phone.

He sighed and sat on his bed, rubbing his face. Now that he had gotten the initial anger out of his system, he began to feel incredibly upset. Here he had come home to try to make things right and it had led to another argument.

Some things, Kurt thought, Blaine was right about. It wasn't fair that Kurt brought Blaine's past into it. Kurt also knew it wasn't fair for Blaine to ask him to stop being friends with Alec. And he absolutely refused to back down on that issue. Blaine was just going to have to get over his jealousy.

At the same time, though, was it worth the drama? Maybe Mercedes was right and he should just stop—

No.

There was no sense in him not being friends with Alec because Blaine was jealous. No sense whatsoever. Kurt could have friends. How did Blaine expect him to go to school for fashion design and not befriend one or two gay students? Just because they were friends didn't mean they were going to fall in love with each other. Blaine had no idea what Alec was like. He had no idea that Alec was clearly head over heels with his med-school boyfriend. There was no way Kurt would ever cheat. No. Way.

He picked up his phone and dialed his aunt's number, not even bothering to see what time it was. He pulled his knees to his chest, rested his chin on them, and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey, Kurtsie." His aunt said four rings later, yawning. "What's up?"

"Were you sleeping?" Kurt asked.

"Mmmmmhmm." His aunt said sleepily. "What's up, honey?"

"It's nothing. I'm sorry. You can go back to sleep."

"No, sweetie. It was too early for me to go to bed anyway. Everything okay?"

Kurt hesitated, biting his lip. "Blaine and I had a fight… Well… Kind of a really big one."

"Aw, babe. What happened?"

"A lot." Kurt sighed. "And Dad got involved."

"Well shit. What happened for it to be that big?" Taylor asked, sounding much more awake.

"You remember how Blaine was not talking to me and huffing and everything, right? Well it just kept getting worse and I tried to force him to talk and we both just… we both said some really horrible things to each other and I went home. Dad was under the impression that it… got physical for some reason, and he came and confronted Blaine. Blaine said my dad was horrible, my dad said Blaine went off on him… but I didn't know that until just now."

"Holy shit. I can't believe Burt and Blaine got into it. Burt likes Blaine so much. How long ago did this happen?"

"A week maybe. But that's not all."

"There's more?" Taylor gasped.

"Unfortunately. We had this talk after the first fight—before I knew about Dad and Blaine fighting— and I said I'd try to stay home more and do school work here."

"Well that's a good compromise."

"Only I didn't. I just couldn't. They're so distracting and I get nothing done when I'm home."

"But you told him you would." Taylor said very calmly. "You went back on your word."

"I know. And we got into a fight about it an-and he accused me of cheating. And I tried to tell him I wasn't and he d-didn't believe me." Kurt said, feeling his chest tighten up. He didn't want to get upset again. "And he was so angry, and he's still so angry. He hates me right now. A-And both times NYU came into it and h-he said that he wished I was there and that I'd be better off because I don't take care of myself. A-And he kept saying I was cheating, Taylor, and I got mad so I left again. I didn't go home. I went to stay with Finn."

"Carole's son, right? The one at OSU?" Taylor asked, sighing.

"Yeah and I'm just so—like—I tried to make it better, Taylor. And now w-we're fighting about everything. He says that I don't appreciate him and that I throw things in his face and that I'm cheating. And he said it's my fault his family doesn't want to be around him!"

Taylor interrupted him before he could continue on. "Annie told Paige and I about all of that on the first Thanksgiving he was there… Burt told her as soon as it happened, I think. Have they not come around at all? I was hoping they would kind of be like Annie and Andrew and come to terms with it."

"No. It's not going to ever get to that, Taylor. But still, he shouldn't accuse me of ruining his relationship with his family. It's not my fault." Kurt said miserably.

"Now that—no. I'll wait to the end. Finish." Taylor sighed again.

"I know I shouldn't have kept leaving and I know he should be mad that Dad came up here and started a fight, but he shouldn't be mad that I stay after school to do work and he shouldn't accuse me of not taking care of myself and cheating! He should trust me! I shouldn't have to go around telling him I'm not cheating! Why is he living with me if he can't trust me?"

"Kurt… I can tell you what you want to hear or what you need to hear. Which one would you prefer?"

"What do you mean, what I need to hear?" Kurt questioned.

"Baby… okay. You have to clear your mind and listen to me because I'm trying to help you. Don't get upset, don't cry, and don't be angry with me. Okay?"

Kurt let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Okay."

"Remember me telling you to talk to him about this whole other boy thing? And you telling me you shouldn't have to? You may see it as him not trusting you. But you knew he was bothered and you didn't even try to stop it. You were stuck in your mindset of 'I haven't done anything wrong and he's just being a jerk.' Even if you haven't done anything wrong, though, how do you think that looks to him? It looks like you don't care enough to ease his fears. He's been upset and trying to reach out to you."

"He wouldn't even bring it up!"

"Sweetie, every time he was short with you he was bringing it up. He just wanted you to reassure him that he's the one you wanted. You wrote him off. You should have… given him a hug and straight up told him nothing was going on. You should have invited him to come with you on a Saturday when you worked so he could see nothing was going on. You should have slacked off a bit when you saw he was bothered."

"But why should I? I wasn't doing anything wrong and he should have known."

"People have insecurities, Kurt. Even people like Blaine who seem perfect to you. You should have said something to make him feel better. You should have comforted him. It's been weeks since we talked about this and he was upset before that. Can you imagine living like that? And all you had to do was just talk to him."

"Why couldn't he come to me?"

"He could have, yes. But it could have worked both ways, Kurt. You could have just as easily. In fact, it probably would have been easier for you to walk up and say it. He probably felt guilty for even thinking it. But then you didn't go up and say something about it. So he's trying in a less-than-perfect way to reach out to you and you don't even say anything. You just let him go on thinking it. So how does that look to him? Either you are cheating and don't that care he's upset or you're not cheating but you still don't care that he's upset. What if it were you?"

Kurt pursed his lips together, not speaking.

"The way I see it is that you shouldn't have tried to force him into talking about it. You were pissed off that he was insinuating that you were cheating. Understandable. You could have done anything else I just said to fixed this before it got to that point. Instead, you tried to force him to talk about something he was clearly uncomfortable talking about. You didn't go about it in the right way at all."

"I tried. I was just so angry." Kurt said desperately.

"It doesn't matter. How you approach someone in situations like this is everything. The way you approached him wasn't open. You said you tried to force him to talk. Honey, there is nothing open about forcing someone to do anything. You went in there for an argument."

"I didn't want an argument!" Kurt protested. "I wanted to make it better."

"No. You didn't go in with the intentions of making him feel better if you told me you forced him to talk. So you forced him. And because of that, he gave you an equal reply. Why should he open up to you in a heart felt way after that? Of course bad things were said, Kurt. It doesn't matter who you talk to. If you go in like that, they're going to be rude right back."

Kurt groaned. He had wanted Taylor to make him feel better, but she was just making him feel worse.

"You never should have gone to Lima after the fight. You should have gone for a walk. You should have taken Kreacher for a walk around the neighborhood. Driven around. Gone shopping. Anything. But you should have gone back to Blaine that night. You ran away from a problem. You ran away from Blaine. If you can run away from a fight, what happens when something real happens? What happens when you two live together and Blaine loses his job and things get tough? What happens when something serious—something grown up—happens? Are you going to cry and run to Daddy? Are you going to get Daddy involved? Now, honey, I love your father. But you know as well as I do that he has a very short circuit when it comes to anything to do with you. First, you shouldn't have gone in the first place. Second, you should never have told him what happened with Blaine. And third, you need to stop calling it home. Honey, it is not home anymore. It is your old home. Your home is in Cincinnati with Blaine. And until you get that through your head, you will never stop going back to Daddy."

Kurt stared down at the bedspread. He had never even realized he was still calling it home. Now that he thought about it, though, it was very obvious. He even called it "home" when he referred to he and Blaine going to Friday Night Dinners. Everything Taylor said made complete sense. "I… you're right. I knew I shouldn't have gone home. I guess I just… wanted someone to tell me that I… No, I mean I knew I shouldn't have gone to Lima. I should have stayed home. I wanted someone to tell me to go home."

"What was this about Blaine saying you throw stuff in his face? What do you throw in his face?" Taylor asked.

"I… I can't really… talk about that." Kurt bit his lip.

"Well whatever it was, you need to stop. You say he should be able to trust you, but throwing anything in someone's face is not exactly trusting. Considering he didn't feel as though he could come to you about this partner stuff, he clearly has trouble opening up. Doesn't he?"

"He does…" Kurt admitted quietly, feeling worse by the minute.

"Well whatever you're throwing in his face… it probably took a lot for him to tell you. Especially if it's something you can't talk about with other people. And I'm sure he trusted you when he told you that. But you're throwing it in his face apparently. Why should he trust that he can come to you with something else? Why should he come to you with something else that you can use against him?"

"I'm not using it against him! I just—."

"Kurt, calm down." Taylor sighed. "Look, I'm here to tell you how it is because otherwise you'll never grow up. If you want him to be able to trust you, you have to show him he can trust you. Every single day, even when you're fighting. He can't be sitting there afraid to give you something to use against him or afraid to argue because you'll throw something in his face. Because that shuts off communication. Communication is vital to any relationship and especially a romantic relationship. You have got to keep yourself open and he's got to be open too. It's not going to happen if you two fight dirty like that."

"I don't mean to fight dirty, Taylor! That's not what I wanted to do."

"I don't know anything about it, honey. I wasn't there. Only you and Blaine know. But I know that throwing stuff in people's faces isn't good and you know that too. There's no way he'll be able to trust opening up to you if you do that. And lastly, I'm very glad that you two made a compromise after the first fight. But you went back on it. You said you were going to be home more and you weren't home more. You lied. If you need to work at home more you need to talk to Blaine. You need to say 'Blaine, I need an hour and a half in the kitchen uninterrupted by myself.' Or 'Look, I'm sorry. I really want to talk but this has got to get done. Let me finish and I promise we'll talk about it soon.' You don't say you'll be home more and not come home. It's kind of disrespectful, honey. I know you don't want to hear it. I'm sorry you have to hear it. But you're growing up. You're nineteen. You're an adult and you're living on your own with an amazing guy. You and Blaine have to find a way to make things work. You have to find a way to make your schedules work. You have to set aside time for him so he doesn't feel neglected. Just like you have to set aside time for school work. Make a schedule, Kurt! Make one and stick to it. I know it may seem like something an old person would do or it may seem lame, but if that's what helps you fix this then you need to do it."

Kurt buried his face in his hand, trying not to cry. "I don't want to b-be a horrible person."

"Relationships take so much work." Taylor said softly. "And you're at the age where it's normal to focus on yourself. You've had a lot happen in two years, Kurt. You're going through a lot of changes and on top of that you're in a committed relationship. That's something that most of the people your age don't have. So you have to work that much harder. You have to work harder to take care of yourself, to find yourself. But Blaine is going through the same thing. Blaine is supposed to be at the time in his life where he's finding himself and taking care of himself—but I think he's been taking care of you for a long time. You met him when you were being bullied and he was your support. You were attacked and he dropped everything to come to you. He was your support. He was there through the trial, through school. He's been supporting you and I just—I really hope that you're supporting him too, Kurt. I really hope that you're there for him because he did lose his family. You're right that it would have happened anyway. But it didn't happen anyway. It—It happened because of his dedication to you. I guess I just… really hope you're as dedicated to him, and that you show him that dedication. It's easy to… fall back on somebody. Especially when they are so willing to be there for you whole heartedly. But you have to make sure that it's reciprocated. Otherwise… otherwise Blaine is going to feel used. He may not today or tomorrow… but he will eventually. And it will be really hard to fix that, honey. And Blaine is too good to let go."

"I… I have to go." Kurt said quietly. "Bye, Taylor."

"I love you, baby."

"I love you too." Kurt hung up his phone, took a deep breath, and curled into a ball feeling like the worst person on the planet. Reality sucked.

…

It wasn't until two in the morning when Kurt finally emerged from their bedroom, still dressed and unshowered. He had sat in his room in complete silence for several hours, replaying his aunts words over and over in his head and trying to figure out how in the world he was going to make things right. He wasn't entirely sure how things had ended up this way. Of course he knew that the current fight was the whole Alec situation and he realized that he could have handled it a bit differently. The other stuff that had come up, though… He didn't know Blaine was feeling unappreciated, he hadn't realized he was so selfish, and he hadn't realized how bad their communication had gotten. He knew there was more but those were the biggest ones.

Maybe he didn't show that much appreciation for Blaine, which was ridiculous considering how much Blaine had done for him. He had been there whole-heartedly for Kurt since the first day they met on the Dalton staircase. In the beginning Kurt had shown his appreciation, but somewhere along the way… he guessed he had just stopped. Which was not fair at all to Blaine. He was extremely lucky to have Blaine. He was extremely lucky that Blaine had stuck by his side through everything. Most boys wouldn't have put their lives on hold at eighteen and nineteen years old to care for him. Most boys wouldn't have left school and their home for him. No. Honestly, probably no one else would have. Blaine was one of a kind. No one would ever be like Blaine and maybe Kurt wasn't good enough for him.

He had been so wrapped up in the stress of school that he really had been neglecting Blaine. Taylor was right. Kurt wouldn't have wanted to be alone in this apartment all the time and it wasn't fair for him to make Blaine do that. Kurt had been selfish by not even taking his thoughts and feelings into consideration. Instead, he had just become annoyed that Blaine was upset for no good reason—when clearly Blaine had had a good reason. Blaine wanted attention. He wanted someone else there.

Perhaps the biggest one was their communication. They had done better after their first fight, but it was steadily becoming worse and worse. What if Taylor was right and Blaine hadn't come to him because he'd thrown his past in his face? What would happen when something terrible happened to Blaine or he made some awful mistake? Would Blaine not come to him because he didn't want Kurt to react that way? He didn't want that. He didn't want that at all. What he wanted was for things to be better. He had to make them better and it didn't matter that it was now the middle of the night. He had to make it better now.

He made his way into the living room and saw Blaine sprawled out on the floor on his stomach, a blanket half over him, head rested on his arm, and Kreacher laying on top of Blaine's back. Both Kreacher and Blaine were fast asleep and Blaine was letting out very quiet snores.

Kurt watched him for a few seconds before kneeling down and scooping Kreacher off of him. "I'm gonna get Daddy into bed, silly puppy. I don't think he'd be too happy to know you were laying on him."

Kreacher blinked at him several times and went off into the kitchen the second Kurt sat him on the floor.

Kurt sat down on the floor next to Blaine, running his hand up and down his back. Blaine shifted slightly and burrowed his face in the crook of his arm, whining.

"Blaine, wake up." Kurt whispered after leaning down. He kissed the top of his head quickly. "Come on. Don't sleep on the floor. It's bad for your back."

"'m not on my back." Blaine mumbled sleepily as he rolled onto his back. "'Night."

"Sweetheart, come on." Kurt whispered again, brushing his curls back and watching him. He really had the most adorable boyfriend ever. "Wake up."

"Mmmmmhm." Blaine abruptly sat up, rubbing his face. He squinted slightly, looking at Kurt. "Kurt?"

Kurt stood and held out his hand. "Let's get you to bed. It's much warmer in the bedroom with the space heater. I hate how cold this apartment is."

Blaine grasped his hand and stood, blinking at him. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"No, Blaine." Kurt leaned forward, kissing his cheek. He wrapped his arm around Blaine's waist as soon as he stepped forward, tugging him close. "Aren't you freezing?"

"I wasn't until you mentioned it." Blaine shivered. "My back feels very warm."

"That's because our dog was using it as a pillow." Kurt laughed, although he didn't feel very much like laughing. He was very relieved they weren't arguing because he wanted to really talk to Blaine. But feeling relieved didn't mean he was necessarily cheerful.

"Mmmh, I really need to learn to not fall asleep around him. He makes me smell like dog."

"You don't smell like dog." Kurt reassured him as they walked towards the bedroom. He held the door open and watched as Blaine climbed onto the bed, making himself comfortable on Kurt's side of the bed. "Side swap?"

"Side swap." Blaine mumbled, burying his face in Kurt's pillow.

Kurt shrugged out of his clothes and pulled on some pajamas before turning the light off and climbing into bed. He rested his head on Blaine's pillow and took in his scent. He had really missed Blaine.

"I don't want to fight anymore." Blaine whimpered, clearly still half asleep. "I can't take it, Kurt. I don't want to be sad anymore."

Kurt moved forward suddenly, leaning over him. Blaine turned his head to blink at him. "I love you, Blaine." He said, voice shaky. "And I'm sorry for everything. I love you so much. Okay? I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine sat up, reaching to turn the bedside lamp on.

"I know you do." Kurt sat up as well. "You have to know, Blaine, that… that I am not cheating on you." He held up a hand when Blaine opened his mouth. "I'm not going to get mad. Just let me finish, alright?" He waited for Blaine's nod and continued. "I'm a difficult person. I'm… I'm selfish."

"You aren't selfish." Blaine said softly.

"Yes, Blaine. I am." Kurt said very seriously. "I haven't been treating you very well… and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I told you I would be home more and then didn't do that. I'm sorry that I got so upset when you wouldn't come out and talk to me. I'm sorry I reacted like a baby and ran ho—ran to my Dad's house. And I'm sorry it happened again and I went to Finn's."

Blaine watched him very carefully as he spoke and then nodded. "It's okay."

"It's not okay." Kurt shook his head. "This whole semester I've… I've not been around very much. It wasn't fair to you even if I was legitimately doing school work. I want you to know that I realize that now and that I—we're going to… make something that works for both of us. We'll decide together how long I should be there and I will stick to it. No matter what."

"Kurt, you don't have to do that."

"Yes. I do." Kurt said firmly. "I'm going to. I want us to talk. We… These fights were bad, Blaine… Some of the things we said to each other… We need to talk about it. We need to talk about what we said, why we said it, and what we're going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again."

"I think that's a good idea."

Kurt leaned forward, patting a particularly messy curl down. "I think you need a hair cut."

"I think so too." Blaine gave him a small smile and he realized he hadn't actually seen one of those in a while.

"What should we talk about first?" Kurt asked softly.

"Uh… Well… Alright, I'll go first. I don't know if this is what you want to talk about but…" Blaine took a deep breath. "I feel left behind. You hated this guy so much. All I ever heard was all this bad stuff. Then you had to work with him and he became like your best friend. It was such a drastic change. You were happier and that's good. I want you to be happy, Kurt. But it was like he was making you happier. This guy who you hated for an entire six months was making you happier than me. That's what it seemed like at least. It seemed as though you would rather spend time with him… I used to make you happier. Remember? When we first met, you would call me upset and I'd drive up and we'd get coffee and talk about Broadway and musicals and clothes and Vogue… and when I first went away to college and you'd be sad, you would call and all I'd have to do is just… talk and it was like everything was better. It doesn't feel like that anymore and I was jealous because… he could. It seemed that way at least. Because you'd come home and talk about all of the funny stuff he said and the amazing sketches… I felt… I feel like I'm being replaced."

"No." Kurt said firmly, scooting close and looking him in the eyes. "Never. And nothing has changed between us. You still make everything better."

"It's not the same." Blaine closed his eyes. "It's not the same as when I'd get to your house on a Saturday in the morning and you'd run down and when we went into the house you would just look at me like I was… everything."

Kurt scrambled onto his lap, arms going around him. "You are everything to me. I'm sorry I don't tell you that and show you that. But you are everything to me still. You always will be. Alec has a boyfriend, Blaine."

Blaine opened his eyes and blinked at Kurt. "He does?"

"Yes. They've been dating since Alec was fourteen. Alec is not interested in me in the slightest. And I'm not interested in him. I could never be interested in anyone but you." Kurt kissed his cheek. "You're my first love and I don't want a second."

Blaine slid his arms around Kurt, pulling him closer. "You're my first love too."

"Jeremiah." Kurt cleared his throat.

"Finn." Blaine coughed.

"Doesn't count!" Kurt laughed a bit.

"Then neither does Jeremiah." Blaine nuzzled him.

"Fine, you win this one. Want a cookie?"

"Double chocolate, please."

"Wipe that grin off your face." Kurt laughed again and stroked the hair on the back of his head. "I know you're grinning. I can tell."

"Your right." Blaine mumbled into his shoulder.

"You're not being replaced." Kurt whispered. "Ever. I would go crazy without these curls and your eyes and your smile."

"I'm pretty cute, aren't I?"

"Pretty conceited!" Kurt gave him a tight squeeze. "Does that make you feel better though?"

"A bit, yeah." Blaine sat himself up again. "I just… It was such a drastic change with you never being here and then you were with him all the time."

"With him as in he was in the same room. Nothing but school work was going on, Blaine. I promise."

"Okay." Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright. Good. Well… okay… about NYU. I was very… I was upset when I said I wished you'd moved away. It really was something I said out of anger in the heat of the moment but everything I talked about during our last talk… well, it's true. I worry about you. I worry about you being out late. I worry that you don't eat as much as you say you do and that you don't get enough sleep… You've been coughing more in the middle of the night, you know? And I know that you want to think this entire thing is done." Blaine gestured at Kurt's chest. "But it still worries me. I… I saw you before the surgery and you couldn't breathe and I'm scared. I don't know. I just don't want you to overwork your lung because… Well you've only got two. Maybe it's irrational for me to be afraid but I just don't want you to… I don't want you to get hurt again. I want you healthy so you can continue to be healthy. I'm worried about you, Kurt. I'm… I'm really worried about you."

"I feel fine." Kurt assured him. "If I'm coughing, I'm not even coughing enough to wake me up. So you shouldn't worry."

"It's just… I associate you coughing with back then. And that was awful."

"I don't remember a lot of it." Kurt admitted. "It's all really hazy until… I barely even remember the fight with your dad."

"You were on a lot of medicines. That's why, I'm sure. It was bad, Kurt. It was really scary." Blaine whispered.

Kurt squeezed his hand. "I'll take better care of myself. I'll start getting more sleep."

Blaine nodded. "I think that's all I feel like I need to say… just that… I really don't wish you had gone to New York. I love being with you and living with you even if it can get chaotic at time."

"I said I wish I had… out of complete anger. The thought really hadn't crossed my mind. I've thought about it but not on a deep level or anything. It would have been neat to go to NYU but you wouldn't be there."

Blaine let out a relieved sigh. "Good. I was afraid you really did want to go."

"No." Kurt squeezed his hand again. "Is it my turn?"

"No. Not yet. I'm not finished." Blaine sighed again. Listen, I said a lot of things to you that I shouldn't have said. No. I said a lot of things that I shouldn't have said in that way. I didn't want to hurt your feelings, Kurt, and I'm sorry for how I said those things. I shouldn't have made that comment about my parents and I shouldn't have made the comment about how you acted when you were medicated. It was really childish and it was a low blow. I feel like those things needed to be said to you but I should have gone about it differently instead of throwing it at you in an argument. I am sorry for saying it like that but at the same time I feel better because it's out in the open and I probably never would have said it otherwise."

Kurt looked down, swallowing. "Blaine, I'm sorry for how I acted when I was on the medicine. I don't know what else I can say. I feel really bad about asking you to leave UK for me and I feel awful for treating you poorly."

"See, I don't think you do feel bad about me leaving UK. I don't think you realize just what I gave up yet. The thing with my family would have happened eventually but… but it wouldn't have been for a long time, Kurt. But I gave up more than that, okay? I dropped everything to come to Lima. My two jobs, my schooling, and maybe even the chance to get into a good law school. I'm not saying this to make you feel bad but skipping semesters doesn't look great on an applications. And I know it was my decision. I'm not saying it wasn't. I just want you to know and understand that I did that for us—for you. Because I love you and I think you're worth it."

"I know you gave up a lot. And I apologized for it a long time ago, Blaine. I shouldn't have to apologize for it for the rest of my life."

"That's not what I want." Blaine sighed. "I just want you to understand the full extent of what I did. Because I didn't have to. I wanted to. I'm very sorry for the way I threw it out there in the fight. I should have talked to you about what I was feeling like now. When things were calm and when we could both just talk and listen to each other. I feel awful about bringing up my family and how you were acting when you were sick during the fight. I am truly sorry for that. But you needed to hear it, so I don't take it back..."

Kurt nodded. "I understand. I can live with that, I think."

"I shouldn't have called you an idiot and I shouldn't have accused you of cheating. There's no excuse for calling you an idiot. It was disrespectful. I think we both said quite a few disrespectful things to each other, and I need you to know how sorry I am for getting so carried away throughout this whole mess."

"I called you a coward, though." Kurt interrupted.

"See? We both did that, but it still doesn't make it right. I'll never say anything demeaning like that to you again, Kurt. I promise." Blaine said softly. He didn't say anything for several seconds and they just sat silently, Kurt running his fingers up and down Blaine's palm. "And the… cheating thing. I know I told you why I thought it… you spending time with him and being happier… but I'm sorry I thought it and I'm sorry I caused this big ordeal surrounding it. Despite everything, I should have trusted you. If I had just trusted you or talked to you, this would have been a much smaller disagreement. We wouldn't be in this position right now. And the way I said it… fucking in a janitor's closet… I'm sorry. I don't think I can really justify saying those things to you. I just have to hope you understand that I know I was wrong and that I hope you can forgive me."

"I know." Kurt nodded and squeezed his hand. "I do forgive you. And I think I understand more…"

"Okay, good." Blaine let out a deep sigh and squeezed Kurt's hand back, falling silent.

"You should know that I called my dad and we had a… chat. He's not very happy with me for it, but I told him that he wasn't allowed to get involved. I just can't even believe he said that to you. I'm sorry. I really am. I went there because I didn't know where else to go. But now I know that I shouldn't have left at all. I should have stayed and tried to work it out. I'm not going to my dad with my problems anymore—especially ones involving you. I have to start dealing with stuff on my own instead of running to other people for advice. I'm going to handle things better now."

"I said some pretty bad things to him." Blaine sighed.

"He deserved each and every one of them. He had no right coming here and talking to you like that. He'll just have to get over it because he acted ridiculous." Kurt said, completely unbothered as far as his father was concerned. He still couldn't believe his dad had gotten involved like that.

"He deserved it but… I probably shouldn't have said it. He's your father. I just felt attacked and he kept saying it and I just… I snapped. I tried to hold it in but the second he said you weren't safe with me I just—." Blaine actually shuddered. "That just… I don't know what it was about that statement but…"

"I lived with my dad for eighteen years, Blaine. I know how he can get when he's pissed off. He's a very good dad and a very good person but he's… he's got a big temper and sometimes it doesn't take a lot to set it off. I'm sorry you had to deal with it. I don't know why he jumped to that conclusion. You practically cried that time you thought you hit a squirrel driving. You wouldn't hurt a fly."

Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder. "Think he hates me?"

"No. He knows he was in the wrong or he would have told me himself." Kurt whispered. "He's just got too much pride to say he was wrong. He doesn't hate you. I bet that's why he and Carole were fighting Friday at dinner."

"I don't think I can go to dinners for a while, Kurt. I'm sorry." Blaine said softly.

"No, it's okay." Kurt ran his hand up and down Blaine's back I don't blame you. Dad crossed a line. If you act like nothing is wrong, he'll try to do it again."

"As long as it won't make you mad."

"I'm sorry I brought your past into it… I don't know why I did but it won't happen again. I want you to be able to trust me and come to me with things and that won't happen if I don't prove that you can tell me things. I want us to talk more. We had better communication for a while and it just keeps getting worse. We need to work on that and trust."

"That's a big issue for me." Blaine admitted. "It's hard. But if you work on not using things against me and talking more, then I'll work on trusting more and talking about things more too."

Kurt smiled and kissed the side of his face. "That sounds like a very good deal to me."