After the tearful goodbye at the train station, Kurt walked away and sat down on a bench down the street a little ways. He leaned back and closed his eyes for a minute. Rachel was gone, on her way to chase her dream in New York City without him. She choked her audition. He killed his. He was beginning to wonder if he was wrong to dismiss the idea of karma. Maybe he had been a murderer in his past life and no matter how hard he worked in this one, nothing was ever going to pay off.

He heard a voice behind him and realized that it was Blaine's.

"I know, Rachel. I know you already miss him. It's just not the right time for it yet, obviously."

"Give him time. He needs to figure out what he wants. You've known since forever. He just started really thinking about it a month ago."

"I'm going to join a bunch of clubs in the fall, get the lead in whatever musical we do, and be the male lead in New Directions. I'll be a shoo-in at NYADA."

"I know Kurt doesn't have much of an opportunity to do anything to improve his CV since the Lima Theatre Guild folded. He can just work at Burt's shop and maybe the Lima Bean and save up money all year. He's just not what NYADA is looking for obviously. He's just not very versatile."

"I know he has a unique voice, but I'm just not convinced that's going to be an asset when it comes to being cast in a musical. He can still move to New York when I do."

"I'll work on getting Finn on board too. That way we can focus on our careers and school. The two of them can work and find things they enjoy doing when we're busy."

"You're only staying a week. We can talk more when you get back. I'm standing on the sidewalk near the train station still. We're all going out to lunch before we go back to Lima. Well, all of us that rode to Toledo with Kurt. Everyone decided to walk over to the restaurant together, except Kurt went to move his Navigator to the restaurant lot. I see them across the street at the park looking this way. I need to go. I'll talk to you soon." He slipped his phone back into his pocket and hurried across the street to catch up with everyone.

Kurt stayed where he was, giving the group time to walk far enough away that they couldn't see him when he stood up. He got up and crossed the street to move his SUV. He got across the street and his phone pinged. He figured it was someone from the group, but when he looked at the called ID, it said "April Rhodes." He chuckled and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hun. It's April. Rhodes, you know. Back from a couple of years ago."

"Yes, April, I remember."

"Well, of course you do. I'm pretty unforgettable. Anyway, I heard through the grapevine that the hoity-toity school you applied to turned you down. They are fools. They don't know a good thing when they see it."

Kurt didn't know what to say. "You're right. I didn't get in."

"That's just a bunch of poppy-cock. Anyway, I'm just calling to let you know that I've got a place right here for you in my musical. I have no idea why, but one of the actors took a part in another musical and I need you to come this next weekend and be ready to start rehearsing on Monday. Don't worry about a place to stay. I got that all covered for your first two weeks. You can look for a permanent place after you get here."

"Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack, doll. I need to go for now, but I need you to text me a number so I can have my people fax you a copy of the contract. You just need sign it and send it back."

"I'll do that."

"See to it that you do. I need that angelic face and those sweet vocal chords here as soon as possible. I'd have you come sooner, but I know you need time to pack."

"Thank you, April." Kurt was fighting tears, his emotions still raw.

"Aww, you're welcome, sugar. You're going to be perfect for this. I thought of you from the start, but I knew you needed to finish school. But now that you're done, it's time for you to head on over to the big Broadway. I gotta run. See you soon." She hung up.

Kurt quickly texted her back, sending the fax number at the shop. He called his dad and let him know to expect a fax from April. He got in his Navigator and headed over to the restaurant and parked. The smile on his face fell when he remembered the conversation he had overheard between Blaine and Rachel.

He went inside the restaurant and found everyone. He slid into the booth next to Mike. He realized that everyone had already ordered without him. When the waiter came by, he just shook his head and didn't order anything. While everyone talked around him, he considered his options.

How had he not realized that Blaine didn't think he could make it? Maybe that's what all of that nonsense in the spring was about. Him not being willing to go to the music store and getting upset about Kurt talking about New York all of the time. He didn't know what to think. At that moment, he felt like he didn't know Blaine well enough to even speculate on the reasons why he did anything.

When everyone finished eating, they piled back into the Navigator. Kurt drove everyone back to Lima, dropping them off at their cars at the mall before he drove to the shop to pick up the contract.

He took it over to Hiram Berry's office since he was the family's lawyer. Kurt sat down and waited until Hiram had a few minutes free since he didn't have an appointment.

He went back to the shop as soon as he had finished speaking with Hiram. When Burt saw him come in, he headed to his office. Kurt followed him. Burt sat down at his desk and took the contract from Kurt, who stood leaning against the wall.

Burt looked through it. "So, this is a legitimate offer for a role in a Broadway show?"

"From everything Hiram could determine."

"Well, this is what you've wanted." Burt laid it on his desk.

"It is. I'm going to sign it. I'll look for a short-term place first. If everything's going well, I'll look for something else if I want to move. From the salary listed, I'll be able to afford a small place on my own. If I make friends and want to move in with some of them, I can do that later." He told Burt about the conversation that he had overheard between Blaine and Rachel.

"Well, I remember you telling me that things were on the rocks back a couple of months ago, but you seemed to work it out."

"That depends on you definition of 'working it out'. If it means that I sang the equivalent of an apology song and blocked the only new potential friend I've met since I went to Dalton, then yes, we worked it out."

"Oh. So what are you going to do?"

"Guard my heart and leave things be. I guess we'll find out how much he loves me as opposed to how much he loves that I love him. Either he'll be happy for me and support me, or he won't. If he's unsupportive in some way, then I'll know that it's the end of the road for us."

"Yeah, I guess so. You better sign that before it gets any later."

Kurt picked up the pen and signed and dated the contract.

Burt picked it up and faxed it back to April's office. He handed the original back to Kurt.

"I'm going to head home and start packing. I'll get a plane ticket to New York. Don't say anything to anyone." Kurt opened the office door.

Burt followed him back out into the shop. "I won't. It's your amazing news to tell, not mine. I'll see you at dinner later."

"Blaine!" Kurt exclaimed, as he opened the door. "I didn't think you were coming for two more weeks."

Blaine handed him two dozen roses and hugged him the best that he could. "I know, but I just couldn't wait. I missed you too much."

"I missed you too. It's good to see you." He stepped back and let Blaine inside.

"This is nice. It feels less cramped than it looked in the photos."

Kurt laid the flowers down long enough to fill the sink with a few inches of water. He put the flowers in diagonally to keep the stems in the water. "I'll have to go out and get a vase. I don't have one."

Blaine nodded and smiled at him. That's when he noticed Finn sitting on Kurt's sofa, which was the only piece of furniture in the room. There were boxes lining the walls.

"Finn?"

"Yeah. I'm here visiting Kurt, helping him get moved in. Rachel's got this crazy idea that we all need to go to some karaoke place. She's on her way over. I'm sure you'll love it there." His face betrayed his enthusiasm.

"Um, sure. Sounds fun."

"With you coming early, the place isn't ready. I had just picked up the key to this place on Friday when Finn arrived at JFK. I had him take a taxi to Ikea, and we met up there. We had the sofa, the bed, and this other stuff delivered. We spent all day putting the sofa together. It converts to a bed though, so that's been helpful the last couple of nights. Finn helped me get the bed up into the loft area. I had hoped to assemble the other things in the boxes before I had visitors, but we can just work around the boxes. I had the show Friday night, the two shows yesterday, and the matinee today. We just haven't had time to get to it."

There was another knock at the door. Kurt opened it and let Rachel in.

"Blaine? Oh, my God, this is so great." She stepped close enough to hug him. "We're all here together, in New York. Are you ready to go?"

Everyone nodded and followed her back out.

On their way back that night, Kurt said, "That was an unusual take on 'Teenage Dream'. It sounded like a remix version for an 'unrequited love songs' CD. It felt oddly like you were singing it knowing that the person you were singing for wouldn't love you back, which is really strange since you know I love you. I just told you so when we talked on the phone late this morning when I was on my way to the theater. What's going on?"

Blaine stopped walking and turned towards Kurt, who froze and turned to face him.

"I was with someone."

Kurt's heart sunk. He covered his mouth with his hand and felt like he no longer had the ability to breathe. He had prepared himself for the fact that Blaine would want more of his time than he had to give. But of all the things he had tried to prepare himself for, Blaine cheating on him hadn't been on that list. "Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters was that I was alone and I needed you and you weren't there."

"Bullshit. What matters is that I wasn't at your beck and call to stroke your ego – and other parts of you. The very fact that you are here right now, a little over two weeks early, shows that you could have come sooner if you couldn't satisfy your own needs. You're jealous. You thought I couldn't make it here and once the positive reviews came in, you realized that I wouldn't be running back to Lima with my tail between my legs any time soon. I'm staying here. I love it here. And I loved you with everything that I am, but I will not accept the blame for you cheating. We're done, Blaine. You can spend the night with Rachel. You can't come back to my place." Kurt turned and walked ahead quickly to catch up with Finn and Rachel.

When he caught up to them, he saw that Rachel was crying too.

"Kurt?" Blaine came jogging up behind them.

"No. Nothing else you have to say to me means a damn." He turned to Rachel. "Blaine needs to stay with you tonight or you can help him find a hotel."

"What's going on?" she asked.

"He cheated on me and it's over." He turned to Finn. "I'm taking a taxi home. You have the address. You can come back whenever you want."

He nodded.

Kurt took off for the edge of the park and flagged down a taxi.

Kurt opened the door and let Burt and Carole walk in ahead of him.

"Oh, honey. I love it. It's as small as I expected it to be from your description, but it doesn't feel cramped. I love the blue and green. It's really cheerful."

"I really like it too. So, the bathroom is in here. It's small, but it's mine," he teased. "I think 95% of the places I looked at in this price range had shared bathrooms on each floor. No thanks."

"I remember you mentioning that. I would hate that," she said. "I'll be honest. I thought I'd hate it. I saw the size on the floor plan you sent me. But it's actually not bad. I think it's because the ceilings are so high."

"I'll go ahead and get the sofa turned into a bed and make it while the two of you get ready for bed. There's room in the wardrobe for you to put your stuff."

"Before you do that, let's just sit down for a few minutes."

"Sure," Kurt said. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Some water would be good," he said.

"Carole?"

'Oh, um. Yes, please."

Kurt gave them the water and pulled one of the chairs from the table over and sat down facing them.

"This is a nice sofa," Burt said. "Seems sturdy." He scooted back. "I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. You came out here two months ago on your own and you did it. Your show is hysterical. I loved it. And your place looks great."

Carole smiled and nodded. "You've done a great job. Finn came back three weeks ago jazzed up about starting at the community college. He's finally got an idea of what he wants to do. How are you doing, other than the show?"

He knew what she meant. "Three weeks is a little fast for my heart to heal, but it's headed that way. I've been hanging out with a couple of the people from the show and their friends. I met this funny British guy at NYADA when I was waiting for Rachel to get out of the dance class she enrolled in for the summer. She and I have worked through our issues. She got over being jealous to the point of being a reasonable human being. We do something together once or sometimes twice a week. I've met some of her classmates, both guys and girls. I've been out in groups, sometimes just a couple of us, and a few times one on one. Just casual stuff, movies, free concerts in Central Park, lunch, art galleries. All of them are fun to spend time with. I'm just working on letting me be myself. I'm not in a small town anymore. I don't have to hide who I am or stuff parts of me away to make friends anymore. There are enough people in this city that I should be able to be exactly who I am and find people who will value me and my friendship."

"I can tell how much you like it here," Carole said. "We're both really happy for you."

"Me too. For the first time, I feel like I'm where I belong."