Blaine felt awful. After Kurt stormed out he tried to focus and get back to his reading. He really was nervous about his test the next day, but nothing in the world was worth yelling at Kurt for. Especially a silly accident when Kurt was just trying to do something helpful for him.
The guilt ate away at him until he couldn't take it. Blaine couldn't let them go to bed like that; he needed to apologize to Kurt. He set down his book and walked back to try and talk to him.
Oh. Kurt was asleep. Blaine was usually able to tell when Kurt was just pretending to be asleep, but he was actually passed out. He flicked off the lamp and left his boyfriend alone, feeling like the worst person alive.
To be fair, the semester hadn't been easy for Blaine. NYADA was nice, but the level of difficulty was much higher than Blaine expected. The instructors were rigorous, there were physical demands from his dance class, and the talent at the school left Blaine feeling inadequate most days.
And, if he was being perfectly honest, it was hard for Blaine to see Kurt thriving and enjoying himself so much at his job when Blaine wasn't very excited to go to school most days. He knew Kurt felt like he was missing out, but there were a few times when Blaine felt jealous of Kurt. He got to work for his dream company. He got to earn a nice paycheck. He got to go to sleep before midnight. Blaine got pulled hamstrings from dance and an unhealthy level of sleep deprivation.
NYADA just didn't feel like a place where Blaine belonged. He had visions in his head the entirety of his senior year of him, Kurt, and Rachel doing everything together. NYADA wasn't fun without Kurt. And Blaine figured that was maybe a reason why distance had formed between him and his boyfriend.
The semester just felt like one giant disaster. Blaine would never purposefully stand Kurt up for plans they had. They had never fought as much as they had in the past few weeks, and Blaine was exhausted in more ways than one. He knew Kurt wouldn't understand the pressure he was feeling; Kurt was so talented and graceful at everything he tried. Blaine had to hustle just to keep up with his peers.
That was why he was so disconnected when the Winter Showcase had rolled around. Blaine had never been so nervous to perform. There was a constant knot in his stomach that entire week leading up to it, and Kurt giving him some space was nice, even though he missed his boyfriend like crazy during the hectic time.
He didn't want to move out. He didn't want to make yelling at Kurt a habit. Blaine was terrified Kurt was going to break up with him, but a tiny voice in the back of Blaine's head told him he deserved it, that he had been an awful boyfriend. And that alone terrified him.
There were times he had been a jerk, yes. Kurt was partly at fault, too, but Blaine knew it was mostly him. He had yelled. He had blown him off. He had ignored his boyfriend when they all went out after the showcase. He had acted uninterested in Kurt's job. But he was not going to lose him, that was one thing Blaine knew for certain. They had to reconcile or else Christmas and the spring semester would be miserable. He just needed a plan.
The next day Kurt was gone by the time Blaine got up, but he wasn't surprised. He told Rachel about their fight and she offered to stay out for the evening while Blaine planned a nice dinner and evening to try to make it up to him. He took his music history test (not his best performance) and sat in the NYADA commons the rest of the morning until his second class, brainstorming ideas for how to apologize to Kurt.
Blaine texted him and apologized for the night before, even if it wasn't the ideal way to kiss and make up. He just wanted him to agree to come home for dinner, and then they could order in some takeout and do whatever Kurt wanted. Blaine didn't want the last few weeks to affect the course of their relationship, and he knew they both needed to put in some work to make things better.
To his delight, Kurt agreed. He didn't acknowledge the apology, but said he had to work late and wouldn't be able to be home until around seven-thirty. Blaine was just grateful he had responded, and set on about the rest of his day.
He got home shortly after four and made Kurt's favorite cookies from scratch, mostly as a way to pass the time until he got home. He cleaned up the loft, including the kitchen and bathroom. Blaine hadn't previously realized how much effort it took to keep the place in top condition, and he had a lot more appreciation for his boyfriend after that was over.
Blaine showered and hung out. It was still just after six-thirty, but Kurt texted him that they were wrapping up at the office. Blaine asked what he wanted to eat for dinner but never got a reply, so he figured they were still working and he just got busy.
He took advantage of the down time and tried to get ready for some of his finals. Blaine was concerned about his classes because his music history test that day hadn't gone very well, and he still had to get ready for the cumulative final. He felt ages behind the others in his dance class. For those like Rachel who had been raised with dance lessons, it came naturally, but Blaine felt awkward and got easily frustrated. Oh, well. Something to pass the time until Kurt got back.
Kurt pulled his gloves on before walking out the door of the dark office. He wasn't thrilled to be heading home, but he could tell Blaine was genuinely sorry and wanted to make it up to him for yelling the night before.
It had been a long and hard day. When Kurt woke up that morning it felt like he had barely gotten any sleep. Blaine was still passed out next to him, but Kurt just wanted to get ready and leave. Blaine might as well have slapped him the night before; his words hurt just as much.
Kurt put on his usual happy face in the office. The last thing he wanted was for Isabelle or someone asking what was wrong. When Blaine texted him about coming home for dinner Kurt was very tempted to say no, but knew he needed to at least give him a chance to apologize. Maybe they could have an honest, open, and much-needed conversation, too.
So, he headed home. End of the year deadlines were looming at Vogue, especially since Kurt was about to be out of the office when they headed to Lima after Rachel and Blaine's finals. It had been a long day and it was bitterly cold outside, and Kurt just wanted to get to the train station and get home.
Lower Manhattan was safe, and now that it was winter Kurt was used to the sun being down when he headed home in the evenings. Plus the walk to the station was never more than ten minutes.
He had just passed Greenwich Street, and his face was numb from being exposed to the cold wind. Kurt kept his head down, until the two men popped out from the alleyway and blocked his path.
"Excuse you," Kurt grumbled, trying to push by them. He already wasn't in the best of moods, and didn't have time for stupid stunts like that.
"Watch it," one of the guys said, grabbing Kurt by the shoulder and pushing him to the ground. Kurt looked up and felt afraid for the first time; the guys both easily had sixty pounds on him. The wind was knocked out of him but Kurt caught his breath and tried to stand.
"Watch yourselves," Kurt fired back, trying to move on quickly as he brushed some dirt off of him. He hadn't done anything; why was he a target?
Both men put their hands on him and one of them punched Kurt in the nose. His vision blurred for a minute and he soon tasted blood. They pulled him in the alley to avoid being seen. In the time that Kurt had been dazed by the hit, one of the guys had managed to get his coat and gloves from him, and swiped his wallet and phone from his pockets.
"What is your problem?" Kurt yelled, pushing them away. "Take my wallet and go! I'm not afraid of you!"
"You should be," one of the guys said with a foreboding laugh. Kurt's teeth chattered uncontrollably, mostly from the frigid air and a little bit of adrenaline.
They pushed him to the ground again and pinned his arm back until there was a small snapping sound. Kurt tried to swing a punch with his other hand; he just wanted to get home. The guys could mug him, he didn't care about his phone that much, but why come at him with violence?
He felt the back of his skull hit the concrete hard and Kurt swore he blacked out for a second. His body was quickly becoming numb, but the kicks to his chest and stomach still registered in his brain. After another failed attempt to get up (he was too dizzy by that point to stand) Kurt was too resigned and injured to fight.
"We gotta get out of here," one of the assailants said quickly.
"See you, homo!" the other yelled before jumping into the driver's seat of a beat-up pickup parker in the alley.
Kurt just laid there, his head throbbing and blood pouring down his face. He could barely keep his eyes open, and was so, so cold...
The time quickly got away from Blaine as he studied, but almost an hour and a half later Kurt still wasn't back. He still wasn't extremely concerned since it was a Friday night and the trains were crowded, but he turned his phone volume on in case Kurt called.
By eight, Blaine gave in and called him. They stayed late at the office a lot, but at eight on a Friday night? It seemed unlikely. The call went straight to voicemail, which meant Blaine couldn't see his location on iMessage either. His phone was likely dead, and it was already dark and dropping below freezing outside.
Another fifteen minutes went by with no sign of Kurt. Blaine called Rachel, and she said she hadn't heard from him either. By then Blaine was anxious; he knew Kurt wasn't ignoring him since he had been replying earlier.
He tried to distract himself. Blaine always thought of the worst possible scenario, but he tried not to let himself do that. He went ahead and ordered Thai food for dinner in case Kurt showed up hungry. What if Kurt had changed his mind and was just avoiding him? Blaine didn't know what to think anymore. He thought about contacting Kurt's boss Isabelle, but Blaine didn't even remember her last name, much less have her phone number.
More time passed. The food was delivered and Blaine just shoved it in the fridge. Rachel had promised to call if she heard anything, but Blaine's phone remained silent. He tried Kurt a few more times. Nothing. He was equal parts annoyed and worried, and couldn't stop looking at the clock.
Blaine had the realization at one point that the way he felt was probably very similar to the night he and Rachel completely forgot about the movie night Kurt had planned. Blaine had felt awful that night, and maybe this was Kurt giving him a taste of his own medicine.
It hit ten o'clock. Blaine was still worried but didn't know what to do, since there was still a chance Kurt was ignoring him and had blown him off. But where would he have gone? Blaine gave in and ate his refrigerated dinner alone and compulsively checked his phone, even though there were no new texts or calls.
Finally, his phone buzzed on the couch beside him. Blaine grabbed it but frowned when he didn't recognize the number. He answered anyways. Maybe Kurt was calling from a payphone.
"Hello?" he answered, desperate to hear Kurt's voice on the other end of the line.
Instead, a woman's voice. She didn't sound very old, but Blaine heard a lot of background noise. "Hi," she said. "I'm looking for Blaine Anderson. May I speak to him?"
Blaine's heart sunk. What if something did happen to Kurt, and he had just been sitting around all evening?
"This is Blaine," he said timidly. His heart pounded in his chest. "Who is this?"
She didn't answer. "I'm calling about a Kurt Hummel. Do you know him?"
Blaine bit his lip. Something was very, very not right. "Yes," he answered. "We-we're dating. What's this about?"
"Kurt was mugged and assaulted earlier this evening. He was brought to Presbyterian Hospital in Lower Manhattan -I'm a nurse there- and we're treating him. His phone was stolen but he was conscious enough to give us your name and phone number."
Blaine felt sick to his stomach. His worst fears were confirmed, and Kurt had paid the price. He wanted to throw up. This couldn't be happening, not when he had talked to his boyfriend just a few hours ago.
"What…?" Blaine trailed off. He couldn't even string together a sentence, he was so in shock. "How bad is it?" he finally managed. What if Kurt needed surgery or had to stay in the hospital? Oh, God. What about his NYADA audition? If Kurt's injuries were too bad to audition he would be devastated.
"We're waiting on the results from a few scans," the nurse explained. "We're estimating that he was left outside for over thirty minutes before paramedics arrived, so he has a mild case of hypothermia. We'll hopefully know more by the time you get here."
Blaine leapt up from the couch, finally able to snap out of his paralysis and shock. He promised the nurse he'd be there quickly and asked her to tell Kurt that, too. There was no time to call Rachel, Burt, anyone. Blaine bundled up and rushed out the door, fearing the worst but still hurrying into the cold winter evening to get to Kurt.
Author's Notes:
Another part down! This one was a little shorter but I'm glad we've reached the climax, and don't worry because the fourth and final part (aside from the epilogue) is much longer and I hope it wraps things up nicely. Also I haven't been to New York in six years so please don't come at me if I geographically messed anything up. Maybe that should be my excuse to take another trip up there. I'll talk to my fiancé.