A/N: Since I always forget to do this...
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee. However my birthday is this week, and I still have high hopes of getting it for a present ;)
Ava's head hurt. Her mouth was dry and her eyelids were heavy. The room was very dark. As her vision became less and less blurry, she could make out the silhouettes of her parents sleeping in the plush chairs in the corner. Out of the window, she could see the full moon high in the sky. In the distance, the glow of the New York City lights. She realized how close she was to all of it. The buzz, the excitement, the life…. She sighed. She wanted to see it. To know why she, like everyone else, wanted to be there. She wanted to walk the streets, act like a tourist, see all the sights.
But instead, she looked around the off-white prison of her hospital room, and wondered if she'd live long enough to see outside of the four walls.
A knock on the door had Blaine crashing down to the floor from where he had been balanced precariously, asleep on the chair. Claire and Ava laughed as he sat up, pushing his hair out of his eyes.
The door opened to reveal Ava's nurse, Cori. She was very short, her dark hair fell to her waist. Her brown eyes were encircled by wrinkles from constant smiles. She was probably in her late forties, and was one of the sweetest people Blaine had ever known. And she was especially sweet on Ava. Sneaking her candy and taking her outside to wander around in the snow.
And Ava loved it.
"Cori!" She squealed as she entered the room. Cori hugged Ava, smiling widely. "Hi, baby girl! How're you feelin' today?" She cooed.
"I'm okay." Ava said, eyeing the tube in Cori's hand warily.
Cori looked at her sadly. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. We have to put in another IV. But it'll be quick, I promise."
Ava chewed on the inside of her cheek, then nodded. "What a big girl!" Cori smiled at her. "When my daughter was your age, she used to love to come to work with me! All the nurses and patients would spoil that little girl. She's graduating high school this year! And she wants to go to medical school and…"
Ava listened raptly to the story, not even noticing when Cori slid the needle in to her arm.
"All done, baby girl!" Cori said after a while. Ava looked shocked for a moment, then smiled brightly as Cori handed her a lollipop.
Blaine stretched his back, wishing for a comfortable place to sleep in the hospital. He leaned down next to Claire. "I really need to shower again. I'm going to rent a room at the hotel across the street for the night again. I'm going to take a nap too, then I'll be back."
Claire nodded in agreement, giving Blaine the suitcase they had been living out of in the hospital. Blaine walked over to kiss Ava goodbye.
"I'll be back soon, sweetheart." He cooed. She smiled and waved goodbye.
Blaine wandered from the room, wondering what time it was and if Wes and Sarah had come back yet. And then….
He turned a corner, running flush into someone going the opposite direction.
"Oh! I'm so…" He started. But then he saw those eyes. And he spun on his heel and strode off in the other direction.
"Blaine! Wait!"
Blaine turned on his heel, and Kurt could feel the hot sting of the fire blazing in his eyes. Blaine walked back to meet him halfway down the hallway, standing inches from Kurt's face. Kurt took a deep breath, nearly knocked flat by the memories coming back to him. Laying next to Blaine in his bed, feeling his warmth, smelling the mix of his hair gel and cologne. The scent that screamed Blaine.
But Blaine smelled different now.
Blaine was different now. They weren't in high school anymore, and they had real life problems now. And one of Kurt's real life problems was so close he could feel his breath mixing with his own in the small space between their lips. But there was nothing romantic about the situation. No sexual tension. No fireworks.
There was only Blaine's red face. The muscles and veins in his face contracting and popping out.
"Wait?!" Blaine snarled. Kurt wanted to step back - to run away - but he was petrified. Rooted to the spot by failing feet and stunned to silence by a failing brain."
"Wait for what, Kurt?! Because 'wait' seems to be the only word you have for me. 'Wait while I flirt with a guy I met at a music store, wait while I lie about loving you, wait while I leave you in Lima and go to the big city without you! But wait, don't move on! Even though I'm dumping you out of nowhere, I promise to comeback! Wait by the phone for me to call, wait up at night crying over me! Wait alone while I NEVER COME BACK FOR YOU! Wait while I never even tell you why or what happened!' Well you know what, Kurt, I'm done waiting. I'm done waiting for you because I know that you haven't given a fuck about me in years, and now I'm finally returning the favor. So congratulations, Kurt, you got exactly what you wanted."
Kurt was shocked by Blaine's hostility. "Blaine, listen to me..." Kurt reached for his arm, and immediately knew he'd made a grave error. Blaine took several steps backwards, pulling far out of his reach.
"No, Kurt. I don't have the time for this. Because in case you haven't noticed, I have a daughter. I have a daughter who is sick and you are supposed to be helping her get better, but instead, here you are. Trying to defend yourself to me about something you did ten years ago."
"So you can stand there and accuse me and yell and be pissed but I don't get to say anything to you? Wow, Blaine. You're just as immature as you were in high school." Kurt snapped back, crossing his arms defensively across his chest and popping his left hip out slightly. "You know maybe you should hear the whole story before you make a fool out of yourself next time."
"No. You lost the right to tell me what to do or have any opinion on me when you walked out on me and didn't come back." Blaine's lips curled and his fists clenched as he turned to walk away.
Kurt stayed where he was, opening and closing his mouth, shocked at Blaine's ignorance. The hallway had long since cleared out when they started screaming at each other. Kurt ran his hand through his hair, realizing he would have to face all of his colleagues later, and that gossip about him was currently spreading like wildfire.
"I did come back." Kurt said, quietly. He knew Blaine heard him though. Blaine stopped, his body stiffening.
"W-what?" Blaine stammered, blind-sided by Kurt's statement.
"I did come back." Kurt said, finding his voice in the same hiding place as his confidence, turning the tables by striding pointedly over to Blaine.
"After a few days I realized I couldn't live without you. But I was too scared to come home..."
Blaine scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, right." He tried to walk away but Kurt pulled him back. Kurt felt his eyes starting to prickle as he touched Blaine, realizing how that this was only the second time he had in ten years.
"I'm not finished." Kurt said, the pain and anger in his voice subduing Blaine for the time being. "I was scared. I didn't want to show up and find out that... That you were better off without me. And I didn't want to see you fine while I was a complete mess. But I did come back." Blaine's face was still unreadable.
"I came back six months later."
Blaine's face dawned in understanding. "How did you find out? Who told you?" He asked in a small voice.
"No one told me. I saw you at Breadstix."
"And you just assumed that..."
"What the hell was I supposed to think?!" Kurt exploded. "You were having dinner alone, holding hands with a very pregnant woman!"
"You should've - !"
"What?" Kurt spat, hoping his words stung like bees. "I should've asked you? What was I going to say?! 'Hi, Blaine. Now I know I dumped you and now I see you with this woman with child, so are you straight now?' And you can't just blame all of this on me! Get off of your high horse, Blaine Anderson, because this isn't all my fault and you know it! You could've called! Or at least tried to act like you ever cared even a little bit! But you didn't!"
"You didn't call either!" Blaine yelled, wringing his hands.
Kurt laughed humorlessly. "Because you totally wanted to talk to me..."
"You didn't know that! And you didn't want to talk to me either!"
"I didn't hate you! Admit it, you hated me and you still do!"
"You left me!" Blaine screeched. His face was bright red with anger and stress.
"I DIDN'T LEAVE BECAUSE I DIDN'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE!" Kurt bellowed loud enough to disrupt the lives of everyone in the entire hospital. "I left because I didn't want to lose you forever because of the distance!"
Blaine was silent for a moment, his eyes dark and stormy. "You didn't want to lose me? Well what a great job you did at that, huh?" His voice was low and dripping with venom.
Kurt threw his hands up. "Fine. You don't want to listen, I'm done." He stormed toward the staff lounge, trying to hold back his tears and keep his voice steady until he was sure Blaine wouldn't see him break down.
"I want a different doctor on Ava's case." Blaine yelled after him.
And it felt like the final nail in Kurt's coffin. He was suffocating under the earth and anger.
"Fine. You don't want to see me again? Consider it done."
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