A/N: Okay, so I totally intended for this to be the last chapter but it isn't. Please bear with me.
There were glimmers. Miss Anderson told him to hold onto hope but he tried not to. He really did. He didn't want to make himself believe in something that wasn't real.
But sometimes it was hard.
It was hard when they stayed up late watching movies and Blaine fell asleep with his head on his shoulder.
It was hard when they went to the movies and Blaine would shrink into him at the scary parts and laugh loudly at the funny parts, side eyeing him to check that he was laughing to.
It was hard when they went out to coffee and Blaine would insist on paying.
It was hard when they studied together and Kurt would ask him a question, hear no answer and look up to see Blaine staring at him, his eyes wide and full of something Kurt couldn't quite place.
It was about a month after his father passed and Kurt was on edge. He was nearing the end of his senior year, graduation was looming and they were all getting ready to get their college applications back.
Kurt was filled with fear. He was fearful that he wouldn't get into the school of his dreams (Dalton had put a little dent in his hopes for NYADA but he had made up for it in extra-curriculars, snagging a job at the coffee shop that he and Blaine so often frequented and performing at their Regionals competition, leading them to victory). But he was also fearful of what would happen if he got in.
NYADA was in New York.
And Blaine was in Ohio, not graduating until next year.
It was a Wednesday when the letter came. No special day, just an ordinary sunny Wednesday. Blaine had driven Kurt home from the Lima Bean and they had just pulled up to his house when he spotted a letter in the mail.
"Blaine," he said, his voice tense. "I think that's it."
"That's what?" Blaine asked curiously, his eyes following Kurt's until they settled on the letter. "Oh."
"Will you stay?" Kurt asked fretfully, his whole body starting to tremble. "While I open it?"
"Of course," Blaine agreed, pushing Kurt out the door. "Go- go open it!"
Exhaling a shaky breath, Kurt ran up the yard, grabbing the letter out of the box. He turned back towards Blaine who gave him an impatient gesture, before he couldn't take it any longer and quickly ripped apart the paper. His heart skipped a beat.
The congratulations was all he needed to read before he burst into tears.
Blaine was at his side in a second, pulling him in his arms, whispering sweet nothings against his hair.
"You did it," he breathed and Kurt couldn't stop crying, nor his body shaking. But Blaine held on, held him tightly and surely before he calmed down.
"Are you mad?" Kurt asked suddenly.
Blaine was silent for a moment before answering. "No, of course not. Why would I be?"
"Because I'm going to New York and you have to stay here," Kurt answered, still unsure.
Blaine gave him a small smile. "And in a year's time I'm going to join you."
"You're coming to New York?" Kurt asked excitedly. This was the first time Blaine had mentioned any plans after high school.
Blaine smirked. "Why do you think that above everything I always had flawless grades? I've always been meaning to get out of this cow town. It's been the plan since I was three."
"Same," Kurt said a little breathlessly, suddenly feeling completely giddy. "Oh my god," he gasped delightedly, "I just… I can't believe it. I have to – I have to go call Rachel… and dad and Finn and oh my god." He couldn't help but throw himself into Blaine's arms once more, smiling as he caught him. Just like always.
Kurt's heart stuttered a little at Blaine's next words, happy tears threatening once more at his eyelids.
"I'm proud of you."
Everything was falling into perfect place.
Rachel received her acceptance letter the same day and they spent the entire afternoon sobbing on the phone together before Burt forced him to hang up.
That Saturday they scheduled to go out for dinner. Invited was Finn (who had received an acceptance letter into NYU where he wanted to study Music – he was going to try and pursue his drumming after attending a rock concert in the fall), Burt and Carole (naturally), Kurt, Rachel, her dad's and Blaine and his mom (who Kurt insisted on inviting).
It was lovely and perfect and everyone was getting along and for the first time in Kurt's life everything just felt right.
He and Finn talked it over with Rachel and they decided that rather than boarding, they all would put in for a small apartment halfway between their schools. They started looking for places that night and they continued to look for the next week until they finally settled on a small but decent little place that Kurt adored from first glance.
The rest of the year flew by scarily fast and suddenly everything was happening at one. Soon they had finals and then they had Nationals which by some miracle they actually came first in. The whole thing was a big blur, the most standout memory for Kurt standing on stage, holding the final note in Stars, feeling as if the world was at his feet as tears clouded his vision and nothing else mattered but the song in his heart and the adrenaline in his veins.
A week later was graduation. Honestly, his whole life he had been waiting for this day. And yet… when he shook Principal Figgins it just hit him that it was all over. He wasn't coming back.
The bullies couldn't touch him anymore. He'd never have another slushie. He'd never have to see another Letterman jacket again.
But that wasn't all that was ending.
New Directions was ending. Impromptu performances, group numbers on the auditorium stage, that old choir room…
No more.
And the tears came hard and fast and he was sobbing into Rachel's shoulder because she just knew because she felt it too and until the ceremony was over they held onto each other and cried until Kurt felt ridiculous.
He took a quick trip to the bathroom to clean up before meeting his dad. He couldn't resist running his hands over the walls in goodbye before he left, although he was thankful he remembered the Dettol.
He made his way quickly out to meet his family and Blaine (who had also come to the ceremony). He found them waiting by his locker but he instantly noticed Blaine was missing.
"Where's Blaine?" he asked confusedly. He had said he was going out with them for lunch afterwards…
Burt shrugged. "He said he was going to find you."
Kurt frowned to himself, hoping he ahdn't gotten lost or something. "I'll go find him…"
He made his way back down the hall, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and calling his number. A stab of worry filled him as the call rung through to voicemail. He increased his pace, hurrying down the hall at the sound of raised voices.
His heart caught in his throat as he pushed through the choir room doors, the sight of Blaine pushing his friend Sam up against a wall, his hand tight against his throat.
"Take it back you sick motherucker!" Blaine spat, his voice full of a rage that Kurt had never heard and made him freeze on the spot. "Fucking take it back."
"Blaine!" Kurt cried out as Blaine pushed harder on the boy's windpipe, his free hand raised in a fist.
Blaine dropped his hand with a start, Sam gasping as he pulled free.
"Your boyfriend is a psychopath," he snarled at Kurt, pushing past him as he stormed out.
Blaine ran a shaky hand through his hair, trying to steady his breath. Kurt felt his breath still stuttering erratically through his lungs and he wondered absently if this was what a panic attack was like.
"Blaine," he treaded carefully, not wanting to set him off again, "what the fuck was that?" or not.
"Nothing," Blaine growled, following the path Sam had taken out the door. Kurt ran after him, startled.
"Blaine!" he called. "Where are you going?"
"Home," Blaine answered shortly. "Enjoy your graduation dinner."
Kurt watched him storm out of the building with hot tears pooling in his eyes. How could he have wrecked this day that had been so important to him?
And what the fuck happened between them anyway?