Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of these characters… if I did, Karofsky wouldn't exist anymore, Jesse wouldn't have been such an asshole (albeit one I believe legitimately fell for Rachel), and there would be a LOT more Blaine.

A/n: So yeah, I know this chapter took me forever. But things have been crazy lately with school. Luckily I'm almost done with the semester – exams start in less than 48 hours! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Blaine stared out the car window, doing his best to keep his composure even though he wanted nothing more than to break down and cry as they drove home from the competition. The Warblers had lost to New Directions, although it hadn't exactly been unexpected. They'd started out at a disadvantage because they'd had to completely rearrange their setlist two weeks before competition and find completely new soloists to fill the gap Blaine had left behind. Not to mention that Blaine was fairly sure that they had missed at least a couple of rehearsals given the amount of time Wes, David, and Kurt had spent at the hospital with him.

"It was a good competition. Although I do feel bad for the seniors now that they don't have another chance to go to Nationals." Blaine sighed, closing his eyes and reaching up with his good hand to wipe away a couple of tears. "Blaine? Are you okay?"

"Can we not talk about the competition, please? I don't want to think about the Warblers right now…"

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Blaine shook his head slightly as his mother's hand reached up to gently touch his shoulder.

"I just… I'm not going to be a Warbler again."

"Don't say that, Blaine…" his father began.

"It's the truth! I couldn't understand anything I heard at the competition and I can't really hear my own voice… and don't try to tell me this is temporary, because we all know that isn't true." Blaine closed his eyes again, forgetting all pretense of not crying in front of his family. The tears were streaming down his face whether he wanted them to or not, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea…" his mother began.

"N-no… I wanted to go. I-I needed this." Blaine wanted more than anything to hit something, but he knew that wasn't a good idea. He only had one good arm already, and there were too many things that could be broken in the car. "I needed to know… t-to know that it was over."

"It's not…"

"Everything's changed…" Blaine shook his head, doing his best to stop crying before it turned into the gasping, choking sobs that would make his chest ache until he couldn't breathe. But he couldn't stop himself; once Blaine was started, it was all he could do to just wait it out. By the time he was done, every movement he made was enough to make the tears start again from pain.

Almost as soon as the pain medication was in his stomach, Blaine felt his eyelids grow heavy. The pills still knocked him out every time, to the point that he barely even noticed his father helping him out of the car and into the wheelchair again, taking him into the house and putting him on the couch. It was already dark by the time he woke up, thanks to the combination of the pills and the exhaustion that came with being out all day.

Blaine didn't hear the phone ringing or the conversation that followed, but he did feel the couch shift as his mother sat down on the edge of it and started gently stroking the side of his face. He slowly opened his eyes, smiling slightly at her as she turned the hearing aids back on.

"Sweetie… I need you to wake up for me."

"What's going on?" Blaine watched his mother closely as she looked away from him for a moment, sighing. "Mom?"

"The police just called. They've made a couple of arrests…" Blaine closed his eyes, taking a deep breath; he wasn't sure if he was ready for this. He could feel his heart starting to pound in his chest. "Blaine?"

"I don't know if I'm ready for this…"

"You don't have to do anything yet, Blaine. It's still going to be a while before there's anything you'll have to do. They wanted us to know that the boys are being arraigned Monday morning."

"How many of them?" Blaine asked.

"Three."

"Did they give you any names?"

"No, sweetie. Don't worry about it, okay?"

"I want to go Monday…" Blaine began.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, sweetie. It's a long drive, and you're still not getting around very well." Blaine sighed, knowing that his mother was right.

"I want to go. And I want to visit my friends at school. Not to mention that we have to figure out what we're doing about my schoolwork…"

"And we can do that once you've had a chance to heal some more. Today was too stressful. You won't be able to enjoy the time with your friends if you're miserable." Blaine closed his eyes, sighing.

"I just don't… I want my life to go back to normal. I want this to all be some bad joke, a nightmare that I'll wake up from in the morning, in my room at Dalton."

"I know, Blaine. But you'll have to realize that this is your new life and there's nothing you can do that's going to change that. It's hard, but you're going to accept this eventually. You're going to be okay."

Blaine stood next to Kurt in line, smiling at the younger boy. "I can't believe you got us these tickets… they sold out so fast!"

"I have my ways. And it's worth it, if I get to see you smile." Blaine wrapped his arms around the younger boy and pulled him closer, smiling at him. It made him ridiculously happy to see Kurt smiling back at him.

"You're such a sap. But I love you for it." Blaine glanced over at the people in front of them and realized that the line was moving.

"Come on… it looks like they're finally letting people in." Blaine kept an arm around Kurt's waist as they walked towards the entrance to the amphitheatre so that they could get to their seats. He'd told Kurt he'd gotten them tickets for the concert, but he hadn't told him where their seats were. He'd wanted to leave one surprise for tonight.

As soon as their tickets were scanned, Blaine led Kurt through the crowds and down towards the stage. They passed a couple of different members of the venue staff, with Blaine showing their tickets each time so that they could pass by and get to their seats.

"Where are our seats?" Kurt finally asked.

"You'll see."

"I'm starting to think you did something crazy… we're almost down to the front row."

"Well, that is where we're headed," Blaine replied, shooting a smirk towards Kurt. He couldn't help but laugh as the younger boy stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw practically hitting the ground. "Come on, Kurt… we have to get to our seats."

"You bought front row seats?"

"Front and center, yes."

"Are you crazy?"

"Only about you," Blaine replied, tugging on Kurt's arm and pulling him into a tight hug. "Now I'm going to our seats… are you going to go with me or not?"

"I just need to do something first." Blaine felt Kurt's lips press against his and he returned the kiss quickly.

It wasn't fear that woke Blaine up from his dream; he wasn't sure what it was that woke him up, but it was frustrating. He'd been ridiculously happy in his dream, but that was all it had been. Blaine curled his good hand into a fist, suddenly incredibly angry. He slammed his fist down against the mattress, knowing it wouldn't really do him any good.

Blaine felt the hot, angry tears sliding down his face because it wasn't fair; he would never get to experience that dream. Technically he could probably still take Kurt to a concert, but he wouldn't really be able to enjoy it. There would be too much noise, too many distractions. He wouldn't be able to actually have any kind of conversation with Kurt if they did go somewhere like that. Of course, that was all dependent on whether or not Kurt would even be willing to be with him after everything that had happened.