With a last hopeful plea to whoever it was that existed out there, Blaine clicked his mouse key, and with that, his torment was over. The most difficult assignment he had encountered thus far was complete, and he could finally take a much deserved rest. He glanced at the time at the bottom of his laptop screen and whistled appreciatively as he saw that it was only 9:58. He had beat the cut-off limit by a good two hours, a feat in itself given the chaos that had been his personal life over the past few days, and, more recently, the more pleasant distraction of flailing about his room in celebration with Kurt for a few minutes before he had allowed him to be swept away for a well-deserved night of revelry with his teammates. His whimsical smile faded away as he noted that he would not be there to celebrate with him, but, as he told himself, it was okay. For once he had had to make something else a priority over Kurt, but they would survive and endure...hopefully.

Blaine shook his head to dispel that last, dismal thought. Without the urgent pressure of academics on him anymore, the nagging worry, regret and overall depression that had settled over him ever since that club night threatened to overtake him and right now, the night before the holiday, he could not allow that to happen. His therapist hired post-Priscilla had given him a wealth of information he could use to centre his thoughts and take control of himself, some of which he had already somewhat knew because of Kurt. He, ironically, never thought that there would be a day when he needed such methods for himself, but now, Blaine curled himself into a comfortable position on the chair before allowing his eyes to drift close, as, systematically, he acknowledged and shuttered away the different memories and feelings that wanted to take centre stage, gratified that, when he finally opened his eyes, he felt considerably more centred. Kurt had previously suggested that he take up yoga, and if this was an indication of what full immersion into it could offer, Blaine was tempted to give in.

Kurt...

Blaine resettled at his desktop, and quickly pulled up a file of photos he stored, easily locating and opening the folder aptly named "Poppet". He started looking through some of the photos they had taken together during their last summer before Blaine had come here. That depicted Kurt was not too different from the one Blaine had met. His face was adorably rounded, with an easily maintainable hairstyle that at times made him look all of thirteen situation dependent. That Kurt was about an inch or two shorter than him, and, beneath the long sleeve shirts he more often than not wore, was an undefined body that Blaine adored cuddling close. It was the one real contrast between them. Blaine had always been the more athletic of the two, and thus, he appeared considerably more toned than his boyfriend in the picture.

Blaine closed the folder then, making a note to upload some of the photos on his phone to it at some point. For now he settled for accessing his phone's gallery, marvelling at the changes he saw and looked forward to seeing soon enough. Ever since the new Council had decided to up the Warblers' choreography, Kurt had increasingly participated in a number of physical activities, from actual dance classes, to a twice weekly gym workout with Jeff, to occasionally joining Finn on some of his jogs. That in itself had struck Blaine in those early weeks when a decidedly sweaty Kurt had Skyped with him. Previously, while not exactly resistant to the idea of utilising his body, Kurt was quite particular about what he would or would not allow himself to do, or who was allowed to touch him. Blaine had, throughout his senior year, felt particularly proud of the fact that he (and to a lesser extent Andrew) were really the only two people that Kurt had allowed to touch him with relative freeness. To watch a picture of Kurt being cradled in the arms of Trent during a routine practice was startling to him. Kurt was growing, slowly but surely into his own person, and although he was proud, Blaine was a bit worried as to the Kurt he would find when he returned to Ohio for (sadly) only a brief period.

He was not even really thinking about this in terms of the physical changes he would meet (although he chuckled at Kurt's prediction that they would probably be the same height now) but also the emotional. As difficult as it was for him to have come here, would his temporary return prove detrimental to Kurt? Or even to himself? Those first few days apart had been terrible, and even now Blaine could still recall that conversation with Finn in which he had reported with clear tiredness in his tone that Kurt had all but locked himself away in his room the entire day after Blaine had left and was decidedly red-eyed and docile when he finally emerged.

Blaine had felt terrible about it at the time, especially since the pang of their separation had easily given way to his excitement for his new living space, the novelty of just having Nick with him now among other things. He had been worried about how Kurt would be without him, had actively wondered if he should not have just delayed a year to wait for Kurt to graduate as he had occasionally contemplated doing. After all, and it was only something he had truly recognised in hindsight, Kurt's life had become so intertwined with his that it was difficult to imagine an existence without each other. Except for the fact that Kurt was the one who depended on Blaine in a larger capacity. Blaine had become the foundation upon which Kurt had centred himself, and as much as Blaine had loved then how much he was needed, it was not until they had truly separated that he had realised how detrimental that had been for the one left behind. He had been worried about how Kurt would handle the distance, but it seemed that Kurt had taken that pain and had molded it into something magnificent, developing himself in a way that astonished Blaine. He truly had not expected Kurt to throw himself so fully into things and to actively take control. It was a side to his boyfriend that he had never truly encountered except in the odd occasion, or seen lurking deep within him. He was glad that that Kurt was now emerging, that Kurt felt safe and secure enough in himself to unleash it to the world. But, what if that Kurt found that he really did not need Blaine as much as he thought he did? Especially in light of the stupid actions Blaine had taken, what if Kurt decided that he could grow and develop himself and be fine without him? That he did not need him in any true capacity in his life?

Blaine didn't really know how he would survive if that truly was the case.

"Are you finished packing?" Nick asked, looking up as Blaine passed him to access the mini-fridge. "You got to go soon."

"I'm almost done," Blaine answered after he had drained half the bottle, "just got the little knick-knacks I collected left to pack."

"You know what you're going to say?" Nick inquired next, following him into his bedroom before sitting on the edge of his bed, "I really want this sorted out before you come back."

"Me too Nick," Blaine responded, kneeling in front of his small suitcase, "I'm nervous about it, but I think this is a long overdue conversation at this point. But Kurt was right, I really don't think that this was something we could have sorted out over the phone."

"It probably would have been hard to," he agreed, "don't forget to give him a hug for me though," he added, slightly more jovially, "and tell him that I'm extra proud of him."

"You and everyone else," Blaine stated with a small laugh, "I still can't believe they won."

"Me either," Nick said. "They looked phenomenal. Kind of makes me wish I could go back to Dalton to perform with them."

"Ode to the simpler times," Blaine quipped, "when we could just sing away all our problems."

"No one says we can't," Nick pointed out, "there is a glee club here too you know."

"Won't be the same though," he muttered, "but if you want we could try it."

"Maybe."

Blaine closed his suitcase after packing away the last of the stuff he needed to take with him to Lima. "Is there anything you want me to carry?" he inquired, "Jeff's probably going to show up at Kurt eventually."

"Nah, I'm good," Nick responded shortly, turning away.

Blaine frowned, looking at him. "Something going on between you two?"

"You're going to be late," Nick told him, "Don't keep Kurt waiting."

"Nick-"

"Go Blaine," he half-ordered, rising up. "This is about fixing Klaine."

Blaine eyed him for a moment, reluctant, but truly, he really did need to get going. The food coma induced from too much eating yesterday had caused him to oversleep. Cooper had flown out once he had realised that Blaine had not gone to Lima and had pulled together a fantastically bought meal for him, Blaine and Nick that they had enjoyed.

"We'll talk about this when I get back," he stated firmly, pointing a finger at him.

"Yes sir," Nick quipped, and Blaine chuckled.

"I'll see you when I get back, okay?"

"Yeah, keep me updated."

"I will. Later Nick," he bid, before rolling taking up his suitcase's handle and rolling it out the door.

"The house isn't going anywhere bud," Burt said with some amusement, glancing at Kurt strapped in beside him in the car. He was twitching his legs in that way that always meant that he was impatient.

"That stupid interview was supposed to have been over by three, dad," Kurt whined, "It went over by two hours!"

"That's because they wanted to get as much out of you guys as possible," he responded patiently, "and that interview didn't seem that stupid this morning when Mr. Kentwood called."

"Well that was before I knew it would go over," he tried to justify.

Burt snorted, recalling the way Kurt had come barrelling down the stairs that morning, his phone on loudspeaker with a shrieking Jeff even as he started babbling about one of Ohio's local news channel wanting an interview with them, and that since at least he and Trent and a few other of the club members were present in the state, they would go ahead and have it. That excitement though had quickly faded away once it was clear that the interview had first eliminated the possibility of Kurt being there to greet Blaine as soon as he stepped out and secondly was now cutting into the precious hours they were supposed to be having with each other - "We're down to 51 hours and 23 minutes together dad!" Kurt had hissed during a lull, much to Burt's amusement.

He understood where his son was coming from. If the death of his first wife had taught him anything, he knew that it was the most important thing in the world to treasure every possible precious moment you could get with the one that you loved because you knew ever knew when life would be cruel and take it away from you.

"We'll be there in seven minutes," he reassured him, reaching over with one hand to rest it on Kurt's still twitching thigh and squeezing it comfortingly. "Blaine's already there and settling in bud."

"I want to be there with him."

Some parents would have quickly lost patience with the whining of their child, but for Burt? He loved it...every moment of Kurt actually opening up and letting the world know that he was not all right rather than the morose silence that Burt hoped to never, ever experience again. And so, he just shook his head in fond exasperation and left his son to vocalise his thoughts without censure.

Soon enough, they finally pulled up into the driveway, and Kurt was out of the car before Burt had even fully turned off the ignition. "Have fun bud," he called out before laughing as Kurt shot him something resembling a wave before letting himself into the house. Following inside at a more sedate pace, Burt wondered if the two of them would even bother to come down for dinner.

He really should have bet Carole money, he decided. She had said that the two would probably be quite awkward with each other at first; he had said time would have fixed the worst of what was between them. If the way Kurt had barrelled into the house was any indication, Burt was pretty certain that a fight was not going to be in the making when Kurt got up into his bedroom.

His bedroom door was open, something that Kurt was grateful for, otherwise he was pretty certain it would have slammed back against the wall with the force he would have opened it with. That, as it turned out, was a good thing. Kurt had barrelled into the room, Blaine's name already half-shouted from his lips only to choke back the last syllable at the last moment in order to not disturb him. Because, after all this time of waiting, after urging his dad to just mash that gas pedal a little faster to get them home a few seconds faster, Blaine was asleep.

Kurt snorted at the irony of it, his eyes just drinking in Blaine's form curled up on one corner of his bed. He was in a fetal position, his knees pulled up towards his chest with his hands tucked beneath his left cheek. He had shed off most of his travel clothes from what Kurt could tell, as he was dressed in a simple pair of boxer shorts and a dark grey tee-shirt that Kurt didn't recognise. Stepping closer, Kurt noted that his hair was completely free of all traces of gel and that he had allowed it to grow out somewhat. Strange, his web cam had not pointed out that change to him. Almost gingerly, Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, letting his fingers ghost over Blaine's face, not quite touching the silky smoothness of his chin, hovering briefly beneath his nostrils to feel the warm puff that was his breath before he gently tapped on those velvety lips that quivered the slightest at the pressure. He risked bending and pressing a gentle, but oh so loving kiss to Blaine's forehead before he eased up the bed just as carefully with a sigh.

Blaine was here, safe in his bed, just where he belonged. All was right with the world, and Kurt sighed again, releasing the air from the bottom of his being, and with it, all the tension that had been within him.

Kurt sagged down into his chair, his eyes just drinking in his boyfriend's form. He didn't quite know what he had expected to feel when he and Blaine reunited...anxiety maybe, or even slight anger or resentment. But he didn't. All he truly felt was peace, happiness and overwhelming love for the college student sleeping across from him, his face lax. There were traces of dark circles beneath his eyes, the evidence of the amount of work he had put in recently, and Kurt reminded himself to bully Blaine into starting any future assignments a lot earlier to avoid this happening again. Finally, and just when Kurt knew that just sitting there staring at Blaine's sleeping form would be categorised as nothing more than creepy, Kurt rose and made his way into his adjoining bathroom, closing the door slowly.

He stripped before entering the shower, allowing the hot water to cascade over him while his mind wandered. The water was a soothing caress, but, if he were entirely honest, what he really wanted was the comfort of being enveloped in Blaine's embrace. It was what he craved, but, Kurt's mind, although acknowledging how great that would be, would not fully allow him to descend to the point where he could just exit the shower, dress quickly and allow that to happen. Things had changed since they had been in Dalton together, that little voice whispered to him. Although Blaine was still the main person outside of his immediate family in whose presence Kurt felt loved, protected and safe, Kurt didn't really need him in that all-encompassing way he had in the past anymore.

Shutting off the water, Kurt acknowledged that Blaine leaving for college had forcibly stripped away that layer of protection he had enjoyed, and, that supposition of safety had been eroded somewhat by Blaine's actions. He simply was not as dependent upon Blaine as he had been when Blaine had left for New York. Blaine had been his everything before that - he had been completely serious when he had told Jeff that he couldn't live his life without Blaine. But, if time - especially in the last two weeks - had taught him anytime, it was that, perhaps, while he did need Blaine, and perhaps always would, he certainly was not, or needed to be, the sun around which he orbited. And that, he knew, was not in any way, necessarily a bad thing.

Kurt tugged his pyjama top over his head, and within a minute had fully eased himself into it. Returning to his room, he fiddled around with the lotions, moisturising his face first, then played around with his hair for a bit. Finally, with his routine complete, he turned around, looking at Blaine who was now sprawled out a bit looser on the bed. Kurt's lips tugged in a small smile at the sight. He looked so innocent in that position. Additionally, from all the time they had spent together during this past summer, Kurt knew that that position meant that Blaine was asleep for the long haul. A week worth of stress from his assignment combined with the travelling had undoubtedly been too much for the older teenager, and had knocked him cold out. And though this was further going to cut into the little time that they had with each other, Kurt didn't feel any resentment. Indeed, he simply rose and pulled his curtains close, followed by the door, shrouding the room in relative darkness that twilight offered. Grabbing his phone, he settled into the bed besides Blaine, pulling up the blanket over the both of them. He had thought to spend his time playing around with apps or even Facebook, but, it seemed that the presence of Blaine beside him was too much. Within a few minutes he felt a tiredness descend upon him and he didn't fight it. Easily setting his phone aside, he snuggled down into the bed, humming contentedly as he put his head onto one of Blaine's arms using it as a pillow.

He allowed his eyes to drift close as he revelled in the scent that was uniquely Blaine, allowing himself to just be enveloped in his presence. He relaxed into it, and a shiver of pleasantness cascaded through him when, in his sleep, Blaine nestled closer to him, his other arm wrapping around Kurt and pulling him in closer. Even asleep Blaine knew that he was there, and that was the only thing Kurt allowed himself to dwell on in the remaining time it took him to descend into a deep, dreamless, but quite refreshing, sleep.