A/N: Holy hell my life is a ball of stress. I'm sorry. That's all I'm gonna say. But I'm about to upload a buttload of fics and I'll keep writing after I go out to dinner (I found my prompt book, YAY!) also the Harry Potter thing has made me dfadfjalkdjfadf so HUZZAH. So this fic is just a little insight to the past 3 or 4 months of my life.

Kurt had never experienced claustrophobia.

Never had he found himself feeling closed in – trapped and bound by the four corners of a room. He couldn't even relate to that feeling of complete helplessness. Of course, he'd seen what it could do – turn people into shaking, trembling balls of fear, unable to control their reactions to the overwhelming body of a crowd. Fear, that the room could swallow them up and never spit them back out.

It was a terrifying thought, but Kurt had never felt it.

But now, he was sure it was claustrophobia he was feeling.

But it didn't come in the usual way.

^.^

Kurt gave a little sigh as he swiped his bus pass and stumbled along the narrow aisle towards his favourite seat – just over the wheel. The bus stop was literally a few metres from his front gate, and it was the first stop of the day, so he was usually the only one boarding. Sadly, he had college classes every day this semester, with a crappy timetable that started at eight each day – meaning he had to be on the bus by six thirty. It was his second year, and even though he loved fashion, college was starting to become a drag.

The bus rides were okay though. He put his iPod headphones in and pressed play, letting the music flood his brain and soothe his caffeine cravings. Luckily, there was an amazing coffee shop on campus, and he let the thought of the glorious liquid travelling down his throat distract him.

It worked, mostly, until a particularly bubbly sod sat next to him.

The boy was short, with fluffy, curly hair cut short to his head. His eyes were bright and he was dressed in his best jeans and a button up shirt, complete with a bow tie.

Kurt fought the urge to scoff. The bookbag at his side was more than enough for Kurt to draw out the obvious conclusion – a first year. He looked down at his own clothes and grimaced. He'd really let himself go – not weight wise, but fashion wise. He was wearing sweats and a hoodie, and he wrinkled his nose. Maybe it was time to stop being a college student and start being a person again.

But not to the extent that this bubble of happy was. He was even reading a textbook on the bus. Kurt tilted his head subtly to check what course he was in – Drama. He smirked. A first year Drama student. What a bundle of joy that would be.

A few stops later, Kurt had stopped paying attention to the boy and instead was back to his music. They both got off together, but the boy didn't pay any attention to him, pulling out a map and happily bounding up the seven flights of stairs to the first buildings.

Kurt shook his head.

First years'.

^.^

The next day, at the same number of stops in, Kurt found himself sitting next to the bundle of energy again. This time, Kurt was better dressed this time, a small improvement, but instead of sweats he had his jeans. Still had the hoodie though. The boy was no less excited for his second day of college, and Kurt had to marvel at his enthusiasm. Surely he wasn't this joyful in his first year?

As the week went on, Kurt noticed that the boy always chose the seat next to him. Regardless of the number of people on the bus, he was always next to him. One day, nobody else was on the bus and he still sat there.

Kurt didn't know whether to be amused or worried.

Soon, a whole semester passed, and Kurt didn't see the boy for a week during the mid-semester break. He signed up for new classes, getting a new and so much better timetable. He was a little sad he wouldn't see the boy again every day, but he was so much happier about not having eight starts.

But on the Wednesday, as he was sitting in his favourite seat, he watched the boy climb on the bus and, as if nothing had changed, he went and sat down next to Kurt.

Finally, Kurt decided to speak to him. He paused his iPod, taking both headphones out.

"Hey again." he said with a small smile.

The boy seemed ecstatic that Kurt had made contact. "Hi!" he beamed. "I missed you these past two days, bus buddy."

Kurt blinked rapidly, severely amused. Bus buddy? He let out a laugh, beaming. "I don't have early starts on Monday and Tuesday anymore." He said as explanation.

"Oh, right." He beamed. "I love early classes. Really gets everything flowing."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, a grin on his face. "Perhaps when you're playing games. I have to be careful not to stab myself with a needle."

Blaine shrugged happily. "Regardless, it gets you thinking." He said softly. "You do fashion, right?"

Kurt nodded.

"Okay, so you're constantly thinking about designs, rearranging and mentally picturing how things would look. Stimulating." He explained.

Kurt laughed. "Well, aren't you insightful."

Blaine shrugged, sticking out his hand. "I'm Blaine."

"Kurt." He grinned, shaking his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same to you, Kurt."

^.^

After that, Kurt and Blaine ended up talking every time they managed to be on the bus together. At the end of that semester, they added each other on Facebook and got each other's numbers, and started hanging out outside of their bus trips.

When Kurt was in his third year, and Blaine in his second, they met on the bus early Monday morning, both clad in sweats and hoodies.

"Nicely done, second year." Kurt nodded his approval, beaming at Blaine.

"I've learned from the best." Blaine laughed back. "What are you doing after class?" he asked.

"Mm, going home, I guess." Kurt shrugged. "What I always do after class."

"Do you…maybe want to go get a coffee with me?"

^.^

The relationship was beautiful. Each semester, they aligned their classes so they were on the bus together. They hung out before and after classes and became almost inseparable.

But Blaine started to notice something. Kurt had started retreating. He still hung out – never missed a date or a class, but he started to lack the enthusiasm that had come with meeting Blaine. He started to look like he was when Blaine first climbed aboard the bus and chose to sit next to Kurt – beaten down, stressed and sick of life.

Coming home to it was always worrying – Blaine was afraid that Kurt would recede completely. Lately it was just in his eyes, no longer sparkling and bright, but dull and deserted. At lunchtime, Kurt never ate as much as he used to. Usually they split a small box of chips and a salad, but Kurt had been opting for just the salad recently.

Something was wrong, and Blaine was determined to find out. The problem was, Kurt wasn't willing to talk about it. Regardless of anything Blaine said, Kurt assured him he was fine. Obviously, anyone could see that he wasn't – even his tutors were starting to comment on his lack of attitude and fire to his designs.

"Please, Kurt…are you sure nothing is wrong?" he pleaded that night as they studied.

"Of course nothing's wrong…" Kurt said softly, biting his lip.

But there was something wrong. It was threatening to overwhelm Kurt, swallowing him whole. And he didn't know what to do.

It was claustrophobia, and it was hitting him hard.

Every single day it was the same thing. Kurt would wake up. He'd be in his house until he had to catch the bus. Then he went to college, and sat through a class. He caught the bus back home, stayed in his house until dinner. He ate, then he went to bed.

He was trapped in the routine of his life. He knew each bump in the road and could tell you where the bus was at any turn or stop with his eyes closed. He saw the same sights and felt the same things, and nothing was changing.

He had recognised the feeling too – it had started to hit him the semester before he met Blaine. The meeting had obviously changed his routine, but now that Blaine had become a part of his life his mind was settling again.

Ohio was too small. He wanted to go.

He wanted to go to New York and perform. He wanted to fail at auditions and be a struggling artist. He wanted to take on the world and laugh when it spat in his face. He wanted everything to be new and exciting.

But he was halfway through college. He was going to go into fashion.

His future was rolled out in front of him like a big red carpet and yet all he wanted to do was get back into the limo and drive as far away as he could.

How could he explain any of that to Blaine?

"Kurt…I'm worried about you."

"I'm sorry." Kurt murmured. "I'm just…trying to figure some stuff out."

Blaine chewed his lower lip. "Can I help?"

"I don't know how you could." He said softly.

"Can I try?"

Kurt huffed softly. Clearly his boyfriend wasn't going to let it go now that he'd scratched the surface.

So the long conversation began. They got frustrated at each other – Kurt couldn't quite put it into words and Blaine tried to pre-empt his thoughts. It took almost an hour to sort it all out – for Blaine to find the core of his problems, and to start thinking of a solution.

It almost hurt that life here with him wasn't enough – that being his boyfriend was routine and mundane. But he kind of understood that it wasn't about him.

"Why don't you do it?" Blaine asked softly, and Kurt glanced up at him.

"I still have a year and a half of my course…"

"Defer." He shrugged. "Put it on hold. Kurt, you're not happy…"

"But…"

"Do it right now. Log onto the website and defer."

"Blaine…"

"Do you want to go to college for the next year and a half?"

"No…"

"Then don't." Blaine said firmly. "I don't want to watch you waste away…"

Kurt stared at Blaine for a long time, mapping out the possibilities, before he leant over and grabbed his laptop, an excited glint in his eyes. It automatically made Blaine smile – he hadn't seen that face for a couple of months.

Blaine sat next to him as he called up the college, filling out online forms, before finally he put the phone down and clicked the button.

"I'm no longer going to college." He breathed, voice shaky.

"Do you feel better?" Blaine asked, and Kurt let out a little laugh.

"Yes."

A/N: In other news, how are all y'all going? (lol... all y'all...)