Hello everyone! I saw that a few of you noticed that I left Quinn and Artie out of the bowling scene-I did that on purpose, mostly because neither of them were really in a relationship at the end of season 2, and a) I wanted it to be a...however many couple date kinda thing, and b) I felt uncomfortable writing them into the scene given the way I'd put everyone else in there. Does that make sense? Sorry for the confusion (good to know you all are paying attention!) :]

Stuff with Blaine's parents had always been...sticky, to say the least, but Kurt had never seen things this bad. At worst, Blaine would lay around for a few hours, but eventually he would let Kurt drag him downstairs to bake a cake, or cuddle on the couch, or go out for lunch, but now...he just...lay there. Face down on the bed, the only sign of life the gentle rise and fall of his chest.

And no matter what, Kurt couldn't shake him. No matter how many times he stroked his hair, whispered "I love you" and "everything will be okay", no matter what he offered, Blaine just...lay there.

So after a while, Kurt stopped trying. Blaine would talk when he wanted to, and all Kurt could do was be there when he did.

So Kurt took to sitting cross-legged on the bed, magazine in his lap and hand on Blaine's shoulder.

After two and a half days of Blaine not leaving at all, Kurt knew they needed an intervention. So when he woke up on the third day, he trotted down to the kitchen, fixed a huge breakfast (cereal, toast, eggs, bacon, an english muffin, and a bagel alongside glasses of orange juice, milk, and coffee. He wanted variety, hoping something would catch Blaine's fancy), arranged it on a tray, and carried it up to the bedroom.

Quietly, he nudged open the door and set the tray on the desk, then walked around the bed to kneel in front of Blaine, who looked at him, past him, through him, with half-open eyes.

Kurt sat quietly for a moment, before bringing a hand to rest on Blaine's cheek. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, a few stray tears leaking out, and pulled a hand from under the covers to place a hand on top of Kurt's.

"I just..." Blaine said, with great effort, before he trailed off.

"Shh," Kurt cooed. "I know, honey, it's okay." He brushed the pad of his thumb lightly over the corner of Blaine's mouth. After a few silent moments, he added, "But you need to get out of bed. I made you breakfast."

"Not hungry," Blaine said, trying to turn his head away, but Kurt held him in place. "Blaine," he said firmly. "I love you, and I know you're upset; I can't even imagine what this must be like for you. But you need to get up. It's not healthy for you to just lay here and not eat or bathe or anything." He twisted one of Blaine's limp curls between his fingers and let it flop pitifully back onto Blaine's forehead. Even his hair was sad.

Blaine opened his eyes, looking up at Kurt with heartbreaking hazel eyes. "I don't want to eat right now...but will you take a bath with me?"

Kurt hesitated. That wasn't exactly what he had intended...

"No," Blaine said, picking up immediately. "Just...take a bath with me. I don't want to be alone."

"Okay," Kurt said, giving in at once. "I'll go get it started," he said, hopping to his feet and into the bathroom.

He'd taken enough showers with Blaine to know how he liked the water-upwards of warm, but not scalding like Kurt liked it. As the water thundered from the tap, Kurt added bubbles-lots of them. Because nothing's better than a bubble bath when you're sad, and Blaine was definitely sad.

Once the tub was full, Kurt returned to the bedroom. Blaine had moved to the edge of the bed, and Kurt noticed with relief that a few bites of the toast were missing.

"Um...it's ready," Kurt said softly, and Blaine looked up. He stood up with a sigh, removing his shirt in one fluid motion.

Kurt would never get used to Blaine's body, to the fact that it was so perfectly his, even at times like now, when being naked wasn't about sex, it was just about being together.

Blaine paused, looking at Kurt uncertainly.

"...what?" Kurt asked after a self-concious moment.

Blaine blushed a little. "I was, um...I was just wondering if I could be the little spoon..."

Kurt's heart filled with warm affection for the absolutely perfect boy before him. He smiled softly. "Of course," he said, and began undressing. Blaine followed suit, unable to stop a content little smile from creeping onto his face. When Kurt was finished, he slid into the tub, leaning himself against the cool porcelain curve, and looked at Blaine expectantly, who followed at once, leaning his back against Kurt's chest. He rested his arms on Kurt's, which were resting along the edges of the tub, and wound their fingers together, letting his head drop back onto Kurt's shoulder.

"I'm just...so...tired," Blaine said on an exhale.

Kurt leaned his cheek against Blaine's head. "I know, babe, I know."

Blaine turned his head to brush his nose against Kurt's neck. "But I love you. You're perfect."

Kurt smiled softly at Blaine's breath wafting across his neck. "You must be rubbing off on me." He felt Blaine laugh against him.

After a few silent minutes, Blaine whispered, "What am I going to do, Kurt?"

Kurt remained silent for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"My parents are gone, Kurt. They left me. Like they didn't even...like they don't even care about me."

All at once, Kurt felt his heart shatter into a million billion pieces. "Blaine..."

"It's true, Kurt!" Blaine said, and Kurt could hear the tears already choking his voice. He moved his hands from the rim of the tub to wrap them around Blaine's body, hugging him closer and resting his chin on Blaine's shoulder. "They don't want me, so they left me. They just...left."

"Sh," Kurt cooed, tightening his arms once more to encourage Blaine to let it out. "It's okay, Blaine. It's okay to be upset, I'm right here."

So Blaine cried. He cried and cried and cried-sobbed, actually, and Kurt did his best to comfort him by peppering his neck with kisses and just listening. By the time Blaine started calming down, the bubbles had dispersed and the water was growing colder by the minute.

"Let's get out, okay?" Kurt suggested, as Blaine was shivering. Perhaps from all the crying, but maybe from the water. "We can talk in the bedroom."

Blaine nodded his agreement, teeth chattering and his breath still coming in gasps. He stood on the bath mat, arms wrapped around himself and shivering as Kurt rushed to retrieve two towels for them. Tenderly, he draped one over Blaine's shoulders, kissing his nose in the process. Blaine offered up a small, watery smile, and followed Kurt into the bed room.

They climbed under Kurt's navy covers without bothering to get dressed; they lay chest to chest, Kurt's arms around Blaine and Blaine's hands between their hearts.

"I love you so much, Blaine," Kurt began, pressing the tip of his nose into Blaine's hair. "And I hate seeing you this upset, because I don't know what to do...I don't know what I can do."

"You're doing enough," Blaine whispered. "Just...this. This is good enough for me."

"But I need to do so much more for you, Blaine. You are a wonderful person, and you don't deserve this. You don't deserve what your parents did to you, Blaine, and...we are going to work this out, Blaine. We will." A silent moment passed. "Do you remember when you were sick? Really sick? When you were in the hospital and wouldn't wake up?"

Blaine nodded, his hair tickling the bottom of Kurt's chin.

"That was one of the worst things that's ever happened to me, Blaine. I don't know if I've ever been so scared in my entire life, and I wasn't sure if I would ever get through it-if we would ever get through it. But we did. And I know we can get through this too."

"Thank you, Kurt," Blaine said, and Kurt thought he could hear tears again. "For everything."

The next morning, while Blaine slept in, Kurt filled Burt and Carole in on the situation. Burt looked dumbstruck and Carole began to cry, and of course it was okay for Blaine to stay with him, as long as he needed.

"Thanks, guys," Kurt said, and Burt clapped him on the shoulder.

"Blaine's a good kid, Kurt, and what you two have is special," he said, making his way out of the kitchen as Carole began cleaning up the breakfast things.

"Thanks, Dad," Kurt said, placing his hand over his father's. "Oh, and Carole, you can leave that stuff out. I was going to make something for Blaine."

"Sure thing, kiddo," she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek and following Burt out.

After a moment more at the table, mulling everything over, Kurt made his way over to the stove, collecting the necessary omelet ingredients. Just as he was dicing peppers to put in it, he heard someone enter the kitchen behind him. He looked over his shoulder: a tousle-haired Blaine stood in the doorway, his phone in one hand, and a shirt he'd clearly put on in a rush twisted around his neck.

"Blaine?"

"Jamie. My Uncle Jamie," Blaine said in a rush, hurrying over to him and grabbing his wrists. "They got a letter from my mom, and they have one for me, too. I need to go, Kurt, I need to see them."

"Of course," Kurt said, dropping the knife back to the counter with a clatter. "I'll go with you!"

Blaine hesitated."What is it?" Kurt asked softly.

"Well...my uncle...he doesn't know that...that I'm gay. My parents never told anyone, they were hoping I'd..." he trailed off and looked up at Kurt. "I think it's best if I just...go alone, and try to gauge the situation first."

"Oh," Kurt said, searching Blaine's face. "I don't want you to have to go alone..."

"Don't worry," Blaine said, pressing a hand and a kiss to Kurt's face. "Uncle Jamie's always been much more level-headed than my Dad. I'll be fine, and I'll see you soon!" And he was gone, leaving Kurt alone by the stove, the bacon in the pan having burned.

Kurt paced for two hours, glancing at the clock every thirty seconds while Blaine was gone. For the last half hour, Burt, Carole, and Finn had drifted in and out, watched him for a while, said he made them nervous, and left him alone to his pacing.

Finally, at one o clock, Blaine called.

"Blaine!" Kurt said, snatching his phone up from it's perch on the arm of the couch.

"Hi Kurt," Blaine said swiftly. "I just want you to know that I'm okay, great actually, and I'm coming home now, okay? I'll explain everything then. I love you, bye!"

"Love you-" Kurt started to say, but the click on the other end cut him off.

Half an hour later, Blaine had returned to the Hummel-Hudson home, a wrinkled envelope clutched in his hand, next to three flowers.

"Hi Kurt," he said, kissing his cheek in greeting and offering up the flowers. "I got these for you."

"Thank you" Kurt said, his eyes following Blaine into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Blaine said, getting a class from the cabinet and filled it with water at the sink. He watched Kurt watch him as he chugged the water, and when it was half empty, he moved to sit at the kitchen table, his back to Kurt so he could face the window over-looking the love garden. "Come sit with me?" he said without turning around, and Kurt obliged, dropping into the chair next to him.

Blaine kept his face forward as he spoke. "My aunt and uncle are moving to Lima," he said, "They got a letter from my mom too." He scooted the crumpled envelope between them across the table towards Kurt, who tenderly picked it up. Blaine watched him from the corner of his eyes as he read.

To Blaine, it read, and then the rest in a shaky and hurried scrawl, with what looked like tear stains littering the page.

You have no idea how much this pains me to right, but I'm sure it's for the best.

Your father and I, Blaine, we weren't good for you. We weren't much good for each other, either, but you are a better person than the two of us mixed together, and so you deserve better.

And that's why I left, Blaine, and I'm never coming back. I was a terrible mother, and I wasn't equipped to handle everything life threw at me. And your father, when he gets out...he's leaving too. We're both going far away, away from it all, but I don't want you to blame yourself. We are the bad ones, Blaine. You are a wonderful, beautiful, wholesome person. And you don't deserve any of what we did to you.

I'm sorry, Blaine, and I hope you can forgive me somewhere down the line. I won't tell you where I'm going, or where I am now. If we meet again some time in the future...I hope it can be a good thing for you. And if not...I'll most certainly understand.

I love you, Blaine, and I'm sorry.

Love, Mom.

Kurt stared at the paper a few moments more than necessary before finally looking up at Blaine, who had turned back to the window. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes, and he leaned over to wrap his arms around Blaine.

"I'm so, so sorry, Blaine," he whispered, and felt one of Blaine's hands come to rest on his arm.

"It's not your fault," Blaine replied, his voice shaking. "Maybe she's right. Maybe it is for the best."

Kurt pulled back, keeping his hand on Blaine's shoulder and watching him carefully. "So what now?"

Blaine sighed, running one hand over his hair. "Well, I talked to Uncle Jay. Like, really talked. I told him everything. About getting sick, and about you, and about us...and he said he wants me to move in with them. With him and my Aunt Kathy."

"...oh," was all Kurt said.

"And I think I should."

"...oh."

Blaine looked over at Kurt. "It's not...not because...I just..."

"No," Kurt said, offering up a half-hearted smile. "I understand. They're your family."

"You're not...upset?"

"Well, yeah, I'm a little sad that we won't get to cuddle every night," Kurt said honestly, shrugging. "But Blaine, you should never feel guilty for wanting to be with your family. I understand."

Blaine's face broke into a wide smile. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Kurt said, with a grin of his own. He leaned over to kiss Blaine softly on the mouth. "So...when are you moving in?"

"They'll be moving in within the next few days-they're only moving from Cleveland. So sometime next week, I guess."

So we still have time together, Kurt thought, but said, "Great. I'll help you."

Blaine smiled even wider and squeezed Kurt's hand. "You're the best boyfriend ever."

A few days later, with no more spoken on the subject of Blaine's parents, as the boys lay in bed one night, Kurt rolled over and said softly, "Blaine?"

"Mmm?" Blaine said, rolling over and draping one arm across Kurt's stomach.

"Are you...upset about your parents? At all?"

Blaine sat up on one elbow, suddenly awake. He opened his mouth, shut it. Thought for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

Kurt shrugged, playing with Blaine's fingers. "You just haven't said much about it."

Blaine flopped back to his stomach. "I mean...yeah, I'm a little upset. They were my parents, you know? But it's like my mom said in her letter...they weren't good for me. And...I didn't...I didn't like living somewhere where I had to be afraid to be myself."

Kurt dropped his fingers, turning his head to look at Blaine on the pillow next to him. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I know," Blaine whispered, a slight smile barely visible in the dark. "But I haven't been truly afraid since I found you."

The next week, Kurt and Blaine found themselves lugging box after box into Blaine's new home. True to Blaine's word, Jamie and Kathy were wonderful people, and Kathy greeted Kurt with a huge hug and offers of lemonade and dinner once they were finished unpacking. And of course Kurt was welcome anytime.

The unpacking took most of the day, so by the time they finished around seven-thirty, they were all too tuckered out to do much cooking. So Jamie and Kathy offered to make a pizza run.

They boys flopped backwards onto Blaine's bed, side by side and fingertips touching oh-so-slightly.

"Thanks for helping us," Blaine said after a moment, inching closer to Kurt.

"Of course," Kurt said, oblivious to Blaine's advances, as his eyes were closed.

"This is a nice tank top," Blaine said, suddenly in Kurt's ear, and Kurt jumped. Blaine climbed over top of Kurt, straddling him, immediately attaching their mouths. Kurt responded instantly, his hands roving across Blaine's back and under his shirt.

It had been a while since they'd gotten to do anything remotely sexual, and it seemed as if it had gotten a million times better in the hiatus. "How much time do we have?" Kurt said in a gasping voice, pulling his mouth away as Blaine began sucking his neck. Blaine reached down to start undoing Kurt's pants and said, "Don't know, don't care."

"Blaine," Kurt said, grabbing Blaine's wrist in a half-hearted attempt to stop his boyfriend from ravishing him right then and there.

"We have plenty of time, Kurt," Blaine said hastily, sliding his hands under Kurt's shirt and in turn sliding it up and over Kurt's head. He trailed a line of kisses down his neck and down the center of his chest, leaving what felt like a trail of fire in his wake.

Once he reached the waistband on Kurt's underwear, he wasted no time in pulling them down, prompting Kurt to lift his to grant him access.

"Lube," Blaine said, planting kisses on Kurt's pale, perfect thighs over and over. "Bedside drawer."

But the word sparked something in Kurt's mind, something that had been gnawing at him for quite some time."Wait," he said.

"Kurt, we have plenty of time," Blaine said impatiently. "At least forty-five minutes."

"No, that's not it," Kurt said, wiggling away and tugging his underwear back up. "We need to talk."

"Can I at least get you off first?"

Kurt blushed at Blaine's bluntness. "I'm afraid I'll forget."

Blaine sighed, but backed away from Kurt, sitting cross-legged across from him. "Okay," he said. "I'm all ears." But he had to admit, his lower half was getting a little uncomfortable, and his eyes drifted down to Kurt's crotch. He smirked; at least they were in the same boat.

"Okay," Kurt said on a breath. He didn't really know where to begin, so he reached for Blaine's hands. "So...sex...it's nice," he blurted, and Blaine stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"No, stop! I'm being serious!" Kurt said, his face flaming red.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Blaine said, pulling one hand away to wipe the tears of laughter from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll be good."

Kurt looked at him reproachfully for a moment before continuing. "So...we've done...a lot..." Kurt said slowly, remembering with a thrill the way his fingers had felt inside of Blaine the night after Blaine's birthday dinner, the way everything that passed between them felt: like pure, unadulterated passion.

And it was really, really awesome.

Blaine nodded, his fingers inching up Kurt's thigh earnestly.

"And I've kind of been thinking..." Kurt said, trying his best to ignore his boyfriend's wandering hand. "That maybe...we could do more. Like...you know. Go 'all the way'." He made airquotes around "all the way", and it stopped Blaine in his tracks.

A moment of silence passed, in which Kurt grew redder and Blaine tried to calm his pounding heart and willed the head on his shoulders to focus.

"You mean...like...sex? Like...real sex?" Blaine stammered, looking at Kurt in pleasant surprise.

Kurt rolled his eyes, trying to make it seem like no big deal, even though it totally was. "Yes, Blaine, penetration and everything."

"Oh," Blaine said, and leaned back on his hands. Kurt watched him carefully.

"...so?" Kurt prompted after a minute, and Blaine looked back up at him.

"Well I mean...I've thought about it too. A lot," he said, feeling his own cheeks turn pink. It was true, though, that he'd thought about, and he'd definitely had more than one dream where he'd woken up, grinding against a pillow and his underwear slick with precome, the ghosts of Kurt's made-up moans ringing in his ears. Lucky for Blaine, he'd been able to avoid those dreams while at Kurt's house. "Just...wow."

Kurt looked at him expectantly.

"Wait, you meant like...now?" Blaine sputtered, and Kurt's face plunged into the deepest shade of red yet.

"No!" he hissed. "No, not now! Just...eventually. Soon, maybe."

"Okay," Blaine said, nodding, an idea already growing in his mind. "Okay."

"Okay," Kurt repeated, and they looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

"So...can I..?" Blaine said, already reaching towards Kurt's crotch.

Kurt rolled his eyes and laughed, leaning back on his elbows.

Two days later, once Blaine and his Aunt and Uncle were settled into their new house, Blaine drove over to Kurt's house, the first time they'd seen each other since the day they moved in.

"Hiya!" Blaine said brightly, as Kurt pulled open the door.

But, um, Kurt looked kind of...well, Kurt looked positively crazy.

His hair was askew, as if he'd been dragging his fingers through it, his clothes were crooked, and his eyes were damp, and Blaine would be slightly suspicious if Kurt didn't throw his arms around Blaine's neck at that moment, wailing and half-sobbing.

"Oh, Blaine, what am I going to do? There are so many choices, what if I make the wrong one? What if we don't end up at the same place? What if-"

"Kurt, whoa, slow down!" Blaine said, prying Kurt from around his neck and holding his boyfriend at arms length. "What's going on?" Kurt shook his head, turning and running up the stairs. Blaine heard his door slam shut a few seconds later.

At that moment, Finn wandered out of the kitchen, Moon Pie in his hand, and surveyed Blaine's bewildered expression with amusement.

"He's been like that since he got back from your house the other day," Finn said thickly, through a mouthful of Pie. "He was looking through all the college stuff he's gotten since freshman year and just lost it."

"Oh," Blaine said with relief. "I thought it was something I'd done."

Finn shrugged. "Maybe you can calm him down," he said, and started away. He paused in the doorway to the living room to add, "And try to get him to eat, will ya? I've only seen him drink coffee in the past coupla days."

"Will do," Blaine said, saluting Finn and heading up the stairs.

"Kurt?" Blaine said, knocking on the door lightly. He tried the knob. Locked. "Babe, open the door."

"I'll never get into a good college!" Kurt wailed, and Blaine rolled his eyes. Kurt could be such a drama queen. "Kurt, let me in, okay?"

He heard sniffles, and a moment later, he heard a click. He opened the door just in time to see Kurt slinking back to a bed that was littered in pamphlets and virtual tour CDs and informational booklets and photos of smiling students and...wow. Holy shit. Blaine could see how Kurt was overwhelmed.

Blaine waded through the madness over to the bed, brushing papers away and sitting beside the quivering lump he knew was his boyfriend. He rubbed small circles on Kurt's back, shhing all the while.

After a few minutes, Kurt's sobs softened to sniffles, and he poked his head out from the blankets. "Don't look at me," he said. "Let me clean myself up first."

Blaine closed his eyes...or, pretended to. He watched Kurt from beneath his lashes, unable to stop himself from opening them as Kurt peeled his pajama top off to replace it.

"Hey!" Kurt said, catching Blaine looking as he glanced over his shoulder. "I told you not to look!" He frantically covered his red, tear-stained face, his shirt hanging open, and felt his way one-handed towards the bathroom.

"Kurt," Blaine said, standing up and grabbing Kurt's wrists. He tugged Kurt's hand away from his face, and looked into his crystal clear eyes. "You are beautiful," he said softly, and kept his eyes on Kurt's as he leaned in and kissed him.

"Now," Blaine said, leading Kurt over to the bed and pulling him onto his lap. "What's going on? What's all this?" He gestured to the sheer chaos that surrounded them.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's shoulder and buried his face in his neck. "I just...I don't know. I started thinking and I realized, we're seniors, Blaine, we're going to graduate this year and go to college! And...I have no idea where I'm going to school at! And what if we don't go to school together? What if we end up across the country? What if we...what if we break up, Blaine?" he said the last part softly, moving to look up at Blaine.

"Kurt," Blaine said again, hugging him closer. "It's okay for you to be worried about this. Everyone does. I do too,"

"You do?"

"All the time," Blaine nodded. "And as for if we end up at different schools...so what? I love you, and you love me, and I'm in this for the long haul. I'm not going to let a silly thing like distance get in the way of us, Kurt. I want to m-" Blaine stopped himself, his heart racing.

"You want to what?" Kurt said quickly. "You want to what, Blaine?"

"Nothing," Blaine said, the tips of his ears turning red. "Um...do you want some help with this?"

Kurt stared at him for a few seconds before realizing that Blaine wasn't going to let up, and he sighed. "Not today. Let's just...let's just put it away, and I'll deal with it later."

"Okay," Blaine said, tenderly sliding Kurt off of his lap and rubbing his hands together. "Where do we start?"

"Well, I had them alphabetized..."

Blaine chuckled, picking up a handful of brochures. "Alphabetized they shall be, then."

Kurt grinned and wiped his eyes one more time, before getting to his feet and joining his boyfriend.

Okay, horribly, horribly sorry for the delay. School is going CRAZY, so I'm only really able to write on the weekends. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I'm trying to wrap things up so we can all move on with our lives (although I will be sad when this story is over).

So! Things to expect for next chapter: the eeeevil plans Blaine's been formulating for quite some time (hope you've been paying attention!), and...yeah. That's about it. I purposely saved this last big thing for the last chapter (yes, next chapter is the last one...probably), so I can draw it out as long as I like :] I'll try to get it cranked out in the next two weeks or so...you guys are the best! Reviews make my heart go whee...like super whee! Stay fabulous :]