Blue eyes.

It was always those damn blue eyes. Kurt could feel his heart rate quicken and his breath catch every single time the man with the blue eyes came through for his daily subway ticket. He had the most brilliant smile and if the man had said two words to him he wouldn't have been able to reply coherently.

It had become the only bright spot in his ordinarily dreary life. He'd come to New York with big Broadway hopes and dreams when he was just shy of nineteen. That was nearly six years ago and the bright shiny lights of the stage had seemed to become dimmer and dimmer with each passing day. He was nowhere near where he had wanted to be at this point in his life.

Kurt had a small low end apartment with very poor upkeep handled by a landlord who hit on him every chance he got. The man could be sweet (albeit creepy as well), if Kurt was being honest, but he had given Kurt a place to stay when every other place in the city had refused (thanks to having no credit to his name), so he was grateful for that at least. Kurt also had a pet cat named Liza, who almost enabled him to forget that he had no current love life; in fact he'd never had one to begin with.

His years in high school had been a time full of confusion, fear, and bullying. He'd tried to be brave enough, to fight back against those who tried to intimidate him but when he once tried to stand up to the main football player giving him hell, the reaction he got to his resistance was not the one he'd been expecting. He had not in anyway expected to be kissed, to have his first kiss stolen by the one person he had been absolutely terrified of. Afterward, he began pulling back into himself. The guy who'd kissed him, Dave Karofsky, had threatened his life and Kurt had felt he had no one to turn to for help.

Kurt had started eating less, withdrawing even further into himself, he'd stopped being social with his friends, and his fashion choices for school had started to suffer horribly. Everyone knew something was wrong but only tried to say something when it became too obvious to ignore; Kurt had just blown them off. His father had even tried to corner him while trying in vain to get him to sit down and eat something. Kurt had felt trapped and got angry and had lashed out. His heart had hammered tightly against his chest as he rushed from the kitchen and up to his room where he locked his door, and his father had given up deciding to leave him alone for the moment.

He ended up fainting in Glee a week later. Kurt could honestly say he was unable to remember anything that happened that day. He'd been in a haze for most of the day and had found himself in Glee club rehearsing for sectionals, on autopilot, when the next thing he knew he was falling to the ground; he heard the raised voices of his friends as they quickly rushed to his side along with Mr. Schue's command for someone to call for help. The next thing he knew he was waking up in a hospital bed, with an IV in his arm, and the fatigued figure of his father sitting at his bedside.

Everything had felt blurry and Kurt had wanted to cry but he had been unable to which made him want to cry even more out of frustration. His father gripped his hand and held it in his own as he explained to him that he (Kurt) was severely dehydrated (which explained his difficulty crying), underweight, and on the verge of malnourishment. The pained expression on his father's face made him want to crawl inside himself and hide forever. He'd done that to his father because he'd been trying so hard to hold onto some kind of control in his own messed up life that he'd given no thought to what it might end up doing to those he loved most.

Kurt felt so lost and confused, but the squeeze from his father's hand caught his attention and his father asked him to explain what was going on. Reluctantly, Kurt spoke quickly of what was going on at McKinley and of what Karofsky had threatened to do. He hated feeling so powerless and scared that he had reached out to his father. All he had wanted in that moment was to be held, by his daddy, to feel safe again. Burt took his weakened son into his arms and calmly tried to sooth him as the tears finally started to fall from Kurt's sleep heavy eyes.

Kurt had been taken out of William McKinley High the following week. His father had lodged a formal complaint with the school as well as with the school board and he had fought for Karofsky to be disciplined fully. From that moment on, Kurt had been home schooled.

Kurt's father had also made sure to get him into counseling for his weight loss and eating while ensuring Kurt's health and recovery were monitored completely (by both himself and his wife Carole.) The changes were for the best and Kurt ended up graduating half a year early, and before he could change his mind Kurt saved what he could and moved to New York City. He'd thought about college but decided a year off before starting would do him good; that one year had turned in nearly six.

In all that time Kurt went on audition after audition always hoping for his big break, but it never came. He had tried meeting others socially but had seemingly failed at that as well. Kurt began distancing himself from everything he loved again. His father in Lima still called regularly to make sure he was taking care of himself and eating right, but nothing much outside of that. Miss Rachel Berry herself was in New York City attending NYADA but Kurt rarely heard from her and had never once met up with her. Kurt was alone in what was supposed to be the city of his dreams. His one and only kiss had been from the one boy who had tormented him in school, and he had no promising future romantic ties or professional opportunities in sight. Kurt felt defeated.

That's why he loved his almost daily brief encounter with Mr. Blue Eyes himself. The man had a kind smile, even though he was almost always on his cell whenever he got his subway ticket from the booth Kurt manned more often then not.

Kurt would find himself day dreaming of the life he and Mr. Blue Eyes would have together. They'd get an upscale apartment in the center of New York City, right near the "Great White Way" (Broadway), they'd go out for dinner and a show every weekend. They'd constantly hold hands and kiss, Mr. Blue Eyes would constantly surprise him with flowers, and on Sunday mornings they'd stay in bed having amazing sex until they exhausted each other to the point of falling asleep again while still in each other's arms. Kurt would always blush at the thought of sex but the idea of it was something he had always longed for, but not just with anyone, he wanted it with someone he loved with all of his heart and who loved him just as much.

"You matter Kurt."

His father's word's had stuck with him after that ill fated attempt at "the talk" between them all those years ago, but even then Kurt had known it would be a very long time before he would be doing anything with anyone.

"Hey Kurt! Here comes your man."

He glared at the woman, his co-worker Crystal, who often shared the booth with him during her shifts, and he turned forward right as Mr. Blue Eyes walked up, right on cue, once again chatting away on his mobile phone.

Kurt took his money and gave him his ticket and received a smile and a wink in return. It was later in the day and there were just a few people around so Kurt got a chance to watch as Mr. Blue Eyes walked towards his platform.

Get a grip on yourself.

"Finally propose yet?" Crystal asked teasingly.

Slightly shaking his head, Kurt just kept watching Mr. Blue Eyes resting his chin gently in his gloved hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Crystal laughed shaking her head as she turned back towards her window, leaving Kurt to his thoughts.

That's when it happened, the moment that would set into motion the events that would change Kurt and his life forever.

Two hooded figures seemed to come out from nowhere. Mr. Blue Eyes wasn't even aware of their approaching presence and Kurt could see what was about to go down.

Quickly he leapt from his seat and began banging against the glass trying in vain to get Mr. Blue Eyes' attention, but he remained aloof. The two hooded figures used him being distracted to their advantage, there was a scuffle as Mr. Blue Eyes was knocked to the ground but he began to fight back with the two men. Crystal was in shock at Kurt's side as he rushed to the door leading out of their closed off booth, he told Crystal to call 911 and without even thinking he rushed out heading towards the three men.

"Hey! Hey!" He yelled out without thinking.

This caught the two hooded men off guard because they roughly shoved Mr. Blue Eyes backwards as they ran from the scene. Kurt barely caught the sight of Mr. Blue Eyes just as he went over the edge of the platform, landing right on top of the subway tracks.