The leaves crunched beneath his boots as he walked through the thicket of trees. Kurt still had a few minutes before sunset when he reached the clearing and he gently placed his basket on the grass before kneeling next to it. He opened it from one side and pulled out a thin blanket before draping it out across the ground. He sat down gingerly on the burgundy fleece before turning his attention back to the basket.

He pulled out a small candelabra and three candles, placing them carefully in their places and grabbed a box of matches. He took one out struck it against the side, watching as the flame sprung up from the tip. He lit the candles and shook out the match before drawing his knees to his chest and waiting.

He looked up at the sky, a circle of pinks and oranges and yellows through the tops of the trees. Soon, he told himself. It’s almost time.

“Candles?” a voice called from the other side of the clearing and Kurt looked over to see a young man standing near the edge of the trees. He looked around seventeen years old with dark curly hair and light hazel-golden eyes. He wore mustard colored capris and a sweater vest. His outfit was completed with a bowtie. “How romantic,” he said and smiled, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

He walked toward Kurt and Kurt jumped to his feet. Once the boy was close enough, Kurt threw his arms around his neck and buried his face into the crook of his neck. The boy chuckled and wrapped his own arms tightly around Kurt’s waist, placing a gentle kiss at his temple. “You know you don’t have to keep coming here, Kurt,” the boy said and Kurt’s eyes pricked with oncoming tears. He pulled back and looked at the shorter boy.

“You don’t want me here?” he asked, hoping that’s not what he’d meant.

“No, no, of course I do,” he quickly corrected. “I just- Kurt I want you to be happy. I want you to have so many things and we both know that I can’t-” Kurt cut the boy off with his lips, pressing them firmly to his. One of the boy’s hands went to Kurt’s cheek and stroked his skin delicately as Kurt deepened the kiss.

“Don’t talk like that,” Kurt said softly when he pulled back. “I love you, Blaine. Nothing is ever going to change that.”

“I know you do. I’ll always have a place here,” Blaine said as he placed his hand over Kurt’s heart. “But you can’t honestly want this, Kurt. You shouldn’t even be here right now. You should be in New York. You should be living out your dreams. You shouldn’t be working in some dead end job and coming here every night to spend a few hours with your dead boyfriend. Kurt you deserve so much better than that- than this.” Blaine gestured to the small clearing and Kurt looked around. It was darker now. The sun had gone down and the clearing was bathed in a soft yellow light from the candles. Kurt looked back at Blaine and shook his head.

“You don’t deserve this either, Blaine. This is my fault. All of it is. I was driving that night. If I had been watching the road, we wouldn’t have…” Kurt trailed off. It had been three years but Kurt still had trouble talking about the accident. Kurt had been visiting home from New York over Christmas break and was talking Blaine out on a date. They were on their way back to Blaine’s house after catching a midnight premiere of some movie Kurt couldn’t even recall and the couple had been messing around. They were listening to the radio at a deafening level and singing along happily and Kurt took his eyes off the road for a second- just one second. He leaned over to press a peck to Blaine’s cheek and another car had ran a red light, passing through the intersection just as the boys were passing through the middle.

The car hit the passenger side of the car and caused it to flip over a couple of times. Kurt didn’t remember the actual accident, just what the newspapers had written about it. They had landed upright, but the car was thrashed and crushed worse than if it’d been through a car compactor.

It’d taken the paramedics about twenty minutes to arrive on the scene and they ended up having to cut away parts of the roof to get Kurt and Blaine out of the wreckage.

The medics had called Blaine’s death about two minutes down the road in the ambulance, and Kurt wasn’t too far off. They began to defibrillate Kurt’s chest, and after a few tries, they were able to sustain a heartbeat and keep him alive. The doctors told him he’d been brought back from the dead. Ever since then Kurt had been able to see spirits. Apparently since he’d been to the other side and back, he was now able to see things from both sides.

It was scary at first, but Kurt soon thought of it as a gift. Even though the boy he loved had died that night, he found that he could still see him. It seemed that Blaine was only able to come through at sunset, and could only stay till sunrise, so Kurt began to come to Woodlawn Cemetery every night to be with him.

Blaine placed his hand to Kurt’s cheek once more, and Kurt blinked away the thoughts of the accident. He looked at the boy and was surprised by their intensity. “Kurt this was not your fault. It wasn’t. You did nothing wrong.”

“I could’ve prevented this.”

“By doing what, huh? By going to whatever bar that guy had been at and telling him to go home before he got too drunk? By telling him not to drive? Kurt what the hell could you have done differently?” Kurt swallowed thickly.

“I don’t know- something. There has to have been something I could’ve done. Things like this can’t just happen. I did something wrong, I know it-”

“Stop it, Kurt. Stop it right now. There is nothing you did wrong. If anyone did something wrong, it was me.” Kurt furrowed his brows at the boy. “Because I’m the only one that-” he cut himself off when Kurt choked out a sob. “Okay, bad joke, I’m sorry.” He pulled Kurt into his chest and kissed his hair. Kurt balled up his fists in Blaine’s shirt and cried into his chest. Blaine began rubbing soft circles on his back. “You have to stop blaming yourself, Kurt. There’s nothing you could’ve done.” Kurt sniffed and blinked his tears back.

“Sorry,” he said and pulled back. “I meant for this to be a happy night.” Kurt smiled weakly at Blaine. “I had good news for you, too. Good news for us.” Blaine perked up at that.

“What is it?” he asked and Kurt laughed softly at the boy's new found excitement.

“I got a new job.”

“Really? Where?”

“Here,” Kurt said and Blaine’s face fell.

“Kurt, you can’t work at a cemetery.” Kurt was taken aback by how angry he sounded.

“Well, I already do,” he said simply.

“Then quit.” Blaine pulled away from Kurt and took a few steps away. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed deeply before looking up at Kurt. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you,” Kurt said exasperatedly. Why was Blaine so against all this? “Because I want to be with you. I got a job as caretaker so I can live on the grounds. I even talked the owners into letting me rebuild the house back here. Blaine I did this so we could be together. I thought you’d be at least a little excited.”

“Well I’m not, okay? Kurt you can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep throwing away your life to be with me. It’s not fair for you. You thought I’d be happy that you’re abandoning your dreams, your friends and your family, your life, to cling to an alternate world where somehow we can be together? Kurt I love you, but I want you to have everything. And you can’t have that as long as I’m around.” Kurt felt broken. Didn’t Blaine get it? Didn’t he know how much Kurt loved him?

Blaine began to walk away, out of the clearing. “Blaine,” Kurt called, suddenly feeling angry as well. “What the hell is wrong with you?” That seemed to get his attention. The other boy froze mid stride. “You keep talking about what you want for me, but don’t you care about what I want?” The boy turned around slowly and looked at Kurt with sad eyes.

“Of course I do. Which is why I’m leaving. You won’t do what you want as long as I’m around because you don’t want to let go. You obviously still feel guilty about everything, so I’m passing over.” Kurt felt like he’d been punched in the gut. “I’m going to the other side, for good. I can’t keep holding you back.”

“Blaine. God, don’t you get it? I don’t want New York. I don’t want Broadway. I don’t want anything. You keep telling me what I want, but I don’t want those things anymore. When are you going to realize that all I’ve ever wanted is you? You’re the love of my life Blaine. I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.” Kurt watched as Blaine seemed to think about something. Please stay, Kurt thought to him.

Kurt heard Blaine let out a noise somewhere between a sigh and a groan before the boy began to walk back over to Kurt. “You’re sure this is what you want?” Blaine asked and Kurt nodded his head vigorously. “Because I won’t be offended. You can tell me if you want me to-”

“God Blaine just shut up and kiss me already,” Kurt growled and pulled the other boy against his chest. Blaine’s lips instantly collided with Kurt’s and Kurt knitted his fingers in his dark curls. Blaine sighed against Kurt’s lips and he nipped at Kurt’s bottom lip.

“When’s that house going to be built?” Blaine murmured and Kurt smirked at Blaine before beginning a trail of kisses down his neck. Soon, hopefully. Kurt felt Blaine’s throat vibrate as he hummed happily. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”