AN: Here's the final chapter of the story! This chapter was inspired by a song called The Girl by City And Color. Obviously, as the title suggests, the song is a love song about a girl, and while neither Kurt and Blaine are girls, I thought the lyrics of the song matched the entirety of the story perfectly. The song is about a lover sticking by their partner during rough times, which I think matched my story. Listen to the song while you read if you want. Enjoy :)

The months seemed to pass by faster, and before anyone knew it, it was June. Ohio was finally fully out of the cold weather and into the sunshine. Blaine never really was a huge fan of June, partly because his birthday was in June and that usually meant he would be spending his night alone. Plus, Blaine wasn't particularly fond of the heat, since it made his hair all sweaty. June this year was different. Blaine had a lot of things to look forward too. If you walked up to Blaine Anderson nine months ago and told him that his life would be a lot easier in the future, he'd laugh his cigarette smoke in your face and leave.

Blaine stood in Hummel's Tires and Lube shop, the sun streaming through the windows, repairing an old convertible that had a busted engine. And yes, repairing, not cleaning. Burt had finally taught him how to properly care for broken vehicles, and it'd been a little tricky at first, but after watching Burt do it over and over again so many times, it got easier. Grease stains and sweating were inevitable, though. That was something he couldn't avoid.

Suddenly, Blaine's phone started ringing from inside his pocket. He pulled it out, frowning when he got grease smudges on the side of it, and took the call.

"Hey," Blaine said.

"Whaddup, little bro?" Coop's voice said. "How's work?"

"It's fine," Blaine told him. "Listen, you don't have to pick me up until later tonight. I might have dinner with Kurt when he comes back from his show choir competition. He left for New York a few days ago, but Mr. H went out to pick him up a few hours ago."

"Sure thing. Say hi to them for me."

"Hey, did you see mom today?"

"Yeah," Cooper replied. "She seems to be doing well. The last time I saw her was like, 2 weeks ago, and she looks good, Blaine. Really."

"That's really great."

"You might not believe me when I tell you this, but...she talks about you sometimes. And she's a lot nicer ever since she's been clean."

"How long do you think she has to stay in there for? It's already been about 2 months, right?"

"I don't know how much longer. The doctors told me she's been making a lot of progress, though, and it's clear. You can see it on her face."

"That's good."

"Blaine...I think it'd be really cool if you came and talked to her. She asks about you, and I've been telling her stories about how mature you are."

"Oh god, you sound like a dad," Blaine sighed, and Coop laughed.

"I know.. But seriously, I know you might not feel ready, but it'd be great to talk to her. She told me she misses you and that she's sorry about all that stuff she did. I think she just wants to tell you in person."

Hearing this certainly didn't want to make Blaine jump into his mother's arms and hug her tight, because he didn't trust her the way he trusted Kurt or Burt or Cooper, but it did make him feel a bit better about his mother's mental and physical health. It was nice to know she was apparently less crude and a bit apologetic.

"...I think that'd be okay." Blaine told his brother. "I'll talk to her. Can you drive me next week? School ends on Wednesday, so I can go then."

"Of course," Cooper told him. "I think she'd really appreciate it, Blaine. Thank you for doing this. It means a lot to her, and it might give you some closure with your past with her."

"I hope so," Blaine told him. "Listen, I gotta get back to work. I'll call you after dinner."

"Kay. Bye, Blaine."

"Bye, Coop."

Blaine hung up, pocketing his phone and leaning against the car, exhaling. He glanced over at the clock mounted to the wall, and it was 5:00 pm. Burt should be home with Kurt any minute. Kurt had been gone since Monday, and he was so excited to see his boyfriend. Kurt was away because of a show choir competition in New York City. They won regionals, and were competing in nationals.

Blaine worked for a couple more minutes before he heard a scream so loud that he jumped. "Blaine!"

Blaine turned his head, and there, running towards him at full speed was Kurt, a huge smile plastered to his face. Blaine opened his arms up just as Kurt was sent flying into him, planting a hard, long kiss against his mouth. Blaine picked Kurt up by the waist and twirled him around a few times before breaking the kiss.

"There's my baby," Blaine whispered. He set Kurt down on his feet and hugged him tight.

"I missed you so much," Kurt told him, bouncing on his toes a little giddily.

"I missed you too. How was New York? Did you win?"

"Nope," Kurt said casually, and Blaine pulled away to look him in the eye.

"Oh," Blaine said. "I'm really sorry, Kurt."

"No, no, it's okay," Kurt told him, shaking his head. "I mean, it was hard on us when we didn't win, but it's alright, because New York was just...oh my god, I can't even describe it. It was amazing, Blaine. You have to see it."

"I'm glad you had fun," Blaine chuckled. He expected Kurt to be sad that he didn't win, but he was more concentrated on having Kurt back home. Kurt hugged him again, rocking them back and forth gently.

Blaine remembered when he used to have that stupid "Transition Theory" question the theory that someone with a fucked up life since birth could move on to a better life, as if he was some sort of philosopher or something. He laughed at himself for making that up and pretending to be all deep and what not, but that theory really did prove to be right for him. He had a beautiful boy who'd helped him so much this past year in his arms, surrounded by a dirty garage, and there was nowhere he'd rather be.

"Oh!" Kurt said, breaking away from the hug. "I forgot. I got you and early birthday present when I was in New York. I know it isn't your birthday right now, but...I just want to give it to you anyway."

Kurt handed Blaine a small white plastic bag that Blaine hadn't even noticed before. "Kurt," Blaine said, trying to make himself not blush, "you didn't have to get me anything."

"Nonsense," Kurt said, shooting Blaine a bitch glare as if to say of course I was going to get you something. "And this is just the early birthday present. I got you something else to give you on your actual birthday."

"Kurt."

"I can't help it, I love giving people gifts. And I love giving you gifts especially. So as long as you're stuck with me, expect to get spoiled."

Blaine blushed. He wasn't used to receiving gifts and he thought he didn't deserve them. Blaine opened up the small bag and pulled out a CD. It was Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album.

"I know it's not the fanciest early birthday present in the world," Kurt told him, "and I know you can pretty much get this CD anywhere, so it's not that special, but I saw it in a record store in Manhattan and that album had Bennie and the Jets on it, and it just reminded me of the first time we made out in your crappy old car, and how unsure I was of us yet...and I'll always think of you when I hear that song, Blaine. Bennie and the Jets isn't exactly the most romantic song in the world, obviously, but it just reminded me of us at that time. And yeah."

Blaine placed the CD back inside the bag and smashed his lips to Kurt's, eliciting a small whimper from Kurt. Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and kissed him deeper.

"I love it," Blaine told him. "I love you. I'm so glad you're home. Thank you."

"I love you too," Kurt told him, resting their foreheads together. The light from outside caught in Kurt's hair and eyes, illuminating his face and causing Blaine to fall in love with him all over again. They were frozen in that little moment, never wanting to stray from each other.

"Boys!" Burt suddenly called from the other side of the garage. His voice echoed throughout the spacious area and Blaine almost flinched. Kurt, however, seemed to be used to his father's loud voice.

"Yeah?"

"Come inside, now. Carole's almost done with dinner. I'll close up the shop, now."

"Be right there," Kurt told him. He turned back to Blaine and smiled. "Come on. I'll tell you all about New York later. Let's go eat, I'm starving."

Kurt took Blaine's hand and led him inside, and Blaine let him, knowing that he would follow Kurt anywhere he led him to. This strange boy with a high-pitched voice, odd clothes and who Blaine'd hit on on his first day of school would also turn out to be the same boy who had done more for him in nine months than anyone had ever done for him in his whole life. Kurt's heart was almost too large for his body sometimes, and Blaine would never trade it for anything.

Blaine used to get lost. He'd get lost in being alone in his room, picking at his guitar and drinking all night long. And that was fine, that was comfortable. Now, he had something much bigger and better beyond his old life to get lost in.

THE END.

AN: And that concludes TAOLY! Thank you so much to everyone who read this story, left a review, and continued to read it! This is the longest it's ever taken me to write a story, so thanks to everyone who waited patiently whenever I got writers block and didn't know what to do. This is also the most reviews I've ever gotten on a story so far! I was actually thinking about changing the name of this story to "The Transition Theory" or "Not That Kind Of Monster" mid-way through the story, but I decided not to because I didn't want to confuse people. Anyway, again, thanks to everyone who liked the story! :)