Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own anything, Glee does. The title is taken from Of Monsters and Men's 'Little Talks'. Some chunks are taken directly from the episodes - everything else is mine.

The Break Up

Blaine stared in disbelief at his phone, the small click from Kurt hanging up echoing in his ear. Kurt hadn't responded to his "I love you" with his usual "I love you too". Granted, he was clearly busy right now, but it was four little words that would have taken less than two seconds to say. And this was the first time ever since they had first said those words to each other over a year ago that one of them hadn't said it at the end of a phone call.

Numb, Blaine made his way to the empty choir room and sank down into one of the plastic chairs lined up at the back. He continued to stare at his phone, unsure of exactly how he was feeling at the moment. Was it anger? Disappointment? Sadness? A mixture of all of the above?

It wouldn't have been so bad if tonight was going to be the first missed phone date, but it seemed that in the weeks that Kurt had been in New York – and in particular, ever since he had started his job at Vogue – the number of missed phone calls and skype dates had slowly been growing. Logically, Blaine knew that it wasn't Kurt's fault – he was in a new city with a new job that he was excited about - he couldn't exactly ignore it in favour of a phone call with his boyfriend. And Blaine hated feeling like he was being all clingy, but damn it, he was allowed to miss his boyfriend and he was starting to get frustrated with hanging around in front of his laptop for a call that never came. Did Kurt even miss Blaine? Blaine knew he was being irrational, but to him it seemed that with all that Kurt had going on in his life right now, he didn't even have the time to miss the boyfriend that was waiting for him back home.

Blaine closed his eyes and tipped his head forward, his forehead resting against the phone gripped in his hands. He was supposed to be seeing Kurt in two weeks, but right now that two weeks seemed like an eternity. And he was worried. Kurt loved him, he knew that, and he loved Kurt just as much, but he began to worry that the combination of the big city (most likely filled with hundreds of handsome, mature gay men Blaine couldn't help but think bitterly, even though he knew Kurt would never cheat), the stress of a new job/senior year at high school as well as their current string of disjointed communication would eventually put too much strain on their relationship. And losing Kurt… Blaine couldn't honestly think of anything worse that could happen to him in this world, and he had been through a lot of crap throughout his reasonably short life.

Determined, Blaine's eyes snapped open and he began to scroll through his phone. It had been far too long since he had last seen the man that he loved, and he was damn well going to try and fix things before they were broken beyond repair. Finding what we was after and hitting 'dial', he waited to be connected to the airline. He needed to change his flight – he needed to get to New York now.

"I haven't even sung in the shower since regionals," Finn groaned, his head hitting the back of the sofa.

Kurt mentally rolled his eyes. He loved his brother, and he was happy to see him here in New York, but seriously, that boy had clearly learned some tricks from Rachel on the art of the melodramatic. He knew Finn was probably feeling a bit out of place here, especially after the whole army debacle and whatever was going on with Rachel at the moment, but staying at home wallowing wasn't the solution. And really, there was absolutely no excuse for him to be leaving this apartment, particularly to a prestigious college karaoke bar, in what he was wearing. Before Kurt had moved here the pair of them had been living together for nearly two years – was it too much to ask for Finn to have picked up something from him in regards to fashion?

A knock at the door prevented Kurt from saying anything further, either in the defence of fashion or an attempt to drag his ass off the sofa. He slid the apartment door open to find a large bunch of roses hovering in front of his face before moving aside to reveal –

"Blaine!" He couldn't stop the wide grin from crossing his face at the sight of his gorgeous and very much missed boyfriend standing at his front door. He flung his arms around his neck, Blaine quickly moving the roses aside so they weren't crushed. "What are you doing here; I wasn't expecting you for another two weeks!"

"I know, but I just couldn't wait any longer, I missed you too much." Blaine smiled, handing the roses over to a beaming Kurt.

"I missed you too," Kurt replied before leaning forward and pressing his lips hard to Blaine's, frustration momentarily bubbling through him as he was pushed away by a bouncing Rachel dragging Blaine in for a hug. It was short-lived however when he saw how happy his boyfriend was at being reunited with Rachel and Finn. Realising that he was still clutching the roses in his hands, he grabbed the travel bag Blaine had brought with him and put it in his room, and was just putting the roses in water when he overheard Rachel saying;

"And now you can come with us to Callbacks! It'll be just like old times, the four of us taking on the town!" She gave an excited little squeal as Blaine asked "Callbacks?"

Quickly dumping the roses in the vase he had procured, Kurt rushed forward and interrupted Rachel's explanation. "Uh, Rachel, now that Blaine's here, I don't know if I'm really in the mood to go out anymore." He tried to throw her a significant look, but she didn't seem to notice.

"What do you mean you're not in the mood? You were before! Come on Kurt, I want us to sing together again, please?"

"Hey look, if you were all going to go out that's fine with me," Blaine added. "I'd love to see a bit of New York. I've never been before, and I don't want to ruin your plans." When Kurt turned his glare towards his boyfriend, Blaine quickly leant forward and murmured in his ear; "we can always decide to leave early if we're not having fun. Or want some fun of our own," before giving Kurt a quick wink and a significant look of his own.

Kurt smiled, feeling his cheeks flush slightly at the way his boyfriend was staring into his eyes (they had been together for over a year, how was it he was still able to make Kurt feel this way?), very clearly being able to read his mind. "Well, if it's okay with you I guess we can head out for a while." And as Rachel clapped happily before running off to find her bag, Kurt leaned forward to Blaine and whispered, "and the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave" with a suggestive wink of his own, grinning as Blaine's eyes widened as he sashayed out the door, deliberately swinging his hips suggestively. It didn't take long for Blaine to follow.

"What's the deal?" Blaine muttered to Kurt in Callbacks, his head tilted towards Brody and Rachel on stage as he kept his voice low so Finn couldn't overhear.

Kurt groaned lowly. "You don't wanna know. So, are you having fun on your first night out in New York?"

Blaine smiled. "Yeah actually, I am. I can see why you love it here – it's got so much more to offer than Lima ever could."

Kurt smile back fondly. "Oh, I don't know. There's one thing in Lima that New York just doesn't have." He reached forward and grasped Blaine's hand. He watched as Blaine's smile grew wider. "I can't wait until you're here with me next year."

Kurt's smile faded slightly as Blaine's gaze grew wistful – sad almost. "Me too," he replied, his thumb gently stroking over the back of Kurt's hand.

He was about to ask what was wrong when Rachel came bounding up, her song finished, raving about how fun it was to be on that stage before trying to convince Kurt to go up and sing.

"I've got a song to sing," Blaine said, standing up. He headed towards the stage and sat down in front of the piano. "Hi everyone," he started, his fingers already tinkering with the keys. "I want to sing a song that's very special to me. This is a song that I sang the first time that I saw the love of my life, so Kurt, this is for you."

Kurt couldn't contain his joy at Blaine's dedication, and when the first few notes of Teenage Dream began to play, he knew the smile on his face was probably a mile wide. It wasn't the same as when they first met, surrounded by uniformed boys singing a Capella in a school that seemed too good to be true, but for Kurt it was just as special. It was a slowed down, much more romantic version of the song that led Kurt to fall in love with the boy - no, man - sitting at the piano, and every time Blaine would look up into his eyes as he sang out this song that meant so much to the both of them he felt like his heart was going to burst.

A round of applause went up when Blaine finished, his smile slightly bashful as he returned to their table. He never got a chance to sit down though as Kurt grabbed his hand, turned to the others with a quick "it's getting late, we're heading off, no need to rush back" before dragging his boyfriend out the door and back to the privacy and comfort of Kurt's bed.

Blaine absently hummed to himself as he flipped the pancake over in the frying pan. For once he had woken up before Kurt (in this relationship, Kurt was definitely the early riser), and he had spent who knows how long watching his gloriously naked boyfriend sleeping next to him before he felt like he was probably verging on creeper territory and decided to throw on some clothes and start breakfast.

He had just finished placing the pancake onto a plate when he felt a pair of arms encircle his waist from behind and a chin rest on his shoulder.

"Mmm, good morning. That smells delicious."

Blaine turned slightly so he could look at his boyfriend who was now wearing a loose shirt and a pair or sweats. "I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed. You've kind of spoiled it by getting out of it though."

"Well I'll just have to go back then. And drag you with me," he added with a wicked grin, tightening his grip around Blaine's waist and dropping a light kiss on the corner of his mouth before slowly moving down his neck.

Blaine tilted his head slightly to allow Kurt better access with a content hum when stomping emerging from Rachel's room caused the pair to turn, Kurt disentangling himself from Blaine as they stared in curiosity at a fuming Rachel.

"Kurt, have you spoken to Finn this morning?"

"No, I've only just woken up. Considering how much he likes to sleep in I would have thought he'd still be in bed. Clearly I was wrong?"

"He left. Without a single word! Not a goodbye, not even a note or anything! Who does that? Who leaves in the middle of the night without even a goodbye! Well I'm not going to stand for this. He thinks he can just run away? I'm taking the first flight that I can out to Lima. I'll make him talk to me."

As Rachel grabbed a jacket and stormed out of the apartment, Kurt and Blaine turned to look at each other, shock written on their faces.

"Well that was interesting," Blaine commented.

Kurt shrugged. "Another day, another Finn and Rachel drama. Anyway," Kurt began bouncing on his toes as he flung his arms around Blaine's neck. "I can't wait to show you around New York and have you all to myself. There are so many places I want to take you –" The sound of Kurt's ringtone echoing through the apartment interrupted his rambling.

"Ignore it," Blaine pleaded, quickly grabbing Kurt by the waist and pulling him towards him before he could move away. "It's probably just Rachel realising she's forgotten something," he muttered in between the kisses he was trailing down Kurt's throat. Kurt's soft moans of pleasure quickly turned to a growl of frustration when his phone began ringing for a second time. He pulled away from Blaine and went to his room, returning with his pants from the night before in his hands as he rummaged through the pocket for his phone. Frowning when he saw who was calling, he quickly answered.

"Hello? Really? On a weekend? Yes, I understand, I was just wondering why… Sure, yeah okay I can do that. Bye."

Catching Blaine's questioning glance, Kurt gave a wry smile. "That was work, I have to go in. It shouldn't take too long, and then I can show you around like I promised okay?"

"What about breakfast?"

"I've got no time, I'll just have to grab something on the way." He quickly leaned forward to peck Blaine on the lips before rushing off to get changed, leaving Blaine standing in the kitchen with a crestfallen expression and an empty skillet sitting on the stove.

Kurt slid the door to his apartment shut with a sigh. He was exhausted, but a smile grew on his face when he looked up to see Blaine sitting on his couch, staring at his folded hands that were sitting on his knees.

"Hey! Sorry I took so long at work! I swear, that place feels like a madhouse sometimes, but I'm done for now and we can continue our day togeth- wait, what's your bag doing there?"

Kurt blinked as he finally noticed Blaine's carry on propped up next to his couch, fully packed.

"I have to leave soon to catch my flight back to Ohio," Blaine muttered, still looking down at his hands.

"Already? But I wasn't gone that long at work…" Kurt glanced at the clock and quickly amended. "Okay maybe I was, but surely we've still got time together before you go and-"

"I can't do this anymore."

Blaine's voice was quiet, but it was the crack in his voice that made Kurt stop mid-sentence.

"What? Do what anymore?"

Blaine finally lifted his head and for the first time Kurt noticed that his eyes were glassy and slightly red, as if he'd been crying. "This. Us. I can't do it. I came here hoping it would make things better, make me feel better, but it hasn't. It's not working."

Kurt froze, his blood feeling like ice in his veins. "What are you saying?" he asked quietly.

"What I'm saying is, this whole long distance thing… it's not working Kurt. And I think… I think maybe we should take a break. From us."

Kurt took a step back, feeling as if he'd just been slapped in the face . "You're breaking up with me?" he whispered.

"No!" Blaine cried. "No, not breaking up, I just think we need a little time apart-"

"Sounds an awful lot like a break up to me," Kurt spat, folding his arms across his chest as anger began to build. When confronted, particularly in an argument, Kurt wasn't the type to work things through calmly – he was the kind of person who got defensive. And right now he was feeling particularly defensive.

"Would you just listen to me!" Blaine replied angrily. At Kurt's shocked look – Blaine almost never raised his voice, and certainly never towards him, even when he was angry – Blaine took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't want to break up with you, but can you honestly look me in the eye and tell me that what we've been doing ever since you've moved to New York is working? How many phone calls have been missed? How many skype dates have been cancelled? And today was supposed to be our day together, after we spent last night on that weird night out with all that Finn and Rachel and Brody drama, and you've spent most of it working!"

"Well I'm sorry that I have a job to worry about, a job that I actually really like and would like to do well in! What do you want me to do, quit?"

"No! God no Kurt, I know how much this job means to you! That's what I'm trying to say to you, why I think we should take a break! This job, this life here in New York, it's so brand new for you and it's a lot for you to adjust to, and it's completely understandable that everything is overwhelming right now. You deserve to be able to concentrate on your work without having to worry about whether or not you'll be missing a skype date with me." Blaine paused. "And I deserve to be able to live my life instead of hanging around all day in the hope that you'll be able to make one of our dates."

Tears were welling up in Kurt's eyes, but he refused to let them spill over. His arms fell to his sides with his fists clenched as his anger continued to boil. "Well I am so sorry that what we have is such an inconvenience for you."

Blaine ran a hand over his face in exasperation. "Kurt, I've said if before and I'll say it again – you are the love of my life, the man I want to spend the rest of my life with and my best friend. And I feel like if we try to keep up with this dance, of trying to juggle work and school and life and us, then we'll get to a point where something will happen that will damage our relationship beyond repair, and I don't want that. I think we just need to get our individual lives on track at first, and then once that happens, we can go back to focusing on our relationship."

"Our relationship? Last I checked, a relationship was supposed to be an equal partnership, yet here you are making decisions about our future, without even having the decency to discuss it with me! You've never said anything to me before about all this - not one word! And you've clearly been thinking about this for a while. What was your plan, come to New York, have sex with me one last time then break up with me so you can go back to Lima and find some new guy who's closer to home?!"

"I do NOT want another guy, I want YOU! I've only ever wanted you! And I would have talked to you about it, but it seems that every time we talk, 90% of the conversation is about you, or about how great New York is! It's like my silly little high school life isn't important to you anymore! I love you Kurt, but sometimes you can be really selfish, you know that?"

A shocked silence descended upon the room as Blaine quickly snapped his mouth shut, but it was too late – the words were out and he couldn't take them back.

"Kurt, I didn't mean that-"

"No Blaine, you obviously did otherwise you wouldn't have said it. But as I'm so selfish your opinion shouldn't mean anything to me – it only matters what I think right?"

"Kurt…" Letting out a heavy sigh as he caught a glimpse of the time, Blaine bent down and picked up his bag. "I really don't want to have to leave like this, but I have a plane to catch. I know you're angry, but please, just please think about what I've said. I love you, and I don't want to lose you. I'm just trying to find a way to prevent that."

"Yeah, well you've done a really good job at that haven't you?"

Swallowing the lump that had grown in his throat, Blaine could only nod as he walked towards the apartment door and slid it open. Turning back once more, he said quietly "I love you," before closing it behind him.

Once it was shut, Kurt sank down onto the couch, buried his face in his hands, and cried.

A/N: I said that this would be a 'what if Blaine didn't cheat' – I never said it would end happily! I figured that if the writers were so determined to separate Klaine, then this was a way that they could have done it without falling back on the old cheating trope, especially since they had already set up issues in previous episodes they could have expanded on. (Honestly I thought that it happened way too quickly – it would have been more realistic for these problems to come to a head after a few more episodes, but I'm not going to get into that.) Plus I wanted to do it in a way where there was no single 'bad guy' and show that they both made mistakes and were equally at fault for their communication breakdown (I hope I succeeded).

Yeah, so basically what I'll be doing is continuing on Season 4 as if what I had written had happened. They're not going to be elaborate, long chapters – it is simply going to be rewritten/additional scenes as if these were actually what you saw on the show (although let's face it, they never would have shown the small amount of affection I had written for this ep). I hope you enjoy!