THE IMPERFECT LOVE STORY

When Kurt is asked to sit with a boy called Blaine whilst he undergoes chemo treatment, little does he know they had already met. Faced with the homophobic jerk he encountered at Regionals months before, Kurt has to put his feelings aside. But maybe what happened in the past was all a misunderstanding.

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Chapter 1

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'I often think back to the day I met Blaine,' Burt began with a sigh. 'And I know it's an awful thought but I wonder if I had the chance all over again... maybe I wouldn't have intervened. Don't get me wrong, it was like gaining another son but... Kurt's been through so much. Does that make me a bad person?'

(5 months earlier)

-Monday, 23:30-

Dear Diary,

Every morning I wake up with the same thought going round and round my head: "This day next year I might not even be here." I know it's depressing and morbid but I can't help it. The prospect doesn't even scare me that much anymore, I guess the more exposure you have to a fear, the less it affects you. Another tiresome afternoon at Lima Hospital awaits me tomorrow - oh joy!

Cooper's come over from LA to stay for a bit which is good, especially for Dad as he's been so stressed lately coping with me on top of his work commitments. I feel so guilty, is that weird? I guess it's normal right, after all I didn't choose to be ill. But I should be spending the summer at a theatre school and hanging out with my friends, not going back and forth to hospital, becoming weaker and weaker. As every day draws to a close, I stare up at my bedroom ceiling and ask, Why Me?

Blaine Anderson, 16

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-Tuesday, 11:45-

Kurt yawned as he got out of the passenger side of the car and followed his Dad through the automatic doors of the hospital. It was the summer break between his junior and senior year at High School so of course he'd stayed up until 3am the night before, chatting to his friends online and reading his twitter feed.

They were at the hospital for Burt's heart check-up after his attack the previous year. It was completely routine, but Kurt and Carole had insisted on being there with him. As soon as they sat down in the area by reception Kurt got his iPhone out and resumed the level of angry birds he was on.

'What time's your appointment?' he asked his Dad, not taking his eyes off the screen.

'Twelve, so we've still got ten minutes. Carole should be here any second and then we can go up to the clinic.'

'Why didn't she take the whole day off?'

'She didn't see the point in wasting a day's leave, so will just work an extra hour tonight.'

'Right,' Kurt replied as he yawned again and Burt chuckled.

'I'm sorry, is my company that sleep inducing?'

'This is a hospital Dad...,' Kurt said with a roll of his eyes. '...and I'm a teenager. I'm bored out of my brains.'

'You could have stayed at home.'

'Mnhmm,' Kurt mumbled.

'Do you want some water whilst we wait?' Burt asked.

'Sure, whatever.'

Burt got up from his seat and made his way over to the water machine by the entrance to the hospital. As he began to fill the first plastic cup, a conversation nearby caught his attention.

'You cannot be serious Jim,' a man was shouting into his phone. He was stood by a wheelchair which had a teenage boy in it, pale looking and wearing a beanie hat. He was looking up at what he assumed was his father, with weary eyes. Burt's heart broke a little; the kid was probably a similar age to Kurt...

...Dexter Anderson ended the call and had an overwhelming urge to throw his blackberry at the nearest wall and smash it to pieces, but he restrained himself. Instead, he ran his hands through his hair before kneeling down to be eye level with his son.

'They want you to go into work?' Blaine asked softly, having got the gist of his Dad's side of the conversation.

'Yeah.'

'Dad it's ok. If you have to go in-'

'No... no it's not ok Blaine. I can't just leave you here to have chemo by yourself. They knew the reason I took the day off... now all of a sudden they've brought forward the partners meeting. They're taking the fucking piss.'

Blaine giggled; it was always funny when your parents swore. 'I'll get a taxi back home or Cooper can come and get-'

'I promised I'd be the one with you today, I don't-'

'Dad, we don't want you getting fired... how else will my medical bills get paid?'

Dexter smiled at his son. 'You're too forgiving Blaine, and they won't fire me.'

'But it wouldn't look good for the promotion would it?' Blaine asked quietly.

Dexter sighed. 'No.'

'It's not like this is my first time here... I know all the staff... I'll be ok.'

'Are you sure? If you want me to stay I will.'

'I'm sure... but don't make a fuss at work ok? Don't let them get to you.'

'Yes Sir,' Dexter chuckled. 'Ok... I'll call Cooper and tell him to get himself down here pronto and I'll leave work straight after the meeting. We can spend the evening watching movies and eating homemade popcorn.'

Blaine smiled. 'Sounds good Dad.'

Dexter patted Blaine on the shoulder and stood up. He was just searching the contacts on his phone for Cooper's number when a voice made him look up from the screen. 'Excuse me?'

'Yeah?' Dexter replied.

'Sorry, I couldn't help overhearing you and your son just now and um... I don't mean to pry but...'

'Go ahead,' Dexter urged him. 'If you want to tell me what a terrible parent I am, I don't blame you. But I really don't have time-'

'No no no,' Burt interjected. 'God no. Look, the thing is my son Kurt is tagging along to my heart check-up and he's already out of his mind with boredom... I was thinking... maybe he could sit with your kid and keep him company for a bit?'

'Oh... right... sorry for assuming you wanted to attack me for-'

'Forget about it,' Burt smiled. 'So what do you say?'

'Er... yeah that would be really great actually. Are you sure?'

'Of course.'

'My eldest son should be here before the treatment ends so it wouldn't be for long. Thank you so much Mr...'

'Hummel. Burt Hummel.'

'I'm Dexter Anderson and this is my son Blaine.'

'It's nice to meet you,' Burt smiled at Blaine, who gave him a small wave in return and then tugged at his Dad's suit jacket.

'I don't need babysitting,' Blaine said quietly when Dexter bent down to him. 'And I'm sure Mr Hummel's son won't be too thrilled about it.'

'I know you don't need babysitting, but... please just do it for me. It will make me feel a whole lot better about this.'

Blaine rolled his eyes. 'Ok.'

Dexter stood up and addressed Burt. 'The oncology clinic is on the fifth floor, I'll take Blaine there now and get him booked in.'

'I'll send Kurt up,' Burt replied.

'Thank you again,' Dexter said and he shook hands with Burt before heading to the elevator, pushing Blaine's wheelchair. Burt turned around and went back to where he and Kurt had been sitting, to find that Carole had joined him.

'Someone you know?' Carole asked when he reached them.

Burt frowned. 'Sorry?'

'The guy you were just talking to,' Kurt answered, pointing in the direction Burt had come from.

'Oh... um no, we just got chatting. He's been called into work and his son is due to have chemo treatment.'

'Poor thing,' Carole said.

'Yeah,' Burt agreed. 'So I um... I told him Kurt would stay with him until his brother turned up.'

Kurt's eyes widened. 'Hang on a minute, you want me to babysit some kid through his chemo because you feel sorry for him?'

'Kurt, put yourself in his shoes. Would you want to be left all alone?'

Kurt's expression softened. 'No I guess not. But why me?'

'Because you're probably around the same age, you really have nothing better to do and I promise you it'll feel good doing something so selfless. Come on Kurt, think of it as your good deed for the summer.'

'Ok,' Kurt sighed. 'Where is he?'

#

Kurt walked into the oncology clinic waiting area. There were a few other people there but only one boy on his own, sat in a wheelchair, so Kurt assumed it must be Blaine. He was reading a leaflet and tapping his foot on the ground, due to nerves or impatience, Kurt had no idea.

'Hi I'm Kurt,' he mumbled, coming to a stop in front of Blaine and the boy looked up.

'It's you,' the boy said in surprise. Kurt looked behind him, expecting to see someone else but there wasn't anybody. He turned back with a confused look on his face.

'Sorry... do we know each other?'

'Yeah... I mean, no not exactly. New Directions right?'

Kurt studied the boy more closely and found that his eyes did seem oddly familiar. 'That's right... how do you-'

'Oh, I was in The Warblers... from Dalton Academy... you beat us at Regionals a few months ago.'

'Right.'

Kurt was flummoxed. Blaine had greeted him in more than a I've seen you perform on stage at Regionals way. But the only guy in The Warblers he ever had any interaction was...

...Oh dear god, it was him.

Kurt had to force all his feelings out the window and concentrate on the here and now. This Blaine kid was seriously ill, so what if he was a homophobic arsehole as well? Did that really matter in the grand scheme of things?

'Are you having trouble recognising me?' Blaine asked as Kurt's silence continued.

Kurt immediately thought Don't flatter yourself, then cursed himself for being so bitchy and instead put his best fake smile on. 'Yeah I remember now... um, sorry for kicking your butts.'

Blaine laughed. 'No problem. There's no way we could have competed with your original songs.'

'Blaine?' a female nurse called out. Kurt turned around and the woman walked up to them with a warm smile. 'Ooh do we have another handsome Anderson brother?'

Blaine smiled and Kurt blushed a little. 'No, this is Kurt, my chaperone for the day. Dad's been called into work.'

'Oh that's a shame, but I'm sure you two boys can have some fun without your Dad around... gossip about school and girls.'

Kurt felt like correcting her, but was now really the time? Blaine just laughed. 'Yeah, the football chats with my Dad are getting a bit boring.'

'I'll tell him you said that,' the nurse giggled. 'Ok sweetheart, let's get you settled in.'

Twenty minutes later the curtains around Blaine's hospital bed were opened up and Kurt took in the scene, Blaine sitting there with an IV line and the nurse clearing up. Kurt sat on the chair next to the bed, feeling like a spare part.

'I'll leave you to it but call if you need anything ok?'

'Thanks,' Blaine smiled at the nurse and she walked off. Kurt began examining his nails until Blaine's voice made him look up. 'You can go if you want.'

'My Dad would kill me.'

'He wouldn't know,' Blaine said in a whisper with a smile.

Kurt highly doubted that. Blaine would tell his Dad who probably had Burt's number and then Kurt would have his phone and laptop confiscated for a week. Just the thought of that made him feel ill. 'No it's ok, I've got nothing else to do.'

The next few minutes past by in silence. Kurt didn't know what to say. Should he say something? Were they supposed to be making small talk? Maybe Blaine liked quiet during his chemo? Perhaps he-

'I can practically hear you thinking Kurt... if you want to ask me anything just go ahead.'

Kurt looked over to see Blaine watching him. 'Sorry... I just didn't want to over step the mark... or upset you... or-'

'Kurt it's ok. This takes two hours, I'm happy to do anything to help make the time go faster. My Dad usually tells me stories from work, talks about me and Cooper as kids and we dissect the latest football game.'

'Well I can't help you there,' Kurt laughed. 'I don't get football at all.'

Blaine smirked. 'Football or all sports in general?'

Kurt was a little unsure about Blaine's intention. Was he making a slur that being gay obviously meant sports weren't his thing? But once again he had to overlook and keep in mind what was going on. 'Oh all sports. I'm more into musical theatre and fashion magazines.'

Blaine's eyes lit up. 'Oh my god, I love musicals. I saw Wicked on Broadway last Christmas, it was amazing. Have you seen it?'

Kurt was thoroughly confused now, but what the hell. Maybe this was all just a twisted dream. Or maybe some homophobic idiots could like gay stuff too. 'Not on Broadway no, a local touring production. Actually, it's my favourite musical.'

'No way... cool.'

'So... football and musicals... that's quite a diverse range of hobbies you've got there.'

Blaine shrugged. 'Well we can't all be stereotypes can we?' That hit a nerve with Kurt. So it was ok for a straight guy to like theatre but completely too cliché for a gay guy to? 'Kurt? You ok?'

Kurt snapped out of his thoughts. 'Yeah um... just taking all this in. I'd never really given much thought to what chemo actually was.'

Blaine smiled. 'Not very interesting is it? Just an IV drip once a week.'

'I imagined they shot like... red laser beams into you or something.'

'I wish,' Blaine laughed. 'That sounds kinda cool.'

'So what... what cancer have you got?' Kurt asked carefully.

'Leukaemia.'

'Did you know at Regionals? Cos you seemed really-'

'Well? Full head of hair? Skin not the colour of milk?' Blaine said, sounding a little bitter. 'No, I got the diagnosis about four weeks before the end of school. My friends think I'm having an extended summer in Europe with family.'

Kurt frowned. 'Wait... your friends don't know?'

Blaine shook his head sadly. 'I... I don't think I could cope with the attention; they're like family to me. I transferred to Dalton after a really... um... anyway, I'd rather tell them I've had cancer than have it. Besides, if they knew they might try and come over to my house and sing their feelings.'

They both laughed at that. 'Sounds like my glee club,' Kurt said. 'When my Dad was in a coma they went in and sang to him... we just can't help ourselves huh?'

'No,' Blaine agreed. 'So your Dad was really ill then?'

'There was a moment where it looked really scary but he's a fighter.'

'That must have been horrible, is he ok now? He said downstairs he was here for an appointment or something.''

'Oh yeah, he's healthier than ever with my diet and exercise plan.'

'I bet he loves that,' Blaine giggled. 'Hey, can I ask you something?'

'Sure.'

'When Dalton and McKinley drew at Sectionals, why weren't you there?'

'Oh, I was being home schooled at the time... long story.' Blaine yawned and felt his eyelids begin to flutter. Kurt laughed. 'Am I boring you already?'

'Not at all, just an occupational hazard.'

'Do you know why chemo causes so many side effects?'

'Yeah, well the very basic explanation... chemo drugs can't differentiate between cancer cells and healthy cells so side effects are pretty unavoidable.'

'That sucks.'

'Yeah big time.'

'You seem pretty cool with the whole thing though... I mean, not cool exactly but... well I think I'd probably be a complete mess.'

'I was at the beginning,' Blaine said quietly. 'But as time goes on you develop a kind of auto pilot. This needs to be done, then that, and you're just constantly waiting for the next update from your Doctor as to whether the treatment is working. I know a lot of people harp on about being brave, but it's really not. I hate that word. What is so brave about being ill? Brave is climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or jumping into the sea to save a drowning child... not feeling tired and sick all the- I'm really sorry Kurt, I don't usually get so worked up. I'm so used to biting my tongue around my Dad and brother; it's easy to just talk freely with a stranger.'

Kurt had to swallow a lump in his throat. Beneath the smiley and pleasant exterior, Blaine was just a scared kid trying to get better. 'Don't worry about it, sounds like it's probably good for you to vent a bit now and then.'

Blaine smiled. 'Thanks for being my soundboard... you know, my brother should be here any minute so you can go if you want.'

'It's ok. Besides, if I'm here my Dad can't try and force me to go and do some work.'

'Work?'

'Yeah, he's a mechanic. I work in the garage whenever I want some extra money but the summer should be about chilling.'

'Are you going into your junior year?'

'No, senior. This time next year I plan to be New York bound.'

'Really? What school?'

'NYADA hopefully... what year are you- I mean... sorry that was a stupid question, forget I said anything.'

'No no, don't worry about it. I should be going into my junior year. Who knows when... or if I'll be starting my senior year.'

Kurt's eyes widened and he whispered, 'Don't say that.'

'Oh I'm sorry,' Blaine said, immediately looking guilty. 'I've started saying statements like that recently... my Dad hates it but sometimes I can't help it.'

'You're young Blaine, and you'll be fine... and in a few months' time, New Directions will be beating you to first place again.'

Blaine laughed. 'Well thank you Dr Kurt.'

'So... your Dad's at work and your brother is on his way here... what about your Mom?'

'Well... she-'

'Blainey.'

Blaine and Kurt both looked up. Cooper Anderson came to a stop by the bed, his eyes twinkling with interest as he looked between the two boys. Kurt was taken aback; Blaine's brother was the hot guy from the credit rating commercials. This was so not the time or the place to be crushing on someone.

'Hey Cooper,' Blaine said.

'How you doing little bro?'

'Fine.'

Cooper turned his attentions to Kurt and offered him his hand. 'Hi, you must be Kurt?'

'Um yeah,' Kurt replied, shaking Cooper's hand. 'You're er... you're in that commercial right?'

'Yep,' Cooper smirked. 'The one and only, nice to meet a fan.'

Blaine scoffed and Cooper gave him a look before turning back to Kurt. 'Anyway, thanks for looking after squirt, he probably secretly enjoyed being spared Dad's old age ramblings.'

'It was no problem.'

'I hope the two of you had a nice chat.'

'Just ignore him, he's weird,' Blaine said with a roll of his eyes.

'I prefer the term special,' Cooper announced proudly.

Kurt laughed. He stood up from his chair. 'Here, have my seat. I should leave you guys to it.'

'You don't have to go on my account,' Cooper replied.

'Let him go,' Blaine said. 'Kurt's given up enough of his time already... and um... thanks Kurt.'

'That's ok... it was nice meeting you... take care.'

'You too.'

'Don't be a stranger,' Cooper shouted out as Kurt left, and then looked back at Blaine, staring at him with an amused expression.

'What?' Blaine asked but Cooper just smiled.

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To be continued!

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If you've got this far, thanks so much for reading the 1st chapter of my story :) I really hope you enjoyed the beginning and please let me know what you think *hands out cupcakes* In the next chapter, Cooper does some scheming!