"Here" Kurt says, taking Rachel's hand.
He knows as much as he's grieving himself now, the pain of losing the love of your life had to be worse. Even the thought of losing Blaine- Kurt shakes his head, he can't even think about that. Just looking at Rachel's face was enough for him to know the heart break she must be going through right now. She was strong, unbelievably so. If the same had happened to Blaine, Kurt knows he'd never even get out of bed for the rest of his life. But here Rachel was, on the airplane on the way back to Lima, choking back tears but still standing strong.
"Thank you" she mumbles back to him. "You're welcome." "No", Rachel says, "I mean thank you for not just now, but for everything you've done for me in the past few days. I know you're hurting too and I really appreciate you being there for me". Kurt smiles and pulls her in for a hug as the seatbelt sign flashes on and the pilot announces that they will be landing soon. "Oh God," Rachel cries. Kurt tenses and prepares for the sudden burst of tears from Rachel that happened every so often during the past few days, but it doesn't come. Instead she starts laughing for the first time in what seemed like forever.
"What?" Kurt wonders. "Do you think it's wrong that I'm excited to see everybody again, instead of, you know feeling sad?" She asks. Kurt smiles and says "No, I'm glad you're happy. And"- He stops to take a shaky breath "I think Finn would be glad too." She smiles back at him and squeezes his hand. "I am still scared though" She admits. "About what?" He asks curiously. She gulps and tells him "I'm afraid to face everyone. Since he passed on the only people I've talked to are you and Santana. I can't look people in the eye knowing the last time I saw most of them was Mr. Shue's should've been wedding and Finn was around then. And I'm- I'm just afraid I'll lose it. I can't handle seeing them in a few minutes at the airport. I know I can't."
Kurt nods and responds "I know you could, and you can. But I had a feeling this would be hard for you so I just asked Blaine if he could pick us up. Only Blaine. No one else." She smiles and gives him a hug. "Thank you".
In just a few moments the plane had landed and they (along with Santana who had been sleeping for the duration of the flight) were heading down to meet Blaine by the baggage claim. Still holding Kurt's hand, Rachel stops. "I know it's stupid, but I don't think I can do this." Santana rolls her eyes, grabs Rachel's other hand and pulls her along. Rachel must've looked something awful because as soon as Blaine saw her, she was sobbing in his arms. Which, of course, was awkward looking because she was still holding onto Kurt and Santana's hand's. "I'm-I'm –I'm sorry." Rachel sputters out "Let's leave" . "Ok," Blaine says, "Come on, let's getcha home" as he leads them out to his car.
The car ride home was silent, Blaine was busy driving, Santana was on her phone and Rachel sat in the back with Kurt, still clutching his hand as if she was afraid to let it go. When they reach her Dads' house, she sighs and opens the car door. "You can do this" smiles Kurt as to reassure her . She smiles, walks to the front door and steps inside, giving one greatful glance to Kurt to say thank you.
After dropping Santana off as well, Kurt hops in the front with Blaine. It's as soon as Blaine begins to drive away that he asks Kurt "How are you doing?"
Kurt grimaces and says "I'm sad. Really sad." "I know, we all are. But I meant you. Seem like you're really preoccupied with Rachel right now and that's taking your mind off things. But remember, eventually, she won't need to be looked after anymore and that's great for her! But you won't have a distraction any more, and I just wanted you to know. I'm here for you." Blaine says as the car pulls to a stop in the Hummel's driveway. "Thank you." Kurt whispers as he reaches over and hugs Blaine.
They stay like that for a while and as Blaine holds Kurt, he can tell, Kurt is sobbing into his shoulder.