Kurt woke up to his usual alarm (Patti LuPone singing "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina) boisterously, practically jumping to his feet, before falling right back down almost immediately. Winded and in a state of vertigo, Kurt tried to figure out what was wrong with him. Normally he woke up with enough energy to power a rocket; he was absolutely a morning person. But then he felt it. The ache in his lungs, the scratchiness in his throat that made it hard to swallow, his clammy hands, the pounding in his head…

No. No! I am not getting sick now, Kurt thought to himself in dismay. Blaine only just transferred to McKinley last week! I need to be there for him!

Taking a deep breath, Kurt rose from bed more slowly this time, and began getting ready for school, trying to ignore the beads of sweat that formed on his forehead over even the smallest exertions. By the time he made it downstairs, he was already way off schedule, and headed straight to the door, thinking he could probably afford to skip breakfast for today.

"Whoah there, buddy, where are you going so fast, and dressed like that?" his father, Burt, stopped him in his tracks.

"What do you mean?" Kurt said, looking down at what his was wearing. "This outfit is fabulous."

"Not exactly what I meant, Kurt," Burt said, pointing out the window, where it was already beginning to snow rather hard. "You need to put on a coat, or something. And don't you want breakfast? Finn and Carole left without you so I can just drive you today…"

Burt trailed off as he noticed Kurt swaying a little as he spoke. Come to think of it, the kid looked like he was about to pass out, and his cheeks were way more rosy than usual.

"You doing okay, Kurt?" he asked, reaching out a hand to feel his forehead. "Jeez, you're burning up! No way you're going to school like this. Come on, back upstairs. I'll take your temperature."

"I'm fine, Dad, I have to go," Kurt croaked as he allowed his father to lead him back towards his room. He didn't have the energy to break away from him, and felt like his legs were going to give out beneath him at any moment. "Blaine…"

"Blaine will be fine without you for one day. Now you wait right here and I'll be right back."

"Where else would I be…?" Kurt said weakly as he dumped himself back on his bed. He hated giving in this easily, but the prospect of going to school when he felt like this was horrifying; he couldn't even imagine making it through first period. Maybe Blaine would be okay without him for today. The New Directions kids definitely liked him, (well, besides Santana; she hated any boy she couldn't get to sleep with her), and he already knew his way around the halls pretty well. Plus, Kurt would not want Blaine seeing him like this. Slowly, he kicked off his shoes and pants and removed his vest and elaborate accessories, assuming they would be uncomfortable to sleep in, instead pulling over his head a soft green knit sweater he only wore inside the house. It completely lacked flair.

Burt walked back into the room carrying a tray of hot tea, honey, cough drops, tissues, medicine, and a thermometer. He could be pretty excessive when he wanted to be. Helping Kurt, who was beginning to shiver, get under the covers, he stuck the thermometer in his mouth and began unscrewing the cap to the medicine.

"Okay your fever is just at 100 right now," Burt said, feeling relieved. "Maybe if you just take this medicine right now it'll pass soon."

"Uh-huh…" Kurt slurred, taking it. His eyelids felt heavy and all he wanted was to bury himself in the warmth of his thick covers and never come back out. No, that wasn't true. He wanted Blaine. Blaine would be all alone at McKinley today, he would feel abandoned, Kurt had abandoned him…his thoughts drifted off as his eyes fluttered shut and he immediately fell back asleep.

The rest of the day passed in a fevered haze of Burt worriedly fluttering in and out of his room, urging him to take more medicine and drink more tea whenever he saw that Kurt was even mildly awake, which he never really was. Kurt had the sinking feeling that his fever was not, in fact, going down, but instead increasing rather rapidly, when at around 5 p.m. he was having trouble falling back asleep and heard the doorbell ring, and in a few moments Blaine was entering his room.

"Blaine!" Kurt said, his voice coming out raspy and rough. He turned to the side as uttering that one name sent him into a violent coughing fit.

Blaine rushed to his side, rubbing his back and offering him some of the tea that was still on the bedside table.

"Hey, drink some of this," Blaine said, concern deep in his eyes. He had never seen Kurt like this before. He looked awful. And he didn't sound too great, either.

Kurt drank it thankfully.

"I'm so sorry I didn't come today, Blaine," Kurt said softly, trying to keep his scratchy voice at a minimum. "I wanted to, but my dad wouldn't let me, and I told him I had to go but he didn't listen—

"Kurt, it's okay! Stop freaking out. McKinley wasn't so bad without you," he said, sitting on the bed beside him.

Kurt glowered at him, and realizing he had said the wrong thing, Blaine scrambled for a save. "I mean, of course it was absolutely awful, I walked around all day completely alone wondering where you were, and your absence was so painfully clear at every turn that at some points during the day I felt like I could hardly go on," he said, grabbing hold of Kurt's hand and pouting while batting his eyelashes.

Kurt let out a weak chuckle.

"Of course, that's exactly what I assumed would happen," he said teasingly.

"How are you, though?" Blaine asked, feeling his forehead. "You're burning up – it's been like this all day? How bad is your fever?"

"Uh, I think right now it's at 103 or something…" Kurt trailed off, yawning as he let out another violent shiver.

Blaine pulled the covers up to Kurt's neck to keep him warmer, and, kissing him lightly on the cheek, (he didn't think kissing him on the lips right now would be the wisest idea), stood back up.

"Wh-where are you going?" Kurt slurred, his eyelids fluttering as he struggled to keep them open between shivers. He hated feeling so terrible and looking so awful in front of his boyfriend, who, as usual, looked absolutely stunning, but he still didn't want him to leave.

"I should go, and let you get some sleep," Blaine said, frowning as he watched Kurt continue to shiver between his thick covers. He looked so tiny and weak, it broke his heart. "I just wanted to come over and make sure everything was okay."

Burt entered the room just then, saying, "I don't think so, Blaine. It looks like you got here just in time; the storm just picked up and they've issued a blizzard warning all over the county. You might have to stay the night; no one should be driving in this weather."

Blaine looked out Kurt's bedroom window, and sure enough, the sky had gone completely black, although it wasn't nearly time for the sun to set. It was terrifying, and snow came down so hard and so thickly that he couldn't even make out the house next door.

"Yay, a Blaine sleepover," Kurt said faintly, his eyes beginning to fully close.

Blaine smirked, rolling his eyes. "Well, I guess I should probably call my parents and let them know. What about Carole and Finn? Are they home yet?"

"Yep, just got here, too. You guys were very lucky; there have already been reports of accidents all over town; you can't see a foot in front of you in this weather!" Burt said, turning to look at Kurt. "Looks like he's asleep again, let's give him some quiet."

Kurt only made out bits and fragments of their conversation before he was catapulted back into darkness.

Blaine exited the room with Burt, and after calling his parents and having dinner with him, Carole, and Finn, (Kurt continued to sleep feverishly through the rest of the evening), he was set up in the room closest to Kurt's; the guest room directly across the hall, wearing a pair of Finn's pajamas; a baggy shirt and baggy plaid pants; which Finn had begrudgingly lent him ("You're not gonna do anything with Kurt while wearing these, are you?" Finn had asked him).

Blaine woke up in the middle of the night – he checked his watch; 12:07 A.M. – hearing muffled cries coming from Kurt's room. He thought he heard his name. Groggily getting up, he shuffled across the hall and peered inside.

"Kurt?" he said as he entered.

Kurt was tossing and turning violently in his bed, completely tangled in his covers, gasping and moaning. Blaine rushed to his side, and saw that he was still asleep, probably having a feverish nightmare of some sort, and tears were streaming down from his eyes, shut tight in pain. His hair was plastered around his face with sweat, and his cheeks were bright, bright red.

"Kurt, Kurt, wake up," Blaine said, putting his hands on his shoulders to try to keep him from thrashing, and shaking him. "Come on, it's just a dream, baby, it's just a dream."

Kurt gasped, his eyes flying open, staring straight up at Blaine but not really seeing him. His eyes were clouded, and Blaine sensed that he was seeing something entirely different than what was actually there.

"No—please—I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry – just don't hurt me," Kurt cried, his gasps turning into sobs as violent shivers wracked his body.

Trying to keep a good hold on him while untangling his body from his various bed sheets and blankets and spreading them back over him evenly, Blaine said, "What? Kurt, I'm not going to hurt you; it's me, Blaine. Calm down, you're safe."

Kurt only cried harder, fiercely whispering, "It's not my fault I'm gay." His gray-blue eyes, ringed red from all the crying, pierced Blaine's.

Blaine felt his heart shatter. Kurt was having nightmares, maybe even visions, of people bullying him for being gay. He had to try and snap him out of it; he couldn't stand seeing him like this. He got into the bed beside Kurt, sitting up against the headboard, and when he was under the covers he rubbed Kurt's arms to try to stop his shivering. He was no longer fighting against Blaine's touch, but still shaking violently and silently crying.

"You're allowed to be gay, Kurt," Blaine whispered softly, yet forcefully in his ear. "In fact, I'm glad that you're gay. Because I'm in love with you. And if you weren't, I couldn't have you."

Kurt let out another violent sob, his chest heaving. "Blaine? Blaine, don't let them! Don't let them hurt us, I'm so sorry I can't – I can't help it, I try not to be, I try…"

He trailed off as he nuzzled his face into Blaine's chest, continuing to cry. Blaine swallowed, now blinking back tears of his own. He couldn't handle hearing all of this. Was this true? Was Kurt really this destroyed over being gay? Did he really try not to be? No, of course not. Of course not! This was just the fever talking. Trying to strengthen his resolve, he put his arms around Kurt and pulled him in closer, running his hand up and down his back.

"I promise you I won't let them hurt us," Blaine whispered, kissing Kurt's piping hot forehead. "I'll protect you no matter what, Kurt. Okay? Listen to me. I will protect you no matter what. You don't have to worry, or cry. I'm here. You're okay."

Kurt let out a long, shaky breath, and his crying seemed to stop a bit, although his trembling didn't.

"Shhhhhh, it's okay, Kurt, it's okay…" Blaine continued to whisper. "Listen, baby, I just need you to do one thing, okay? I just need to take your temperature…to keep the bullies away. Alright? It's very important."

Blaine stretched his free arm over to the bedside table and fumbled for the thermometer as Kurt blubbered, "For the bullies?"

"Yes, for the bullies," Blaine said, finally getting a hold on it.

Kurt sniffled, finally saying, "O-okay…"

Blaine turned it on and stuck it under Kurt's tongue, softly pushing his chin up to close his mouth, continuing to rub his back all the while. He gasped when the thermometer beeped and he read the temperature.

"Holy shit – it's 105," Blaine muttered under his breath. "Okay, Kurt, a couple more things, alright?"

He awkwardly opened the case of Tylenol with one hand and shook out a couple of pills.

"You need to swallow these, okay? Now try and sit up with me. Here's some water," he said, softly pulling Kurt upright.

Kurt moaned a little, but other than that, made no protest. He let Blaine put the pills in his mouth and feed him the water, which he drank clumsily, spilling some on both himself and Blaine.

"S-s-sorry," Kurt whimpered, as violent shivers continued to wrack his body. He buried his face in the crook of Blaine's neck as he once again began to choke back tears.

"It's okay, baby," Blaine whispered. "Now I know one more thing that'll help. You need to shower, okay? It's the only way to drive the bullies away. It'll be really quick."

Blaine was a little worried as to how exactly this would work, but Kurt's temperature was way to high to even hesitate at his point. He needed to do something to at least lower his temperature a little bit. He should honestly have been at a hospital at this point, but when Blaine looked out the window he saw, to his dismay, that the blizzard was just as strong, if not stronger, as before.

"N-no, I don't w-wanna," Kurt whined.

"You have to. Come on, it's the only way, Kurt. Don't you want me to protect you?"

Kurt nodded, letting out a tiny sob.

"Okay then. Come on," Blaine said, gently pulling Kurt up to stand.

He put Kurt's arm around his shoulders, supporting most of his weight, and they slowly made their way to Kurt's bathroom. Once there, Blaine had him sit on the toilet as he removed Kurt's sweater and shirt, leaving him only in his boxers. He then turned the water in the shower on so it was just lukewarm, assuming that anything cooler than that would feel freezing to Kurt's boiling skin.

"Come on, stand up," Blaine said as he helped pull Kurt back up to his feet. He was shaking uncontrollably now, completely drenched in sweat. His skin was hot to the touch.

"W-what ab-bout th-th-these?" Kurt asked, attempting to remove his boxers.

"Whoah there," Blaine said, stopping him. He couldn't possibly imagine how livid Kurt would be if, in his right mind, he remembered that he had gotten fully undressed in front of him. They hadn't exactly gotten to that point in their relationship just yet, and there was no way that Kurt was anywhere near feeling comfortable being naked in front of Blaine, as much as Blaine wanted it. "Just, I'm just gonna step right out there, in your room, and then you can do that. You can call me if you need me, okay?"

"N-no! You can't leave me alone, you can't! You promised me," Kurt cried, sobbing again.

"Oh, God," Blaine muttered to himself. "I should not be doing this. Burt should be doing this, not me. This is so bad. Kurt is going to kill me."

Letting out a deep sigh, he said to Kurt, "Okay, okay! I'll stay. I'm gonna turn around while you get in the shower though, and you need to close the curtains behind you. I'll be right here the whole time, okay?"

Kurt looked dubious, but he complied. While he was in the shower, Blaine scrambled to find a towel and some dry clothes for him, seeing as the ones he had been wearing were completely soaked through with sweat.

"Blaine?" Kurt called from the bathroom. "Blaine!"

Grabbing the first things he could find, Blaine rushed back into the bathroom, worried that maybe Kurt had fallen in the shower. He entered to find Kurt standing in the middle of the bathroom, dripping wet, completely naked. Blaine's jaw dropped, and the towel and clothes he was holding slipped out of his hands and to the floor. He knew he was going to pay for this later, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Kurt. He felt his heartbeat pound in his ears and his breath quicken as his eyes swept hungrily over Kurt's body. He was more than beautiful; he was perfect, and Blaine never wanted to take his eyes off of him.

Blaine drew in a shaky breath, and picked up Kurt's towel from the floor. "You should – you should dry yourself," he said breathlessly.

"Here are your clothes," he said, picking them up off the floor and handing them to Kurt. "I…uh, I'll be in your room."

He awkwardly walked out, and much to his surprise, Kurt remained silent, and didn't protest. He sat on Kurt's bed and buried his face in his hands, ashamed of taking advantage of Kurt's feverish state as he just had. Kurt never would have done that to him, although to be honest, Blaine wouldn't have minded. He wanted nothing more than to be intimate with Kurt, but it seemed like these days, Kurt wanted nothing less.

Kurt entered the bedroom fully dressed (thank God) and sat back on the bed, getting under the covers, shivering only slightly now. He let out a large yawn before nuzzling back into Blaine's waiting arms and falling immediately to sleep. Thankful for the apparent, even if only temporary, recovery, Blaine rested his head atop Kurt's and allowed himself to drift to sleep as well, trying to push away his feelings of guilt as he held the one thing most important to him in the world in his arms.

"Hey…" Burt began as he entered Kurt's room later that morning only to trail off when he saw Blaine in bed with his son, his arms around him. Frowning, he cleared his throat loudly in an attempt to wake them up.

"Mmmmmm…" Blaine mumbled, holding Kurt even closer in his sleep.

"Alright, that's it. This is the second time I have to see this kid waking up in my son's bed," Burt said to himself, walking over to the bed. "Hey! Morning!" he shouted over the both of them.

Blaine gasped, shooting upright, rubbing his eyes and looking around in confusion. Kurt, who he had woken up in the process, moaned slightly, slowly frowning and opening his eyes.

"Wha's happening?" Blaine slurred, looking up at Burt. Seeing the disapproving expression on his face, he slowly understood. "Oh, um…" He quickly untangled himself from Kurt and the covers, leaping out of the bed and awkwardly looking at the floor.

"I'm sorry, sir, I heard Kurt crying out in the middle of the night and I came in here to see if everything was alright. I must have fallen asleep."

"Yeah, evidently," Burt said, not buying it. "You should have woken me up. I'm his father, after all. I can take care of him myself."

"He was calling for me, sir," Blaine said, his voice almost a whisper.

Burt sighed. "How many times have I asked you to call me Burt?"

"Sorry…Burt," Blaine said, smiling slightly, realizing he was no longer in trouble.

"Kurt, how are you feeling?" his father asked, feeling his forehead. "Hmm…back to normal it seems. Well, Blaine, you did good. Now how about we all go downstairs and eat some breakfast? All the schools are closed today; the roads are completely blocked off and when you open the front door all you see is a wall of snow. It's amazing, really. The largest blizzard of the decade. Finn and I are gonna try to dig us out today, if you want to help, Blaine. Kurt, you should probably just rest…or something," Burt trailed off, continuing to ramble uncomfortably as he exited the room and made his way downstairs.

Left alone once again, Kurt sat up silently in bed and tried to catch Blaine's eye, who refused to look at him.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, his voice and tone back to normal.

"Um…yes?" Blaine asked, still not making eye contact.

"What's…? What happened last night?"

Blaine finally looked at him, and tried searching his eyes to see if Kurt already knew and was trying to test him or genuinely had no memory of any of it. He knew he shouldn't lie, but he was terrified. He finally let out a defeated sigh, and sat down on the bed, taking Kurt's hands in his own.

"Kurt," he began, "You were very sick last night. I came in because you were screaming, and crying…you were having nightmares, or visions or something, about bullies trying to hurt you for…for being gay."

Kurt frowned, biting his lip. He looked so adorable trying to remember what had happened last night that Blaine had to control the urge to throw his arms around him and kiss him.

"Hmmm…I think I remember that, vaguely," Kurt began, before casting a knowing, accusatory glance at Blaine and raising one eyebrow. "And then I remember something about a shower?"

"What? No! No showers…" Blaine said, examining the bed sheets, and then looking back up at Kurt.

"Ugh, okay, I…your fever was 105, okay? That's like, emergency room status. But of course I couldn't take you there because of the blizzard. So I remembered my mom saying something about showers helping to bring down high temperatures and I was trying to get you to go into it alone but you were crying so much and you didn't want me to leave and then I did leave and when I came back you were standing in the middle of the bathroom naked, dripping wet, and you looked so fantastically gorgeous that I couldn't look away and I'm really really sorry and I promise I didn't do anything so please don't be mad," Blaine said, taking in a huge breath when he was done, and squinting guiltily up at Kurt through his eyelashes.

At first, Kurt felt absolutely mortified, and a little betrayed, although he had vaguely remembered all of this happening. Still, he was nowhere near being ready for Blaine to see him that way; he had wanted to work out more, be more toned, his diet was only just starting to work, and he didn't even want to get into what he looked like down there. He felt his face heat up and now he was the one who refused to make eye contact. He had no idea what to say.

"Please say something," Blaine said, cupping Kurt's chin in his hand and turning his face towards him. "You can be mad at me, but you shouldn't be embarrassed. Because, well…I mean, I liked what I saw."

Kurt bit his lip again, disbelieving and now, beyond humiliated. "Please stop. Let's not even pretend like that's true. Yeah, I have great skin and an awesome wardrobe, but my body…"

"Is beautiful," Blaine said, looking straight into Kurt's eyes. "I mean it."

Kurt shook his head, looking away from him again, and Blaine took his face in his hands once more, this time to move it towards him. He kissed him softly, caressing his lips with his own, trying to get a message across that he couldn't seem to do with words. He moved his hands from Kurt's face to his chest, sliding down, reveling in the warmth of kissing him, of feeling him. Kurt's fingers tangled in Blaine's curls as he pulled him closer, kissing him back deeply, his breathing ragged. Blaine was the first to pull away, his face flushed, recovering from the ethereal feeling that always came with kissing Kurt.

"To me, Kurt, you are perfect," he whispered, their foreheads touching, still breathing fast. "Someday, someday soon, I'm going to make you realize that."

This came out a little longer than I had intended, but I hope you enjoyed it! Please review if you have the time; this is my first fic and feedback would mean the world to me!