AN: So this was basically a result of too much stress and things getting on top of one another. Enjoy :)

Kurt knew Blaine suffered from anxiety. It had been something Blaine had shared with him over one of their first bonding coffees at the Lima Bean when Kurt first transferred to Dalton.

"No way!" Kurt gasped whenever Blaine told him. Blaine had laughed and averted his gaze to his coffee cup, adjusting the lid of it.

"Believe or not but it's true," Blaine smiled, spreading out his arms and Kurt had laughed it off, definitely not believing him.

But then he noticed at lunch and again at dinner, Blaine would pull out tablets from his pocket and swallow them with a gulp of water. He started to put two and two together in his brain and he realised that the smart, smooth, eloquent, confident boy who he'd been crushing on for months really did suffer from anxiety.

Whenever they'd started going out, Kurt had been told the whole story about Blaine and the Sadie Hawkins dance at his school before Dalton. He learnt why Blaine wasn't just on anti-anxiety meds but also anti-depressants. An anti-anxiety in the morning and before lunch and an anti-depressant in the morning, after dinner and before going to bed. Kurt learnt the schedule and as their relationship grew, Kurt found himself reminding Blaine to take his tablets and Blaine would roll his eyes at him and say "yes mom" before doing just as he was told.

With the tablet schedule, Kurt also learnt the nervous tics. Whenever Blaine felt out-of-place, he'd scratch his thumb with his fore finger; whenever he was nervous in a large crowd, he'd lick his lips and dry them.

Whenever Blaine started at McKinley, his tics increased. His first day he scratched and licked his lips much more often than usual. He calmed when Kurt was around or when he had skin to skin contact with him. But as the weeks went on, Blaine's tics didn't die down. In fact they did the opposite. They became more regular and additional ones were added: Blaine chewed at the skin at the tips of his fingers, he had a constant spasm in his leg when he was sitting and he was forever swiping his right hand across his stomach.

"Blaine," Kurt said one day near Thanksgiving as they sat on his bed, trying to choose a song to sing in glee club.

Blaine looked up from the sheets of music, his hair was springing free from its gel as a result of the intense make-out session they'd been having before Burt came home and broke them up.

"Yeah, sweetie?" Blaine asked, as a tight lipped smile - another more common thing these days - crossed his face.

Kurt took a deep breath. "Y-you're still taking your meds, right?"

Blaine frowned for a second before nodding. "Of course I am. I need them to get through the day. Why?"

Kurt avoided eye contact with Blaine and stared down at his hands, worrying a corner of sheet music between his thumb and fore finger.

"It's just - I think you're getting worse again," Kurt chanced a look up and saw Blaine sitting stiffly, chewing his bottom lip between his teeth. "I'm just worried about you, Blaine. I don't want things to... get bad again - get like they were before." Kurt hadn't realised his eyes had welled up. "I didn't know you then and it breaks my heart to think you were ever in such a low state of mind and if that were to happen now..." Kurt shook his head. "I don't think I would survive."

Kurt dropped his head and stared at his hands. There was silence for a moment and his heart raced nervously and after another minute of quiet, Kurt was beginning to regret saying anything. He was about to retract his statement whenever the sheets rustled and suddenly Blaine was right beside him, holding onto his hand.

"It is getting bad again," Blaine sighed, dropping his forehead onto Kurt's shoulder. "I don't - it's not like I can help it though. I just see all these people and I don't know them and they don't know me and I get this constant, nagging fear that they're looking at me and judging me… a-and it's hard, Kurt." Blaine ran his thumb along the inside of Kurt's palm. "I can feel the anxiety attacks coming back too."

Kurt rested his head on top of Blaine's. "Have they come back?"

"… Not yet," Blaine mumbled.

Kurt sighed, squeezing Blaine's hand. "Have you told your mom?"

Blaine hesitated. "I don't want to worry her. Like, my dad's away for most of this month with work and Mom's got to keep up with all the dinners and stuff and she's stressed out a lot lately."

"She'd want to know, Blaine," Kurt said softly, intertwining their fingers.

"I'll be fine."

"Blaine –"

"Kurt," Blaine took his head of Kurt's shoulder and planted a kiss on his lips. "It'll be fine and I promise to tell you if it gets any worse."

He didn't.

Thanksgiving came and went and the time for sectionals came around; that was the first time Kurt had seen Blaine get stage fright. Just before they went on, Kurt went for a toilet break and when he was there, he found Blaine gripping the sides of a sink, staring straight down at the basin and taking short, panting breaths.

Whenever Kurt had put a hand on his shoulder, Blaine nearly jumped a mile and he had tears sparkling in his eyes when he turned to face Kurt. He ran out of the bathrooms after that, not talking to his boyfriend and later on whenever they were about to have celebratory sex, Blaine shied away when Kurt moved to pull his top off.

"You okay?" Kurt asked concernedly when Blaine had moved to the end of the bed, tugging his clothes back into the right position and taking deep breaths.

"F-fine," he stuttered whenever his breathing evened out a little more.

Kurt frowned. "No you're not." He moved to hold Blaine's hand but Blaine suddenly stood up, announcing that he had to leave. Kurt watched his boyfriend sadly as he pulled on his over shirt and slipped on his shoes. Kurt saw him to the door and Blaine welcomed the bear hug he was offered from Kurt.

"I'm sorry," Blaine said quietly in his ear.

Kurt shook his head and smiled at him when they pulled away. "Don't be. Just… talk to me if you need me, yeah?"

Blaine had nodded and turned to leave when Burt appeared in the hallway.

"Anderson!" Burt called and Blaine turned around again, giving him a completely false smile.

"Hey Burt," Blaine said politely. Kurt sent his dad a warning glare.

"It sucks you can't come on Saturday," Burt said, coming to stand beside Kurt in the doorway and Kurt shifted uncomfortably, subtly trying to tell Burt to shut up. "It would've been good for you to be introduced so I can show everyone my third son." Burt laughed and Blaine frowned. "Rachel's comin' and all."

"Dad," Kurt said sharply. Blaine looked at Kurt, frowning further before turning back to Burt.

"I'm sorry… what's Saturday?"

It was Burt's turn to frown before dawning came upon him and he turned to Kurt who had now started to shy away.

"You didn't ask him?" Burt flared up. "You told me he was busy!" Burt let out a frustrated grunt and looked back at Blaine. "We're having mine and Kurt's family over for the weekend and I told him to invite you but apparently that hasn't happened."

Blaine bit his lip and looked at the ground. "Oh…"

"So are you comin', kiddo?"

Blaine nodded, forcing a smile back onto his face. "Sure, I'd love to."

"Good, I'll see you then," Burt said; he shot another glare in Kurt's direction before disappearing back into the living room.

"Blaine, let me explain," Kurt rushed, stepping outside and holding onto both of Blaine's hands. "I didn't want to ask because I didn't think it would be good for you considering all your anxiety lately. I didn't want you to feel as if you were pressured to come."

Blaine kept his eyes on the ground. "So you're not just ashamed of me?"

"No!" Kurt gasped, pulling Blaine into a tight hug. "God no, you're the best thing in my life, Blaine. I just didn't want to make you feel like you were obligated to do it."

"You know I'd love to meet your family, Kurt," Blaine said with a small smile as they pulled away.

"Are you sure? There'll be a lot of people there. My dad has invited everybody."

Blaine's smile grew. "Then good. I want to meet everyone."

"You sure you'll be okay?" Kurt seemed sceptical.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before," Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist and linked his hands together at his lower back. "I'll be fine, Kurt."

Kurt had smiled and seen Blaine on his way. The rest of the week, he'd seen Blaine in school, they'd smile at each other, converse at lunch with the rest of the glee club and had their private conversations when they sat beside each other in classes they had together. They'd sung with each other in glee and Blaine had been round at Kurt's house two nights for dinner. Nothing out of the ordinary except that Kurt had had a sickening feeling in his gut every time he was with Blaine.

It was becoming increasingly obvious to Kurt that Blaine simply wasn't well.

And he was terrified about what would happen that weekend.

It came around sooner rather than later. Kurt had been at home all the Friday night, running around the house to help Carole do last minute tidying and shouting at Finn for leaving dirty glasses on the coffee table in the living room. After Finn had got told off by Carole for nibbling a piece of the chocolate pie she'd prepared for the next night, he decided to retire to his room and get out of Kurt and Carole's way.

Kurt was up early on Saturday morning. He showered and got dressed in dark jeans, an off-white shirt that clung to his arms and chest, a dark purple scarf around his neck and black boots; he coiffed his hair to perfection and went through his daily moisturising routine. He put an apron over his outfit when he went into the kitchen to help Carole with last minute preparations.

She smiled when she saw him and kissed his cheek. "You look great, honey."

Kurt had smiled and busied himself with preparing food. After that, he set candles around the house and straightened out pillows and cushions.

It wasn't until Carole had told him there was nothing left to do that Kurt had taken off the apron; he walked into the quiet, empty hallway and leant against the wall. He got out his phone to check if Blaine had text him and stared at the picture of him and his boyfriend on his lock screen. Rachel had actually been the one to take it but Kurt had gotten it off her whenever she posted it on Instgram.

It had been taken from the doorway of Kurt's kitchen; Blaine sat on the counter and Kurt was standing on the floor, in between Blaine's legs which were wrapped around his waist. Kurt's hands were on Blaine's waist and Blaine's were around his shoulders. Kurt's forehead was resting against Blaine's chest and he was pressing a kiss to Kurt's hair. With all the effects, the picture was in black and white and whenever Kurt had seen it, he thought it was the most perfect picture that had ever been taken.

He smiled slightly at it now and felt tears spring to his eyes. It was only then he let himself worry about Blaine. He bit his lip and locked his phone again, bringing it up to rest against his chin; he gripped it tightly and closed his eyes, hoping with all his might that Blaine would be okay.

Kurt was shocked out of his reverie whenever the doorbell rang and he looked to his right to see contorted figures behind the frosted glass. He guessed that was how Blaine saw the world; morphed, ugly, indistinctive.

Burt came out of the living room and Kurt took a deep breath as his dad went to open the door. It was his Aunt Alice and Uncle Michael with his two cousins Tom and Lauren; Tom was ten and Lauren was thirteen. Alice was holding a plate of sandwiches and Michael pulled Burt into a hug when the door was opened. Tom pushed Lauren forward and she turned around to yell at him before going back to her phone, hardly looking up as she walked into the house.

Half an hour later, Kurt's house was full of extended relatives. There were little kids running around and knocking things over, pubescent teens scowling and pretending to have a good time, older teens that were catching up with each other and adults laughing and enjoying seeing one another.

Kurt knew he told Blaine to come after everyone else had arrived and he knew he was picking up Rachel on the way but that didn't mean Kurt wasn't anxious. He checked his phone every couple of minutes and he'd received a few 'aww's at his wallpaper from his female cousins that were his age and one or two years younger. They'd requested to see more pictures of Blaine; Kurt had smiled politely and went into his camera roll, bringing up dozens of pictures of them. The latest ones being from last week when they were baking cookies together and a few days before that when they'd stayed late after school to practise a duet. Kurt had some gorgeous ones of Blaine playing piano, completely unaware of the photographs Kurt was taking.

Finn got to the door first whenever the bell rang. Kurt glared at him as Rachel and Blaine walked into the house. Rachel smiled and said hello to Kurt before hugging Finn and allowing him to take off her coat. Kurt turned to see Blaine closing the door gently behind him; he looked up and met Kurt's eyes. He smiled, taking a step forward.

"Hi," Blaine said.

Kurt sighed and grinned at his boyfriend before wrapping his arms around his shoulders. "Hey," he whispered in his ear.

Blaine pulled away and looked Kurt up and down, a gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. "You look great."

Kurt felt himself blush slightly and he looked back at Blaine; he was as gorgeous as ever, of course, in his rusty coloured chinos, brown loafers, white shirt buttoned to the top and navy blazer.

"You look good too, sir," Kurt winked and Blaine was about to lean in to kiss Kurt whenever a relation appeared in the hall.

"So this is Blaine?" Kurt let go of Blaine's hand and looked up to see his Uncle Brandon carrying his baby cousin on his hip. Kurt smiled and glanced over at Blaine.

"Yes," he said. "This is Blaine."

Brandon held out his hand and smiled at Blaine. Kurt could see Blaine's mind start to turn everything over; he swallowed hard and a pulse quicken in his temple. He shook Brandon's hand and ducked his head.

"It's nice to meet you, sir," Blaine muttered.

"The boy's got manners," Brandon grinned and walked past them, clapping Kurt on the shoulder as he went.

Blaine let out a deep breath and buried his face in his hands. Kurt looked over at him with his lip between his teeth. He ignored the stab of hurt in his gut when Blaine flinched away when he set a hand gently on his shoulder.

"C'mon," Kurt said softly and Blaine lowered his hands. "I'll get you something to drink."

Blaine nodded and followed Kurt into the kitchen where Carole was. She was gabbling with Kurt's aunts over cups of coffee and three of his little cousins were playing with Barbie dolls on the floor beside the table.

"Oh – Blaine!" Carole smiled when they walked into the kitchen. Blaine took another deep breath and plastered a false smile across his face. "You made it, then?"

"Yes, I did," Blaine smiled politely as Carole introduced him to everyone in the kitchen. Kurt poured Blaine's glass of water, forcing himself not to look over his shoulder to check on his boyfriend every two seconds.

"Do you go to Kurt's school?" Kurt's aunt, Fiona, asked Blaine.

Blaine nodded. "Yes, I do. I'm the year below, though."

"Oh?" Fiona said, raising her eyebrows. "Carole said you were a few months older?"

"I am," Blaine replied. "I got held back a year because – uh…" Blaine licked his lips nervously and Kurt smiled encouragingly as he walked over to him with his drink. "Well, I was in hospital for a while when I was fourteen."

"But you're all fine now," Kurt lied easily, smiling at everyone at the table as he handed Blaine his drink and placing his hand at the small of his back.

Blaine nodded, grinning as he too lied. "Perfectly."

All the women at the table were giving them heart eyes, their heads tilted to one side and hands clasped either around their mugs of coffee or over their hearts.

"C'mon," Kurt nudged Blaine. "Dad wanted to see you when you arrived."

Blaine nodded and took a sip of his water, feeling the cool liquid wet his dry throat. "It was lovely meeting you all."

They all called after them as they left the room in search of Burt. On the way there, Blaine was bombarded with all the cousins Kurt had shown his pictures to. Kurt could see Blaine getting nervous; he kept looking around to check Kurt was still there and he often licked his lips, drying them with his hand a second later. Colour was rising in Blaine's cheeks as all Kurt's cousins touched his arm or the small of his back or leaned in close to say something to him.

After about five or ten minutes, Blaine had to physically take a step back, reaching for Kurt's arm as everything began to overwhelm him. He grabbed on tightly and sent Kurt a panicked look as the group of girls simply stepped in closer again. Kurt bit his lip and set a reassuring hand on Blaine's.

"I think we should find my dad now," Kurt said as an excuse to leave and all the girls immediately backed away, letting them go quickly.

The doorway was clear and Blaine made a beeline for it with Kurt following close behind. They entered the hall where there were no people and it was considerably cooler and quieter than both the kitchen and the living room.

"I-I'm sorry," Blaine stuttered, stepping back from Kurt and looking at the floor, fidgeting from one foot to another.

"Hey," Kurt stepped forward again and tentatively put his hands on Blaine's shoulders. "Hey," he said softly and Blaine looked up at him, his eyes lost and his bottom lip worried between his teeth. "It's fine."

"I will be okay," Blaine said with determination in his voice. "It's just… I need a minute."

Kurt bit his lip, knowing that Blaine would definitely get worse but he also knew once Blaine had his mind made up that there was no changing it. He took a step back nonetheless and let Blaine have a moment. He took several deep breaths and dragged his hands over his face as he stared at the floor.

After a minute he looked up and nodded. "I'm okay."

"You sure?" Kurt asked, reaching out to touch Blaine's arm.

Blaine nodded with renewed vigour. "I'm fine."

"Alright then," Kurt said and they waked back into the living room.

Kurt introduced Blaine to more people after they had found Burt. Blaine shook all Kurt's uncle's hands and smiled politely at all of his cousins. He put on a good façade; a confident face, a permanent smile, pleasant remarks. Looking at Blaine from afar, no one know he had anything wrong with him.

But Kurt could tell he was fighting an internal battle.

Kurt knew Blaine's head was questioning itself the entire time; he knew Blaine's brain was telling him he wasn't good enough, that everyone hated him, that everyone thought his outfit or his hair looked stupid. Kurt knew whenever Blaine looked around the room, he wasn't looking for Kurt but rather to make sure an exit was still in sight.

Whenever he'd finished his water and had returned the glass to the kitchen, Blaine started scratching at his thumb continuously in the one spot. He didn't seem too worried about it but when Kurt watched him closer, he could see a cut starting to appear and when a drop of blood came from it, Kurt intertwined their hands to make Blaine stop.

Around five o'clock, Blaine disappeared to the bathroom and whenever he'd been gone for fifteen minutes, Kurt decided to go looking for him. The bathroom downstairs was occupied by one of his cousins and the one upstairs was vacant which meant Blaine had hidden away in Kurt's room.

When Kurt pushed the door open to his room, he saw Blaine hadn't even made it to the bed. His boyfriend sat on the floor against Kurt's wall, his knees drawn up to his chest and his head buried in his hands. His fingers were tangled in his hair which was coming loose from the gel.

He looked small; alone.

Kurt closed the door gently and walked over to Blaine, kneeling down beside him.

"Blaine, honey?"

"I'm so sorry," Blaine's voice was small.

"Don't be sorry, Blaine," Kurt replied straight away, putting a hand on Blaine's knee.

"You're probably so mad."

"I'm not."

Kurt swallowed the lump in his throat.

The room was silent.

"I'm taking you home, Blaine."

"No, I'm – I'm okay."

"Let's go, baby," Kurt pulled on Blaine's sleeve and he looked up at him. His heart broke when he saw Blaine had been crying.

"I'll be fine."

"You're going home Blaine."

Kurt clasped their hands together and started leading the teen out of his room.

"But Rachel –"

"Finn can give her a lift home." They were down the stairs and Kurt opened the front door, guiding Blaine outside. "Go and sit in your car, I'll tell my dad you're sick."

"I'm sorry."

"And I'm driving."

"Kurt, I'm so –"

Kurt cupped Blaine's face in his hands and kissed him. "It's fine, honey. Now go and get into the car."

Kurt turned around and took a deep breath to steady himself before finding Burt in the back room entertaining his little cousin, Stacey.

"Dad," Kurt said, saying hello to Stacey when she saw him. Burt looked up at Kurt.

"What's up, kiddo?" Burt still had a smile on his face from laughing at Stacey.

"Blaine's sick so I'm going to take him home," Kurt explained, holding up the car keys. "You'll be okay until I get back, yes?"

Burt rolled his eyes. "Yes, I think I'll manage. Is Blaine okay?"

"He's fine."

He's not.

"Are his mom or dad at home?"

Nope.

"Yeah, his mom just got back from Boston last night."

"Okay and do you need my help with anything?"

Kurt blinked.

I want your help with everything.

He forced a smile. "We'll be fine, old man. I'll see you in about two hours."

"Alright, later Kurt."

The drive to Westerville was silent. Not even the radio was playing. Blaine just sat in the passenger seat of his own car, his head resting against the window, staring at the all too familiar surroundings from Kurt's house to his own.

Kurt didn't even try to make conversation. It'd be one-sided and forced if he did. He simply concentrated on driving; he glanced at Blaine every few minutes to make sure he was still there. His mind was whirring, thinking about what could happen if Blaine was left alone all night in his house and knowing he should probably stay with him. Blaine's mom was in Boston with his dad for some sort of important business trip that included a charity dinner. Blaine had been left alone, as usual, with the fridge stocked with food and all the laundry done up to date.

Kurt pulled up at Blaine's huge house and Blaine was out of the car before Kurt had even blinked. He hurried after his boyfriend, locking the car over his shoulder. He ran into the house and slammed the door behind him.

"Blaine!" Kurt called after Blaine as the latter bolted straight up the stairs to his room. Kurt cursed, blaming himself for the whole episode ever happening. Blaine had definitely not been in the right state of mind and Kurt just made it worse.

Kurt followed him up the stairs and found him in his en suite bathroom, leaning over the sink with the cold tap running. His hands were tangled in his hair; his blazer was discarded across the bath and the top few buttons of his shirt were undone.

"Blaine, I –"

"It's my fault, Kurt," Blaine's voice was shaky; broken. "I was so stupid."

Blaine's grip on his hair tightened and his nails scratched his scalp. He suddenly let go and splashed his face brutally with the ice cold water.

"No! Blaine, it's not –"

"Can you just leave, Kurt?" Blaine continued to stare down at the sink, his hands braced on either side of it, water dripping from his eyelashes and nose. Kurt could see Blaine's arm muscles tensing and relaxing in a continuous pattern.

Kurt was scared to leave but he knew staying could make Blaine worse.

"I – okay. Just… don't do anything stupid, alright?" Kurt said tentatively, tears springing to his eyes.

Blaine didn't reply and simply stared on.

"Blaine?" Kurt pressed.

"Fine," Blaine sighed.

"I'll call you in the morning and you'd better answer," Kurt told him. Blaine didn't say anything. "I'll bring your car back tomorrow when Finn can follow in his, okay?"

Kurt could see Blaine chewing the inside of his cheek.

He took a deep breath. "I love you."

Kurt wasn't expecting a reply but it still hurt when he didn't get one. He backed out of the room and left the house, thoughts of what Blaine could be doing to himself plaguing his mind for the rest of the night.

AN: I'm completely open to prompts for future one shots? You can review on this or message me or tweet me PotterGleek98

Let me know!