Hello! Thank you for all your support, your reviews, alerts and favourites! A big shout out to , I hope you come out of your room now that the new chapter is up!

Now there has been a small time lapse, please note! This is a Kurt-centric chapter and I'm not quite sure how it happened but I appreciate your reviews and I hope you enjoy it!

January 24th 2012.

Maybe it was the fact that for once, his hair wasn't as slicked back and long as it normally was. Perhaps it was because his skin was paler and the bags under his eyes. Or maybe the students at McKinley High actually acknowledged his existence, but there was something different about the way that Kurt Hummel was being treated. Normally, locker shoves and slushie facials would be his normal welcome greeting. But instead, he was met with something that he wasn't quite sure whether it was a better or a worse thing. Walking down the hallway towards his home room, a voice sounded from his right.

"Porcelain, get in here." There was no need to even look and Kurt didn't break his stride as he turned and walked into the office of Coach Sue Sylvester.

The office was no different to how Kurt had last seen it. The reflection of light off all the trophies that lined the walls and cabinets was almost blinding. Little Robyn slept in her cot and behind the desk, sat the imposing and ever frightening figure of Sue Sylvester. Her blonde hair was short as usual and her eyes seemed to be boring into his skull. Nothing out of the ordinary then. Except that there was. Kurt automatically noticed that neither Becky nor Kitty was by her side and that the usual frown that graced the Coach's face had been replaced by a look of almost compassion and sadness.

He smiled shyly, when approaching Sue Sylvester he knew that it was always good to play nice. "What do you want Coach?" he asked genially.

Sue nodded to the swivel chair that sat on the other side of her desk. "Take a seat Hummel." Kurt frowned, and not just because she hadn't referred to him by his pet name she had for him. He took a seat cautiously, glancing towards the door. "Oh, don't worry you won't be in here long enough to miss home room." Then her tone softened and her frown seemed to relax. "I heard about your diagnosis Hummel."

That was not what Kurt had been expecting. He blinked twice and stared at Sue slightly shocked. "Um, which one Coach?"

Was that a flicker of amusement on Sue's face that Kurt detected as the coached processed his question? She creased her brow slightly as Robyn snuffled slightly in her innocent sleep. It was a rather forward question and there was something about the way that Sue was acting that told Kurt she knew.

She had fixed Kurt with her piercing stare that seemed to bury into his soul, worming its way beneath all the anger and hatred and right into the core where the fear and need to be loved burned stronger than before. Sue knew that Kurt didn't deserve this, heck no one deserved it. But if there was a God, he certainly wasn't manifesting himself in front of this 17 year old open homosexual who had never had the chance to be loved. He wasn't angry and bitter towards anyone who made fun of those who had suffered heart attacks, not that there were any to start off with. He only used witty remarks to try and counter those who made it their goal to make his life even more of a misery. There was no physical violence, no pure hatred that wasn't laced with some kind of pity in that golden heart that she admired and respected.

Sue nodded, eventually. "The second one, Kurt." She surprised even herself that it was his proper name rather than one of her numerous nicknames for him that she addressed him as such.

Kurt sighed and folded his arms defensively. Sue noted the automatic attempt to defend himself from any verbal insults that she might throw at him. "So what? I'm dying, isn't that going to be a blessing at McKinley? Most of the kids seem to think so."

His tone was bitter and resentful and Sue couldn't stop herself from feeling for him. He couldn't change the way he was and even if he could, she had a sneaky suspicion that he wouldn't. He was too individual, too much of a man to do that. She leant forward and rested her hands on the desk in front of her, her forearms parallel with each other. "I want to help you." She leant back and surveyed the younger boy with the same kind of expression that her tone matched. "I want to make sure that your time here at McKinley is one that you are going to remember for all the right reasons. No bullies, no slushies, solos in Glee club and somewhere that you can be a teenager. You're only a child once Porcelain."

Kurt let a half-smile grace his lips momentarily. He would only under pain of torture admit that he had grown to become fond of the nickname the Coach force had given me. But his features hardened almost immediately and he narrowed his eyes at the 6ft blonde. He had heard such promises, of varying degrees, before and they had never been as grand as she had always made them out to be.

"What's the catch? What do I have to do in return for you? Rejoin the Cheerios? Do extra credit work that won't get me any credit?"

Sue smiled, a small chuckle escaping her lips and she ducked her head almost immediately with the recognition of the truth in Kurt's statement and accusations. Then, to Kurt's amazement, she shook her head before looking him in the eye. "No, there's no catch." She glanced at the door momentarily, checking that no one was going to come in and interrupt her. "I will swear that you are lying and manipulating me if anyone finds out, but you've grown on me Porcelain. You know that I know what it is like to lose someone so close before their time is really up. There's no catch, nothing that you have to do. Sure wearing a Cheerios uniform or a Letterman's jacket and perhaps turning up to practice for one of them once or twice a month just to stop people thinking that you're wearing that uniform for another reason might help, but you don't have to. You don't deserve this Porcelain and I will try to do something to ensure that when you end up in hospital and outta here for good, you won't completely hate of this school."

Kurt snorted but inside he felt a pang of pleasure that Sue was actually caring about him, if he could really get away with that description of the woman. He thought about it carefully for a few moments. If anyone in the school could ensure his enjoyment for his last few months at McKinley, it would be Sue Sylvester. Did he want to have a good memory of the school that had made sure his high school years had definitely not been the best of his life. It was always worth trying, throwing caution to the wind was what should be happening if he didn't have long to live.

He shrugged. "Alright, thanks Coach. What do you need me to do?"

Sue smiled. "Stay out of this Friday's pep rally. I'll sort it out then."

Kurt wasn't exactly sure what that meant Sue was going to do but he was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. Her methods always worked, well almost always and he had to admit she did mostly keep her promises. He stood up, a slight dizziness suddenly coming over him. "Sure Coach." He put out a hand and caught the chair he had been sitting in to steady himself.

Sur frowned. "Are you alright Porcelain?"

Kurt frowned as well. "I think so; I might just head down to the nurse just in case. I've learned –"

But Kurt dint get to finish his sentence as his features went a deathly white colour and collapsed on the floor, unconscious. It didn't take Sue a split second to leap into action. In fact Kurt had been lucky to have his hand on the chair, if he had turned any other way he could have hit his head and seriously hurt himself even more so. Moving everything away from the boy, she had gently moved him into the recovery position before grabbing her phone and calling a man that she knew she had never called before but she had always knew that there would be a reason for calling Will Schuester.

Thankfully, he answered on the third ring. "What?"

She bit back a retort, something that was very hard for her own restraint. "William, you need to get down here to my office and call 911."

His tone immediately took on a serious tone and she could hear him walking on the other end of the phone. "What's happened?"

She tried to keep the quips back but it was getting hard. "It's Kurt, I was talking to him and he's fainted. It doesn't look good."

There was a hitch in the breath on the other end of the phone. "Don't worry, I'm ringing them now."

He cut off and Sue sighed one of relief as she realised, for the first time, that she was glad that her nemesis existed. He would know who to contact. Being told not to worry was one thing that was impossible. Kurt was a student who didn't know it but was treasured and respected by all the members of staff who cared for his standing up to the bullies and staying on when Karofsky returned to McKinley. But he wasn't going to be here for long and Sue had been truthful when she had said she would do all she could. She may seem like she had a heart of stone but there was a hint of gold, okay so maybe silver, in there beneath the hate. She was on a mission and nothing could stop her.

What do you think? I hope you enjoyed it! Until the next time!