BIG Thank you to my beta, Christine. And to Laura, the best cheerleader a girl could ask for. I'd be lost without them both!
There was still time before the sun came up when Blaine blinked his eyes open. The first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in his room; he was nestled into the corner of the couch in the living room. The second thing he noticed was the weight against his left side. With tired eyes he turned his head enough to see Kurt, his head on Blaine's shoulder, getting a little bit of the sleep he desperately needed. The traces of pain and heartbreak that had been so clear when he'd walked in the door the night before had disappeared, for now.
Blaine had been so worried when dinner rolled around and he hadn't seen or heard from neither Burt nor Kurt. It wasn't normal for a Master to tell his slave anything about what he was doing with his time—that had been burned into his mind as he watched another get the lesson beaten into their skin—and Blaine thought maybe they both had something going on that they hadn't mentioned. But he knew Burt better that that; he'd promised Blaine more than that. He called Blaine throughout the day to check in and always told Blaine if he was going to be late. Burt was so different than the Master he'd been trained to expect, and he'd been trying so hard to prove it since he'd passed his first evaluation. Blaine had thought a lot about what Burt had said since then. "We need you to be Blaine," he'd said, and while Blaine still wasn't sure how to do that, he'd spent the nights since then falling asleep a little easier while he thought about all the ways he could find out.
The first thing he'd done was turn the radio on while he was cleaning the kitchen the previous morning. It wasn't really dirty, but it wouldn't hurt to give the counters and floor a good wash. The radio sat on top of the partition that separated the kitchen from the family room and caught the end of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now coming softly through the speakers. It had been Burt who had listened to the stereo last. He kept the radio on all day—through laundry and dinner preparations; only turning it off when the sun had begun to set and neither of the Hummel men had come through the door. In the silence of the house, Blaine sat at the kitchen table as the hours passed, waiting and wishing for someone to walk through the door. Eventually the worry began to eat away at him.
Something had happened; Blaine was sure of it. For a long moment, Blaine let his panicking mind take over and wondered if Burt and Kurt had met the same fate as the rest of his family. The weather had been perfect, but what if some idiot was driving drunk or texting and hadn't seen that it wasn't his turn, but Kurt's at the intersection? What if someone had lost control of their vehicle and went crashing into Burt's? What if he was never going to see either of them alive again? While he was in training, knowing that Burt and Kurt were out there somewhere, even if he never saw either of them again, was what had kept him going. Could he call the police? Would they reprimand him for using his Master's property without permission?
Blaine had nearly worked himself into hysterics before Kurt came through the door and before Blaine could even comprehend what was happening, Kurt was in his arms. He'd been torn between relief that Kurt was alright and the heartbreak of learning of Burt's condition. Holding Kurt close to him had been like a dream he'd been denying himself come true. He forced back the tears that gathered in his eyes while Kurt told him everything that had happened. When Kurt put his head on his shoulder and laced their fingers together like they'd done so many times before, Blaine didn't argue. He didn't want to. He'd opened up to Kurt for a brief moment, but it had been enough for his walls to begin to crumble. His head could deny Kurt, but his heart, body, and soul couldn't. And he decided that maybe it was time to stop fighting all of that and let himself be close to Kurt, at least for one night.
Kurt still asleep on his shoulder, Blaine thought about what Kurt had said a few days before—about him needing Blaine and Blaine not being there; about them not being friends anymore. He'd felt guilty when Kurt lashed out at him. He had wanted to be there for Kurt, to be the sympathetic ear to help bear his burdens. He couldn't give Kurt what he wanted then, but now Kurt needed him in a way he'd never needed him before. And there was no way that Blaine could turn his back on him. Even though time and life had separated them, and would likely do it again, Kurt Hummel was still his best friend. It didn't matter who Blaine discovered he was; that was never going to change. There wasn't a version of Blaine that wouldn't care about Kurt, who wouldn't do everything and anything for him. Whatever the risk, it would be worth it.
Kurt felt himself getting plunged into consciousness by the sound of his phone beeping somewhere around him. He felt like he'd barely slept and immediately that damn Taylor Swift song that Rachel had been singing all week was stuck in his head. He'd have to talk to her about what she performed in his presence. He hadn't realized he wasn't in his bed until he felt a chill in the room and moved to pull the blanket over his head, and was met with nothing but the fake leather of the couch. He was then aware that his pillow was a lot firmer than it should have been and that he wasn't lying down, but in a pseudo-sitting position. He sat up quickly, his eyes opening to the morning sun that had only recently peaked from beneath the horizon and then finding Blaine beside him.
And then he remembered everything: his father's heart attack, hours at the hospital without answers, hours pleading with his father's unconscious form to just wake up, Finn driving him home, crashing into Blaine's arms, falling asleep next to him.
He almost didn't want to speak, afraid that the sound of his voice would startle Blaine, bring his attention to what was happening and he'd run away like he had been for months. Blaine was next to him, their fingers still linked between them, and he couldn't lose that. Not now, not when it felt like the ice was cracking beneath his feet and one wrong step could send him into the arctic waters.
"Hi," he said cautiously.
"Hi," Blaine responded and when the sir didn't follow, Kurt let go of the breath he'd been holding.
There was so much that Kurt wanted to say. He'd spent months thinking about what he would say to Blaine if Blaine would listen. But the only thing that made sense was "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I'm sorry that I yelled at you," Kurt said quietly, his voice so much gentler than it had been the last time they spoke, "That we weren't friends anymore. That's not true."
"It's okay," Blaine said looking at the couch cushion instead of Kurt.
Risking it, Kurt pulled on their joined hands, holding tighter to Blaine, "No, it's not. Will you look at me, please?" Kurt asked desperately. He wanted Blaine to know that he hadn't meant what he'd said, that he was still on Blaine's side. That he always would be. When Blaine's eyes met his for the first time in so long, a rush of happiness, and relief, filled Kurt, "I know this hasn't been easy, and I know you have your reasons. And I think I understand why you haven't wanted to talk to me. You didn't deserve for me to lash out at you like that. And not that it's any excuse but I was having a particularly bad day. That was only followed by a much worse one."
"It doesn't matter," Blaine said, his eyes still locked with Kurt's, "I'm here now."
"I really like it when you don't run away from me," Kurt said, "Will you explain it to me one day?"
Blaine hesitated for a moment, "Maybe. I don't know if I know how."
Kurt nodded. He owed Blaine all the time in the world, and he'd give him every second. Afraid that he'd chase Blaine away with a hug, he settled his head back down on Blaine's shoulder, happy when Blaine didn't push him away, "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too," Blaine said squeezing Kurt's hand where they still linked.
Really?" Kurt asked.
"Really," Blaine said turning his head so that he could look at Kurt, "You're right, I had my reasons. But that doesn't mean I didn't miss you every second."
"I'm just glad you're here now," Kurt said relishing in Blaine's honesty and snuggling closer, "I don't know that I would be able to handle any of this without you."
"He'll be okay, Kurt," Blaine said confidently. As if Kurt had asked him his name or the color of the sky, "But you don't have to do any of this alone."
Kurt nodded, hoping that he could somehow gain Blaine's optimism by simply agreeing. If Blaine could see the hope, couldn't he? "Will you come with me to see him? I think he'd like that."
Blaine was quiet for a minute and Kurt feared that he'd said the wrong thing and despite everything he'd just said, Blaine was about to run, "I can't," he said after a shaky breath, "It's not that I don't want to, but I-w-they don't allow slaves in the hospitals."
"Oh, right," Kurt said, the sadness in his words and written on his face.
"Let me make you breakfast," Blaine whispered.
"No," Kurt said picking his head up off Blaine's shoulder, "You really don't have to do that, Blaine. I'm not even hungry."
"I can hear your stomach growling, Kurt," Blaine said sliding off the couch, untangling their hands for the first time since Kurt had woken. He immediately missed having Blaine so close, "I want to. You're going to need more than a cup of coffee today."
"Fine," Kurt said, "But seriously, just put some toast in and I'll be in there in a minute."
"Okay," Blaine said and disappeared into the kitchen.
Alone, Kurt let his thoughts wander back to his father. Mrs. Hudson had promised to call if there had been any change, but as he picked up his phone—his battery nearly dead—he found that he only had several missed calls from Rachel and text messages from most of New Directions. He'd go see his father soon and he'd need to get his car back from the high school parking lot before something happened to it. It was still early and he knew that Finn slept until noon on the weekends, so he sent Rachel a text message, knowing she was already awake, asking her to take him to McKinley in an hour. He thought about calling the hospital but was terrified of what they'd say, so he pushed himself off the couch and padded towards the kitchen.
"Blueberry or banana?" Blaine asked, a bowl in one hand and the pancake mix on the counter. Blaine had completely ignored Kurt's request for toast, but it only made something stir in Kurt's chest. If he let himself forget, this would just be like all of those Saturday mornings they'd had before Blaine had gone away, and that the last year hadn't happened, and that his father wasn't lying in a coma. He desperately wanted that fantasy to become reality. He could remember that the first time that his heart sputtered in Blaine's presence had been on a Saturday morning when Blaine had come over and his father made them both pancakes. It had been on one of those mornings that Kurt had fallen in love with Blaine so completely before he even really knew what love was. If things were different he'd tell Blaine right there in the kitchen how he felt, but things were more unstable now than they had been then. And just because he could pretend didn't mean that his dad wasn't still sick. He longed for the days where the biggest problem in his life was convincing Blaine that they should order Chinese instead of pizza. Maybe one day, he thought. Maybe one day his life would be carefree once again.
It had been hard convincing Rachel that she didn't need to come with him to the hospital after they'd picked up his car; but he managed to send her back home with a hug and a thank you. He was glad to have her, but the only person he wanted with him right now couldn't be; and there was no way to substitute that.
Kurt walked slowly through the halls of the hospital on his way to his father's room. It was the same journey he'd taken the day before, but he hoped that when he got to his father's door that something would be different. That he'd peek inside and see his father awake and laughing with a nurse. But instead he found his father, still unconscious, and Mrs. Hudson at his side taking notes on his chart. She smiled when she saw Kurt walk through the door.
"How'd you sleep last night, sweetie?" she asked.
"Alright, I suppose," Kurt answered simply. It had been the truth but how to do you tell a stranger, or anyone really, that while part of your life was falling apart, there was another that was putting itself back together again?, "The nurse up front said there hasn't been any change."
"There hasn't," Mrs. Hudson said, "I checked on him as soon as I got here."
"Thank you," he said, "I like knowing he's got someone looking out for him if I'm not here."
"Of course, Kurt," she said with a smile, "I've got to go check on a few more patients, but I'll be back in a little bit. Do you need anything?"
"No thank you," Kurt said as Mrs. Hudson dropped his father's chart at the end of his bed and walked out of the room.
Kurt took a seat next to his father's bed and began looking him over the same way he had the night before, closely examining every bit of him for a sign that everything was going to be alright. Again, he didn't find one. He reached for his father's wrist, holding it between his fingers until he found the pulse tapping weakly against his fingers. It was all the sign he was going to get. His father's heart was still beating, and as long as that kept happening he'd be as close to as alright as he could be.
"Dad, if this was your way of getting Blaine and I to speak to each other again, it worked," Kurt said, "You can wake up now."
His father remained unresponsive.
Kurt then told his father everything that had happened the night before and that morning. Just as he would have had the circumstances been different. He told him about the relief he felt when Blaine's arms wrapped around him, how his heart had finally started beating from that place that was reserved only for Blaine. How Blaine had finally spoken to him like his friend and how he'd hugged him before he left. He thanked his father for everything he'd done to help Blaine and told him how it was a start and that Rachel was wrong, they were still friends, they'd always be friends, and he'd find a way to get everything back. And that meant that he had to wake up.
Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door and Kurt turned expecting to see Mrs. Hudson at the door, and he did, but she was accompanied by another woman not dressed in scrubs but a pantsuit with a folder cradled in her arms.
"Kurt," Mrs. Hudson said, her voice breaking and Kurt eyed both women suspiciously, "This is Ms. Green. She's a social worker for the hospital."
"Kurt," Ms. Green said in a tone that Kurt was immediately uncomfortable with, "There's something I need to speak with you about."
AN: Thanks for reading, lovelies. Please leave a review and let me know what you think! Thank you again for all the love you've given this story! I appreciate it more than you know! I promise to get Chapter 7 to you as soon as possible!