a/n: so this was supposed to be the last chapter, but it got crazy long, so I cut it off - and now it's really short. Oh well, I guess I can't have it all. Plus, ending a story at 10 chapters is a nice and even number :) I hope you all enjoy this, and the final chapter should be posted tomorrow!
School resumed for Kurt and Finn only a few days later. Blaine was itching to be allowed out of the house, but Carole and Cooper teamed up and threatened to tie him down on Kurt's bed for at least three more days. On Monday, if Carole determined that he was well, he would be allowed to reenter McKinley's halls.
Burt was back in Washington and Cooper was starting his first day at Hummel Tires and Lube, but Carole, who had rearranged her schedule at the hospital without letting Blaine know, was home with him. After a week of bed rest, he was finally allowed to walk around the house without receiving dirty glares from everyone around him.
He and Carole spent the morning planning out how he and Cooper would reorganize the office and turn it into a room for them. She wouldn't let him attempt to move furniture or boxes yet, but he was glad that he wouldn't be forcing Kurt out of his own room for much longer.
In the car on the way to school, Kurt made sure that Finn knew not to reveal to anyone that Blaine and Cooper were staying with them, nor to invite anyone over to their house.
At lunchtime, Tina sat next to Kurt.
"Where's Blaine? He hasn't been in any of our classes this morning."
"He got pneumonia over break and he's still recovering. He said he'll hopefully be back on Monday."
"Aw, poor thing. That must really suck, being sick and not able to enjoy break," Tina said. "Can he have visitors?"
"I don't think so. Cooper doesn't want anyone to accidentally bring a bug that could make him worse. Plus, we don't want the entire glee club getting sick." Kurt was quite proud of his excuse.
"Oh, okay. Well, maybe I'll call him tonight. Are you going to bring him his homework?"
"Of course," Kurt said.
Rachel was angling to head over to the Hummel-Hudson house after school, hoping to get quality NYADA prep time with Kurt and parent-free time with Finn.
"Well, we're not going to get to do anything at my place," Finn pointed out. "Kurt's going to be right there. Why can't we go to your place?"
"Because, if we go to my place, then I won't be able to prep for the audition with Kurt," Rachel said, sighing as if it were obvious.
"Rehearse for me," Finn said. "I love hearing you sing."
Those were the magic words to convince Rachel to do anything – compliment her, stroke her ego, and you can get anything.
Kurt came home from school and told Blaine all about how everyone had missed him in glee – even Rachel had missed him, talking about how she had found a duet that would compliment their unique voices and ranges perfectly. He passed Blaine's homework on from Tina too, and helped him through it.
The rest of the week passed in much the same way. On Saturday, Carole and Kurt took Blaine back to the hospital to have a checkup. The doctor proclaimed that he was well enough to return to school, but he should still be careful and stay away from vigorous activity.
"I guess you can't dance in glee," Kurt said sadly.
"Yeah, but at least I can get out of the house," Blaine said happily. A look of fear crossed his face and he hastily added, "I mean, it's not that I don't appreciate that you're letting me and Cooper stay, of course I do. I've just been getting a little stir-crazy is all."
"Blaine," Kurt said, grabbing his arm and kissing him to shut him up. "I know how much you appreciate staying at our house, you don't have to keep telling me every five minutes. Anyone would be going insane if they had been cooped up inside for over two weeks."
"Thanks, Kurt," Blaine said. "I'm just really excited to go back to school." He let out a short laugh. "God, I never thought I'd be saying that."
Kurt laughed too. "Don't worry, you'll be singing a different tune soon enough."
Blaine got an enthusiastic welcome back from all the New Directions, who made sure not to cough anywhere near him or do anything that might get Kurt angry. Blaine laughed and clapped along as they danced to one of the new numbers they had been preparing the week before, but wished that he could jump right in.
Kurt pulled him up at one point and began to gently dance with him. Santana rolled her eyes at the lovesick boys, but they both knew that it was out of affection rather than actual scorn.
Blaine found himself watching Sam more closely over the next few days. Sam had been staying with Brittany and Rory since moving back to Lima without his family, and Blaine could see a deep-seated sadness under his smile.
About a week after Blaine returned to school, he approached Sam after glee practice.
"Sam, can I talk to you?" he asked timidly. Despite being in the same grade and glee club, Blaine had barely talked to Sam in the past year.
"Uh, sure. What's up?" Sam looked confused, and Blaine was suddenly seized with an urge to run away. Not that he had that option anymore since he had opened his mouth.
"About, uh, what happened – to you and your family last year?" Blaine said, intoning as if he was asking more than telling.
"Oh," Sam said, looking down.
"I was just wondering how you – how you, I don't know, managed I guess? I don't really know what I'm trying to say."
"Are you okay, Blaine?" Sam asked, really looking at Blaine.
Blaine opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I – uh – no. I mean, now I am. But before – I wasn't."
Sam seemed to understand at least part of what Blaine was saying. "Do you want to tell me what's going on?"
Blaine wanted more than anything to say no and find Kurt, but instead he nodded his head.
"Let's find somewhere a bit quieter," Sam suggested, leading Blaine to an abandoned science classroom.
"So," Sam said, trying to feign a casual attitude.
"My brother lost his job," Blaine blurted before he could stop himself. "In August."
Sam nodded, urging Blaine to continue silently. Blaine took another deep breath and began talking.
Kurt was wandering around the school trying to find Blaine. He and Mercedes got in a long conversation after rehearsal, and Blaine must have slipped away. But he wasn't waiting for Kurt at the car, nor was he in the choir room. As soon as Kurt realized that, he enlisted Finn's help to find Blaine.
He started his search in the dumpsters, praying to anyone who would listen that Blaine wasn't in there. He wasn't, but he didn't seem to be anywhere else.
And then Kurt heard the noise. It was a muffled sob, followed by a low voice speaking quickly and reassuringly. Unsure of what he was going to find, he opened the closest classroom door to find Blaine sobbing into Sam's arms. Immediately, Kurt understood what had happened. Blaine had sought comfort in the one person who could understand his situation most.
"Don't worry," Sam said soothingly. He caught Kurt's eye and conveyed that Blaine was okay before continuing to speak. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but things will get better. And you've got Kurt helping you, so that can only mean good things. He was a lifesaver to me last year."
Blaine nodded and hiccoughed, pulling away slightly. "I feel so helpless, though," he whispered.
"Why don't we go back to Kurt's house so we can talk in private, okay?" Sam suggested while looking to Kurt for confirmation.
"A-are you sure?" Blaine asked.
Kurt took that as his cue to step forward. "Of course, baby. Now let's get going, Finn is probably freaking out about both of us right now."
Blaine smiled faintly and tried to clean off his face before taking Kurt's hand. Sam swung his arm over Blaine's other shoulder and met Kurt's eyes over the curly head.
"Thank you," Kurt mouthed.
After that day, Sam and Blaine were much closer. Kurt watched the two of them interact from down the hallway and laughed, wondering how they had never formed a friendship before now, considering how similar they were. Blaine didn't like to admit it, but he was a huge geek. He usually hid it around Kurt and instead talked about Vogue and clothes, or football if Burt and Finn were around, but when he was with Sam, Blaine joined him in imitations of their favorite Star Wars characters or spoke in elvish and geeked out over pictures from the Hobbit movie that was due to be released in a year.
