A/N What do you guys think of Artie and Stephanie's relationship? Are you guys enjoying this story?

I re-edited the first few chapters of this story because I realized I screwed up the time line of Stephanie's abduction, and her age. I was confused on how old she was because two books prior she was fifteen, and two books later she was sixteen, but I forgot they took place over a year apart. I corrected that, and I changed Tricia from cousin to aunt. Plus fixed some minor typos and grammatical errors. I think I got all the errors this time, but if I missed any, let me know.

Mostly Klaine and Niff this chapter, with some Stephanie at the end.

…

Stumbling Blocks

Blaine jolted awake as the nightmare receded Sunday morning. For the second night in a row, Kurt hadn't appeared in his dreams, and he'd had to face his demons alone. This time he'd dreamed about his dad, how he'd been disappointed in Blaine for not fighting back that night. And he'd dreamed about Trace. He hadn't dreamed about Trace in months. At least he didn't dream about the other one, he couldn't deal with that triple threat right now.

He wiped tears from his eyes as he sat up. He really wished Kurt had been there in his dream last night. He wouldn't be such an emotional wreck this morning. Why hadn't the pale boy appeared? Of course, Blaine didn't understand why the boy had begun appearing in his dreams to begin with, but he'd been glad for his presence there. So why hadn't dream Kurt been there last night? Or the night before?

He didn't even have the real Kurt to look forward to this morning. The pale boy had stayed at his Dad's house for the weekend, and wouldn't return until that evening. He admitted to himself that he actually missed the other boy. They'd become much closer friends over the past week since Kurt had come to Dalton.

He refused to acknowledge the fact that he was coming to care for the other boy as more than a friend. He didn't want to make the same mistake with Kurt that he had with Him. Kurt is different, a voice whispered in the back of his mind, but he chose to ignore it.

He showered and dressed and went downstairs to breakfast. There weren't many boys in the dining hall. Most of them had gone home for the weekend, but Nick and Jeff were sitting by the windows. They smiled and waved him over. He sat across from them, and tried to smile. Nick noticed the forced attempt, and called him out on it.

"What's wrong, Blaine?"

The shorter boy sighed and shrugged. "I dreamed about Trace again."

"I'm sorry, bro. Is there anything we can do to get your mind off of it?" Jeff asked.

Blaine didn't answer, just picked at his cheese omelet. The other two exchanged a look, and Nick nodded. "Okay, eat up quickly. Harry Potter movie marathon in our dorm in thirty minutes."

Blaine gave a weak smile at this announcement. Jeff gave a mock salute. "I'll get the snacks and drinks, and see if Trent wants to join us."

In all, there were nine other boys in Nick and Jeff's double dorm besides Blaine and the couple; Trent and some of their non-Warbler friends who were bored and didn't feel like finishing their weekend homework just yet.

They were halfway through The Order of the Phoenix when Blaine's phone signaled an incoming text.

I'm back. Want Coffee? I can bring it to your room. -K

He smiled, and texted back.

Would love some coffee, but I'm in Nick's dorm watching HP and Order of Phoenix with a dozen other boys. -B

He hit send, suddenly feeling like himself for the first time that day. First time since Friday night, actually. His phone chimed again, and he grinned.

"Kurt wants to know who wants what from the coffee shop downstairs. His treat." He texted back their orders, and told Kurt he'd come down and help him carry it up. He needed to stretch his legs anyway.

As he was leaving Nick's dorm, he noticed someone coming out of Kurt's dorm, carry an ice chest that had A.B.B. stamped on the side. The man was wearing some kind of uniform that had the same initials on a patch on the left sleeve. He looked like some kind of delivery person, but why had he been in Kurt's room if Kurt was downstairs?

Frowning, he caught up with the older man, pasting on a polite smile, not wanting to outright accuse someone of wrong doing without cause. "Excuse me? Can I help you?"

The other gentleman, a tall blonde with ice blue eyes that appeared to be in his early to mid twenties looked over at Blaine. Blaine felt a shifting in his mind, and then a pleasant fogginess slipped into his thoughts. What had he been doing? Why was he just standing here in the empty hallway, staring at the wall?

He blinked around in confusion. That was how Kurt found him a few seconds later. "Blaine, there you are! I thought you were coming down to help me bring up the coffee?"

Blaine looked at the taller boy in confusion, seeing the three trays of coffee he was carrying, along with a tray of cookies. Suddenly he recalled that that was why he had left Nick's room, but that was only a few seconds ago. He was certain not enough time had passed for them to fill the coffee orders and for Kurt to have walked from the coffee shop on the first floor to the dorms on the fourth floor and on the opposite side of the building.

…

Kurt didn't understand why Blaine was frowning and looked confused. "Blaine? Are you okay?"

The darker boy looked up at him. "Um, Kurt, how long ago did I text you and say I was coming down to meet you?"

He considered the question. "Uh, about fifteen minutes ago? Why?"

Blaine seemed to be on the brink of freaking out. The door down the hall opened, and Trent stuck his head out. "Hey, there you are, what's taking so long?"

Kurt didn't bother to reply, just simply sent the thought into the husky Warbler's mind to come and get the coffee trays from Kurt and go back in to the room. Once the other boy had closed the door behind him, Kurt focused on Blaine, who had started to hyperventilate.

"Blaine! Come on, breathe slowly for me." He demonstrated a nice, deep, slow breath, and the other boy did his best to copy him. After a minute, his breathing slowed, and he slumped against the wall. "That's better. Now can you tell me what happened?"

Blaine slid down the wall and rested his head on his knees. He took one more deep, shuddery breath. "I lost time."

Kurt frowned, not sure he understood. "You lost time?"

Blaine nodded.

Kurt's frown deepened. For the first time he actually wished the other boy wasn't his lifemate so that he could read him and figure out what was going on. "What exactly does that mean?"

Another deep breath, and then the smaller boy answered. "I blacked out. It hasn't happened since I came to Dalton. After I got out of the hospital, it happened several times. I'd be doing something like brushing my teeth, and then the next thing I knew an hour had passed and I had no memory of it."

"And it happened again just now?" Kurt asked, sitting beside him.

Dark, gelled hair nodded. "I remember leaving Nick's room, and then suddenly you were there in front of me."

Kurt looked around them, wondering what could have caused this, suddenly realizing they were sitting in front of his own dorm. He took his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text.

Were you in my dorm in the last 30min? -K

It took a couple of minutes for Teddy to reply. Kurt waited patiently, rubbing Blaine's back and massaging his shoulders, whispering soothingly. When his phone chimed Teddy's response, he breathed a sigh of relief.

No, but I sent an A.B.B. Delivery guy up a little while ago. Stan has been cleared by Lucien. He's related to you somehow.

Kurt murmured to Blaine to just relax for a few minutes as he sent another text. "Wait here, I'm going to go grab our coffees and a cookie, if they haven't eaten them all yet."

He slipped down the hall to Nick's room, made up some excuse about Blaine not feeling well, gathered up their drinks and grabbed the last cookie just as Jeff reached for it. When he returned, he saw Teddy rushing down the hall towards them.

Teddy studied Blaine for a moment, and Kurt knew the older immortal was reading the boy. For a moment, a surge of jealousy shot through the pale boy. Teddy looked over at him with a grin.

"You might want to relax your grip on those cups, son. Wouldn't want you to scald yourself with hot coffee. Your boy is going to be fine. Hand me those drinks and help him into your room. I rearranged his memory a little. He'll remember meeting you downstairs, then getting sick on the way back. You naturally rushed him to your room, since it was closer."

Kurt sighed and relaxed, handing Teddy the drinks and helping a dazed Blaine into his dorm and to the bed. Teddy sent the boy to sleep for a few minutes before releasing his mind. The older man set the coffees on Kurt's desk and turned back to his lifemate's nephew.

Kurt blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me out there. Thank you for your help."

Teddy nodded. "That's why I'm here. And don't sweat the jealousy thing. It's pretty common for new lifemates, or so I've been told. He's going to wake up any minute now, so I'm going to head out. Call me if you need anymore help."

Kurt closed the door behind the other man, and stood there with his back to it, staring at Blaine. The boy looked exhausted. Had he had trouble sleeping over the weekend? Had he had nightmares, and Kurt hadn't been there to soothe them? He frowned, not liking that thought.

Blaine sighed and shifted as he woke, blinking owlishly at Kurt. "Damn, I'm sorry, I don't know what hit me. I think maybe that hot dog I ate earlier might have been bad or something."

The pale boy smiled at him. "Don't sweat it. Feeling better now?"

Blaine nodded and smiled at him. "Yeah, thanks. How long was I asleep?"

"Just a few minutes. You look like you could use some more sleep though."

"Nah, I'm fine. Thirsty, though. And hungry again."

Kurt handed him his coffee and the cookie. "Eat this for now, and then we can walk down to the dining hall. They should be serving dinner by now. You probably need some real food."

Blaine laughed. "Hot dogs and popcorn aren't real food?"

The taller boy wrinkled his nose. "Not even close."

…

After dinner they went back to Blaine's dorm, and talked about their weekends. Blaine had spent most of the day Saturday reading his Luc Amerault books. Blaine had gotten a funny look on his face when Kurt asked him which book he was on.

"I just finished The Accidental Vampire, and I must be the dumbest person on the planet."

Kurt looked confused. "What? Why do you say that?"

"Well, I've read the first seven books in the series, and it took me this long to realize that your cousin was writing about his family, and the only reason I figured it out was because I thought the names Elvi and Teddy sounded familiar. Though I guess this is a different Teddy in the books. Is that his grandfather or something? I just don't know why he wrote them as vampires."

Kurt laughed nervously. "Or something. Yes, Lucern has taken it upon himself to write about how our family has met their significant others."

"Lifemates, you mean." Kurt almost had a heart attack. "Or at least that is what your cousin called them."

Kurt started to relax, but a thought occurred to him. He tried to sound casual when he asked, "Hey, how many more books do you have?"

Blaine frowned slightly as he thought about it. "I just have Vampires are for ever, Vampire, Interrupted, and The Rogue Hunter left." Once again Kurt was about to relax, when Blaine spoke, bursting his bubble of hope. "Oh, I also have The Immortal Hunter and The Renegade Hunter on order at the bookstore. I'm going to pick them up later this week."

Crap, Kurt thought. Blaine probably wouldn't think much about the vampire aspects of the next three books, but when he got to Dani and Decker's story and learned about what happened to Stephanie, he might mention it to Jeff, who could possibly cause problems.

Blaine smiled at the auburn haired boy. "You have the funniest look on your face. Is there some reason you don't want me to read the other books? Are you mentioned in them? Something embarrassing?"

"What? No!" Thank Gaga that was the truth. So far Lucern hadn't gotten around to writing Burt and Elizabeth's story. "No, I'm not mentioned in the books, though he does mention Tricia's siblings in the one he's working on now, but he doesn't mention my mom by name. At least I don't think he does."

Blaine grinned while trying to stifle a yawn. Kurt glanced at the clock and realized that curfew was only two minutes away. "I gotta go before room check. Sweet dreams, Blaine."

The smaller boy frowned for a moment, but then smiled again. "Sweet dreams, Kurt."

…

Once back in his own dorm, Kurt paced nervously. At first he had thought it funny that Blaine had been reading Lucern's books. He didn't think it would be a big deal, didn't think the other boy would catch on. Sighing, he took out his phone and called Stephanie.

"Kurt? Is something wrong? It's kind of late to be calling."

"I know, I'm sorry, but there is something you need to know about." He told her about Blaine figuring out the books, how close he was coming to her story. "When Teddy gets here tomorrow morning, I can have him make Blaine forget about the books for now, if you want.?"

She was silent for so long, the only way he knew the call hadn't dropped was the sound of her breathing. "Stephanie?"

"I'm okay. Don't worry about the books for now. If it becomes a problem we'll have Teddy handle it."

"Are you sure?"

She sighed. "Yeah, it's fine."