That week flew by in much the same fashion. Every morning, Blaine would run to the bathroom and get sick, then come back to the bed and cry. Both boys were exhausted, both physically and mentally. Blaine had trouble sleeping, which meant Kurt didn't want to sleep, and when they could finally sleep, they both had to wake up around 3 AM so Blaine could take more painkillers. Kurt hated having to wake Blaine up, sad that he was disturbing the boy who so desperately needed rest, but he knew that Blaine would be much worse in the morning if he didn't.

It seemed like all Blaine did during that week was cry. Blaine felt so weak and sore, crying was all he was capable of doing. Cry through the pain and the agony and the sleep-deprivation. So Kurt cried with him. He held him and stayed up with him through the night and and cried at the sight of someone he loved in so much pain.

And then, exactly one week after chemo, Blaine woke up to a pillowcase covered in hair. His hair had fallen out from the chemo. He was completely bald. He knew this was going to happen eventually, but just didn't think it would be so soon. Kurt stirred awake after hearing Blaine gasp, and instantly wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close, placing a sweet kiss to the top of Blaine's bald head. And again, he simply held Blaine as he cried, wishing that he could make everything alright.

Once that week was over, things began to go back to normal. Blaine regained a lot of strength, stopped aching so much, and was able to nap during the day, in order to make up for having to wake up throughout the night to take medication.

About two weeks after chemo, Kurt decided that he would make a picnic for Blaine that they could enjoy in the backyard. Kurt put together all of Blaine's new favorite foods, which had taken a few days of experimenting to discover, grabbed Blaine's hand, then walked out to the backyard, finding shade under a tree for the boys to sit.

Blaine was feeling much better by now, and enjoyed being able to have a normal date with his boyfriend for the first time in what felt like forever. He couldn't believe it had only been two weeks since things had been completely normal between them. Those past two weeks had been agonizingly slow and painful, and Blaine hated to talk about them, but he felt it needed to be discussed before his next chemo treatment. So, after about an hour of light conversation between the boys, during which they ate, then laid out in the sun, side by side, hand in hand, Blaine brought up the topic they had been avoiding.

"I'm sorry, Kurt."

Kurt was confused. The boys had just been discussing Audrey Hepburn and how fabulous she was in Breakfast at Tiffany's. What in the world was Blaine sorry about?

Kurt turned his head to look at Blaine with curious eyes.

"Blaine, what in the world are you talking about?"

Blaine hesitated before continuing,

"I'm talking about how sorry I am for these past few weeks. I'm sorry that I kept you up every night and that I cried all the time and constantly got sick and that my appetite changed and that I never got out of bed..."

Kurt cut Blaine off with a sudden kiss. The first real kiss the boys had shared since chemo had started. Blaine savored the moment, grabbing the back of Kurt's head and pulling him in closer, deepening the kiss. Kurt eventually pulled back, saying,

"Blaine... sweetie. You have nothing to apologize for. Yeah, these past few weeks have been rough. But we knew they would be. Sure, I didn't realize they would be quite this bad, but... I don't want you to worry about it. I just want you to worry about getting better after each chemo treatment so we can have thousands more moments like this. Ok?"

Blaine nodded, then pulled Kurt back in for another kiss. The boys continued to lay in the backyard for the remainder of the day, going back to the fun conversation that they normally had on dates, and just enjoying being together and healthy.

But Kurt couldn't help but still worry. He was tired. Dead tired. A lot more tired than he had let Blaine think. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and was not looking forward to having to do this again and in just a week and a half. And then, what about when school started back up? Who would be there for Blaine while Kurt was at school? How would Kurt balance school work and taking care of Blaine all through the night? How would Blaine handle going to school when he could? How would the other students treat Blaine? Surely they wouldn't bully him for being gay while he was going through chemo. Surely they would take pity on the poor boy and just focus their attentions on Kurt, instead. Kurt wasn't sure if he could handle four whole months of dealing with Blaine's chemo and school, and he had no idea how Blaine would handle it either.

But Kurt tried to clear his mind of these thoughts and focus on his boyfriend, who was currently alive and well, laying next to him in his backyard, rambling away about Harry Potter and Quidditch, and Kurt couldn't help but smile, hoping for many more moments just like this.

Summer flew by in much the same pattern as that first chemo treatment, except the boys gained better control of the situation, coming up a plan for taking care of Blaine, but also getting more and more exhausted as the weeks went by. After Blaine's second chemo treatment in July, they began to understand which days would be the worst for Blaine after chemo, how long it would take him to recover, what foods Blaine liked while on chemo, and when the best times to nap were. But all of this was about to be disrupted with school starting back in just two short weeks. Kurt's worries from that afternoon in the backyard with Blaine returned, but he did not voice them out loud to either Blaine or Burt.

Finn began to notice something was up with his step-brother, though. One day, near the end of summer, Finn came up to Kurt's room, where Kurt was currently whispering soothing words to his aching boyfriend, who had just gotten another chemo treatment four days before and still hadn't fully recovered. Finn asked quietly if he could speak to Kurt outside for a minute, and Kurt reluctantly agreed, whispering to Blaine that he would be right back.

"What's up, Finn? Can you make this fast?" Kurt said, upon entering the living room and taking a seat on the couch.

Finn sat in a chair on the other side of the living room, then looked up at Kurt with serious eyes before saying,

"Kurt, I'm worried about you. I've never seen you this tired. Not even when Burt was in the hospital. And you've lost a lot of weight. I'm concerned you're not getting enough sleep and that this situation with Blaine is taking a lot bigger toll on you than you're letting on."

Kurt was shocked at Finn's words. He hadn't realized that his concerns had been so visible to the outside world, and his love for Finn grew a little more at his kind words of concern.

"Finn... I appreciate you looking out for me... but I don't know what else to do. I have to take care of Blaine. I promised him I would be there for him. I promised him."

Finn hurriedly responded,

"I know you did. But, don't you think you could let other people in the house help you out every now and then? You seem to be taking care of him just by yourself all the time. I know Burt and mom have to work a lot, but if you need my help, just let me know. I won't mind."

Kurt smiled at his step-brother.

"Thank you. I really do appreciate that. But, like I said, I promised Blaine that I would be there for him. I don't trust anyone else to take care of him with the love and affection that he deserves. But I'll remember what you said."

Finn bowed his head down in defeat, hoping that one day Kurt would realize how crazy it was for him to be taking care of the sick boy all by himself. Maybe it would take Kurt hitting rock bottom before he realized it, but, until then, Finn would keep an eye on his step-brother, hoping that he would make it through this unharmed.

A/N: Ugh, this chapter feels so short compared to the last one, but I really wanted to get through summer and get started with school. Next chapter will finally have the rest of the Glee club in it.

Andddd, I finally figured out how long this fic will be (about 15 chapters) and I know exactly where I want to go with this story from this point on, so the rest should be written fairly quickly. However, my best friend is coming to visit me tomorrow and stay with me through the weekend, and I have, like, 20 papers to write this weekend, so I'll update when I can.

Again, reviews are awesome. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed! You guys are amazing and I love you.