AN: So I know the last chapter was very tough. I started writing this fic as my own therapy for dealing with a number of the stories that the kids I worked with over the years had struggled with themselves. Poor Jack is unluckily getting a mash up of some of the worst of those stories combined. I totally understand that this may have been too much for some of you to choose to read so as promised, here's the summary:

Jack was befriended by Tom at the party he talks about in Chapter 13. Tom was a young man posing as a high school kid who gradually over the course of months seduced Jack away from all of his safety nets and used him to turn a profit. Tom lost control of his clients however and so Jack was exposed to increasingly frightening situations until finally he saved himself and ran away. He was befriended by some other kids on the street who introduced him to the squat house that was talked about in Chapter 16.

Finally it became clear that Jack had not actually become suicidal and the incident with the window in Chapter 19 was actually a triggered PTSD flashback. Once he was out of the flashback he was more back to himself and clear with Blaine that he had no intention of hurting himself. Blaine put him on one to one supervision to be safe but you know… I think Jack will be OK. ; )

So, good news loyal readers! At least I hope this is good news… I mentioned earlier that I thought this would be about 25 chapters. I think now that I have underestimated… not sure by how much, but I think it will be nearer 30.

Even better news…this is not due to more angst! Although there is definitely some more coming down the pipeline, it is all part of the healing process. I just realized that I want to focus much more on the healing as I have well and truly decimated these fine chaps! It will be very satisfying to stick them all back together.

Let the healing continue… with fluff in the chapter (mostly!)…

Chapter 21

Blaine woke up with a stinking headache. He groaned and rolled over trying to remember what day of the week it was. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. Then he remembered, Sunday and judging by the bright light coming through his skylight, sometime near the middle of the day. In his morning bleariness he shifted around under the covers trying to get in to a comfortable position to doze for a while. His head moved on to the cool pillow on the other side of the bed and he suddenly jumped at a crunch of paper under his cheek.

Sitting up he picked up a note:

B

I've gone home to get showered and changed.

Will be back by 12 pm with breakfast.

Kx

Blaine felt a leap in his heart. Kurt and breakfast. That sounded perfect.

He looked blearily over to his clock and realized he had about 20 minutes. He contemplated getting up and dressed but settled instead for reaching for his phone to check in with TH.

During the middle of his call, he heard a familiar whistle and a knock on his bedroom door. Kurt's head appeared tentatively around the edge and Blaine smiled a beaming smile, beckoning him to come in, without breaking the flow of his phone conversation.

Kurt remade the side of the bed that Blaine was not currently occupying and then sat cross legged on the top of it and began to unpack the breakfast bag. Blaine smiled at the domesticity of the scene and felt all gooey inside that he was back with someone who cared enough about him to look after him in this way.

He finished the call to TH and then leaned over to kiss Kurt soundly on the mouth.

"Well, that's a better reception than I was expecting," Kurt replied.

Blaine looked at him quizzically while taking the smeared bagel that Kurt held out to him.

"No, I guess, I wondered if I should just go home," Kurt explained. "I didn't know if you were getting sick of me yet and just wanted your space to process last night."

Blaine shook his head feeling amused. "Last night will still be there tomorrow. To wake up to breakfast in bed and you? Kurt, come on, I know it's been a bumpy ride the last few days but if anything I think we've established that we are worth sorting through the bumps. I did not sob my heart out to you and go through the trauma of Friday night to then want you gone by Sunday… even if you do insist on asking awkward questions and digging through my cupboard for buried skeletons."

Kurt blushed and then leaned over to kiss Blaine again, acknowledging the teasing nature of the last comment.

"So how are things at the hyena den?"

Blaine smiled. "Holding together. Jack is still in bed and they are planning on letting him sleep and chill today. Mike is back to decent spirits and I think is going out with some other kids so they can get some distance between them. Everyone else is fine. So you and I, Mr Hummel, have a gorgeous winter day to spend together for just us."

Kurt smiled and snuggled down in to the mound of comforter that still covered Blaine.

"Or we could just stay in," he muttered.

Blaine looked at him with a knowing smile and bit his lip. "OK. Let's discuss that after I have had some coffee and a shower."

Kurt nodded and went over to the stereo to put on some background music.

About half an hour later, Blaine was sad to admit that his headache was not getting better. He had hoped that with coffee and aspirin that things would improve but he now had the metallic taste in the back of his mouth and he knew that he was headed for a migraine. He looked in to the bathroom mirror in defeat. Absolutely, not the way that he wanted to spend a day with Kurt.

He sighed heavily and put on his most comfortable sweats and a t-shirt. He had also found a nice pair of woolly socks. He made his way back to the bedroom feeling sad that he would have to let Kurt down but the way the pain was building he knew he would have no choice.

Kurt looked up and smiled at him when he came in to the room. Blaine went over to the man on the bed and lay down beside him snuggling apologetically.

"Kurt, I'm so sorry. I have the beginning of a migraine starting. I am going to have to dose up on meds and go back to bed. I can't think of a sadder way to waste today but I'll be good for nothing in about half an hour."

Kurt looked a little disappointed but then his chin jutted out in the determined way he had. "I remember all about your stress migraines Blaine. I'll stay and look after you."

Blaine looked up at Kurt with an unsure glance. "I'm going to be really poor company…"

"Oh please…I remember exactly how snugly you get when you sick. It'll be fun – at least for me. Besides, you have been looking after everyone else for far too long. Let me do this for you."

Blaine groaned quietly in defeat and then buried his head in to his pillow, waving a hand in surrender.

Kurt immediately jumped up and began shutting the blinds in the room and he turned off the radio, knowing how sensitive Blaine would become to noise and light in a few hours. He found Blaine's migraine medications by his bed as well and went to make a pot of peppermint tea for him.

Blaine just burrowed under the covers once more and allowed himself to be lulled by the happy sounds of someone who loved him looking after him. Before he knew it he was asleep.

He woke up several hours later to a warm body snuggled up next to him on the bed. His head felt like it was going to split open and the pain was lancing in to one eye. He closed his eyes again and moaned out loud. He felt Kurt shift quickly next to him and he was pulled up physically on to Kurt's body with his head and chest resting on Kurt's torso.

Then he felt the blissful fingers start to rub in to his head in a gentle but powerful head massage. Blaine closed his eyes in contentment and moaned in to Kurt's stomach. He felt a small vibration in the skin under his lips when Kurt laughed in response to the sounds he was making.

Blaine just nuzzled his nose in to Kurt's stomach in response and breathed the smell of the man in deeply. This was heaven, even with the lancing pain in his head. He felt Kurt's hands move down his head and begin to work on the tight muscles of his neck and shoulders.

After a few minutes, he heard Kurt whisper, "You are really tense. I want to give you a proper massage. I think it will help your head. Are you up for that?"

Blaine considered the throbbing pain but then also the sheer joy of having Kurt's hands in his hair. He grunted a vague agreement and that appeared to be enough. Kurt gently manoeuvred out from under him and just as Blaine began to whimper at the loss of his body pillow, Kurt returned with a large fluffy towel that he put on the bed.

"Will you take your shirt off for me?" Kurt asked quietly.

Blaine hesitated at the effort that was going to take, but then weighed that against having hands all over him making him feel good. He proceeded to lift himself up off the bed just enough to get his t-shirt up and off and then he settled himself back down on the towel that Kurt steered him on to. That was about as much movement as he was able to manage and he moved his arms up to form a pillow for his head before closing his eyes once more in relief.

"You are so beautiful," he heard Kurt breathe. "God Blaine, you are absolutely gorgeous."

Blaine smiled in to his arms but didn't say anything.

Then he heard a plastic lid pop open and the smell of lavender wafted over him. "Is this OK? The smell's not turning your stomach or anything?" Kurt asked quietly.

"It's fine," Blaine whispered back.

"Good. I went out and got it especially while you were asleep."

Blaine felt the bed dip as Kurt straddled his thighs and slowly drizzled some lavender oil on his back. Then Blaine was transported in to absolute heaven when Kurt's hands began to move in slow, loving ways all over his back, shoulders and in to his neck.

Blaine sighed in complete bliss. He had no idea where Kurt learnt those skills but he had never been more grateful for anything in his life. He let his mind just float, feeling himself rising above the pain.

Slowly he became aware that Kurt was also kissing the skin along his spine and shoulder blades. He moaned in to the touches and felt a warm fuzz grow all around him. It felt so good to be touched by someone who knew him. There was nothing sexual in the touch. He was in no fit state to deal with that right now, what with his head being split in two, but he really appreciated the deep massage soothed by loving kisses. He thought he could definitely get used to this type of attention.

Bit by bit he felt himself sliding back in to a dreamless sleep.

He woke up a few hours later under his grandmother's quilt with his head pillowed back on Kurt's stomach. He scrunched up his eyes and breathed in deeply before flipping on to his back and stretching like a cat. Wow…that felt so much better.

He opened his eyes and tilted his head back to look at Kurt upside down.

"Hi!"

Kurt was looking at him with a cute grin. He leaned down and kissed Blaine's upside down mouth.

"Hi, yourself. Feeling better?"

"Much! Thanks to your fabulous hands. Where did you learn to do that?"

Kurt smiled and moved around on the bed so that he was now sprawled beside Blaine and staring down at him the right way up.

"I took a class or two while I was between gigs in L.A. You never know when you might need a second career."

"Oh, really?" Blaine didn't believe him for a second and he had it written all over his face.

"Well… OK, maybe not a second career. Actually I read somewhere that it was good for all kinds of stuff… like migraines… and I thought it might come in useful someday."

Kurt didn't quite meet Blaine's eyes and it was that gesture more than anything else that made Blaine raise himself up on his elbows and look at Kurt in the eyes. His breath caught in his throat as his brain whirred at the implications of that simple statement.

"Hold on… you did that for me… even when you were in L.A?"

"Well, not just for you. I just thought it might come in useful someday…"

"You're lying!" Blaine looked at him with wide eyes and the beginnings of a massive grin on his face. "Kurt Hummel, did you just admit to one of the most romantic things I have ever heard of?"

"Shut up," said Kurt bashfully. "It was an insane lost week of nostalgia. I was missing you."

Blaine just stared at him in shock before launching himself on Kurt and pushing him back in to the comforter. He stared down at the beautiful man below him and gently brushed the hair of his forehead.

"I really love you, you know."

Kurt smiled up at him and he lost himself in Kurt's eyes for a minute. Then he bent down to kiss him slowly and tenderly. Kurt moved his hand up in to Blaine's hair and started to play with his curls pulling Blaine's mouth deeper in, their tongues meeting, touching and playing with each other.

Blaine sighed deeply in pure satisfaction. He felt Kurt's hand move further down his still naked back and his brain began to short circuit. He moaned in to Kurt's mouth and shifted so that he was entirely on Kurt. He could feel the heat beginning to build in his body as he ground his hips down in to the gorgeous creature below him.

He felt Kurt stop moving below him.

He broke away and looked at him confused. "What's wrong?"

Kurt closed his eyes and turned his head away. Blaine moved quickly off him.

"Kurt?"

"God… nothing's wrong. You have no idea how much I want this. I just don't want it to be false."

"How do you mean, false?"

"No…I just…after what happened last time… I don't want to hide anything from you. I want you to know everything before we do this so you can decide if you really want me in that way."

"Kurt…love… of course I want…"

"Blaine, please," Kurt interrupted, looking at him pleadingly. "I don't want to worry anymore that you are going to hate me when you hear everything. Please…let me talk and if when I am done, you still want me then I'm yours."

Blaine sat back in shock. He suddenly felt cold and scared. He could see that Kurt was absolutely serious about this. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Then he reached over to Kurt's chin, gently turning his face towards him.

"Kurt…" he was lost for words. What could he possibly say? Everything was empty promises until Kurt had said his piece.

Instead he just leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Kurt melted in to the kiss and Blaine tried to communicate all his love, acceptance and support to the other man. When they broke the kiss they just sat touching foreheads together, breathing each other's breath.

"OK," Blaine finally agreed although he wondered if he was signing the death warrant on their relationship. "OK."

AN: A shorter chapter but it needed to end there. So looking forward to the next chapter...

Please review.