Kurt's eyes hadn't yet readjusted underneath the surface of the waves when he felt something wrapping his body in a vice grip.

"Hey!" he shouted just before a black tentacle shot out to cover his mouth.

The more he tried to escape, the tighter the grasp became.

The suction from the underside of the tentacles pulled burned his skin and stretched tightly against it. His eyes started watering from the sheer force of it, but he didn't have the strength to fight back.

In fact, his body sagged with weariness and his eyelids were drooping. This was expected, this was his fate, this was his penance and he was ready for it; he'd been waiting for it.

He glared at Sue with as much hate as he could muster, but he didn't resist the pull of her limbs. There was not an ounce of will left in his entire being to combat the current on-goings.

Here he was again on middle ground. He couldn't return to Blaine, no matter how much he wanted to, and he had no where to go forward to. What was the point? Sue won. She's always planned on winning. All along she'd had an ace in the hole: him. She knew his weakness, she had been banking on it. Now he'd fallen into her trap head-first.

As if she sensed the vile thoughts in his mind, Sue flexed her tentacle to stretch further across Kurt's mouth and extended it to shield his nose as well. The lack of oxygen was making the ocean around them spin.

"Ah, my sweet Porcelain," she cooed in a mocking tone. "Don't take this personally. After all, we did have a deal. It's not you I'm after anyways." She waved her hand as if she were chatting amiably with an old friend. "It's your dear old Daddy I'm after. Remember that," she warned him.

Kurt's head was drooping the further he was towed along. His supply of air was running out quickly and the circulation in his arms was beginning to get cut off. He didn't have the strength to stay awake a moment longer.

So he didn't.

"Let me go!" Blaine shouted.

"No!" David tightened his grip on Blaine's arms as Wes and Jeff came to his aid.

Together, the three boys stopped Blaine from moving an inch further.

"I said let me go!" Blaine protested their holds with everything he had, but it was no use.

"You can't go out there!" Jeff grunted.

"I can and I will." Blaine dug his heels into the sand, trying to push ahead.

He thrashed against his captors, hitting whatever piece of them he could manage. He used his elbows and his feet to his advantage, attacking the boys and trying to make a run for it. They were a wild tangle of hands and limbs. Even though he was far outnumbered, Blaine still resisted.

"Don't you think he's too far for you to catch now?" Nick asked from behind them. "Ever if you could swim that far, you won't find him and you know it."

That stopped Blaine mid-shove. His fellow Warblers released him.

"What…w-what do you know about Kurt?" he whispered, the color draining from his face.

Kurt had said something about breaking the law…Would he get punished for people knowing his secret? Blaine was filled with worry; his chest was tight with it.

"Well…" Nick looked embarrassed. "We followed you and, uh…" He was nervous – probably from the glare Blaine was sending his way.

Jeff came to his friend's rescue. "We saw this bright light and heard shouting, so we looked in on you two."

"Basically we saw the whole thing," Thad concluded. "Not that any of us believe it. My theory is some sort of group delirium."

"Shut up, Thad," Trent said.

"You guys can't tell anyone," Blaine hasted to say, panic overtaking him.

"Who are we going to tell?" Wes asked.

"Oh, I don't know…" Blaine pretended to think for a second. "Maybe everyone?"

"Well as tempting as that sounds, we'll have to decline," Jeff interrupted. "We wouldn't do that to Kurt. Or to you, man."

"Look, whatever. You know what? That's not the point. The point is that Kurt is out there somewhere and I have to find him."

Blaine turned around and tried to make a break for the water. He was consequently tackled to the ground by a few of the nearby Warblers.

"Give it up!" David shouted breathlessly.

"Okay, okay," Blaine grumbled. "Just get off of me."

The boys stood and pulled him up with them. Blaine busied himself with dusting all the sand off his tux impatiently while stealing glances back towards the choppy water.

Nick patted him on the back. "You have to let him go, Blaine. It's your only option."

"Is it really?"

"Look, whether you like it or not, he's gone. And he's not coming back." Nick looked remorseful.

David stepped in. "You have other problems to face right now and you have to keep living your life. We're all better off pretending none of this ever happened."

The group nodded their agreement while mumbling promises of keeping it to themselves.

"I don't know if I can, you guys," Blaine admitted. "I don't know if I can…"

Kurt opened his eyes slowly. His vision was blurring in and out of focus as he tried to gather his bearings. Try as he might, everything stayed fuzzy around the edges; he was weak.

"W-Where…am I?" he mumbled. His throat ached terribly and his voice was nothing but a whisper.

"Talking will only make it worse," Sue said matter-of-factly. "That's a promise."

The area was shrouded in darkness and Kurt squinted as he tried to decipher where her voice was coming from. He was propped against a stone wall where his head was leaning against the hard rock, a steady throbbing rattling his thoughts.

He winced as he spoke again. "What are you talking about? What have you done to me?"

Too many questions. He was growing more and more feeble with every syllable, cracking over the last few words.

"Rule number one, Hummel: When I tell you something, believe it." Sue's voice echoed off the walls of the cavern. "As for what you're feeling…Well, those are the side-effects of a very special poison of my own making. I use it on all my prisoners. It prevents any…difficulties." She sounded as if she were getting a sick satisfaction from it all.

Kurt flexed his hands only to receive a sharp sting around his wrists. He looked down to see his arms and torso bound in a silver rope. It glinted like wire and was stiff and cold against his skin. Even the tiniest of movements caused the material to rip into his skin. His wounds were festering and oozing fresh blood; the red droplets were a stark contrast against his hauntingly pale skin.

Kurt could see it all happening before his eyes and he felt the pain of the initial incisions. He flinched with every breath he took, but instead of intensifying, the aching from his gashes felt as if they were fading.

The nerve endings on his fingertips were already going numb, almost like they'd fallen asleep, until he couldn't feel anything at all. The next time he tried to flex his fingers, his hand didn't move at all; it was disconnected to his body – a lifeless attachment.

Horror gripped him all at once.

"My hands," he cried, trying to regain control over them again. His arms were pinned to his sides, even more useless than before. They remained frozen and unmoving.

"Oh," Sue chuckled from nearby. "Did I mention that this particular poison causes paralysis? It's somewhat of a specialty of mine." Kurt could just about hear the grin in her voice. "It ensures that my prisoners don't escape and it makes their pain tolerance extremely heightened." She was pacing nearby; he could hear her shifting through the open space. "You know," she mused, "Some of them don't even know they're about to die until they're an inch from death. Then there's nothing they can do but wait…"

"You can't kill me," Kurt choked out. "You said it wasn't personal."

Sue let out a wicked peal of laughter.

"At first it wasn't personal," she confessed. "At first I wanted a clean way to be rid of you. But now that you're back here and I have you bound and with no possible way of escape, I can see now that I'll have to get rid of you myself."

"No…" he begged. "Please, don't do this."

"All life is a game of chance and I gave you one, Kurt. I gave you an easy out – a way for you to disappear without a trace. But you couldn't do it. You couldn't pay the price, so now I'm stuck with you. To keep you prisoner here for the rest of your sorry, miserable life wouldn't do either of us any good. We both know someone would come looking for you at some point and I can't just keep you around as evidence. No, that just won't do. I'll have to dispose of you permanently."

"Killing me…" He coughed heavily and was left panting and gasping for air. "Killing me…n-now…wouldn't get you anything."

"One less Hummel to deal with," she said. "Don't worry, Kurt. After you're dealt with, I'll move on to ending your father's reign. I'll make sure the two of you are…" She searched for the right word. "…reunited."

Finally she emerged from the darkness, almost right at his side.

"Don't do this," he tried again.

"Such a shame, really - a waste of a perfectly good prince. You were so close, too. I kept a close eye on you, my investment, and I was so sure you had this one in the bag. There's no one to blame here but yourself, Kurt."

"I know…" he whispered, regret coloring his voice.

"I like to make my mark, so to speak." She unsheathed a dagger before him, turning the blade over in her hands. What small amount of light was streaming in through the ceiling glinted off the sharp edges menacingly.

Kurt swallowed hard. His heart was pounding in his chest, so fast that it was hurting with every beat. The rhythm increased in tempo as she drew nearer to him. Every cell in his body was screaming at him to shift away from the impending danger, but he was physically unable to move any part of his body anymore. He could do nothing but look on in terror.

"Don't look so worried, Porcelain." Sue gave him a bone-chilling smile. "You won't feel a thing."

"You won't feel a thing," Wes promised Blaine, rubbing his shoulders reassuringly. "It'll be as quick and painless as you make it."

"You sound so sure…" Blaine took a deep breath to steady himself.

Jeff came up on his other side as they walked back up the beach.

"Just remember, dude: it's like ripping off a band-aid. Just go for it. You just have to tell him."

Blaine looked unconvinced. "And since when are you the expert at breaking bad news to your parents?"

He saw Jeff steal a glance at Nick before answering. "Uhh...I've had a little experience pretty recently," the blonde boy mumbled. "But that's not the point. All you have to do is look him in the eye and say, 'This is the way I am – like it or not.'"

"I don't know," Blaine worried. "I already tried doing just that and it didn't work out at all. Look where we are, at my sham of a wedding. That's how well it worked out last time."

"Ah, but you have something that you didn't have last time," David commented.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"Us."

Kurt was unable to look away. Not because he was transfixed with the dangerous weapon inching closer to his bare skin, but because he literally could not look away. His face was spattered with tears he couldn't feel and his chest was tense with fear - a strong sense of trepidation. The venom had almost fully spread and his teeth were gritted together, preventing him from crying out.

He was desperately trying to command his limbs to regain possession of themselves; he was urgently sending the signals to his brain to turn his face away at the very least, but the relief of such action never came.

He looked on as the tip of the knife met his side and slowly plunged a ways into his skin and cut upwards. True to Sue's word, he couldn't feel a thing at all, but he could see the damage left behind; a red trail seeping over his skin and staining the blade a deep burgundy color.

It was a strange feeling, being able to see the detriment done to his body with his own two eyes but to not feel the pain connected to the actions. To see the gaping wound and sense the thick hot wetness spreading across his skin, but not hurt in the slightest.

It was almost worse than writhing in agony; it was being petrified and disengaged from what was happening. It was like he wasn't even residing over his body anymore, but watching from the outside looking in instead. There was dread swelling within his heart as he slowly became trapped within himself – a prisoner in his own body. The more he lost the strength in his limbs, the smaller his beacon of hope became. If he thought there was no way to escape this before, now all of his chances had finally run out.

His fate was sealed.

Sue laughed, relishing in his silent torture as she withdrew the blade ever so slightly. She nosed his chest with the tip and drew light circles there. Not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to leave a light mark here and there.

"Here comes the fun part," she sneered. "This is the part where I watch you die."

Raising the knife high above her head, she took aim straight towards his heart. She flexed her fingers around the handle of it, preparing to swing.

"Goodbye, Kurt Hummel…"

Kurt shut his eyes, the only part of him he still had some control over.

"Not so fast!" A booming voice echoes throughout the cave.

Kurt's eyes flew open just in time to see a yellow bolt of light hit Sue from behind with a great enough force to cause her to drop the dagger.

He breathed a little easier as he searched for the familiar voice.

Burt emerged from the opening in the rocks to his right. He stood tall, trident in his hands with Mercedes and Rachel flanking him.

"Dad…" Kurt tried to say. It came out as a slurred murmur, but he said it all the same.

Sue spun around and glared at the king. She was visibly fuming with hatred, all but foaming at the mouth.

She barred her teeth and let out a low growl. "It can't be…"

"What did you just say?" James roared.

"You heard me," Blaine said. "I won't be marrying Iliana. Not today and not ever, in fact. And that goes for any other girls you might have lined up as well."

The group stood behind the stage and away from the crowd of people who were still expecting a ceremony.

Blaine felt confident and sure of himself with his friends by his side. Their presence made him feel like no matter what, things would work out.

James spluttered incoherently and turned a violent shade of red.

"You are my son, Blaine, and the crown prince. Being as such, you will obey me, or so help me…"

"I am a grown man," Blaine burst out. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions and if I can't rule a country, I can at least rule my own life. I'm capable of that much, you know. I don't need you -" he jabbed at his dad's chest with his finger. "- telling me what to do and who to love or not love. I'm done with you."

"Done with me?" James whispered in an amused manner.

"Yes, done with you. You have no power over me anymore. Kurt's…Kurt is…" Blaine couldn't even say it. "He's gone. So you can't threaten him or I any more. I've stood by too long and let you tell me what to do and let you make me feel ashamed of who I am…but not anymore." Blaine took a step backwards.

"Blaine, stop being ridiculous," James chided.

"This…" Blaine patted his chest. "This is who I am. And your doubt and denial won't change that. I'm not going to live my life hiding the person that I am. If you can't accept that, then I'll leave. I'll pack up my stuff and go. You know why? Because I'd rather be happy and without a cent to my name than a miserable picture-perfect prince any day. And if that means never speaking to you again, if that means going out on the street on my own, if that means being all by myself…then that's fine by me."

The Warblers exploded with cheers from behind him. Wes clapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, Blaine," he said. "You'll never be on the streets. Not while the Warblers are around."

"Thanks," Blaine beamed at his friend. He turned back to his dad. "So if you have nothing else to say, I'll be leaving now. Goodbye, Father." He turned on his heel and walked away, the Warblers following behind him.

"Wait!"

"Guess who," Burt said, tightening his grip on his trident.

"Your Majesty," Sue regained herself. "What a very unexpected surprise. Don't worry, I'm taking good care of Kurt."

"I know exactly what you're doing," he shot back. "And it's not going to work. Unleash my son this instant."

"Love to, but can't," she smiled. "You see, Kurt and I have some…unfinished business. Kurt came to me in a time of need and made a little deal with me. Nothing major – I gave him legs and he signed a contract. 'What are the terms of this contract?' you might be asking. Oh, just his life." She danced around Burt gleefully. "There's nothing you can do here. It's all legal. So just take your toy fork and run along."

Burt glared at the sea witch. "I said release him."

"You think you can order me around like one of your subjects, but you can't. You have all these rules and you think you can save him. Well you're wrong."

With a quick movement, Burt aimed the trident at Kurt's bindings and fired. The stream of light glanced off of the wire, not harming it in the slightest, and rebounded. Burt ducked just in time to avoid it.

"Did you honestly think it'd be that easy?" Sue cackled. "Go ahead, give it another try. You have nothing to threaten me with. Nothing to do with all your strength. What kind of witch do you take me for?" She seemed entertained by his attack.

"One that's about to become extinct," Burt growled.

He pursued her and for the first time she looked properly worried. She looked frantically around the cavern, searching for something to aid her.

"Brittany! Santana! Seize him!"

There came no reply.

"Where are you two? I said seize him!" Her voice had risen to a shriek.

There was a long stretch of silence before anyone spoke.

"No," answered Santana from the corner. "Brit and I are tired of doing your dirty work. Watching you hurt Kurt was the last straw. He's our friend." She gave him a quick once over. "Well, sort of."

"Yeah," Brittany seconded. "I never liked this gig anyways. We're done."

The two swam across the space and left once and for all.

"Get back here!" yelled Sue. They kept on going. "I'll find you! I'll make you pay for your insubordination, you good for nothing traitors!"

But they were gone.

"No worries," Sue said, retreating to the far side of the cave. "I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. They don't call me the sea witch for nothing, you know."

"What will it take for you to release my son?" Burt asked tentatively.

"Well…" Sue tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I'm open for negotiations. We could always do…a trade."

"No…" Kurt mumbled, fighting against the still-spreading poison. With great effort, he spoke again. "Don't do it, Dad. That's what she's wanted all along. Don't do it."

"I don't intend to," Burt assured him. "But I'm going to get you out of here whatever way I have to." He turned back to face Sue. "By force, if need be."

"Hit me," Sue invited. "Please, I insist. I want you to do it. Go on." She opened her arms wide. "Give it your best shot."

Burt sliced the trident through the air, sending a violent beam of light emerging from the tip. There was a loud crack as Sue's back hit the rock wall behind her, but she seemed to absorb the impact in her hands. They were open in front of her chest and the light went straight into her fingertips like she was taking it in.

With a quick flick of her wrists, she redirected it back to Burt and sent him flying across the cave.

As he smashed into the stone, she flexed her fingers with a pleased expression.

"I've been wanting to try that out," she confessed, rolling her wrists. She waved her hand and a round, glass phial appeared out of thin air. "While magic is fun and all, I must admit my forte was always in potion-making." She rubbed the glass affectionately. "This particular brew is, in a word, explosive."

She threw it with enough power to reach the opposite wall and to simultaneously shatter the glass completely as it came into contact with the jagged boulders.

Burt moved out of the way at the last possible moment, covering his head with his arms as he did so. The blast was strong enough to shake the entire cavern as if they were experiencing an earthquake. Chunks of stone fell from the ceiling and rocks from the wall where the phial had made contact shot out, causing an avalanche of impressive proportions. Debris rained down on Burt, the mixture of rubble and dust consuming him.

The loud crashing and rumbling of moving earth went on for several minutes before it ceased. There was a huge mountain of rocks sitting in the middle of the cavern, a hand visible from underneath it.

Kurt wanted to yell. He wanted to scream and shout. He wanted to break free and go to his father, but he couldn't do anything but look on, not making a sound. His cheeks were wet with tears again and he hung his head in despair.

Sue cackled in victory, thrusting her hands over her head.

"That was easier than I thought it would be," she laughed. "Looks like a new queen needs to be crowned."

She pumped her fists triumphantly, swaying back and forth. She didn't notice that the fingers of the hand were twitching.

There was a low thundering that built in volume as rock began being shifted aside. Kurt's head snapped up as he watched the pile of wreckage begin to move. Soon, another hand appeared, pushing a way out. Moments later, Burt was pulling himself out of the heap looking filthy and a bit bruised, but not seriously injured.

Sue's mouth dropped open as the king drew himself up to his full height.

"You were saying?" he prompted.

Seething unintelligibly, Sue clenched and unclenched her fists. She shrieked wordlessly before lunging forward, all weapons and witchcraft forgotten.

Burt took advantage of her blind rage and took aim for her. With an impossibly powerful blast from the tips of his trident, a bolt of lightning hit her square in the chest and surged into her. Kurt could hear the sizzling of her skin, the burning of her body, and the sound of her agonized screaming.

The electricity noticeably coursed across her entire torso and her limbs were taut with the intensity of it. Still the stroke of voltage swept across her body until small plumes of smoke started rising up from her overheated skin. When her screeching elevated to its peak, there was a loud explosion as her body disintegrated into hundreds of thousands of tiny pieces floating to the ocean floor.

Kurt cringed and shut his eyes, not wanting to see any more.

Burt was breathing heavily and stayed quiet for a while, taking in the scene. Where Sue stood before was now a void of nothingness. His chest was heaving as he lowered his weapon slowly and turned to face Kurt.

"It's okay now, son. She's gone." He surveyed Kurt's injuries for the first time, seeing just how badly he was wounded. He hastened to his son's side, gingerly cradling him. "Kurt, what did she do to you?" he whispered in horror.

Kurt didn't respond, but instead his eyes rolled back in his head as he slipped out of consciousness.

Burt looked around frantically for something to cut the tight bindings with. He spotted the abandoned knife on the ground nearby and reached out for it. With one swift movement, he had it positioned under the metal fastenings and sliced upward. It took one or two tries, but eventually the material did fall aside, revealing even more cuts and patches of missing skin beneath them. There were marks from where it had squeezed into Kurt's fragile body and numerous incisions left behind.

Burt shook Kurt's shoulders gently.

"Kurt…" he called. "Kurt! Stay with me, son. Wake up." He gave him a few more good shakes before Kurt came to.

He groaned, blinking up at his father.

"Kurt," the king smiled in relief before he became serious once more. "Son, I need to tell me what she did to you."

Kurt looked like he wanted nothing more to say something, but he was visibly struggling to form words.

"I…can't…" he muttered one last time before his eyes fluttered shut again.

His father shook him once more, but this time Kurt wouldn't be roused.

Burt looked up to see Mercedes and Rachel - who had emerged from wherever they'd been hiding – hovering worriedly over their friend.

"Go ahead of me. Call for help," he ordered. "Please…"

Without needing to be told twice, the pair shot out of the gaping hole in the wall and swam back towards the kingdom quickly.

Burt turned back to his son.

"Hold on, Kurt. Hold on…"

When Kurt woke up, his neck was stiff and he felt tired…so incredibly tired. Why had he woken up? He just wanted to go back to sleep. He felt stabbing pain in his side and across his stomach. There wasn't anything to hurt him in his dreamless slumber the way there evidently was when he was conscious.

The room around him was dark and nothing was in focus. All he saw was his father sleeping in a chair set up next to his bedside. His dad's hand was lying on the mattress as he slept on, unaware that Kurt was stirring.

Kurt smiled and felt comforted by the sight of his father. He shifted slightly, wincing from the tenderness in his ribs from even the tiniest of movements. He held his father's hand in his and squeezed before drifting off to sleep again.

"Kurt?" a voice broke through his dream.

Though it wasn't a dream, per say, it was just a white expanse of nothingness clouding Kurt's thoughts. Nothing special was happening yet it didn't feel quite normal. It just seemed like a different state of being.

"Kurt," the voice insisted again, cutting through his haziness.

His eyelids seemed heavier than they'd ever been before as he forced himself to squint up at the person invading his thoughts.

There was a swirl of blurred colors hovering over his head and he felt more comfortable than he had in ages. His bed was so warm and so soft that he was tempted to go back to sleep. He was just considering it when…

"Oh no you don't," Burt said with a laugh. "Wake up, son. Wake up."

Kurt felt himself being shaken awake again and blinked feeling disoriented. He blinked until the edges of the picture came into focus again and things started taking a more definite shape.

His bedroom. He was in his bedroom.

How long had it been since he'd been here? Only a matter of days, if his memory served him right. But still, it seemed like years since he'd been in this familiar room – a place he once called all his own.

His father's face was in his line of vision as he blinked upwards to the ceiling. Above them was the fabric from the canopy draped over his bed. Kurt stared at the purple hangings for a moment longer, still feeling exhausted.

"Son," Burt was snapping his fingers to gain Kurt's attention as if he'd been calling his name for a while. "I need to know if you can talk. Can you do that for me?"

Kurt groaned quietly and swallowed. His throat felt a little sore, but not like anything was seriously ailing it. He cleared it before speaking.

"Yes, I can talk now…" he said in a soft, hoarse voice. "It hurts a little, but I'm fine." He gave his dad a small smile. "What happened to me?"

Burt's face fell a bit. He looked pained as he began to explain.

"Well…they were afraid…there was some talk while you were unconscious…" Burt looked distressed as he tried to hash out the details. "Some people said you might not make it. That had me worried for a while, but now you're doing much better. You're a fighter, Kurt." He squeezed his son's shoulder gently.

"That's me," Kurt agreed.

"Sue…she injected you with her poison and it caused you full-body paralysis and loss of sensation, as you know. Some of the physicians weren't sure if you'd regain full mobility ever again, but I've seen the way you thrash in your sleep lately. I think it's safe to say you'll make a full recovery. It took a long time for the venom to completely drain from your system though…"

"A long time?" Kurt asked in a panicked voice. "How long have I been out of it?"

Burt looked hesitant. "For over two weeks, son."

"Over two weeks?" Kurt exclaimed. He tried to pull back his covers, but Burt restrained him. "Let me go! I have to get up! I have to…"

"You're not going anywhere, Kurt." Burt pushed his son back onto the mattress. "You have some serious injuries and you need a lot more bed rest."

"I feel fit as a fiddle," Kurt insisted, trying to get up again. As soon as he did, a severe pain shot up his side and he let out a shout.

"I told you. Now lay back down," Burt ordered.

Kurt did as he was told.

"Serious injuries?" Kurt echoed his father as he flinched from more burning sensations. For the first time, he saw that most of his torso was covered in white bandaging.

"Yeah," Burt sighed. "You took quite the beating, kiddo. A few broken ribs, a hell of a lot of cuts, and a serious wound in your side. They said you'd be healed up in no time, with a little help from my trident, but I'm trying to let your bones reset naturally before I speed up the process a bit." He gave his son a quick wink. "As for the cut in your side…all of the physicians are in agreement that it might not fully heal. You might be stuck with a scar there for…well, for the rest of your life, really."

"Great," Kurt muttered, leaning his head back on the pillows in frustration. "I'm just a mess, aren't I?"

"No you're not," Burt chuckled as he rubbed his son's arm. "You'll be fine now."

The two sat in silence as the topic they'd both been avoiding came looming over them.

"Dad," Kurt began. "I am…so sorry. For going to Sue, for running away, for causing this whole mess…for everything." He began to cry, effectively taking away his ability to speak. "I'm…s-so….so s-sorry…" he sobbed.

"Shhh," Burt comforted him, tears of his own escaping the corners of his eyes. "It's okay, Kurt. All is forgiven. We don't have to talk about this right now. You need more rest and now isn't the time."

"But…"

"I promise when you wake up, we'll talk. We've done more than enough talking for now and you need to sleep. I can see it in your eyes. You don't have to ask for forgiveness, Kurt, it's already been given to you. Now sleep."

Kurt sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too, kid." He slid his hand into Kurt's. "Sleep well."

A/N: So there you have it. We are coming to an end with this fic *tears up*. I don't want it to end, but we all know it has to! If things go according to my plan (which, I assure you, they will) there will be two more chapters in this tale. So I look forward to that.

Your endless love and support to me via reviews, Tumblr, and messaging humbles me beyond belief. I love you all more than any words can truly express.