Chapter 24: Warmth

~He could feel the warmth, but he was unsure where it came from~

Blaine was sure he was dreaming.

His body felt light as if he was floating. Everything around him was dark. He stared blankly ahead, trying to decipher what was happening. His mind registered one thing, though.

Pain.

Despite the lightness of his body, he felt sharp pains everywhere. It was as of someone was piercing a thousand needles- no, not needles. Knives more like it, - into him, stabbing them deeper and deeper until Blaine could hear himself screaming. He tried to block out the pain, to think around it, but the pain was so intense that it clouded his mind.

In the midst of the pain, he could hear someone else screaming. The voice sounded so familiar in so many ways that Blaine could not explain. The voice was pleading, begging…and then it was shrieking and screaming and god, Blaine could feel himself wanting to comfort whoever it was despite his own pain.

Please stop!

Blaine felt something moist running down his cheek.

Kurt…

Blaine, please wake up…

I'm trying…

I'm sorry….

Blaine closed his eyes as the pain flared one last time before it began to fade away.

Me too…

~*.*~

"Blaine?"

Kurt stared at the hand squeezing his own uncertainly yet the hope still remained in his eyes. He held his breath when the fingers squeezed his own again, still slack and barely there, but there all the same. Kurt's lips trembled as he watched Blaine's eyelids began to twitch before they slowly fluttered open. Looking at Kurt through glassy half-lidded eyes, Blaine let out a soft groan.

"…K..urt?" Blaine asked hoarsely.

Tears ran freely down Kurt's cheeks as he nodded, gripping Blaine's hand tighter. "Yes…yes, it's me," Kurt choked. "Blaine, I'm here,"

"Kurt…it hurts…" Blaine whined softly when pain flared at his side.

"I know," Kurt said. "I…I'll call the nurse,"

"Let me do it," Sebastian interjected. He reached for the small button on the wall and said something in the intercom before he faced the pair again. "Hey…Blaine," he said, smiling uncertainly at the latter.

Blaine blinked, as if confused momentarily before he returned the smile with a tiny one of his own. "Se..bastian,"

"That would be me,"

"You…" Blaine winced. "…are here,"

"Of course,"

"Don't strain yourself, Blaine," Kurt frowned in concern.

Blaine shook his head. "What happened?"

Kurt merely looked at Blaine sadly and shook his head. "I'll tell you later. For now…please," Kurt bit his lip and looked down. Blaine frowned when he saw something wet trailing down Kurt's cheek. "You're crying," Blaine whispered. "Why?"

Kurt let out a humorless laugh in the midst of his tears. "I'm just worried….and so very relieved," He let out another sob and turned away, wiping his tears away from his sleeves.

"You were in a coma for several days," Sebastian explained. "Scared the crap out of Kurt,"

Blaine looked at him with wide eyes before he looked down with another frown. "I'm so sorry," he said hoarsely. "I just…" Blaine winced again, a groan following suit. "My head hurts…"

"You really shouldn't be talking too much," Sebastian chided gently. "Rest up," As if on cue, a nurse came bustling into the room followed by a young man, not older than his early twenties. From his nametag, Sebastian knew he was a doctor. Despite his young face, Sebastian could see seriousness and genuine worry in the doctor's eyes. Silently, he moved away to make room for the pair, pulling Kurt along with him.

"Welcome back, honey," the nurse smiled. "You were out for a while,"

"How are you feeling?" asked the doctor.

"Confused," Blaine answered softly.

"That's normal," the doctor assured. "You had quite a bump in the head…Mr…." he checked his clipboard. "Blaine Anderson,"

"That would be me," Blaine replied. "And you…are?"

"Dr Nicholas Stephens," the doctor replied. "I'm your assigned doctor which means…I'm basically in charge of your well-being throughout your stay in the hospital,"

"Oh," Blaine looked at Nicholas inquiringly. "I never saw you around before…" For some strange reason, Blaine had a weird goofy smile on his face.

"He has officially lost it," Sebastian muttered beside Kurt. Kurt elbowed Sebastian and clicked his tongue. "Sebastian, stop it,"

The nurse smiled in a motherly way and patted Blaine's shoulder. "He just started working here, dear. Anyway, we're going to perform a bit of a checkup on you, if you don't mind," She tilted her head. "Before that, someone said you were in pain before?"

"I did," Sebastian spoke and the nurse turned to him. "He whined of being in pain when he woke up,"

"Just slightly," Blaine mumbled. "At my side,"

"Ribs," Nicholas explained. "You broke quite a few,"

"We'll take care of that soon enough, okay?" The nurse turned to address Kurt and Sebastian. "In the meantime, do you two mind if I were to ask you to wait outside?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, it's fine. Come on, Sebastian," Before he walked out, he turned to Blaine. "I…really hope you get better, Blaine,"

Blaine managed a smile before nodding in reply.

When the door closed behind them, Kurt allowed himself to sink down to the floor. He let out a long, withering sigh and hugged his knees. Sebastian looked at him through a sideway glance.

"You alright, Kurt?" he asked after a quiet moment.

There was a beat.

Kurt sighed once more. "Honestly? Not really,"

~*.*~

The room was quiet aside from the monotonous beeping of the heart monitor. Kurt was sitting on one of the plastic chairs beside Blaine's bed. The latter was fast asleep, his expression so ever peaceful. Dr. Nicholas had announced that Blaine was going to be just fine but advised that he was to stay at the hospital for a few more days for observation.

His parents and Cooper had visited briefly. His mother was a wreck, with tears streaming down her cheeks and her mascara was slightly smudged. His dad was silent but Kurt could see the stress and worry in his eyes. Cooper was…well, being Cooper as usual. He tried to lighten the mood by cracking a joke and Blaine was the only one who laughed, but the tension in the room was diffused nevertheless. There were hugs and more tears but in the end, everything was fine.

It…should be, right?

Kurt leaned tiredly against his chair, closing his eyes briefly. He let out a soft sigh. He was exhausted and hungry, but his mind destroyed his appetite and refused to let him sleep. Whenever he tried to eat, for some strange reason, he would start getting sick at the thought of taking another bite. Whenever he planned to sleep, haunting images of Blaine being beat up over and over again played behind his eyelids.

It was weird as it was confusing. Blaine woke up, didn't he? He was okay now. So why was Kurt still feeling like this?

Sebastian had dismissed as a post-traumatic stress disorder and even though Kurt wanted to believe it, he could still feel the unease within him. It had been hectic and traumatizing for him this past week. Maybe his body and mind were still healing from the aftershocks. But still, Kurt wanted it to stop.

He was tired from feeling like this. He wanted everything to be okay again. He wanted it to be like his high school days again where everything was so much simpler. Sure, there were a few terrifying moments, but Kurt could handle those. Now, it seemed that the world was constantly spinning and it refused to stop. It felt as if everything was crashing down.

It felt like the day his mom died.

"Hey, Kurt," Sebastian called out as he emerged from the bathroom, clad in a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved shirt. Blaine's parents and Burt had given them permission to stay over at the hospital that night. "You can have the bathroom now before the water gets cold,"

There was no reply aside from a few sniffling sound. Sebastian raised an eyebrow and turned to the corner. "Kurt?"

Kurt was hugging his knees again with his head buried in his arms. He was silent aside from a whimpering sound that escaped him. His frame was trembling. Sebastian approached him cautiously, almost afraid. Not afraid of him, Sebastian was never that. More like, afraid for him. Because he knew how things had been pretty crazy for Kurt lately. He knew the feeling. All too well.

He brought a chair closer to Kurt's and sat beside him quietly. "Hey…" Sebastian said softly. "Are you okay?"

"M'fine," Kurt mumbled. "Just….I don't know," He looked up and Sebastian could see that his eyes were red and slightly puffy. He had been crying. Something twisted painfully in Sebastian's chest. "I don't know," Kurt continued. "I mean, I should be fine, right? Blaine woke up, the man who assaulted both him and me is going to be sent to prison, everything is fine. So…I should be, too, right?"

"Kurt…"

"But instead," Kurt cut him off. "I feel as if I'm barely able to breathe and everything seemed to be so confusing. I couldn't eat properly and I'm barely able to sleep through the night," Kurt's eyes began to shine with unshed tears. "I want everything to stop and let me take a breather. I just…I can't handle the way things are. I mean, what did I do deserve this?" He looked at Sebastian almost pleadingly. "What did I do, Sebastian? I just…I want time to just stop,"

"You know how hard it is? Things had been happening to me so damn fast that I can't seem to keep up and it's fucking frustrating!"

"I lost my parents in a blink of an eye, staying at someone's house who I consider as someone so annoying and you know, all I want is for time to stop. So I can see my parents again. To see them smile and laugh at the stupidest reasons, to see them proud of my bravery for coming out to them…to hear them say my name in that sickening affectionate manner of theirs.."

How long has it been? Maybe it was a couple of weeks ago when Sebastian was pretty much saying the same thing. He knew the feeling. How it felt to be so confused and angry, not knowing what to do about it. Sebastian hated not knowing.

"I know," Sebastian replied. "I know, Kurt,"

I know how it feels like to be afraid…

"I can't take it anymore, Sebastian," Kurt whimpered. "Make it stop,"

I know how it feels like to be constantly in the dark…

Sebastian wrapped his arm around Kurt's shoulder and pulled him closer towards him. Kurt did not protest, or maybe he did not notice. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks again for the umpteenth time that day. "I'm tired of crying all the time!" Kurt choked, attempting to wipe away his tears.

I know how it feels like to be sad…

"I want everything to be normal again," Kurt whispered before a sob rose out of his throat. Soon, he was crying and hiccupping as if the world around him was ending. Maybe, to Kurt, it probably was. Sebastian was witnessing with his very own eyes what an assault could do to someone. And honestly, Sebastian did not want to see it again. He hated it.

I know how it feels like to broken inside…

Sebastian let Kurt soak his shirt with his tears. He held onto Kurt, rubbing soothing circles on his back. He did not say a word because he knew how words, no matter how comforting they may be, would not help things. So he kept silent and let Kurt cry into his shoulder.

But I know you'll get through this. Because I know how strong you are.

Before Kurt finally drifted off to sleep, he swore he could feel something cool and comforting pressing against his hair.

~*.*~

Blaine blinked blearily as he woke up. He looked around the darkened room before his eyes settled on something. Or rather, someone. His eyes widened.

Sitting beside his bed were Sebastian and Kurt. Kurt had his head on Sebastian's shoulder while the latter had his head leaning slightly against Kurt's. Sebastian's hand was covering Kurt's limp one on the blanket, the fingers intertwining loosely. They were both asleep.

Kurt looked…content somehow. Happier in a way he could not put in words.

Blaine leaned back against the pillows and allowed himself to smile despite everything.

I told you that you'll be happy again…

A/N: Um….I'm back. I'm back! Okay, exams are finally over after two long grueling weeks of writing essays, answering multiple choice questions and whatnot. I gave it my all and now, I can finally get back into writing this fic. This arc will be focusing more on Sebastian and Kurt (finally, I know) instead of just one of them like my previous chapters. Blaine will…there will be some developments for him. :D Look forward to it, I guess. Haha. Oh, and I miss you guys so much! (gives out virtual hugs)

Reviews are lovely and appreciated.