Disclaimer: SS, DD. You know the drill :)

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Chapter 37

Blaine was pacing back and forth near the baggage carousel for Kurt's flight. The constant motion was beginning to drive everyone around him nuts, but he couldn't help it. Blaine was a bundle of energy most of the time anyway, but it was the worst when he was either nervous or impatient. And today, he was most definitely the latter. He hadn't seen Kurt in FOUR DAYS. And he hadn't spoken with Kurt much in those four days. Between practices and the day-long competition, Kurt simply did not have the time, opportunity, or energy to do so. They spoke once on the phone after the squad had returned to their hotel for the day and Kurt fell asleep in the middle of a sentence. Blaine knew then that a real conversation probably wasn't going to happen until Kurt returned.

"Their flight landed twenty minutes ago, where is he?" Blaine grumbled.

"Here we are!" Santana sang. Blaine spun around with a sigh of relief.

"Wait a minute – where's Kurt?"

For the first time ever, Santana looked and seemed worried. "Um, he's moving a little slower than the rest of us today. He, Coach Sylvester, and Quinn were at the back of the group, last I saw. Brits and I decided we would be part of the welcoming crew."

Just then, Blaine caught sight of Sue walking very slowly. Due to his height, Blaine had a hard time seeing over people to find Kurt, but as a group of people collected their luggage and walked away from the baggage claim area, Blaine was able to spot Kurt.

Who was on crutches.

"Oh my GOD! Kurt, what happened?" Blaine yelled as he closed the distance between him and his boyfriend.

"Relax, Blaine. It's a sprain. Nothing more. I'll be fine. I AM fine."

"You're on crutches, sweetheart, that's not 'fine.'"

"Pardon me while I head to the restroom and vomit due to lovey dovey cutesy wutesy overload. I assume you can take over Porcelain-sitting duties now, Triangle Brows?" Sue asked snidely.

"I believe I can handle it. Thanks so much, Coach."

"Eh, save it for someone who gives a crap," she snarked as she stalked away to retrieve her own bags.

"Now seriously, baby, what the hell?" Blaine demanded as he gestured towards Kurt's leg.

Kurt sighed loudly. "It's NOTHING, Blaine. I told you."

"Please tell me?" Blaine said a little more softly.

"We were celebrating a little too enthusiastically and they kind of… dropped me," Kurt mumbled the last couple of words.

Kurt could see Blaine getting angry. "No, I'm not going to tell you who. It doesn't matter. I am fine, I only have to be on the crutches for a few days to let this MINOR SPRAIN heal." He leaned over and ran his fingers through Blaine's hair. "REALLY. Okay?"

Reluctantly, Blaine agreed. "Okay. But does this mean I get to take care of you until you're better?"

"I don't really need any help, Blaine. I can get along just fine by my- " Kurt watched as Blaine's face fell. He could tell Blaine interpreted his words as "I don't need you." End of story. "Okay. I probably will need someone to carry my books at school. And help carry my lunch."

"Absolutely!" Blaine agreed happily. Kurt was so glad he had acquiesced – apparently Blaine just needed to feel useful. "Come on, let's get you home!"

"My home first, though, Blaine. If you want to later, you can take me to your place, but I want to see my family and grab some clean clothes and stuff."

"That's fair."

"But after we get back to your place, I'm sure I will need help getting a shower…" Kurt trailed off suggestively.

Momentarily forgetting that Kurt was on crutches, Blaine grabbed his hand and tried to run to the car. Kurt pitched forward a bit and screeched, "HEY! Blaine, not so fast!"

"Oops, sorry baby! I'm just so happy to have you home." He stopped dead in his tracks and made sure Kurt had regained his balance.

"It's okay. I'm happy to see you too."

Had Blaine known Kurt was injured, he would have circled around to find closer parking rather than just grabbing the first open spot he saw. He tried to get Kurt to allow him to leave him at the curb while he retrieved the car and pick him up there, but Kurt was having none of it. He insisted he wasn't disabled and refused to let anyone treat him like he was when he was perfectly able to get around as is. Blaine figured this was a battle he just was not going to win, so he fell silent as he led Kurt on the long walk to the car.

"Jeez, Blaine, where'd you leave the car? Siberia?" Kurt groused.

"Hey, I offered – "

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Kurt interrupted rudely. "It's just… wasn't there anywhere to park in Ohio?"

Blaine laughed. "It's a nice day. I needed to burn off some nervous energy. Apparently it didn't help much since I was still annoying everyone with my Energizer Bunny impression in the baggage claim area, but I figured the long walk to the terminal wouldn't hurt."

After a couple more minutes, they finally approached the car. "Oh thank goodness," Kurt sighed in relief. "My pits are yelling at me." He leaned his crutches up against the side of the vehicle and swung himself inside. "Would you please take care of my crutches, Blaine?"

"Of course," Blaine said, already tossing them in the back with Kurt's bag. He stood outside Kurt's open car door checking to make sure he had settled in okay. "Do you need anything before we head home?"

"I wish people would stop asking me if I need something. If I do, I will say so!" The bright smile left Blaine's face, and immediately Kurt regretted snapping at him. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I'm just really tired. The cheerleaders have been doting on me the whole time, especially the ones who dropped me, and I haven't had a moment to myself, and I'm mentally and physically exhausted, and – "

Blaine cut off Kurt's rambles with a chaste kiss to the lips. He rubbed Kurt's thigh reassuringly and said, "Apology accepted, sweetheart." He closed Kurt's door and ran around to the driver's side, where he scrambled in quickly, wanting to get Kurt home as soon as possible.

"Thank you for coming to pick me up. I love the Cheerios, but I've had enough togetherness with them for awhile. Santana snores worse than Finn, if you can believe it. Quinn never sleeps, and Brittany cries in her sleep. Last night I heard her begging Lord Tubbington to stop smoking because she couldn't bear to watch him die of emphysema. Honestly, I have no clue how or where she learned such a big word, or how to use it correctly, even."

Blaine grinned. "Sounds like you had an interesting experience, even if it wasn't restful."

"I am just so glad to be DONE. No more Coach Sylvester, no more throwing girls around, no more recruiters, more time with you, more time for sleep..."

"Wait a minute, recruiters? Kurt…?"

CRAP, Kurt thought. I didn't mean to let that slip.

Kurt sighed. "I've gotten visits and phone calls from a few recruiters. There were three or four of them at Nationals."

"HOLY SHIT, Kurt, that's amazing! Which schools?"

"It doesn't really matter which schools. I turned them all down."

"Kurt, why? Please tell me you turned them down because their offers were insulting or something."

"Blaine, we have plans. Plans that include each other. If I had accepted any offers, our plans would have no longer included you, and that's not okay with me."

"Baby, if you received an amazing opportunity, we could make it work. I could come with you wherever you went. I do NOT want to be the reason you turn down any offers. Please don't tell me you turned down a full ride somewhere." Kurt squirmed in his seat, looking very uncomfortable. "YOU DID! Kurt, honey…"

Blaine had just pulled into the driveway at Kurt's house and parked the car. Kurt took the opportunity to turn Blaine in his seat and grab his hands.

"Okay, Blaine, I'm only going to say this once. I want you to listen to me, and I want you to believe me, and then I want you to let it go, okay?"

Blaine nodded his head reluctantly.

"I turned down these schools because I. DON'T. WANT. THIS. In order to go to those schools, I would have had to agree to be on the squad all year for all four years. It's a far larger commitment than I would ever consider. I did this for McKinley because I could perform on my own terms. I wrote my own ticket, and I did what I wanted to do. Cheering at the college level does not fit into my personal goals, plans, or dreams in any way. I want Broadway, and I want you. End of story. Got it?"

Blaine was quiet for a moment, letting what Kurt said sink in. "Okay. As long as you made your decision with yourself in mind and not anyone or anything else, I accept and support your decision."

Kurt smiled. "Thank you for not giving me crap about it. But, just to be safe, we are NOT mentioning this to my dad, okay?"

Blaine held up his hands in surrender. "Oh no, you would NEVER catch me opening up THAT can of worms in front of him. He's already made it quite clear to me that he doesn't agree with you forgoing college right now."

"I know," Kurt sighed. "I don't like going against my dad's wishes, but I'm truly doing what I feel is right for me."

"It's okay, Kurt. He may not like it, but I know he trusts you to do what's right for you, and he respects you for doing so."

Kurt sighed. "Okay, let's go in and face the music. I'm sure I'll get nearly the same reaction from my dad as I did from you. Maybe I'll just ditch the crutches and walk in without them…"

"No you won't!" Blaine was quick to quash that idea. "You will use those crutches until you're healed."

Kurt gave Blaine a bitchbrow.

"I mean, please don't prolong your crutches use by pushing yourself before you're ready, baby."

Kurt sighed, "That's better. And you're right. Let's get this over with."

To Kurt's extreme surprise, Burt wasn't really fazed by Kurt's crutches. He said that with the moves Kurt was expected to perform for the Cheerios, he expected to see minor injuries, though he figured they would have happened during a practice or a routine and not a celebration. Burt also knew that Kurt had the world's most attentive "nurse" in Blaine and that with Blaine doting on him, Kurt would be healed in no time.

"This is very true," Blaine had agreed with him.

Carefully, he and Kurt journeyed up the stairs to Kurt's room to exchange his clothes for clean items and to pick up his laptop. He had decided against bringing it with him to Nationals because he knew he wouldn't have time to use it, but now he had some serious internet time to catch up on. Sure, he could stand to do some homework, too, but catching up on Facebook and Twitter sounded much more interesting at that point in time.

Tossing Kurt's overnight bag and laptop case over his shoulder, Blaine assisted Kurt down the stairs and set his things by the door. They would have dinner with the family before heading to Blaine's house for the night.

At dinner, the seating arrangements were shuffled slightly to accommodate Kurt's propped up foot on the extra chair, but once he was settled (and done griping about not being able to help prepare the meal), they spent almost the entire time listening to Kurt's many stories about the competition. Brittany kept on asking to visit a "misogynist" for her sore muscles, and Santana kept trying to hit on boy cheerleaders… in front of Brittany.

When dinner was done, Carole gave both boys a hug and a kiss and enlisted Burt's help in clearing away the dishes so Kurt wouldn't feel badly about not helping. Kurt and Blaine left for the evening shortly afterward.

Once they arrived at Blaine's place, Blaine got Kurt set up on the bed. He ran around the house helping Kurt change into pajamas, plugging in his laptop, propping his foot up with an ice pack, and just generally being the perfect boyfriend.

"Blaine, I have a mildly sprained ankle – I'm not an invalid," Kurt protested.

Blaine held up his hand and shushed Kurt. "Quit interrupting me. I'm very busy showing you how much I love you. Please, let me do this."

Kurt's heart melted, as it was prone to do in Blaine's presence. "Okay," he whispered. "Thank you. And I love you, too."

Blaine smiled brightly and leaned over to give Kurt a peck on the lips. He slipped a disc into the DVD player, changed into his own lounge clothes, and scooted up next to Kurt on the bed.

The introduction to Aladdin appeared on the screen, and Kurt exclaimed, "Oooh, I love this movie!"

The boys both sang along to all the songs, and Kurt giggled at Blaine when he imitated the genie. Pretending the bed was the magic carpet, Blaine said, "The exits are here here here here here here EVERYWHERE!" as he pointed frantically in every direction. Their voices blended beautifully when they sang "A Whole New World" together, and they saw the same fireworks that Aladdin and Jasmine did when they kissed.

Blaine quietly turned the TV off, set Kurt's laptop down by the side of the bed, and returned his attention to his gorgeous boyfriend. They shared soft kisses and gentle touches to "reacquaint" themselves with each other after a long (to them) separation, and after both boys were completely intoxicated by each other, Blaine turned out the light and they wrapped themselves up in each other. Sleep came quickly and easily for both of them, now that they were back in each other's arms, where they belonged.

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The night before Regionals, Kurt stayed at Blaine's house so they could head to McKinley together in the morning. Blaine noticed that as the evening went on, Kurt's ability to focus on anything became more and more erratic. In Blaine's opinion, Kurt had passed nervous hours ago and was now bordering on terrified for their performance the next day.

As Kurt shifted again in bed for what felt like the thousandth time in the past twenty minutes, Blaine groaned.

"Kurt, honey, why aren't you asleep?"

Kurt sighed heavily. "I can't turn my brain off tonight. And I'm so nervous for tomorrow that the butterflies in my stomach have turned into giant pterodactyls, and they are ANGRY. I've been laying here feeling like I will throw up if I even twitch an eyelash. Not that I've actually eaten anything today to throw up…"

"Didn't you eat anything tonight? I swear your plate had less food on it than when we started dinner."

"I had a bite or two, but I've gotten skilled at the art of shifting my food around to make it look like I've eaten," Kurt explained. "It all started after Mom died. Not only did I just not feel like eating, but Dad is a miserable cook. Most times our meals were barely edible, let alone palatable. I took up cooking not too long after that."

"Well, Kurt, those pterodactyls are probably ravenous, and that's why they're mad. You should really eat something."

"But it's 2am. It's too late to eat."

"It's not too late to eat if you haven't put anything in your stomach all day. Come on, let's go to the kitchen and get you something to eat." Blaine moved to get out of the bed, but Kurt put his hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Blaine, I don't know if I can keep it down."

"Why is your stomach so tied up in knots baby? You know we got this. We've rehearsed it plenty, and we've been flawless every time. Your voice is heartbreakingly beautiful on your part."

"There's the key word. Heartbreaking. I'm terrified that the feelings I've been bottling up are going to explode tomorrow while we sing and I'll have flashbacks of one of the most heartbreaking times of my life onstage." He closed his eyes tightly in an attempt to keep tears from flowing. A tear squeezed its way out from between his clenched lid, and he swiped angrily at it. "NO, DAMMIT. I'm not going to cry. I am DONE crying over this. I HATE your father. I want to kill him for doing this to us, Blaine."

Kurt gasped, realizing what he said. "I'm so sorry," he tearily apologized. "I hate the man with all my heart and soul, but I have no right to basically wish him dead. Especially not in front of his own flesh and blood."

"It's okay, Kurt," Blaine assured him. "No, really," he interrupted Kurt when he was about to protest. "I understand where you're coming from. Yeah, we probably shouldn't wish him dead. But it's only natural to think that as a gut reaction when someone's hurt you or someone you love so badly. You don't want them to be able to hurt anyone ever again. But I will say this. I don't think it's a crime to hope he becomes Satan's bitch whenever his time does come," he said with a silly smirk on his face. Kurt barked out a laugh. He supposed Blaine was right. Either way, it was time to let this whole thing go.

"I still feel like utter crap, but I think maybe I can sleep." Just then, Kurt's stomach rumbled. Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Honey, I still don't think I can keep anything down. That's the sound of my stomach churning from nerves, not growling from hunger."

"Okay, Kurt. Here, let's lie down." He opened his arms in invitation for Kurt to lie down between them. Kurt gingerly laid himself and snuggled up with Blaine. Blaine was just about to drift off to sleep when Kurt suddenly pulled Blaine's arms away from him and vaulted into the bathroom. Blaine hurried after him and heard retching from behind the closed door. He started open the door, but Kurt heard the doorknob turning and called out weakly, "Don't come in here. I don't want you to see me like this."

Blaine promptly ignored him and stepped into the bathroom. "Nonsense. You take care of the ones you love, and I'm going to do just that. If you had long hair I'd be holding it back for you."

Kurt managed a small smile. "Thank you," he said softly.

"You gonna hurl again?"

Kurt took a moment to consider the question. "I don't think so. I think I just want to try to sleep again. Barfing is exhausting."

Blaine handed Kurt his toothbrush and a cup of water so he could get rid of his vomit breath, and he stepped out to give Kurt a moment to himself. He busied himself getting a cup of Sprite for Kurt in case he needed it during the night and set it on the nightstand. He heard Kurt turn off the water after rinsing his toothbrush. "Are you okay to get to bed yourself?"

Kurt looked like he wanted to be cranky about all the attention Blaine was giving him, but he refrained; Blaine was only trying to take care of him.

"I'm fine, Blaine. I'm not throwing up because I'm sick."

"Okay. But can you promise me one thing? Will you wake me if you need anything during the night?"

"You know I won't, but if telling you I will will make you let us get back to bed, then yes, I will tell you." He limped back to bed on his sore ankle, Blaine following close behind, and crawled back underneath the covers.

Blaine rolled his eyes, thankful Kurt couldn't see him. Blaine didn't believe him any farther than he could throw the Navigator, but he let it slide and again pulled Kurt close to him in the bed, and snuggled up together, they both drifted off to dream land.

Kurt didn't wake up during the night. In fact, neither boy woke for the alarm, either…

"SHIT! Shit shit shit. KURT! Baby, get up! We're late!"

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A/N: We're ramping up to some interesting things in the next few chapters. Me gusta :)

Writer's block is fading somewhat. I've committed to a couple of writing projects so there is that - I'll be allowed to post them later next month, so you'll have something to read then, even if PL is slow in coming. Not saying it will be, but I have contingency plans so as not to leave you folks hanging.

So...surviving the hiatus, those of you who read spoilers knowing what you know? Yeah, me neither. It's tough! But we'll live!