They were too late. Blaine could see his father's empty Chrysler PT Cruiser parked outside of the garage. He hastily pulled into a parking spot and ran in. Kurt, who most certainly shouldn't have been walking on his own, followed as quickly as he could.

"Get out of here, Blaine." Burt was red in the face, as was his own father. His mother stood off to the side watching with a stupid expression on her face. Clearly some sort of altercation had already begun between the two men. "Blaine, go."

"Dad, you need to leave." Blaine said quietly. "I'm not going home. I'm staying here in Lima."

"My son is not going to live in Lima. And especially not drop out of school for a boyfriend. Have you lost your mind, Blaine?" The man looked very much like Blaine. He had the same hazel eyes, only his weren't light and didn't show kindness and love like Blaine's did. He had the same mouth, the same eye color. His nose he clearly inherited from his mother, as well as his beautiful hair. "Do you know what turmoil your grandmother is going through? If someone finds out you're gay and a college dropout and you've run away to live with some fag—"

"I didn't run away! I'm 18 years old! I am an adult who is more the capable of mak—"

"Shut up! Don't you talk to me like that!" He walked towards Blaine, fist rising.

"Don't you touch him!" Kurt came up behind Blaine, tugging on his arm and pulling him back to him. "Come on, Blaine. Let my dad handle this."

"He would look like that, wouldn't he, Blaine?" His dad sneered. "You're such a disappointment. I wish you'd never been born. You've never been good for anything apart from a laugh. You're nothing but a piece of trash."

"Don't talk to him like that!" Kurt was shouting now, moving in front of Blaine. "Don't ever talk to him like that again!"

"You will never be good enough for an Anderson. Your father owns a garage, you don't even have a mother, and you look like a girl. You live in Lima. What makes you think you can ever be good enough for the grandson of Barbara Anderson? You're going to burn in hell and your father will too for letting you carry on with this perverse thing it is that you are doing." This was Blaine's mother talking.

"Who do you think you are, talking to my son like that? Or yours, for that matter?" Burt growled, coming towards Blaine's father.

At the same time, Blaine turned on his mother. " You are so stupid, mom! You aren't even religious. You go to church to keep up some stupid reputation! You've probably never opened a bible outside of church in your entire life!"

"If I ever hear you talk like that to your mother again—." Blaine's father angrily pushed Blaine into the wall.

"Get off of him! You're a terrible excuse for a human being! He's your son!" Kurt exclaimed, struggling to pull Mr. Anderson away from his son with great difficulty. Blaine mentally reminded himself to never make Kurt that mad, because the look on his face was absolutely terrifying. Sure, he'd seen Kurt in his diva mode. This was something entirely different. "You will never be one quarter of the person that Blaine is! I said get off of him!"

"Get your hands off of me, you disgusting faggot!" Blaine's dad shouted angrily.

Burt launched towards the man but another mechanic pulled him roughly back. "You need to leave, sir." The man holding a struggling Burt said loudly.

"You think you can tell me what to do? How much do you make an hour? Lower than minimum wage probably with the looks of this place." He marched over to Blaine. "Come on. We're. Leaving."

Blaine mouthed wordlessly, feeling Kurt tugging his arm and whispering, "Let's go. Come on. It's okay. My dad can handle this."

"Don't touch my son!"

With one swift moment Blaine's father pulled Blaine from Kurt roughly and practically threw Blaine behind him.

Poor, sweet Kurt seemed to snap. "Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are laying a hand on him like that?"

Mr. Anderson turned to Blaine. "Go and get in the car now."

He'd thought of what he'd say when he finally saw his father again for a long time. All the sarcastic, well thought out, and perfect comments completely left his mind. Instead all he could see was his father pushing him that one day he'd been kicked out, almost down the stairs if he'd been two feet to the left. Now he could say nothing. All of that time spent thinking up the perfect thing and he couldn't recall anything.

"What can this fag, give you? Are you serious? Look at this dump. Lima, Ohio? Are you that much of a loser, Blaine? You don't belong here. You won't tarnish the Anderson name with this behavior. We are a decent, stand-up family!"

"Don't you talk to him that way and don't you talk about my son that way!" Burt shouted.

"I'd hardly call that a son."

Kurt, unfazed and used to such comments about his gender, moved past Blaine's father and went straight to Blaine. "We're go—" He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence.

"I told you to not touch my son!" Mr. Anderson yelled and pushed Kurt roughly in the chest exactly where, forty minutes before, he told the doctor still hurt him the most. The response was instantaneous. Kurt stumbled, eyes widening in shock, and fell back onto the floor. He kept looking between the two oldest men with big bright blue eyes. This time something in Blaine snapped and he pushed his father against the nearest wall with surprising force for someone as small as he was. He heard himself speaking but had no clue what he even said. His mind had turned itself off. He blindly raised his fist to punch his father but Burt broke free of his worker's grasp, pushed Blaine aside, and knocked his father onto the ground, throwing blows everywhere he could reach. Chaos had broken loose.

"Don't—you—ever—touch—my—son—again!" Blow after blow made a sickening noise. By then Mr. Anderson had started hitting back. It was a useless attempt though. Burt Hummel was a decent sized man and had used to play college football. Blaine's dad wouldn't have stood a chance in a fight and both men knew it.

Blaine's mother screamed and everyone went still.

"What did you do, Mark? He's bleeding! You hurt that boy!" She looked terrified as she pointed to Kurt on the ground. She wasn't terrified for Kurt's health. No, she was just worried that someone would find out her husband had hurt a teenager. That wouldn't look good on the evening news, now would it?

"Get the fuck out of my garage." Burt growled, shoved the man towards the door, and ran to Kurt.

Blaine was already kneeling down by him, panting and brushing his hair back. Now he was panicking. Everything was happening so quickly and Blaine didn't know what to think, what to say, or most importantly what to do. "You're okay, Kurt. You're okay."

Kurt nodded but coughed up blood. There was a lot of blood on his shirt already and he seemed to spit up more each time his mouth opened. Blaine was half crying. "You have to stay awake, okay? We're going to get you to the hospital right now."

Burt gently picked Kurt up and he cried out loudly. Blaine hadn't even heard him make a noise that distressed in the hospital and it tore his heart. "It's okay, kid. I've got to get you to the car."

"Not my car." Kurt moaned as he coughed up more blood. "My seats are too expensive to clean."

Blaine rushed into the parking lot, throwing the back seat door of his car open. He certainly didn't care about his car seats. He cared about Kurt and getting him help. Burt followed shortly after, coming to a stop outside the car.

"I need you to sit back here on the floor and make sure he stays awake. Where are your keys?" Burt yanked off his jacket and put it on the seat, making a pillow out of it, and gently eased Kurt down. Kurt let out several whimpers, cringing.

Blaine's hands were almost shaking too hard to get them out of his pocket but he finally managed, passing them to Burt. He crawled onto the floor of his back seat and touched Kurt's face with shaking fingers. "K-Kurt…" He moaned, unable to think of anything else to say. "Why would you do that, Kurt?"

"He hurt you." He said the words so calmly, as if it was as simple as that.

Oh god, if he dies it's going to be your entire fault.

Blaine began to cry, grabbing Kurt's hand. He sobbed even harder when Kurt squeezed his own hand back tightly.

It only took ten minutes to reach the hospital and Kurt was immediately rushed back. Neither Burt nor Blaine was allowed to go back with him. Burt had put up a fight to that ("I'm his father!") but Kurt had handled that news better than expected. Probably because he was so used to hospitals by this point.

Burt paced the floor angrily and Blaine couldn't help but notice that there was some of Kurt's blood on his hands. There was some of Kurt's blood on Blaine's as well. Kurt had been coughing up so much blood. So, so much blood.

Blaine sat in the corner of the waiting room, beside himself with grief and unable to make his sobs subside. Burt continued pacing, even after Carole arrived. She immediately hugged her husband and the two had a short conversation before she came over, sitting quietly by Blaine.

"Hi sweetie." She whispered.

Blaine put his hand over his mouth and let out a particularly loud sob, which was made worse when he saw Kurt's blood on the palm of his hand. He hadn't seen it there before. Kurt's blood was everywhere. Everywhere.

Carole wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him close and rocking him. "He's going to be fine."

"N-n-no he w-won't!" Blaine sobbed. All he could think of was Kurt's wide eyes as he coughed up blood. His soft 'oh.' How Kurt grabbed his hand in the car trying to comfort him when he was the one coughing up gallons of blood. "T-There was s-so much blood."

"Shh." She continued rocking him and stroking hair. "Kurt's a fighter."

Blaine looked up as a man in blue scrubs came in. He quieted his sobs really fast because he needed to hear what was going on.

"It looked worse than it is. His lung was not re-punctured." Blaine and Carole heard him say.

Burt gave a huge sigh of relief.

"There is some internal bleeding, though. It's why he was coughing up that blood. His rib was badly fractured in the fall and it caused some internal bleeding. I don't know the logistics of that, but his surgeon will be able to better explain it. Your son was rushed into surgery a few minutes ago to make sure it doesn't get worse, but it really could have waited. We didn't want to run the risk of him going into shock or getting an infection in his chest. The surgeon is going to fix him up. It'll probably take an hour and a half. He's going to be just fine."

Burt let out another relieved sigh and nodded. "Thank you, sir."

The doctor continued on. "He didn't go into shock, which was the biggest worry we had. He remained conscious the whole time he was being examined and all of his vitals were really very good. The fact that he's already healing from his previous surgery may make the healing process last a little longer, but we'll have to cross that road when we get to it… We really couldn't have asked for a better outcome here, though. You should be able to visit him right after he's brought out of surgery."

"Thanks." Burt nodded and made his way over to sit on Blaine's other side. He reached over and put a comforting hand on the Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine took several deep breaths and furiously rubbed at his eyes. He clenched his fists and looked down and his knees not trusting himself to speak. He kept seeing his father push Kurt down, push his chest right where he knew Kurt was hurting. Something had snapped. It was like he wasn't even human anymore when he saw that happen. Something else had taken over.

"I want you to…" Burt began.

Move out? Leave Kurt? End their relationship? Blaine felt himself visibly paling, but he couldn't blame Burt. Not after what his father had just done to Kurt. But how was he going to live without Kurt, without hearing his laugh every day? Or seeing how grumpy he got when Blaine tried to mess up his hair or, even worse, take his hair products away so he couldn't fix it in the first place? It was the small things that stood out the most in Blaine's mind. Because all of the small things weren't really small things at all. Not when it came to Kurt.

"Go wash up and get some water. You look like hell and it will just stress Kurt out if he sees you like this." Burt finished.

Blaine felt himself give an almost robotic nod and he stood, heading straight to the bathroom. It was sad that he'd been here enough to know exactly where it was.

He never would have taken Kurt to the garage, had he known… never. His father had pushed him that way, but it was under much different circumstances. To push someone like that… that he didn't even know? Blaine was never talking to them again. Never. There was no going back from this. He didn't care if they ever realized how wrong they were. He would never, ever, ever forgive them for doing this to Kurt.

He washed his hands first, watching the bloody water go down the drain. He would never forgive himself for bringing Kurt into the situation either. He never should have listened to Kurt because he'd had that feeling in his stomach. He knew something was going to happen. What else could have happened, after all? A nice family reunion?

He wet a napkin and wiped some blood off of his cheek and neck. He also tugged off his shirt and tossed it into the trash leaving him in only a white t-shirt. He couldn't do anything about the blood on his pants, but there were less copious amounts there and it was less likely to freak Kurt out. Less likely to freak Blaine out, though, honestly. Every time he saw Kurt's blood on him his stomach seemed to do a complete 180 degrees flip.

He sniffled loudly and splashed water onto his face. He really did look like hell and he couldn't remember the last time he had cried so hard. If he ever had, even. He sat there, staring at the mirror but not really seeing anything for what felt like hours. The door opened and he looked up when Burt entered the bathroom.

"Are you alright?" the man asked gruffly.

No. "Yes."

Burt gave him a look similar to the one he'd given Blaine when he had asked Blaine if he were gay. He was trying to read him. He the gave a small nod. "Alright then. You've been in here for a long time, though."

"Have I?" Blaine's voice didn't even sound like his own.

"Carole said I should check on you. I'd been debating it myself too actually…" Burt sighed and washed his own hands. "This doesn't change anything, kid. You're still welcome at our house. Whether you know it or not, the second you rushed into this hospital at 4 in the morning last month you… you became a part of this family, Blaine."

"It's my fault."

Burt looked at him, completely shocked. "How? How is any of this your fault? Kurt reacted in a way that anyone would in that situation. He tried to protect you, the same way you've been protecting him since the day you two met. I know, Blaine. I know how much you're there for my son and how deeply you care for him. You love him. To say it was your fault would mean to say you pushed him down yourself. Some people have shitty people for parents, kid. I know you didn't think that would happen. Nobody thinks you secretly wanted this to happen. None of this is your fault and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure you never have to see any of them again. This ends tonight."

Kurt had said those exact words and Blaine would have smiled if he'd felt any better. The two were more alike than they knew and it was very obvious.

"Are you hungry?" Burt put an arm around his shoulder and led him out of the bathroom. "I'm starving."

"A little." Blaine whispered, looking down.

Burt gave him a small squeeze and sat him down once they reached the familiar cafeteria, saying he'd be right back. Blaine looked around. There were people of every age seated in there. Some were very cheerful and chattering away with the people they sat with as they ate. Some looked exhausted, worn down, and barely touched their food. Blaine knew how they felt.

Burt returned fairly quickly with two plates, sitting down. "Carole had eaten before I called… She's going to stay and call me if they come out, so take your time. Eat some. You'll probably feel a little better. Plus, who knows when we'll get the chance to come down here again?"

Blaine nibbled on the roll and sipped his apple juice. Burt was right. He did begin to feel a little better. He sat up a little straighter as he continued eating the contents of the plate. He didn't eat everything—he was much too anxious for that. Burt ate everything on his plate and looked around, not wanting to rush Blaine.

"We should get back. I don't want to miss the doctor." He whispered, getting up to clear his plate.

Burt nodded, tossing his own plate into the trash. The two walked in silence back to the fitting room and took their previous seats.

Carole reached over, giving Blaine a hug. "You look much better, sweetheart. I'm glad."

Blaine wasn't used to being treated this way when something was wrong. At least, when it came to his parents. He always had to go to his room and either wait out the sadness or find some way cheer himself up. Is that what Burt and Carole did with Kurt? When he was younger, and his mom in the hospital, did Burt take his son to the cafeteria and eat with him? Walk with his arm around him comfortingly? No, Kurt was so small that Blaine was sure he had carried Kurt. Burt seemed the type to have carried Kurt around until he was too big.

"I feel better." He responded quietly.

Another doctor approached them, this one also in scrubs. He looked very cheerful. "Burt Hummel?"

Burt stood and nodded. "How's my boy?"

"He's going to be just fine. He's being wheeled into recovery now. Once he's settled you all can come back and see him. He'll be asleep a little while longer, though." The doctor was smiling.

"How did the surgery go?"

"Very well. I would say he'll probably be kept for three days. His condition is serious, but in no way critical. Tonight will probably be a little rough, but I expect by tomorrow afternoon he'll be acting like normal. He'll be in much less pain than he was from his last surgery because his lung wasn't operated on. That being said, he is going to be on some less powerful painkillers. I'd like to keep him off the Oxycodone if at all possible this time around. It's easy to become dependent on that drug."

"He'll be comfortable though?"

The man nodded. "Yes, we'll be putting him on another similar medication that isn't quite so addictive. We'll do everything to make him comfortable. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or anybody up in the Recovery Ward. He'll probably stay there for a few hours and then be moved into a room upstairs for the remainder of his stay. Someone will come and take you to him as soon as he's settled."

Burt nodded and shook his hand. "Thank you for taking care of my son."

"My pleasure." The man patted his shoulder and left the room.

"Oh, thank God." Carole was the first to speak. "I don't know if the poor thing could have handled another two weeks in this place."

Blaine felt some of the knots in his stomach leaving. The surgery was over. Kurt was going to be completely fine. After his first surgery, the doctor had not looked quite so positive. Everything was going to be fine. Kurt wasn't going to die. In fact, he'd completely recover. He let out a big sigh of relief and felt as though he was able to breathe again.

"I'll call the garage and let the boys know after we see him." Burt sighed. "Jeff likes Kurt; I know he's been worried."

"Finn should be on his way. He was leaving from Cincinnati when we got off the phone. He's bringing Puck." Carole added, nodding. "Puck will probably drive. I think Finn is freaking out a bit. He really feels like Kurt's his baby brother now, you know."

Blaine listened to their small talk until a smiling nurse came into the waiting room. "You all can come see him now. We just got him settled in."

The three of them stood, following her back into the familiar recovery ward. Kurt's bed was at the back this time. That had to be a good sign. It meant he didn't need as much observing, Blaine thought to himself.

"You're awake, sweetheart!" Carole rushed over as soon as she saw that his eyes were open. He looked so small and pale on the bed and his bright blue eyes stood out. He smiled a bit, his eyes lighting up even more. He was hooked up to fewer machines than last time and it made standing next to him much less intimidating.

"How do you feel, kid?" Burt leaned over him. Kurt's mouth moved as he spoke but his voice was so soft that Carole and Blaine couldn't make out what he said. Burt pushed his hair back, listening intently, and then nodded. "They did surgery on you. You had some internal bleeding, but it wasn't from your lung. You're going to be fine." Kurt's mouth moved again and Burt let out a small laugh. "No, just a few days. Don't worry, kid." He looked up, grinning. "He said he was going to spoon his eyes out if he had to stay in one of these tacky looking rooms for another two weeks."

Carole laughed. "Well there you are. We have nothing to worry about." She pulled up a chair and sat down.

Burt squeezed Kurt's shoulder and stepped aside, going to the other side of the room and pulling over two more chairs. Blaine stepped closer, taking in Kurt's appearance. He really looked the same as he had earlier that morning as they left the doctor's office, only a little paler. There was an IV in his arm and he was hooked up to three machines, but that sure as hell beat the eight that he was hooked up the last time Blaine saw him in that very recovery room.

Kurt's spoke again but Blaine wasn't close enough to hear. He was afraid to get too close because he didn't want to hurt his boyfriend anymore. He had to lean down, though, to hear what Kurt had said. "What, babe?" His voice sounded much better than he'd thought it would. He was still fighting the urge to cry, but Burt had said he had to hold it together. He didn't want to stress Kurt out. Not now, when he was like this.

"I love you." Kurt repeated, blue eyes meeting his. His voice was still very soft, barely above a whisper. He sounded… weak.

"I love you too." He bent down and pressed a kiss to Kurt's forehead. "So, so much… How do you feel?"

"Light… it doesn't hurt this time." His eyes closed. "Do that again."

Blaine kissed his forehead again. "That?"

Kurt smiled a bit and fell asleep.

Blaine stood there, hunched over, for several minutes. He didn't want to move from Kurt because he was afraid he would wake up and try to say something else. Kurt shouldn't have to repeat himself when he was so weak and tired.

Eventually, Burt touched his shoulder. "I got you a chair. Sit down. He's asleep now."

"I know." Blaine whispered, eyes not leaving Kurt.

"He could be like this for a while."

It took a few more minutes before Burt finally coaxed Blaine into sitting down. He put both hands on the armrests, staring at Kurt. He seemed to sense that Blaine had moved from his bedside. He shifted several times, let out a few noises, and his fingers began to flex.

Blaine reached over and grasped his hand. Kurt immediately settled down and his hand firmly squeezed Blaine's. Was that what Kurt had wanted? Had he wanted Blaine to hold his hand? Blaine wasn't going to let go. Not until Kurt pulled his hand away and even then, Blaine thought, he'd probably take hold of the slightly larger hand again. He wasn't going to leave Kurt's side, not for anything, until the boy was sent home. Nobody was talking him into going home to get some rest and shower. All that mattered right now was holding Kurt's hand.

Everyone looked up as the door opened. Finn and another boy ran in quietly. Blaine of course knew Finn, but he didn't know Puck. He had seen Puck at competitions, he'd seen pictures of him and the rest of the glee club, and he occasionally even had seen Puck comment on mutual friends Facebook statuses and pictures. He'd never actually met the guy though.

"What's going on? Is he okay? What happened?" Finn asked worriedly.

Carole stood, holding a finger to her lips. "Kurt's sleeping. Come out here; I'll tell you in the hall."

She led the boys into the hall and Blaine felt a rush of gratitude. He didn't know if he could have listened to her tell the events of a few hours ago with Blaine's father, how Kurt had taken p for him and ended up right back in the hospital.

Kurt's grip loosened slightly, and then the fingers squeezed again.

"I'm still right here." Blaine whispered, returning the squeeze. "It's okay."

"I hate hospitals." Burt sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, then buried his face in his hands.

Blaine didn't know what to say. Burt must hate hospitals, he thought. This was the second time in a month his son had been rushed into surgery. Not to mention he was sure it reminded him of Kurt's mother. He knew that the last few weeks of Kurt's mother's life were spent in a hospital. Being here again had to bring back old memories.

The two sat in silence until the door opened again. Carole, Finn, and the boy that could only be Puck made their way towards the back of the recovery ward. Finn dragged a chair over noisily, as did Puck.

"Blaine, this is Puck. Puck, this is Kurt's boyfriend Blaine." Finn said, plopping in his chair. He looked much more cheerful and much less anxious. Blaine wished his worries had gone away that fast.

Blaine reached with his free hand and (somewhat awkwardly) shook Puck's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." Puck firmly shook his hand and took a seat by Finn. "So, man, I'm kind of glad we got out of running laps. Maybe we can stay here a few days."

"I don't know, dude. I guess we'll just have to see how Kurt's feeling. Coach won't like it if we don't go back soon, though." Finn responded.

Normally he wouldn't have minded the talking but by the time Finn and Puck had been talking for twenty minutes, Blaine began to get annoyed. Maybe it was because Kurt had started shifting again and Blaine couldn't help but think all of the chattering was bothering him. Maybe it was because they seemed so happy, which seemed very wrong. They were in a hospital recovery ward and acting like they were glad to be out of school. Like it was a nice little field trip; Kurt was seriously hurt. Then again, Blaine was probably being overly sensitive because he was stressing out. He just wished that they would shut up so he could sulk in peace.

"Puckerman, they can hear you across the hall. Shut up." Kurt suddenly moaned, eyes not opening.

"They probably can!" Finn laughed loudly.

"You too, Finn. No one cares about what color shorts you wear to jog."

Blaine felt himself smiling. You tell 'em, Kurt, he thought.

"Let's talk a little quieter so Kurt can sleep. He needs his rest." Carole whispered. "Go on back to sleep, Kurt."

Her words were useless because Kurt had already fallen asleep again, hand still tightly squeezing Blaine's.

***WBUCT***

"Kurt, good morning!" Carole said the next morning coming into Kurt's hospital room. "I went to get some coffee. Do you want me to go grab you something?"

Blaine looked up from his seat by the bed. When had Kurt woken up and sat up? Blaine had just looked at that bed three minutes earlier before glancing up at the news.

"I probably shouldn't be awake or drinking coffee." Kurt said cheerfully, getting a silly little grin on his face. "I don't know what they gave me but it's amazing.""

"How do you feel? Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"I feel amazing. That's my word of the day. Amazing." Kurt drew out the end of the word. Burt, who had been sitting in silence with Blaine, leaned over him and whispered something. "That's amazing, Dad."

Burt laughed and patted his head.

Blaine took a deep breath. He knew Kurt was absolutely adorable when he was drugged up on painkillers, but it still tore him up inside that his boyfriend was going through this. Again. And this time he was to blame. He attempted a smile when Kurt looked his way. "Hi, my love."

Kurt gave him a big smile that warmed Blaine's entire heart. "I love you, Blaine."

"I love you too." Blaine whispered, touching his face. He kissed him very quickly. "So, so much. Are you feeling okay?"

Kurt nodded adorably. "Much better."

"I'm sorry, Kurt. So sorry."

Kurt leaned over and blinked at him. "For what?"

Blaine kissed him again several times; first on the lips, then the nose, then each cheek, then his forehead, and finally the top of his head. "Nothing, Kurt. Nothing."

"You're in good hands, Kurt. I'm going to go make a few phone calls and let everyone know you're okay. I put it off last night because I didn't want to leave you." Burt said, patting Kurt's shoulder and then standing.

"Alright, pops!" Kurt waved as his father left the room laughing.

"I would hate to see Kurt drunk." Carole laughed. "Finn and Puck are down in the cafeteria still."

"I got drunk once. I ruined a pair of $300 shoes." Kurt said very seriously. "And then I threw up on a guidance counselor. Then my dad picked me up from school and bought me ice cream. Don't tell Dad those shoes were $300…"

Carole laughed again. "That's not how I heard the story. I heard you lost your car for two months."

"He'd already taken the car because he found my tiara collection." Kurt babbled, waving his hand. "It's okay though because I stole it back. It's very safe." He turned to Blaine. "I trust you. Do you want to know where it is?"

Blaine was torn between feeling sad and amused. He hated seeing Kurt this way, especially because he felt at fault. But he was so damn adorable.

"It's at Mercedes' house." He continued on, not even waiting for an answer. "Well, it should be. In her closet. She's got a big closet, Blaine. It's, like, huge." He held out his arms. "I want a closet that big, Blaine. And a swing. Can we have a swing?" Blaine opened his mouth to say that yes, Kurt could have whatever he wanted, but Kurt just kept on talking. "I always liked strawberries, you know. They're so versatile. You can eat them by themselves, in pop tarts, in a pie, on top of cheesecake, on top of a pie, with ice cream, dipped in chocolate, dipped in sugar, dipped in chocolate and then dipped in sugar, in fruit salad, with whip cream, dipped in Nuttela, dipped in white chocolate, in a milk shake, on a sundae, in a bowl! You know I bet you could put it in a cup and eat it there too. Once I put cereal in a cup, Blaine, because dad didn't wash the dishes. Well, he never does. Anyway, as I was saying, I really like strawberries."

Blaine started at him as if he'd grown two heads.

"No! I'm so dumb! I was talking about my cup of cereal. Well I put my cereal in a cup and then I tried to eat it from the cup. You know, like, I held the cup up in my mouth?" He demonstrated. "But all the cereal fell on my face."

Blaine felt himself starting to smile, despite how upset he still was. "Is that so?"

"Yeah." Kurt sighed like a little kid. "I smelled like honey all day."

"Well honey smells good."

"You smell good, Blaine. You smell like Blaine." He relaxed his pillows. "And I smell like Kurt and Carole smells like Carole and Daddy smells like Daddy."

"What on earth is he rambling about?" Burt asked, coming back into the room. "I called everyone."

"I believe Kurt was talking about how nice Blaine smells." Carole answered.

"You called everyone? Did you call Ghostbusters?" Kurt questioned, his eyebrow raised.

"Somehow I think I forgot to call them." Burt said with a serious expression.

"I saw a ghost once. He was my friend. He and Wendy. She was a witch. But then she turned into Lizzie McGuire. She wasn't so cute then, dad. Ethan was really cute though, wasn't he? His hair was perfect. And his secret was don't repeat. How genius is that? Do you think some people see that and never stop washing their hair because it tells them to repeat? Do you think some people stay in the shower forever?" His words became faster the more he spoke. It was beginning to give Blaine a headache. How in the world was Kurt's mind going that fast? He hadn't been this talkative after his first surgery. Then again, it had been much more intensive.

"Okay, okay. Let's get you lying down." Burt leaned down to help him move.

"I don't want to lay down, dad. Ghostbuster's don't lie down. I've got to go warn Casper and Wendy." Kurt protested, shaking his head.

"I'll go warn Casper and Wendy, kid. You need to go to sleep."

Kurt's eyes were already beginning to droop. "But you can't see Casper. Adults can't see Casper. And he's friendly, Dad. He's a friendly ghost and they want to shoot him. Shoot him dead."

Burt pushed Kurt's hair back. "I won't let anyone shoot Casper, son."

"They already shot Bambi's mom. They'll get him too, Dad. I can't sleep. I have to save h—." He finally fell silent, once again asleep.

"Has this kid got a mouth on him or what? He hasn't been this hyper off of medicine since that time when he was five and bit the mailman." Burt shook his head.

"Kurt did what?" Blaine couldn't help himself from laughing at this. "He… bit the mail man?"

"He went through this phase where he thought he was a dog. His mother encouraged it." He rolled his eyes. "He got Strep and the doctor put him on this cough syrup. He's always reacted very strangely to medicines. He can handle Tylenol and that's about it. But he's a healthy kid, so it's never really led to problems before."

"He thought he was a dog when he was five?" How had Blaine not found this out already? Could his boyfriend be any more adorable? No, he couldn't. It would be hard to top this story.

Burt sighed. "He wanted a dog. We told him no. He thought if he pretended to be a dog that we'd want one too. We just thought it was funny. But he's a weird kid and part of me thinks he talked himself into thinking he was a dog."

"Did he ever get his dog?" Blaine asked.

Burt shook his head. "Nope. The only thing he ever didn't get, too. Kid's been spoiled rotten since the day he was born."

Blaine laughed quietly, mentally noting that he was going to buy Kurt a puppy when they moved in together.

"Kurt's still spoiled. Only now both of you spoil him. I don't know what on Earth he'll do if he goes off to college away from Blaine." Carole stated, squeezing Burt's hand.

"He'd manage." Burt said gruffly. "He may be spoiled, but he's always been very independent. Half of the time he was the one taking care of me. The kid was making dinner for the both of us by the time he was eleven."

"He's a good boy. Finn's just rotten." Carole laid her head on Burt's shoulder and yawned.

"I'm not that bad. I made dinner last night, mom!" Finn scoffed, coming in.

"Dude, you made a microwavable cup of macaroni and cheese." Puck snorted.

"Well I didn't know how to use the microwave until a few weeks ago."

"You made a microwavable cup of macaroni and cheese and burnt it."

Carole rolled her eyes. "Oh, Finn, you didn't. Did you?"

"I thought macaroni and cheese was supposed to be crunchy." Finn said, looking very confused.

Burt coughed suddenly, but Blaine was pretty sure he had started to laugh but hadn't wanted to look rude.

"Alright, boys. I think we should go home. Kurt will probably be asleep for a while and I'm tired." Carole said, standing up. "Plus, I should probably show you how to make microwavable macaroni and cheese cups. If Kurt finds out about this, he'll give me another talk about how you're going to end up homeless. The sad thing is, Finn, I'm starting to think he may have a point." She gave Burt a kiss and then kissed the top of Blaine's head. "Can I bring anything back for you? A change of clothes, a book?"

Blaine looked at her and shook his head. "No, but thanks."

"Cheer up, sweetie. He's going to be fine and none of this is your fault. Plus, I miss that smile." She kissed his cheek. "We'll be back later, you two."

"Bring me back some KFC. Only set it in the hall. I'll sneak out and eat it if Kurt's awake. He'll raise nine kinds of hell if he sees me eating it." Burt called after her. He was quiet for a few minutes before muttering, "Now I really want to watch that Ghostbusters movie. Remind me to ground him when he wakes up."