What Brings Us Closer Together

by CrazedLunatic

When Kurt is attacked, Blaine instantly leaves college to take care of him. With one decision, their entire relationship is changed and their futures reshaped. It also makes everyone around them realize just how close they really are. AU.

31. Chapter 31

Blaine instantly knew something was wrong when he walked out of his second class of the day and saw that he had seven missed calls from Kurt. He felt the cold sense of dread sweep through him as his chest tighten, just like it had more than a year ago when Finn had called him in the middle of the night and told him something was wrong. Kurt was not the type to call seven times. Kurt was the type to call once and then text Blaine. But there were no texts. Blaine quickly made his way out of the building and, once he found a spot that was quieter, pushed the call button and waited anxiously for Kurt to answer.

Not even a full ring in, the call connected.

"What's wrong, babe? It's Tuesday, I'm on campus." Blaine said worriedly, narrowly avoiding being hit by a huge student on too small of a bicycle.

"Blaine, hi. This isn't Kurt obviously. Well, I assume you're Blaine."

Blaine, who had began to walk towards his next classroom building, immediately came to a halt and stood still, looking incredibly confused. Because, true to their word, that was definitely not Kurt on the phone. "Who is this?"

"We've never exactly talked or anything. This is Alec Davis. I go to school with Kurt. We worked on the—."

"What's going on?" Blaine interrupted, getting impatient. Why did he care about what they worked on? Besides, he was Kurt's boyfriend. Of course he knew what they were working on. He was more concerned with why Kurt was not the one on Kurt's phone. "Is Kurt okay? Or did he forget his phone somewhere or something?"

"No, no." The guy, Alec, said quickly. "Listen, he's… he's really sick. We had gotten out of class and he almost fell when he stood up, so I went to check on him. He's really sick. We're supposed to be in class now but he can barely walk, so I…"

Blaine went from annoyed to worried in less than a second. "What's wrong with him? Does he have a fever? Has he eaten? Sometimes he forgets to eat and gets light headed, but if you—."

"It's not that." Alec said, interrupting him this time. Blaine could tell that the boy was extremely nervous. "Well, he might have a fever. He's sweating. But he's just really… he's weak and it's like he can't catch his breath. I tried to get him to let me take him to a hospital but he's very adamant about not going. He told me to call you."

"Shit, shit, shit. He was fine earlier. I don't understand. Fuck." Blaine muttered to himself, beginning to panic. What in the world was he supposed to do? "Look, I'm four hours away and I—Shit!"

"I don't mind to keep an eye on him. I'm just pretty worried… I got him to my place and he's sleeping right now but I really think that he needs a doctor…"

"I'm just going to skip my test." Blaine said to himself. "If I go I-71 I can get there a little quicker and—."

"No, you should take your test. I'll stay with him. I don't think he's so sick that you need to speed out here and—." Alec said quickly.

"You don't understand." Blaine said sharply. "It's his lung. It's not very… It's complicated. Look, I'm going to go talk to my professor and I'll call you when I leave campus. Keep Kurt's phone by you and if he gets any worse I want you to call his dad, explain, and tell him that I'm on my way from school. Please just… keep an eye on him. If he… Just…"

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on him and I'll call you if anything happens. Don't drive too recklessly, okay?"

"Yeah. Listen, thanks for this, Alec." Blaine said, voice shaking a bit. "I really appreciate it."

"Anytime."

…

Blaine hadn't driven so fast since… well, since the last time he was rushing back to Ohio to get to his sick boyfriend, although last time the circumstances had been quite worse. There were four or five times he could have swore a police officer was about to pull him over, but luckily this did not happen. He didn't know exactly what would happen, given the last time he'd been pulled over. All he knew was that his grandmother had to work damn hard to cover it up, but he still didn't know what would happen if he were to get into trouble again.

He had to drive around downtown Columbus a full five times before he finally found the apartment complex that Alec lived at, which had been given to him over one of the several phone calls the boys had shared in the last several hours. He didn't even waste time turning his car off, but instead just slammed the door shut and ran up the flight of stairs to the third floor.

When he found 53A, be knocked on the door loudly, anxiously shifting his weight between his legs and growing impatient very quickly. Why was it taking so long? What was going on?

The door opened a few seconds later and the tall blonde guy that Blaine recognized from Facebook pictures (yes, he looked better in person, Blaine had to admit) was standing in front of him, almost looking as anxious as he felt. "Hey, Blaine. He's in here." He said, stepping aside so Blaine could come in. He quickly shut the door behind Blaine and turned, leading him into the apartment. "He's mostly been sleeping since I got him here, but my boyfriend is in med school and I called him. He said to give him plenty of water and keep fluids in him if he absolutely refused to let me taken him to a hospital—and believe me, I've tried asking him every single time he's woken up. He refuses to go to the hospital and I can barely get him to drink water."

"He's very stubborn." Blaine said anxiously, following Alec towards a bedroom. He didn't care about Alec's med school boyfriend. He cared about getting to his own sick boyfriend who needed him. Who needed a doctor ,if not a hospital. Nothing else mattered and he was definitely not in the mood for small talk.

Alec pushed the door, which was already more than half open, against the wall and let Blaine in. He was half in when he saw Kurt laying on Alec's bed, on top of the covers, curled in a ball and gasping for breath.

Blaine rushed over, bending down and brushing some of Kurt's sweat matted hair out of his face. If his stomach had been in knots on the drive there, he didn't know how to explain how it felt now after seeing Kurt like this. "Oh God, Kurt. Baby? Wake up, honey. Hey, hey, open your eyes."

Kurt blinked at him with large blue eyes, looking dazed. "Blaine?"

"Hey, my love." Blaine cupped his face in his hands, somewhat relieved that Kurt was now staring back at him. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

"Don't feel good." Kurt moaned. He was extremely pale and kept gasping for breath.

"That much is obvious." Alec said from behind Blaine, voice somehow concerned and sarcastic at the same time. "But I don't think that's what Blaine means."

"Don't make me g-go to the doctor, Blaine. Please. I just n-need rest."

"No." Blaine shook his head and grabbed Kurt's cell phone. He hadn't talked to Kurt's father much since their argument in February. In fact, the only time they had talked was Friday night dinner, which had only been four days before. He had no clue what to do, though. Kurt didn't even have a doctor in Cincinnati yet, let alone Columbus. Blaine had to call him.

"Hey, kiddo. Get done with school early?" Burt asked on the third ring.

"Mr. Hummel, it's Blaine." Blaine said urgently, stepping out of the room after signaling Alec to sit on the bed with Kurt. "Kurt's sick and I don't know what to do. He can barely breathe or talk, he's pale, and I just drove four hours from campus to get here but Kurt doesn't even have a doctor in Columbus. I don't know if I trust driving him all the way to Lima. I don't know what will happen. I just don't know what to do. He was fine earlier today. Last night he didn't feel great but—."

"Bud, hold on. I'm going to give the phone to Carole and call on her phone to see where you can take Kurt." Burt interrupted his freak out. "Just calm down, take a deep breath, and talk to Carole, alright?"

"Please hurry." Blaine said anxiously before he heard the phone being switched off.

"Hon, is everything alright?" Carole asked, voice starting off muffled but becoming clearer as she repositioned the phone.

"Kurt's really sick and I don't know what to do. I just got to CCAD to pick him and he can barely breathe." Blaine said quickly, walking back into the room. Kurt was now sitting up and hunched over, head between his knees and coughing loudly. Alec was sitting next to him, looking concerned and patting his back while watching Blaine.

"Probably what will happen is you'll take him to a doctor." Carole said calmly. "They'll give him a breathing treatment and then tell you where to go from there. They'll probably just send you and him home with some antibiotics or steroids to get him feeling better."

Blaine sat on Kurt's other side, fingers running through Kurt's hair. "Oh baby… I'm sorry you don't feel good." He bent over, pressing a kiss to the back of Kurt's head.

Kurt scooted towards him, burrowing his face in the crook of Blaine's neck. Blaine was shocked to feel just how hot Kurt was—he was burning up.

"Kid, it's me now." Burt said a few seconds later, causing Blaine to wonder if Burt had heard him being affectionate with Kurt. "I've got an address for you. It's supposed to be fairly close to CCAD. They said to bring him right on in. I'm going to call ahead with the insurance information and you boys should be good to go unless you don't have $35 for the co-pay. Alright? Sound okay?"

"I've got it. I'll call you the second we leave the doctor's office." Blaine said quickly, sounding relieved. He wrote the address quickly on the palm of his hand and then hung up the phone, scooping Kurt up. "Shh, I've got you. We're going to the doctor, okay?"

"I don't wanna go. 'm fine." Kurt mumbled into his shoulder, weakly struggling.

"Well we're going anyway because I disagree." Blaine said firmly, repositioning him and holding on tighter. "I'll be right there. It's going to be okay."

Kurt let out an absolutely pitiful whimper before going still, having exhausted himself with his feeble fighting.

Alec stood and led Blaine towards the front door. "I put my commuter pass in his car so don't worry about it being towed."

"I hadn't even thought about that." Blaine sighed, shifting Kurt's weight onto his other arm. He began to speak again, tone serious. "Listen… Thank you for missing classes to take care of him until I could get here… I… I really appreciate that. You didn't have to."

"I know I didn't have to." Alec shrugged. "He's my friend. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. Can you or he call me or text me either way? Just to let me know he's alright?"

"If you don't hear from one of us in the next few hours, text his phone and I'll respond." Blaine nodded, shushing Kurt as he whimpered and shuffled close. "Thanks, again."

"You're welcome, Blaine. I'll talk to you later."

Blaine nodded and carried Kurt to the elevator, grateful he had left his car running because it would have been very difficult to unlock his door while holding Kurt, whom he had suspicions couldn't even stand. He opened the door and gently sat Kurt down, brushing his hair back and pressing a kiss to his feverish forehead.

"You okay, honey?" he whispered.

"Mmmh." Kurt moaned, curling against the seat and letting out a cough.

The answer didn't make Blaine feel any better.

…

Blaine tried to not be anxious but it was very hard. The entire ride to the doctor's office Kurt had lain in the back seat, seat belt not even on, looking half asleep with his chest rapidly rising and falling. In the twenty minutes it took him to finally be called out of the waiting room he had leaned against Blaine's chest making tiny, pitiful noises between wheezing. What really got him, though, was the look on the nurse's face after she listened to his breathing and then literally rushed out to get a breathing treatment.

"Kurt, just… just lay back, honey." Blaine, who was standing next to the bed and trying not to freak out, tried to coax Kurt into lying on the uncomfortable bed.

"N-No. I wanna go home. I just want my bed." Kurt said, weakly struggling against him. "No, Blaine. Please. No."

"I know, honey. But the doctor has to make sure I can take you home." Blaine whispered, no longer trying to get Kurt to lie back down. While he thought it would make Kurt more comfortable, he was afraid Kurt was going to hurt himself with all of the struggling. Blaine brushed his sweat-matted hair back, noticing that Kurt had somehow managed to find a way to become even paler since leaving Alec's house, increasing Blaine's anxiety even more. "Are you okay?"

Kurt gave a weak nod, finally laying back against the bed and closing his eyes.

"It's okay." Blaine whispered soothingly, rubbing his thigh in what he hoped was a comforting way. "It's okay, honey. We'll get you home and in bed soon."

The door opened and the nurse came in with a Nebulizer, looking anxious. "Alright, sweetie. I've got the medicine made up already, so sit up for me and we'll give you this breathing treatment. You've had a breathing treatment before, right?"

"He has." Blaine said, helping Kurt into a sitting position once again. The younger boy reached for the mouthpiece that the woman held out for him and put it in his mouth, taking deep breaths. Unfortunately he was all too familiar with Nebulizers and breathing treatments from his several weeks' long hospital stay the year before. His hand was shaking and Blaine put his hand over Kurt's to steady it, forcing himself to look away. "Is he okay?"

"His chest is really tight right now. I don't like it." The nurse said very calmly in an effort to not scare Kurt. "We'll just see how it sounds after this breathing treatment. I may have to get an actual doctor in here. He doesn't have asthma, right?"

"No." Blaine let his free hand go up to push back Kurt's bangs, the only thing that seemed to relax Kurt even a little bit. "He had a punctured lung though, so… so he's had some problems."

She nodded and reached for the mouthpiece when the medicine was gone, sitting it on a table. "I'm going to lift your shirt so I can listen to your breathing, okay?"

"Okay." Kurt wheezed, leaning over and nearly falling off of the bed.

"No, no, no, sweetie. You've got to sit up." She said, easing him back into a sitting position. "You're very light headed right now. You don't have a very good sense of balance."

Blaine had his arms out in front of Kurt's chest, just in case Kurt did that again. Kurt couldn't even sit properly? Had he been trying to bend over? Or had he just fallen on his own? "You can lay down soon, baby. I promise."

Kurt just whined softly, letting out a hacking cough. All Blaine could think of was Kurt the first day after he woke up from his first surgery and it had his stomach in knots. Kurt looked just as scared then as he had that day, too. Blaine didn't like thinking back to that. Mostly, though, he didn't like seeing Kurt hurting.

"Here." Blaine sat him up straight and pulled the back of Kurt's shirt up for the nurse, since Kurt kept being uncooperative and leaning back over. "Soon, I promise. I promise, my love. But you've got to sit still and do what she tells you."

Kurt took several deep breaths for the nurse. It looked like even that exhausted him.

"I still don't like the sound of it. I'm going to get the doctor." The nurse said almost immediately. "He should be finishing up. Let me catch him before he leaves."

"Alright. Thank you." Blaine said softly, moving Kurt back into a laying position so he would be more comfortable.

"I don't want to go to the hospital." Tears filled Kurt's eyes, threatening to spill over. "T-They're going to make me go back, a-aren't they?"

"Shh, shh." Blaine moved so he was leaning over Kurt's head, bending down to kiss him. After he pulled away from the kiss he tilted Kurt's chin up so Kurt was looking into his eyes. "Don't cry."

"I c-can barely breathe. I-I'm… Blaine…" Kurt turned his head, raising his arm up and coughing into his shoulder.

"Shh. Don't work yourself up." Blaine cooed. "It's going to be okay. I promise."

Kurt wiped his eyes, attempted to take a deep breath, and began coughing again loudly.

"Kurt, Kurt, Kurt… oh god. Sit up, here." Blaine sat him up and rubbed his back. Clearly there was going to be no way to keep Kurt comfortable and laying down didn't seem to help. Nothing seemed to help, but all Blaine wanted was for Kurt to feel better. At least a bit comfortable, if not better.

An old man came in, smiling. "Hello, Kurt. I'm going to take a listen and see what's going on, if that's okay?"

Kurt nodded, wiping his teary eyes and trying to calm himself down.

"Let's get this shirt off for a few minutes." The doctor came over and carefully helped Kurt out of his shirt. "Take a deep breath for me, Kurt."

Kurt did as told, squeezing his eyes shut.

"No, that's not good." The doctor muttered, and patted Kurt on the back roughly before listening again a few more times. He looked up at Blaine, standing up straight. "Do you live with him?"

"Yes. I'm his boyfriend." Blaine explained, attempting to pay attention to both Kurt and the doctor at the same time. "His parents live in Lima."

"He's got a lot of fluid in his lungs. It sounds like pneumonia." The doctor said, making eye contact with Blaine. "I won't know for sure without an X-ray. What you need to do is take him to the hospital. I see he's got a scar on his chest? Do you know what that is from? It looks fairly new."

"His lung was punctured last… last fall." Blaine took a deep breath, unable to even recall the month at this point. He was too nervous to think properly. This wasn't sounding good. He knew he was going to have to call Burt, but it was looking like he was going to have to see Burt too.

"You'll need to have him admitted." The doctor said instantly, causing tears to fill Kurt's eyes again. "That makes it a little more urgent."

"Is he going to be okay?" Blaine asked, watching the nurse help Kurt back into his shirt. Kurt made very slow movements, looking as if he was going to just pass out while also looking like he was going to cry.

"It's typically not very good for someone with lung conditions to catch pneumonia." The doctor answered calmly. "I'm sure it'll be manageable… but he needs to go to the hospital. Do you know where one is?"

"Uh, yeah. Yes." Blaine nodded, feeling as though it were harder for him to breathe now. "The… Uh… His dad said they called with the information and I have a card for the co-pay."

"They can handle that up front." The doctor patted Kurt's shoulder. "You boys drive safe. I hope you feel better, Kurt."

"C'mon, my love." Blaine eased Kurt off of the bed. "Can you walk?"

"Mmh." Kurt leaned heavily against Blaine as they made their way out of the room¸ some of Blaine's shirt sleeve balled in his hand. The heat was radiating off of Kurt even more than it had been nearly an hour before. When they reached the window to pay Blaine very quickly handed his card over and signed the receipt, just wanting to get Kurt to the hospital so they could help him breathe better. He could deal with his boyfriend looking sick, but the sounds he was making as he struggled to breathe shot straight through Blaine's heart.

Blaine took a step to move from the counter and Kurt stumbled, nearly falling over. "Okay, I'm going to carry you, honey. I'm going to pick you up."

"Is he okay?" The receptionist asked, quickly standing as if to go around the counter to help them.

Kurt whimpered as Blaine picked him up, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and burrowing his face in his shoulder. Blaine could feel the heat radiating off of him. He walked slowly to the car, careful not to jostle Kurt too much, once again reminded of Kurt's last hospital stay—only this time, he remembered bringing Kurt home, still weaker than ever, and carrying him up those steps.

"I've got to call your dad." Blaine said after getting Kurt into the passenger seat comfortably and leaning the seat back so Kurt was closer to a lying position.

"No. Don't." Kurt covered his face with his arm. "Please. I don't want him to know."

"He has a right to know his son is going to the hospital. I've got to call him, Kurt." Blaine got into the car himself and pulled out his cell phone, ignoring Kurt's weak protests. "H-Hey… yeah. No, I'm taking him to the hospital… They think its pneumonia… I think… Yeah, he's feeling pretty bad… No… To be honest, he looks worse than he did when I called last… I… Yeah." he turned to face Kurt. "Sweetie, your dad says he's going to meet us at the hospital as soon as he can, okay?"

Kurt moaned in response, not able to find the energy to even mumble an, "okay."

"Yeah, that's probably best… Mhmm… We'll see you later."

…

"Kurt, wake up. Kurt, please. You're starting to really scare me." Blaine said, unbuckling Kurt's seat belt. It had taken him about twenty minutes to find the nearest hospital, although it wouldn't have taken him nearly as long if he had known the area. Kurt, who had seemingly fallen asleep as soon as Blaine started to drive, had not been much help. "Honey?"

"'mup." Kurt moaned.

"Kurt, you're really scaring me." Blaine whispered, easing Kurt very gently out of the car and carefully standing him up. "Are you okay? Can you breathe?"

"No worse than before, no better than before." Kurt replied, leaning against Blaine's car and closing his eyes. He let out a soft whimper when Blaine picked him up.

"I've got you." Blaine reassured him, cradling Kurt close. The younger boy didn't even attempt to wrap his arms around Blaine's neck this time, unable to find the energy. Instead he just whimpered again and leaned his head on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine could feel Kurt's chest rapidly rising and falling, his breathing erratic enough to make Blaine jog the last few feet into the emergency room doors. "I've got you, my love."

He carried Kurt into the hospital and straight up to the front desk.

"Kurt Hummel? Dr. Erickson just called and said he'd be over." The receptionist asked as soon as he made it there.

"Yeah." Blaine nodded, feeling a sudden sense of relief wash over him. They had made it. He had gotten Kurt to a hospital. A hospital with multiple doctors. They would take care of Kurt and everything would be fine. "This is him."

She stood and opened a door connecting the waiting room and the room behind her desk. "Bring him back here. I'm going to give him another breathing treatment. It may be quite a wait and the doctor said he'd need one right away. There was a pretty bad car wreck on the highway, so the doctors are a little overwhelmed right now."

"Thanks." Blaine said, carrying Kurt through the door that the nurse held open for him. He eased Kurt onto a chair, making sure he was seated properly and could hold himself up before stepping away.

"Poor thing. You look like you feel terrible." The lady sighed, setting it up. "We'll get you better in no time, sweet pea."

Kurt attempted a weak smile which came out a grimace. He let his head rest back against the wall while the receptionist set up his breathing treatment, eyes closed.

"Alright, Kurt, here we go. You just do this until every last drop is gone, alright?"

"Mhmm." Kurt nodded a bit, sitting up. He took the cup from her and breathed in the medicine as Blaine rubbed his arm soothingly.

"Has he been like this for a while?" The lady asked, pulling out a clip board.

"He seemed fine when he left for school this morning. He looked pretty tired, but he was breathing normally." Blaine responded.

"And how long has he been wheezing?"

"At least two hours. His friend took him home from school. He was pretty close to wheezing when I got there, so he may have been before. I don't know. Do I need to call him?"

"No, no, that's fine." She said, shaking her head and glancing at the cup of medicine Kurt was breathing through which was half full. Kurt's eyes kept closing and opening quickly, making Blaine wonder if he was closing them himself or if he was just having that much trouble staying awake. "Doing okay, sweet pea?"

Kurt gave a small nod, taking a particularly deep breath. He winced as his chest rose, coughing a bit into the cup.

"Has he been sick since his surgery last fall?"

"Not like this, no. He got Strep but he didn't even really show symptoms." Blaine said, eyes not leaving Kurt.

"And has he been getting plenty of rest, plenty of liquids, eating healthily?"

"No."

This was Kurt that answered. By time it registered, though, Kurt had already lifted the cup back to his mouth and was breathing in the medicine.

"Kurt, I cannot stress enough how important it is to take care of yourself after any kind of surgery like the one you had." The woman said, very sternly. "You have to take care of yourself. That means getting sleep, eating, and drinking plenty of water. Alright?"

Kurt gave a weak nod as the Nebulizer made a crackling noise, reaching to turn the machine off and handing her the empty cup. He blinked sleepily at Blaine, already looking a little better after his breathing treatment.

"Alright, sweet pea. I'll get you back as soon as I can. If you start to feel like you can't breathe or that you need to see someone right away, I want you to have your boyfriend come and get me. Okay?"

Kurt nodded and stood with Blaine's help, taking a few steps. Blaine extended his arms out in front of him in case he began to fall, hazel eyes locked on him. He took his time making his way into the waiting room and, when he made it to a seat, he collapsed into it.

Blaine sat next to him, squeezing Kurt's hand with one hand and stroking his hair with the other. "You're okay. Just try to get some sleep and the time will pass faster. I'll wake you up when the doctor gets out here."

"I'll try." Kurt said, leaning against him and closing his eyes. Within minutes he was asleep.

"Blaine, I… Shit." Kurt mumbled nearly an hour later, now awake and still leaning heavily against Blaine in the ER waiting room.

Blaine slid an arm around his shoulders and kissed the side of his face, pulling him closer. "Shh. It can't be much longer now, Kurt."

"I can't breathe." Kurt whimpered, wheezing slightly but not near as bad as he had been before his earlier breathing treatments. "I really can't breathe."

"Honey, they gave you another breathing treatment the second we made it into the hospital." Blaine said very calmly, stroking his hair. "You can breathe. You're just getting yourself worked up."

"Why d-didn't they give me a room?" Kurt asked, taking deep and fast breaths.

"They're busy. Remember? There was a bad wreck." Blaine whispered, kissing his face again. He tried very hard to ignore the man and woman sending disgusted looks their way. "You'll be back there soon enough, baby."

Kurt moved into a hunched over position, letting out loud hacking coughs. After several seconds he straightened, face scrunched up. "B-Blaine, I just coughed up g-green stuff."

Blaine fished around in his pocket and pulled out an unused tissue, wiping the younger boy's hand off. "It's okay. It's just because you're sick. We'll just remember to tell the doctor."

"Mmmh." Kurt leaned back over, resting his head on his knees and swaying slightly, but not enough to fall.

Blaine moved his fingers up and down his back, feeling himself become even angrier when the old man and woman stormed from that section of the waiting room and into another connecting one, out of sight. Blaine was glad Kurt hadn't seen their actions, but he was still pissed. What gave them the right to be mad at him for comforting his sick boyfriend? What gave them the right to judge anyone? "Shh, shh." He said soothingly in an effort to calm Kurt's whimpers, trying to push his anger aside. He could be mad later. Kurt needed him right now. "You're okay, my love. You're okay. I'm right here."

"I-I-I'm sorry." Kurt suddenly burst into tears, arms hugging his knees.

"Why are you sorry?" Blaine pulled him up gently and forced Kurt to look at him. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

"I-I-I f-felt si-sick all week a-and didn't w-want to s-say anything b-because I knew you-you'd make me s-stay home." Kurt sobbed, tears sliding down his cheeks. "I am s-so sorry."

"Kurt, you—you can't do that." Blaine said calmly, but he could not stop his eyes widening. "We had an agreement that you were going to take care of yourself."

"I just g-get so much w-work and it's so hard. I-I can't even breathe a-and I'm scared." Kurt sobbed, shoulders shaking. "I'm scared, Blaine. I'm so scared and I can't bre-breathe and I just want to go home."

Blaine pulled Kurt onto his lap, speaking in a calm voice although he now felt nothing but calm. The way Kurt was talking was beginning to worry him. He didn't understand why Kurt felt the need to go so hard, to not take breaks, to not slow down. Why was he putting himself under so much pressure? Why was it so bad that he'd made himself sick? And why did Kurt keep making promises he wasn't able to keep? Didn't Kurt want to be healthy? "You've got to stop working yourself up, Kurt. It's only going to make it harder to breathe. Calm down, my love."

"I-I-I c-caused this." Kurt gasped out. "Y-You probably hate me."

"Stop working yourself up." Blaine repeated, voice coming out much sterner than the first time. He didn't want to sound mad, but he knew it was vital that Kurt calm himself down. The last thing they needed was for Kurt to get worse than he already was—which was pretty bad. "I don't hate you. Come on, now. I could never hate you."

"I'm so sorry." Kurt whimpered. "I'm so, so, so sorry. I d-didn't want this to happen, Blaine. I just w-want to d-do good. I want t-to do good and b-be good enough f-for everything b-but I m-made a mess."

"Kurt, honey." Blaine said, almost desperately. "You didn't make a mess, babe. Hush. Shh, it's okay. It's okay. We're—we're going to fix it like we fix everything. W-We'll figure something out, okay? But right now the main thing is to get you feeling better. So I don't want you to worry about how or why you're here or anything else. Okay?"

"I just want to go home." Kurt moaned feebly.

"I'll get you home as soon as they check you over and give me the okay to. I promise."

…

"Definitely pneumonia." A female doctor announced coming up to Kurt's bed nearly another hour later. "Mr. Hummel, do you realize that you've lost fifteen pounds since your last check up with your primary doctor? And that you're incredibly malnourished? Your body is physically exhausted."

Blaine bit down on his lip hard to keep from sighing. He could tell Kurt had lost weight, but he'd been dumb enough to think it was still because he was off of the Prednisone. Malnourished? Physically exhausted? Weren't these all things he'd been worried about? Things Kurt had said were under control? Things Burt told Blaine to let Kurt have control of?

Yes.

They were.

While part of him wanted to be angry with his younger boyfriend, it was very hard to be mad at someone who looked so small and pitiful. Blaine was upset, but Kurt didn't need a lecture. They would talk later, when they were home and Kurt was feeling better. But at that moment Kurt needed rest so he could feel better. Adequate rest.

He was starting to think Kurt needed this week in Michigan just as much as Blaine did. The week would clearly benefit Kurt more though. That's what his boyfriend needed. Time to get his health up and relax; time to get back into the swing of things and time to figure out how to take care of himself so this wouldn't happen again.

The doctor began to speak to Blaine again, breaking him away from his thoughts. "We're going to keep you at least overnight and he'll most likely have to stay the night tomorrow as well."

When Blaine nodded, she turned to Kurt and began to talk to him.

"You have a lot of fluid in your lungs and you're running a fever. When your body is malnourished, it weakens your immune system. I'm sure you came into contact with the virus and caught it like that." She snapped her fingers. "It can get nasty fast, especially for people with lung conditions. I would send you home but if something were to happen, I think everyone around you would feel better if you were in a hospital and not in a car on the way back to Cincinnati."

Kurt frowned, looking down. "Okay."

"Is he going to be okay? His lung…" Blaine asked nervously.

"I'm going to keep him here and we'll get things under control. We'll get him well rested, get some food in him, and hopefully the fluid in his lungs will disappear." She said very calmly. "The thing is to keep it under control. I'd like to have him not go to classes for a week. Are you in a position to do that?"

Oh my God. It's right after midterms. Everything from here on out is going to be on the finals and now I have to sit and make sure Kurt doesn't go to school?

Blaine took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. I can make sure that happens." How could he not, after all? What was he supposed to do? Say no?

"Very good. Someone will be in shortly to give you some Amoxicillin, Kurt. We'll keep you on that for three days and if you don't start to feel better, we'll run some culture tests and find out exactly what's going on."

"Am I going to be in here for three days?" Kurt asked softly, looking down.

"I'm not sure how long you'll have to stay. We'll see how you're doing in tomorrow and take it from there. Honestly, we probably will have to keep you tomorrow night too… but maybe the next afternoon, you'll be able to be discharged. It all depends on how well the medicine takes and how quickly that fluid starts to clear up. We've gotten you to a point where you can breathe on your own which is excellent… So if you just let yourself rest, you'll be out of here before you know it." She said, offering him a sympathetic smile. "It's not so bad, really. I'll even turn a blind eye if you have someone bring you food from elsewhere. The food is really the worst part."

Kurt coughed a bit and nodded, mumbling a quiet "Thank you."

"We'll be back to check on you a little bit. If anything goes wrong, just push that button and a nurse will be right in." The lady offered him another sympathetic smile before heading towards the door.

"Thanks." Kurt said tiredly, nodding.

Blaine waited for the doctor to leave before gingerly sitting on the edge of the bed, letting out a long sigh. "You look better."

"Almost an hour of IV fluids will do that to you, I guess." Kurt joked weakly, looking down at his hands.

"You sound so much better." Blaine repeated as he reached a hand back and rubbed small circles on Kurt's back, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "How do you feel?"

"Well, I can breathe. That's improvement." Kurt said, leaning against Blaine and closing his eyes. "I'm just glad they're done poking and prodding at me and asking me all of those questions. It was making my headache even worse."

"They just want to help you feel better." Blaine whispered.

"Mmmh." Kurt nuzzled Blaine's shoulder and balled some of Blaine's shirt in his fist, coughing into his chest.

Blaine continued to rub his back, feeling relieved. A small part of him was telling him that he should be annoyed with Kurt because everyone had told him this would happen, but no. He couldn't be annoyed with him—not even in the slightest. Because Kurt hadn't wanted this to happen. Kurt didn't want to end up in the hospital. He may have pushed himself too hard, but he hadn't wanted this. Besides, it was hard to be annoyed with someone who was nestled so close and holding onto his shirt as though his life depended on it. Sure, Blaine sounded repetitive when he thought about this, but that was what it took to stop himself from trying to bring it up.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." Kurt mumbled into his chest, almost as if he could read Blaine's mind. "This is my fault."

"Shh." Blaine whispered. "It's not your fault you came into contact with someone with Pneumonia."

"If I had been taking better care of myself or if I'd gone to a doctor so—."

"Please don't do this." Blaine said, pulling back to look at him. "Look, it happened. There's no going back. So let's just get you better and work from there. Okay?"

Kurt looked down and nodded, speaking softly. "Okay."

"You need on focus on resting and getting your strength upright now." Blaine said.

They both looked up as the door opened. Burt and Carole both rushed in.

"What's going on?" Burt asked gruffly as Carole pulled Kurt into a hug.

"Kurt has pneumonia." Blaine answered quietly, really wishing he didn't have to talk to Burt but knowing he had to put any ill feelings aside. At least for now. "It's under control for right now. He's got a lot of fluid in his lungs, so they want to keep him for a bit. At least tonight, but maybe past that."

Blaine glanced over. Carole was smoothing Kurt's messy hair down and talking to him, eyes on him as he nodded in response to some questions and shook his head others.

"He's doing a lot better." Blaine said, biting his lip. "He's on some antibiotics. They're giving him…" He trailed off.

"What?" Burt asked.

Blaine just glanced at Kurt again.

Burt turned and walked out of the room, nodding his head for Blaine to follow.

"I'll be right back." Blaine whispered, kissing the top of Kurt's head and leaving the room.

"What's really going on?" Burt asked.

"He's on fluids because he's malnourished… he's lost a lot of weight and he's… that's why it got so bad…He's…"

"Not taking care of himself." Burt finished, looking angry.

"Please don't be angry with him. He really scared himself. He's anxious, he's sick, and he doesn't need anyone on his case right now." Blaine said, surprising himself.

"Everyone has bent over backwards trying to make him see reason." Burt said firmly. "So this wouldn't happen. And he didn't listen. You can't expect me to not be angry."

"He couldn't even breathe two and a half hours ago."

"Even more reason to be angry. And it's his own damn fault."

"You seriously think he wanted this?" Blaine questioned.

"It doesn't matter what he wanted, kid. It's what he did. And you can sit here and baby him all you want but who is the one paying a hospital bill for him to stay here however many days? Do you have that much cash in your pocket right now?"

Blaine stared at him in shock. He could not believe Burt was reacting this way. He had expected the exact opposite of this.

"Now I'm not looking for another argument. Both Carole and Kurt are on my case over this mess. Don't tell me how to raise my kid and we'll be fine."

"He's nineteen. He doesn't need anyone to raise him." Blaine snapped, again surprising himself. Why did it seem that lately the two couldn't have a conversation without it ending up this way? Did Burt hate him now? That didn't matter, though. What mattered was stopping Burt from going off on Kurt when he was still extremely sick and just needed rest. "I never would have told you to come here if I thought you were going to act like this."

"Yeah well I'm here now and I'm pissed." Burt said, pointing in the door. "Clearly somebody is going to have to do something to get through to him and obviously whatever in the hell you're trying isn't working."

"Stop acting like I don't take care of him!" Blaine exclaimed. "He's sick! I left school to get him to a hospital! I did what I could!"

"It shouldn't have gotten to this point! You should have made sure it didn't get to this point!"

"It's not my fault!" Blaine took a step back, looking hurt. "I have been doing exactly what you told me to! You said to stop telling him to not overwork! You said he could handle it!"

"You baby him too much!"

"I baby him too much? What did I just say? Two months ago we got into an argument over him overworking himself! And what did you say? That you trusted Kurt to know his limits? I tried to get you to understand what was happening! But you just wanted to be pissed off that I said something to Kurt that hurt his feelings! If it's anyone's fault it's yours for not listening and saying something to him earlier!"

"First of all, that argument was not about that. It was about you disrespecting my son and using that as your excuse. Second, you are the one who has been telling me to stay out of his business!" Burt snapped, making the argument go around in circles.

"And you're the one who told me to stop trying to push him into eating and sleeping! You're the one who told me to let him take care of himself! You told me to leave him alone!" Blaine said, voice rising.

Carole came out of the room, looking annoyed. "What are you two doing? Kurt is in there sick and you two are out here arguing? I'm surprised at both of you. What could you possibly be arguing about?"

"He's saying—." Burt started.

"It doesn't matter!" Carole said, angrily pointing at Burt. "Kurt is sick!"

"It's his fault."

"And yet you're sitting here yelling at Blaine?" Carole snapped. "Tell me what good that will do, Burt. If you can't handle being here without acting like a spoiled brat, then maybe you should go back to work."

"We shouldn't be in this position right now! This could have been prevented, Carole!"

"Well we're in it now because your son is sick. I don't know what else to say to you, Burt. But your son is sick and arguing with anybody won't help that at all."

Burt went into the room, angrily, without even answering his wife. "How could you do this, Kurt? Do you have any idea how much it costs to have you stay in the hospital? Carole and I are still trying to keep our heads over water after your last hospital stay. That settlement didn't pay for the second surgery and our premiums have been sky high ever since—"

"Burt—." Carole hissed as Blaine sat by Kurt, looking furious.

"No. You want to baby him? Fine. Blaine wants to baby him? Fine. But I'm his father and this isn't right. He will be twenty in August. He wants to move out on his own and act like a man, then I'm going to talk to him like he's a man." Burt interrupted her, keeping his eyes on his son who shifted anxiously. "Kurt, do you have the money to pay for this?"

Kurt stared at his dad, blue eyes wide and standing out against his paler-than-usual skin.

"Do you?" Burt repeated.

"N-no…" Kurt looked down.

"Because you don't have a job."

Kurt let out a shaky breath, figuring it was probably not a good idea to bring up that he had worked at the garage on Fridays before they stopped going to dinners.

"Burt, it's not the time." Carole said. "This can wait."

"No. It is the time. Because if I say it later, he won't listen. He'll feel better and just write off everything I say and we'll be doing this all again in five more months. Everyone has been trying to tell him this was going to happen since August. It is now almost April." Burt said loudly, and pointed at Kurt. "You did this to yourself."

"I know that! Why are you being so mean to me?" Kurt exclaimed before dissolving into a coughing fit.

"Please, just stop." Blaine said quietly, rubbing Kurt's back and glaring. "This isn't what he needs right now."

"What does he need then, Blaine? Since you're so knowledgeable in keeping him healthy, tell me what he needs!"

"Don't talk to Blaine like that. This isn't his fault." Kurt said through his coughs.

"Burt, honestly!"

"When are you going to grow up? When are you going to start taking care of yourself again and taking responsibility for your actions?" Burt asked.

"I know it's my fault! I'm trying!" Kurt said, looking upset. He scooted closer to Blaine, as if in an attempt to shield himself from his father's words.

"No. If you were trying, we wouldn't be here right now, Kurt. And don't you try hiding from this. Now Carole and I are looking at over $8,000 in hospital costs. After the insurance, we'll probably still have to pay $5,500! All because you think that it's okay to work yourself sick and go around not eating and not sleeping!"

Kurt swallowed hard, tears filling his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, kid. That hospital bill will be there, sorry or not."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"You're not sorry because you're going to do the same thing again, Kurt! You think you can just move across the state with your boyfriend and play house like you two are married or something! And that's fine and all! Live with who you want! But don't kid yourself by thinking you're so overwhelmed and that this isn't your fault. This. Is. Your. Fault. You are the one who moved out, you are the one who took too many classes, and you are the one who is not taking care of yourself. You're not moving forward, Kurt. You're moving back.""

Kurt turned, face burying in Blaine's chest and shoulders shaking.

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt, whispering sweet nothings in his ear and glaring at the wall, too intimidated to aim his glares directly at Burt.

"Burt, why would you do that? Why would you say that to him? And why couldn't it wait?" Carole exclaimed.

"He needed to hear it!"

"Yes, someone needs to talk to him. When he's not sick and in the hospital. Calmly, not yelling at him like he's five." Carole said sharply. "He's having trouble breathing and now you've got him over there sobbing and coughing. What good did that do?"

"I can't be in here right now." Burt stormed out of the hospital room, letting the door slam behind him. Carole followed, sighing heavily.

"I-I-I d-didn't mean f-for this to h-happen!" Kurt whimpered.

"I know, my love. I know." Blaine whispered, rocking him while holding him close. "I know."

"I'm so s-sorry, Blaine."

"I know. Shh." Blaine said, moving them into a laying position. "It's okay."

"It's n-not okay." Kurt whimpered, before coughing loudly. "I should have listened."

"Okay and you know that now." Blaine said gently, patting his back. "So let's not get worked up over this. Your dad is just upset right now. He's angry and he's worried about you, Kurt. Please calm down. What's important is getting you healthy right now. We can worry about the other stuff later, okay?"

Kurt just scooted closer, crying into Blaine's shoulder helplessly and coughing sporadically between sobs until he wore himself out and fell asleep.

…

"Are you sure there's nothing you want me to get you, hon? Even some orange juice or something?"

Kurt coughed into Blaine's shoulder and snuggled closer, shaking his head. "Thanks."

"If you're sure... If he wakes up and wants anything, he can just text me and I'll get it. And you can if you too change your mind." Carole said, smoothing down some of his hair and smiling.

"Thanks, Carole." Kurt said again, moving Blaine's arm over his waist and curling up against his warm boyfriend. He had to admit that he was very surprised the doctors had let Blaine sleep with him on the bed the night before, but he wasn't complaining in the slightest.

As he began to feel… well, less like he was dying although not quite better, he began to remember how much he really disliked hospitals. It reminded him of his stays the previous year. Having Blaine within reach was comforting, even if the older boy was currently fast asleep.

He took a deep breath when he heard Carole shut the hospital door and let himself relax against Blaine, whose arms were now wrapped tightly around him. He curled up with Blaine and their bodies fit perfectly together, like they were made to be that way. Kurt suspected they were.

He hated that he was back in the hospital. He also hated how guilty he felt, especially after his dad's yelling the night before. Burt hadn't showed back up, at least not when Kurt was awake. As much as that upset him, he tried to focus on something positive. Like how being so close to Blaine for a long period of time felt so nice— like the old times he had told Taylor he missed.

Kurt startled when he felt Blaine kiss his warm cheek. "You awake?"

"Mhmm." Blaine nodded, eyes still closed. "Feel better?"

"They gave me two breathing treatments as soon as I woke up." Kurt admitted. "I woke up feeling like I couldn't breathe again."

That woke Blaine up instantly and he pushed himself into a sitting position, blinking down at Kurt and frowning. "You could have woken me up, Kurt."

"Carole was right there with me. She just ran out to get some food." Kurt assured him, looking down when Blaine kissed his cheek again. "It's alright."

"You okay?" Blaine asked, tilting his own head to the side.

Kurt nodded and pulled the covers that he had kicked off of them back over himself, shivering. "I just don't feel good."

"You look much better than last night when you went to bed, though." Blaine said, offering him a sleepy smile. "Did they check you over?"

"Still dehydrated, feverish, and I still have fluid in my lungs." Kurt sighed, which led to three painful coughs. "And now my throat kind of hurts too. I have to stay the night again."

Blaine sighed also and rubbed his back, leaning his head against Kurt's.

"Blaine… were you arguing with my Dad last night?" Kurt asked slowly, raising his head to look at Blaine.

Blaine looked down. "Kind of."

"Did he come back… after…?"

"Yeah. He came back half an hour after you fell asleep last night. We apologized to each other. He said he'd talk to you later today when he gets in from work." Blaine answered.

"I take it he's still mad?"

"Most definitely." Blaine nodded. "But he feels bad for being so harsh… although he still thinks you needed to hear it. So I don't think he's going to yell at you again."

"Great." Kurt relaxed against Blaine. "I barely even remember yesterday before Dad yelled at me."

"You were in pretty bad shape." Blaine said, stroking his hair. "You almost passed out after class."

"Oh my God. This is so embarrassing." Kurt moaned.

"Alec took you to his house and called me." Blaine said, having a hard time not saying the Homewrecker despite how nice Alec had been to him yesterday. Nice? They'd seen each other maybe five minutes. He hadn't had time to be evil. Blaine was pretty sure it still lurked there though, deep down. "So I came and we went to a doctor… and they told me to bring you here. You could barely breathe… it was really scary."

Kurt let out a deep breath and rubbed his face, tilting his head up to look at the ceiling. "I have made such a mess of everything, Blaine. I am so sorry."

"I know you are." Blaine said quietly.

"Are you upset with me?" Kurt asked, and then shook his head. "Of course you are."

"I'm not going to say that I'm not upset… but I'm not going to say 'I told you so' either." Blaine said, nudging his arm. "Right now I think this sucks. I'm not mad at you. I'm upset that it got this far, but… but you're here, you're going to be fine once this medicine takes effect, and that is what's important. Once we get home, we'll start trying to figure out what is going to be okay for us again."

"I have a feeling you're more upset than you're letting on." Kurt sighed.

"Yeah. I kind of am." Blaine said honestly. "But, like I said, I just want you to feel better. What's done is done. We can't go back in time and make you not get sick, Kurt. So we're going to have to deal with it."

"I'm still sorry." Kurt mumbled, looking down. At least Blaine wasn't yelling at him like his dad had been last night. While Kurt could breathe okay for the most part for the moment, he still felt awful. He would take chills, a sore throat, and a migraine over not gasping for breath any day though. He must have at least looked better than he had when he'd woken up, too, because Carole had left to get food. She had steadily refused to leave his side ever since he'd awoken, unable to breathe.

Blaine looked at him and nodded. "I know."

"I promised to take better care of myself… I didn't know this would happen, Blaine. I don't like that I can barely remember what happened last night and I don't like the pitying looks the nurses keep giving me when they check on my IVs. I should have told you I felt sick last week… Going to the doctor and missing a day or two of classes would have been better than the however-long I'll miss now."

"You're right. It would have been." Blaine said, but there was no trace of annoyance or anger in his voice. He sounded very calm.

"If you are mad at me, Blaine, you can tell me. You probably should be mad at me. Mad because you had to drive from Lexington all the way to Columbus, and you're probably tired because you had exams earlier. You probably just want to go home and sleep but you're stuck here."

"I got plenty of sleep with you last night. I actually skipped my second exam, though. I went to her office hours and explained, so she's going to let me retake it." Blaine said quietly.

"So this with me got in the way of your school again." Kurt said, looking furious. "Blaine, I'm so sorry."

"Just don't do this again, Kurt… Please. I really, really, really hate being put through this. I don't like to think about last year. I really don't like to think about it, and you couldn't breathe, and—."

Kurt leaned up¸ kissing him. "I won't. I... I'm going to find a way to make this work. My head hurts too much too think about it now but…" He just trailed off, not really able to form words for what he wanted to say, and leaned against Blaine. "I'm so sorry."

"Hush now. Right now we're focusing on you getting some rest and feeling better. We can worry about everything else later." Blaine said, sliding off of the bed and pulling the blanket over Kurt.

"Where are you going?"

"If I sit right there with you, you're going to keep on with your guilt trip." Blaine said reasonably. "So I'm going to sit right here by the bed and work on homework so you'll actually rest."

Kurt nodded and looked down at his fingernails, stifling coughs and stealing glances at his boyfriend every once in a while. Blaine read on, completely oblivious, until Kurt cleared his throat.

Blaine looked up at him, confused. "Hmm?"

Kurt looked back at him, blue eyes meeting hazel, before he spoke softly. "If I promise to stop stressing about it will you lay up here with me? It makes me feel better."

Blaine stood and hopped onto the bed without hesitation. "No stressing. Just rest and relaxation, Mr. Hummel."

"Okay. No stressing." Kurt said, letting himself relax against Blaine. "Thanks for leaving UK to come and get me all the way in Columbus, Blaine. And for staying with me. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome, Kurt." Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's leg. "But when your dad gets here, you may want to amp up the big blue eyes a bit. You still look sick, but I think if you look more pitiful he'll go a little easier on you."

Kurt let out a laugh that turned into a cough, shaking his head. "I made my bed… I should probably lie in it."

"You're a braver man than me."

***WBUCT***

"Everything seems to be in order. Now, it's Friday. I've given you a note for all of your classes. I'm requiring you to not attend classes next week. Even though you're good enough to leave the hospital, you are still very sick." Kurt's doctor announced, coming in and flashing him a kind smile. He then looked to Blaine. "You'll be with him?"

"I live with him, yeah." Blaine nodded.

"He needs to stay in bed. No leaving the house for at least five days. Plenty of liquids, three meals a day—maybe even four. If he takes his antibiotics properly, he should be feeling much better by Wednesday. If he's not, I want you to take him to his primary doctor. They'll evaluate what needs to be done—whether it is him being readmitted to a hospital, which is doubtful, or simply changing his medicine or adding another medicine to it. In fact, I would probably take him to his primary doctor on Wednesday anyway so they can make sure he's where he needs to be. It may seem like a waste of money if he's feeling better, but this has got to remain under control."

"Alright." Blaine nodded, paying very close attention.

"Now, Kurt, I'm putting you on Prednisone. Have you ever been on it before?" The doctor asked, turning his attention back to Kurt.

"Yeah, after my surgery for a few months." Kurt coughed into his arm.

The man nodded. "Good. This is a much lower dosage than that would have been. You'll be on it for ten days. It's going to help fight off the infection and keep it from coming back worse. You need to take it exactly how the instructions say, alright?"

Kurt nodded, looking relieved. Blaine had a feeling this was because he only had to take the Prednisone for ten days, but he couldn't be sure. Personally, Blaine was just relieved that Kurt was finally able to go home after four nights and three days.

"You'll be on a few other medicines. I talked to your father already about them, but if you have any questions, call your primary doctor and they'll be able to answer them. If you start to feel like you can't breathe, do a breathing treatment on the Nebulizer we gave your dad. If that doesn't help considerably, it would be time to get to another hospital. And you can't mess around with this. If you get to that point, you need to go. I cannot explain how much you do not want this to get worse. Pneumonia can lead to much more serious conditions if not handled properly. Much more serious. This is why you need to take this entire thing very seriously. We need to make sure that you don't get worse, that it goes away, and that it doesn't come back."

"Alright." Kurt said quietly.

"Good. I just need you to sign a few papers for you and you're free to go." The man said, handing Kurt a clip board. Kurt signed it quickly, more than ready to get back to his own home and his own bed. "Feel better, Kurt."

"Thanks." Kurt offered a weak smile as his father walked in. While Burt still was not by any means pleased, the man had been much nicer to Kurt. It was obvious he felt bad for yelling but, as Burt had said, he needed it. Kurt had to admit he probably did. He hadn't known the insurance stuff was still an issue which made him feel bad, but when he thought of the new added costs he felt even worse.

"We all set, kiddo?" Burt asked, approaching the bed.

"Yeah. They said I'm good to go." Kurt nodded as the doctor exited the room.

"Alright, bud. Let's get you out of this bed so we can get you home." Burt leaned down and slid his arms under Kurt's leg. Kurt draped his arm around Burt's shoulder as his dad lifted him out of bed, leaning heavily against Burt when he was stood on his own two feet.

"Do you have it? Are you okay to walk?" his dad questioned, looking concerned.

"I'm fine, Dad." Kurt said tiredly, removing his arm from Burt's shoulders and swallowing hard. He took a few steps and rubbed his forehead, wincing. "I need help though."

Burt moved forward to help him but paused, glancing at Blaine who was grabbing Kurt's bag. "Here, kid. You help Kurt and I'll get this stuff."

Blaine looked up, surprised, but immediately set the bag down and rushed to Kurt's side wrapping his arm around the younger boy's waist and pulling him close. Kurt let himself relax against Blaine, leaning all of his weight onto his boyfriend as they walked very slowly towards the door.

"I've got you." Blaine whispered, well aware that Burt was watching them closely but not even able to find it in himself to care. "Are you okay?"

"Just sick pains." Kurt whispered back weakly, stumbling a bit.

"I've got you. Don't walk too fast. Take it slow." Blaine said, arm tightening around him. "We're going to get you home and right into our bed. Alright?"

"I just have to email my professors and—."

"No. I talked to Alec and, from what I understand, he's already talked to them and let them know what's going on. He said he'll send you assignments, but not until you've missed a week's worth of classes after getting home from the hospital. Meaning next Friday he'll either drop by or, more likely, we'll go down there."

Kurt opened his mouth to protest, but couldn't find the energy to make the words come. To be honest, he almost felt relieved. He knew the assignments would be piling up but his chest hurt, his head pounded, he was struggling to keep food down, and in general he just felt weak. Maybe not focusing on school would be okay for a while. Maybe it would give him time to think about what he was going to do to change things—because this was clearly not working.

Instead of speaking, he just nuzzled Blaine's shoulder as they reached the car that Carole had pulled up outside the hospital's entrance.

"Let's get you in, hon." She said, hopping out of the driver's seat and opening the front passenger door to the car. "Watch his head, Blaine."

"I know." Blaine said softly, easing Kurt into the car very carefully.

"You two are going on and we're getting his medicine filled?" Burt asked gruffly as Blaine quietly shut the door, which still prompted Kurt to cringe a bit.

"Yeah… unless you want to take him and I get the medicine." Blaine said, not exactly making eye contact.

"I want Blaine to stay with me." Kurt said through the open window, right as Burt said, "No, no, we'll get the medicine."

Blaine gave Kurt a small smile and squeezed his hand before telling Burt and Carole how to get to the pharmacy that was closest to their small apartment. When Carole had written everything down, Blaine opened the driver side's door and got into the car with Kurt.

"You two be careful." Carole said, waving. "We'll see you soon."

Blaine nodded and, after waving, pulled off.

They still didn't know what was going to happen. Kurt knew that Blaine had missed two days of classes that week because of him. Kurt also knew that missing those days put him in a position where he couldn't miss any more days. Even worse, Kurt was definitely not in a position to take care of himself. Blaine had even been helping Kurt to the bathroom—which, while in the hospital, had only been six steps away. There was no way he could be expected to take care of himself for long hours at a time, right out of the hospital.

While Kurt knew something was going to happen, he just didn't know what that something would be. Honestly it was out of his hands, seeing as whoever would be taking care of him would likely be making the decisions. He hated that he'd put them in the position of having to rework schedules to make sure he wasn't alone. He also hated that he was going to have to be so dependent on someone until he felt better. However out of his hands it may have been though, he really didn't want them to decide that the best thing was for Kurt to stay in Lima with his dad and Carole while Blaine stayed home.

As good as he knew they, and primarily Carole, would be taking care of him… He didn't want to be away from Blaine. Even having Blaine at his side made Kurt feel better. Blaine was comforting, sweet, and Kurt just… really wanted to be with Blaine. Besides, maybe he wanted to know that Blaine wasn't angry enough at Kurt to not want to be with him.

No.

Kurt really didn't want to be in Lima for a week without Blaine.

As they pulled out of the hospital parking lot, Burt and Carole behind them, Kurt felt Blaine's hand rest on his leg. Kurt had leaned his head against the now closed window when Blaine had first gotten into the car, so he sat himself up straight and looked at his boyfriend.

"Blaine?" he questioned.

"Hmm?" Blaine glanced over before looking back ahead at the road.

"I just… I hope you know that I am sorry for everything." Kurt said quietly, placing his own hand over Blaine's larger one.

"Hush, I know. I already told you that it's okay. What's done is done. We'll just have to start from here, won't we?" Blaine said gently, squeezing Kurt's leg. Blaine had said that so many times over the last three and a half days that it was like his new mantra. "You're going to be just fine and we're going to figure everything out."

"I just want to know that you aren't mad at me." Kurt admitted.

"Kurt, we've got bigger worries right now than whether I'm mad. We need to get you feeling better so we can get through the rest of the semester without losing our minds. Besides, I already told you that I'm not mad." Blaine said, voice a little more firm.

"I just…"

Blaine didn't even let him finish this time. "Listen, I don't want to talk about this today. You still feel really bad, Kurt. We'll talk about it tomorrow. But I'm not mad. Right now I just wish that things weren't like this right now. I wish you felt better and that things would start getting better for you. You've had it really tough since the beginning of your senior year at McKinley and I hate that. It's like you can't catch a break, even if some of the problems you've brought on yourself. That's all that I want to say right now because I don't want to get into it right now when you're sick."

"I'm not just some kid." Kurt said, coughing a bit. "I can handle it, Blaine."

Blaine turned to face him when they pulled to a red light. "I don't want to talk about it right now, Kurt. I'm not mad at you but I don't want to talk about it and I wish you would stop making me repeat that."

"Turn left to get onto the highway." Kurt mumbled. "It's shorter that way."

Blaine turned on his blinker and merged into the turning lane, nodding. "You know what I think, Kurt? I think you're mad at yourself. I think you want me to be angry so we can fight. That way someone will say to you what you're thinking about yourself."

Kurt looked down.

"I thought your dad had that covered though, personally. If you want anything like that from me, you'll be sorely disappointed." Blaine added.

"I'm really angry with myself right now." Kurt admitted, slowly scooting to the edge of the seat that was closest to Blaine and grabbing one of his hands.

Blaine kissed his knuckles before Kurt lowered their hands until they were rested on the console, both boys gripping the other's hand tightly.

"I know you are." Blaine said softly. "But it's going to be okay. We'll figure something out. We will get this right." He stared ahead, shaking his head. "There's no other option."

"Unless you get tired of it and you might decide to leave." Kurt mumbled, surprising even himself. He hadn't really thought about it in the past but he could just see something in Blaine's face the last few days in the hospital—something he'd never seen before. He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew he didn't want to see it again. It was almost like defeat.

Blaine's head whipped around. "What?"

"It's so different." Kurt whispered.

"So?" Blaine asked, glancing back at the road and then back at Kurt. "If you seriously think I would ever leave you over something like this, then we've got much bigger problems than figuring out a schedule that works for us."

"Doesn't it make you sad? Don't you miss how it was when we first started dating?" Kurt asked, feeling more and more miserable with each word he spoke.

Blaine shook his head, an odd expression on his face. He didn't speak, merely pulled off of the next exit, pulled into a random parking lot, and turned the car off.

"Doesn't it?" Kurt urged.

"We're not a junior and senior in high school anymore, Kurt. Things were never going to be the same. I thought we knew that. We knew there would be schedule conflicts. We knew we wouldn't get to spend as much time together." Blaine responded, gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"But after—."

"Even if you hadn't been attacked, even if I hadn't moved in with you, things would still be different. In fact, who knows if we would have made it with me off at college and you here? Maybe we would have broken up." Blaine said, unbuckling his seat belt and turning to face Kurt. "No, Kurt. It doesn't make me sad that things are different because we're so close. At least, I think we are…" He looked down.

"We are. We just never get to spend time together. And it makes it so hard." Kurt looked down also.

"It's hard for me too." Blaine sighed, chewing on his lip. "But it's something I'm willing to deal with… We're going to have to face reality. You want to be a designer and I want to be a lawyer. Both are very time consuming. So when we're older and married… we might not see each other as much as we want."

"Older and married." Kurt echoed quietly, raising his eyes and looking at Blaine, who was now staring at him. "I kind of like the sound of that."

"Kind of?" Blaine laughed. "Just kind of?"

"It's the 'older' bit that's throwing it off. I mean, I know my face will be fine. But you absolutely refuse to use any kind of—."

"This again?" Blaine rolled his eyes. "I already told you that I don't want to participate in any nightly skincare rituals. This was discussed as soon as we started dating. Just like you refused to step foot inside a McDonald's."

"Fine. If we can't talk about that, can we talk about how all you eat is fast food still and how you'll be the size of a house? What if our daughter—God forbid—picks up that habit from you? You should really eat healthy. For your unborn child's sake." Kurt sighed.

"I'm nineteen!" Blaine said, laughing even louder.

"You'll be twenty in a few days." Kurt pointed out.

Blaine stared ahead, blinking and looking confused.

"It's Friday. Your birthday is Monday."

"Is it really almost April?" Blaine wondered aloud. "That means this time next year, Wes and David will be buying lots and lots of alcohol."

"Oh, God. Wes will be here for your twenty first birthday." Kurt leaned back against the seat tiredly, letting out a quiet cough. "I don't want to see the aftermath of this, Blaine. I'm scared."

"Wes' mother already called me three times and told me to avoid his horrible influences." Blaine said, rolling his eyes and then shaking his head. "People don't trust me to not act fifteen anymore."

"I don't trust you to not act fifteen anymore." Kurt teased, closing his eyes. "Do you promise we'll be okay?"

"Yeah." Blaine leaned over, squeezing Kurt's smaller hand. "Everything is going to be just fine."

Kurt nodded and reached into the back seat of Blaine's car, pulling an extra sweater up with him and laying it over himself as though it was a blanket.

"Get some sleep, babe. I'll wake you if anything terribly exciting happens on the highway. You know, like an alien invasion or Jurassic Park Meets Real World or anything like that."

"You would thoroughly enjoy that." Kurt said, closing his eyes and snuggling under Blaine's sweater. "Too much."

"Night, Kurt." Blaine laughed.

"Mmh. I love you." Kurt mumbled sleepily.

"I love you too."

…

When Blaine and Kurt finally got home, David's car was in the parking lot, directly next to Kurt's Navigator where Blaine usually parked. Blaine pulled into the spot next to it and went around the car to ease his sleeping boyfriend out of the car. He then made his way up the walk to their apartment, very thankful they were on the first floor, and rang the doorbell. Seeing as David was in the apartment, he didn't see the need to risk finding his keys and waking Kurt up.

"Hey. I wasn't sure if I had to feed Kreacher or not since you were coming home today, so I went ahead and did it." David said after opening the door. He moved aside quickly for Blaine. "He must be light."

"Extremely so. Thanks." Blaine said, moving into the apartment. "For the dog, for getting Kurt's car, for everything. Thanks. Really."

"Don't mention it, Blaine. How's he doing?" David asked, watching his friend. Blaine bent to rest Kurt on the couch but Kurt began to whine, clinging to Blaine in his sleep. Blaine resigned to sit himself on the couch and hold Kurt, glad to have an excuse to hold him.

"He's beating himself up over the whole thing." Blaine said softly, trying to move Kurt into a more comfortable position. Eventually he got Kurt to sit on his lap with his head leaning against his shoulder.

"He can't help that he got sick even if he was overdoing it." David said reasonably, sitting on the couch next to them. "Is he feeling better?"

Blaine chose to ignore David's first statement, considering he disagreed, and instead make a 'tsk'ing noise before answering his question. "Feeling better… I don't know. But most of the fluid is out of his lungs and they let him come home. He's only needed a breathing treatment every eight or so hours. The other day he went back and forth between needing an inhaler or a breathing treatment that they had to just cut him off…"

David nodded and sighed. "He looks pretty awful."

Kurt whimpered into Blaine's shoulder pitifully.

"Somebody's awake." Blaine sang, nudging him. "Hmm? Is Kurt awake?"

"Don't look horrible." Kurt shushed him, nuzzling his shoulder. "Shh."

Blaine stood with Kurt in his arms. "Care if I lay him down now that he's awake and less likely to protest?"

"No, of course not." David hopped up and moved out of the way immediately.

Blaine eased Kurt into a laying position and pulled the blanket off of the back of the couch onto him. Kurt snuggled under the covers and let out a soft snore.

"His dad and Carole are on their way with the medicine. Was the evil dog good?" Blaine asked, straightening himself up and looking around for Kreacher.

"I think he's just confused. I can see what you mean, though. He has got it out for you. He kept trying to get into your socks." David laughed. "How are… well, you haven't really talked to his dad since the fight before this, right?"

"It's been… strange."

"So are things better?"

"We argued again, actually." Blaine sighed.

"You and he got into another argument?" David repeated, eyes widening. "Why?"

Blaine ruffled Kurt's incredibly messy hair (which would have been a serious turn on if he wasn't sick) and then held up a finger, nodding towards the kitchen.

David followed Blaine out of the living room. When they reached the kitchen, Blaine went straight to the fridge, pulled out two sodas, and handed one to David. "His dad was pissed he got sick… I tried to tell him that Kurt didn't need to be yelled at then, that he just needed rest and a talking to later. But that didn't go over well."

"I thought this guy liked you?"

"Yeah. Me too." Blaine sighed. "I guess he doesn't like me so much anymore or something… I don't know what I did wrong…"

"Did he at least apologize?" David asked.

Blaine nodded, looking a bit upset. If David hadn't known him so well, though, he never would have known because Blaine could hide his feelings well. "Yeah. He did later that night. After that, it went back to how it was at last Friday's dinner. He was way too nice and it was way too awkward."

"But it sounds like things are getting better then, doesn't it? If you're going to dinners and he apologized for the last fight?"

"I don't know… I'm still not ready to put everything behind me yet. I don't want to go to dinners and talk about sports and stuff…" Blaine admitted.

"That's understandable though. He said some pretty bad things to you, Blaine. I don't blame you for not wanting to be around him much for a while. Just know that eventually you're going to have to make up for real, for Kurt's sake. And for your own. You don't want to spend the rest of your life arguing with him… Speaking of Kurt, though, are you mad at him?" David asked.

Blaine hopped onto the counter and sighed, popping open his soda can and taking a drink. "I'm not mad, per se."

"But?"

"I don't know." Blaine sighed again. "I would be mad at him if he hadn't scared himself so badly. Besides, he's angry enough at himself right now over the whole thing. I don't think there's any room for me to be angry too."

"Well I'm sure three days and four nights in a hospital was a pretty good wake up call." David laughed a bit, although there really wasn't anything humorous about the situation. "But he's going to be okay?"

"Yeah. He's got to miss classes next week, though, and I don't even know what to do. I can't miss a week of classes. I had to leave early and miss half my classes Tuesday; I couldn't go at all Thursday. I had to miss when I got my wisdom teeth out. If I miss two of my classes one more time I automatically fail because of the attendance policy for the English department." Blaine set his soda can down and rubbed his face. "Shit, this sucks. This sucks. I am so in over my head here."

"Why can't he go to Lima for the week?"

Blaine just groaned and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I don't want him to go to Lima with his parents. I want to take care of him. Me."

"Look, Blaine… You're only twenty. You don't have to deal with this stuff—." David began.

Blaine looked down at him quickly, eyes narrowing. "You have no idea what you're talking about, David! I'm not just shacking up with him to have the limited amount of sex I get until I go to law school and meet someone better!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You didn't even let me finish." David said very calmly. "You don't have to deal with this stuff alone."

The anger quickly left Blaine's face and he tilted his head back up towards the ceiling, groaning. "Sorry."

"I'm not trying to upset you. I just think you should share some of the responsibility here. You're too young and too busy to do everything by yourself."

"Well I don't exactly have a choice, now, do I?"

"Funny. You're starting to sound like Kurt." David said smirking. "I guess people really do turn into the people they love."

Blaine got a blank expression on his face, staring ahead, before he giggled. "That did kind of sound like Kurt, didn't it?"

"Give it time and Kurt will start eating fast food regularly." David laughed. "But, really, Blaine… When it comes to this, you don't have to do it alone. You only have classes two days a week. Look, I don't have classes on Thursday morning. So if his parents can be with him Tuesday, I can stay with him on Thursday… until five, at least. Then you're happy because he's at home with you and someone will be here with him when you're in class."

"I guess you're right. Then someone would only have to stay the night Monday and take care of him on Tuesday… and he may even feel okay enough to be by himself on Thursday."

"I'm sure he will." David nodded. "He might even on Tuesday."

"Yeah." Blaine said, looking and feeling much less stressed out. "I mean, it's only Friday. I'll just talk to his parents and see if they'd be okay with the Tuesday thing… Are you sure you wouldn't mind being here Thursday if he needs it?"

David shrugged. "It'll be fine. I'll bring over my laptop and show him embarrassing pictures and videos of you. It'll be a bonding experience."

"Wes will be incredibly jealous. We best hope Kurt feels better by Thursday or we'll have to face the Asian one's wrath." Blaine laughed.

"Did you sleep last night? You look really tired." David randomly pointed out.

"Oh God. Are you going to start parenting me?" Blaine moaned. "Carole's been doing this since Tuesday night."

"I just know how you did the last time he was in the hospital. You need to be well rested to take care of someone who is sick." David shrugged.

"I did get plenty of sleep." Blaine assured him. "A full six and a half hours. Kurt rarely let me leave the bed and there was nothing else to do."

They both looked up as they heard the front door open.

"Hon, we're here!" Carole called from the other room and then she gasped. "Oh, he's asleep. C'mon, Melody. Let's go find Blaine. I'm sure he's in the kitchen."

David let out a loud laugh at that, clapping his hands together as Blaine sent him a glare.

A minute later Carole came into the room slowly, looking down at the floor behind her at Melody who was scooting into the room on her butt. A few seconds after Burt came into the room, a bag with Kurt's medicines in his hand.

"Oh, hello!" Carole smiled warmly. "David, right?"

"Yes ma'am." David said, waving. "It's nice to see you again."

"Oh, you're so sweet." Carole said, going up and ruffling Blaine's hair. "You holding up okay, sweetie? You look a little tired."

"I slept last night!" Blaine exclaimed.

"She's convinced herself that you're worrying yourself sick. Literally." Burt supplied, setting the bag on the counter and scooping Melody up.

"Look, Melody. Look! It's Blaine!" Carole cooed, pointing at Blaine. She smiled at David. "She loves Blaine to pieces."

"So does Wes' sister." David laughed. "Babies and toddlers all do."

"David is the one who got Kurt's car from Columbus." Blaine explained, smiling as Melody held out a tiny hand. He hopped down from the counter and made his way over, kissing her tiny hand and causing her to squeal gleefully and kick out her legs.

"Thank you so much." Carole smiled at David.

"It was no problem. My sister was in and she went with me. It was a nice excuse to get out of my apartment." David said, smiling right back at her.

"Kurt, go lay back down." Burt said gruffly as Kurt made his way into the kitchen very slowly, rubbing his face.

Kurt shrugged and ignored him, instead going over and leaning against Blaine.

"Want some?" Blaine asked, holding out his can of Dr. Pepper.

"Mhmm." Kurt said, taking the can and sipping from it.

"Are you hungry? Any three of you boys?" Carole asked, taking Melody from Burt. Melody was staring fixedly in the boys' directions, but her eyes were clearly on David and she had an adorable little grin on her face.

"Uh oh. Someone's got a crush on David." Blaine laughed, pointing.

David laughed and waved at her. "How old is she?"

"She'll be one in July." Carole beamed. "Would you like to hold her?"

"Sure." David moved towards her and took the baby.

"She grabs anything she can get a hold on." Blaine warned, seating Kurt at the table. Just as he said this, Melody started to tug on the string of David's hoodie, eyes wide. "And I mean anything."

"He's only on a few pills." Burt told Blaine as soon as Kurt was seated, pulling the bottles out of the bag. "He takes the Azith-whatever-the-hell-that-says once a day and the Amoxicillin twice a day. They're both just to make sure the pneumonia stops. If he doesn't start getting better, we'll have to take him back so they can find some medicine that will work."

Blaine nodded, taking the pill bottles. He figured stating that the doctor had told him that twice wouldn't have been a good idea.

"They said that he'll probably want to take Tylenol so I did get some of that. And some cough drops and cough syrup. He won't want to take it but he'll just have to until the cough goes away."

"I don't think he'll have a problem with it. He knows what he needs to do." Blaine said, putting the bottles back neatly on the table. At least, he thought, he hoped Kurt would do what he needed to do.

"Kurt, hon, would you care if I stayed and helped take care of you? Blaine's got to stay caught up in school." Carole said, leaning down by him and checking his forehead.

Blaine resisted the urge to sigh in relief. It would be Carole, not Burt. He wouldn't have to feel tense in his own home.

"I don't mind. Thanks." Kurt gave her a weak smile.

"Your fever is still down. Do you want some soup, sweetheart?"

"I guess. Thanks." Kurt nodded and looked at Blaine.

"Are you just coming on Tuesday and Thursday?" Blaine asked.

"I figured, if it's okay, that I'd at least stay tonight to help you keep an eye on him since he's still feeling pretty bad. After he's a bit better I'll just come on Tuesday and Thursday." Carole answered, moving towards their cupboard. "But only if that's alright with you boys."

"That's fine." Blaine said, even more relieved. While he wanted to take care of Kurt, part of him was afraid that Kurt would go back to how he'd been on Tuesday. Blaine had to admit it he felt safer knowing if it happened, someone else would be there. "Thank you."

"You boys are very welcome." Carole smiled.

"How are you doing?" David asked, sitting at the table next to Kurt with Melody.

Kurt reached out, tickling Melody's foot and offering a weak smile that actually looked more like a smile than a grimace. "Better than Tuesday."

"I'm sure you'll feel even better soon." David smiled in a reassuring way as Melody reached for Kurt.

"You've been on your medicine for four days. I think you're good to hold her if you want." Burt said, chuckling when Melody began to let out noises of protest at not being handed right over.

Kurt took her from David and snuggled her close, closing his eyes. She nuzzled his shoulder and went very still, enjoying being cuddled up with her brother.

"She won't do that with anyone else, hon." Carole said, moving to make Kurt some soup.

"She must think I'm boring." Kurt said softly, opening his eyes and feeling lightheaded. He felt Blaine's hand on his shoulder and leaned to the side slightly, resting against Blaine, more for support than anything.

"Do you want to lay down?" Blaine whispered.

"I don't want to but I feel like I need to." Kurt sighed, loosening his grip on Melody who gave him an agitated look.

"Sorry, pumpkin. Kurt needs to lay down." Blaine cooed, taking Melody and passing her to David. "Can you hold her?"

"Of course." David said, laughing as Melody got a silly grin on her face again and tugged at his hoodie string, having forgotten all about Kurt and his snuggles.

"Do you need help?" Carole asked Blaine as he easily lifted Kurt up.

"No. I've got it. Thanks." Blaine said, tightening his hold on Kurt when the younger boy relaxed against him. "Good thing I can carry you, hmm?"

"Mhmm." Kurt nodded into Blaine's shoulder. "You're very strong."

"I don't know about that. You're just very light." Blaine laughed, making his way out of the kitchen. "Couch or bed?"

"Couch is closer."

"That means you want to be in bed but don't want to say it." Blaine said, heading for their bedroom. He laid Kurt on the bed and pulled a sheet over him, tucking him in. "Do you want the comforter too? It's kind of warm in here."

"This is fine." Kurt snuggled under the sheet and blinked up at Blaine. "Carole just made me soup."

"Do you want it now? I can bring it to you." Blaine said, pushing back Kurt's messy hair. "Hmm?"

"I don't know." Kurt said, looking thoughtful. He let out a few loud coughs and then relaxed against his pillows. "Think she'll be upset if I eat it later?"

"Of course not." Blaine bent down and kissed his warm cheek. "Oh no. You feel really warm again. Will you eat some ice cream for me?"

"Mhmm." Kurt rolled onto his side and curled into a ball.

Blaine made his way downstairs. "I think he's getting a fever again."

"I'm going to go ahead and leave, Blaine." David said giving him a half hug. "Tell Kurt I hope he feels better."

"Thanks, David. I'll call you later." Blaine said, making his way to fridge as David left. He pulled out some vanilla ice cream and quickly scooped some into a bowl.

"His forehead felt fine a minute ago." Carole said sitting Melody down inside of a playpen that Burt had brought in. "I'll bring in some Tylenol and water in just a minute, hon."

"Thanks." Blaine grabbed a spoon and took the ice cream up to Kurt, who was still on his side and staring at the wall. "Here you go, my love. All we have is vanilla but I can go get you more."

"This is fine." Kurt gave him a small smile and set the bowl on the bed next to him, taking a few bites.

"Do you feel worse?" Blaine questioned. "Does your chest hurt? Can you breathe?"

"I feel a little worse, but I'm breathing okay." Kurt responded, taking another bite. "This really sucks, Blaine."

"I know it." Blaine ruffled his hair. "Just eat all of that ice cream."

"Here, hon. I brought you some Tylenol and some water. You feel worse?" Carole said, coming up to the bed and kneeling down by him.

Kurt sat up and took the water and pill, downing it. "Mainly my head."

"Tylenol should help." Carole said. "You just eat that ice cream and then get some sleep. The more rest you get, the better you'll feel."

"Okay." Kurt nodded, taking two more bites of his ice cream.

"Burt ran out to get more ice cream and popsicles, in case you wanted some." Carole stood. "I'm going to go check on Mellie and hopefully get her to take a nap. Let me know if you boys need anything."

Kurt nodded and took several more bites of his ice cream, looking absolutely miserable.

"You'll feel better soon." Blaine said, sliding into bed with him and rubbing his back.

"I just wish sooner was now." Kurt finished his ice cream and leaned back against Blaine, closing his eyes.

Blaine leaned over him and, after seeing his eyes were closed, draped an arm over him and began to quietly hum in his ear.

"Trying to put me to sleep?" Kurt mumbled sleepily.

"Mhm." Blaine said, rubbing his back.

"Well it's working." Kurt rolled to face him and burrowed his head in Blaine's chest. "Mmhloveyou."

"I love you too." Blaine smiled and hugged Kurt close, not even loosening his grip when he let out a tiny snore.

***WBUCT***

The next morning Kurt woke up, expecting to see Blaine's hand on his forehead. Instead when he opened his eyes he saw that it was Carole, looking concerned.

"Hey, hon. Sorry I woke you." She said apologetically. "I was just checking on you. You've got a tiny fever again. Do you feel okay?"

Kurt rolled over in response, stretching and trying to decide what the answer to that was. The movement made his stomach lurch and he shook his head. "I think I'm going to be sick."

She moved quickly to help him up, but was too late. He hunched over, throwing up all over the middle of the bed.

"Shit." He whimpered as Carole gently pulled him away from the huge pile of throw up, not even wrinkling her nose at the smell.

"C'mon, sweetie. Let's get you out of this bed. I don't want you to get any on you. Are you done?"

Kurt gagged a bit and nodded. After the nod, Carole eased him off of the bed and took him to a chair that was in the corner of their bedroom, having to move their school bags and sweaters off of it and onto the floor.

"Do you want some water?"

"Where's Blaine?" Kurt whimpered.

"He'll be back soon." Carole said quietly. "He's taking that exam. His teacher is letting him email it to her, but she gave him a specific time slot to do it in. So he can't come in right now."

Kurt nodded and leaned back against the chair, fighting the urge to cry even though he didn't know why. He was just tired and he didn't feel good.

"Oh, sweetie, he should be done soon. I think he had an hour and a half and it's been nearly an hour." Carole whispered, patting his hair down.

"It's not that. I just don't feel good." Kurt said, taking a deep breath and coughing.

"Do you have spare sheets, sweetheart?" she asked.

"I don't even know." Kurt mumbled, covering his face with his hand. He was having a hard time thinking of anything right now apart from how much his stomach hurt and how much his insides were burning.

Carole left the room and came back in a few seconds later, Blaine following behind her.

"No, you've got school work." Kurt moaned.

"I just finished." Blaine said easing Kurt into a standing position. "Do you need to throw up again?"

"No." Kurt shook his head.

"Okay. I'm going to get the blankets in the washer and Carole's going to get you to the couch. I'll be five minutes, okay? Probably less than that." Blaine kissed his forehead.

"Okay." Kurt said, very slowly walking into the living room with Carole behind him. She helped Kurt onto the couch, laughing when Blaine let out a horrified noise.

"I think he got some on himself." She laughed.

"Probably." Kurt relaxed against the couch pillows.

"I'm going to be more than five minutes, Kurt!" Blaine called from the other room.

Kurt just laughed a bit as Carole sat next to him. Without even thinking, he leaned over until her head was rested on his shoulder. When she was pregnant they'd sat close together, half cuddling a lot as they watched reality TV shows that Kurt wouldn't admit he'd seen to Blaine, but they really hadn't since then. Despite this, though, Kurt didn't move his head from her shoulder. He enjoyed Carole's company and, when she ran her fingers through his hair like she was, he remembered what it was like to have his own mom.

They sat in silence for several minutes before Kurt finally spoke. "Carole?"

"Yes, hon?" Carole asked, sounding concerned.

"You and Blaine are really close… Do you think he's mad at me?" Kurt whispered.

Carole reached up and stroked his hair back. "I think he's frustrated that you're in the situation, but I think he also understands that you've put yourself under a lot of pressure… Nobody is mad at you, sweetie. Everyone is just concerned. We don't want to see you sick or hurting."

"Dad is pretty mad." Kurt mumbled.

"Yes, well, your father feels bad for yelling at you. He's just got a big temper sometimes. You know that." Carole said quietly.

Kurt shifted uncomfortably. "I was so scared that day at school. And then when Blaine took me to the hospital… I was so scared. I really thought that… well… you know."

Carole ruffled his hair a bit. "I know you're an adult, Kurt, and I know that it's your right to make your own decisions… But you have to take care of yourself, sweetie. You're the only one that can do that. Nobody else can keep you healthy."

"The work just piles up and it's hard to manage." Kurt admitted weakly.

"You don't have to do so much." Carole said softly, still stroking his hair. "It's too much."

"I have to be full time because of my partial scholarship." Kurt sighed.

"You very well know that you are over full time, Kurt. I went to that first counseling appointment with you and even the adviser told you that it was a little too ambitious."

"But I stayed in it and got good grades." Kurt protested.

"At what cost? Malnutrition, pneumonia? Scaring not only everyone around you but yourself?" she asked, voice still soft. "What you've done since August—maybe even this summer while you worked so much—isn't healthy. Burt's worried, Blaine's worrying himself sick, I'm worried, and even Finn is worried about you. Burt hasn't even told your grandparents because he's positive your grandfather will demand you take a year off of school to 'find your brain.'"

"He probably would." Kurt sighed. "I'm trying so hard to… try to grow up and handle things and I keep failing miserably. I try to get ahead of the game in school and end up in the hospital."

"Part of being an adult is to find balance." Carole said. "What's the point in working so hard to get yourself to a good place if it does this to you? Do you honestly enjoy it?"

Kurt shook his head. "No… I just feel like I have to. What should I do, Carole?"

"I think the best option is to finish this semester out, hon. But after this semester I think you should take right at full time or just a little over. You need to focus on eating healthy and sleeping. You have to stay healthy, hon. Otherwise you'll be in and out of hospitals until you make yourself so sick that…" she trailed off.

Kurt took a deep breath. "O-Okay… I-I'll take less classes next semester. I don't want to put anybody through this anymore… especially Blaine."

"He was pretty scared." Carole said, reaching and squeezing Kurt's hand. "He loves you a lot, Kurt. He really and truly does. He's not mad, sweetie. He just wants what is best for you."

"I know." Kurt whispered, and smiled when Blaine came into the room, giving him a small wave.

"Hey, you." Blaine said, coming over and taking Carole's seat.

"Did you get throw up on you?" Carole laughed, ruffling his wet hair.

"Turns out it's best to hold the blankets out when you take them. Or at least wrap it so it doesn't get on you." Blaine nodded very seriously, but his eyes were bright. "But it's okay. Next time, I'll do it right."

"I certainly hope so." Carole laughed again. "I'll get some lunch made."

"Thanks." Kurt said, wiggling his body down until his head was rested on Blaine's chest.

Blaine laid his arms over Kurt's back, grinning. "You're stuck here forever. Does this bother you, Kurt?"

"Mmmh. Nope." Kurt mumbled into his chest.

"Would it bother you if I told you I was an alien?" Blaine laughed.

"Shh." Kurt tickled Blaine's side, causing him to squirm and let out a high pitched giggle. Kurt pulled back and smirked at a blushing Blaine. "Well, that was a noise I've never heard before."

"Shut up, Hummel." Blaine said.

***WBUCT***

"You're up early." Blaine yawned, coming into the kitchen two days later and seeing Kurt at the table drinking coffee.

He turned to face Blaine when he slid into the seat next to him, which already had a cup of coffee in front of it. "Morning, sleepyhead."

"Good morning." Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek and then took a drink of his coffee.

"Did you see your birthday cards on the table yesterday? My grandparents, Taylor, and your brother sent you one. Actually, there are two from your brother. Only I think one is from Danny because he colored all over the envelope." Kurt said, reaching and handing Blaine the envelopes-the colored one on top.

"Oh my God, this is too adorable for words!" Blaine exclaimed, setting the other envelopes down on the table and closely surveying the colored one. "Can I open it? Please? I have to open it!"

"It's your card." Kurt laughed.

"Yes, but my birthday isn't until tomorrow." Blaine pointed out.

"I think you can open one card." Kurt said, facial expression very serious. "But only one, Blaine Anderson."

Blaine made an excited noise and very carefully opened the surprisingly large envelope, careful to not tear it any more than necessary. Inside it was a big piece of construction paper that said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, UNCLE BLAINE!" in block letters that Alex had clearly written, but that Danny had attempted to color in. The color just ended up everywhere, though, making it all the more adorable. There was also a huge actual picture of an excited looking baby Danny holding up the poster (which he was bending) and grinning adorably, his curls going everywhere and a few ever covering his eyes.

"Oh my God!" Kurt exclaimed, nearly melting into a puddle at the sight of the picture. Blaine's nephew was just too cute. "Look at-I just-how is he so cute?"

"He is so precious!" Blaine laughed. "He looks so proud too!"

"Can we please hang these up on the refrigerator?" Kurt asked eagerly. "Think about it. Any time we're getting coffee as we're about to leave the house, we'll see it."

"Or we can frame it!" Blaine said, just as eagerly. It was almost ridiculous how excited he felt, but this was one of the few gifts from a family member that he had ever loved. And he truly loved this one. "And we can make a copy. Have the copy on the fridge, and the original in a frame."

"Someone is feeling better." Carole laughing, coming into the room. She looked down at the picture they were both exclaiming over and covered her mouth, letting out a happy laugh. "Oh, look at how sweet that little boy is. How precious!"

"We want to frame it and put a copy on the fridge." Kurt said, looking much happier and healthier than he had in days.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Carole smiled. "I'm going to head out and by some groceries for Blaine's dinner tomorrow-hush, Blaine, I'm making you a dinner. Is there anything else you boys need?"

Kurt made a motion with his hand and Carole nodded her understanding, but the sneakiness over the cake Kurt would later be baking wasn't necessary because Blaine was still too busy staring at the picture of his nephew.

"Do you need anything, Blaine?" Carole asked, ruffling his messy hair.

"No, but thank you." Blaine said, smiling at her before looking down at his homemade poster/birthday card.

"I'll be right back." Carole smiled at both of the boys and headed out of the house.

"That's so cute." Kurt let out a quiet laugh.

"I know." Blaine set it down reluctantly and took another drink of his coffee. "Thanks for the coffee."

"I figured you'd need it." Kurt smiled when Blaine rested his own hand over Kurt's on the table.

"Do you feel better?"

"Much." Kurt said honestly. "I'm sure staying in bed all day on Friday and Saturday did wonders."

"Well, that was the plan." Blaine said, squeezing Kurt's hand. "I'm glad you feel better, Kurt."

"Me too." Kurt said, setting his cup down and resting his other hand over Blaine's. "So... can we talk about it now? Get it over with, so tomorrow will be good?"

"Yeah. We should talk about it sooner than later." Blaine nodded. When he began to speak, it sounded as if Blaine had repeated his words over and over in his head. "Look... I'm not angry at you. I'm upset. I felt like you were taking care of yourself because you promised you would. I mean, I guess I assumed since you were home more that you were. You even made dinner tons of times, and I know that I ate, but... well, I guess you weren't. I feel like when we come to these agreements, that you just agree so I'll shut up and I don't like that. I feel like I'm trying to work to make things better, but you aren't taking me seriously or something. I worry about you, Kurt. A lot. Because you work too hard and I was so worried something like this would happen. And, look, it did. I'm not telling you 'I told you so' or anything like that. I just... What is it going to take for you to realize what you're doing to yourself? Do you have any idea what it was like for me to get to Alec's house and see you there like that, unable to even breathe? It was horrible. And to have to speed all the way to Columbus, just like I did last fall when..."

Blaine trailed off, unable to finish.

"Hey, look at me." Kurt said when Blaine looked down. He didn't speak again until Blaine's hazel eyes met his own blue ones. "I don't just agree so you'll shut up. I always have the intention of doing it."

"No, you don't." Blaine said softly. "You wanted me home more after first semester. I was home more. I quit working as much. I put a schedule together so I was only on campus 2 days a week instead of 5... Because I had the intention of doing it when I said I would. The second I say something, I figure out a way to make it happen and then it happens."

"Your schedule was because of gas too, Blaine." Kurt said.

"That doesn't matter, Kurt. Don't say you intended to do it. If you intended to do it, it would have been done."

Kurt sighed a bit and nodded.

"I'm not mad at you, Kurt. I'm upset because I feel like you went back on our agreement. I'm upset because I don't understand why you do this to yourself. I'm sad that this happened. It makes me feel like I should have done something more to ensure it didn't happen. It puts me in this really bad place. You do these things, but... but what can I do? I can't tell you what to do even though you're doing this stuff to yourself. So I just have to watch it happen and when it happens, you look like you did and you're so scared, and I should have stopped it but I couldn't. It broke my heart to see you like that… I don't even know if half of that made sense." Blaine sighed.

"It did." Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand and then ran his fingers up and down the back of it.

"It's only Sunday. I'm worried that you won't stay home like you're supposed to." Blaine added. "The doctor said you had to stay home for a week. I'm scared you'll think you feel better, force yourself to go, and then you'll end up even sicker. What if you were to get that sick when driving, Kurt? You couldn't stay awake."

"I'm staying home the whole week." Kurt said firmly. "I'm doing exactly what the doctor told me, Blaine. I promise. I'm not going back until next Monday. And if I don't feel better then, I won't go then. I don't want this to happen again just like you don't. It won't happen again. I'll never knowingly let myself get this sick again."

"It's just not fair to put yourself through this. It's not fair to put the people around you through it either, but, mostly importantly you. You're not happy. I know you're not happy because of our conversation in the car." Blaine looked down. "And I just want you to be happy."

Kurt tilted his head up and kissed him. "I'm happy with you. Right here, right now."

"I want you happy for always."

"You're so cute." Kurt said, pressing their foreheads together. "I guess that just means you have to always stay at my side doesn't it?"

Blaine laughed quietly and kissed him. "I guess so, Mr. Hummel."

Kurt kissed his cheek and pulled back, staring into his eyes. "Would you mind… well, I already signed up for classes, but… would you mind looking at my schedule and helping me find something that's a little less… intensive? Not now, but later today."

Blaine looked thoughtful before nodding. "I don't know how much real help I'll be… but, yeah, I think we should do that. I really feel like having less school to worry about will make you feel a lot better about things. And it will make life easier for you all around. We don't have to kill ourselves here. We're going to be okay if we let ourselves be."

Kurt scooted close, linking his arm through Blaine's and resting his head on Blaine's shoulder. "I don't know what I would do without you, Blaine. I really can't imagine where I would be right now if we hadn't met at Dalton…"

"New York with Mercedes and Rachel." Blaine responded, resting his head against Kurt's.

"And you'd be in California or somewhere playing soccer." Kurt added. "Less hair gel would be involved, I assume."

"You assume right. There's nothing worse than hair gel running down your face and into your eyes." Blaine laughed. "But we would have ended up meeting."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Blaine said confidently. "You would have to work in California, do something at least. And we'd be going into the same coffee shop."

"You wouldn't be paying attention and would run into me, getting coffee all over some fabulous shirt." Kurt teased.

"And you would give me that 'bitch, please' look. And me, being the sexy soccer player I would have been, would have just kissed you right there."

Kurt let out a loud laugh. "Oh, really? Because it took you months to realize you even liked me. But in California it would take you two seconds?"

"Yep."

"Well let's hope Rachel wasn't going to be with me for any reason, because you sure decided you liked her fast. Otherwise you might have left with her!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha." Blaine scowled. "Why don't I just use my inheritance and you get a set up on the Comedy Channel?"

"Nah. I'll reserve the jokes for only you and your humility." Kurt pulled his head back and gave Blaine an adorable smirk.

"You're going to kill me one of these days." Blaine teased, laughing and shaking his head.

"That would be unfortunate." Kurt said, kissing him again.

"Because you would have to wear so many black clothes?" Blaine grinned.

"Because I would have to wear so many black clothes." Kurt nodded, grinning right back.