A/N Sorry I didn't post last week. My coauthor was on vacation, and I was under the weather. While there are few details in this chapter, the same trigger warning from last chapter still applies here, and in the next chapter.

Chapter Six

Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly considering the events of the night before, Elliott slept for nearly eight hours on the couch in Kurt and Blaine's suite. Tobias had climbed up beside him at one point during the night, and had slept with his chin on the man's hip.

Kurt had placed an order for room service breakfast, which arrived just as the older male was beginning to wake.

"Good morning, Starshine. Coffee?" Kurt said, holding up the carafe.

"How long was I asleep for?" Elliott grumbled, rubbing his eyes.

"Almost eight hours," Kurt said nonchalantly.

"Eight? I never sleep that long!" And then the memory of last night came back to him. "Oh god! I need a shower!" He stood up and almost collapsed, as his stomach turned over, bringing up bile.

"Whoa!" Kurt said, quickly setting the carafe down and rushing to his side. "Elliott! Blaine, get a washcloth, quick!" He looked at the older man with a worried expression on his face. "Maybe we ought to just get you some dry toast. And, I don't think you should perform today."

Elliott feebly tried to pull away from him. "How can you touch me? I'm so dirty!"

Kurt just wrapped him in his arms and held him tightly. "You are not dirty, Elliott. You're my brother, the best one I could ever ask for. Not including Finn. You were always there for me. Now let me be there for you. Blaine, do you have that washcloth?"

"Here, love. I brought mouthwash, too."

"Thank you, darling. Will you hand me the glass of water off the tray, please?"

Blaine handed him the glass, and then stepped back out of the way, not wanting to crowd the distressed man.

Kurt gently cleaned Elliott up and helped him use the mouthwash, before handing him the glass of water and helping him sit back against the couch. "Deep breaths, El, okay?"

He was shaking so bad as Kurt pulled the blankets up around him again. Kurt was worried he'd shake himself right off the couch. Raja and Tobias immediately climbed up and settled on either side of him, as if to protect him.

Without really realizing what he was doing, Kurt found himself softly singing Pink's Perfect under his breath as he ran his hand a few times through Elliott's hair, doing everything he could to help him calm down some more. He picked up one of the triangles of toast from the breakfast tray, and offered it to Elliott. "Try to eat a few bites, and I'll have them send up some tea for you. Please?" he added when his friend tried to shake his head no.

Elliott just stared at him. "Why are you doing all this for me? I'm not worth it."

Kurt glared at him. "You listen to me, Elliott! You ARE worth it! You are worth so much to me, and Quinn, and Blaine. Raja thinks you're worth it, and you know how hard it is to get him to like you. Dave thinks you're worth it, too. He'd be very disappointed to hear you say otherwise. So I don't want to hear you say that again! Do I make myself clear?"

Elliott didn't say anything, just stared at him wide eyed. Kurt sighed and moved into the empty bedroom, telling Blaine to keep an eye on him for a moment. He pulled out his phone and called Quinn. "We need to come up with a way to get him to believe us," he said as soon as she picked up.

"You know that's easier said than done right now. It's been almost fifteen years since that day, Kurt. This has been eating away at him for all that time. I don't think there is any way to just make it all better, to make him see what we see. We just have to be patient with him, and let Emma work her magic."

Kurt let out a choked sob, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth and shaking his head. "I'm scared, Quinn," he admitted. "I'm scared. What if we waited too long? What if it's too little, too late? When he remembered last night, he stood, collapsed, and threw up." His voice dropped lower with his next words. "I don't want to have to put my best friend in the hospital."

She let out a little sniffle herself. "We have to believe, Kurt. We need to be strong for him, to show him we aren't going anywhere, that he is perfect in our eyes."

He was quiet for a moment, shutting his eyes and trying to reign in his tears. "I need to do something, Quinn. I'll see you later," he said, before hanging up and dialing another familiar number. He knew the hour would be awkward, but he also knew the person he was calling would pick up his call, no matter what time it was.

"Kurt?" Burt said, sounding just slightly sleepy.

"Hi, dad. I know it's like two in the morning there, but I'm going to give my phone to Elliott, and I need you to tell him how much he means to you, okay? Don't ask questions, just do this for me, please. He needs to hear it."

"Of course, Kiddo," Burt said. "But I want you to tell me why later."

"I will, I promise," Kurt said. He left the empty bedroom and went back over to Elliott. He held out the phone. "Take it, someone wants to talk to you."

"Who?" Elliott asked, warily.

"Just take the damn phone and find out!" Kurt said, shoving it at him.

Elliott looked slightly taken aback, but he took the phone anyway and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?" he said cautiously.

"Hey, El. You know I always considered you like a son, right? I respected the way you helped Kurt out with the bullies, and showed him how to brush off their taunts and insults. You've always been there for him, especially after his mom died, when I was too busy grieving myself to help him. You're a great man, and no matter what this is all about, you are a member of this family, and nothing will ever change that. Got it?"

Elliott stared up at Kurt, his eyes going wide as the younger man just stood beside the couch with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face. "Elliott," he said, gentler now. "Don't you know how many people love you?"

Elliott started crying again, although this time the tears were more cleansing. "I feel so ashamed. He said no one, man or woman, would ever want me after he was done with me. He wanted me to die, Kurt." He took a deep breath. "And I did. I died a little that day, and I don't think I can ever get that part of me back."

Kurt reached out and took a hold of one of his hands. "Then don't think about getting that part back. Let it stay dead. Move forward, and build something new. Make a better you. And all of us here who surround you with love like we always have, we're going to help you do that. And Emma will help you too. She wanted to talk to you privately once you had enough rest. Elliott, you have nothing to be ashamed of. If anyone should be ashamed, it should be him, so may he rot in hell for all he did to you." The last part he practically ground out angrily, loud enough his dad could probably hear him.

Elliott shuddered again, and then looked back up at Kurt. "Thank you for accepting me." He handed him back the phone. "And thank you for this. I needed to hear that."

Kurt smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Just remember how much we love you and you'll be just fine. You're worth everything to all of us, Elliott." He brought the phone back up to his own ear. "I'll let you get some sleep, dad. Thank you."

"Okay, Kiddo, but I want the details as soon as you can give them to me."

"You have my word. Quinn and I will talk to you as soon as we can." He said goodbye and hung the phone up before looking down at Elliott and tucking in the blanket again. "Now, you are going to stay here and rest. Other than ordering room service and watching on demand or something, I don't want you doing anything too strenuous."

Elliott grabbed his hand. "Are you going to tell Dave?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, but you are going to have to tell him. I'm going to have him come keep watch over you during the show."

"What if he runs…" Elliott got out, biting his lip.

Kurt squeezed his hand. "Dave has a lot of dark demons of his own. He's the last person I would ever expect to run from you because of your past. You have my word."

Elliott still looked frightened, but there was just a spark of something in his eyes. Kurt thought it might be hope.

…

Kurt and Blaine smiled at the image on their laptop screen. "It's a girl," Tina said, as the sonogram video showed the grainy movements of the fetus.

"Congratulations," Blaine said, as Tina's smiling face came back into view. "We're both so happy for you and Mike."

"Yeah," Kurt said, nodding. "How is Mike doing? Did he actually faint, or did he just collapse?"

Tina rolled her eyes. "He passed out when they announced it was a girl, he was so giddy. I think he's also a little terrified, too. He's so nervous about being a dad. You should have been there when we told his parents we were expecting! You know how strict and uptight his dad is? I've never seen a man go from stone faced to jubilation so fast."

Kurt laughed. "I wish I could have seen that!"

"So," Tina said, sobering for a moment. "What did you want to tell me about Elliott?"

Kurt looked at Blaine before he replied. "Apparently he's been hiding a lot from us. He really needs our support right now. I'm not going to give you any details, that's not my story to tell, but I just need you guys to send him all the love and support you can."

"Oh, god, Kurt! Of course! Is he okay physically?"

"Physically, yes. Emotionally, he's a wreck. Quinn and I are very worried about him, and about Dave, who he keeps trying to push away."

"That's not good. What does Dave say?"

"Dave is strong, he refuses to let Elliott distance himself, which is good, that's what he needs right now," Blaine answered.

Tina nodded. "I'm sorry we're not there with you all."

"Don't be!" Kurt said. "You're right where you belong right now. And we'll see you in a few weeks in Beijing, and we'll be in Columbus for Thanksgiving, and you're due the day before, so hopefully that little one will wait for us to get there before she makes her debut."

There was a knock on the dressing room door. "Five minutes till curtain!" Artie called out.

"Sorry, Tina, we gotta go," Blaine said. "I'll call you guys again on our next travel day!"

…

"Well, it's that time of the night!" Kurt said, smiling at the audience. "As my love, Blaine would say, it's time for a kid hunt!" He made his way down the steps and out into the audience as playful music played. He pretended to search high and low through the crowd before pointing out a girl in the center section. She looked to be around nine years old. He beckoned her to join him. She giggled and followed him back on stage.

"Hello, what's your name?" Kurt asked once they were standing center stage again.

"Sole!" the little girl chirped excitedly.

"Oh, that's so pretty! Does that mean Sun?" Kurt asked her.

"Yes! My mamma learned it when she studied in Italy and vowed to name her first daughter it! That's me!"

The audience awed in delight at her enthusiasm. Kurt smiled at her. "Tell me, Sole, do you like flowers?"

"Flowers can be used in all sorts of ways! My Auntie Layla taught me how to make a flower crown!" she said, beaming up at him.

"Excellent," Kurt said. "What is your favorite flower?"

Sole's face took on a very concentrated expression, like she was thinking really hard. "I like pansies, because their color patterns are fun to look at and hyacinths because they're a unique shape!"

"I like hyacinths too," Kurt said. "My favorite are the purple ones." He snapped his fingers, and a stalk of purple hyacinths appeared. He handed it to Sole.

The girl squealed as she took the flowers, the grin never leaving her face. "I like it when the colors are so vibrant!" she said.

Kurt grinned down at her. "Do you know who else loves purple hyacinths?"

She appeared to be thinking hard again, before she finally shook her head. "No."

"Ginger and Quinn both love them." Quinn joined them then, leading Ginger on a leash. Kurt snapped his fingers again, and a second stalk appeared, and he presented it to the blonde woman. "Quinn, will you show Sole my special box?" He asked, taking Ginger's leash.

Quinn smiled at Sole, taking her hand and leading her to the box Sam and another crew member wheeled out on stage. As she helped Sole examine the box, Kurt led Ginger to a cage on the other side of the stage, patting her head and giving her a treat before shutting the door behind her.

Kurt then joined Quinn and Sole at the box, which looked like the clear coffin Snow White lay in in the fairy tale. "Now, Sole, you aren't afraid of small spaces, are you?"

"I have a habit of falling asleep in my closet," the little girl said.

Kurt laughed. "Okay, then you don't mind laying down in the box, like a Princess in a fairy tale?"

Sole looked back at him with an expression of awe, as though she never dreamed she would be this important to a trick. "Okay!"

Kurt and Quinn helped her in, and she lay with her hands resting on her chest, the stalk of hyacinth still clutched in her fingers. They carefully placed the lid on the box, and padlocked it in place. They then draped the box in a white satin sheet, hiding the girl from view. Kurt then crossed back over to Ginger's cage, and covered it with a similar sheet.

Kurt moved to center stage with Quinn, doing a brief Waltz, before separating. Kurt moved to the box, and with a flourish, whipped the sheet off, revealing Ginger playing with dozens of hyacinth flowers. He then moved to the cage, pulling the sheet from it, to reveal Sole, now holding a huge bouquet of hyacinths. He opened the cage door and helped the giddy girl out.

The audience cheered and applauded in delight. Sole couldn't stop laughing, her nose buried in the flowers.

They released Ginger from the box, and Sole was excited to be allowed to pet her, before Jake brought her a gift bag, and escorted her from the stage.

…

blueandhazelforever: That was a cute bit with that little girl and Ginger! Such a precocious child!

branches-are-looking-at-me: Sigh, is it November yet? I can't wait for you all to come back to Tucson.

I_hate_Mosquitos: You're lucky. I have to wait until February when they come to San Antonio. Why only two nights in Texas this tour?

coffeegleek: I'm just happy they're coming anywhere near me this time. I've got tickets for the special Halloween show!

lucy8675309: I hope Elliott feels better soon. It's sad that he got sick in the middle of the tour.

BlaineKurtElliot: I'm sure Dave is taking good care of Elliott. I'm so glad he found a guy who loves him as much as Kurt and Blaine love each other!

kurthummeldeservesbetter: Ginger was so sweet and gentle. Kurt really has a way with Tigers.

datshitrandom: Guys! You'll never believe it! Kurt and Blaine actually hired me to make their wedding invites! I'm so happy! This is really going to jump start my graphic design business!

ButtonsandBows: I wish I could attend their wedding. I bet it's going to be amazing!