Blaine looked in the mirror, trying to look his best. He could tell he was sweating, but he had severe chills at the same time. He honestly didn't know what was wrong. The night before he'd felt just fine, but he woke up in the middle of the night in horrible pain. His stomach was cramping and wouldn't settle, and he'd thrown up twice. He hated when he threw up. It was gross and make his throat sting and he always felt worse afterwards. He snuck down to his kitchen and found a half-empty bottle of Pepto-Bismol, so he took some in hopes of feeling better by the morning, but had no such luck.
It was the day of regionals, and Blaine told himself he was going to perform no matter how bad he felt. His body alternated from sweating to chilling, and sometimes both. His mom made him eat breakfast, but he threw up as soon as he got to McKinley. He'd had the stomach flu two years before, and he had all the same symptoms, so at least he was assured it wasn't food poisoning or appendicitis or anything serious. After they won he would be able to go home and sleep it off. Besides, he only had to sing in one song. The Troubletones were doing a number, and Rachel had a solo at the end. He forced himself to power through it.
He was drinking a lot of water so he wouldn't get dehydrated from getting sick, but that only made his stomach hurt more. Once he put on his costume he sat in the choir room, trying to relax until they went on. On top of feeling like death, he was getting pre-performance nerves. They were under a lot of pressure to beat the Warblers, especially after that picture Sebastian created of Finn. Kurt came over to him and pulled up a seat.
"Are you okay?" he asked. "You're normally not so quiet." Blaine wasn't sure if he should tell him or just wait until after they went on.
"I'll be fine. My stomach's hurting a little. You wouldn't happen to have any Tylenol, would you?" he asked.
"Hang on. I keep some Advil in my locker. Would that work?" he asked. Blaine nodded, willing to take anything. He waited as Kurt left and returned with two pills. Blaine had his water bottle with him so he took the medicine right away. "Is there anything you need? Maybe eating something would help. Have you thrown up?" Blaine nodded hesitantly, and Kurt pressed his hands against his cheeks.
"Stop," he moaned, pulling away. He was uncomfortable in the simple choir room chairs, but there wasn't anything more comfortable for him to sit in.
"You're burning up," Kurt worried. "I don't think you should sing, honey. I can tell Mr. Shue and go find your mom in the auditorium." Blaine shook his head.
"No, I'm singing," he insisted. "It's one song. I can do it." He was already feeling like he was going to be sick again.
"Fifteen minutes, guys!" Mr. Shue called out, the sound ringing in his ears. Blaine was starting to believe he couldn't do it, but he knew he had to.
"I'll be right back," he said, pressing his hand over his mouth as he quickly hurried down the hall to the bathroom. Thankfully it was empty. His face started to feel hot and his mouth was watering. He ducked into the first stall and threw up right away. He felt disgusting throwing up in his own bathroom, but the public ones at McKinley were ten times as gross. He sank to the floor, leaning against the wall. He caught his breath and wrapped his arms around his abdomen. He just wanted to curl up in his bed and sleep until it was all better.
Where is Kurt? he thought. His boyfriend was the only one who could help him get through the performance. Before he had time to do anything, his stomach cramped again and he found himself throwing up a second time. He choked and struggled to draw in a breath. Blaine winced as he swallowed; his throat was on fire. He sagged back against the grubby bathroom wall, exhausted. He heard the door open and crossed his fingers that it was Kurt and not Mr. Shue.
"Blaine?" He sighed in relief. It was Kurt.
"In here," he mumbled. He felt cold and curled his knees up to his chest. Kurt pushed the stall door open and looked down at him. "Hi."
"What happened? Did you throw up a lot?" he asked. Blaine nodded. He didn't care about singing anymore. There was no way he was able to do it. Kurt knelt down by him and Blaine laid his head on his shoulder.
"I'm cold," he moaned, wrapping his arms around Kurt's.
"I know, it's okay," he told him. "I need to go tell Mr. Shue you can't sing. Do you want to come with me or stay here?" Blaine's stomach lurched painfully and he was afraid for a second he would get sick again, but the nausea subsided after a minute.
"Stay," he choked out. "Hurry." Kurt pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"I'll be right back. I'll bring you your water, too." Blaine nodded, shivering as Kurt got up. He knew he was letting the whole group down, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He just hoped they wouldn't be mad at him.
After what seemed like an hour, the bathroom door was pushed open again. Kurt had returned, and Mr. Shue was with him.
"Hey, Blaine," the teacher said. "Listen. You're not gonna go onstage, but we got Puck to do your part of the song, so don't worry about that. Are your parents here?" Blaine nodded.
"I can go find them," Kurt spoke up.
"We don't have time," Mr. Shue told him. "You'll sit out of the performance, and then your parents can take you home."
"I want to stay," he argued. "I have to stay for awards. I'll be fine. It's just thirty extra minutes." Mr. Shue sighed, clearly stressed out. Blaine felt bad for having to drop out at the last minute.
"You can stay, that's fine. Can you get up or do you need help?" he asked. Blaine got up and went to the sinks to wash his hands and clean up.
"After it's over I'll stay with you," Kurt promised before leaving with Mr. Shue. Blaine felt a little better since his stomach was empty, but he was still exhausted, sweaty, and in pain.
Once he appeared somewhat decent, he walked back down to the choir room. Everyone had left to go perform, but Blaine didn't care to watch. Kurt was only in one song. He curled up in his chair, taking small sips from his water bottle. He closed his eyes, but sat up when he heard some of the boys return. Rory, Finn, Artie, and Mike had to stay to go up in the balcony for the third song, but Kurt and the rest of them came back. Kurt came right over to him.
"How did it go?" Blaine asked him.
"It was fine. Puck did your part," he told him. "How are you? How's your stomach?" Blaine leaned into him, desperate for warmth.
"It hurts. I haven't thrown up anymore, though," he said. Kurt wrapped his arm around him and rubbed his back.
"Hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug. Are you gonna go home?" he asked.
"I'll stay until we find out we won. Don't leave." Blaine felt comfortable with him. He didn't want Mr. Shue or anyone coming in his personal space, but Kurt was fine. Blaine was determined to make it until awards, and having Kurt by him would help the time pass quicker.
Once everyone returned the choir room was buzzing with activity. Blaine laid his head on Kurt's shoulder, trying to block out the noise. He felt nauseous again, but thankfully didn't throw up anymore.
"Think we won?" he asked him.
"Of course," Kurt said confidently. "Do you want some more water?" Blaine nodded. He hadn't realized he was out.
"Don't leave," he begged. "Get someone else to do it." He closed his eyes and clung to his boyfriend tightly, still feeling freezing cold. Kurt had Finn go refill his water bottle so he could stay with him. Once he came back Blaine drank nearly half of it. He was extremely thirsty and knew he was probably dehydrated.
Several minutes later he regretted it. He moaned and wrapped his arms around his stomach again, doing everything he could to keep from throwing up right then.
"Blaine?" Kurt said, sounding worried. He scrambled to his feet and hustled to get to the bathroom. His walk turned into a run, and he barely made it in time. Blaine sank to his knees in front of the toilet and got sick for what felt like the millionth time. He heard Kurt come in after him, and he rubbed the small of his back soothingly. After choking and dry heaving until he was certain he was finished, Blaine sank down into Kurt's arms, too weak to sit up.
"I feel dizzy," he panted, still catching his breath. Kurt stroked his hair lightly. He had been sweating so much there was hardly any gel left in it, but he had bigger things to focus on that that.
"You need to go home, honey," Kurt told him. "You need to rest." Blaine was so exhausted he didn't care if he had to sleep on the bathroom floor. "Are you going to throw up again?" Blaine shook his head, and Kurt helped him walk over to the sinks. He purposefully didn't look in the mirror. He already was aware he looked like crap. Once he was cleaned up, Kurt took him to the auditorium.
"My parents said they were in the front," Blaine said, his words slurring together. He leaned on Kurt as they walked, eager to get home and sleep. Blaine spotted his parents and pointed them out for Kurt.
"Honey," his mom said, standing up. "What's the matter? Why weren't you onstage?"
"He's been throwing up all day," Kurt filled her in. "Three times, I think. And he's got a fever." His mom felt his forehead and frowned.
"You're burning up, honey. Come on, we'll go home. It'll be okay," she promised. Blaine wanted to know who won, but he wasn't about to argue.
His parents drove him home and his mom made him comfortable in bed. He took some Pepto-Bismol and she made him eat half a can of soup. Once she left him alone he closed his eyes, too tired to think.
When he woke up he didn't feel freezing cold anymore. His stomach still hurt, but he wasn't doubled over in pain. He texted Kurt, and he came over twenty minutes later.
"You look a lot better," Kurt told him as he walked over to him.
"I feel a little better. Did we win?" he asked.
"Mm hmm," he said proudly. "Yup. We're going to Chicago in May." Blaine sighed in relief. He wouldn't have been able to forgive himself if they had lost because he couldn't sing. But it was okay, and they were going to win at Nationals no matter what.
Author's Notes:
Ahh sweet Blaine. I love it when we see him without hair gel.
As for updates, I'm not posting on my other story today, but I'm planning on writing all weekend since I have approximately a zillion requests to fill (leave me one in a comment if you have any!) next week is super busy for me but I'm going to make time to post and hopefully get a little writing done. Then on Thursday it's SUMMER and I will be able to write and post without any interruptions.