It felt good to be back in New Directions. Kurt honestly didn't really miss Dalton all that much. The guys were nice to him, but New Directions was where he belonged. He missed Blaine the most, of course, but it was nice to get to FaceTime with him and see him on the occasional weekend. The school year was almost over, but Kurt had a feeling he could bribe him into transferring to McKinley for his senior year. Blaine hated being apart from him just as much as Kurt did.
It was just one week before Nationals, so every rehearsal they had counted. There was no goofing off like there usually was. Everyone knew they had to get serious if they wanted to win, which they all did, more than anything.
Kurt had returned to McKinley after regionals, so he was behind on the dances for the numbers. He knew the songs like the back of his hand, but learning choreography was always a little more challenging for him, and he never knew why.
It was a Saturday, and Mr. Shue had them rehearsing from 10:30 in the morning until 2 o'clock in the afternoon. It was a lot for a ten-minute performance, but they had to be absolutely perfect in every category for the competition. They had taken a break for lunch and all went to Subway, but then it was back to work. Most everyone was just working on perfecting tiny flaws, but Kurt still felt behind in everything.
He was so clumsy, it didn't even happen when he was dancing. Mike and Brittany had been working with him specially to get him up to par on the dances, and he got thirsty so went to get a drink. He hopped down the steps of the stage, but tripped on just one and came crashing down. Kurt landed in a heap on the floor, clutching his ankle. Everyone saw what happened, and Mr. Shue hurried over to him.
"Are you hurt?" the teacher asked, pulling up the leg of his pants.
"I don't know," Kurt said in a small voice. He couldn't break his ankle. There would be no way he could perform in a week with a hurt ankle. Finn bent down by his side and tried to hold his hand, but Kurt pushed it away. Even if he was hurt he could power through it and make it to Nationals. Then he could be in pain once it was over.
"Can you walk?" he stepbrother asked. Kurt pushed himself to his feet and took an experimental step. There was a sharp pain every time he put weight on it, and he had a little bit of a limp.
"I'm okay," he assured them, taking a couple more steps. It still hurt, but he managed to get around without limping. Mr. Shue looked at him skeptically. "Really, I'm fine! Let's keep going. We can't waste any more time."
"You sit out if it starts to hurt," he warned. "Let me know and we can put some ice on it or something." Kurt nodded in agreement and climbed the steps to go back to rehearsing. It hurt worse and worse and was even throbbing a little, but he wasn't going to let it show. After rehearsal he could go home and prop it up and take Tylenol. It would be okay.
Kurt noticed Mr. Shue keeping a watchful eye on him throughout the rest of rehearsal, so Kurt had to try extra hard to hide the fact that he was injured, but he was exhausted by the time it was nearly over. He was willing to give anything to just sit down and take his shoes off. They ran through a full rehearsal at the very end, and Kurt felt like falling over every time he stepped on his bad foot. It got to the point where in the last number he just couldn't support his weight anymore. His ankle gave out, and he found himself on the floor again.
It hurt much worse than the first time he fell. His ankle was throbbing and he could tell it was swollen. Everyone in the group crowded him, and Mr. Shue came to his side.
"What's wrong? Did you twist it again or is it just hurting?" he asked.
"Hurts," Kurt said, wincing in pain. Mercedes and Quinn began to fuss over him, which only stressed him out more. Quinn got him a cup of water and Mercedes sat and rubbed his back, which helped him relax some, but it didn't minimize the sharp stabs of pain.
"What are we going to do?" Rachel worried. "If he's out we won't have enough people to perform."
"Just calm down for five seconds," Finn snapped at her. "He's hurt and all you care about is yourself." Kurt leaned his head onto Mercedes' shoulder. Hearing them argue made him feel guilty. He knew it was all his fault. If he weren't so clumsy none of it would be happening.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It was an accident. I'll be fine. I can perform."
"It's not your fault. Sit still for a minute," Mr. Shue told him. "I'm going to take your shoe off to see how it looks." Kurt nodded nervously and bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out.
"It's okay, baby," Mercedes cooed in his ear. "You're doing fine."
Kurt gasped in a shallow breath as Mr. Shue took his shoe off. Compared with his left ankle, his right one looked pretty swollen.
"Do you want me to call my mom, Mr. Shue?" Finn offered. "She can take care of his ankle so he doesn't need to go to the doctor." Kurt didn't want his dad and Carole fussing over him. He just wanted to pretend like nothing happened and keep on rehearsing. But he knew he wasn't able to do that.
"Yeah, call your mom," Mr. Shue told him. "How bad does it hurt, Kurt?"
"Just a little," he lied. "I'm going to be fine." He tried to sound convincing, but was unsure if he was successful. He couldn't let a stupid twisted ankle keep him from performing at Nationals.
"I want Blaine," he said quietly, so only Mercedes could hear.
"He's gonna be worried about you," she told him. "I bet if you call him he'll come see you." Kurt nodded, taking in a breath as Mr. Shue manhandled his ankle.
"Can you turn it at all?" he asked. Kurt managed to a little bit, but it mostly just made it throb more. Finn bent down opposite Mercedes next to him.
"Hey, dude. My mom's at home. She said she'll take a look at your ankle. Do you want me to carry you, or just help you walk to the car?" he asked.
"I can walk," Kurt insisted. Finn helped him up carefully, and Kurt put all his weight on his good foot. Mercedes patted his back.
"Text me later," she told him. Kurt nodded and leaned on Finn, carefully hopping down the steps of the stage. Kurt tried to put pressure on it as Finn helped him hobble, but it hurt it too much.
Once they reached the parking lot Kurt was getting tired, but he refused to let Finn carry him. He sat up in the passenger seat of his car, nervous to let Finn drive it.
"Don't get in a wreck," he pleaded. "That's the last thing we need." He buckled his seatbelt and pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"Relax," Finn said. "I'm a good driver. We'll be home really soon." Finn backed out of the parking spot, and Kurt hissed in pain as he carelessly flew over a speed bump. "Sorry, dude. Just relax." Kurt texted Blaine in hopes he would offer to come over. Fortunately he replied quickly and said he was already on his way. He had stayed in Westerville that particular weekend, so it would be at least two hours before he actually got there.
After suffering through a horrible drive with Finn, who didn't seem to know what brakes or turn signals were, they made it back home.
"Don't get out, I'm gonna help you," he ordered. Kurt unbuckled his seatbelt and put most of his weight on Finn as they went inside the house. "Mom, we're home!" Kurt was certain he couldn't be any louder.
"I want to sit down," he told him. Finn led him to the couch, and Carole came down the staircase.
"What did you do, honey?" she asked him. "Finn just said you fell."
"I tripped down the stairs and twisted it, and it hurt kind of bad, but I kept going and then at the end it gave out and I hurt it worse," he explained. It was obvious he was hurt, so he didn't try to lie about the pain anymore. Carole adjusted the pillows behind his back and took a look at his foot.
"It's certainly swollen. Finn, go get an ice pack from the freezer," she told him. Finn disappeared into the kitchen and Carole gingerly felt around on it. Sometimes it hurt, but the real pain came when she had him try to move it.
"Will I be able to dance at Nationals next weekend?" he asked anxiously. He couldn't let the group down.
"I think so, but you need to rest it a lot between now and then." Finn came back and Carole pressed the ice to his ankle. It felt too cold at first, but soon it was numb and felt good on it. She carefully propped several pillows under it and gave him some Advil. "Once we're finished icing it then I can wrap it to compress it." Kurt nodded and she handed him the TV remote.
"Blaine is on his way," he informed her. "He was worried so he left Dalton."
"That's nice of him. I'll make a little extra food so he can stay for dinner. You get some rest and don't try to walk. Let me or Finn know if you need to get up, okay?" Kurt nodded again, and Carole left him alone. He heard her in the kitchen beginning to cook dinner. Kurt turned on an episode of the Real Housewives of Atlanta and waited for Blaine to show up. They hadn't seen each other in person for two weeks.
After two hours of TV, the doorbell rang. Carole came out of the kitchen and let Blaine in. Kurt was so happy to finally see him. Blaine wrapped his arms around him and kissed the top of his head.
"Hey," he said. "How are you? I was so worried. Is it broken?" Kurt shook his head.
"I just twisted it. Carole said if I rest it I should be okay for Nationals," he told him. Blaine sat next to him, and Kurt snuggled by his side. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too. I'm just glad you're gonna be okay. Can I get you anything?" he offered. Kurt shook his head. He didn't want him to get up. Blaine put his arm around him as they watched TV together. Kurt was grateful he had dropped everything to come see him. It wasn't even anything serious, but Blaine had come right away to make sure it was okay.
"Thanks for coming," Kurt mumbled. Blaine smiled.
"You're welcome. It wasn't a problem at all." Kurt dropped his head onto Blaine's shoulder and breathed in the scent of his cologne.
"Carole said you could stay for dinner," he told him. "Unless you have to get back to Dalton."
"No no, I'll stay. I didn't drive two hours to stay for half an hour and then leave," he teased. Kurt smiled and yawned. He was tired from the long rehearsal. His ankle didn't hurt as much, so there was hope that he would be all better by Friday. He especially felt better after just getting to see his boyfriend for the first time in two weeks.
Author's Notes:
I posted a chapter way back I think with Blaine hurting his ankle at rehearsal... so I read through it to make sure I wasn't writing the same thing but just with Kurt. I did my best here so I hope you like it!
Also I'm going to have a lot more free time now that it's summer, and I have a oneshot almost finished, and am working on a new chapter for Aftermath. And last night I couldn't sleep so I wrote two potential chapters for a new story, so we'll see about posting those. I hope you liked this, and let me know if you have any prompts or ideas or anything! If you've already left one I've definitely seen it and I have a big list that I have yet to write, but Ipromise I'm not ignoring you! It just takes me forever to get focused and "in the zone" when it comes to writing. But I will be working at it over the weekend!