Author's Note:

Aaah, I've had no time to write this week, so this is very short and unbetaed, I'm sorry.

Chapter 12: I Must Be Sure

Paula came back in the afternoon, after her Pre-College Academy Class, and wanted to take Blaine home with her.

"You can look after Kurt," she told Trent, "and I'll take care of Blaine."

Blaine shot one look at Kurt, who was tossing and turning in bed, breathing with difficulty, his cheeks unnaturally red and the rest of him pale as death, and nixed that plan with a loud protest.

Trent shushed him and told him to go with Paula, but Blaine, his displeasure rumbling deep in his throat, jumped onto the bed and curled himself around Kurt, trying to warm him up as well as he could.

Trent gasped and tried to get him off the bed, but Blaine didn't budge. Then Kurt turned around, threw his arm around Blaine, nestled his head against Blaine's shoulder and started to snore like a freight train.

"Well, that changes things," Paula said. "If Blaine is staying here, we're going to have to divide the caretaker duties differently. What's your work schedule like? I have class on Mondays from 10.30 till 12, on Wednesdays the entire afternoon, on Thursdays from 8.30 till 10, on Fridays from 3.30 till 5, and on Saturdays the entire morning."

Together, she and Trent worked out a schedule, and then Paula checked the fridge, the pantry and the medicine cabinet and went shopping.

Blaine felt horrible that he wasn't able to help Kurt in any way, except for keeping him warm. He stuck to Kurt like a barnacle, and every time Trent or Paula wanted to take him out for a walk, he resisted until they'd sworn up and down that they'd bring him straight back to Kurt after.

Kurt's fever didn't abate in the following days, and his babbling grew more and more incoherent. Blaine's name was a constant, though. Kurt was forever calling for Blaine, telling him he needed him, and that he loved him. All Blaine could do in response was cuddle up to him, his front paws wrapped around Kurt protectively. Kurt always seemed to sense him near, and it quieted him and helped him fall asleep.

The doctor came back after three days, and was so worried about Kurt's worsening condition that she wanted to hospitalise him. Luckily, Trent was able to persuade her to let Kurt stay at home.

"I'm a trained nurse, Doctor," Trent said. "I've worked in an ICU unit for two years. Just tell me what Kurt needs and I'll take care of it – an IV, a heart monitor, an antibiotic shot for pneumonia?"

The doctor thought it over, and then decided to take Trent up on his offer. "I'll write you a prescription for the antibiotics. I can't fault you for wanting to keep him at home. God knows hospitals charge the earth. But I want you to keep me updated. I want his stats twice a day, and if it gets any worse, he'll go straight to the hospital."

For the next three days, Kurt was hooked up to an IV, and a heart monitor beeped around the clock to assure everyone he was still alive. Trent administered the pneumonia shots twice a day, and slowly but surely, Kurt's temperature went down, and he became alert enough to eat and drink again, with assistance.

"He's past the worst," Trent said as he took the IV out. "I'm going to take the heart monitor back to the rental place. He'll be back to normal in a few days. He'll have to be careful, though. He needs to take it easy for a few more weeks or he'll relapse. Make sure he rests, okay? As soon as you turn human again, I'm going back to Ashton's , but I'll pop in twice a day for the rest of the pneumonia shots."

Trent was right. The next morning, Kurt woke up lucid, and when the doctor arrived for another check-up, she declared his lungs cleared, but told him to rest for at least one more week.

Blaine asked her to administer the morning pneumonia shot, which Trent had forgotten in his rush to go back to Ashton, and thanked her for the many house calls she'd made to check on Kurt.

Making Kurt rest for a week proved quite a challenge. On Saturday, he was malleable enough, and did nothing more taxing than take a long bath, nap and eat. On Sunday, Kurt was much more his old self, and as Trent, Ashton and Paula were coming over for dinner, Kurt insisted on preparing the food. "I'm the one who invited them! They've looked after me all week!"

Blaine raised his eyebrows. "After both of us. You wouldn't want to repay them by falling ill again, now, would you? Park your cute butt on the sofa and watch some TV."

"I've got no time for that!" Kurt protested. "I missed a week of school. I need to call Neil so he can update me on all that I've missed, and the assignments I'm supposed to hand in."

"I'm sure Paula's already told all of your teachers that you're ill, and they'll grant you an extension," Blaine reassured him.

"Maybe most of them will, but not Jenkins," Kurt mumbled under his breath, and a minute later, he was on the phone with Neil. "Oh, great, that's great, thank you! Aww, yes, I know I did, but hey, that got me a job, didn't it? Anyway, thanks a lot! But what I really need to know is what assignment we got for ARS Fashion this week, so that I can get cracking. 17th century fashion? Great. I read this interesting book the other day about French aristocrats wearing red high heels. I'll write about that."

And sure enough, Kurt settled at the dining room table with his laptop and a big book and set to work. Blaine didn't hear another peep about making dinner, and at five minutes to seven, he had to tell Kurt to scram so he could set the table for five.

"I'm almost done!" Kurt complained, but Blaine shooed him off.

By the time their dinner guests were sitting down, nibbling on mini pizzas and quiches and sipping a glass of spumante, Kurt still hadn't arrived. Blaine found him in his bedroom, going over his now fully written assignment and muttering to himself.

"Dinner is served, Milord," Blaine said, and Kurt jumped a foot in the air.

"Dinner? Okay, I'll be right there, as soon as I've sent…"

But Blaine closed the laptop. "We have guests. That you invited. So come help me entertain them."

Kurt sighed, but slid off the bed and followed Blaine.

Kurt seemed a bit subdued during dinner. Blaine was pretty sure he was getting tired again, and hurried to offer everyone dessert so that they would leave shortly after.

Before he left, Trent gave Kurt his evening pneumonia shot and then took Blaine aside.

"Quit it with the sleeping in the same bed, okay? I know you don't mean anything by it, but you're getting the boy's hopes up, and it's cruel. You never did that to me, why would you do that to him?"

Blaine, a bit taken aback, didn't know how to respond, and Trent rolled his eyes, sighed and reiterated, "Don't make promises you can't deliver on. Take it from me, that HURTS. You're not into Kurt? Fine, but then keep your distance, so that he can get over his crush and fall for someone else, like I did with Ashton. Right now, you have him thinking that it's somehow his fault. That he's unlovable or something. I told him it was unlikely you'd ever fall for him, and he said, 'Who would?'"

Blaine's mouth fell open, and his heart hurt for Kurt, who was amazing and wonderful and beautiful inside and out, and deserved all the love in the world.

"That's what you do to him," Trent said. "So stop it, please."

Later on, when all the guests were gone, and Blaine was doing the dishes, he mulled it over in his head. Was Trent right? Was it cruel of Blaine to show Kurt affection?

Of one thing, Blaine was sure: this wasn't the Trent situation all over again. Blaine had never felt for Trent even half of what he felt for Kurt, and he'd never been as close to anyone as he had to Kurt.. Kurt complemented him in ways that Trent never had.

However upset Blaine had felt when Trent moved out, he knew that it would be so much worse if Kurt ever decided to leave him. He'd be absolutely devastated. In just a few months, Kurt had become the most important part of Blaine's life. And ever since Blaine had overheard the phone conversation between Kurt and his father, he'd been picturing what it would be like to marry Kurt, raise children together and grow old with him. He could see it all so clearly, and he wanted it. But did he want it for the right reason? That was the crux of the matter.

Kurt deserved true love. He deserved someone who chose him because he was the brightest star in their sky and their best part of every day. Because they wanted to wake up with him in the morning and go to sleep at night with him in their arms. Because when he was in the room, everyone else disappeared for them and they only had eyes for him.

Blaine had grown to care for Kurt, more and more every day, but was that a self-fulfilling prophecy, or did he truly love him? He wasn't sure, and as long as he lacked that certainty, he wouldn't kiss Kurt. That much he could promise himself.

He hung up the tea towel and went to Kurt's room to nag him to go to sleep.

Kurt was already in his pyjamas, moisturising his face. He looked up with a glowing smile. "I just sent the essay to Jenkins. At least one thing I can cross off my list."

"Good," said Blaine. "But promise me you won't overdo it. No dog-walking for at least another two weeks, and no late nights working on school stuff. You need to get better first."

Kurt's smile fell. "I left them in the lurch for a week, so I doubt the agency's ever going to want me back anyway."

"I called them the first day you were ill," Blaine told him. "So I'm pretty sure they found a replacement for you. I'm sure they've had other dog walkers fall ill before."

And there was that smile again for Blaine to bask in. "Thank you!"

Kurt got into bed, and then beckoned Blaine with his arm. "Come to bed, please. I'm tired."

Blaine hesitated for a fraction of a second, remembering Trent's warning, but the tug on his heart was too strong. "I'll be right there!"

K&B

Now that Blaine and Trent were on speaking terms again, Trent and Ashton became regular dinner guests, and Kurt and Trent got along like a house on fire.

It shouldn't have surprised Blaine, then, that Kurt knew about the engaged couple's plans before he did. But it still shook him when Ashton proudly showed him the plans and sketches for the building he and Trent had bought and wanted to turn into an art gallery of their own. Both the interior design and the logo design had Kurt written all over them, so Kurt must have known about this for months, but he'd kept mum about it.

When the invitation arrived for the wedding, Kurt's name was beautifully calligraphed next to Blaine's on the envelope, and Blaine caught himself staring at the '&' in between for a little too long.

Blaine was scared about turning into a dog at an inopportune moment during the ceremony, and had asked Kurt to stand in as best man if necessary, but it all passed without a hitch, even the best man speech.

And yet, it had been another close shave. Later that evening, the whole crowd gathered in the garden for a fireworks spectacle Ashton had arranged for Trent as a surprise. Fairy lights had been hung over all the trees, and the effect was charming. The fireworks went up, everyone oohed and aahed, and then filed back into the ballroom to dance and get wasted.

Kurt hung back, though, and told Blaine he'd rather stay outside a while longer. Blaine happily agreed to that, and when the music started up again in the ballroom, he hopped about happily to the sound of his favourite tunes and hummed along.

Kurt giggled at Blaine's antics, his nose and eyes scrunching up and his teeth showing, and Blaine grinned at him and turned his energy up a notch.

A slower song came on, and Blaine coaxed Kurt into slow-dancing with him. They glided over the grass smoothly, Blaine's hand on Kurt's waist, and Kurt's hand on Blaine's shoulder, their cheeks so close they were almost touching. When the song ended, Kurt sighed, his warm breath washing over Blaine.

"You okay?" Blaine verified.

"Never better," said Kurt, leaning in a little and looking at Blaine from under his lashes, and wow, how had Blaine never noticed how long and beautiful they were?

So entranced was Blaine that he didn't notice he was turning into a dog until he was shrinking again, and then he let out a distressed whine. This was SO not the moment!