A/N: Sorry, this update took a bit longer than usual! Writers block isn't fun. :(

Hope you all enjoy! 3


Ding

Kurt stood in the kitchen and looked nervously down at his phone, 'One new message from Blaine'.

From: Blaine

Good morning. :)

Kurt stared blankly at his phone for what felt like hours, but couldn't possibly have been more than five minutes.

How do I respond to this? Kurt thought to himself frantically, his mind racing.

His fingers tapped out message after message, trying uselessly to figure out what a normal response would be. But, pressing delete afterward, every time.

I'll just reply later. He thought to himself, putting his phone back into his jean pocket.

He had been planning on having breakfast, but now the thought of eating anything at all made his already queasy stomach one hundred times worse. On the bright side, I'll definitely fit into my new skinny jeans.

"Hey, kiddo."

Kurt turned around at the sound of his Dad greeting him. He attempted to conjure up a cheerful smile in response, but only managed what felt like a mere caricature of the real thing.

"What's wrong? You look like you just found out Lady HaHa died."

"It's GaGa, and I'm fine, really." Kurt Hummel; singer, dancer, fashionista, and habitual liar. He thought to himself grimly.

Burt looked at him, seeming to assess, his eyes worried. "You sure?"

"I'm sure." Kurt said, with a short nod.

"Okay. But, you know that if you ever need to talk about anything I'm here for you, right?"

"I know, Dad." Kurt smiled again, hoping that it seemed more 'I'm genuinely happy', and less 'grim reaper'.

Burt looked at him carefully, almost suspiciously, but seemed to decide not to press any further. Choosing instead to rummage around and make himself his morning cup of black coffee.

Kurt allowed himself a quiet sigh of relief, when his Dad let the issue go. I'm usually more convincing than that.


He never did end up responding to Blaine's text. Throughout the rest of the day, in his room, at the mall, he would take out his phone and look at it.

Once it even rang, probably Blaine wondering if he was okay.

God, he wanted to talk to Blaine. He wanted to very badly, with the kind of longing that only someone who is truly alone can feel. He just didn't know how. He felt like he was an alien trying to masquerade as a normal human being, whenever he held that phone in his hand. Sure that he wouldn't know how to interact, that Blaine would figure it out. And not only would that most likely ruin their friendship, it would ruin his pride and break the promise he had made to himself. The promise that he had to be stronger than that, he was not weak, he was strong enough not to submit to someone like his instincts demanded. The promise that he didn't need anyone, and he especially didn't need anyone to take care of him.

The fact that he had already blatantly broken parts of that promise to himself, he chose to ignore.


So, it continued through the next day at school. His life, back to the same routine it had been before he had met Blaine. The only difference was Glee Club, a small spark of happiness. Even if all the solos did go to Rachel, and all the duets to Rachel and Finn. Which was definitely not fair.

Maybe he would say something about it, but not now. Right now he felt an exhaustion that couldn't even be measured in normal terms, all he wanted to do was go home and sleep for the rest of the day, hell the rest of the week or month would do nicely.

"Kurt?"

Kurt looked over at the sound of his name and saw Rachel staring at him. Then he noticed that everyone else had already left the choir room. Wow I really do need to sleep, this is not good for my complexion.

"Right, I'm leaving. Thanks, Rachel."

Kurt stood up then, grabbing his bag and preparing to walk away; when he felt Rachel's hand gently touch his arm, stopping him.

He turned to face her and lifted an eyebrow inquiringly.

"Are you alright, Kurt? You look a little... peaked. I didn't see you eat anything at lunch. Not to mention-" Here she paused, seemingly for dramatic effect, before leaning in close to his ear and saying in a stage whisper, "you have dark circles. And I really can't have a proper rival that has dark circles."

Kurt gaped at her in horror. "No." He said in a terrified whisper. Dark circles? Me?

He quickly rummaged through his bag until he found the pocket mirror that he always carried with him, in case of emergency of course.

Oh god, he looked nothing like himself. His dark circles could probably win an award of some sort, and he just looked haggard. At least his skin was as smooth as ever, thank goodness for his moisturizers.

"Maybe a stress pimple will be next." Rachel predicted grimly.

"Don't say that." Kurt said, his eyes widening in terror. "It's bad luck."

"I had a gigantic stress pimple on my nose a couple years ago." Rachel said thoughtfully, ignoring him. "It was big, red, and oh god it was just hideous. I had twice the amount of slushies thrown on me, during that week." Rachel's eyes filled up with tears at the memory.

"You poor thing." Kurt whispered, his eyes tearing up in part sympathy, part fear for himself.

Then, suddenly, Rachel's arms were around him, hugging him tightly. He stiffened in surprise, before hugging her back. Usually he didn't like people invading his personal space like that, but this felt nice. Friendly human contact was almost.. comforting.

She drew back after another moment, releasing him. "Take care of yourself, Kurt. We need to have you at your best for Sectionals."

She flounced out of the room before he could reply. Rachel Berry is certainly unpredictable nowadays.


He went home straight after school. No encounters with any of the dreaded jocks, thank goodness for small miracles.

He took off his shoes at the door and walked through the house, heading towards his room so he could take his much needed nap.

"Hey Kurt, how was school?" Burt said, spotting him.

And I was trying to be quiet. Kurt thought to himself, suppressing a sigh.

"Fine. I'm just a little tired, so I'm going to rest for an hour or two. Beauty sleep is important."

"Okay." Burt said, looking at his face carefully. "Before you do that, can you sit down for a moment? I think you and I need to talk."

Kurt frowned to himself, a foreboding feeling creeping over him as he slowly sat down on the couch, nervously crossing his legs.

Burt sat down on the chair across from him and was quiet for a moment, attempting to gather his thoughts.

"Kurt, I know something is wrong. I may be dumb, but I'm not stupid. You haven't been yourself for a couple of days now. I'm worried about you. It's my job as your Dad to be there for you, and you're not letting me do my job, you won't open up to me. You're lying to my face about it."

Kurt paled significantly, which was saying something considering he was pale to begin with. I was that obvious..

He nervously crossed and uncrossed his legs, unsure of what to say. "I.. um... I-I guess I've been having a hard time." Kurt managed to choke out the words, almost laughing at the ridiculous understatement, but it came out as a strangled sob instead.

He paused for a moment to recover, then continued. "I just lost the first real friend I've ever had. And it's my fault, I'm so stupid." A tear trickled down his face and he angrily wiped it away. I've been crying an awful lot lately. "Something happened that I feel guilty about and now I can't even face him. So, I've been ignoring him and he probably hates me now." Kurt stared down at his lap, a dramatic sniffle ending his words.

"Well, I don't know what you did, and I won't ask, that's your business. But, talk to him and apologize to him. If he's a friend worth keeping it'll work out. Don't give up, Kurt. Friendship isn't something you should throw away easily over nothing." Burt said, looking at him seriously.

Kurt was quiet for a minute, letting the words sink in. "Okay." He mumbled, wiping his eyes and flashing a watery smile.

"Well, I'll let you get your sleep." Burt said, standing up. He walked over and patted Kurt's shoulder awkwardly, in an attempt to be comforting, before exiting.

I'll call Blaine later and apologize for ignoring him. I just have to get over these stupid feelings and dreams, he can never know.


A/N: Huge thank you's and lots of love to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Very happy that you all liked it, encouraged me to push through my writers block! 3 xoxo