A/N: While I'm trying to make this as psychologically accurate as possible, I just ask that you allow me a few liberties as far as hospital policy and HIPPA restrictions. Let's just go with the baseline that Sebastian is placed in a very liberal hospital and the HIPPA policy allows both Kurt and Blaine to receive information about Sebastian's condition. Anything else that doesn't seem quite right, please don't hesitate to ask me about it.

Chapter One

"Dis what?" Blaine asks, his brow knitting in confusion. Kurt takes his hand and squeezes it in reassurance.

None of this makes sense, but Blaine has been so patient and so strong through the entire situation, and Kurt finds himself wondering where in the hell he'd be without him. There's no way he could have held himself together without Blaine reminding him to eat and sleep (such as it was) and holding him while he cries because he's just so damn confused and worried.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder," Dr. Meraz explains calmly. Blaine doesn't look any less confused so he continues. "It's often referred to as Multiple Personality Disorder."

Realization dawns on Blaine's face and he shrinks back into his chair, letting out a gust of breath and running a hand over his face. "That's-That's really serious, isn't it?"

"Well, it varies. Your boyfriend seems to have been living with this since he was young."

Kurt's knee bounces as he tries to fit all the pieces together in his head. "If he's been living with this his entire life, how couldn't we tell? We've been together over a year and nothing like that has ever happened before..."

He doesn't mean to sound sharp with the doctor, but he's stretched so thin and he feels like he's going to snap at any second. Sebastian is locked away in a hospital room and he and Blaine are being told that they should have noticed symptoms?

"No, Mr. Hummel," the man soothes. "If he didn't want you to see the symptoms, you wouldn't have seen them. From speaking with Sebastian, I believe that he's only been living with this harmful alter for a short while."

"Alter?" Kurt wonders, the word sounding foreign to his ears after his forty-eighth hour of no sleep.

The doctor nods. "Yes. With Dissociative Identity Disorder, the person can be considered as two parts: The host and the alters. The host being Sebastian and the alters being his alternate identities. Each alternate identity has its own personality, appearance, mannerisms, and behaviors. They're essentially like different people all occupying the same body. They can be any sex, race, or sexual orientation."

"How many do you think he has?" Blaine took the words out of Kurt's mouth.

"Well, from speaking to him, I believe that he has at least two. One of whom has been present since childhood. He's learned to coexist with the alter and over the years, since it's been so many, the alter has gotten good at mimicking Sebastian's mannerisms and essentially being Sebastian. Unless you knew what you were looking for, odds are, you'd never know anything was off."

"But, you said there are at least two..." Blaine prompts.

The man leans back in his chair again. "As I said, he's grown accustomed to living with the first alter but then, and I believe this is a fairly recent occurrence, a new, malevolent alter emerged. One he doesn't know how to deal with. Essentially, there is a voice that is constantly whispering in his ear that he is worthless or that he should harm himself."

Blaine covers his mouth and stifles a dry sob. "Why?"

It's a damn good question and if Kurt could bring himself to speak, it would have been him that said it. The doctor nods and offers them a look of sympathy. "I believe that there is a lot going on in your boyfriend's life than he's been telling you. Or that he even remembers. Alters are created to deal with feelings or situations that cause trauma to the host. In Sebastian's case, I feel as though he already has the feelings of worthlessness that stem from some sort of trauma in his past and this alter is a manifestation of those feelings."

"His father is the one who makes him feel worthless," Blaine answers in a seething breath. "Seb would never tell me, but I've heard his father screaming at him. Just absolutely horrible, hateful things and he acts like it doesn't bother him, but I know it does. How could it not?"

Dr. Meraz nods. "I have a feeling you might be right, Blaine. But we're going to have to keep him for observation until we figure out the best way to treat him. At the moment, he's not responding well. When we ran his blood test, we found that he'd been trying to self-medicate, so until we get all of that medicine out of his system, we're not going to really know where we stand."

Kurt's head is spinning. Had their boyfriend really gone to such great lengths to hide his sickness? The thought makes his heart hurt and fresh tears bead in his eyes. He's cried so much in the past few days that it's a wonder that he even has any tears left, but somehow, he does. Blaine's hand slides back into his own, his thumb sliding over Kurt's knuckles.

The doctor is continuing. "Now that the pills are starting to wear off, since they were so ill-suited to treat his condition anyway, we're starting to see more symptoms. With all of the stress this new alter is placing on him, I believe he started having symptoms he never had before and that's why he began trying to self-medicate. He's having delusions and it's causing rapid switching between identities. We believe that the original alter is one that he created to deal with very emotionally taxing situations. I think that's what we're seeing."

"What about the new one?" Kurt asks quietly.

"That one has been coming out as well. As you know, there was another attempt at self-harming last night-" Blaine swallows thickly as the doctor continues. "The nurses caught him in time and he barely managed to break the skin."

"Does he remember us now?" Blaine wonders, sad resignation in his voice for the answer he knows is coming.

The doctor frowns deeply. "Yes and no. The stress is affecting is body in a multitude of ways. Sometimes he remembers and other times he doesn't. It's selective. The important thing is not to give up hope. Never give up on him. He needs all of the love and support he can get right now and it looks like you are the only ones who have given him that."

"Yes, sir," Blaine nods, squeezing Kurt's hand and prompting him to stand. "May we-I mean-Would it be alright if we went to see him?"

Doctor Meraz stands and moves quietly over toward the door. "Yes, you can. Visiting hours are almost over. Tomorrow he's being moved to an in-patient care facility better suited for his needs. I'd advise you to look for signs of switching. Given what you've told me, I believe that you're well acquainted with his original alter. You may just not know it. I believe that Sebastian, as well as that alter, trusts you deeply. You told me that, on the phone, you heard Sebastian say, 'They'll help me. They love me.' I believe you spoke to an alter so it's clear that it trusts you to look out of Sebastian's best interests. Really pay attention to his words, mannerisms, and actions. Try and find something that doesn't seem like Sebastian. Something you only find him doing occasionally."

Kurt and Blaine nod toward the doctor and he pats Blaine on the shoulder. "He's a strong kid. He can pull through this. It's not going to be easy, but I have faith."

With a parting clap on the shoulder and a nod, the doctor leaves them outside the door to Sebastian's room. Kurt opens it and finds Sebastian sitting quietly on the bed, staring down at his feet. "Seb?"

Sebastian blinks but doesn't look up. "There's a mouse on my foot. If I move, she'll bite me."

Kurt kisses the side of Sebastian's head and sits down in the chair beside the bed. He'd been told, for the moment, not to fight the delusions. That time would come later. Blaine reaches slowly for Sebastian's hand and Sebastian's eyes remain carefully trained on the blanket as though gauging how much he can move without being bitten. He sighs as he takes Blaine's hand. He sounds so tired and Kurt reaches up to brush a fallen lock of sandy blond hair from his forehead.

It's actually been a good day for Sebastian. He's been mostly lucid and has remembered Kurt and Blaine for most of the day, only having to be reminded once who they were. Sebastian looks up and give Blaine a nervous smile.

Blaine returns the smile and presses a kiss to the back of his boyfriend's hand. "How are you?"

It's a stupid question, but it begs to be asked. Sebastian sighs. "I have a headache. The doctor says I'm not supposed to try and hide anything anymore. I think they got pissed that I was taking pills..."

"They're not the only ones," Kurt chides, shooting Sebastian a disapproving glance. "Seb, that was really dangerous."

"Better than the alternative," he answers, calm and sure. "Have you seen my boyfriends? I think they were supposed to be here."

Kurt sighs and strokes Sebastian's cheek. "We're right here, honey," he reminds gently and Sebastian just looks confused as he lapses into silence.

They sit in silence for a little while, Kurt and Blaine lost in their thoughts and Sebastian lost in his own world. Kurt leaves to go grab a few magazines and books from the gift shop to help pass the time, leaving Blaine alone with Sebastian.

"Will you come sit with me?" Sebastian asks, shifting to the left side of his bed to make room for Blaine. He holds out one bandaged arm and wraps it around Blaine's middle to pull him close, flush against his side, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "I love you."

Blaine sighs softly and relaxes into Sebastian's side, breathing out a quiet, "I love you, too," as he lets his eyes slip closed and just drifts on being so close to his boyfriend. When he closes his eyes and focuses on the sound of Sebastian humming quietly, it's almost easy to forget that they're in a hospital, easy to forget that there's anything wrong at all when everything is so perfect.

Sebastian stops humming and presses a kiss to the top of Blaine's hair. "What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. I was almost asleep," Blaine answers honestly. "What did you hear?" Sebastian's spine stiffens and he shakes his head, pushing at Blaine to move him off the bed. "Seb, what did you hear?"

"Where's Kurt?" Sebastian asks, his voice breaking. His shoulders are starting to shake as his mood drops off. There is pure anguish on his face and Blaine doesn't know what to say to help. "Where's Kurt?"

Blaine takes a slow step forward and tries to take Sebastian's hand but he pulls it away. "Kurt just went downstairs to get a few things from the gift shop. He'll be right back."

"Don't lie to me! Tell me where he is!" he demands, green eyes sparkling with fear and fury. But above all is just heartbreaking confusion.

Blaine holds up his hands in surrender. "I promise. He's just downstairs. He'll be back in a minute."

"He's gone-"

"No, he's not. Why do you think that?" Realization strikes and Blaine asks, "Is someone telling you that?"

Sebastian ignores the question and continues in a panic. "Kurt's gone," he chokes out, crying now. "I drove him away! And now you're going to leave too." His eyes dart around the room frantically and it takes Blaine less than a second to realize why. He's scanning the room for something sharp. Blaine swiftly moves to the side of Sebastian's bed and sits on the side, taking one of his hands, holding tight when he tries to pull away. "Stop!"

Sebastian pushes Blaine roughly, knocking him to the floor and jumping out of bed, crossing the room, dropping down on the floor behind the teal-green chair in the corner, hiding with his knees pulled to his chest. Kurt throws open the door, breathing heavily. "I heard him yelling-"

"Look," Blaine whispers, standing up and taking Kurt's hand before crossing the room. "Kurt's right here. He didn't leave you. He'd never leave you."

Kurt kneels down beside Sebastian, resting a hand on his cheek and looking into his soft, sad green eyes. He looks so young and broken and suddenly it hits him. "You're not Sebastian, are you, sweetheart?"

Sebastian swallows thickly and slowly shakes his head.

"What's your name?"

He shakes his head in quick jerks from side to side, tears falling freely from his eyes.

Blaine moves forward. "You know we won't hurt you. We know you are the one who called us when Sebastian was hurt. You want to help him."

The alter nods, so clearly not Sebastian now. He folds his hands in his lap and nervously watches his fingers, but Kurt lifts his chin. "Honey, let us help Sebastian. Like you did before. You can help him again."

"He hates Sebastian. He wants to hurt him," the alter says, his voice meek and anxious, as though he's fearing some sort of attack for speaking.

Blaine takes the shy boy's hand. "We won't let him do that. We want to keep him safe, but we need your help, okay?"

He nods again. "Okay."

"Come on," Kurt offers him a hand. "Let's get off the floor and back on the bed, alright? You don't have to run from us. You know that. I'd venture a guess that you're the one who's been sneaking in our windows for the past few months..."

The alter gives Kurt a bashful little smile.

"We'd love to get to know you," Blaine says, voice soft and warm, the alter shifting immediately into his side as though he's desperately drawing comfort from his presence. "Will you tell us your name, please," he asks, combing his fingers through the alter's hair.

There's silence for a beat before he whispers, "Skylar."

A/N: Reviews are always appreciated. :)