"Dad?" Kurt whispered as he looked into the room. Burt looked up.

"Are you doing okay?"

Burt nodded.

"Yeah kid, don't worry about me."

Kurt walked up to the bed and looked down at Blaine. He was so still that Kurt had to concentrate to see the shallow rise of his chest. His skin was covered with a thin glean of sweat. Kurt took hold of his hand and squeezed it. He bent his face close to his ear.

"Don't give up. Don't even think of giving up." He kissed his temple then straightened up.

When he turned his Dad was looking at him with a wary expression.

"His temperature is dropping. But he hasn't woken up."

"I have to tell you something."

His dad stared at him for a moment and then sat down heavily.

"What is it?"

"I called his brother."

"Are you sure that was the right move?"

"What would you feel if you had missed your chance to say goodbye to Mom?"

"Devastated."

"Well, I know Blaine's brother loves him and I also know that he's been lied to and that he needs to know what has happened to his brother."

"You want to give him a chance to say goodbye." Burt said.

Kurt took a deep breath.

"He's not going to die Dad, I know you're going to say I have to prepare for the worst but I need to have hope. And I called Blaine's brother because even though it makes no sense I think the more people he's got here routing for him then the quicker he's going to get better."

Burt nodded.

"Kurt, we're all routing for him."

"I know. Cooper's plane will be here in a few hours."

"Do you want me to go pick him up?"

"He won't know who you are."

Burt nodded.

"If you want to go then you should go. But if you want to stay with Blaine then there's only one way to do it.

Kurt looked back over his shoulder at Blaine and hesitated he heard his father stand up and felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

"Kurt, you don't want to miss your chance to say goodbye either."

Kurt wanted to argue, he wanted to shout at his Dad and tell him that Blaine was not going to die. But he knew he was only trying to help.

"Dad, you shouldn't go on your own, your tired. Get somebody to go with you."

Burt nodded.

"I'm going to go get ready. Send me a message every hour to let me know how things are. The doctor is lying down so you can call her if there are any changes. Where's the plane coming from?"

"California."

"Okay." Burt pulled him into a hug. Kurt relaxed into it. For a second he truly felt as if everything was going to be okay. The Burt pulled away, clapped him on the shoulder and turned to go.

"Thanks Dad." Kurt said. He turned to look at Blaine lying there. He was terrified, it already felt as if he was loosing him. Had they really been laughing together just two days ago? It seemed like such a long time ago. Kurt sighed and went up to the bed. He moved carefully not wanting to move the bed, not wanting to cause Blaine any pain even in his sleep. He laid down keeping a distance for the boy he loved and started to sing softly.

"Come what may,

Come what may,

I will love you,

Until my dying day."

Kurt:

Blaine's still asleep.

Burt:

Roads are clear, about forty minutes till we get there.

Kurt:

Blaine still asleep, seems to be breathing better.

Burt:

That's good, waiting for the plane to come in.

Burt:

Kurt, Cooper is here. But he brought somebody with him. An old friend of Blaine's apparently. He said it was for protection, in case this was some kind of political demonstration. I showed him pictures, he's wary but he's in the car. Be back in two hours.

Kurt:

Who is the the other boy? What if he tells?

Burt:

He's names Wes and he was at school with Blaine. He's in his first year at uni with Cooper. He says he suspected something was wrong when Blaine didn't contact anybody from the school for several months before he died. Why didn't you tell me his parents had faked his death? Don't worry for now. Let's just concentrate on Blaine.

Kurt:

Okay.

Burt:

Cooper asks how Blaine is doing?

Kurt:

He muttered something a little while ago.

Burt:

Half an hour away.

Kurt looked down at Blaine. He shifted in his sleep again and gave another groan. Kurt swept a piece of hair from his damp forehead.

"Blaine, Cooper is almost here. Your brother is coming to see you."

Blaine's lips parted slightly and he let out a small groan. Kurt felt his eyes filling with tears knowing that Blaine was in pain. He knew that he couldn't be given more medication for another few hours though, the doses he'd been having were too strong there was a risk he could overdose.

"Blaine, sweetie, can you hear me?"

He closed his eyes and let the tears fall when the boy didn't move again.

Maybe Kurt drifted off because it only seemed like a few second later when the door opened. Kurt drowsily sat up. It took him a few moments to realize what was happening. For a moment the two new people were quiet then there was a buzz of noise.

"Oh my God, Blaine."

Kurt blinked and rubbed his eyes as he saw a young man with bright blue eyes and floppy hair. He took a moment to take it in, amazing cheek bones but the nose and mouth were similar to Blaine's.

"Are you the guy from the credit rating adverts?"

"Yes."

"Am I asleep?"

"Cooper Anderson." The man said glancing at him for a second before turning his attention back to Blaine. He was staring at him wide eyed and running his hand over his hair, over his forehead and then to his shoulder. He looked exactly as you would expect somebody to look when they're brothers just come back from the dead. Kurt watched as the tears ran down his cheeks. He blinked a couple of times and then shook his head.

"How is this possible?"

"Now might not be the best time to get into that."

"What's wrong with him?" Cooper asked.

"He got an infection after being stabbed."

Cooper let out a chocked sound and let into the tears for a few moments.

"Why would somebody stab B?"
Kurt felt himself growing guilty.

"We were being too open. They could tell that we were together."

"It's not your fault Kurt." He turned when he heard an unknown voice. The Asian boy was tall and had spiked hair, he looked to be quite a bit older than Blaine but he knew that they had gone to school together. What would he think of who Blaine was now compared with who he used to be?

He nodded.

"Wes?"

"Yes. Blaine might not have openly stated his sexuality but he didn't hide it as well as he thought at times. It's not exactly a shock." Wes smiled. "I'm glad that he's found somebody."

"Is he going to be alright?" Cooper asked taking hold of Blaine's hand.

"The doctor says if he makes it through tonight he'll be okay."

Cooper nodded.

"It's almost morning." Burt said.

Kurt saw Cooper stiffen up, he followed his eyes and saw that he was looking at the tattoo on Blaine's wrist. Everybody in the world knew what that tattoo meant.

"Cooper?" Kurt whispered, he was suddenly terrified, why had he called him? Blaine needed to relax and recover he didn't need this drama.

Cooper's lips thinned as he clenched his jaw. He bent and kissed his brothers forehead.

"Love you B, get better."

Kurt watched as he stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

Cooper turned his eyes flashing with anger.

"I need a minute. I can't believe.. that bastard. That bastard."

Kurt looked to his dad for reassurance. He felt so lost, he didn't know if he had done the right thing in inviting these two people into this mess. He didn't know what he would do if Blaine didn't wake up.

Burt stepped forward and squeezed his shoulder.

"I think it's best if we start to take some time out. This is a stressful situation for everybody."

"If you need to go rest Dad.."

"Yeah I do,and so do you."

"Not yet. I'm fine."

"You're not fine Kurt." His dad said quietly.

"I'll sleep after I know that you've got some rest. I need to know that somebody is sitting up with Blaine and sorry to Wes but I've only just met you."

Wes who had gone over to sit in the seat by Blaine that Cooper had left held his hands up and shrugged.

"No problem I get that. And to be fair this whole situation is very strange and I'm not sure what to do."

"None of us are." Burt said.

"You go to bed Dad. I'm going to go down to the kitchen and have a coffee so Wes can talk to Blaine if he wants to."

"Do you think he can hear us?" Wes asked.

"I hope not given what's been going on in the last few hours." Burt grunted.

"You know where I am if you need me kiddo."

Kurt nodded.

"I've never seen him without gel." Wes said quietly as if to himself. Kurt took a final glance st Blaine's sleeping form and then went downstairs. The front room light was off and maybe that's why he jumped in shock when he entered the kitchen and found Cooper and Finn sat at the table. He just caught the tail end of what Finn was saying.

"Really knows his cars." Finn looked up at him and Kurt gave him a weary smile.

He had almost forgotten about his step-brother in all of the confusion and he wondered what he had been doing all night and why he was now sat here fully dressed in the early hours of the morning. He was surprised when his brother stood up and wordlessly hugged him. Kurt accepted the hug stiffly, his towering brother clapped him on the back as he pulled away.

Finn didn't say anything but Kurt knew that he cared deeply he just didn't know what to say. He sat back down again and Kurt turned to the counter to make was an awkward silence.

"So.." Kurt said sitting down with coffee in hand.

"What were you talking about?"

"I was telling Cooper what Blaine does." Finn said.

"I never knew he liked cars." Cooper said. "Everything was music with him."

"He still writes songs in his spare time and he had a keyboard and a guitar in his room."

Cooper nodded.

"I guess he's not able to do the things that he wanted to do anymore." Cooper said with a intense look down at the table. Kurt took a deep breath, he realized that Cooper was coming to terms with his brother being alive and being a slave and his parents having lied to him. What did he think of Kurt? Now he knew that Blaine was a slave then he had to know that their family was technically Blaine's could be a thousand and one misunderstandings here.

"Cooper, I.. Blaine is a member of the family. We don't treat him as a slave."

"You brought him." Cooper spat out. Then shook his head. "My brother was sold, like.. like he isn't a person."

"I didn't technically buy him, he was given to me. It's a complicated situation."

Cooper's hands were clenching as if he wanted to hit somebody.

"I know this is a lot to take in Cooper and that you only have what I say but we all really care about your brother and want what's best for him. They'll be time to tell you everything but right now I'm..I can't handle anymore. I'm going to go back to Blaine." Kurt said finishing his coffee.

Wes was talking quietly to Blaine as Kurt walked in. He smiled at him.

"Hey, re-caffeinated?"

"Yes." Kurt said. "What are you talking about?"

"Recounting some of our victories."

"Victories?"

"From when we were in the Warblers together."

"Glee club?"

"Yeah, Blaine was our star."

"Of course he was." Kurt said with a smile. "Did he ever perform any of his own songs?"

"Blaine writes songs?" Wes asked surprised.

"Yeah, beautiful ones powerful ones."

"You kept that from us." Wes said looking down at Blaine then yawning widely.

"Hev you been up all night too?"

"Yeah, I got up at five this morning because I do an early shift at a coffee shop before lectures. When Cooper called me I was in the middle of an all nighter on an essay."

They both looked up as the door opened. Doctor Sandra looked in.

"Hi."

"Hey, did you sleep well?" Kurt asked.

"Yes." She walked in and shut the door behind her. "Whose this?"

"Oh sorry, this is Wes. He's an old friend of Blaine's he came with Blaine's brother."

Sandra looked at him then shook her head.

"I'm not going to ask." She said. "I'm going to check him over."

"Okay. Um.. Wes, you can go have a lie down on my bed if you want. I mean, if Sandra is okay with that."

"Yeah, I'm up now."

"Okay, thanks Kurt." Wes said standing up and stretching.

Kurt sat in the chair by Blaine's bed and watched as Sandra checked him over.

"He's doing well." She said.

"Thank you."

"I'll leave you too alone."

Kurt nodded. He sat up with Blaine as the sun started to rise through the window. It was so still and peaceful but Kurt was just buried in worry. At some point Cooper came in. Kurt stood up to let him sit next to his brother fora while. Cooper nodded and took the seat.

Kurt felt strange and disconnected as time past. The house was perfectly quiet and still.

Blaine gave a moan. Kurt looked just in time to see his eyes open.

"B!" Cooper cried sounding delighted.

Blaine blinked and looked around confused. His face was red and eyes wide as he looked around.

"Cooper?" He sounded confused. "Where am I? Where's Kurt?"

Kurt rushed forwards.

"It's alright, it's alright. You're still with us, you're safe."

"Kurt, what happened?" Blaine tried to sit up and winced.

"Just relax." Kurt said pushing back on his shoulder. "I'll get the doctor, we'll get you some pain killers?"

"Yes." Blaine said sounding relived. "But Cooper?" He said looking at Cooper.
Kurt rushed to the door and shouted just as Sandra came out of his room where she had been sleeping.

"He's awake?" She asked. Kurt nodded. She let out a relieved sigh and Kurt found something heavy move from his chest creating an almost dizzy sensation.

The next thing he knew there was a hand clutching at his arm.

"You haven't slept and I'm guessing you haven't eaten either."

Kurt gave a weak smile.

"He's going to be okay now isn't he, that's what you said, if he makes it to the morning he'll be okay. So now he'll be okay?"

"Let me go check him over. That's if you're not planning on fainting yourself?"

"No. I'm fine. I just guess I was really scared and it's a relief."

She nodded and Kurt followed her through into Blaine's room.

"Right, Blaine." She bent over him. "How do you feel?"

"Confused."

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

Blaine gritted his teeth and screwed up his eyes.

"Some of it."

Sandra nodded.

"You say confused?"

"My brother is here."

Sandra looked up at Cooper as if he'd not really seen him before.

"Oh, yes. And you weren't expecting him?"

"No." Blaine said.

"So it's normal confusion. And you have just woken up and have a fever so I'd say that's normal."

She tested his temperature and heartbeat and looked at his stitches before she gave him an injection.

"When it's sets in it's going to make you a bit fuzzy and tired. And I'm going to give you something to stop infections and to lower your temperature a bit."

"Okay." Blaine said.

Sandra looked around.

"I guess I should leave you to talk. I'm going to get breakfast." She smiled and for a moment there was something soft and motherly about her. "I guess I'd better bring you up something." She said to Blaine.

Kurt thanked her and sat on the opposite side of the bed from Cooper. He took Blaine's hand and he raised it to lips to kiss.

"You're alright." He said almost to himself than to Blaine. "Yesterday when your wound got infected and you passed out I called Cooper. I remembered that he was at California university. I'm sorry if it was the wrong thing to do darling, I just thought that if you got worse you should have a family member here." Kurt finished lamely, he didn't want to tell Blaine that he had even for a moment thought that he wouldn't survive the night and called his brother so that he would have a chance to say goodbye.

Blaine looked up at Cooper.

"You're really here?"

Cooper reached and grasped his other hand.

"And I would have been here sooner if I'd known where you were." Cooper sent a quick glance to Kurt. "But we're not going to talk about that now. We're just going to concentrate on getting you well again."

Kurt nodded in agreement, they wouldn't be talking about the fact Blaine's parents had told everybody that he was dead for the time being.

"Wes is here too. He's missed you." Cooper said. "So have I." Cooper said ruffling his hair. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you."

Blaine smiled widely.

"I still can't believe that you're here." Then he grew very still and pulled his hands away from both of them. He stared widely at Kurt panic clear in his eyes.
"It's alright." Kurt said. "Cooper and Wes have both agreed to keep quiet. They're not going to tell anybody where you are. I promised to keep you safe and I wouldn't do anything that might put you in any sort of danger."

Blaine shook his head.

"Kurt." He said swallowing nervously. "Did I ask you to read my journal?"

"Yes." Kurt said.

Blaine shut his eyes and his hand went to his chest. Kurt felt his own chest tighten again.

"Oh Blaine don't you trust me. Nothing that I read made me love you any less." Kurt said grabbing at his hand again.

He couldn't see Blaine's eyes because his head was hung so low but he could see the tear that slide down his cheek and he reached out to wipe it away.

"You asked me to read it Blaine."

"Yeah." He choked.

"Why did you ask me to read it honey?"

"I wanted you to know everything. I wasn't thinking straight but I, I thought if something were to happen to me then I really wanted you to know who it was you were crying for."

"I know you Blaine, I know everything I need to know. You have a past and it's changed you and you have a lot to deal with and it hurt such a lot to read all that but you're making a new life for yourself and I like that I'm allowed to be a part of it." Kurt said. "I love you."

"I love you too." Blaine said. "I'm just not sure if I was ready for you to know everything."

Kurt reached over and cupped his chin and gently lifted his face until he could kiss his lips. He could taste the salt of tears on his lips, he lingered for a moment and then pulled away only to regret it instantly and push another kiss to Blaine's lips.

Blaine gave him a weak smile. The glanced apologetically at his brother. Cooper raised his hands with a smile.

"My brother is alive and in love, everything else is inconsequential."

"Wow, big word." Blaine teased sniffing.

"Yeah, you know I go to college now."

"Yeah." Blaine smiled. "How is that going?"

"Good, I mainly have good marks. Turns out I'm actually good at things. I'm allowed to retake the bad ones, they decided that I had good enough reasons."

It was obvious those reasons were that Cooper had been dealing with the loss of his brother.

"I'm proud of you Coop."

Cooper smiled.

"Right?"

They all jumped a little as Doctor Sandra walked in.

"I made porridge. It should give you some energy before you pass out."

Sandra put the tray on Blaine's lap.

"Thanks."

"I've cleared my morning, but I have to go in this afternoon."

"Thank you Doctor." Blaine said. "I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."
"Just eat, rest and live a happy life because need one of my patients to go on and live a happy life."

Blaine nodded.

"Kurt, there's more downstairs and if you aren't there eating it in ten minutes and in bed asleep in twenty then I will be very annoyed."

Kurt was going to answer when he felt a fingers brush over the top of his ear. He looked at Blaine.

"You have to look after yourself, because I'm not going to be able to look after you for a while."

Kurt smiled feeling as if everything would be alright.

"Okay, how about I leave you with your brother and go eat and then I'll come up and lie down."

"Okay." Blaine said.

Kurt went down to the kitchen and got the porridge, it had apple and cinnamon in it and felt warm and comforting. He could have closed his eyes and fell asleep at the table but he couldn't imagine being away from Blaine for the twenty hours he felt like he would be passed out. He knew he was awake and speaking but the worry of the night was still hanging on. He got up and he walked wearily up the stairs he paused in the doorway watching Cooper sat behind Blaine supporting him as he half sat up and Sandra filled him in on Blaine's condition skipping all the ugly details he could see that Cooper was taking it in and asking questions about what Blaine would need to recover fully. As he helped Blaine lie back down he saw Coopers eyes linger on his back and Kurt knew he was seeing the scars. He just smiled as he helped his brother lie down and kissed his forehead.

"Yuck dude." Blaine said sleepily and Cooper let out a little laugh.

Sandra stood up and saw Kurt in the doorway.

"I thought I said bed." Kurt nodded.

She caught onto his meaning and walked out with a nod. Cooper looked up and met his eyes.

"You know I'm pretty tired to."

"Well Wes is asleep in my bed."

"Missing absolutely everything."Cooper said.

Blaine gave a smile.

"I'll see him later. I kind of have to get used to having my brother back in my life first."

Cooper ruffled his hair.

"And.." He said nervously. "I know we're going to have to talk at some point."
"Not for at least week or so little bro. You need that and I need that." He said. "But I love you and like Kurt said I'm not going to do anything to put you in danger. If you want to stay living here then you can. I'll let you two get some sleep. I guess I'm going to go and sleep on the couch. Shout if you need me."

"Will do." Blaine said.

As Cooper left he squeezed Kurt's shoulder.

"Thank you." He said simply but Kurt could read the deep gratitude in the words. When he left Kurt leaned on one leg putting his hands in his pockets.

"So.. B?"

"Childhood nickname." Blaine said patting the bed beside him. Kurt smiled and climbed in beside him laying closer than he had before that morning but still keeping a distance.

Blaine turned his head to him.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey."

Blaine reached out and took his hand.

"Thank you." Kurt said.

"For what?"

"Waking back up."

"I'm sorry."

"What for?" Kurt said smiling widely.

"I might have to go back to sleep again."

"So do I, just as long as you wake up again."

"I promise."

Kurt smiled and leaned in so his head was just leaning against the side of his shoulder.

"Sleep."Blaine whispered stroking through the back of Kurt's hair slowly and for once Kurt didn't mind at all.