Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or any of these characters… if I did, Karofsky wouldn't exist anymore, Jesse wouldn't have been such an asshole (albeit one I believe legitimately fell for Rachel), and there would be a LOT more Blaine.

A/n: Ugh… I'm so sorry, y'all. Things have been crazy lately thanks to the impending doom that is exams. Plus I've been writing crappy chapters that I end up deleting and starting all over again lately, so that's taking up a lot of my time. I hope you're still hanging in there with me!

Blaine couldn't help himself; he'd been fighting the urge to break down for most of the afternoon, despite Carole's assurances that he had every reason to be upset and that it was okay for him to cry. But he still found himself curled up on the bed in what had been the guest room with his back to the door, his entire body shaking as he quietly sobbed. He didn't even hear the door opening; Blaine was too distracted by keeping his grief as quiet as possible to notice until Kurt actually spoke to him.

"Blaine? Are you alright?" Blaine sat up, shaking his head as he wiped the tears from his face before he turned around to face Kurt. The boy was still in his Dalton uniform, and he had one of Blaine's suitcases from school in hand. Blaine knew he looked like hell, but he didn't care all that much. Kurt had seen him at his worst already. He watched in silence as the younger boy dropped the bag and hurried over to sit next to him. "Hey… it's okay."

Blaine immediately turned towards Kurt, leaning in and wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist. He needed to be held, to have someone stroke his hair and tell him that everything was going to be okay. And Kurt seemed to realize that, because the younger boy didn't once comment on the fact that Blaine was going to wrinkle his blazer. Kurt barely even spoke, sticking to murmuring soothing words into Blaine's ear for a while, until Blaine finally calmed down enough to pull away from Kurt.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kurt asked. Blaine shook his head as the younger boy continued to play with his hair. "I'm not going to push you, Blaine… but you can talk to me. About anything."

"Why does everyone expect me to talk about it? I'm just not ready…"

"Okay… but when you're ready, I'm here."

"Everyone keeps saying that…"

"Because we just want you to know that you don't have to feel like you're in this by yourself. That we're going to be here for you when you need us." Blaine shook his head, sighing.

"I just wish I could feel normal again… not be so sad, not have feelings like these. I wish there was some way I could be fixed," Blaine commented.

"The only thing that's going to make things better is time…" Kurt began. Blaine felt an inexplicable feeling of anger welling up inside of him, making it almost impossible for him to stay there to finish the conversation with Kurt.

"I know that, Kurt! I know that there's nothing anyone can do for me… and I hate that I have to feel this way! I just want my life back, damn it!" Blaine stood as he spoke, making for the door. He needed to get out. He couldn't stay there any longer, couldn't deal with Kurt trying to talk to him and make things better when Blaine was starting to feel like no amount of time was going to be enough to make him feel okay again.

"Blaine!" He ignored Kurt; Blaine wasn't in the mood to talk, and he wasn't sure that he was in the mood to deal with anyone at the moment. It was all he could do to keep himself from lashing out physically at Kurt, and he wasn't about to do anything that would piss off the boy's parents. He had to get out of there – out of the house – before he did anything stupid.

Blaine ignored Carole's questioning as he hurried past her and out the front door of the house. He hadn't really taken time to think about what he was doing, so the cold air was a bit of a shock. Blaine suddenly realized that he'd walked out of the house only wearing a long sleeved tee shirt, a pair of jeans, and his socks – not the best thing to wear for late February in Ohio. But he couldn't go back. Not yet. Not until he managed to calm himself down.

Blaine wandered down the sidewalk for a while, ignoring the cold that sank through all of his clothes and chilled him until his teeth were chattering and his lips were turning blue. He sank down onto a bus stop bench after a while, closing his eyes and pulling his knees up to his chest. He realized now that he had been stupid, leaving the house without knowing where he was going. Blaine didn't know Lima. He hadn't been there other than the few times he'd come to hang out with Kurt, and then he had really only been a few places. Blaine wanted to go back, to explain himself. But he couldn't now because he had no idea where he was or how to get back.

"You look like hell, kid." Blaine looked up, shrugging as Burt Hummel sat down next to him. He hadn't even heard the man's truck pull up. "What happened? I got a call from Carole saying you'd just left without saying a word to anyone about where you were going. She was worried about you."

"I didn't mean to worry anyone. I just… I had to get out of there…" Blaine began. The tears were starting to fall, and he wiped at them with his sleeve.

"Let's get you home… we can talk about this when you aren't at risk of catching pneumonia." Blaine let Burt help him to his feet and guide him over to the truck. On the way Blaine felt Burt put a heavy jacket around his shoulders and Blaine pulled it tighter around his body. It was still warm from Burt's body heat, and it was almost comforting for Blaine. He was still cold, but at least he didn't feel like he was in danger of freezing any more.

Burt turned the heat up as high as it would go once they were in the car, angling as many of the vents as possible towards Blaine. "Let me know when you get warm." The car ride was silent, although Blaine felt pretty sure that the tension in the vehicle was entirely in his mind. Eventually Blaine reached out and turned down the heat a bit; he wasn't completely warm, but he had a feeling that it was getting too hot for Burt. "What happened?" Blaine bit down on his bottom lip, trying to figure out how he should phrase his answer before he spoke.

"I was mad… frustrated, mostly. I just wanted to hit something. I had to get out of there before I did something I would regret." Blaine stared out the window, not wanting to look at Burt for fear that the man would be upset with him for the reason he'd left.

"You can't do that, kid… just run off like you did. It's not safe. Especially not when you run out of the house without a coat or shoes…"

"Yeah… I realize that now." Blaine pulled Burt's jacket tighter around his body, closing his eyes. He didn't realize that they were back at the house until Burt gently shook his shoulder.

"C'mon… let's get you inside so we can get you warmed up." Blaine got out of the truck, following Burt back into the house. As soon as he was in the door, Carole attacked him with a blanket and pushed him over to the couch, sitting him down and tucking the blanket around his body. It wasn't until he got there and Carole had him wrapped up that he realized how much his hands and feet hurt.

"Are you okay?" Blaine nodded in response.

"Just cold…" Blaine pulled the blanket Carole had brought him around his body a little tighter. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make anyone worry. I just needed to get away…"

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm going to make you some hot tea to help you warm up." Blaine nodded, staring down at the floor in front of him. The entire situation felt awkward to him, and he sort of just wanted to go upstairs to his room and hide. But he knew that Burt wasn't going to let that happen – not just yet.

"We're worried about you, kid." Blaine glanced over as Burt sat down on the couch next to him. "I get that you're upset and all that, but I really need you to let us know if you leave the house. Carole and I are responsible for you, and you can't just disappear like you did."

"I'm really sorry… I just wasn't thinking."

"I get that. Look, we're not mad at you and you aren't in trouble, okay? We're just concerned with keeping you safe." Blaine nodded again, closing his eyes and leaning his head against the back of the couch. "You still cold?"

"A little."

"I'll get you another blanket… just sit tight, try and stay warm."

Carole pressed a hand against Blaine's cheek, surprised at how warm the boy felt. "Is everything okay?" Carole looked up at Kurt, who was standing in the doorway looking concerned.

"He's running a fever… probably caught a cold yesterday when he ran out of here." Carole gently brushed the hair out of Blaine's face and turned to face her stepson again. "Everything okay?"

"I was just coming to see if Blaine wanted me to pick anything else up from his dorm room after Warblers today."

"Why don't I get him to text you if he thinks of anything? We should let him try to sleep it off…" Carole began, standing up and moving towards the door.

"Too late… I'm awake." Carole turned and saw that Blaine had opened his eyes even though he hadn't moved. "What's up?"

"Do you need me to get anything else from school?" Kurt asked. Carole watched as the older boy shrugged.

"I think my backpack is under my desk… my chemistry book should still be in there. I have a lot of catching up to do," Blaine commented. Kurt nodded and left, leaving Carole to talk to the boy.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Carole could tell that the boy wasn't telling the complete truth; his face was flushed and the sound of his voice was off just enough to let Carole know that there was something wrong.

"You have a fever. Don't try to deny it, okay?"

"I have a sore throat. Otherwise I'm fine." Carole watched the boy for a moment, trying to tell if he was being truthful or not. She wasn't completely sure whether or not he was telling the truth; Blaine seemed to be doing everything he could to hide how he was feeling. Carole busied herself tucking the covers around Blaine and pushing a few stray curls away from his forehead, trying to figure out if he was telling the whole truth or not. She gave up a moment later

"Just stay in bed for now. I'll bring you some orange juice and something to eat."

"I can go downstairs…" Blaine began.

"Not with a fever… I want you to stay in bed. You need to rest as much as possible, so you'll get better."

"You sound like my mom."

"I sound like every mom on the planet dealing with a sick kid. Now get some rest – I don't want it to get worse than a sore throat," Carole replied, smoothing his hair. She wanted to check the boy's temperature, but she wasn't so sure that he would be willing to let her do that at the moment. He didn't really seem all that okay with admitting that he wasn't feeling that well. "I'm going to make you a real breakfast. You need to eat something substantial for a change."

Carole turned around to start making her way downstairs. "Hey, Carole?" She turned around. "Thank you. For everything."

"You're welcome. Get some rest, I'll be back up here to check on you again in a little bit."

Blaine was sick of lying in bed; Carole hadn't really let him move since he'd woken up, not that he really wanted to get up. His throat was still incredibly sore and it seemed like his entire body hurt. Not to mention that he was exhausted.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Blaine shook his head, rolling away from Carole as the woman sat down on the side of his bed.

"I just want to sleep… I'm pretty tired." Blaine felt a hand press against the side of his head for a moment. He sat up, moving over towards the windows.

"Is something wrong?"

"I was just going to shut the curtains… it's sort of bright in here." Before Blaine could even muster up the energy to get up, Carole had moved around the bed and was already taking care of the curtains. "You don't have to do that…"

"Sweetie, you don't feel well and you need to rest. Get back in bed."

"Really, Carole, I can do it…" Blaine began.

"Bed, Blaine. I'm not going to say it again." The boy sighed, climbing back under the covers and pulling them up towards his chin. As soon as Carole was done with the curtains, Blaine felt her carefully tucking the blankets around his body a little tighter. "Get some rest. I'm going to bring you something for the fever and something to drink… you don't have any allergies, do you?"

"No… not to medication. Shellfish are bad, though."

Blaine didn't really remember Carole leaving the room, nor did he remember her coming back in and giving him the promised pills. All he knew was that when he woke up again he felt at least marginally better. And he was hungry for the first time all day. Blaine slowly pulled himself to his feet, not really excited about the prospect of making his way downstairs. Blaine was surprised at how shaky he was as he made his way down the stairs, although he knew it was from a combination of running a fever and not eating very much all day. He'd only managed to force down a little bit of what Carole had brought him for breakfast, and it wasn't really edible anymore.

"You're supposed to be in bed, kid." Blaine was startled to hear Burt's voice and he tripped slightly on the bottom step, gripping the handrail as tightly as possible to stop himself from falling. Burt was there to steady him almost immediately, which meant that he hadn't been that far away. "You okay? You look a little pale."

"I'll be fine… I just need to eat something." Blaine was glad when the older man simply nodded, letting go of him slowly to make sure that Blaine wasn't going to actually fall. He really didn't want the man to make a big deal about what had just happened; Blaine would feel better as soon as he got something in his stomach.

"Come on… I only came home because Carole said she was going to cook something good for lunch." Blaine let the man lead him into the kitchen and into one of the chairs at the table. He wasn't all that surprised when the man disappeared and showed back up a minute later with two plates in hand, putting one down in front of Blaine. "Eat up, kid."

Blaine really only managed a few bites of his lunch; while he needed to eat, he just didn't have much of an appetite once he actually started eating. And he felt sort of bad about not being able to eat more after Carole had put so much time into the meal and had done so much to take care of him already that day. The food just didn't taste very good because he was sick, and Blaine couldn't get himself to force down more food. He ended up picking at his food.

"You need to eat more than that, sweetie. You've barely eaten anything today," Carole commented, coming to the table with her own plate.

"I guess I'm not as hungry as I thought I was…" Blaine began, pushing away the plate.

"Kid, you really need to eat more. I jut saw you nearly lose your balance coming down the stairs…" Burt began.

"You startled me," Blaine interrupted.

"There's still the fact that you've barely eaten in days. You're not going to start feeling better if you don't eat something." Blaine glared down at the plate as Burt spoke, knowing the man was right. He picked up his fork again, doing his best to try and force a few more bites down.

"If you want to watch some television after you eat…" Carole began.

"I need to do some homework… I'm already a week and a half behind at school. And the workload doesn't get lighter just because you're excused from classes."

"Don't try to do too much, okay? You need to rest, too." Blaine just nodded; he knew she was right, after all.

"I just don't want to get any further behind than I have to."

"You don't need to worry about all of that right now. Everything can be figured out later, when you're feeling better." Blaine nodded at Burt's words, putting down his fork again.

"I'm just going to go back upstairs, if that's okay…"

"You go ahead, sweetie. I'll come up and check on you later."

Kurt knocked on the door of Blaine's bedroom, slowly pushing it open when he didn't get an answer. He smiled as he saw the older boy crashed out on top of the dark comforter, a pen in one hand and a book and notebook open next to him. He was fast asleep, his mouth open as he snored softly. It was cute and Kurt hated to disturb the scene, but he didn't think it was a good idea to leave the boy asleep on top of his textbook.

Kurt put Blaine's backpack on the floor next to the dresser and walked over to the bed, closing the book and notebook. He picked up the items, gently prying the pen out of Blaine's hand and moving everything over to the nearest flat surface. Then Kurt picked up the extra blanket that had been spread across the end of the bed and gently covered the older boy up.

"Mom?" Kurt stopped, biting down on his bottom lip as he realized that he had accidentally woken Blaine up.

"No, it's Kurt," he whispered, sitting down on the edge of the bed and pushing the older boy's curly hair back. He sighed as he realized that Blaine was still running a fever. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap… stay with me?"

"I need to do some homework. But I can do it in here if you want me to," Kurt replied. He watched as the older boy nodded without even opening his eyes. "I'm going to go get my books… I'll be back in a minute." Kurt was tempted to lean down and press a kiss against the older boy's forehead, but he stopped himself. The last thing he needed to do was make it seem like there was more going on between the two of them than was really there.

Kurt was back in Blaine's room and sitting on the floor with his books spread out and his back against the side of the bed within just a few minutes. He got to work quickly, occasionally glancing up to check on Blaine. The boy had gone back to sleep while Kurt was getting his books, but Kurt didn't feel right leaving Blaine alone when he had been specifically asked to stay. He'd gotten through a lot of his homework before he got interrupted.

"What are you doing?" a soft voice asked. Kurt looked up, smiling at Blaine as he realized that the older boy was awake again.

"Homework. Are you feeling better now that you've gotten some sleep?"

"A little… I think I need to find the medicine Carole gave me earlier. It works miracles…" Kurt smiled slightly and turned back to his book for a moment, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back up at Blaine, who had moved over so that he was staring down at Kurt. "What am I missing at school?"

"Not much. The council's discussing the set list for Regionals, but they're not making any final decisions just yet."

"Regionals is in less than two weeks…"

"Wes and David don't want to make any decisions without knowing exactly what we're working with," Kurt replied.

"They're waiting to see if I'm going to be back, aren't they?"

"They're just used to planning arrangements and song choices based on your voice. You know how much the Warblers hate to change anything." Kurt watched as Blaine closed his eyes and sighed.

"Tell them to stop putting things off. I'll be there, but not in time to be the lead. I have to get over this stupid cold first, and then I'll be back."

"You don't have to rush yourself…"

"I need something to do… I need to get out of this house, even if it's just to go to school. I'm driving myself crazy." Kurt turned around and faced Blaine, running his hands through the older boy's curls. "What time is it?"

"Almost time for dinner." Kurt pulled away and stood up, holding out a hand to Blaine. "Why don't we go downstairs? You can chill out on the couch with Finn while I try to figure out what Carole gave you earlier, and we'll already be downstairs when dinner's ready." Kurt watched in silence as Blaine got up slowly; Blaine was weak and a little shaky, but Kurt didn't say anything about it.

"I should probably eat before I take anything… I didn't think about it earlier, but it's probably not a good idea to take that stuff on an empty stomach."

"You're probably right," Kurt replied. He put a hand on Blaine's back, walking with the older boy towards the stairs. He stayed just close enough that he could catch the older boy if he lost his balance, but not close enough that Blaine would know that was what he was doing.

"Is it always this cold in your house, or am I just that sick?"

"You're still running a fever, which is probably why you're so cold." Kurt kept one eye trained on Blaine as they went down the stairs, leading the older boy over to the couch and covering him up with a blanket. Kurt was a little surprised that Finn wasn't staring at the TV playing Call of Duty or some other war game on his Xbox. "I'll be back. Do you want the remote, since Finn isn't hogging the TV?"

"Not really… I'm kind of tired." Kurt watched as Blaine's eyes closed again and Kurt sighed.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

Carole was in the middle of cooking dinner when Kurt walked into the kitchen. "I hope you're hungry… dinner will be ready soon. You should go see if Blaine wants to come down."

"He's already in the living room. I was actually coming to find whatever medicine you gave him earlier," Kurt replied.

"I'm guessing his fever is back?"

"Yeah, I think it is. He doesn't seem like he feels that bad, though… just tired," Kurt replied.

"The bottle is over by the sink. Just one." Kurt got a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water, shaking out a single pill and taking them both back into the living room to Blaine. The boy seemed to have fallen asleep on the couch.

Kurt knelt down by the couch, gently running his fingers through the older boy's curls again in an attempt to wake him up. "Hey… I'm back." Kurt smiled as Blaine's eyes fluttered open again. "You fell asleep again."

"I'm sorry…"

"Don't be. Why don't you go ahead and sit up… Carole said dinner would be ready in a few minutes," Kurt replied. He handed over the pill and glass as Blaine slowly sat up and watched as the older boy swallowed the medication quickly. Blaine's eyes closed again almost as soon as Kurt took the glass back from him.

"Maybe I should just go back to bed… I'm so tired."

"You need to eat, and you're already downstairs. It's just a few minutes until dinner will be ready…"

"I guess I should at least try to eat." Kurt moved to sit on the couch next to Blaine, smiling slightly as the boy curled up as close to him as possible. "You're warm." Kurt took the boy's hands in his, rubbing them gently.

"Your fingers are like ice." Kurt pulled the boy's hands up to his face and gently pressed a kiss against them before he started trying to warm them up again.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. For being so oblivious."

"What are you talking about?"

"Before… I should have realized what was going on. That there was something there." Kurt smiled, squeezing Blaine's hands.

"It's okay. Seriously, though, we'll talk about all of that later."

"I want to talk about it now. We need to clear things up between the two of us…"

"Blaine, please. You're sick and…"

"Kurt, do NOT say that again. I don't give a shit, okay? I want to be with you."

"I don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to get hurt. That's why I don't want to go there yet. We just need to wait… you need some time to just figure things out. By yourself." Kurt leaned over and gently pressed a kiss against Blaine's lips. "You know I want to be with you, too."

"I just don't understand why we can't be together…"

"Because relationships are stressful. You have too much stress in your life already… once things calm down, then we'll figure this out." Kurt let go of Blaine's hands and wrapped his arms around the older boy, pulling him into a hug. He smiled as Blaine's head gently rested against his chest.

"I guess I just have to be okay with that."

Blaine woke up feeling disgusting; he was soaking wet with sweat, and the blankets on top of him were too hot and heavy. He pushed them off, shivering as the cool air hit his soaked pajamas. He sat up slowly, glancing at the clock on the dresser and realizing it was 2:30 in the morning. Blaine needed a shower desperately, but he didn't want to wake everyone else in the house.

Blaine dug through the dresser drawers, finding clean clothes. He made his way quietly down the hall and into the bathroom, pushing the door closed before he turned on the light and water. He quickly peeled off his wet clothing, leaving it in the hamper as he stepped under the warm spray. It was less than ten minutes from the time he stepped into the shower until he turned off the water. Blaine hurriedly got out of the shower, drying off and putting his clothes on.

"Blaine?" Blaine opened the door, coming face to face with Carole. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to wake you…" Blaine closed his eyes as Carole put a hand against his forehead. "I just felt so gross when I woke up… I needed a shower."

"You don't seem to have a fever. Are you feeling better?"

"Just tired. I was going to go downstairs and curl up on the couch…" he began.

"What about your bed?"

"I was sweating…"

"Let's get you some clean sheets. Your bed is much more comfortable than the couch." Blaine followed Carole into his bedroom, starting to strip the bed as Carole got a clean set of sheets out of the closet that Blaine hadn't noticed in there before.

"How do you set the alarm clock?"

"I'll show you in the morning. Let's just get the bedding changed so you can go back to sleep," Carole replied.

"I was sort of hoping to go to school tomorrow."

"I don't think that's a good idea. You were running a fever up until just a little while ago. If you still feel up to it, you can try on Thursday."

"But I feel fine… I'm sure once I get a couple of hours of sleep…"

"I just don't want you to overdo it and get sick again. You need rest." Blaine sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed as soon as they finished putting on the fitted sheet. "It's one more day."

"Which makes it exactly two weeks of school I've missed. Which is exactly the number of days you're allowed to miss without being in danger of failing for absences.

"They aren't going to fail you for absences, sweetie… they make exceptions for extenuating circumstances all the time. No one is going to hold it against you. And if any of your teachers have an issue with helping you, you just have to tell me and Burt and we'll take care of it." Blaine nodded, smiling slightly at Carole as she pulled the covers back onto the bed. She walked around the bed and pressed a kiss against his forehead. "You should go back to sleep."

Blaine climbed under the covers, closing his eyes. He barely even noticed Carole tucking him in as he drifted off to sleep.