Two Steps Back

Disclaimer: I'm not RIB, so I don't own Glee or any of the characters. If I did, I'd be rich and probably not writing fanfiction! This fic will dive into MPREG, so I'll be using my go-to MPREG explanation like I did in When We're Older aka the Reddin gene. The gene is based on the Reddin character from the 1994 movie Junior. You should really watch it if you like mpreg. It's a good movie, I promise (I also don't have any rights to it either!) I also don't really own anything mentioned in this except for the crazy storyline so... I OWN NOTHING. The title is inspired by a Paula Abdul song called Opposites Attract by the way.

Blaine woke up, body warm and securely wrapped in someone else's arms. He blinked against the dim lighting of the room, snuggling back against the hard body behind him as whoever was holding him hugged him a little tighter. From behind, the person felt familiar - like he'd been held by them before, but when the press of someone's hand against his stomach triggered something within his brain, he knew exactly who he was laying beside.

Kurt was there. How could he forget?

"Abs... you awake?"

Blaine turned slowly, flipping over onto his other side to face Kurt, smiling when he noticed his friend was wide awake beside of him, blue eyes staring at him through the darkness. "Yeah. How long have you been up?"

"Eh, like an hour maybe."

"You could've woken me up."

"It's better if you get your rest."

A strange look passed across Kurt's face then and Blaine opened up his mouth to comment, but a shake of the head made him pause. Quiet, he stared at his child's father for a few seconds more, curious as to why Kurt didn't want him to speak, but after several moments of silence, the exhaustion he struggled to push away took over and he closed his eyes, starting to doze off again. It wasn't as if he planned on falling asleep, but he was just so tired. Weakness filtered through his limbs like water and being held in Kurt's arms made him feel safe and protected - how could he not fall asleep again?

And, when he finally dozed off, the arms curled around him grew tighter and the soft touch of fingers grazed along his belly, happy to be allowed to lay next to him for a little while longer.

::::::::::

After Blaine's hospitalization, the last few weeks of summer flew by in a haze of cook-outs and visits to family. Kurt and Finn reluctantly went to visit some of Carole's family in Arkansas for a week, leaving Blaine and Rachel alone for the time being - but not without the promise that Blaine would be well taken care of while Kurt was gone. As soon as they returned, Kurt invited Blaine (and only him) to dinner at the Hudmel home, excited to see his best friend after over a week of being separated from him (and their unborn child.) Also, it was the first time in a while that they'd have some time together without the Berry family hovering over them since Blaine got out of the hospital. Thank god.

That afternoon, Blaine drove himself to the Hudmel home, hands gripping the steering wheel as he drove through the streets of Lima. It had been a while since he'd last seen his baby's other family and all he could think about was how embarrassed he was over what happened last time.

(Because the last time he visited the Hudmels, he pulled a moment straight out of the Exorcist films thanks to a violent reaction to something that was in the meal Carole cooked. It was mortifying and while it was caused by the pregnancy, he still felt terrible for ruining a perfectly good meal.)

Sighing, Blaine parked the car in the driveway and made his way to the house, ringing the doorbell once he was on the doorstep. The sound of footsteps boomed through the house and before Blaine could blink, he heard the click of the lock and the sound of someone yelling, "I'll get it!" Seconds later, the front door swung open, revealing a grinning Finn. "Blaine! Glad you could make it!"

Finn ushered him inside, grinning from ear to ear when he spotted the small bump showing beneath Blaine's t-shirt. The humid summer heat made everything harder for Blaine nowadays, especially when it came to his clothing. It was late August and school was pushing to start soon meaning that he would have to find better ways to hide his growing bump due to the fact that the humidity made all of his clothes stupidly cling to him. Tugging on his shirt, Blaine followed his sister's boyfriend into the house, struggling to pull off the damp fabric that stuck to his skin.

"Don't do that! You'll stretch it!"

Blaine blinked up at Kurt's words, rolling his eyes when he spotted his friend coming around the table to greet him. "That's the point," he grumbled, yanking more on the shirt. "Everyone in town's gonna know I'm pregnant before school starts and I don't want to deal with that." He allowed himself to be wrapped up in a hug before he stepped back. "Mmm, you smell good."

"I haven't smoked today. You should be proud," Kurt teased, stepping back to stare at his friend's silhouette. "God, it's only been two weeks and you've grown so much."

"Outward, yes. I'm not sure what's going on. I wasn't expecting to show this fast."

Finn, who began to set the table in Kurt's stead, chimed in, grinning at the two boys as he carelessly tossed a set of silver service on the tablecloth. "It's because you're a small guy, Blaine."

"Thanks?"

"No, like, I don't mean that to be mean, but you are tiny. Smaller than me and Kurt. Like, if either of us got- uh, pregnant, we'd probably take longer to grow or whatever, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand." Blaine walked over and went to help fix the scattered utensils Finn put down, smirking at Kurt when the taller boy bumped him with his hip. "So, what's on the menu for today?"

"Carole made some sort of casserole and chicken. I made sure she didn't add garlic. Don't want a repeat of last time!"

"Shut up. It's not my fault."

"I know." Smirking, Kurt leaned in close to Blaine and slid an arm around his friend's waist, cupping his hand over the tiny swell of belly before he pulled away and went into the kitchen to help Carole bring out the food.

"So... are you two dating yet?"

Startled, Blaine glanced up at Finn and stared at him, his mouth open in shock. "I-"

"You know I don't care if you are or not, but you certainly do act like it. I mean, you two are having a kid together." Finn took a plate of rolls from his mother and set them on the table, eyeing Blaine for a moment before he continued. "Like, when Rachel told me that you were pregnant and that it was Kurt's, I honestly wasn't surprised. Well, no - I was surprised by the baby thing, but I thought you two were together. You guys are made for each other anyway. Like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or sausage and cheese on pizza." Finn kept on rambling off different types of food before he finally silenced, reaching out to grab a warm piece of bread from the tray in the middle of the table. "All this talk of food made me hungry."

"Finn! Put that down! We're about to eat."

"But I'm starving!"

Kurt smacked his brother's hand and set a pitcher of sweet tea down on the table, reaching out to grab Blaine's hand before he wandered around the side he usually sat on, gently pushing his friend into his seat before he took the one directly beside him. "I think you'll like this stuff Carole made. It's got broccoli in it."

"Oh my god, how did she know that's what I've been wanting?"

"I... may have let it slip."

"You're awesome."

"I know."

Behind them, Finn made a gagging noise and Carole, who entered the room with a steaming casserole dish, giggled. "Hello Blaine. It's so nice to see you again."

"And you as well, Mrs. Hummel. Kurt told me you made something with broccoli in it?"

"Yep. I remember being pregnant with Finn. I remember the cravings - I wanted glazed donuts all the time in the beginning. That's all I could stomach." Next to her, Finn moaned out something about wanting a donut and Blaine laughed.

"I've just been wanting broccoli. I think it's from the insane amount of veggies Rach's been feeding me. After I got out of the hospital... and, uh, after the garlic incident, I survived on just vegetables and smoothies. I'm ready for real food now."

Kurt shook his head, "Did you just have smoothies while we were gone?"

"Mostly." He waited until Carole disappeared from the dining room with Finn on her tail, the two of them going to gather the rest of the food. "Smoothies don't taste as bad coming back up either."

Frowning, Kurt reached out and took Blaine's hand beneath the table, swiping his thumb along Blaine's bony knuckles. "Are you still getting sick?"

"Yeah, a little. Do you... umm, remember the day you called me while everyone was out shopping and I didn't answer right away?"

"Yes?"

"I had my head in the toilet. I felt awful. I ate some yogurt and it didn't work at all."

"So now yogurt's on the list?" The list was a long line of foods that Blaine couldn't bear to stomach anymore thanks to the sheer amount of times he'd been ill due to consuming them. There were more foods on the list than Kurt liked, but he knew Blaine was trying his best to eat more and gain weight instead of losing it like he had been.

"Unfortunately," Blaine said sadly, staring at their joined hands. "I really liked yogurt too."

Kurt went to say something else but then the front door slammed and the sound of Burt Hummel kicking off his work boots sounded down the hall. Within seconds, the man was stepping into the dining room, grinning wide when he caught his son and Blaine staring back at him. "Hey boys. Blaine, good to see ya! You look good."

"Thanks, Mr. Hummel. You too."

"Ahh, a bit of vacation time does the body good. Did Kurt give you-" The words died on his tongue when Kurt's narrowed blue eyes fell onto him in a deadly glare. "Uh, nevermind. Carole, what's for dinner?" Quickly, Burt fled to the kitchen and Blaine burst into giggles, rolling his eyes when Kurt shot a look at him.

"You got me something? That's sweet."

"It's not just for you. It's for her as well."

"Her? The baby?" He watched Kurt nod and he couldn't help but smirk. "You think the baby's a girl?"

"I dunno," Kurt shrugged, looking down at the soft pudge of Blaine's stomach. "My gut keeps screaming girl and I... may have had a dream the other night that she was, well, a girl."

"Huh." Thoughtfully, Blaine ran his free hand over his belly. Even though he hadn't breathed a word to Kurt about what he thought the sex of the baby was, it turned out Kurt was feeling the same thing he was. He too had a dream a few nights back about their future child. In his dream, he was walking around with an infant wrapped in a pink blanket - granted, the kid did have a tuft of pink hair and she could talk, but still, it was a girl nonetheless. "Maybe it is a girl?"

"Eh, it was just a thought. If it's a boy, I won't be mad."

"Neither will I."

The two continued to stare at each other, lost in the moment when a herd of footsteps interrupted them and snapped them from their reverie. Finn, Carole, and Burt came in, each carrying various bowls of food and once they were all in the room, they took their respective seats and everyone began to dish out what they wanted; Kurt began (once again) portioning out Blaine's plate like he always did. Fondly, Burt and Carole watched the two and when Blaine graciously accepted his plate with a bashful smile, the two adults wondered when things between the soon-to-be teen parents would change. Eventually one of them would crack and hopefully they'd start a relationship before the baby was born, but still, they had months to get there and both Burt and Carole were sure they'd end up realizing their feelings sooner rather than later.

::::::::::

"Okay so, where's my gift?"

"You are so impatient," Kurt laughed, playfully shoving Blaine's shoulder as the two of them entered his bedroom. He waited until Blaine took a seat on his bed before he went rummaging through his closet, yanking out a crisp white box that was wrapped with a pink polka-dotted bow. "Here. If you don't like it, I can't take it back because that means I'd have to go to Arkansas."

"I'm sure I'll love it," Blaine murmured, gently untying the bow before he lifted the lid. A gasp erupted from his lips and he looked up at Kurt with wide honey eyes. "Oh Kurt-"

"Do you like it?"

"It's adorable." Hands dipped into the box and out came a chocolate brown teddy bear. It had black button eyes, a tiny stitched nose, and soft, fluffy fur. Tied around its neck was a pink polka-dotted bow, much like the one that had been wrapped around the box, and when Blaine lifted the bear close to his face, the sweet smell of baby powder wafted into his nose. "It's perfect. Kurt, you shouldn't-"

"I might've been jumping ahead with getting the kid a toy and stuff because we don't even know if it's a girl... but, I couldn't pass it up."

"I love it."

"You do?"

"Yeah," Blaine held the bear close to his belly, looking down at the way the stuffed animal rested against the swell of his stomach. "She'll love it too. I'm sure of it."

He was still looking down when Kurt smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. Inside, the older boy's heart was fluttering strangely as he watched his friend awe at the bear and rub at his belly. There were so many hidden feelings racing through him and Kurt shook his head, pushing them away as he fought with the urge to just go over and kiss Blaine senseless. Biting his lip, he made his way over to the bed and sat down next to Blaine, placing his palm over his friend's hand. "You better like this bear, jellybean, because I spent good money on it."

"Jellybean?"

"Yeah. Jellybean. What of it?"

"Nothing," Blaine said softly, an amused smile on his face. He stared at his and Kurt's hands and squealed internally. "It's cute that you have a nickname for it. It's much better than just referring to it as... well, it."

"I'm glad you like the name."

"I'm glad you thought of it." They sat there in the silence, hands still on Blaine's stomach until Finn hollered something about dessert and Blaine looked over at Kurt with excited eyes, grinning when his friend laughed and stood up, taking his hand to lead them both downstairs. "Oh... and Kurt?"

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Abs."

::::::::::

"I don't know what to wear tomorrow," Blaine whispered a few days later, his voice soft and cracking in the receiver of Kurt's phone. Kurt frowned and sat up in bed, running a hand through his thick locks as he stared over at his closet.

"What do you mean?"

"My clothes. They're fitting weird now because of my stomach and, like, I don't know what to do. I don't want to go into McKinley tomorrow wearing a shirt that screams: HEY LOOK I'M PREGNANT!" There was a sigh on the other line and Kurt's frown deepened. "I just... what if those football guys come after me? They picked on me before I was pregnant for being gay. How are they going to react knowing that I acted on it?"

"They'd better not lay a hand on you, so help me-"

"I... I just don't want them to know. Not yet. I don't want anyone to know right now, not until the time's right. I know - or at least I hope that Finn and Rachel will keep quiet, but other than them, no one else can know. I'm not ready."

"I understand." Laying back against his pillows, Kurt stared back at the closet again, his eyes falling onto a box of clothes that were hidden beneath his many pairs of boots and sneakers. It was a box he never ever opened, not after the day he decided to change his appearance, but it was still there in his closet - just a box of things he couldn't bear to get rid of like the rest of his things. Inside that box were a few items that Kurt knew Blaine could wear that could possibly help him cover his growing belly, but the idea of opening that container of things made his gut twist.

There were so many bad memories attached to that version of Kurt that he feared even bringing it back, even if the items inside would help Blaine out in the long run. Frowning once more, he rolled away from the closet to face his wall, not about to look anymore. "Can you wear a jacket?"

"I dunno. I guess I could. But if it gets too hot, I'm screwed."

"If you can last until the end of the day tomorrow, I can take you to get some new clothes. I have money saved up from working this summer. I should have bought you clothes sooner."

"No, Kurt. You're not spending your money on me. That's your money."

"And I'm the reason why you're growing so damn much. So suck it up and let it go. We're going shopping." A heavy sigh answered him and he smirked, knowing damn well that he'd won the argument with that little tidbit of information. "Anyway, I'm gonna meet you in front of the school and we'll walk inside together, right?"

"Yeah. Just don't smoke."

"No promises."

"Kurt!"

"I'm kidding. I'll see you tomorrow alright?"

"Okay."

::::::::::

Like they planned, Kurt and Blaine met up in front of the school and walked inside together, Kurt looming a little bit in front of Blaine as he made sure no one would suddenly come darting out in front of them in attack mode. Eyes cautiously watching, he walked Blaine to his homeroom and left him with Rachel, promising to meet them there following the morning announcements and the distribution of their schedules. After he was sure the siblings were okay in their class, he and Finn went to their homeroom, his eye immediately falling onto Dave Karofsky when the other boy plopped down in a seat not too far away from him.

Dave barely glanced over at Kurt, which was a god send because Kurt wasn't too sure he'd be able to handle any of Karofsky's antics today, but whenever a few of the other sports neanderthals came in the room, fear ran up Kurt's spine.

"Azimio's in Blaine's homeroom," he hissed at Finn. His brother stared at him, confused, and Kurt rolled his eyes. "What if that asshole messes with him? I'm not there-"

"Blaine'll be okay. I don't think Azimio will do anything to him after what you did to him last year. Plus, it's senior year and we've got football and all that stuff that he'll not want to get kicked out of. There's scouts and everything coming this year. If he wants to get out of Lima, he'll have to play and he can't if he gets kicked off for messing with Blaine. It'll be alright."

However, Finn's reassurances fell on deaf ears after he mentioned Azimio getting out of Lima. All Kurt could think after that was how Blaine was pregnant, due to give birth in February, and how he'd be spending his senior year carrying a child and not able to participate in many different activities. Also, there was the whole college of it all. How was he going to go to school with a new baby? By the time school started back up again (for college), their child would be several months old, not ready to be separated from its parents (or at least that's what Kurt was thinking, though he wasn't sure of Blaine's thoughts of the whole thing.) Deep down, he felt terrible for it all... for sleeping with Blaine and knocking him up when his friend seemed to have a whole promising life ahead of him.

"Hey, man. You okay?"

"-'m fine." Kurt grumbled, glaring down at his schedule. He was assigned to take mostly bullshit courses this semester since most of his core requirements were done with; there was a study hall or two scheduled and he rolled his eyes, annoyed at the idea of having to spend two hours in the library doing absolutely nothing. "Remind me why I didn't try to graduate early?" He muttered, earning a chuckle from Finn.

"I have no idea. You'd have to ask your past self."

Oh yeah, I forgot. Kurt thought bitterly, My past self liked the torture... if you count wanting to kill yourself every single day as liking something. He huffed and slunk back in his chair, ignoring the rambles of their homeroom teacher until the bell rang and the seniors were called to an assembly in the gymnasium. Quickly, Kurt and Finn made their way to Blaine and Rachel's homerooms, meeting up with them within moments. Blaine looked annoyed and Kurt immediately stepped over to him, peering over his shoulder at the schedule the shorter boy held in his hands. "You okay?"

"Look at this!"

Kurt took the sheet of paper from his friend and scowled, "What the hell happened to your schedule?"

"You tell me. They stuck me in courses I've already completed! I don't understand how that even works! I took those courses with you! They said I needed to retake some classes and then- and then they didn't even have my schedule! Artie came from his homeroom and brought me this because they ranked me as a junior again! I don't- I don't understand!" Anger blistered all over his body and Kurt took Blaine's wrist within his own, squeezing it gently as he tried to calm the other boy down.

"It'll be okay. We'll get it fixed."

"I just don't understand why everything's going wrong for me. Like, what cosmic being did I tick off? I don't get it."

Kurt's stomach tightened and he glanced over at Blaine, eyes scared due to Blaine's words. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you talking about-"

"No! Well, yes... kinda. I mean, this wasn't a part of my plan at all, but I don't regret her." He locked eyes with Kurt and stared deeply into them. "I don't, okay? I'm excited for her. I'm just... not excited about having to fight with Figgins about this crap again. I'm just tired of it all, you know?"

"I know. We'll help you though," Kurt said, turning to finally acknowledge their siblings who were hovering not far away. "C'mon. We'll go see Figgins or Miss Pillsbury or... someone after the assembly and we'll get this all straightened out."

"Okay."

::::::::::

It took Blaine days to get his schedule straightened out and by the time he was finally in his right classes, the stress of the whole situation had taken it's toll and it hit Blaine like a freight train. That Friday, before the first big football game of the season, Blaine collapsed in the kitchen of the Anderson-Berry home and Kurt got the phone call right as he and Quinn were leaving their post under the bleachers.

And that night, while Finn was playing quarterback and Rachel was in the stands cheering him on, Kurt was cuddled up in a hospital bed with Blaine, one hand stroking his friend's tiny belly while the other boy slept on, an IV strapped to his arm as hydrating fluids filled his veins.

::::::::::

To say that Blaine was having a bad time with his pregnancy was an understatement.

Truthfully, he was having a horrid time. As the weeks rolled by, it was harder for him to hide his growing stomach and it was even more difficult trying to find excuses to stay out of the lunch room - as several more foods became triggers to violent illness. Kurt hid him beneath the bleachers most of the time (meaning whenever the other skanks weren't around to smoke and tease them.) It was hard for Kurt to watch his friend suffer; there were days when Blaine wandered around like a zombie, skin pale and eyes purple-ringed with exhaustion, and on those days, Kurt just wanted to take him home and put him to bed.

One particular morning found Blaine half-asleep at his desk in English class, head resting on his stretched out arm as he waited for the bell to ring. Kurt trudged into class late following a smoke break and when he entered the classroom and saw Blaine nodding off, his heart fell.

"You okay, Abs?"

"I feel like crap," Blaine grumbled, opening one hazel eye to stare at Kurt for a moment before he closed it again. "Dad made quiche for breakfast and it didn't agree with me at all."

"I'm sorry. So are eggs on the list now?"

"Yes, unfortunately. I thought I'd be able to bypass that one, but noooo..."

The sound of the door shutting made Blaine's head pop up and before Kurt knew it, his friend was wavering to the side, slipping out of his chair as a bout of nausea and vertigo slammed into him.

"Blaine!"

Kurt leapt out of his seat, ignoring the curious eyes that turned to watch one of the school's most notorious skanks grab up the fainting new kid. Rachel, who sat farther up in the class, darted out of her chair and rushed to Blaine's side, helping Kurt ease him to the ground before she called out something to the teacher and ran from the classroom. Blaine's eyes were closed, his body slumped against Kurt, and the older boy fought against everything to not reach down and touch his former lover's belly - he wasn't about to out the pregnancy to the class, even though Blaine's outfits of choice were starting to look suspicious to the student body.

Within moments, the school nurse came running into the classroom and Kurt hefted Blaine's weight up, frowning when his friend mumbled sickly against him. "It's okay, Abs. I've got you." He cradled Blaine against him, shaking a bit under his friend's weight as he carried the boy down the hall with the nurse leading and Rachel hot on his tail. When they got to the infirmary, he laid Blaine out on the exam bed and stroked the boy's hair back, shaking his head as he studied the green tint of Blaine's skin and the thin layer of sweat that coated his brow.

"What happened?" Rachel asked quietly, sliding up to Kurt to peer down at her brother. Behind them, the nurse went about grabbing things she'd need to examine Blaine, but both of them ignored her as they stared at the unconscious boy in the front of them. Kurt's stomach was clenched in worry, his fingers itching to touch Blaine and to find out whether or not he and their baby was okay, but he feared even doing anything lest someone find out.

And that's when he realized that the nurse was going to do... and fear shot up his spine.

"Shit."

"Miss Berry? Has your brother been ill lately?"

Rachel's wide eyes fell onto Kurt as the nurse made her way towards them. The girl was just as confused when it came to what to do as he was, but he knew they couldn't freak out. Not now. Shaking his head, he began to answer the nurses questions, doing his best to describe all of Blaine's issues... and then he let it spill out. He had to. It was inevitable. "He's also five months pregnant."

The nurse's eyes grew big as she glanced at Blaine's prone form. "Oh goodness. Well, that changes things." She turned on her heel quickly and went towards her office; that's when Kurt noticed her reaching for her phone.

"No!" He darted into the room and was about to snatch the phone straight out of the woman's hand when Rachel spoke up.

"It's okay! My dads are on their way! Please don't call the hospital!"

The nurse glared at both teens, shaking her head as her finger stayed frozen in the air. "He needs medical attention. I can't give him what he needs here. The hospital can."

"If you call an ambulance, the student body will find out and we can't let that happen!" Rachel pleaded, her voice slipped up a few octaves as she grew more and more frenzied and for once, Kurt was glad she was talking instead of him because they'd be in deeper shit then than they were now if he were speaking. "Please! My dads are on their way; they can take him to his doctor. Just please don't call an ambulance."

"I need to-"

"K'rt?"

The three turned to look at the exam room and Kurt rushed right back inside when he spotted Blaine curled up on his side, staring straight ahead at them. "Blaine! Are you okay?"

"Did I pass out?"

"Yeah."

"Again?"

"Yeah."

"Where am I?"

"In the nurse's office... at McKinley. We're still at school."

"Oh shit." Blaine's eyes watered and he went to push himself into a sitting position, smacking Kurt's hand away when his friend went to make him lay back down. "I'm fine. Stop, Kurt. I'm okay." The school nurse pushed past Kurt and leaned down to Blaine's level, lifting one hand to check his forehead while she scanned his face for signs of distress.

"Mr. Anderson-Berry, how do you feel right now?"

"Like I'm going to puke. I can't believe I fainted in class. Everyone's gonna find out. Everyone's gonna know."

"No they won't," Kurt tried to soothe, but it came to no avail. Blaine instantly started to cry (though he tried his best to hide it) and once the nurse moved out of the way to grab a thermometer, Kurt swept in and pulled Blaine into his arms, holding him tight as the younger boy wept. "Shh, it'll be okay. They probably think you're sick or something. It's fine. Don't cry, Abs. Please?" He tried his best to calm Blaine down and while he held his friend against him, Rachel began to explain things to the nurse, hoping to keep the woman away from the phone so that her dads could get there and get Blaine home before the school caused a big scene and outed Blaine's pregnancy.

It was a drastic measure, honestly. Especially considering that eventually the whole school would know about the baby once Blaine grew too big to hide his pregnant belly, but right now, with everything that was going on, all they could do was hope that they could get away with their secret until they got closer to the due date.

"So, you see-" Rachel explained, half of her attention on the nurse while the other half was on her brother, who was being hugged tightly by his best friend, "-my dads will be here and they'll get him help. I appreciate everything you've done, but please-"

"Nurse Mason? Blaine Anderson-Berry's dad is here to pick him up," the intercom crackled and Kurt stepped back, sliding his arm around Blaine's waist to help him from the uncomfortable mattress. Carefully, he lowered Blaine to his feet and walked with him out of the office, leaving Rachel to deal with the nurse while he carted Blaine to the front of the school. There, outside of the secretary's office, stood Leroy, the older man's worried eyes falling onto Kurt and Blaine as they stumbled down the hall.

"Blaine? Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"-'m sick."

"Do you want me to take you to Dr. Brady's office?"

"He's probably sick of seeing me."

"He's your doctor, he'll understand." Gently, Leroy took Blaine out of Kurt's arms and offered the boy he once despised a slight smile. "Thank you, Kurt... for watching out for him."

Kurt bit his lip, his lip ring catching between his teeth. "Do you need me to help you get him to the car?"

"Nah, I've got him. We'll be okay." Tightening his grip on Blaine's waist, the man started towards the door, pausing to throw a look back at Kurt. "You can head on over after school, okay? Tell Rachel we'll call her if anything happens... and thanks again, Kurt."

With that, the man left with Blaine lugging beside him and Kurt felt his stomach flip, sad over the fact that he couldn't go along with them even though Blaine was carrying his child. He knew he should've fought, he wanted to, but he didn't want to cause his friend any more stress than he'd already dealt with, so he let Leroy take Blaine away and he remained in the hall, watching them go. For several minutes he stood there until the secretary made him go back to class, but instead of heading back to English, he disappeared outside and went under the bleachers for a smoke, wiping away the tears from the corner of his eyes as the feeling of guilt overcame him.

Because Blaine wouldn't have been dealing with all this if it weren't for him. Because it was his fault Blaine was having trouble.

His fault.

All his fault.

::::::::::

"So, Hummel, where's your butt buddy?"

Kurt glanced up, a sneer on his face as he spotted the usual group of idiot athletes coming down the hall. The rest of the school had cleared out for the day, ready to get home and do whatever, but Kurt stayed back, digging through Blaine's locker to get his friend's books for the homework he'd have to do since he missed a few classes that day. He shoved the rest of Blaine's things into his bag and then slammed the locker shut, turning to glare at the guys across from him. Azimio (surprise, surprise) stood at the head of the pack, shaking his head back and forth as he looked Kurt up and down.

"I heard about your stunt in class today. Catching the new kid as he fell? Must be your boyfriend, am I right? Tell me: is he good in the sack?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Kurt hissed, a smirk branching at the side of his mouth when Azimio snapped towards him and one of the other football players yanked him back.

"Z! You can't miss the game tomorrow! Leave the fag alone. He'll get his eventually."

The group continued to watch Kurt carefully before they finally tapered off. However, Karofsky stared at Kurt for a long, hard minute, his eyes sweeping over Kurt with a strange sadness hidden in them that made Kurt's stomach sour a bit. What was that all about? Shaking his head, he shouldered Blaine's bag of stuff and made his way outside, climbing into the Navigator and waiting until Finn and Rachel showed up and climbed into Rachel's car. Once they were inside, he drove off to the Berry residence, stomach still in knots over whether or not Blaine was okay... as well as feeling anxious over another thing that happened earlier that day that wasn't the football team badgering him.

::::::::::

"Where's Blaine?" Mr. Schue asked after he turned and noticed one of his students missing from the classroom. The glee club was meeting during lunch that day to discuss fundraising for Sectionals. It had been Blaine's idea in the first place, so it was odd to have the person who came up with the plan to raise money not be there. As soon as Schuester questioned Blaine's absence, random comments came sprouting throughout the room from the whole club; various conspiracy theories sputtered from the mouths of Brittany and Puck and one of the new students, Sugar Motta, swore up and down that her dad wasn't in the mob and most certainly didn't have anything to do with it.

As everyone discussed Blaine's absence, Kurt, Finn, and Rachel sat quietly, each of them waiting for the other students to just shut up. Kurt, especially, was having a hard time hearing his choirmates make up things about Blaine - about how he was probably off hooking up with someone or that maybe they should go looking for him... or that he went back to Dalton for something. Everyone's assumptions were grinding Kurt's gears and he crossed his arms over his chest, his upper lip curling as he struggled to not burst out and tell everyone to shut up.

Then Santana made a remark and all hell broke loose.

"I bet this has something to do with Lucky Charms over there. Probably got Anderberry preggers or something."

As soon as the word slipped out of her mouth, Rachel made a horrified gasp and Kurt's neck almost snapped from how quickly he turned to look at her. That overdramatic breath of air sealed the fucking deal; the whole class knew now and judging by the brilliantly dazzling (and evil looking) smile spreading across Santana's face... she knew she was right.

"Holy freaking shit! He is knocked up! Wow, Hummel, I didn't think you had it in you!"

"Shut your face, Lopez!" Kurt sneered, rising from his seat to glare at the whole class. He knew he looked angry enough to everyone else in the room, but deep down, he felt like throwing up... because now everybody knew... and no one in that class was trustworthy. Not a single soul.

Behind Santana sat the biggest blabber mouth in the school: Tina Cohen-Chang. That girl would spill the beans in an instant, but not if Sugar Motta said anything first, as she too was a big gossiper. Blaine's news would be around the school like wildfire and there wasn't anything Kurt could do about it.

Or was there?

Glaring, he made sure to look at everyone single person in the class with as much of a threatening look as he could muster; if he couldn't get them to zip their lips, perhaps he could scare them? However, Santana looked undeterred and all Kurt's leering did for her was make her smirk even wider. "So," she began, crossing her arms across her chest, "How far along is he? He's gotta be pretty far into it considering the monstrosities he's been wearing lately."

"Santana-" Mr. Schue warned, his worried eyes falling onto Kurt and Rachel. Finn stayed stone still in his seat while his brother and girlfriend looked on at the class in anger and fear (respectively) and when Santana and a few of the other students went to argue, Schuester stepped in to diffuse the now-ticking time bomb. "Class, please! We need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," Kurt growled. No one listened.

"What's there to talk about? Polly Pocket bent over for Rainbow Brite and they-" sarcastically, "-created life. We all know how that happens. We're just trying to figure out why they've been lying to us." Santana smirked at Kurt once she finished talking and Kurt had to fight himself from throwing a chair at her - he was that mad.

"Because it's none of your fucking business, you stupid twat."

"Ooooh, so angry. Look, I'm shaking because I'm so scared of you. Now listen here: call me that again, elf prince, and I'll rough you up so bad, Blaine'll never know what he saw in you... if he doesn't already ask himself that every single day."

Like that, Kurt flipped and he kicked his chair clean off of the risers, storming over to where Santana stood. The two of them faced each other, eye-to-eye as Kurt snarled at the shorter girl and balled his hands into fists over and over again; he wanted to hit something so bad. Santana, however, looked bored with him like getting him riled up was nothing but a little game to her, and the more nonchalant she was, the angrier Kurt became.

A small voice interrupted them both, snapping them from their bitter staring contest. "No one can know about the baby, you guys. Not yet. Blaine's not ready. He's been getting picked on since we transferred here and who knows what those guys would do if they found out he was pregnant? He's already been hurt once before. I can't let that happen again."

It was Rachel. The girl was now standing at the head of the class, wet eyes on her classmates as she looked at every single one of them. She shook her head when she caught Santana's eye, "You guys don't know what he's been through, but I do. You guys weren't there the night he was jumped and almost killed by some of our old classmates. You guys didn't see the blood or- or the carnage, the broken bones and... god. You guys didn't watch him get loaded into an ambulance and have to listen to people yelling about how he wasn't breathing or how he lost too much blood. You guys never dealt with anything like that, but I did."

The room was silent, stunned in shock at what they were hearing, and when Rachel knew they were listening, she continued.

"I can't... I can't let that happen again. We're new here, and yeah, we know you guys, but that's it. We aren't friends with anyone else here and we weren't even here that long before some other guys began picking on my brother just because he loves differently than they do. It's hard for him, so hard; we have two dads, he's gay, and now he's pregnant and once people find out, I... I'm scared for him. For him and the baby."

At the back of the room, a voice popped up and everyone's heart dropped when they heard it. "What happened to me shouldn't happen to him."

Quinn. The pink haired girl was sitting at the very back of the class, legs crossed and arms resting on her legs. She looked as blank as ever, as she usually became when she talked about her past pregnancy, but everyone in the room (even the new kids) knew her story. And while most of them wouldn't admit it, they all felt bad for what happened when her pregnancy was found out.

"Quinn-" Santana started.

The former Cheerio shook her head. "Blaine's a good guy and he's dealt with a lot. The last thing he needs is for this to get out and hurt him even more. I, for one, won't stand for it and I'm sure that Kurt won't either. Or Rachel. Or Finn. So if you want to blab, go ahead, but you'll look and feel like an asshole if you do. And you might as well quit the club because we don't need that shit here." As she trailed off, Kurt's heart swelled with pride and he gave his bestie a smile, thankful that she had his back. Around her, murmurs of agreement filled the room and then Santana placed her hand on Kurt's elbow, peering up at him through her long lashes.

"Okay, well... I don't do apologies or anything but tell Funsize that we have his back and that if anyone messes with him, he should let us know." More agreeing words sounded from the club and Kurt nodded, a small smile spreading at the corner of his mouth. It was strange to know that these people, the same people who he once hated more than anything, had Blaine's (and his, by proxy) back.

"Thanks," he said softly, looking around the room at his classmates and beside him, Santana rolled her eyes and smacked him on the arm.

"Don't mention it. Seriously. Don't."

::::::::::

Kurt knew eventually that the word was going to get out. It was inevitable really. Blaine's stomach couldn't be hidden for long, not at the rate it was growing, but the longer he was able to keep his secret, the better it was for all of them. Sighing at his thoughts, Kurt pulled the heavy bookbag out of the passenger seat and followed Rachel and Finn into the Berry home, bypassing them to head upstairs to Blaine's room, where he was unsurprised to find his friend tucked under a mound of blankets with only his curly hair sticking out.

"Abs?"

"Ugh... Kurt?"

"Yeah, it's me. You okay?"

"-'m tired. Arm hurts."

"Your arm?"

"Gave me fluids. Sent me home. So tired."

"I'm sorry." Kurt shed his boots next to the bedroom door and then closed it quietly, dropping the bag on the floor as he made his way to the bed. Carefully, he climbed onto the mattress and settled down, laying across from Blaine as he took in his friend's pale skin and the thin fingers that curled around the edge of the blanket. "C'mere." He beckoned, holding his arms out as Blaine slowly scooted close to him and snuggled in his arms. "I'm sorry you don't feel well."

"I'm happy you're here. I couldn't sleep."

"And you sleep better when you're with me?" Kurt teased, smirking as he ran his fingers over the blanketed bump of Blaine's stomach. He paused when he hit the small dip of belly button and then he rested his hand there, nuzzling his nose against Blaine's scalp. "Blaine?"

The other boy didn't answer; he had already fallen asleep to the lulling feel of Kurt's hand on his belly and when Kurt noticed it, he smiled and curled in closer, holding Blaine a little tighter as his fingers twitched a bit over the spot where their baby grew. They laid like that for several minutes, Blaine's soft snores mingling in with Kurt's deepening breaths and it wasn't long before the comfortableness of the situation sucked Kurt in as well.

Lazily, he breathed out a quiet I love you as sleep overtook him and Blaine, wrestling with the depths of sleep, hummed contentedly in response, alert enough to hear Kurt's soft mumble but too tired to recognize the sentiment.

A/N: Sorry for the delay guys! I've been sick (winter and cold is not friendly to me!) But I hope you liked this chapter. Lemme know what you thought or if there's anything you'd like to see in future chapters (my ideas are waning; I feel the evil shadow that is writer's block trying to overtake me and it's not fun lol.)