I've actually had this sitting on my computer for a couple of days but I just kept getting distracted! I blame tumblr... it's very distracting!

But hopefully, you like this sweet chapter... I particularly enjoyed writing this one... It did make me bawl my eyes out though, so hopefully its not too distressing for any of you...

And feel free to tell me what you think... Reviews make my day, even when they're negative...

Eight

Hushed voices filled the corridors. They seemed to whisper about him, never to him, never explaining what he wanted to know... what he needed to know.

Would she be okay? Was it his fault? Was there something he could have done? Were there warning signs he should have read?

Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease. That's what the doctors were calling it. He could hear them whispering as they passed his chair, talking among themselves as they left her room.

'Can I see her?' Blaine tried to whisper, but no one replied. 'Can I talk to her? What's wrong with her? Will she survive?' So many questions that no one would answer.

He felt like he had been there for hours, sitting vigil on the hard plastic chair outside her room. When the ambulance had first arrived at the park and he'd driven with her towards the hospital, they'd asked him all the normal questions.

'What's her name?'

'Kathryn Bournam.'

'How old is she?'

'15. But she's a soph-'

'Are there any medical conditions we should know about?'

'I don't know. I've never even been to her house. She won't tell me about herself, she's always talking about-'

'Do you know how to contact her parents?'

'I can check her cell.'

They handed him the phone and he found the number as they worked on her, supplying her with oxygen and using towelettes to stem the blood trickling from the cut in her head. Her heart rate was steady, but she was still unconscious. Blaine felt like he was about to faint.

'Here it is,' he said, holding it out to one of the paramedics. 'Do you want me to call them?'

'No,' the man said and took the phone from his hand. 'We'll do it.' He pressed the phone to his ear. 'What's your name, son?'

'Blaine,' he whispered. 'Blaine Anderson.'

Now he just sat on the chair, hoping against hope that Kathryn was alright.

'Mr Anderson?' The woman's voice was soft and he turned his head to find himself face to face with one of the nurses.

'Yeah?' he asked.

'I know you've been sitting here a while and you probably want to go home-' He shook his head quickly, but the woman was already continuing. 'But she's awake and wants to see you.'

Blaine stood up, taking a deep breath and nodded. 'Yeah. I want to see her.'

'Be warned, she is very weak. Don't stress her out to much, okay, hun?'

He nodded again and stepped into the room, his eyes searching out Kathryn's. She was lying against the pillow, her lips curved into a frown but when she saw him she smiled. She was connected to oxygen and heart rate monitors, and her head was bandaged, but otherwise she seemed fine.

'Hey,' he breathed.

'Hey, you.'

He sat down gingerly on the side of her bed, taking her hand between both of his. 'How are you feeling? I feel awful? Are you okay? You seem fine, why aren't they letting you go home?'

Kathryn smiled sadly. For some reason it stung Blaine more than all the waiting. 'Didn't they tell you, Blaine? I'm sick.'

He shook his head. 'No, you just fell.'

'I know you heard them. They were talking about it, and you were just outside the door. You must have have heard. Blaine, I have autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease.' She squeezed his hand. 'I've had it since I was born, it's just gotten worse recently.'

'But you seem fine!' Blaine tried to protest, but she shook her head softly.

'I've known for about two months now that I was going to die. It was just a matter of when. I was on medication that was supposed to hold it off, plus dialysis every week.' She bit her lip, teasing the flesh between her teeth. 'And then last week, when I got the phone call from my mom?'

He nodded and she continued. 'That was to tell me the medication wasn't working. They were taking me off it.'

Blaine felt like his world was falling apart. Two months, that's all he'd had with her. They'd only been friends for such a short space of time, and-

'You said two months?'

'What?'

He repeated himself, slower this time. 'You said you've known for two months that you are going to die.'

She nodded. 'Yeah.'

'It was two months ago that you sat with me for the first time at lunch, that first day.'

The beeping that had been constant in the background suddenly became faster and he glanced towards the heart rate monitor. 'Kathryn?'

'Sorry,' she whispered. 'I should have told you this earlier.'

'Told me what?' he asked.

Kathryn's lips curled into the slightest of smiles and she shuffled up higher on the bed, crossing her legs in front of her. 'Sit with me,' she said.

Blaine drew up his own feet and positioned himself opposite her.

'I didn't know how to tell you,' she whispered, leaning her sweaty forehead against his. 'I was scared you'd think I was horrible, or too sick to hang around.' He shook his head but she continued, holding his hand close against her chest. 'I just wanted to make a difference to someone, Blaine. I wanted to make my mark on the world before I was lost forever.'

'So-' he stuttered. 'You became friends with me?'

She nodded. 'I could see you were having it tough, and I'd heard the rumours. You looked like you needed a friend, and I wanted to be that friend. And then when I saw how hard it was for you, I realised what I could do. I could help you to find yourself. I could help you come out.'

Blaine snorted, but she only pressed his hand closer to her chest more firmly and smiled. 'You're already more confident.'

He bit his lip, drawing the skin between his teeth. 'Being able to hang out with a girl without being shoved into a locker or bashed against a wall isn't confidence,' he whispered. 'That's just normal.'

Kathryn didn't comment, but when she spoke, her eyes were sad and heavy. 'Blaine,' she said slowly. 'I am going to die. I know I am. I think I've kind of known all my life, I just didn't know when.' She paused, letting her thumb run the length of the back of his hand. 'But I want to see you walk proud down the corridors of Westerville before I do.'

'What do you want me to do, Kathryn?' Blaine asked, shaking his head. 'I can't just turn up to school and yell out "Hey, guess what? You're right, I'm gay!"'

She smiled. 'Why not?'

'Because- because it's madness!'

She took a deep breath and the tank of oxygen beside her head hissed. 'I'm going to come to school tomorrow, okay? I'm going to get them to let me out, and I'm going to come to school to see you come out to the whole of Westerville High.'

'I- I can't.'

'Yes,' she replied. 'You can.' She squeezed his hand once more. 'And promise me something else, Blaine.'

'Can I do it instead?'

'No.' She grinned. 'Come to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me. I know you're not into school events, but if I'm not going to get my prom, I have to at least get one school dance.' She cocked her head to the side, eyeing him carefully. 'And you're my true love, Blaine Anderson.'

He laughed, but it felt too wrong, contrasted against the metal and white of the hospital surrounds. He stopped quickly. 'I'll go to the dance with you,' he bargained. 'If you promise me that you won't die.'

'That's not really something that's in my control,' she countered, but there was the ghost of a smile lingering around her lips as if she found the whole concept amusing. Blaine couldn't think of anything more serious.

'You have strength,' he whispered. 'You can force yourself to pull through.'

She rolled her tongue around her mouth, thinking. 'If you come with me to the Sadie Hawkins dance, and come out to the school population, I will make sure I don't die.'

Somewhere in him, Blaine knew it was an empty promise, but he nodded despite himself. He disentangled his hand from her grasp and held out his pinkie for her to shake.

'It's a deal,' he said.