I'm not going to apologize for not updating for over a year. Those of you who follow me on tumblr know about Unclaimed, Claimed, and Violated. Those stories consumed me. And I've been churning out chapters regularly for them. This one...my writing has matured over the last year, in my opinion, and kinda left this story behind. I don't know when the next update will come. I really don't. This is one of those stories that I have to be in a certain mood to write, and I haven't been in that mood much lately. Come visit me on tumblr, thaliana1981 . tumblr . com

In minutes, they arrived at the hospital. A trauma team took the stretcher from the paramedics, and Finn caught Blaine as he stepped out of the ambulance, shaking. "He'll be okay, man," Finn reassured, holding his brother's boyfriend in a tight embrace. "He has to." He helped Blaine through the emergency room doors.

"Finn! Blaine!" Carole came striding down the hall toward them, her colourful scrubs a stark contrast to her pale skin. "What happened?"

"Kurt hurt himself," Finn said. "Blaine found him. I called 911."

"He didn't just hurt himself," Blaine said. "He took a whole bottle of pills, and sliced his arms open from wrist to elbow. He wanted to die!"

"Do you have the pill bottle?" Carole asked, trying to stay calm.

"I pointed it out to the firefighters, I'm sure they gave it to someone," Blaine said. "Should I have grabbed it? I should have grabbed it. What if they didn't tell them? What if he dies because I didn't make sure they knew he took pills?"

"Blaine!" Carole exclaimed. "Calm down! Sweetheart, you did everything just fine. It's up to the doctors now. You and Finn need to go have a seat. I've left a message at the airport in DC for Burt, he'll hopefully call me the moment he gets it. I'm going to go see if I can find out anything. You two go have a seat. Finn, keep an eye on him?"

"I got him, Mom," Finn said. He guided Blaine to a seat in the waiting room, his arm still around the shorter teen.

Blaine sobbed into Finn's shoulder as they waited for what seemed like hours, but wasn't really all that long. They waited, and waited, and waited until Carole came out to see them.

"Sorry, boys," she said, sitting down next to Blaine. She reached for his hands, squeezing them in hers.

"Sorry? He's gone?" Blaine asked, his face falling even further, his eyes welling with renewed tears.

"No!" she exclaimed. "No no no! Sorry I took so long to get back to you. I was conferring with the trauma team. Kurt's okay. He's lost a lot of blood, it was really touch and go, but I'm pretty sure he's going to make it. They're giving him a large blood transfusion, they've pumped his stomach, and he's going to be here awhile, but there's no reason to think he won't wake up."

"Oh, thank God," Blaine sagged against Carole. "When can I see him?"

"Honey, Kurt's going to be asleep for a long time. When they're finished working on him, he'll be transferred to the ICU. You won't be able to see him for a day or two."

"No," Blaine said desperately. "Please, Carole, I just need to see that he's okay."

"We'll see what happens, but Blaine, it's probably best if you and Finn take my car home. That way there's someone to pick Burt up from the airport. You need to try to get some sleep. Both of you."

"I can't," Blaine shook his head. "Carole, I can't sleep in his room, in our room…his blood is everywhere, the bathroom floor is saturated with it."

"You can sleep in my room, dude," Finn said. "I…I don't think I can sleep alone either. Like, no homo, just as bros."

Blaine shook his head. "Thanks, Finn, but I think I'll just stay here."

"No, you're going home," Carole said firmly. "Sleep on the couch if you have to. But you're going home. The hospital is no place to spend the night, especially when I'm a nurse that can call you if anything happens. Go. Get some sleep. I'll call you both out of school in the morning. All three of you, I guess. You'll be out most of this week, I'm sure. We'll let you stay home until we're ready to figure out what to tell everyone at school."

"Right," Blaine sighed. "Carole, this is…it's a bit awkward, but, uh, can I use one of the other showers? I need to…need to get Kurt's blood off me."

Carole nodded. "Our home is your home now, sweetheart. You go right ahead," she said. "Do whatever you need to. Sleep in our bed if you want to." She squeezed his hands again. "I need to get back to work. You two go home, and I'll call your cell, Finn, if anything happens."

"Why Finn?" Blaine asked. "Why not me?"

"Because I want you to try to rest, and worrying that you'll miss your phone ringing will keep you awake," Carole said gently. "Finn's ringer is loud enough to wake the dead. There's no way he'll miss it."

"Dude, I promise," Finn nodded. "Okay, Mom, where are your keys?"

Carole took her car key from her pocket, handing it over. "Also, Finn, I'll call you when I need a ride home, and I'll have Burt call you when he needs to be picked up from the airport. Are you okay with all that, honey?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I'm gonna get Blaine home, get him cleaned up, and tucked into bed, somewhere," Finn said. "You know, Blaine saved his life…he knew something was wrong, and got to him in time…"

"I know," Carole said quietly. "Blaine, I can never thank you enough."

"Just…just make sure he's okay," Blaine whispered. "That's all I care about. Making sure he's okay."

Carole nodded. She gave him a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around him and holding him for a long moment. "I love you boys," she murmured. "All three of you. Never thought I'd have three sons, but I do, and it's great." She smiled sadly. "Go home, you two. I'll let you know if anything changes."

"Thanks," Blaine said quietly. "I appreciate that." He forced himself to his feet and took a deep breath. "Carole, if...if he wakes up, will you tell him I love him?"

"Of course," Carole offered a slight smile. "Now go on, both of you."

Finn took Blaine by the elbow and led him out of the hospital, finding his mother's car in the staff parking lot. He got them home with a minimum of speech and effort.

"I need to shower," Blaine whispered once they walked into the house. "I have his blood everywhere." He let his jacket fall off his shoulders, pooling on the floor behind him. His shoes followed, and he stared down at the red that had soaked into his socks without him realizing it.

"Dude, it's cool. There's the second floor bathroom that's kinda mine, but, uh, I haven't cleaned it in awhile, or you can use the shower in Mom and Burt's room. They won't mind."

"Um...yeah, um..." Blaine looked like he couldn't make the decision. "Finn?" he asked, his eyes bright. "If Kurt dies...I...I won't have anywhere to go..."

"Dude, no!" Finn exclaimed. "First, he's not gonna die. Second, if he did, Mom and Burt aren't gonna kick you out. I mean, come on, man, they wouldn't do that. They love you. Seriously. Mom called you her son. Now let's get you cleaned up. Do you, uh, have a robe or anything in Kurt's room? I'll go get it..."

"No, I..." Blaine frowned. He'd forgotten his robe when he'd packed at his parents' house.

"It's okay. Kurt won't mind if you borrow one of his. He has the "sick robe," the ratty one he only wears when he's sick, you know? I'll, uh, I'll just go grab that from his room. You go up to Mom and Burt's room, and start the shower, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Blaine walked toward the stairs. He saw the blood on the carpet leading up to the second floor, and froze. "Blood," he whispered. "Everywhere, blood..."

"Dude, don't look at it. Just go," Finn said. He pointed up the stairs. "Straight to the room at the end. Don't look into your bedroom, just go."

"Right." Blaine lifted his foot and placed it on the first step, and suddenly felt a comforting hand in the center of his back. Finn guided him up the stairs and down to Burt and Carole's room, past the open door of Kurt's bedroom, past Finn's bedroom.

"Go on and shower," Finn directed. "I...I'd rather not help you with that part. Unless you really need me to."

"No. I..." Blaine looked up at Finn, and the tears started to fall again.

"Come on," Finn sighed. "You're wearing your underwear into the shower, though." He pushed Blaine through the bathroom door and started the shower. "Arms up." He stripped Blaine's shirt off his body and tossed it aside. "Man, will you at least unbutton your own pants?" he asked.

Blaine's fingers fumbled, but he finally managed to unbutton and unzip his pants, steadying himself on Finn's shoulder as he kicked the bloodied garment away, toeing off his soaked socks as well.

"Okay, into the shower," Finn directed. "I'll go get you a towel and Kurt's robe."

"Right...shower..." Blaine stepped into the shower and just stood there, frozen, watching as rivulets of his boyfriend's blood washed down the drain. He stayed there until Finn got back.

"Okay, dude, got Kurt's robe and some sweats for you," Finn said, walking back into the bathroom. He took in Blaine, who was staring at the floor, unmoving. "Dude, close your eyes and soap off," he said. "That way you can't see it. And you can get out of the shower before it goes cold."

"I can smell it," Blaine whispered, barely audible over the shower. "It's awful...like old pennies..."

"Come on, dude, I draw the line at actually getting into the shower with you," Finn said. "Like, I mean, I know you're with my bro, and all, and I'm fine with that, but...I'm just not ready to shower with a guy."

Blaine looked up at Finn, eyes hollow, gaze fixed. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Go ahead and go, I'll be fine."

Finn held out a washcloth. "I'm just gonna go make some hot chocolate, okay? Come down to the living room when you're done and we'll put on a movie."

"Sure..."

Finally, Finn left him alone.

Blaine did as Finn had suggested and scrubbed himself down with his eyes closed, letting the water run for a full five minutes after he thought he was done, in the hopes that there would be no blood left once he finally opened his eyes.

He stepped out of the shower and toweled off, pulling off his sodden underwear and pulling on the sweats Finn had left. He pulled Kurt's soft, fluffy robe around himself and padded out of the master bedroom, his blood and water-soaked clothes in hand. He almost stopped at his and Kurt's bedroom to dump the clothes into the laundry when he realized what lay beyond the firmly closed door. Blaine headed straight for the laundry room, faltering when he saw the bloody footprints on the stairs. His shoes were ruined, his socks and jeans probably beyond repair. The jeans and shirt he'd worn when he'd found Kurt were in even worse shape, and Blaine realized that it was going to take a lot of work to even try to begin to clean up the messes.

After the clothes were in the laundry room, Blaine walked to the living room, peeking his head in through the doorway. "Finn, I'm going to go clean the bathroom," Blaine said. "Kurt's bathroom, I mean."

"No, dude, come sit with me," Finn shook his head. "I put on Finding Nemo. And I made hot chocolate. Come on, the bathroom can wait. You just got cleaned up, no reason to get all dirty again."

Blaine frowned. "But Kurt will be so upset when he realizes what a mess the bathroom is."

"Dude, Kurt made the mess," Finn said. It was exactly the wrong thing to say. Blaine's tears started anew, hot, fat drops rolling down his cheeks. "Oh, man, Blaine, I'm sorry, dude, come on," Finn frowned. He got up and walked over to Blaine, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and guiding him to the couch.

Blaine sobbed into Finn's shoulder for a long time, letting himself be held by the other teen. He ignored one of his favorite Disney movies and sat, huddled on the couch, as the hours passed. He knew he couldn't sleep, but he didn't expect Finn to sit up beside him all night long, either.

When Finn's phone rang with an incoming text, both boys jumped, startled. "Sorry, dude," Finn said, picking up the cell from the table. He frowned. "Fuck," he said.

"What is it?"

"Rachel. She heard from one of our neighbors about the ambulance. Her text says 'Finn, I've given you five hours to call me and tell me what the ambulance was at your house for. I think that's more than long enough for you to tell your girlfriend about any emergency. I've been patient long enough. Is everything okay?' Blaine, what do I do?"

"I don't know," Blaine frowned. "Kurt...he wouldn't want us to tell everyone, and telling Rachel is tantamount to telling everyone..."

"I don't know what that word means, but Rachel can't keep a secret," Finn said.

"Exactly. Okay. Text her back, just tell her she woke you up, everything is fine, and you'll talk to her tomorrow after school." He took Finn's phone when the taller boy faltered. "I'll do it." He sent a succinct text, using Finn's vocabulary instead of his own. "Maybe we should try to sleep."

"No point," Finn shook his head. "Burt will probably call soon. And mom gets off in two more hours. You can if you want, dude, I'll go get them myself."

Blaine frowned. "I'm gonna go lay on the loveseat, so you can stretch out here, and we'll just watch mindless television."

"Okay." Finn watched as Blaine got up and shuffled over to the loveseat, pulling the throw from the back over his body and curling up in a little ball. "Goodnight, bro," he said quietly.

"Yeah...night, Finn." Blaine refused to close his eyes, though, staring at the television even as Rachel continued to text. "Tell her you're going back to bed," Blaine said miserably. "Get her to shut up."

"I'll just shut off the ringer," Finn said.

"No!" Blaine exclaimed. "If you do that, you won't hear the phone ring when Burt or Carole calls. Fuck!" He reached for his own phone, sitting on the coffee table. He texted Rachel himself. "Rachel, go to sleep!"

The wrong thing to do. Apparently, Rachel was up for the day, because she started texting both of them, telling them both how inconsiderate they were to not tell her what was going on, and that they needed to think about her as well, because she cared about them.

Blaine swallowed hard, and pressed the button to call the obnoxious, but well-meaning brunette. "Rachel, it's Blaine," he said tiredly when she picked up. "Look, something happened, but we're not allowed to talk about it. None of us have slept all night, and we really need to try to get some rest. Everyone is okay, that's the important thing. Please please please let us get some rest."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Blaine, I didn't realize it was that bad," Rachel said quietly. "I'll just...yeah. Go to sleep, Blaine. We'll...we'll talk later. I guess you guys aren't coming to school?"

"No," Blaine said. "None of us are coming to school today. Finn will call you later, okay? Just...please, don't say anything to anyone."

"I won't. Bye, Blaine."

Blaine tossed the phone back onto the coffee table and sank back down into the cushions. "Hopefully that works."

Blaine's eyes drifted closed, and he fell asleep. But it was only minutes later that Finn's phone rang.

"Burt," Finn said groggily. He answered the phone. "Burt?"

"Finn," Burt said, his voice obviously thick with tears. "I've rented a car in Columbus, I couldn't get a flight back into Lima until the afternoon. I'll be at the hospital in two hours or less, I'll pick up your mom. She explained everything. How...how's Blaine doing?"

"He's pretty messed up, I'm not gonna lie," Finn said. "But he's holding it together, I think. You sure you don't need a ride?"

"I can be there before you could be here, really," Burt said. "And I can return the car to the Lima airport. Your mom and I will come home and see you boys right away."

Blaine held out his hand for the phone, silently pleading for Finn to hand him the device.

"Burt, Blaine wants to talk to you," Finn said. Receiving an affirmative, he handed the phone over.

"Burt," Blaine said thickly. "I'm so sorry."

"Blaine, stop it," Burt said. "He obviously wanted this more than we knew. You know how stubborn he is. Do not blame yourself. If anything, blame me for thinking that school's lousy excuse for counselling would be enough. But my son loves you, and we're going to get to the bottom of this. No matter what."

"But...what if he dies?" Blaine asked softly. "What then?"

"He's not going to die. Carole filled me in when I was in D.C. And we're going to keep him from trying again. But if he were to manage it, we'd push through and persevere like the family we are. Son, you're a part of our family now, like it or not. And we're not about to let you run away."

"Oh..." Blaine looked down at his lap. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"No need to thank us, Blaine. You're one of our sons now. I need to go, I need to concentrate on driving. I'll see you boys in a few hours."

"Bye..." Blaine hung up the phone.

"Was I right?" Finn asked quietly. "Did he tell you that we're family and you're stuck with us?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly. "He did."

"Told you!" Finn exclaimed. Then he sobered. "Dude, they won't be home for hours yet. Let's try to sleep?"

"You go ahead," Blaine suggested. "I'm going to watch some television."

"There's nothing on this time of night. Look, just come up and hang out in my room with me? Rachel made me change the sheets, so my bed is clean...I just...I don't wanna be alone."

Blaine sighed. "Okay," he said. "That...that'd be nice." He got up from the couch and followed Finn up the stairs, faltering at his and Kurt's bedroom door.

"C'mon," Finn said quietly. "Just come with me. Don't look at the floors, don't go in the room. You'll be fine."

"Thanks, Finn. I don't know how I would have gotten through this without you."

"That's what brothers do," Finn said. He looked uncomfortable. "You'd do the same for me."

"I hope I never have to," Blaine said. He sat down on the edge of Finn's bed, then, at the other boy's urging, moved up to the pillows.

"Just lay back, I'll turn on another movie, and we can just try not to think about it."

"Right." The time passed, and finally, after a few hours of restless sleep, the front door opened.

Carole walked through the door, slipped off her shoes, and automatically bent to straighten them. She picked up Finn and Blaine's shoes, too, putting them in a neat row. "Honey, just...go straight into the living room," she recommended quietly to Burt.

"Why?" the older man asked, kicking off his own shoes and dropping his bag in the entryway.

"Just go," Carole said. "I'm going to call a carpet cleaning company as soon as they open." There were bloodstains all the way up the stairs.

"Oh. No, I think I need to check in with the boys," Burt said. "A little blood isn't going to bother me."

"It's not a little, but okay. I don't know where the boys are, they could be in the living room, in Finn's room, or even ours," she explained.

Burt peeked his head into the living room and didn't see anyone. "They must be upstairs," he said. He followed Carole up the stairs, carefully avoiding spots of blood as he walked.

Carole tapped lightly on Finn's bedroom door. "Come in," came a groggy voice. She pushed the door open. "Hey, honey," she said. "How are you doing? Where's Blaine?"

"Hmm?" Blaine sat up, and Burt, behind Carole, was taken back to the moment when he'd first met the boy who had captured his son's heart, sleeping, disoriented, in another bed in the house.

"There he is," Carole said gently. "Okay, I'm home, Burt and I are going to take a nap. But I wanted to fill you guys in before we did that."

Blaine was instantly wide awake. "What?" he asked. "How is he?" He scrambled off the bed.

"He's going to be okay," Burt said. "He still hasn't woken up, he took a lot of pills. But I've seen him, and besides being even more ghostly pale than ever, he looks okay. They're keeping him hydrated and they've given him a rather large blood transfusion. But when he wakes up, he's going to be in a world of hurt for a long time. They don't know if there's any brain damage from the pills, and they won't know until he wakes up. For now, we're just going to focus on the fact that he will wake up. Anything else will come later."

"Oh," Blaine said, looking down at his hands. "Um, when can I see him?" he asked.

"We'll go back to the hospital this afternoon," Carole said. "For now, you both need to get more sleep. I'm sorry we woke you up, but I know both of you would have been upset if we'd just gone to bed. I'm going to stay up just long enough to call you boys out of school, and call a carpet cleaning company. Then I'm going to sleep for a few hours."

"What about...there's so much blood in the bathroom," Blaine said quietly.

"I'll call a cleaning service that specializes in biologicals," Carole reassured him. "We'll make sure it's all gone before you have to go back in there."

"Thanks, Carole," Blaine said quietly. He accepted hugs from both of the parents, and then stood there, looking lost.

"What's wrong, buddy?" Burt asked.

"I don't really have anywhere to sleep right now," Blaine said. "It'd be awkward to intentionally go to sleep in Finn's bed..."

"Why don't you take the couch, then?" Carole asked. "Everyone will be sleeping so that won't be a problem."

"I guess. Okay. Sorry to be such a bother."

"You're never a bother," Burt said. "So stop that. Let's get you settled and get you boys some more rest."

"Dude," Finn said, frowning. "We have the air mattress that Puck usually sleeps on...it's in my closet...we could set that up in here. It only takes a minute to fill..."

Carole smiled. "That's a great idea," she said. "Why don't you boys do that? You'll sleep better on an actual mattress, Blaine."

"Alright," Blaine nodded. "Thanks, guys, um, for everything. You shouldn't have to worry about me..."

"You're our son," Burt said firmly. "Of course we're going to worry about you. Now let's get some sleep."

Finn and Blaine set up the air mattress, and Finn gave him a couple of the pillows off his bed. But now that he'd had some rest, Blaine couldn't sleep. The pillows smelled like Finn and Rachel, not Kurt, and he couldn't help the tears.

Finn woke up, realizing his companion wasn't sleeping. "Dude, do you want me to go get a pillow and blanket from his room?" Finn asked. "Would that help?"

"It might," Blaine whispered. "It might..."

"I'll be right back." Finn lumbered over to the door and pulled it open. He went to Kurt's room and grabbed two pillows and the blanket off the bed, and returned to his room. He gave them all to Blaine, who snuggled into the familiar smelling warmth, and fell asleep quickly.

I will finish this story. I don't know when, but I will finish it. It's outlined, I just...Unclaimed consumed my life, and I left this one behind.