He desperately needed an aspirin. That was Kurt's first thought upon sitting up. More than that, the alarm clock said 9.26 AM. His dad had never been later than 9.14. So why wasn't he down in Kurt's basement?

Venturing up the stairs took thrice as long as it usually did, and each step sent a surge of pain. There was a definite sense of relief when he reached the door leading to the rest of the house.

The feeling quickly turned into confusion when he couldn't smell pancakes. The house seemed... empty.

Except for Carole. She turned to smile at him, but her happy expression faltered as soon as she saw him. He must look awful.

"Goodness sweetie, you don't look to good. Are you sure you should be up and about?"

"W-where's dad?" His voice was foreign to him. It was rough from trying to breathe, and sore from crying. Hopefully, Carole would mistake it for a simple cold.

"He and Finn went to a race, you just missed them. Come out to the kitchen, there's some omelette, if you want it."

"A r-race?" Confusion racked through his brain. Today was the right date. It was Monday. And his dad had forgotten. It was all he could do to keep from collapsing right then and there.

And he wasn't really in the mood for food.

He was startled out of his daze by Carole clearing her throat worriedly.

"Oh. Uhm, no thank you. I don't feel too good. I think I'm coming down with something. I'll just... go back to bed."

He nearly tripped over himself in his hurry to shut the door to escape Carole's worried questions, and he was grateful when she didn't come down.

He slept away the day instead of spending it laughing with his father.

-ooo-

The next morning, he woke to someone gently shaking him.

"Kurt. I am so sorry I forgot. I came home as soon as I realised but you were asleep and - I'm sorry." His dad looked livid. And the guilt etched into his face was more than Kurt could stand.

"I-It's fine dad. I slept all day. I-It wouldn't have mattered even if you had remembered." Of course it mattered. Yesterday was when Kurt had needed him the most. But telling his dad that would only worsen that guilty expression, and Kurt couldn't stand that. Just because he was hurting didn't mean he had to burden anyone with it.

"You sure? I made pancakes today instead."

"Sure. And thanks." The small, awkward smile was reward enough. And while it was good to eat something again, the pancakes somehow didn't taste as good as they usually did.

"We need to leave in half an hour. You okay with that kiddo?"

At first, Kurt couldn't understand what he was on about. Until it hit him. Cabin. There was no way he could go; he could barely stand up, they would all notice. And he would need to share a room with Finn there, so Finn would notice even more. His bruises.

"N-no dad, I really don't feel too good. I'd rather stay home. It's just a week, I'll be fine by myself." After all, he didn't have to tell Sam he stayed behind. Or anyone else, for that matter.

His dad didn't seem to pleased with the idea. "I'm not sure Kurt. We could postpone the trip, stay at home-"

"No!" lowering his voice to a normal level, he fought back the panic. Kurt was not going to be the reason for a ruined family vacation. "I mean, it's fine. You three go, have fun. I don't want you to stay because of me. It's just a cold. I'll handle it."

"If you're sure..."

Yes. "I'm sure dad. Have a nice vacation."

"All right. Get better, son. We'll call you when we get there, okay?"

Parting was less painful thank Kurt had thought it would be. Carole fussed for a while, Finn awkwardly patted his shoulder, and he cherished the short hug his dad offered. This was the easiest way to handle the situation, he knew that.

So why did he feel so empty?

Gosh, thank you all for the reviews! And for those worrying about Kurt; don't worry. Things'll perk up for him.

Edit: I got a message saying that there are similar stories by either rofro05 or totalgleekgirl, concerning the porridge and forgetting the birthday. I didn't know that, so sorry. I've edited out the porridge, but I'm not taking away the birthday part. The reason it's there is because I've had that experience myself.