Kurt sat in front of his computer screen thinking about what to do. Sebastian had sent him that message 4 hours ago, and he wasn't online anymore.

Well, at least he wanted to talk... kind of. Kurt figured Sebastian's mother must have mentioned meeting him and that's why Sebastian wanted to talk to him now after he had previously just ignored him, but he couldn't know for sure. It could be anything, really.

After thinking about it for a little too long, Kurt realized Sebastian could have messaged him to tell him off or worse, but instead he'd said he wanted to talk. So after spending a ridiculous amount of time typing and erasing possible responses he finally replied.

To Sebastian Smythe:

Sure... message me any time :)

He'd been insecure about adding the smiley face at the end, but figured since Sebastian's message did sound a little too direct, it wouldn't hurt to make his response a bit friendlier.

Hours passed and no response came from Sebastian's part. Kurt made sure his phone notifications were enabled before going to bed. But when he woke up the next day he still didn't have anything.

It wasn't until later, when it was almost lunchtime that his phone buzzed with a new message from Sebastian.

Sebastian: Are you there?

Kurt: Yes. Hi.

Sebastian: I need to talk to you.

Kurt: Okay...about what?

Sebastian: You know about what.

Kurt just stared at his phone and frowned. He surely didn't expect this. Though he really didn't know exactly what he expected from Sebastian at this point.

Sebastian: Have you told anyone?

Kurt: No.

Sebastian: Be honest.

Kurt: I am being honest.

Sebastian: Don't tell ANYONE.

Kurt frowned, looking down at his phone, feeling like a chastised child. Sebastian was just so weird, and Kurt was trying real hard not to snap and just tell him to calm down and what his problem was, but then another message came through.

Sebastian: Please...

And well, that kind of changed things a little. So he just sighed and replied.

Kurt: okay.

Sebastian: Give me your word.

Kurt looked around him, as if checking that no one could watch what he was typing down on his phone, which was ridiculous. He was sitting in the living room, watching a movie with his dad, who had dozed off a while ago.

Kurt: Fine, you have my word.

Sebastian didn't say anything else...

Kurt: is that all?

He waited for a few seconds, then minutes, and hours... but Sebastian didn't message him further. Kurt was indignant that Sebastian had just dropped their conversation without even saying 'thanks' or at least 'goodbye' or well, anything at all. But more than that, he hated the small tingling of concern that still lingered inside him, refusing to just let this go. They weren't friends, they barely knew each other, but somehow Kurt found himself thinking about Sebastian an awful lot.

Sebastian -irritating and insufferable brat- Smythe, who he'd grown to dislike so much ever since they met, but who was now battling a terrible illness and apparently isolating himself from his friends in the process.

Kurt didn't understand why Sebastian wanted to keep this a secret. Why he would want to push away people who cared about him? But then again, he wasn't the one who had leukemia. He couldn't know what Sebastian was going through or what he was feeling.

And to be honest, Kurt couldn't deny that he had just been dying to be able to talk about this with someone. He'd been tempted to tell Rachel about his suspicions from the first moment he saw Sebastian and felt like he couldn't help it any longer yesterday after meeting Sebastian's mom in the waiting room, but Sebastian's message had frozen him on the spot. Now he had given him his word, and he intended to keep it.

.

Next morning, Kurt and Burt went down to the hospital again. Kurt was used to the routine by now, but he still didn't quite manage to be able to stay put during his time on the waiting room. If he didn't take something to read with him, he'd get up several times and either go to the cafeteria or walk mindlessly around the place trying to distract himself.

Today was one of those days, Kurt was feeling a bit ansty and so he decided to get up. As he walked towards down the hallway, he bumped into Sebastian's mother.

"Oh Kurt, good morning, hi..."

"Mrs. Smythe, hi..." Kurt said, feeling a little flustered, "Um... How have you been?"

Kurt noticed she was holding a duffel bag and a blanket, and once she saw him staring down at it she quickly said.

"I was just... My husband stopped by and I..." She was clearly at a loss for words. She looked like she hadn't slept, she wasn't wearing any make up and her hair was up in a messy pony tail. A huge difference from the previous time he saw her.

"Is everything okay?" Kurt asked, cautiously... "Is Sebastian okay?"

Her eyes lit up at Kurt's mention of Sebastian.

"You know..." She said tentatively.

"I... Well, I didn't but, your last name is not very common and well..." Kurt could feel his face practically burning as he tried to explain, "I kind of talked to Sebastian yesterday and-"

"You talked to him?" She said, smiling hopeful.

Kurt gave her a questioning look and she just smiled wider, clearly surprised.

"I saw him typing on the phone and I wondered if he was texting anybody... Was it you?"

"Oh... We only texted for a little while." And then he decided to ignore me - his mind quickly added.

She gave him a tight smile and her eyes filled with tears, but she breathed in deeply, trying to hold it together. "We had to hospitalize him again last night..." She reached up to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand and dropped the blanket she was holding.

Kurt quickly reached down to pick it up and offered to help her carry her things. She thanked him and let Kurt take the duffel bag and blanket as she held on to her purse. She led the way as they walked slowly down the hall and towards the elevators.

The hospital was really big, it was bigger than any other Kurt had ever been at back in Lima, so when Mrs. Smythe pressed the button for the 11th floor, Kurt knew the ride was going to take a little while. He didn't know what to do, surely Sebastian wouldn't want to see him, specially not under these circumstances. But how could he possibly explain that to Sebastian's mother? He could feel himself slightly panicking as they got off the elevator and Mrs. Smythe walked up to the door of what was most certainly Sebastian's room.

He stopped midway before getting any closer, and she must have picked up on his hesitations cause she turned and gave him a questioning look.

"What's wrong?"

"I um... I don't think I should-" Kurt started to say, but stopped himself once Mrs. Smythe pressed her finger up to her lips, gesturing for him to be quiet. She slowly turned the doorknob, gently pushing the door open to glance into the room.

"He's still asleep. Come in." She whispered, walking inside and leaving Kurt in the hallway, gaping and anxious.

There was no avoiding this, Kurt had to walk in there, drop her things quickly and hopefully he could get the hell out before Sebastian noticed his presence. So he just braced himself and walked quietly into the room.

The curtains were closed so the room was a little dark. Kurt walked straight to the corner table to put down the bag and tried not to look to the left where the bed was. It was ridiculous, but he was so nervous that he feared that even just turning to look his way could wake Sebastian up. From the corner of his eye he could see him sleeping, but he didn't want to stare.

Mrs. Smythe turned on the light from the bedside and the room immediately lit up, albeit mildly. She whispered 'thank you' as Kurt left her things over the table, which was right by the window.

When he turned around, Kurt couldn't help but feel a painful jab inside his chest at the image of Sebastian lying in that hospital bed, face gaunt, head bald and way too many tubes attached to him. It was just unreal, Kurt felt like he was looking at someone else. This felt like a dream, a nightmare Kurt wanted to wake up from. He didn't realize he was staring until he felt Sebastian's mom stand next to him and put her hand gently in his back, gesturing for them to walk back outside.

"He's just been through a lot lately..." She started saying once they were in the hallway again.

Kurt felt at a loss of what to say, because what could he possibly say to comfort her? "What did the doctor say?" he asked, figuring listening to her was a safer choice.

"Well, he's dehydrated, among other things... he just hasn't been able to eat much, or even drink lately. And well, his blood levels are down again. He collapsed last night and we rushed him to the E.R. I was terrified." She said, not able to hold a tear that fell down her cheek. "The doctor said that he needs to stay hospitalized for now, to be safe."

"So, will he have to stay for long?"

"We still don't know."

Kurt bit his lower lip, uncertain of how to feel about all this. He put his hand softly on her shoulder and smiled "Sebastian is strong, and stubborn... I'm sure he'll make it through."

All uncertainty about his words being appropriate or not vanished as soon as Kurt saw Mrs. Smythe smile through her tears.

"Thank you, Kurt."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" He said, tentatively. "My dad is going to be done any minute and 'll have to go but, if you need anything I-"

"You could come back." She said suddenly.

"Come back?"

"To visit him."

"Oh..." Kurt really didn't know how to explain to her that he was probably the last person on earth Sebastian wanted to see while he was hospitalized.

Mrs. Smythe gave him an understanding smile, probably figuring that's what he was thinking. "We've only told a few members of our family. Sebastian doesn't want anyone else to know, and since we had to pull him out of school, he's been so lonely, I just... I worry about him isolating himself. Please promise me you'll come to visit him."

Her eyes were pleading and Kurt just couldn't say no.

"Of course..." He said, smiling shyly. "I will."

"Thank you." She said; giving him a tight hug and Kurt felt his heart ache for this woman.

Kurt said goodbye to her so he could go back to the waiting room. Once he was alone in the elevator, his mind started reeling, wondering what the hell he was going to do now. When he got back to the waiting room, his dad was nowhere in sight. He checked the time and realized his dad probably still had five or ten minutes before he was done.

So he sat down, grabbed his phone and noticed his last 2 Facebook messages for Sebastian still appeared as 'unread'. He now understood why that was and felt a little bad for thinking Sebastian was ignoring him.

Kurt was at a loss of what to do, but as he sat there by himself he got an idea and made up his mind. He was definitely going to visit Sebastian, after all, Kurt Hummel was a man of his word and he was going to find a way to keep it no matter what.

Author's note: I just want to say THANK YOU for all the reviews and alerts, I appreciate every comment like you have no idea. Just wow, thank you, really. You inspire me to write more : )