A/N: Ehhhh. 36 pages and 10,000+ words later, and I finally got this one out. Jesus it's long, but hopefully it's worth it. Actually, it probably isn't - I think it got a little rushed at the end, and a little boring in the middle. Regardless, this is the story of what happened/has been happening to me for a couple of years now. I kinda wish I had a Kurt to keep me company, but no, I just had my mother XD
Rating: T
Blaine was sick. And it wasn't just any old sick. It was painful, tear-jerking agony that made him want to throw up and die all at the same time.
"You ready to go Blaine?" Kurt asked one morning, slinging his own bag over his shoulder as he headed out the door.
"Yeah, I just…" Blaine paused, his mouth opening in a silent gasp.
His knees buckled and he closed his eyes, leaning heavily on the table to steady himself.
"Blaine…?" Kurt turned back around and saw Blaine - biting his lip hard, his face twisted into a wince. "Blaine, what's going on?"
"It's…" Blaine sunk to his knees, his arms wrapping around his stomach as he groaned. "Fuck. It's…that thing again."
"Dude…what's wrong with Blaine?" Finn had entered the room, his eyebrows rising as he caught sight of Blaine on the ground.
Kurt ignored his brother, immediately going to Blaine's side. "Baby, talk to me."
"It…hurts. A whole fucking lot." Blaine gasped, doubling over and creating the smallest space with his body.
"Kurt, shouldn't you have lef-What's going on?"
Kurt sighed, turning to Carole, who was now standing in the doorway with a concerned expression.
"Blaine's…he's got…cramps."
Carole looked over at Blaine, who was brokenly whimpering, his stomach knotting and contracting painfully. Kurt stroked his hair gently, biting his lip. This had happened twice while Kurt had been around, but it was a constant thing while Blaine was alone.
"…cramps?"
"Lots of them. Frequently." Kurt summarised, and Carole frowned, stepping forward.
"How long has this been going on, Blaine?"
He moaned slightly, before taking a deep breath, as if he was trying to push the pain down. "Few months."
Carole took his arm gently, forcing him to stand up. Kurt stepped back – Carole was a nurse. Blaine cried out, but Carole forced him to stretch up, lifting his arms above his head.
Blaine's eyes squeezed shut, but after a few seconds his breathing started to calm and he opened his eyes slowly.
"Better?" Carole prompted, and Blaine nodded, a relieved sigh coming from his mouth.
"Thanks."
"I think you should go see a doctor, Blaine. If it's a frequent thing, something obviously isn't right and won't get better on its own." Carole advised. "If you're in pain again, don't try and crush it. Straighten out, no matter how much it hurts."
Blaine nodded, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly before Kurt looked at the time and gasped. "We better go!"
^.^
That day, in their last class, Blaine was struck by the cramps again. He panicked, hunching over the desk and leaning his head on the table, letting out a whisper of a groan.
"Blaine…?" Kurt hissed, and Blaine just moaned, closing his eyes. "You okay? Is it…the thing again?"
Blaine nodded, clenching his teeth together and holding his jaw firm, holding back a groan of pain.
"Miss!" Kurt called, getting the teacher's attention.
A few seconds later, she came over, glancing at Blaine in concern.
"What's wrong?"
"Blaine's…he's got stomach problems. Can I take him to the nurse?"
Kurt was so glad that his last class was with his favourite teacher. She looked between them – at Blaine's tear filled eyes and Kurt's worried face.
"Of course. Go now, and don't worry about coming back to class. Stay with him."
Kurt thanked her profusely, subtly dragging Blaine from his desk and into the hallway.
Finally away from the prying eyes, Blaine curled into a ball on the ground – he couldn't help it – and let the tears come. It hurt somuch. It was like a wrecking ball of ice was trying to break free of his stomach, but it was on fire at the same time.
Kurt tried to haul him up. "Come on Blaine, like Carole said."
Blaine shook his head, burying his face into the floor. "I can't move." He gasped through a sob.
"Blaine, please!" Kurt whispered, tugging at his arms.
Blaine wouldn't budge, trying to get himself smaller and smaller, almost hyperventilating as the pain took over. Kurt bent down and did the only thing he could think of – he kissed him. Blaine went rigid for a moment, and kissed him back ever so slightly. When they finally broke apart, Blaine had calmed down considerably.
"You okay?" Kurt asked softly, resting his forehead against Blaine's.
Blaine nodded slightly, one arm still clutching his stomach. "It's not as bad." He muttered. He leant forward, kissing Kurt gently. "Thanks."
Kurt just nodded, his heart calming down. He had gotten so worried – Blaine looked like absolute hell, and he was so vulnerable and small and lost and Kurt didn't want to see it anymore. He picked Blaine up from the floor and Blaine winced, now following Carole's advice and stretching upwards.
When the pains had completely passed, they made their way out of the school, not bothering to go to the nurse.
^.^
"I think you should see a doctor." Kurt said softly, lying against Blaine's stomach.
"Hmmm?" Blaine mumbled sleepily, absently stroking Kurt's hair.
"I hate seeing you in pain." Kurt rolled onto his stomach, his chin resting on Blaine's ribs.
"I'm not in pain all the time. I can manage it."
Kurt scoffed. "Sure. Like after class."
Blaine recoiled slightly. "That was one of the worst ones, okay. I'm fine."
Kurt crawled up and onto Blaine, so he was lying completely on top of him, staring down at him. Blaine hadn't said anything – just watched him with mild interest.
"Blaine, it hurts you so much that you cry. I'm supposed to cure or beat up the things that make you cry. And since it's inside you, I can't do much. The least I can do is take you to the doctors."
Blaine pouted, trying to pull off puppy dog eyes.
"They don't work so well in such close proximity." Kurt said softly, kissing Blaine's nose. "I love you Blaine…I just don't want to see you in pain anymore. It hurts me too."
Blaine scrunched his nose before wrapping Kurt in his arms, rolling onto the side so they lay facing each other still. "Fine. But only for you."
Satisfied, Kurt buried himself into Blaine's side. "When?"
"Tomorrow? We can cut school…it's for a good reason."
Kurt considered it for a moment before nodding. "I'll talk to Carole in the morning."
Blaine nodded and yawned, pulling away from Kurt. "Sleep now though."
Kurt nodded reluctantly and stretched as Blaine crawled onto the floor, struggling into his sleeping bag. Ever since his father had kicked him out, he'd been staying at Kurt's place. He was allowed to sleep in Kurt's room under two small conditions – he slept in the sleeping bag and their door remained open.
^.^
Blaine woke up to an empty room, which was generally the case. Kurt woke up at ridiculous hours, and Blaine just couldn't cope without the sleep. He crawled out of his sleeping bag and stumbled into Kurt's bathroom, washing his face and staring into the mirror.
Truth be told, he was scared. He didn't know what was wrong with him, and sure, he wanted to find out, but what if it was bad. What if it was incurable? What if he was dying?
He shook his head and sucked in a deep breath. It wasn't that bad, surely. He stumbled downstairs to the smell of coffee, and Kurt placed a steaming mug in his hand, kissing him good morning.
"Carole gave us permission to cut school. She'll call them up, and I'll call up the doctor to schedule an appointment soon."
Blaine just nodded sleepily and collapsed on a chair, pretty much cuddling up to the counter.
Kurt sighed sadly and pet gently at Blaine's hair, before heading to the phone and dialling the number for the local doctor's surgery. Blaine barely listened, sipping his coffee sadly.
"Babe." Kurt said softly, taking the hand that wasn't attached to the mug.
Blaine lifted his eyes slightly.
"We need to go soon. I got you an early appointment."
Blaine just nodded, resting his head on the counter.
"I don't like being sick." He said softly and Kurt bit his lip, stroking his hair again.
"You're not sick." Kurt whispered, kissing his forehead. "Go have a shower and we'll go as soon as you're ready."
^.^
There were a few places that Blaine didn't like – Hospitals, Dentists, Doctors and his own home. But they all had one thing in common – constant attention and someone that would most likely hurt him before he would leave.
He held onto Kurt's hand tightly as they entered, and Kurt boldly let the receptionists know they had arrived.
"Are you okay?" Kurt asked softly as they sat down.
Blaine nodded feebly, sucking in a deep breath. "Nervous."
"About what?"
"What if…what if something's really wrong?"
Kurt was silent. "What do you mean?"
Blaine stared at his hands, a blush rising to his cheeks. "What if it's something that I can't get rid of? What if it's…dangerous…what if it's…" his voice lowered to a whisper. "What if it's cancer?"
Kurt pulled Blaine forward and kissed him firmly, taking his face with both hands. When he broke away, he rested his forehead against Blaine's, staring into his eyes.
"It's probably nothing. But if it is, we'll get through it together, okay?"
Blaine nodded, freezing as his name was called. Kurt, with less confidence than before, stood and took Blaine's hand, heading toward the doctor that had called his name. Blaine followed reluctantly, shutting the door behind him.
"Hey."
He smiled warmly, inviting the boys to sit down. He had a kind face – he was young – and Blaine immediately felt at ease – but not completely. There was something foreboding about a doctor's office. Clean and sterile and unfriendly – the ultimate bringer of bad news.
"Hey! So I'm St John," he pronounced it Sin-Jon. "Is this your first time at this medical centre?"
Blaine nodded slightly. His old GP was at Westerville, but he was a grumpy old man and Blaine didn't feel like going back there.
"Alright, Blaine Anderson, is it?"
Blaine nodded again, and Kurt squeezed his hand reassuringly. St John noticed the movement and gave them a grin.
"So tell me what's wrong."
Blaine heaved a small sigh, before launching into the story – when it first happened, how bad it got and how frequent the pain was. St John listened carefully, nodding a couple of times throughout his speech. Blaine finally finished with the trouble he'd had after class, and how Carole had told him to stretch instead of curling in.
"You seem like you've been having a lot of trouble." St John started, standing up. "Can you stand up for me?"
Blaine nodded, standing up and waiting.
"Can you…point to me, where it hurts?"
Blaine looked down at his stomach, his hands settling on a space where he remembered his guts feeling as though they were about to split in two. "Normally it's confined to this little space, but when it's really bad or really little, it's larger."
St John nodded and he stepped forward, pressing on the area of Blaine's stomach. "Tell me if this hurts at all."
He continued pressing his whole stomach and aside from the awkwardness of a man's hands (that weren't Kurt's) on him, he felt fine. After a few minutes, St John nodded and then sat back down, motioning for Blaine to do the same.
"For starters, it sounds like stress."
Blaine raised an eyebrow.
"It's been a couple of months – you said it started just before you changed schools?"
Blaine nodded.
"So you probably were distracted by…by your boyfriend?" Blaine simply nodded and he continued. "And school, so you didn't notice, but inside your mind, you were probably freaking out. Since your brain couldn't get your attention, it manifested itself into a pit at the base of your stomach. Now, I'm not a hundred precent sure this is the reason, but it's a good place to start."
Blaine sat numbly, waiting for the crushing blow of information that would seal his life away as a patient with some incurable disease. Thankfully, it didn't come.
"I want you to keep a diary for me, for a month. Any day you get the slightest bit of pain, I want you to number it. Five would be most pain – it would count as that time after class. One is the tiniest twinge in your stomach. I also want you to record some of the events in your day – exams, new units, anything that made you stop and think twice about."
Kurt was listening intently, his hand still gripping Blaine's.
"We'll schedule another appointment in a month's time – bring the diary, and we'll see where we're at."
"Thank you so much." Kurt said softly. "Can you recommend what to do if he gets the pain again?"
"Just what your mother said – stretch him up, don't cramp it all down, and just wait until it subsides. There's no pain medication I can recommend until I know the full extent."
Blaine nodded with a small sigh. "Thanks."
"Hey." St John caught his arm, his eyes warm and comforting and full of sympathy that you usually didn't see with most doctors. "If you have any questions…" he spun in his chair and plucked a card from his desk. "You can call me."
Blaine stared at him, before nodding with a small smile. "Thank you."
"See you in a month!"
^.^
Like the doctor said, Blaine went out and bought a diary, constantly writing in it. He tried to make it as accurate as possible – it was a three when the pain distracted him from working and one when he barely felt it, but he hadn't used the five yet. He even got so pedantic as to work in decimals.
By the end of the month, Blaine experienced his five.
Thankfully, they were at home – he was returning to the couch for another movie when his lower abdomen burst into flames and he screamed out, almost dropping his cup. As he started to fold in on himself, Kurt was immediately there, pressing against his chest and hugging him into an upright position.
Blaine sobbed against his shoulder as he tried to get back down, but Kurt held up him up, whispering soothingly into his ear. Blaine's legs gave out and Kurt wasn't ready for it, and both boys collapsed onto the tiles. Blaine's arms immediately went around his stomach, pushing in and writhing as he managed to force himself into a foetal position.
"Kurt…" he moaned, tears streaming down his face. "I can't. Oh god. Fuck…it's…it's killing me."
Kurt worriedly stroked his hair. He had no idea what to do. He was getting to the point where it was hurting him to see Blaine like this. His heart was racing as Blaine gasped, trying to curl even further into himself.
He pulled Blaine into a tight hug, burying his face into Blaine's neck. The boy wasn't very receptive; his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to contain moans.
They stayed like that, gently rocking back and forth for ten minutes before Blaine finally stopped shaking.
"Is it over?" Kurt whispered, and Blaine nodded, sucking in a shuddering breath.
"Fuck." Blaine whispered, burying his face into Kurt's chest.
Kurt wrapped his arms around him more comfortably, kissing his temple.
"I couldn't…I thought I was going to die, Kurt. It hurt so much…I just wanted to rip out my stomach…."
Kurt bit his lip, kissing Blaine once more before pulling him to the couch. Their movie forgotten, they sat in silence, Kurt gently stroking Blaine's hair. They fell asleep like that – knowing that they'd get in trouble for it later, but not caring. Both of them needed it right now.
^.^
The second trip to the doctor made Blaine more nervous than the first. He clutched his diary to his chest, his other hand gripping Kurt's like a vice; a lifeline. They waited, Blaine's leg bouncing anxiously, until Kurt put a firm hand on his knee.
"Relax." He ordered and Blaine tried – he really did.
He picked up a magazine, casually flipping through it and finding nothing of interest. His leg still bounced.
Thankfully, his name was called relatively quickly this time. He froze as Kurt stood up.
"I don't want to do this."
Kurt grabbed his hand. "Come on."
St John welcomed them in, another grin on his face. "Welcome back. How did your month go?"
Blaine sat in the chair with a shrug. "Same as always. Little pains here and there, and then a giant one at the end." He passed St John the diary, waiting expectantly as he flicked through it.
Five minutes later – the longest five minutes of Blaine's life – he nodded and shut the diary. Kurt took Blaine's hand as they waited.
"I want you to go for an ultrasound."
"Uhh…?"
St John chuckled. "They're not just for women. We'll look around and see if anything inside your stomach is causing the problem…"
Blaine nodded a little worriedly, and St John smiled warmly. "There's a place for it next to this complex – do you want me to make an appointment for you today?"
Kurt glanced at Blaine. "Might as well."
Blaine nodded and St John got on the phone.
"See. There's nothing wrong." Kurt said softly, stroking Blaine's hand with his thumb.
"Yet." Blaine whispered and Kurt shook his head.
"You worry too much." He muttered as St John hung up.
"Okay, so you can go tomorrow at one. You'll need to drink two litres of water before twelve, and don't go to the toilet after you've drunk that much. Try not to eat anything beforehand if you can help it."
Blaine nodded as he got a slip of paper, writing on it. "Just give this to them when you get there, and when you've gotten your results, come back here."
^.^
Blaine was in his sleeping bag, drumming his fingers nervously on the floor. His stomach gave occasional jerks of pain, but they weren't unbearable. Just inconvenient.
"Blaine…?" a sleepy sounding Kurt mumbled.
"Yeah?"
"Are you still awake?"
"…yeah?"
"Go to sleep. It's two in the morning…"
"I can't."
Blaine heard the rustling of sheets as Kurt sat up, and suddenly his warm body was pressed up against him.
"What's wrong?"
Blaine shrugged a little, hugging Kurt in the dark. "Stomach hurts a bit."
Kurt sighed sadly, pressing a kiss to Blaine's cheek.
"Lie down."
"But…"
"Please? I want to try something."
Blaine nodded and settled back against his pillows, his eyes closing as he waited. Kurt lifted his shirt up to his chest, so his stomach was exposed. He shivered in spite of himself and he practically heard Kurt's smile.
"Relax babe." Kurt whispered, bending down and ghosting his lips over Blaine's stomach.
Blaine tensed up automatically and Kurt chuckled. "I thought I said relax?" he pressed a quick kiss just below Blaine's belly-button.
"It's hard." Blaine said softly.
Kurt looked at him from below his lashes, a suggestive grin on his lips.
"Not that." Blaine moaned with a grin, swatting Kurt's shoulder. "I should've never introduced you to sex. I've corrupted your poor, innocent mind."
Kurt just laughed, kissing his stomach again. He started nuzzling his face into Blaine's stomach, rubbing his nose over the taught skin. He gently brushed his sides and chest with his fingers, still kissing and nuzzling until he felt Blaine go completely limp.
He continued, tracing little drawings on Blaine's stomach until his breathing evened, and continued some more until he felt his eyelids go heavy.
"I love you." Kurt said softly, dropping one last kiss to his lips before crawling back to his own bed.
^.^
For once, Blaine was up before Kurt. He was just sitting in his sleeping bag, leaning against Kurt's cupboards with his knees pulled up to his chest. Kurt rolled onto his side, blinking awake and spotting Blaine.
"Baby…" Kurt mumbled sympathetically. "How much sleep did you get?"
Blaine shrugged, and Kurt crawled off his bed to pull Blaine into a hug.
"I'm sorry." Kurt whispered, kissing him gently.
"S'not your fault."
"I know. But I'm still sorry."
^.^
"Kurrtt…." Blaine whimpered, and Kurt took his hand. "I really, really need to pee."
Kurt stifled a giggle, hushing him quietly. "I know, I know."
"No you don't!" he hissed. "This is like torture!"
Kurt laughed. "They'll call your name soon. Do you want me to come in with you?"
Blaine nodded, wincing as he shifted and tried to take the pressure away.
"Dear god I'm never doing this again." He whimpered as a woman appeared at the door.
"Blaine Anderson?"
"Oh thank god."
He dragged Kurt with him as they followed her down numerous corridors. A bathroom sat just outside the room and Blaine breathed a sigh of relief as she ushered them into the dark examining room.
"Pop up here." She said softly, pulling up a chair for Kurt and patting the bed for Blaine.
He winced, realising what that would do to his bladder, but managed it anyway, leaning against the raised back. Without a word, she pulled his shirt up and inched his pants down slightly. He frowned a little at her abruptness, but Kurt took his hand with a reassuring grin.
"Alright, hold still." She muttered, obviously bored, before squeezing warm gel onto his stomach and dragging the receiver over his stomach.
"Oh god." He whispered as she pressed hard on his bladder.
Kurt bit his lip in an attempt to stop laughing. Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, his whole body going rigid. That, at least, got a smirk from the woman.
"Almost done." She assured him, pressing down.
It was intense, and Blaine honestly didn't think he'd make it – but before he could complain, she pulled it off and wiped his stomach with a cloth once.
"Alright, go use the bathroom and come to the front counter when you're done."
Blaine practically flew out the door, and Kurt and the woman shared a grin before she left the room.
Blaine emerged a few minutes later with a grin, and Kurt shook his head with mirth.
"Better?"
"You have no idea."
They went to the counter, and Blaine bit his lip nervously – he was starting to freak out again. They waited a while – they were looking over his results – but finally his name was called.
"Take this back to your doctor at your next appointment – he'll look over it and talk to you." The woman at the counter said and Blaine thanked her, taking the large envelope she handed over.
Blaine swallowed hard, but Kurt grabbed his hand.
"Stop worrying." He ordered, and Blaine nodded, taking a deep breath before heading out of the complex.
They sat in the waiting room of the doctors for another twenty minutes, until finally – finally – they got called into see St John.
"Everything go okay?" he asked and Blaine nodded, eager but still a little nervous to find out what was wrong with him.
He passed the envelope to St John, who pulled out its contents.
"I think I see its heartbeat." Kurt joked, and both St John and Blaine laughed.
There were a lot of numbers – black and white pictures of what Blaine assumed was his stomach – letters and dots and strange words, until a final letter that looked mostly English.
St John scanned each page for a long time, while Kurt reassured Blaine in a whisper, as the shorter boy bobbed his leg nervously.
Finally, St John looked up.
"It's inconclusive."
Blaine let out a deflated sigh.
"They want to do one more exploratory procedure." He continued, and Blaine raised an eyebrow. "An endoscopy."
Both boys were silent.
"What's that?" Kurt finally spoke up.
"Basically, we get a tiny camera on the end of a long robotic tube." St John explained. "We'll put you under gas and when you're unconscious; we'll put it down your throat and look around inside your stomach properly."
Blaine froze. It sounded painful. Kurt gripped his hand reassuringly.
"Uhm…when?"
"We'll do it on a weekend, so you're not missing any more school – do you want to set up an appointment now?"
^.^
Four days later, Blaine sat in the paediatrics waiting room with Kurt.
"Kurt…" Blaine whispered.
Kurt bit his lip, taking his hand and stroking it. "What are you worried about?"
Blaine closed his eyes. "Everything."
Kurt raised an eyebrow.
"What if something goes wrong? What if they find something…what if it's…what if I can't get better? What if I get so sick that we can't be together anymore?" Tears came to his eyes. "What if I lose you?"
Kurt's eyes were wide, and he pulled Blaine into his arms. "Baby, nothing like that will ever happen. No matter how sick you get, I will be there in a biohazard suit until our last days – when we're old and gross and can barely stand to look at each other, but far too in love to part." He sighed, kissing him gently. "This is just exploratory….you'll be fine."
Blaine stared at him from under his lashes, his lower lip quivering in an almost comical way.
"Come on." Kurt took his hand, pulling him onto the floor and crawling towards the small, bright blue table in the centre of the room.
"What?" Blaine asked, following him anyway.
"We're going to colour."
Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because it'll take your mind off things. Come on."
Kurt picked up a blue crayon and started doodling on the side of a sheet of paper. Blaine sat on his heels for a moment before taking a deep breath, taking a red crayon and a sheet of paper. Twenty minutes passed of them colouring – trading sheets of paper and adding to what was already there.
"Blaine Anderson?"
Blaine froze. He'd almost forgotten where they were – what was about to happen. He stood up shakily, looking to Kurt for support.
"You go babe. I just want to finish this."
Blaine's eyes widened to saucers. "Kurt please! Come with me?"
Kurt looked up at him, biting his lip. He looked so scared and vulnerable – he was really upset about everything.
"Okay."
Kurt took his hand and Blaine helped him up, heading towards the room that Blaine's name was called from.
"Hi!" the nurse said happily. "We're just going to ask you some questions and put some numbing cream on your hands so it won't hurt when the needle goes in."
"Needle…?"
"Yep! To put you to sleep."
Blaine nodded and Kurt squeezed his hand, pulling him to a chair.
"Alright, your height and weight?" she asked.
Blaine rattled off answers to a whole lot of different questions – generic ones about his eating patterns and his sleep. The nurse took notes, before nodding and grinning.
"Okay, that's all! Now, hold your hands out, palms down."
Letting go of Kurt's hand, Blaine did so, glancing over at Kurt. He smiled comfortingly and Blaine worked on keeping his breathing even. The nurse pulled a tube from a drawer and pulled on some gloves, opening the tube and smearing a heap onto the backs of Blaine's hands.
"So…will I feel anything?" Blaine asked hesitantly.
"Nope. You'll still be able to use your hands normally, you just won't be able to feel the skin on the surface."
Blaine actually looked impressed. "Cool."
She strapped two large bandages over the cream, before smiling warmly at him. "You boys can go back to colouring now."
Kurt blushed with a small grin, thanking her and taking Blaine's hand. When they returned to the table, there was a little blonde girl there.
"Hi…" she said quietly as they sat down.
"Hello." Kurt grinned, grabbing another crayon.
"What part of you is broken?" she asked softly, and Blaine blinked a little hesitantly, looking around for her mother. There was no lady in sight.
"Um. My stomach." He said softly, and she nodded. "What about you?"
She shrugged. "They don't know. That's why I'm here."
Kurt bit his lip, a large wave of sadness falling over him. She looked so sad.
"Do you want to play hangman?" Kurt offered, and her eyes lit up for a brief second.
"Yeah!"
Blaine grinned, giving her a crayon. "You can start."
She nodded, and tilted her head to the side, one eye closing as she thought. Kurt glanced over at Blaine, smiling slightly and stroking his hand under the table. Eventually, she'd made up her mind, drawing up a few lines for her letters.
"Okay, start guessing!"
"A." Blaine jumped in, and she laughed, adding a few a's to her word.
Their game continued, with Kurt and Blaine taking turns to guess a letter. Before they could finish however, a lady called her name.
"Abigail…" she came to the table, smiling briefly at Kurt and Blaine. "Are you ready?"
She shook her head sadly. "Please, please don't make me go mommy. I don't want to go to sleep."
The woman – her mother – looked like she wanted to burst into tears.
"I know baby, but they'll find out what's wrong, then you don't have to be sore anymore…"
Abigail burst into tears, sobbing into her hands. Blaine immediately tapped her.
"Hey."
She looked up at him, her chin quivering and tears streaming down her eyes.
"Do you want to make a bet with me?"
She faltered. "A what?"
"It's like a game. A promise. Want to still play?"
She stopped crying. "Yeah."
"Okay, so I have to go in and get something done that I've never had done. I'm…I'm really scared."
"Me too." She whispered.
"Okay, so let's pretend that we do know what we're doing. Let's pretend that we…are…going to the carnival! And when we hop up on the beds, that's just the car ride. But it's a long car ride, so we have to go to sleep before we get there."
She was watching him with big, trusting eyes – a small smile on her face. Kurt and her mother watched on, proudly and completely entranced how Blaine was handling it.
"Then, when we do sleep, we can dream of the carnival and about how much fun we're having, so it's like we actually went."
"Will you go on the scary rides with me?" she asked softly.
"Only if you hold my hand."
She nodded eagerly, and he grinned.
"So, for this to happen, you have to promise me that you won't be scared. No crying."
She nodded seriously. "Same to you. No crying."
"Okay. It'll be hard though. I think I can manage."
"If you can manage, so can I."
Blaine grinned. "Good."
Abigail's mother let out a breath of relief. "Thank you."
Blaine grinned. "No worries."
They continued with their game – Abigail's mom sat on the waiting area seats – as Blaine thought of a word.
Forty minutes later, Abigail's name was called.
She shot wide, fearful eyes at Blaine, but he shook his head. "Carnival, remember?"
She immediately smiled. "Yeah. Carnival."
Leaning forward, she pulled him into a hug, and he hugged back. "Good luck."
She nodded and turned around, taking her mother's hand and walking with her. Blaine watched her go, then let out a huge breath, resting his head on the table.
Kurt smiled, rubbing his shoulder blades gently. "I'm proud of you."
"Hmm?"
"You and children mix well."
Blaine shrugged. "I know how she feels. I only wish my imagination was as vivid."
Kurt frowned. "Oh come on. You have to believe it too. The carnival, Blaine!"
He chuckled. "I can't do that."
"Come on. Let's talk about it. You've just paid for your ticket – how much did it cost?"
"Kurt, this is stupid."
"No! Come on. How much?"
He sighed. "Ten dollars. But I paid for you too, so twenty."
Kurt grinned, grabbing Blaine's hand. "Thanks. Okay, so now we're walking in. Where do you want to go first?"
"The elephants." Blaine said softly. "Elephants first."
Kurt nodded. "Let's go then. How big are they, and how many?"
Blaine grinned in spite of himself. "Three – they're in a corral. And…there's a baby. He's stumbling out of the other enclosure. Can we go say hello?"
Kurt nodded. "Yeah. They'll enjoy it."
"Blaine Anderson."
Blaine blinked when his name was called – the image of elephants disappearing as he woke himself out of his daze.
Kurt took his hand. "We're going to the carnival." He reassured him, and Blaine nodded, ducking his head and closing his eyes as Kurt lead him over. "No crying."
The doctor smiled as they entered the room, and Blaine hopped on the bed. Kurt hovered awkwardly – he was going to have to wait outside as soon as Blaine was under. He grabbed Blaine's hand.
"Alright, you ready?" the doctor asked, and Blaine nodded feebly.
They took both bandages off his hand, tapping the skin until they decided to use his left hand. The giant needle made Blaine flinch, but Kurt forced him to look away. He didn't even feel the needle go in.
"What now?" Blaine asked softly.
"We'll wait a couple of minutes, then we'll put you under the gas. The procedure will only take half an hour, but afterwards." He turned to Kurt to finish his sentence. "…he'll be drowsy and probably a little weird. Give him some water when he wakes up – his throat will be raw. When he can stand up without wobbling, you can take him home – but don't let him drive."
Kurt nodded, smiling slightly. "When you say…weird?"
The doctor grinned. "Oh, you'll see."
An easy feeling set in the pit of Blaine's stomach.
"Okay, go-time."
There was a rush of hands and Blaine was being pulled down so he was lying flat. He kept a tight hold on Kurt as they worked around him, until finally they pulled the mask over Blaine's mouth and nose and turned the machine on.
"I love you." Kurt said softly to him, stroking his hand, and Blaine squeezed back in response, before suddenly he was gone.
It was such a weird thing to watch – all of a sudden his hand dropped and his eyes closed – knocked out cold. It all happened so fast, and it made Kurt feel a little weird.
"Alright, we'll be about half an hour. Feel free to sit in the waiting room – the cafeteria is on the ground level. When we bring him out, Blaine will be up about fifteen minutes later."
Kurt nodded and thanked them, casting one last look at Blaine's limp form before stepping out.
^.^
Kurt had been sitting in the waiting rooms chairs for forty-five minutes. He'd called Carole, Burt, Mercedes and Rachel, he'd done a lap of the entire hospital, went and got some water from the cafeteria and had then sung quietly to himself.
He was bored.
He was about to get up again when the door opened, and they wheeled Blaine through on the bed. He was still unconscious – sprawled out limply.
"You can follow the bed through." The doctor told Kurt, and he nodded.
"Did you find anything?"
The doctor hesitated, before nodding. "We're not sure what it is yet, so don't tell him."
A glimmer of hope and a stab of fear hit Kurt. What did that mean? He tried to forget as he nodded, thanking the doctor and hurrying to follow the bed.
They put him in a room, and Kurt curled up at the end of the bed; getting ready to wait again.
He was almost asleep when Blaine suddenly stirred. His eyes lit up as Blaine blearily blinked, his eyes registering Kurt but not really taking him in.
"Hey baby…" Kurt said softly, and Blaine finally focused on him.
"You're so pretty."
"Hmm?"
"Your face is so pretty. And you're so… big…and…"
Kurt raised an eyebrow, not a hundred precent certain as to what he was referring to.
"Did you know that I know all the words to Rent?" he said almost proudly. "It makes me feel like a little girl again"
This must've been the weird that the doctor had mentioned.
"Really? A little girl?"
Blaine nodded earnestly. "Like Mimi…There's…Another Day…and…Light My Candle…and…"
He trailed off, and Kurt waited for him to continue, a smirk on his lips.
"You're pretty."
"Thanks baby…" he said softly, and suddenly Blaine drifted back to sleep.
Kurt shook his head with a small smile and curled up again, stroking Blaine's leg through the sheet he was under.
^.^
Kurt woke up to Blaine shifting again, but this time he was fully aware of his surroundings.
"Kurt?"
Kurt yawned, sitting up and petting at his leg again.
"Hi."
"My throat is killing me." He rasped, and Kurt pulled his water bottle from his bag, tossing it at Blaine.
"Do you remember anything?"
Blaine took a long drink, wincing as it passed through his throat.
"Not really. I…I said something, didn't I?" he asked when Kurt gave him a coy grin.
"Maybe…"
Blaine narrowed his eyebrows. "Tell me!"
Kurt shook his head, and Blaine crawled forward, pressing a kiss to his nose. "Tell me now?"
He shook his head again, and Blaine kissed him on the lips. "Now?"
Kurt laughed. "No."
He pouted, and Kurt laughed. "Anaesthesia makes you funny, even after it's worn off."
He practically crawled into Kurt's lap, seeking comfort. "But I love you. So it's okay."
Kurt nodded, patting his hair gently.
"How's your throat now?"
He shrugged. "Hurts, but I can deal."
There was a comfortable silence between them – Kurt continuously pressed little kisses to Blaine's temple, while Blaine fiddled with the fabric of Kurt's pants.
"So…" Blaine said softly. "Have they talked to you yet?"
Kurt bit his lip. "Not really."
Blaine heaved a sigh. "Do you think they found anything?"
Kurt looked away. "I don't know. But we will in a couple of days. Best not to worry until then, yeah?"
Blaine nodded.
"Can you stand?"
Blaine crawled off Kurt and tested his weight, walking around a bit. He took a moment at the start to figure out how to move properly, but his head cleared and he nodded, grinning.
"Come on." He held out his hand and Kurt took it. "Do you think Abby is done with her procedure?"
"Abby…? Oh, the girl?" Blaine nodded. "I don't know…"
Blaine shrugged. "I hope she was okay."
Kurt smiled, leaning into him as they walked.
^.^
The next five days were sleepless and worrisome for both of them. When Blaine couldn't sleep, Kurt would sit with him and tell him everything would be okay – but Kurt didn't even know if he believed it himself. School was a drag, and Blaine would get twinges of pain throughout classes, making it uncomfortable for him.
He hated it, and he was getting sick of being sick.
"I don't know if I can do this anymore." Blaine whispered from the floor of the McKinley bathrooms after a particularly painful episode.
"You can." Kurt said softly, helping him up and kissing him. "I know you can."
Blaine sighed. "Your responses are getting generic."
Kurt huffed. "It's because I know you'll be fine. The doctor said he'd call by tomorrow. There's no point worrying until then."
Blaine gasped and hunched over himself once more as another gut-wrenching sear of pain crossed his stomach. He was completely still, waiting for it to pass. Kurt watched him sympathetically, leaning against the sink.
Blaine suddenly lashed out, kicking the wall with a frustrated cry. "Fuck this!"
Kurt's eyes widened. "Blaine…"
"Fuck it. It's fucking stupid! Why fucking me? I'm gay, I have shit parents and a horrible past. Isn't that fucking enough?" he kicked the wall again. "I don't deserve this."
Kurt wrapped his arms around him and Blaine sobbed into his shoulder.
"I don't want to do this anymore."
Kurt held him tighter – closer.
"Please…" Kurt whimpered. "Please don't say that. Please. I couldn't…no. Don't even. Please…"
Blaine went still under him, and Kurt's heart sunk.
Blaine had had the thoughts. He'd often imagined suicide as a good option to take – how good would it be to not be in pain? He hadn't thought of the consequences – he hadn't thought about Kurt.
"I'd never." He whispered, and Kurt held him even more closely.
Thankfully, it was the end of the day – Kurt had dragged Blaine into the bathroom so he didn't embarrass himself in front of the whole school as they exited.
They both cried to each other, kneeling on the bathroom floor now, until they both were still. Kurt removed his arms from around Blaine's shoulders, wiping his eyes and kissing Blaine forcefully.
"Please." Kurt whispered, and Blaine nodded, swallowing hard.
Blaine stood, helping Kurt up, and they silently made their way from the school.
^.^
Blaine was up at six the next morning, sitting near his mobile phone with a coffee in his hand. Kurt had stumbled downstairs with a worried look on his face – he had panicked when he couldn't find Blaine – but his worry turned to confusion, and slight amusement.
"Baby…he won't call now. Give it until lunch."
Blaine sighed softly. "I just want to know."
Kurt headed to the kitchen, getting the ingredients out for breakfast. "Dad and Carole have overlapping shifts, and I'm pretty sure Finn has a game. We have the house to ourselves from eight."
Blaine smiled. "Good."
"Do you want to go to the park?" Kurt asked, cracking an egg over the fry pan.
"Uh…my stomach…?"
Kurt frowned. "Blaine…the one thing you need to promise me is that you won't let your stomach dictate your actions."
Blaine frowned, stepping into the kitchen. "What if it hurts?"
"Then we'll deal with it in the park. Besides, the house is boring."
Blaine chewed on his lower lip. "Okay. Fine."
Kurt smiled triumphantly and finished cooking breakfast. He left some out for Carole, Finn and his dad and served some for Blaine, but he refused.
"Not hungry?"
Blaine shook his head with a small smile. "Not this morning."
Kurt raised an eyebrow but didn't press the issue, hurriedly scoffing his breakfast down before gathering his things.
"Isn't it a little early?" Blaine asked – it was only seven.
Kurt shrugged. "It'll be nice."
Blaine nodded and stuffed his phone into his pocket, heading to the door. Kurt joined him, taking his hand with a happy grin.
"Cheer up."
"I am cheered." He said lamely, and Kurt glanced at him worriedly.
"Please?"
Blaine sighed, putting on the happiest smile he could muster. It was horribly fake, but Kurt tried his hardest to overlook it.
"Thanks." Kurt said softly, nuzzling his shoulder as they walked.
The part at the end of the street was abandoned – as Kurt expected for this time of morning.
"Swings?" Kurt asked, but Blaine showed no sign of moving towards them. "Blaine…"
"Sorry babe…"
"You love swings though…"
"But…-"
Blaine was cut off by his phone ringing, and he hastily pulled it from his pocket.
"Hello?"
"Blaine? It's St John."
Blaine froze, biting his lower lip and squeezing his eyes shut.
"Hi."
Kurt joined him, grabbing his hand.
"I'm going to have to get you to come in – I've got your test results back."
Blaine's stomach dropped, his heart leaping into his throat.
"Is it…is it bad?"
"You're not dying. But I need to take some blood samples and I need to show you some things."
Blaine swallowed. "Okay. Can I come in on Monday?"
"I've got an appointment free in the afternoon – after school. Is that okay?"
"Perfect. Thanks."
Blaine hung up with quivering hands. Kurt searched his face, desperately trying to figure out if the news was good or bad.
"Well?"
"I'm not dying." Blaine said softly, a small smile on his face. "But he wants to talk to me in person."
Kurt let out a relieved breath. "Thank god."
Blaine faltered. "I don't know…why wouldn't he just tell me over the phone?"
Kurt kissed his arm. "Who cares? You aren't dying."
Blaine had to chuckle at that.
"Come on the swings." Kurt pleaded, and Blaine sighed, finally giving in.
^.^
Monday seemed to drag on for days, but finally the last bell rang and Blaine and Kurt hurried to the car, eager to get to the doctor. Thankfully, Blaine had avoided the pain the whole day, only feeling a slight twinge as they pulled up.
They entered the building and notified the ladies – who had come to recognise them – that they were there.
A sense of déjà vu swept over them as they took their favourite seats in the corner.
"Thank you." Blaine said softly, and Kurt looked up at him with raised eyebrows.
"What?"
"Thanks…for being here with me. Sometimes I don't even ask, and you're just there."
Kurt bit his lip, taking Blaine's hand and kissing it gently. "You don't have to ask…I'll always be here, whether you want me to or not."
"I don't know how I'd cope without you." Blaine said softly, leaning onto his shoulder. "I just…I can't see myself dealing with all this, without someone else by my side."
Kurt kissed his cheek. "Shh. You're welcome. I love you."
Blaine smiled slightly. "I love you too."
"Blaine?"
Blaine stood up – he was no longer nervous anymore. Whatever happened could happen – he had Kurt.
They went into St John's room and he shut the door before taking a seat to talk to them. Picking up some files, he passed them to Blaine.
"This is how the lining of your stomach is supposed to look."
It was a fleshy, pale pink colour, with little veins and yellow mucus around some of it. Blaine raised his eyebrows, and St John handed him some more.
"This is how the lining of your stomach looks."
Blaine's stomach was a dark, blood red – almost black in places.
Now, Blaine was nervous again. His stomach did little flips, his heart leaping into his throat. Kurt stared at the two pictures, frowning.
"What is it? What's wrong with him then?"
"It's what I originally suspected, but on a much grander scale." He said softly. "Stress. The amount of worrying that Blaine's done has caused inflammation in your stomach. It's escalated to the point where I can't just tell you to stop worrying."
"…so what can you do?"
"I want to take some blood from him, and put him on a tablet called Nexium."
Blaine was frozen, staring at his insides – at how horribly wrong they were.
"Blaine…babe."
He blinked a couple of times, looking at Kurt with his lips between his teeth.
"Yeah?"
"We need to go to the pharmacist."
St John was writing out a prescription, finishing it before crossing to a desk. He rummaged around for a while before he found the syringe, a tourniquet and an empty vial.
"Ready Blaine?"
^.^
Blaine was still frozen as Kurt drove home, and it was freaking Kurt out.
"Blaine…"
The boy barely registered the word, the only indication was that he blinked.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded very slightly, making Kurt sigh. "Please talk to me."
Blaine shook his head, his eyes closing.
"Later?"
Blaine nodded, and Kurt was satisfied, turning into his driveway. Grabbing the package from the pharmacist, Kurt got out and helped Blaine out at the other side, making sure he could get in the house okay.
He was completely unresponsive and Kurt thought he might have gone into shock, but he couldn't understand why. The tablets would make him better – that was good, right?
Carole and his dad were still working, and Finn was at Puck's for the night, which made it easy for them to just disappear upstairs.
"Blaine, you want some dinner?" He shook his head, and Kurt frowned. "Did you eat lunch?"
"'m fine." Blaine whispered, curling up on his sleeping bag.
"Babe, come here." Kurt opened his arms and Blaine crawled up onto his bed, lying with his head in Blaine's lap. "Talk to me now?"
Blaine was silent for a long time – maybe twenty minutes – before he finally gathered his thoughts. Kurt was silent the whole time, gently stroking Blaine's hair and trying to figure out what was wrong.
"I don't want to be on tablets." He whispered, and Kurt raised an eyebrow. "My mother…" he swallowed hard. "I swear, she was the only good thing in my life before I went to Dalton. She…the last four years of her life, she was on tablets. Then one day the fucking bastards gave her the wrong dosage and then she was dead…and that's what kick-started my dad into being this…asshole that he is."
There were tears in his eyes, his voice breaking. "The tablets would make her sad too. Some of them were anti-depressants but they seemed to just do the opposite. And sure, she was still her most of the time, but then she'd be angry, or sad, and it was so hard to tolerate."
Blaine closed his eyes, nuzzling his face into Kurt's thigh. "I don't want to put you through that. I don't want to put myself through it."
Kurt sat in a stunned silence, tears filling his eyes. He knew that his mother wasn't around, but he had no idea that she was dead.
"Blaine…I'm so sorry…" Kurt whispered, but Blaine waved him off. "You're not taking anti-depressants babe. It'll be okay. They won't make you sad or angry – they'll make you better."
"You can't promise that." Blaine whimpered.
"Can you try them…for me?" Kurt asked.
"No."
"Blaine…what if they do make you better? Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
"And what if they make me worse?"
"Can you just try them out?"
Blaine was silent, his face still buried in Kurt's leg.
"For me?"
Blaine hesitated, before grumbling, his resolve breaking. "Fine."
Kurt held him close. "Thank you…"
Blaine crawled over to the cabinet, picking the Nexium up and staring at it despondently. He popped two out, holding them in his palm.
"They're huge…" Blaine complained softly, and Kurt got him a glass of water.
"One at a time?" Kurt offered, and Blaine rolled his eyes, putting both in his mouth before gulping both down.
"It'll work." Kurt said confidently as Blaine wrinkled his nose.
"We'll see."
^.^
Two days later, Blaine sat alone in the bathroom. Kurt was downstairs, cooking, and he was trying to figure out a way to worm himself out of eating. He had pretty much stopped eating all together, and it was doing his stomach wonders. He hadn't been in pain for days. It was tough at first – he was hungry all the time – but as long as he drank enough water and had an apple at lunch, he could survive.
And he would survive. He was getting better!
The Nexium didn't seem to be doing anything to him at all, so he kept taking it – for Kurt's sake, at least. He didn't think Kurt would like the fact that he wasn't eating either, so it was a good excuse.
"Kurt…" Blaine put on a feeble voice, starting down the stairs. "I'm not…I'm not feeling too well. Do you mind if I just skip dinner and go to bed?"
Kurt looked at the clock – Carole and his dad would be back in fifteen minutes. "Are you okay? Is it the thing? The inflammatory thing?"
Blaine shook his head quickly. "I'm just feeling sick – headache and stuff."
Kurt let out a small sigh. "You skipped dinner last night as well. Maybe the Nexium isn't…maybe you should stop taking it."
Blaine shrugged a little. "I think I'm just overtired – probably from all the freaking out I did…"
Kurt nodded, deeming the answer satisfactory before turning the heat down and exiting the kitchen, pulling Blaine into a tight hug.
"Feel better soon, okay?" he said softly, kissing him on the cheek.
Blaine nodded, guilt wracking his body. He felt bad – he really did. He didn't want to lie to Kurt, but it's not like it would hurt him. It was actually beneficial for all of them – so what was wrong with that?
Blaine headed back up the stairs, refilling his water bottle at the sink. He grabbed two Nexium tablets and downed them with some water, his stomach grumbling in response. He patted it with a small frown, before settling down in his sleeping bag.
The more he slept, the less hungry he felt.
^.^
Weeks passed, and Blaine got thinner and thinner, but he no longer experienced stomach pains – only hunger pains. Of course, what he didn't realise was the fact that it was the Nexium that was bringing his inflamed stomach down, not the lack of food. But he was stressed and freaking out, and the rational side of his brain wasn't working.
It was hard for him – dodging meals in a way that wouldn't get Kurt – or anyone else - suspicious.
But Kurt was starting to get worried. The first time he really truly noticed it was when they were cuddling one evening – pressing lazy kisses to each other and just enjoying each other.
Kurt's fingers trailed down Blaine's side and he pressed in gently, clearly feeling his ribs.
"Um…Blaine…" Kurt whispered, and the other boy murmured in response. "Have you…did you lose weight?"
Blaine stiffened. "A little, yeah…why?"
"You're…really thin."
Blaine shrugged. "Is that a bad thing?"
"No, no…of course not. You're gorgeous Blaine…it's just…you weren't this thin a couple of weeks ago…is it the Nexium?"
"Maybe?"
"Maybe you should stop taking it…"
"No…no, it's fine."
Kurt frowned, poking Blaine's ribs slightly.
"Baby…" he muttered, and Blaine watched him carefully, feeling uneasy. "You…you haven't been eating…"
Blaine didn't say anything, glancing at the bed. He couldn't lie anymore.
Kurt brushed his fingers over his ribs again.
"You…you kept skipping meals…and I thought you were just…" Kurt squeezed his eyes shut, before opening them and looking straight at Blaine. "Why?"
Blaine kept his eyes trained on the bed. "It makes me better."
Kurt frowned. "What?"
"I stopped eating, and the pain stopped."
Kurt's eyebrows lifted. "Baby…the Nexium is fixing you."
"No." Blaine hissed. "It's the food. The Nexium isn't doing anything. Tablets always have side-effects, but I haven't gotten any of them."
"Blaine…" Kurt whispered. "Listen to me. You need to eat."
"No. I don't want to be in pain anymore."
"I promise you that if you eat, you won't be in pain."
"No!" Blaine crawled off the bed, hugging his stomach. "I don't want to. It's helping me and I don't want to be in pain. It hurts so much, you don't even know!"
"Blaine, you're killing yourself."
Blaine paused, his eyes narrowing. "Don't say that. I'm not."
"But you are. You don't eat, you will die."
"If I do eat, I will die too! The pain it puts me though, Kurt it feels like it's killing me from the inside. I can't do it anymore!"
"You know what – fine. Stop taking the Nexium. Just stop altogether and see what happens." Kurt growled, fighting the tears. "Stop today and then tell me if your stomach hurts."
"Good. I didn't want to be on the fucking things anyway."
Kurt let out a frustrated cry and stormed out of the room, leaving Blaine standing in the corner. He pelted down the stairs, grabbing his phone before running the rest of the way to the park.
Blaine didn't know what he was doing to himself – maybe that was the side effect of the Nexium. All rational thought seemed to completely bypass him, and it scared the absolute crapout of Kurt.
He collapsed on the end of the slide, sobbing into his hands.
This wasn't Blaine.
Blaine curled up on Kurt's bed, sobbing into his arms. He felt so bad, and he didn't know why and he couldn't do anything to make it better. And Kurt…he didn't know what to do about that either. He wouldn't take his Nexium – to make a point – but then what?
Kurt wanted him to eat, but he couldn't suffer anymore. He just couldn't.
^.^
Three days passed – Blaine still wasn't eating, but he had stopped taking the Nexium. Kurt was at a loss. Since he had returned from the park, they'd barely said a few sentences to each other – choosing to avoid each other while the air was still tense.
"See." Blaine said with a small grin that night. "It was the food."
Kurt didn't say anything, giving him a frustrated glare before rolling so he was facing the wall. Blaine grinned proudly, snuggling down in his sleeping bag.
At one in the morning, Kurt was woken to broken gasps and whimpers. He shot up, turning on his bedside lamp to find Blaine curled into a ball, tears streaming down his face as he rocked back and forth, holding his stomach tightly.
"Blaine, baby!" Kurt whispered, sliding down to his sleeping bag.
Blaine moaned pitifully, clenching his skin and pulling at it.
"Blaine, breathe!" Kurt pulled him up, trying to get him to straighten out.
He gasped and jerked away, folding in on himself again.
"Blaine, please…please…"
"It hurts. It hurts so much…" Blaine sobbed, his body convulsing as the pain took over.
Kurt ran to the bathroom, dampening a washcloth and filling a cup with water. He returned to Blaine, on the verge of tears, and practically forced him to drink, rubbing the washcloth over his face. Blaine barely reacted, his eyes squeezed shut.
Suddenly Blaine bolted, running to the bathroom with a cry of pain before throwing up into the toilet. Kurt winced, taking the washcloth and water in after him. Blaine threw up again – a few more times – before he collapsed on the edge of the toilet seat, sobbing.
"I can't."
Kurt sat beside him. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"
Blaine shuddered, fighting the urge to throw up. He ended up dry-heaving, coughing and spluttering and sobbing when he was done. There was a small knock on the door and Carole entered, her eyes wide with concern.
"Blaine…" she said softly, and he turned towards her. She held a glass to him. "It's flat lemonade. It'll help."
He took it gratefully.
"Just sip it." She said quietly and he nodded, taking a small sip.
"Do you think the Nexium did this?" Kurt asked her softly.
"No…not at all. The Nexium should have prevented this…have you been taking it lately?"
Blaine ducked his head. "Uh no…I forgot." He said softly.
She nodded. "That's probably why. The Nexium builds up a wall of defence, and you would've weakened it by not taking it. The inflammation would have been trying to get past this defence, most likely at full force, and that's why it was so bad tonight." She explained gently, and Blaine's eyes started to water.
It wasn't the food.
"Blaine…you don't look well." Carole said softly. "In general, I mean – not just because you've been throwing up. You've been getting thinner and you've been depressed lately. Have you been sleeping okay?"
To be honest, he hadn't. He could get to sleep fine, but he often woke in the middle of the night, his stomach growling.
"No…" he said quietly, taking another small sip of the lemonade.
"Alright. I want you boys to go back to bed and I'll talk to you in the morning."
"Carole?" Kurt prompted, but she shook her head.
"I'll talk to you in the morning." She said firmly, and both of them nodded. "Finish the lemonade Blaine, before you lie down, okay?"
He nodded and she patted Kurt on the shoulder gently before walking out.
The two boys sat in silence – Blaine slowly sipping the lemonade every few minutes, while Kurt stared at his hands.
"Will you eat now?" Kurt said softly, trying not to bring it into an 'I told you so' tone.
Blaine heaved a sigh. "I guess."
"How could you stop, anyway?" Kurt tried for a conversational tone. "I love food…"
Blaine shrugged. "If it took the pain away…I was willing to do whatever."
Kurt pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. Blaine swallowed the rest of his lemonade, washing his mouth out before heading back into the bedroom. Kurt followed him dejectedly.
"Do you want anything to eat right now?" Kurt offered, and Blaine's eyes lit up.
"Yes!"
^.^
After going to bed at three in the morning, they ended up waking late – Kurt rushed around trying to get ready as Blaine stumbled downstairs.
Carole sat at the kitchen table. "Don't worry about going to school today. I've called them and excused you."
"Oh…" Blaine mumbled sleepily. "Kurt, we're not going today…"
Kurt appeared at the top of the stairs. "What?"
"Carole's here."
Kurt raised an eyebrow – the buttons on his shirt weren't all done up, he only had one sock on and his hair was a mess – but he came downstairs.
"We need to have a talk." She said softly.
Blaine bit his lip, making himself some toast. Now that he was sure he could eat, he embraced it. He missed food so much.
"I think Blaine should take the rest of the week off from school." She said softly, and both of them looked at her with interest. "The stress from all these tests has obviously been a little daunting for you, so perhaps taking the week off to catch up on homework and to sort yourself out will be good for you."
"I take it you want me to go to school though, right?" Kurt grinned.
"Well, if I left you two alone all day, you'd never get anything done." She teased with a knowing grin, making both boys flush. "I talked to the school this morning and got consent – being a nurse has its perks – and they expect you back next Monday."
Blaine smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks Carole…"
^.^
After that, things started returning to normal – and on the Monday, he returned to school. Blaine started gaining back the weight he lost and things were good for them. He was a little subdued and depressed on the Nexium, but if it would keep his stomach from hurting, he could deal.
But some days were better than others.
One morning – a month later - he just sat at the table, staring at the packet.
"Blaine…" Kurt said softly, and Blaine turned his tired, sad eyes on his boyfriend.
The sight of him lifted Blaine's spirits a bit, but it was getting to the point where he just couldn't focus on the happy.
"You okay?"
He nodded slightly. "Just sad."
Kurt gave him a one-armed hug, going to make himself some coffee.
"Maybe we should go back to the doctor?"
"What can he do?"
Kurt smiled, sitting down at the table with a mug. "Maybe you could stop taking them?"
Blaine looked frightened, whimpering. "I don't want to hurt again."
Kurt watched his boyfriend in shock. The tablets were really destroying him.
"Maybe you won't. We could talk to him?"
Blaine hesitated.
"I don't like seeing you sad all the time."
Blaine sighed.
"Okay."
^.^
They visited St John on Tuesday afternoon – after school.
"How is everything going?" he grinned. "I haven't seen you in a while, so I assumed you were doing okay?"
"Blaine's a little depressed." Kurt explained.
"Ah. You're on Nexium, correct?"
Blaine nodded.
"That can sometimes happen. How long have you been on them?"
"A month or so." Blaine said softly.
"Alright…well…the only thing I can recommend is that you go off them."
Blaine frowned. "Will that start the pain?"
"Not if you slowly wean yourself off them. I can't guarantee that you'll never be in pain again – you'll get the occasional twinge, and I also think you should go back on them a week or two before exam blocks, but other than that, you should be fine."
Blaine stared at his hands. He hated feeling so dejected – not being able to find joy in the little things that used to excite him, but he couldn't stand the thought of being in pain again.
"Thank you." Kurt said softly and St John nodded.
"Again, if you have any questions, just give me a call."
They excited and made their way to the car. Kurt waited, turning on the engine. "So…?"
Blaine shrugged. "I don't know."
They sat in the car, both silent and unmoving.
"I'll think about it." Blaine finally said. "I need to sleep on it."
Kurt just nodded and backed out of the parking lot. They arrived home without drama, and Kurt spoke to Carole briefly before they went upstairs. Blaine was quiet and subdued, moreso than normal, but Kurt expected that. He took his Nexium and bid Kurt goodnight - shrinking into his sleeping bag.
Kurt sat on his bed, turning out the light and listening to Blaine's breathing. When he was asleep, Kurt rested his head on his arms, shaking his head slightly. Blaine was so different, and so strange, and so unBlaine and it was killing Kurt. He missed him so much, and he couldn't do anything.
It took Kurt a while to realise he was crying – loud sobs that echoed in his room, but thankfully, they didn't wake Blaine.
Kurt had to be strong for his boyfriend, and just hope to whatever was up there that he would get better.
^.^
"No more Nexium." Blaine said the next morning, still in his sleeping bag.
Kurt blinked at him sleepily. "You can't just go off it. You have to…" he yawned. "Have them only at night now."
Blaine sighed, nodding, but he seemed happier, if only slightly.
The day passed slowly – Blaine didn't take any tablets at breakfast – and dealt well during the day. He grinned and told jokes – but he still wasn't as active as he was before.
But it was an improvement.
Kurt was still worried – everytime Blaine turned around his smile faded and he waited for the inevitable cries of pain.
But they didn't come.
He took two tablets at night and slept well, before waking up to start his second day without tablets.
A week and a half passed, and Blaine had no signs of stomach pains.
"I think it's time to…decrease the dosage." Kurt said one morning, and Blaine raised his eyebrows.
"Howso?"
"Take one tablet at night." Kurt explained, and Blaine bit his lip.
"Kurt…are you sure?" Blaine said softly, staring up at Kurt with wide eyes.
He didn't feel good about this.
"Yep. You'll be fine." Kurt said confidently, and Blaine sighed, nodding.
So that night, Blaine only took one tablet – albeit hesitantly. An hour later, he didn't feel any different. Just worried.
"Blaine…" Kurt yawned as Blaine tossed restlessly. "Stop stressing."
"I'm sorry…I'm just…" he rolled onto his side, voicing a concern that they'd already talked about almost every night. "What if it comes back again? What would I do? I don't…I don't think I can live with that again…"
"Blaine…" Kurt mumbled into his pillow. "It'll be fine. Please…just try and forget. I'm so tired Blaine…just…please sleep…"
Blaine frowned. "You can sleep. I don't need to be sleeping for you to sleep."
Kurt blushed, glad it was dark enough for Blaine not to see. "I…I like being asleep when you're asleep."
Blaine mumbled incoherently, trying to get comfortable. He was too tired to formulate a viable response.
Kurt chuckled. "Hey…come here."
"What?"
"Come on. Burt and Carole don't even check on us anymore. Sleeping on my bed one night won't hurt."
"Just one night?" Blaine pouted, his features outlined only slightly.
Kurt laughed, pulling him under the covers and letting Blaine rest on his torso. Blaine snuggled down with a small noise of contentment, burying his face into Kurt's chest. Kurt smiled fondly, glad to have this sort of affectionate Blaine back, stroking his head gently.
Blaine's breathing evened out quicker than usual, and Kurt let out a relaxed sigh.
This was it – the turning point where Kurt knew that Blaine would be okay. Sure, he'd get pain occasionally, but it would never be as bad. He might have to be on and off the Nexium for the rest of his life, but Kurt was sure that Blaine would be okay.
This was Blaine – Kurt's perfect boyfriend, who was amazing at the worst of times.
Blaine let out a little sigh against him, making Kurt smile.
His Blaine was back.
A/N: Oh, and the title...it's called that because I've had this for a couple of weeks, and every time I sent it to Claire, I called it Untitled Prompt, and so that's what it stayed XD