Sunday, six in the morning

Kurt woke up, feeling warm and the room radiating a dim light from the partially closed windows. He shifted on his side, being careful not to wake up the sleeping boy curled up next to him, Blaine's hand holding his up to their chests. Kurt glanced at the clock with its neon green numbers staring at him. It was only six in the morning. Kurt moaned quietly, it felt like he had only slept for two hours.

Blaine stirred, moving closer to Kurt. His eyes were still red rimmed and the deep bags still there. His hair had residual amounts of gel from the day before. Kurt didn't have the heart to wake him up after they had fallen asleep after the funeral; Blaine truly did need the sleep.

Kurt was about to go back to sleep when he heard someone walk through the open doorway. Opening his eyes again blearily, Kurt saw his father kneeling down to his level on his side of the bed. "Hi, Dad." Kurt said sleepily, closing his eyes.

"Morning, Kurt." Burt said softly. "You awake?"

"Do I need to?" Kurt replied with his eyes closed again, getting closer to the edge of sleep.

Chuckling softly, Burt said "No, just wanted to check in with you two. I thought I heard something coming from here. Just wanted to see if you guys were okay." Burt pulled the blanket up to his son's shoulders and tucked around the two boys. "Go to sleep, I'm going to work and Carole and everyone else is coming around lunch."

"Mmm… o…kay. Love you… Dad." Kurt whispered, falling back into the comfortable blackness of sleep. He wrapped his arms around Blaine and snuggled deeper into his pillow.

Burt smiled and kissed his son on the forehead, smoothing out a bit of hair that was ruffled from the night. He watched Blaine sleep, noting how weary the teen's face was.

Walking down to the front door, he saw someone with black hair sitting in the sofa in the family room, staring out the bay windows at the rising orange sun with purple-pink sunglasses on. Burt cleared his throat gently, trying to draw attention while not being too loud in respect to all the people still sleeping. Seeing the person turn around, it was Mairead sitting with her arms leaning on her drawn up good leg.

She took off the sunglasses, which were covering her regular glasses, and faced Burt. "Hi, Mr. Hummel." Mari said softly.

"Call me Burt, Mairead. Mr. Hummel is my father, not me." Burt said gruffly, sitting down by her.

"Sorry, M- I mean, Burt." She grinned.

Burt smiled in return, looking out the window with her. "So, what are you doing up so early? I would have thought that teenagers sleep until noon."

She shrugged. "Just thinking, and I'm not a teenager; not anymore." Mairead shifted her glasses up her nose using the frame and lens with her fingers.

The older man turned towards her, a questioning look on his face. "You still look like one to me; and what are you thinking about?"

"Just…" Mari sighed. "Just about yesterday and… stuff."

Burt gave a look to tell her to go on.

"Well, first of all, how do you define being a teenager?" She asked.

Thinking for a minute, Burt replied "Well, being a carefree happy kid who thinks they're on top of the world and wanting to have more responsibilities; like what car they want, the newest song that talks about crap, what celebrities are married to who, who's boyfriend broke up with who, and you know, other stuff."

She smiled sadly. "If that's so, then that means I haven't been a teenager for almost six or seven years." Mari looked back up at Burt with watery eyes. "You see, Burt, right before my parents adopted me, my own biological mom committed suicide in front of me. When I was ten, my mom killed herself right in front of my eyes. And if what you said about teenagers is true, then I haven't been a teenager, or a child, since I was ten; I've been an adult for the past six years."

Burt sat there stunned, looking at the slender Vietnamese in front of him. "I…" Burt stumbled, speechless. "I'm so sorry, Mairead. Really, I didn't mean to… You don't have to tell me anything else if you don't want to."

Mairead once again smiled sadly. "I would prefer it if I didn't tell you right now. In time, yes; but not right now. Some of my… more painful memories are too much to bear right now." She looked back out the window at the sun. "To your second question, I try to wake up early to watch the sun rise. The sun is beautiful when it's rising or setting. It kinda reminds me how to appreciate everything other than the big things in life."

The two of them sat there for a minute before Burt stood up. "I have to go, I need to open my shop. You'll be okay, Mairead?"

She smiled, the light returning to her tired eyes. "Yeah, I'll be fine. You have a good day, alright, Burt?"

Burt smiled and bent down to hug her. She returned it with a smile. "See you later, Mairead. I'll see you this afternoon." And with that, he walked out the front door, seeing the orange sun with a new perspective.

Blaine woke up, feeling warm and cozy with Kurt's arms around him. He could hear the gentle noise of people talking a floor below them and the smell of food coming up through the open doorway. Blaine scooted closer to Kurt, their intertwined hands pressing against his chest. He lay there half drowsing until Kurt stirred. Kurt tightened his arm around Blaine's back, pulling him even closer.

Blaine opened his eyes halfway, smiling. He pulled his braced hand from under the blanket and brought up to Kurt's face. Being careful not to wake him, he trailed his fingertips along the smooth, pale skin of his forehead and cheek resting on the dark blue pillowcase.

Kurt smiled in his sleep. "Mmm… Blaine…" He mumbled, still clearly unconscious.

The Warbler smiled even wider as he kept running his fingers over his boyfriend's peaceful face. He ran his thumb over Kurt's knuckles, feeling the soft skin over the bumps of the joints.

The two of them stayed like that for a little over an hour, before the noise got louder. Kurt woke up to Blaine's eyes staring into his half opened ones. "Hello." Kurt breathed out, smiling sleepily. He then winced after he closed his mouth, from both pain and the taste of his morning breath.

"Morning, Kurt." Blaine smiled back.

"I see you slept well. How're you doing?" Kurt asked softly as he stretched his arms out.

Blaine rolled out of his arms and onto his back. He stared up at the ceiling, remembering the events of the day before. "Better, I guess. I think sleep helped. Sleeping with you, in your arms, helped keep most of the bad dreams away."

"Hey, come back here. I'm not done with you yet." Kurt said, reaching an arm over to take his boyfriend back into his arms. Blaine obliged, turning his body back into his open arms. "If it helps, we'll do the same thing when we're back at Dalton later tonight. At least until the nightmare stops, and after as well. Okay?"

Blaine sighed. "Are you sure? I just feel like I'm… I don't know, acting like a child who's afraid of the monster in the closet."

"Blaine Anderson, I've never been so sure in my life. The one thing I'm absolutely and eternally sure of, is my love for you. I love you, Blaine Anderson; and I would do anything for you." Kurt said softly. He kissed him on the lips softly.

He responded in kind, deepening the kiss between them. They finally broke apart, gasping for air. "Kurt, I love you. So much." He said smiling, his eyes slightly watering. "Ugh, what time is it?" Blaine said as he flopped back onto his back, throwing his left hand gently beside his head on the bed.

Kurt turned his head towards the digital clock on the nightstand. "Nearly ni – ni- nine." He yawned, stretching the word out. "Mercedes and the others are coming at eleven before we need to head back to Dalton by four to get there by six. You know Mari and Joey are going back to… her house as soon as they drop Lauren at the airport, right?" Kurt stumbled, not wanting to confuse Blaine.

Blaine was silent for a second. "Can we…" He started. "Do you think we can go to my house? Just for a little bit? I just need to grab something before we head back to Dalton." Blaine finished quietly.

Kissing him on his forehead, Kurt smiled sadly. "Of course, but only if I come with you. I don't want you to be alone in your house so soon after yesterday."

"Thank you… love." Blaine said softly.

Kurt chuckled at the name. "You know that if we start calling each other that, Jeff and Nick are going to start making fun of us."

"Oh screw them." Blaine smiled. "Jeff knows that if he bothers you, you'll burn that Linkin Park sweatshirt of his for sure this time."

"Oh Gaga, trust me. I would do much worse than burning that ridiculous sweatshirt of his." Kurt looked Blaine in the eye. "Love," he chuckled at the name. "I want to talk to you more, but if I'm going to be ready by the time Mercedes and Tina come, I need to shower and do my moisturizing routine."

Blaine groaned. "Can't you skip it for today?"

"If you want my face to wrinkle before I'm thirty, yes."

He laughed. "I'll love you all the same and more, wrinkles or no." Blaine kissed him before he got up. "I've got to shower, too. I can just go downstairs and eat while you're using the bathroom."

"I'll try to hurry a little bit." Kurt said, sitting up and grabbing his crutches since the cane was still in the car. "Hey, Blaine?"

He turned his head to look at his boyfriend. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

Blaine smiled widely. "I love you, too."

He laid there for awhile, his eyes closed as he listened to Kurt rummage through the suitcase Burt brought for him for clothes for the day. Once he heard the door to the bathroom click shut in the hallway, Blaine got up himself. Taking one of his crutches from the wall, he decided to do his physical therapy exercises; albeit, with his own modifications.

"Should you even be doing that?" A voice called from the doorway after he did an exercise traditionally done with both crutches. He looked up and saw his best friend.

Mairead arched an eyebrow at him. "You know if you push yourself too hard, you're going to set yourself back." She said.

Blaine shrugged, a little impatient at himself. "And you know that I hate being crippled."

"Oy…" Mari rolled her eyes, leaning on the doorway with her cane. "You're not crippled, you're injured. And you also know that there's a difference, Blaine."

"So? And you know how much I hate the time I've been off of both feet." He shot back at her playfully, running a hand through his hair. He pulled his hand back, grimacing at the gel residue.

Mairead rolled her eyes again, sighing exasperatingly. "Oh, never mind. Anyway, Mom's sent me up to wake the two of you. It's already half past ten."

"I'll be down in a minute. Just let me finish this and shower before she comes up here." Blaine said, gently standing on both feet. He grinned as she threw up her free hand in exasperation.

"Kurt!" Mercedes screamed, nearly plowing him over as Rachel opened the door to let in Mercedes and Tina.

"Careful, Mercedes." Rachel admonished. "He's still healing. I don't think any of want him back in the hospital. And I don't want my best gay to not be here to tell me that my dresses look absolutely stunning or fabulously terrific."

Tina rolled her eyes. "How're you doing Kurt? You look better than before." They walked into Rachel's dining room where her dads had arranged a series of fruit platters on the table.

Kurt laughed, leaning on his reacquired cane from Carole's car. "Well, that's what a good night sleep and a moisturizing routine can do."

"Where's Blaine? I thought he was staying with you." Mercedes asked as she picked up a strawberry from the plates of fruit.

"He's just in the shower. We kind of slept in a little late today after yesterday and all. How are you guys doing? How's the concert coming along? Did Mr. Schuester make you guys pick songs from Journey's catalogue?" Kurt asked innocently as he concealed his smirk.

They continued to talk as Blaine slowly came down the wooden staircase, taking one step at a time with both feet while clutching on the smooth handrail. Before he opened the door, he quietly cracked it open and peeked inside. Blaine smiled when he saw Kurt laughing, as two of the girls were arguing with each other. He opened the door fully and stepped into the warmly painted living room. "Hey, guys." Blaine said, putting a small smile on his face.

The girls each stood up and hugged Blaine gently while voicing their greetings. Blaine gave each one of them a warm embrace in return, his stomach faintly hurting from the pressure of Mercedes' tight hug. He sat down beside Kurt and gave him a kiss on the cheek as the girls aww'ed when Kurt blushed faintly.

"Judging from that, I take it you're better too, Blaine?" Mercedes asked from her place across the table from Kurt.

Blaine grinned. "Yeah. Hey, I wanted to thank you guys. For all you did yesterday." He said softly, giving each one of them a gentle smile. Picking up a blueberry, he rolled it between his fingers as the girls looked on sympathetically.

"Really, it was nothing, Blaine." Mercedes told him, chewing a piece of strawberry. "As long as it meant something to you, that's all that really matters."

"One question," Kurt asked, looking up from his pineapple chunks. "Who told you and how did you guys and the Warblers practice?"

The girls looked at each other, not knowing who would explain. "It was Carole, Kurt." Rachel said, putting down her fork. "Carole told us the song and then we listened to it on YouTube. Knowing that the boys couldn't do the background without reverting to drums and electric guitars,"

"Seriously, you should be glad you weren't there for the first rehearsal." Mercedes said flatly, rolling her eyes.

Rachel rolled her eyes at the memory of Finn adding a rock beat to the song. "Anyway, we figured it would sound better with an acapella background so we got in touch with the Warblers."

Kurt curiously listened as he twirled his fork around his fingers, accidently spraying Blaine with the pineapple juice. "But how did you guys practice? You know Westerville is two hours from Lima, right? I doubt Figgins would let you guys skip class just to travel there. Or vice versa."

"Well, we kinda used Skype to 'practice'" Tina used her fingers to emphasize. "It sort of worked, but then the lag time of the stupid laptop Mr. Schue brought in annoyed both of us after forty-five minutes. Plus, we couldn't really tune ourselves to the other 'cause of the weird sound alteration from Skype."

"You know how Finn and I were gone Thursday night?" Rachel asked. The two boys nodded as she continued. "All of us went to Dalton to practice with them. I have to say, Kurt, Dalton is magnificent. Now I know why you decided to betray us for the Warblers." She said, a little too sweetly.

"Rachel!" Mercedes and Tina said at the same time, angry and horrified.

Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes. "You know why I transferred, Rachel." He said quietly, remembering Karofsky. Kurt shuddered at his last encounter with the hulking football player.

All four of them continued to talk while Blaine listened mostly; just listening to the chatter of his boyfriend's old glee club girls. He felt happy as he watched Kurt laugh at them. Wondering how he was the luckiest person in the world to get him as his boyfriend.

Soon, it was time for the Mercedes and Tina to leave as it was nearly time for Blaine and Kurt to get back to Dalton for their first day back tomorrow.

"Call me tonight, white boy. We have some major catching up to do and just wasn't even a fraction of it." Mercedes told him as she hugged him, a little gentler than usual.

"Of cource, 'Cedes. I'll miss you so much." Kurt said into her black, currently slightly curly hair.

"You take care, Blaine. And if you need any legal help, just ask me and I'll ask my dad." Tina said as she hugged him.

"That's right, I forgot your dad's a lawyer." Blaine chuckled softly as he slung his braced left hand around her back and shoulders in a one armed hug, his right arm holding onto the crutch. "I'll be sure to call you. Thanks, Tina."

The two girls left and then the two boys and Rachel headed upstairs. Rachel helped Kurt pack up the two suitcases in their room as Blaine lay down on the bed, his arms splayed out as he tried to fight the pain in his stomach and leg. With the visit of the two girls, he didn't have time to take his morning meds; which included his painkillers and anti-nausea pills.

"Are you sure, Rachel?" Kurt asked as he leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He arched an eyebrow as Rachel tried to lift the suitcase. "You know I can just have Finn or my dad do it. Your arms are as skinny as Marc Jacobs' designer shoelaces."

She dropped the suitcase, it was only an inch off the ground, and huffed. "Well, I do need to keep my physique for glee club. I am the only reason why we're winning this year. I can't dance if I'm bigger than I am. No offense to Zizes, but I do need to stay like this to dance marvelously so we can keep winning."

"Rachel," Kurt began, "you're unbelievable sometimes, you know that?"

Rachel sniffed. "Well, how else would you word it?"

Blaine listened to them banter back and forth as he closed his eyes. He frowned as he saw an image of his mother underneath his eyelids. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Blaine tried to push back the feeling of being smothered by everything that's happened within the last few days. It felt like the weight he had been holding up with his willpower was weakening and was threatening to squish him into an infinite number of pieces. It felt like he was Hercules and Atlas hadn't come to take the globe from his shoulders yet.

He felt the mattress dip by his side and a shadow blocking out the light in front of his face. He opened his eyes into glasz eyes looking at him. "Love, we're about to leave. Are you okay?" Kurt asked, his eyebrows knitting up worryingly.

Blaine thought for a minute before answering. "No, I'm not." He sat up and buried his head in his arms, hiding his face from the boy he loved.

Kurt gently pried away the arms that were over his head. Blaine's face was already so pained and the look in his eyes only added to it. "Blaine, I know it's hard, love. I know." Like yesterday and all the days before, Kurt hugged Blaine tightly and closely. "Shh, it's okay. I love you." He murmured into his ear, stroking his back.

"I-I," Blaine sobbed out quietly. "I m-miss her, K-Kurt. I miss my mom."

"I know you do. I miss my mom too, Blaine. I miss her, too." Kurt whispered.

The two of them stayed like that until Mairead softly knocked on the doorframe, dressed in a plain black v-neck t-shirt and dark blue jeans, her hair in a simple low ponytail. She looked at them and smiled sadly. We're just waiting downstairs. She mouthed, as she leaned against the doorframe.

Kurt nodded his affirmative. He watched as the black haired girl walked out of sight. "Blaine, we have to go. But I promise, we'll talk when we're back at Dalton, okay?" He told him gently.

Blaine nodded, sniffling at this point and tears rolling down his face. His face cheeks and nose was red along with the rims of his eyes. Blaine shifted his black framed classes up his nose. "Okay."

Kurt helped him stand up, giving him his crutches as he himself held onto his cane. They descended the wooden staircase where the Berrys and Finn were saying good bye to everyone. Rachel hugged Kurt closely, if not a little too firmly. The Berry men both hugged Blaine tightly. "Blaine, if you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to contact us." Hiram said to him.

Blaine only nodded, not trusting his voice quite yet. He was passed off to Rachel who, a little shorter than he was, was on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Once it's summer, you're helping me pick out the perfect song to practice for all the musical theatre colleges for next year. Along with Kurt, of course."

"Of course." Blaine said, giving her a small smile.

They all said good bye and then trooped out to the army of cars, Finn was staying behind with Rachel and her dad so Blaine, Kurt, Carole, and Burt could ride together in Kurt's SUV. The ride to the Blaine's house and the Stryka house was uneventful, other than a few prank calls from Jeff and the rest of the Warblers who were excited for the two of them to come back; one of the calls hinted at a Katy Perry and P!nk mash-up before Kurt promptly hung up on the laughing voices on the other side. "Dad, can I use one of your wrenches when we get back to Dalton? I need to 'fix' Jeff's car for him." Kurt said flatly after the fourth time in nearly two hours.

Burt and Carole laughed, even Blaine managed a small smile. "Sorry, kiddo." Burt shook his head as he drove. They finally reached the lane where the Blaine and Mairead lived. Burt followed the red Pilot.

"Hello, Privet Drive." Blaine muttered dryly under his breath so that Kurt could only hear.

Kurt spluttered from the water bottle he was drinking out of and coughed while Blaine smirked and patted his back. They pulled up into the Stryka's concrete driveway. Joey, Lauren, and Mari got out of the Pilot and CR-V while Blaine and Kurt made their way out of the black SUV.

"What time do you need to be at the airport, Lauren?" Blaine asked as his crutches clicked when he walked into the foyer of the house.

"Around five. The flight leaves at six. But I might have to go earlier if I want to get through the damn security before the plane gets off the tarmac." She said, adjusting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. "We have a little time ki- I mean a little time to do stuff." Lauren caught herself before she could say what the phrase usually is. "It's only around one. What do you guys want to do?"

"Can we maybe watch a Lord of the Rings movie?" Joey asked, subdued behind his sister on his crutches.

"Sure, Joe-shmoe." Lauren said as she put a hand on his shoulder, getting a small smile in return from him. "Let's watch Two Towers. I always liked that one over the others."

Mari huffed as all five of them made their way to her living room and flopped down on the comfy overstuff brown leather couches. "No, what about Return of the King?"

"How about we let Joey choose?" Kurt suggested, rolling his eyes at the two girls. For girls who act like tomboys, they sure had their girly moments.

Joey finally settled on Return of the King, saying that watching ghost skeletons was better than watching Aragorn fall over the side of a cliff. "Hey, Mari." Kurt whispered to her as Lauren loaded up the Blu-ray player. "Blaine and I need to do something at… the house next door before we head back to Dalton."

"Are you sure about that? So soon after yesterday?" She whispered back, a tone of concern lacing her voice.

Kurt nodded as minutely as he could, trying not to draw Joey or Lauren's attentions. "It's something he said he had to do alone."

"Do you need my dad to go with you?"

"No, I think my dad's coming with us." Kurt whispered quickly as Lauren was coming back to sit beside Mairead on the couch.

She nodded swiftly. "At least we get to see Gollum in this one trying to be the miserable creature he is before being a… cretin." Mairead laughed as Lauren sat beside her.

Kurt and Blaine got up. "You guys watch the movie for a bit. Blaine's feeling a little off. We'll see you guys in a bit, okay?" Kurt said as he helped Blaine up on his crutches.

Lauren looked at her brother worriedly. "You okay, Blaine? We don't have to watch Lord of the Rings if you don't want to."

Blaine gave her a small smile. "I'm fine. Just a little headache and I didn't take my meds yet so that might be why." He lied smoothly, feeling a pang of shame as he did so. "We'll be down in a bit, I just need to lie down."

They all nodded as they walked out of the spacious room. Both of the boys waited until the opening theme of the movie was loud enough that when they opened the garage door they wouldn't be heard. Burt was waiting outside with Carole and Jason for the two of them.

Jason had a grimaced as they came towards them. "Son," Jason said to Blaine. "Are you sure about this?" Burt had conveyed to them what Kurt told him before they left Rachel's house.

"I'm more than sure. I need to before I head back to Dalton." Blaine said quietly, looking at his feet.

"Alright, but we're all coming with you. Just to be sure Matthew isn't in there." Burt said roughly, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as they walked towards the white house next door.

Once inside the front door of the house, the two men wouldn't let their sons inside without quickly checking all the rooms first, making sure the despicable man wasn't in there.

"C'mon." Blaine uttered to Kurt after Jason called out to them from somewhere on the main floor. The two made their way somewhat quickly towards the master bedroom on the third floor. Kurt followed his boyfriend up the staircase, looking at all the pictures on the way up. There were several of Blaine, Joey, and Lauren on a boat somewhere with Matthew; a few of them were family portraits, taken at various time when the three of them were growing up; not to mention several beautiful of, what looked like, hand painted canvases of depictions of scenes from the Bible.

They finally reached the room, a wide open space with pretty windows and a huge closet. Blaine headed straight there and nearly dived into his mother's shoe rack. His eyes watered as he smelled her scent in the air from her clothes and possessions. Going to where she told him, Blaine found a small gray box underneath the farthest corner of the closet. The box itself was unremarkable except for the alphanumerical dials that held the case shut. "Kurt?" Blaine cried out softly, tears coming down his face. He couldn't help but cry, with all of his dead mother's clothes, shoes, and other accessories around him.

"Yeah, Blaine?" He said as he nearly ran into the room. Kurt was leaning on the doorframe of the bedroom to give his boyfriend some privacy. "Oh, no." He said sadly, taking in his crying state. "I knew it was too soon." Kurt lowered himself to the floor where Blaine collapsed in his arms, wrapping his arms around the hurting boy's shoulder and head. Sitting like that for several minutes, Kurt gently pried Blaine's fingers off of the side handle of the box, noting the lock. He took his hand in his and didn't care how hard Blaine was crushing his fingers. It wasn't until Blaine finally calmed down enough to let go of Kurt's hand did he look up at him. "Feel better?" Kurt asked softly.

Blaine shook his head, his loose curls bouncing on his head. "No, but let's go. I don't want Lauren and Joey to start noticing I'm gone." He started to get up, but Kurt held him down.

He shook his head. "Blaine, I don't want you to go yet. Not like this, we'll go when your eyes are less red, okay?" Kurt said, his eyes giving his boyfriend a look of understanding.

Blaine glanced down at his hands before nodding, allowing himself back in the sanctuary of Kurt's arms. "I love you, Kurt. I love you so much." Blaine whispered as he closed his eyes and felt the arms around him tighten.

Kurt kissed the side of his head. "I love you too, Blaine Anderson; and I will never stop loving you until I die and then beyond that as well."

It wasn't until Jason came up to tell them it was nearly time to take Lauren to the airport and the two of them back to Dalton did they get up from the floor.

"Kurt." Blaine said as quietly as he could, his eyes closed. "I…" He took a deep breath. "I don't want to see this place anymore. Can you j-just…?" He let the question hang.

"Of course, love." Kurt said softly as he pressed another kiss to his temple. The two of them walked out, Kurt leading the way towards the front door slowly as Blaine hung onto him, his eyes closed the whole way down.

Sunday, four in the afternoon

"You know I don't want to leave." Lauren said sadly. She had her backpack slung over her shoulder and a plane ticket in her hand. Jason had already checked in her duffle bag and gotten the ticket for her.

"And you know I don't want to leave you." Mari said, holding on to both of Lauren's forearms, the cane leaning against the pole behind her. "We both need time together, like this. Not over Skype or Facebook but, like this." Mari pulled her into a hug.

Lauren barely stifled a sob in the shorter girl's shoulder. "I love you, Mari. I don't want to leave." She said tearfully, her eyes and throat still raw from crying nearly the entire night in the past two days.

"Hey, it's okay. I love you too, Lauren. And I promise," Mairead told her quietly in her ear, still hugging her tightly. "When the school year's over, I promise we'll spend all the time we can together. I swear, this gets better. Not right now, and maybe not for a little while, but it gets better. I swear."

The two of them hugged again before Lauren broke the embrace to hug her brothers. "Call me, whenever you can, Joe-schmoe. I love you." She whispered into his ear when she was hugging him.

"I will. I'll call you tonight and tomorrow before I head to school." The younger boy said into her ear as he hugged her.

Blaine and Lauren didn't say anything while they hugged, just their tight embraces to each other said enough. They pulled back with tears in their eyes. "I love you." They both said at the same time. Both of them laughed a little.

"Jinx." Lauren softly told him, smiling a little bit.

She hugged her new guardians and sister one more time before heading off to the security line. Blaine, Joey, Kurt, Burt, Sarah, and Jason waited until she was safely past the security checkpoints before they left the somewhat crowded airport.

Driving the short distance between the airport and Dalton, the two boys sat quietly talking in the car. Once the two cars, the Pilot and the SUV, entered through the austere gates of Dalton Academy, Blaine heaved a sigh of relief. Kurt smiled and pressed his nose against the side of his face. "Welcome home." Kurt whispered.

Almost as soon as they parked, a pack of casually dressed boys stampeded their way towards them, calling out their names.

"Hold it or I will burn all of your precious and horribly looking X-Men graphic t-shirts!" Kurt yelled as they corralled themselves around the doors of the SUV. "And how the hell did you guys know we were coming back tonight?"

The boys looked at a specific blond haired Warbler next to an innocent looking Vietnamese girl. Kurt rolled his eyes as Blaine cracked up. Honestly, are those two going to get together or not? He thought in exasperation. "Oh, never mind. If you're just going to stand there, make yourselves useful and carry our suitcases in? You know neither of us can lift more than five pounds right now." The boys scrambled around the open trunks of the two cars.

They were soon all sitting in Blaine's room, the two boys on the bed, Mairead in Blaine's chair by the desk, Jeff on the floor beside her, Joey sitting on his desk, and the rest of them spread round the room. They were listening to them talking about the past few weeks they had missed while the Hummels and Strykas talked with Dalton's administration, getting their medications to the school's doctor and talking about security. Since Matthew was still on the loose, the FBI decided to have an officer on the campus at all times while the two of them were there.

"Okay, boys, get out. We have to leave now and we want time with our boys." Jason told them as the four adults entered the crowded room.

They all groaned and obliged; Mairead following Jeff to the doorway, their hands touching briefly as the said their good-byes to each other. Kurt arched an eyebrow as she closed the door behind her, faintly blushing beneath her Asian skin tone. She shifted her eyes up, looking at the ceiling and not at him. He nearly laughed out loud when she stumbled over a fold in the carpet.

"Call us if you need anything, alright, kiddo? I don't want to hear of you hurting yourself doing something you shouldn't." Burt said gruffly to his son.

"If I'm going to be careful, then what are you going to be? Now that I'm not home anymore to watch what you eat." Kurt shot back playfully as he hugged his dad.

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart." Carole said as she kissed his forehead. "You know I'm here for him. And you."

Kurt hugged her tightly. "Thanks, Mom."

The two pairs of parents switched places, Jason and Sarah coming to his side as Burt and Carole went to Blaine. "Thank you, for all you've done for the both of us." Kurt told Sarah and Jason gratefully.

"It really was nothing." Sarah said as she gave him a hug rivaling Carole's warm embrace. "You call me if either of you are vomiting blood or feeling too much pain. I'll take care of it for you."

"And if you need gas, just call me." Jason said as he clapped Kurt on the shoulder, squeezing it.

Mairead made her way towards him after talking and hugging Blaine. "Listen, if he's having nightmares, just try to calm him down. Tell him to call me if he absolutely needs too." She told him urgently as he was hugging Joey. "I know he's going to have nightmares. You text me every day to tell me how he's doing, alright?"

Kurt nodded, taking in her instructions carefully. "Thanks, Mari. For everything."

She smiled. "I should be thanking you. He's finally found someone he loves." The two embraced and then the six of them left the room, leaving the two boys alone.

Blaine let out a small cry, seeing his brother, new sister and parents leaving.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll see them as soon as the year is over. Or even next weekend if you want to." Kurt told him, stroking his back.

"I know, it's just… hard." He said.

"I know, Blaine, I know." Kurt intertwined his fingers in Blaine's.

The two of them sat on the bed and watched the second Harry Potter movie on his laptop until it was time for them to sleep.

"Do you want me to sleep here?" Kurt asked him as he watched his boyfriend yawn.

Blaine nodded, his eyes drooping. "If you want, I think I can manage myself tonight."

Kurt kissed him. "Let me get my pajamas and brush my teeth. I think I can skip my nightly moisturizing routine for today. Only today." He teased him as he got up. "I'll be right back."

As Kurt reemerged into his room, Dalton's resident doctor came in and handed the two boys their meds before they went to bed. Blaine fell asleep, feeling his boyfriend's arms and the soft sounds of a certain movie soundtrack around him.