Thursday, four in the afternoon

Kurt looked forlornly at the picture he pinned above his desk when he first came to Dalton in November. The picture showed him, Mercedes, Tina, Rachel, Brittany, and Artie crouching or sitting down on a shiny wooden floor while Finn, Sam, Mike, Santana, Puck, Mike, and Mr. Schuester standing behind them. They were all dressed in black suits or beautiful orange dresses for the girls; it was when they posed after the wedding. He ran his fingers over the picture, as if he could feel them through the ink.

"Want to go to Warbler practice now?"

He snapped his head around and to the door. Blaine was leaning on the door frame, one arm above his head on the wooden frame and the other holding his cane. "You… okay? You looked distracted."

Kurt smiled, his mood lifted as soon as he appeared. "Yeah, just thinking about stuff."

Blaine breathed out a small laugh through this nose. He saw him looking at the picture of his glee club. "You miss them, so much; don't you? I mean, you've been acting a little distant since their benefit concert Monday night."

The countertenor sighed, playing with the pen between his fingers. "It's… just a little hard. Sometimes I feel like I abandoned them for Dalton."

Blaine walked over and leaned against the desk beside him. "Kurt, Karofsky harassed and threatened to kill you. It was logical for you to transfer here. I know McKinley doesn't have an enforced zero-tolerance no harassment policy like Dalton does." Blaine reasoned with him.

"I know… I just miss them. A lot. They've been there for me ever since I came out sophomore year…" He trailed off. "I mean, they even physically fought Karofsky for me in the locker room."

Blaine looked interested. "Oh?"

Kurt nodded, shifting his eyes back to the picture, staring at the boys. "Yeah; it was right before the wedding. Apparently all the girls were concerned and asked the boys to give him a warning. Turns out the warning was a fist fight between him, Mike, and Sam. Karofsky knocked Artie over in his wheelchair and took Mike with him falling to the floor. Puck couldn't do anything because he was just released from juvie, and I'm not exactly sure where Finn was. But Mike got a pretty bad bump on the head and Sam got a black eye before Beiste could stop them."

Blaine stayed silent, listening and taking it all in before speaking. His friends were more than what his were at his old high school. It sent a chill up his spine when he remembered what his supposed friends did to him before he came to Dalton. He laid a hand over Kurt's as he looked down at him. "Kurt, I would love for you to go back to McKinley. You miss them so much." Blaine said kindly, ignoring the small ache in his heart as he said it.

Kurt looked up, quite surprised. "But-"

Kneeling down on one knee, keeping his left leg outstretched and sitting on the back of his right foot, he took his hands. "Kurt. I love you. Make no mistake, I love you so much. But it pains me to see you hurting. I know, Kurt." Blaine said when he opened his mouth again. "I know how you look at all of us when we're talking about the shenanigans we got into the past three years and you've only been here for five months. The look in your eyes dull a little bit every time. I know, Kurt, I know."

Sighing, Kurt ran his thumb over Blaine's knuckles, knowing he was right. They sat there, just thinking before Blaine pulled Kurt and himself up. "C'mon, some Warbler practice'll clear your head. At least we get to go to another nursing home this weekend."

"Alright, alright. Just let me change, I'll meet you at the end of the hall when I'm done." Kurt said, kissing him.

Blaine smiled as he kissed him back. "Okay. I'll meet you there, love."

Leaning against the clear pane of glass dressed in a simple dark blue t-shirt and casual khakis, he felt his Android vibrate in his pocket. Blaine pulled it out and saw his sister's picture on the screen. "Hey, what's up?" He answered as he looked out the window.

"Blaine. You're- You're safe, right? Please tell me you're alright and breathing and alive and-" She said frantically.

"Lauren, I'm right here. Yes, I'm alive and breathing and I'm staring out the window. Why?" Blaine asked her worriedly.

It sounded like she was crying as he talked, the sniffles and quiet wails coming from his phone. "It's just… it's just…" That was she could say before breaking down completely and sobbing.

"Lauren, where are you? What happened? Lauren!" Blaine half-shouted into his phone.

"What's wrong?"

Blaine whipped around, his hand coming up unconsciously and nearly whacking Kurt on the side of his head. "Lauren. I think she's having a break down." He told him shortly as he limped his way back to his room as quickly as possible. "Here, try and talk to her as I get Mari on Facebook." Blaine shoved his phone into Kurt's hands.

"Lauren, this is Kurt. Yes, breathe, Lauren. I know you're… No, Lauren… Listen to me! Breathe, Lauren. Deep breath, now let it out." Kurt talked to her. "Good, once more, good."

Blaine quickly booted up his laptop, ignoring the time. Once he got his browser up, he got up Facebook and sighed a breath of relief as he saw Mairead online. Blaine quickly typed in, after clicking on her name, Call Lauren, NOW. She's freaking out and she just called me.

What happened? I'm calling her now.

I don't know, she just called me and it really sounds like she's crying and sobbing; AKA, freaking out.

Her line is busy, it just directed me to her voicemail. Are you talking with her, too?

Blaine turned his head; Kurt was still talking to her on his phone, saying soothing words to try and knock some sense into her. No, Kurt's talking. I'll just tell him to hang up for you to talk to her.

NO. Let her talk to him for a little bit, I'll talk to her later. She typed back quite quickly, before he could tug on Kurt's arm to hand the phone back to him.

Blaine read, confused. But, why? I would think you would be the one to help her the most.

Think, Blaine. He's had more experience than you or I with losing all of our birth mothers. Most likely, she probably fell asleep and had a nightmare. Even more likely, it was the four of us dying. And don't tell me you haven't had them either since we… you know.

He sat there reading it over. She was right, he knew Kurt had also been having them; it was taking a toll on all them. You're right, I'm just being an idiot right now. Blaine could hear Kurt starting to finish up his conversation with his sister. Kurt's almost done I think, I'll be right back. He turned his body away from his laptop to look to where Kurt was standing with his face to Blaine's closed door.

"… all right. You'll call me when you need to; right, Lauren?" Kurt said, arching an eyebrow even though she couldn't see him. His shoulders dropped visibly when he listened to her response. Kurt looked up to see Blaine watching him. Nodding at him when Blaine put his thumb and pinky up to the side of his face, he told the younger Anderson "Hey, Blaine want to talk to you again; but remember, this does get better. It's not going to be easy or fun but it does get better, Lauren. Yeah, I'll talk to you later." With that, Kurt handed the black Android back to Blaine with a sad smile.

"Thank you." Blaine mouthed to the brunette as he put the phone to his ear. "Lauren, you still there, sis?" He asked hesitantly.

Sniffling quietly, she said "…yeah, I'm still here, Blaine."

"Lauren, it's okay to cry. I still do it; it's only been a short time since the funeral. I'm here for you, sis. I always will be." Blaine said, still sitting down and pinching the bridge of his nose with his middle and forefingers of his left hand. "Laur, call me whenever you have a nightmare, okay? I know it's scary; thinking that I'm dead. But as soon as you call me, you'll know that I'm okay, Joey's okay, Mari's okay, and Kurt's okay. Alright?" He let the words flow out of his mouth without even thinking, not caring how cheesy they sounded.

Hearing her sniff her nose, she answered "…Yeah, okay. I will."

"I know you, Lauren. You're strong; and I love you for that. Do me a favor?" Blaine asked before continuing on without her acquiescence. "Play your viola. Play… Tchaikovsky's Serenade or Movement or something that you played a few concerts ago, I can't remember which one. Anyway, it'll make you feel better, I promise."

"…Sure."

"Lauren?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

Almost as if he could see her twitch the corner of lips into a sad smile, Blaine heard her respond "I love you, too." a little too sadly for his taste.

Blaine grimaced as he pressed the red disconnect button on his Android screen. He sighed and threw the phone down on his desk on top of some papers. Blaine slid partially out of the chair and leaned his head on the edge of the back of his chair, closing his eyes.

Kurt came over and sat on the back of his heels, stroking Blaine's forearm that was resting limply on his lap. "Tough day for all of us, huh? First, your nightmare this morning, and now Lauren's breakdown. I guess I'm next." Kurt joked half heartedly, trying to make him smile.

Chuckling breathily, Blaine rubbed a hand over his face to cover a yawn he could feel coming on. "I'm honestly surprised that this happened right now; I thought it would happen earlier than this."

Kurt pulled his hand off his face and ran his thumbs under the faint bags under Blaine's eyes. "I know. C'mon, we got practice. Let Mari talk to her and she'll come around." He grabbed the shorter boy's hands and pulled him to his feet.

"Oh, that reminds me. One second." Blaine said as he was hauled to his feet. He bent over to type She's free now, Mari. Call her? I gotta go to practice, call me later after you're free. before walking out, leaning a little heavily on Kurt; the warm weight of the brunette's arm on his shoulder keeping him together.

Friday, three in the afternoon

"Ready to go?" Kurt asked as Blaine slid into the passenger seat of his car, the engine purring as it warmed up.

"Ye-ye-yeah." Blaine yawned as he accidentally tried to buckle the seat belt to the inside his blazer. He fumbled with the buckle as Kurt started driving, finally getting it in the correct place by the time they rolled out the austere gates of Dalton. Leaning his head against the back of the seat, he looked blearily out the windshield at the highway with various cars passing them. Kurt was talking, but he was barely paying attention; he was so tired from the school day. Blaine had finally gotten caught up on all the tests he had missed and barely had time to eat, let alone sleep the night before.

"-so I told them that it wasn't bad, considering that Vogue sometimes misprinted the names of the designers on the models in the pictures." Kurt said, not realizing Blaine was briefly dozing.

"Wh- Yeah, cool." Blaine mumbled as his head slipped off the side of the back of the seat towards Kurt as he jerked himself upright as to not bump Kurt and wake himself up.

Kurt glanced quickly at Blaine before returning his eyes to the road. "Sorry, I rambled, didn't I?" He asked worriedly.

Blaine rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands as he shook his head. "No, I'm just… tired, I guess. It's just all the tests I had to wretch the information out of my head for today making me tired." He yawned as he opened his eyes to find his contacts protesting at the sudden light. Blaine shut his eyes and slung an arm around his face.

"Why don't you get some sleep? It's two hours to Lima and you need it, Blaine. I know you didn't sleep last night." Kurt told him, his face focused on the road.

Blaine uncovered his eyes slightly and turned his head towards him. "You sure? I can stay awake to talk."

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, you'll earn yourself premature wrinkles in your forehead if you don't get enough sleep. And god forbid that I didn't warn you about moisturizing your face when we're in our forties." Kurt snuck a smirk on his face as Blaine yawned again. "Lean the seat back, Blaine, you'll be more comfortable that way. The latch is at the bottom on the side near the door."

Blaine did as he instructed and found himself nearly lying down completely. "Wake me up when we get to Lima." Blaine mumbled as he drifted off, the motion of the car lulling him to sleep.

Kurt smiled as he pressed a button on the CD player on his dashboard, turning it on to soft piano music to relax the both of them after the tough week they'd both been having. He heard Blaine's breath deepen after a little bit, the music dragging him into a deeper, more energizing sleep. Kurt drove on, occasionally tapping his finger on the steering wheel to the rhythm of a particular song.

Stopping at the red light, he reached over and slid his hand inside Blaine's partially closed one on top of his stomach. Kurt squeezed it while he waited for the light to turn green. "Hey, we're here."

Blaine surfaced from his unconscious state and squeezed back, opening his eyes to see the slate gray colored fabric of the roof of the car. He groaned and tried to roll over to block the light; unfortunately, the seat belt prevented that. "What time is it?" Blaine grumbled as he rubbed the grogginess out of his eyes with the back of both of his hands.

"Just a little after five. The girls already texted me that they're at the Lima Bean, so they're just waiting for us." Kurt answered a little absentmindedly, preoccupied with turning into the parking lot of the coffee shop. "Oh and be careful when you're…"

"Oof!"

A thump sounded just he was about to warn Blaine about the seat flipping back up and hitting him rather hard on the back as he sat up. Kurt winced as he slid the Navigator into an empty spot. He turned off the engine and turned to look at Blaine coughing a little and rubbing his upper back with his knuckles ruefully.

"…flipping the seat back up." Kurt finished in a slightly apologetic tone.

Blaine gave him an embarrassed half smile as he looked up into sparkling glasz colored eyes. "Oops."

Chuckling, Kurt unbuckled his seat belt and leaned over to give him a peck on his cheek as Blaine checked his hair in the mirror in the sun visor. "Well, there's a lot worse things this car could do to someone than hit them. Have a nice nap?"

Unbuckling his own seat belt, he yawned one last time. "Yeah, I just wish I had more, but I guess I'll have to wait until tonight when we're at your house."

"Unless Finn, Puck, Sam, Mike, and whoever else comes over for the usual Friday night video game brawl; then you'll be barely getting any sleep by the way they pester you to play or their rambunctious sounds of joy of assassinating aliens slash targets or whatever the hell they're shooting at." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Well, I do know someone who could whip everyone's asses at Halo. A certain someone." Blaine said, his tone hinting.

Kurt blushed a bit, a fine dusting of pink settling in his cheeks. "Oh, hush. You'd get that good too if you had a step-brother who's lifelong mission is to beat the game five times in a row per month."

"Hasn't he, yet?"

"Yes."

The two walked inside, Kurt hovering near Blaine in case he stumbled; Blaine decided to leave the cane in the car, he didn't feel like using it anymore. Opening the door, they both saw Artie and Brittany at a table near where Mercedes, Tina, and Santana were talking quietly. Santana was looking at Brittany and Artie longingly.

"Go sit with them, I'll get the coffee for both us." Kurt pointed Blaine the direction of the table as he stood in line. "Do you want anything else with the medium drip?"

Blaine's eyebrows knitted up. "Are you sure? I can wait here if you want to talk with them."

"Nope, you are sitting down until I bring them over. Do you want some biscotti? We can share a plate." Kurt asked again while giving him a stern look to sit down. He pulled out his wallet from his messenger bag that was slung over a shoulder.

Blaine put a hand behind Kurt's head and tilted his face down for a brief kiss. "I love you."

Kurt kissed him back, smiling. "I love you, too. Now go sit down!" He told him with a small laugh.

Walking slowly over to the girls, he returned their smiles with a grin of his own. "Hey girls, looking beautiful as always. Santana, love the hat."

"I would say the same to you if you weren't in the uniform, Blaine." Mercedes said, standing up to give him a hug over the table.

Santana rolled her eyes at him as she embraced him. "Oh, please, this is the only hat that's fashionable enough for Baby Face over there not to complain about."

Blaine shook his head and gave her a confused little smirk. "Baby Face?"

The four of the talked for a bit while Kurt retrieved their coffees and plate of biscotti, making sure to add in cinnamon to Blaine's medium drip. "Hey 'Cedes, Tina. Satan- I mean, Santana." Kurt corrected himself quickly.

Making small talk again, sipping their coffees. Mercedes set down her white chocolate mocha, a look of concern coming over her face. "You haven't asked us anything about our New York trip."

"Is it because it's too painful?" Tina added as she drank her frappachino.

Kurt set down his latte. "Yes, as a matter of fact." He tilted his head towards Blaine, looking at him out of the corner of his eye. "But as the New Directions are preparing to perform at Nationals, the Warblers are preparing to perform at a nursing home; in a strip mall next to a national bank." He picked his cup back up. "I'm so proud of you guys." Tina shook her head in amusement as he took a sip.

"Isn't there any way you could come back to McKinley?" Mercedes asked, her eyes and tone of voice clearly trying to persuade the brunette.

"I told him I'd be all for it if it wasn't for Karofsky." Blaine cut as Kurt opened his mouth to answer.

Santana seemed to snap out of her staring spell at a certain blonde when Blaine spoke. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"Well, Kurt needs to be safe." Blaine answered back plaintively.

Kurt rolled his eyes away from his boyfriend. "Okay, can we please change the subject."

Blaine scooted a centimeter closer to him. "I'm just saying, I'd rather not have you bullied again and if Karofsky's still harassing students, then wouldn't you want to be in a place where he can't get to you?"

"He's got a point there, boo." Mercedes said as she drank her coffee. "I mean, I'd rather have you safe and sound at Dalton than be terrorized all the time." She concluded with a small smile.

Santana abruptly stood up, nearly knocking the table over in her haste. "I gotta gay- GO. I've gotta go." She flashed a quick smile at the four of them before rushing out the door.

"Huh, never seen her have an epiphany before." Kurt said lightly as he sipped at his latte.

Tina chortled. "Since when does Santana ever think deeply about anything other than insulting us?"

Mercedes tilted her coffee cup towards her. "She's got a point. I mean, she's already insulted most of the Glee club when Mr. Schue assigned us our new project for the next week."

"So I heard from Facebook. How's Finn taking it with his quote 'puffy, pyramid nipples'?" Kurt asked as he delicately bit off the end of a biscotti cookie. "What is this week assignment for you guys, anyway?"

"We have to find what we the trait each of us hate about themselves and put it on a t-shirt. Rachel Berry inspired this one." Tina replied.

"Was it because of Finn breaking her nose? How she wanted to have a nose job or something?" Blaine asked, Kurt looking not in the least bit surprised.

"Mhmm. And that's all she's been talking about for the last four days. It's driving us all over a cliff with the amount she's talking about it." Mercedes said, rolling her eyes.

"If I was back in the New Directions, I would give her a speech on how Barbra was flawed and make her stare at how she turned out." Kurt sniffed.

Blaine just looked on as Kurt continued talking with his friends; just staring at how animated he became when he conversed about McKinley and the New Directions.

"Well, we better get going. My dad's expecting us both for dinner tonight and then we've got to sleep so we can do that delightful performance tomorrow at the nursing home." Kurt said, a slightly sad tone entering his voice.

"Just don't get any cats thrown at you, white boy." Mercedes said as they all stood up. "I don't care what you and those Warblin' boys do as long as you're safe." She pulled him into his arms for a hug.

"Hey, just remember, that offer from my dad still stands as soon as they find the dog that did this to you, Blaine." Tina said as she hugged him.

Blaine smiled into her blue streaked curls. "Thanks, Tina. And you'll be in my top five people to call when they do."

Feeling his ribs protesting at the pressure of Mercedes' hug, he hugged her back nearly as tightly as whispered into her ear "I'll get him back to you guys in any way possible."

Mercedes released him with a surprised look on her face. She gave him a small smile as she nodded gratefully.

Slamming the car doors shut, both boys leaned into the seats feeling happy and relaxed. "Ready to go?" Kurt asked as he stuck his key in the ignition and turned the engine on.

Blaine nodded as he secured the seat belt, adjusting the shoulder strap so it didn't cut into his neck. "Yup."

As soon as they were on the road, Blaine laid his hand over Kurt's, which was on the stick shift. "You know I meant what I said in there, right? I really do want you to go back to McKinley but only if you're as safe there as you are at Dalton." He asked softly.

Kurt sighed, blinking his eyes. "I know, but… I just feel if I go back to McKinley I'm abandoning you." He answered back just as quietly.

"You won't be. You'll be happier and that'll make me happy. To know that you're back with people who love you for who you are, every aspect of you." Blaine reasoned, trying to come up with new arguments in his head.

"Can we just… lay off of the topic? I really just want to spend time with you, not talk about McKinley." Kurt said in a strained voice, his one hand gripping the steering wheel tightly.

Blaine pried his other hand off the stick shift and kissed the back of his hand softly. "I'm sorry. I just love you so much."

Kurt smiled but his gaze remained on the road.

A car honked loudly behind them before switching lanes. Blaine saw the driver speeding up in the lane next to him while giving him the middle finger out the window before merging back into the lane they were in. He looked at them in disgust as he settled back into his seat, hoping Kurt didn't see it.

"Geez, is five miles above speed limit not fast enough for you, asshole?" Kurt muttered under his breath, his hand tightening around Blaine's reflexively; he forgot Blaine was still holding his hand.

LINE BREAK

As soon as the two boys reached 415 Whitman Avenue, the two boys gathered the two duffle bags and their messenger bags and walked in the house. Carole yelled out her greeting and told them to come help her make homemade pizzas. Both of them ran up to Kurt's room and changed into casual clothing. Blaine wrinkled his nose at Kurt's outfit. "Love, don't you think you'll get flour on that? I mean, that's McQueen and I don't think white powder would make it any more fashionable than it already is." He told him as they walked down the stairs.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I always wear an apron when I'm in the kitchen. Even if I do get flour on this, I have another vest upstairs."

Hilarity ensued in the kitchen after Blaine tried to muffle a laugh when he saw a streak of flour coloring a strand of lightly gelled hair after they were done putting toppings on the small pizzas. Kurt looked at his reflection in the black microwave door and smirked. He picked up a small amount of flour, put it in the palm of his hand, hid said hand behind his back, and when he was kissing Blaine, he brought his hand up and dropped the flour onto Blaine's heavily gelled hair.

Blaine jerked away and stared as Kurt laughed, so hard that he had to hang onto the counter to stay standing. It was funny to see Blaine's hair covered in flour, the black of his hair contrasting with the flour nicely. The flour even clung to his black eyebrows, giving him the appearance of a graying Santa Claus. Blaine retaliated by taking a big handful of flour from the bowl holding the white powder and threw it in his boyfriend's face, the particles spreading everywhere. A fight between the two of them began and ended rather quickly, after Carole came back from answering her cell phone.

"Kurt! Blaine! What are you doing?" She yelled over the laughing between the two of them. The two boys were covered nearly head to toe with flour. The counter and the flour were caught in the cross fire but the finished pizzas had somehow escaped injury by flour bombs. It took all of her willpower to not laugh right on the spot.

The two of them looked at each other sheepishly while muttering apologies to her. "Kurt started it!" Blaine said smiling before he took off running up the stairs to take the first shower of the two of them to get the flour off.

Kurt growled and made to follow but Carole stopped him by putting her hands on his floured chest and blocking him. She finally laughed out loud at the situation. "Don't kill him, sweetheart. And don't tell me you didn't enjoy this either."

He half-smiled, half-smirked in rueful amusement. "No, I didn't. I mean, I'm wearing my Alexander McQueen vest! Do you know how hard it to clean this at home?" He said, a mocking tone in his voice.

Carole rolled her eyes at his fake hysteria over his black designer vest. "Oh, just drop it in the laundry bin and I'll take care of it. Go take a shower in our bathroom, sweetie. I'll clean up your mess here and pop the pizzas in." She gave him a little push to get him going.

On the way into his mom and step-dad's bedroom to access their bathroom, he pressed an ear to the door of the bathroom he shared with Finn whenever he was home. Hearing the shower run, Kurt ran to the master bathroom and flushed the toilet. He could hear Blaine yell out in surprise at the rush of cold water squirting over him in his shower. "KURT!" Blaine screamed, his voice amplified by the smooth walls of the bathroom.

Sweet, sweet revenge. Kurt thought gleefully as he took off his flour covered apron, grimacing as he saw the outline of the apron and the straps on the shoulder of his vest and dark blue jeans.

"So, how have things been going for you two?" Burt asked as he piled salad into his bowl, taking a little bit more after Carole's look when he only took a small amount.

"Fine, you know we have the performance tomorrow at Prairie Oaks with the Warblers tomorrow. Otherwise, not really much." Kurt answered as he cut into his plate sized pizza topped with spinach and mushrooms while waiting for the salad bowl to be passed to him. He had changed into a simple white t-shirt with a black tank top with Marilyn Monroe stenciled in beige on the front with casual khakis.

"Finally caught up on all my missing tests from the month before. Oh, and occasionally persuading Kurt to play Halo since he's so good at it." Blaine said after he swallowed his bite of his tomato and chicken pizza. He smirked as Kurt shot him a glare.

"Dude, since when do you play Halo?" Finn mumbled through a mouthful of sausage, pepperoni, and chicken pizza. "You have to show me tonight when Puck and the other guys come over!"

"No, Finn. I need sleep if I'm performing tomorrow. Elderly people and the Warblers depend on my voice." Kurt said with a delicate air.

Finn rolled his eyes. "C'mon, just one battle. It'll take like five minutes and then you can sleep." He took another monster bite of his pizza.

"Fine, but you owe me."

"Hell yeah!" Finn grinned broadly while he chewed.

Carole smacked her son lightly on the shoulder. "Don't talk with your mouth full." She returned to her pepperoni pizza.

"You both know that I'm driving to LMH tomorrow after the performance at Prairie Oaks for your appointments after." Burt said after swallowing his bite of the sausage pie he had requested early in the day to his wife.

"Yes, Dad, we know." Kurt said exasperatingly, remembering the texts and calls all week Burt had been pestering him with.

The whole Hudson-Hummel family and Blaine talked until everyone was finished and sated, Finn ate his way through the four pizzas Kurt made for him, and the teenagers cleaned up the table.

"I'm going to get you back for that." Kurt muttered to Blaine as he loaded up the dishwasher with dirty plates and salad bowls while Blaine put the utensils in the right slots on the lower rack.

Blaine only smiled slyly and continued until the dish washer was full.

The doorbell sounded and the pounding thumps of Finn's feet raced to open the door. The next second was filled with noises of rambunctious laughter and pounding footsteps to Finn's room where the Xbox and PS3 were set up.

"And that's how you end a time of peace. Insert boys into a room with electronics and you won't sleep until four in the morning." Kurt said dryly.

Burt walked in just as Blaine closed the door of the dishwasher was closed. "Blaine, I've put your things in the guest bedroom for you. Kurt can show you where it is after you two are done here. I'll be out in the living room watching the Bruins hockey game if you need me." He said as he grabbed a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. He flashed his son a look that said No exceptions tonight before walking out.

Kurt huffed a little angrily but said nothing. "C'mon, let's enjoy our second of quiet before Finn drags me out to play Halo." He took Blaine hand and they both ran upstairs to his room.

They were both doing homework in his room when, as Kurt predicted, Finn yelled for Kurt to play Halo. "Go get 'em, love." Blaine smiled as he kissed him for good luck. Kurt only broke the kiss when Finn shouted for him hurry up. Blaine continued doing his homework until Kurt came back. He smiled as he heard the sounds of surprise and disbelief before Kurt came tearing into the room, slamming the door behind him before the boys came stomping up and begging him to play another game against them. Blaine only raised an eyebrow. Kurt shook his head, wincing as the boys pounded on his door.

Eventually the boys went back to Finn's room, leaving the hallway in peace after Burt came up and yelled at them for interrupting his hockey game.

Blaine yawned after a little bit. Looking over at the digital clock on Kurt's nightstand, he was surprised that it was half past nine. "I'm going to sleep, Kurt. Sorry if you're not ready yet."

"It's fine. I know you've had a stressful couple of days with the tests and all. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Kurt said, understandingly. He planted a solid kiss on his lips. "I love you."

Blaine smiled as he kissed him back. "I love you, too. Good night." He gathered his European history textbook and walked out of Kurt's room to walk downstairs to the guest bedroom.

The performance at the nursing room went well for the Warblers. The simple choreography was easy enough for Kurt and Blaine to join in that they didn't miss a beat. It seemed that most of residents of Prairie Oaks liked their mash up of the Beatles and Elvis, seeing as only a third fell asleep by the end of it. Afterwards, as Burt promised, the two of them went to Lima Memorial Hospital with him as the rest of the Warblers went back to Dalton.

"Well, all your X-rays look clear for you two boys." Dr. Doyle said, putting up black film on the light box mounted on the wall. "Your leg is healing nicely, Blaine, but I still think you'll need the cane for another week or so; just as a precautionary measure. Your tibia is looking good, but there are few places where the bone hasn't healed all the way quite yet so I don't want you doing heavy exercise until it's fully healed."

"As long as it means no more PT, I'm fine with it." Blaine muttered under his breath and crossed his arms.

The doctor only smiled as she looked towards Kurt. "Kurt, you'll have to come back sometime next week for Dr. Piker to check on your chest wounds." Blaine winced as she mentioned the cuts. "Does next Tuesday work for you?"

"I guess, as long as my Dad can excuse me from school." Kurt answered easily, not noticing a look of discomfort come over his father's face.

"No problem, kiddo. I'll come pick you up from Dalton." Burt said in a slightly strained voice.

Kurt nodded and the doctor clicked a few things on the computer, shook all of their hands and walked out. The three of them exited the hospital and walked quietly to the car, Kurt sitting in the back seat with Blaine. The two of them gripped each other's hand as Burt drove back to their house.

"Blaine?" Kurt said quietly from the doorway of the guest bedroom, waiting for him to turn around from where he was facing the window, staring out at the cloud covered world. Blaine didn't respond, so Kurt walked right in, laying a hand gently on his shoulder.

He whipped his head around and just barely managed to stop his fist from swinging out as a defense mechanism. "Sorry." He muttered as he released his left hand from his raised right arm. Trying to conceal the sniffle that was threatening to make sound, he turned back around to the window.

"What's wrong? You've been quiet since we've gotten back." Kurt asked softly, taking both of his hands in his.

"It's… it's the…" was all Blaine managed to whisper before he started trembling.

Kurt guided the two of them over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Blaine," he said, "I love you. No matter what. It's the what, Blaine?"

"Scars." Blaine breathed out, his head bowed over as if he could see his own scars through his button up black shirt.

Kurt sighed. "Wait right here, I'll be back in a minute." He gave a quick kiss on his cheek before dashing out the door and up the stairs to his bedroom. Returning a minute later, he had a jar of what looked like pills and a box of thumb tacks in his hands. "Lay down and unbutton your shirt, Blaine."

Blaine's head raised and he looked at Kurt with tears in his eyes but he nodded. Unbuttoning his shirt and taking off the white undershirt from underneath, he looked away as he lay on his back.

Kurt opened the jar and took out a liquid filled pill and a thumb tack. Taking the tack, he slit a small cut into the pill, making sure that the oil that oozed out didn't spill. He turned back to his boyfriend on the bed, staring anywhere but his body lain out in front of him. Kurt gently squeezed out the oil onto his fingers and rubbed it on the horrific six lettered scars on his chest. "It's vitamin E." He said softly as he smoothed the oil over his skin. "It'll make the scars go away in a little bit."

"Really?" Blaine asked in a child like curious voice.

"It worked for my scrapes on my knees when I was younger. It should work equally as well for these." Kurt said as he looked into Blaine's hazel eyes, his finger tracing the second G with the oil.

He finished up with the small circular scar that was still pink with new skin. It had taken up three pills to cover all of Blaine's scars. "Thank you, love. Thank you." Blaine managed as he sat up while Kurt wiped his slick fingers on a tissue.

"Just promise me one thing." Kurt said as he settled himself back on the bed after tossing the used tissue away. "Promise that every time you see your scars that you'll remember how strong you are. You survived everything that life threw at you and more. You survived and you grew so strong that you don't care whatever else is going to happen, you and I will get through it." Kurt tilted Blaine's head up with his fingers. "Promise me?"

A tear trickled down his cheek as he smiled a little watery. "I promise. I promise." He said, the second time more to himself.

Kurt smiled, his love for him showing on his face as he kissed him passionately.