The intruder couldn't have looked more delighted that Kurt remembered him. "Yes! I'm so glad to meet you, breathe the same air you're breathing. When Mr. Anderson mentioned that you were coming here I was so elated. But I didn't want to have to share my time with you, with him." He yanked his head at Blaine. "I was able to stop him before he called your manager to contact the police, so we don't have to worry about anyone coming here to interrupt."

Kurt took a step back and the man followed him. "I just wanted to spend some time getting to know you. I've seen so many of your performances with 'Worry Well.' You're like an angel on that stage," the man whispered reverently, coming closer to Kurt with every step he took. His eyes were blown wide as he grinned at Kurt.

"When Mr. Blaise contacted me, saying that he knew where I could find you, I was thrilled. I hope you liked my letters. They came straight from the heart." Kurt's knees knocked the edge of the bed and he fell against the mattress right next to Blaine. His hand landed on Blaine's hand and he squeezed automatically, his heart stopping when he didn't get any response.

Blaine was deathly still, his eyes half opened and a trickle of blood running down the side of his profile that was facing Kurt. His face was pale but his skin was still warm. What had this man done to Blaine?

Suddenly, the man was stepping between Kurt's legs. "I'm so glad that we get to meet like this. Now I can show you how much I truly care for you. I've always thought that you deserve only the most amazing man in your life that you can achieve but I was so disappointed when I found out about Mr. Anderson." The man's voice was ragged as he started to lean down over Kurt.

"I know all about your horrible relationship with Mr. Anderson. He was so abusive to you Kurt when you were teenagers. He never cared." The intruder smiled brilliantly. "I went back through all your friends' posting about you and all the internet articles from your high school days. I wanted to see what you were like in high school. What I would have given to have known you then. All those pictures of you in your Glee club. You were so sexy then and you've only gotten better with time."

Kurt opened his mouth to scream but the man's hand was over his mouth in a flash. "No, don't speak. Not yet. I just want to bask in you." He brought his face close, his eyes glazed. "You do understand that Mr. Anderson is an okay man now, but not the kind of man that deserves you. There is no one out there that deserves you."

He kept his hand on Kurt's mouth while the other one ran down Kurt's chest, feeling him through the coat. Adrenalin pumped through Kurt and in a split second he let go of Blaine's hand to strike his assailant. With a cry, the man stumbled back and Kurt sprinted away from him towards the front door. "Help!" he screamed, praying that one of his neighbors would hear and do something.

Before Kurt could reach the door his stalker caught up to him and grabbed him, slamming him against the wall. "What's wrong, Kurt?" the man asked, stroking Kurt's face. Kurt turned to try and bite him, screaming out again for help. The man's expression darkened and he struck Kurt across the face. "Why won't you just listen to me? I love you, Kurt! I will do anything for you, just be mine and we'll be happy forever!"

Kurt struggled but his assailant was bigger and stronger and kept him there. Suddenly, the man's lips were on Kurt's probing against him. Kurt fought back, biting his lip and causing him to draw back with a roar. The man pulled away to strike Kurt, his hand connecting hard with Kurt's scull, causing his sight to grow fuzzy.

Suddenly, the world slowed down and his eyes slid shut.

"Kurt, you know I love you, right? More than anything," Blaine whispered, leaning above Kurt and staring down at him. The moonlight shone behind him and highlighted each curl, caressing his shoulders and neck.

Kurt reached up to curl his fingers around the back of Blaine's neck, caressing the soft hairs at the base. "I know. I love you too." He let his head fall back against the cushions and watched Blaine through hazy eyes. "Do you think, if we ever broke up that we would find each other again?" he asked, his voice small and insecure.

Blaine stared at Kurt for a long moment. "As horrible as I think breaking up would be, I'd hope that we would be able to meet once more and find a solid ground."

"Will you make me a promise?" Kurt asked, sitting up.

"Of course," Blaine replied immediately.

Kurt chuckled softly. "You don't even know what I'm going to ask."

"I don't need to. I'll promise you anything that you want me to."

With a soft laugh Kurt moved his legs to lock around Blaine's waist. "Promise you won't stop loving me."

Blaine's hands slid down Kurt's legs until they came to rest on either side of his hips. "Never. I will never stop loving you." He leaned down to press a lingering kiss against Kurt's collar bone. When he pulled away, Blaine whispered, "Will you do me a favor?"

"What, Blaine?" Kurt asked, his voice breathy. He was having trouble concentrating with Blaine's lips on his skin, teasing him.

"You need to wake up. For me, please baby? Wake up and fight back and make sure I'm not dead."

Kurt stared up at Blaine, his blood running cold. "What do you mean?"

"Wake up, Kurt, please. Wake up and fight back. I'm waiting for you."

Kurt's eyes slid open slowly, agonizingly. He took a few moments to realize that he was still pressed against the wall but he was alone. His attacker was gone but the second that Kurt attempted to move into a more comfortable sitting position the shadow fell over him and a voice spoke. "I was just about to come and splash water on your face. I didn't want our time together cut short by your fainting spell. How is your head, darling?"

With a growl, Kurt hit the man's hand away as it came to caress Kurt's hair. The assailant's expression darkened. "Tell me something Kurt. Why did you want Mr. Anderson? Why were you with him? Why was he so special that he had your attention?"

Kurt was tempted to refuse to answer, but he realized that the only way he'd ever save himself was to stall for time pray for a miracle. He wasn't a religious man by any means but if there was a time to at least attempt praying it was now. "He saved me."

The man squared his shoulders, "That's a pathetic excuse for being with anyone." Kurt really wanted to bite back with something like 'and kidnapping me just to 'breathe me in' isn't pathetic' but he realized that was probably something which could turn out very bad.

"Blaine saved me from becoming far more bitter than I already was. The months that I was with him were the happiest. He integrated himself into my life and family and when I made the stupid mistake not to stay with him, I missed him every day—even after I tried to convince myself that I no longer did." Once the words started, they felt like word vomit that refused to stop.

"What was it about him personality-wise?" the man prompted.

Kurt narrowed his eyes and tried to twist away as the man's grimy hand came forward to touch him. There was a flash of something in his eyes and Kurt realized he should answer. "He was, is smart and kind and talented. When I talked, he listened—he never rushed me or pushed me to do what he wanted. He is gentle and kind and wonderful."

The man watched him carefully. "I could be all those things, Kurt. I could be like Blaine for you."

"No, you couldn't," Kurt snapped defensively. "You could never be Blaine. Blaine would never strike me or try to force me to do anything. When I told him no he stopped. You're sick and horrible and cruel!" he spat.

His assailant's eyes narrowed. "You don't understand, do you, Kurt? I want to be your perfect man, I want to be like Blaine because I knew you loved him but I want to be better, you have to let me be better so I can be perfect for you!"

Kurt's voice suddenly rose an octave. "You're not perfect! You'll never be perfect, you're sick and horrible! You hurt Blaine to get to me, Blaine would never do that to anyone!" he screeched, his hand lashing out to slap the man hard across the face. The man went reeling and Kurt took the chance to sprint to the door.

His hand had barely brushed the doorknob when a strangled cry filled the air. "You bitch!" Kurt's face hit the wall and his hand was twisted behind his hand. Kurt let out a scream, hoping that the racket would alert someone that he was up here and hurt.

The next thing he knew, there were cries outside and moments later the door came crashing down and police were streaming into the apartment, pointing guns at them and screaming "Freeze!" The man let go of Kurt who slid to the floor without anything to help hold him up as the men streamed forward to subdue his assailant.

Soft hands tugged at Kurt and turned him, brushing tears from his face-tears he didn't realize he'd been shedding. "Blaine-!" he sobbed. "Blaine!"

"What about Blaine?" a woman's voice asked.

"He's hurt. I think he's dead. Oh God, Blaine," Kurt howled. The woman held him close and caressed his hair, while she shouted orders over the screams of his assailant. The next moments passed in a blur. All Kurt knew was that there were people picking him up to carry him out of the apartment while a stretcher was being wheeled in. He was set against the wall outside his apartment while a man flashed a light in his eyes and spoke to him in a soothing voice.

Kurt was never able to answer him because he caught the stretcher being wheeled out of his home with Blaine strapped to it, an oxygen mask fitted over his mouth and nose, and fainted dead away.

Hours later, maybe even days, Kurt slogged out of the oppressive darkness around him and slowly opened his eyes to a bright light overhead. He winced and groaned, slamming his eyes closed. "There really is a heaven."

"I'm glad to hear you finally admit that, but you're not there yet," a woman's voice said somewhere above him. Kurt jolted a little.

Another woman's voice spoke up, softer and brighter. "You're at the hospital, doll. Help me get him up," she said and suddenly there were hands around him, tugging him into a sitting position against the pillows. "Get the doctors, would you?" The other woman grunted an affirmative and Kurt listened to her leave the room.

Kurt slowly opened his eyes, finding it hard, like fighting against a current just to wake up. In front of him sat a familiar, pretty face. "Carrie?"

Carrie's lips curled into a sweet smile. "Hey, gorgeous, it's about time you came back to us."

"Where am I?" Kurt asked automatically, even though he already had a clue.

"Hospital," she replied simply, reaching out her hand to caress the side of his face. "You've been out almost two days. The first day from stress, the second from really strong pain meds. Mr. Mallwarks sprained your wrist."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

Carrie sat back. "The man who attacked you. Nicholas Mallwarks, avid fan. The police are going to talk to you about it later." Kurt took a moment to look at Carrie's appearance. She looked tired, her hair hanging limply around her face. Her clothing was hardly fashionable and barely up to her normal standards.

"You've been here the entire time," Kurt noted.

Carrie shrugged, "Kinda. Sadie was nice enough to go to my apartment and feed Autumn and then Blaine's cats yesterday."

Something clicked in Kurt's mind. "Blaine!" He started to struggle to get out of the bed and put his hand down on the cushion. Pain spiked through his wrist and he yelped. Carrie's hands descended on his shoulders to push him back down to the cushions.

"He's still out. Hasn't woken up since they brought him in. The doctor said that he was hit in the head with something hard like a lamp and was knocked out," Carrie told him, her eyes dimmed. "They said he should wake up." Kurt immediately noted the word 'should' and felt his blood run cold.

Sadie entered moments later with the doctors behind her. Immediately, they swooped down on Kurt and started to check him over, forcing the two women out of the room. Minutes later Kurt's arm was rebandaged and the police were crowding into his room. A tall male officer sat down to chat with him.

"Your attacker's name is Nicholas Mallwarks, age 35. We've already been through his house and found paraphernalia from all your shows and performances from years back. He got your address through a Chance Blaise, do you know him?" the officer asked.

"Carrie's boyfriend," Kurt whispered, staring down at his hand.

The officer frowned. "Yes, he apparently tracked Mr. Mallwarks down and gave him your address and paid him to stalk you—though from what we've seen Mr. Mallwarks would have done it for free. He's already admitted that he's stalked your home for months. We have Mr. Blaise in custody but he's not talking yet."

Kurt looked up to the man. "And Blaine?"

"He's still asleep so we haven't been able to question him. When we asked Mr. Mallwarks about what happened to Mr. Anderson, he said that he wanted to get him out of the way so that he could be alone with you. That's about it. Do you have any information that could help us out?"

Kurt shrugged, which actually hurt. "Not really, I started getting letters weeks ago and the only person I told was Blaine, but I told him I didn't want it getting out because of the show and I thought they were harmless."

"Did you have any idea that Chance Blaise was involved?"

"None. I had barely any contact with him. I met him once at Carrie's art show and I knew he didn't exactly like me, but I think Blaine told me that was normal when it comes to Chance."

The officer glanced to his partner, a woman, then back to Kurt. "We requisitioned Mr. Blaise's computer and found multiple correspondences with Mr. Mallwarks about you. He obviously thought no one was ever going to catch him."

Kurt snorted and the doctor knocked on the door, getting the officer's attention. "Mr. Hummel needs some rest. If you want to speak to him tomorrow, you may, but he's just dealt with something very stressful and needs to sleep."

Immediately, the officers moved to leave the room but just before they left. the female officer threw a smile at Kurt. "I loved you in 'Worry Well.' You're remarkably talented." Kurt gave a hollow laugh before the doctor shut the door. He began bustling around Kurt and giving him pain medications. Before the doctor left Kurt asked,

"Can I speak to Sadie real fast? It's about my job." The doctor gave him a long hard look.

"The pretty blonde?" he asked and Kurt shook his head, which made it throb.

"The other one. But I'll take both of them if they're there," Kurt replied, feeling groggy already.

The doctor popped out of the room and reappeared a moment later. "Ten minutes, then you need to sleep," Kurt gave the man a thankful smile and the girls were shuffled in.

Sadie looked far more rested than Carrie. The second Sadie spotted Kurt, she hurried over and hugged him as tenderly as she possibly could. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry. You should have told me about this guy!"

Kurt hugged her back and smiled at Carrie over his friend's shoulder, beckoning her forward. Carrie giggled a little and moved to sit at the side of the bed. Kurt's hand immediately moved to link with hers. "I was always afraid of the day you two would meet. I was sure the world would explode!" he murmured with a chuckle.

Sadie sat up to glance at Carrie with a fond expression. "You never told me she was this awesome," Carrie's face lit up and she touched a hand to Sadie's arm.

"I really appreciate having her here. The hospital said that Blaine is stable so I can't stay in his room tonight and the nurses can't stand to watch me sleep in the waiting room again so Sadie's dragging me to her place tonight to rest," Carrie said with a soft smile and Sadie's hand slid to Carrie's hair, pushing a bedraggled lock away from her face.

Kurt stared at Carrie for a moment before a light bulb turned on in his murky mind. "Carrie. How did the police know where to find me? That guy said that Blaine wasn't able to call the police."

Carrie's expression darkened. "When Blaine called me to tell me what Chance did, I immediately left for the loft and caught him going nuts. I ended up punching him and bruising my knuckles on his glasses then I tried to call Blaine to see what was happening and got scared when he didn't answer. So, I called the police to tell them that I thought you were at your apartment and got a call about an hour later from Mrs. Clymer saying that she saw all the flashing lights and Blaine being wheeled out."

Kurt turned to look at Sadie. "How'd you get here?"

Sadie nodded to Carrie. "She got my number through the theatre and told me it was an emergency and I needed to come immediately. I tried to convince her to go home last night but she refused."

"Well, I'm glad you're getting her out now. Make sure she actually sleeps tonight," Kurt demanded, glancing at Carrie, who looked very disgruntled.

"I am in the room still, you know?" She pouted and Sadie gave a small laugh as the doctor came in to make them leave. With a sigh, Carrie leaned over to press a kiss to his temple and move off the bed. "We'll be back bright and early tomorrow, okay, doll?" Kurt nodded slowly, a tired smile on his lips.

Sadie followed suit and turned to grin at him. "Don't worry about the show. Everything's taken care of, okay?" Kurt was too tired to press her for information and by the time both girls were out of the room, his eyes were shut and he was far away in dream land.

Kurt didn't dream that night, or if he did he didn't remember anything. By the time he woke up many hours later, Carrie was sitting in a chair by his bedside doing her makeup in a lighted travel mirror. Her hair had been done up in a lovely fashion, there was makeup on her eyes and she was wearing a skirt and heels—giving her a very bohemian look. He cleared his throat and she grinned up at him over her mirror.

"Enjoying the show?"

Kurt laughed. "It's almost as entertaining as my morning routine," He glanced over her appearance once more. "You look better today."

"Sadie made me freshen up. Wouldn't let me out of the apartment until I took a shower and put on fresh clothing. How are you this morning?"

Kurt shrugged, a painful movement. "Still tired."

Carrie packed away her travel mirror into her canvas tote and sat daintily back in her chair. "It's the stress—you'll be feeling better, though, don't worry."

"And you? All this with Chance, aren't you worried?"

Carrie's expression fell. "I deal with stress differently. Right now, I'm focused on my boys. Speaking of my boys, wanna know how Blaine is doing?" Kurt stared at Carrie hard, waiting for her to continue. "He woke up briefly about three hours ago, long enough for the police to get his statement and the nurses to check on him. He went back to sleep again but the doctor said the second he wakes up he'll come get me and I'm sure if I bat my pretty eyelashes enough at him he'll let you come and visit too."

She reached down for a bag at her feet. "The doctors said there's a possibility you'll be discharged today but the police still want to question you. Your dad called Blaine's phone, he's frantic because you were apparently on the news and no one thought to contact him. He's threatening to fly here to see you but I told him to wait a bit and he expects a call from you later today. Your apartment is off limits for a while so I went through my closet for something that could possibly fit you and be fashionable at the same time. Hope they work. Sadie said that she wished she could be here but she's at the theatre because she's not exempt like you are apparently," Carrie listed systematically.

"You know, if being an artist doesn't work out for you, you'd be an awesome secretary," Kurt told her sweetly. Carrie let out a chuckle but didn't comment. Kurt let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding and sunk into his pillows. Blaine was okay, he was waking up, Kurt could see him in a bit.

His eyes slid to Carrie, who was fixing her hair again and asked. "Did Chance hurt you?"

She didn't miss a beat in replying. "Emotionally yes. Physically no." She grinned at Kurt. "I'm a big girl. Really. I have an awesome support group and Sadie has been wonderful."

Kurt opened his mouth to comment on all the Sadie talk but a nurse bustled in at that moment and Carrie was pushed from the room. The nurse checked Kurt over and the police came in once more to ask him questions that didn't seem to get them very far. Once they finished the doctor came in to tell him that he was free to go, he just needed to fill out the paperwork.

Kurt got dressed in Carrie's clothes. She had an eye for style and size apparently because the clothing fit well enough and they were actually assembled very tastefully. He met Carrie downstairs in the waiting room and checked out of the hospital. Carrie saw no point in leaving since they were just, hopefully, going to be called to see Blaine in a bit.

Kurt settled to call his parents, who were apparently sitting in their Ohio home with Finn, Rachel, and their entire coven of tall, over-impassioned children, watching the news to see if there was anything about Kurt. His father was enraged and threatened at least three times to fly to New York and kill the man who did this. It took him close to an hour to pacify his father and by that time Carrie had fallen asleep on his shoulder. She looked drained, no matter how much she said she slept the previous night.

The doctor came to get them not long after Kurt hung up with his father. Kurt woke Carrie up and they headed up to Blaine's room. He was awake but very groggy and there was a bandage wrapped around his head. One of his eyes was black and a thin bandage was wound around his left hand. His eyes brightened when he saw the two of them.

Carrie hustled forward and hugged him tightly, jamming her face into his shoulder. Blaine tried not to wince and his eyes slid to where Kurt hung back in the corner. Slowly, silently Blaine held out his hand for Kurt and the other man was there in a flash, curling into Blaine's side. "How are you? Did he hurt you? The police wouldn't tell me," Blaine whispered into Kurt's hair.

"He tried to hurt me but he didn't get the chance." Kurt winced internally at the word, chance. "What did he do to you?"

By this point, Carrie had sat up and was staring at the two men snuggled on the bed, a smile curling her colored lips. "Hit me with the butt of the lamp from the living room after I attempted to punch him and failed. I'm okay, I just have the world's worst headache." Blaine curled his arm around Kurt, pressing his lips to the top of his head.

Carrie decided to leave them alone for a bit and slipped out of the room. The two men sat in silence for what felt like ages while they tried to forget what had happened in the past few days. This was the last thing either had expected, but they both knew they were stronger for it. It felt surreal, wrong, like this wasn't happening to them.

Blaine fell asleep some time later and the doctor made Kurt leave. Carrie took him to lunch and they did a quick drive by to his apartment to get some clothes since it was still a crime scene, apparently, and took him to her apartment for the night.

Sadie arrived hours later with a bottle of wine and a giant chocolate cake from her favorite bakery. They settled on Carrie's bed and turned on a random black and white film and gorged themselves on cake. The next few days seemed to slide through Kurt's memory after that night, only recording the essence but none of the details.

He woke up, visited Blaine at the hospital, went to the police headquarters and was questioned again and made to identify his assailant in a line up. Kurt wasn't allowed to go back to work at the theatre for a few more days—basically because everyone in the cast and crew decided he desperately needed the break. Blaine was discharged from the hospital a few days later, after being treated for a concussion and stress and a sprained wrist. Kurt was allowed to go back to his apartment the day before Blaine was allowed to leave and spent an entire day straightening and cleaning the mess left by "that man," as he'd taken to calling him. Using his name seemed too personal.

Kurt wasn't there when Blaine left the hospital. He was at the theatre working on preparing his voice for that night's show. When he got home, there was a message on his phone saying that Blaine wanted to see him tomorrow but he was tired and had already crashed on his couch. "I'll call you in the morning," Blaine whispered into the phone and after a pause said, "I'm really glad you're safe. I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life."

When morning came around, Kurt was puttering around his apartment because he wasn't supposed to perform tonight at the show. His director didn't want to stress him out more that he already was.

It was a very slow morning, in all honesty, until about 10:30, when there a frantic knocking against his door.

These days, Kurt was far more careful about checking his door before he opened it and had already gotten the lock fixed and was working on a better security system. When he looked through the peephole, it wasn't an attacker copycat but a very frazzled looking Blaine.

Kurt quickly unlocked the door and opened it for him. "Blaine! Hi, you look better. Glad the bandage is-" He didn't manage to get the rest of the sentence out before Blaine was tugging him out of his apartment and slamming the door closed behind him. Blaine didn't say anything as he dragged Kurt past the elevator to the stairs. "Blaine, where are we going?" Kurt demanded, trying to keep up with Blaine.

"My apartment," Blaine replied quickly.

"But what about the elevator?" Kurt demanded.

"Too slow," Blaine grunted and hurried him down the steps of the apartment complex. Once they reached Blaine's apartment, he pushed the door open and shoved Kurt through.

"Blaine!" Kurt shrieked. "Did that guy addle your brain when he hit you with the lamp?" he demanded, turning to face Blaine. Blaine's face was flushed as he wordlessly pointed to a spot behind Kurt in the living room.

Kurt turned slowly and spotted a long canvas resting against the couch with its protective wrapping torn away. On the canvas was a man blowing a kiss and Kurt's heart immediately went cold. "Oh..." He murmured.

"Oh is right. Did you have anything to do with this?" Blaine demanded.

Kurt turned to look at Blaine defiantly, trying to mask his nervousness. "Yes, I did. I knew that you wanted it and I also knew that Carrie wouldn't let you buy it, so I did. I had actually forgotten about it until—MMRPH!" Kurt was cut off by Blaine's lips landing firmly on his own, effectively cutting him off.

He fell into kissing Blaine as if he'd never stopped. Blaine's lips felt the same as ever and he still tasted just like he did as a teenager and there was still that soft noise he made in the back of his throat, almost like a purr. Kurt's arms wrapped around Blaine's shoulders, glad that Blaine still was a little shorter than him while Blaine's arms encased his back and tugged him closer.

"Thank you, Kurt," Blaine whispered, pressing his forehead against Kurt's.

Kurt grinned at him. "Does this mean that we can try this once more?"

"Just as long as you promise you'll never leave me behind," Blaine whispered, his voice breaking.

"I promise, I'll never say goodbye to you, Blaine," Kurt murmured and brought Blaine in for another kiss and it felt like they'd never said goodbye.