Blaine took the tissue Kurt offered him and dried his tears, careful with his black eye before blowing his nose.

Minutes passed in companionable silence during which Blaine’s breathing evened out and his eyes were starting to look less puffy.

By the time Dr. Holland called for them, Blaine was as calm and collected as Kurt had ever seen him.

Smiling kindly, she directed them towards the examination room and asked Blaine to change into a hospital gown behind a privacy partition.

“Would you like Kurt to stay here with you for the examination, dear?” She asked.

“Yes, please, Madam.” Blaine answered from behind the partition. The doctor smiled at Kurt and picked up a clipboard from her desk. Blaine emerged a minute later, clad in a blue hospital gown that was huge on him, like everything else. The doctor instructed him to sit down on the examination table and pulled up a chair for Kurt to sit down next to the table before grabbing a seat for herself.

“Well, Blaine, I can already see you’re looking a lot better than you did two days ago. I’m glad. You’re being an excellent nurse, Kurt.” She winked at him good naturedly.

“Now I’m sure you want to hear the test results.” At Blaine’s frantic nod she quickly continued. “Your blood work came back positive for syphilis I’m afraid, but you’re in the first stage of the disease, which means that a dose of Bicillin will clear that up. What’s gonna happen now is, I’m going to examine you first. Then I’ll inject two shots of the medicine into your buttocks; it’ll hurt a bit, but not for long. There will be follow up blood tests. The first one will be scheduled in three months and then every three months after that. Those are necessary to make sure the syphilis has completely cleared up. If you have sexual contact during this period of time, make sure to keep it safe: use condoms.” Kurt felt himself blush slightly at the topic, but kept his face straight, hoping the change in color would go unnoticed.

“At the end, I’m going to take an X-ray of your chest and upper arm, so we can see if your previous breaks have healed properly. Does that sound like an okay plan?” She asked. Blaine nodded in agreement, clearly baffled at her question, but smiling.

“Great, thank you. Now while I’m already sitting here, I’m going to start with your knees, okay?” Blaine lifted the hospital gown to his thighs without being asked, earning himself a smile of approval from the doctor.

Gently she prodded along the edges of the swelling, observing Blaine’s reaction to various touches. “Is it more or less painful to you than it was two days ago, Blaine?”

“Less painful, Madam. At the market I had to be on my knees most of the time for a few weeks, but I’ve only been on my knees once since Friday.” He explained.

“That’s good. The fluid build-up seems to have gone down as well. If you stay off your knees it may just go back to normal all by itself, but if it doesn’t we’ll have to figure out what to do. I want an update on this in two weeks from either of you.” She insisted and Kurt nodded, making a mental note to check Blaine’s knees again soon.

“Okay, let’s move on. Your face is healing very nicely, that’s great. Please drop the top half of the gown.” Blaine untied the string that kept the gown tied around his neck and obediently exposed his upper body, shivering a little.

“I’m sorry, I know this isn’t pleasant, dear.” Dr. Holland said sympathetically. “I’ll try and be quick.” She examined the healing bruises on the front of Blaine’s torso and seemed satisfied with the result. “Yeah, that’s looking good too. I’m going to move on to your back now, just stay seated like this.”

She walked around the examination table, for a good view of Blaine’s back.

“I’m going to remove the bandages now.” She warned Blaine, putting on a fresh pair of examination gloves and making quick work of the gauze on his back.

Kurt offered his hand and to his surprise Blaine took it without a moment’s hesitation.

“No sign of infection.” The doctor declared after a few minutes of checking the cuts. “You did a fantastic job, Kurt, they’re healing well. Whatever you’re doing, keep it up and they should be fading within the next three weeks.” Blaine smiled happily at the news.

“Now, I’m afraid it’s time to move on to the less pleasant part. Blaine, I’m going to have to ask you to lie down on your stomach. Kurt, could you move this chair to the end of the table? You’ll have an easier time providing moral support, if Blaine still wants you to stay?”

Blaine nodded instantly.

“Okay then. I’m going to expose your buttocks now.” Blaine nodded bracing himself. Kurt fixed his eyes on Blaine’s face, making absolutely sure he wasn’t looking anywhere else.

“You will feel two injections, one into each buttock. They will hurt a little, but I would still ask you to try and relax as much as you can, alright?”

“Yes, Madam.” Blaine answered, face contorting a little. Kurt offered him his other hand and Blaine took it gratefully, allowing Kurt to interlock their fingers.

“It’s okay, I got you.” Kurt whispered encouragingly, earning a brave nod from Blaine.

He could see the moment the needle found its target in Blaine’s face, but while it was obviously painful, Blaine still looked relieved as though he had expected it to be far worse.

“I’m going to put a band aid on now.” The doctor announced, still keeping up her running commentary for which Kurt was eternally grateful, since it seemed to calm Blaine.

The second injection that followed a minute later wasn’t received with as much of a cringe as the first.

When it was over Blaine slumped on the table, resting his cheek against the hard leather, covered in protective paper.

“You did very well, Blaine.” Dr. Holland praised him, while covering him back up. “We’re almost done too. Please follow me into the next room.”

The boys got up, Blaine with some difficulty now that he was trying to put pressure on neither his knees nor his butt and made to follow her. She stopped at the door.

“I’m sorry, Blaine, but Kurt can’t stay with you for the X-ray, but I promise nothing bad is going to happen.” Blaine looked at Kurt uncertainly. Kurt just nodded encouragingly, so Blaine followed the doctor out the door, leaving Kurt alone in the examination room.

Kurt sighed, stretching his stiff muscles which resulted in the grumbling of his stomach. That was when he realized he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. Shaking his head at his own neglect of himself he sat back down in his chair, where he had been holding Blaine’s hands only seconds ago, and waited.

Kurt could still feel the phantom touch of Blaine’s curls against his neck from their earlier hug and absent-mindedly ran his hand over the skin there. He brushed against his collar and felt the slight dampness there; his heart clenching in sympathy. He wanted to hug Blaine again, tight and maybe in a less awkward position than they had been in, sitting in those waiting room chairs.

Blaine wanted to stay with him even though he’d only known him for a couple of days, Kurt felt oddly warm at the thought.

An onslaught of possible scenarios assaulted his brain.

All through his teenage years he had wanted nothing more than to leave Ohio far behind, to get out and move to a big city, but with his senior year came college applications and with the college applications came the doubts.

The thought of leaving this town behind and to live on his own had been so appealing for so long; he didn’t even really dare confess to himself that the idea scared him now. Kurt loved his dad more than anything in the world and he’d grown to love Carole and maybe even Finn over the past two years and something had changed. He wasn’t used to fending for himself anymore, not the way he had been when it was just him and his dad, and now that he knew what having a family felt like, he wasn’t sure if he could make do without them.

But maybe, just maybe he wouldn’t have to fend for himself; maybe Blaine could come to New York with him, if he actually managed to get into a school there. 

Of course that wasn’t really an option. His family could hardly afford to send Kurt to University as it was and sending a slave with him just to keep him company wasn’t an option if there was ever going to be a chance for Blaine to earn his freedom.

He jumped when the door was opened and the doctor led Blaine back into the room.

Dr. Holland motioned for Blaine to take a seat again. He winced a little as he sat down, but quickly schooled his face into a somewhat neutral expression.

“Alright, so I took a look at Blaine’s X-ray. It seems like the fractures have healed well enough on their own, so there’ll be no need to correct them.” Blaine rubbed his right upper arm subconsciously, nodding at the doctor’s words.

Kurt swallowed. He was dying to ask just how many fractures they were talking about, but the uncomfortable look on Blaine’s face stopped him, for now.

“So overall, it’s looking a lot better than I could have hoped for.” She concluded, smiling brightly at Blaine. “I would like you to keep me updated, Kurt, and call me if you need something, okay? You’re doing great, Blaine.”

“Thank you.” Kurt said at the same time as Blaine said “Thank you, Madam.”

“Would you mind getting our coats from the waiting room, Blaine?” Kurt asked, cringing internally at giving an order. Blaine hopped off the examination table happily and scurried out of the room.

“Did they- does he have- were there a lot of breaks?” He asked hastily, knowing Blaine would be back in a few seconds.

“Quite a few, I’m afraid, none of them looked professionally treated, he was lucky they healed this well on their own.” She sighed sadly. “Keep looking after him, alright? I’m not gonna charge you for this visit, I just can’t, the poor boy.”

Blaine came back, with their coats in his arms just as Kurt thanked the doctor.

They took turns helping each other into their respective coats and, after another round of ‘goodbye’s and ‘thank you’s, they made their way back to the car.

Kurt could see Blaine tongue at his lower lip as he sat down.

“Does it hurt a lot?” He asked, concerned.

Blaine looked puzzled for a moment before hastily shaking his head “No, it’s not bad.” He answered before nervously adding “Maybe- if it pleases you- maybe the seat heating could stay off?”

“Sure, whatever you prefer.” Kurt switched the dials back to off before starting the car. “Put on your seatbelt, please.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes, before Kurt realized he had something to discuss with Blaine.

“So, I have to go to school tomorrow morning.” He began. Blaine nodded, sitting up straighter and tilting his head a little as if he was getting ready to absorb everything Kurt was about to tell him.

“Dad and Carole are going to work and Finn’s going to school too, so you’ll be home alone until about 3 pm.”

“What would you like me to do in your absence?” Blaine asked.

“I don’t know, I mean, I think you should sleep as much as you can and …erm… there’s the TV and loads of books in my room and the living room. Can you read?” He asked just to be sure.

“Yes, Kurt, my brother taught me how when I was 5.”

“Oh… that’s great.” Kurt said, glancing away from the road and at Blaine for a moment, feeling a little uncertain. He wanted to ask about Blaine’s family, but for most slaves it was a rather painful subject and he really didn’t want to bring up any more bad memories right now.

“So yeah, there’s that, maybe that can keep you occupied for a while.”

“Should I not complete any chores, Kurt?” Blaine asked, sounding slightly confused.

“No, no, absolutely not, maybe in a few weeks, when you’re a bit stronger, but right now… just get better, okay?”

“Yes, Kurt, I’m sorry, Kurt. I’ll be much better, I promise.” Blaine said quietly.

“What, no, I meant healthy, focus on getting healthy, you don’t have to do anything better, okay? That’s not what I meant, I just want you healthy.”

“Oh.” He could feel Blaine’s gaze on him and stole a glance at the boy in the passenger seat. His eyes were big in the dim light emitted by the console, the look on his face awestruck.

He pulled up in the Hummel-Hudson’s driveway a minute later and hurried Blaine inside, where it was warm. 

“I don’t know about you,” he said as he pulled off his shoes “but I’m really tired. Are you okay with heading to bed early?”

“Yes, Kurt. Of course.” Blaine answered, hanging Kurt’s borrowed coat on the rack. He pulled off the gloves as well. “Erm- Kurt?” Blaine asked, catching his attention, holding out the gloves to him uncertainly.

“Oh, those are yours.” Kurt said, shrugging his own coat off.

“I- I don’t understand, Kurt.” Blaine said, still holding the gloves out to him.

Kurt closed Blaine’s fingers around the pair of gloves, smiling softly. “They belong to you now. My hands are much too big for them, I could never wear them, but they fit perfectly on you, so you keep them.”

Blaine’s eyes went comically wide as he pulled the blue gloves against his chest, looking at Kurt disbelievingly. “Thank you.” He gasped, when Kurt made no motion to take them back.

Once Blaine was safe and warm in bed, Kurt found himself sitting in the living room with a stack of post-it notes. Burt and Carole seemed to have gone to bed early as well, but he could still hear video game noises emitting from Finn’s bedroom, so he knew he wasn’t the only one awake in the house.

‘Read anything you like’ He wrote on the first post-it, before he got up and stuck it onto one of the wooden boards of the bookshelf. ‘You can watch whatever you want’, the blue post it on the TV said.

‘Have whatever you like, but make sure it’s stomach friendly’ got stuck on the freezer and once more on the basket of bread.

Kurt moved on to the bathroom and smiled to himself as he wrote ‘Have all the warm water you like’ and stuck it to the bathtub. He wondered if he should put up anything else, but he couldn’t really think of anything, so he wrote one more post-it.

As silently as he could he opened the door to Blaine’s room and stuck it just above the light switch. He allowed himself a last quick glance at Blaine’s sleeping form, before he retreated back into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind himself and leaving

‘Good morning Blaine,

I’ll be home by 3 pm, call me if you need anything:

701 – 555 - 107.

I hope you have a good day.

– Kurt’

for Blaine to find first thing in the morning.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Kurt hadn’t dreaded going to school this much since the previous year when the football team, led by one David Karofsky, had made it their mission in life to make his every day as miserable as possible. That is, until Karofsky had a sudden change of heart and stopped targeting Kurt altogether. He still didn’t know what suddenly made his former bully transfer schools, but it didn’t matter to Kurt any more.

All he wanted at the moment was to stay home with Blaine. The slave had still been asleep when Kurt and Finn had left the house together half an hour ago. In the back of his head Kurt silently hoped that Blaine would sleep through the day until after school, but he knew it was an unrealistic thought.

“See you in glee club.” Finn called, hurrying into the school to meet up with the guys before class. Kurt took his time locking up the car and heading into the building. He caught himself ducking by the dumpster, even though no one had tossed him in for over two years.

Checking his clock he realized that they had arrived at school a little later than usual, so he sped up his steps to get his books out of his locker and make it to class on time.

He had just turned a corner when two bodies collided with his, sending Kurt tumbling to the floor.

“Watch where you’re going, homo!” A voice above him snarled as its owner walked past Kurt. He looked up to see Rick ‘the stick’ Nelson and his stepbrother Reggie Salazar Jr. retreat down the hallway.

“Do those mullets run in both your families, or is it one of those habitual things like your periods synching up!?” Kurt called after them, rage bubbling up inside of him at the sight of the two of them giving each other a high five.

He pushed himself to his feet and hurried to his locker, barely making it to math class on time.

“Where have you been?” Rachel whispered, as he sunk into the seat next to hers the moment the bell rang and the teacher closed the classroom door behind himself.

“Late and then hit by idiocy.” He mumbled, opening his book. Rachel frowned for a moment before putting on a cheerful face and giving the teacher her full attention.

McKinley’s curriculum wasn’t exactly challenging, but Rachel still liked to make a good impression on every single teacher. Kurt had asked her about it once and had been punished by a half hour long Rachel-Berry-monologue about the importance of letters of recommendation, he had not questioned her school related motives ever since.

Luckily for him, Rachel took up all of the teacher’s attention, allowing Kurt to idly sketch a blazer in his notebook. Kurt’s thoughts weren’t focused on his design though. He was too busy wondering whether Blaine was still asleep or if he had had breakfast yet.

Kurt knew that, being a slave, Blaine was probably used to being left alone at home while his owners were out for work. Even if he wasn’t, Blaine was only a year younger than him, so Kurt knew that Blaine should be able to take care of himself for half a day. Still, he couldn’t help but worry about the beaten up boy in their guestroom.

“Mister Hummel, would you care to grace us with your mental presence?”

Kurt looked up from his doodle, glancing at the board for a few seconds before answering. “F(x) is positive for all real values of x except for x = -2.” The teacher gave an annoyed huff before refocusing his attention back to the blackboard. Kurt sighed in relief, deciding to save the doodling for home economics class. He was just about to find a blank page in his notebook to write on when the bell rang.

Quinn was beside Rachel’s desk, gathering up her belongings before Kurt had even had the time to put his pen away. For a fee, slaves were allowed to silently sit in the back of their owner’s class during lessons, so they could immediately attend their owner’s needs after the lesson ended. Hardly any students made use of this possibility, but Rachel Berry did not carry more than one of her own books.

“Good morning, Mister Hummel.” Quinn mumbled in passing before running to catch up with Rachel, who hadn’t bothered to wait for her slave. Kurt suppressed the intense desire to facepalm at her actions and settled for occasionally glaring at her during the next class they had together.

Alongside with boredom, home economics class provided Kurt with an infinite amount of time to come up with new insults about mullets, due to the fact that he had the misfortune of being seated right behind Rick Nelson. Though that day, the insults just wouldn’t come to him.

All he could do was glare at the back or the hockey players head and wonder if he had ever laid a hand on Blaine. If Kurt’s experiences with him were any indication, he had. The thought made his stomach coil. Kurt realized that he had no idea how long Rick’s family had had Blaine, but considering Rick, like Kurt, had been about 13 years old when Blaine was first sold, he couldn’t have been involved in whatever happened to Blaine…could he?

Kurt felt nauseated thinking about other people’s hands on Blaine. He tried to force the thoughts from his head by focusing on the drawing of the blazer in his notebook once more. It didn’t work.                                                           

By the time lunchtime rolled around Kurt couldn’t contain his anxiety any more. He ditched Rachel and Quinn by ducking into an empty classroom and pulled out his phone.

He dialled the number of the Hummel-Hudson house phone, listening to the dial tone in anticipation.

There was no answer, the phone just kept ringing.

Kurt took a deep breath, everything was alright. It had to be, Blaine was probably just asleep. He hit re-dial just to be sure.

“You’ve reached the Hummel-Hudson’s,” his father’s voice answered the phone “please leave a message after-“

Kurt ended the call, shoving the cell phone back into his pocket. “Shit.” He cursed quietly, picking up his bag from the desk he had placed it on and making his way to the cafeteria after all. Blaine probably just wasn’t sure whether or not he was allowed to answer the phone, Kurt figured, trying to remember whether or not he had given Blaine instructions on that.

Rachel had saved him a seat next to her in the cafeteria, where she was currently eating with the other members of the New Directions. Kurt looked around the table, smiling fondly.

As far as show choirs went they were pretty pathetic; they had never even managed to get enough members to compete in an actual competition. Even so, the people sitting at the table felt a bit like family to Kurt, and not just because Finn was sitting with them.

He was so lost in thought that he almost stepped on Quinn, who was sitting at Rachel’s feet.

“Oh my- Quinn!” Kurt exclaimed, pulling his foot back at the last possible second. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!”

“It’s alright, Mister Hummel.” Quinn answered in a nonchalant tone.

“I can’t believe Figgins keeps insisting on the ‘slaves on the floor’ rule.” He said to Rachel as he stepped over Quinn to sit down in the chair next to her. Rachel shrugged. “What can you do?” She asked rhetorically.

“I wish they’d at least allow pillows.” Tina mumbled from the other side of the table, she didn’t look up though, and kept her somewhat puffy eyes focused on her almost empty plate. 

“Tina, are you al-“ Kurt started.

“What glittery hole have you been hiding in all day?” Santana interrupted him by arriving at the table and dumping her lunch tray opposite Kurt’s seat. She was looking straight at Kurt and while she spoke in her usual snarky voice, but by the intense stare she shot him Kurt knew she actually wanted to talk to him, but not in front of everyone.

“Asked the girl who has 4 minutes left to finish her lunch?” Kurt asked. Santana glared at him and started eating her serving of pasta with remarkable speed. “I had to call home.” He added. Santana looked up at that, and after assessing his expression, gave a knowing nod.

“Me too.” She said, focusing on her food again but unable to supress a little smile.

Mercedes and Artie had abandoned their initial conversation in favour of giving Kurt and Santana confused looks. Kurt couldn’t blame them; it wasn’t as though Santana usually made a habit of chatting with him when she didn’t have to, at least not in public.

“So…” Mercedes said as the odd silence at the table stretched on. “Sam is dancing on Saturday, anyone up for joining me to come watch?”

“I’m coming with.” Tina said without a moment’s hesitation, earning a pleased look from Mercedes.

“What about you, Kurt?” Mercedes asked.

“Oh no” Kurt shook his head. “Once was more than enough, thank you very much.”

Sam was Mercedes’ slave and trained in entertainment. Mercedes’ father had gotten him as a Christmas present for her three years ago.  Sam had just been put on the market with nothing but a month of basic entertainment training.

Basic entertainment training, Kurt had learned, consisted mostly of dancing, singing and lessons in easy magic tricks unless an owner required their slave to acquire a different skillset. Unlike most slaves Kurt had met though, Sam honestly enjoyed it. Enjoyed it to the point even, where he had asked Mercedes if maybe she would allow him to perform for an audience every now and then.

While Kurt would never claim to understand the odd relationship Mercedes and Sam had, he knew Mercedes couldn’t say no to Sam’s goofy puppy-faces, which is how it came to be that once every other week Mercedes rented Sam to a strip club in Westerville for a dance performance.

She had dragged Kurt along to watch the show with her once. He had enjoyed the dancing, but the somewhat seedy club was absolutely not his scene and he didn’t even want to consider what was probably happening in the closed-off booths where people could buy private dances.

Sam was not for rent, Mercedes would never allow it, which is why she always stayed at the club and kept a close eye on her boy.

Tina was Mercedes’ constant companion on those Saturdays, Kurt had never figured out why she put up with the trips though. When Kurt had joined them that one time, Tina had looked close to tears most of the night, much like she did now.

The bell rang just as he was about to attempt to ask Tina if everything was alright again.

“Tina, are you-“

“Walk me to class, Hummel.” Santana interrupted, dragging him out of his seat.

Students were filing out of the cafeteria in a hurry around them as Santana linked her arm with his and dragged him along. He threw a glance back at the table, where Artie was rubbing Tina’s arm in a comforting manner.

“How is he doing?” She asked quietly, redirecting his attention to her.

“Better, how’s Brittany?” Santana smiled an uncharacteristically happy smile. “She’s doing great.” She said. “She’s really worried about your hobbit though. Do you think there’s any way I could bring her over for a short visit after school?”

“Sure.” Kurt agreed. Blaine had seemed comfortable with Brittany in the car, Kurt figured being around her might be good for him. “Not today though, I’m not sure how he’s taking to being alone at home. Maybe tomorrow?”

Santana agreed and hurried off to her next class.

Later, Kurt didn’t remember a word of what any of his teachers had said that day. After sitting through another two lessons he decided to skip Glee club and made his way to the parking lot. With a quick look over his shoulder he got into the car and drove home, taking deep calming breaths. Blaine wasn’t a child. He could be home alone for a while. Kurt really hoped he wasn’t mistaken about that.

The driveway was empty like Kurt had expected, his parents and Finn were still out. He pulled up in the driveway and hurried to the front door, desperate to know Blaine was alright and getting ready to feel stupid for ever thinking otherwise.

He unlocked the door quickly and ran into the house. Two steps into the front room, he tripped over Blaine and went crashing to the floor, barely keeping himself from full-on face planting.

“Ow!” He groaned rolling onto his side, the shock of the impact paralyzing him for a moment.

“Kurt, Kurt! I’m so sorry!” Blaine cried, kneeling next to him and trying to pull him into a sitting position. “Are you alright, Sir?” He asked anxiously, worry flickering in his eyes.

“I’m okay.” Kurt said, helping Blaine pull him in a sitting position. “Get off your knees, you’ll hurt yourself.” He reminded Blaine, who dropped to his side so his weight rested on his side, rather than on his knees. He started frantically brushing imaginary dust off Kurt’s sleeves where he had landed on the floor.

“I’m so sorry, Kurt, please, I didn’t mean to-” He said, brushing more urgently. Kurt gently caught his hand.

“It’s alright, I’m okay, nothing happened. Calm down, okay? You’re okay, I’m not mad.” Blaine took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry, Kurt.” He said, looking up at Kurt. “Are you hurt?” He asked a moment later.

“I’m fine, what about you? I must have kicked you pretty hard when I tripped, are you alright?” Blaine’s hand subconsciously went to his thigh where Kurt had tripped over him.

“I’m not hurt.” He said.

“Good.” Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. He felt the tension of the past hours and the shock from the fall slowly subside. “What were you doing on the floor?” He asked.

“I was waiting for you, Kurt.” Blaine said, nervously fumbling with the sleeve of his shirt. “I’m sorry, Kurt, I looked all over the house, but I couldn’t find the notes with my chores on them.” He pulled the notes Kurt had written the previous day from the pocket of his sweatpants. “I only found the rewards.” He held them out for Kurt to take as though they couldn’t possibly be meant for him.

“Oh Blaine, no, there are no chores, at least not at the moment. These notes” he pointed at the post-it’s in Blaine’s hands “they were supposed to make you feel comfortable, but I guess that didn’t work.”

“I’m sorry, Kurt.” By the look on Blaine’s face, he could tell he was more confused than anything. Kurt sighed.

“Don’t be, let’s get off the floor. Have you eaten yet?”

Blaine shook his head. “No, Kurt. I haven’t done anything useful yet.”

“You don’t have to do anything to earn food. Come on, let’s get you some breakfast.” He pushed himself off the floor and watched Blaine follow his example. The boy was swaying precariously though, not quite finding his balance.

“Come on, you need to eat, you’re too thin to get away with not eating for so long.” He guided Blaine into the kitchen and sat him down on the table. “Be honest, are you feeling dizzy?” He asked.

“A little bit, Kurt.” Blaine answered.

“Okay, let’s get you some food. You really need to eat, even when I’m not here. You’re too thin as it is.” He turned his back to Blaine and started rummaging through the bread basket.

“I’m sorry, Kurt.”

Kurt let out a calming breath, abandoning his search for toast to steady himself with both hands on the counter. “Don’t be, okay?” His said in a much calmer voice. “It’s not your fault, I just… I was worried.” He turned to face Blaine and gave him the most encouraging smile he could manage. “I just need to know that you’re alright when I’m not here.” Blaine’s expression was unreadable, but he nodded. 

“How about we try toast with butter today?” At Blaine’s eager expression, Kurt pulled out the bread and put it in the toaster. “Do you like honey?” He asked the other boy, pulling a glass of it out of the cupboard.

“I’ve never had any, Sir.” Blaine admitted before adding. “But it always smelled good.”

“You’ve never-?“ Kurt cut himself off and pulled a spoon from one of the drawers. He scooped up half a spoon of the viscous liquid, twirled the spoon around and held it in front of Blaine’s mouth. “Try it.”

Blaine’s lips parted and he leaned forward, capturing the spoon with his mouth. Kurt let go of the spoon and watched Blaine’s eyes go wide with delight. A soft appreciative moan escaped from Blaine’s throat and he took a hold of the spoon’s handle to pull it out for a second before shoving it back into his mouth to suck the residual honey from it. Kurt felt a light blush creeping into his cheeks at the sound.

“You like it?” Kurt asked smiling in amusement at Blaine’s excited expression. He wondered if anyone had ever given Blaine any chocolate before.

“Yes, Kurt.” Blaine said, nodding eagerly.

“You want some on your toast?” Kurt asked, just as the toasted bread popped out of the toaster.

“I can have more?” Blaine asked. Kurt buttered the toast and added a generous amount of honey on top, making sure it wasn’t too much, so the liquid wouldn’t flow over the edge.

“Here you go, eat slowly, okay?” He said, placing the toast in front of Blaine at the table before putting another two slices in the toaster.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Kurt watched Blaine eat from the corner of his eyes to make sure he was eating slowly, but also because the astonished expression on Blaine’s face was endearing, though he seemed to be getting tired rapidly.

“I’m sorry the notes were confusing.” Kurt said after a while. “I just wanted you to know that you could do all those things even if I’m not home. It’s not something you have to earn in any way. These things are privileges that no one will take away from you. You can always have food, take a shower and read. You’re allowed to entertain yourself.” He explained.

Blaine put down his toast and swallowed before answering. “I’m sorry I didn’t do as I was told, Kurt, I thought they were rewards for after the chores.”

“It’s okay, you know now.” Kurt said, finishing his toast and putting the plate in the sink. “Did you hear the phone ringing?” He asked when his gaze landed on the blinking light of the answering machine.

Blaine nodded slowly. “Yes, Kurt, I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to answer it.” Just like Kurt had suspected.

“Yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you that you can.” He watched Blaine supress a yawn, which resulted in a scrunched up expression.

“When did you wake up?” Kurt asked.

“When Mistress Carole left, Kurt.” He said. That was a good 6 hours ago, Kurt thought. Blaine hadn’t been awake that long ever since Kurt had brought him home three days ago. It made sense, given how thin he was. Kurt wondered how long Blaine had been sitting by the door, waiting for him.

 “Do you maybe want to take a nap? We’ll have to take care of your back today, but it can wait a little longer. You look tired.” Blaine assessed Kurt’s expression for a moment, before nodding carefully.

“Come on then.” He took Blaine’s now empty plate from the table and placed it in the sink next to his own.

“Can I keep these?” Blaine asked, holding the post-it’s out for Kurt to take away if he wanted.

“Of course, you can.” Kurt said, gently rubbing Blaine’s shoulder as he guided Blaine to his room.

Blaine all but collapsed onto the bed, eyes already drooping from exhaustion, the post-it’s still clutched in his hands. He was fast asleep by the time Kurt pulled the blanket up to his neck.