Slowly but surely, Kurt and Blaine started to become friends again. It absolutely killed Blaine to think that he couldn't randomly text or call Kurt at any moment of the day just to tell him he loved him, but he noticed how much happier Kurt seemed and how much more willing he was to speak to Blaine. He was just thankful that he hadn't managed to screw up enough to completely lose Kurt, even though he wasn't entirely sure why Kurt hadn't given up on him ages ago.

Blaine gradually came to realise why Kurt had wanted time apart. It made it much easier for Blaine to reflect on their relationship and wow, he realised, he really was an idiot. It sort of amused him how he was nearly four years older than Kurt and yet the sixteen year old was much more mature than him when it came to relationships. It was stupid really, considering Blaine was the first boyfriend that Kurt had ever had and Kurt wasn't the first that Blaine had ever had and he was still stupid enough to keep screwing up his relationship.

Nonetheless, Blaine was more than thankful that he and Kurt were on good terms despite all of the previous tension that occurred between them. He was completely gratified that although a lot had gone down between the two of them, they'd managed to come out on the other side and remain best friends.

Blaine was pulled out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing on his nightstand. Shutting the book that he was reading and placing it on the pillow next to him, Blaine reached over and answered the phone, immediately pulling it away from his ear when he heard Kurt's unnecessarily loud exclamation of "BLAINE!"

"Jesus, Kurt. You nearly deafened me!"

"Now is not the time! I'm so embarrassed oh my god, Blaine!"

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, rolling his eyes at the melodramatic sixteen year old.

"My dad...oh my god."

"Um...?"

"My dad just...mydadjustgavemethetalkblaineohmygod."

"Sorry, I'm only fluent in English, would you mind translating that for me?"

"I said my dad just gave me the talk!" Kurt practically screeched down the phone, eliciting laughter from Blaine.

"Is that it?"

"It's not funny! It was so embarrassing Blaine, I think I'm gonna die."

"Kurt," Blaine laughed. You're adorable, he thought to himself. "You're sixteen, I'd be worried if that didn't happen sooner or later."

"But...but...ugh, Blaine!" Kurt groaned, physically squirming even though Blaine couldn't see him. "There are some things I don't mind talking to my dad about and then there's that...like way way way at the bottom of my list of things I'm comfortable talking to him about."

"Hey, you're actually quite lucky," Blaine laughed. "My mum did the same thing to me when I was fifteen."

"Oh my god," Kurt replied, laughing a little. "What did she think you were doing at that age?"

"I told her that I had a boyfriend and she thought it was appropriate to talk to me about it then. 'You're a teenager, Blaine. Teenagers have urges.'" Blaine recited, causing Kurt to burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay," Kurt said breathlessly, still laughing. "You win."

"Good," Blaine laughed. "Feel less embarrassed now?"

"Actually yes. Thank you...I think."

"You're welcome," Blaine replied, still laughing a little. "Just out of curiosity though...what made that conversation arise?"

"I have no idea. I was in the living room watching TV when my dad came in and told me he needed to speak to me about something...that is not what I was expecting."

"Aw, poor baby." Blaine teased.

"Shut up," Kurt groaned and Blaine could tell that he was blushing. "I have to go, unfortunately, and figure out how to sit opposite my dad at the dinner table."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it," Kurt laughed. "I'll talk to you later."

"Okay." Blaine replied, hanging up the phone.

The two boys still refrained from saying goodbye to each other, or anything even remotely along those lines. They were scared, really, of saying it as it could be more than a simple word signalling that a conversation was over. It felt to them as if that one word could be the breaking point in their relationship and they were both petrified of saying it.

Mortified, Kurt made his way down stairs and sat on one of the chairs. He mumbled out a tiny thank you when his dad placed his food in front of him and began eating silently, praying his father wouldn't bring up their earlier conversation.

"So how are things with you and Blaine?" His dad asked nonchalantly, spearing another forkful of food into his mouth.

"Um...fine, we're still friends..." Kurt answered awkwardly.

"Good."

"Dad...is Blaine the reason you talked to me about...you know...earlier?" Kurt asked, blushing at the thought of the conversation. "Because we're not even together anymore so –"

"No."

"Then why? Because it was really random."

"You're sixteen, Kurt. You had to hear it whether you liked it or not."

Kurt sighed. "That's exactly what Blaine said to me."

"Well he was right. Although I'm slightly surprised you spoke to him about it."

"He's...Blaine. I tell him everything."

"Okay, no need to get all defensive," Burt laughed slightly, throwing his hands up in surrender.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Kurt announced, pushing his almost empty plate away from him. "I got hardly any sleep last night and I'm exhausted."

"Okay. Night buddy."

"Night dad." Kurt replied, hugging his dad quickly before making his way out of the kitchen and up to his bedroom.

The sixteen year old fell asleep almost instantly, having actually hardly slept the night before...or the night before that. There was a reason behind Kurt getting next to no sleep, but he didn't want his dad to worry about him and most of the time it happened during the middle of the night so he didn't want to disturb Blaine or Nick.

Kurt awoke with a jolt, covered in a cold layer of sweat with tears running down his face. Shaking hands frantically searched around for his phone before finally clasping around the object. Kurt unlocked his phone and searched through his contacts until he found Blaine's name.

"Hey! How was dinner?" Blaine asked when he answered the phone.

"Blaine," Kurt sobbed into the phone.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"I...I had a nightmare," Kurt explained shakily through his tears. "I u-used to have them ah-all the time after my mum d-died but I've s-started getting them again."

"How long has this been going on for?" Blaine asked, alarmed.

"A f-few weeks maybe, I d-don't know. I-I've hardly slept f-for ages."

"Have you told your dad about this?"

"I can't!" Kurt cried. "I k-know he-he'll just s-start worrying ab-bout me m-more than he ne-needs to."

"Okay, shh, calm down," Blaine comforted. "Can you tell me about the dream?"

"It's t-the same th-thing every time. I j-just see m-my mum lying in h-her coffin b-but she's still ah-alive and they're p-putting dirt into the guh-ground and s-she's struggling a-and she can't b-breathe an-and, and...Blaine." Kurt sobbed.

"Shh, you're okay," Blaine said, trying to calm the sixteen year old down as his breathing became harsher and his sobbing more violent. "Kurt, listen to me okay? Shh, just breathe, you're gonna make yourself sick. I need you to go and get a glass of water, okay?"

"My da-dad." Kurt sobbed.

"Kurt, you not getting sick is more important than your dad not finding out about your nightmares right now, okay? Please just get some water and then you can go straight back to your room."

"Ok-kay." Kurt hiccupped, crawling out of bed and making his way downstairs, trying to keep his breathing under control as he listened to Blaine's soothing voice on the other end of the phone.

Once he had his water, Kurt made his way back to his bedroom and slowly sipped on it, making sure he didn't spill any of it as his hands were still shaking like crazy.

"Blaine...I'm scared to go back to sleep." Kurt admitted quietly once his breathing had slowed down a little bit.

"Just lay down, I'll stay on the line with you until you fall asleep, okay? I'm right here." Blaine assured him as he slowly got back under the covered and slipped his eyes shut, listening to Blaine telling him about his college until he slowly drifted to sleep.

Once Blaine was sure that Kurt was asleep, he whispered a tiny I love you and made his way into the living room to join Rachel on the sofa.

"You're the smart one here, I need your advice."

"Well, at least you've finally admitted it," Rachel teased. "What's up?"

"Kurt's been having nightmares. He said that he used to have them when he was little after his mum died but he won't tell his dad that they've come back and I feel obligated to tell Burt because I'm really worried about him – he was basically hyperventilating a minute ago – but I know that Kurt will hate me if I do." Blaine explained.

"Firstly, I doubt he'll hate you. I heard you talking to him just then, I don't think it's even possible for him to hate you after that – I finally realise why he's still friends with you after everything you guys have been through,"

"Rachel, not helping!" Blaine exclaimed, throwing a pillow at his best friend.

"Just talk to him about it tomorrow? Ask him why he won't tell his dad about it and try to convince him to talk to him but if not then I think you have to tell Burt about it because it sounds pretty serious."

"It is...he honestly scared me. He could barely talk because he was crying and breathing so hard and he said that he hasn't slept properly in ages."

"They happened after his mum died, right?" Rachel asked, receiving a nod from Blaine. "Why would they come back eight years later? That's kind of random..."

"I don't know," Blaine groaned, rubbing a hand over his face sleepily. "I'm gonna go to bed, I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."

"Okay, night."

"Night, Rach." Blaine replied, making his way to his bedroom and falling into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, Blaine was awoken by the noise of his phone ringing. He grabbed it off of the nightstand clumsily and pressed it to his ear.

"Hello?" Blaine mumbled, having not looked at the caller ID.

"Hey," Kurt replied shyly.

"Hey," Blaine returned softly, waking up a little more at the sound of Kurt's voice. "How do you feel?"

"Tired," Kurt laughed a little. "Um...thank you for last night."

"It's fine. Can I talk to you about it though? You don't have to if you're uncomfortable with it, you just kind of scared me last night."

"Uh...sure, but I can't promise I'll answer everything that you ask."

"That's fine," Blaine assured him. "Uh... you said that you don't want to tell your dad about the dreams, but I was wondering if he knew about them when you were little?"

"Yeah...I used to wake up screaming because I was still grieving, I was confused and scared and with nightmares on top of that..."

"Why won't you tell him about them now, then? You're not having regular nightmares, Kurt. Not only are you getting the same one every night, they've randomly started happening again after eight years and you could barely breathe last night."

"Because I know that he can't do anything about it and I don't want him to worry about me."

"He can help you though, Kurt," Blaine exaggerated. "He can take you to a doctor or something, but something can be done to help you. And he's your dad, it's his job to worry about you. He worries about you all the time even if he doesn't express his worries. Please talk to him? You really scared me last night and there's only so much I can do to help you, I can't stand the thought of you having to go through that every night."

"Okay." Kurt agreed quietly.

Kurt didn't talk to his dad immediately as he'd made plans with Nick and Jeff, but he promised himself he would. He knew that his friends could tell something was wrong with him the second they arrived at his house, but he was thankful for them not questioning it.

Well, they didn't straight away. The boys had decided to watch a movie and Kurt sat through the entire thing with his knees drawn up to his chest and his head buried between his arms, trying to stop himself from either falling asleep or bursting into tears.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked as they made their way back to Kurt's house.

"Nothing, I'm just tired." Kurt replied, half telling the truth.

"You didn't have to come out today, you could've cancelled on us."

"I wanted to, I haven't seen you guys in ages."

"Well," Nick began. "You're home now, so get some sleep and we'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay, bye." Kurt said with a little wave before making his way inside.

As soon as he was inside, Kurt went in search of his father. He found him in the living room and shyly made his way to sit next to him on the sofa.

"Hey, bud." Burt greeted with a smile.

"Hey," Kurt replied. "I um...I need to talk to you."

"What did you do?" Burt teased.

"Nothing..." Kurt replied more seriously than he intended to.

"I was kidding...hey, what's wrong?"

"Do you remember when mum first died and I started getting those nightmares every night?"

"Yeah..." Burt replied confusedly.

"They've come back," Kurt explained, promptly bursting into tears.

Burt immediately enveloped his son in a hug, trying to calm him down.

"How long have you been having them?" Burt asked.

"Um...a few weeks, I think."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Burt exclaimed, immediately regretting it when Kurt began to cry harder. "Sorry, it's okay...you're telling me now, that's all that matters."

"They're horrible daddy," Kurt cried. "They're exactly the same as they were when I was little."

"Shh," Burt said softly. "I'm gonna call the doctor later. I know they didn't do anything when you were little but it's unnatural for them to come back now for no reason."

"Okay," Kurt hiccupped, allowing himself to relax into his dads arms until he stopped crying.

Later that night, once Burt had called the doctor and made an appointment for Kurt, he made his way up to his bedroom and called Blaine and it took everything he had in him not to burst into tears again – apparently sleepy Kurt was a huge baby – at the sound of Blaine's voice.

"Hey," Blaine greeted softly.

"Hi...I talked to my dad." Kurt admitted.

"Thank you. What did he say?"

"He um, made an appointment at the doctors for tomorrow."

"Are you okay?" Blaine asked concernedly.

"I just...I finally came to terms with the fact that my mum was gone and it stopped hurting so much and then I started getting these stupid nightmares and it feels like I've lost her all over again."

"Oh Kurt," Blaine said sadly. "I wish I could be there to hug you and make you feel better right now."

"But you can't," Kurt whispered into the cold silence of his bedroom. "And it's okay. I get it, and I know that you can't just hop on a plane to Ohio whenever I need you so stop feeling guilty."

"Promise you'll call me tomorrow after you've been to the doctors?"

"I promise."

The next day, Burt drove a very sleepy Kurt to the doctors where he was prescribed with medicine that he had to take before bed every night, yay. Apparently it wouldn't completely stop the nightmares straight away but they should gradually disintegrate. Kurt wasn't looking forward to having to take medicine before he went to sleep every night, but at the point he was at, he'd do pretty much anything to stop the nightmares.

As promised, when Kurt got home he called Blaine, hoping he'd actually be awake as it was only nine in the morning – Kurt seriously wondered what the logic was behind taking somebody who was having problems sleeping to the doctors at half seven in the morning.

Thankfully, Blaine answered on the second ring, sounding wide awake.

"Hey!" Blaine said cheerfully.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning." Kurt laughed.

"How did your appointment go?" Blaine asked.

"Good...I guess? I got prescribed medicine that I have to take every night before bed and it's not completely unnatural that the dreams returned, even if it was completely random."

"That's good, right?"

"Yeah I'm just not really looking forward to having to take medicine every single night."

"Well yeah but it'll be better for you in the long run."

"I guess," Kurt sighed, picking at his jumper.

"You okay?" Blaine asked, genuinely feeling sorry for Kurt.

"Yeah...yeah, I'll be fine. Um, my dad wants to talk to you so I guess I'll talk to you later."

"O-kay..." Blaine replied confusedly, having no idea why Burt wanted to talk to him.

"Blaine?" Burt said into the phone a few moments later.

"The one and only," Blaine laughed. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to talk to you about Kurt's...nightmares."

"Okay..." Blaine prompted.

"I know that you're probably confused as hell but you're closer to him than anyone and he's also kind of uncomfortable telling anybody else about it so I just want you to know as much as possible in case you ever need the information," Burt explained.

"That sounds really...is there something wrong with Kurt or..."

"No," Burt laughed. "It's basically just post-traumatic stress disorder that he never got over from when his mum died. It'll probably never go away forever but the medicine he has should help a lot and he shouldn't get the nightmares as much."

"He basically just told me all of that so I don't really understand what we're doing here?"

"Look, I know you guys aren't together right now but I know you both more than you think. No matter what happens you're always going to be at least friends and like I said, you're closer to him than anyone so I just want you to know for whenever he visits New York or you come and visit him," Burt began. "Okay so he basically has to take two pills around half an hour before he goes to sleep with water every night for a month and depending what happens after that he'll either have to take a lower dosage, the same dosage or a higher dosage but he should be able to stick to what he's got now."

"Okay..." Blaine said, reviewing the information Burt just gave him in his head. "But he's okay...right?"

"He's fine, Blaine," Burt laughed. "I promise."

"Phew...you kind of scared me then."

"I know it's kind of a lot to take in. Just be thankful that you weren't at the appointment today, the way the doctor explained it would've scared you a lot more."

"Okay well um, I have to go but thank you for explaining everything to me, even though you did scare the hell out of me for a second there, and tell Kurt I hope he feels better soon please?"

"I will," Burt said with a smile; he'd never get over how much Blaine cared about Kurt, even if he did screw up...quite a lot. "Bye Blaine."

"Bye."

When Burt went down to the living room and sat next to Kurt, he tried to explain that he needed to at least tell Nick about his nightmares so that a, he would be prepared if he had to deal with Kurt in the middle of the night and b, he didn't have to lie about anything when he was taking his medicine but the sixteen year old disagreed.

He said that he wasn't comfortable with people knowing, which Burt completely understood but he couldn't stop himself from stressing the fact that Nick was highly likely to find out about the nightmares.

One thing that made Kurt feel better about the whole situation was that Blaine told him that whenever he had a nightmare, no matter what time it was, he could call him and he'd stay on the line talking to him until he fell asleep again.

Despite everything they'd been through as both friends and a couple, Kurt was ridiculously grateful that he had Blaine. Sure, he could be an idiot sometimes but he was always there to pick him back up when he fell; to slot the pieces back together when he crumbled.