Blaine fell asleep within minutes of boarding the plane. His head rested on Kurt's shoulder and his mouth was open slightly.

"Do you want anything to drink sir?" The pretty flight attendant smiled.

"Just some sparkling water please," He whispered back.

"Anything for him? Poor guy's been passed out since we got on the plane," She handed him a plastic glass.

"He's been really tired lately," Kurt shrugged, jumping a little as Blaine's head slipped. "Maybe a ginger ale?"

"Of course," She gave him a warm smile and handed over a cup of ice and a can. "Let me know if you need anything else."

He paused for a moment before gently jostling Blaine awake. Blinking slowly, Blaine opened his eyes and looked around.

"Hon," He whispered into his ear. "We'll be there soon. I have some ginger ale for you."

"I don't like ginger ale," Blaine murmured into his shoulder, closing his eyes again.

"It'll help your stomach."

"But it's gross."

"It'll..."

"Gross."

"Fine," Kurt huffed. "You baby."

He felt Blaine smile slightly against his arm. With a smile of his own he reached up to ruffle Blaine's curls.

By the time they landed Blaine was wide eyes, nervous, and had downed the entire can of ginger ale. He shuffled out of the plane after Kurt and quickly grabbed onto his hand as they walked to baggage claim.

"Honey!" His mother ran up to him as soon as he stepped into the room and gathered him into a tight hug. "Oh God!"

Blaine had to turn his head away to see beyond the wild mop of hair and saw his father, tears shining in his eyes.

"Dad?" His father paused for a moment before walking over and wrapping his arms around both of them.

"I'm so glad you're here," Andrew Anderson said softly, squeezing lightly on the back of his neck. "So glad Blaine."

Blaine felt tears fill his eyes and nodded quickly.

"So," His mother pulled back, wiping away tears. "We moved a bigger bed into your room so Kurt can stay over. I did talk to Burt and Carole and they've done the same."

"Thank you," Kurt smiled, and kissed her cheek as they hugged.

"Let's go home," Andrew picked up their bags. Kurt wrapped an arm around Blaine's waist and pulled him close as they walked into the chilly Ohio air.

"It's just weird to call it home again," Blaine said, scrunching his nose up a little as they drove. "I...I was loving living in New York."

"It's what is best," Kurt patted his leg.

"Mmhmm."

"I have an appointment for you tomorrow at Cancer Care," Lisa turned to hand him a packet. "They've been in contact with the doctor in New York and have put together a treatment plan. You're going to meet the doctor, have them look you over, and start treatment."

"I'm starting treatment tomorrow?" Blaine flipped through the packet of information, staring at the pictures of smiling couples.

"The doctor said treatment needed to be started right away," Andrew continued, glancing back at his son in the rearview mirror.

"Okay."

Kurt looked over to see how his hands shook and he paled. Quickly, he reached over and squeezed his boyfriend hand. The couple smiled softly at each other.

"You'll be okay."

He was not okay.

Cancer Care was a small office in a strip mall. The walls were painted a cheerful yellow and watercolors of lilies hung on every wall. What Blaine hated to most was how everyone in there gave him that sad, soft smile.

Poor Blaine Anderson. Eighteen and had cancer. Just too sad.

"Blaine?" A tall blonde woman smiled at him from the door. "I'm ready for you now."

Blaine glanced over to his parents and Kurt who stood with him. Immediately, Kurt reached over and took his boyfriend's hand in his.

"My name is Pauline Slater and I'll be your doctor," She led them to a small observation room.

Doctor Pauline Slater was middle aged but had a certain grace about her. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a low braid and she wore small square rimmed glasses that covered her brown eyes. The smile lines around her mouth and eyes put Blaine at ease and he smiled back at her when she patted the table.

"I've gotten all your test results and bloodwork," She picked up his chart. "And I see you have a little entourage as well."

"These are my parents Lisa and Andrew," Blaine smiled at his parents. "And this is my boyfriend Kurt."

"Support always makes this process easier," Pauline took a seat on a stool. "I've gone through everything multiple times and my team and I have created a chemotherapy treatment that we think will be very effective."

"Awesome," Blaine sighed.

"Any questions?" Pauline glanced around the room.

"I do!" Lisa dug through her purse and pulled out a notebook.

"Mom seriously?"

"I want to take notes," She gave her son a pointed look. "Um...I know that everyone makes a big deal about the side effects of chemotherapy. What are we looking at with this particular medication?"

"Everyone reacts to chemotherapy differently. I've had patients who have experienced no side effects and some that go through all of it. Some of the more common ones are hair loss, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, nerve damage, skin or nail changes, dry mouth, sores in the mouth, diarrhea, constipation, erectile dysfunction or lack of sex drive. Again, you may not experience these and if you do we can try to make it easier with medication," She gave him a reassuring smile but with every new side effect Blaine could feel his chest tighten.

"Okay," Lisa mumbled, scribbling in her notebook.

"There might also be a problem with infertility..."

"I don't need to worry about that," Blaine shrugged. "Not like I was trying to get myself or my boyfriend pregnant."

"But if you want to maybe use your sperm with a surrogacy?"

"No."

"Alright," Pauline wrote something down.

"What about pain or discomfort?" Andrew piped up.

"We can counteract it with medication as well," She said softly.

"What about food?" Lisa asked. "What can I cook him?"

Blaine frowned, hating how his mother was talking like he wasn't there.

"Anything. Sometimes you might find that you can't keep certain foods down but try to keep healthy," Pauline handed Lisa a pamphlet on nutrition.

"And I'm starting chemo today?" Blaine asked softly.

"Yes. Your cancer is advanced and we need to put our all into fighting it. Basically, you're going to sit in a big chair with an IV in your hand for a few hours," She handed him a few pamphlets. "You'll come in once a week and I'll give you a prescription for medication to take for the rest of the time."

"I think I'm good on questions," Lisa finished writing.

"If you have any more please don't hesitate to call and ask me," She gave them all a smile. "Cancer is scary but it is beatable."

"I'm ready to go if it's ready," Blaine blurted, desperate just to get it over with.

"Of course," Pauline patted him on the leg. "We do ask that only one support person is in the room at one time otherwise it can get overwhelming."

"Kurt should go," Andrew rest a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "We will go get things ready at the house and pick up prescriptions. Just call if you need anything."

"I packed a bag just in case," Kurt shrugged. "With some DVDs and magazines and stuff."

"Great! Follow me!" Pauline shook Blaine's parents's hands and led them down a hall into a small room. She motioned for Blaine to take a seat and Kurt hurried to grab his bag. "Take a seat and a nurse will be in shortly. I'll check up on you when you're all done."

Blaine gave her a shaky smile as she left and the nurse walked in, pushing a cart. His leg bounced nervously as the nurse set up the chemotherapy IV next to the overly cushioned chair. She was humming softly, ponytail bouncing as she bobbed her head.

"Alright sweetie," She gave him a blindingly white smile. "Where is your support person?"

"Kurt is just getting some things from the car," He waved a shaky hand towards the general direction of the parking lot.

"I never introduced myself," She spun around. "My name is Annie and I'll be your nurse during treatment."

"Blaine," He gave her a small smile. "But I guess you already knew that...it's on the chart."

"I took a guess," She gave him a smile and patted his arm. "I know it's scary but my job to make sure that you are comfortable and this goes as smoothly as it can. I'm here for you."

"Thanks Annie," He gave her a soft smile as Kurt rushed in with a bag. "And this is my boyfriend Kurt. Kurt this is my nurse Annie."

"Nice to meet you!" Annie shook his hand. "I can imagine that we'll get to know each other very well over the next few weeks."

"I hope so," Kurt smiled and sat down in a chair nearby.

"Now Blaine," Annie pulled a cart over with the IV catheter. "We're just going to start you on the IV and then you're going to sit around and relax for four hours."

"That's it?" Blaine looked nervously at the needle.

"Yup! Ready?" His eyes flicked over to Kurt who smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright, go," He held out a shaky hand and winced when she gently wiped the alcohol swab over his hand. Blaine only let out a short hiss when she slid the needle in and taped it down.

"You are all set," Annie turned on the IV and patted his shoulder. "Just press that button if you need anything. I'll be by to check on you in a few minutes."

"Thanks Annie," Kurt said gently as she shut the door before turning to his boyfriend. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold," Blaine wiggled his fingers and tried to ignore the odd feeling of cold liquid flowing into his veins. "And now I'm just kind of waiting for the nausea or something."

"It might not come. You could be that person who isn't affected at all by the medication," Kurt gave him a grin. "I did bring the third season of Gilmore Girls?"

"Oooh," Blaine snuggled back, happily accepting the fuzzy blanket Kurt gave him. "Start it."

He fell asleep about halfway through the first episode.

"I feel great!" Blaine smiled four hours later as Annie took out the IV. "No problems at all!"

"I'm glad!" She gave him a warm smile and massaged his hand. "You are looking good. That nap did you well."

"And I just have to do this once a week? I can do this no problem," Blaine scoffed, stretching as he pulled himself out of the chair. "Cancer is easy."

Kurt couldn't hold in the smile as Blaine was quickly checked out. He couldn't hold in the smile when Blaine asked to grab a cheeseburger on the way back. He couldn't hold in the smile when they curled up under a blanket that evening to watch a movie with Blaine's parents.

Then near the end it changed.

Blaine had shifted uncomfortably for a while before he began to shiver. Kurt gently rubbed his arms but the tremors just got wore.

"Oh."

"You okay sweetie?" Lisa didn't glance away from the screen and Kurt frowned as Blaine jerked a few times.

"No, no, no," Blaine frantically tried to scramble off he couch, falling to his hands and knees for a moment before sprinting to the bathroom.

"Blaine?" Kurt jumped up as they heard him retch.

He hurried to the bathroom to see Blaine leaning over the toilet, looking small and miserable. With another choked off whimper he lurched over the toilet and threw up again, body shaking hard.

"Here," Andrew crouched in the doorway, holding out a bottle of water.

Shaking, Blaine leaned back against the tub. He took short, shallow breaths and closed his eyes tightly. Every thing ached and his throat burned horribly.

"Put this under your tongue," Andrew handed him a small strip of what looked like paper. "It's for your nausea. It'll help."

"It's just going to get worse," Blaine sniffed, eyes flashing with tears. "I read all of those stupid pamphlets. I know what's going to happen."

"It's manageable," Lisa was standing in the doorway, hand resting on her husband's shoulder.

"Hearing loss could be caused by chemotherapy," He entire body jerked with a sob. "I could go deaf. How the hell can I perform on Broadway then?"

"Could be," Kurt took his hand. "It could happen. That doesn't mean it's going to happen."

Blaine shook his head miserably, tears dotting the fabric on his sweatpants.

"Do you want to go to bed?" Andrew reached forward to gently squeeze his son's leg.

"Yeah. I'm tired," Blaine nodded, wincing as Kurt helped him up. "But can you like...bring a bucket or something?"

"Sure honey," Lisa kissed his forehead. "I'll bring you some water and saltines in case you get hungry."

Kurt helped his boyfriend up the stairs, frowning as he stumbled. Blaine twisted his fingers into the fabric of Kurt's shirt and all but collapsed into bed.

""m sorry," He mumbled, burying his face into the blankets. "Dunno why 'm so tired."

"Because you basically had poison pumped through your veins to kill the cancer," Kurt kissed his cheek and smiled at Lisa who brought in a trash can, a few bottles of water, and a sleeve of crackers.

"Sleep well," She kissed them both on the forehead. "Don't hesitate to call if you need anything."

Blaine fell into a fitful sleep. It was obvious that he couldn't get comfortable. The joint and muscle pain kept him shifting and moaning weakly. Even though he only woke up once to throw up Kurt stayed awake, reading and rereading some magazines.

"Hey," A soft knock made him glance up to see Cooper standing in the doorway. "Is he asleep?"

"Yeah," Kurt nodded and glanced to the clock to see it was almost eleven. "He's pretty nauseous and achy."

Cooper's eyes were sad as he walked in, shrugging off his coat. He gave Kurt a tiny smile before sitting on the bed and placing a hand gently on his brother's shoulder.

"Blainers?" He said softly and Blaine let out a little hum.

"Coop?"

"Yeah," He squeezed his shoulder slightly. "I'm here. I just wanted you to know I was here."

"'m glad you're 'ere," He mumbled, eyes still closed.

"I'll let you sleep," Cooper leaned forward to kiss his temple before turning to Kurt and giving a smile. "Thank you Kurt."

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Kurt smiled down at his boyfriend who burrowed into his side.