Kurt throws his pencil down, then crumples the piece of paper before him and dumps it into the bin. He smoothes out a new piece of paper and begins to hurriedly sketch over it.

Five minutes later, it's the same routine.

Kurt swears loudly. He's three days away from having to submit his pitch to Levington and Kewell, failing which, they're likely to look to the bunch of newest designers to pitch their collections instead. Then, Kurt can only dream about staging a show till end of next year and he can't possibly wait that long anymore. Not to mention that if he fails this time round, Kewell will certainly come up with 101 excuses to kick Kurt off the post of Senior Designer. After all, Kurt only has had one commercial collection under his name; the other was a joint-project with someone else. The only reason why he had climbed so far was because none of the others in his batch had demonstrated themselves, but the new batch of designers had proved to be very talented.

He can see Sugar at her desk outside. Even she could potentially launch her collection ahead of his, once she got down to refining her ideas. At least she had a brilliant, innovative approach. He? He can hardly think of anything else other than ways to try to engage Jamie at home. He is actually succeeding on that front; she gives one-liners to his questions and doesn't fuss when he touches her to get her attention. She just doesn't like him trying to play with her hair and is still generally more receptive to Blaine's words than to his, but it's still some measure of success.

That doesn't translate to his work, however, which pisses him right off.

Kurt takes the pencil and throws it into the bin as well.

Just then, the phone rings. Kurt answers in his professional tone, though given his current frustration, he couldn't help a slight curtness to it.

"Hello?"

"Kurt?"

"Blaine?" Kurt is part relieved to hear his voice, and part confused. "Why are you calling my office phone?" He picks up his handphone and realizes why. It's dead. "Oh. Okay. Never mind. I figured out –"

"Sorry, am I bothering you?"

"No, no!" Kurt shakes his head vigorously in accompaniment. "'Course not." Then he turns rigid. "Did something happen?"

"No, don't worry," says Blaine. "I just wanted to ask if you could buy some takeout on the way home. Jamie's been acting out of sorts today, so I'm taking her home and I don't think I'll have time to make us dinner. That alright with you?"

"Yeah, sure!" Kurt frowns. "What's wrong with her?"

"Nothing serious!" says Blaine, then he laughs. "She'll be fine."

"Blaine –"

"Uh, look, I gotta go. Need to settle something –"

Kurt's pretty sure there's somebody wailing in the background, and that wail is very familiar.

"So see you at home, yeah? Bye!"

Kurt stares at the receiver, then clicks it back in place.

-.-.-.-.-.-

2 years ago

Kurt slams a bunch of files down on his office desk. Everyone in the office turns to stare at him, but the moment he glares around, they immediately turn back to their own work. He grabs one of the files, flips it open and tears out a drawing that he had just shown Levington and Kewell. One of the best pieces he had ever designed, in his opinion. But he had gone into the board room, given it his all, only to have Kewell tear it to pieces with his sharp sarcasm and have Levington agree that he could have done much better.

The phone rings, but Kurt can hardly hear it with the burning rage buzzing in his ears, until somebody shoves the receiver right into his ear.

"H-hello?"

"Kurt?"

"Blaine," Kurt whispers.

"Kurt, what's wrong?" Blaine's voice is so tender that Kurt can't help squeezing his eyes shut just to focus on the tone of it all. When all Kurt can do is to breathe deeply, Blaine follows up with, "Okay, you know what, don't say anything. Get half the day off, and I'll meet you at your doorstep right away."

"But –"

"Talk to Levington, Kurt. He'll understand that you need some time to think through. I know it's your pitch today and if you're sounding like that, I think I know what went on. So tell him you need some time and you'll come back better and stronger. And I can even promise you that."

So that is exactly what Kurt does next, and the moment he finds Blaine waiting by his doorstep, he launches himself straight into the other man's arms.

"I'm here," whispers Blaine. "I'm here."

"I did all that I could, Blaine," says Kurt, gripping him tightly. "I don't understand."

Blaine pulls back, then puts his hands on Kurt's cheeks, his thumb softly wiping away a tear. "You've tried very, very hard, Kurt. I know you've put in so much. But that's not all you can do. You're capable of so much more and you have to show them. One day, Kewell will have to sit there with his mouth gaping open and there's nothing that will come out because it'sperfect."

"How would you know?" Kurt asks desperately. "You've only known me for two months, Blaine Anderson, how would you know?"

Blaine breaks out into a big grin. "It's not my fault that Kewell is two years' worth behind me in talent recognition."

Kurt isn't convinced, however. Blaine then slips his hands down into the back of Kurt's jean pockets and pulls Kurt against him.

"Kurt, when you love something, you give it a 101%. You love music, and you stayed in your high school glee club all the way through even though it was like, the losers of loserdom back then and you were slushied all the time just for being in it. You love your dad, so you would throw away the first competition – never mind that it was a mini sing-off within the glee club – just so he wouldn't be hurt by the haters who mocked you for your voice."

Blaine's eyes are filled with tenderness and sincerity that Kurt just wants to keep staring into it, because it gives him strength and hope that he has never really found anywhere else.

"And you love fashion, so you chose to pursue it as your dream and you are sweating it out in this company even though you hate some of the people there, because youknow, Kurt, you know that this place will get you somewhere. You didn't even think twice when you had to apply to a company, it was the only one you applied for and you were so certain your ability would take you to places here. Your dream is not done. You're not yet at 101% because it's not done yet."

Blaine bites his bottom lip, then whispers, "And I know you love me, because you told me all these things within two months, things from the bottom of your heart that have brought you so much pain and given you so much love."

Kurt buries his head in Blaine's shoulder once more, completely overwhelmed. He's not one who's easily bowled over by words, but Blaine is right – he has given his heart to Blaine, 101%, even within these few months because this man has the strangest ability to go right to the bottom of his insecurities and plant a seed of empowerment.

Finally, he manages to ask, "So what did you originally call me for?"

"I wanted to ask if you needed dinner, but I'm going to provide the answer to that question now. Does sushi sound good?"

"It soundsverygood," says Kurt, who can't help smiling now.

"There, a man who finds food as inspiration is a man I love," says Blaine, who kisses Kurt's shoulder softly. "Shall we?"

-.-.-.-.-.-

Present Day

Kurt can hear the familiar wailing a couple of steps away from his door. Drawing a deep breath, he enters the house to find Blaine holding a clipboard in front of a crying Jamie. Jamie's foot shoots out, but Blaine edges back quickly and says sternly,

"Jamie, eyes on the paper."

Her eyes swerve to the paper, but whatever is on the paper just makes her start crying again.

"What's happened?" asks Kurt, once he has shut the door and put the takeout on the kitchen table.

"She's – hang on," Blaine mutters as he puts the clipboard aside and presses a finger to his mouth. Then he looks at Kurt. "You wanna just get the food ready first?"

"Blaine," says Kurt. "Just tell me what's wrong with her."

"Well..." says Blaine, even as a strangled cry issues from Jamie once more. "She got denied two minutes of playtime at Marley's class today because she took a pencil from a friend to draw her own stuff when she was supposed to be doing some math. Marley's kinda new to the Center and I think she didn't give Jamie proper closure when she tried to reason things out."

Kurt narrows his eyes. "Why did Jamie do that?"

"Kurt, I don't know," says Blaine, a little testily now. "I'm trying to work that closure bit now, to teach her that it was wrong and therefore she had to face up to her consequences."

Kurt waits for about five minutes, then when Jamie continues to wail, he puts his hands on his hips. "I'm pretty sure you've been using that clipboard for like, a good half of the day or something. Why don't you –"

He makes his way to his room, picks out a pencil, then heads back to the living room. "Why don't you try –"

"No, don't!" Blaine's eyes widen upon seeing the pencil. "Don't get the pencil involved!"

Unfortunately, Jamie does see the pencil and yells, "PENCIL! I WANT THE PENCIL!"

"Jamie," says Kurt, firmly. "What color is your –"

"Kurt, get the pencil back," Blaine interjects, sharply.

"No, gee, relax. I'm trying to get her to realize that her pencil is different from this one!" Kurt exclaims. "I read that –"

"Kurt!" Blaine nearly trips as he tries to stand up, because Jamie is flailing about. "Crap, I need my –"

"Why do you think it's not going to work?" demands Kurt. "It's worth a shot!"

"Come on, Kurt, she's not in the mood for games," says Blaine, annoyed. "Look at her, she's –"

"Oh, so now what I'm doing is playing games?" Kurt stares at Blaine. "I'm just trying to –"

"Well, it's not the time for whatever it is that you're trying to do!"

Kurt's jaw drops.

"Kurt, just please make dinner and –"

"Okay, I'm really sick and tired of people telling me that whatever I'm doing is not good enough!" Kurt retorts. "That no matter how much I try, it's still not therightway or therighttype of thinking or that I'm pitching thingscorrectly– whatever the hell that means!"

"Kurt!" Blaine hisses, as Jamie's cries grow louder. "We'll settle this later!"

"No, we willnot," says Kurt, glaring at Blaine. "We've been settling things far much later than they ought to be settled, Blaine!"

"I don't know what the heck it is that you're trying to settle!" Blaine throws his hands up. By this time, Jamie has leant backwards and is kicking in the air. Blaine goes forward to try to capture her attention, but she's just screaming.

"Oh yeah, so you don't bother finding out and the first thing you do is to go settleher!"

"Will you please be a little more rational here and see that this is something more serious?" Blaine demands, his eyes full of incredulity.

"Excuse me?" Kurt gasps. "Somethingmoreserious? Than our relationship?"

"What iswrongwith you today?!" Blaine can't seem to care anymore; he's more preoccupied with trying to hold Jamie's legs together.

"Blaine, stop trying to –" Kurt slams the pencil down on the kitchen table.

"DON'T TAKE MY PENCIL AWAY!" Jamie screams. She grabs a fistful of Blaine's shirt and knocks him against the sofa.

"Fuck!" Blaine gasps as he tries to steady the girl. "Kurt..."

"Oh, so now you can't handle her yourself?" Kurt is so full of anger that his whole head feels like it's exploding.

"Kurt!"

"AIYEEEEEEE!!!" Jamie shrieks, her entire face scrunched up. She lunges out at Blaine, but he grabs her and holds her tightly. It is only then that it occurs to Kurt that the girl is going to continue kicking and punching regardless of how tightly Blaine is holding her.

His eyes widen. This is no ordinary situation. "Blaine, she –"

"Cushions!" Blaine grabs a few from the couch and lays them out before the struggling girl in his arms. "We need to move the couch and table away too."

Kurt almost wants to be snarky about being instructed, but with Jamie's face turning completely pale, he pushes the snark aside and complies as best as he can, even rushing into the Creative Room to drag out the mattress and knocking over a few things in the process. He can hardly care about other things when Jamie is screaming the house down. Blaine has handled many kids' meltdowns before, but he's ultimately quite a small-sized dude. Even if the kid is a petite six-year-old, it's definitely a mean feat to try and hold down that six-year-old who is kicking and punching and crying uncontrollably.

"Look... I can't – I need to call someone. Just... just help me hold her?" Blaine looks at Kurt in a way that is part pleading, part wary. Kurt hates that he has made Blaine feel so distrusting of him because of his relationship with Jamie, that he has to hesitate even at such a crucial moment. Yet at this point, all he can do is to hold out his arms. Jamie immediately arches and nearly does a bicycle kick, but Blaine arm-locks her legs together as Kurt tightens his arms around her and tries to hum the tune that Blaine uses to calm her down.

Blaine fumbles with some numbers on his phone with one hand as best as he can, then presses the phone between his ear and shoulder as he tries to draw Jamie's attention to him to no avail. However, whoever it is doesn't seem to be picking up the phone. He curses, then tries another number. Finally, he exhales a loud breath of relief.

"Hello? Santana? I have an emergency."

Kurt swears under his breath when Jamie's left leg breaks free of Blaine's grip and her heel digs backward into his thigh.

Blaine sticks his finger into his ear as Jamie lets out another ear-piercing shriek. "Santana, I don't care! You're a therapist too, it doesn't matter, get your ass down here!"

"You're calling Santana Lopez?!" Kurt yells, once Blaine has thrown his phone aside. "The woman who called me Lady Porcelain Gay?!"

"Emma's not in, Santana's our best shot now, deal with it!" snaps Blaine. Kurt flinches instantly, and Blaine's eyes lock with him.

"Shit," Blaine mutters. "I'm sorry, Kurt, I just –"

Kurt doesn't say anything; he holds on tightly to Jamie and at the same time, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill out. He hates all the thick, cloying tension in the air that makes it so difficult for words to come out, and when they do, they're all thewrongones.

"I WANT! I WANT MY PENCIL!" screams Jamie.

Blaine tries his darndest to distract Jamie with visual cues, but she's still screaming, even though she's getting hoarser and her entire face is blotched with crying. She's heaving too, gasping to catch breaths of air. Kurt can't help but feel his heart constrict just looking between Jamie's wild expression and Blaine's pained one. Her hands eventually break free of Kurt's grasp and she reaches out to claw at Blaine.

Blaine snatches his hand back and Kurt can see the trail of blood at the back of his hand, fresh ones over the ones that had yet to heal completely. Yet, Blaine doesn't look at his hand at all; he's still scribbling things on paper to show Jamie. Kurt can't help tearing badly now, even as he grips Jamie tightly.

When the doorbell finally rings, Blaine jumps up and hurries Santana in. She strides over, takes one good look at the situation and immediately says,

"You ladyboys have far too much maternal instincts in you."

"Excuse – me?" Kurt chokes out as he glares at her.

"Let her go," says Santana. "You've created quite a safe space, just position yourselves at the open areas. Let her thrash it out."

Kurt is incredulous, but Blaine obliges and moves back, motioning for Kurt to let go.

"Are you sure about this –"

"Damn it, Hummel, just lay her down slowly and then scoot back," says Santana, annoyed.

Kurt grits his teeth as he moves back slightly and slowly – very slowly – makes to release Jamie.

"If you do it any slower, she's going to kick you in the stomach," warns Santana. "Just release and go!"

So he does, and he nearly crashes into the sofa as he scrambles backwards. Jamie rolls all over the carpet and kicks the cushions about, screaming and crying intermittently. Santana moves over slowly, and Blaine is standing in the corner looking dreadfully white. Kurt tries to catch his breath as he curls his knees into his body and watches Santana attempt to engage Jamie.

Or rather,notengage her. She's only moved in a tiny bit. Now she's just watching as Jamie lunges about.

"Well, aren't you going to do something, Sandbags?"

Santana steals a subconscious look at her chest, then throws a glare at Kurt. She says nothing, however, but turns her gaze back to Jamie.

"She's going to be out of breath really soon!" Kurt seethes.

"Well, that's the point, dummy," says Santana, lazily.

"I want my pencil!" shouts Jamie, her fist lamely connecting with Santana's kneecap. Kurt then realizes that her movements are much slower now.

"I don't know why I didn't think of that," murmurs Blaine.

"That's because you've been having life too easy with the little ones," snaps Santana. "I should tell Sue to get you rotated over to the adults' division sometime soon."

Jamie shrieks again, but her voice is almost hoarse now. After what seems like a long while, Santana eases a cushion next to Jamie, who immediately grabs it. But she has no energy to throw it, so all she can do is clutch at it.

"Watch out," says Kurt, nervously. "She might suffocate herself."

Santana's look at him now seems more surprised than annoyed, but she focuses once again on Jamie and gently places another cushion near her head. Slowly, she moves over and reaches out to lift Jamie's head onto the cushion. Then she peels the other cushion out of her grasp and eases the girl to lie on both cushions. Jamie is still rolling from side to side, but not too violently.

Blaine immediately makes his way over and begins to hum. The tender way he looks at Jamie makes Kurt turn away and examine his hands.

Kurt then decides to get up and go to the kitchen.

"Do you want some food, Santana?" His voice has become hoarse too.

"It's okay, those green stuff you have in the bags are just gonna make me hurl chunks. I need myabuela'sspicy curry later to get my spirits back," says Santana.

"Get me some too," Kurt mutters under his breath.

"That's a good girl, Jamie," says Santana, her voice melding into something so soft that Kurt finds it unrecognizable. "Look, it's me, Santana. I've missed playing with you."

Jamie struggles slightly, but Santana speaks to her gently with just the tiniest edge of firmness.

Somehow, Santana and Blaine manage to coax the exhausted Jamie to sleep, and Blaine eventually carries her into the Creative Room. Kurt just sits at the kitchen table staring at the bowls of salad, and a bowl of soup that he hadn't put in the microwave yet.

Santana notices, and frowns. "That's like drinking puke. You need it hot."

"Thanks for ruining my appetite."

"My pleasure," says Santana.

Blaine comes out of the room, looking extremely weary, but he nods gratefully to Santana. "Thanks, San."

"That one's not my pleasure," says Santana. "But I'll take it." She looks from Blaine to Kurt, then back again. "Okay, whatever it is that is going between the two of you –"

Kurt eyes her suspiciously.

"My gaydar doesn't just sense positive, happy feelings between gays, you know," says Santana, airily. "It's got a dual function."

"Whatever it is," she continues, "don't bring it up in front of Jamie. Not for now. She can easily connect any argument between the two of you with the unhappiness that she was experiencing just now."

"Well, it's not like we chose to bring it up in front of her..." Blaine begins.

"Or maybe it's precisely because she was in front of us..." mutters Kurt.

"Kurt, just stop," says Blaine, wearily.

"It's not settled yet," says Kurt. "But you can sit down and have your food first."

"No, I'm not talking about our argument or whatever that was about. I'm saying stop making Jamie a part of this blame game, okay? Whatever it is, it's between the two of us, it's not –"

Kurt stands up and glares at Blaine. "Funny, I don't see that thisgameis being played by two only. If anything, this whole thing is precisely because of that girl in there."

"Whoa, okay..." Santana begins, but Blaine cuts in, "Kurt, we gave ourselves two weeks."

"No, you gave us two weeks. In fact, you wanted to give us a month. Maybe more." Kurt is trembling as he speaks.

"Kurt, you said you would try!" Blaine looks at him desperately. "You said that as long as she lived in our home, this was our responsibility! Together!"

Something snaps within Kurt.

"Ourhome?" Kurt scoffs. "If this wasourhome, in the first place you would have consulted me first about bringing an autistic girl home, you would have asked me how I felt about even having one more person in this house at this point in time! But as it is, you didn't!" His voice has escalated into yelling. "You just made all these assumptions about what I would think, what I would say or do... or maybe you didn't even bother to assume because I'd just go along with you! That I'd just take your words as they are, as they always are because you always convince me with whatever you say!"

Blaine is obviously trying to articulate a response, but Kurt doesn't want to give him a chance to.

"And then because I said that it was our responsibility, aren't you supposed to then think that I can handle it? But no, you don't think I can handle it! You think Ican'thandle anything to do with her because you know better and I don't! This, coming from the person who once said that I'm capable of so much more!" Kurt is almost shrieking now. "Who do you take me for?! Just because we're not married doesn't mean you can –"

He stops abruptly. Blaine has gone pale.

Santana rolls her eyes. "Heeeere we go."

"What did you say?" Blaine whispers, after a tense moment of silence.

Kurt stares back at him defiantly.

"You –" Blaine sucks in a deep breath; his eyes are full of hurt. "Don't youdareuse marriage as a handle for an argument between us. Don't youdaresuggest that I might have used it against us in any way."

Kurt's fingers have curled up into fists, but it's only because they're trembling so badly. "I am not trying to –"

Blaine sucks in a shuddery breath.

"That's enough!" Santana's sharp voice cuts through. "Bunch of babies! You'll wake Jamie up and undo all the past hour's grand display of all the calming techniques known to a behavioral therapist, for God's sake! You can take your little gay rights struggle right out to the streets so the people of Lima can actually hear a public cry in this strangled conservative town!"

Kurt turns away sharply. The constricting within him is so tight that he just needs to run out of this house to actuallybreathe. Yet he can't just run away like that. He can't possibly do that, not when they've been running away from everything ever since Jamie has come to stay.

It's Blaine who says, "I need to go."

Kurt swivels back, burning with rage. "You arenotleaving. You are staying here and we are figuring out how to make sure that girl doesn't act up again and then where she's going next because we are not –"

"She's notthat girl!" Blaine's voice is strangled. "And how many times do I have to tell you –"

His voice is rising again, and Kurt almost wants to yell back, but he's abruptly stopped by Santana, who steps forward to give Blaine a resonating slap across his face.

Kurt's jaw drops.

Blaine gasps, holding his hand to his cheek. "What thehell, Santana?!"

"You think it's so easy for everyone else out there to know how to face a kid like that?" Santana sneers. "You think that people can see the innocent face and go 'aw, so cute' and when the kid starts screaming and crying, all they can think of is to shut them up and you think that they're being cruel when all that is, is simply that they don't fucking know what's going on. Blaine Anderson, not everyone lives in a world like us, not everyoneknowsand is willing to put up with a kid randomly whom Sue can't even handle herself and chucks it to us!"

Blaine is staring bewildered at Santana; Kurt is just gaping by the side.

Santana shoots a grim look at Kurt, then back at Blaine again. "You give your all to the LAC and these kids, Blaine. And look at you. You've become like one of them. So innocent, so naive, that when you think other people look at them, it's only with pity and sometimes with derision. You never think that if you had never experienced meeting any of those kids and then as an adult, you saw them for the first time, you might have had the same thoughts."

"Santana, what the hell are you talking about?" Blaine asks through gritted teeth.

But Kurt knows what Santana is saying. He doesn't know how Santanaknows, but she is saying everything that is inside him.

Unfortunately, she doesn't continue. She looks at her watch, taps it and says, "I've got another appointment. I can't stay to be your co-habitation counselor. If you need more consultation on this, I'll be happy to help as long as the both of you can sneak me into a gay club or something." Her serious looks melds into a cheeky one as she winks. "The hot dudes are all there."

Blaine turns to look incredulously at Kurt, but Kurt swiftly avoids meeting his gaze any further.

When Santana leaves, the silence in the house is so cloying that it's blocking Kurt's ears. He tries to sneeze, but it doesn't work. He climbs back onto the chair at the kitchen table and sticks a fork into his salad.

"I'm not hungry," says Blaine quietly.

A short pause later, he says, "I'll have to sleep with Jamie tonight."

Kurt stuffs a lettuce into his mouth.

"Look, I'm not quite sure what Santana was trying to say, but I do know that I'm sorry," whispers Blaine. "I know it's really tiring and all that, but I just –" He stops short, then sighs. "Kurt?"

Kurt's cheek twitches, but he doesn't look up.

"I... Iloveyou, Kurt," Blaine's voice is so weak now that his words are coming out in puffs. "And I amso, sosorry."

Kurt swallows down his lettuce and hates that it tastes so bitter. "So am I," he murmurs, "but that's all we can say, huh?"

He doesn't look at Blaine as he leaves the food all on the table, walks past him to the bedroom, and shuts the door behind him.

-.-.-.-.-.-

The first thing Kurt feels is warmth on his face. Then he opens his eyes a little and ends up squinting with the light filtering through his bedroom curtains. He groans and rolls over, arms splayed out – onto an empty bed sheet.

He grunts and grabs his pillow to cover his face.

Then he scrambles to sit up and lets out a frustrated noise. A Saturday morning spent alone in bed is a completely good moment wasted, and he hates wasting time. He gets out of bed and shuffles into the bathroom to brush his teeth. He comes out – but instead of going out, he decides to sit down and switch on his laptop. Just as he waits for it to start up, his phone buzzes.

It's a Whatsapp message from Tina, asking him to go on Skype.

"It's like six a.m. for that crazy woman," he mutters. "Why's she up and about so early?"

He's not so surprised then, when Tina appears on his screen yawning and leaning her head into her palm.

"You look like the princess who slept on a pea," remarks Kurt.

"I know right," says Tina, who proceeds to yawn again. "Oh God. My head's aching too."

"What happened?" Kurt's voice softens.

Tina looks a little sad. "Last night, Artie and I went out to this restaurant where somehow, the food reminded him of what his mom used to make for him when he was younger. He got a bit upset that the carrots weren't exactly cut the way he liked them and then all of a sudden, boom! Emotions all over the place." She rubs her eyes. "Took me hours to calm him down. He's usually quite okay, but when it comes to his parents, he always tends to get like doubly worked up."

Kurt knows that Artie lost his parents in a car crash when he was eight and still remembers them very fondly. Still, he thinks of how Jamie had a severe meltdown yesterday and all he can do is scrunch up his face as much as he can to muster a sympathetic look.

Then he frowns. "So why aren't you sleeping?"

"Well, at five a.m. when I was just about feeling my eyelids gettin' heavy, I got a dozen texts from Santana," says Tina, narrowing her eyes. "No prizes for guessing what that was all about."

"It sucks that our friends know each other," grumbles Kurt. Tina and Santana have a quirky ex-colleague friendship that somehow involve them scolding and insulting each other all the time (Kurt was once privy to a telephone conversation which featured Tina at her bitchiest, but apparently she was just having a regular catch-up session with Santana), but yet having each other's back (and telling each other tales) when it mattered most.

"Well, otherwise when would you tell me? I distinctly remember somebody getting all up in my grill when I decided to go off with Artie to LA without really consulting him."

"I would have told you," protested Kurt. "Just that –" He sighs. "I can't help being mad still, can I?"

"Oh, Kurt," says Tina. "I know how hard you've been trying to make things work with Jamie. All those questions you've asked, all those information that you asked me to send you, I mean... it takes a hell lot of courage for someone who doesn't handle these kids on a daily basis to step forward and work out a meaningful relationship with them, even if it's only for two weeks. You promised Blaine that it was a dual responsibility and you were working on it."

Despite the grainy resolution of the Skype picture, Kurt swears he can see Tina's eyes shining as she says, "I'm proud of you, Kurt."

Kurt can't help those damn tears again. "Tina..."

"That said... have you ever thought that Blaine is trying to protect you too?" Tina asks, gently.

"...what?"

"Hmm. How should I put it?" Tina taps against her chin. "Well, like I'm always very watchful whenever my parents meet Artie. I tend to get a little too involved when they're trying to have conversations with each other because I'm worried Artie would say something that would displease my parents and that my parents would say something that would trigger Artie. I mean, I know that they have tried reading up and stuff like that too, but it's still going to be different from what I know and have experienced working with autistic people."

She smiles. "I think Blaine is worried too – he's worried that, for a lack of a better word, your inexperience might make you vulnerable to Jamie's reactions, or that you could say something unintentionally provoking to Jamie."

"I never really thought of it that way," admits Kurt. "But still..."

"Yes, he has gotten rather carried away, that's for sure," says Tina. "But do you know, when he had screwed up so badly the first time by not asking you for permission to bring Jamie home, he was so afraid that you would leave him?"

"How could I?" murmurs Kurt.

"Yeah, you proved to him that you wouldn't. Why, Kurt, why? What is it about Blaine Anderson that makes you love him so much, despite all the silly ass-hat things that he does?"

Kurt doesn't quite know what to say. Then Tina yawns, and all he can say is, "I think you should go catch your forty winks."

Tina looks sheepish. "I really spoil the whole pep talk thing when I'm half asleep. Sorry... I'll head to bed then. But think about it, Kurt. I love the both of you so very much."

"I love you too, Tina," says Kurt, smiling. "And I'm proud of you for making your relationship with Artie work too."

Tina beams, then waves goodbye.

Kurt sits at his desk for a while more. He stares at the blank canvas on one side, and the pile of pencils on the other. Then he gets up and goes to the kitchen.

Once more, it is the familiar sight of Blaine in the kitchen, making breakfast, and Jamie seated at the kitchen table playing with her toast. Blaine doesn't turn around at all, but Jamie's gaze briefly meets with Kurt's.

"Hello, Jamie," says Kurt, gently. "Good morning."

"Good morning!" she says cheerfully. Then as Kurt takes her hand and gets her to look at him again, she adds, "Kurt!"

"That's a good girl," he says, smiling as she does.

"I'm eating bread with egg," says Jamie, in a sing-song voice. "Bread with egg." And then she starts singing a little nonsensical song all by herself. Kurt looks at her amusedly, then up at Blaine.

He turns to Jamie again. "Do I get bread with egg?"

Jamie calls out, "Does Kurt get bread with egg?"

"She's good," says Kurt, grinning. "You're much happier now, aren't you, Jamie?"

Jamie continues eating her toast, but Blaine still hasn't looked back at him. Sighing, Kurt gets up and makes his way towards Blaine.

"It's okay if you don't feel like frying an egg again," says Kurt, softly.

Blaine still doesn't respond. Kurt feels something rise in him and he has to swallow it down really hard. "Blaine, say something."

When Blaine doesn't, Kurt reaches over to touch his arm, but is completely taken by surprise when all of a sudden, Blaine's knees buckle and he's falling back into Kurt's arms.

"Blaine!" Kurt gasps, as he takes in the pale countenance of his boyfriend. "Oh my God, Blaine?!"

Blaine's eyes are almost rolling back; his lips are moving soundlessly and his limbs are limp against Kurt.

"Blaine, don't scare me! What's wrong with you?!"

"Bread with egg!" Jamie sings.

"Jamie!" Kurt stares at her in terror. "Jamie!"

It takes him two more calls for her to turn her head to face him.

"Bring me the phone!" He lowers Blaine to the ground so that he can free one hand and mimic the phone.

To his utmost relief, Jamie slides off the chair and goes over to bring the handheld phone. Once she has handed the receiver over and Kurt is frantically dialing the ambulance, she asks,

"Is Blaine tired?"

As it is, Jamie is right. When Blaine arrives at the hospital, the doctor says that he is suffering from exhaustion and needs to be put on a drip and kept in the hospital for observation over a couple of days. Kurt is torn between feeling relieved that it isn't something overly serious, and absolutely guilty that all the work Blaine has been doing, along with their fight yesterday, must have taken a toll on him.

Blaine is now sleeping peacefully, while Kurt sits next to his bed with Blaine's hand in his. Kurt runs his thumb lightly over the bandage covering the back of Blaine's hand, where Jamie had scratched him. Jamie is on the other side of the bed, looking curiously at Blaine.

"Will he wake up soon?" asks Jamie. "I need to go to school."

Kurt knows that if he immediately tells Jamie that he is bringing her to school instead of Blaine, she might act up, so he motions for her to come over. She totters over, then stares at Kurt.

Kurt picks her up and sets her on his lap. It's a wonder that she's okay with it now, given that she previously didn't really like him to touch her. Then he put her hand on Blaine's.

"Blaine is very tired," Kurt whispers slowly. "He can't drive, otherwise he might fall asleep in the car. What happens when a car driver falls asleep?"

"Accident?" Jamie wonders.

"Yes, you wouldn't want that, right?"

"No," says Jamie, vehemently.

"So..." Kurt takes out a pen and small notebook from his pocket. He writes down 'Blaine cannot drive Jamie to school', then draws two arrows. One arrow leads to 'Jamie stays at home', and another arrow leads to 'Kurt drives Jamie to school'. Then he shows it to Jamie. "Which one do you want?"

Jamie eyes the paper for a while, then she jabs at an arrow.

"So... Kurt will drive you to school tomorrow?" Kurt asks.

Jamie nods.

Kurt can't help leaning in to press a kiss against Jamie's cheek. She leans away slightly, but when Kurt pulls away, she dives back into his embrace. They sit like that for a while, with Kurt wondering about a dozen things at one go. Then Jamie suddenly breaks him out of his reverie by taking his hand and putting it on Blaine's.

"Jamie..." Kurt stares at her.

She puts her hand on top of both of theirs, then looks around in a spacey manner. "Blaine likes holding Kurt's hand."

Kurt holds the little girl tightly to him with one hand, and grips Blaine's hand with the other. The emotions in him are so complex and tangled and he is so tired of trying to figure all of it out. He doesn't want to think about anything more now, only that Blaine will be alright.

The sun'll come out tomorrow
Bet your bottom dollar
That tomorrow there'll be sun

Just thinkin' about tomorrow
Clears away the cobwebs,
And the sorrow
'Til there's none!