I had never in my life not known what was wrong with my sister but as she sat there sobbing on the ground I had no idea what was going on.  Everyone's eyes were on me, including Kurt, and I was at a complete loss of what to do.  Slowly I stood up and started to walk up to her but paused when I got to her side.

"Riley?" I squatted down and put my hand on her shoulder.

Immediately she looked up to me; her face was wet with tears and her eyes were completely bloodshot.  The look in her eyes was somewhere between "I hate you" and "help me" I couldn't exactly tell.  She pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around me.  She didn't say anything, just began to sob again.  I looked up to Kurt for help but he wasn't in his seat.

Kurt, Rachel, Finn, and the rest of New Directions were all getting up to come join Riley and me and the floor.  It seemed really weird at first and I had to fight the urge to tell them to back off and leave us alone so I could protect my sister like so many times before, but I began to realize that this was their only way to help us right now.  None of them knew what Riley and I were going through exactly and, therefore, didn't know how to help other than just being there for us.  Kurt got down on his knees and wrapped his arms around both Riley and I and the rest of the group joined in on the group hug.

No words were said; it was just a group of kids, a group of friends, sitting together supporting each other.

This is more than I had ever asked God for.

I don't know how long we sat there before I heard Riley stop crying.  Mr. Shue was the one to finally break the silence.

"Alright everybody, I think that is enough for today.  Riley and Blaine, welcome to New Directions.  You are all free to go whenever you may like.  I will see you tomorrow."

One by one each member got up and went home.  Soon only Finn, Rachel, Kurt, Riley, and I were left.  Kurt stood with his arm around Riley and she held my hand on her other side.

"Finn, are you okay if I stay with Riley for a little bit today?" I had a lot of questions for Riley and I knew I couldn't ask her with everybody around.

"No, go home with Kurt. I want to stay with Rachel and Finn if that's okay with them?"

I didn't know what to do.  Rachel and Finn both agreed to stay with Riley and I practically fell over.  I felt like she had just ripped my heart out and stomped it to the ground.  The three of them went out to the car leaving just Kurt and I in the room.  I could feel the tears fill my eyes and one of them fell down my cheek.  Kurt reached up with his gentle hand and wiped it away.

"This is what you wanted, remember, babe? For Riley to be less dependent on you."

"No, Kurt." My head fell to his shoulder and he pulled me into a hug. "I wanted to make sure she was okay to be on her own.  I didn't want her to stop needing me." I felt so defeated by everything in my life.  My father had defeated me and left a scar, my mother had left Riley and I to fend for ourselves long ago, and now even Riley was shutting me out. God, when will everything be back to... normal? It took me a moment before I realized that this was the new normal, at least until this arrangement fell apart too.  I wasn't going to live with Riley again for a long time.

"Come on." Kurt pulled me towards the car, "Finn can drive us home and then I will make you some hot cocoa."

The rest of the night was spent in near silence.  Kurt made us cocoa and we cuddled up on the couch.  He sat running his hand through my hair while I laid my head on his lap staring up to the ceiling.  I couldn't figure out what I had done in my life to deserve someone like Kurt.  Even now I could see his big blue eyes watching over me, ready to protect me from anything else this shitty world was about to throw my way. 

"Kurt," I was hesitant to ask the question that had been bouncing around my head, but I had to know the answer, "When is everything going to be back to normal?"  I watched sadness sink into his eyes and he just watched my stomach rise and fall from my breathing for a while before he finally answered.

"It's going to be awhile, babe.  Right now, you and Riley aren't even through the worst part, you're still wandering around in the aftermath of the storm."  He grabbed me hand and made me sit up so I could face him.  "I know that sounds terribly depressing, but it only hurts so badly right now because it is still happening.  But I promise to be here every step of the way for both you and Riley, because I know how bad things are right now.  I know that if I had you when my mom died, I would have wanted you there for me."

At the mention of his mother Kurt's shoulders shrunk.  He and I had never talked about her; I only knew details of what happened because Rachel had told me.  We sat there for a moment just looking into each other's eyes before Kurt pulled me into his arms.  I laid my head on his chest and he rested his cheek on my hair.  Silently my tears fell down my cheeks because I knew that I didn't deserve someone like Kurt in my life.  I felt a tear fall from Kurt's face and land on the tip of my ear.  I pulled away from him only so I could rest my forehead on his.

"I love you, Kurt.  More than you will ever know."

There was a long pause before he responded.

"I love you, too.  Forever, Blaine Anderson: I will love you forever."

I couldn't stop my heart from smiling when I looked into his blue eyes again.  I pulled myself back into his chest and he and I sat in silence again; only this silence was a good silence because we knew that in that moment just being with each other meant more than words could ever describe.

Eventually Burt came home and Kurt went into the kitchen to tell him what was going on and where Finn was.  I stayed on the couch.

I felt completely numb again.  Did Riley really not need me anymore?  What was she crying about today? Was she ever going to talk to me again?  After the last thought I couldn't think about it anymore.  I turned my mind off and stared at the wall.

Dinner came and went in silence, still no Finn.

Later that night I woke up on the couch to someone shaking my shoulders.

"Kurt?"

"No, man, it's me."  Finn's voice filled my head and I was suddenly much more awake.

"How is Riley? Did something happen? Did she tell you anything about today? Does she hate me?"

"Blaine, hey, calm down.  I just wanted you to know that she is okay.  When I left she was getting ready to go to her room for the night."

"Did she talk about what happened today? I bet I did something wrong."

"No, not at all. I mean, she never said anything; we didn't talk about today at all.  She just asked us questions about glee club and stuff.  I never met her before any of this, dude, but she seemed like everything was completely back to normal.  Rachel even said so herself.  She was a lot more talkative than last week and even asked Rachel to help her with some dancing for glee."

"Thanks, Finn, that's great.  I am glad that she has some sort role model in her life."

"It's no problem.  I am glad to help with anything."  Finn pulled me into an awkward hug before getting up and going upstairs.

I pulled my phone up to my eyes and saw that it was ten thirty.  I might as well just go to bed now.  I set my alarm and pulled up a new message to Riley.  She and I had so many code phrases for things that we couldn't say in front of our Dad so I rummaged through my head finding the right one for tonight: What's the one thing you'll never forget?  I hit send and pulled the covers up around me.  I would talk to Riley eventually about what happened today, but for now I needed to let her work things out on her own while I got used to not having to be there for her all the time.  A lot of things were changing now and I am so lucky that I have Kurt to help me through it all.

My phone vibrated and I quickly flipped it open: NEW MESSAGE FROM: RILEY ANDERSON You too.  I smiled a little before I let the thought of sleep take over my body.

That night my dream wasn't a dream at all but rather a memory of mine: It was the night before my thirteenth birthday, Riley was eleven, and Mom and Dad had just gotten in a huge yelling match and sent Riley and I to our rooms.  I, of course, just went to Riley's room with her.  We were lying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

"Blaine," her voice was so soft and innocent, "I don't want you and I to ever fight like them, okay?"

"We won't, don't worry."

"You promise?"

"I promise." There was a long pause before I could think of the right thing to say to my scared sister, "I love you, Riley.  I will always love you.  Never forget that, okay?"

"Okay."

"What's the one thing you'll never forget?"

"That you love me."  And a smile crossed her face. "And Blaine?"

"Ya?"

"You too."