"Kurt?"

"I - I'm awake!" Kurt blurted, head jerking up.  The New Directions giggled and hooted derisively, and he looked around the choir room, blinking, and then up at Mr. Schuester.  

"I think you were asleep, Kurt, but we'll talk about that when you get back from the office.  Your father is here to see you."  

Kurt's chest felt tight and his legs unsteady under him as he got up and hurried to the main office.  His father, here, in the middle of the day?  It could only mean bad news, probably about Blaine.  Something must have happened, he must have taken some kind of turn for the worse —

As he rounded a corner, he saw his dad rushing toward him with a big smile on his face, holding up a letter.  ”Hey, kiddo!  It's here!  The letter from NYADA!”

Kurt slowed a bit, hesitating, and let his father cross the rest of the distance between them.  He reached out and took the letter, uncertainly.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" Burt urged him.  

"Let's go into that empty classroom over there," Kurt said, stalling.  Rachel's letter had come two days ago, and despite their agreement to open them together, she had caved in and read hers.  She had been accepted.  It was very likely that his letter was late because his was mailed out with the rejections.  He sat down weakly at one of the desks and laid the envelope down, centering it in front of him and then folding his hands to survey it.  This school year had been pretty uniformly disappointing, from an academic and career point of view … he'd lost the election, Blaine had beaten him out for the lead in the school play, and he hadn't gotten a solo in any competition even when half the club had quit and been replaced by the jazz band.  He knew he deserved to get in, but he wasn't feeling too confident that Carmen Tibideaux would see it.

Burt took his cap off and blew out an impatient breath.  He moved toward the desk as if to take the letter.  ”If you don't open that thing now, kiddo, I'm gonna have to. The suspense is killing me.”

Kurt flickered a glance up at his father and picked up the envelope.  ”Okay, Dad.”  He slipped his finger under the flap, lifting it, and extracted the letter.  He scanned the contents, then reread it.  Then a third time.

"Kurt?" his dad ventured.  "Bad news?"

"No."  He held up the letter. "I got in."

"Oh my God, Kurt!" his father exploded, grabbing the letter and looking at it proudly.  "Son, I'm so, so proud of you.  You've done it.  You've proved all of them wrong, everybody who's ever doubted you can just suck on your dust right now.  They can suck it," he crowed.  "This is so amazing … I have to admit I'm gonna miss you like crazy, but this is your future calling and the sky's the limit, buddy."

Kurt felt oddly empty and flat, considering the great news.  His father's next words hit the nail on the head as to the reason why.

"So, who's gonna tell Blaine?  He's been under the weather so long, he'll be glad to get some good news, I bet.  You gotta let me do it," he chortled.  "He's gonna be beside himself.  He never doubted you, and he's gonna be as happy and proud of you as I am."  Burt looked up.  "So you want to head over to the hospital and we can give him the big news?"

Kurt folded the letter and slipped it into the envelope. “I … I guess I have to tell him sooner or later,” he agreed.  ”Might as well be today.”

"Whattaya mean, ‘have to tell' him?  This is great news, he'll be thrilled about it, right?  He helped you with filling out your applications and your audition.  Oh, is this about that problem you had with him worrying about you going away and drifting apart?  I thought you two worked all that out."

Kurt stared at him.  ”How did you know about that?  How much do you know?”

"I know you were texting some guy named Chandler, and - -"

"What?!  Who told you all this?"

Burt shrugged. “Finn and Rachel.  Hey, you were upset and I was worried, so I asked, and they told me the whole story.”

"Probably a completely confused version of it.  But no, that's not what's worrying me.  Well, not exactly. Blaine, he's not doing well, Dad. Mentally."

Burt looked concerned.  ”What do you mean?  I thought he was just in the hospital for that stomach thing. I stopped by there yesterday and he seemed fine, and he said he expects to get out soon.  Now that you mention it, he seemed a little sad, but …” he paused.  ”Is he … is he depressed or somethin'?  Is that why he's in the hospital?”

"He's not depressed.  It's …"  Kurt cast around for what to say.  He really didn't want to tell his father that his boyfriend was suffering from a delusion that he was pregnant, but he didn't want to worry Burt with too much mystery.  Burt loved Blaine like a son.  "The thing is, Dad, he isn't telling too many people what's going on… just one friend of ours, his parents, and me… so I can't get into details. But basically, there's some treatment the doctors recommend, that he won't agree to. And it's causing some problems between us … and …"  he sighed.  "And I don't know how he's going to take the news that I'm going away in September. I think I'll keep this to myself for now."

"Puttin' it off won't make the news any different."

Kurt shook his head. “There's some test results coming in the next day or two that might convince Blaine to … well, have some surgery that's been recommended.  I'll tell him after he recovers from the surgery … I don't want to upset him any more than he already is right now.  Until then, can we keep this between us?  You know Finn and Rachel can't keep quiet about anything, and they go and visit him almost every day.”

Burt looked disappointed.  ”Okay, but I still don't get why you're keeping this from him.”

"Because I love him, and he needs to focus on his medical issues right now.  Once that's settled, everything will be back to normal and we can start planning the future."