Kurt arrived at his dorm room and practically crawled up the steps that separated him from his bed. He hated exams. He had never been as stressed as he had been these past weeks in his entire life.

Just a few minutes, he promised himself as he hugged his pillow. Just a few minutes to rest my eyes and then I'll start packing…

Those few minutes must have turned into a couple of hours, because the next thing he knew, he was being startled awake by Finn slamming the door shut behind him.

"Oh, dude, sorry," he said, apologetically. "I didn't know you were sleeping!"

Kurt rubbed at his tired eyes and checked his cellphone to see what time it was. "I wasn't supposed to fall asleep…"

"You were up all night studying," Finn shrugged. "Do you wanna go grab something to eat?"

"I can't. I need to pack for tomorrow," Kurt sat up on the bed and willed his body to start working properly.

"So? I'm gonna pack in the morning," Finn dropped his school stuff on his bed.

Kurt glared at him. "I swear, Finn Hudson, if you make me miss our flight back home, I'm going to kill you," he muttered threateningly. "I was already stuck here at school for Thanksgiving, I'm not spending Christmas without Blaine, too."

"Calm down, bro. We'll be on time!" Finn shook his head. "Now come on, let's eat something. I know you skipped both dinner last night and breakfast this morning, so you gotta be starving."

"Fine, fine," Kurt sighed and stood up. He looked for his wallet in his bag and noticed his phone was blinking. He had a missed call from Blaine. He dialed his number as he chose a coat and a scarf from his closet.

"Kurt, hi," Blaine's soft voice said.

"Hi, honey," he exclaimed cheerfully, slipping into his favorite red coat.

"How did your exam go?" Blaine asked.

"Hopefully, I'll pass," Kurt rolled his eyes at Finn, who was gesturing for him to hurry up. "I was going to go have some dinner with Finn now. He'll kill me if I make him wait. Can I call you when we're back?"

"Actually…" Blaine took a deep breath. "You know I don't want to pressure you or anything when it comes to your mother, right?"

Kurt frowned and sat on the edge of the bed. "Yeah…"

"Well, I…" Blaine cleared his throat. "I'm just going to tell you this because I know you'll need some time to think things through, so the sooner I tell you, the better…"

"You're scaring me, Blaine," Kurt muttered. "What's going on?"

"I think you need to make a decision now on whether you want to see Katherine or not," Blaine said, his voice tight and serious. "I know this isn't something you need to decide while being pressured, but, Kurt… I just don't think she has much time left."

Kurt swallowed with difficulty and was silent for a few minutes.

"I'm just telling you this because if you decide you do want to talk to her… it's gonna have to be while you're here for your break," Kurt could hear Blaine chok on his words.

"S-she's not doing well?" Kurt asked, trying to control his breathing.

"No, honey. She's not," Blaine answered simply, sadly.

Suddenly, going back home didn't sound as good as it had five minutes ago.

Their legs were tangled together under the sheets and they were still trying to catch their breath. Kurt rested his head on Blaine's bare chest and Blaine kissed the top of his head as he wrapped his arms around him tighter.

And then Kurt started crying.

Blaine felt the tears on his skin before he heard the sobs. "Hey…" He said softly, cupping Kurt's face in his hands to make him look at him.

"I don't know what to do," Kurt mumbled. "What should I do, Blaine?"

"I can't tell you what to do, sweetheart," Blaine stroked the outline of Kurt's jaw with his thumb. "This is something you need to decide for yourself."

"But…" Kurt wiped his tears from his cheeks and pulled himself up to lean on the pillow next to his boyfriend. "What can I say to her? Should I tell her how upset I am that she walked out of my life? Or should I just tell her I forgive everything she did because she's dying? Should I pretend nothing else matters?"

"I think she just wants you to be honest with her," Blaine rubbed his back comfortingly. "And I think she wants to be honest with you, too."

"I'm scared of what she'll say to me," Kurt pressed his face against the crook of Blaine's neck and breathed in deeply. "I don't know if I'm ready."

"No one is forcing you to do anything…"

"The fact that she's running out of time is forcing me," Kurt looked right into Blaine's eyes, though it wasn't very easy to see in the darkness of his bedroom. "What if I decide I'm not ready now, but in a year, when I feel like I could use some answers, it's too late?"

Blaine stayed silent, wishing he had something to offer that could help Kurt, but he really didn't know what to do, either.

He just held his boyfriend closer and hoped that was enough.

Blaine had Kara every day, all day now. He would keep her over night some times during the week, but Katherine really wanted to spend some time every day with her, so even if she wasn't feeling alright, she made the effort to get out of bed and play with her and feed her.

Kurt didn't want to be separated from Kara and Blaine while he was in Ohio, and that meant they would have to talk to Burt, who still didn't know he had met his sister.

He sat at the kitchen table the next morning for breakfast with a cup of coffee, and Blaine still half asleep as he waited for his dad to sit in front of him.

"Any plans for the day, guys?" Burt asked cheerfully, happy to have his son back home.

"Yes, actually," Kurt answered, bracing himself for what was to come. "We're gonna pick up Kara and take her somewhere…"

Burt's facial expression changed in a matter of seconds. "You… you're going to go meet her?"

"I've already met her," Kurt kept his eyes fixed on his father's. "Last time I was here in Lima."

"I see," Burt nodded slowly.

"There's… there's actually something else important we need to tell you," Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand under the table, nervously. Burt's attention was fully on them. "Once m-mom…" Kurt paused, unable to say the words. It all felt so weird. "Blaine's going to be Kara's legal guardian."

"What?" Burt turned to Blaine, wide eyed and shocked.

Blaine felt instantly intimidated. "I just…"

"We're taking Kara to New York with us next year," Kurt continued, needing to have everything out there as soon as possible. "We're going to raise her and I expect you to support the decision we've made."

"Kurt," Burt babbled, visibly speechless.

"We love her," Kurt said before Burt had time to put his thoughts together. "We love her and we don't care how young we are or how crazy this is, so if that's what you're thinking, we don't want to hear it."

"You guys are only eighteen," Burt replied, finally finding his words.

"We wouldn't be the first eighteen year old parents…" Blaine stopped, looked at Kurt with hesitant eyes and turned back to Burt, "Or guardians. Brother and boyfriend raising a baby. I…"

"See? You don't even know what this is," Burt stood up, throwing his arms in the air. "This is insane…"

"I don't care about the titles and I certainly don't care about our age!" Kurt exclaimed. "You were just a few years older than me when I was born. Are you saying you wish you wouldn't have had me when you were so young?"

"Of course not, Kurt, I…"

"Then why is it different for me?" Kurt cut his father off, gripping Blaine's hand so tightly he was almost crashing his bones. "We can do this. Blaine's been taking care of her since he met her and he's done a fantastic job! Kara loves him. You should see them together…"

"You're in college, Kurt," Burt shook his head. "How are you going to raise a baby and go to college?"

"We know it won't be easy but we'll figure things out," Blaine said calmly. He glanced at Kurt quickly, and saw how anxious he was. "I think what Kurt needs right now is your support. We'll discuss all the details with you later. We'll talk everything through… but Kurt needs you to have his back."

"I'll always have your back," Burt leaned across the table and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Kurt… always. But I wanted something different for you."

Kurt didn't answer. He just stared at his father and silently begged him to understand. But when Burt sighed, took his seat back and sipped his coffee slowly, trying to act nonchalantly, Kurt knew that he still hadn't convinced him and that even if he could count on his dad helping them, he still believed he was making a mistake.

And Kurt needed to change that.

Kurt waited in the car while Blaine picked up Kara at the motel room. He twisted his hands in his lap, anxiously. Would he ever be ready to confront his mother? Would he be wait too long? Just the thought of seeing her was making him a bit nauseas. He opened the door and climbed out of the car, hoping the cold air would help him feel better.

He saw Blaine coming down the stairs with Kara in his arms all bundled up so she would stay warm, carrying her bag over his shoulder and her walker under his arm. He rushed to help him and, as soon as the little girl noticed him, she squealed in delight and extended her little arms at him.

"Kara!" Kurt exclaimed, grabbing her and hugging her tightly to his chest. "Hi, lovely. Hi. I missed you…"

Blaine watched them fondly as Kara booped her brother's nose with her mitten-covered hands, making him laugh with adoration. "It's too cold to be standing out here, let's get in the car."

"You're right," Kurt said, kissing her cheeks. "We don't want this pretty girl to get a cold, do we? No, we don't!" He added, with his voice pitched higher, making Kara giggle in delight. "I'll sit in the backseat with her."

"Of course you will," Blaine said, rolling his eyes, but secretly loving every second of Kurt and Kara together. He put the walker and the bag in the trunk of the car and opened the backseat door so Kurt could climb in with her.

Kurt buckled Kara in her baby seat before getting comfortable himself. "Where does my baby girl want to go?"

"I thought maybe we could go shopping?" Blaine asked as he sat on the driver's seat. "I didn't have time to buy all of the presents I needed to buy, so…"

"Honey, say no more," Kurt winked at him as he leaned closer to kiss Kara's forehead. "I'm in."

"I thought you'd be on board with this," Blaine laughed. "Good thing I have Kara's stroller in the trunk, because I have the feeling it'll be a long day."

"Oh, she's gonna love shopping with her dad-…" Kurt cut off his words, realizing what he had been about to say and cleared his throat awkwardly.

Blaine turned to look at him with loving eyes. "Maybe we do need to talk about how we're going to raise her…"

Kurt nodded without looking at him, a bit uncomfortably. "Sure. Just… not now. I just want to enjoy having her with us today. Please?"

"Okay," Blaine smiled and turned the engine on. "Let's go, then!"

Neither of them noticed, in their absolute bliss of being with Kara again, the solitary figure in a second floor window, watching them and crying bitter tears.

Shopping with a kid wasn't the easiest thing to do in the world. Kara didn't want to be put in the stroller now that Kurt was there and she would cry every time he let go of her. Blaine couldn't help but smile at that.

"You're lucky we're not buying clothes for me, young lady," Kurt muttered, schooching her sides and making her giggle. "But you're not going to do this to me every time we go out shopping."

"I have the feeling you'll have to get used to it, Kurt," Blaine laughed, taking his phone out of his pocket to snap a picture of Kurt and Kara.

"Oh, I don't think so," Kurt chuckled. "I just need to get this girl educated about the art of shopping." He paused and looked at Kara with narrowed eyes and asked suspiciously, "Kara… do you need to have your diaper changed?"

Kara didn't say anything. She just stared at him with her big, blue, adorable eyes as foul odor filled the air around them.

"She needs to have her diaper changed," Kurt sang, rolling his eyes and looking at Blaine. "Let's take her to the bathroom."

They walked through the mall in the direction of the bathroom, Kurt carrying Kara carefully away from his body and Blaine pushing the stroller with the diaper bag on it. But once they arrived at the hallway where the bathrooms were, they stopped.

"Uhm," Blaine muttered, biting his lip.

"How are we going to do this?" Kurt asked. He looked at the sign on the ladies' room that indicated that bathroom contained with a changing table for babies. "We can't go in there."

"And the men's bathroom isn't the cleanest place to change her…" Blaine said, hesitating.

"Why can't there be a changing table in the men's bathroom?" Kurt said, irritated. "Aren't there any single fathers out there or anything? This is so frustrating."

"Well, we need to change her somewhere…" Blaine looked around. There was a plastic bench against one of the walls next to a pay phone. "I guess that will have to do…"

Blaine put the changing mat on the bench and kneeled on the floor. Kurt put Kara down on it and sat next to her to stop her from falling off the bench if she moved too much. Blaine unbuttoned her clothes and took the dirty diaper off as Kurt kept her distracted with a toy.

"Hold her steady, sweetie," Blaine muttered as he tried to fasten the new diaper on place.

There was a snort and then a cold voice said. "I can't believe anyone would allow a couple of fags to take care of a child…"

They both turned around. There was a guy, probably in his late twenties, standing by the pay phone, staring at the with disgust. Kurt decided to ignore him and turned back to Kara to urge Blaine to quickly finish dressing her, but he saw Blaine's hands were shaking and the icy anger in his eyes and he knew it meant trouble.

"She's certainly better off with us than with a bigoted ignorant jackass like you," he said, with his jaw tense and his hands forming fists where they were resting next to Kara on the bench.

"Blaine…" Kurt muttered, warningly. "Don't. Let's just go…"

"Listen to your slut, homo," the guy smirked. "Take your perverted, disgusting imitation of a family somewhere else where I don't have to see it."

"I'm so sick of people like you," Blaine stood up, turning to face the tormenter. Kurt, whose hands were also shaking with nerves, quickly picked up their things and then grabbed Kara in his arms, ready to bolt with her if the idiot tried anything. "I don't want to listen to any of your narrow-minded opinions. Now get out of here and leave us alone."

Kara's lower lip started trembling until she burst out crying. Kurt shushed her and cuddled her against his chest. "Ssh, baby girl, it's alright…"

"And you know what I'm sick of?" The guys stepped closer to Blaine and Kurt was sure he was going to have a panic attack soon. "I'm sick of you freaks acting like we have to accept how abnormal you are. You shouldn't be together, you shouldn't get married and you shouldn't be able to have kids. You and your slut should be locked up somewhere where we don't have to see your faggy faces and you should take that brat with you, because I'm sure as hell she'll be just as sick as you two are!"

"Don't you dare talk to my boyfriend and my daughter like that!" Blaine snapped, taking a step forward, but not being able to get much further because Kurt grabbed his arm and tugged him back. "Who do you think you are to come over here and insult us?"

"Blaine, please…" Kurt begged. He had tears in his eyes now, and Kara wouldn't stop crying.

The other guy seemed about ready to punch Blaine in the face when another voice interrupted.

"What's going on here?"

They all turned around and saw a security guard standing at the end of the hall staring at them with an arched eyebrow.

"Nothing. We were just talking," the guy said, nonchalantly.

The security guard glanced at Kurt, who was trying to calm Kara and had tear tracks down his cheeks. He looked at the other guy, severely. "You better leave now if you don't want me to call the cops."

"Whatever. I'm not ever coming back now that I know what kind of people come here to shop," the guy shrugged and walked away after directing a last disgusted look at Kurt and Kara.

"You guys doing okay?" The security guard asked.

Kurt only nodded. Blaine was still really tense. "Yes. Thank you very much, sir."

"It's alright. Just be careful next time and try to avoid any arguments," the man smiled gently and then turned around and left too.

"Kurt…" Blaine wiped his tears away. "I'm so sorry. I just got so angry…"

"Let's just go to the car, please," Kurt muttered. Blaine immediately grabbed the rest of Kara's stuff that was still on the bench and followed Kurt outside with the stroller.

Kara soon calmed down but the crying must have exhausted her because by the time they reached Blaine's car in the parking lot, she had fallen asleep on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt sat in the backseat with her, holding her safe in his arms and hummed softly as he rubbed her back.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that," Blaine said as soon as he sat on the driver's seat. He turned to be able to look at Kurt. "I'm just do damn tired of the hate we get here all the time and not being able to be ourselves. I'm sick of this town and its people…"

"I know you are, Blaine," Kurt murmured, kissing Kara's head and rocking her slightly. "But you can't do this, Blaine. You just can't. What if that guard never showed up? What if that guy tried something? What if he hurt you? What if he tried to do something to Kara? We can't take that risk."

Blaine covered his face with his hands. "I know. I know. Gosh."

"We've dealt with this a million times. We can take it for a few more months," Kurt extended his free hand to grab one of Blaine's hands and pull it from his face. "It'll be alright."

Blaine nodded as he swallowed and closed his eyes to try and let some of the tension slip from his body.

Kurt hesitated, but before he could stop himself, the words were escaping through his lips. "You called Kara your daughter."

Blaine's eyes snapped open. "W-what?"

"You called Kara your daughter," Kurt repeated, holding his breath.

"I… I didn't realize I had," Blaine seemed a bit uneasy, as if hoping Kurt wasn't mad. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't be," Kurt shook his head. "She'll legally be like your daughter. I guess it makes sense that you think of her like that…"

"But she's your sister…" Blaine replied.

"She is," Kurt said. "But… if you think about it, if… when we decide to have kids in the future, we'll adopt them and… it would be a lot like this, I guess. I don't even know what I'm saying." Kurt blushed and turned to face the window.

"I don't want things to be weird for you…" Blaine reached out to cup Kurt's cheek.

"Weird? I think things are already quite weird in my life," Kurt gave him a crook smile.

"We don't have to decide this now," Blaine shrugged. "We still have time."

"Right," he turned his head and kissed Blaine's warm palm. "Now drive, silly. I wanna go home."

"Yes, dear," Blaine winked before turning the engine on and pulling out of the parking lot.

Finn and Burt got home late that night. They had been at the garage after Finn had insisted he wanted to help Burt at the shop for a little bit. Burt knew that working on cars was one of Finn's favorite ways to bond with him, and he had to admit it was one of his, too, so he had allowed him to join him.

Carole had the night shift at work, so Burt had been thinking about enjoying a night with his boys at home all day. But when he walked into the living room, he stopped short in his tracks.

Kurt and Blaine were asleep together on the couch. A movie was playing on the TV, long forgotten by the boys, who were wrapped in a blanket they always kept on the back of the sofa for exactly that reason.

Burt had walked in on his son and his boyfriend sleeping together on the couch numerous times. It wasn't that that had made him freeze. It was the baby sleeping between them with her tiny hand fisting Kurt's shirt and with Blaine's hand resting on her little back as if he was keeping her in place, making sure she was safe even while he was asleep.

He was struck by the fact that those three looked so naturally perfect together, as if they had already been a family for years. He looked at Kurt and didn't see his still teenage boy who was in his first year of college. He saw an adult man, sleeping on the couch with his husband and his baby daughter…

"Oh, whoa, I wasn't expecting that," Finn said, standing next to Burt and already munching on some snacks he had found in the kitchen.

"Ssh, let them sleep," Burt put a hand on Finn's shoulder and guided him back out of the living room.

"So, uhm," Finn scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "That's Kurt's sister?"

Burt sighed and nodded slowly. "That's their little girl."

Finn looked at him, confused, but instead of asking more questions, he just popped another snack into his mouth.

Kurt woke up startled, to a soft cry. He opened his eyes and took only two seconds to remember he had fallen asleep next to Blaine and Kara while watching some animated movie they had found on TV.

"Sh, Kara, sh," he said soothingly, standing up with the baby and leaving the room quickly so they wouldn't wake up Blaine. "What's up, sweetie? Are you hungry?" He walked into the kitchen but he stopped when he saw Burt was sitting there, with a cup of coffee and the newspaper spread on the table, looking at him. "Dad… hi."

"Hi," Burt smiled slowly.

"I, uhm," Kurt took a deep breath. He took a few steps closer to his father. "This is Kara. Say hi, Kara."

Kara blinked as she stared at Burt, curiously.

"She looks so much like you…" Burt muttered, unable to take his eyes off the girl.

"That's what Blaine says," Kurt smiled and it seemed to Burt that it was kind of a proud smile. He walked to the fridge and opened it. "Let's see… Blaine said he put some of her food in here…"

Blaine came into the kitchen in that moment, yawning. "Bottom shelf, honey."

"Oh, there it is!" Kurt grabbed a plastic container and, before moving to the counter, passed Kara into Blaine's arms as he sat at the table. "Hold her while I heat her food."

Blaine sleepily kissed Kara's hair and nuzzled his nose against it, loving how soft it was.

"You two look like an old married couple sometimes," Burt chuckled fondly.

Blaine's lips curled up in a pleased smile, but Kurt looked at his father over his shoulder with an arched eyebrow. "I'm sorry? I heard you say I'm old?"

"Fine. Married couple, then," Burt rolled his eyes. "The way you two act around each other…" Taking a deep breath, he gathered courage to say his next words. "You're going to be amazing with Kara. It's so obvious just by seeing you guys with her for two minutes. You're going to be excellent parents or guardians or brothers or whatever it is you decide you want to call what you are for her."

Kurt, who had been pouring her food from the plastic container into a glass bowl so he could put it on the microwave, turned around and looked at his father with big, bright eyes. "Do you mean that?"

"I mean that," he nodded. "I've always wanted you to go see the world or have amazing experiences and try new things or just have a great time and do what I didn't get to do when I was younger… but maybe this is right for you. Maybe you don't need to wait when you already have what makes your life perfect here within reach…"

Kurt dropped on the counter the spoon he had been using and crossed the kitchen in three long strides to envelop his father in the fiercest of hugs as Blaine looked on with a pleased smile.

Maybe things were starting to fall into place.

Kurt said goodbye to Blaine and Kara on Christmas Eve. Blaine had said that he wanted to take the girl to Katherine so she could spend some time with her on Christmas and that he would pick her up the next day before coming back to the Hummel's house.

Once he was alone with his thoughts (it was incredible the enormous distraction that being around a nine month old baby provided. He had barely had time to think), memories invaded him.

His memories had mostly faded, childhood moments blurred by the passage of time. There was one Christmas Eve he remembered particularly, from when he was around five. His mother had tucked him in bed and kissed his cheek and right before she closed the door behind him after saying goodnight, he had stopped her.

"Mommy?"

"Yes, baby?" She tilted her head to look at him with a little smile.

"I've been a very good boy this year, haven't I?" He asked, biting his lip.

"Of course, Kurt," she walked back into the room and sat on the edge of his bed, resting a hand on his chest. "Are you worried Santa isn't going to bring you any presents?"

"I didn't ask for presents this year," Kurt answered, hugging his teddy bear a little closer. "I asked Santa to bring me friends I can play with."

Katherine blinked and frowned. "What about your friends at school?"

"I don't have any since I told Tommy he had pretty eyes," Kurt looked incredibly miserable. "They tell me I'm weird and they push me around…"

"Oh, baby," Katherine pulled him into her arms and nested him against her chest.

Kurt couldn't remember what she had said after that, but he did remember seeing her cry and not understanding why.

Santa didn't bring him friends the next morning. Under the tree, he found beautiful new clothes and that fairy tales book he had fallen in love with at the book store when he had been there with his mom. The one with pretty princeses, all with beautiful dresses on the cover. There was also a big, plastic truck, which remained completely untouched.

Kurt tossed and turned on the bed endless hours, trying to shove those thoughts and memories to the back of his mind where they belonged. But as the darkness around him became thicker, the house grew more and more silent and night advanced slowly towards the day, he couldn't sleep. His mother was everywhere, in a way she hadn't been in years. For a moment, he almost swore he could feel the touch of her lips to his cheek and before his eyes flashed the images of hundreds of goodnight kisses she had given him.

By the time morning came and he could hear Carole and his Dad moving around the kitchen, he was beyond tired and his mood was grim. Knowing there was no point in staying in bed, he got up and, after slipping into one of Blaine's hoodies that he had stolen from his boyfriend to take to New York with him, he went down the stairs, not even bothering to fix his hair.

But once he stood at the kitchen's doorway, he froze. This wasn't the house where he had grown up. It wasn't the same place where he had lived with his mother. Still, he could see Katherine in that kitchen, so clearly, as if she was really there. He could remember the smells of breakfast and her freshly washed hair mixed together and it hit him like a freight train. He could see her dancing around the table as she set down the plate with toast before dancing her way to the fridge to get the orange juice…

"Good morning, kiddo!" Burt said with a smile, snapping Kurt out of his daze. "Merry Christmas!"

Kurt forced a smile of his own onto his lips. "Merry Christmas to you, too, Dad, Carole."

"I'm making French toast, sweetheart, just the way you like them!" Carole announced happily. "Sit down and I'll get you some in a minute."

Normally, Kurt would have helped Carole even if she didn't ask him to, but today he was too tired. He sat at the table and thanked his father when he poured him a cup of coffee, but he was still lost in his thoughts.

"When is Blaine joining us again?" Carole asked as she put his plate in front of him.

"I think he was going to stay with his parents for lunch," Kurt answered, trying to pay attention to what his step-mom was asking. "He should be here sometime in the afternoon."

"Wonderful," Carole sat down next to him and kissed his cheek. "I bought him a sweater. He'll look very cute in it."

"He looks cute in everything," Kurt agreed, smiling fondly.

Kurt tried to focus on his conversation with Carole. He tried to join her and Burt in their teasing when Finn showed up in the kitchen about an hour later, with his hair disheveled, one sock missing and asking about presents. He tried to open his presents with enthusiasm. He replied to all the text messages his friends sent him.

But he wasn't really there. He was lost in an echo of times that were long gone and wrapped in his mother's memory, unable to break free.

"You're very quiet," Blaine muttered, with his eyes fixed on the road, as he drove to the motel.

Instead of picking up Kara before going to the Hummel's house, as they had agreed, he had stopped to see Carole before she had to leave for her shift at work and, allow Katherine more time with her daughter on their last Christmas together.

Kurt was looking out the window, still in the same brooding mood he had been in since the previous night. "I'm tired. I diddn't sleep too much last night."

"Everything alright?" Blaine eyed him with concern.

Kurt just nodded.

"Kurt…"

"Maybe all of this is getting to me," Kurt sighed. "Maybe knowing that I'm running out of time is getting to me."

Without taking his eyes off the road, Blaine reached to grab Kurt's hand, stroking his knuckles with his thumb soothingly. "I wish I could go through all of the pain and the confusion for you…"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I think you're already doing enough. I don't know what I'd do without you, Blaine. You've managed to keep me sane through all of this drama."

Blaine parked in his usual spot next to the stairs and squeezed his hand. "I just want to make you happy."

Kurt leaned cupping Blaine's face gently. "As long as you're with me, I'll be happy, no matter what."

"Good," Blaine muttered against his lips before kissing him deeply and softly. "Okay, I'm going in for Kara. It'll be just a minute."

"Sure," Kurt nodded with his stomach twisting as he watched Blaine pull away and get out of the car to run up the stairs.

He was alone with his thoughts again. Everything he had been thinking of since the previous night came back suddenly, making his ears buzz and his head ache. He felt the goodnight kisses and the million I love yous and the arms wrapped around him every time he had a nightmare and his mother's laugh as they danced around the kitchen table and her lips pressing against his knee where he had a big scrape after falling off his bike, and then Burt's sad eyes when he came back from school to an empty house and the news that his mom was gone, dead, vanished.

Kurt was out of the car before he even knew what he was doing. He heard the sound of his steps as he ran up the stairs with his heart racing and his ears buzzing even louder. He couldn't see anything, he just knew he was moving.

One of the doors on the second floor opened then, and the wind carried the sound all the way to Kurt.

"Say bye to mommy, Kara!" Blaine exclaimed cheerfully.

Kurt was blinded by the mixture of confusing feelings swirling inside of him and only stopped once he was standing at that same door.

"K-Kurt?" Blaine's eyes went wide when he noticed his boyfriend was there at his side. "What are you doing, sweetheart?"

Kurt forced himself to keep his gaze on the other boy. He ignored Kara's arms extending to him, asking to be held. "Take Kara to the car, Blaine."

"Kurt…" Blaine muttered, warily.

"Please, Blaine," Kurt said firmly. He could see from the corner of his eye a frail figure standing a few steps away from the door and his heart wouldn't stop beating wildly. "Just… Just take Kara with you. I'll be down in a few minutes."

Blaine glanced between Katherine and Kurt, hesitantly, but he finally nodded. He kissed his boyfriend's cheek. "Fine. Let me know if you need me, honey."

Kurt made a gesture that was supposed to be a nod, but he wasn't sure if it came out right. Blaine reluctantly walked away with Kara, who had started pouting when Kurt didn't pay any attention to her, as she looked over his shoulder before he climbed down the stairs.

Kurt entered the room and pushed the door closed. He took a deep breath before he finally looked up.

It was like a punch to the stomach to see the woman standing in front of him. She didn't quite match the memory Kurt had kept all these years. She was thinner, not as tall as he remembered her, and terrifyingly pale. Her face was gaunt and there were dark marks under the blue eyes that looked so much like his and Kara's, but they already looked so lifeless at the same time.

She looked truly sick.

Kurt couldn't find any words at first. He just stared at her, not knowing what he was feeling and with his mind gone completely blank after all those hours of recalling every memory he had of her.

Katherine waited, uncertainly, twisting her hands together nervously and with her gaze wandering all over him as if she was trying to recognize in the man the boy she had left behind over ten years ago.

When he stayed silent for what seemed a very long time, Katherine sighed and decided to try and break the ice somehow, even though she had no idea what to say now that she actually had her son right there in front of her.

"Blaine is amazing," she said timidly. "I can see why you love him so much…"

Her voice. Her voice was exactly the same. Neither the time nor her illness had affected it at all and it seemed to finally wake Kurt up from whatever daze he was in.

"Why?" He asked, because it all came down to that. "Just… why?"

"Kurt…" Her face crumbled and she immediately seemed on the verge of tears.

"I totally understand what it's like to have a dream you need to follow," Kurt said, feeling himself getting angrier and angrier every second, unable to stop it from spreading all over him. "I swear, I do understand that. But did you really need to leave your family behind? Did you really feel the need to walk away from us without even a word of fucking explanation? Without ever asking for our support?"

Katherine lowered herself slowly onto a chair that was near her, but didn't say anything.

"Didn't you think about maybe discussing what you wanted to do with Dad?" He needed it all out. He couldn't let all that resentment eat at him like a poison. "He would've tried to understand. He loved you so much. He would've moved to the end of the earth for you. Or was it because you didn't love him anymore? Didn't we mean enough to you to even try to keep us in your life?"

"It wasn't anything like that, Kurt," she said weakly.

"Then, what was it?" He practically screamed. "What? What was it about staying with us that made you so unhappy that you had to run away?"

"I was scared," Katherine replied, shaking her head. "I've always been scared. Your dad wasn't made for the life I dreamed of and I knew that dragging him with me would've made him miserable…"

"Don't you think that finding out his wife had abandoned him made him miserable, too?" Kurt asked bitterly, leaning back against the door, needing some sort of support.

"I know I made a mistake, Kurt," Katherine looked up at him with sad eyes. "Don't you think I've regretted it every day since I left? But I couldn't come back because you thought I was dead."

"So you're going to blame all this on Dad, now?" Kurt had never imagined himself talking so harshly to his mother, but he had never imagined these circumstances either.

"Of course not," Katherine brushed the hair that was falling on her forehead away. "He did what he had to do to protect you. But that doesn't mean I'm not sorry. I've thought of you non stop. I've imagined you growing up all these years and I can't believe how tall and handsome you've gotten…" a teary smile appeared on her face.

"Just… no," Kurt covered his eyes with his hand. "Don't do that. Don't try to get all sentimental on me as if I could just forgive and forget what you did."

"It's okay if you don't forgive me, Kurt," she muttered. "Really. It is. I just wanted to see you one last time and apologize, even though it doesn't count for much now…"

"No. You know what? It doesn't," there it was, the anger again. "It doesn't count at all. It's late. It's too late. We don't know each other anymore. I'm not the boy you remember and you're not the woman I remember, either. We're different people. We missed our train and you're going to be gone soon, anyway, so it doesn't fucking matter…" A sob escaped through his lips involuntarily and when he looked at her again, there were tears in his eyes. "You had no right to do this. I've already dealt with your death. I've accepted it. I've moved on. You can't just show up again and ask me to do it all over again. We're strangers now and I shouldn't feel like this! I've already lost my mom and that isn't you anymore!"

"Kurt, please…" she was crying now, too.

"This was a bad idea…" he muttered, pulling away from the door. "I don't know why I came here. I don't know why I thought this would help somehow…"

"I'm sorry," Katherine said again. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't the mother you deserved and I'm sorry that I'm complicating things for you now. I'm sorry that seeing me was useless for you. But thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the chance to see you…"

Kurt had his hand on his doorknob, but somehow he couldn't open the door, as if an invisible force was stopping him. He could feel the tear tracks on his cheeks. He felt as if he had a million things more to say, but at the same time, he felt he was finished.

"Kurt," she spoke almost in a whisper and at first he didn't know if he had imagined it or not. "I know I have no right to ask you anything… but please… I… Kara…"

"I know," he answered, and his voice sounded as tired and broken as hers. "I know."

And because he felt like he would completely break down if he didn't get out of there, he finally pulled the door opened and went out to the cold December air that hit his face like a slap.

He skipped down the stairs and towards Blaine's car as quickly as he could.