Seven years after Blaine had joined Kurt in New York, the boys found themselves in completely different paths than either of them could have imagined. After Kurt had graduated from NYADA, he found that although he still enjoyed performing and going on auditions for small roles in off-Broadway musicals, he could never quite get away from working his way up at and eventually landed himself a job working as a writer for the actual magazine. Now at twenty-six, he got to judge outfits and styles, go to fashion week not only in New York, but Paris and Milan too, he was absolutely where he never thought hed be but exactly where he knew he belonged.

Blaine, on the other hand, had found that although NYADA was a great school that he enjoyed being at, after a summer job at a music camp for young children, his dream of being a musician transformed to a passion that he wanted to share and develop in others. After much discussion with Kurt, writing pros and cons list (thanks to Kurt), he had transferred to NYU with a major in elementary education and a minor in music performance. At twenty-five, he was the music teacher at an exclusive private school in Brooklyn.

The boys lived in a small, but comfortable, apartment that was loft-style. The floor plan was open and their bed was on a platform that they used a ladder to get to. It was beautifully decorated (even without working at Vogue, Blaine never thought it would be anything less then gorgeous) in light colors that gave an airy feel and opened the place up.

Though they were not where they had planned to be when they were thinking about their futures back in high school, both men loved where their lives had taken them and loved each other. The only set back to where they were, were Blaines parents. Without his decision to follow his parents into the white-collar world of business or becoming a lawyer or doctor, they were unwilling to support him after he graduated. Blaine was never surprised by their decision; it had been the same for Cooper when he had moved to California to pursue acting. The Andersons just could never understand the arts world and were unwilling to get on board with their sons choosing that path. When Blaine moved in with Kurt, communication between him and his parents became strained. They could never fully accept his sexuality, but now that he was living with another boy, well it was more than they could handle.

Even with the lack of support from his parents, Blaine loved Kurt and loved Kurts family who eagerly accepted him as one of their own, and the two boys made due with what they had.

MAY

It was not unusual for Blaine to come home with pain in his back. He was never one to run out of energy, something that exhausted Kurt to even think about, so he was often standing or dancing all day while at school. Because of this, at first Kurt didnt even think twice when he started coming home finding Blaine lying down with a heating pad on his lower back.

"Blaine, honey, where are you?" Kurt asked as he walked into the apartment; it was silent and dark.

"Up here." His voice was muffled but came from their bed.

Kurt took his shoes off, put them on the rack, and then quickly made his way up the ladder, only to find his boyfriend face down on their bed with a heating pad covering his back.

He smiled, "Too much dancing today?"

Blaine turned his head to look at him and gave a pained smile, "I couldnt even do much, my back started locking up early this morning. I had to do most of the lessons from the piano bench."

Kurts eyebrows furrowed as he walked to sit on the edge of the bed, his hand rubbing just above where the heating pad stopped, "Did you pull a muscle maybe?"

"I dont know."

He leaned down and placed a kiss on his temple before moving the heating pad to the bed and straddled the back of Blaines thighs. He began massaging his back to work out any kinks, "What am I going to do with you falling apart on me? I didnt realize I was dating such an old man."

"Hey! Youre older than me." Blaine huffed.

"And yet my back is perfectly fine."

"Yea well, if my back is going to go out first, that means youre going to be the one to lose his hair first."

Kurt gasped, "You may lose your hair but that is never going to happen to me."

Blaine laughed, "Ok, Ill do all the old stuff then and you can be my hot cougar gold digging boyfriend then. That means youll still have to like me when I cant walk and am always in pain; when Im bald, when I need to wear diapers…do you think you can handle that?"

"Well as a gold digger that means once you die I get all your money and can move on to someone young and hot right?" He teased.

Blaines hand came back and playfully swatted his knee, "Not funny."

Kurt stopped rubbing his back for a moment and leaned up to kiss his cheek, "I will love you no matter how old and wrinkle-y you get."

"Promise?"

"Forever."

Blaine sighed and closed his eyes contently.

Kurt found this scene happening more and more as the weeks went on. He would come home to Blaine in bed, and sometimes on the couch because he was in too much pain to make it up to their bed. Kurt would either give him a massage or draw a warm bath to try and help alleviate the pain. Though he would temporarily find relief, the dull ache began to morph into a sharper pain and eventually, about three weeks after it began, it reached a point that Kurt could no longer ignore.

Blaines alarm rang out and pulled Kurt from his sleep. Although they tended to leave for work at the same time, Blaine liked to wake up earlier than Kurt so that he could shower and get ready. Kurt, on the other hand, liked to lie in bed, slowly waking up, and then get ready while Blaine made them breakfast.

He stretched the muscles in his arms and legs and as Blaine sat up, he heard a groan from the other boy. Although this would not seem abnormal, hearing your partner groan as they woke up and faced another day of work when theyd much rather stay in bed and sleep, this was not normal for Blaine. Since his major change, he had loved every second of teaching, including waking up at 6am to get ready for the day. Kurt had never seen someone so excited to get ready for work, even he, who loved his job, did not find waking up to be pleasurable. Because of this, Kurt opened his eyes too look at his boyfriend who was sitting at the edge of his side of the bed with his hands holding his lower back.

"Are you ok?" Kurt asked, concerned.

He took a deep breath, "Im…yea, Im fine." He nodded his head a little even though he was facing away from Kurt.

"Youre back is still hurting?"

"Yea, its pretty bad today."

Kurt sat up and came behind him, a leg on both sides of him so that Blaines back was resting into his front. He put his hands between them and started kneading his lower back with his thumbs while he rested his head on Blaines shoulder.

"Maybe its time to see a chiropractor?"

Blaine moaned a little when Kurt hit a particularly painful spot, "No, Im ok."

"Blaine, you must have really messed something up to be in this much pain. Carole had a back problem last year, threw it out I think, and was stuck on the couch for a week, she said the chiropractor really helped."

"Its probably nothing."

Blaine groaned from the pain.

"Well its definitely not nothing." He pointed out.

"I just…I dont know, they freak me out."

"Chiropractors?" Kurt smiled a little, "What freaks you out about a chiropractor?"

Blaine moaned again, "Just…I dont know it just seems unnatural to me and Im scared Im going to be paralyzed or that…I dont know its just freaky."

"Ive been to one before, it feels really good. If youre so scared Ill come with you and hold your hand."

"Im not scared."

"You sound scared." He teased lightly.

"Im not—I need to get ready."

"Fine, but well talk about this when I get home tonight."

"Of course."

Kurt smiled and kissed him when Blaine turned to him also smiling, though he could see the pain in his eyes. "I love you." He said as he backed away to lay back down.

Blaines smile was a little wider as he began to stand up, "Prom—"

He never got to finish.

As he stood and went to take a step, Blaine promptly fell to the ground with a grunt.

Kurt quickly got off the bed and knelt next to him, "Blaine! Are you ok?"

Blaines eyes were closed tightly, pain obvious on his face. His body was huddled in a ball, "Kurt." It was said through a painful breath.

"What…what happened?" Kurts hands shook from where they hovered over his boyfriends body, not sure whether to touch him or not.

After a few deep breaths he slowly uncurled, though not completely, and opened his clenched eyes, "I just…I stood up and when I took a step, I dont know, my foot just didnt go."

Kurt tried to stay calm. He tried not to panic.

"Ok…ok…umm…well, lets get you back to the bed ok? Are you ok to move?"

"Yea…yea, its just my back but…no worse then before, when I fell it cramped up but its ok now."

Kurt helped Blaine to his feet, mostly dragging him up, and watched as he attempted to take a step, his feet didnt seem to be following. He stumbled a little, but Kurt held him upright.

"I dont…Kurt whats wrong with my feet?" He looked so scared.

"Im not sure. Look, well just get you back in bed and you can rest for a little while. Try to relax, when youre feeling better though, Im making an appointment with a chiropractor. Maybe you have a slipped disk or something."

"I cant even make it two step back to the bed, how am I going to make it down the ladder? Through the subway?"

Kurt stood there for a moment looking at his boyfriends scared face, he kept one arm around his waist to support him but placed the other on his cheek and leaned in to kiss him, "Well figure this out, ok? Just relax, stressing out wont help."

"Ok," Blaine nodded, "Ok."

"Ok," He nodded a little as well before looking between Blaine and the bed, "First things first," He bent down and picked his boyfriend up, gently, before taking the one step to the bed and lowering him down carefully, "Just rest for a little while, Im going to call us both out for today and then make some breakfast, ok?"

"Ok…do you think I could have the heating pad?"

Kurt pushed the curls away from his forehead and leaned down to kiss him there, "Of course."

After Blaine was situated, Kurt made a phone call to the chiropractor he had seen, but was told Blaine would need a referral and that they should just go to the doctor first. He called Blaines primary doctor who couldnt fit him in that day. He told Kurt to just take him into the emergency room since he was in so much pain. Kurt made a quick breakfast of omelets and orange juice and brought them up to Blaine.

"How are you feeling?" He placed the tray of food on the night stand and sat next to Blaines side.

"Ok, I guess."

"Do you think you can eat?"

Blaine nodded, and with Kurts help he sat up with pillows propped behind him. They ate quickly and Kurt cleared the plates and glasses, bringing them down to the kitchen, before returning to the bedroom.

"Do you want to try getting down the ladder? Ill bring clothes and you can just get changed down there."

He nodded and allowed Kurt to help him stand. Though his back still had shooting pains, his feet seemed to be cooperating for the moment, though Kurt kept an arm around his waist the entire five feet to the ladder.

"Ill go first just in case you fall."

"Ok."

Kurt began climbing down, Blaine following closely behind. He stood at the bottom and kept both his hands around Blaines waist as he descended the last few steps. When he was all the way down, he led him to a chair that Blaine was grateful to sit in. Kurt then went back up the ladder to retrieve some clothes.

"Do you have boxers on under those shorts?"

Blaine looked down for a moment, "uh... no."

Kurt returned a moment later handing him deodorant while he sorted the clothes he had. After Blaine put it on, he capped it and placed it on the table.

"I figured youd want to go with comfortable today, but I brought down jeans too just in case."

"No, you were right. The running pants are good."

Kurt smiled before grabbing a dark grey long sleeved t-shirt and handing it to Blaine who put it on quickly, wincing a little at the pain when he stretched his arms upwards.

"Do you need help with the bottoms?"

Blaine thought for a moment and attempted to stand up, only to quickly fall back into the seat when a sharp pain ran through his back, "Yes." His voice was pained.

"Ok, Im going to help you lift just a little, then you can sit back down until I get them up again ok?"

Blaine nodded and placed his arms around Kurts neck for support. He gritted his teeth as Kurt lifted him slightly and tugged his shorts down, he sat back on the chair, naked from the waist down as Kurt pulled his shorts the rest of the way down and off.

"God, this is embarrassing."

Kurt stopped what he was doing, placing the boxers he brought down inside the black pants so that he wouldnt have to move Blaine twice, and looked at his boyfriend, rolling his eyes, "Nothing I havent seen before."

"No, but youve never had to help me get dressed."

"After the slushy incident I helped you get dressed."

"When? Im pretty sure my mother would have been highly against that."

"Well when they didnt show up at the hospital, who do you think got you out of the gown and back into your clothes? Mommy dearest never knew."

"I dont remember that."

"You were on so many drugs, Im not surprised."

Blaine laughed a little and Kurt turned towards him and helped him get into his pants and boxers, once again lifting him slightly to get them up around his waist.

"There, perfect."

Blaine looked at him and brought a hand up to the curls on his head that he was sure were frizzy from sleep, "We need to do something about my hair, and I need to brush my teeth."

Kurt looked at his head for a moment before turning to go into the bathroom. He returned with Blaines toothbrush, toothpaste, his gel, a brush, and a washcloth. He placed them next to Blaine then made his way to the kitchen, returning with a bowl of water.

Blaine brushed his teeth as Kurt quickly placed some gel in his hair, just enough to tame the frizz that had formed. Once he was finished, Kurt returned all of the items and they were ready to go. The walk down the four flights of stairs in their apartment building was slow and painful for Blaine. Luckily, they were able to quickly hail a cab and within a half an hour of arriving at the hospital, Blaine was being wheeled into a room.

Three hours after their arrival, Blaine had been subjected to an MRI, multiple reflex and stretch tests, a blood test, and a CT scan of his spinal cord.

"I hope we can get out of here soon, Im starving." Blaine whines.

"Youre always starving," Kurt teases but looks down at his watch, "Ill go see if someone can tell us when we can go, its been a while since anyone has been in here."

Just as Kurt was standing up to find a nurse, a man in a suit with a stethoscope around his neck walked into the room.

"Good afternoon, my name is Dr. Riter," He shook Blaines hand first and then Kurts, "I wanted to come by so we can discuss the results of the tests youve had this afternoon, Mr. Anderson."

Kurt watched the man, the way he flipped through the pages of Blaines chart as if he was reading the information for the first time. Kurts eyes caught sight of the mans I.D. badge clipped onto his shirt pocket. Though the man standing before him had a receding hairline, he assumed the picture had been taken years ago if his full head of hair and lack of wrinkles meant anything. He began to smile until his eyes fell on the writing on the badge.

Kevin Riter, M.D.

Oncology Department

Kurts heart dropped and he quickly finds Blaines hand and squeezes it tightly, "What did the results show?" his voice shakes and Blaine gives him a questioning look that Kurt ignores, his eyes fixed on the man in front of him.

Dr. Riter clears his throat and looks between at both men, down at their clasped hands, and then to Blaine, "Ive looked at all of the results to the series of tests that were run and it seems that the reason for the back pain and numbness in your legs are stemming from a mass located at the base of your spine."

"A mass?" Blaine asks on an exhale of breath and Kurt notices a tremor in the hand that he holds.

"Yes. Now, obviously we cant say for sure whether or not this tumor is—"

"Tumor? First you said mass and now youre saying tumor…does Blaine have cancer?"

Dr. Riters lips tug up at the corners in a smile grimace, as though he had not intended to use the word that was now echoing in Kurts head.

Tumor.

"Any mass located in the body is considered a tumor, but not all tumors are cancerous, either malignant or benign. Unfortunately the only way we will be able to determine this is through a biopsy. Id like to schedule this for as soon as possible so that we can figure this out quickly in the case that it is serious."

"What is the likelihood that it is serious? That it is cancer?" Kurt squeezes Blaines hand, he can tell that Blaine is not able to ask these questions for himself right now judging the far away look in his eyes. Hell be his strength.

"As I said, it is nearly impossible to determine this without a biopsy of the mass."

Kurt notes that he has stopped using the word tumor, "But?"

Dr. Riter hesitates, "Based on Blaines labwork, the shape and formation of the mass, the symptoms he has presented…the likelihood that it is more than just a mass of fatty tissue is quite high. Of course, while we are taking the biopsy we will also attempt to remove the mass, hopefully, no matter what the origin, this will help alleviate the pain and symptoms."

Kurt looks at Blaine, he hearts his own heart beating quickly and the sound of rushing water in his ears. The look on Blaines face gives him the impression that he feels similarly.

"Im going to schedule the surgery for later today, Ill have someone come in to let you know the details."

Kurt nods but doesnt look away from Blaine, who is staring at him with fear in his eyes. He barely notices the doctor leaving the room, and while keeping eye contact, stands up and sits at the edge of the bed. Kurt keeps his one hand connected to Blaines and moves the other to rest against Blaines cheek.

He smiles a little, "Im here."