"Kurt?" Blaine's voice cracked and he swallowed back a sob, knowing he would have to be strong for Kurt.

At he sound of his name, Kurt looked up at Blaine like a deer in the headlights, hair seeming to have lost sheen and his face draw and aged, though had to have been the bad lighting of Santana's front porch flood light.

"Kurt?" he said again softly. Kurt licked his lips and his bottom lip trembled, but his head flopped back down to his chest. "Kurt, I'm going to take you home. Okay? And then you're going to tell me what's going on."

Kurt nodded and Blaine pulled him to his feet and eased him into the shotgun seat. Kurt rested his head against the cool glass, his breath leaving a small fog on the glass.

Blaine drove in silence, afraid to turn on any music. He desperately wanted to hold Kurt's hand, or kiss him and hold him against him and learn how he could fix whatever had broken this boy. Sneaking glances at Kurt every few seconds, Blaine was surprised by the accuracy of his thoughts. Kurt looked like a boy. He seemed stripped of all dignity and manhood, now he seemed like a young boy and Blaine wanted to shield him from the world.

"She's pregnant."

Blaine's heart stuttered and he held his breath, as if waiting for the punchline, but knowing there was none.

The two words held so many more. He said them clearly and it was as if those two words, hanging in the air, dissipated slowly into more words like "baby," "protection," "marriage," and the scariest "father."

Blaine opened his mouth to speak, but then Kurt spoke up again, voice a bit stronger. "But we don't even know if I'm the father! There's just a good amount of chance that it could be Puck's! That mutherfucker!" Kurt screamed, punching at Blaine's dashboard.

Blaine bit his tongue, knowing that Kurt was just going through his anger phase. "That asshole! I fucking hate him! And her! Goddam muther! Why? Why did this happen to me? Why did he have to screw my girlfriend? Why? Why?" Blaine looked over as Kurt dissolved into hysterics. Tears flowed down his face and Blaine pulled the car over to the side of the generally deserted road. He unbuckled his seat buckle and maneuvered himself into Kurt's seat, resting his legs over Kurt's and pulling him into a hug where Kurt buried his head into Blaine's neck.

Blaine was in an uncomfortable position and the gear shift dug into his back, but he stayed in that position for an hour while Kurt cried out his fear. Once Kurt had calmed down a bit, Blaine waited a few more minutes, ignoring the cold, sticky tears on his neck and shoulder.

"Alright, I'm okay. I'm okay," Kurt coughed out, throat dry and raw.

Blaine reached into his satchel and handed Kurt his water bottle.

Kurt nodded a thanks and drank.

Blaine shuffled back into his own seat and gripped the steering wheel. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he knew it would have to wait.

Blaine's heart was breaking. Every sob Kurt emitted make the vice around his heart curl in tighter and tighter until he wanted to cry too from the suffocating feeling in his chest. Kurt's eyes were puffy and bright red, making his green-blue irises pop from the contrast. His hair was disheveled as well as his clothes, and his lips trembled around the head of the water bottle.

Suddenly, without any warning, Kurt roughly brushed the back of his hand over his eyes, let out a heavy breath and sobered up immediately.

"Okay. Please take me home Blaine, I need to go to sleep, then figure out my next steps tomorrow."

Blaine nodded and slowly drove to Kurt's house, afraid of the man breaking down again, but Kurt was silent and still, his eyes unfocused on the stars.

"Are you going to be alright tonight? I can sleep over," Blaine offered.

"No, I-I'll be fine. I'm going to be okay. Thank you Blaine. See you later. I'll call you later."

Kurt held Blaine's gaze a few seconds longer than friends would, and Blaine was unsure of what to do. He wanted to kiss him, to hold him, to show him how much he cared and wanted to protect him. But he did nothing.

A small smile flickered on Kurt's lips like a dying flame and then the door closed and Kurt was walking to his door, holding his coat tight around him despite the unseasonably warm weather.

Originally only going to stay until Kurt got safely inside, it wasn't til Blaine saw the light turn on in Kurt's room that he drove home.

Blaine waited all night to hear from Kurt, but the call never came, a text was never sent.

Another day passed and Blaine still hadn't heard from Kurt.

Restless, Blaine finally sent a text to him and the response was immediate.

::So how are you feeling?:: Blaine

::I'm alright for now. Santana was in school, but we didn't really talk:: Kurt

::Wanna meet me at the Lima Bean?:: Blaine

::Yes. See you in 15:: Kurt

"I don't know how to care for a baby, Blaine. And the worst is knowing that I may be worrying all for nothing. But at the same time...I can't shake the feeling that the child is mine."

"Santana won't go to Planned Pregnancy?" Blaine asked.

"She doesn't want to, and I don't agree with it either. If she wanted to, I might reconsider the options, but no matter how Puck reacts, she is going to have the baby."

Blaine almost choked on his coffee. "Wait, she hasn't told Puck yet?"

Kurt frowned. "No. And she wants me to be with her when she tells him. To protect her. That's why she told me first."

"Kurt. What if he acts violently?"

"I can take him. I don't work out for nothing. And I wouldn't let him touch her."

"Do you love her?"

Kurt stared at Blaine and his eyes dropped to his coffee. "No. But I can learn to. I can try. Not just for her, but for the child."

Not consciously thinking of his action, Blaine reached across the small table and held Kurt's hand, the rest of the world seeming to totally disappear behind him.

Kurt fixed on Blaine with steel in his eyes. "Blaine. No."

"No what?" Blaine asked, confused.

Kurt slid his hand away out from under Blaine's. Kurt spoke slowly, picking his words carefully. "Blaine, you're my best friend, and...you mean a lot to me, more than I want to admit to myself. But my life is about to become very difficult and...and I might be a father. We can't be anything more than friends. No matter how we feel, we're both straight and I need to care for Santana...possibly as h-her h-husband."

Blaine's hand stayed on the table, like a dare. "I'm going to stay with you though. I'm going to help you through this."

Kurt bit his bottom lip. "I knew you would. Thank you. You are...the best friend I've ever had."

[4 Weeks into Pregnancy]

"Hey Santana, what's Kurt doing here? Hell no, I'm not doing a three-way with two guys, I'm no fag."

"Shut it Puckerman and sit down," Kurt said.

"Hello Kurt, we haven't talked in a while."

Kurt sneered at him and sat next to Santana on the couch. Puck sat in the arm chair, elbows on knees. "So what's up?"

"Puck I'm pregnant," Santana said curtly.

Puck froze. His mouth opened a bit with a smirk and only his eyes moved back and forth between Kurt and Santana. "Um, okay. So you want me to be the godfather or something?"

"The baby might be yours. You and I have an equal chance of being the sire," Kurt filled in.

Pucked laughed. "The 'sire?' What does that mean?"

Santana lashed at him, "The mutherfucking sperm donor you asshole!"

"No. No way. I'm not a father. I can't be. No."

Kurt sighed. "I'm sorry Noah, but Santana says it could either be you or me." Kurt stood up and moved to put his hand on Puck's shoulder. "We're going to try to-"

"Don't touch me!" Puck screamed, getting up and sprinting out the door.

"Puck! Wait!" Santana yelled, running out after him. "Please! We're in this together! Don't desert us!"

"I don't give a fuck who's bastard it is! If Kurt wants to waste his life with you, then you two be happy! I on the other hand and going to live and not be stuck here with a whore!"

With those words having been screamed out his window, Puck sped off, some dirt on the side of the road kicking up.

Santana fell to her knees and cried. Kurt knelt down beside her and gathered her in his arms, knowing there would be grass stains on his back pockets when he got up later.

"I hope the baby is yours so that he or she never has to even know that monster."

Kurt made a sound of acknowledgment, but could not ignore the awful binding that suddenly seemed to enclose his world from her words.