Blaine was woken up the following morning by something clamping down onto his wrist and the front of his t-shirt soaked through. He reached out with his left hand to find his glasses on the bedside table before pushing them up his nose and opening his eyes. He was met with the sight of Kurt, crying silently yet heavily into his chest, hot wet tears pouring down his cheeks.

"Kurt? Kurt what's wrong?" upon hearing the sound of Blaine's voice, Kurt began to cry audibly, now allowing his sobs to shake through his body, "Are you in pain?" Kurt just nodded, "Oh sweetheart," Blaine whispered, running his fingers back through Kurt's hair, frowning slightly at the warmth of Kurt's forehead.

Blaine turned to the bedside table, doing his best to not jostle Kurt, and picked up his pain meds and antibiotics.

"Ok, I know this is going to suck, but let's get you sitting and then you can take these, ok?" Blaine said softly, pressing a kiss to Kurt's temple when he nodded. Blaine moved and pulled Kurt up with him, letting him lean heavily into his torso. He poured out Kurt's medicines into their various measuring cups before handing them to Kurt who swallowed them down with a wince, "Here sweetie, I know you don't want to, but you just need to have a bit of water. You need you fluids Kurt," Kurt nodded with another sniff, taking the glass from Blaine and drinking down small sips until half of it was gone, "You feeling a little bit better?" Blaine asked, moving to lay them both down again.

"A little," Kurt said with a whimper, the pain he was feeling still evident in his voice.

"Why did you wait so long to take your meds? You know you can have them every four hours," Blaine asked.

"Didn't want to wake you,"

"Kurt," Blaine sighed, "I would rather you woke me as soon as you started to hurt rather than me waking up to find you in tears," Blaine finished, his tone was gentle as he kept running his fingers through Kurt's hair, "I don't like seeing you in pain,"

"Ok," Kurt whispered, his eyes falling shut again.

"I'm going to go and have a shower. Get some rest ok, and promise me that you'll call me as soon as you need something?" Blaine said as he moved out from under Kurt, laying him back down on the pillows.

"Promise," Kurt replied with a breath.

"Love you," Blaine said, pressing a kiss to Kurt's forehead before making his way into the bathroom.

00000

"Hey Blainey, how's Kurt this morning?" Cooper asked as he greeted Blaine once he had entered the kitchen, hair still wet from his shower.

"Not too good," Blaine answered, "The doctor told me that having your tonsils taken out as an adult is always worse than if you're a kid, but I wasn't expecting this," Blaine sighed, sitting down next to Cooper at the table and resting his head in his hands, "I woke up this morning to him crying. Kurt hardly ever cries due to physical pain," Blaine added, "But he was in a lot of pain Coop, and I kind of felt helpless. I mean, I know that I can give him his medicine and just be there for him, but it just sucks," Blaine finished with another sigh.

"I know Blaine. I know exactly how you feel," Cooper said as he placed an arm around Blaine's shoulders, "And it does suck; seeing the person that you love most in this world being in pain and knowing that there's nothing that you can do to take it away. You just have to remember that it's only temporary, that someday very soon, he's going to wake up and the pain will have lessened and then in a few more days it will have completely disappeared. Those are the things that you have to keep telling yourself. This isn't permanent," Blaine leaned into his brother, accepting the squeeze on his shoulder.

"Thanks Coop," Blaine said quietly.

"Just speaking from experience," Blaine looked up at his brother and Cooper just smiled at him, wrapping both of his arms around Blaine in a hug. "So what's the plan now? I know that you had stuff to do in these two weeks that you've taken off," Cooper asked as he and Blaine pulled apart.

"Yeah, I have a meeting with the lawyers this afternoon regarding the change of ownership of the salon, and I've got another meeting tomorrow morning with a realtor," Blaine replied.

"A realtor?" Cooper questioned, his brow furrowed in confusion, "Are you selling the salon?"

"No," Blaine answered quickly, Cooper still looked at him questioningly, "No, I'm not selling the salon. It's not technically mine until the end of next week. No, there's a small space next to the salon that's for sale and I was thinking about buying it, but I haven't talked to Kurt about it yet, so it's still an unknown prospect,"

"What would you do with it?" Cooper asked, now sounding curious after his earlier confusion.

"Well again, I haven't talked to Kurt about this and it's probably just a silly fantasy of mine, but you know how I put myself through that barbers night class a few years ago?" Cooper nodded I acknowledgement, silently asking Blaine to continue, "Well, when I saw that the space was for sale next door, I thought it might be the perfect space for a private barbers shop," Blaine finished, looking at Cooper for a response.

"Blaine that sounds like a great idea" Cooper enthused, "But how do you mean by ‘private barbers shop'?"

"A friend of mine has this private barbers shop just south of Brooklyn and what makes his different is that he only has one chair and works by appointment only, giving the client his full attention. I've been to visit his shop and it's amazing. It's all about personalising the experience. As he said, even men deserve to enjoy having their haircut. So I talked to him about opening my own, in conjunction with the salon, and he said to go for it. He doesn't have many clients from Manhattan, so we wouldn't be in competition with each other which is good because we have been pretty good friends since we met in the night class and I would hate to jeopardise that. But yeah, I thought that if I bought the space next door, I could do it up and just set aside some time each week to work behind that chair instead of being out on the salon floor,"

"Wow Blainey, I'm impressed. You've really put a lot of thought into this haven't you?" Cooper asked with an encouraging smile.

"Yeah, I have," Blaine nodded, his own smile growing, "I've been thinking about it for quite some time now, but I guess, after cutting Kurt's hair a couple of weeks ago, I guess it kind of rekindled my passion for it. I still love hairdressing, don't get me wrong, but there's just something about barbering that I love too. It's just so different from hairdressing, and I think being able to provide a comfortable yet private setting for my clients there, will just be the icing on the cake for me,"

"Well, I say go for it, and you know that Kurt is going to tell you to follow you passions,"

"I know, I just want to run it by him first before I make any final decisions, after all, he will also be an owner with me,"

"Hang on, I didn't know that you two were buying this together?" Cooper asked, although there wasn't really a tone of shock in his voice.

"Yeah, we discussed it a couple of days after Christine had asked if I wanted to buy her out. I mean, she's already made me lead stylist and I am essentially salon manager whenever she's not there. We had a staff meeting to tell everyone else what was going to happen, and they were all really supportive of Kurt and I taking over. We can both afford it, Vogue pays very well, as does my job, so there really wasn't much to consider. Kurt will stay with Vogue dot com and I will run the day to day workings of the salon and we will both discuss and agree on the bigger issues. It's been pretty seamless actually," Blaine finished with a grin.

"Well, all I've got to say is congratulations and I'm so proud of you Blaine," Cooper smiled, pulling Blaine in for another hug.

"Thanks Coop. It's going to be hard work, but I know that I can do it with Kurt's help,"

"I know you can to," Blaine pulled away from Cooper when his phone began vibrating on the table, "Kurt," was all Blaine said before rushing back down the hallway to their bedroom. He pushed open the door and saw Kurt lying awake in bed, "Hey sweetie, how are you feeling?" he asked as he sat down next to Kurt and placed his hand gently on Kurt's forehead, letting out a sigh of relief when he felt that his temperature had gone down.

"Just sore," Kurt replied quietly, "I'm sorry about this morning,"

"Hey, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm sorry that I didn't wake up sooner," Kurt shook his head at Blaine's words, signalling that it was ok and that they should stop apologising, "Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, just stay here until you have to leave for your meeting this afternoon," Blaine nodded in compliance, moving to lie down and pull Kurt against him.

"That I can do," he said as he placed a kiss to Kurt's hair, "Your hair's growing out nicely," he commented, nuzzling his nose into the short strands.

"I know," Kurt mumbled against Blaine's chest.

"Have you decided what you want to do with it?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm going to grow it out again," Kurt paused to swallow with a wince, "I loved how the short hair looked on me and I loved the feeling of you cutting it for me as a barber rather than a hairdresser, and I definitely loved how it felt when you would run your hands over my shorn hair, but I do miss you being able to play with it between your fingers," Kurt finished as he swallowed again, unable to suppress the small groan of pain that shot through his throat at the feeling.

"Hey you, take it easy," Blaine smiled, scratching at the hair at Kurt's nape, "That was a lot of words for someone who had surgery on their throat yesterday," Kurt just shook his head with a small smile, "But I'm glad that you're letting it grow out, as much as I agree with you on all of your positives for having short hair, I too also miss being able to run my fingers through it," Kurt hummed in content as Blaine tugged gently on a few of the longer pieces of his hair, "But since you brought up barbering, there is something that I wanted to discuss with you," Blaine continued to repeat everything that he had just told Cooper, to Kurt, watching Kurt's expression with every word he said. By the time he had finished, Kurt's expression was warm and he was smiling, "So you think it's a good idea?" Blaine asked. Kurt leaned up to press a kiss to Blaine's mouth.

"I think it's a great idea. We both know that we can afford the new space and who am I to keep you from following your dreams,"

"That sounded kind of cheesy," Blaine laughed.

"I know, but I think I'm getting to the stage where the painkillers are making me go a little loopy," Kurt giggled, "But I really do think it's a good idea Blaine, I just have one concern,"

"Which is?" Blaine asked; his voice now full of concern.

"Does that mean that your barbers chair will be relocated to a new home?" Blaine laughed at Kurt's question.

"Not at all sweetie," he grinned as he kissed Kurt's forehead, "I know that my grandma always wanted me to put it in my own salon one day, but I think it's found its home here, with us,"

"Now you're the one being cheesy," Kurt said as he giggled again, causing Blaine to grin even wider than before, "Did you know that you look kind of Asian when you smile that big," Kurt laughed.

"By the sounds of it, those painkillers must be doing a number on you," Blaine chuckled as he brushed a piece of hair off of Kurt's forehead, "It would make sense though, I am half Filipino,"

"No you're not," Kurt gasped.

"I am," Blaine laughed, "Kurt, you've met my Mom,"

"I know, but she didn't look that Asian?"

"She'll be glad you said that, she's always tried to hide her heritage,"

"That's sad," Kurt said with a yawn, "I like your heritage,"

"Kurt, did you know before today that I was part Asian?" Blaine asked, wondering why it had never come up before.

"I always kind of thought you were, but I asked Cooper about it when we were in California," Kurt answered, closing his eyes, the mix of medicine in his system clearly fogging his thoughts.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah," he whispered in reply.

"Get some sleep sweetie, when you wake up I'll be back from my meeting and your silliness should have work off," Blaine said with a laugh to himself.

"Ok," Kurt muttered before letting out a small snore. Blaine pressed another kiss to his forehead before moving their closet to pick out a presentable outfit to wear to his meeting in a couple of hours.

00

"Looking good Blainey," Cooper commented as Blaine stepped into the living room, Very professional,"

"Thanks Coop," Blaine grinned. He was just wearing black dress pants with an off-white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, "Do you think it needs a tie?" Cooper shook his head.

"No, I think if you matched a tie with that outfit, it would look like you were trying too hard," Blaine nodded at his brother's advice, "How was Kurt?"

"Loopy," Blaine chuckled, "We did manage to talk about what I told you and he thinks it's a really good idea, but after that he kind of lost it a little bit and told me that I look Asian when I grin really big," Cooper laughed out loud.

"It's true though, you definitely look more like Mom's side of the family when you laugh. You actually just look like Mom's side of the family in general," Cooper commented.

"I know, I just thought it was funny that Kurt had never mentioned it before,"

"I guess it doesn't matter to him," Cooper shrugged, "He loves you and that's a that matters,"

"You big softy Coop," Blaine laughed, leaning forward to nudge his brother's shoulder with his fist.

"It's true," Cooper replied with a grin, "So what are your plans for this afternoon then Blaine?"

"I'm going to head out soon and make my way over to the salon, see how the girls are getting on. Christine wants to go though a few things with me as well and then we'll meet with the lawyer later on,"

"Excellent, well good luck for this afternoon and I guess I'll see you when you get home,"

"Thanks Coop. And thank you for staying to look after Kurt,"

"It's no problem Blainey. You don't need to worry about anything, he probably won't need me, but I have my alarm set so that in two hours I can wake him up to take his next lot of painkillers and antibiotics,"

"Thank you. So I'll see you later?"

"See you later Blaine,"

00000

"Coop, I'm home," Blaine called out into his quiet house. His brow furrowed when he heard no reply, "Coop?" Blaine called again, making his way down the hallway. He stuck his head into Cooper's room, but it was empty. It was then when he stopped and listened, he could hear a soft noise coming from his and Kurt's room, "Kurt?" Blaine asked, opening the door, "Coop?" Blaine exclaimed, seeing his brother lying on top of his bed with his boyfriend curled around him, "What's going on?" Upon seeing Blaine, Cooper muted the TV.

"He woke up around an hour ago and started vomiting, I guess with the mix of anaesthetic still in his system and then all of the meds on top of that, his stomach wasn't really enjoying it. so after we got that sorted, he was in a boat-load of pain and I couldn't bear to leave him by himself, so I sat down next to him and I guess he's just so used to sleeping next to someone that he missed the comfort, so when he moved I didn't have the heart to move him off," Cooper finished with a shrug and he rubbed gently at Kurt's shoulder again.

"He was vomiting, shit, is he ok, are his stitches ok, what-?"

"Blainey," Cooper called softly, raising his hand to get his brother to slow down, "He's fine. I called his doctor to see what I should do and she said that the vomiting wouldn't disrupt his stitches, but it could irritate them, so we just have to make sure that he is getting plenty of fluids and stick to his routine of when we can give him more painkillers and antibiotics,"

"Thank you Coop," Blaine breathed, sitting down on his side of the bed, on the other side of Kurt, "Kurt, sweetie, come here," Blaine cooed softly, placing a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, his voice was groggy and his eyes were glazed with pain and meds.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm home," Kurt sighed in relief and rolled over slowly and into Blaine's embrace, "Thanks Coop,"

"Anytime," Cooper replied with a dismissive wave of his hand, "So how did your afternoon go?"

"Exactly as planned. The girls were all happy to see me and they had all signed a card for Kurt, which is on the table next to the door, and then Christine and I caught up and made sure we were both on the same page. By the time we had finished the lawyer was there and we signed all of the documents that needed to be signed today, which means that from Friday next week, the salon will be ours," he smiled down at Kurt.

"Does Kurt need to sign anything?"

"Not at this stage. Once I have full ownership, then he will sign his part of the contract which will mean that I am deciding to essentially co-own the business with him. We decided that would be the best idea and then that way if something were to happen between the two of us, then I can easily buy him out and we won't have to worry about selling the salon to split the assets," Blaine explained.

"It's smart that you've covered all of your bases, but you won't have to worry about that, I can't see you or Kurt breaking this relationship off anytime soon,"

"Neither can I Coop," Blaine replied, pressing a kiss to Kurt's forehead, "Neither can I,"