Kurt made a noise like a cat getting its tail run over before he angrily pulled off the untied bow tie after messing it up for the third time.
“Let me handle it,” said Blaine jumping off Kurt’s bed to grab the colored fabric off the floor.

“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” said Blaine in a soothing voice while he put the bow tie around Kurt’s neck and started tying it up.
“But - what if she doesn’t like me?” Kurt turned his face down to focus on his fingers fumbling with the line of his shirt before he looked back up on Blaine from under his eyelashes.

“She’s not gonna like you, honey. She’s gonna love you. I am sure of it,” Blaine assured him as he fixed Kurt’s collar and tiptoed a little to kiss his nose.
Kurt blushed and a crooked smile spread carefully over his face.

“But - can we please agree not to discuss anything, you know, depressing tonight?” asked Kurt hesitantly with his back at Blaine while he started to put on his jacket. Even though he had already got the jacket on he didn’t turn around. He was waiting for Blaine to answer him.

“Of course. There’s nothing to say, and there’s no reason to drag up in that tonight. I promise.” Blaine had walked up behind Kurt holding his hands on his arms kissing his neck. He didn’t have to see Kurt’s face to know that he was smiling gratefully, so he reached down and let his hand slide into Kurt’s and led him downstairs to the car.

*

Kurt seemed very tiny and fragile as he stepped into the hall of the Anderson house. He had never felt comfortable there, only in Blaine’s room.
Whenever he had been there they had always just went straight to Blaine’s room upstairs so it was very strange for him to not to flight down the hall and up the stairs at the other end of the house.
“It’s okay, just come,” assured Blaine him squeezing his hand and leading him to the kitchen

Blaine’s mom was standing with her back to them as they entered the room.
“Mom. This is Kurt. My - boyfriend,” said Blaine in a weirdly hoarse voice that made him clear his throat. In an instant he felt just as nervous as Kurt had acted back at his own room.

They waited in anticipation not looking at each other, but not looking at her either, until she turned around and walked over to them.
She beamed at them as she came over and hugged Blaine before she turned to Kurt.

“And you, my boy, it is so nice to finally meet you properly.” She surprised both Kurt and Blaine by pulling him into a warm embrace before holding him out as if to get a better look at him. Then she looked to Blaine.

“Nicely scored, son. Nicely scored.” She winked at them before she gestured for them to sit down at the table.
Kurt was grinning, but Blaine was looking shy down in the floor before they followed her over to sit down.

“You guys want anything?” asked Mrs. Anderson. She looked from one to another with an expression of not really knowing how to act herself.
Blaine didn’t answer. He just looked down in the table without any idea of how to tackle the situation.

He had never in his life considered the possibility of taking a boyfriend to his parents’ home and sit in their kitchen as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
He hadn’t even wished to be able to do it until he met Kurt. When Kurt came into his life it was as if everything changed, and he began to wish endless times over and over again that he could introduce his boyfriend to his parents and they would be accepting and nice to him - even before he and Kurt started dating, when he hadn’t been able to stop himself from thinking about Kurt like that, even though he kept telling himself that he couldn’t screw up their friendship by falling in love with him.

But as many times as he had wished it, he had never thought that it would actually happen some day - and now that it was happening it felt too incredible.
When they were at Kurt’s house it felt so normal. As if Blaine had been a part of the family forever; but this was a completely different feeling.

Blaine appreciated how much his mom tried not to be overly trying, and yet she did what she could to make Kurt feel welcome and accepted in her home. He was certain that she had been nervous too, and he was even more certain that it was his dad’s strong opinion about his sexuality that had colored her nerves about meeting her son’s boyfriend.

“Just a glass of water, thank you” Kurt replied politely, hiding his hands under the table as he watched Mrs. Anderson trip through the kitchen and place a glass in front of him.
Blaine had a feeling that Kurt was hiding his hands because they were shaking and he desperately wanted to grab Blaine’s for comfort, so he reached out his own to grab his fingers confirming his own theory and feeling Kurt loose his nerves a little.

“I was thinking that maybe we could order in some food and watch a musical? Blaine told me how much you love Broadway, so do I. I thought that would be the appropriate way to go.” Mrs. Anderson smiled warmly across the table with her eyes shining when she saw Kurt’s face light up.

Blaine grinned at them. He imagined a huge curtain being dragged away from the kitchen, and revealing that underneath the black and white shades they had been covered in a second before, there were a well of colors in all kinds of beautiful shades.

“I would love that. That sounds amazing, Mrs. Anderson!” Beamed Kurt, smiling more than Blaine had seen him do all day.
“Enough with the ‘Mrs. Anderson’ - call me, Susan, dear.” She returned his smile instantly and got up to find some take-out menus, leaving Blaine and Kurt to themselves in the kitchen.
Neither of them said a word. Just gazed at each other in a way that made both of them blush.

As Susan returned to the kitchen they ordered their food and agreed to watch Phantom Of The Opera. Blaine wanted to watch Sound Of Music, but it was two against one so he caved in. It was clearly a lost vote after all.

They spent the evening eating and discussing Broadway plays. Blaine was thrilled by the way Kurt and his mom got along, and he started to think that maybe it could end up feeling like Kurt had been a part of their family forever. If it wasn’t for his dad at least; but he didn’t care about him right now. All that mattered was that his mom and his boyfriend loved each other.

*

Kurt fell asleep resting his head against Blaine’s shoulder halfway in the movie. Blaine knew that it was all the medication that made him lose energy from one moment to another, so he explained the deal to his mom who was extremely understanding.

“Thank you. For everything. Mom, really. You’ve been so sweet to him, and he really enjoyed himself tonight.” Blaine kissed his mom’s cheek before he started to wake up Kurt carefully so he could get him up to bed.

“You take such good care of him, Blaine. I am really proud of you, and he’s such a good boy,” smiled his mom heartedly in respond before she got up to clean the table so she could go to bed too.

Blaine got Kurt awake just enough for him to be able to climb the stairs with some support. He helped him get out of his clothes and made sure that he got to bed comfortably before Blaine started to get ready for bed himself. When he slipped under the covers Kurt hurried to shift over so that he could put his head on Blaine’s chest.

“Thank you for tonight. That was really nice,” whispered Kurt dozy turning his head a little bit.
“Oh look. The stars are still glowing. I thought they would have lost their effect by now,” said Kurt silently. Blaine could feel that he was smiling, and his eyelashes were tickling his naked skin when Kurt was blinking.

“No. They’ve been glowing strongly ever since we painted them. Only Puck has seen them,” said Blaine.
He got a huge urge to squeeze his arms as tight as possible around Kurt and never let go so they could lie there forever without moving.

But out of nowhere Kurt shifted to lay his head on the pillow next to Blaine. He put his hand softly on Blaine’s cheek before he stretched his neck out to let their lips meet.
It wasn’t a sexy kiss. It was a deep, warm and gentle kiss that made butterflies flutter around Blaine’s stomach. Eventually that wasn’t enough space, so they flew out and continued their party in his veins too.

Kurt’s mouth was warm and tasted like the strawberries he had been eating just forty-five minutes before. Blaine let his hand form around to Kurt’s back so he could drag him even closer, because even though they were lying so close that it was almost painful to breathe because their chests heaved up against each other - he just wasn’t close enough.

It was like they had entered a bubble where time and space didn’t exist. Like they were just them and nothing else mattered.
Their bodies were laced into one another; arms and legs everywhere, fingers locked in hair, and torsos against each other whilst their lips were slowly moving rhythmically together; as if they had melted to become one set of lips instead of two.

Blaine didn’t know how long they lay like this before they finally fell asleep, and he didn’t really care. It felt like it was forever, but it also felt like it was only for a minute.
When they did fall asleep they lay embracing each other and both of them were smiling.

*

When Blaine woke up that morning his bed was empty. He sat up in panic fumbling for his phone to call Kurt but it just went to voice mail. Then he hurried up to put on a pair of pajama pants and the nearest t-shirt before he ran downstairs.

“Mom. Did you see Kurt?” Blaine almost yelled through the house on his way to the kitchen.
When he got out to the kitchen he found Kurt sitting on a kitchen stool drinking coffee with Blaine’s mom.

“Morning sunshine,” greeted his mom with a smile. Blaine was a bit confused at first but then he walked over to sit on the stool next to Kurt.
“Sorry. I woke up and couldn’t sleep anymore, so I came downstairs to get some coffee,” Kurt apoligzed. He was wearing the pajama pants of Blaine’s he always wore when he was sleeping at Blaine’s place, and one of Blaine’s old Dalton sweatshirts that Kurt had developed a weak spot for, because he said that it “smelled like Blaine” even though he hadn’t worn it for ages.

“That’s okay. For a second I just feared that you had left,” said Blaine, now a bit embarrassed by the way he had reacted.
His mom presented him with a cup of coffee, a twitching in the corners of her mouth as she struggled not to smile at his barely disappeared panic.

Blaine started sipping his coffee in silence wondering what they could have been talking about while he was asleep. They didn’t sat anything, so he didn’t ask; just smiled to himself by the fact that they were getting along so well.

“I was thinking to go to Puck’s music store today. Not to buy anything, but just to annoy him with stupid questions on stupid stuff,” said Kurt in a voice that revealed that he was clearly having one of his good days. Kurt took one of the strawberries that had been left over from the night before as he watched Blaine in anticipation.

“Sure. We could do that. But then we have to make up some really horrible questions for him that he can’t deny replying,” chuckled Blaine at the idea of Puck’s irritated face when they would arrive.

“Your dad isn’t coming home until tomorrow, so if you want you can stay here again tonight,” said Susan obviously hoping for them to say yes.
“It’s been really nice having you over. I  hope we can do it again soon.” She sent Kurt a genuine smile.

“I’ve really had a good time too, Susan. I would love to come over again. And I guess we could stay here tonight, I just need to get home and pick up some - stuff,” returned Kurt with a twitch in his lip as he said the word “stuff”.
They all knew that he was talking about medication, but it just felt better and more natural to pretend that he wasn’t. That he was talking about clothes or something.

“I’m gonna go take a shower before we go creep out Puck.” Kurt jumped of his stool leaving Blaine and his mom alone in the kitchen.
When Blaine had finished his coffee he found some cereal and started eating when his mom looked at him as if she was dying to tell him something.

“I am so sorry we haven’t done this before. He is so sweet. We spent the morning talking about musicals and clothes. He even told me about his designs and how he wants to go to design school after college.” She emptied her mug, and Blaine smiled at her.
He knew that it wasn’t what she wanted to say. He could see in her face that there was something else.

“Listen - I am really sorry about everything your father has put you through about… you know. He means well. He just thinks that is what’s best for you. But Blaine, I am so happy to know that you have met Kurt; this boy who just really loves you the way you love him. I can see in you how much you love each other. His eyes lit up every time one of us mentioned you. I couldn’t be more happy for you.” His mom stroked his hand for a bit. She looked really sorry, as if it had been paining her for a long time, and that it was a relief to finally say it.

“It’s okay, mom. It doesn’t matter. It’s dad I’m mad at, not you. I mean - I know he means well, but I just wish that he would respect that this is who I am. Or at least accept it. But I don’t care anymore. I just want Kurt, and he wants me too. That’s the only thing I really care about,” Blaine assured her. He was really honest. His dad’s opinion didn’t bother him anymore, he just tried to avoid any troubles he could cause by touching the LGBT subject in the Anderson house.

*

They went to the music store where Puck worked and ran around the place asking him for help with the most ridiculous things they could make up. Like where to find CDs by certain non-existent bands, or if they could get the sheet music for horrible songs that no one liked.

At one point Puck got so frustrated with them that he started offering to pay them to leave him alone, but they kept nagging him.
After an hour it got boring and they agreed with Puck to meet up at Blaine’s house that evening and then they drove to Kurt’s house to pick up his medications and assure his dad that he was okay.

Blaine had promised Burt to call him if there should be the slightest problem when they were away from home, but they knew that he still worried, so Blaine kept on telling him about their day when Burt was home whenever Blaine was around. He knew that he didn’t have to, but he did it to soothe Burt’s nerves. He felt so bad for him and knew that he couldn’t stop thinking about when Kurt’s mom had been sick before she died. He didn’t want him to go through that again. Burt never said anything, but every time Blaine sat down and took his time to tell him how Kurt had been through the day Blaine could see in his eyes that he relaxed a little bit.

They spent the day at the Hummel-Hudson house having lunch with Burt and Carol.
Blaine went out to the shop to help Burt work on some cars while Kurt stayed inside with Carol working on some designs he just got an idea for.

Finn was out playing football with Mike and one of his friends from college that lived nearby.
When Finn got home they asked him if he could come to Blaine’s house that night too so they waited for him to take a shower before they all left together.

*

The night at the Anderson house was completely cleared off any kind of tension. Blaine had forgot all the nerves that had filled him the day before when introducing Kurt to his mom. Now he was now very impressed by how easy it all flowed.

Blaine’s mom was sitting at a kitchen stool with a drink as she watched the four boys cooking. It had been Blaine and Kurt’s idea. They were convinced that  both Puck and Finn would be terrible in a kitchen, so they thought they might as well get some fun out of it.
To their surprise it ended up with Kurt and Puck getting frustrated with Finn and Blaine because they didn’t do it right.

“Are you kidding me, dude? How hard can it be to follow some simple instructions? Let me do that!” Said Puck annoyed when he pushed Blaine away from the stove, while Kurt tried directing Finn on how to properly cut the egg-plant - that Finn continuously winced at.
Blaine quickly moved out of Puck’s way to see his mom laughing at him.

“Who would have guessed - Puck knows how to cook,” said Blaine and sat down on the stool next to his mom.
“I knew.” Susan slid a glass over the counter, leaving Blaine staring at her with a slightly open mouth.

“You knew? How?” Blaine was shocked by the revelation, and looked at her as if she had just told him that he was adopted.
“One day you weren’t home and Noah came over. He didn’t feel like going home so I offered him to stay and he helped me make dinner - that is to say that this fine young man did almost all of the work himself, and he did pretty good.” She lifted her glass in the direction of Puck who responded by sending her a wide grin.

“Noah Puckerman! How could you hide something so important from me?” asked Kurt. Anyone would have said that the dramatic tone in his voice was feigned, but everyone in the kitchen knew that he was serious. Something like this wasn’t a joke to Kurt.

“Yeah. Like I would come over to you all casual ‘oh by the way, I can cook’ - real manly. And then you wouldn’t let me do anything else at your place,” replied Puck as-a-matter-of-factly. Kurt sent him a sour look up and down his frame before he dramatically turned his back on Puck who looked to Blaine for advice, but Blaine just nodded to show that he agreed.

When they were done eating Blaine and his mom sacrificed themselves for the group and took on the task of doing the dishes. Meanwhile Kurt dragged Finn into the piano in the living room and sent Puck to get the guitar from Blaine’s room.

Blaine and his mom could hear Kurt singing and play the piano as they regularly laughed whenever they heard Kurt correct Finn when he hit the wrong keys.
They spent the night with the instruments, letting Susan reveal a pretty good singing voice that impressed Kurt profoundly.

They all ended up spending the rest of the night watching Humphrey Bogart movies with Puck and Kurt doing their own impersonations from one end of the couch.
When the sun started rising Kurt had fallen asleep with his head resting on Puck’s chest, and Puck’s arms around making Puck declare that he wasn’t gonna move until Kurt woke up by himself.

That showed to be a bit harder than first thought, because after a few horrible Sunday morning cartoons he found out that he had to pee, whilst Kurt was only making himself more comfortable. Blaine offered to try and get Kurt to move over in his side, but Puck refused.
Finn had fallen asleep on the floor in front of the TV, and Susan had gone to bed straight after the first movie had ended, so now it was just Puck and Blaine left.

“Dude. It’s so cool that your mom is all great about all of us just chilling here. It’s almost too bad that your dad comes home later,” said Puck, leaving Blaine with a sting of guilt when he silently agreed with him.

“Hey, I was thinking - do you think I could maybe get you and Finn to help me with something?” asked Blaine a little hesitantly.
He wasn’t even sure what he was doing, because it was a pretty spontaneous idea that struck him during Casablanca.

Now he just couldn’t shake the thought off, and he knew that he had to discuss it with someone. And except for Kurt Puck was his best friend, and he knew that he could count on him for anything so he decided to just let loose and let him into the entire idea.

“The thing is - Kurt’s been getting better. A lot. It’s almost like he hasn’t even been sick, and the doctors are really optimistic. So I though I would do something special for him. But I can’t do it alone. He can’t know. That is very important. It’s gonna be a surprise. I don’t want to get his hopes up if it turns out that I can’t make it happen anyway.”

Blaine could feel the excitement running through his veins just by talking about it, and he hoped so bad that it would be able to happen.
They spent the rest of the morning discussing Blaine’s plans, and Puck listened eagerly and joined in with his own ideas and suggestions making Blaine happy that he had chose to involve Puck so early in the arrangements.

After a few hours Blaine started to believe that it would actually be reality once everything was perfect to the tiniest detail. He watched as Puck bend down to kiss Kurt on the hair before he said that really hoped too that Blaine could make it happen. That he thought Kurt deserved it more than anything right now.
“He’s been having a rough year. You’re so good to him, Anderson. Even though I was a bit reserved about you in the beginning,” said Puck as he carefully started stroking Kurt’s hair.

“What? You were reserved about me? What does that even mean?” asked Blaine, trying to hold in a laugh by the sound of Puck’s words.
“Dude. Kurt was head over heels for you, but the first time I really met you it ended up with you making out with Rachel, even though you were clearly just as hot for him as he was for you -” explained Puck with a serious look on his face.

Blaine looked awkwardly to the TV where Tom was chasing Jerry across the screen with a large wooden hammer and a maniacal look in his eyes.

“Was I that obvious?” asked Blaine, a bit embarrassed by the old memories being dragged back out in the light.
“Yeah, you were. The only ones who didn’t see it were Kurt and Rachel. You know, Rachel’s always only seeing what can benefit her, and Kurt was frightened that you would never look to his side that way, and he would end up screwing up your friendship. I mean - he did tell you that he liked you, but he didn’t say just how much it was, because he was afraid that it would scare you off. But, bro, it was so clear that you were badly hit too - the way you looked at him. Gee, man. Not subtle there.”

Blaine knew that he was blushing incredibly and was very grateful for the dimmed light in the living room, but on the other hand it was really nice to know that people had seen it. That they knew that he actually hadn’t been into Rachel at any point; that he had been crazy about Kurt all the time - it only took him longer to pull himself out of his own oblivious fog for him to actually see it himself.

It wasn’t the day Pavarotti died that it had occurred to him, that had just been the day where he realized that he should stop fighting it. That he had to have Kurt in his life - as more than his closest friend.

“Yeah. Teenagers in love you know,” teased Blaine, not really able to find any words. It was so strange to sit and discuss this with Puck. They had talked about Kurt often, but they had never really talked about their relationship from before they started dating. Blaine had never known how Kurt’s friends had felt about him before they had actually got together.

They quickly abandoned the subject because of the awkward tension it caused, so they just returned their attention to the TV. Blaine continued thinking about Puck’s words for a bit, but when the clock struck around 8 they were both so tried that they couldn’t keep their eyes open.

They agreed to leave Finn to sleep on the floor, but they had to get Kurt to bed. Blaine supported him up the stairs, and then they all three went to sleep in Blaine’s bed hoping that Finn wasn’t going to panic when he woke up seeing that they had left him.

*

Kurt hadn’t been to school that day, so Blaine had spent the day worrying how bad he might be feeling; but he hadn’t heard anything from Kurt all day, and no one else had called or texted him, so he guessed that it was nothing serious.
He decided that as soon as he got out of class he would drive to Kurt’s house and go see him, hoping that Kurt would feel better when he got there.

When Blaine arrived he met Burt in the living room. He looked at bit uncomfortable but greeted Blaine as usual. Once Blaine was about to climb the stairs to Kurt’s room Burt hurried over to him.

“Listen, I don’t think you should go up there right now, son” said Burt. This was the first time since he and Kurt had got back together that anyone had suggested that he shouldn’t see Kurt, and an alarm clock in Blaine‘s head instantly started going crazy.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Blaine tried not to seem overly anxious but failed miserably as he frantically looked up the stairs as if he would be able to see what was going on behind the close doors.

“He’s been in the bathroom throwing up since this morning. He asked me to make sure you wouldn’t see him like that. He’s a real mess today.” Blaine knew that Burt could tell that he didn’t find it to be a good enough reason for him to stay away and that he was just trying to calm him down, but Blaine only found it even more frustrating knowing that Kurt was up there being incredibly sick and he couldn‘t go up to him.

“Look, I know you wanna be there for him, but he really doesn’t want you to come up there,” explained Burt, and Blaine knew that he was right, but he still couldn’t quite comprehend that Kurt had told him to stay away.

“But - he can’t be alone. You know how scared he gets when he’s really sick and alone,” stormed Blaine not really knowing if he was trying to convince himself or Burt that he should be there, despite Kurt’s wish of him staying away.

“Of course he’s not alone. Finn is up there with him. He’s been holding his hair back, getting him water, comforting him when he’s been crying, and everything.” Burt started to lead Blaine towards the couch. The TV was on and some speaker was yelling wildly in the background of a baseball game.

It suddenly occurred to Blaine how long it had been since he had watched sports. Everything in his life had turned to evolve around Kurt. He still hung out with his friends at school, but now that he thought about he realized that it had been a really long time since they had stopped asking him to do stuff outside school.

They still didn’t know about Kurt being sick, and he didn’t plan on telling them; but he was certain that at least Coby had figured out that something was out of place. That everything wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

It was hard because everyone saw them as this magical happy couple, but no one knew the truth. No one knew what they were struggling with, how hard it was tearing on them. No one saw the stress, and the fear, and the tears. All people saw was the smiles, and the kisses, and the cuddling and the looks they sent each other across the room.

Sometimes Blaine could sit at the back of the class in a lesson and just get the urge to walk up to stand in front of everyone and say: “Yeah, my boyfriend has cancer” - or when he sat in the cafeteria he could imagine himself jumping up on one of the tables and just scream it out for everyone to hear. But he couldn’t.

“I promised Kurt that once you got here I would make you sit down and relax. I’m gonna go get myself a beer and then we can watch the game, alright? Want a beer?” Burt seemed as if he was trying to keep his own mind away from Kurt as well so Blaine decided that he might as well try and help them both, so he politely turned down beer and took seat on the couch.

Burt came in and sat down next to him and pointed his attention to the game on the screen. Blaine could feel that he kept sending him glances every once in a while but he didn’t want to say anything. He knew that Burt was worried about him too, and how he was holding up, but he didn’t want to put more into his mind. More worrying were the last thing Burt needed.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine, and as soon as he gets a little better he’ll come down or he’ll send Finn down to get you. The doctors told us that this is normal - it’s the… chemo.” Burt took a huge mouthful of beer, as if he hoped that he could drown the awful word or wash it away. Blaine didn’t blame him. He did the same things.

“Yeah, I know. I - I researched a bit myself. When you had first told me about - his disease - I started looking around the internet to see if I could find out as much as possible. The side effects of the medicine, what it would do to him and all that. Kurt doesn’t know. I didn’t want him to think I was over obsessing or anything - I just wanna be able to help him if there is something he needs, you know.”

Blaine couldn’t really decide if he felt embarrassed about it. Now that he said it out loud he thought that it did in fact sound like he had been over obsessing, but when he looked back to Burt he was looking at him in a way Blaine had never seen him look at him before. It was the way he looked at Kurt when they had just had a fight and then Kurt said that he was sorry - the same look filled with affection. A look he had never received from his own father.

“Hey, baby. You came -” Kurt and Finn had come downstairs. Finn was holding a blanket up around Kurt’s shoulders, wearing an uncomfortable expression on his face. Kurt really did look like a mess; his hair was muffled and his lips were dry and so purple that they almost seemed black, his skin was unnaturally pale and he had dark rings under his eyes. Even his voice was rasp and almost a whisper.

Blaine had to stop himself from jumping out of his seat and over to hold his sick boyfriend. Instead he sat on the edge of his seat, waiting for Kurt to slowly walk over to them with tinier step than Blaine had even seen him take, Finn right behind him holding up the blanket.

When they got over to the couch Blaine immediately moved to make room for Kurt to sit down next to him. Kurt sent him a look that Blaine was sure was made to be judgmental but his face didn’t really change much.
As soon as he was sitting down in the middle Blaine shifted to let him lean against his chest. He wanted to put his arms around Kurt, but he was afraid that he didn’t want it.

“Are you feeling any better?” asked Blaine softly, and brushed a lock of hair away from Kurt’s forehead. He was determined to not let him know how sick he was looking, even though he was afraid that he would never be able to pull it off; Kurt always saw right through him.

“Oh no - did my dad give you all the details? I brushed my teeth like a zillion times but I still feel like my breath stinks like that homeless guy that sleeps in front of the library.” He let out a loud sigh followed by a cough.

“I am so sore in my entire body. I feel like I’ve been running a marathon.” He let his head dump hard against Blaine’s chest before he made a dissatisfied moan.
“I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do? Do you want some tea? Anything?” Blaine wanted so badly to help him, just take all of his pain away, but Kurt just shook his head.

“I hate this medicine. It’s the worst thing in the world. It’s killing me!” Whimpered Kurt without noticing Blaine wincing. It hadn’t been an intentional choice of words, of course it hadn’t, but it still stung.

“I have to go to the shop for a few hours. Will you boys be okay? I’ll keep my phone close all the time, just call me if there is anything,” said Burt as the game ended. They both assured him that they were going to be fine, so he bent down to kiss Kurt on the hair and left.
Finn had went to his room to get some sleep, so it was just Blaine and Kurt in the living room.

“Blaine. Will you promise me something?” asked Kurt hesitantly after they had sat in silence for some time.
“Sure. Anything -” replied Blaine, hoping that he was just going to ask him to get him some water or anything not serious and horribly real.

“Well, it’s just that I came to think - if I start, you know, losing my hair. Because of the chemo, I mean… would you tell me? I am so afraid that I’ll start losing my hair. I just can’t do that, I can’t!” His lower lip starting shivering and tears started welling up in his eyes. How had Blaine not predicted this conversation?

“But, Kurt - lovely, honey, listen to me,” said Blaine and shifted so he was looking Kurt in the eyes cupping his face in his hands.
“You have been doing chemo for a good few months now, and the doctors says that you’re doing better, and you haven’t lost any hair - you’re not gonna start losing your hair. Your hair looks just as gorgeous as it always has, and that is not gonna change.”
Blaine brushed his thumb over Kurt’s cheek to wipe away a tear before he leaned in to kiss him, but he could instantly see that he hadn’t convinced Kurt in any way.

“You’re such a horrible liar. You’re just saying that to make me feel better. My hair looks like I’m 80 or something -” but he didn’t get to say anymore before Blaine stopped him.
“That is not true. You look amazing. You are the most beautiful guy I have ever seen - you were the day I first met you, and you still are, so stop bringing yourself down.”

Kurt looked down, his cheeks reddening, as he sniffed to avoid sobbing.
“Thank you. I’m just scared. Please promise you’ll tell me if you notice me losing my hair, so I can at least try to cover it up,” pleaded he, his eyes big and glasslike.
“I promise, baby, okay? But it’s not gonna happen. I am sure it won’t,” responded Blaine, pulling Kurt into an embrace.

Blaine did his best to not attract anymore attention towards Kurt’s appearance for the rest of the day, and Kurt luckily didn’t bring it up himself.
Finn came back downstairs, and when Kurt started drifting in and out of sleep they agreed that he deserved it as long as he didn’t throw up, and started playing some video games.

When it started getting late Blaine got Kurt upstairs, and him safely to bed. He hadn’t been throwing up for a long time so he was okay with Blaine staying over.
As always Blaine waited for Kurt to fall asleep before he went to sleep himself.

*

Kurt stormed out of the bed almost falling over a chair in the dark. Blaine woke from the bang when the chair fell down, and the second he realized what had made the noise he ran out after Kurt, finding him on the bathroom floor in front of the toilet.

He knew that Kurt wouldn’t be happy when he found out that Blaine was there, but he didn’t care. He sat down on the floor next to Kurt and started stroking his hand up and down his back while letting the other one up to brush his hair away from his eyes.

Kurt’s body was shaking from throwing up, and his skin was ice cold through the t-shirt. His fingers were clasping around the toilet, and Blaine could swear that he was crying, but he didn’t make a noise.

Blaine didn’t say anything, they just stayed sitting on the floor for the rest of the night. Blaine only got up to fill his glass of water and cool down the wet towel he had brought to hold on Kurt’s forehead.

It was a long night, with Kurt shifting between crying then suddenly whimpering, or between complaining that he just wanted to sleep. Then a beat later he was angry and calling Blaine names and screaming that it wasn’t fair.

Blaine didn’t object. He just sat there, holding his hair, holding his arms around him when he was crying, letting him complain, and took the heat when he was yelling and screaming and telling him that he was a jerk, just to tell him that it was okay when immediately after he started crying he apologized.

He was exhausted himself, and when it seemed that Kurt had stopped throwing up he felt like scooping him up into his arms and carrying him back to the bed to let him sleep so he could sleep himself - but Kurt refused. He feared that it would start coming back and he was already embarrassed by Blaine having seen him throw up for hours.

“You must be so tired, just go to bed, sweety. I’ll just - I’ll just stay, it’s okay,” squeaked Kurt, but Blaine just shook his head at him.
“Do you seriously think I’m gonna leave you like this? No, not in a million years. I would never let you lie out here all by yourself. I can sleep later, or tomorrow or something,” he reassured.

“You’re so good to me. Would it be too weird if - if I… no forget it, never mind” stuttered Kurt leaning his head against the cool tiles of the wall.
“No, what is it? Just tell me. I couldn’t think you are weird. Ever,” Blaine hurried to say.

“It’s just. I’ve been throwing up for what feels like 24 hours, and I feel so gross. I just wanna take a bath, but - I’m afraid to be out here alone. Would you - would you please stay with me?” Kurt’s voice got high pitched and his pale cheeks started getting rosy.
“Of course. As I said: I’m not just gonna leave you here. I’ll stay here as long as you want me to.”

Blaine helped Kurt strip out of his clothes and helped him sit down in the tub, letting the water heat up his ice cold body. Kurt leaned his forehead against the side of the tub, as Blaine sat at the floor leaning his cheek against the other side so he cold face Kurt whenever he needed it.

Kurt still looked extremely sick, like he was on his 10th day of lemonier. He seemed like he had forgotten how to use his muscles and his eyes were lifeless and gray.
He was even so weak that Blaine had to wash his hair. Of course he didn’t ask him to do it; Blaine just initially knew that he couldn’t do it himself.
Kurt was incredibly embarrassed, and swore silently to himself that he would never mention this; not to Kurt, not to anyone.

When Kurt got out of the water Blaine wrapped a towel around him and hugged him until he could feel that Kurt was starting to get dry.
He supported Kurt back to the bedroom where he helped him into some clean pajama pants and the Dalton shirt he always stole from Blaine.

Blaine didn’t tell him, but he had sprayed a bit of his deodorant on the shirt for the nights they spent apart, and he could see in Kurt’s eyes that could smell it the second the shirt got close to him.

Now Blaine just wanted to hurry Kurt to bed so he could get some rest. Blaine had already decided that Kurt should see a doctor the next day, just to make sure he wasn’t stepping back in his progress.

Kurt would very likely put up a fight and refuse to go, arguing that he was fine and that it was perfectly normal to have days like these during chemotherapy, and Blaine knew that it was true - but it didn’t hurt to get it checked.

*

After much arguing and loud objecting from Kurt he finally agreed to go to the doctor. Blaine had put out the suggestion already in bed at morning. That had been the reason he hadn’t gone to school - to go with Kurt to the doctor. When Kurt had found out why he had stayed home he had gotten angry and, as predicted, said that it was ridiculous and unnecessary because it was a perfectly normal reaction.

Blaine had abandoned the argument for a while until Kurt started feeling sick again; then Blaine called the doctor and told Kurt that he was going and there was nothing he could do about it before leading him to the car.

As Kurt had said; the doctor told them that it was natural for his body to react like that when his immune system was going crazy trying to fight the bad cells. Kurt had shot Blaine a sour look, but Blaine had sighed relieved.

The doctor had told them that Kurt’s latest test results had been added to his journal and that they said that he had made incredible progress in the last month. He was getting better, and the doctors were extremely optimistic.

“I can’t believe it,” beamed Kurt in the car on their way home.
He was still feeling sick, but his mood has raised so much that Blaine had to remind him that the doctor had said that he could be feeling this, with occasional throw ups and fevers, for the next few days.

“Me either, it’s so great.” Blaine was feeling a lot more optimistic himself, and he wished that Kurt wasn’t feeling so sick so he could have taken him out to do something. Clearly Kurt would wave it off and say that he was fine if Blaine expressed his thoughts so he decided to keep it to himself to avoid anymore troubles for that day.

True enough; Kurt’s temperature went crazy when they got home, and by the time Puck came over he was back to lying on the bathroom floor again - this time welcoming Kurt’s caressing hands and consoling words.

The next couple of days continued like that. He would feel fine when he woke up in the morning, but after some hours he would start sweating and feeling cold, and eventually he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from throwing up.
Blaine had already made the necessary precautions and made sure that he could do his school work at home, so he could be with Kurt the second he started showing any signs of his body objecting again, then Blaine would proceed to working on his papers while Kurt was asleep.

After some days Kurt went back to school and he acted as if nothing had happened. Blaine didn’t mention anything, but he was determined to not let Kurt forget about the past couple of nights if he was to go back to being sick like that and once again refused to treat it properly.

For now Blaine would let him continue acting like nothing had happened, and just keep his eyes open. Kurt was doing so good and was back to dancing and singing in the halls of the school, and joking and laughing with the girls from his class.

At home he went out to help his dad in the shop and had long nights of playing video games with Blaine and Puck. Sometimes he would help Carol cook, and he even spent an afternoon with Mercedes when she was back in Lima to visit her parents.
When he got home that night he had called Blaine and Blaine had asked him how Mercedes had reacted when Kurt had told her that he was sick.

“I didn’t tell her. I’m getting better, Blaine, so what would the purpose of that be? It’s not like I’m dying or anything.” Kurt had sounded as if Blaine had asked him to tell her about a cold or a headache, he could almost hear him roll his eyes through the phone - but Blaine winced and had to swallow when Kurt had said the last part.

Blaine wanted to yell that it wasn’t something to joke about, and that he should start taking it a little bit serious - that he couldn’t act like it was nothing and everything was fine when he was in fact very sick.
But he didn’t. He knew that this was Kurt’s way to escape because he knew how serious it was, and he was scared.

Blaine hadn’t told Kurt. In fact, he hadn’t told anyone; not even Puck, but sometimes Blaine still woke up from Kurt screaming and kicking and crying in his sleep. He knew that he was having nightmares, terrible night terrors, but Kurt didn’t say anything.

Some mornings Kurt could wake up being pale as a sheet and refusing to talk to Blaine for almost and hour. He would walk around for himself not talking to anyone, and not eating or drinking. When Blaine tried asking him what was wrong he would just turn and walk into another room.

It was hard, but Blaine did whatever he could to comfort Kurt during his night terrors, but he didn’t want to bring them up during the day time. In his opinion it was enough that he was troubled by them in his sleep - he shouldn’t have to face them while being awake too.