The next day Blaine was allowed to spent on a beanbag without moving his foot. Kurt got permission to stay indoor with him, so they watched movies and read comic books all day, even though the rest of the kids in their group were to be outside for the day.

As they were lying there and could hear the other kids outside the window while a sunbeam was streaming inside to heat up their faces it nearly felt like they were far, far away instead of only being inside. Blaine remembered how his brother had built forts and then they would crawl inside and pretend they were flying to another universe where everything was just the way they wanted it to be.

At night Kurt crawled back into his bed where they talked about the way two of the other boys from their dormitory had a fight at dinner, and the way some of the older girls had asked Kurt for help with something for the choir they were singing in at their school.

Blaine was always impressed with the way all the older girls always asked Kurt for help. The girls were only a few years older than them, but they never talked to anyone their age, so for them to ask Kurt for help was a big deal. No one ever talked to Blaine, not even kids his own age.

When he fell asleep he couldn't stop wondering whether the girls liked Kurt; but even more if he liked them back. Blaine didn't know why, but he didn't like the thought of the girls liking Kurt.

xXx

Monday Kurt had to go to school, but Blaine's ankle still hurt so a grown-up took him to the doctor instead. He got the message that it was just a bad twist and he was just to keep it calm for a few days until it wasn't black and swollen anymore.

When he came back to Silverlake after his doctor's appointment he was put on a couch and told to do his homework. Of course they had made sure to call the school to make sure he could keep up with his school work even though he couldn't go. Typical of grown-ups to do that.

While he was sitting there struggling with his English homework a man came in. Blaine had never seen him before. He was wearing a shirt, a baseball cap and jeans. He smiled at Blaine and greeted him before he proceeded down the hall towards the office. Blaine had been so surprised to see an unfamiliar face that he hadn't said anything. He had simply stared at the man who nodded at him with a grin.

It was strange. No one ever came there. Not that way. If anyone unfamiliar came to Silverlake it was couples looking to adopt, never singles. And usually they would come during the late afternoon while the kids were all over the orphanage to get a picture of them in their natural every-day-life.

Blaine kept listening for when the man left. He waited for a long time while he kept on reading the same page in his English book over and over again, but he was too absorbed in figuring out who the man was to let the words sink in. He couldn't tell why he was so interested in what this man was doing at Silverlake, but he just had a feeling that he needed to know.

After what felt like ages Blaine heard the door to the office open at the other end of the hall and he got so startled that he nearly dropped his book. He quickly got a hold of it and pretended to be deepened in the text just as Miss Pillsbury came into the room with the man on her side.

They both smiled at Blaine and she showed him around, telling him about the room and for what purposes it was used. They didn't stay in there for long, but returned to the hall. Before they left the room the man smiled at Blaine and told him to have a nice day.

Blaine liked him. He seemed nice, and somehow there was something familiar about him, but he didn't know what it was. He kept on listening when he heard the grown-ups stop a bit down the hall. What he heard made his blood freeze to ice.

"Yeah, that was Blaine. He's Kurt's best friend. Nothing can separate the two of them, so that might be a problem," Miss Pillsbury said in the tone she always used when she was worried and stressed.

"We'll figure something out about that. Let's just wait and get the test results before we do anything next. There's no reason to tell Kurt anything before we know what's gonna happen," the man's husky voice sounded. It sounded like he was relaxed, but still anxious under the surface.

Blaine heard Miss Pillsbury agree before she promised to call him when she had some news. Then they said goodbye and Blaine could hear the man disappear down the hall and Miss Pillsbury head for her office.

The air in the room had grown thick and difficult to breathe. This time Blaine didn't care that his book fell to the floor. Tears were pressing against his eyelids, struggling to get out, but he bit his lower lip to hold it back. He couldn't start crying if Miss Pillsbury came in to check up on him, because then he would have to let her know that he had been eavesdropping.

Now the man is going to adopt Kurt, and he will leave me, and I will be all alone here and never see him again, raced through Blaine's head. Images of Kurt being taken away by the man started presenting itself, and no matter how much Blaine tried pushing it away it kept crashing in over him with incredible force.

For the rest of the day he didn't get any homework done, and as soon as the kids started getting home from school and kindergarten he wished that he could walk to his bed himself. Why was it so hard for the others to understand that he didn't want to talk to anyone, and that he just wanted to be left alone.

"Blaine, is anything wrong?" Kurt asked when he dumped down next to Blaine late in the evening.

Blaine hadn't talked to him all day. Not really talked to him. He had been pouting and introverted. He had no idea if he should tell Kurt what had happened, or if he should pretend that his day had been boring and slow. Maybe the man would change his mind and Kurt wouldn't have to leave anyway? And what was it about some tests they talked about?

But it shouldn't really matter, because if the man would adopt Kurt he would just tell him that he wanted Blaine to go with him, wouldn't he? He had promised that he would.

"I'm fine," Blaine lied, but his throat tied up. He didn't look at Kurt because he was afraid that he would know that something was up. Because Kurt always knew. Instead he kept his focus locked on his math book in front of him, even though his head was aching from not getting a thing of what he was supposed to do.

"Okay. But you would tell me if you weren't, wouldn't you?" Kurt tried again and nudged him with his shoulder. Blaine just shrugged and hoped that he would leave it alone so he didn't have to think about it, even less tell Kurt about what he had witnessed.

What if Kurt gets all excited about it and then he forgets all about me? Blaine feared. He couldn't stop the memory of how Kurt had seemed thrilled about the thought of being adopted one day. What if his dream of being adopted was stronger than his friendship with Blaine?

Kurt mumbled something incoherent and got up again. He left the room and Blaine didn't see him for the rest of the evening. Not even when they went to bed. When Blaine was out to brush his teeth Kurt had already gone to bed, and Blaine got sad. He hadn't even told him goodnight.

xXx

A couple of days went by without Kurt and Blaine really talking together. Kurt went to school and when he came back they sat next to each other doing their homework, played videogames or read books without talking.

Every now and then Kurt would go outside to walk around by himself, or he went to hang out with the older girls. It made Blaine sad. He wanted to go outside and be with Kurt instead of sitting inside and pouting.

The man with the baseball cap kept returning to his thoughts whenever he wasn't occupied by other things. It was nagging him greatly, but he figured that since Kurt hadn't mentioned anything to him no one had told him about it, so maybe the man had changed his mind.

Wednesday night after his bath the grown-up helping him decided that he didn't need to get the gauze back on. His ankle had returned to its normal size and it was only a little pale now. It was nice but weird to be back to walking on the foot again, but he was happy that he didn't have to depend on the grown-ups helping him around anymore.

When he was finished and ready for bed the lights were already out in the dormitory and he could hear that a lot of the other boys were already snoring around him. He staggered clumsy to his bed in the middle of the left row of beds, and crawled under the covers.

The moon was shining sharply in his eyes, and even though he hid his face under the sheets as he always did it he still couldn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned, fearing that he would wake the others, but no one said a word. All that was heard was the hummed breathing of sleep around him.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and nearly tripped in trying to find balance. The linoleum floor was cold under his feet and he curled his toes. He soundlessly tiptoed over the floor and found Kurt in his bed, clutching his penguin close.

"Kurt? I need to tell you something. Are you asleep?" Blaine whispered, his face so close to Kurt's that he could feel the warmth from his cheek on his lips.

There was no reaction. Kurt's closed eyelids did a few rapid movements before he moved a little and wrinkled his nose. Blaine loved when he wrinkled his nose, it looked cute, and it made his freckles looked like they were dancing over his face.

Blaine stood for a moment watching him sleeping, weighing whether or not he should push to get him to make room so he could climb into his bed. He didn't want to wake him up, but it was so tempting to feel his hot skin against his hand, so he traced his index finger down Kurt's naked arm.

"Blaine? Is that you? Aren't you asleep?" Kurt mumbled quietly, and bored his nose into the pillow before he scooped over. Blaine found place next to him and pushed Simba under Kurt's arm as Kurt pulled the sheets over their heads.

"I need to tell you something. It's really important," Blaine ushered in a thick whisper. Kurt's eyes were close, and for a second Blaine feared that he had fallen back asleep already. He was startled when his eyes flung open and stared directly into Blaine's, and it was like he was wide awake.

"Can you tell me in the morning? I am really tired, Blaine," Kurt complained and moved a little closer. His body was hot and it nearly burned Blaine's freezing skin. His entire body was ice cold, and he felt like sneaking his hands under Kurt's shirt, and his feet up the legs of his pajama bottoms, but he didn't want to make Kurt cold as well.

Kurt buried his face in the crook of Blaine's neck, and he could feel that he was struggling to not fall asleep. If Blaine said that it was too important to wait he knew that Kurt would sit up so he could listen - but he didn't want to do that. He had struggled with these thoughts about the man in the baseball cap for so many days now that he guessed that he might as well wait one more day.

"Let's just sleep. I'll tell you in the morning," Blaine assured him, and he could feel that as soon as the words had flown from his lips to Kurt's ears he relaxed and let himself sink back into slumber.

xXx

"Kurt. I need you to keep a secret for me," Blaine mumbled and looked over his shoulder as they moved together under a tree in the garden. A group of 13 year olds were sitting near them, and a group of 4 year old boys were playing with cars in the sandbox a bit away from them. He relaxed a little and looked back to Kurt who was staring at him with wide, bright eyes.

"Okay. What is it?" he asked intrigued, and shuffled to sit on his knees. He very well knew that when Blaine said that what he wanted to share was a secret he really meant it.

Blaine held his breath for a little while, trying to collect his thoughts and figuring out how to really break it open. He could see anticipation grow in Kurt's eyes, and he could feel the message throbbing to come out so eventually he couldn't hold it back anymore.

"The other day when you were at school this man came. He talked to Miss Pilsbury. About you. Kurt, I think he wants to adopt you," Blaine spat out and felt exactly how much it worried him. It was like an explosion of feelings through his mouth, and he desperately needed Kurt to take some sort of stand, to have some sort of reaction to the news.

"What… did he say? What did they say about me?" Kurt asked insecurely. His face had turned ash-gray and it was like he didn't know how to react. He folded his hands in his lap and squeezed them together. But the worst part was that he avoided Blaine's eyes.

"They said that… they talked about some tests. And that we were best friends. And that… Miss Pilsbury said that we couldn't be separated and that it would be… a problem," Blaine remembered out loud and squeezed his eyes hard.

"The man said that… they shouldn't tell you anything. Yet. Before they had the tests -" he closed and hoped that Kurt would hurry to say something, so he could know what he was thinking.

"Well… maybe it's nothing. I don't know. Maybe… maybe they just need me to do something for them? Usually there's a mom and a dad when people come to adopt someone," Kurt tried to rationalize, and Blaine appreciated how much he tried to ease his mind, but he could feel that he didn't believe it himself. That he knew where this was going.

"But it doesn't matter… if I get adopted, you get adopted. We made a pact, remember?" Kurt let his little finger crook around Blaine's, and Blaine felt a grin cross his face.

Yes. He remembered, Blaine thought bubbly.

"Yeah, we made a pact," Blaine beamed back at him, and fell on the grass. Kurt fell down to rest his head on Blaine's belly. They stared at the clouds drifting by over their heads, and Blaine could feel that his mood was lightened.

His brain felt as fluffy as the clouds on the sky, and he let himself into the ease of feeling the sun bake over his skin. Suddenly the idea of Kurt being adopted didn't seem so frightening anymore. He should have known that Kurt would ease his troubled mind.

"What are you thinking about?" Kurt asked, and turned to lie on his side, with his head still resting on Blaine's belly, but his fingers running through the soft grass under them. Blaine was very careful not to breath too deeply to avoid pushing Kurt's head, but it was a harder task than he had hoped for.

"I am thinking that… I wanna be adopted with you. I like Silverlake. But it would be so cool if we had a home and a family. Together," he said and let his mind drift off to what they could do and experience if they were to live outside the orphanage one day.

"I don't know what it's like to have a family. But I think it's good. I hope it's a nice family then. Did the man seem nice?" Kurt inquired. It sounded as if he had been thinking a lot about it, but hadn't dared asking.

"He seemed okay. He didn't look like he was fancy or something. But I think I could like him," Blaine told truthfully. He remembered how he had liked the man until they had started talking about Kurt. Now he actually thought he could start to like the man very much.

"I wish we could tell Miss Pillsbury that we know about him so we could meet him. I wanna know who he is." Kurt slid down to lie on the grass, looking into Blaine's eyes with a pensive gaze.

"He'll probably come back soon. Then you might get to meet him, and he can take us home with him," Blaine suggested, wondering whether the man would make him call him dad. He didn't want to do that; he had a dad once.

Neither of them said anything, and when they walked in for dinner they couldn't stop grinning at each other. The other kids knew better than to ask them what they were smiling about; Blaine and Kurt always had something together that couldn't be shared with anyone else