He was still humming a tune as he entered the bathroom, only to notice that Blaine had vanished from the mirror's ledge.

'Blaine..?' he said, looking at the ledge as he stepped up to the basin. 'Where did you g-'

His eyes drifted downwards to the water-filled basin. A tiny boy was submerged face down in the water and slowly sinking to the bottom. The tub of hair gel slipped from Kurt's fingers and fell to the floor with a loud clatter.

'BLAINE!' Kurt screamed, plunging his hands into the basin and quickly pulling out the boy from the water. It splashed all over the floor tiles but Kurt's only concern was for the boy sprawled limply in the palm of his hand. 'Blaine, no, no, no, please…please be okay…'

Kurt's lower lip and hands were trembling as his fingers pressed gently against Blaine's chest, trying to expel any water that Blaine had swallowed. A few drops dribbled from his lips, but he was deathly pale, and his skin was turning to the shade of freshly-laid snow. He placed his thumb on Blaine's cheek and gasped.

'You're so cold, Blaine.' Kurt felt something warm and wet sliding down his cheeks and he figured he must be crying. He speedily worked his finger over Blaine's chest, trying to get more water out. He grabbed a clean hand towel and placed it on the bathroom counter next to the basin, gently lying Blaine down over it on his back. He breathed out shakily and knelt down beside Blaine, and he could feel more tears filling his eyes, making his vision blurry.

'Please don't die, Blaine!' Kurt cried, tears flowing more freely now. 'Please…please, I-I can't lose you. Please don't leave me…' He began to massage his fingers across Blaine's shoulders, trying to nudge him awake, but the small boy remained unresponsive. A cold dread swept through Kurt's stomach and his fingers slipped as he doubled over with a loud sob.

'I'm yours, Blaine,' he whispered, sobbing quietly as his thumb returned to Blaine's cheek, stroking gently. 'I'm all yours and if you leave m-me now, it will…it will kill me.'

A soft, warm sensation began to spread to Kurt's fingertips and Kurt looked over at Blaine again in surprise, but then the feeling vanished as quickly as it had come, and Blaine felt cold again.

A slam of a door downstairs made Kurt jolt up. Wiping his eyes, he gingerly picked up the cotton towel and the small boy lying on it and quickly made his way downstairs.

…

Burt had placed his shopping bags down on the kitchen table when Kurt raced into the room, cradling a small cotton towel.

'Hey buddy, what's-' Burt began, but stopped himself once he took one look at his son's tear-stricken face. He walked around the table to him in haste, observing the tuff of wet dark hair peeking from the towel. 'What happened?'

'I don't know!' Kurt sobbed, his body shaking. 'I found him in the water and…and…'

'Here, let's put him down,' Burt said, his voice a little unsteady though he tried to keep calm for his son. 'Gently, there we go.'

The towel with the smaller boy was placed on the kitchen table and Burt could clearly see that Blaine had gotten himself into some sort of situation involving water; he was drenched from head to toe. Kurt had placed his head in his hands and was crying quietly. Burt crouched down and placed his finger on Blaine's chest, pressing it around, trying to search for a heartbeat. After a tense moment, he let out a soft chuckle and looked up at his son. Kurt was staring back at him with wide eyes, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

'He's breathing,' Burt said with a relieved smile, removing his finger so that he could point to Blaine. 'Look at his chest.'

It was more apparent now to see Blaine's tiny frame accommodating the slow rise and fall of his breath.

'Oh thank God,' Kurt breathed as he crouched down next to his father. He was still shaking so Burt placed an arm around him. 'I…I don't understand it, I was t-trying to r-revive him when we were in the bathroom but he…he was out cold.'

'You must've done something right,' Burt said, giving his son a quick squeeze before standing up. 'I'm going to call Dalton, let Mrs Frederick know. He's got a bruise on his forehead so we'd better let the doctor take a look at it.'

By the time the doctor and Mrs Frederick arrived, Blaine had been taken upstairs and placed into Kurt's bed, with the small pillow to accommodate the boy taken from Blaine's own bed. Kurt had insisted that Blaine would be warmer there with the thicker blankets, and Burt wasn't one to argue with him at this point.

Mrs Frederick looked a lot paler than usual and Burt reasoned it must have been from the shock upon hearing Blaine had almost drowned in the bathroom.

'It hasn't happened before,' Mrs Frederick said to Burt, her worried eyes taking in Blaine's appearance as the doctor examined him. 'But he's had so many bumps and bruises and still manages to get up and run around afterwards. I would bet you anything that it is just a mild concussion.' Her voice didn't waver when she spoke, but Burt could still hear the uncertainty behind it.

'Looks like only a minor concussion,' the doctor said, standing up. He was much older than Burt and wore a thick silver moustache that quivered when he spoke. 'Bruising isn't too severe or deep enough to cause internal bleeding but he needs to let it heal. He may be disoriented when he awakes, but I advise plenty of bed rest and painkillers when needed. Make sure he keeps up his fluid intake.'

'Will do,' Burt said. 'Thank-you.'

The doctor had taken care with placing a small bandage over the right side of Blaine's forehead where he had apparently hit his head. Kurt was seated on the edge of his bed, watching Blaine quietly after Burt had farewelled the doctor and Mrs Frederick downstairs. He hadn't moved from his position for over an hour.

'Shouldn't you be getting ready?' Burt asked him.

'I'm not going,' Kurt said, still staring over at Blaine. 'I just can't leave him here, Dad.'

Burt sighed. 'Bud, you haven't shut up about this get together with the girls all week. Go.'

'But-'

'Kurt, he's fine. I'll check up on him every half-hour. He's not going to be alone.'

Kurt turned to him. 'I thought I'd lost him. I was so scared, Dad.' His eyes looked tired, defeated. 'I could never say goodbye to him.'

'I know,' Burt said, understanding the significance of what his son was saying, but at the same time trying to reassure him. 'But he's fine now. I'm here, Finn and Carol will be back shortly. We'll look after him.'

'Promise?'

'Promise.' He watched as Kurt stood up hesitantly from his bed.

'I'll text when I can from Rachel's…' Kurt began, but Burt held up his hand.

'How about I call you before ten o'clock,' Burt said. 'That way you're not worrying while you're over there. He won't be up for much talking when he wakes.'

It took a little more convincing for Kurt to leave for Rachel's house, but when he did, Burt was true to his word. He went upstairs every half-hour to check up on the smaller boy.

When it was a quarter past eight, Burt approached his son's bedroom door, only to find the door almost closed but left slightly ajar. From the obscured view of the bedroom that the gap in the door provided, he could see Finn sitting on the carpet, his knees folded up to his chest as he spoke towards the bed.

'…never had a bro as tiny as you before,' Finn was saying. 'And sometimes I don't appreciate all the stuff you've done for me, you know? I think that's pretty cool so I want you to know that. And I know you went out on a date with Rachel and that's cool, because then you went out on a date with Kurt later so I guess it evens out. Yeah, Rachel told me all about it,' Finn continued as Burt listened, surprised that Kurt hadn't mentioned anything to him about a so called "date" with Blaine. The thought of it made Burt smile as he continued listening to Finn's voice through the door.

'Actually, since you're gay and all and aren't interested in girls, I'm going to give Rachel another chance. I was thinking asking her out this weekend, after Sectionals. Maybe when you wake up, we could, you know, hang out. Maybe you could give me dating tips or something.'

Burt decided to leave Finn in peace but he passed Carole on the way downstairs, who insisted on checking up on Blaine between the times that Burt wouldn't be in the room. She promptly kicked Finn out of the bedroom, telling him that the smaller boy needed his rest and that he could talk his ear off when Blaine was awake and recovered.

At one point during the evening, Burt heard a patter of small feet on the carpet behind him. He turned around to see that the cat had wandered into the bedroom and was glancing past him up to the bed. Sebastian let out a long, distressed meow, the likes of which Burt had never heard of before.

'Hey, not you too!' Burt muttered, staring down at the cat. 'He's going to be all right. Look.'

He picked up Sebastian and brought him over to the bed. Blaine was still lying peacefully on his back, his breathing calm and steady.

'We'll check up on him in another thirty minutes,' Burt said, as the cat eyed Blaine intently. 'C'mon, let's go.'

At a quarter to eleven, Burt made another trip upstairs to Kurt's bedroom and he knew it would have to be his last for the evening, as he and Carole were struggling to stay awake. He had hoped that he could hear Blaine speak a few words, just to reassure his own uneasiness about seeing the other boy so quiet and still. After finding no change in the boy's state, his hope was dashed but it was when he turned around to leave that he heard a faint groan. Burt glanced back to the bed; Blaine had shifted so that his hand was resting on his forehead on the part that wasn't bandaged. His eyelids were moving like he was struggling to open his eyes.

'Hey kiddo,' Burt said softly, sitting down on the edge of Kurt's bed.

'W-where am I?' Blaine muttered hoarsely, blinking his eyes open before closing them against the strong lamplight emitting from the bedside table. 'What time is it?'

'Time to get some sleep,' Burt said, observing the boy carefully. 'You were knocked out by a nasty bump to your head. You had us scared there for a little while.'

'Oh…sorry,' Blaine replied, yawning widely. Much like before, Burt heard the sound of smaller feet trot up to the bed. He reached behind him and picked up Sebastian so that the cat could see the smaller boy on the bed. He immediately let out a loud meow.

'M'fine, I guess,' Blaine mumbled, as Sebastian let out a softer meow. 'No, I don't think that will help.'

Burt gave the cat a strange look and placed him down on the carpet. 'How about I move you to your own bed, you'll be more comfortable there.'

Blaine mumbled something that Burt couldn't quite make out, but it didn't matter, because the boy's eyes were drifting shut again. Burt gently picked up Blaine and his pillow and tucked him in to his own bed, placing a tiny glass of water on the stool beside him in the bedroom of the dollhouse. By the time Burt stood up to retire to bed, Blaine was already fast asleep.

Burt ushered Sebastian out of the room and picked up the kitchen phone to call Kurt, knowing that his son was still awake at the sleepover. Blaine waking up could only mean a better night's sleep for everybody in the family, whether or not they were sleeping in the house that night.