It's all Blaine can think about for the next couple weeks. He finds his mind drifting to it whenever he has a free moment and once he starts thinking about the question, more questions begin to form inside him.

The question being - should I tell Kurt that I want forever with him?

They've made utterances about the future before, but never had any serious and long conversation over it. He remembers saying he wants forever with Kurt, but it hasn't really hit him until now what that means exactly - especially since it is Kurt.

Kurt will want to get married.

And they live in a time where that's a real reality for them.

Blaine doesn't know though if it's fair to promise that to Kurt. For starters, he doesn't exactly have great role models when it comes to happy marriages. His parents marriage is just fucking weird. He's been paying more and more attention to Carole and Burt though. He's trying to see what it is that makes a marriage work.

If Burt and Carole are the examples he intends to use, what makes a marriage work is lots of squabbling over what Burt can and cannot eat, as well as worrying over the boys.

He's considered inviting himself over to Rachel's house to see how her dads are together, but that idea is quickly crossed off in his mind. Any parents, gay or not, who raised Rachel are clearly not going to be compatible with him at all.

So he's resorted to internet searches about marriage. After filtering through the websites too based on the nonsense of Dr. Phil, Blaine has read up on different marriage styles, how to get through basic disagreements, how to negotiate different value systems, and what to avoid.

A lot of it seems pretty obvious to him, and that worries him, because Blaine isn't a product of a happy home and doesn't think he should know this stuff.

He even looks through the relationships section of the school library. A woefully underused and dusty section full of religiously motivated drivel. If there's one thing that seems to be synonymous with books on relationships, it's books on relationships for men with women in a christian perspective.

And that's part of the problem. They're two men. There just aren't books for them. Even the useful websites are few and far between (though they've helped direct him to some new sexual positions he's going to want to try).

So Blaine is left frustrated by what he doesn't know. He doesn't know if he should even bother talking about marriage (they are so young after all), or go for it (because Kurt does love that kind of thing). He doesn't know if he should propose (because that will mean doing a whole lot more research to try and outdo Mr. Butthead's proposal), or ask Kurt directly (because that seems a lot simpler and less scary).

So for now, he puts it out of his mind. If there's anything he knows for sure, it's that he has a few more months before society considers him an adult, and he fully intends to enjoy what youth he has left.

Which is why he leads the whole of glee club in Wanna Be' Startin' Something through the hallways, library, and auditorium. He's young, and he's going to enjoy being spontaneous and goofy, even if it is just for the next few months.

And god damn does Kurt look good in that Michael Jackson inspired black leather thrusting his hips in such a suggestive way. Blaine had to take him to the storage room and peel off that leather right afterwards so he could show Kurt, with his mouth, just how much he loved the outfit. Left trembling on his knees, and mumbling his appreciation to Blaine, Blaine realizes that really, this is all he wants for the rest of his life. He might not know what he wants to do, or where he wants to live. He doesn't know if he wants to see his parents again ever, or even his brother, but he does know he can't be without this boy.

He can't even fathom how he survived two months without him before the holidays. All the cigarettes and booze helped probably.

But now he's sober, and almost totally off smoking (he did sneak one in last week during a moment of weakness), and if he has to be without those vices, he feels he at least needs Kurt to get him through life.

That only seems fair after all.

"Not interested Sebastian."

"Oh come on killer. I haven't seen you in so long... and where have you been hiding anyhow?"

Blaine sighs, completed exasperated. Sebastian keeps calling, and Blaine keeps putting off blocking his number. When Sebastian calls, he curses himself for not doing it because the preppy boy is so used to getting what he wants when he wants it that he's damned annoying, but when he's not on the phone with Blaine, Blaine wonders if it's right to just cut him out because Sebastian is so clearly eager to let Blaine ride him.

Now Sebastian is trying to coerce him into a coffee date again, and Blaine just isn't interested. He knows how Kurt feels about Sebastian, and doesn't dare want to risk their relationship over Sebastian.

"Nowhere. We've just been busy with glee, prepping for regionals."

"Ooo... do tell."

Blaine rolls his eyes, but is glad he's not the focus of the conversation. He tells Sebastian about how they're moving towards doing Michael Jackson at regionals since they did so well with it at sectionals. Not that Sebastian needed to know that last part though - he was in the audience cheering on Blaine. Not New Directions, just Blaine.

If Blaine stops to think about it, it's almost pathetic.... but at the same time, he has a bit of guilty pleasure over another boy liking him that much.

So when several of the New Directions members are talking about Micheal Jackson at the Lima Bean that afternoon and Sebastian comes over to let them all know that the Warblers are now doing Michael Jackson after Blaine gave it away on the phone that morning, Blaine is infuriated.

He feels used, and Kurt has to pull him back down into his seat by his jacket when Blaine launches himself up and towards Sebastian. Here he was thinking Sebastian was calling him because he liked him. No, he was just being used for information.

It takes Kurt and Mercedes to hold him back from attacking Sebastian when the next thing out of Sebastian's mouth is an insult about Kurt's clothing, and thank goodness Santana is there to snap at Sebastian too, because that asshole prep needs to be put in his place.

Blaine blocks Sebastian's number immediately after Sebastian leaves them. He's fuming.

"Why are you still talking to him?" Kurt asks, clearly irritated.

"I'm not. I just blocked his number. I thought he was a friend and he just wanted information...."

"Which you gave him!" Kurt exclaims, bringing his hands up with a flourish.

Blaine doesn't reply. He's committed a cardinal sin of glee club - namely, giving another glee club insight on your set list.

"I can't believe you would have told him that. Why Blaine, just... why?!"

Blaine sighs, being forced into this conversation he knows he can't get out of... an argument he won't win, because not only can he not win, he doesn't want to win it. He was wrong, and he deserves these consequences.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Clearly!" Kurt snaps, folding his arms over his chest with a huff.

Blaine resumes looking down at the space between his shoes, the guilt washing over him. It's an all too familiar feeling, despite it being an uncomfortable one. If there's one thing Blaine has felt all through his life, it's guilt. Guilty about not being as good as Cooper, guilty about his mom going blind when she didn't deserve to, guilty about not fighting back against his father, guilty about not being there enough for his mother....

Good ol' guilt.

Kurt's sentiment is shared by Puckerman in the choir room the next day who questions whether or not they should talk about their set list with Blaine in the room. He's put on notice by Puck and those who nod in agreement. Blaine is ready to snap back at Mr. Mohawk when someone else speaks up.

It's Finn actually who comes to his defense and argues that instead of fighting amongst themselves, they should figure out how to beat the Warblers. What would Michael Jackson do....

"He would take it to the streets... he would beat the fuckers at their own game." Blaine utters, and everyone looks to him, nodding thoughtfully.

So it ends up being decided. Tomorrow, the the parkade near Dalton academy - the New Directions will take on the Warblers - Jackson style.

Blaine fingers the collar of Kurt's jacket once more. God he loves when he wears leather. Blaine has had to retire his own leather jacket - he's grown out of it and having worn it so many nights to help keep him warm when he was living at the drive in concession booth had it worn down so badly that it couldn't even be used for scrap material, so he's instead just in a black hoodie.

Kurt leans up against him and whispers softly, "You think they'll come?"

"You're the one that knows them best... you tell me."

Kurt shrugs his shoulders up a little bit. He told Blaine last night he wasn't sure what happened to the Warblers, especially under Sebastian's leadership. They were apparently a lot sweeter and honorable last year. Something has changed this year. Perhaps it's that a core group of Warbler's graduated and left the group without solid leadership, making room for Sebastian to sweep in, but whatever it is, Kurt admits they aren't the Warbler's he sung with last year.

"I am sorry." Blaine says again, and a finger is brought up against his lips to silence him.

"I know. It's alright.... I know you wouldn't have done anything to purposely cause us problems." Kurt states simple, and Blaine's heart beats with relief.

Though he doesn't know if Kurt means us, as in the New Directions, or us, as in he and Kurt.

Probably both knowing Kurt.

The Warblers show, and Blaine and Santana walk up to confront them. They have a Bad off with Blaine, Santana, Artie, and Sebastian all singing. It's the penultimate in stereotypical gay things Blaine has done, this sing off, and yet it's fueled with nothing but aggression, something he knows all too well.

It's at the end of the song when he sees Sebastian pull a slushie out of a brown paper bag and lock eyes on Kurt that he knows something is more than not right. He rushes towards Sebastian, in front of Kurt, just in time to catch the slushie on his own face instead of it hitting Kurt.

And god his eyes are immediately burning with some unknown pain. That was no ordinary slushie.

It only fuels his anger though. He spent so much time when he was younger pretending he was blind, shutting his eyes for hours at a time, to see what his mother must have been going through. That, coupled with the fact that he's taken enough punches and hits to be used to pain, allow him to blindly launch himself towards where he knows Sebastian was when he could see.

He connects with the prep boy - he knows it's Sebastian by his voice when he cries out in surprise and lands beneath Blaine on the pavement. Blaine swings his fists blindly. He doesn't care what he hits - just that he does hit. This asshole used him and tried to assault Kurt, and now he can't even see and, DAMN, his eyes feel like they have holes being bore into them.

He feels his fists connect with flesh and bone once, twice, and the third time Sebastian must have moved because his fist collides with pavement. Blaine lets out a pained groan, but lifts his hand back up, intent on showing Sebastian how assholes like him should be treated, but Blaine is pulled off by unknown hands.

He doesn't know what's going on after that. There's too many voices around him and too much yelling. He focuses in on the one voice that matters - Kurts.

"Oh my god... sweetheart...." He feels Kurt's soft skin touch his cheek gently, and knowing that Kurt is there, and safe, Blaine finally succumbs to the pain.

His eyes... he can't even open them and he can feel them swelling - or at least the tissue around them swelling, he can't tell. He can tell his right hand is bleeding from hitting the pavement since he can feel his warm, thick blood creeping between his fingers. He'll also be lucky if he got away with no broken bones from hitting his fist against the concrete - that whole arm is freezing up in pain and muscle spasms drift all the way up to his shoulder.

"We're taking you to the hospital...." Kurt says then, wrapping an arm under Blaine's good one to help him to his feet and lead him back to the car. The bits of conversation he's picking up from the rest of New Directions tell Blaine that Sebastian should end up with a few good bruises and that the Warblers all ran, Sebastian included, once Blaine was pulled off him.

Good. Let that be a lesson to them.

The more time that passes between getting in the car and getting to the hospital, the more he hurts. Eventually even Blaine can't hold back and he starts to cry softly, the tears stinging his eyes even more. Kurt tries to console him, holds him tightly in the backseat of the car and tells him everything is going to be alright.

Is he going to end up blind like his mother?

Thankfully, Santana again uses the power of her doctor father to ensure Blaine gets seen right away. He's put through an eye wash - which is even more painful, and then his eyelids are held open while two doctors inspect his eyes. Meanwhile, his arm is x-rayed, cleaned, and a splint is fasted over two fingers he's broken.

He's had worse.

He gets pain medication though, and finally, he feels more at ease. Whatever was in his eye was cleaned out, though his left eye is taped shut until he can have a surgery to correct a deeply scratched cornea. His right eye is fine. The eye wash cleared out any debris and there was no major scratching.

Kurt stays with him throughout the whole hospital ordeal, and they joke about this becoming all too familiar even though Blaine can see the worry in Kurt's eyes.

It's when they're just awaiting a final check from the doctor in order to be released that the social worker arrives. Someone informed her of what had happened, probably she was on the contact list given his unique care situation.

"I can't say this looks good..." She states, with a shake of her head.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asks, holding tightly onto Blaine's hand.

"He admitted to the doctor he got into a fight...."

Which means that she doesn't think the Hummel-Hudson house is providing a good atmosphere for him. Which means she might recommend sending him back to his parents. Or.. a foster home even. Do they do that for kids his age?

"His dad beat him up all the time when he lived at their house! He attacked a guy who tried to hurt me! These are totally different things!' Kurt argues.

Blaine chokes softly on a sob caught in his throat. "Please... please don't take me away from them."

The social worker ignores Kurt, and looks at Blaine, "It won't look like you're in good hands when I have to report this to my superiors...."

"I won't fight anymore, just please... don't..." Blaine can't help the tears creeping out now from his good eye and the bandaged eye. "I can't go back to my parents.... I can't."

"It's only a few more months until you're eighteen Blaine and then you can decide for yourself." She insists.

"I can decide now!" He yells, without meaning to. "I can decide to run away again because I don't want to end up being my mother's servant and my father's punching bag! I can find another place to sleep with all the bugs and my own shit and piss again - and it would be preferable to living with them! I can decide to give up my high school diploma to run away to another city!"

He feels Kurt stiffen beside him, but his eye is locked on the stunned woman in front of him. "I can decide all that... based on your decision."

"I think we need to speak later Blaine..." She says, so much more mousey than she was before, and slinks away.

Blaine exhales slowly. He's so tired of other people making decisions for him... especially when they're bad decisions. So maybe he shouldn't have attacked Sebastian like he did, but he feels justified, and Sebastian definitely had it coming.

He looks over to Kurt finally, and see's his beautiful boyfriend with glossy eyes, tears running down his face and dripping from his chin. Blaine didn't even notice when he started to cry.

"Hey... hey... what's wrong?" Blaine coos and pulls Kurt toward him with his good hand to wrap his arms around him.

Kurt shakes his head, nuzzling his face into Blaine's neck. He doesn't say anything, so Blaine assumes that he's just upset about the social worker being a bitch.

The doctor releases him as soon as he see's that Blaine is able to comfort Kurt instead of Kurt comforting him.

He can't go to school since his vision is hindered, along with his writing hand, so he spends most of the next day listening to audiobooks he's downloaded. Kurt periodically texts him to check up on him, remind him to take his painkillers, and tell him about what's happening in school.

Apparently, of all people, Artie was the one who flipped out the loudest about what happened to Blaine. He even spazzed on Mr. Butthead about it. Kurt told him via text that it's the one and only time he's ever been attracted to Artie.

Kurt gives him a blowjob that evening though to assure Blaine that he's the only one for him.

The next days are much the same. Blaine burns through the audiobooks and lives for Kurt's updates while he's at school. Quinn apparently got into Yale, and Santana wants to get back at Sebastian - they all do apparently, but aren't sure how to go about it. Kurt wanted to beat Sebastian up himself initially he admitted to Blaine, but now he says that he needs to take the high road. He campaigned against violence after all, and even though he's been grateful to Blaine for taking the slushie, he also gave him a little scolding for punching Sebastian.

That was right before the blowjob though, so Blaine knew it was only words. Especially since he also knows how much Kurt despises Sebastian.

Blaine hears Burt make one of his whoops downstairs during lunch one day and then call up to Blaine, "The NYADA letter is here!"

Blaine's heart stills when he hears that. Kurt has been waiting for that letter for weeks.

"Take it to him!" Blaine yells downstairs.

Really he wants to yell to Burt to open it right then and there, but that wouldn't be right. It's Kurt's letter.

Though he better find out what's in it as soon as Kurt does.

Burt doesn't need any pushing and he's out the door and driving away to the school as fast as can be while Blaine waits impatiently by his phone, his audiobook paused.

He waits... and waits....

It happens at the same time. Burt bursts back into the house and yells out "He's a finalist!" just as Blaine gets a text from Kurt saying 'I'm a finalist!'

It gives him relief for some reason. He didn't even know how worried he'd been on Kurt's behalf over that damned letter.

Burt runs up the stairs and shows Blaine the letter that Kurt gave back to his dad for safekeeping. Blaine reads it slowly, one eye making it more difficult, but grins broadly, and so proudly. "This... is amazing."

"I know. He's done so well... so... well...." Burt says, tearing up right in front of Blaine and shaking his head. Blaine just smiles up at him. How he wishes this man were his father.

If he married Kurt... Burt would be his father-in-law at least.

If.

By the time Kurt gets home, Blaine has made arrangements with Burt to have Kurt's favourite food ready to make for supper, and they're even being allowed some celebratory champagne. Kurt, of course, tells Burt that Blaine will be have water instead, but they make a toast and Blaine spins Kurt around his arms as soon as he can.

Then Rachel and Finn come to visit and together they sing Ben, letting Blaine participate in a little bit of glee club at home. Finn asks him about the surgery and Blaine brushes the question off, saying he's not worried - why would he be worried?

As soon as they leave though, Kurt looks at him and arches an eyebrow.

"Alright... I'm fucking terrified..."

Kurt smirks a little and crawls up on the bed with Blaine, wrapping his arms around him as Blaine rambles.

"I've been in the hospital so many times before... but... this is my vision, and I know it's not the end of the world and I know children in Africa have it worse, but in my house...." He pauses, and corrects himself, "In my parents house - the worst thing that happened was my mom's eyesight going. What if I lose mine? What if I have to wear an eyepatch forever like some kind of freak?"

Kurt gently presses his nose into Blaine's curls and presses a kiss to the top of his head, murmuring softly, "Then you will look extra bad ass. You will still be Blaine, you will still be the hottest man alive to me, and you will still have everything else going for you."

So long as Kurt won't throw him away if he's blind.

Like his dad did to his mother...

They snuggle for awhile like that, and eventually Blaine realizes that Kurt is silently crying into his hair when he feels the wet warmth of tears on his scalp. Pulling away he looks at Kurt worriedly.

"What's wrong?"

Kurt snuffles, and sucks back a breath. "I just.... I feel so awful. When you were talking to the social worker at the hospital... I was so worried about myself before that I didn't realize what you were going through. And then you told her... and I know you were out on your own... I get that, but I didn't actually KNOW."

Blaine rolls his one good eye and can't help but smirk. To him, it's all past now and he's not worrying about it - but leave it to his sensitive boyfriend to bring it all up.

"And... I just wish you would have trusted us to come to us... because I think if something happened to you I would never, ever forgive myself for not noticing... and then I feel bad because I know I'm just thinking about me again even though it's about you..."

"Fuck Kurt..." Blaine pulls him in now and cuddles him tightly to him. "Don't worry about it. It's okay. I'm okay. You're okay."

Kurt hiccups between his sobs, and Blaine just holds him, knowing that Kurt sometimes just needs to let out his emotions to keep on going. His beautiful, but sometimes more of a diva than he cares to admit, boyfriend.

"And.... you took the slushie... why did you take the slushie Blaine? It was just another slushie as far as we knew at that point. I've taken dozens of them..."

Blaine recounts that moment. The pull back of Sebastian's arm as it prepared to launch the liquid forward overlaps with another memory, a much older one, where a fist is pulling back preparing to hit a young man with wavy blonde hair while Blaine watches.

He hasn't thought about that for awhile.

"I needed to protect you." Blaine says simply.

Kurt hiccups again and Blaine absently pats his back to help him through.

"You've always been... so protective... why?"

Blaine looks down at Kurt in his arms. Because I love you and can't risk anything happening to you. Because my future is you and without you I'm nothing. Because... just like you feel you're selfish when you think about how you'd be if something had happened to me, I know I'm selfish when it comes to you.

"I wasn't able to save one person who was important to me once... and I'll never get over it if I let something ever happen to you...."

Kurt looks up at Blaine, eyes wide in wonder, "Was it... your friend?"

Blaine nods slowly. "Arthur... If I had been stronger... or faster... or just had more balls at the time... maybe I could have done something..."

"Blaine... you can't blame yourself for that...."

"I don't..." Blaine doesn't really. He got over that point with a counselor a long while ago. "... but now that I am stronger, faster, and have a great set of balls... if I do say so myself...." He winks and Kurt can't help but chuckle, "I won't let anything happen to you."

"Do you ever... visit his grave?"

Blaine frowns, pressing his lips together tightly, and shakes his head. Not once, not ever.

"Why not?"

Blaine sighs and leans back against his headboard. "He didn't die right away... it was slow and painful. I was down the hall in recovery and I could hear him crying for his mother constantly. Wailing in pain while his mother cried for him. I just...."

Kurt brushes his cheek gently, and Blaine leans into the caress automatically.

"... I just don't like to think about it... visiting his gravesite... well, I don't think I'd be able to keep it together."

"I'd go with you if you ever wanted to." Kurt whispers.

Blaine smiles gently to him and nods gratefully. He doesn't think he will, at least not in the foreseeable future, but it just reinforces how special Kurt is.

And how much he needs to ensure that Kurt is always safe.

Apparently Santana used her underboob to hold a tape recorder and got Sebastian on tape admitting he put rock salt in the slushie intended for Kurt. Apparently tits do have a use aside from being eye catchers for heterosexual males and infants! Who knew?

Instead of using it to get Sebastian in trouble independently, Kurt, his beautiful intelligent Kurt, reserved the auditorium to teach all of the Warbler's a lesson. He shamed Sebastian in front of the other Warbler's with the knowledge, no doubt alienating him to the others, and showed just how much better the New Directions was at doing Micheal Jackson. The Warblers apparently all joined them onstage, save for Sebastian - who sulked in his seat.

It was all a great story, and Blaine was especially delighted to hear that Sebastian was sporting a bruised cheekbone from Blaine, but it didn't completely distract Blaine from his fear over the surgery. He was so anxious over it that the doctor was recommending that he take some anti-anxiety medication prior to going under for the surgery so they could get the gas mask on him without him freaking out - which apparently was an issue for high anxiety patients.

"Great... gave up the fun drugs for lame ones....." Blaine grumbled as Kurt served him with his first dose of the medication.

Kurt snickered and watched to make sure Blaine took and swallowed the pills. "Poor baby."

God he couldn't wait until he could roll BOTH eyes again.