“So… does he do anything other than sleep?”  Santana mused, looking at the boy in Kurt's bed, softly snoring all tucked up under the covers.

Kurt smiled softly as he looked over at Blaine fondly and shook his head, “No… three days now and he only wakes to eat, go to the washroom, and talk with me until he dozes off again…”

“Is he sick?”

Kurt shrugged, “I don't know.  I found his paperwork in one of the pockets of the thing he wore here.  He still has his free after-service doctor check-up available so I booked an appointment for him at the campus doctor.. but that's not for a couple days yet.  I think he's just… exhausted.”

“Oh princess….”  Santana huffed, poking at the rose Blaine had brought that first night, which was sitting in a glass of water and drooping now despite Kurt's best efforts to keep it perky and proud.  “... that's more than exhaustion.”

“How would you know?” Kurt asked, turning his eyes away for just a moment to look at his friend.

“Trust me on this.  I know.”

He shrugged and returned his eyes to Blaine, all curled up in the fetal position in the bed.  Had he always slept like that?  Kurt remembered when they were in the warehouse and watching Blaine when he was sick and Blaine sprawled out under the covers as he mumbled through his fever.  He remembered when they were kids, napping in the afternoons under the sun in their shorts and all stretched out, Kurt awakening with sunburns because his skin couldn't hold a tan like Blaine's could.  No, this was new.

“What does Adam think about this?”

Kurt blinked a few times, “Uh… Adam?”

“You've told Adam right?  Didn't you have a date scheduled with him a couple nights ago?”

Kurt went wide-eyed and looked towards his phone, left abandoned on the desk.  Three voicemails, numerous missed texts.  Shit.

Santana just laughed into her palms and shook her head, “Oh god… Kurt… really?  You forgot all about Adam and all it took was baby brown eyes?”

“Yeah….”  Kurt said quietly, picking up his phone and skimming through all the missed texts from Adam.  He had made calls on the phone, to the doctor, to his dad, to Santana… but didn't even register the missed messages.  His brain seemed to have one track only right now, playing on repeat, and it was Blaine.

“You'd better call him before he busts in here and finds another man in your bed.”  Santana said, still laughing over her words.

“What do I say though?  Sorry, the man who's haunted my dreams and periodically appeared in my life since I was ten showed up and I forgot you even existed?  My bad?”  Kurt mused aloud, looking towards Santana who was still finding amusement at his predicament as she laughed gayly.

“I don't know Kurt… all I know is that you clearly have it bad.”

Kurt sighed, “He seems so… sad… worn down… I just want to make him better.”

“His family should be doing that.”

“His family is composed of assholes.”  Kurt asserted, looking back towards Blaine with fire in his eyes.  “His parents used him to get out of service and his brother, who apparently makes more than enough money if the estimates on the internet were any indication, never even thought to pay his way out - or concern himself with why Blaine's status changed…”

“Doesn't make it your responsibility Kurt…. honestly.  What're you going to do?  Keep him here?  Won't your R.A. check in and -”

“My R.A. lets out a plume of smoke everytime he opens his room door and then wonders aloud, in stoned amazement, at the clouds he's released into the hallway.  I'm not worried about him.”

“ - anyhow… you have your degree to worry about… a boyfriend who's probably going out of his mind with worry right now… and a job you've apparently called in sick twice for this week.  Have you even studied anymore for your final tomorrow?”

“Shit…”  Kurt looked at the textbook he had abandoned the night Blaine had shown up.

“So no.”  Santana concluded with a roll of her eyes.  “Don't screw up your life for this kid Kurt.”

“I'm not…”  Kurt said with hushed breath, looking back towards the sleeping body, “I'll… study… I'll figure things out… but I just… I couldn't leave him alone… and Adam isn't my boyfriend.”

“He seems to think otherwise.”

“Well I don't recall having the conversation with him.”  Kurt huffed, irritated now by the thought of the man he had just, a few days ago, been quite smitten with.  “How do you know that anyhow?”

“He called me when he couldn't get ahold of you.  Thus why I'm here, at your room, discovering you have the infamous Blaine Anderson snuggled into your bed like a puppy, and you spending your studying and work time sewing him new clothes.”

Kurt glanced over at the sewing machine.  He had been working on making a couple new outfits for Blaine.  There were definitely perks to being in a fashion program where fabric and materials were literally everywhere for the taking, and one of the material requirements of the program was a sewing machine.  “It'll help for my demo final in design construction…”

Another snicker fled from Santana's lips, “Right.  Whatever helps you sleep at night princess.”

“You don't think I'm being rational do you…?”  Kurt sighed, eyes set on the slightly shifting form under the blanket.

“Not being rational Kurt?  God… that's an understatement.  I think you've lost your fucking mind.  You're going to screw up everything you've worked so hard at for a boy whose hair looks like he's part poodle and is practically homeless and has nothing to offer you but more grief.”

“That's not true…”  He whispered softly.

“Really?  Then tell me… what can he do for you?  He has no money, no skills aside from obeying orders, probably has a Dent high school diploma which will limit what kind of colleges he can get into - if any.  I don't really think his family is willing to use what connections they might have to elevate your career… So tell me Kurt - what the hell are you doing?”

Kurt sighed, slipping from the chair he was sitting at and kneeling by the bed where he looked at Blaine's face, eyes scrunched together and brows twitching as he dreamed.  “I'm doing what feels right.”

“Yeah, well… what felt right for your dad got you and him indentured remember?  If you think you love him, or whatever it is, you need a reality check.  Love doesn't keep you safe in this world Kurt.  All you're going to do is get hurt again.”

Kurt bowed his head down, “I think you should go Santana….”

He heard a huff, a chair shift, and then the door creak open, “Call me when you find your sanity.”

Then he was left alone again with Blaine, reaching up to stroke his fingers through those bands of curls - that were not poodle-like at all no matter what Santana thought.  They were perfect.  He was perfect.

Abandoning the work on his sewing machine for the moment, Kurt crawled into the bed behind Blaine and spooned up against him, breathing in the scent of his own fabric softener from the blanket, and the noodles they had eaten for lunch.  His own thoughts and emotions weighing him down, he felt tired too then and quickly dozed off, snuggling against Blaine for all it was worth.

When he awoke, he found himself alone, reaching out across his small bed to seek out Blaine and finding nothing but a piece of paper.

Kurt,

I heard you and Santana talking earlier.  I'm sorry.  I didn't want to bring you down.  I didn't and don't want to ruin the life you've built up for yourself.  You know how I feel about you, and I know you feel the same but we're not in the same place in our lives and you deserve so much better than I can offer you - which is nothing.  I have nothing and you know that.  Santana was right.  You need to forget about me.  I'm sorry for pushing my way into your life again.  Please.  Be happy.

All my love,

Blaine

“Oh no he didn't….”  Kurt growled, gripping the paper with white knuckles before letting it fall to the ground as he rapidly got himself dressed and ran out the door.

Blaine wasn't jumping out of his life again that easily.