At first, Blaine still watched outside of his window.  No one told him when Kurt had been officially released from the hospital, and he hadn't been there to see him go.  He kept vigil over the street from above though, hoping he'd see the boy again, if only to know he was alive and alright.

But Kurt didn't show up again.

His mother was quick to find Blaine a job working at a humane society on the weekends courtesy of a favour of a friend. All his paycheques went directly to repaying the cost of Kurt's hospital stay, a debt which would take eternity to pay only working the weekends.  It was mostly cleaning up and helping with the filing, but it satisfied his need to take care of others, especially since so many of the animals there needed that extra bit of love he was more than willing to provide.  The job was a good fit, and Blaine began to feel normal again after only a couple weekends of working there.  When Rachel announced that she was moving into her own suite, leaving him with the apartment, Blaine felt it was safe to finally do what he had always wanted to do but was never permitted to.

Adopt a dog.

It didn't take long for one to come his way either.  A couple brought in and surrendered a chocolate lab, not even old enough to neuter, citing that they didn't realize how much exercise the dog needed and they didn't have the space or time to offer the dog.  Blaine filled out the paperwork the same night the dog came in, walking home with a new leash, bowls, and bag of food and his new best friend, who certainly seemed to be walking Blaine more than Blaine was walking him.

Wes was the first one he called, and the man came right over to meet the dog.

“What's his name?” Wes laughed, getting a tongue bath all over his face as he knelt to greet the new addition.

“No idea yet.  They had named him Peanut.  Terrible… and so not fitting.”

Wes wrinkled up his nose and nodding in confirmation of that fact.  Together they spent the evening playing with the happy canine and tossing out name ideas.

“Ernest!”
“Rex!”
“Cato!”
“Edward Cullen!”
“Bob!”
“Deogee!”

Everytime they offered a name to the dog, he just crawled into their laps, clearly unaware of his own size, and licked them.

“God he's such a lover boy.” Blaine chuckled, trying to evade the massive tongue aimed at his face.

“Such a Romeo.” Wes cooed, the dog rushing back over to the asian man and trying to give his face another sweep of his tongue.

“Romeo….” Blaine mused.  He knew he'd heard the name being used towards him before and racked his brain trying to think of when and where.

“Romeo fits.  He's definitely a romantic - what with all the tongue.” Wes laughed.

Blaine chimed in and then stopped.  Oh.  He remembered.

Kurt had called him that.

A slight sourness in his belly came and left, as did the memory.  He was over it.  He was over him… whatever it had been.  A boyish fantasy.

As the semester ended, Blaine began to work more hours at the humane society to keep busy and in the hopes he might be able to repay his mother before he retired.  It was there that he met Sebastian.

“Hi… ah… I'm looking for Dr. Lychmen?”

Blaine looked back from where he had been sorting papers behind the desk and his eyes went wide.  There was a gorgeous man smiling down at him.  Dusty coloured hair and striking green eyes and a smile that could knock his socks off if his shoes weren't keeping them on.

Sebastian, it turned out, had come to work at the humane society too.  It was his first academic practicum assignment for his business degree and he was spending his hours at the society doing bookwork and accounting.  

It only took Sebastian a day to ask Blaine out.

It only took a week for them to be an official “item”.

Sebastian was sweet and took Blaine out and treated him.  He made him feel special instead of just a second child, another student in the class, or another notch on the bedpost.  He felt like he was the only one when Sebastian was around, and it was a feeling he definitely enjoyed.  

“I hate to have to admit this Blaine…”  Wes said, looking over at him across the table where the two of them had been having an afternoon game of chess, “... but you've really grown up in the past few months.”

“Hardy har har.” Blaine mouthed, eyeing the pieces in front of him as he planned his next move, “... this a joke about how I can wipe myself now or something?”

“No.  Honestly.  A few months ago you had a schoolboy crush on the badboy that was totally unhealthy, and now look at you - your own place, albeit paid for by your parents, a real boyfriend, and even a dog that I am proud to be an uncle to.”

“You are ridiculous.” Blaine said with a shake of his head, moving his piece, “Check.”

“Oh dammit… come on here.  I'm asian.  You white boys shouldn't be beating me at this…” Wes tsked.

Blaine laughed, “Half asian remember?  Anyhow… when Rachel moved out I felt less like a little kid.”

“Oh yah.  She's good at that.  You know she still brings up the time I wet the bed when I was having a sleepover?”

Blaine snickered, “You were only three….”

Wes nodded insistently, “I know!”

Blaine's phone went off then, and as Wes analyzed his own move, Blaine accepted the call.

“Hello?”

Blaine listened to the voice on the other end, a woman, identify herself as a social worker at one of the city hospitals and then…

“... we have your information on file for a patient we have admitted currently.   Could we ask you to come to the hospital to identify him?”

Blaine blinked a few times and looked over at Wes who was looking at him curiously.  Hitting the speaker button on his phone so Wes could hear, he continued the conversation.

“What do you mean?  Who?”

“He was identified by bloodwork in the system we have matched to file from a few months ago from another hospital.  You were listed as the person taking care of the account and billing.  The only name we have on this file is Kurt and we want to ensure we have the same person as listed…”

Blaine's eyes went round and he looked at Wes, questions in his eyes that Wes shook his head to.

“... I…. I don't know what I can do…?” Blaine offered the voice on the other end.

“We're just needing to ensure identity and if you have any other information that could help us we'd also appreciate it.  There's no other information we have on next of kin or anyone else to contact and he had no identification of any kind when he was found.”

“Found?!” Blaine choked, “Is he… dead?”

The voice was still for a moment, and then, “No… but he's not well either.”

“Blaine…” Wes hissed at him.

Blaine ignored his friend and asked for the information he'd need to get there, also getting the name of the social worker before running to the door and slinging on his jacket.  “I'm not going because of a silly schoolboy obsession Wes…”  He pulled on his shoes as quickly as he could.  “... I'm going because I've spent the past few months wondering and if I'm the only link he has to anyone, then it's the humane thing to do.”

Wes watched him get ready and give his explanation before swearing under his breath and following Blaine.  “Fine.  But I'm going too.”

The ride over was quiet, Blaine texting Sebastian to postpone their date for later in the afternoon, citing that an old friend was in the hospital as his reason.  

It wasn't necessarily untrue.

Blaine and Wes met with the social worker, who first gave them the rundown.

“He was dumped in an alleyway.  He was lucky though considering… a couple kids were making out behind a dumpster there and not only were able to call in an ambulance, but catch the licence plate of the car that dropped him off there.  He has pneumonia, mononucleosis, and they're doing some S.T.I. tests.  He's showing signs of significant malnutrition and dehydration and if that wasn't bad enough he's got contusions all over of various sizes, age, and severity.  The doctor says he has dental problems they're going to look at and - “

“Geeze.  What's the good news?” Wes cut in, Blaine giving him an elbow jab to the side.

“Well… he's alive.” She offered sadly.  “I'm usually not so lucky with the patients I'm assigned to look into.”

There was a somber quiet for a moment more as they followed her down the hallway, through the loops and passages and doorways - a maze only a hospital staff member would have been able to navigate.  Finally they came to one of the critical care wards and the social worker paused outside the door.

“Now… it's just identification and any other information you can provide.  He's on state insurance right now.  The government doesn't like to admit this sort of thing happens as much as it does and has funds there to support those that end up in these circumstances.  I read the file from before.  I get why he was cut off before.  If someone had been doing their job properly, then it shouldn't have come to this point anyhow.  He should have been referred over when you brought him in… but….”

Wes finished the statements, “... the system is underfunded, overworked, and guys like Kurt slip through the cracks.”

She nodded and pushed the door open, staying still to allow the men to pass in.  Blaine led the way, stopping in his tracks as he saw Kurt… or what had been Kurt, laying in the bed before him.

He was thinner, scarily so, and his eyes were dark circles on his face.  Again he wore the hospital gown that Blaine had last seen him in, but no shackles were needed since this time it didn't look like he could fight off a fly.  There were several drips holstered up by the bed near him, all entering him intravenously along with a heart monitor that had wires travelling under his gown.  

He looked like he had aged decades in months.

“His name is Kurt….” Blaine meekly piped up, Wes nodding beside him.

“Alright… so it is him…”  She wrote something down on her clipboard, “Anything else?”

Blaine slowly shook his head, “He was working as a prostitute on my street… he was using drugs… he knew someone named Quinn who got out.”

More scratchings of a pencil was all that was heard as she took down that information.  While Blaine remained locked in spot, Wes walked further up, scanning Kurt up and down beside his bed.  “Has he regained consciousness?”

She hummed thoughtfully, “For a few seconds at a time.  He's not in a coma if that's what you're asking.  The doctors figure he's just too weak and the only way his body knows how to repair itself is through rest.”

“What about the car?  Did they catch the people… or person that did this?”

“That doesn't fall under my jurisdiction as far as being informed on it.  I only contact the police if… when… he can stay awake and with it enough to make a statement for them.”

Blaine's brow furrowed.  How did this sort of thing happen?  Was it his fault?  Should he have fought harder for Kurt?  Would it have made a difference?

“I'll need your street address so I can interview other people in your area to see if they knew more.”  She prompted Blaine, breaking him out of his quiet reverie.

He gave her the information quickly, hazarding glances over at Kurt and Wes every now and then.  She asked if he wanted to be informed of any changes to which he answered in the affirmative.  Then she confirmed his phone number and escorted them back out, leaving Kurt behind in the square, solitary room.

“Did you ever figure out where you recognized him from Wes?” Blaine asked on the drive home.

Wes shook his head.  “No.  I stopped when you stopped obsessing over him.  I'm going to pick it back up though… someone out there has to know him.  There's no way that a person can be unknown like that… to only have a first name and be known by some kid who paid a little more attention to him than anyone else who saw him on the street…. if he dies… I mean…”  Wes looked over at Blaine worriedly before looking back at the road, gauging his reaction to make sure he didn't upset the curly haired man, “... well he should at least have a proper grave… not just a John Doe with no birth, only a death...”

“Wes?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for coming with me… I really… I wasn't prepared for that.”

“You're like my half-asian brother Blaine… of course I'm here for you.”

Blaine smiled softly and looked back out the window at the scenery flying by.   In a world where he had an overbearing sister, a dictatorial mother, a conspiratorial father, a true friend, and an over affectionate dog - how was it that someone who peddled in love as a business had no one?