“No.”

“But you haven't even heard all of what -”

“Wes!  No!  Do you hear yourself!”  Blaine sputtered towards his friend.  

They were in the hospital, outside of Kurt's room where Kurt was working with a physical therapist to ensure he could be independently mobile at the same time he was released from the hospital.  Wes had sprung what he had preambled was a “brilliant” idea whereby Kurt would live with Blaine after he was released, Wes could work with Kurt's recovery and log more medical related volunteer hours for his degree, and Blaine could get the stipend that came with accommodating a recovering addict in a clean and supportive place as Kurt's caretaker through a special program offered by the state.

“I do.  And I also point out that I came in top of my class every single year since pre-school.  I know my idea has to be quality.”

Blaine winced his eyes shut and just shook his head.  No. It wouldn't work.  It was a bad idea that his sister and his parents would never go along with.  He knew Sebastian wouldn't be thrilled by the thought of another guy living with him, and, truth be told, Blaine was kind of liking living on his own.  He enjoyed not having to report to anyone or worry about where another person was or which milk to drink or not drink.  For the first time in his life he truly felt like an adult.

“No.  Just…. what if he steals something?  Or brings drugs into the apartment?  Or has a party?  Or….”  He dropped his voice down to a whisper, “...has sex for money in my home?”

Wes just looked with amusement at Blaine, and Blaine failed to see why.  This was a serious question being asked and he was giving Wes multiple reasons why it was ridiculous to consider.

“He won't.”

“How the hell do you know he won't?”

“Because you and I will be around to watch over him and… I kind of trust the guy.”

Wes shrugged apologetically for the admission and Blaine facepalmed himself. “Why on earth would you trust a junkie Wes?”

“Do you hear yourself Blaine?”

“Yes.  I'm pretty sure I did.” Blaine lifted his face out of his hand to look at his friend soberly.

“Are you sure?  Because you don't sound like you… you sound like Rachel.”

Blaine grimaced, his nose wrinkling and his brow bunching, “Well she's not always wrong….”

“But she is always a bit of a bitch.”

Blaine couldn't exactly refute that.  He sighed and tipped his head back against the wall, staring up at the plain white ceiling.  “Make your point Wes.”

“The point is, that the best part of you Blaine, is the part that believes in people.  You took a chance on him before and let him into your home, not once, but twice already.  You dropped everything when you got that call that he was back in the hospital, including the date you had been excited about up until that call, so you could be here to help him.  You might not like what he's done, or trust him, but I know you can't refuse someone in need, and if you don't do it, trust me… he'll be in this position again.  At least with you he has a shot.”

Blaine frowned, continuing to stare up at the blankness above him.  “What do you mean?”

“Those group homes are shit.  They're a lottery.  First he needs to wait to get into one, and who knows how long that'll take.  While he's waiting he'll be back on the streets because there's no government segway plan between here and there.  Then when he gets in, it's a crapshoot what other people will be in the home.  If there's even one guy in there that succumbs to the need to get a fix, they're all screwed.  That guy will bring it back in and they'll all know and they'll all crave and it will have all been for nothing.”

Blaine winced and brought his hands up to rub his temples, “What about finding family of his?  Couldn't they help?”

“Uh… Blaine….”  Wes gave his head a shake, “What the hell have we already been doing?  Either Kurt has a home that's not safe for him to go back to or he has no one or he's just not in a place where he's ready to face home.  No matter what he isn't talking.”

Blaine groaned, “My family is not going to like this….”

“You're a big boy Blaine.  They'll have to get over it.”

“May I remind you that my parents pay my mortgage?”

Wes chuckled, “And yet, they never visit.  Honestly Blaine - why are you trying to talk yourself out of this?  It's win-win-win for all three of us.”

“Because talk like that always ends up resulting a giant debacle where the protagonist doesn't have a happy ending because he's had to learn some life lessons.”

Wes snorted, and because Blaine was looking away he wasn't sure if it was because Wes found that amusing or ridiculous, “Really Blaine?”

“And what about Sebastian?  We're just getting… y'know… closer.”

“Sebastian is your boyfriend, not your keeper.  Kurt is just a roommate as far as he can be concerned.  You don't have to tell him anything about how Kurt gave you the blowjob of you life or-”

“Enough!”  Blaine instantly regretted telling Wes all the details now.  “Oh my god Wes….”  He turned his head around to look at his friend who was clearly keeping in a laugh with pursed lips.  “Fine.  FINE!”

Wes drew his hand in to his side, a fist pumping down, “Yes.  I am awesome.”

“I honestly don't know how you and I are friends.” Blaine said, shaking his head at Wes' antics.

“I just told you why.  I'm awesome.”

The door beside them opened and the physical therapist stepped out, muttering under her breath about ‘lacking morals' and ‘inappropriateness' which prompted the boys to jump from their seats and rush into the room where Kurt was sitting on the edge of the bed - a definite improvement from where he had been for the past week.

“Well look at you!” Wes said, walking up to Kurt who did not look pleased with his progress.  In fact he looked downright pissed off.

“I don't think she's going to come back.  I told her if she was going to get that close to my crotch she'd best either give me a handjob or fuck off.”

Blaine snorted, immediately drawing a hand up to cup his jaw to keep his laugh in whereas Wes just openly guffawed.

“Brilliant.” Wes said when he caught his breath, earning a smirk of approval from Kurt.

“Well it's good to see you out of the same ol' position anyhow.”  Blaine offered with a weak smile.

Kurt looked over at Blaine, face still radiating amusement, “Hell, I'm used to being on my back or on my knees.”

Wes chuckled again and Blaine flushed up.  He felt bad that Kurt was joking about something that serious and horrifying.  He was also shocked that Wes could find humor in it.

“Oh lighten up Trust Fund.  Maybe it's you that needs a hand job.”

Wes hand to hold his arms around his stomach to brace himself he was laughing so hard and Blaine only got redder.

“Is your boyfriend that bad of a lay?  Honestly?”

“We… we… haven't…. we…”  Blaine sputtered, looking over to Wes for help but Wes was too busy trying to wipe the tears from his eyes as he kept on chuckling.

Kurt made a small o with his mouth and nodded, “Right.  He must have a small penis then if he's holding back.  That's the only reason guys hold back.”

“Oh…”  Wes leaned himself down into the seat, the laughter picking back up, “.... god….”  Another hard laugh.  “I'm going to piss myself.”

Blaine frowned and folded his arms over his chest, looking between his humor-crippled friend and his recovering-junkie acquaintance.  Clearly they were in league.  

Kurt just grinned to himself and was silent.  When Wes recovered, wiping another tear away from his eye, the asian man was finally able to speak again. “Okay… so… Kurt… Blaine said yes.”

Kurt looked from Wes back to Blaine, arching up a single eyebrow as he regarded him and Blaine instantly felt like he was being assessed.  The boy had that way of looking at someone.  

“You actually agreed?”

Blaine nodded once, still apprehensive.

“Why?”

“Because… it's the best option.”

“Not for you.” Kurt stated simply.  “You get stuck with a guy you don't really know that you know has used and abused and worked your street dry.  I can't pay rent.  I have no skills unless you count deepthroating as a skill…”  

Just as Blaine's blush was beginning to fade, it came right back with that and he had to choke back his breath in order to find his voice again.  “I… there's assistance… for people who are coming off the streets and recovering…”

Wes smiled at Blaine and took over, “There is Kurt.  Blaine would have to oversee it because he'd be kind of like a guardian…”

Kurt immediately looked angry by that and Blaine took a step back.

“... but it would cover things like rent and food and clothing until you can be independant.”

“Really.  The government just does that huh?”

Wes nodded, “For awhile… though there are requirements.”

“Shocking.”

“You'd have to attend weekly meetings with a therapist and possibly some kind of recovering addiction group.  You have to do some kind of job training so they know their money will come back to them in the future via taxes you'd pay in a job…  They'll inspect Blaine's home and check up with him too.  I can also volunteer my time as a medical student to help you with your recovery and that'll look good too….”

Blaine had to roll his eyes.  Wes was good at looking out for others, but only as good as he was at looking out for his own interests too.

“Fuck… it's like being a kid again… money overseen by someone else… school…”  Kurt grumbled.

“Look.  If you don't want to - I understand.  We can tell the social worker to put you down on the waiting list for a group home.”  Blaine offered.

Kurt snickered and looked back up at Blaine, “That wasn't a complaint Trust Fund.  Being a kid again might actually be nice.”

“Oh.”  Blaine blinked a few times, trying to consider that.  Here he was happy to be free of being overseen by Rachel and Kurt was alright with being cared for.  

Then it hit Blaine.

He was going to be the one in charge.  He was going to be a caretaker… not just to a dog, but to a real, live human.  Not just any human either, a super needy human that couldn't be threatened with being grounded or spanked like a child could be.  

His heart sped up right away.

Kurt let his legs swing back and forth where they hung over the edge of the bed.  He was still in a hospital gown, but it only when to the bottoms of his thighs so Blaine could see just how thin his legs were.  Granted they still had muscle, but not much else, and his knees were just  so knobby.   Blaine was going to have to take care of him.  He would have to make sure he ate healthy and got exercise and…

“You aren't allergic to dogs are you?”

Kurt looked back to Blaine.  “No.”

Blaine breathed a sigh of relief.  “Okay then.  Well… I guess we're going to talk to your social worker then.  Your doctor say anything about how much longer you'll be in here for?  I'll have to get the spare room ready.”

Kurt shook his head, “No… but the doctor doesn't tell me much.  He usually talks to Wes since Wes seems to know what the fuck he's talking about.  Then Wes translates.”

Wes nodded, “The doctor hasn't given a release time yet.  I'd say Kurt has at least another week in here though.  They still need to do a lot of follow-up even though the major issues have been treated.”

Blaine again breathed relief.  A week.  He had a week.