"Kurt?" Blaine called as he peered into the locker room. He held his football helmet to his side and glanced at the clock on the wall, sighing as he bounced up and down impatiently.

"Kurt, I saw you duck in here. Where are you?" He bent over to look under the bottoms of the stalls and smiled when he saw Kurt's sneakers.

"Kurt, honey. I can see your shoes for goodness sake. You're the only guy who has trainers that are embossed with the Cheerios logo. What are you doing? Come out and give me my good luck kiss!"

"I can't come out! I'm hideous! Plus, just trust me... you don't want to kiss me right now." Kurt's voice sounded muffled, as though he were covering his mouth with his hand. He was also sniffly and nasal, sounding like he'd been crying.

Blaine banged his head lightly against the door.

"Baby, come on. Let's not have another repeat of the whole 'My life is over! I have a gray hair at sixteen!' drama."

"Don't make fun me for that! It was horrible!"

"Honey, you locked yourself in your bedroom for three days. Then realized upon closer examination that it was just a really blonde hair from your highlights."

Silence.

"It was still horrible. You don't understand. You just wait till your hair starts to fall out one day and you can no longer gel it back with a pound of product. See if I am understanding then toward you."

More silence as Blaine's face paled. That possibility hadn't occurred to him before.

"You're right, I'm sorry. It must have been horrible for you, but you are so beautiful to me, baby. You were beautiful in the gray hair fiasco and you are beautiful to me right now. You always will be. Please come out."

"I appreciate the sentiment, and I love you so much Blaine, but I'm not coming out."

"You have to!" Blaine panicked. "I ALWAYS get a good luck kiss from you before every game! You know I can't win this without you! Plus, the Cheerios need you. You're their star!"

Please let flattery work here. Blaine crossed his fingers.

"What is with this ridiculous tradition anyway?" Blaine jumped excitedly when he heard Kurt's voice waver. He was so close.

"It's just a part of sports, Kurt. Every player has their good luck charms and superstitions. You have to give me a good luck kiss. I'll lose the game without it."

"I don't know, Blaine. You really don't understand how awful it is..."

"Please, baby." Blaine pleaded one last time. "It's not just about that. When I go out onto the field knowing how much you love and support me... I can't explain it. I feel like I could conquer the world. That's what your love does for me."

Slowly, the stall door opened.

Blaine grinned, but then looked slightly shocked at Kurt's appearance. The cheerleader hadn't been lying. His eyes were bloodshot and watery, his hair mussed and sweaty, nose red and swollen, and his whole body just plain feverish and limp.

The football player didn't look at his boyfriend with distaste though. All he saw was the most beautiful boy in the world, looking like he felt wretched.

"Baby! Why aren't you at home if you're so sick?" Blaine stepped to his side and tried to pull him close, but Kurt kept his distance as he hacked and coughed.

"Sue said that if I didn't show up to do my number at the half-time show, she would fire me from the canon next time instead of the dummy. I don't take her threats idly. Plus, I wanted to see you play and cheer for you." The last part of his sentence was choked out along with a cough that wracked his whole body.

Blaine pulled Kurt close to him then. "Honey, go home. Go to bed. Eat soup and drink water and sleep. I'll handle Sue. Just give me my kiss and then go rest." Kurt looked relieved at the thought of going home. Honestly, he was barely staying on his feet. He gave Blaine a regretful look though, and pulled back when the football player tried to lean in for his kiss.

"I don't want to get you sick, sweetie." Kurt snuffled and grabbed a tissue from his pocket to wipe his nose.

"It'll be worth it." Blaine grinned and pulled the cheerleader close once more. He cupped the flushed and feverish cheek, lightly nuzzled the puffy, red nose, and gazed into the bloodshot eyes. There was something about seeing this extremely real and human side of Kurt. It warmed Blaine's heart, and made him fall for the other boy that much harder.

He leaned in and captured Kurt's lips with his. Kurt sighed, partly in resignation and partly in contentment. He leaned into the kiss, parting his lips just the tiniest bit. It was soft and warm and tender, lasting only seconds before Blaine pulled away with a grin. He squeezed Kurt's hand before jamming his helmet onto his head and dashing back out to the field.

"It's your own fault if you get sick!" Kurt called with a grin.

"I maintain that it will have been totally worth it!" Blaine turned with a smirk as he jogged backward for just a moment, then darted out the door.

Kurt rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement before wrapping his scarf around him a little more snugly.

Time to follow the doctor's orders. Bed and soup, here I come.

"You should have seen it! Thirty second left, fourth down, their quarterback throws the pass wide and Blaine intercepts!" Sam jumped up and down excitedly. Every person at the after party was hanging onto his every word. "Fifty-eight yards! It was so freaking awesome!"

At least twenty people were surrounding Blaine, clapping him on the shoulder and hugging him excitedly.

"I owe it all to my good luck charm," Blaine grinned. "With him, I can't fail."

All of the girls sighed with a little "Awww." All of the guys wished that they had thought to say something like that about their girlfriends, knowing they'd probably catch hell later on for 'not being romantic like Blaine'.

Blaine went to take a swallow of his soda and choked a litte. A sudden dryness in his throat caught him by surprise. He coughed, then felt a tiny bit dizzy.

Uh-oh.

"I told you you'd get sick too." Kurt sighed as he settled next to Blaine on his bed with a steaming bowl of soup and a sympathetic look.

The football player settled back on his pillow and glanced appreciatively at his boyfriend. Kurt was completely better by now. Skin, eyes, nose and hair all restored to their normal perfection. The cheerleader had curled up next to Blaine's side in his uniform and was scooping up a spoonful of the soup, intent on feeding his boyfriend. His soft, pink lips were pursed adorably as he blew lightly on the soup to cool it.

Blaine sighed in contentment as Kurt fed him.

Yup. Totally worth it.

He leaned over to tell Kurt just that when the spices from the soup caught him just right... or just wrong. Without warning, he sneezed violently... straight into the bowl that Kurt was holding up in his hands.

They stared at each other for a moment, chicken and noodles dripping from their faces, before bursting into laughter.

"See how much trouble you caused by insisting on kissing me while I'm sick!" Kurt snipped a little, but his grin belied him.

"Am I worth the trouble?" Blaine pouted. Kurt wiped the noodles from Blaine's face with a tender smile.

"Always and forever, baby."