“Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight… I’m beginning to see the light.”

So lost in fact, he didn’t notice Kurt’s eyes flicker open while he was singing the Hey Monday song, Candles.

“Blow the candles out, looks like a solo tonight… but I’ll think I’ll be all right…”

Blaine stopped abruptly when he realized Kurt was awake. Quite suddenly, he was hit again with an overwhelming intense feeling, like he had been lying underground in the subway and a train had just sped over his heart. Kurt stared at him with powerfully blue eyes. It was unlike any other shade of blue that Blaine had ever seen; it was like fire and ice providing a color more intense than the sky, deeper than the ocean and ultimately transfixing Blaine.

“I love that song,” the blue-eyed-boy whispered before looking around confused, blinking furiously at the bright lights of the surgically white room.

“…What am I doing here?” Kurt finally asked, unable to wrack his brains hard enough. The last thing he remembered was walking through the streets of New York towards Times Square. Kurt frowned, unsure who the man was in the chair beside him. “I’m sorry but – who are you?”

Blaine sighed quietly, hoping that his already rehearsed answer would be enough. The doctor, of course, had after all refused to tell him anymore.

“I’m Blaine. I guess I’m just… well - I’m just the guy who found you. You had collapsed in the street or something. I had to lie and pretend to know you so they wouldn’t kick me out but you’re safe in the hospital now. I’m sorry if I seem like a creeper but I didn’t want you waking up alone to this.”

Kurt smiled sweetly. “That was very Cary Grant of you, Blaine,” he said softly, as if testing his speech; he was feeling very unsure. He had lost time and it was very disorientating. “Thanks, you know, for finding me,” Kurt added, finding it more comfortable to talk again quietly, coughing a little. “My name’s Kurt.” A worried look crossed Blaine’s face as Kurt coughed again harshly. Kurt recovered from it quickly, but this reminded Blaine of Rick Montague, Kurt’s doctor.

“I promised to tell Dr. Montague when you woke up. He needs to call your family or friends. They didn’t have any previous history on you, so they asked me to stay with you till you woke up and I could find out who your ICE contacts were.” Blaine said this rather quickly, almost jumping out of his seat to help Kurt when he coughed again. “Do you need some water? Your cough doesn’t sound too good.”

“I’m assuming by ‘ice’ you mean my ‘in case of emergency’ contacts? That would be my Dad but… please don’t call him yet. I… Can you—can you tell me what happened to me first?” Kurt looked up sadly as Blaine looked like he was getting ready to leave. Kurt was relaxed in his presence and he didn’t want to be alone.

Blaine looked back to Kurt; he had only just managed to drag his gaze away from Kurt’s magnificent sapphire orbs but now with Kurt pleading so innocently like that, he found himself caught at a crossroad.

“I’m sorry, Kurt. They wouldn’t tell me what’s wrong with you because I’m not a relative or…”...anyone really, Blaine thought. He wished there was more he could do for the poor boy in front of him.

“Oh… okay,” Kurt said, really wishing even harder that Blaine didn’t have to leave him alone.

As if reading his worried thoughts, Blaine looked at Kurt with a smile, “Look, I’ll be right back, I promise. I’m just going to go and get the doctor.” He handed Kurt a plastic cup filled with water as he nervously exited the room. He had forgotten all about Rick’s request for next of kin details, especially since Kurt hadn’t wanted to contact his Dad just yet.

Outside in the halls, Blaine felt like Kurt had rendered him incapable of rational thought. Kurt’s voice was magical… In fact, he could safely say that everything about him was beautiful. He usually didn’t like to get his hopes up but he had known everything would be from the moment he had found Kurt. But what Blaine was still blind to realize was that Kurt had taken over all his thoughts, rational ones aside. There was no denying that there was something different about this boy.

Back in his room, Kurt played over the last few moments he remembered before blacking out. He could remember the pang of loneliness and then walking down the side street towards the square where he enjoyed sitting and thinking. But he still couldn’t bring the memories of the moment before he had passed out. There was everything and then there was nothing. And then there was Blaine. Kurt felt his heart flutter with some emotion he had never felt before as he thought of Blaine, the kind male stranger who had waited. Where had such a gentleman ever existed before?

Kurt became extraordinarily nervous as he waited for Blaine to return with the doctor. He didn’t realize how sick he felt until Blaine had left; it was as if his presence had protected him from something bad. Kurt knew there was something wrong, he didn’t feel right; his head was pounding, stomach churning, and every inch of his body ached.

Eventually, Blaine reappeared in the doorway, flashing Kurt a puppy-dog grin that made Kurt feel light once more. The pain and the aches all disappeared for a while in his presence. “Hello Kurt,” Dr. Montague greeted, “Nice to see you awake. I’m afraid I must ask Blaine to leave though. I have something I need to discuss with you alone, Kurt.”

A terrified look crossed Kurt’s face; he had barely known Blaine five minutes but he knew he couldn’t do this without him. He knew from the doctor’s expression that whatever he had to say would be bad news. He needed someone here with him. He couldn’t face hearing the dreaded imminence to the problem without anyone with him, even Blaine.

“Does Blaine have to leave?” Kurt asked, the fear obvious in his tone. He looked at Blaine with an amplified horror in his eyes and a pleading look on his face.

“Would you not like us to call a relative, Kurt?” the doctor suggested kindly. The skepticism however, was lucidly written all over his face. He might understand how Kurt felt physically but he’d never understand how Kurt felt emotionally. With Kurt’s luck he was probably a homophobe to boot. Kurt had suspected this when he saw the look in the doctor’s eyes that disapproved of the pleading glances Kurt was giving Blaine.

“Blaine’s my boyfriend,” Kurt blurted out in a sheer act of desperation. Please let him stay. Please let him stay. Please let this work! Kurt internally begged.

Rick raised an eyebrow, turning to Blaine, whose expression was unreadable. “Really? I thought you said you were a colleague? Hadn’t even met him before tonight?”

Blaine shrugged. It might have only been a second before he turned to speak to the doctor but that second was probably the longest in Kurt’s life.

“Well,” Blaine started, “It’s not always easy to tell people you’re in a homosexual relationship. Even if we do live in New York, there will always be people who don’t understand. I was just trying to protect Kurt from any unnecessary discrimination.”

He quickly chanced a look at Kurt who was smiling lightly but on the brim of tears. Blaine smiled back and walked over to be beside Kurt’s bed, taking the hand Kurt held out to him, and clasped his warm fingers through Kurt’s cooler ones. Blaine was scared for Kurt. Even if they had only just met he didn’t want to lose him already. But he was also confused. Why was he thinking as if Kurt was already his? It had been mere hours since Blaine had found him and they had exchanged nothing more than a few hesitant words and sideways glances. True, Blaine had been unable to keep his eyes away from Kurt, but he also found that when Kurt looked at him he was also facing the same predicament. Maybe all those stories about previously meeting someone in another life were true…

Rick seemed to accept that Kurt and Blaine were in a relationship. He himself wasn’t gay, but he didn’t want to make this any harder on Kurt than it had to be by acting like a homophobe, the whole reason he supposed Blaine had lied to him about being Kurt’s colleague.

“Okay so, Kurt, I have looked through your notes so I know you have never previously been diagnosed with anything and you also appear to have had no past problems. As a result, we had to run a lot of very thorough tests to discover the cause of you blacking out.” The doctor took a deep breath before continuing. He was feeling so sorry for the young man in front of him who clearly still had his whole life ahead of him.

Kurt squeezed Blaine’s hand tighter in nervous anticipation. Dr. Montague quickly cleared his throat. “What I’m about to say may come as a shock to you but unfortunately there’s going to be no easy way for me to say this. From the scans, we found a mass in your brain. It appears to have grown very fast. Unfortunately, you would have missed any symptoms until it has become, and I am deeply sorry to be the one to tell you this, but it has become life-threatening.”

Out of shock, Kurt said nothing. A gasp escaped Blaine’s lips, “Dr. Montague, w-what is it? What’s wrong with Kurt? What does he have exactly?”

Rick’s lips were pursed tightly and his eyes were downcast but when he finally managed to look Kurt in the eye, the word fell out like an ugly fresh dark scar.
“…Cancer.” Rick said with finality.

Kurt remained silent, white as a sheet, but completely calm, his face emotionless.

Kurt couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t seem to process what this meant so the doctor cautiously spoke once more. “Unfortunately, the mass is inoperable because of the late stage at which we have discovered it… But had you not blacked out tonight and been found in time you may never have even known it existed until, well, until it was too late.” The doctor was quiet. He didn’t often have to deliver this kind of news to a young man in his twenties.

Blaine squeezed Kurt’s hand again looking into his magnificent sapphire eyes which had lost all signs of emotion. Blaine could feel a lump rising in his throat as if he were about to throw up.

“How long do I have?” Kurt asked the doctor, his voice cracking even though he was trying to put on a brave face. His voice sounded confident but the gleam in his eyes betrayed him as the tears welled up. Kurt fought them back. He was strong. He was a fighter. He never let his emotions show and he wasn’t about to begin now. He looked at Blaine who had sadness and another emotion Kurt couldn’t quite read plastered across his face. Kurt squeezed Blaine’s hand back.

The doctor stuttered, unable to answer Kurt’s question, seeing the hurt in his eyes but the hard determination in his face. “About…” he began, failing, and tried again. “About two months.”