"Well, I think that's about it." Puck said, as he carried another box into Blaine's apartment.

"Quinn really wasn't joking when she said you had everything!" Kurt exclaimed. He was kneeling on the floor, rummaging through another box. "Hey look Blaine, it's a stuffed hot dog!" He pulled out the plush toy and waved it at his boyfriend.

Puck laughed. "Yeah, Bryan picked that one himself when he was two."

"Thanks for letting us borrow this stuff from you guys." Blaine said. "We'll return it as soon as Lily leaves."

"That's cool, no rush." Puck waved his hand dismissively. "You'll still need to get some other stuff, like a car seat. We're still using ours for the boys."

Blaine nodded, holding up a sheet of paper. "It's on the list. Please thank Quinn again for me, for making this, it's a great help."

"No problem, man! If you need something else, help, advice or whatever, just call us. We're experts. Look," Puck said "I need to go now, I promised to take the kids to the park this afternoon. We always do something fun on Saturdays."

"Thanks Puck, bye!" Kurt waved and went back to digging through the contents of the boxes. "These kids have the weirdest toys, Blaine." He smirked, showing him a stuffed plush peanut.

They unpacked some stuff and did their best to turn Blaine's spare room into a girl's bedroom.

"It looks okay", Kurt said, "but I think it needs something to make it more girly. How about a Disney Princess duvet cover? I don't think she'll like the one from Cars that Puck gave us…"

"No, you're right." Blaine nodded. "Hey, we can go shopping for the rest of the stuff this afternoon."

"Um… actually, no. I have other plans this afternoon." Kurt said, glancing away.

Blaine suppressed a frown. Kurt had that same distant expression on his face he'd had almost all week. It was seriously starting to bother him. "Oh. What exactly?" He asked hesitantly.

Kurt shrugged. "Just something I need to do."

"Kurt…"

"Leave it, Blaine, we'll go shopping on Monday after work, okay?" He said in a clipped tone.

"Okay…" Blaine backed off, thinking it was better to leave it be; even if it felt like there was something standing in between the two of them. "Are you coming over tonight?"

"I'd rather stay at home, if you don't mind." Kurt answered, once again not meeting Blaine's eyes.

Blaine's face fell. They hadn't spent the night together all week, and he'd really set his hopes on tonight.

"Do you think we need to get clothes for her?" Kurt asked, changing the subject.

Blaine shook his head as they both left the bedroom. "Liz said she'd pack enough day and night wear. We'll see, we can always get extra things later."

"Sure." Kurt replied, plopping down on the couch in the living room. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed, resting his head against the back of the couch.

"What's wrong?" Blaine sat down next to him and brushed his hand over Kurt's thigh.

"I'm tired." Kurt closed his eyes.

"That bad? Barry has been back for a while; I thought things were a bit less hectic now?"

Kurt nodded slowly. "They are. Work's fine."

"Kurt… look at me." Blaine sat up and angled his body towards his boyfriend.

Kurt's eyes fluttered open, and Blaine startled at what he saw in them.

Dullness.

Detachment.

Sadness?

"What's wrong?" Blaine repeated. "Talk to me."

"Nothing is wrong." Kurt droned.

"That's not true, and you know it." Blaine frowned.

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Are you saying I'm lying?"

"No, I'm saying you're hiding something from me." Blaine said sharply. "You know… you're doing exactly what you told me we shouldn't do. Pulling away from me when something's troubling you."

"I'm NOT, dammit!" Kurt snapped, as he jumped off the couch. "Just because we're together doesn't mean we have to be joined at the hip you know! Can't I have anything to myself?"

Blaine rose from the couch and moved towards Kurt. "Of course you can! But you've been moody and distant for an entire week now. It's starting to freak me out!"

"Well maybe you should learn not to freak out so easily then! Djeesh, Blaine!" Kurt shouted, with angry tears in his eyes. "Screw this. I'm off. See you later" He muttered, stalking out off the living room.

The loud slam of the door shook Blaine out of his stupor. In a fit of rage and frustration, he grabbed an empty glass from the coffee table and sent it crashing against the wall.

Shocked at his own behavior, he sank back onto the couch and stared into nothingness, tears filling his eyes.

What the fuck just happened?

Whenever Blaine was upset, he'd do the one thing that would make him forget his troubles.

Work.

So a few hours later, all of the boxes had been unpacked, and everything had found a place in his apartment.

Except it didn't help.

He hadn't forgotten about the fight for one second. And the fact that Kurt had turned off his cell phone only added to his misery. God knows he had tried to call him like every twenty minutes, hoping Kurt would've cooled down and decided to turn his cell back on.

He didn't even know what to say to Kurt. But he needed to hear his voice, to know everything was going to be alright.

Blaine snorted. This was downright pathetic. Maybe Kurt was right. Maybe he did freak out too easily.

As Blaine was pacing around, trying to figure out what to do, his cell rang.

"Kurt." He muttered under his breath, as he grabbed his phone from the coffee table. He peered at the screen and saw a number he didn't recognize.

"Hello?" He said in a tense voice.

"Blaine? Hi! It's Mercedes."

"Oh… hi Mercedes. How are you?" He tried to sound cheerful.

"I'm fine. Listen, sorry for bothering you, but I tried to get a hold of Kurt and his phone was turned off. I just wanted to make sure he's okay, that's all." Mercedes said.

"Yeah, well, he's not, I think." Blaine blurted out. He sighed. Kurt was most likely going to kill him for this. "Mercedes, he's been so aloof and moody lately. And this morning we got into a fight. I don't know what the hell is going on." He said in a desperate voice.

"I'm not really surprised that Kurt is in a funk right now… I'm sorry you guys fought. But wait… didn't he tell you the reason?" Mercedes sounded surprised.

"He didn't. What reason?" Blaine asked anxiously.

"Oh damn… Look… I'm pretty sure I know where he is right now…" Mercedes answered.

Kurt shivered and drew the other half of the blanket he was sitting on around his shoulders. It really wasn't that cold, but he felt like he was freezing within.

He felt terrible. Why did he act like such a bitch to Blaine? His boyfriend couldn't help it; he didn't even have a clue about what was going on. Kurt had wanted to tell him, but he didn't know how.

How could he have told Blaine he was going to spend the afternoon sitting in front of Sam's tombstone to mourn him on his death day?

He hadn't wanted to hurt him by telling him. But he'd managed to hurt him even worse by keeping his mouth shut and letting it escalate into a fight.

Sighing deeply, he stared at the tea lights he'd lit and placed on the small ledge in front of the tombstone. A single red rose was resting on the patch of grass in between Kurt and the headstone.

"I'm such an idiot, Sam." He smiled bitterly. "I don't know what to do… How can I tell Blaine I'm still missing you like crazy after four years? How can I tell him that without making him doubt my love for him?"

He reached out his hand and traced the inscription of Sam's name with his index finger.

"Because I do love him, Sam… so much it hurts. I kept my promise to you, didn't I?" Kurt smiled sadly. "Blaine makes me so happy." He squinted his eyes against the tears that were forming in his eyes.

"And still it breaks my heart that you're not here."

I'll always be here, Kurt… I'll never leave.

Kurt heard Sam's voice in his head as he remembered the conversation they'd had during their last night at home. He sniffed back his tears and nodded.

"Yeah… you are here. You're in my heart. Till the day I die."

And then he remembered Carole's words.

This heart is big enough to hold more than one person in it. It already does.

It all made sense. But that didn't mean it was easy.

"I just miss you so much… I love you…" Kurt hugged his knees and rested his forehead against them.

He didn't understand. He'd been so happy since he'd started dating Blaine, everything seemed so right and he'd felt so alive. But the anniversary of Sam's death had brought a fresh wave of grief crashing down upon him. And he knew he'd ended up making matters even worse by withdrawing for Blaine.

Blaine could have helped him through this.

He would have.

But Kurt didn't want to burden him with it. It wouldn't have been fair, expecting his boyfriend to help him while he was grieving for another man, would it?

Like every year, Kurt sat there, close to Sam, just talking to him, listening to the silence, and reliving the memories of their life together.

Like every year, he stayed there till the last candle had stopped burning and the sun was already setting.

And just like every year, he got to his feet, whispered one last goodbye, and walked away with the folded blanket hugged against his chest; ready to spend the rest of the evening at home… alone.

As he came at the end of the pathway; he froze in shock. There was someone sitting on the stone bench next to the entrance of the burial ground.

Blaine.

He looked dejected, with his gaze pointed at his shoes and his hands hidden in his pockets.

A tiny smile formed on Kurt's lips as he slowly stepped into Blaine's direction. With each step, he gradually felt the heaviness lifting from his heart.

Maybe this year it was going to be different.

Blaine sensed someone approaching him. He turned his face to see his boyfriend coming to a halt in front of him.

"Kurt…" He looked up with hesitance written all over his face. "I know you wanted to be alone, but I couldn't… I wanted to talk to you. I'll leave you alone after that, I promise-"

"Hush…" Kurt pressed his index finger softly against Blaine's lips. He lowered himself on the bench, next to Blaine, angling his body towards him.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." Kurt breathed. "I lied to you… I don't want to be alone." He grasped Blaine's hand, looked into his eyes and smiled warmly. "You found me."

"I'll always find you." Blaine answered, repeating the words they had said to each other a couple of weeks ago, on that rooftop. He opened his arms and Kurt fell into them without hesitation.

"How?" Kurt murmured against Blaine's ear.

"Mercedes called. She told me." Blaine tightened his hold around Kurt. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kurt started trembling in his arms. "Because I love you. And I didn't want you to doubt that." He added with a ragged sigh. "I was so stupid. I didn't want to hurt you but I ended up hurting us both. I'm sorry… I screwed everything up."

"Stop it, Kurt. Don't say things like that." Blaine pulled back a little, so he could look at Kurt's face. "Baby, listen to me... I promise you that I will never doubt our love because you're grieving for Sam." He cracked a smile. "Your love is one of the only certainties in my life. I was just worried about you, that's all."

"I know. I'm sorry. I was so confused. It thought it would get better, now that I have you." Kurt confessed. "But it didn't. I've been crying every night for the last week. It hit me just as hard as any other year. "

Blaine sighed. It pained him to see Kurt suffering. "That's because nothing has really changed, Kurt. You still love Sam… and he's still gone."

Kurt shook his head. "No… everything has changed since I met you."

"But I can't replace Sam, honey. And you can't expect me to either." Blaine swept his thumb over Kurt's cheek.

"What are you saying?" Kurt frowned. "That Sam was 'the one', and you're not?"

"No; I'm not saying that. I don't think 'the one' exists, to be honest… but I do believe in true love; and that you can find it in more than one person… Sam was your true love, Kurt, and you lost him. It's okay for you to grieve over that loss… Don't ever feel conflicted about that…" Blaine offered, his eyes flitting all over Kurt's face.

Kurt lowered his eyes for a second and nodded. "You're my true love too, Blaine." He whispered, looking back up.

"I know… and you're mine." Blaine said, as he slowly leaned in to brush his lips against Kurt's.

"Oh my God! Really! That's just disgusting!" Both men startled at the indignant outcry and pulled back from their embrace to see two elderly ladies standing near the pathway.

Kurt shot them a poisonous look. "Mind your own fucking business!" He hissed loudly.

The women glared at him and shuffled away, arm in arm. Kurt heard them utter the words 'disgrace', 'sacred place' and 'going to hell'.

"I am so sick and tired of this crap." He was livid.

"Leave it, baby." Blaine rested his hand on Kurt's shoulder. "We should get out of here anyway. I've been sitting on this bench for hours and my ass feels numb." He chuckled quietly.

Kurt relaxed and smiled at Blaine. "So… does the offer to spend the night with you still stand?"

Blaine kissed Kurt's cheek, and stood up. "It does. Let's go home."

They spent the evening together, sitting on Blaine's living room floor, eating Thai take out while watching X-factor on TV. They both crooned along to the songs and commented on the vocal performances of the participants.

"You have such a stunning voice, Kurt. You could enter that show and win it hands down." Blaine smiled at his boyfriend, who was lying on his stomach on the soft rug, looking up at the TV screen.

"Yeah, I don't think so." Kurt smirked, looking over his shoulder. "I sing like a girl and I only have lots of factor when I coat myself in sun screen."

"Oh come on! You sing like an angel!" Blaine protested with a grin. He lowered himself down next to Kurt. He turned to lie on his side, his head resting on his hand. With his other hand, he reached out and combed back some stray locks on Kurt's forehead. "And you look like one too." He traced his hand along Kurt's cheek.

Kurt grasped Blaine's wrist and pressed a kiss against the palm of his hand. "Thank you."

"Hey, don't thank me; I'm just stating the facts." Blaine grinned.

"No… Thank you for being there for me today. I needed you. You knew that way before I did." He laced his fingers through Blaine's.

"I missed you this week." Blaine spoke softly.

"I missed you too." Kurt whispered back.

They held hands as they continued watching the show.

"Let's go to bed." Kurt yawned, as the program ended. "I'm beat." They both got up from the floor.

"Me too." Blaine said while he collected the empty take out boxes from the coffee table. "Hey Kurt… can I ask you something?"

"Hmmm?" Kurt turned off the TV and switched of the lamp next to the couch.

"Well… seeing as Lily is coming over soon, and she'll be staying here… I was wondering if you would like to stay here as well? I'd really, really like that." Blaine said.

Kurt raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "Blaine Anderson; are you asking me to move in with you?" He asked teasingly.

"No… well, yes; but only for as long as Lily is here. I mean, not that I would mind having you moving in with me permanently, but- Oh fucking hell, how do I always manage to screw up asking even a simple, straightforward question!" Blaine growled.

"Calm down!" Kurt laughed. "I was in fact going to suggest it myself. Lily is a 3-year-old, and we're both new at this, so we'd better team up."

Blaine smiled in relief. "Great!"

Kurt finished his moisturizing routine and came out of the bathroom to find Blaine sitting against the headboard of the bed, wearing only his pyjama pants. He was reading a book; his glasses perched on his nose.

"Well, that's an alluring view…" Kurt smirked sexily. "What are you reading?" He asked, as he slipped into the bed.

"The Emperor of All Maladies" Blaine answered. "It's a book about the history of cancer. It's very well written actually." He marked his page, closed the book and placed it on his nightstand, along with his glasses.

"If you want you can borrow it when I'm finished." He added, lowering himself between the sheets.

"Thanks. Now, would you mind if I borrow you for a little while?" Kurt asked while he wrapped his arm around Blaine's chest.

"You can't borrow what you already have, baby." Blaine grinned.

"Hmmmm… Well if I already have you… can I use you right now?" Kurt moved to lie on top of him and buried his face in Blaine's neck.

"Yes…" Blaine's breath hitched as Kurt pressed an open mouthed kiss against his pulse point. "You can. What do you want, baby? Tell me."

"I want to make love to you. Just let go… and let me take care of you." Kurt breathed into his ear, nudging Blaine's legs apart with his knee and settling between them. He rolled his hips to emphasize his words.

"Oh God… yes." Blaine groaned, just before Kurt silenced him with a kiss.

Monday – 9:30 PM

Blaine gave a sharp knock on the door and entered Jeremy Karofky's room; Kurt and Rose following right behind him.

"Good morning, Jeremy!" Blaine said with a bright smile, sitting down on the edge of the bed and nodding at his parents. "Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. Karofsky." He turned to look at the boy. "So, Jeremy, today is a big day for you, huh. We're going to try and make you all better again. Just like Mary explained to you, right?"

Jeremy nodded. "Mary is nice." He said.

Kurt smiled. Mary was one of the children's psychologists at the hospital. It was her job to talk to the little patients about their illness and treatment. She used special books, props and even dolls to explain to the kids what was happening.

"She is!" Blaine said, as he took out his stethoscope to listen to Jeremy's heart and lungs.

In the meantime, Kurt approached Dave and Lisa. "We'll be taking him to the OR after this. You're welcome to join him until he's sedated. You will have to put on scrubs and a cap though."

Dave nodded. "Okay; yeah… of course. How long will the surgery take?"

Kurt checked his fob watch. "I'd say about six hours if everything runs smoothly, so he should be out around 4 PM. He'll be spending the night on the ICU, where we can monitor him constantly."

"So we can't see him?" Lisa asked in a small voice.

"Oh no, you can visit him tonight, but very briefly. Visiting time is strictly limited." Kurt answered.

Dave and Lisa shared a weary look and linked their hands.

Kurt felt sorry for them. "Look, I know you'll probably want to stay here, but I suggest you go home instead. Or at least go outside and go get some fresh air or something. I promise we'll call you as soon as we have news, okay?"

Dave nodded. "Thanks, Kurt."

Wednesday, 12:35 PM

Kurt was chewing on a crispy leaf of lettuce as he stared pointedly at Blaine's plate.

Blaine brought his fork to his mouth but halted midway when he saw Kurt's wary expression. "What? What's wrong?"

Kurt shook his head. "I don't know how you can eat that cafeteria food each day."

"But it tastes delicious! Here… wanna try?" Blaine held out his fork to Kurt, who crinkled his nose and pulled back.

"No thanks. I know it's fit for human consumption, but it's so incredibly greasy and unhealthy."

Blaine shrugged. "Whatever, I don't mind… I'm hungry and I need to eat." He grinned.

"Just so you know; when I'm staying with you and Lily, I'm going to cook decent, healthy meals for us every day." Kurt said sternly.

"Oh okay. No problem. I'm not complaining." Blaine smiled. "But watch out, I might not want to let you go after she has left."

Kurt quirked his eyebrow and smirked. "Right, we'll see about that." He took the orange he'd gotten for dessert and started peeling it. "Got consultations this afternoon?"

"Nope. Had them this morning." Blaine wiped his mouth with his paper napkin and took a sip of water. "I had an appointment with the Karofsky's at 10 AM to talk about the results of the surgery, together with Jonathan."

"Oh? And? Is it good news?" Kurt asked.

"Well; it's looking pretty hopeful. The scans show no trace of cancer, and the blood work looks fine too. So it's the best outcome we've could've hoped for at this stage. He probably won't need any further cancer treatment for now. And because we were able to save his knee, revalidation should be a lot easier too."

"That's great news." Kurt smiled. "They must be very relieved."

Blaine glanced at his boyfriend. "Yeah, they were. So… are you still going to talk to Dave? About what happened?"

Kurt popped an orange wedge into his mouth and nodded.

"When?" Blaine asked.

Kurt chewed and swallowed the piece of fruit. "As soon as possible. I was waiting for Jeremy's surgery. But this talk is long overdue… I deserve answers and I'm going to get them." Kurt said harshly.

"Oh baby…" Blaine whispered. "This is still eating you, huh?"

Kurt sighed deeply. "I just want to get over it, and I'm hoping this will help me. I don't think you realize, but what happened in that locker room ruined my life for years, and seeing Dave here at the hospital just brought it all back."

Blaine took a hold of Kurt's hand over the table. "I know, baby."

"That's sweet of you, but… you don't know, Blaine."

Kurt sighed. "Did you know I had nightmares every fucking night for almost six months after it happened? Did you know I had to see a therapist because I couldn't deal with it? Did you know it took me a year to allow Sam to touch me under the belt? A year! We were two healthy teenage boys and it took us a goddamn year! The first time we tried to have sex I almost punched him in the face because I was having a panic attack… And it was all Karofsky's fault. All of it!" Kurt whispered heatedly.

"Shhhh… calm down, sweetie." Blaine squeezed his hand.

"And then one day he comes waltzing in here with a cute little boy and a charming wife, and he's all kind and gentle and it just confuses the crap out of me, you know? I've loathed him for ten years, and now I don't know what to feel anymore…" Kurt bit his lip and looked away.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt. Listen, do you want me to be there? I mean, when you speak to him?" Blaine offered.

Kurt shook his head. "No. I want him to be completely truthful with me, and I don't think he'll be able to do that when someone else is there." He turned his head to look back at Blaine. "But I would like use your office, if that's okay."

"Yeah sure. I'm not using it this afternoon, so if you want to, it's yours."

"Thank you." Kurt breathed.

And then he spotted a tall, well-built young man with a shoulder length blond pony tail approaching their table.

"Uh Oh…" Kurt chanted. "Here comes trouble…"

"Hello my dears!" The man put his food tray down. "Is that seat taken?" He pointed to the chair next to Kurt's.

"Barry, we're having a private conversation here, so if you could just run along, that would be very much appreciated!" Kurt smirked.

"Oh come on sweetheart, if you're really bothered by me hearing private stuff, maybe you two should keep things down while you shower in the locker room. Pun intended!" Barry grinned.

"Well shit." Blaine groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

Kurt kept smirking as he flipped Barry off.

"Yeah you wish, Hummel. But you are so NOT ready for this jelly. Anyway, I know when I'm not wanted. I'll just go find Rose then. Where the hell is she anyway?" Barry took his tray and sauntered off in search for his coworker.

Blaine dropped his hands from his face. "You know, sometimes I get the feeling we're working at a mental institution instead of a children's hospital."

"Um… Blaine?" Kurt was staring at Blaine's tray and trying to hold back a snigger.

"What?"

"I think Barry stole your dessert again…" Kurt snorted.

Blaine's eyes flew to his tray and he gasped in shock. "MY BROWNIE!" He jumped out of his chair and stalked after Barry to rescue his kidnapped confection.

Kurt smiled as he finished eating his orange, watching as Blaine got into a lively discussion about his brownie at the other side of the cafeteria.

"Um… Kurt?"

His head snapped up. Dave and Lisa Karofsky were standing a few feet away. They looked somewhat relaxed.

Dave stepped closer to the table. "We just wanted to thank you again, for everything. The doctors said Jeremy is going to be okay."

"Yes, I heard." Kurt said. "It's wonderful news. I'm so happy for him… and for you, of course." He added quickly.

"Thanks." Dave smiled. "We've been so scared, but now it's like we can finally breathe again. He's so brave too, he hasn't complained once since waking up from the surgery."

Kurt nodded and smiled. "He's a fighter alright."

Lisa gave Dave a slight nudge and an urging look.

"Um yeah… the other thing I wanted to say. Kurt, you know I said to you I would to whatever it takes to make up for what happened-"

"You mean for what you did." Kurt interrupted him.

"Yeah, yeah, that's what I meant." Dave said nervously. "So I was wondering if you still wanted to have that talk you mentioned earlier."

Kurt was trembling on the inside but he managed to steady his voice. "Yes. I do still want to talk to you."

"Okay, that's fine. When?"

Kurt blinked.

Here goes nothing.

"How about right now?"