Kurt curled himself into a tight ball in the armchair in the corner. His pre-calculus homework was spread out on the little table set up in front of him but he hadn't even glanced at it in over an hour. Not since Finn had left to go get something to eat in the cafeteria. The steady beep of the heart monitor was the only comfort his father had to offer to him now. He'd never hated and treasured a noise quite like he did with that artificial blip.

It was a grimy Sunday afternoon. Through the window next to the mini-cot him and Finn had set up he could see the steely gray sky and the rivers of rain beading down the glass. Carole had been partially absent all morning. As a nurse in the hospital she still managed to sneak down between her patients and rounds and emergency calls, but she was always disappointed to find them barricaded in their makeshift lounge in the corner with Burt still comatose. At least her expectations were reasonable; every time Finn hadn't looked at Burt for five minutes he'd jerk his head around and stare at bed as if he was expecting to see Burt tap-dancing across it. To Kurt it was endearing and annoying all at once. He just couldn't keep up that bright optimism and childish hope the same way Finn could.

He was terrified at the lack of change in his father's condition and rightly so. One thing he was certain of was that the longer his father stayed unconscious the more likely it was he would always be that way. He didn't know what to do or how to help or if there even was anything he could do to help. He just wanted to do something that made him useful and helped his father regain consciousness. He didn't want to lose the most important person in his life and become an orphan. The Hudsons were there for him, he knew. And he wouldn't have been surprised if Carole and his father got married at some point. But right now he just really wanted his father there to pull him into his arms and tell him everything was going to be okay.

The heavy, white door creaked open and Finn appeared, a white coffee cup in hand. His dark eyes were bright with hope as he looked at the bed, but the sparkle fizzled out at once. He dropped into the seat next to Kurt and handed off the hot cup.

Kurt stared down into the muddy brown liquid, his stiff fingers tingling at the warmth now spreading through them."I know you said you didn't want anything but I know how much you like coffee so..." Finn trailed off with a little shrug.

"Thanks." Kurt muttered weakly. And really he meant it even if he hated his coffee black. He took a hesitant sniff. At least it wasn't decaf.

Finn juggled a paperback book between his hands for a few minutes, eyeing the lengthy calculations Kurt had spread out across the little table. "I'm glad I'm not in pre-calculus. That looks like a ton of problems for one day."

Kurt scowled at the offending papers, "That's only the first problem and I'm pretty sure I'm still wrong."

"Oh...wow." Finn tossed his book aside and picked up one of the pages, twisting it around to view it from different angles. "This just looks like a bunch of purple gibberish."

Kurt smiled weakly. He knew Finn was trying in his own way to cheer him up and take his mind off of things. It probably would have worked if they hadn't been in his father's hospital room.

Finn shuffled in his chair awkwardly, glancing around the room and trying to not look obvious that he was staring at Kurt.

"What?"

His snappy demand came out a lot meaner sounding than he'd meant. The guilty, sad look that twisted across Finn's face made him feel–if possible–worse.

"Sorry." he mumbled quickly, "I'm just...this math is really driving me up the wall."

It was a lame excuse and he knew Finn knew it too. But he didn't call him on it because Finn just got that it wasn't important. That's one of the things Kurt liked best about him. He could be unbelievable stupid, but when it counted he just got it.

"Yeah, sorry, man. I, well..." His dark eyes drifted across the room to the bed. Kurt followed his gaze, his stomach clenching painfully. He looked away quickly, ripping off his latest failed attempt at problem forty-seven and starting anew. And Finn got that too–even if he wasn't going to shut up.

"So what's up with you and that Blaine guy?"

His hand stuttered for a split second as he started the problem over again, but his voice was as unconcerned as possible, "I don't know what you mean."

"He's kind of been all over you, dude." Finn said, looking uncomfortable as he pressed for answers, "And I hear Mercedes and Tina talking about you..." he shot the bed a nervous look as though Burt could hear them, and dropped his voice to a whisper, "having hickeys."

Finn's eyes darted over to the bed again, apparently under the impression that Kurt's love life would be the catalyst to his father's awakening. Still, Kurt said nothing. He already knew Finn wouldn't believe him if he said they were lying too. Mercedes and Tina were two of his closest friends so if they'd said it was true, then Finn could be certain it was.

The dirty sneakers shuffled about on the floor as Finn shifted in his seat. And then he gave Kurt the most serious look Kurt had ever seen grace his face.

"Look, I know we're not like a–a normal family or whatever. But I think of us all as one. You're kinda like my kid brother–"

"I'm four months older than you, Finn." Kurt argued, flicking through his textbook harder than was really necessary.

"Just, like...be careful, man. Cause if he gets you pregnant–"

The pencil in his hand clattered to the sterile, white floor.

"Oh my god. Are you seriously that stupid?" Kurt cut him off loudly, the disbelief clear in his tone.

"What? Or–" Finn looked completely freaked out at whatever he was thinking, "–or would you be the one doing the–cause I just thought–"

"Stop. Now."It was Kurt's turn to glance over at the bed. Unconscious or not, he really did not like having this conversation with his father in the room. "Guys can't get pregnant, Finn. Didn't you research anything after what happened last year?"

"Yes!" Finn said indignantly, "Just not the–the gay se–stuff."

"Just....god." Kurt buried his face in his hands, "Me and Blaine aren't–"

He couldn't even say it. That may have just been because he was now thinking about it.

"Why are we even talking about this?" he demanded sharply, glaring at Finn. At least he was good and distracted now. He had to give Finn credit for that.

Finn shrugged, still looking horrified at his own daring for entering into this conversation. "I dunno. I guess you just look..." he paused, searching for the right word, "like happier when he's around you. Even if you're super annoyed too."

Kurt stared at him for a long moment, trying to judge how sincere the other boy was being. He kind of hated that Finn was right. Because since Friday afternoon he'd started to realize just how much of his life Blaine was a part of. And the fact that Blaine actually cared about him was finally sinking in deep. It made everything that had happened between them seem more real somehow, more solid. It had given him hope of something more than just meaningless make outs against chalkboards and bathroom sinks. That moment in the classroom had finally convinced him of one thing: he liked Blaine. Even if he hated him half of the time. He wanted to be around him and to touch him and kiss him and have his arms wrapped around his chest again.

"I–" he hesitated to tell Finn any of these things. He was just coming to terms with it all himself. And even then, he still barely knew anything about Blaine or what kind of trouble he could really be. "I don't know, Finn." he sighed tiredly and retrieved his pencil from the floor,

"He's an a–" he paused. For some reason he couldn't bring himself to call Blaine that anymore because he knew now that it wasn't completely true.

"We'd all be really happy for you, y'know." Finn said quietly, staring down at his hands twisted together on his lap. "Even–even Burt will be once he–"

Finn stopped again and they both looked over at the jungle of wires around his father's form.

A sudden inspiration seemed to take over Finn and he gave Kurt this ridiculous little half-smile.

"I think I know how to get him to wake up."

Kurt raised an elegant eyebrow, not quite believing Finn of all people would have an answer even a doctor wouldn't.

"I'll pray to Grilled Cheesus for him–"

He must of heard that wrong. "You'll pray to what?"

Finn looked sheepish. "Well, I made a grilled cheese and it had Jesus on it–"

Kurt snorted and actually laughed–a real, loud laugh. "Just...Finn."

"It got me to second base with Rachel!"

He only laughed louder at that, forgetting for just a moment where they were and why.

"Oh my god, Finn. Just." he shook his head, wiping a small tear from the corner of his eye, "You–a sandwich–"

Finn looked terribly affronted, "I just thought it might help!"

"No. Thanks for the um...offer, but I'll stick to the acupuncture." He patted Finn on the shoulder gently as the larger boy pouted.----------------------------------------------------------

Once he returned to school on Monday he'd almost felt like he hadn't left. Things pick right back up where they'd left off and he wasn't nearly as prepared as he normally was. First thing after the morning announcements, Mr. Robertson gave out a pop quiz on their reading for the weekend. Kurt had barely even started it. He had a bit of a break in French even though had a dialogue to present to the class. It was easily his best subject so he knew without a doubt he'd aced that. In Home Economics they were supposed to be baking a cake. By the time he left the room for lunch he was covered in flour and sugar and was pointedly ignoring Mercedes would had cause the mini-food fight with Tina from across the room.

When he finally strolled into the chemistry lab he noticed one the immediately: Blaine wasn't there. The delinquent was always there before him without fail. He'd even seen Blaine just this morning in English. He took his usual seat and waited for him to make an appearance as the other kids wandered inside in pairs and trios. As the bell rang, he felt his heart sink slightly.

After their encounter on Friday he really wanted to see Blaine though he had no idea what he would do once he did.After another miserable afternoon at the hospital and then a sleepless night at the Hudson's house, Kurt greeted his classes of Tuesday with a dazed expression and a ton of inattention. Blaine was present but silent until they settled down at their usual table together for lunch. His food cluttered tray clattered down onto the table top next to Kurt's and he slid onto the bench and pressed their sides together, his hand neatly tucking around Kurt's waist to stroke his side.

Kurt really wasn't in the mood to get touchy-feely right now. He was still trying to figure out how to do those damn calculus problems without an ounce of success. A leg tangled around his calf as Blaine's hand slid down to his thigh his fingers brushing over the soft material of his dark pants.

"Blaine, stop."

The order was ignored and he wasn't the least bit surprised. Mountain of food forgotten, Blaine pressed his lips to the soft skin behind Kurt's earlobe. Kurt shuddered against his own will, trying vainly to focus on what the derivative of cosine was.

Blaine hummed against his skin, breathing on the wet spot where his lips had just been.

"I'll stop if you let me blow you right now."

"Which means you wouldn't be stopping at all–"

"Sure it does, Kurt. It means this–" he sucked hard on the same spot again and Kurt felt his chest tighten, "–won't be happening because my mouth will be much too busy with this." A firm hand pressed against his zipper.

"Excuse me, boys. Hands to yourselves."

Mr. Robertson stopped long enough to make sure Blaine pulled himself away from Kurt. The moment he was gone Blaine was right back where he'd been, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Cockblock." under his breath as he dropped his chin onto Kurt's shoulder and lazily darted his tongue out against his pulse point.

Kurt re-focused on his homework that was due in fifteen minutes. He was completely doomed. There was no way he was ever going to get this done right–

"Arc tangent x plus the square root of x over the inverse of cosine."

He froze turning his amazed gaze onto Blaine. The only thing he really succeeded in was pressing their cheeks together and having Blaine's eyes–today a beautiful, bright green–fill his line of sight.

"You're just guessing." Kurt decided instantly, shrugging out of Blaine's hold and flipping back a few pages to look up something.

Blaine looked slightly annoyed. "You don't believe me then look it up in the back. All the odd answers are in the back of those stupid books."

Kurt shot him a withering look and paused in his flipping. His curiosity got the better of him though. Blaine was probably the only junior in Calculus BC; not even a fourth of the seniors made it up to Calculus AB. So he grabbed a wad of the pages and flipped to the answers until he found the right section and number. A planet could have fit inside his mouth in that moment as his jaw sagged to the floor.

The same answer Blaine had just rattled off was staring up at him from the stained page. He turned his gaze to Blaine, still utterly speechless.

A cocky smirk pulled at Blaine's lips as he swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti. "Told you, Hummel."

"How– did you do that in your head?"

Blaine shrugged and shoveled more food into his mouth, eerily reminding Kurt of how Finn ate. Teenage boys were such pigs.

But he still couldn't believe it. So he took a glance at another answer in a different section and flipped to that page and pointed it out.

"Answer that one then."

Blaine glanced over, his eyes rolled up a bit as he thought and not even twenty seconds later–

"X sin x cubed in parentheses times x minus a eighth in parentheses."

He was right again. Kurt just gaped at him at least until Blaine took advantage of his open mouth. Quick as lightning his lips sealed themselves over Kurt's and his tongue darted in for a quick taste–

Kurt shoved him off. He might have admitted he liked Blaine and he might even understand the boy a little better now but he was still not okay with that. Especially in the McKinley High lunch room.

"Teach me how to do these problems right." Kurt demanded, pointing at his book, "We've got fifteen minutes."

"Mmm I can think of much better things to teach you in fifteen–"

Kurt slammed the heel of his boot into Blaine's toes. He jerked his foot back with a hiss of pain, glaring at Kurt.

"First thing, you've got remember to separate these before you start on the derivatives..."

He was amazed at how much he learned by the time the bell rang. He'd managed to get eighty percent of the assigned problems correct with a few quick guidelines from Blaine on how to work them out. As usual Blaine stuffed his apple into the pocket of his jacket, but today he followed Kurt down the hall instead of turning off towards to gym. Blaine's arm tangled around his waist possessively making it awkward to walk as their hips kept bumping against each others.

"What do you say to having some more fun at my place after school? Work on that...project and what not?" Blaine's voice was smoother than glass. They stopped outside of Kurt's classroom.

"Not if its anything like our last project." Kurt replied darkly, very aware of the curious students eyeing them as they passed, "I have Glee and my father..."

He trailed away. As much as he loved his father he really didn't want to spend all night sitting in a lonely hospital room trying to do his homework and glancing up hopefully every so often to see if his father had moved at all.

Some of Blaine's cockiness seemed to melt away as he pulled his arm away from Kurt.

"I've got detention until half past four. I'll meet you after and help you..." his eyes tracked down Kurt's body resting on his crotch for a moment before flickering back up to meet Kurt's gaze, "forget for a little while. Ease some of that tension."

Before Kurt could formulate an answer Blaine had disappeared into the crowd. Once he was in class his mind went straight back to where it always was these days: his father. He suddenly really missed Blaine's presence because the other boy somehow managed to distract him from everything without Kurt even noticing until he was gone.

His mood only deteriorated further as the class drew to a close. Another lesson he hadn't understood a word of and more homework he was going to struggle through until he got Blaine to help him. He sped off to Glee Club, silently taking his usual seat and not talking to anyone. Everyone seemed to feel bad for him and they were all trying to cheer him up. But he didn't want to hear about God and religion even if Mercedes had sung beautifully to try and help him have faith.

If anything it only irritated him and made him feel worse. He didn't want to hear any of it. He was so tired he knew he shouldn't be driving himself anywhere after this. His chest had a constant ache from thinking about his father lying in a hospital bed for the past three hours. So he sang his own song that meant more to him and his father than anything about God ever could. Because there was only one thing Kurt had faith in and that was the love he and his father shared.----------------------------------------------------------

Blaine dug into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a safety pin, inserting it into the keyhole of his locker. With a few twists it popped open and he stuffed his books inside, grabbed the beaten up skateboard and slammed it shut again. He'd never bothered learning the combination. He didn't really see the point in it since he could just pick the damn thing twice as fast.

He silently congratulated himself on getting out of detention early as he rolled off down the hallway. Even though he kept getting detention on purpose it did get old after a while. Especially without Hummel to help occupy his thoughts–or his hands and lips. God, he wanted to go down at that boy so badly. And then fuck him until they both had bruises. Ever since he'd gotten that taste at his apartment a few weeks ago it was almost all he could think about. It also made him question the whole thing.

If this had been anyone else he'd have already fucked him stupid until he couldn't walk for a week and then moved on. But he hadn't and after six weeks of pursing Hummel he tried not to think about why. He knew the guys at Dalton would have taunted him endlessly about it, at least until he beat their asses to shut them up. His stomach twisted at the thought of them. He really missed hanging out with those morons even if they only wanted to bang chicks and drink. With his ankle monitor he had no chance of making it to Westerville and back. Not if he ever wanted to get the fucking thing off. And he couldn't afford a cell phone. They couldn't come visit him either. Dalton had a strict lockdown policy. Or they thought it was strict at least. He'd broken it more times than he'd been expelled from school.

He popped his skateboard up as he approached the Glee classroom, ready to fling the door open and do the first impulsive thing that came to mind, but the sound of Kurt's voice stopped him outside of the slightly open door.

"–the day of my mom's funeral, when they were lowering her body into the ground..."

Something tight tensed in his chest as Kurt continued talking. Memories of a bright, sunny morning in May as if the weather ,too, had been in denial of what had been happening. How gruff and stoic his father had been as he'd completely ignored his tiny son; had refused to even acknowledge him standing right beside him... He flinched and shook himself as music began playing from inside the little room.

"Can I tell you something, I think you'll understand..."

The Beatles. Blaine knew this song, though he'd only ever heard it in a romantic context. But he'd never heard it sung by a voice quite as stunning as the one coming from inside the room. He pressed himself against the door a little, wedging it open another inch so he could see.

Kurt stood front and center, his bright red jacket impossible to miss as he sung his heart out. And Blaine knew that expression had never been truer than it was in that moment. Everything Kurt had left was going into his words, hoping that somehow someone or something or anything would hear his pain and bring his father back to him.

"I wanna hold your hand..."

The music died. Kurt sniffled and wiped a few tears out of his eyes. God, he was terrified of the things this beautiful boy made him feel. He didn't even understand if any of it was real, or how any of this was supposed to work, he just wanted him. He really couldn't explain it any better than that.

Kurt was the first one out the door and before Blaine could stop himself he'd pulled him off around the corner before the others could see. There was so much he meant to say, but he'd never been good with words or feelings if that's even what these were. He was probably just super horny.

Kurt was staring at him curiously, tears still shining in his eyes. Blaine had to look away. He just couldn't handle the way that look seemed to sear right into his flesh. God, he didn't know what the hell he was doing. He'd just wanted a good fuck and Kurt had shown he was an incredible challenge from day one. And he still wanted that, he told himself, but...

"You have a beautiful voice."

He nearly bit his tongue off after those words fell out of his mouth. Maybe he'd skip on the water bill this month and buy himself a filter to go between his brain and his mouth. Because he couldn't say things like that to Kurt. He shouldn't want to say things like that.

He crossed his arms over his chest tightly, wishing for the first time in a long time that he could just disappear.

Kurt hiccupped a little and gave him a watery smile. "Most people just tell me I sing like a g-girl."

He was way better than any girl Blaine could ever dream up. What was his brain thinking? He couldn't afford to think like that. He just wanted to get his cock in Hummel's ass. And then find another ass that wasn't so difficult to claim.

Tears had started to pouring silently down Kurt's cheeks and Blaine just stood there helplessly. He had no idea what he was supposed to do when someone started crying. Especially when it was someone he had to keep reminding himself that he just hung around so he could get laid.

He racked his brain for some answer outside of his grasp and finally remembered the real reason he'd met Kurt after his rehearsal in the first place.

"We're still getting busy at my place, then?"

There. Something a bit more cocky and self-assured would easily get him back on the right brain track and away from whatever the hell happened whenever Kurt was around. The tears kept falling as Kurt gave a funny nod. Blaine took it as a yes, though he really didn't understand the look directed at him as he took Kurt's keys and lead the way outside to the parking lot.