Okay, so maybe he was overreacting. But you can’t actually blame him, can you? With everything that’s happening with Kurt and everything that has happened to Blaine, he can’t help but be a little worried when Kurt says he’s too busy to hang out. And then, Kurt turns off his phone, so Blaine gets really worried. He starts wondering if he should just go and show up in Lima. But then again, who he is to do that? So he settles for a “Call me when you get this?” text and tries to do his homework, tries to read a book, tries watch some TV, stares at the ceiling and practices for the next Warblers impromptu performance… Anything to stop worrying.

Nothing works.

He sleeps holding his phone and has a nightmare he doesn’t quite remember but it leaves him with a bitter taste in his mouth. And there’s still nothing on his phone. No text, no missed calls. The bitter taste in his mouth turns into a sinking feeling in his stomach as Blaine starts going through his morning routine. He’s on auto-pilot this morning, doing things without really thinking, because his mind’s miles away and he can’t stop worrying.

He’s buttoning his shirt when finally his phone starts ringing and he almost drops it in the haste to pick it up.

“Hi, Blaine.” Okay… Kurt’s voice seems normal. Blaine takes a deep breath before answering, so his worry doesn’t show in his voice.

“Hi, Kurt. Good morning!”

“Good morning. Did something happen? I just got your text.” Kurt seems to be doing something while talking. It sounds like… homework, or something. Papers being turned.

“No. Not at all, just… It’s been a while since we talked. I just wanted to know how you’re doing. And talk.” Okay, that had sounded a lot less weird in his own head.

“Oh, okay.” Blaine can hear the frown and the amusement in Kurt’s voice. “I’m fine, just really busy. I can’t talk a lot right now. I have to go to the florist before school and I’m running late already. I’m sorry. Can we talk later?”

“Oh! Of course! I don’t want to keep you from your appointment. Can you meet me at Breadsticks after school today?” Blaine closes his eyes, sighs and thinks ‘Please, say yes. Please’.

There’s a pause and more paper shuffling on the other side of the line.

“Hm, yes… Yes. I guess we can have dinner together tonight. It has been a while, really. And I’ve got a lot to tell you. But now I’ve gotta run. See you later?”

“Yes” Blaine’s finally smiling. “Later.”

“Bye” And the call is ended before he can say it too.

Kurt seems fine. Everything seems fine, so Blaine goes on with his routine. There’s something still bugging him, but he tries not to dwell on it, he has to focus on his classes. He does a pretty good job at it, until lunch time.

Until Mercedes calls.

“Hey, white boy.” Her voice is so small, and it’s like she’s trying not to cry. And that makes all Blaine’s worries turn back on full force.

“Hi, girl. Is everything okay?”

“No… No. It’s not.” She sniffs and takes a deep breath. She sounds on the brink of tears and Blaine finds it hard to breathe.

“What happened?”

“Did you know about what was happening? Kurt told you? About… about Karofsky. And… and h-his threats? Ab-about how bad the bullying got?”

Oh. That. She’d found out.

“Yes, I knew. Kurt told me.” Blaine stops himself, doesn’t want to say too much. How much does Mercedes knows?

“Why didn’t he tell me? I’m his b-best friend!” She’s crying now and Blaine doesn’t know what to say. He wants to say so much, but can’t. He loves Mercedes, really. She’s a wonderful girl. But how did she missed the signs? “At le-least I thought I was… And to find out about it through F-Finn? Finn! And he only knew be-because he was there when Mr. Hummel made Kurt say it! Why? Why he didn’t tell me?”

Because he wanted you guys to notice. Blaine doesn’t tell her, though. I would hurt too much. “I don’t know why, Mercedes. But what happened, exactly?”

He hears Mercedes take a deep breath and when she speaks again, her voice is stronger. “Yesterday, Mr. Hummel saw Karofsky making fun of Kurt and asked what that was about. Kurt told him about the bullying and Mr. Hummel noticed that there was more. Something Kurt wasn’t telling him. And then Kurt told him… that… that Karofsky had threatened to k-kill him.” Her voice breaks again and she’s crying.

Thank God for Burt Hummel. Someone noticed.

Mercedes starts again. “Then Mr. Hummel went to the principal’s office and, long story short, Karofsky was expelled.”

Suddenly, Blaine can breathe again. He hadn’t even notice he wasn’t breathing normally. “That’s great, Mercedes! It’s over now, right? Kurt will be alright.”

“Yeah, it’s true. But I still don’t understand why he kept this from us.”

“I honestly don’t know what to tell you. You should talk to him.”

“I wish I could, but he’s so busy this week.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“Yeah. So, I’m sorry to have taken your time, white boy. It’s just…”

“I understand, Mercedes. Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine, okay?”

“Okay. Thank you. For everything.”

“Don’t mention it. Anytime you want to talk, be my guest, okay?”

“Okay. Listen, I’ve gotta run. Lunch break is almost over. Bye.”

“Bye” Blaine ends the call and stares at the wall, thinking.

So, Karofsky is out of the picture. That must be why Kurt seemed fine this morning. So Blaine was overreacting. It wouldn’t be the first time. It was still strange not talking to Kurt for so long. They only have been friends for a couple of weeks, but they understood each other and they’ve shared experiences and tastes in so many things. They talked a lot, through Skype, texts or phone calls and they always had something to talk about. But somehow, this week, they haven’t talked at all. And Blaine just doesn’t understand why.

“Blaine? Dude, what did that wall do to you?”

“Huh?” Blaine looks up to see Jeff standing next to where he’s seated amused expression on his face. “What? The wall?”

“Yeah. You were staring pretty hard at the wall.”

“Oh! No. I was just thinking.” Blaine stands and starts to walk away before looking back. “Warblers practice?”

“Yes, Warblers practice.” Jeff hurries to catch up with Blaine and they walk together, Jeff talking about some ideas he had for his next audition and Blaine giving him advice.

Time passes faster after that, with Warblers practice to occupy his mind. But Lima is far away, even by car and Blaine decides to sing along to anything that comes on the radio. That way he won’t be able to stop to think about Kurt again. If he stopped to think he would find out some reason to worry again, and that was just silly. Right? So, radio… That’s a good idea. And that song is awesome, so Blaine starts singing.

Eight songs after that, Blaine parks his car outside Breadsticks. Kurt’s car is already there and Blaine hopes he hasn’t been there for too long. He enters the restaurant and stops at the door for a minute to search for the familiar face. Kurt sees him first and waves to catch his attention, then starts collecting a few papers he had scattered on the table and places them inside his bag.

As Blaine approaches the table he notices how tired Kurt looks. The concealer almost not covering the marks underneath his eyes. But then, he looks up at Blaine and gives him a huge smile and Blaine feels silly again for being so worried.

“Hi.” Kurt says, while Blaine sits. “How are you? It seems like we haven’t talked for ages.”

“I’m fine. And yes, it seems like it.” Blaine pauses for a second, unsure of what to say. “About that, what’s going on? Is there something wrong?”

Kurt frowns, but the hint of a smile stays on his lips. “Wrong? There’s nothing wrong. Why do you ask?”

“Okay, maybe wrong is not the word.”Clearly, since Kurt seems to be glowing in happiness and excitement. “But there’s something happening, right? The reason why you’re so busy all the time now.”

“Oh, yes. About that. My dad is getting married to Finn’s mom, Carole. And the wedding is this weekend and I’m planning everything. And do you have any idea of how much stuff I have to plan? And oh my god, a week is not enough time to plan a wedding!” Kurt stops to catch his breath and smiles. “I’m sorry for not calling you this week. I just had a lot to do.”

And Blaine feels silly all over again. “No. You don’t need to apologize. I was just worried, that’s all.”

“Oh, okay.”At that moment the waiter comes to take their order.

After a pause, where Blaine processes everything Kurt has just told him, Blaine asks. “So, are your parents divorced?”

Kurt glances at him, his smile vanishing as he looks at his own hands. “No.” Blaine frowns as Kurt clears his throat and fiddles with the sleeve of his sweater. “No. My mom is… my mom is dead.” Kurt says it so softly that Blaine almost doesn’t catch it. But he does hear it and his eyes go wide with realization.

“Oh, Kurt. I’m so sorry! I feel really stupid now, bringing that up.”

“No, don’t. It’s okay. You had no way of knowing about it.” Kurt smiles reassuringly. “She died when I was just a kid and I don’t really talk about her that much.”

Yes, that’s understandable. “I just feel like I should’ve noticed that. You’re always talking about your dad and...”

“It’s okay, really. Don’t worry about it.” Kurt seems eager to change the subject and Blaine is more than happy to oblige.

“So, your father’s wedding. How is it going? You still have too much to do?”

Blaine feels proud of himself because of the smile that’s back on Kurt’s face as he explains everything that’s going to happen at his father’s wedding. In that moment, Blaine vows to himself to always do everything possible to make Kurt smile. They part ways too soon, Kurt still has so much to do, but Blaine is more relaxed now.

The rest of the week passes fast and Kurt calls him a couple of times to share his enthusiasm on how well things are going. Then Sunday comes and Blaine has a family appointment to attend. By the end of the day Blaine’s bored to death. He’s tired of the same questions and the same remarks but he knows he won’t be excused to call Kurt. He knows the wedding should be over by now and wants to know how it went. But that’ll have to wait, unfortunately. He knows he won’t be able to call today, so he’ll wait until the end of classes tomorrow when they’ll have time to talk.

Monday passes too slowly and Blaine almost runs out of the door when his last period ends. He wants to go home and be comfortable by time Kurt’s out of Glee practice. When he reaches his car and opens the door his phone starts to ring. Blaine sees Kurt’s name, frowns, and answer the call as he climbs into the car and places his bag on the passenger seat.

“Hi, Kurt! I was going to call you! How was the wedding?”

Blaine hears a deep sigh on the other end before Kurt’s shaking voice says, “I’m transferring to Dalton.”