One more spoon of cough syrup now, oh
One more spoon of cough syrup now, oh

Kurt watched his boyfriend end the song, holding onto the mic stand as if it was the only thing keeping him standing, and not for the first time for the past month or so, his heart shattered. He didn't need to ask if Blaine was okay, because he knew he wasn't; he didn't need to ask what was wrong, because he already knew. He'd had to watch Blaine get knocked down over and over again for weeks, something they'd discussed almost twice as much as it happened.

Blaine's brother, Cooper, was visiting in a couple of weeks; that was a relief, because Kurt knew how much his brother means to him. After watching that performance, though, Kurt wasn't so sure they could wait that long.

A choked sob from Blaine's bowed head had Kurt across the stage in seconds.

"Come here," he murmured, already taking Blaine in his arms.

The second Blaine let go of the mic stand, he completely collapsed, taking both himself and Kurt to the ground. For a fleeting moment, Kurt thought about all the dust and dirt on stage that would be getting on his clothes; but then another loud sob wracked Blaine's body, now rattling Kurt's too, and he didn't even care if his clothes were torn or stained because his boyfriend needed him. The force of Blaine's crying was shaking them both so much, Kurt felt like they were in an earthquake and the world was crumbling around them. Then he remembered; We are.

"I know," Kurt said, rubbing circles on Blaine's back. "It's going to be okay." He refused to say It's okay because it wasn't; but he knew that with time it would be, and until then, at least he could offer the assurance of impending improvement in their lives. "We're going to get through this together. Okay?" Blaine nodded wordlessly against his shoulder.

It had been a rough few weeks for Blaine, and because of that, for Kurt too. It hurt him to see his boyfriend suffer so much. Really, Kurt though, going back in his mind to sectionals, it had started then.

When Blaine was auditioning for a solo on the song "Control," Kurt knew something was wrong. The lyrics were a little too real. "When I was seventeen, I did what people told me; did what my father said and let my mother mold me." That audition and his fight with Sam—and subsequent confrontation in the locker room with a punching bag and then Finn—were all Kurt needed to know that something was going on that Blaine wasn't telling him about. So, they went out to the parking lot and to Kurt's car, in the backseat, and Kurt demanded answers. He expected Blaine to be angry and blow up at him over whatever it was that was bothering him, that or brush him off altogether; what he did not expect was Blaine totally and completely breaking down in his arms, explaining through his tears how worse things had gotten at home now that Cooper was engaged. "Cooper's found a nice girl, Blaine. He's even going to marry her. Why can't you do that?"

Then there was Sebastian. It was bad enough that the creep couldn't take a hint, but at least that was something they could ignore; eye surgery, not so much. It sent shivers down Kurt's spine when Blaine had said to him, "Having some of my best friends betray me hurt way more than that stupid fucking slushie."

Kurt knew the feeling well; the slushie was intended for him, after all. And all the friends he'd made in the Warblers—David, Nick, Jeff, Trent, Cameron—had helped and taken part in that little scheme. It was even worse for Blaine, though, because these were his best friends who had helped him through his darkest times, pre-Kurt. Now they had helped someone who was trying to destroy the first thing to make Blaine genuinely happy in years? Blaine was hurt, but Kurt was furious. Sebastian didn't know them; he was nothing, just some irking, persistent stranger. But the other Warblers were like family to Blaine, and with how badly his biological family—(minus Cooper)—treated him, he didn't need his chosen family turning on him too.

Thinking about how badly Blaine had had it recently brought tears to Kurt's own eyes. He blinked them back, knowing that he needed to be strong for his boyfriend right now, and just hugged him tighter, shutting his eyes.

"Crap, you guys already heard." Finn's voice off-stage in the wings had Kurt snapping his eyes open.

He stared hard at his stepbrother. "Heard what?"

"Oh," Finn immediately stopped in his path towards them and started backing up. "I guess you didn't. Never mind. I'll just be going…"

Blaine lifted his head up and asked, voice low and hoarse, "What happened, Finn?"

Finn shifted his weight from foot to foot, clenching and relaxing his fists, glancing between the couple on the floor. Kurt got a terrible feeling in his stomache before Finn even said a word.

When he finally did tell them, Kurt almost threw up.

"Karofsky…he, uh…he tried to kill himself."

And Kurt thought his heart was broken before; he thought their world was falling apart before; he thought things were already at their lowest before. It was almost laughable at this point.

"Oh, my God," Blaine said. He wrapped a hand around Kurt's bicep, painfully so. Kurt knew he would have bruises, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything about it, not at a time like this.

Because this was familiar territory.

Kurt remembered the night all too well when they lay in bed, staring at each other in the dark. It was the night before prom, and all day the only thing Kurt could think about was what Blaine had told him about the last school dance he'd attended. He knew Blaine was thinking about it too; he could tell, even in the low light, that Blaine was making that face he made when he was thinking about something troublesome; his forehead and the space between his eyebrows wrinkled, and his lips pursed. Kurt had teased him, saying that if he wasn't careful his face was going to freeze that way. Blaine had only sighed, so Kurt prompted him, asking what was wrong. When Blaine still didn't answer, Kurt leaned forward and let his lips rest on Blaine's head in a gentle kiss. He had mumbled against Blaine's forehead, "It's about that Sadie Hawkins' dance, isn't it?" Blaine had only nodded, and at first Kurt had given up, just accepting that maybe Blaine wasn't ready to tell him. But then Blaine spoke, and told him everything.

He told Kurt about how Cooper had taken off work immediately and flown home to take care of him, since his parents seemed to think this was nothing more than yet another reason to give up his deviant lifestyle. ("Really, Blaine, is this little act of rebellion worth getting yourself beaten and almost killed?") He told him about the three miserable weeks in the hospital when not a single person from school came to visit him; and how he had to practically beg his parents to let him transfer, and only with Cooper's help did they finally agree. Then he told him about that afternoon when Blaine was just done, and he downed his whole bottle—brand new prescription—of pain medication.

Cooper had been the one to find him, only ten minutes later, passed out in bed. He'd looked like he was just taking a nap, understandable under the given circumstances; if Cooper hadn't tried to wake him up to check on him…

Kurt was jerked out of his thoughts by Finn coughing.

"Um…"

"What else, Finn? Just spit it out," Kurt snapped. He was not in the mood for Finn's awkward discomfort. Finn's level of comfort was the least of his worries right now.

"Mr. Schue called an emergency glee club meeting tomorrow morning before school in here."

"Why? So we can all cry on each other's shoulders over the attempted suicide of a guy none of you even liked?"

"Kurt," Blaine warned, "now's not really the time for—"

"The truth? Because that's what that is, Blaine. It's the truth."

He was still upset, but the second he looked back at his boyfriend's tired face and broken eyes, he stowed that anger away for later and focused on Blaine.

"I'm sorry; I'm just—"

"I know. But let's not, okay? Not right now."

Finn started walking out. "I'm just gonna leave you two alone."

"Hey, Finn?" Kurt called out to him. He turned, waiting in the wings as Kurt stood, pressing a kiss to Blaine's forehead, and crossed the stage to give Finn a hug. "Thank you."

His stepbrother awkwardly patted his back and said, "You're welcome." Without Kurt having to explain, Finn knew what he was thanking him for, and Kurt thought that he was a lot smarter than people gave him credit for.

…

"It reminds you of that day, doesn't it?" Kurt asked softly, stroking Blaine's ungelled hair as they lay in his bed that afternoon, after school but before Blaine's parents came home.

Blaine nodded his head against Kurt's chest. Kurt wondered if, with his ear pressed to his chest like that, Blaine could hear Kurt's heart breaking.

"I know how badly things were for me; how much it hurt for me to resort to that, to think I'd rather…rather die than deal with all the pain. I would never wish that on anyone."

Deep down, Kurt knew that some of that pain was his fault. He'd rejected Karofsky on Valentine's Day, which was the obvious thing to do since he was with Blaine, but maybe he could have been more polite about it, made more of an effort to make Karofsky feel better about it. And then all of those phone calls he'd ignored…

No, Kurt would have to save those thoughts for later. Right now it was about Blaine.

"I have to make a phone call, okay?" Kurt squirmed out of bed and tried not to feel like a terrible person at Blaine's whimpers for him to stay. "It'll take just a few minutes; I'll be right back."

He stepped out into the hall and hit the call button on a number he'd only called one other time in his life; right after they arrived and got Blaine admitted into the hospital after the tainted slushie.

He answered on the second ring. "Cooper Anderson speaking."

"Cooper, it's Kurt."

"Kurt? What happened? Is Blaine okay?"

"Physically, yes. Emotionally…" Kurt sighed, wishing he hadn't had to resort to this. He knew how busy Cooper was, but really, he didn't feel like he had a choice.

"Just tell me what happened." The sense of urgency in Cooper's tone was appreciated; it meant that he truly cared and was really concerned about what might be happening with Blaine, and that put Kurt's mind at ease. If Kurt couldn't have Blaine's parents on his side, at least he had Blaine's brother.

"A guy we know, Dave Karofsky—"

"The name rings a bell."

"Blaine must have mentioned him to you. He's a guy that used to bully me. Anyway, we're sort of friends now, but he…Karofsky tried to kill himself." He could hear Cooper sigh down the line, and knew that he'd probably just collapsed into his desk chair and was pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes. Kurt continued. "It's just a little too much for Blaine right now. On top of everything else that's been going on lately, to be reminded of a time when he decided that life wasn't worth all the trouble…"

"I get it. I'm booking a flight now."

"Thanks, Coop. I try, but I think he just really needs his big brother right now."

"I know. Thank you, Kurt. I should be there by tomorrow at the latest, maybe even tonight if I can work it out."

"Do you want me to tell him or your parents or anyone that you're coming?"

"No, I don't want Blaine to know, he'll just shut down so that he won't have to talk when I get there. I'll tell our parents myself, but somehow I doubt they'll even be home to care."

"No offense, but I kind of hate your parents."

"I kind of hate them too. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Alright. Bye."

"Bye."

They hung up, and Kurt felt a tiny bit better. At least with Coop coming home early, it might help Blaine out a little more. He knew that Blaine loved him wholeheartedly, and they had a very healthy relationship where they were each other's best friend and leaned on each other when needed and helped each other; but sometimes, a guy just needs his brother. With Finn, as dense as he could seem sometimes, Kurt could get a sense of that feeling. Sometimes, he just really wanted to talk to Finn about something. Blaine was great, and he loved him, but some things are just better for brothers.

Kurt slipped back into the room and settled down beside Blaine on the bed again. Blaine had fallen asleep, so Kurt wrapped an arm across his waist and nestled into Blaine's side, ready for a nap himself.

"Who'd you call?" Blaine mumbled, half-asleep.

"It was nothing. Go back to sleep."

Blaine hummed in response and turned away from Kurt so that he could scoot back into Kurt's embrace from behind.

No matter how much Blaine would deny it, Kurt knew that he secretly loved being little spoon.

…

They ended up staying asleep until the next morning when Blaine's alarm went off for school. Blaine's parents never came home that night, something that made Kurt more upset than he let on, and he knew Blaine was doing the same. Kurt just got dressed in one of the outfits he had in Blaine's closet in case he stayed over for…other reasons, and they headed to school.

"Are you sure you don't want to stop by the Lima Bean on the way to school and grab a coffee and danish or something?" Kurt asked, glancing over at Blaine from the driver's seat.

Blaine shook his head against the window. "I'm not hungry."

Kurt knew it was because he was thinking of the impending glee club meeting they'd be met with once they reached school. They'd probably all sit in a circle and share their feelings. What a joke. Not a single person in there cared about Dave Karofsky. Kurt understood why, after everything Dave had done to him, but if Kurt could forgive him, so should everybody else. After all, they didn't even notice anything was wrong with Kurt until things got so bad he had to transfer. Not even seeing the bullying was almost as worse as the actual bullying, at least in Kurt's mind.

Cooper hadn't come that night, and he wasn't there when they left in the morning, but Kurt knew he'd be there as soon as they got home from school. In fact, Kurt wouldn't be surprised if Cooper showed up at school to take Blaine home early.

Cooper Anderson would do anything to protect his little brother.

When they pulled into the McKinley High parking lot and Kurt parked the car as far from the school as possible, he looked over at Blaine expectantly. "Ready to go?"

"No."

Kurt sighed and reached a hand over the console to rest on Blaine's thigh. "I know it's hard, sweetie. We're going to get through this together, okay? The first step in doing that, though, is to go inside and get this stupid glee meeting over. Maybe we can even visit Dave later." Blaine whipped his head over to stare at Kurt, looking terrified. "Or not!" Kurt rushed to amend. "We don't have to see him yet. Whenever you're ready. Okay?"

Blaine closed his eyes and nodded slowly.

It absolutely tore Kurt up inside to see his boyfriend like this. All Kurt wanted to do was help, but he knew that wasn't really possible. There was nothing he could do to make this better. Sure, he could yell at Blaine's parents, and at the Warblers, and reprimand all of the people who were contributing to making Blaine's life hell; but that wouldn't make Blaine feel any better. It would probably help Kurt more than it would help Blaine.

"What can I do?" Kurt asked, because he really didn't know.

Blaine shrugged. "I don't know."

That makes two of us, Kurt thought.

"Let's just go inside," Blaine said. "You're right. We should just go and get this stupid thing over with."

So, inside they went. Kurt took Blaine's hand to reassure him that he was there, because he knew Blaine needed that, and if anyone in that hellhole people call a public high school wanted to say anything to them about it, Kurt was ready to fight.

No one did, though. The hallways were pretty empty, since it was still really early. Most of the neandertahls that usually gave the couple trouble wouldn't arrive until about two minutes before the late bell.

The auditorium was open and everyone was already there except for them.

"Hey guys," Mr. Schue greeted. "Thanks for coming early. Just take a seat anywhere in the circle."

Kurt realized that the only two spots open were not next to each other. Blaine hesitated, seemingly figuring out the same thing, so Kurt tugged him forward to one of the open spots and stared down at Mike. "Could you make room for both of us, please?"

"Uh, Kurt, I know you two are dating, and I'm supportive of that, but the point of this isn't really to sit next to each other—"

"Mr. Schue, with all due respect, I'm going to sit next to my boyfriend today because he needs me and I'm not letting him leave my side. Mike, if you would, please?"

Mike took one glance at Blaine's face and scooted over. "Sure, man."

"Thank you."

Kurt knew there was a reason he liked Mike. Mr. Schue didn't look pleased, but honestly, Kurt didn't care. And he cared less and less the more Mr. Schue spoke, because having Rory taste peanut butter, then saying how he almost killed himself because he cheated on a test, it all made what happened seem like a joke.

He scoffed and shook his head, holding tighter to Blaine's hand because this entire thing was making him want to scream and the only thing keeping him grounded was the feel of his boyfriend's hand in his.

"Was there something you wanted to say, Kurt?" It was only then that Kurt realized people must have sensed his discomfort, and they were all staring at him.

Really, he didn't want to get into it. He could tell how uncomfortable Blaine was feeling with this whole thing, thinking about his own attempt, and he didn't want to make this any worse for him.

But he couldn't just sit there; he had to say something.

"This is bullshit," he said. When everyone gasped, he continued. "And I'm sorry, Mr. Schue, I know we're not supposed to curse but it is. This is total and complete bullshit."

Mr. Schue nodded like he really valued Kurt's opinion—which just pissed him off more—and said, "Okay, can you explain to us why you feel like that?"

Kurt opened his mouth to speak, but felt Blaine squeeze his hand. He looked over at his boyfriend and raised an eyebrow. "Kurt, please."

And though it pained him, Kurt shook his head. "You know this isn't right. I can't sit here and listen to this and not say something." He turned his attention to the rest of the club, ready to speak, when he felt Blaine's hand leave his. He looked over to see his boyfriend's head in his hands, crying.

Shit. This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted to make everyone else feel bad, not Blaine. In an instant, he was pulling Blaine into his body, holding him there and letting the tears fall into his collarbone. He looked around and noticed that everyone was staring at them like Blaine had just grown a second head.

"Could you guys maybe stop staring at us like we're a museum exhibit?"

Immediately, everyone averted their eyes and started looking at each other or the floor or the ceiling; anywhere but them, really.

Kurt rubbed those same comforting circles on Blaine's back that he did yesterday when they were in the same position, minus the audience. He pressed a kiss to Blaine's head and murmured, "Just ignore them, okay? We're going to be okay."

"You keep saying that but how do you know?" Blaine asked, pulling back to stare into his eyes.

"Because it gets better," Kurt replied, hoping the cheesiness of the line would catch Blaine's attention and make him laugh, even if just a little.

It worked; Blaine chuckled. The laugh turned into a sob, and Blaine shut his eyes again, so Kurt reached his hands forward and cupped his boyfriend's face, placing a kiss on his forehead. "It might take days or weeks or months but we're going to get through this and we're going to be okay. I know it."

Blaine opened his eyes. "How can you be so sure?"

"Because we have each other."

For a moment, Kurt had forgotten that they weren't the only two in the room. Until Santana spoke up.

"Not that I'm not enjoying this little gay lovefest," she said, glancing at Brittany with a small smile, "but I get the feeling we're all missing something."

"This isn't a joke, Santana," Kurt snapped.

Her smirk immediately left her face. "I know it's not. I just wanna know if Blaine's okay."

"Of course he's not; look at him. Not that any of you would notice, you sure as hell didn't notice when it was me."

"Kurt."

Kurt turned to Blaine, who had stopped crying at looked ready to speak. "Are you sure?" Kurt asked, already knowing what Blaine was about to do.

When Blaine nodded, Kurt pulled him back against his body so that Blaine's back was resting against Kurt's side, with Kurt's arm around him and their fingers laced together.

"Before I went to Dalton, I went to Westerville High School. I was bullied, just like Kurt. And just like Kurt, no one noticed, and when I complained, they didn't care. One night, after a school dance, these guys came and beat the shit out of me and my date." Kurt rolled his eyes at the collective gasp of their fellow glee club members. "I was in the hospital for weeks, and it took a lot of convincing from my brother and me but my parents finally agreed to let me transfer to Dalton for the start of the next school year. But that was still months away, so I was stuck at home with my homophobic parents all day every day. I had my brother, Cooper, but there's only so much a guy can take, you know? So one day, when my pain meds had just been refilled, I swallowed the whole bottle of them."

"Blaine…"

"No, it's okay, Mr. Schue. None of you knew that. But that's why Kurt is so defensive about the whole thing. With Karofsky's recent attempt, it's really affected me and Kurt is just looking out for me."

"It wasn't just Dave, Blaine. Things have been hard for you for weeks," Kurt reminded him.

"I know, but that's not really relevant right now."

"I think it is. It's the type of stuff that's been happening to you that leads a person to that point. Your parents, and Sebastian, and the Warblers, it's all relevant."

Blaine shifted in Kurt's embrace, then turned his head to look Kurt in the eye and whispered, "I'm not going to do that again."

"I know, honey. But if you're going to tell them you might as well tell them everything."

"We already know," Mercedes offered. "We've watched Blaine suffer for weeks. We just kind of figured you were handling it, Kurt. We didn't really know what to do."

"Yeah, I mean, who really knows what to do in a situation like that?" Tina added.

"I do," a vaguely familiar voice said from behind them. Kurt and Blaine swiveled their heads to see Cooper Anderson walking in from the wings.

Blaine spluttered. "Cooper? What are you doing here?"

"Kurt called me. He told me you weren't doin' so hot."

Blaine turned his gaze on Kurt, looking in awe. "You called Cooper?"

"I had to. You need your brother."

"I already signed you out, little brother. Let's go home."

"But school hasn't even started yet."

"Good. I caught you just before yet another day of hell could begin. Get your stuff and let's go."

"Can Kurt come too?"

Cooper and Kurt shared a look before Kurt answered for him. "That's probably not the best idea, Blaine. I think you need to be with your brother right now."

As Kurt started trying to pull away, Blaine only held on tighter. "But I need you too."

"I'll be here for you, I promise. But right now I think Cooper is the best person to help you. Okay?"

Blaine looked reluctant, so Kurt pulled them both to their feet, grabbed Blaine's bag from the floor, and walked them over to Cooper. He handed the bag to Cooper and stepped back. He watched as Blaine hugged his brother, and then turned back to Kurt.

Before he could say anything, Kurt told him, "If you need anything, just call me. I'll leave school and come over."

Blaine nodded and rushed over to give Kurt one last hug before he left. He murmured in his ear, "Thank you," before pulling back to kiss him for a few seconds and letting go.

Kurt stood and stared after Blaine and Cooper as they left, staying put even after they were gone. He knew the entirety of the glee club was behind him, staring at him, all probably uncomfortable and not really sure what to do or say. But Kurt didn't care. The only thing he cared about was Blaine, and that Blaine got better.

No matter what it took, Kurt was going to make sure his boyfriend felt better. He had to.