“Go Blaine!” Kurt screamed from his place against the security fence.

“Geeze, Kurt,” Blaine's dad laughed beside him.  “I used to always tell Pam and the boys I couldn't hear them from the top of the mountain when they screamed.  But I think Blaine should be able to hear you just fine.  I may need a hearing aid by the time it is over, but he'll hear you.” 

Kurt smiled sheepishly.  “Sorry, Jack.  I just want him to know I am here for him.”  Jack clapped him on the back. 

“I know, and I appreciate that about you.  Just try not to deafen me just yet would you?  He's got two more runs after this.”

“I can't believe this is it though.  Feels like it happened so fast.  Like, we were in New York yesterday training and now…”  Kurt waved his arm at the hill. 

“It's a crazy feeling.”  Jack ran a hand through his hair.  “I remember when Cooper did his Olympics.  I felt like he should've still been back on the bunny slopes in Mansfield.”

“And now?  With Blaine?”

“With Blaine,” Jack sighed, “it's different.  I'm just worried about him.  I wished he would've waited a little longer, used South Korea for his first Olympics.”

Kurt kept his mouth shut for a moment while Blaine took his first run.  Kurt always winced at the way Blaine took on the moguls, bouncing down the hill at high speed.  It made Kurt's knees ache just watching.  But he couldn't look away.  His heart leapt to his throat when Blaine took the ramp, nailing his flips.  Kurt couldn't remember the elaborate name given to them or the difficulty level attached, but he cheered as loud as he could and waved like crazy as Blaine slid over to the bench to await his score. 

The crowd erupted as the judges announced a score of 23.7.  It wasn't enough for gold, but he still had two more attempts to bring it up.  He could do it.  Everyone knew he could do it, which was why he couldn't let Jack's comment from earlier go. 

“Something tells me you wish he would've waited not because of reasons actually related to his sport, but more with me.”  Kurt fixed him with a look as he spoke, relishing in the slight flinch it brought out in his boyfriend's father. 

“Not so much you as how you two will be received here.”

Kurt shrugged.  “Not like we haven't dealt with that for years now.”

“This is different and you know it,” Jack huffed. 

“I do, and we're being cautious.”

“But—”

“I thought you had moved passed the whole preventing Blaine from following his dreams thing,” Kurt spat, glaring slightly.  “Don't you think you did enough of that to him growing up?  You can't keep doing it to him.”

“I'm not,” Jack snapped back. “I swear.  I'm proud of him for what he is doing.  I'm proud of you too.  I'm just worried about you guys.” 

Before Kurt could respond, Blaine's mom showed up and took over the conversation, asking a hundred questions about what she had missed in Blaine's first run.  By the time Pam was all caught up, Blaine was at the top of the hill preparing for his second run.  Kurt could see Cooper give him a thumbs up from the bottom of the hill and the crowd once again erupted in cheers. 

Everything started off fine.  Blaine picked up speed and took the moguls like a pro, just like always.  But it was short lived.  Blaine hit the ramp and performed an elaborate twist and flip while in the air.  It started out perfect, yet ended horrifically.  He pulled out of his twist too late, causing his landing to be off.  His skis hit the mogul abruptly, launching him back into the air.  He flipped and tumbled down the hill for a moment, hitting the snow hard before finally ending up half way down the course and on his side.

He didn't move.  Neither could Kurt.  Kurt stood there staring at his boyfriend in utter silence.  He could hear Pam screaming beside him and Jack muttering what he assumed was comforting words.  But he couldn't make them out.  He was too focused on Blaine…on Blaine's lack of movement and the red tinge to the snow where he had hit higher on the course. 

A medic rushed up the hill and towards Blaine.  Kurt finally regained his ability to move, and suddenly all that mattered was getting to Blaine.  He lunged towards the fence, only for Jack to grab him around the shoulders.

“Kurt, stop.  You've gotta stay here.”

“But—”

“You'll get in trouble for going on the hill and won't be able to skate tomorrow.”

“I need to help Blaine.  I—”

“Kurt, remember where you are.  You can't just go running up the hill after him.  You just can't!”  Jack squeezed his shoulder more reassuringly, but the panic was still there.  “I'm sorry.” 

Kurt's body shook, wanting nothing more than to run to Blaine, but he listened to Jack.  For now at least.  He would find a way to get to Blaine somehow or another.  He just had to. 

Before Kurt could make his escape from Jack, the crowd erupted in applause and cheers.  Blaine was back on his feet, just barely, and managing to make his way down to the finish line.  He stuck to the side of the hill, avoiding all moguls and ramps.  One ski lagged behind the other and he moved slowly, obviously in pain. 

When he made it to the bottom of the hill, he skid over to the bench and basically collapsed against it.  Kurt could see the blur that was Cooper running towards his brother.  Blaine remained hunched over on the bench, trembling.  Cooper said something to him that Kurt couldn't make out and rubbed his back gently.  Kurt couldn't take his eyes off of Blaine.

“Mr. Hummel?”

Kurt turned towards the accented voice behind him.  “Yes?”

“Come with me.  Coach Anderson asked for you,” a security guard said softly. 

Kurt nodded vigorously and hopped over the barricades to follow.  He heard Jack and Pam yelling something towards him, but didn't care to stop and ask what it was.  He had a way to Blaine and he was going to take it. 

“Hey,” Cooper greeted softly as he reached the bottom of the hill.  Blaine still hadn't moved from his hunched over place on the bench, and no one seemed keen on making him.  The cameramen smiled sadly at Kurt as he approached. 

Kurt waved towards them and Cooper as he made a beeline for Blaine.  Instead of sliding in behind him, he opted to sit on the other side.  Blaine immediately fell forward into him, letting his face fall into Kurt's chest. 

“Hey honey,” Kurt said softly as he gathered Blaine in his arms.  “It's ok.  You're ok.” 

“G-gonna be s-sick,” Blaine stuttered out, not bothering to move away from Kurt.  He shuddered violently and gagged.   

“Shhh, take it easy,” Kurt soothed.  “Just breathe for now.  It's ok.  No one's rushing you.” 

Cooper sat back down on the other side of him.  “Yeah, little brother.  Take all the time you need.  Everyone understands.  It's ok.”  He squeezed Blaine's knee.  “When you're ready, we'll get you checked out.  Then you can go rest.  It's ok.”

Kurt could feel Blaine shake his head against him.  “Hey, it's ok.  You—”

“No,” Blaine sighed.  “Not leaving.”

“You have to see the doctor sooner rather than later.  It—”

“No.”  Blaine took a deep breath and moved away from Kurt.  He sat up, wincing at every move.  “Not leaving hill.  Still have one more run.”

“Blaine,” Cooper warned, “you can't be serious.  You can't go again!  The medics already think you fractured your wrist and your foot.  Not to mention you currently can't stand without feeling like you are going to hurl all over the snow.  What makes you think you can do another run?”

“Because it's the Olympics and I have to finish.”

Kurt gave him a sympathetic look.  “Blaine, I—” 

“You can't tell me neither of you would want to do the same.”

“No, I can't,” Cooper replied.  “Hell I did it back at my own Olympics.  And that's the reason I can never compete again.  Do you want that?”

Blaine took in a shuddering breath and quickly pushed himself to his feet.  He wobbled and probably would've landed in a pile of limbs on the snow if Kurt hadn't reacted so quickly.  He swallowed thickly.  “This is different.  You skied on torn muscles.”

“You think skiing on broken bones will be that much better?” Cooper snapped.

“Ok, boys,” Kurt huffed.  “Let's get Blaine to the medic and go from there.”

With Kurt and Cooper's help, Blaine made it over to the medical tent and was laid on top of the bench.  He sagged against the thin padding and rested his head against the pillow for a moment.

“Hello Mr. Anderson,” the doctor on call greeted softly.  Her voice had the thick Russian accent to it.  “We've been expecting you.  That was a nasty fall.”

“Yeah,” Blaine groaned. 

“Looked like you landed on your back and wrist pretty bad, correct?”  She moved towards him and gently pulled his mittens off. 

“Y-yeah.”  Blaine visibly swallowed against the pain.  “And my foot.  I landed on it hard.  Twice.”

“Ouch,” she said with a sad smile.  “Ok, then.  Let's get your boots off and some of your gear.  Your brother and boyfriend can help.”  Kurt's eyes widened at her comment, causing her to laugh.  “Not all of us share the views of our government.  You may stay.  I won't tell if you don't.”  She sent them a wink before turning around to grab what she needed.

“You'll stay?” Blaine asked hopefully.

“I'll stay.”  Kurt pressed a kiss to his forehead and squeezed his hand.  Cooper helped the doctor, who insisted on being called Anna, tug off the boots and everything that was in the way.  Blaine remained as quiet as possible, the only indication of pain was the way his grip tightened on Kurt's hand.  Over time, he bit his lip to stop from crying out and screwed his eyes up tight.  “It's ok,” Kurt soothed again, running his fingers through Blaine's sweaty hair. 

“How bad?” he finally gasped out.  “Can I ski?”

Anna sighed and stood from where she had been kneeling at Blaine's feet.  “Can you or should you?”

“Can,” Blaine said at the same time Cooper replied with, “Should.”

“Should you?  Probably not.  I have not taken x-rays but your foot and wrist most likely have fractures.  To what extent?  I can not say without an x-ray.  Same goes for your ribs.  You definitely have bruised them.  Honestly think you have bruised most of your body.  Your back is going to be hurting for quite a few days.”  She turned around to grab an ace bandage and some supplies.  “Can you ski is the bigger question though isn't it?”  She smiled at him.  “If you stay here, let me ice and wrap your foot, you may be able to give it a go.  I can't guarantee you won't end up right back here with another fall, but you can try if you like.”

“That's all I want.  Thank you!”  Blaine leaned his head back, sighing in relief.

“I don't like this,” Cooper huffed.

“You don't have to,” Blaine replied.

Kurt rolled his eyes at the brothers.  “Can't say I'm too fond of this either.”

“But you also can't say you wouldn't do the same thing if you wiped out on the ice.”

Kurt shook his head and pressed another kiss to Blaine's forehead.  “I know.  Which is why I'm not going to try to stop you.  But you have to promise me that you will go straight to the doctors afterwards.”

Blaine nodded, leaning back against Kurt to let the doctor wrap his leg.  He remained there for a bit while the other athletes competed their final run of the competition.  Nonetheless, putting his boot back on was absolute hell. 

“Can you stand?” Cooper asked once he was suited up again. 

”I'm fine,” Blaine said, even as he swayed on his feet and winced with every step. 

“Oh god, you are going to get yourself killed!”  Cooper waved his arms dramatically as they made their way back to the hill.

“No I'm not,” Blaine laughed. 

“Yes you are!  You are going to get yourself killed and then mom and dad are going to blame me!”

“Now you're just being dramatic, Coop,” Blaine sighed.  “I'm going to be fine.  If I start down the hill and it becomes too much, I'll stop.  I'm not going to get killed!”

“But—”

“Enough!” Kurt interrupted.  “Cooper, go back to your place with the other coaches.  I just want a moment with Blaine before I send him back up the hill.  Then I'll join you.”

“Whatever,” Cooper grumbled, following Kurt's orders anyway.

“Thank you.”  Blaine sent him a smile of gratitude. 

Kurt returned it before throwing his arms around Blaine's neck.  “Promise you'll be ok?”

“I'll try.”

Kurt nodded against Blaine's neck, trying his best not to cry, and then pulled away.  “Go win for me.”

Blaine bit his lip nervously before boldly kissing Kurt on the lips.  “Always for you.”  With that, he slowly made his way to the starting line.  Kurt breathed out shakily and took a moment to collect himself.  He couldn't let the media see him this shaken up.  It would be a disaster.  Once he was sure he could put on a brave face, he headed back to Cooper.

“You ok?” Cooper asked.

“Ask me once he's finished.”  Kurt glanced over towards the Andersons off to the side.  “Have you talked to them yet?” 

“Once he's finished I will.”  Cooper smiled sadly. 

“He can do this.  He's good.”

Cooper ran a hand through hair.  “You know better than anyone that good and injured don't mix well.” 

Kurt didn't reply.  He couldn't bring himself to agree, no matter how true it was.  He focused his attention back on Blaine and hoped he could pull this off.  He didn't know what would happen if he couldn't. 

The crowd cheered as they saw Blaine at the top of the hill.  All eyes were on him.  Kurt wished he could look away, scared at what was to come.  But he couldn't.  He just couldn't. 

Blaine took off from the top of the hill.  He took the moguls fine, though Kurt knew it had to Kurt no matter how tight his foot was wrapped.  Each one had to be jarring the broken bones and bruised muscles.  But Blaine didn't let it show.  To the crowd, he was giving one of the best runs of his life.  Kurt was in awe. 

Kurt's heart nearly skipped a beat as Blaine approached his first ramp.  He performed the same trick as before, only this time he landed it perfectly.  No one could tell he was hurt.  He continued down the hill, picking up speed and hitting the next ramp.  The trick was even bigger than before.  He had more air than the first time, allowing him to perform a large back flip and cross his skis before landing securely on both feet. 

As soon as he was across the finish line, his skis skidded and he collapsed onto the snow.  Cooper and Kurt both ran out to him.  Kurt didn't care what people thought or said, not at this point.  He had to get to Blaine. 

They both slid in next to Blaine, not caring about the snow soaking their own clothes.  He was still conscious, which was more than Kurt had expected given everything.  His breathing was heavy, and he was obviously in more pain now. 

“Hey, squirt,” Cooper prodded softly.  “Let's get you over to the bench.  Ok?”

Blaine nodded, but didn't make any attempt to move until Cooper and Kurt helped hoist him up.  He nearly fell back down at first and had to lean heavily on them just to make to the bench.   He collapsed onto and allowed Kurt and Cooper to take his helmet off.    

“What's my score?” he asked around shaky breaths. 

“Give them time to calculate it, hun,” Kurt said, rubbing his arm gently. 

It wasn't much longer until the intercom started up over the roar of the crowd, announcing a score of 26.75.  Blaine was in first place with only one more skier to go.  He had won a medal.

“Oh my god,” Cooper gasped.  He slapped Blaine on the arm.  “Oh my god!”

Blaine just started up at his score on the screen.  He didn't say anything and didn't move.  His eyes were wide, that was the only indication that he had actually heard it.

“You did it!” Kurt squealed.  He threw his arms around him without abandon and pulled him into a hug.  “You have a medal!”

Blaine leant into the touch despite the shock.  “I don't…wow.” 

“Wow is right,” Kurt laughed, squeezing him tighter.  Blaine brought his arms up and returned the hug.  “You did it!”

The crowd cheered, letting them know the final skier was starting his run.  Blaine didn't watch; he kept his head against Kurt's and let himself catch his breath.

“You want me to get the medic, B?” Cooper offered.

“No, want to see what medal I have.” 

“I don't think you can see through Kurt's shoulder.  You're good but not superhero good.”

Blaine groaned and pushed himself off of Kurt, sending a glare Cooper's way once he was up.  He turned his attention back to the hill, just in time to see the guy cross the finish line.  The score came though a moment later; it was two points below Blaine's.  He had done it.  He had won gold despite the wipe out from hell.

Everything around Kurt and Blaine erupted and blurred together.  Someone draped the American flag across his shoulders while another shoved a camera into his shocked face.  Kurt remained through it all, keeping his arm around Blaine's shaking shoulders.  His parents joined at some point to congratulate and fret over him.  But Jack never even mentioned that Kurt should step away or stop being so affectionate.  It seemed to not matter.  Not then at least.

“How am I going to get up on the podium?” Blaine asked, finally breaking his shocked silence.  “I can't put weight on my foot.  Not now.”

“You'll get up on that podium.  Don't worry little brother!” Cooper exclaimed, clapping him on the shoulder despite all the bruises he no doubt had there.  “I'll carry you like that gymnastics coach did for his girl back in Atlanta!”

“No!” Blaine adamantly replied.  “You are not carrying me bridal style like that!  I'm not Kerri Strug and you're not—”

“You know you are about her height and—OUCH!”  Blaine's smack upside the head cut Cooper off.  “Geeze Blaine!  Being a gold medalist sure has turned you violent.  Damn that hurt!”             

Kurt shook his head but couldn't help but laugh.  “Don't worry Blaine, we'll get you up there without having to carry you.  I promise.”

“Thank you.”  Blaine leaned in for a kiss.  Cameras flashed around them, and Kurt could only imagine how many people would see the tender moment come morning.  But he just didn't care.  He was too happy for Blaine to care about that now. 

Instead, he focused his attention on Blaine and getting him to the podium.  It wasn't the easiest thing in the world.  In fact, he nearly gave in and told Cooper to just carry him up to it after all.  Anna had given them crutches and rewrapped Blaine's foot and wrist, but he was still hurting and moving was difficult.  He was slow to get up on the podium, taking longer than anyone else.  Yet no one seemed to mind.  Everyone broke out into cheers and applause as soon as Blaine was standing on top of it, using his crutches for support. 

Kurt snuck back around to the side so he could watch the ceremony.  He felt tears stinging his eyes as soon as their anthem began playing.  He could see them in Blaine's as well.  They locked eyes for a moment, both of them mouthing the words to the song.  They stopped and smiled at each other.  They had done it.  They were living their dream.