OK, this chapter has been a nightmare to write as it needs to tie up the loose ends going back to the first chapter before the story moves on. There are more author notes at the bottom but I don't want to say too much here and spoil the chapter.

….

All too soon it was Monday morning which was really nobody's favourite time of the week. After several days of sleeping late and setting their own pace suddenly the boys at Dalton were forced back into uniforms and rigid routine. For most it was easy, it took a lot of the thought out of the day. For Kurt is had become his most hated day.

Kurt dragged himself out of bed trying to supress the thoughts and fears which had plagued him all night. He showered quickly knowing he was would need plenty of time to apply concealer to hide the bags under his eyes and bronzer to make his face less pale before people started asking questions. On Sunday evening Kurt had cried for hours and somewhere around 1am had realised he didn't know what he was crying for. It had taken him another two hours (at least) before he had finally fallen asleep only to be woken a few hours later by his alarm. He had been constantly fighting with Blaine before the holidays which made him sad and angry, he had developed this strange fear of eating after having the sickness virus and the thought of another week in depressing, restrictive uniforms being herded around was thoroughly depressing him. Another week loomed large of having to fit in and Kurt wasn't sure how to accept not being totally himself anymore.

Lying awake in the early hours of the morning did have some advantages though, it gave you plenty of time to think. No one called or sent texts or needed to talk, you legitimately could lie in bed staring into space and not worry that you should be finishing off some homework. So Kurt had taken time to lie and think about what had happened over the last few weeks and why he felt so mixed up and emotional.

Blaine – Blaine was always Kurt's number one priority and he hated the way he had snapped at him in the restaurant, it made him feel so stupid because he knew all Blaine had tried to do, well since he had arrived at Dalton was help and protect him. At the same time though Kurt hated feeling so reliant on him, he had other friends at school but more often than not he and Blaine went to everything together. Did people really know who Kurt was?

Maybe that was the problem, no one really knew Kurt anymore. He was part of Klaine but while Blaine had had a year at the school without him Kurt hadn't had that chance to establish himself. From the minute he arrived he was always with Blaine who looked after him, first as a mentor and now as his boyfriend.

Wasn't that what Kurt had always wanted, to have someone to be with him, text him and make plans with him. Most importantly hadn't he always wanted someone to love him? Why was he suddenly feeling so constricted by the man he loved?

Suddenly it hit him, he had nothing to control and that was why the hunger felt so good. At Dalton he had to fit in, wear the uniform and follow the rules and routines. He was told when to eat, what to eat (granted from a good selection but sometimes you just wanted to eat cookie dough for lunch), when to go to bed, where he was allowed to be and which rooms he was not allowed to be in.

The Warblers was tightly controlled, they were a good group but they didn't just freestyle like New Directions, he couldn't just announce that he wanted to sing (apart from that one performance of Blackbird but that had been an exception rather than rule). He missed the laughter and drama of the McKinley group, he missed the girl's sleepovers and heck he even missed Mr Schue's attempts to rap! With the Warblers it was all routine, rules and protocol and it was starting to stifle him.

The one good thing he really had at Dalton was Blaine but even he was controlling in his own way. When Kurt thought it over Blaine had chosen the last four movies they saw at the cinema, they almost always went back to Blaine's room, Blaine always came and got him for meals and recently had even starting suggesting which weekends would be best for Kurt to go home so that they could plan things for them to do.

Literally everything that Kurt held dear was being stripped away, slowly and silently until he was just left as an empty shell. Hunger was almost the only thing he had left and he was not letting that go!

…..

As Kurt put the finishing touches to his 'I'm fine this Monday morning' makeover Blaine arrived at the door knocking with a flourish before bouncing in. He grabbed Kurt away from the bathroom mirror and pinned him up against the wall kissing him enthusiastically. Kurt, while surprised by this eager show of affection kissed and several minutes later they were still lip locked, hips pulled close together and hands exploring, in the bathroom when they were interrupted by loud laughing. Pulling apart they both looked towards the door to see David and Nick standing in the open doorway.

Kurt felt his face was red enough to heat the whole building as David announced, "I hadn't realised you two were planning on putting on show, perhaps you should advertise it more next time. I know Jeff for one will be devastated to miss it."

"You couldn't even shut the door when you came in?" mumbled Kurt, punching Blaine lightly on the arm.

"C'mon you two, we're going to miss breakfast if we don't hurry and I think what you two were getting to uses more fuel than it produces!" Nick and David turned to leave making a show of closing the door behind them.

Blaine turned to Kurt with a guilty smile, "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure you knew how much I love you and you looked so cute over here fixing your hair that I didn't….." Kurt cut him off with a brief peck on the lips.

"Don't worry about it, it's probably a good thing otherwise we might have ended up late."

"C'mon then, let's get some breakfast before I have to face the horror that is geography," Blaine chuckled.

Kurt looked back in the mirror, "you go ahead, I need to fix my hair again, it seems to have got all flattened!" Blaine looked pointedly at Kurt, he had a sinking feeling that he knew where this was going. The countertenor however was not going to be swayed, "Go Blaine, I'll catch you up in a few minutes." Sensing there was no point staying Blaine left the room and made his way down to breakfast picking up an extra apple and protein bar in the hope that Kurt would indeed arrive before class and could be persuaded to eat them.

…

As he had predicted Kurt did not arrive in the dining hall before the warning bell sounded and Blaine didn't have any classes with him until after lunchtime so he carried the bar and apple with him in case he passed his boyfriend in the corridor. However not only did Blaine not see Kurt between classes but he did not turn up for lunch either. Blaine tried to focus on eating his chilli rather than looking towards the door every few minutes but as time went on it got harder. Nick and Jeff were deep in conversation about some band they were hoping to get tickets too when Jeff became aware of Blaine's distracted attention. "You ok?" he asked casually.

"Yeah, just wondering where Kurt is."

"Oh Mr Timpson wanted him to wait behind after biology, something about his make up work from when he was sick."

"Surely that wouldn't take his whole lunch break though." Swallowing his last few mouthfuls of chilli quickly Blaine stood up, "I'm going to find him since he's not answering his phone. If he appears could you please make sure he eats something." Nick and Jeff exchanged puzzled looks but agreed with what Blaine said and were engaged in another discussion before the curly haired boy had left the room.

….

Blaine made his way to Kurt's biology room swiftly but there was no sign of either Kurt or Mr Timpson, the teacher. He then ran across to the dorms but again there was no sign of his boyfriend. Constantly hitting redial on his phone to try and speak to the boy was also proving a waste of time and Blaine was really starting to panic that something had happened to the thin boy. Deciding that the library is probably a good place to try and failing that the nurse, Blaine crossed the courtyard between the dorms and main building fiddling with his phone still trying to reach the elusive boy.

Just as he pulled open the main door he heard a high voice calling his name. "Kurt, there you are! Where on earth have you been?"

"Sorry I had to stay behind in biology and then one of the guys in my French class needed some help with a translation."

"I've been calling you constantly." Checking his pockets Kurt couldn't find his phone anywhere and a search of his bag also proved useless.

"Damn, I think I left it in my room this morning, I'd better go and get it."

Blaine grabbed his arm, "Wait, have you had anything to eat? Lunch is nearly over"

"Yes, I had a sandwich from the little lunch stall over by the art block." Blaine watched Kurt's eyes narrow and his lip twitch in a strange way as he answered but he wasn't sure if that was because he was lying or if he was anxious to look for his phone. Either way Blaine wanted to be sure Kurt had eaten so he rummaged in his bag for the protein bar and apple from breakfast.

"Here, I got them for you this morning, they'll top up your lunchtime sandwich nicely. Now c'mon and we'll go get your phone." Leaving Kurt no room to refuse Blaine watched him eat the bar on their way over to his room and having retrieved the boy's phone Blaine insisted he ate the apple on his way to their next class. As Blaine sat down in his calculus class he couldn't help but let himself feel a little bit of pride that he was a good boyfriend and was able to support Kurt through whatever was going on.

…

The rest of Monday and Tuesday went passed in a blur for most of the students. Midterm exams were coming up over the next three days and since several departments set group presentations as part of the exam work stress levels were rising. As Blaine flopped down in his seat at breakfast on Wednesday morning he leant his head on Kurt's shoulder with a whispered, "They're trying to kill me by overloading my brain."

"Poor baby," chuckled Kurt gently rubbing his cheek. "I know how you feel, I've got my French presentation tomorrow and the exam on Friday morning and right now I can barely think in English let alone French!"

"We need some down time," said Blaine firmly planting a kiss on Kurt's cheek.

"So not the kind of down time we're inviting anyone else too."

"Nope! It's definitely a two man down time. Come to my room tonight, we can put on a movie and not watch it!"

"I can't, I've got to meet Liam and Tyler at 8 to run through our presentation and then we have to practice for our oral exams on Friday, sorry."

Blaine snuggled closer into Kurt's neck, he still needed to study one last chapter for his chemistry exam on Thursday morning as well so really couldn't sacrifice the whole evening. Pulling back he grabbed Kurt's hands, "How about one hour?"

"One hour of what?"

"We have dinner early today, we can study on our own for a bit and then you come to my room at 7 for one hour and we can help each other relax before you meet Liam and Tyler at 8. It's just one hour but honestly if I don't get some alone time with you I don't know how I can go on." Putting one hand on his forehead Blaine flopped over onto the table in dramatic fashion causing Kurt, Jeff and Wes, who had joined them to laugh manically.

Standing to clear his tray before he headed up to art to put the finishing details on his art midterm Kurt leaned over, kissed Blaine's cheek and whispered, "It's amazing what you can do in one hour."

…..

That one hour on Wednesday had proved invaluable as the rest of the week they barely saw each other in passing. It was full on studying, presenting and exams which finished around 5pm on Friday.

After dinner on Friday the boys had all gathered in the common room to watch movies and eat junk food and just try to come down from their stress high. Kurt had suggested he and Blaine sneak off but David and Wes had overheard their plan and stuck to the two Warblers like glue, insisting that they had to bond with the rest of Wilson dorm and share the pain and relief everyone was feeling. Around 9pm Kurt had casually asked were Nick and Jeff were and Thad had been sent to retrieve them for whatever private time they had planned.

As Kurt moaned at Wes yet again about the fact he and Blaine would rather de-stress by themselves Wes had clearly reached his limit. Turning quickly to face the two boys he said in a yelled whisper, "Look, I'm on curfew duty tomorrow since I'm already responsible for making sure all the Warblers get back to their rooms. If you will stop bitching at me tonight and just let us all enjoy the fact exams are over then I will turn a blind eye to the fact you are not in your own room tomorrow night Kurt, deal?"

Kurt and Blaine grinned at each other in glee but before either could say anything Jeff appeared behind the couch with Nick and grabbed Wes' hand to shake it, "Nice one Wes, thanks."

"I think I said Kurt's name not yours Sterling!"

"Yes but you would hate the dean to hear about your offer and think you're not taking your responsibilities seriously would you?"

"Fine, you and Nick can spend the night together as well. Just one thing all of you, I do not want to know what you get up to and if there are complaints about any noise then I know nothing about it, understood?"

A definite chorus of, "Yes Wes," came from the four very happy singers.

…

After sleeping late on Saturday Kurt made his way along to Blaine's room to help him set up for the evening. Between Thad and David setting up the gaming system, Wes bringing cushions and beanbags from wherever to provide places to sit, Trent and Nick popping in and out with drinks and snacks and a very excited Jeff bouncing into the room at random intervals there was barely a minutes peace.

Kurt helped Blaine to clear away most of his photographs and expensive items like his laptop and good camera in case they got damaged. Most of it got moved into Kurt's room but some things were just put in drawers. Everytime the boys thought the room was ready and they could have a little time together someone else appeared. In frustration Blaine suggested they went to lunch right at 12.30 in the hope that they could have some time alone after as everyone else would still be eating lunch but there seemed to be a stream of freshmen checking which room it was in, what time it started etc along with older students who just seemed intent on interrupting.

By the time 6pm arrived Kurt and Blaine were pretty relieved to see everyone arriving as at least they knew in a few hours they could be together for the whole night.

My plan was to look more into Kurt's thinking and also more about his relationships and feelings at Dalton, why he needs the control. I also don't know how realistic it is to have exams over three days but we used to have them over that period so it works for me (but again I'm British and have never been to an American high school) and I don't want to drag out the whole exam thing. This concludes the first part of the story and now we can all move on and explore the effects of the control.