Hi all! Thank you for all the reviews and follows for the last chapter, it was nice to hear that you were enjoying the story. This was going to be two chapters, but I couldn't really see if splitting up because the first chapter would have been weird a short, so it took a bit of time to write it as one, I apologize for that!

I hope you'll let me know what you thought of this one!

-I own nothing from Glee

Three weeks after Blaine disappeared, Kurt finds himself swamped at work. With January looming, the Valentine's Day issue is soon to hit the press, and with so many workers out with the flu that's been rampant this winter, those left are struggling to get things finished.

"Hey you."

Kurt looks up from the article he's reviewing to see Scott, then looks back down to his computer, "Hey, give me one minute to finish this." He quickly looks through the final paragraph, types out a short response to the changes that need to be made, then saves it and sighs, looking back up smiling slightly, "Hey, what's up?

"Stressed?"

He laughs a little, "You could say that."

"You guys short handed here too?" He gives Kurt a knowing look.

"Yes! And it's so annoying because even three of the interns are out right now, and what was the first thing I mentioned at the first staff meeting in September? Get the freaking flu shot! It's not that hard." He rolled his eyes.

"Wow…seems like maybe someone needs a fun night out."

Kurt began organizing the papers and the various other things on his desk, "I can't even comprehend what those words mean at this point."

"That bad?"

Kurt looked at him and deadpanned, "I asked Meaghan for a write up on scarves, and she sent me one where they were all black, green, and grey….it's a spread for Valentine's Day!" He threw his hands up.

Scott laughed, "Ok, that's it, you do need some time off…what do you say we grab dinner after work? We'll go somewhere nice, drink some wine, talk about everything except work."

His eyebrows raised in surprised, "Like…a date?"

"Yessss, like a date…now what do you say?"

Kurt looked down at the hundreds of things he had to get done, his cheeks blushing, but just smiled and met Scott's green eyes, "Yea…that sounds great."

Scott fist pumped in the air a little, "Great! Ok…I'll see you at fiv…six?" He changed the time when Kurt looked at him like he was crazy.

"Six should be perfect."

After another shared smile, Scott said goodbye and left the room.

After that, all the work Kurt had didn't seem so daunting and he couldn't keep the grin off his face if he tried.

Four hours later and Kurt found himself internally squealing. He had his arm wrapped around Scott's as he walked Kurt back to his apartment after a pretty much perfect dinner. He was feeling light and giddy as he listened to Scott talk about the Beyonce and Jay Z tour that was coming to the city.

"It's going to be absolutely amazing…I can't wait to go."

"I just can't believe you have tickets! I went on the website the moment they went on sale, and besides a frozen computer, I have nothing to show for it." He smiled and then looked up the block as they were approaching his apartment. He squinted a little, trying to see better, when he noticed someone was sitting outside his building.

"Well what can I say? I'm lucky!" He laughed, "Actually, my sister had to cancel on me, something about her husband planning some trip, so I wanted to know if—"

"Oh my god!"

"Kurt?" Scott yelled as he took off towards the man sitting against the wall outside his building, knees pulled up tight and face buried in his legs and arms. Kurt wouldn't have really given him much thought, except that scarf…that was his old maroon Alexander McQueen scarf from two years ago…it was the one that was missing from the top of the pile of clothing he left for…

"Blaine?" He asked softly as he knelt down in front of the man, the cold from the concrete already flooding through his jeans. He held out his hand, ready to touch his shoulder when his shoulder was grabbed instead. He looked up into Scott's wide eyes.

"Kurt, what are you doing?"

He looked down again when the man began coughing in a way that sounded to be painful. He reached his hand out and rubbed his shoulder a little, when his shoulders stopped shaking he squeezed until, as he assumed, Blaine lifted his head.

"Oh god…Blaine, what happened?"

"Kurt?" He rasped out, his voice horse.

"You're freezing, what are you doing out here?"

Suddenly, Blaine's eyes began to water, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"He began to cry, his voice cracking on every other word and barely there, "I didn't know where to go…I didn't know."

Kurt pulled him into his chest, his heart dropping both by how cold he was and by hot his forehead was when it pressed against his neck. He pulled back and looked at his face again, and pulled his hand from his glove, holding it to Blaine's forehead, "You're burning up, we have to get you inside."

"Kurt, what are you doing?" Scott's voice was low, almost like he thought Blaine wouldn't hear him.

He looked up, "This is the friend I told you about a few weeks ago. The one I said I hadn't seen in a while."

"This is him?" He looked almost disgusted.

Kurt narrowed his eyes, but when Blaine began coughing again, he immediately looked back at him and began rubbing his back.

"Shh, it's ok. You'll be ok, we'll get you inside, get you warmed up, and some medicine in you. You'll be ok."

When Blaine stopped coughing, Kurt spoke again, "Do you think you can walk?"

"You don't have to, I'm sorry." He was sniffling.

Kurt rolled his eyes and dug his keys out of his pocket, handing the correct one to Scott, "Can you open the door and help me get him upstairs?"

"Oh…uh, sure?" He said, making it sound more like a question.

Kurt helped Blaine stand, practically dragging him off the ground, and after struggling up the fist flight of stairs, decided it would be easier to just carry him. He was surprised to find that Blaine was much lighter than he appeared, even with the bag of clothes that he held.

When they finally entered Kurt's apartment, Scott holding the door open so that they could get through the entrance, Kurt brought Blaine directly into the bathroom and sat him on the closed toilet seat. He was happy that the apartment was generally warm in the winter, sometimes to the point of stuffy, which was perfect in this situation, as even though Blaine was burning up, he was still freezing from the air outside. Kurt turned on the hot water to the bath to let it start heating up, and then turned back to Blaine, taking off his hat and scarf, both wet, whether from the snow earlier that day or from Blaine sweating through his fever he wasn't sure. He threw them into the hall next to Scott's feet to begin a pile. Scott, for his part, said nothing as he watched.

Next to come off, was Blaine's jacket. Once it was removed, Blaine's shivering seemed to pick up, his teeth chattering.

"I know, I'm sorry, but you'll be warm soon."

Blaine only coughed in response, his eye squeezed shut, and it sounded like his lungs were going to come up soon. Kurt was sure that Blaine would need to go to the doctor tomorrow, it sounded like he could have bronchitis, but for now, he would just try and make him warm and comfortable.

He turned back to the medicine cabinet and quickly found a thermometer, easing it into Blaine's mouth. As he waited, he left the bathroom and went to the closet to find two towels for Blaine, one for before the bath and one for after, and then walked further into his apartment to find warm clothes for after.

"What are you doing?" He jumped a little when Scott spoke and he turned to find him much closer than Kurt had thought he was.

"What do you mean?" He asked, pulling out warm fleece pants, a clean pair of boxers, and a long sleeved t-shirt.

"You can't just bring homeless men into your apartment…" Kurt looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "He could be crazy, Kurt! He could be dangerous!"

He stopped walking back towards the bathroom and turned to him, "Listen, this isn't just a random person…I know Blaine, have known him since high school. He's not crazy and he's not dangerous….he's just having a hard time." Kurt shrugged a little and turned around again, but Scott's arm on his stopped him.

"I don't think it's a good idea."

Kurt's clenched his jaw a little, "I wasn't asking."

He continued back to the bathroom, heedless as to whether Scott followed him or not, where he found Blaine, still shivering where he sat, the water finally beginning to steam. He put the clothes on top of the sink, the towels on the floor next to where he kneeled. Kurt gently eased the thermometer out of Blaine's mouth and winced at the 101.2 glaring at him in green. He worked on moving the water nozzle until the temperature was warm but not hot, and put in the drain stopper. He then stood back up and gently helped Blaine stand.

"I'm going to get you out of these clothes, ok?" He asked gently, rubbing his hands up and down Blaine's arms to try and stop the shivers running through his body.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Kurt's heart broke a little at the words, "Blaine, there is nothing to be sorry for, ok?" He looked into his fever bright eyes and noticed how sad they looked, "They're just all wet and they're just going to make you sicker. I'll wash and dry them after you're situated and I've got some warm pajamas for you to put on after the bath, ok?" He nodded his head towards the clothes on the sink.

"Ok." His voice was still low and Kurt guessed it was probably less painful for him to talk quietly any way.

He gently unbuttoned the top shirt before easing it down Blaine arms and throwing it into the hall, his second shirt and a final t-shirt, all soaked through, joined that one, and Kurt had to hold in a gasped when he saw Blaine's chest. The ease in which Kurt was able to pick him up, or the fact that Blaine was properly skinny even with so many layers on should have better prepared him, but somehow he was still not expecting to see so many of the bones of Blaine's chest cavity protruding from his skin. It made Blaine's coughing worse, because he felt like he could almost see his lungs trying to expand, like his ribs may crack from the force of the coughs rattling through him.

When Kurt reached for Blaine's jeans, Scott spoke up.

"I think maybe I should go." He looked seriously concerned, looking between Kurt, Blaine, and Kurt's hands on Blaine's pants, before back to Kurt.

He had to stop himself from saying something biting back. This was weird, from anyone outside of those who knew them back when they were KurtandBlaine, this was beyond weird.

He nodded, "I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

Scott smiled a little, but it didn't reach his eyes, "Sure."

He was gone quickly and Kurt knew that it was over. He was surprised by how little it really hurt, but when Blaine began coughing again and he saw the pain in his face, he was drawn back into the task at hand.

He rubbed Blaine's back, feeling more bones than he would have liked, before leaning down to shut the water of the tub off. Moving back to Blaine, he made quick work of undoing and ridding Blaine of his jeans and the jogging pants he had on under them. When Blaine was left in just his boxers, Kurt grabbed one of the towels off of the floor, and began drying his hair and body, not wanted him to get sicker by jumping into the warm water while he was still freezing.

When he got to his legs, Kurt looked into his eyes, "I don't mind doing this for you, but you can do it yourself if you want? I can go."

Blaine shook his head a little, said sadly "It's ok…it's no more embarrassing than any of this is anyway."

"What's embarrassing about the rest of it?"

He just shook his head, "Can we—" He was cut off by more coughing, "Can we talk later?"

He looked him over, noticed the Goosebumps now covering his skin. He smiled a little, one that was barely returned, and then made quick work of getting Blaine's boxers off and drying him off the rest of the way. He threw the towel out into the hall with the rest of the clothes, and helped Blaine get into the water. When the warm water covered him, he sighed.

Kurt smiled, then grabbed a washcloth and body wash, running it over Blaine's skin. Once his body and hair were clean, Kurt turned the tap on once again, and let out the cooling water, replacing it with more warmth. He made sure that Blaine was comfortable, before telling him he was going to throw all of his clothes in the wash, leaving only after Blaine reassured him multiple times that he would be ok alone for ten minutes.

He grabbed his laundry detergent and quarters, then Blaine's bag and the clothes off the floor and went down to the basement. After finding two empty machines, he began to sort the clothes from darks and lights. He dumped Blaine's bag out, and startled slightly when the box he had carried with him last time fell out, the contents spilling from inside. Kurt stared for a moment, before kneeling down to clean up the mess.

When the box was turned right side up, Kurt began to pick up the items that had fallen out. He stared down sadly at the picture of Blaine's family, and realized that he'll have to call Cooper…that he'll have to talk to Blaine about Cooper, but figures that it can wait until Blaine is feeling better. His heart squeezes when he flips over another picture, one this time of him and Blaine from the summer before his senior year. They're both smiling at the camera, Blaine's head tilted and resting on his shoulder, he remembers how much Blaine had loved it, recalls it being in his locker at some point. There's the keychain that Blaine had bought when they were in Chicago for nationals, all the names of the competing show choirs listed on one side, the other announcing it as the 2013 National Show Choir Competition. He smiles a little. The final item both confuses and deeply saddens Kurt. It's a navy bowtie with little red polka dots. He doesn't know why Blaine would have this with him in this small pile of treasures. He had given it to him for his birthday, mailed it a week after he had left for New York. It feels, somehow, like this is a cruel reminder of what Blaine lost, first with Kurt and then within himself. Wearing bowties was Blaine. It was the most identifiable piece of him and such a big part of how he presented himself to others, and with his life now, there was not bowtie in sight. This was the last piece of that identity he had. The last real tangible thing from his life before.

Kurt placed it back into the box, and willed himself to pretend he never saw it. Placing it on a table in the laundry room, he quickly got back to sorting the clothes, and then placed them in their respective washing machines. He then quickly made his way back upstairs, placing the box on the futon, before checking in with Blaine again, who appeared to be on the cusp of sleep.

"What do you say we get you to bed?"

His eyes lulled opened and he blinked tiredly up at Kurt.

"Ok."

He allowed Kurt to basically manhandle him out of the bathtub, and then dry and dress him, minus the shirt. Kurt sat him on the toilet seat once he was done, and took his temperature again. When the number came back as 101.8, he gave Blaine some cold medicine with a fever reducer and rubbed vapo rub against his chest to help with the congestion. After he washed his hands, he put the long sleeved t-shirt on Blaine and walked him into the main room, tucking him into the bed. Blaine was lightly snoring within a few minutes, and Kurt just placed a bottle of water next to the bed in case we woke up.

He went about draining and rinsing the tub, and then finished drying and folding Blaine's clothes from the laundry. He made quick work of showering and moisturizing his face, before turning off the lights in the apartment and crawling into the other side of the bed. He figured it would be more comfortable for Blaine to sleep in the bed than on the futon, and he didn't want to be far if he needed anything during the night.

Kurt turned so that he was facing Blaine's back, and gently placed his hand against it. With every breath, Kurt could feel the rattling of Blaine's chest with the congestion. He winced each time Blaine coughed because it sounded so painful. Eventually, Kurt was able to be lulled into sleep, and at some point, Kurt seemed subconsciously unable to keep away from the sleeping boy, as time eventually found him wrapping Blaine up from behind.

Next chapter will be up soon, and we'll get to see how Blaine ended up on the streets!