So sorry for the long delay! Writers block, life taking over, all that stuff.

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Burt was gently stirring in the bed. His eyes fluttered a few times, he made a few small sounds as if he was going to talk, but his mouth was so dry, that little came out. His eyes wandered around first falling on Kurt asleep and then Blaine next to him, his eyes pleading.

"Burt, hang on, I'll get someone."

Burt nodded in acknowledgement as a grinning Blaine pressed the buzzer for the nurse, before turning to Kurt. He gently rubbed his back and whispered in his ear. "Kurt, wake up."

Kurt slowly lifted his head, not quite aware of his surroundings, but his eyes quickly clamped on Burt, who was awake and looking at him.

"Dad"

Kurt's hand reached for Burt's and tears sprang to his eyes immediately. His face showing a mixture of relief and concern.

A nurse came in and started checking on Burt. She gave him some water to sip, which finally gave him enough moisture to speak.

"Hey Kiddo"

"Dad. You gave us such as scare."

"Yeah, you and me both"

"How do you feel?"

"Like I've just been hit by a two tonne truck"

Silent tears were running down Kurt's cheeks but he managed a smile. Blaine left his hand resting on the small of Kurt's back, feeling quite choked up himself.

"Where's Carole?" His voice was still groggy, but Burt was looking around the room for clues.

"She went home for a sleep Dad. She's been here all night."

Blaine piped up. "Why don't I go and call her for you? She made us promise to, if you woke up."

"Thanks Kid"

Blaine stood up, gave Kurt an encouraging smile and exited the room. He wandered into a waiting area further down the hall, before pulling out his cell phone and dialling Kurt's home number.

A panicked sounding Carole answered on the second ring.

"Hello""Hi Carole, it's Blaine."

"Blaine is everything alright. Is Burt okay?"

"Carole, don't worry Burt's fine. I'm calling because he's awake and he's asking for you."

Blaine thought he heard the smallest of sobs at the other end of the line.

"Oh Blaine. Thank you. I'll erm... I'll grab Finn and we'll be there soon. Does he seem okay?"

"He seems fine. Kurt's in with him and he's a little groggy still, but he's chatting."

"Thank god. We'll see you soon."

"Drive safe."

Blaine hung up the phone and took a seat, his elbows resting on his knees, his head is his hands. He figured that Burt and Kurt could do with some alone time and he needed some time to process the last 24 hours. He felt such a mixture of emotions. Choked up at the conversation he had just had with Carole, worry for Kurt, a feeling of being overwhelmed at the responsibility he felt to take care of him, plus, relief that Burt seemed fine.

Now alone, without any need to put a brave face on it, Blaine furiously wiped tears away from his eyes.

It had taken nearly losing Burt to make Blaine realise how attached he was to Kurt's family. It wasn't something he had consciously done, but he realised now, they gave him a true taste of what having a proper family would be like.

Even so, the nagging feeling was always there though. No matter how nice they treated him and they did, he wasn't a Hummel-Hudson. He was an Anderson and that style of family was something far removed from Kurt's.

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When Carole and Finn arrived 15mins later, Blaine was standing staring into Burt's room through the window, just watching Kurt and Burt talk.

Carole was a little breathless. "Hi, we got here as fast as we could. How is he?"

Blaine nodded towards Finn in a hello, but both Carole and Finn were only half-heartedly concentrating on Blaine, their eyes focused on the scene in the room.

"Hi. He seems okay. I haven't been back in. I thought they could do with some time alone to talk."

"Sure" Carole squeezed his arm before slowly opening the door and entering the room, Finn followed behind.

Blaine wasn't really sure what he should do. Kurt seemed fine and he felt like he was intruding again. Although when he spotted him, Kurt looked up and smiled at him.

Blaine continued to look on when he heard a voice behind him. "How's he doing?"

Spinning around, he never thought he'd be so happy to see Rachel Berry in his life. The two hugged tightly.

When they finally pulled away, Blaine responded with a small smile. "Which one?"

"I guess both."

They walked slowly back to the waiting area and took a seat.

"Burt seems okay. The doctor's were happy with his progress. He's awake and alert. That can only be a good sign right? And Kurt... Kurt's holding up, but I think I've learnt more about what makes him tick in the last 24hrs than during our whole relationship. How about Finn?"

"He's doing alright. But... I guess it's opened up a lot of old wounds for him too. He's already lost one father."

Rachel leaned over and rested her head on Blaine's shoulder. Blaine rested his cheek on top and sighed.

"I just feel so helpless. I want to protect him from it all and I can't."

"I know. Me too. But I'm sure in Kurt's eyes you're here and that's all that matters. It's different for him Blaine. Finn has his Mom. Kurt needs you more than Finn needs me."

"Yeah. I know."

Both of the teenagers sat in silence, until Rachel squeezed his hand. "Blaine... how are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Rachel tilted her head to look at him, raising an eyebrow in the same way that Blaine had, when Kurt had given that same response.

"Yeah... yeah... okay." Blaine rolled his eyes, whilst Rachel just smiled at him.

"I'm tired, pretty stressed and just worried about Kurt... andBurt. But I can't afford to think about it now."

Rachel squeezed his hand again. "Have you eaten anything?"

Blaine shook his head.

Rachel stood up sharply and pulled Blaine with her. "Come on, let's go and pick something from the canteen. We can bring some snacks back for the others."

Blaine hesitated before following Rachel. He sent a quick text to Kurt on the way telling him where he was going and that he would be back.

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It wasn't until he started eating his sandwich that Blaine realised how hungry he was. So much had happened and food had been the last thing on his mind.

He and Rachel continued to make general chit chat, until eventually the conversation dried up. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just two friends lost in their own thoughts.

Eventually Blaine broke the silence. "What can I do to help him Rachel? Because you know, Burt may be fine now, but this could easily happen again and Kurt knows it. . I just... I just don't know what to do."

Rachel worried her lip a little before responding. "You can't change what may or may not happen to Burt Blaine and you certainly can't change the past... but you can help change Kurt's future. "

Blaine looked up at that. That there... that was something that he could cling on to.

"For so long after his Mom died, it was just Kurt and Burt. They're all each other had to rely on. Burt was the only one that Kurt could trust to be there to love him no matter what. "

Blaine nodded as Rachel continued.

"Kurt loves you so much Blaine, that's plain to see, but he's not really had to depend on you yet. Not when it really mattered. You need to show him that Burt isn't the only one that he can rely on anymore and that whatever happens to Burt, he's got someone with him every step of the way. No matter what."

"I know and that's what I want to do, but he doesn't make it easy."

Rachel returned Blaine's sheepish smile.

"Hey. You're making more progress than you think. For as long as I've known him, whilst Kurt has always been quite vocal about not getting the latest solo in Glee, or the football players ruining his latest chic sweater, at the hint of anything more serious, he shuts everyone out. You..." she pointed at him "you're the one exception."

"Thanks Rach."

Rachel sat for a few seconds taking in Blaine's various expressions. She could see that he was still thinking about what she'd said and she was suddenly struck by what Blaine and Kurt had. She couldn't ever imagine her own life without Finn, despite their somewhat turbulent start, but she could only wish that they had what Blaine and Kurt had. It was like seeing two halves of a whole merge.

Pulling Blaine from his thoughts, Rachel reached out across the table and squeezed his hand. He immediately looked up at her with tired eyes and a grateful smile.

"Come on, we'd better get back. My Dad's will be here to pick me up soon."

As the two stood up and moved towards the cafeteria door, Blaine paused to dispose of their trash. Taking a minute to look around, he saw a mixture of happy and worried faces. He briefly wondered what their stories were.

He also wondered if Kurt and Burt had spent time in this same cafeteria when Kurt's Mom was sick and then he pictured Kurt in here all alone after Burt's first heart attack. The thought made him both incredibly sad and determined in equal measures.

He was going to make sure that Kurt never had to feel alone again.

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tbc