I do not own Glee or any of its characters.

The soft curls against Blaine's temple were warm with sleep as Kurt stroked the side of his face in the shadowy room. With the two of them lying next to each other in the hospital bed, Kurt was torn between the urge to burrow deep into Blaine's chest to block out the horror of the past few days and the need to remain constantly alert for any change in Blaine's condition. For the past two hours though, Blaine had been knocked out cold, only snoring lightly every so often. Kurt memorized the dark gray circles under his eyes, the wavering pale color of his skin, and the constant beeps of the machines around him. After awhile, Blaine's breathing, the machine's beeping, and the dripping IV formed a sort of rhythm that forced Kurt's eyelids to fall shut heavily.

Kurt smiled and laughed with his toasting glass at the front of a warm, sparkling room. Seated around him along a long white table were Rachel and Finn, Santana, Brittany, Sam, and his eyes glistened as the entire room laughed in response to a speech his father was giving. Burt looked so handsome making jokes, winking at Carole, and trying to keep his chin from quivering when his eyes met Kurt's at the end of the table.

"Your mother is looking down on you today, Kurt. She would have loved to be here to tell you that we couldn't be more proud of you and the man you've chosen to walk beside forever. I love you, son. And congratulations!" Burt tipped his glass in the air toward Kurt, who had to wipe a tear as he smiled back and the room broke into applause. The tinkling of forks against crystal made Kurt turn his head finally to the man sitting next to him.

In an all white tuxedo, Blaine beamed back at him, eyes misted over and cheeks dimpled and blushing. It was the happiest Kurt had ever seen him, and as he leaned in and Blaine tipped his head to the side, his lips were soft and electrifying. Kurt's hand easily found Blaine's as they stood up and floated to the center of the room for their first dance. The city lights sparkled through the black windows lining the banquet hall as their friends and family watched them come together slowly, chest to chest, hand in hand. Rocking back and forth as the live band crooned behind them, Blaine and Kurt danced cheek to cheek, Blaine singing quietly in Kurt's ear.

"My funny valentine,

Sweet comic valentine,

You make me smile with my heart…"

With their faces touching, Kurt could feel Blaine's skin radiate with warmth, getting sticky against his face. Too hot. Sick hot. As the music played on, Kurt pulled back a little to look Blaine in the face as they stepped slowly along to the jazz rhythm. Blaine's eyes were half-closed, and his face was suddenly pale, but a tired smile still hung across his lips.

"Blaine?" Kurt asked, worry twisting in his gut.

"I love you," Blaine exhaled softly to Kurt, "forever."

Suddenly, Blaine's feet stopped moving as he began to fall in slow motion, eyes rolling backward as his body went limp in Kurt's arms.

Kurt opened his mouth to scream for help but at that moment all the walls suddenly exploded as water crashed into the room from all directions, erasing all signs of wedding guests and tables and the band, until Kurt was twisting deep below the surface of an open ocean, realizing Blaine was no longer by his side. Eyes whipping around the blue blackness, Kurt saw Blaine sinking further and further away from him. As hard as he could, Kurt kicked and swam through the depths, hundreds of feet, miles, chasing Blaine's body as it accelerated to the bottom of the ocean, his fingertips stretching as far as he could, grasping at Blaine's tuxedo jacket, his shirt collar, pulling him back, his body heavy and loose like a doll. As he wrapped his arms around Blaine in the deep dark water, he realized he was out of air. This was the end. Pulling Blaine's lifeless face up to his own, their hair and clothing swirling heavily around them, Kurt pressed their lips together hard, lovingly. Kurt opened his mouth and breathed in as much water as his lungs could hold, twitching and thrashing against Blaine's body as he continued to grip him against his chest with all his strength, shouting into the water with his last jerks of life, "For a thousand more years we'll sleep…"

"Kurt! Baby, you're okay! It's okay, honey" a familiar voice whispered as Kurt's whole body shook, covered in a thin sheet of sweat. Whipping his head back and forth, gasping for air, Kurt's eyes snapped open in the dark and he almost fell off the bed, tears wet on his cheeks. "Baby, you're ok, it was just a dream" Blaine continued to soothe, "you're okay." Kurt looked around and realized no time had passed, that it had all been a nightmare, and his hand flew to cover this eyes and rub his face. He took a few deep breaths before turning back to Blaine.

"I'm sorry if I woke you up," Kurt whispered soberly.

Blaine studied his face. He looked like hell. Deep lines crinkled his forehead as Kurt rubbed his hands across his face again, as if the more times he brushed the sleep off his face, the more likely he would be to forget his nightmare.

"It's okay, honey. I was already awake, here, have some water," Blaine urged, pushing his plastic water cup into his hand. Kurt's hands were shaking as he held the cup and took a sip from the straw, breathing out his nose.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Blaine asked.

Kurt shook his head. Then, after a moment, asked, seemingly out of the blue, "Can you swim?"

Blaine's face was puzzled at first but then it seemed to click.

"Yes. Yeah, I was on the diving team at Dalton my freshman year. I…I'm a really good swimmer," Blaine said softly.

"Okay good," Kurt sighed. The way Blaine responded sounded like a question and Kurt kicked himself inwardly realizing he may have just been insensitive. Could Blaine swim anymore with his pacemaker? What were his limits? He suddenly felt like even more of an asshole and across the bed, Blaine's face had turned inward as well, like he was thinking the same thing.

"I'm sorry about all of this," Blaine started,"you didn't sign up for this when you met me…"

"Don't even go there, B. I love you more than anything and you are invincible to me. You always have been and always will be." Kurt was sitting up now, staring seriously at Blaine.

"Okay." Blaine whispered after a moment.

"Okay." Kurt replied.

After a few minutes, they both had settled back into their positions on the bed and Kurt was carefully tracing his fingertips along the various bandages that covered Blaine's body. Blaine closed his eyes but Kurt could feel that he was still awake.

"So I talked to Dr. Lang.." Kurt started, and noticed the corner of Blaine's mouth twitch.

"Pretty dreamy right?"

Kurt chuckled softly. "Right."

"He said you had complications in your surgery. That your heart stopped." Kurt was barely whispering.

"He told me that, too," Blaine breathed back.

"And he said you got a pacemaker."

"Yep."

"Okay."

"Okay?" Blaine inquired.

"Well I just wanted to make sure my facts were straight before…" Kurt trailed off.

"Before what, Kurt?"

"I don't know. Before everything else. I want to make sure I'm ready. This is a real part of our lives and I refuse to neglect or not see a problem ever again. I'd never forgive myself." Tears were brimming Kurt's eyes again.

"Baby, shh," Blaine comforted, pulling Kurt closer. "Don't worry. I'll be fine. And I promise I won't be neglectful either. I was…I was so scared."

This time Kurt shushed Blaine and kissed his forehead.

"We're in this together, Blaine. I love you more than anything and I promise you I will never leave your side."

Blaine kissed Kurt's hair knowing he couldn't make that same promise and choosing his words carefully. "I love you, forever."

An icy chill rushed through Kurt's body at those words, and he pressed his lips to Blaine's mouth urgently, the flash of dark ocean flickering behind his eyes, his lips still salty wet from a broken dream.

The next few days were a blur. Once Burt, then Carole, got to the hospital in New York, things began to move rather quickly. Everyone was so helpful and Kurt felt like he didn't know how to continue thanking everyone for the support and hugs, dishes of food, stacks of movies, and trips to the pharmacy. Kurt was maybe most thankful for Rachel, who cleaned their apartment until it was immaculate before Kurt and Blaine arrived home. Their kitchen was spotless, not a shard of glass or drop of blood anywhere to be seen. No remnants of the horror scene that was left in the wake of sirens. Just fresh eggs and milk, croissants from their favorite bakery, and a cat that could not have been happier to throw herself at the feet of Blaine. God bless that crazy woman, Kurt thought, Thank you, Rachel.

The first few nights back at their apartment, Kurt would wake up almost every hour to check on Blaine. His chest was healing nicely and he was slowly getting more movement back in his shoulder where they implanted the defibrillator. After reading every possible article about living with pacemakers (and supporting loved ones with pacemakers), Kurt felt capable of protecting Blaine at least from situations that would cause him harm with his new life saving device-like staying away from huge magnets and strong electric forces (those could shut down or compromise the device). Some of the things to be cautious of were really random (like microwaves?), but he memorized them all just as he memorized Blaine's face every morning, getting stronger and stronger. Things were slowly going back to normal. Blaine was a taking a break from classes for the rest of the semester while he got back on his feet and once a week he would go down to the dance studio with Sebastian to work the front desk and say hi to his students while Sebastian taught his classes. Visits from Rachel, Finn, and the rest of their friends were frequent but not overwhelming, and Kurt was thankful every day for their patience and support. Meanwhile, as Kurt focused his energy on making sure Blaine had everything he needed, his own well-being began to fall to the wayside. One night after work, he closed his eyes on the subway and woke up staring up at the ceiling of the train car, having passed out from exhaustion. That night, he didn't tell Blaine. They were fine. They were going to be fine.

Dun dun dun! What's next? Stay tuned.

What do you think so far? Review/comment/message.