The following weeks passed slowly. The duo barely spoke and rarely spent time together. Whenever they had an assignment to work on, they only ran it together once or twice, then went their separate ways. Blaine's heart hurt that he had broken up with Kurt to try and keep their friendship, yet they didn't even have that any longer. 'What the hell was I thinking?'

XXXX

On Valentine's Day, Blaine found himself dateless as he walked home from school. He stopped off at a small grocer and picked up some chocolates to munch on. When he walked into the apartment, he saw Kurt seated on the couch, his own box of chocolates already open and 'The Notebook' playing on their television.

"Hey, how was your day?" Blaine asked as he toed off his shoes and made a note to himself on their whiteboard to buy more blank sheet music.

"Fine. I got an A on my dialogue, thanks for your help yesterday." Kurt replied, not looking away from the television.

Blaine smiled as he walked over to the couch, "Congrats. That's awesome." He said as he sat down.

He saw Kurt's eyes flicker over to him uncomfortably and shifted back to put his feet on the coffee table. 'Might as well start working on our relationship now.'

"No hot date tonight?" Blaine asked, his heart aching at the thought of Kurt dating anyone.

'It's your fault for breaking up with him; he can date whoever he wants.'

"No. I hate Valentine's Day, you know that." Kurt replied, annoyance painting his tone.

Blaine sighed, "Yeah, I know, but I thought maybe you'd-"

"No, Blaine."

Blaine nodded, turning his attention to the movie. 'This is so awkward. He's your best friend! Fix it! Talk to him!'

"Uh, so what do you have planned for the weekend?" Blaine asked.

Kurt sighed, closing the lid on his chocolates, "I'm going to a performance that the school's holding on Friday, then Saturday I'm finally going to take that walk through Central Park that I've been meaning to do since we moved here."

'I should have taken him on that a long time ago.'

"That sounds fun. What-"

"Yep. I'm going to my room. I've got stuff to work on." Kurt said as he walked away.

The near silent 'click' of his closing door was deafening with the abrupt end of their conversation. Blaine sighed once again. 'It's your own fault. You should have just spoken with him and made things alright after that stupid party. Fuck.'

Blaine wiped at the few tears that managed to escape his eyes. He turned off the television, grabbed his chocolates and headed to his room.

Kurt sniffled as he walked out of the subway station on Thursday evening. As he reached the top of the stairs he felt his phone buzz with a missed call while he was out of cell service. He sighed when he saw Blaine's name flashing under the notification. 'I know it's mostly my fault things are so weird now, I just can't help how I'm feeling. I should probably call him back in case we need something at home.'

He knew he had about a twenty minute walk ahead of him, but decided to call immediately just in case he had to head back into town for something. He listened to the ringing 'beep. Beep. Beep.' until Blaine picked up, a little out of breath.

"Oh, sorry Kurt, I was doing one of your workout videos. What's up?"

Kurt sighed, "Well, I saw that you called so I'm calling you back. I just got off the subway."

Kurt watched a man walk past, holding out his hand for money. Kurt smiled and shook his head at the man to signal he had nothing to give. 'Better to be polite than an ass. They're more likely to jump assholes.'

"Oh yeah. I was just calling to see what time you'd be home so I could plan dinner accordingly." Blaine replied, his voice softer than before. "I'd, uh, I'd really like to have dinner and talk with you tonight, Kurt. It's been too long."

Kurt bit his lip, 'Just do it. It's Blaine. You miss talking to him too.'

"Alright, Blaine. I'll be home in-"

Kurt suddenly felt a hollow feeling in his head and a second later a burst of pain shot through his head and eyes. He fell to the ground with a yelp. He looked up and saw the man he had walked past a moment prior standing over him. The man made a swift movement with what looked to be a baseball bat, connecting with Kurt's ribs. Kurt screamed out in pain as he heard the sickening crunch.

"STOP! HELP!" Kurt screamed with as much energy as he could muster through the searing pain.

The man swung the bat again, this time overhead, connecting with Kurt's collar bone. He took one more swing to Kurt's leg. The man dropped the bat and knelt, using his fists to pound into Kurt's face. Kurt's mind barely registered anything other than pain. Everything was swimming in his vision as the man's fist collided with his cheekbone.

The man stood, sinking his hands into Kurt's pockets. When he came up empty, he grabbed Kurt's bag and ran.

Kurt's vision was swimming, his entire body in pain. He barely registered his phone, next to his ear on the pavement as Blaine screamed through the speaker.

"Kurt?! KURT TALK TO ME! KUR-"

Everything went black.

Blaine was running through the streets. His cheeks had tears running down them and he still had his phone pressed to his ear. He had heard several others talking, official sounding, but Blaine couldn't bring himself to hang up the phone. As he reached the subway station, he saw police cars and spectators. He ran up to an officer, the woman looked at him like he had escaped from a psych ward.

"Ma'am, please. My roommate was attacked, I'm pretty sure this is where he was attacked. Please! You have to help me find him." Blaine begged, fresh tears running down his cheeks.

The woman placed a hand on his arm, "Sir, I need you to calm down. What does your roommate look like?"

"Um, tall, skinny, blue-green eyes, redish brown hair, dressed extremely fashionable. Ma'am, he was attacked and I need to find him. His name is Kurt. Kurt Hummel."

The woman nodded, "Sir, we don't know the victim's name, but your description sounds like him." She turned to her radio, "I think we have the boy's roommate here." She turned back to Blaine, "What's your name?"

Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat as his heart broke, "Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

"Blaine Anderson." The woman said into her radio before turning back to Blaine. "How'd you know he got attacked?"

"I, uh, I was on the phone with him, discussing when I should start making dinner. Where is he? I need to go see him!" Blaine felt a sob erupt from his body. 'I need to see Kurt. I need him to be okay. Please!'

The woman studied him for a moment, before waving Blaine to follow her. She leaned into her cruiser and pulled out-

"That's Kurt's phone! Where is he?" Blaine felt lost, 'Why aren't you telling me where he is?!'

"What's your number, Mr. Anderson?" The woman asked as she fiddled with Kurt's phone.

Blaine recited it to her, bewildered as to why he was being asked-

"You don't think I had something to do with this, do you?"

The woman looked up, "We have to clear our bases. We have a suspect in custody that several witnesses say is our man, but we just have to be sure." She patted his arm, "Okay, look, your roommate was severely beaten in a mugging. He was taken to the hospital, but he isn't likely to get any visitors."

"I just need to see him, which hospital is he at?" Blaine said, beyond desperate.

The woman sighed, "Hop in." She said, pointing to her cruiser, before turning to her radio again, "I'm taking the roommate to Lenox Hill."

Blaine sputtered, "Why wasn't he just taken to Wyckoff or something closer?"

The woman turned, "Like I said, he was severely beaten. Now hop in and I'll take you to him."

XXXX

Blaine sat, staring at Kurt's prone form for hours. He had convinced the nurses and doctors to let him stay with Kurt as soon as he was out of surgery. Blaine had called Burt and Carole; they were taking the first flight out in the morning. He listened to the whirring of the machines they had Kurt hooked up to. He watched Kurt's chest rise and fall, knowing that slow movement meant he was still alive.

The doctors said the surgeries were successful; they just needed Kurt to make it through the night and wake up soon to ensure little or no long lasting damage. Kurt had gotten extremely lucky according to doctors, and Blaine couldn't help but agree. He just needed to wake up.

XXXX

On the morning of exactly one week since Kurt's attack, Blaine walked into the room with a heavy heart. If Kurt didn't wake that day, things would change, and not for the better.

Blaine sat in his usual chair next to Kurt, immediately reaching for his hand. It was still early, so Burt and Carole still wouldn't be by for another hour or two. They had taken to giving Blaine a little time in the morning and evening alone with Kurt after seeing how destroyed he was. At first, things had been awkward considering Kurt and Blaine had broken up, but things smoothed out within hours when Blaine finally broke down in front of them.

Blaine sat, silently listening to the machines overhead, rubbing slow circles on the back of Kurt's hand with his thumb. Tears started sliding down Blaine's cheeks as he studied Kurt's face, playing connect the dots with his freckles in his mind.

"Kurt. Please don't leave me. Please. I need you to wake up for me. I've been trying to stay positive all week, aside from these stupid tears. I can't live without you, Kurt. I will do everything to make these past several weeks up to you. I love you so much. Kurt. I love you. Please." Blaine finally knelt his forehead to rest on their joined hands.

Though they had never actually told each other they loved one another, the emotion was as clear in Kurt's eyes as Blaine was sure it was in his own. The sobs wracked Blaine's body until he had no more tears to give; all the while, Blaine was mentally berating himself for being stupid enough to have let Kurt go in the first place.

XXXX

Blaine must have fallen asleep, because he woke to a solid hand lightly shaking his shoulder. He blinked at the harsh lighting and looked up to Burt's half smiling face.

"Why don't you go get some coffee or something?" Burt suggested.

Blaine nodded, knowing the man wanted some time alone with his kid. He stood, gave Carole a hug and walked out of the room sluggishly.

As he passed by the nurses' station, he received several sympathetic smiles from the regulars. He returned the smile and nearly walked straight into Dr. Grey.

"Ah, Mr. Anderson, just who I needed to see. Today's a turning point for Kurt, as I'm sure you know, and we need to discuss long term care." Dr. Grey said in a formal tone.

Blaine's brows knit together and confusion clouded his already exhausted mind. "Why are you asking me? His dad is in his room."

Dr. Grey looked at Blaine as though he had a third head, "Mr. Anderson, you are aware that you're listed as Kurt's emergency contact and caretaker in case anything like this were to happen, right?"

Blaine nodded, "And he's mine. We live together, that was our deal."

Dr. Grey nodded, "Right, well part of being a caretaker for emergency situations is dealing with situations like the one you're in. If Kurt doesn't wake up today, we need to make some decisions. We can move him to a long term care ward or, if you so choose, we can stop treatment." Blaine broke down at the sound of that. "I'll give you the day to think about what you're going to do, but you need to be ready that even in long term care, if he doesn't wake up, eventually you'll need to let him go." Dr. Grey patted Blaine's arm and walked away.

Blaine's heart broke into a million pieces and he fell to the ground, his back against the wall as impossibly more sobs wracked his body. 'Why me? Why do I have to make the decision of when to pull the plug? I can't do that! I know I'm not ready to give up on him yet, but I'll never be ready to let him go. FUCK! And it's my fault that he won't have amazing memories from the end of his life. Fuck.'

Eventually, Blaine picked himself off the ground and walked back to Kurt's room. He saw Burt and Carole speaking quietly to Kurt and walked in. They both met his gaze and Carole got up to give him another hug.

"Sweetheart, Dr. Grey told us about your decision. We want you to know, no matter what, we will support your decision." Carole said into his shoulder.

Blaine exited the embrace and nodded, his throat suddenly even tighter than before.

"Do you know what you want to do?" Burt said gruffly from his chair.

Blaine cleared his throat, "I think I want to move him to long term, but I'm giving myself a thirty day stopping point, or else I'll never let them stop treatment. I'll never want to let him go."

The two elders nodded, and the room was enveloped in silence, save for the whirring of Kurt's machines.

XXXX

The following days passed slowly for Blaine. Burt and Carole had to fly home the day after Kurt got moved to long term to take care of some things, but promised they'd be back the following weekend.

Blaine sat by Kurt's side from beginning of visiting hours, to end of visiting hours every day. He left at lunch to go get coffee and something to eat, but never stayed out longer than an hour. He didn't want Kurt to wake up and have no one there.

XXXX

On the fifth day in the long term care ward, Blaine felt his chin quivering again. 'Holy fuck, where do all these tears come from?!'

"Kurt, please. I love you. Don't leave me." Blaine leaned his head forward to rest on the bed near their hands, looking up to Kurt's face.

He studied the soft, resting look on Kurt's face. Blaine's eyelids began to droop, he was flat out exhausted. He had barely slept each night and had been weirdly emotional throughout the day each day that he could feel he was near collapse. He finally gave in to sleep; the monitor of Kurt's heart was the music to pull him under.

XXXX

Blaine woke to a pressure on his hand. He slowly became aware of his surroundings as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. He opened his eyes fully and looked at his hand. He sat up abruptly when he realized what the pressure was.

He looked up to see Kurt's eyes half open, looking hazy but looking directly at him. Tears sprang from Blaine's eyes.

"Kurt?" He whispered, afraid it was a dream that he was about to wake from.

"Bl-" Kurt's voice was raspy and he gagged at what had to be an extremely dry mouth.

Blaine sobbed and hit the 'call nurse' button repeatedly.

"Kurt, it's okay. I'm right here with you. Stay with me please. Can you stay awake for me?" Blaine begged as he watched Kurt's heavy eyelids blink slower with every drop.

"Mr. Anderson, you know you only have to hit it-DOCTOR!" Nurse Taylor spoke as she entered the room.

She rushed forward, followed by several nurses and finally Dr. Robertson, Kurt's new doctor at the long term ward. A nurse walked to Blaine, taking his wrist.

"Mr. Anderson, we need you to step out so we can run tests on Kurt to make sure he's okay."

Blaine blinked at her as Kurt's hand tightened in his grip. He looked down to meet Kurt's finally wide open, terrified eyes.

"I told him I wouldn't leave." Blaine said plainly.

"Okay, but we need you to step out and you can come back as soon as we are done."

"NO!"

"Mr. Anderson you need to step out. Someone will let you know when you can come back." Dr. Robertson said sternly.

Blaine turned to Kurt, "Kurt, I'm so sorry. I'll be right outside the door. They're going to help you. I'll be back as soon as I can." He had to hold back from kissing or clinging onto Kurt as he let go of his hand.

"Bl-" Kurt tried again, gagging once again.

"Get him some fucking water!" Blaine said as he stepped out.

XXXX

Finally, the team started filing out of Kurt's room. Blaine looked up as each person passed, waiting for his go-ahead. Blaine had no idea how much time had passed. He had called Kurt's parents, as well as his own and Rachel Berry to tell their friends. Finally, Dr. Robertson stepped out, turning to Blaine. Blaine scrambled to his feet, ready to run inside once he got the green light.

"Well, miraculously Kurt has close to nothing wrong with him. He will be very drowsy and still in a lot of pain, but the worst is over. We will need to keep him to monitor him, but hopefully he will be able to go home with you on next Wednesday. Are you willing to be his fulltime caretaker while he needs it? Nothing too serious, he mostly won't be great at walking and will be sleeping a lot while he heals, and he's very weak so he'll need a lot of help getting around." Dr. Robertson studied Blaine while she spoke, as though trying to determine the level of Blaine's commitment.

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." Blaine replied, his heart thudding.

"Alright. Go on in and see him." She said, patting Blaine's arm.

He hugged her, whispering his thanks, before rapidly turning the corner to see Kurt. Once he entered the room, Blaine couldn't stop from hustling over to Kurt and gently hugging him as though not to disturb anything hooked up to him. When he pulled back, he saw the bright blue eyes staring at him and it made Blaine's heart soar.

After a moment, Kurt looked to the blanket covering his lap, "Blaine, thank you so much for being here. And thanks for telling them you'll take care of me. I'm sure Rachel or someone can-"

"Kurt."

"-take over once I'm settled at home. You guys can work out a schedule or-"

"Kurt."

"-whatever. I mean, you obviously-"

"KURT!"

Kurt startled and looked at Blaine again. 'Damn, even fresh from a coma Kurt can ramble. It's adorable.'

"Yes?" It was a whisper, and he looked tired already from the small ramble.

"Kurt. I'm not going anywhere and I'm not letting anyone else take care of you." Blaine took a deep breath, 'Well, now's as good of time as any.' "Kurt, I love you." Kurt's gasp and wide eyes made Blaine smile, "I was so stupid to have let you go as both my friend and my boyfriend. I'm so, so sorry. I'm not letting you go this time. Seeing you...here, it hurt. I couldn't live a life without you. I'll understand if you don't feel the same anymore, or...yeah. I just had to tell you."

Kurt's big, round eyes stayed locked with Blaine's, "Do you really?"

Blaine's heart stuttered, "Love you? Yeah. More than anything in this world."

Kurt's smile took over his whole face, "I love you too, Blaine. This is such a shitty place to have it said for the first time," they both giggled, "But it doesn't make it any less true. I love you."

Blaine felt like he was floating. He stared into Kurt's eyes before he leaned forward, he giggled a little at the awkward angle as he tried to maneuver around the tubes still hooked up to Kurt, but he finally found a clear path. He stopped just shy of Kurt's lips, watching his response, at the small nod he leaned forward and molded their lips together, returning home at long last.

Kurt smiled widely as he met Blaine's gaze as they walked hand-in-hand. It was a nice spring day, the early signs of summer starting to show, and it was the first time that Kurt could visit Central Park. He let his gaze wander to the path ahead of them. He smiled to himself as they walked. 'It only took me almost two years to get here. My high school self would kick my ass.'

They walked slowly, enjoying the day. Kurt's mind kept replaying everything that got them there. They had had many excellent moments and many very horrible moments in their many years of friendship and their past year and a half of dating, save the month and a half they split up. He frowned slightly at the thought of that period of time, but as he looked to Blaine, he knew he wouldn't have given that time up. It made them stronger and realize just how much they wanted each other, how much they needed each other.

As they exited the park, Kurt spoke, his voice sounding loud in their shared silence, "It was anti-climactic, but I'm glad we did it. I've always wanted to go there, and now I can say I have."

Blaine's laugh made Kurt's heart soar, "I'm with you on that. I'm glad we did it too." Blaine squeezed Kurt's hand once, the loving gesture making Kurt's smile widen.

"Especially sharing it with you, it made the whole thing perfect. I love you, Blaine." Kurt said as he leaned toward Blaine, kissing him sweetly.

"Mhm, anything with you is perfect. I love you, too." Blaine said, resuming their walk towards the subway station.

Kurt simply smiled, his thoughts drifting to the small box that awaited them at home. He silently hoped that Blaine would accept what the box offered, what Kurt would offer.

A/N: I don't own Glee nor its characters. Thank you so, so much for all of the support and love this story has gotten! It's over! I know, I know, cheesy ending, but *shrug* what else is new? lol I hope y'all enjoyed it! Thanks to Brooke for helping me decide to not do an epilogue and throw the 'Kurt' section at the end of this chapter. Let me know what you thought! Also, remember to check out my other two WIP's that are being posted called 'I Miss Us' and 'Finding Yourself'. :) Awesome! Thanks again!