After the unfortunate death of his parents when Kurt was two, he was placed in an orphanage. He had no friends, no family, nothing but a stuffed sheep that he never let go of. Now at the age of three, Kurt was a shy child who would often sit by himself instead of trying to make friends. The social workers at the orphanage would often attempt to get Kurt to talk to the other children but he would just look up at them with sad blue eyes, clutch his sheep to his chest and shake his head. During meal times Kurt would sit at the end of the table with his sheep on his lap instead of sitting amongst the other children.

Being the youngest child at the orphanage, it probably wouldn't have been easy for Kurt to make friends even if he was willing to. Most of the children were at least six or seven and there were a few children between the ages of eleven and fifteen, but not many. It wasn't the biggest or bestest orphanage but it was Kurt's home; the only home he had.

Kurt was drawing one day – he was standing instead of sitting at the coffee table in the living room as he was too small to reach if he sat down – when one of the 'older kids' came over and knelt in front of him. Kurt looked up at the boy that was kneeling in front of him with curious big blue eyes, a crayon in one hand, his sheep in the other and the dummy that the social workers couldn't wean him off of in his mouth.

"Hey there," The boy with curly black hair said to him. "What're you drawing?" He asked.

Kurt looked at him for a few seconds before picking his paper up and showing it to the boy.

"Is it… a duck?" The boy guessed.

Kurt shook his head from side to side, a small smile appearing on his face.

The boy took another look at the squiggles on the paper before guessing again. "Hm…is it… a house?"

Kurt shook his head again, giggling a little.

"No!?" The boy exclaimed in a high pitched voice, sighing dramatically. "I give up. What is it?"

"A seep." Kurt giggled, his voice muffled by the dummy in his mouth.

"Ohh," The boy said, realisation in his voice. "Well it's a beautiful sheep."

Kurt giggled again, putting the paper down on the table and looking back up at the boy.

"Why aren't you playing with the other kids?" The boy asked softly.

Kurt looked over at the group of children playing on the other side of the room before looking back at the boy and shaking his head from side to side, his soft brown hair sweeping across his face.

"No? You don't want to play?" The boy asked, Kurt shaking his head again. "Do you want to come and sit with me and my friends then?" He asked, nodding towards two other boys who were sitting on the sofa.

Kurt looked at the boys before looking at his sheep then back up at the boy before nodding shyly.

"Come on," The boy smiled, standing up and holding his hand out for Kurt. Slowly, Kurt placed his tiny little hand in the boys and allowed himself to be lead over to the sofa. Once they were there the boy knelt back down next to Kurt and pointed to each of his friends, telling the three year old their names. "That's Wes, Nick and Jeff, and I'm Blaine."

"Hi there," One of the boys, Wes Kurt thought, said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"Kuh," Kurt replied, his voice muffled by his dummy. Realising this, he pulled his dummy out of his mouth before speaking again. "Kurt." He said in an adorable little voice.

Allowing himself to be seated on Blaine's lap, Kurt placed his dummy back in his mouth and clutched his sheep to his chest, leaning his head against Blaine's stomach.

"And how old are you, little one?" Nick asked.

Kurt looked down at his fingers, tapping each one with the fingers on his other hand before holding up three fingers.

"Three?"

Kurt nodded in acknowledgement, lowering his hand and snuggling back up to Blaine.

Kurt spent the rest of the day with Blaine, and with Blaine's friends whenever they were there. He even sat with him at lunch and dinner instead of sitting at the end of the table by himself – he was allowed to sit on Blaine's lap and eat after much pleading from Kurt and reassurance from Blaine that he was okay with it.

They went back into the living room after dinner and watched TV; Kurt sitting on Blaine's lap once again. The three year old began to fall asleep snuggled into Blaine's chest while he hugged his sheep and chewed on his dummy, until one of the social workers came to tell him that it was time for bed.

"Come on," She smiled. "We'll go and read one of your story books."

"Bayn," Kurt mumbled around his dummy, looking up at Blaine with questioning blue eyes.

"Do you mind?" The social worker asked.

"Nope," Blaine smiled, standing up and balancing the three year old on his hip as Kurt laid his head on the older boys' shoulder and closed his eyes.

"I'll show you to his room," The social worker smiled. "I think this one's a little too tired to show you." She said, smoothing Kurt's hair out of his face.

Once Kurt was sat on his bed with his cover pulled over him, he was a lot more awake than he had been a few minutes before. Blaine was looking at his book collection – which wasn't huge, he just had a few fairy tales, but still… – unsure of which one he should read.

"Hm, which book do you want to read?" He asked Kurt.

"Peter Pan!" Kurt exclaimed with a smile.

Blaine found the book before lying down next to the three year old. He was little shocked when Kurt immediately snuggled up to his side but wrapped one of his arms around him nonetheless and allowed the little boy to use him as a pillow.

Soon enough, Kurt was asleep and Blaine was sneaking out of his bedroom and back downstairs to his friends.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" Blaine asked, noticing the strange looks he was getting from his friends.

"You just became the best friend of a three year old," Nick replied.

"And…?"

"Nothing, it's just…thirteen year olds generally hang out with other thirteen year olds, not three year olds."

"Nick," Blaine sighed. "He's sweet. He's obviously really shy and he has no friends, why is it wrong of me to look after him?"

"It's not," Wes assured him.

"It's just kind of weird," Nick shrugged.

"No, it's not," Wes countered.

"Okay, okay," Blaine said, trying to stop a fight from happening. "Look, I don't care what you think. I'm still gonna look after him. I'm still gonna watch TV with him and I'm still gonna let him sit on my lap at dinner so get over it."

"Blaine –"

"I'm going to bed," Blaine announced, getting up and making his way back upstairs to his bedroom.

During the night, Blaine felt a small tug on his arm and a little voice saying his name. He blinked his eyes open sleepily to see Kurt standing in front of him, his sheep and dummy still intact, pulling on the sleeve of his top.

"Kurt?" Blaine croaked out, rubbing at his eyes. "What's up, buddy?"

"I can't sleep." Kurt murmured.

"Come here," Blaine said softly, shifting over in his bed a little and pulling the covers back for Kurt to climb in.

Kurt crawled onto the bed and snuggled into Blaine's arms, cuddling his sheep close to him. Blaine pressed a kiss into Kurt's baby soft hair before pulling the covers over them. He had no idea how Kurt had found his room, and he was little shocked that Kurt felt comfortable enough with him that he would go to his room when he couldn't sleep already but he wasn't that bothered either. So, he cuddled the three year old close and slowly drifted back to sleep.

The next morning when Blaine awoke, the little boy in his arms was still asleep, his toy sheep squished between his body and the tiny one that he was cuddling to him. Blaine couldn't help but smile at how adorable the three year old looked; one of his tiny hands fisted in the fur of the sheep and his dummy fully intact in his mouth, as always. His head was pillowed on Blaine's shoulder while the thirteen year olds arm encircled him, keeping him close, and the blanket on Blaine's bed was wrapped around him in a way that his head was just peeping over the top.

The small boy began to make little snuffling noises before he opened his eyes and looked up at Blaine with sleepy eyes.

"Morning little one," Blaine smiled, caressing Kurt's baby soft cheek gently with his thumb.

Kurt pulled his hand up and rubbed at his eyes tiredly before sitting up and stretching his tiny arms. He pulled himself up onto his knees and crawled back to the top of the bed, picking his sheep up and hugging it.

Suddenly, there was a knock on Blaine's bedroom door, causing both Kurt and Blaine to look up at it.

"Come in," Blaine called out, his voice hoarse with sleep.

"Blaine have you seen – oh, you're in here, thank god," One of the social workers came into Blaine's bedroom, obviously thinking Kurt was missing after not seeing him in his own bedroom.

"He could sleep last night so I let him stay with me, I hope that's okay." Blaine explained.

"It's fine," She smiled. "Just let us know next time."

"I will."

The social worker knelt down next to Blaine's bed and opened her hands, Kurt crawling forward and allowing her to lift him up.

"Do you wanna come and get some breakfast?" She asked Kurt in a high pitched voice.

Kurt nodded, rubbing at his eyes despite his sheep being in his hand and reaching out for Blaine with his other hand, letting out a tiny noise.

Blaine smiled, sitting up and taking Kurt's hand before following them downstairs to the kitchen.

Again, Kurt sat on Blaine's lap while he ate and sat his sheep on his lap. Blaine knew that he was receiving weird looks from Nick and Jeff, but he ignored them in favour of feeding spoonful's of cereal to Kurt whenever he put his spoon back in his bowl and leant his head against Blaine's chest.

Kurt made a noise of protest when Blaine tried to feed him yet another spoonful of cereal and buried his face in Blaine's shirt, fisting it with his little hand.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked softly, carding his fingers through the three year olds hair.

"Doh feel guhd." Kurt mumbled into Blaine's shirt, sniffling a little afterwards.

Blaine looked up at one of the social workers, unsure of what to do, until they came over and knelt down in front of the three year old.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked, brushing his chestnut coloured hair out of his face.

"I don't feel good," Kurt whined, the social worker feeling his forehead.

"You're a little warm," She noted. "Do you want some medicine?" Kurt shook his head. "Do you want to go back up to bed?" Kurt shook his head again. The social worker sighed, pressing a kiss to Kurt's cheek before standing up. "Can you just keep an eye on him and let us know if he gets any worse, please?" She asked Blaine, who nodded in reply.

A little while later Blaine took Kurt into the living room and sat him on his lap and put a movie on the TV – he was just thankful that the rest of the kids were playing in the garden or there would've been a riot over what they watched – for the little boy, who eventually fell asleep in his arms.

"Take him up to bed," One of the social workers whispered from the doorway, making sure not to wake the three year old up. "If he wakes up just play with him or read him a story."

"Okay," Blaine replied, lifting the small child up and eliciting a whimper from him, but surprisingly without waking him up.

He managed to get Kurt upstairs and in bed without waking him up but once the little boy was tucked into bed, Blaine couldn't bring himself to leave him so he sat on the edge of the bed and combed his fingers through Kurt's hair, smiling when the three year old snuggled closer to him.

A few weeks later, Kurt was sat next to Blaine on a coach that was driving towards the beach. A few of the older kids had been complaining that they didn't go out enough, so all of the social workers banded together and planned a trip to the beach. Kurt was excited to be going to the beach for the first time, happy clanking his bucket and spade together while he played games with Blaine on the way there.

He'd been a little agitated in the morning after being told that he couldn't take his sheep with him as it would get covered in sand and water, but he eventually allowed a social worker to safely lock it in their office. Now, however, he was eagerly asking questions about the beach and bouncing excitedly in his seat.

When they arrived, Blaine sat with Kurt in the sand and built sandcastles with him. Being the youngest child, the social workers were worrying about him far too much and insisting that he put a new layer of sun cream on every half hour at least. Blaine couldn't help but laugh as Kurt scrunched his nose up while what was probably his twentieth layer of sun cream got applied to his face and made little noises of protest.

"Blaine?" Kurt said cutely, looking up at the thirteen year old and squinting through the sun.

"Yes?"

"Can you take me in the water?" The three year old asked.

Blaine looked up at the social worker who had been slathering sun cream over the little boy's face a few minutes beforehand for permission, noticing the worried look on her face.

"Well…I guess, if you don't go out too far, it'll be okay…" She said slowly as if she were mulling it over at the same time. "Can you come with me and get changed first though, please?" She asked the little boy who nodded happily, jumping up from his seat in the sand and taking her hand. "And you mister," She said to Blaine with a smirk.

Blaine laughed and got up from the floor, brushing the sand off his shorts before following her to the changing rooms.

Once they were changed, they emerged from the changing rooms and Kurt looked up at Blaine with bright blue eyes.

"I'll race you," Blaine said to the little boy with a smile.

Kurt giggled and nodded, running after Blaine when he shouted 'GO!' – The two of them ignoring the social worker shouting at them not to go too far.

As soon as they got close to the sea, Blaine held his hand out for Kurt. The three year old gratefully placed his hand in the thirteen year olds and padded his tiny feet just into the water. Kurt giggled as waves crashed onto the shore past his little legs, stomping around a little and getting used to the strange feeling of soggy sand seeping between his toes.

"The sand feels funny," Kurt giggled.

"That's because it's wet," Blaine laughed, never letting go of the little hand attached to his own.

"Splosh, splosh!" The three year old exclaimed, stamping his feet in the squishy sand as the waves continued to crash onto the shore. Blaine couldn't help but laugh because honestly, Kurt was the most adorable little thing he'd ever seen.

The two boys spent a long period of time in the sea, splashing each other with water – Blaine being extra gentle so that he didn't hurt Kurt – and chasing each other along the shallow water. They tried playing with one of the beach balls that they had, but with the ball being almost bigger than Kurt's whole body, that didn't exactly work properly.

Soon enough, Kurt was becoming sleepy and Blaine was carrying him back up the beach while he rested his little head on the thirteen year olds shoulder. He sat back down on the sand with Kurt on his lap, snuggling into his chest.

Kurt let out a soft whimper, clinging to the t-shirt that Blaine had put on shortly beforehand.

"What's wrong?" Blaine asked, smiling at how cute Kurt looked snuggled up to him with his hair sticking up in fifty different positions.

"Cold," Kurt said simply, snuggling closer.

Blaine reached behind him and pulled his hoodie out of his bag, knowing it would be massive on Kurt but also knowing that there wasn't really anything else there to warm him up. He pulled the jumper over Kurt's tiny head and rolled the sleeves up once it was on him, his little hands barely peeping through the ends of them.

Kurt flapped his arms about, giggling when the sleeves rolled down a tiny bit, covering his hands. Blaine shook his head with silent laughter, pressing a kiss to Kurt's head and cuddling him back to his chest.

Kurt had fallen asleep by the time they were getting ready to leave and Blaine was gently lifting him up and balancing him on his hip, shushing Wes when he came over to him, blabbering about some starfish that he and Jeff had found washed up on the shore.

"You really care about him, don't you?" Wes whispered, nodding towards the sleeping toddler.

Blaine looked down at the little boy asleep in his arms and smiled, looking back up at Wes and squinting through the setting sun. "Yeah, I really do."

"Ignore what Nick says about it being weird, it's not," Wes replied. "It's sweet. I mean, if the circumstances were different it would be a little odd having an attachment that strong to him but we're in a freaking orphanage, it's not as if he has the largest supply of people looking out for him."

Blaine smiled at his friend. "It's kind of weird, I mean…I didn't even know he existed a few weeks ago. I'd seen him around the home, obviously, but I never really took any notice of him and now it's like…he's like my baby brother, in a way."

Kurt made a snuffling noise in his sleep, gripping Blaine's t-shirt tighter in his little hand.

"He's adorable," Wes commented.

"He really is," Blaine laughed. "You should've seen him in the sea earlier, he was so fascinated by the way the sand felt when it was wet."

When they finally reached the coach, Blaine gently eased Kurt into his seat, failing in not waking him up. The three year old whimpered, fluttering his beautiful blue eyes open and looking at Blaine sleepily. Blaine smiled, pressing a kiss to his nose before pulling his seatbelt over him and sitting down next to him.

"Dummy," Kurt whimpered, pressing his face into Blaine's arm.

Blaine was about to get one of the social workers, but apparently Kurt's tiny whimper was overheard and there was suddenly a dummy being passed to him. Blaine gently put the dummy in Kurt's mouth and smiled when the three year old immediately closed his eyes and cuddled up to his arm.

The day that Kurt was fostered by a family was the day that Blaine hoped would never come. It wasn't that he didn't want Kurt to have a family, of course he did, he just hoped he would never have to say goodbye to the three year old.

That, and the fact that Kurt seemed reluctant to the prospect of going to stay with new people. Blaine figured that he was more or less forced into it – he was just a baby after all, he didn't really understand the whole foster system idea.

Blaine felt even worse when it came to Kurt actually leaving. He'd spent the whole day with Kurt, the three year old crying anytime he put him down, and that included trying to get him into the car of his foster family.

Kurt was bawling his eyes out, clinging onto the collar of Blaine's shirt and almost cutting off the thirteen year olds air supply.

"Blaine," Kurt sobbed, kicking his feet around as Blaine tried to sit him in his car seat. "Blaine!" The three year old screamed, more tears leaking from his little blue eyes. Kurt was practically hyperventilating; his breath coming out in sharp little hisses as sobs wracked his little body.

Blaine pressed a kiss to Kurt's tear stained cheek, trying to keep himself together as the little boy clung onto his shirt and screamed and sobbed for all he was worth.

The thirteen year old reluctantly detangled himself from Kurt and shut the car door, wanting nothing more than to just take him into his arms and never let him go. Blaine felt guilty, despite doing nothing wrong. Kurt trusted him, he was the only person that the three year old had and he'd let him go, ignoring his screaming and crying, ignoring the fact that he obviously didn't want to go, he left the boy who was like his baby brother to go with two strangers whom he clearly didn't want to stay with, and for that he felt guilty.

Blaine wrapped his arms around himself as the car slowly pulled away, trying to ignore the screams and cries of his name and trying to ignore the heartbroken face that was staring at him from the car window.

"Are you okay?" Elaine, one of the social workers, asked Blaine once the car was out of sight, placing a comforting hand on his back.

"Yeah…yeah, I – is he okay?"

"He will be," She sighed. "He's just scared. He's only a baby, he doesn't understand what's happening. I mean, he's been here since he was two and a half and although that's only like, a year, it's more or less half of his life."

Blaine nodded, staring down at the ground. "I just hated seeing him like that, and I couldn't do anything to make him feel better."

"I know," She smiled sadly. "Come on." She said, leading him back inside.

The day that Kurt left was also the day that Blaine started a fight for the first time. It wasn't his fault, not really. Well, he didn't think of it that way anyway.

He was playing chess with Nick, Wes and Jeff watching from beside them, but his heart wasn't really in the game. His heart was in a home with two strangers, probably crying its eyes out still.

"Blaine," Wes laughed. "You've gotten so much worse at this."

"Maybe if he didn't spend all of his time with a three year old he'd actually have a fair chance," Nick muttered under his breath, but all three of his friends heard.

Blaine glared at him over the board, his heart pounding in his chest. He ignored it, however, and took his next move.

"At least he's gone now," Nick muttered next, and that was when Blaine snapped.

The game of chess was long forgotten when Blaine knocked all of the pieces over in a scrabble to grab Nick by the front of his shirt.

"Don't you dare talk about him like that," Blaine said threateningly.

"Blaine," Wes warned, but that didn't really do much.

"He's a baby, Blaine. It's weird," Nick retaliated, the fact that Blaine was a lot stronger than him obviously not bothering him.

"I said don't talk about him like that," Blaine said slowly, his voice deeper than usual.

"Or what?" Nick returned.

Nobody knew who pushed who first but the next thing they knew, Blaine was pinning Nick to the floor harshly.

Jeff had already run out of the room to find Elaine, but they didn't manage to get back to the living room before both Nick and Blaine had bloody noses.

"Blaine!" Elaine shouted, grabbing the thirteen year old and pulling him off of Nick, restraining him when he tried to run at him. Wes had to grab Nick to stop him from going at Blaine, but neither of them could stop the deathly glares the two boys were sending each other.

"What has gotten into you two!?" She exclaimed.

"He started it!" Nick shouted at her, not caring how childish he sounded.

"I don't care who started it," She said, holding Blaine tighter when he tried to go at Nick again. "Wes, Jeff, can you take him up to the bathroom and clean him up please?" She asked, the two boys nodding. "You," She said to Blaine. "Come with me."

Only once Blaine was seated in Elaine's office with the social worker holding tissue to his bleeding nose did he allow himself to cry.

"It's okay," She said softly, rubbing Blaine's back gently while keeping the tissue in place. "It's okay to miss him."

"You don't get it," Blaine cried, wiping at his eyes. "Nobody gets it."

"Gets what?"

"I lost my best friend today," Blaine sobbed. "And it really freaking hurts."

"Oh Blaine," Elaine sighed, brushing his curls off of his forehead. "I know it hurts, but starting a fight isn't going to solve that."

"I didn't mean to," Blaine cried. "He just…he was winding me up, he always winds me up, and I snapped."

"It's okay," She assured him. "Just don't do it again, okay? Nosebleeds freak me out."

Blaine laughed a little bit, wiping at his eyes.

"There's that smile I usually see so much of," She smiled, pulling the bloody tissue away from Blaine's nose before throwing it in the bin and grabbing a small plastic cup, filling it with water and handing it to Blaine. "Drink this, before you make yourself sick."

Blaine slowly drunk the water, before handing the cup back to Elaine, pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. "My nose hurts."

"Yeah, you've got a nice bruise to go with that too," She laughed.

Blaine stood up and looked in the mirror that was on the wall, groaning at the purpling bruise that covered the left side of his nose.

"I'm the world's biggest idiot."

"No you're not. You're only a little bit of an idiot," Elaine smiled.

Blaine couldn't stop himself from laughing – that much was true.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Blaine sighed. "I think so."

"Good. Now go get some ice for that nose, and apologise to Nick."

"Must I?" Blaine groaned.

"Yes, you must."

"Fine," Blaine sighed dramatically, making his way to the door but stopping in the doorway and turning back to face Elaine. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Elaine smiled. "And I'll try and see if I can arrange a phone call with Kurt, okay?"

Blaine nodded, a small smile on his face, before he left the room and made his way into the kitchen to get some ice for his nose. He wrapped it in a cloth and slowly pressed it to his bruised nose, hissing at the ice cold sting.

Wes entered the kitchen a few minutes later, getting some ice for Nick.

"Are you okay?" He asked the curly haired teen.

"Yeah," Blaine replied, and he wasn't lying. He honestly did feel a whole lot better, maybe he just needed something to take his anger out on.

"How's your nose?" Wes laughed.

"I think it might be broken," Blaine groaned. "Nick's stronger than he looks."

"So are you by the looks of Nick's face,"

"Oh god, what did I do?"

"Not too much, but he may or may not have a bruise on his cheek and scratch marks on his neck from where you grabbed him."

"Ugh, I have to go apologise,"

"Come on," Wes smiled before leading Blaine upstairs to the bathroom where Jeff was still trying to deal with Nick's bloody nose.

"Nick," Blaine said, leaning against the door frame.

"What?" Nick snapped, hissing at Jeff pressing too harshly against his nose.

"I'm sorry."

Nick sighed, looking up at Blaine through his eyelashes as he evidently couldn't move his head. "Me too," He replied. "For what I said about Kurt and for hitting you."

"I deserved it," Blaine laughed. "The hitting part, I mean."

"So did I," Nick agreed with a laugh before crying out in pain. "Jeff!"

"Sorry!" Jeff exclaimed frustratedly. "If I'm hurting you that much, do it yourself!"

Blaine laughed, making his way into the bathroom and kneeling in front of Nick. "Come here," He said, grabbing some clean tissue. "Lift your head up a little," He instructed, gently holding the tissue to Nick's nose once he followed what Blaine told him.

"Your nose looks disgusting," Nick commented with a laugh.

"Yeah, well, you don't look much better than I do right now," Blaine chuckled.

Neither of the boys noticed Wes and Jeff leaving the room until Nick looked up and realised they were by themselves.

"You miss him don't you?" Nick questioned as Blaine took the tissue away from his nose and started again with a fresh one.

"Yeah," Blaine sighed.

"I'm not gonna pretend to get it," Nick replied. "But I'm not gonna act childish about it anymore."

"I don't even get it, really. All I know is I saw a little boy who had no friends, I couldn't stop myself from keeping him company and now… now he means the entire world to me."

"He's that important to you, huh?" Nick smiled.

"Yeah, he is," Blaine replied, a small smile tugging at his lips as he slowly removed the tissue from Nick's nose. "Voila, no more blood."

"Thank you," Nick laughed. "I find it kind of ironic that you're the one cleaning me up though."

"Tell me about it." Blaine replied, rolling his eyes.

A few days later, Blaine made his way to Elaine's office, planning on asking her if she'd done anything about the phone call she'd promised Blaine. He knocked on her door, waiting until he heard her telling him to go in before opening the door.

"Hi,"

"Hey," Elaine smiled.

"I was, um, just wondering if…you'd done anything about the phone call with Kurt?"

"I actually just got off the phone with his foster parents,"

"And?"

"And…I can do you one better than a phone call," She sighed, Blaine raising his eyebrows in confusion. "Kurt's coming home."

"Wait, what?" Blaine said. "Why?" He was confused. Why would anyone want to give Kurt up?

"Apparently he's not happy there," Elaine explained. "He won't play with them and he screams every time they try to pick him up. He won't even let them tuck him into bed."

"But…but…"

"I'm going to pick him up now."

"Can I come?" Blaine asked before he even realised he was saying it. "I just…"

"Sure," Elaine smiled. "I think he could use a little pick-me-up right now anyway."

So that's exactly what Blaine did. He got into Elaine's car and went with her to pick the three year old up to bring him home.

Once they arrived, Elaine knocked on the door while Blaine stood nervously behind her. The door opened and the second Kurt saw Blaine, he was running towards him.

"Blaine!" Kurt squealed happily.

Blaine grinned, kneeling down and opening his arms for Kurt. The three year old ran towards Blaine, jumping into his arms and wrapping his arms around the thirteen year olds neck.

"Hey buddy," Blaine said, hugging Kurt tight, his smile evident in his voice. "I missed you so much."

Kurt pulled back and smiled at Blaine before frowning a little and gasping. "Blaine! You hurted yourself."

Oh yeah…Blaine forgot he had a huge bruise on his nose still. Blaine looked up at Elaine for help but she'd already gone inside to get Kurt's bags.

"I'm okay, I promise," Blaine said.

"Did you fall over?"

"Uh, yeah…" Blaine said, and it would've been unconvincing had Kurt known any different. "I tripped over a toy."

Kurt giggled. "Silly!"

Blaine couldn't stop the grin that covered his mouth in that moment as he wrapped his arms back around the three year old and lifted him into the air. "I love you so much you little goofball."

Kurt giggled, leaning his head against Blaine's cheek before pressing a kiss there. "I love you too."

"Ready to go, little one?" Elaine asked as she put Kurt's bags in the back of the car.

"Mhm," Kurt hummed, nodding his head and wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck.

Soon enough, Kurt's fourth birthday was approaching. Blaine had already turned fourteen and had a small 'party' but the best part of it, to him anyway, was when Elaine allowed him to watch a movie with Kurt in the living room without anybody else. Sure, they'd only watched Peter Pan, but it was still better than hanging out with a bunch of people that he wasn't even friends with, really.

The morning of Kurt's fourth birthday, he climbed out of bed and made his way to Blaine's bedroom, shyly creaking the door open and peeping his head inside.

"Blaine?" Kurt said quietly in his adorable high pitched voice.

"Hey munchkin," Blaine smiled, emerging from where his face was buried in his wardrobe. "Happy Birthday."

Kurt smiled cutely, walking into the fourteen year olds bedroom and allowing him to lift him into his arms.

"I like your costume," Blaine said sitting on the edge of his bed and sitting the now four year old on his lap.

"Rawr," Kurt giggled. He was dressed as a dinosaur, a costume which he was saving 'specially for my burfday' as he'd told Blaine around a mouthful of chocolate one day.

"I have something for you," Blaine said, reaching into the drawer next to his bed and pulling a small bag out.

"What is it?" Kurt asked, accepting the bag out of Blaine's hands.

"Open it," Blaine laughed.

Kurt slowly opened the bag, pulling out two small figurines.

"Peter Pan and Tinkerbell!" Kurt exclaimed happily. "Thank you," He said, looking up at Blaine with an adorable grin.

"You're welcome," Blaine laughed, kissing the top of Kurt's nose. "Now, I think you and I should go to breakfast so that you can get the special birthday waffles Elaine promised you."

Kurt giggled, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck as he was lifted up and carried downstairs. They made their way over to Elaine, who gave Kurt a huge kiss on the cheek and told him that he was the cutest birthday dinosaur she'd ever seen, eliciting a fit of giggles from the little boy. Once he was happily seated on Blaine's lap at the table, she brought breakfast over for the two of them and left them alone to eat.

Once they were finished, Kurt turned around and stood up on Blaine's lap, using the fourteen year olds shoulders to keep him up. Blaine kept him arms wrapped tightly around the little boys' legs and waist so that he didn't slip and fall. He actually sort of wondered how Kurt wasn't towering over him from the position he was in, but he wasn't the biggest four year old ever so it was kind of understandable.

"Guess what!" Kurt exclaimed.

"What?" Blaine asked excitedly.

"I'm four now!"

"No you're not!"

"Yes I am!" Kurt giggled.

"You're too little to be four," Blaine replied, tickling Kurt softly.

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and hugged him, their faces squishing together.

"Blaine?"

"Yes?"

"You're my best friend." Kurt replied sweetly.

Blaine suddenly felt himself welling up at those four simple words and hugged Kurt tighter.

"You're mine too," Blaine said, smiling.

As with Blaine's birthday, the two of them spent the whole day together. Only, they had no idea that it may be the last day they would ever get to spend together.

It started that night. Blaine took Kurt to bed and read him Peter Pan, as per usual, the little boy still dressed in his dinosaur costume. He pressed a kiss to his forehead once he was asleep and slipped outside of his room before making his way downstairs to spend time with his friends, as he did every night. He got into bed and drifted to sleep at the same time he did every night, only on this night he was woken up by a brain piercing noise.

It took him a minute to fully wake up, but once he did he realised that it was the fire alarm that had woken him up. He climbed out of bed and made his way downstairs and outside, only realising that there was an actual fire once he was outside.

"Somebody's missing," One of the social workers commented once everyone was outside, pacing in front of the scared group of children. "Who's missing!?"

It took a second for him to realise, but he soon noticed that there was something wrong. There was usually a small body attached to his making adorable giggling noises.

"Kurt!" Blaine screamed, immediately running back inside despite the flames that were capturing the whole home and the screams of his friends and social workers telling him to stop. He didn't care. The only thing going through his head as he ran through the house filled with flames was fire, fire, KURT.

He finally reached the four year olds bedroom and once he did, he heard heart-breaking cries coming from inside. The fire hadn't spread inside Kurt's room yet, but the door was slightly open so he would clearly be able to see it and he could probably hear everyone outside as they weren't exactly quiet.

Blaine darted inside the room as soon as he reached it to find Kurt standing on his bed, screaming and crying his eyes out, his sheep clutched tightly to his chest. The poor kid looked like he was going to be sick, and he probably would if he didn't calm down soon. A loud sob escaped his body once he saw Blaine and he immediately wrapped his arms around the fourteen year olds neck when he lifted him up.

"Shh, it's okay, I've got you," Blaine said, running his hand through Kurt's baby soft hair as Kurt cried into his shoulder, his breathing become frantic. "Kurt, I need to get you outside but I don't want anything to happen to you so just close your eyes and keep your head down, okay?"

Kurt began to cry harder but nodded, burying his face in Blaine's neck and hugging his sheep. Blaine took a deep breath. Now that he had Kurt in his arms he was terrified to run back through the house – it didn't matter before, all that mattered was getting Kurt out – but now, now it fully sunk in what he'd just done, and he had to do it again.

Clutching the little boy close to him, Blaine cradled Kurt's head to his neck in case he looked up and got freaked out, or he inhaled too much smoke before he opened the door, running out and following the only path he could find. Blaine felt lost, there was just fire, everywhere. He was beginning to feel dizzy, the only thing he could hear was Kurt's sobs as he tried to navigate his way outside.

He finally, finally made it outside. He could faintly hear people screaming his name and he sort of registered the tears running down his face but he sort of couldn't breathe and felt like he was going to pass out.

He saw Elaine lifting Kurt out of his arms and he felt himself being led by another social worker towards an ambulance and oh, when did that get there? He felt himself being eased into a sitting position and he felt and saw the social worker gently holding a bottle of water to his mouth. He felt himself swallowing the water and he felt the oxygen mask being placed on his face, but that didn't matter. He wanted, he needed to see if Kurt was okay, but there was something wet and cold touching his face and ouch, that stung. His face scrunched up a little when he saw blood on the…whatever had just touched his face but there was a firm hand on his back and a soothing voice in his ear calming him down until he remember that Kurt wasn't with him.

"Kurt," Blaine breathed out once he remembered that he could talk. It came out muffled and barely audible, but the social worker knew exactly what he was saying.

"He's okay," She assured him. "You can see him in a little while, he's shaken up and you're barely conscious."

Blaine shut his eyes. His head was throbbing and he felt like he was going to be sick, although that wouldn't exactly work, what with the oxygen mask and all. He could hear talking around him, but he was tired and nothing really matter except…sleep.

When Blaine woke up, his vision was blurry. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes. It took him a few moments to realise that he was still in the back of the ambulance and everything was exactly the same except he was lying down and everything felt a little less fuzzy.

He sat up but winced and started coughing because wow, okay, that hurt. He felt the same firm pressure on his back from before rubbing soothing circles as he tried to remember how to breathe. He almost started laughing because he couldn't remember how to breathe even with an oxygen mask on but no, laughing would hurt and he was still coughing and why couldn't he stop coughing?

Slowly, Blaine stopped coughing and began to breathe again, little by little. His head still hurt but it didn't feel like it was being crushed anymore and his face was numb…why was his face numb? Blaine brought a hand up to feel his cheek, just under his eye and winced when he felt a cut there, realising why he saw blood before.

"Kurt," Blaine breathed out. "I want Kurt."

"Blaine, he's really freaked out at the moment and you're not exactly in the best condition right now."

"Please," Blaine said, a tear rolling down his cheek that he couldn't stop from leaving his eye and his breathing quickening as he began to freak out a little. "Please."

"Okay, shh, calm down," The social worker said, doing her best to stop Blaine from having a panic attack. "I'll go and get him, I don't know how he'll react though so please just try to stay calm."

Blaine's breathing slowed down a little although it was still a little frantic as he could barely breathe as it was, without freaking out.

A few moments later Elaine was making her way over to Blaine, holding Kurt. He looked a little scared but a lot more relaxed than he had been as he rested his head on Elaine's shoulder and drank water out of a sippy cup that Blaine would've found adorable if he could even remember his last name.

The four year old seemed to freak out a little bit when he saw Blaine. Although Blaine had no idea what he looked like in that moment, he felt completely wrecked so he could only imagine he looked a whole lot worse. Plus the cut on his face that was who knows how big and the oxygen mask probably didn't help.

"Kurt," Blaine said as softly as he could. His chest was heaving and his voice sounded ridiculously hoarse even with the mask muffling it. "I want –"

"To hold him, I know," Elaine finished for him, sitting next to him on the bed and sitting Kurt on her lap. "But you can barely sit up right now so I don't think that would be wise."

Blaine looked down at the four year old. He was half snuggled into Elaine's stomach, still drinking from his sippy cup as he looked up at Blaine through his eyelashes. Something was different…something changed…he was wearing different clothes. Wait, how was he wearing different clothes? All of his stuff was in his room and the house was…wasn't on fire anymore. Blaine felt delirious. Everything was the same as it was before he passed out…only, it wasn't.

"Blaine?" Elaine said softly. "Are you okay?"

Blaine turned his head to look at her from where he'd been looking at the home that had previously been in flames.

He nodded slightly. He sort of felt like he was floating, like his feet weren't on solid ground but…he was sitting, of course they weren't on solid ground. Blaine closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, his head spinning a little.

"Do you want some water?" He heard Elaine ask from next to him.

Blaine nodded again, only not too much as he was afraid his head would fall off. The next thing he knew, a cup was being passed to him and he was lowering the oxygen mask a little and wow, that made everything a lot worse than it was. Still, he drunk the water that was given to him and put the mask back on, sighing a bit as it made everything a little easier.

"I have to tell you something, but I don't want to freak you out," Elaine said, Blaine looking at her and scrunching his eyebrows together.

"Tell me," Blaine breathed, taking several deep breaths before attempting to speak again. "Please."

"I…Kurt's moving to a different home," She said softly. "It's better for kids his age and it might make things easier for him." She explained, looking down at the little boy who now had his eyes closed but was still sipping his water slowly.

"But he – he," Blaine couldn't breathe. He wasn't freaking out, surprisingly, he just found saying more than two words at once extremely difficult.

"Shh, breathe," Elaine said, rubbing his back gently.

Blaine took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes before opening them again and attempting to speak again. "He…he won't…have any…anyone…there for…there for him…he…he…he…he has…he has me…me…me…here…" He got out finally, barely able to breathe after saying so much.

"I'm actually going with him," She told him. "I deal with most of his stuff usually anyway, and it'll make the transition easier for him."

"But…but…you…you…you're the…the on- only…only…" Blaine closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Take your time," Elaine said, still rubbing his back gently.

"You're the…the only…only…social…wuh…worker who…who likes…likes…likes…like me…"

Elaine laughed, bringing her hand up to card it through Blaine's messy curls.

"You know that's not true, we all love you."

"Fine…you…you…you're the only…only social…social…worker…that…that…I…I…I…I…I like…" Blaine replied, smiling a little despite the state that he was in.

Elaine laughed again, leaning over to press a kiss to Blaine's cheek.

"How…how…how are we…we…meant…meant…meant to…to…stay…here…any…any…anyway?" Blaine asked. "I…I…ran through…through there…there…there twice, every…every…thing…everything was…was…was on fire…it…it…it," Blaine breathed in again, his chest still heaving with every breath he took. "It must be…be…burnt to…to…to a…to a crisp."

"You'll probably move to a different home, or you'll all be split up, I honestly don't know," Elaine said truthfully. "But you, mister, should get some rest," She said, smiling lovingly at the fourteen year old. "You went through a lot tonight and you're kind of a mess."

"Thank…thank…thank…thank you," Blaine said with a breathy little laugh.

"You're welcome," She smiled. "No but seriously, get some sleep. I promise it'll make you feel better."

"Wuh…will…will…will…will you…you…be here when…when…when…when I…I…I…I…wake…up?" Blaine asked and god, he probably sounded so pathetic right now.

Elaine nodded. "I promise we won't leave without saying goodbye."

After that, Blaine allowed himself to be eased back onto the bed. He allowed the blanket to be tucked around him and he allowed the kiss that Elaine pressed to his forehead as he shut his eyes. He was half asleep as soon as he shut his eyes, but he didn't miss the tiny pair of lips that touched his cheek and that belonged to the last person on his mind as he drifted to sleep. Kurt.

When Blaine awoke, he felt relatively normal again. He still felt a little delirious and out of it, but he could breathe a little more and his head was a lot less fuzzy. As he sat up, he momentarily wondered why he was still in an ambulance outside the home and why all of the kids were still outside, it sort of made him wonder if he was only sleeping for two minutes at a time though. He didn't care, however, as he slowly removed the oxygen mask and adjusted to breathing normal air. He'd be lying if he said he didn't choke a little at first, but that didn't stop him from climbing out of the bed he was in and leaving the ambulance, trying to find someone, anyone who could help him find Kurt.

"Blaine?" Blaine heard from behind him and he spun around a little too fast, almost falling over when he became incredibly dizzy. "Woah," The person…whoever it was said, putting their arm around him and holding him upright as he tried to catch his breath. Once Blaine had stopped wheezing and felt a little less dizzy, he looked up to see one of his social workers looking down at him worriedly. "What are you doing?"

"Elaine…I…Kurt…" Blaine breathed.

"Blaine sweetie," The social worker sighed. "They already left."

"No…no…no…no," Blaine stuttered. Oh god, he was hyperventilating. "No…she…she…she promise…promised…"

"Blaine, shh, calm down," The social worker said worriedly.

Blaine registered wetness on his cheeks but he was too dizzy and scared to care what was happening.

"She…she…she…promised…promised…promised I…I could…could say good…goodbye…Kurt…Kurt…I…Kurt…"

Blaine couldn't breathe. The world was spinning too fast. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know who he was with.

"Kurt…Kurt…" Blaine cried, barely noticing that he was making his way forward, well as forward was he possibly could in his state.

The last thing Blaine saw was someone…someone who looked familiar running towards him, screaming his name. That was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out.

Noise was stupid. It was stupid and annoying and it shouldn't exist.

That was what Blaine decided, however, as he slowly stirred into consciousness and heard murmurings around him.

Light was stupid too. Who invented light? Whoever it was, was mean.

He slowly blinked his eyes open, wincing as nothing but light came into his sight.

Was he dead? He felt dead…well, kinda. He didn't really know what it felt like to be dead.

The room was spinning. Everything was bright and spinny.

There was something on his face…there was something covering his mouth and nose and…oh, right. That was helping him breathe. Wait, why was it helping him breathe?

He closed his eyes again, trying to remember what had happened.

He remember noises…loud noises. Fire…there was lots of that. He remembered…he remembered crying…he remembered running…fast. He remembered passing out and waking back up… Fear. He remembered fear…he remembered…he remembered Kurt.

Blaine shot up in bed, wincing immediately as he was overtaken by a strong coughing fit.

"Blaine," The fourteen year old heard from beside him as a hand started to rub his back gently. Blaine recognised that voice, it was…it was…Wes.

The coughing slowly died down, his breathing become frantic for a while before he calmed down a little and remembered to take deep breaths.

"Are you okay?" Wes asked, still rubbing Blaine's back gently.

Blaine shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and willing himself not to cry.

"Can you get him some water please?" Wes asked someone in the room. Blaine had no idea who and didn't really care either. Finding out would require opening his eyes and that wasn't something he was willing to do in that moment.

A few moments later, Blaine's oxygen mask was being lowered and a cup was being held to his lips. Blaine felt ridiculous. He couldn't believe his friend had to help him drink a cup of water.

Once he'd finished, the mask was put back in place and Blaine opened his eyes, looking at Wes through his tears.

"He's gone," Blaine breathed, his unshed tears finally leaving his eyes.

"What?" Wes asked confusedly.

"Kurt…he's gone," Blaine cried, shaking his head. "He's gone and I might not ever see him again." He said, his voice breaking as he broke down into tears.

"Blaine," Wes said worriedly, pulling his friend against his chest and trying to comfort him as he cried his eyes out. "Blaine, you're gonna freak yourself out again." He said.

Blaine just shook his head, crying harder as he buried his face in Wes' chest the best he could with the oxygen mask on his face.

Blaine was broken. He was completely broken and he didn't know how he could be fixed.