Burt didn't sleep well in the Andersons' guest room. After he and Kurt said their goodnights, Burt had called Carole to fill her in on the situation. And hearing his wife's horrified gasp, Burt had finally let himself fall apart as he described Blaine's condition. He felt the tears falling and the intense ache in his chest as he spoke, voice cracking as he thought about how scared Blaine must've been, how much pain he must've been in. He didn't know the full story, but he'd gotten a Cliffs Note version from that Sebastian kid when they'd gone to see Blaine.

He hadn't known what to expect from Sebastian Smythe, but he was prepared to hate him after Kurt's scathing indictments against him the previous year as well as his own anger for what he'd done to Blaine with that slushie. What he hadn't anticipated was a scared kid who was clearly in over his head with a friend seriously injured.

Burt's view had softened as Sebastian haltingly explained how he'd been on the phone with Blaine during the attack and that he'd been the one to call 9-1-1 and find Blaine in that parking lot. It seemed that, at least according to Blaine's doctor, Sebastian had likely saved Blaine's life (though he wasn't out of the woods yet) by getting him help so quickly, and that counted for a lot as far as Burt was concerned.

Repeating the story to Carole had been hard, his protective instincts kicking in as he thought about how small and pale Blaine looked in that hospital bed. Blaine and Kurt might not be together at the moment, but that didn't change the fact that Blaine was still one of his boys, mistakes and all, and Burt was going to do whatever he could for the kid.

After he'd pulled himself together again-god knew Kurt wasn't keeping it together, so Burt would do it for both of them-he'd tried to sleep, only to fall into fitful dreams of Blaine then Kurt then both of them being attacked. He woke up in cold sweats every time and had finally given up on sleep around 7:00, deciding to take a shower-assuming Kurt hadn't beaten him to it, anyway.

When he stepped out of the guest room, the house was silent; Kurt must still be asleep, Burt noted in relief. Kurt had a hard time sleeping (and eating) when he was stressed, and there wasn't much more stressful than the current situation. He figured he'd shower before waking his kid, making breakfast, which would probably be nothing more than coffee for Kurt, and heading back to the hospital.

They'd have to figure cars out at some point, he considered as he grabbed a towel from the linen closet Kurt had pointed out the night before and turned on the shower; there was no reason they should have two cars in Westerville. He figured that at some point Kurt would want to get some things from the house to bring back to the Andersons' as well. And Burt had his treatment schedule to adhere to, but at least his next appointment wasn't for another week.

After showering and changing back into the previous day's clothes, Burt went in search of Kurt. He assumed his son would have slept on the couch, but he heard faint music coming from behind one of the closed doors down the hallway. He paused at each door, listening, before recognizing Kurt's ringtone coming from behind the second door on the left. He opened the door and peered inside; the ringtone was louder, though still slightly muffled as though the phone were being covered by something.

The room seemed to be a bedroom, though Kurt wasn't on the bed. Burt opened the door wider and glanced around. Unlike the other rooms Burt had seen so far, this one actually looked lived in rather than something out of a magazine. There were some framed pictures with familiar faces in them...

Oh. This must be Blaine's room.

Had Kurt...?

Burt started when he saw a foot sticking out from behind the bed. He hurried inside, stomach flying into his throat, and rounded the bed. Kurt was lying on the floor, curled up in the fetal position, hugging something to his chest.

Burt sighed in relief when he realized Kurt was just sleeping and knelt down next to his son; there were dried tear tracks on his cheeks, and Burt's insides clenched painfully. He remembered his Elizabeth in the hospital during those last months and had desperately wanted to protect Kurt from the pain of helplessly watching someone he loved suffer. But for the second time in as many years, Kurt was doing just that.

Swallowing, Burt put a hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed gently. "Kurt, hey." Kurt groaned but otherwise didn't move. Burt frowned; Kurt was usually a light sleeper. "Wake up, bud," he added with a slight shake.

Kurt's eyes flew open and he jolted upright, the objects in his arms clattering to the floor. Burt glanced at them briefly-framed photos of some sort-before locking gazes with his wide-eyed kid.

"Hey, easy."

"Dad?" Kurt breathed. "Wha- Where...?" He blinked blearily and looked around, breath catching in his throat as he recognized where he was. His face fell as his eyes filled with tears, and he swiped a hand across his face, scrubbing vainly at the tear tracks.

"It wasn't just a dream, was it?" he asked sadly as his eyes dropped to the discarded photos.

Only then did Burt get a good look at the frames-there was a picture of Kurt and a picture of Kurt and Blaine dancing together from Kurt's junior prom; he knew Kurt had his own copy of the prom picture, his kid proudly wearing the prom queen regalia his peers had tried to shame him with.

Burt looked back up at Kurt, who seemed frozen. "You want to talk about it?" he asked, figuring he'd leave the it open to interpretation.

Kurt shook his head. "Not really. I-" He swallowed and tried again, meeting Burt's eyes. "I think I just want a shower and some coffee and to go back to the hospital."

Burt bit his lip in disappointment but nodded. He knew Kurt would come to him when he was ready to talk; he had a lot to work through. "Okay. I'll see about the coffee while you shower."

Kurt shakily pushed himself to his feet. "Thanks, Dad," he murmured.

Burt nodded as Kurt left the room, knowing the thanks was for more than the promise of coffee. He started when Kurt's ringtone started up again; it sounded like it was coming from under the bed. Burt reached under and his hand curled around Kurt's phone. He pulled it out and saw that it was Finn calling. Burt raised an eyebrow, surprised Finn would be awake this early, but he supposed Finn was friends with Blaine too; he would've been worried after Carole told him the news.

Burt answered the call. "Hey, Finn."

"Burt?" Finn asked in surprise. "Why do you have Kurt's phone?"

"Kurt's in the shower," Burt replied, pulling himself up onto Blaine's bed.

"Oh. I tried texting him last night, but he didn't respond."

Burt glanced down at the frames. "Kurt had a rough night. But I don't think he was ignoring you on purpose." So he assumed since Kurt's phone had ended up under the bed rather than turned off or thrown across the room, anyway.

"Oh. Yeah." Finn cleared his throat. "Have you heard anything else?"

Burt shook his head, though Finn couldn't see him. "Nothing new. We're going back to the hospital soon."

Finn was quiet for a moment before asking, "Will we be able to come see him?"

A surge of affection washed over Burt at the words. His boys had such big hearts.

"Not yet," he said. "The ICU only lets two people in at a time, and they have to be cleared. I'm one of Blaine's emergency contacts, so I can go in with one other person."

"Kurt," Finn said in understanding.

"For now," Burt agreed, deciding not to mention Sebastian. He supposed the other kid would be back, and Burt wouldn't try to keep him out after what he'd done for Blaine. "When he wakes up," because Burt refused to think that it might be if, "they'll move him and more people will be able to visit."

"Okay. I guess-" He sighed, suddenly sounding tired. "I guess I should tell the others. New Directions. They'd want to know."

"Good idea," Burt agreed. "Kurt and I'll have our phones off at the hospital," he added, thinking about the calls Kurt would start getting once the news spread, "but we'll need to come home at some point to pick some things up."

"Mom's working until 4," Finn informed him.

Burt filed that information away for later. "Okay. We'll call if anything changes." A sudden need to reach out to his stepson hit Burt, and he added, "And Finn?"

"Yeah, Burt?"

"I love you, son."

"I love you, too."

Burt hung up the call and sat on the bed for a moment, just staring at Kurt's phone. Then he heard the shower shut off and he jumped to his feet. He should probably get that coffee going. But first, he picked up the frames from the floor and set them up on Blaine's desk before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him.

-----

Kurt and his dad made it back to the hospital around 8:30. The nurse who had sent them home earlier gave them knowing looks at their early return but didn't comment, other than to tell them that there hadn't been any change in Blaine's condition. They returned to the spots they'd abandoned a few hours earlier on either side of Blaine's bed, Kurt taking Blaine's limp hand again though the other boy remained unresponsive.

The minutes stretched into hours with agonizing slowness, but Kurt was too hollowed out to care. Since he'd cried himself to sleep on Blaine's floor, the world seemed somehow off-kilter, the colors a bit duller and the sounds muted. He hadn't even had it in him to be embarrassed when his dad had found him looking a hot mess. A shower and coffee had made him feel marginally more human, but there was a heaviness to his limbs and heart that he couldn't shake.

The police showed up around lunchtime, two officers-Kurt didn't bother learning their names though they introduced themselves-looking for Kurt to corroborate Sebastian's statement about the night before. Kurt stepped out into the hallway and a nurse took them to a quiet room where he told them, haltingly at first, that Blaine was his ex-he'd seen enough crime dramas to know exes tended to be suspects, especially after messy breakups and with them being gay in Ohio, it was a tossup for whether they'd get fair treatment-but the officers hadn't flinched, simply making notes.

Kurt then told them about meeting Blaine at his house (it was about 4:30, we ordered Chinese food), going for coffee (getting coffee was always our thing when we were together) and running into Sebastian, the two guys in the coffee shop from Blaine's old school (do you need me to repeat what they said? It was cruel and he was really upset), the movie (he said he needed to get his mind off things), and then getting the call from Sebastian to come back to Westerville (I was about halfway back home).

"And when was the last time you saw Blaine?" one of the officers asked.

Kurt frowned. They'd gone to 7:00 movie, so... "About 9:30, I guess? The movie let out around 9:15, but we talked for a few minutes and I didn't look at the clock in the car when I left Starbucks."

The other officer nodded. "That's fine, Kurt. Do you remember anything else about that night that might help us? Did you see anyone in the parking lot before you left?"

Kurt shut his eyes as he cast back to the night before. The details were hazy in the wake of everything else that had happened. "Um, there were a couple of other cars in the parking lot. Blaine and I were parked next to each other." He bit his lip. "One of the street lights was out so there were a lot of shadows. But I didn't see anyone." He opened his eyes and shrugged helplessly. "I wish I could be more help."

The first officer smiled. "You're being really helpful, actually. Your story matches up with Sebastian's as far as we can tell."

"I can't bear the thought of those bastards getting away with this," Kurt said sharply, a surge of anger spiking inside his chest and catching him off-guard. It was the first emotion to break through his haze in hours.

"We take hate crimes very seriously, son," the second officer said. Kurt raised an eyebrow but the officer shook his head. "I know not everyone feels as strongly as they should about this, but my sister has been with her partner for seven years. The thought of anyone hurting either of them..." He trailed off angrily before looking back up at Kurt, who looked back in wide-eyed surprise at the admission. "I want to help Blaine."

"We'll do our best, son," the first officer added.

Kurt swallowed, a lump forming in his throat, and nodded. He didn't trust his voice at the moment; he wasn't used to having allies who could do anything for him or someone he cared about. All those years of being bullied and no one had been able to do anything, but for someone on Blaine's case to want to catch the guys that hurt him? Well, that might take some time to process.

"Just a few more questions."

"Okay."

"So you live in New York?"

Kurt nodded. "I'm a student at NYADA. But my dad lives in Lima. I graduated from McKinley last year."

"And when did you get back to Ohio?"

"Yesterday afternoon. It's Spring Break and I-" He choked back a sudden dry sob (he swore was done crying after last night's breakdown) before pulling himself together. "I wanted to see Blaine. To... to talk about getting back together," he finished in a whisper.

"And what did Blaine have to say about that?"

"I never got the chance to ask him," Kurt replied, dropping his face into his hands. "We kept getting interrupted. We had a fight right before I left and I didn't get a chance to explain myself. He said..." Kurt swallowed and looked back up. "He said we'd talk about it today but that he needed to process everything that'd happened."

"You had a fight?"

Kurt's eyes widened as he realized what he'd said. "Oh god, does that make me a suspect? It wasn't like that. I swear, I didn't-"

"Kurt, it's okay," the second officer said quickly, cutting off what was probably going to be an impressive rant. Kurt snapped his mouth shut, his heart hammering in his chest. "We don't think you did it. But knowing you two had a fight gives us some insight into Blaine's mindset before it happened. We're just trying to put the pieces together."

Kurt forced himself to breathe, though he was still wary. "Okay."

The first officer pulled out a couple of sheets of paper and slid them across the table to Kurt. "Do you recognize either of these men?"

Kurt's eyes widened immediately. A detail here and there might have been off, but "Those are the guys. From Starbucks."

The first officer nodded. "Did you happen to catch their names?"

Kurt thought back to the conversation, trying to summon the words from his memory. He knew he'd heard names at some point...

"Shit, it is. Look at that, Nick. Blaine Anderson in the flesh after all these years."

Kurt pointed to the second picture. "Nick. His name was Nick. I didn't hear a last name."

"And this one?" the second officer asked, nodding to the other picture.

"Back off, Roy. You are the last people I'd ever want to see again."

"Roy," Kurt said, tapping the paper. "Blaine called him Roy."

"Anything else you can tell us about them?"

"Those were two of the guys that put me in the hospital for a week my freshman year after the Sadie Hawkins dance."

"They went to Westerville High a few years ago," Kurt said, thinking back to everything Blaine had told him-which, admittedly, wasn't much. It was a sore topic that Blaine mostly avoided bringing up. "They and another guy attacked Blaine and another boy after a dance when Blaine was a freshman. He, uh, was hospitalized then, too."

"That's what Sebastian told us as well," the first officer said with a nod.

Kurt blinked, wondering how much of that story Sebastian knew, and felt a sudden stab of jealousy that he might know more than Kurt did. It took a lot to get Blaine to open up about his past, and Kurt had always been honored to be someone Blaine shared those things with. But for Sebastian to know as well...

Kurt shook himself and tried to focus on the officers' questions. Once they were satisfied, they rose and thanked Kurt. When the second officer shook Kurt's hand, he gave him a quick squeeze in support and Kurt smiled wanly before they left.

As the door shut behind them, Kurt curled in on himself; he felt sick at how useless he was. Blaine could be... could be dying, and the only thing Kurt could do was talk to the police and tell them things Sebastian had already told them.  

After allowing himself a few moments to wallow, Kurt took a deep breath and straightened himself. He lifted his head and plastered on the disinterested look he'd mastered during the height of the bullying in high school and wandered back to Blaine's room, where he found his dad.

"Hey bud," Burt said. He paused when he noticed the look on Kurt's face. "You okay?"

Kurt sighed and leaned against the doorway, letting the façade drop in front of one of the only people who could see past it. "Not really."

Burt nodded. "You want to grab a bite?"

The very thought of food made Kurt's stomach turn worse than it already was, but he knew that expression on his dad's face meant there was no getting out of it.

"All right," he said, conceding defeat before the argument could even start. They left the hospital and drove around, finally settling on a sub shop a few blocks down the road.

Once they got their food, Kurt checked his phone. He had a bunch of texts from old and current members of New Directions-and were those Warblers?-that he couldn't bring himself to face yet. He knew they meant well and cared about Blaine, but Finn could deal with them for now.

There was also one from Cooper that he opened: Weather still sucks. No flights yet.

I'm doing a sun dance, Kurt sent back before turning his phone off again.

"We should take the cars back home tonight," Burt said as they picked at their sandwiches.

Kurt looked up in surprise. "What?"

"We have two cars here and only need one. And," Burt added with a knowing look, "I'm sure you'd like to grab a change of clothes."

Kurt grimaced, glancing down at the wrinkled clothes he'd slept on the floor in before showering and putting back on. Kurt rarely went a full day in the same outfit, so wearing the same outfit two days in a row... And getting a few of his things from the house would make him feel better. "Yeah, okay. When?"

"Dinnertime? We can spend the night at home, pack a bag, and come back in the morning in one car," Burt suggested.

Kurt nodded silently and went back to prodding his sandwich. He didn't have much of an appetite. Eventually, Burt heaved a sigh and grabbed Kurt's half-eaten lunch and tossed it with his own trash; there was no point in taking it since food wasn't allowed in the ICU.

When they got back to the hospital, Kurt headed for the reception desk. He went to sign his name but paused when he saw the name that had been signed in half an hour earlier: Sebastian Smythe. Kurt groaned and signed his name before turning back to his dad.

"How did Sebastian get in? I thought it was family-only."

Burt shrugged as he signed in. "As Blaine's emergency contact, I cleared him to visit. Once Cooper gets here, he can revoke it if he wants, but he saved Blaine's life, Kurt. I think he deserves to be here."

Kurt clenched his jaw but didn't argue. Blaine had called Sebastian the night before, after all, when he needed someone to talk to. He followed his dad down the hallway toward Blaine's room.

Sebastian glanced up in surprise when Kurt and his dad walked in the room. He looked haggard, Kurt noticed, his blazer hanging on the back of the chair, the sleeves on his shirt rolled up to his elbows, and his tie loosened around his neck. His hair was ruffled and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Shouldn't you be in school, kid?" Burt asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sebastian shrugged. "Skipped my last couple classes."

Burt nodded but didn't say anything, instead leaning against the wall by the door. Taking that as a sign, Kurt went back to what had become his chair in the last twelve hours and sat down across from Sebastian.

"Did you tell the Warblers?" Kurt asked after a lingering uncomfortable silence, thinking to the texts on his phone from David, Trent, and a few other familiar numbers from his time at Dalton.

Sebastian started, like he'd forgotten there were others in the room, before looking back at Kurt. He nodded. "Yeah."

"How'd they take it?"

Sebastian rolled his shoulders and glanced back at Blaine's still form, an achingly familiar expression crossing his face. "About like you'd expect."

"So, not well."

Sebastian shook his head. "They were about ready to storm the hospital this morning, but I had to remind them that visiting was family-only in the ICU." He shrugged. "I think they want to make up for last year when they..." Sebastian cut himself off with a grimace. "When we left him in that parking garage. Nothing was the same after that."

"Good," Kurt said before he could stop himself.

Sebastian gave Kurt a level look but didn't otherwise react. "They want to help," he said wearily. "But-"

"There's nothing they can do," Kurt finished.

Sebastian nodded and they fell back into silence.

-----

The drive back to Lima that night was excruciatingly long, especially since they'd gotten a late start and were making the whole trip in the dark. The further Kurt got from Westerville-and Blaine and Sebastian at Blaine's side in Kurt's stead-the sicker he felt. He forced himself to keep his eyes on the back of his dad's car as they drove so his gaze wouldn't keep slipping to the phone in his front seat, which occasionally lit up with incoming texts.

When they pulled into the driveway of the Hudson-Hummel house, Kurt let out a sigh of relief. Just the sight of his home felt like a sanctuary, a port in the storm as it were. Burt waited for him as he stepped out of Finn's car and slung an arm across Kurt's shoulders, guiding him to the porch. The front door flung open after they'd taken a few steps; Carole was standing in the threshold, eyes wide as she looked at both of them.

She opened her arms and Kurt wordlessly launched himself at her, thankful for her motherly presence. His dad was great-better than great-but sometimes there was nothing quite like a mother's touch, and even if Carole wasn't his birth mother, Kurt still loved her fiercely. She held him tightly and Kurt, for a moment, just let himself breathe.

Then he gathered himself and pulled back. Carole squeezed his arms with a gentle smile before stepping aside to let him in. He heard his father say something to Carole but didn't bother trying to make out the words. He wandered into the living room, where Finn was sitting on the couch typing something into his phone. He looked up and his face lit up slightly at Kurt's appearance.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," Kurt greeted tiredly, sitting down next to his stepbrother.

"How is he?"

Kurt shook his head. "No change."

Finn nodded, features drooping, and turned back to his phone. He finished his text and sent it before looking back at Kurt.

"Who's that?" Kurt asked, nodding at Finn's phone.

"Sam. I keep telling him he doesn't need to come back early since he couldn't visit Blaine anyway."

Kurt knew Blaine and Sam had gotten close over the past few months and felt a pang of guilt at the thought of Sebastian being allowed to visit Blaine but not Sam-kindhearted Sam, who'd been able to reach Blaine and pull him back from the ledge when no one else could after the breakup, according to Finn. Kurt thought of the picture now sitting on Blaine's nightstand, of the casual touch Blaine seemed to allow with Sam and the happy smile that accompanied it, but quickly shook any jealousy off. There was nothing to be jealous of there, he scolded himself.

Kurt decided then to keep his mouth shut about Sebastian, knowing how poorly Finn and the other members of New Directions would react. But Sebastian and Blaine had apparently also gotten closer than Kurt would've guessed over the last few months. It wasn't a relationship Kurt was going to be pretend to understand, but he'd seen the way Sebastian looked at Blaine that afternoon...

It was the same look Kurt knew he'd worn for months after he and Blaine had first met-the look of a guy hopelessly in love with someone who didn't look at him the same way.

It hurt more than Kurt would like to admit, seeing it on someone else. On Sebastian, though, with all the baggage between them... It was just one more thing that Kurt didn't know what to do with. Those seemed to be piling up over the last few days; Kurt's head was absolutely spinning.

Instead of dwelling, though, Kurt just nodded. "Yeah. He should see his parents while he can."

Kurt and Finn fell into silence-this one far more comfortable than the one at the hospital earlier-at that. After a few minutes, Carole and Burt walked into the living room.

"Dinner, guys? Food's ready. We were just waiting for you to get home," Carole said, nodding toward the dining room. No one bothered to mention that it hadn't been dinnertime for hours. Tonight was a night to be with family.

Kurt and Finn rose-Finn more subdued than usual at the prospect of food-and followed their parents into the dining room. The meal was quiet, the sounds of silverware clinking against dishes filling the room. Kurt forced himself, not for the first time since the breakup, not to look at the spot to his right that Blaine usually occupied when he had dinner at the Hudson-Hummel house.

After dinner, Burt and Finn retired to the living room, turning the television on, while Kurt and Carole started on the dishes.

"You don't have to wash up, sweetie," Carole said, looking at Kurt out of the side of her eye as she dried a plate Kurt handed her. "I'm sure you're tired."

Kurt took a calming breath as he scrubbed another plate. "I want to help." Cleaning always helped him focus when he was stressed-cleaning and cooking, that is, and since dinner was already done, that left the dishes. "Besides, I don't think sleep is really on the table right now." His sleep the night before had been restless, filled with painful dreams. He wasn't sure he could face that a second night in a row while Blaine was fighting for his life.

"Kurt," Carole admonished gently as she took the dripping plate from Kurt, "you need to take care of yourself, too."

He remembered being told the same thing when his dad had been in the hospital. He was older now and had more people in his life to support him than he did back then, but it was still hard.

"I know, Carole. It's not like I'm trying not to. It just-"

"Doesn't seem like a priority," Carole finished knowingly.

Kurt nodded, relieved that she understood. "Exactly."

Carole looked as though she wanted to respond, but Burt's voice from the living room cut her off.

"Shit!"

Kurt nearly dropped the pan he was washing; he rarely heard his dad curse. For a blue collar guy, Burt's language was fairly tame-probably because he'd had to tone it down for the 8-year-old son he was suddenly raising on his own. And when he did curse, it was usually because he'd dropped a tool on his foot in the garage. Kurt had also heard a few well-chosen profanities during the worst of Karofsky's bullying, but beyond that...

Kurt put the pan back into the sink and grabbed a hand towel on his way in to the living room. He stopped in the doorway as he saw what his father was reacting to in the television. He heard Carole inhale sharply as she stopped behind him.

Blaine's yearbook photo was in the corner of the screen and video footage of the police behind crime scene tape at the Westerville Starbucks played as a reporter spoke.

"The alleged assault occurred last night around ten o'clock outside the Westerville Starbucks. Anderson is currently in critical condition at Westerville Memorial. No arrests have been made, but police are calling this a hate crime. Authorities are on the lookout for two men in conjunction with the attack and ask that anyone who has information on their whereabouts please call the Westerville P.D. immediately."

Two sketches appeared on the screen-the same sketches the officers had shown Kurt at the hospital that afternoon. Kurt grabbed the doorway for support.

"The case has garnered interest beyond the local level, however, after Congressman Burt Hummel and his son were spotted at Westerville Memorial today," the reporter continued. "Our sources tell us that Anderson is a family friend of the Hummels, having previously dated the Congressman's son, Kurt. Congressman Hummel has been well-known for his gay rights advocacy in Washington."

Kurt tuned out the rest of the words, meeting his father's eyes across the room. Burt's jaw had gone slack and his eyes were wide in concern.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then his phone started ringing.