A/N: Sorry for the delay!

Chapter 23

Marina sat up straight in bed. She'd been awake for hours already; she watched the moonlight stream in through the tiny opening in the wall of her room. Pretty soon this light would mingle with the rising sun, and pretty soon after that, the community would start buzzing to life. First with the cooking team, preparing meals for the other teams that would be headed out on daylong or overnight missions in a few hours. Marina herself was supposed to be headed out on a two day gathering quest, but she told her team leader she had to sit this one out. Her morning sickness had started to include afternoon sickness as well as the occasional evening sickness, to the point where calling it morning sickness was a misnomer.

Doctor Wilson had assured her that the near-constant nausea and inability to hold much food down for any length of time was normal, a sign of a robust and healthy baby even. Marina was sure that the sickness she felt was only made worse by the secret she was keeping from her big sister and Jody. She would have to tell them soon though. Santana was completely in the dark because she was hardly around anymore, either out on scavenging trips or spending time with Brittany. But Jody was starting to notice something was wrong. Marina hadn't let him stay over for the last few weeks and she sensed that he was interpreting her absence as disinterest in him. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marina loved Jody almost more than anything, and she wanted nothing more than to spend every waking moment with him. But what would he do when he found out she was pregnant? Would he leave? He didn't want kids, he told her that from the very beginning. It's one of the reasons he escaped to New Lima in the first place.

If she didn't make the decision to tell them, pretty soon her body would do it for her. She was already starting to notice the small changes herself. Her stomach, usually thin and slightly soft was growing taut and her face was starting to round out ever-so-slightly.

Marina laid back down on her bed and made a promise to herself. Today would be the day she told Jody and Santana her secret. She thought about asking Kurt to be with her when she talked to her older sister, but she didn't want her to know that she told Kurt before she told Santana. That certainly wouldn't help her case. Marina would go to Jody and talk to him first and then, once that was out of the way, she would talk to San. She would be back from scavenging around six that evening, giving her more than twelve hours to figure out what to say.

Marina rolled over and closed her eyes, trying to will sleep to come. If she could just get another hour of sleep or so, she'd feel a lot better.

"So what do you call this again?" Blaine asked, examining his plate.

"New Lima Garden Explosion," Kurt answered with a slight smirk. Blaine laughed.

"Well it looks amazing," he responded, lifting a forkful of the vegetable concoction to his mouth. He groaned with approval as he chewed.

"It's nothing," Kurt said bashfully. "Just a little bit of everything from the garden with a garlic vinegar dressing. It's a glorified salad."

"No, it's amazing," Blaine answered, putting down his fork to grasp Kurt's hand from across the table. Blaine's eyes sparkled in the candlelight, and Kurt felt his heart skip a beat. It had been his turn for date night, and he hoped that Blaine didn't mind a nice candlelit dinner at home. He was starting to run out of ideas for date excursions, but Blaine seemed to be enjoying himself, so that was enough for Kurt.

Things had been going so well between the two of them, it almost seemed unreal. Kurt was even starting to enjoy his apprenticeship with the doctor so much that he hardly even thought about the rescue team any more. More than anything, he always wanted to help people. That was what gave him purpose. Sure, working with Doctor Wilson didn't provide the adrenaline rush he'd grown so addicted to, but he was helping people, and that was enough for him.

The only thing that weighed heavy on his mind was the situation with Marina. It had been a couple of weeks since he found out her secret and as far as he knew, she hadn't broken the news to Santana yet. He tried to visit Marina as often as he could, but she seemed to be isolating herself. That Jody kid wasn't even around. Kurt wasn't sure Marina had even told him the news yet.

"Earth to Kurt!"

Kurt shook his head and focused in on Blaine snapping his fingers. Blaine smiled at him. "Are you okay? You seemed to be in your own little world over there."

"Yeah," Kurt answered with a tentative smile. "Sorry, I must be tired."

"Well, I hope you're not too tired, bec—"

Blaine's words were interrupted by a loud banging on Kurt's door. The two boys looked at each other with worried glances. Kurt stood up and opened the door.

"Santana—"

Blaine watched as Santana shoved Kurt hard in the chest, knocking him back into the room. She took the opportunity to let herself into Kurt's tiny dwelling as she continued to push him. Blaine froze at the table, watching the exchange.

"How could you keep this from me? How could you?"

"Santana, hold on—"

"How long have you known about this? Do you have any idea how messed up it is that my best friend didn't tell me?"

"It's complicated."

"Bullshit, Kurt—"

"Hey!"

Kurt and Santana froze, and turned their attention to Blaine, who banged his fist down hard against the table to get their attention. "What the hell is going on between you two?"

"Oh, like you don't know," Santana sneered.

"I don't," Blaine shouted.

"He doesn't," Kurt affirmed.

"Well, why don't you go ahead and tell him now, Kurt," Santana said crossing her arms. Kurt shook his head and stared at the floor, unable to make eye contact with either of them.

"Tell me what, damn it?" Blaine said angrily. He thought he was done with Kurt's secrets. He could feel his hands starting to shake.

"Marina's knocked up," Santana said evenly, color rising in her cheeks. Blaine sank slowly back to his chair. Of all the things he thought he might hear, this wasn't even on the list.

"Oh my God," he murmured.

"Yeah," Santana replied, working herself back up into a rage. "And your boyfriend has known about it for weeks and didn't say a word."

"San…" Kurt started helplessly. He was certain there was nothing he could say at this point that would make her feel any better.

"No, you know what? Save it. I don't want to hear it. The whole reason I wanted to escape the old community was to save Marina from being some baby factory when she turned eighteen. And yet, here we are, not six months gone and she's pregnant. She's fifteen, Kurt."

"I know," Kurt said quietly. "It was killing me not to tell you. I tried to encourage her to talk to you. I went to see her nearly every day, I told her I would go with her to share the news even, but she said she didn't want me involved. I'm surprised she even told you I knew."

"She didn't tell me," Santana snapped. She was still angry, but Kurt could tell she was losing steam. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out that she's been seeing Wilson and that you work for him."

"I wanted to tell you," Kurt reiterated. "But I couldn't. I took an oath—"

Santana laughed cruelly. "Who do you think you are? You know you're not a doctor right? You're just the kid who hangs around and sweeps the floor, takes out the trash. You're not special."

Kurt stayed silent, refusing to break eye contact. Santana's words hurt him, but he knew she didn't mean them. She was hurt, angry, and scared.

"Whatever," Santana said, realizing Kurt wasn't going to take the bait. She wanted a fight, but she felt deflated. "Just stay away from us. I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

Kurt's eyes welled up as Santana stormed out. He sank slowly down to his chair, watching the door. How in the world did that conversation manage to go ten times worse than he imagined it could have gone?

"Kurt."

Kurt squeezed his eyes shut at the sound of his name on Blaine's lips. Tears slid down his cheek. He wasn't sure he was ready to face Blaine's wrath for not telling him about Marina. He'd broken their no secrets rule and now he had to face the consequences.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I lied to you."

Kurt's eyes were still closed when he hear Blaine's chair scuff across the floor. This was the moment when Blaine would walk out, and Kurt would lose him again for the last time. This was the moment when he would find himself all alone. Again.

Kurt drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes when he felt Blaine's warm hands grasping his. He saw Blaine kneeling in front of him, looking up at him with his big, soulful eyes.

"You did the right thing," Blaine assured him. It was all Kurt needed to hear as he launched himself into Blaine's arms, letting his tears fall in earnest. He rambled on about everything; how worried he was for Marina, how desperately he'd wanted to confide in Blaine, how much he hated that he'd hurt Santana. Blaine murmured reassurances in his ear and held the boy he loved, rocking him gently, and wondering when life would give all of them a break for once.