Friday, nine in the morning

Mairead was dressed and sitting in a wheelchair as her mother and her college finished up the paperwork for her discharge. Nick had brought the clothes Sarah had instructed him to bring last night. Yawning, she closed her eyes but not quite dozing; she had had a bad night and woken up several times despite the drugs. Thinking of waking up her mother, she decided not to, considering how much hell she had put her family through when she had ranted to that bastard Joey called his father.

"I set your laptop on your bed stand so when you get home, you can Skype Blaine. He's been calling me since last night asking me why you weren't answering." Nick said as he was playing on his iPhone. "Joey was bugging me too. He seemed really disturbed… you actually might want to call him first, Mari."

She leaned back into the wheelchair and forgetting that the back of her head had nothing to lean against and groaned. The nausea had come back and she felt like puking up the bland oatmeal she had been served for breakfast, eating only a spoonful or two before pushing it away. Swallowing a mouth full of saliva in an attempt to prevent that from happening, she opened her blurry eyes; Nick had forgotten to bring her extra pair of glasses.

Sarah and a hospital volunteer came back into the room. "Ready to go, honey?" Mairead nodded slowly.

Jason was waiting by the patient discharge doors with the backseat door open and ready for his daughter to get in. Mairead felt even more nauseated from the elevator ride down and going down the smooth ramp to the doors. She took a deep breath when the automatic doors opened and felt better, but still a little nauseous. Nick helped her up from the wheelchair and into the seat that Jason had leaned back for her and helped her with the seat belt before climbing in from the other side of the car behind his dad. Sarah was the last to go in after bidding the volunteer good-bye.

The car ride home was thankfully short and Mairead was dozing for most of it. Sarah and Jason helped her up the spiral staircase to her room and Sarah helped her into her more comfortable clothes; an old soccer jersey from her early association soccer days and sports shorts. Propping herself up on pillows, she grabbed her laptop with the charging cord attached from her bed stand. She booted up the computer and her Skype window. She video called Joey, who was online and available. Joey answered within the first three rings. When he first saw her, he was astonished.

Joey was dumbfounded; he hadn't realized that his father would go to this extreme after teaching him and Blaine to be courteous to girls early while they were growing up. Mairead had a black eye that was nearly swollen shut and getting worse, before it could get better, a slightly red nose, and an exhausted and slightly sick expression.

"Hey you. I would smile, but it kinda hurts to have my cheek muscles to move up into a black eye." She chuckled without smiling. "How are you?"

Joey bit his lip and bowed his head a little. Mairead noticed that he had a very faint red mark across his face that she wouldn't have noticed if he moved his face. "I'm… fine.. Dad just kinda had a… fit after he and you fought. Blaine's been calling me and asking about you. I think he's online right now. Do you want to do a group chat?" He said in a rush.

"Sure." Mairead said hesitantly. Do I really want Blaine and Kurt to see me like this? I just got done helping him… I really don't want to hurt him anymore than I have to with me looking like this… She thought as the phone rang to Blaine's laptop. He picked up on the fourth ring.

Kurt and Blaine were both smiling and ecstatic, if a little frazzled in Kurt's case, when the video popped up. Then both of their eyes widened in horror at Mairead's face on the video. She sighed. "I'll explain."

Friday, eleven in the morning

"Kurt! Hurry up! Joey's calling me!" Blaine shouted from his dorm room, Kurt next door. Both of them had some down time to cool off after rehearsing the choreography about six times due to Wes' and Thad's insistence that they need all the practice they could get. Blaine suspected it was revenge for Jeff pulling a prank on Thad in the middle of the night.

Kurt ran into the room yelling "Alright, I'm coming! Don't mess up your gelled up little head, Blaine. I was just looking at the new catalogue for the latest Alexander McQueen collection." Blaine rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, let's get this started already." They both flopped down on their stomachs on Blaine's bed with the laptop between them; they were both dressed in casual clothes as school hadn't officially started up again yet. Blaine answered the call and saw his brother's face pop up and then Mairead's. Kurt and Blaine couldn't believe what they saw on Mairead's face.

She sighed, looking down at her computer screen rather than the camera that was set at the top of her computer. "I'll explain." She said a few seconds later looking exhausted through the computer.

Both the boys looked at each other in shock, their eyes wide open. "Wh-what happened, Mari?" Kurt said in a strangled voice. Blaine was too much in shock to speak coherently.

Mairead opened her mouth just as Joey cut in. "Blaine, Kurt, I need to speak with Mairead just for a minute." Joey blurted out.

"O-" Kurt was interrupted by the blackness of both video feeds. He looked over at Blaine, as he had hidden his head in his arms. Kurt got off the bed, closed and locked the door to Blaine's room, and got on the bed. Sitting close to Blaine he rubbed his back, feeling the tremors of soundless sobs wracking his body. Kurt pulled Blaine in to an upright position and let him sob into his shirt. "Hey, its okay, Blaine. It's okay. I'm right here. Nothing's ever going to hurt you again. I promise, it's okay." Kurt murmured into his hair, not caring if he got a bit of hair gel in his face.

"I- I…" Blaine tried to speak, but couldn't. He couldn't believe the state his best friend was in.

"Blaine, tell me this? Why are you crying? You don't know what happened to her. She just might have gotten into a bit of rough and tumble fight with Joey or something. Or she might have gotten a cat thrown at her." Kurt attempted at the bit of humor he tried putting in.

Blaine sniffed, knowing that Kurt was right. He didn't know what she got herself into; like the time when he, she, and Joey decided to play baseball with rocks instead of the balls and gotten a nasty bruise on Mairead's leg after the first swing.

"Feeling better?" Kurt asked softly, compassion gentling his face. Blaine nodded as Kurt kissed his temple. Blaine wiped the last few tears away from his face as he called Joey.

Blaine and Kurt smiled as Joey picked up with Mairead not far behind him with her video feed.

"Okay, let me explain! I was just in the house cleaning up after I dropped Joey off and I accidently, kinda slipped on the floor and rolled my way down the spiral staircase in my house and halfway bonked my face as I landed into the table that's at the end of the stairs. The glass vase on the table fell and broke besides me. I'm alright, really!" Mairead explained in a rush, laughing at herself.

"Really?" Kurt said flatly. He didn't believe that's what accounted for the black eye. She nodded vigorously.

"Blaine, you know the table at the bottom of the stairs. With the knobby shaped legs, right? That's how I got this." She pointed at the black eye. "I'm just a klutz sometimes, especially when someone leaves random stuff on the floor." She said loudly, meaning her brother.

Something just didn't sit right in Kurt's gut about this. Blaine looked like he believed it, having been in Mairead's house countless times. "So how long will you have the black eye for? It looks pretty bad."

"It'll probably look worse later today." Joey answered. "The swelling hasn't reached the maximum height yet. It'll look worse, and feel worse, before it gets better. But it'll probably go away in the next four days or so."

Mairead chuckled. "Great, now I have this shiner to explain to everyone at school." Joey rolled his eyes, smiling aloofly.

They talked for a few more minutes before Mairead looked away and sighed. "Sorry, I have to go, talk to you later, Blaine?" Blaine nodded. Her video feed went black before disappearing.

"How's the gash on your forehead, Blaine?" Joey asked, his face focused on the screen instead of the webcam.

"It's getting better; I just wish I didn't have to wear this bandage all time when we're doing choreography practice. It gets in the way. But the stitches are healing fast. Pretty soon you won't be able to see anything." Blaine explained, about to raise his hand to touch it before Kurt subtly laid his hand over his to stop him.

Both Blaine and Kurt heard a faint yell through the computer and Joey looked wide-eyed at the door. "I gotta go. Call me later?" He didn't wait for their response as he quickly hung up on them.

Blaine sighed, looking depressed. Kurt shut the laptop and set it on the table beside him. He lay down next to Blaine who was on his side with an arm bent under him with his head resting on the crook of said bent arm. Both of the boys looked exhausted. "Hey, why don't you get some sleep? Wes said we didn't have to come down for the second run-through until five. The whole lot of them are down in the game room playing Halo." Kurt softly explained. Blaine nodded his head, closing his eyes. Kurt made a move to get off the bed to sleep in his own room until Blaine grabbed his hand.

"Please? Sleep with me?" Blaine slurred, sleepiness evident in his voice.

Kurt obliged, getting back on the bed.

Laying down on the bed next to his boyfriend, Blaine pulled Kurt in for a small kiss before falling asleep. With their forehead nearly touching, Kurt responded gently. They both fell asleep. Well, Blaine fell asleep as Kurt pondered what had just happened over Skype before shortly succumbing to his own exhaustion.

It was nearly two o'clock when Kurt woke up. Blaine was sleeping peacefully next to him, his face softening while he slept. Kurt made sure not to disturb anything as he gazed at his boyfriend. Blaine looked, for lack of a better word, soft as he slept. All the stress and cares of the world fell away as he lay there peacefully, unconscious to the world. Kurt rolled his eyes downward to their intertwined hands. He tried to carefully pry his hand away from Blaine's but Blaine stirred in his sleep and tightened the grip he had on Kurt's hand.

"Blaine? I'm going to get up, but you keep sleeping okay?" Kurt softly said in his ear.

Blaine mumbled something before loosening his grip but not quite letting go. Kurt managed getting his hand back and slowly getting of the bed without jostling it too much. Blaine curled up into a ball before heading back into a deeper sleep. Kurt chuckled and crossed to the front of the bed to kiss Blaine on the temple.

Closing the door to Blaine's room as quiet as he can, Kurt went into his room and hastily made a sign that read:

DO NOT DISTURB BLAINE. IF YOU DO, I WILL TAKE ALL YOUR CLOTHES AND BURN THEM. –KURT

He taped it to the front of Blaine's door satisfied that none of the boys would after disturbing him and actually hid instead of burning Jeff's beloved Linkin Park sweatshirt. After showering and dressing in non-wrinkled clothes, he headed down to where the Warblers were playing the various Xboxes in the game room.

"Hey Kurt!" He heard as he entered the room, the Warblers turning to say or nod their hellos at him. Kurt nodded back at the room before deciding to sit in a beanbag chair next to David. He quickly paid David and Wes no attention to the game they were bantering back and forth at, instead trying to piece together what happened over that odd video call.

It couldn't have been a fall down the stairs. That black eye wouldn't be that bad. Hell, I got a black eye after Finn and Puck 'accidently' kicked that soccer ball into my face last summer. All I got was a slightly reddened eye. The nose I can understand, but that eye… it doesn't make sense. And how did she cut the back of her hand but her palm and fingers are perfectly alright? Kurt thought. It can't have been that glass vase, it would've have to have cut her hand and fingers unless the vase fell only across the back of her hand, but something just doesn't seem right.

"Hey, where's Blaine?" Wes asked, not taking his eyes off the flat-screen TV. Kurt looked up.

"He's just sleeping. Tired from rehearsal this morning and with his forehead giving him a headache and all." Blaine and Kurt had passed off his cut on his forehead as falling on the ground and cutting deep into his skin.

"Good, 'cause we're going to run the choreography again tonight. He'll need all the rest he can get." Wes said distractedly as he was shooting some weird alien thing.

Kurt nodded and looked more interested at the TV screen. "Can you teach me how to play this?" He asked.

Both Wes and David looked over to him, dumbfounded that he would ask. They were staring at him until they realized that the alien was just about to kill them both with a circular fire attack thingy. "Um… sure. After we're done with this thing."

Kurt spent the next two and a half hours learning how to play with a growing crowd of Warblers gathering behind him. He first heard whispers and then full-out astonishment as Kurt learned quickly and started defeating foes in short time.

"What's going on?"

Everyone except Kurt turned to look at the speaker. Blaine was standing in the doorway, freshly showered and curly haired; he hadn't bothered to put gel in his hair this time.

"Um… Kurt is playing Halo. And is actually pwning everything he hits." Blaine looked incredulous as he walked towards the TV. They were right; Kurt was efficiently killing anything that came his way.

They watched for another half hour. Blaine wasn't looking at the screen, but rather at Kurt. He had never seen him more concentrated than this, Kurt was barely even blinking! There was also something incredibly sexy about him playing video games.

"Alright! Let's get back to rehearsal; we only have a week left!" Wes clapped his hands once and yelled. Everyone groaned except for, surprise, surprise, Kurt. He was still focused on the game in front of him.

"Kurt? Let's go. It's time for rehearsal." Blaine laid a hand on his shoulder.

"No! Not until I kill this damn thing!" Kurt growled. Everything was still for one full second and then every single boy, except Kurt, roared with laughter. Never did they think that Kurt would be so addicted to playing Halo!

Laughing, Blaine kissed Kurt on the cheek. Kurt paused the game and smiled mischievously at him. He got up and stretched before taking Blaine's hand and following everyone out of the game room and into the Warbler's room.

Monday came about and saw the three out of the four of them back to school. Joey to his private junior high, Mairead back to her public high school on Tuesday (Sarah insisted she stay home another day), and Blaine and Kurt back to classes at Dalton. The week seemed to fly past as Mairead Skyped Joey every night just to make sure he was doing alright. But every day, she saw more marks on him, visible and invisible. Joey had gotten more withdrawn and aggressive, not wanting to talk with her about his home life; instead focusing on her and Blaine and Kurt. Mairead also saw a bruise blossoming on the bottom of his chin and a cut on his eyebrow. She had lost sleep thinking of the pain Matthew was inflicting on Joey and possibly Miranda. It was more than once that when she was talking with Joey that she would hear Matthew screaming for Joey; he would apologetically say good-bye to Mairead before hastily signing off Skype. It was soon Friday night and she knew that she didn't want to disrupt Blaine in rehearsing for the Regionals competition two days from now, but she couldn't exactly keep it in anymore.

It was only ten o'clock at night; most of the Dalton boys would still be awake. She sat at her laptop with the door closed and locked, and booted up Skype. The person she called answered on the second ring.

Kurt was in his room trying to relax from the most intense Warbler practice they had had so far. The school had given him and the Warblers the day off tomorrow to make final preparations for the Regionals competition on Saturday. He took off his tie and unbuttoned the top few buttons from his dress shirt before waking his laptop up. As he was checking his Facebook, the little Skype icon on the toolbar near the time in the lower right corner of his screen lit up. Clicking it open, he found himself face to hypothetical face with Mairead. Her black eye was much better than when he saw her last week and she looked concerned.

"Hi, Mairead. What's up?" He smiled happily.

"I need to talk to you about something. Can you make sure that Blaine isn't going to barge in or anything?" She urgently asked him.

He nodded shortly before asking her to wait for a minute. Kurt walked next door to find Blaine in his boxers getting ready for bed. "Hey, going to sleep already?"

Blaine nodded. "I want to get some sleep now before Wes, David, and Thad kill us tomorrow in rehearsals." He said hoarsely. The council insisted on running through Raise Your Glass too many times for Blaine's voice's comfort. Blaine winced as he coughed, a faint pain rising in his throat.

Kurt looked on sympathetically. "Here, let me get you some tea from the common room. Trust me, a cup of tea with a touch of honey will help. That what I used when I needed to battle Rachel last year when the New Directions wanted her so sing Defying Gravity instead of me."

"Didn't you lose that?" Blaine croaked, wincing again.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, but whatever. You get in that bed, mister; and I'll be back before you can say Quidditch." Kurt ran out of the room as Blaine chuckled painfully.

Kurt worked as fast as he could, thankful that the coffeepot full of hot water was still warm. He ripped open an Earl Grey tea packet and grabbed the honey bottle out of the refrigerator. Grabbing a spoon, he squirted a massive amount of honey and stirred in the tea while walking back to Blaine's room; not wanting to keep Mairead waiting for much longer.

Blaine was in bed, with his hands under his head. He sat up when he heard Kurt enter the room. Smiling, he took the warm cup from Kurt. "Thank you, Kurt." He said clearly after the first sip. Kurt sat beside him, Blaine scooting up closer to his side. Kurt slung an arm around Blaine's bare back and pulled his waist towards him. Blaine leaned his head against the taller boy's shoulder, sighing contentedly and tiredly. They sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying the silence. Kurt noticed Blaine's eyes drooping.

"Hey why don't you get some sleep, and I'll wake you up tomorrow in time for rehearsal, hm?" He murmured in Blaine's ear.

Blaine sighed once more, wanting this moment to last longer. "Okay, but give me a kiss before I sleep?" Blaine pulled his puppy dog eyes on him.

Kurt rolled his eyes. He kissed him, smiling. Blaine responded in glee, making the kiss last as long as possible.

Walking out the door and turning the lights off for him, he turned and saw his boyfriend settling in the bed under the covers. "I love you."

"I love you too, Kurt."

Kurt smiled as he quietly, but securely shut the door. He bolted back into his room and locked the door, thankful for Dalton's soundproof dorm rooms. "Sorry, Mairead. Blaine's voice was hurting him so I got him tea with honey. It just took a while." He smiled apologetically to the webcam.

Mairead smiled at her computer screen and waved a hand. "Don't worry about it." She answered a second later. "And, please Kurt, call me Mari. It's shorter. Trust me; I don't even let people at school call me Mari."

Kurt was honored that she accepted him so much and easily. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Her face grew serious. "You know firsthand what Matthew, Blaine's and Joey's father, can do, right?" Kurt nodded, his stomach suddenly uneasy.

"I've been talking with Joey every night since we've gotten home and I'm getting worried. He's been appearing on screen with marks on his face he's been passing off as bullies at school. But I know better, Joey can face those bullies down anytime and he has a great group of friends who help him. It's his home life that I'm concerned. Can you see where I'm going?"

Kurt took a moment before answering. "You think… that Matthew… is…?" Then realization dawned on him and his face contorted in horror and anger.

Mairead seeing his expression nodded sadly. "Yes, I think that Matthew is… punishing Joey daily for taking Blaine's side instead of his. I've already contacted Lauren, their sister. Lauren's one year younger than Blaine and goes to an all girls private school in California." She explained. "She's flying out here on Saturday to surprise him for the competition. So she knows what's going on right now. I'm just concerned for Joey. That's why I'm talking with you, Kurt. If I tell Blaine, he's not going to focus at all for Regionals and you might lose if he's not focused. I can trust you, right, Kurt?" She asked him hesitantly.

Kurt looked directly at his webcam instead of the screen. "Mairead, you have my complete trust that not one word that we have spoken tonight will be spoken to Blaine. I promise you that." He said seriously.

Mari sighed on screen. "Thanks, Kurt. I'm coming out with my family, Joey, and Lauren on Saturday to watch you guys. Just, keep Blaine as relaxed as possible. I'll tell him after the competition's done. I just don't know what to do right now for Joey. I want to help him, but I don't want to hurt him further. I feel so helpless." She put her head in her hands, hiding her face from the computer.

"Mari, you're not helpless and you are helping him. You're telling me and that's helping him." Kurt said, hoping his words will get through to her.

"But-"

"No but anything. You are helping him, Mari. By telling me… You are, really. Just let me talk to him and I'll see what we can do, okay?" She nodded. "Now, I would absolutely love to keep talk with you, but I need sleep for tomorrow's rehearsal. It's the last day, and Dalton's given us the day off to prepare. So tomorrow's going to be hell day for all of us Warblers." Mari laughed as Kurt said in a sarcastic tone.

"All right, I will talk to you tomorrow?" She looked seriously at the webcam.

Kurt nodded and bid Mari a good night before turning off his computer. He changed into his pajamas and fitfully fell asleep.

Tomorrow saw Kurt coming out of his room still in his pajamas and going into Blaine's still dark room. Climbing silently onto the bed, he lay down next to him and kissed him into waking him up.

Blaine had had a dreamless night and woke up when a curious sensation bothered his chest. It felt like he was choking. His eyes snapped open and he flailed his arms, hoping to scare away what was making him choke. His hand hit something warm and soft and made a noise that sounded like "Oof! Blaine! It's me!" A voice sounded out. Blaine stilled his hands and grabbed his glasses and shoved them into his face. Kurt was rubbing his shoulder.

"Kurt? It was you?" Blaine said, wide awake.

"Yes, it was me. I told you I would wake you up in time for rehearsal. You have an hour before we have to show up." Kurt said.

"Sorry for hitting you. Just, kiss me next time after you wake me up." Blaine looked apologetically.

Kurt chuckled. "Fine, I just wanted to surprise you. I'll let you get ready." Kurt kissed him before heading back into his own room.

Blaine just laid there for a few more moments before getting ready.