“But you haven’t told me anything yet!” Blaine said, sighing.

“I know I haven’t little bro, but all will be revealed! I promise you.”

“Why can’t you just tell me where you want to take me?”

He could almost see his brother rolling his eyes at the phone. “But then it wouldn’t be a surprise!”

“Coop, the last surprise you gave me was a dead rat in a box, when I was five. I don’t think I could deal with that kind of trauma again.”

Cooper burst out laughing and Blaine smiled. “Oh man, I remember that! The look on your face was priceless. But you threw that thing at my face; you can’t hold it against me forever. I was young as well!”

“You were twelve years old; you can’t blame what you did on being young. Stop changing the subject Coop, tell me where you’re taking me!”

“No! That police woman, Rose – very nice, by the way – told me that you’re staying with Kurt’s family. I can pick you up from their house. What time does your counselling session finish?”

“Well, she’s coming to Kurt’s house, after we’ve been to glee. Carole said it’ll be about an hour and a half, maybe two hours. Why don’t you come around at six? That’ll be okay, won’t it?”

“Six is perfect little bro. Will you introduce me to Kurt? I want to invite him out with us.”

“Um…”

“Aw, come on! I want to meet the boy that’s captured your heart! I should meet him and his family!”

“Maybe, it depends – don’t attack them or anything, even if it’s your ‘big brother’ attack where you want to protect me.”

Cooper gave a low chuckle. “Now why in the world would I attack them?”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Because you’re Cooper Anderson, it’s what you do. Look, I gotta go. I don’t want to be late – back to school and all…”

“I get you Blainey, don’t worry. I’ll see you at six. Hey, do you think Rose likes Italian food? She seemed really into me, and she’s hot-”

“Cooper, I don’t want to know…”

“Aw, sure you do! Okay, I know she isn’t hot to you because boys turn you on, not girls, but still, you can’t deny she’s attractive! Besides, I wanna know about the ass you’re getting from Kurt, why don’t you wanna know about this?”

“Bye Coop.”

Blaine ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket. It was strange, how Cooper managed to cheer him up, even when he was teasing him. Blaine looked up at William McKinley High School and sighed. For some reason, he felt even more nervous that he had done on his first day. He wasn’t entirely sure why though – there was no way Karofsky was coming back, and he was the main threat at the school. He shuddered.

It was Monday morning – he and Kurt had spent the entire weekend at home, distracting each other from what was to come. They had succeeded during the day time, but Blaine still seemed to have countless nightmares, which made him think about… things. Just the previous day, he’d confessed that he needed to cut. Kurt immediately set about making him feel better, curling up in bed watching cheesy romance films, doing anything to take his mind off things.

“Hey, you all done with your phone call to Cooper?”

Blaine looked up to see Kurt leaning against the door of his car. He nodded, taking in his boyfriend’s appearance. Kurt looked tired, there was no denying it. After all, who could blame him? He’d spent most of the night with his arms around Blaine, whispering comforting words in his ear. In all honesty, Blaine felt guilty – it wasn’t fair to put Kurt and his family through so much stress.

“What did he say?” Kurt asked, bringing Blaine out of his reverie.

“Not a lot. He’s picking me up from your house at six tonight – that police officer told him where you lived. He wants to meet you and your family though.”

“He does?” Kurt said a little nervously. Blaine nodded. “Why?”

“Because you’re my boyfriend,” he replied simply. Kurt beamed at the comment.

“Hey, you guys better get moving,” Mike Chang called to them across the parking lot. “You know McHale will murder you if you’re late! She’s been doing her nut in, going on about how many lessons you’ve missed.”

“We’ll be there soon Mike,” Blaine said back. Mike nodded and walked away. “You don’t think we’ve missed a lot, do you? Oh god, what if we never catch up?”

“Shut up Blaine,” Kurt said, taking his hand and rolling his eyes. “You’re amazing at maths. You could pass this year in your sleep… although you could help me with Pythagoras’ Theorem. I hear you know a lot about triangles-”

“Leave my eyebrows out of this Kurt Hummel. Don’t make me punch you.”

“Please, like you could hurt me.”

“If I remember correctly, you told me I could throw a good punch.”

“Oh fuck, I did. Dammit,” Kurt pouted, making Blaine grin. “Oh well, I’d still kick your ass. Come on, let’s go.”

Blaine nodded. Neither of them could help but notice how everyone was staring at them as they walked through the parking lot.

“I think everyone knows,” Blaine whispered. Kurt looked at him and nodded slowly, but didn’t say anything. “Shit, I don’t do well with pressure.”

“You aren’t under pressure. Just ignore them all, okay? You have me, you have Cooper, and you have your friends. You’re fine, you’re safe.”

Blaine just nodded. They reached the main hallway and stopped in their tracks. Both pairs of eyes moved to the row of lockers. The bell rang and the hallways emptied, but neither of them seemed to be able to move. Kurt was cold and felt sick but Blaine… his chest was tight and he could barely breathe. His grip on Kurt’s hand was tight and he was shaking. He turned to Kurt, his eyes wide.

“Do something!” He managed to gasp.

Kurt didn’t even think about it. He pulled the other boy towards him and pressed their lips together. Blaine calmed down immediately, his panic attack disappearing before it had even started.

“Ahem.”

They turned to see Mr Schue stood in front of them, arms folded across his chest. He attempted to look stern, but there was a smile on his face.

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t see that boys,” he said playfully. “But get to class. I know for a fact you’re both supposed to be in maths right now.”

“And Mrs McHale is going to kick our asses,” muttered Kurt, rolling his eyes.

“No she won’t, just tell her I asked to see you both.”

“Will she believe it?” asked Blaine.

Mr Schue shrugged. “If not, tell her to come and talk to me. I’ll see you boys in glee later, alright?”

They nodded and walked away, hands still entwined. It was only when they reached their maths classroom, they realised how late they were.

“And where the hell have you boys been? The bell rang ten minutes ago. You have both missed too many lessons to afford to be late to my class! It’s like you don’t want to pass!”

“We’re sorry,” Blaine mumbled, his eyes fixed on the floor. He attempted to move to his seat, but Kurt held him back, refusing to let go of his hand.

“Wait a minute,” Kurt said, drawing himself to full height, glaring at their teacher. “I get the fact we’re late and you’re pissed off, but we have a good reason.”

“Oh, I’d like to hear this,” she snapped, putting her book on the desk and turning to face them both.

“I know we’ve missed lessons, but it couldn’t be helped,” he said, ignoring Blaine’s nudges to their seats. “I know everyone here knows what happened last Wednesday, and why Blaine and I weren’t in school. I know that everyone knows why Karofsky isn’t in school. Everyone knows what he did last week. So excuse us for taking a few days off, after he attacked us. Excuse us for walking past our lockers, where the god damn attack happened, and remembering it.”

The entire class was watching Kurt, mouths open and eyes wide in shock. Blaine had stopped trying to pull him away and was watching him, chewing on his lip. Mrs McHale, their teacher, was staring at him as though she had never seen him before. Kurt, however, wasn’t finished and carried on talking, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“I apologise dearly that we’re ten minutes late to your precious lesson, because we were remembering what that big ugly bastard did to us.”

He turned and moved to the back of the room, sitting beside Mike. Blaine sat down on his other side, his gaze still fixed on Kurt. The rest of the class were staring at them, sitting in a stunned silence. Mrs McHale seemed to compose herself, because she picked up her book and carried on talking, as though nothing had happened. Once he was certain she was no longer paying any attention to them, Blaine spoke.

“Damn,” he whispered to Kurt, taking hold of his hand again.

“What?”

“That was… wow.”

He raised an eyebrow but Blaine blushed and turned away. Mike seemed to understand – he let out a low laugh and leaned in to whisper in Kurt’s ear.

“He thinks it was hot.”

Kurt burst out laughing at this, earning him a disapproving look from their teacher. He glanced at Blaine, whose face was still red. “Cutie pie,” he whispered, giving him a wink. Blaine couldn’t help but grin, especially when he felt Kurt’s hand on his leg. He bit his lip, determined not to say anything.

“Is it true, did they run Dave out of school?”

“No man, I heard Karofsky attacked them! He broke that lesbian cheerleader’s wrist.”

“Santana Lopez?”

“Yeah, that’s her!”

“Oh look, there they are!”

The cafeteria went silent and every person in the room turned to stare at Kurt and Blaine. They both turned and sat at their usual table with the rest of the glee club, not bothering to get any food. As soon as they were sat down, the noise started again.

“I heard Hummel cried!”

“No fucking way!”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard… but apparently Dave beat the shit out of the nerdy one, and he’s dating Kurt.”

“Oh my god, how did that geek get Kurt Hummel? He’s hot!”

“Yes but he’s gay.”

A low growl escaped Kurt’s throat, his eyes flicking to the table beside theirs. The group of people – cheerleaders and jocks, stared right back at him. After a few minutes, they lowered their gaze.

“They aren’t even bothering to keep their voices down,” Kurt hissed.

“I know honey,” Blaine said quietly. “Just keep your head up.”

“Yeah, we know the truth,” Mercedes said. “You’ve never normally let stuff like this bother you.”

Kurt raised an eyebrow but before he could reply, another voice interrupted him.

“Kurt Hummel,” Jacob Israel said, forcing his way into the seat between Kurt and Blaine. “Care to comment on what happened on Wednesday?”

“Fuck off Jewfro,” Kurt snapped.

Jacob rolled his eyes and turned his recorder to Blaine. “What about you Blaine Anderson? The entire school’s talking about it – we know that you had to take the rest of the week off school to recover from what he did to you. Want to explain?”

“No,” Blaine said in a quiet voice.

“Okay, well what’s this about your father’s trial on Wednesday? Is it true he used to beat you-?”

“Listen you pinchazo poco flaco, leave Blaine alone,” Santana said, getting to her feet and standing over Jacob. “You can ask about his relationship with Kurt all you want, but you do not bring his family into this!”

“I didn’t-”

“Get out of here,” Sam said, joining Santana. “No one wants you here.”

“I-”

“GO!”

He stood and hurried away, bowing his head. Santana sat back down, eyes on Blaine.

“You okay hobbit?” He nodded, but she wasn’t convinced. “I’m serious! Do you… need anything?”

“I’m fine,” Blaine whispered. “Who’d have thought, Santana Lopez, asking if someone’s alright.”

She flashed a grin. “Wanky.”

Blaine rolled his eyes and turned to Kurt. “I’m going to French. Are you coming?”

“Um… we still have half an hour.”

“I know. I’m just fed up all the staring.”

Kurt nodded and stood up. “I get it,” he said. “Come on.”

Blaine took his hand. They said goodbye to the others and walked out of the cafeteria, painfully aware of the stares they were getting. The French classroom was empty when they got there, which they were both grateful for.

“How are you holding up?” Kurt asked, sitting on top of a table and pulling Blaine closer to him.

“Not well,” he admitted. “I really, really want to do it…”

He sighed. “I know honey. But this is why we’re talking to someone. You’ve admitted to me that it’s not good, and we’re going to help you get better.”

“I know,” he whispered, allowing himself to relax in Kurt’s arms. “I’m just shit at dealing with things.”

“You aren’t. You’re the bravest person I know. Blaine… you’re mamma would be so proud.”

Blaine’s breath hitched, but he gave a small smile. “I hope so… I want her to be. I-”

The rest of his sentence was cut off. Kurt closed the distance between their lips, kissing Blaine passionately. Blaine smiled into the kiss, his hands on Kurt’s hips. Heat spread through his body like fire and soon, he was pulling away.

“What?” Kurt whined.

“I… um, we should stop… before I get… yeah.”

“What do you…” He began, but then stopped. He looked down at Blaine’s trousers, a grin spreading across his face slowly. “Yeah, we probably should stop. But um… yeah.”

Blaine looked down and burst out laughing, seeing Kurt in the same state as him. “Oh god… we’re both… we should probably sit down.”

“Yeah…”

They sat on the back row of the classroom, giggling. One by one, their classmates entered. Most of them stared at Kurt and Blaine, and the others just ignored them. Their teacher told them that he had graded their essays and he wanted them to go over them in pairs. Both Kurt and Blaine were thrilled by this – in their eyes, it was a lesson to do nothing. Blaine was fluent in French and Kurt knew he’d tutor him.

“Where do you think Cooper’s taking you tonight?”

“Je n'ai absolument aucune idée. Il veut que tu viennes avec nous.”

“Blaine you know I have no idea what you’re saying… English please?”

“Kurt, c'est une leçon de français - pourquoi, dans le monde, je parlerai en anglais?” Blaine said in an innocent voice. Kurt pouted and hit him with one of their textbooks. He laughed loudly, earning him a glare from their teacher.

“I’m serious!”

“Moi aussi.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. He didn’t reply, instead opening his text book and reading something. Blaine watched him for a few minutes before moving his eyes to his essay. Maybe he’d pissed Kurt off… Well shit. Within half an hour, Blaine had read his essay and hadn’t found a single flaw – he knew he wouldn’t, considering he was fluent in the god damn language.

Kurt looked up from his text book, obviously pleased about something. He managed to catch Blaine’s eye and spoke.

“Blaine, alors vous allez toujours autour de moi ont besoin d'apprendre le français parce que c'est important ou peu importe ... Donc, je viens de faire exactement cela! Mais bien sûr, je pourrais utiliser un peu d'aide avec quelques cours plus tard ... Peut-être avec une autre chose en français, si vous obtenez ma dérive?

Blaine’s jaw dropped.

“Kurt… You… I... What?” He spluttered, but he was interrupted by a furious voice.

“Kurt Hummel,” the voice said. They looked up to see their teacher standing over them. “You are not in this class to talk about French kissing – you’re here to learn the French language.”

“I’m aware of that,” Kurt replied coolly. “And I just learned a sentence in French, did I not?”

“Yes, but-”

“Well there you have it,” He interrupted, smirking. Their teacher rolled his eyes and walked away. As soon as he’d disappeared, Blaine burst out laughing.

“I… Um… I’ll take you up that offer later… Well, after Cooper’s gone.”

Kurt winked at him. They didn’t do any more work for the remaining half hour of the lesson. When the bell rang, they headed to the choir room hand in hand. They were slightly surprised that it was empty when they got there.

“Rachel’s going to be a nightmare,” Kurt whispered, taking a seat.

“I know,” Blaine replied, sitting beside him. “But we have to let them celebrate. They’ve been so worried about us; they haven’t had a proper chance to enjoy their victory.”

Kurt smiled. “You’re always thinking about others before yourself… such a gentleman.”

“Shut up,” Blaine said as the others entered.

“Blaine, sup man?” Artie said, wheeling to his side and giving him a high five. Blaine couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hey Kurt,” said Puck, sitting beside him. “Any better now?”

He shrugged. “I guess so – just fed up with all the staring.”

“I get you dude, it sucks ass. But don’t worry, something else will happen and then that’s what everyone will be gossiping about. You know how it works around here.”

“Hey guys,” Mr Schue said, entering the room. “First off, welcome back Kurt and Blaine. It’s so good to see you both here.” Blaine flushed and Kurt laughed, nudging his shoulder gently. “Secondly, well done! We’re going to Nationals… We’re going to New York!”

The glee club burst into applause and started cheering. Blaine realised that he’d been right – they hadn’t had the chance to celebrate their victory properly because they’d been so worried about their friends.

“Now, I know some of us are eager to get started on our set list for Nationals,” Mr Schue continued when the noise had died down. It didn’t escape anyone’s notice that he glanced at Rachel when he spoke. “But I thought for today, we can relax. I don’t know if anyone has something they want to perform or…”

“I do!” Rachel said enthusiastically, jumping to her feet. The New Directions groaned in unison.

“So do I,” Blaine said quietly… yet somehow, everyone heard him. Rachel sat down immediately, her eyes wide.

“Go ahead Blaine,” Mr Schue said, taking a seat.

Blaine got to his feet and moved to sit at the piano, his fingers brushing over the keys without pressing them down. He glanced up at Kurt, who was watching him closely. He closed his eyes and pressed down on the keys.

“Home, I’ve heard the word before,

But it’s never meant much more

Than just a thing I’ve never had

A place, they say ‘hey, know your place’

But I’ve never had a place to even know

Or a face that I could go to

If I needed someone there.”

Kurt’s heart clenched. Blaine looked lost… he was just a boy, pouring his heart and soul into the song he was singing. He didn’t recognise the song, so no doubt Blaine had written it himself. The lyrics seemed to hurt more than anything. The rest of the New Directions were either watching Blaine, or Kurt, who was close to tears.

“I’m laughing

It’s hard to hide a smile

My god, it’s been a while

Since I have had a reason to

To think, it’s been here all along

Somewhere to belong and a reason

Something to believe in

I’ve finally found it

A place where I’m wanted

This must be how it feels to have a home.”

Blaine paused for a fraction of a second. He opened his eyes and glanced at Kurt, a small smile on his face. Kurt was pretty sure his heart stopped completely. Blaine was… beautiful. He closed his eyes again as he began the bridge, his voice laced with emotion.

“I used to dream about it

But never schemed or counted

On fantasies or wishes

It breaks a man to see what he misses

For so many nights I’d pray

For a better life, a better day

But I never thought that it’d come true

It’s finally here and I don’t know what to do

And I’m trying not to cry

This must be how it feels to have a home.”

He stopped singing and allowed his fingers to glide across the keys effortlessly. At first, it seemed like he was finished. Rachel certainly seemed to think so, because she jumped to her feet and started clapping. Then, the music seemed to build up again. Blaine’s eyes were still tightly shut – he didn’t even notice Rachel’s outburst. It was as though he’d forgotten he was in a room full of people.

“I’ve finally made it

I’ve hoped and I’ve waited

And for the first time in my life

I don’t feel so alone

My heart starts to heal

To know this is real

This is how it must feel

To have a home.”

Blaine finished the song with a huge note that seemed to go on forever. When he was finished, he opened his eyes and breathed out a long sigh. All of the girls were crying – Brittany was actually holding on to Santana to keep herself upright. To Blaine’s surprise, Mr Schue, Artie, Mike and Sam seemed to be on the verge of tears, but were fighting them back. Then, he moved his gaze to his boyfriend. Kurt’s face was glazed with tears and he was smiling. When Blaine smiled back, Kurt leapt from his seat and threw his arms around him. The sheer force of it made him slide off the piano bench – they landed in a heap on the floor, oblivious to the cries of shock behind them.

“Ow,” Blaine said, laughing. He pushed Kurt off him and sat up. “I didn’t expect that…”

“Oh Blaine, that was beautiful,” Kurt said softly. “Seriously it was… amazing. Did you write it?”

Blaine nodded and got to his feet, pulling Kurt up with him.

“I didn’t know you could write songs,” Brittany said.

“Britt, we found that out weeks ago.”

“Yes, but I thought it was songs like twinkle, twinkle little star.”

Santana rolled her eyes fondly at Brittany.

“Blaine?” Mr Schue said, moving to stand beside them. “Can I ask why you wanted to sing that?”

“Um… well… I’ve never really felt like I belonged anywhere. I mean, I fit in at Dalton fine, but I was bullied a lot by one person, who was in the Warblers… so I couldn’t really do anything. My friends knew but they couldn’t do anything either.” He stopped and sighed. “But it’s different here. I found that out last week. I know I’m not exactly popular at this school, but I have friends… and um…” He stopped, flushing scarlet.

“Go on,” Mr Schue said gently. “No one’s going to judge you in this room. Surely you’ve realised that by now?”

“No, I know, it’s just um… I feel like I’m home when I’m with Kurt. I’ve never had that feeling before.”

Before anyone could say anything, Kurt threw his arms around Blaine again, pulling him into a tight hug. “You’re too sweet for your own good Blaine,” he whispered in his ear. Blaine flushed again and grinned.

They passed the rest of their time singing. There was nothing competitive about it; they were just singing to enjoy themselves, just because they could. By the end of it, Quinn admitted that it was the first time she’d sung for fun in months.

Mercedes, Sam, Puck and Finn walked with Kurt and Blaine to the parking lot, chattering happily.

“See you tomorrow guys,” Mercedes said cheerfully. “You ready Sam?”

He nodded, smiling. “Good luck tonight you guys.”

“With what – the counselling or my brother?” Blaine asked.

“Both I guess,” Sam replied, laughing. “Hey Blaine, if you need anything, just text me. The same goes for you Kurt, just get my number from Blaine’s phone or something.”

“Will do… thanks Sam.”

He waved Kurt’s words away and walked towards his car with Mercedes. Puck said goodbye to them all, heading towards his motorbike.

“I’m guessing you’re riding with us?” Kurt asked Finn, who nodded.

“I got a ride with Rachel this morning, but she’s going out with her dads… That’s okay, isn’t it?”

“Of course it is you oversized buffoon,” he said jokingly.

“Shotgun!”

“You’re in the back.”

“Aw, that’s not fair.” Finn whined.

“Yeah it is; boyfriends trump shotgun every time. Back, now.”

Finn pulled a face and climbed into the backseat. Blaine burst out laughing and got into the passenger side. They drove with the radio on, singing cheerfully. When they reached the Hudson-Hummel household, Finn dived out of the car, complaining he was ‘wasting away’.

“You ready for this?” Blaine asked Kurt, “Because if not we can reschedule.”

“We’re not rescheduling this Blaine,” he replied, even though he looked like he wanted nothing more. “We already brought it forward by a week because you wanted to cut. We have to do this… we have to get better.”

“Right.”

Neither one of them made to move. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Kurt eventually breaking it.

“Can I ask you something?” Blaine nodded. “When did you write that song?”

“Um… yesterday…”

“You… you wrote… yesterday?!”

“Well, the lyrics, yeah… I made the tune up on the spot.” He shrugged. “I know it sounded awful but I really wanted you to hear it.”

“Awful? Are you fucking kidding me?” Kurt said, his voice raising an octave. “Jesus Christ Blaine, if you can make something like that up on the spot, I want to know what the hell you can do when you practise something.”

Blaine flushed. “Th-thanks.”

“I’m serious. You have no idea how talented you are.” He stopped, looking up at his front door. Burt was stood there, beckoning them inside. “You ready for this?”

“No,” Blaine admitted. “But like you said… we need to get better.”

“Yes, we do.”

They got out of the car and headed inside the house, hand in hand. Burt told them that they could have the living room, as Finn was upstairs and he and Carole were heading out. They nodded and sat down on the sofa, waiting. Burt and Carole left, promising to be back in an hour at the most. After a few minutes, a woman entered. She sat opposite them and smiled.

“Hello,” she said cheerfully. “I’m Julia. Who wants to start?”

“I will,” Blaine said, his voice barely more than a whisper.