“Mamma…” Blaine’s voice was quiet and broken. Still on his knees, he crawled to his mother’s side. His hands moved to her hair, brushing it out of her face. Her skin was ice cold and deathly pale. “Mamma… No…”

“Hello?” Kurt said from the other room. His voice was incredibly shaky, but desperate. “I need an ambulance. The address… crap, I don’t know Blaine, what’s your address?” He asked, reappearing in the doorway.

“317… Thomas Street,” he said, his voice breaking. “Apartment 3B… Kurt, tell them to hurry!”

Kurt repeated the address down the phone. “Yes, please hurry. His… his mother’s on the floor… There’s a lot of blood. No, I don’t know if she is… do you want me to check? Okay. Blaine?” He said, kneeling beside him. “Listen, Blaine. I need to check if she’s breathing. You have to move.”

Blaine looked up at Kurt, his eyes wide. He nodded slowly and shifted, allowing Kurt to reach her body. His hands moved to her wrist, wincing at the gashes that were there. He frowned, moving his hands to her neck.

“She… she isn’t breathing,” Kurt said into the phone, his voice breaking. “And I can’t find a pulse. Okay… Please, please hurry. Yes, I’ll stay on the line, but… I think my friend needs me.” He put the phone on the edge of the bath without hanging up. Then, he knelt beside Blaine and took hold of his hand. “Blaine? Blaine, look at me.”

He tore his eyes from his mother’s body to meet Kurt’s gaze. There were tears falling from his eyes and broken sobs were escaping his lips.

“Kurt… My mamma…”

He let out a howl and Kurt pulled him into his arms, stroking his curly hair.

“I know Blaine… Believe me, I do. I’m so sorry. There’s nothing I can say to numb this pain, I know that. But I’m here for you, I promise. I swear Blaine, I’ll be here for you whenever you need me, no matter what time it is.”

Blaine allowed himself to be comforted, even though it didn’t make him feel any better. After a few minutes, they heard movement from outside the flat. Kurt called to them and there were footsteps. Two paramedics entered the bathroom. Without looking at the two teenagers on the floor, they picked up Blaine’s mother and put her on a stretcher, using a white sheet to cover her body. One of them wheeled the stretcher out of the bathroom, and the other one crouched down beside Kurt and Blaine.

“Which one of you is Blaine?” She said in a soft voice. Blaine tried to speak, but no sound came out.

“He is,” Kurt said to the woman. “I’m the one who phoned the ambulance.”

She nodded. “You did the right thing. Come on; let’s get you both to the hospital.” She held her hand out to Blaine, but Kurt pushed it away. He got to his feet and pulled Blaine up.

“Come on honey, we have to go.” His voice was soft. Blaine just nodded numbly and followed Kurt and the paramedic out of the flat. His neighbours were peeking out of their doorways, horrified by what they saw.

“I got you some coffee.”

Blaine nodded his thanks and took the cup from Kurt. He was numb – his eyes were red and puffy. He’d only stopped crying a few minutes ago. They had been in the hospital for hours. The doctors told him there was no way his mother could have survived, and they confirmed that she’d slashed her own wrists. His father had been contacted and was on his way.

Kurt sat beside Blaine in the waiting room. They were both covered in blood, and odd looks were being thrown their way, but it was the last thing on their minds. Kurt held his hand tightly – this small gesture was all he could do. He knew it wouldn’t make Blaine feel any better, but hopefully it let him know that he was cared for. They were silent – Blaine hadn’t been able to speak for hours, and Kurt knew there was no point in trying to force him to.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS MY SON?”

Andrew Anderson’s voice was thunderous. Blaine started as though he had been electrocuted and looked up, his eyes wide. He started shaking, obviously petrified. Kurt looked up to see Blaine’s father through the glass doors, bellowing at a nurse. He gave Blaine’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Listen to me,” he whispered urgently. “You don’t have to go home. You can stay at my house – he can’t make you go back with him. Just keep hold of my hand, okay? Squeeze it if you need to, I don’t care how hard you do it. Just keep hold of me.”

Blaine gave a shaky nod, flinching when his father opened the doors with an almighty crash. His eyes found Blaine and they narrowed.

“Why the fuck did you leave her alone?” He shouted, his hand moving to Blaine’s throat. Before he could grab him, Kurt pulled him away. His father looked around, furious. He saw their hands entwined and let out a scream of rage. “Get your hands off my son, you filthy fag. You’re the problem with this fucking country!”

Kurt winced, not from the cruel words, but from how tight Blaine’s grip on his hand was. The people in the waiting room had fallen silent, watching the scene before them.

“I said let go of him! I will not allow my son to be friends with a dirty, stinking little scum bag like you. The boys at that gay as fuck school were bad enough-”

As if on cue, the door of the waiting room burst open once again. A horde of boys in blue blazers ran in, towards Blaine. His father was forced to the side and they all engulfed Blaine in a bear-hug. Kurt attempted to release Blaine’s hand to give him some time with his old friends, but when he tried, Blaine’s grip tightened around his fingers. Furious, Blaine’s father turned on his heel and left the hospital. No one even noticed. Eventually, the Warblers let go of Blaine. After several disapproving looks from different doctors and nurses, they sat down.

“I’m so sorry about your mother Blaine.”

“My mamma,” Blaine corrected automatically. He refused to call her ‘mother’. It had always been ‘mamma’ to him, and it always would be. “How… how did you know?” Blaine asked, his voice hoarse.

“Someone called Kurt phoned up the office Dalton and asked to speak to the lead Warbler. He explained everything and… well, here we are. I’m guessing that’s you?” One of them said, looking at Kurt. He nodded.

“You… you called them?” Once again, Kurt nodded. Blaine frowned “Why?”

“I figured they know you better than I do… And you said you were friends with the Warblers. So I just… I thought you’d want to see your old friends.”

Without saying anything, Blaine stood up and wrapped his arms around Kurt. “Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you so much.”

Kurt gave a small smile, returning the hug. “Don’t worry about it.”

The Warblers introduced themselves to Kurt, smiling. They seemed friendly enough, and they meant a lot to Blaine, so he responded warmly.

“So who are you?” The blonde one, Jeff, asked.

“I’m Kurt; I thought you all knew that.”

“No, sorry, I meant who are you to Blaine? He was terrified about going to public school, and he wouldn’t listen when we said he’d make friends…”

“I’m his friend,” Kurt said and Jeff smiled.

“Good. See Blaine Warbler, I told you you’d make friends… even if it’s just one.”

“Blaine Warbler?” Kurt repeated, grinning. Blaine ignored him.

“I have more than one friend Jeff. I actually joined my school’s glee club.” He said. “Kurt, did you-?”

“Don’t worry, I phoned them. They’re on their way.”

Blaine nodded. The others were watching him and Kurt closely.

“So Blaine, how different is it to the Warblers?”

“Very,” he said quietly. “For a start, it isn’t a cappella – we sing with instruments and stuff. It’s more laid back but…”

“But what?” The one called Nick prompted.

“We aren’t very popular. I had a slushie thrown at my face today, because I’m a member of the New Directions.”

“What?!”

“And the teachers don’t do… anything?”

Blaine shrugged and let Kurt answer their questions. He was thankful for what his friends were attempting to do – they were trying their best to distract him from what was going on, to take his mind of things. It was a shame it wasn’t working.

About an hour after the Warblers arrived, another ‘distraction’ came, in the form of the New Directions. The first one to reach him was Rachel. She flung her arms around him, hugging him tightly. Blaine let out a gasp of pain, but returned her hug. The next two to hug him were Mercedes and Tina. Eventually, every member of the New Directions had their arms around him and they were all murmuring words of comfort. Blaine was unable to stop his tears; they fell from his eyes silently. Kurt took hold of Blaine’s hand once again and squeezed it.

“Blaine… I’m so sorry dude,” Mike said once everyone had let go of him. “I’m here if you need me, okay?”

He nodded weakly. Rachel’s eyes moved to the group of boys in blazers. She let out a gasp, finally realising.

“You… You’re the Dalton Academy Warblers!” It wasn’t a question, but one of them, David, nodded. Rachel opened her mouth to speak, but she closed it again, catching the glowering look Kurt gave her.

“Which one of you is Blaine Anderson?” A doctor asked, approaching them. Blaine raised his hand. “Ah, your father is waiting for you in the parking lot. He says you’re to go right home. He wants to spend time with you this evening – it’s understandable after the death of a loved one. Come on, say goodbye to your friends.”

Blaine gave Kurt a frantic look.

“He can’t go home!” He said, standing up. “He… I won’t let him go back there!”

“You have no choice,” the doctor said, looking down at Kurt. “Blaine has to go home with his father. Rules are rules.”

“You don’t understand! I don’t care if it’s the rules!” He turned to Blaine, desperate. “You have no reason to stay there anymore. Show her.”

“I… I can’t…”

“What’s stopping you?” He took hold of Blaine’s hands, his stomach clenching when he saw them trembling. “If you speak out, you won’t have to go back there. My dad’s already said you can stay with us. Cooper wants you to do this as well Blaine.”

“What are you two talking about?” Jeff asked, standing up. “Why doesn’t Blaine want to go home?”

He looked around at him and let out a sob. He turned back to Kurt and let go of his hands. He knew, deep down, that he was right. But that wasn’t going to make this easy.

“Okay,” he said quietly. Blaine closed his eyes and very slowly, lifted up his shirt to reveal his bruises.