For some reason, after the day he sang to Kurt in Glee, Blaine is suspiciously not there, despite the steady thump of Kurt's heart and the memory of Blaine's promise. They don't see each other outside of school for weeks. Even in school, Blaine doesn't act like himself. He's too quiet and too reserved and he doesn't linger in the hallway with Rachel or his friends like he usually does. He skips Glee enough times to warrant a dressing down from Mr. Schue before rehearsal in the privacy of their teacher's office, and when Kurt texts him to ask what happened, Blaine doesn't respond at all.

Kurt stares at Blaine from across the classroom most days. He wonders what's going on in the other boy's head, wonders what had transpired to make him act so strangely. At first, Kurt thinks that Rachel is monopolizing most of Blaine's time and tiring him to a ridiculous degree, but as it turns out, that isn't the case.

            "-and we haven't gone on a date in weeks," he overhears Rachel saying to Blaine in the hallway during passing period. "You didn't even eat lunch with us yesterday."

Yeah, that had been something Kurt had noticed as well.

            "I just needed some peace and quiet," Blaine says with a sigh. "But Brittany came over and asked if I would help her with some history homework."

            "You're avoiding me," Rachel states. "You're avoiding everyone."

            "I'm just - I'm just tired, okay? I'm not avoiding anyone."

Except maybe he is, Kurt thinks from his spot at his own locker. He doesn't have much time to ponder Blaine's strange behavior in that second because, a large hand shoves him harshly against the row of metal doors. Kurt's entire body collides with the lockers and he loses his balance, tumbling to the ground. He hears laughter and the sound of hands meeting in a high five. For a few seconds, he's slightly disoriented but when he shakes his head, Blaine is suddenly there.

And he looks livid.

            "Kurt," Blaine says, his eyes inspecting Kurt's face for injury, "are you okay?"

            "What?" Kurt asks in reply, too stunned about the fact that Blaine's hand is on Kurt's shoulder, in front of everyone, to focus on his words.

            "Karofsky!" Blaine shouts to the sea of letterman jackets sauntering down the hall.

Karofsky, along with a fair amount of other football players, turns around to see who had called after him. He smiles.

            "What's up, Anderson?"

            "Apologize," Blaine demands, looking taller and more authoritative than Kurt has ever seen him.

            "What?" Karofsky asks, just as baffled as everyone else.

            "I said apologize."

            "For what?" Karofsky asks with a sadistic grin.

            "For shoving Kurt," Blaine says. "But mostly just for being a dick."

The students still in the hall fall silent at Blaine's words. Even Kurt is struck mute at the command. He stares up at Blaine in shock from his place on the ground and out of the corner of his eye, he sees Rachel cover her mouth with her hand.

            "What's your problem, dude?" Karofsky asks.

            "My problem has to do with you and your fucking attitude, dude," Blaine snaps.

And it seems like he truly does. He just - just snaps. Whatever has been going on with Blaine these past couple of weeks seems to come to a head, like some sort of fury has been bubbling and building and for whatever reason, Dave Karofsky shoving Kurt is what sets him off.

            "Kurt's never done anything to you and you treat him like he's garbage and I'm sick of it," Blaine states. "So apologize."

            "I'm not going to apologize to some fucking fairy," Karofsky spits. "You're cracked, man."

            "He is a person and if you don't stop this shit, I'll break your fucking nose."

            "Dude, do you hear yourself right now?" Karofsky asks. "He's a nobody."

            "He's my-" a quick stutter, "-my teammate," Blaine says. "I don't care what you think of the Glee club, but I'm part of it and so is he. And this stops now."

Karofsky lifts a single eyebrow, as if in challenge, and slowly begins to close the space between him and Blaine. When they're less than a foot apart, Karofsky comes to a halt. He's much larger than Blaine, both in height and build, and Kurt's heart pounds like a frightened rabbit's in his chest.

            "I think you should probably check yourself, Anderson," Karofsky says, voice pitched low and dangerous.

            "And I think you should stow your shit and apologize to Kurt for being such an asshole."

It happens too fast. Karofsky launches a single fist and Blaine clearly doesn't see it coming. The punch collides with Blaine's jaw, knocking him back and causing him to stumble. He doesn't fall, though, and when he regains his balance, he spits onto the floor and Kurt can see blood on Blaine's lips. He hears Rachel gasp behind them and then Mr. Schue is there, hauling both boys away to what Kurt assumes is the principal's office. The silence in the hall dissolves into whispers and the rushing clatter of feet as people try to make their way to their classes.

Kurt remains on the floor, staring at Blaine's retreating back.

            "Kurt!" Mercedes calls, forcing her way through the crowd of students. "Are you okay?"

            "I - yeah," Kurt says. "Yeah, I'm fine."

            "That was-"

            "I know. Let's just - let's go to class."

Mercedes helps him up and he brushes off her concerned glances and her inevitable questions, too busy trying to analyze Blaine's behavior for himself to discuss it with his friend.

Something is wrong.

-

Later, when Kurt doesn't see Blaine in one of the classes that they share, he gathers his courage and seeks out Mr. Schuester, who informs Kurt that Blaine was taken to the nurse after the talk in Principal Figgins' office. Kurt ducks out and skips his next class, slinking into the nurse's office to find Blaine propped up on one of the small beds behind a curtain, staring blankly at a wall with his arms crossed over his chest. At first, he doesn't appear to notice that he has a visitor and his apathy causes Kurt to worry even more.

            "Hey," Kurt says softly, shuffling on unsure feet at the foot of the bed.

At the sound of Kurt's voice, Blaine turns his head and his eyes refocus. A small, tight smile settles on his lips.

            "Hey," Blaine says.

            "You weren't in English," Kurt says. "I was worried that you got expelled or something."

            "Nah. Karofsky got a three-day suspension for hitting me, but I didn't get in trouble because I didn't throw any punches. My lip got cut on my teeth, though, and I guess I'm getting a pretty bad bruise so they sent me here."

Kurt nods, feeling too thrown at the situation to be able to say much else. Blaine had stood up for him in front of everyone. He took a punch on Kurt's behalf. He called Dave Karofsky a dick and an asshole to his face and had lived to tell the tale.

            "Thank you," Kurt whispers, "for what you said out there."

            "I should've said something sooner."

            "I doubt it'll make much of a difference."

            "Maybe not," Blaine says with a shrug. "But I had to try."

            "Well, thank you again," Kurt says.

They both fall quiet and Blaine turns his gaze to his lap, avoiding Kurt's eyes and appearing to close in on himself.

            "I know this isn't the best time to ask," Kurt begins, "but...are you okay? Not with the - the fight or whatever, but just...in general. It feels like you've been really distant. And not just in regards to - you know."

With a heavy sigh, the tension in Blaine's limbs melts away and he drops his arms to his side, leaning his head back against the wall. When he looks at Kurt, there's this sort of hollow pain that peeks out and spears Kurt's heart with its intensity and that's when he's able to notice the purpling circles beneath Blaine's eyes that hint at severe exhaustion and lack of sleep. He looks perfectly ill, sitting there with a cut lip and a bruise forming on his jaw and what seems to be the weight of the world on his slumped shoulders.

            "I'm sorry," Blaine says quietly. "You're right, I have been distant. But I can't talk about it. Not here, anyway. Later."

            "Um...auditorium?" Kurt asks, attempting to be discreet, lest anyone pass by the partition and overhear their conversation. "After rehearsal?"

            "Sure," Blaine says, nodding once before turning his head and closing his eyes against the bright light of the room.

Kurt stands, not at all ready to leave Blaine alone when he looks so awful, but maybe the nurse will let him sleep for a little while. Blaine clearly needs rest and Kurt refuses to burden the boy with more questions when they can't even have a proper talk. He slips out of the little room and back into the main hallway, biting his lip to keep himself from crying. He has the most dreadful feeling that something terrible is about to happen and the fact that he can't pinpoint why or what is going to drive him mad.

-

            "So," Kurt says later that evening after Glee rehearsal ends and the school is empty. He and Blaine stand on the stage, too far apart for Kurt's liking. "What's going on?"

Blaine swallows. Kurt can see the bob of his Adam's apple in his throat and the hesitation makes Kurt's skin prickle with fear.

            "I lost it today," Blaine begins to explain, "and I'm really sorry you had to see that. I never meant to let myself get so out of control but when he pushed you and nobody said anything, I sort of..."

            "Snapped?" Kurt offers.

            "Yeah," Blaine says with a heavy exhale, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck. "Things have just been really complicated and confusing and I overreacted. I tried to take some time for myself to figure everything out, but I guess it didn't work. I never meant to like, ignore you completely."

            "I understand," Kurt says. "You've been avoiding Rachel, too."

            "She was so mad," Blaine groans in what sounds like pain. "As much as she says it, she doesn't really understand the concept of personal space or the need to be alone every once in a while."

            "Yeah, I pretty much got that."

            "She's been harping on me for days," Blaine says. "She keeps saying that I'm ignoring her and that I obviously don't love her if I'm not willing to have a Streisand marathon with her every weekend and the other day I - god. I almost said it. I almost said that I didn't love her anymore. I could've ended it right then and there and I didn't. I didn't and I feel like such a - I feel so fucking terrible about it. Why didn't I end it?"

            "Is that...rhetorical?"

            "I don't know," Blaine admits. "Do you have an answer?"

            "Well, I think it's because she's become habit," Kurt says slowly. "You've been with her for so long that it's scary to think about ending it. I also think you might be, you know, slightly masochistic."

            "But I don't enjoy anything about this," Blaine says. "I hate it, actually. It's - it's tearing me up inside, Kurt. Pretending is just too hard."

Kurt can feel the worry churning in his stomach. It makes him nauseous and dizzy. He doesn't want to crowd Blaine with his presence, not if it's making him so upset all the time. This conversation can go one of two ways: Blaine can end things with Kurt and put distance between them, with the caveat of reuniting if he ever decides to come out, or he can end things with Rachel and continue to see Kurt in secret until he finds the courage to tell their friends about his sexuality. Neither option sounds too great at this point because Kurt doesn't want Blaine to have to pretend at all anymore. But it isn't his call to make. All he can do is be supportive and be there, with open arms and honesty.

            "I - I know you're working hard on yourself to make this okay," Kurt says, voice thick with concern, "but just seeing you...it breaks my heart."

            "I'm sorry," Blaine whispers, lowering his head.

            "You don't have to be sorry. I just - it's killing me to see you like this," Kurt continues. "I see how miserable you are, Blaine. All I see is your pain."

            "I don't want to be miserable anymore."

            "You don't have to torture yourself like this," Kurt adds, taking a step closer and holding hope close to his chest.

            "But I don't know what to do about it anymore," Blaine says, shrugging helplessly. "I'm too much of a coward to break up with her."

            "You're not a coward," Kurt says at once. "Look, I know you - I'm not saying you should come out tomorrow, but...maybe soon, the moment will arise when you can."

            "I can't even break up with my girlfriend for the sheer fact that I'm not into her anymore," Blaine says. "How am I supposed to tell the whole world that I'm gay?"

            "It's not about telling the whole world," Kurt replies. "Just the people that matter to you. But I think if you broke up with her first, if you ended it before letting anyone know the real reason why, it might not be so bad."

            "She'll never let it end that easily," Blaine reminds. "You know she won't. That's been the problem from the start."

            "But she knows that's something's wrong now," Kurt says. "You've been distant and quiet and you can just tell her that your feelings have changed and you can't be together anymore. It takes two people to make a relationship, not just one. You have a say in this, too. And no one will know the truth. They'll just, you know, think that Rachel's a bit crazy and that you couldn't stand her anymore."

Blaine sighs heavily, lifting a hand in order to pinch the bridge of his nose. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it at the last second, piquing Kurt's curiosity and worry.

            "What?" Kurt asks. "What is it?"

            "There's something else," Blaine says.

Kurt feels his stomach drop to his feet.

            "Someone else knows," Blaine reveals. "It's - it's why I started acting so off and pulling away from everyone. It was just too weird to be around her after she told me."

            "Who?" Kurt demands to know. "Who knows?"

            "Santana," Blaine says.

Blinking back in surprise, Kurt stares directly into Blaine's wide eyes.

            "Oh," he finally says in reply. "Shit."