Kurt's eyes are red rimmed and swollen as he walks quickly on the Dalton Academy grounds. He had asked a few strangers where he could find the dormitory so, naturally, he's heading straight there.

The dormitory is a large, old, classy looking building, very much like the other buildings on the small campus. He walks inside, glancing around at the furniture and the ornate rugs.

"I'm sorry," he croaks to a boy who's just about to leave. "Can you tell me where – where Blaine Anderson's room is?"

The boy shoots him a concerned look but then he points to a set of stairs. "Take those stairs, go right, and his room is the third door on the left.

"Thank you," Kurt whispers.

The boy nods to him and watches Kurt take the stairs. Kurt counts the doors, one, two, three, and he notices that the door he'd been directed to is already cracked open and there are voices from the room drifting into the hallway.

"…just a friend from when I used to live in Ohio. I wanted to visit him. Why are you freaking out?"

"Maybe because you just left and didn't tell me where you were going? I called you four times, Blaine!"

"I'm not your property. And you're not my mother. I can do whatever I want without informing you first."

"Damnit, I don't think I own you. I was worried because I saw that bike of yours was gone and you weren't answering your phone and god only knows! You could have been dead on the side of the road or something!"

"Well I'm fine. I just wanted to see Kurt."

"Yeah. Kurt. Who you haven't stopped talking about since you disappeared with him yesterday without telling me."

"Elliot, I'm not going to do this with you."

At any other time, Kurt might be a tiny bit happy to hear Blaine fighting with his boyfriend, but not right now. Not today. He knocks on the door frame. He hears an unhappy sigh and then a few muffled footsteps before the door swings open completely. Blaine pauses when he sees Kurt, taking in his swollen, red eyes and his uncomfortable stance.

"Kurt? What're you doing here?"

"I-" Kurt sees the look of annoyance on Elliot's face over Blaine's shoulder so he shakes his head. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come. I didn't – I don't have my phone, I should have called. I'm sorry."

Kurt turns away but Blaine grips his shoulder to pull him inside the room.

"No. What's wrong?"

Kurt's still shaking his head but he opens his mouth to speak and promptly closes it, bursting into tears again.

"Elliot you need to leave," Blaine states as he pulls Kurt into his arms.

"But we were-"

"Get. Out."

Kurt hears Elliot huff and then he hears the door slam shut.

"Come here," Blaine says, pulling Kurt to sit with him on the bed. "What happened?"

"I – he…I don't even…"

"Hush, calm down," Blaine whispers, urging Kurt over so that Kurt's pretty much in his lap, crying into Blaine's crisp, white uniform shirt. "It's okay. It's okay."

Kurt squeezes Blaine's shoulders in a near death grip, sobs wracking his frame and he can't help but feel protected, like he belonged here. Blaine's sweet, almost earthy scent overwhelms him and the feel of his chest beneath Kurt's cheek is solid and warm and Kurt never, never, never wants to let go. His sobs turn to sniffles eventually but Blaine's still rubbing his back with a firm, comforting hand and pressing his own cheek against Kurt's hair.

"He kissed me," Kurt finally says.

Blaine's hand on his back ceases its movement. "Who?"

"Karofsky," Kurt tells him. "He's…he's always hated me. He shoves me around and he likes to taunt me and terrify me. He shoved me down a set of stairs in freshman year once. He's always bullied me for being gay."

"And he kissed you?"

"Yeah…twice. In the locker room."

"You – you let him kiss you again?"

"No!" Kurt breathes in horror, lifting his head from Blaine's chest to stare him in the eye. "I tried to run out but he grabbed me and…I had to knee him in the balls just to get him off me."

"Jesus," Blaine whispers in response. "Did you get away after that?"

"I…I was so scared. I fell into some lockers and then he…he just…" his voice breaks. "He spat on me."

"He what?"

"He spat in my face," Kurt tells him. "And then he ran out. Some other guys came in a minute later and I just…I ran. I left my phone, I left my bag, I got in my car and I…I came here."

Blaine brushes a lock of hair away from Kurt's teary eyes. "You came to me?"

Kurt nods. "Yeah."

Blaine gives a small, sad smile. "I'm glad you came to me."

"I wasn't lying yesterday when I said I trusted you."

"I know."

The two sit in a comfortable, heavy silence and Kurt still has his hands on Blaine's shoulders. Blaine's stroking Kurt's hair line with a calloused thumb, searching Kurt's beautiful blue eyes with his own.

But then Kurt remembers why he's here and he pulls away from Blaine slowly to stand on his feet.

"I need to go," he whispers. "I…I feel disgusting and I just…I need to – to get him off me."

"Wait," Blaine stands as well, moving over to his small dresser to open one of the drawers. He rifles through it for a few seconds and then pulls out a pair of old, faded sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. "Here. You can shower here." He shoves the clothes into Kurt's hands.

"I – I really should just go home," Kurt says, feeling the soft material of Blaine's clothes in his hands.

"You don't need to go home and hide away in your room. You need to talk to someone," Blaine says resolutely. "Take a shower. Change into those. The pants have always been too long on me so they should fit you okay."

"Blaine, I-"

"No." Blaine steers Kurt towards a door that Kurt hadn't seen before and into a small bathroom. "Use my shower. It's clean, I promise."

Blaine walks out and just before he's about to close the bathroom door, Kurt turns around to face him, his eyes softening. "Blaine."

"Yeah?" Blaine looks up, his hand on the doorknob.

"Thank you."

Blaine smiles at him and their eyes remain locked for a few seconds before Blaine speaks again.

"Always."

He shuts the door.

Kurt breaths a sigh and sets the borrowed clothes on the edge of the sink. His eyes roam over Blaine's belongings. He sees a pink toothbrush in a small cup and an electric razor on its stand in the corner. There's a bottle of cologne and the leather cord of a necklace tied to a small silver stone of some sort and Kurt wonders where he got it. He lets his finger trail over the leather cord and for a split second he's jealous of the necklace for knowing how the skin of Blaine's neck feels.

Kurt doesn't know why he's so fascinated with the things Blaine owns.

He's being silly.

Twenty minutes later Kurt's walking out of the bathroom, drying his hair with the towel he found under the sink cupboard.

Blaine's not there.

But there's a note on his bed.

Had to go drop off an assignment to a teacher. Be back soon. Make yourself comfortable.

Kurt smiles at the note and sets it on Blaine's desk, where picture frames catch his attention.

There's a picture of Blaine with a bunch of the Warblers he'd seen in the commons that one time and there's another with a few people he's never seen before, probably friends from Maryland.

There's another of Blaine and Elliot, their cheeks pressed together. It looks like they're standing outside of a movie theatre.

But there's another picture on the first level of the desk, back in a corner, shadowed by a stack of books. Kurt moves the books aside gently and bends down, draping the damp towel over his arm.

The frame is black and plain but the picture…

Is of them.

They're sitting on that old swing set in the park.

Their hands are clasped in between them and their noses are pressed together, little smiles on their young faces.

Kurt has no idea where he got the picture.

He reaches for it, but when he lifts the frame up, something falls out from behind it.

An old Valentine. The pink construction paper is worn and soft from handling and the little red hearts are faded. The corners are crinkled, bent at the edges, but the words in black and red crayon still remain.

Happy Valentine's Day.

You're my very best friend forever.

I love you a lot.

Kurt

Tears begin to well in Kurt's eyes as his lets his hand brush over the words 'I love you a lot'.

"What are you doing?"

Kurt whips around and nearly drops the picture frame still in his hand. Blaine's standing there, looking a little scared as he closes the door behind him.

"I – I'm sorry, I was just – just looking at your pictures and I saw this one and I found…you…you kept it."

Blaine nods, walking slowly to Kurt.

"Of course I kept it."

He takes the picture frame from Kurt's hands and places it and the Valentine back in the appropriate corner.

"I kept mine too," Kurt tells him. "I think most of the glitter fell off, though."

Blaine smiles kindly and slides his blazer off, tossing it over the back of his desk chair.

"I remember…I remember thinking," Blaine says as he takes off his tie and kicks off his shoes, "that you would absolutely love it. I remember thinking that I had to make it as glittery as possible otherwise you'd probably throw it away and you wouldn't be my friend anymore."

"You thought I'd stop being your friend if you didn't put glitter on a Valentine?"

"My fifth grade mind was not very rational," Blaine laughs, taking Kurt's towel from him. "Forgive me."

"I did, you know," Kurt tells Blaine as he goes to hang the towel up in the bathroom.

"Did what?" Blaine asks when he returns.

"I loved it," Kurt says softly. "It was the best Valentine anyone's ever given me."

Blaine's smile is kind of sad and Kurt wishes it wasn't that. He wishes it was the kind of smile that makes Blaine's eyes crinkle but he has no time to think it over when Blaine climbs onto his bed and begins to undo the top few buttons of his uniform shirt.

"Lay with me," Blaine says simply.

Kurt's heart rate speeds up because he shouldn't, he knows he shouldn't. Elliot could come back at any time. But Blaine's there, lying on his small twin bed with his back against the wall, head on his pillow with his arm outstretched toward Kurt.

"Why?" Kurt breathes.

"You always liked to be held when you were sad," Blaine reminds him.

Something weird happens to Kurt's belly inside. It's twisting, flipping, releasing little butterflies because Blaine seems to remember everything and it feels like someone is squeezing his heart with a tiny fist.

He moves forward, crawls onto the bed, resting his head on the single pillow. He can feel the warmth from Blaine's body seep into his own skin. Everything smells really nice here. Blaine's face is so close and Kurt can see the gold specks of light in his lovely eyes.

Blaine scoots closer and settles a hand on Kurt's waist.

"C'mere," Blaine whispers.

And even though Kurt knows he shouldn't, he moves over until he's pressed right up against Blaine, his head nestled under Blaine's chin. Kurt sighs into his shirt.

The world is right. Everything feels just like it should.

Blaine slides his hand around Kurt's waist to rest on the small of his back and the other arm is bent between their too close bodies, sliding under to cup the back of Kurt's neck.

"Did the shower make you feel better?" Blaine asks him quietly.

"A little," Kurt nods, nuzzling Blaine's neck with his forehead.

Now he knows how the leather cord of the necklace feels. It's kind of perfect here.

"What're you gonna do?" Blaine asks, tracing small circles on Kurt's back through his t-shirt. "About the guy that kissed you."

"I don't know," Kurt admits. "I don't even know what to think about the whole thing."

"Well, obviously he's been so horrible to you because he's scared of who he is."

"Yeah. I know. But I can't just…out him. I can't do that to someone."

"No," Blaine agrees. "But if you don't say something to him, he might try and do something else to you. Or things might just get worse, regarding his anger toward you."

"But what am I supposed to say?" Kurt asks, pulling his head out from under Blaine's chin to he can look up into his eyes. "I can't just walk right up to him and be like hey, so about that kiss. He'd punch me in the face."

"Are you…are you scared of him now?" Blaine asks with concern filling his eyes.

Is he? Is he scared of him? It was just a kiss. He didn't rape him or anything awful like that. But Kurt still felt…very, very uneasy about the whole thing.

"I don't know," Kurt whispers. "Maybe. I'm not sure. I was scared enough to run out of the school today."

Blaine nods, falling silent and trailing his hand up Kurt's back, over his shoulder, and up to rest on Kurt's pale neck. He brushes his thumb over Kurt's jaw and Kurt's eyes fall shut. Blaine's hand feels gentle, but it feels strong too and he feels dry lips press a kiss to his forehead.

"I think I forgot how beautiful you are," Blaine breathes.

Kurt's breath hitches in his chest and he has never before in his life wanted to kiss Blaine as badly as he does right now but he knows he can't, knows he won't, and it breaks his heart.

"You can't say things like that to me," Kurt laughs humorlessly. "You can't do that."

"I'm sorry," Blaine says softly, sliding his hand up into Kurt's wet hair. "I can't help it. You…I just can't."

Kurt snuggles close again, planting a small kiss on Blaine's throat as he relaxes into his friend's arms.

"I'll go with you," Blaine says suddenly. "When you want to talk to him. I'll go with you."

"Really?" Kurt asks, settling his hand on Blaine's hip.

"Really, really."

Kurt smiles. "I'm tired now."

"Go to sleep," Blaine says, kissing the top of Kurt's head. "I'll wake you up in a little while so you can go home."

"Okay," Kurt sighs.

And because he trusts Blaine, because he feels so, so safe, and because he's comfortable and wearing Blaine's clothes and laying in Blaine's bed just like they used to when they were little kids, he lets himself fall asleep in Blaine's arms.