Chapter 6

Kurt woke a few hours later, shifting uncomfortably against whatever was restraining his legs. He opened his eyes and looked down – a rope was holding his thighs against the branch to stop him falling off – and immediately wished he hadn't. The wolves below hadn't moved; they were still snarling up at him with ferocious teeth bared.

'Ah, you're awake!' Blaine, who had been crouching down the other end of the branch, stood up and started walking back towards him.

'Blaine!' cried Kurt, reaching out to steady him as he lowered himself down opposite Kurt. 'Jeez, don't do that, it freaks me out, you could fall off.'

'It's fine. I'm a very proficient tree climber.'

'That doesn't mean that your feet would have stayed glued to the branch if a sudden wind had picked up!'

Blaine laughed softly, shaking his head. 'It's nice to know you're so concerned.'

'Of course I'm concerned.'

'I'm touched.'

Kurt grinned, poking Blaine's knee. 'Now untie me, you idiot.'

Blaine watched him, considering his suggestion, then got up and started walking back along the branch. 'No,' he said, smirking at Kurt, 'no, I think I prefer you tied up.'

Kurt was about to make a snarky retort, but stopped himself. Were they flirting? He didn't even know if Blaine was gay, he couldn't just go flirting and letting himself fall for some straight guy, he couldn't do that to himself again –

'Kurt?'

'Oh, er, sorry.' Kurt shook his head, clearing his thoughts, then deadpanned, 'Oh, Blaine, I beseech you, untie me.' He tugged loosely at the knot in the rope.

Blaine grinned but obliged this time, deftly undoing the knot beside Kurt's thigh. He coiled the rope up as Kurt drew his knees up to his chest the stretched them. 'How long do you think it'll be before the wolves leave?' he asked.

Blaine glanced down, sighing. 'Anything between a few hours and a few days. But they're growing a bit restless. It'll probably only be a few hours.' Kurt nodded, relieved that they wouldn't have to stay up in the tree for "several days".

He felt Blaine gently pulling at the shoulder strap on his knapsack. 'Can we have food now?' he asked, tugging it off Kurt's shoulder. Kurt shifted so that he could pull it out from behind his back, and they found the food they had packed.

They ate the provisions leisurely, legs swinging on either side of the branch, occasionally kicking each other playfully. The wolves seemed to perk up a bit at the smell of food, yapping at the foot of the tree.

Kurt sighed and leaned back against the trunk, looking up at the sky through the leaves. Despite his initial disgust at the forest – and, of course, the band of snarling, ferocious wolves below him, in the same place where his mother had died – he found himself to be quite enjoying the task. He thought most of it was due to the fact that he was travelling with Blaine, and really, whose trip wouldn't be brightened by someone as friendly, and open, and nice, and clever, and adorable, and gorgeous as Blaine? He couldn't really help it, Blaine was amazing, and Kurt knew he had found a good friend in him, despite the fact that he would be heading back to Callahan soon, back to magic class, and too much alchemy and tactics homework, and Rachel's craziness, and Karofsky –

'Penny for your thoughts?' asked Blaine.

Kurt sighed again, shaking his head. 'I – I just – don't really want this to end yet. I mean – I want the wolves to leave, obviously, and I want to get out of this horrible clearing, but I don't particularly want to… go home, yet.'

Blaine nodded, and was silent for a few moments, fiddling with his cuffs. Then he asked, 'Why not?'

Kurt looked down at him, then away, trying to word it so it didn't sound too forward or pathetic. 'I'm just… enjoying this. Enjoying being away from all the crazy, and not having to compete with Rachel, and not having to stay up late every night working, and, um, I really enjoyed, um, meeting you…' He blushed at Blaine's smile. '…And not having Karofsky around, obviously… but that's not – it doesn't matter – I'm just whining, honestly –'

'Kurt,' Blaine said gently.

'I'm sorry, I'm rambling, I know, I should stop…'

'I really don't mind. Who – who's Karofsky?'

Kurt tensed, opening and closing his mouth several times as he tried to answer him.

'I'm sorry,' apologised Blaine immediately. 'You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to – I was being nosy, I'm sorry –'

'Blaine, shut up. It's okay. I – I think I do want to talk about it.'

'Um… okay.'

Kurt met Blaine's eyes, the concern in them warming his heart. He took a deep breath, preparing for them soon to be clouded by disgust and shock, and started, 'I'm gay.'

Blaine nodded, completely unfazed as if he was expecting it, and Kurt felt a wave of relief sweep over him. 'Go on,' said Blaine.

'I – yes, I'm gay, and I'm sure of myself and I'm proud of who I am, but… most people in Kerajan just – they don't like me. People like me. They think we're… unnatural. Disgusting. Perverted. They hate us for the way we're born. And it's just – it's hard.' Blaine nodded again, and took Kurt's hand. 'As I said,' Kurt continued, 'I'm out and proud, but at school, it can be very difficult. I mean – my friends, my magic class, they're completely accepting of who I am, and I'm thankful for it, but it's only a very small part of the school, and an even smaller part of society, and even though we stick up for each other, it doesn't mean that it doesn't… hurt. Not physically, but, just, not being accepted by the majority of the people you see every day? It's really tough.'

'I understand,' Blaine said quietly. Kurt raised an eyebrow at him, but he shook his head, prompting Kurt to continue.

'Yeah, so… There are some people at school who are… worse than the others. Most just ignore me or throw me scathing looks and the occasional name, but there's this… this group of warriors who just hate me. And I haven't done anything to offend any of them, but just because I'm gay, they have to shove me and spill food on me and break my stuff, and – I –' His voice broke, and he paused, wiping his eyes. 'Sorry.'

'Hey, no, don't be. You have every right to feel the way you do, with what they've been doing to you.' He squeezed Kurt's hand.

'Anyway, these warriors, they're led by this guy. Karofsky. He – he's the worst. It's like… when he sees me, I can just see him getting angry, and then he usually stops whatever he's doing to come and – and – taunt me, or shove me, or whatever. But the worst thing is that… his father is principal of my school. So I can do literally nothing against him, unless I want to be suspended or expelled.'

He stopped, breathing deeply again, and squeezed Blaine's hand back. 'I'm sorry you have to listen to me whine,' he said.

'No, no, no, Kurt. I want to listen to you. And it's definitely not whining, this is serious, you need to let people know that this is going on, they can help you –'

'But that's just it, don't you see? Even if I get other people involved – and I have tried, my magic class do try to stick up for me – they just get shot down, because Karofsky's dad is one of the most powerful people in our town, and I just – I can't – do anything!' He let out a frustrated huff. 'And I want to, I really want to, Blaine, but I'm just too much of a coward to risk my education, and I love magic too much, I could never give it up, and I just want Karofsky and his dad to leave me alone, and just understand that I was born this way – why would I choose to be bullied every single day? – and I haven't done anything to them, every time Karofsky does anything to me, I just take it, because I can't do anything to stop him, and I just wish I was more brave –'

Blaine pulled him into a hug – wobbling them dangerously on the branch before they straightened themselves – and Kurt's voice was muffled by the crook of Blaine's neck, and Blaine wrapping his hands around his waist as Kurt circled his shoulders and let out a sob.

'Hey, shh, there…' Blaine swept his hands up and down his back. 'It's okay, Kurt, you can cry if you want, there, there…'

They hugged until Kurt's sobs had subsided and he pulled back from Blaine's embrace. 'Sorry,' he sniffed, wiping his eyes.

'Kurt, I've already told you not to be sorry, please don't apologise. I'm here for you, okay? It's okay.'

Kurt nodded, wiping his eyes again as they kept refilling with tears.

'And for the record, you are brave, Kurt. I know – I know I haven't known you for very long, but what I've seen – Kurt, you're, wow. You definitely are brave, okay? You're doing this task on your own, you trusted a complete stranger to travel with you, and you didn't run away because of the past when we got to this clearing, and you got us away from the wolves –'

'That was you.'

'No, listen. Everything you just told me, all of it, just made me sure of how brave you are, okay? So please don't call yourself a coward, because you're really not.'

Kurt felt more tears well in his eyes, and tried not to let them drip out. He wiped his hand over his eyes again.

'Thanks,' he said very quietly, his voice still a little hoarse from sobbing. He looked up into Blaine's huge brown eyes, and saw unshed tears in them, too. 'Oh, great, now I've made you cry too, I should just throw myself to the wol – Blaine! Look!'

'What?'

'The wolves are gone!'

They looked down at the foot of the tree, and sure enough, the wolves were nowhere in sight. They must have left during Kurt's emotional outburst.

They swung themselves down the tree, feet finally hitting the solid roots with a cry of relief. Kurt kneeled and pretended to kiss the ground while Blaine watched him, an amused smile on his face.

'Got the necklace?' he asked. Kurt nodded, holding it up to show Blaine. 'Good, then let's go.'

They were still wary as they made their way back to the horses, Blaine keeping his bow at the ready, in case the wolves returned. When they finally made it to the top of the slope with no sign of the beasts, they let down their guards a little and sauntered back to the horses.

Kurt greeted Pippin enthusiastically as Blaine petted Merry. They mounted and swiftly left the area – Kurt didn't want to stay in the place where he had been attacked by wolves twice (with a ten-year interval) any longer.

They rode back through the Forest as the sun disappeared behind the trees and a dusky gloom filled the wood. Kurt steered Pippin alongside Merry and gently bumped Blaine's leg with his ankle.

'Thank you for earlier,' he said.

'Of course, Kurt, and you need to understand that I'll always be here for you to talk to, okay?'

Kurt nodded. His face dropped as he decided to bring up the issue that had been clogging his mind since – well, since he had met Blaine, really.

'But what about… when I leave? I have to go back to the Academy, and it's a day's ride from there to the edge of the Forest, let alone wherever you might live, and I really want to be able to see you again, but I don't see how we can easily –'

Blaine stopped him with a hand on his knee. 'Shh,' he said gently. 'Don't worry. We'll work something out. I want to be able to see you again too.'

Kurt smiled tightly and squeezed Blaine's hand. 'I really hope we can,' he said softly, watching as the darkening gloom spread between the trees in front of them. 'I really do.'