Blaine spent nearly the entire day restlessly roaming his apartment. Every time he tried to sit and focus on homework or a movie or playing his guitar, he wouldn't be able to concentrate for more than a few minutes.

Around five in the afternoon, Blaine turned the TV off and threw the remote on the coffee table. He leaned his head back the couch, rubbing his hand over his face. He couldn't understand why he was so edgy. So what if he didn't bring some guy home last night? Was he so insecure that he couldn't go one weekend without fucking someone?

You can always fuck two tonight to make up for it, Blaine thought bitterly.

He heard a knock at the door. Grateful for the intrusion to his own little pity party, Blaine hopped up and answered it quickly. He swung the door open to see Kurt's smiling face beaming at him. Blaine eyed Kurt up and down, taking in how beautiful the other boy was. Kurt would look good in a garbage bag, but Blaine swore he could be a model with how impeccably he dressed. Kurt was wearing a black button up with a grey vest and fitted jeans so tight it shouldn't be legal. Blaine swallowed past the lump in his throat.

Kurt's hands were in his pockets, and he looked so at ease and comfortable. That was something Blaine always loved and admired about Kurt. He didn't let life get him down. He was the kindest, purest person Blaine had ever met.

"Hey, stranger," Kurt said.

"Hey," Blaine replied, motioning for Kurt to come in. He walked back into his living room and plopped down on his couch. He heard the door click closed behind him.

"What have you been up to?" Kurt asked, coming to sit beside him.

"Um, not much, Kurt. You just saw me like twelve hours ago. How much could I have really done in that time?" Blaine said.

"Oh, today we get crabby Blaine. What's wrong?" Kurt leaned on his elbow facing Blaine.

"Nothing." Blaine sighed. "Just because we're not all chipper one hundred percent of the time doesn't mean something's wrong."

"Okay, do you want me to go? I really should stop dropping by without calling first. I was in the neighborhood running an errand for Marissa and I decided to come stop by and see you."

"No," Blaine said, turning to look at Kurt. "You really don't have to do that. You're welcome to come over anytime, you know that...I just – you're right. I'm not in a very good mood."

"Well, you should tell me what's wrong," Kurt said.

Blaine ran his hand through his hair. He couldn't very well tell Kurt he was tense because he hadn't had sex the night before. That would be too much for their burgeoning friendship to handle. Something else popped into his mind, though. Something that had been bothering him all week.

"Kurt..." Blaine hesitated. He wasn't sure how to broach the subject. "You never told me anything about you. I told you all that stuff about Jeremiah, and now I feel kind of vulnerable around you, and you still haven't really..." He looked down at his lap.

"I've been meaning to," Kurt replied after a brief pause. "It just...never seemed like a good time. We've spent all our time together this week rehearsing, and I didn't know how to bring it up." Blaine didn't say anything, waiting for Kurt to continue. "I guess now's as good a time as any, right?" Blaine looked up into Kurt's eyes, cocking his head. Blaine watched as Kurt bit his bottom lip between his teeth and then slowly released it. "I don't have a story like yours. No one ever broke my heart. But... there was something. Do you remember when we first talked at the coffee shop and I told you I was the only out gay kid at my school?" Blaine nodded. "Well, that's true. But I wasn't the only gay kid. There was a guy, Dave Karovsky. He was a football player, a complete Neanderthal. All of the jocks tormented me on a pretty regular basis, throwing me in dumpsters, pushing me into lockers, tossing slushies in my face." Kurt clenched his jaw. "But Karovsky took a special interest in me in particular. I spent my first two years of high school terrified of him. I would flinch every time someone would slam a locker shut, duck into classrooms when I saw him walking by."

Blaine reached for Kurt's hand and squeezed it briefly to give Kurt courage to go on. He was trying to keep his face impassively sympathetic for Kurt, but Blaine felt fury slice through him, hot and vicious. If he ever saw this Karovsky kid he swore would punch his face in.

The thought caught Blaine off guard. He had never felt anger so strongly toward anyone, not even the kids that had beat the shit out of him after that school dance when he was fifteen. Really, though, how could anyone see all the beauty and wonder in Kurt and want to destroy that? It was inconceivable to Blaine.

"So one day late into my sophomore year, I was running an errand for a teacher," Kurt continued. "The halls were empty. Next thing I know, Karovsky's pulling me into a janitor's closet. I thought he was going to pummel me, so imagine my surprise when he kisses me instead." He pursed his lips briefly, almost as if he could still feel the other guy's lips on his. "I instinctively pushed him away. I had never..."

Blaine furrowed his brow. This guy bullied Kurt and then had the nerve to rob him of his first kiss?

Kurt took a slow breath. "He freaked out and threatened to kill me if I told anyone."

"That fucking – but you did tell someone, didn't you?"

"I don't believe in outing, Blaine," Kurt said defensively.

"Not about him being gay, I meant did you tell someone about him threatening you?"

Kurt hesitated. "Eventually," he said. "He got expelled, but then he repealed to the school board, and because there were no witnesses, he got his expulsion revoked. He was back at school a few weeks later."

"What happened? Did he stop?" Blaine got a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Kurt laughed bitterly. "Hardly. My dad wanted me to switch schools, but I didn't want to leave my friends. I didn't have anyone else. So I lied. I pretended Karovsky had laid off, but really, he redoubled his efforts. And worse..." Kurt stopped, and Blaine sensed they were near a cliff of sorts. He felt Kurt was about to entrust him with something very important, and he hoped he deserved it. "H-he would." Kurt pulled his hand away from Blaine's and crossed his arms tightly over his midsection. Tears began streaming silently down Kurt's face as he looked pointedly behind Blaine's head. "When he could get me alone he would...kiss me a-and sometimes touch me." Kurt squeezed his eyes shut tight. "I didn't want him to, I told him to stop." Kurt said this quickly as if Blaine were going to accuse him of wanting to be assaulted.

Blaine was completely floored. He didn't know what to say or how to react. He couldn't believe Kurt had carried this around with him. It was bad enough that so many gay kids had to go through some form of bullying, but then to be sexually assaulted by your tormentor was just... Blaine knew without a doubt that if he ever came in contact with this Karovsky kid one of them would end up in the hospital.

"Kurt, please tell me you told someone," Blaine pleaded. Surely Kurt hadn't dealt with this all alone. Blaine wanted to kick himself for not having reached out to Kurt during their show choir competitions like he had wanted to.

"I've never told anyone until now," Kurt answered softly.

"Kurt, he was assaulting you. You should have told your dad or anyone. Had him arrested or at least switched schools. You couldn't have just –" Blaine was rambling, and he knew it might have sounded like he was blaming Kurt for the situation because he didn't try to get help, but obviously he knew how terrified Kurt must have been. But Blaine couldn't stop. He dreaded hearing that Kurt had let this go on for two years. If Kurt told him that, Blaine was afraid he might do something crazy like hop on a plane to Ohio or wherever and find this fucking guy right then.

"Obviously I know I should have told someone," Kurt said bitterly. "God, do I know that."

"How long?" was all Blaine could bite out through his gritted teeth. His hands were throbbing and he realized they were both clenched in fists.

"Two months," Kurt replied, biting his lip. Blaine thought he would be relieved to hear it hadn't gone on for the rest of Kurt's high school career, but it didn't make it any easier to hear Kurt had had to endure it for two months.

Blaine tried to take a deep breath, uncurl his fists, and relax. He knew the best thing he could do for Kurt was to calm down and just be there for him, but he had never been so furious in his life. "So, what happened? Why did he stop?"

Kurt covered his face with his hand for a second, trying to calm down. He looked like he was about to deteriorate into sobs. Blaine got a sudden feeling there was even more to Kurt's story. Blaine almost wanted to tell him to stop, to just bury the rest where no one could find it. He didn't think he could hear much more. But Kurt needed him, and that was all that mattered.

"We got caught," Kurt said finally.

"He got caught, Kurt," Blaine couldn't help but interject. "You weren't doing anything wrong."

"Right," Kurt said feebly, nodding. "We...we were in the locker room. I was trying to sneak in after French Club to get my PE uniform. He- he came in from football practice to get something and he...shoved me up against a locker and...was kissing me and then all the other players came in suddenly and saw us. I think it started raining or something." Kurt sniffled. "They all started giving him a hard time, calling him a faggot, pushing him around. He just kept denying it, saying it wasn't what they thought. They weren't actually paying much attention to me, so I ran. Out of the locker room, out of the school to my car. I went home and stayed in my room all night. I was so afraid for myself," Kurt said bitterly. "Afraid they would really start in on me now that they had actually seen me with another guy." He snorted. "I was so stupid."

"Kurt," Blaine said admonishingly. "You were in no way obligated to defend him or help him in any way. Being in the closet and conflicted about your sexuality doesn't give you the right to treat other people like shit and assault them. He deserves whatever he got."

"Don't!" Kurt yelled suddenly. Blaine flinched. Had Kurt developed feelings for the guy that had been attacking him? "That night he killed himself," Kurt said through a sob.

Blaine had no idea how to handle this situation. Kurt needed a therapist, not a fucked up teenage boy who couldn't even handle his own problems. Blaine had never dealt with anything this big before. He couldn't believe Kurt had equated this to Blaine's stupid, pathetic breakup story. He went on instinct and wrapped Kurt in his arms, murmuring "I'm so sorry" over and over again.

He couldn't imagine the confliction Kurt must have felt for this guy. On the one hand, he must have hated Karovsky and everything he had done to him, but on the other, Blaine knew how pure and compassionate Kurt was. Kurt would never, ever want someone to feel like suicide is better than their life, no matter who they were or what they had done to him.

After a few minutes, Kurt had calmed down considerably. With his head still resting on Blaine's chest, he said softly, "When I first heard, I felt so...relieved. I've felt terrible about that ever since."

"Kurt, you had every right to feel that way. He was terrible to you. No one would think less of you, least of all me, for feeling that way," Blaine replied, rubbing his hand slowly back and forth on Kurt's back.

"I think less of me," Kurt replied with conviction. "I should have helped him. I knew he was struggling with his sexuality, knew how much he must have been hurting to target me and pick on me so mercilessly. But I was blinded by my own prejudice and hatred, and now he's dead."

Blaine was in complete awe. How could Blaine defend Kurt to himself if Kurt couldn't see how completely extraordinary he was? What words could Blaine use to explain to Kurt that most people would laugh gleefully at their attacker's funeral while Kurt mourned not being able to help his? How could Kurt have gone through so much and still come out of it with such beautiful innocence and compassion?

Kurt was clutching onto Blaine's shirt desperately. He had never seen anyone so vulnerable. "Hey, listen to me, okay?" Blaine said. He tipped Kurt's chin up gently so Kurt would look him in the eyes. "This was not your fault. Not any of it. Not what he did to you and not what he did to himself. You're only human, Kurt, and it's too much to ask of yourself to stand up for someone who terrorized you."

"But, still I—"

"No," Blaine cut him off. "If he had come to you and asked for your help, without a doubt you would have forgiven him and helped him, wouldn't you have?"

"Yes," Kurt said immediately.

Blaine sighed. "I wish you could see how incredible that makes you, Kurt. Most people couldn't or wouldn't do that." Kurt just looked away. "Kurt, I'm serious. Karovsky made his decisions, and there was nothing you could have done. He could have approached you, but he didn't. He could have chosen to be decent to you, but he didn't. Do you think it's okay for people who were molested or beaten when they were younger to molest or beat children?"

"Of course not," Kurt said, horrified.

"Exactly," Blaine replied in an imploring tone. He really needed Kurt to understand this. "Because having a difficult life does not make it okay to be a terrible person."

Kurt was silent, his head resting on Blaine's chest. "Okay," he finally said softly. Blaine held him, refusing to let go until Kurt pulled away. If he needed Blaine's arms wrapped around him, then that's where they would be. After a few minutes, Kurt's sniffles stopped and his breathing slowed. Blaine looked down to see his eyes were closed. Probably exhausted from their conversation, Kurt had fallen asleep.

Blaine envied his peaceful bliss. He had images cycling through his head of Kurt in a closet, in a locker room, being forced up against a wall, his pants being unzipped. Blaine felt like he was going to vomit. He looked down at Kurt's tearstained, splotchy face and thought he had never seen a person look more beautiful. Kurt was beautiful inside and out, totally and completely.

Blaine knew Kurt needed to talk to someone about what had happened to him if he was going to deal with it. He had seen how all this stuff was affecting Kurt's life – Kurt never went out with guys, didn't even really seem interested it dating. He just shut himself away in his high tower, not letting people get close to him.

And yet somehow...Blaine had managed to earn Kurt's trust. He wasn't sure how it happened, and he definitely wasn't sure he deserved it. He could only hope that he could manage to be a decent person for once in his fucking life and treat Kurt with the respect that he deserved.

He knew he was going to have to find a way to broach the subject of a therapist with Kurt. There was just no way Blaine could help Kurt by himself. He was going to fuck it up, and Kurt deserved better than that.

Blaine knew he couldn't push Kurt either, though. Kurt had to make all of these decisions for himself. Blaine may not have known much, but he knew the worst thing he could do was try to force Kurt into anything.

He leaned his head back against his couch and sighed. He felt so raw, like all of his nerve endings were exposed. His eyes drifted closed, and with Kurt's tear-stained face the only image in his mind, he drifted off.

Kurt awoke a few hours later, blinking slowly. He was lying horizontally along Blaine's couch and he was extremely warm. No, make that hot. Sweat was making his shirt stick to his back.

His eyes widened as he took stock of his position – he was nestled between Blaine and the back of the couch with one leg lying on top of both of Blaine's, and arm over Blaine's chest, and his face nestled into Blaine's shoulder. Both of Blaine's arms were circling Kurt.

Kurt's first instinct was to jump up, but Blaine's face was so close to Kurt's and he could hear Blaine snoring softly. He didn't want to wake him, so he stayed still. If he was honest, he was enjoying being wrapped around Blaine. He had never felt so comfortable in someone's arms before.

Since he couldn't move, Kurt closed his eyes and retreated into his mind, recalling all that he had told Blaine. His heart started thumping wildly at the thought of someone else knowing about everything that had happened between Karovsky and himself. Honestly, Kurt hadn't meant to share any of that with Blaine. His initial thought was to tell Blaine about the death of his mother, but then at the last second he decided to tell Blaine about being bullied, because as hard as losing his mother had been, it was so long ago and Kurt felt like he had moved on and accepted it.

He definitely hadn't meant to tell Blaine about Karovsky's...assault – he made himself think the word. But Blaine had been looking at him so earnestly with no judgment, and Kurt needed to tell someone. He knew he could trust Blaine, at least with this.

While it was happening, Kurt had spent so much time pretending that it wasn't and acting like everything was okay so no one would get suspicious that he'd never really had the chance to deal with it or come to terms with the shame and helplessness that he'd been subjected to. He knew he should have told his father, that he should tell him now, but Kurt absolutely hated being treated like a victim. He had been bullied all throughout school, but he had dealt with it and persevered because he was strong and that meant something to him.

He didn't really want anyone to know about it, because he didn't want anyone to treat him differently. Kurt was terrified when Blaine woke up he would push him to talk to someone like the police or Rachel or a therapist. Kurt definitely wasn't ready for that. More than that, though, Kurt was terrified Blaine was going to stop being playful and treating Kurt like a person like he always had and start treating him like a tragedy. Kurt was many things, but broken was not one of them.

Kurt sighed. He would just take this situation as it came like he always did, and he would try to relax and trust Blaine to make the right decisions until he didn't.

His ribs were sore from sleeping on top of Blaine's arm, and he shifted slightly to ease the pain. His mind drifted to his physical state. He nearly groaned considering it. He could feel his eyes were puffy from crying, and no doubt his face was all splotchy like it usually got when he got to really full-out sobbing. Kurt felt shame wash through him at how much emotion he had shown if front of Blaine earlier, but he tried to ignore it as best he could. His clothes were probably rumpled from their impromptu nap, and god God, his hair. It was going to be an absolute mess.

Kurt shifted again and Blaine mumbled in his sleep. He was going to have to get up soon. Lifting his head, he slowly moved his leg to lie on top of his other one and pulled his arm back from Blaine's chest. This only succeeded in making Blaine tighten his grip on Kurt. Kurt winced. Blaine's arm was really digging into Kurt's ribs. He pulled on one of Blaine's hands experimentally and found that it wasn't budging.

Kurt went for a different approach, putting both of his hands on Blaine's chest as best he could and pushing away from him into the back of the couch. Blaine tightened his grip even more, which Kurt didn't even think was possible. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," he whispered softly. He tried to pull away again, and when it didn't work, he let his body sag back into Blaine's.

He couldn't believe it. Blaine Anderson was going to cuddle him to death. He was on overload. He couldn't help it, he just started to snicker at the situation he was in. And then the snicker turned to a giggle, and that evolved into silent full-blown body-shaking laughter. He was nearly hysterical. He tried to be as quiet but it was impossible. He couldn't breathe. Worse, the laughing was putting even more pressure on his ribs and it hurt so bad, but that just made him laugh even harder.

"Mmm, Kurt?" he heard. He looked up to see Blaine gazing at him with a very confused look. His eyes were slightly swollen and still glazed over from sleep. Kurt tried to stop laughing so he could ask Blaine to let him go, but he looked so adorable and dazed that it just added to the humor of the situation for Kurt. His eyes were watering as he gasped for air. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed so hard.

"What- what are you- what's funny?" Blaine asked, his voice rough. He was waking up a little more, assessing the situation. He still hadn't noticed his death grip on Kurt, though.

"I. I. Can't. Breathe!" Kurt spluttered through his fits of laughter.

Blaine's brow was still furrowed comically. "Well, try to calm down and catch your breath." A smile crept up on Blaine's face even though he still looked confused.

Just as Kurt thought he might be calming down, Blaine's mistaking his statement overtook him with another fit of giggles. Kurt just tried to tug on Blaine's arm in the hopes that it would communicate what he had actually meant.

"What – Oh!" Blaine exclaimed. Looking sheepish, he immediately pulled his arm out from under Kurt, but the sudden shift caused him to lose his balance and tip off the couch and onto the floor.

"Owww," Blaine said, laughing now, too.

Kurt was doubled over, clutching his stomach. He peered over the edge of the couch to check on Blaine, and when he saw the boy rubbing his shoulder and laughing, Kurt couldn't even ask if he was okay.

The boys just lay there, laughing until finally they calmed down. "Are you alright?" Kurt finally asked when he could manage it, his head leaning off the edge of the couch.

"No," Blaine replied, pouting.

Kurt sat up. He reached a hand out to Blaine, who grabbed it and pulled himself up to sit next to Kurt on the couch. "I think you'll live," Kurt said, wrinkling his nose at Blaine.

Blaine's face suddenly got serious and Kurt realized what he said. "Kurt, we should talk about –"

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay?" Kurt interrupted. "I told you all there was to tell. Now I want to move on. Can we just forget about it?"

"No, we can't just forget about it," Blaine said softly. Kurt's heart sank. He really thought Blaine wouldn't push him and would let him dictate how they handled this situation. "But I won't ask you to talk about it if you don't want to, either," Blaine continued. "Just know I'm here if you ever want to talk about it, though, okay?"

Kurt nodded, embracing Blaine. Blaine hugged him back tightly for a few seconds. Kurt let him go and said, "Let's go out tonight."

Blaine's eyebrow shot up. "Seriously? Are you sure you don't want –"

"Yes, I'm sure," Kurt replied. He wanted to dance and listen to loud music and be surrounded by strangers and maybe even drink a little. Blaine said people at clubs had fun, and Kurt desperately needed some fun. He couldn't be left alone in his head tonight. "Let's go to that club you were telling me and Rachel about."

"I don't think..." Blaine began, but he trailed off at the scowl on Kurt's face. "You know what? If that's what you want, then that's what we'll do." Blaine nodded decisively.

"Good," Kurt said.

"Okay. Why don't you go get a shower and I'll make us some tea?" Kurt nodded, jumping up eagerly to go to Blaine's bedroom to his drawer. Kurt and Blaine had been going to Callbacks nearly every Friday after class, and since Kurt had been changing at Blaine's ever y time, he had gotten tired of his clothes getting wrinkled in his bag when he carried them around all day so had decided to leave some clothes at Blaine's apartment. He also had a toothbrush and an extra bottle of skin cream in a drawer in the bathroom.

He was looking through his clothes trying to pick out what he wanted to wear when he heard Blaine call from the kitchen, "And hurry up, would you? You're not the only one that needs to get ready!"

Kurt looked up from Blaine's dresser, putting his hand on his hip. He spotted Blaine's bed through the mirror and smiled. Picking up the same pillow that Blaine had thrown at him a few weeks before, he launched it out the door, hitting him squarely in the back of his head.

"Hey!" Blaine called.

"Payback!" Kurt shouted, slamming the door before Blaine could respond.