Kurt doesn’t know how, but he found himself standing outside the home of Noah Puckerman’s. The house was small, and a bit run down. It looked more like a shack than an actual house. The bricks were old and grimy, and they aren’t even red anymore. The windows were unwashed. He couldn’t even look inside. The grass is tall and weeds are overgrowing on the front lawn. It was so different looking from Kurt’s own two-story home.

Why exactly is he here, though? What does Kurt expect to find at his so-called friend’s house? I need to know if he did it. Kurt looks around the neighborhood. No one is outside, nor is anyone in sight. He looks at the windows around the street, to find that no one is watching him. He is completely alone. He circles around the house and finds a small rectangular window on the ground. He bends down and wipes his hand over the dirty glass.

Ew. Kurt looks down at his dirt-covered hands. I am going to need the longest shower after this.

Kurt tries to look inside, but it is hard to see through the dust. Kurt checks his surroundings once more and he bites the inside of his cheek as he stands up and kicks at the window. The glass shatters as his heavy white boot makes contact. The sound is shrill on his ears and he whips around, expecting to see the police right there ready to arrest him.

I can do this…

Kurt breaks all the glass off the windowpane and he shimmies through, pulling himself into the Puckerman basement. His boots land on the glass, as it crunches underneath his doc martens. He lands gracefully on his feet, silently thanking his old cheerleading coach for the hours of hard work preparing him for this day he would be breaking into someone’s house.
Kurt looks around. The basement is completely cluttered with garbage. Old dirty mattresses, dusty books, power tools, and broken bikes surround the young dark-haired man. He feels for a light switch on the walls, only to learn the light bulb is broken.

“Damn it!”

Kurt looks down at the ground as he hears a squeak. Rats are crawling along the gross floor. Kurt shrieks and stumbles as he tries to run out of the basement. He finds an old wooden staircase and runs upstairs. Each step creaks as he steps on it, threatening to collapse below his light weight. He pushes open a door, missing a doorknob.
He comes into a small kitchen. The walls are cracked and bowls are tumbling over in the sink. A pizza box lies on the stove. Kurt walks over and opens the box, but jumps back with a gasp. Inside is half a pizza covered in mold. Kurt covers his mouth and looks away to stop himself from vomiting.

“What the hell!”

He turns on the sink faucet, only to find rusted brown water coming out of the tap.

Seriously Puck…

Kurt continues walking through the empty house until he comes to a closed bedroom door. A Keep Out sign is hung on the door. Kurt pushes the door open to see a messy bedroom. Empty plates lie on the ground and clothes and strewn everywhere. The floor cannot be seen. The bed, with its dark blue sheets, is in a complete mess. On the windows the, blinds are half hanging off. The curtains are in a crumpled mess on the ground. It looks as if the bedroom could be toxic. Looking around, Kurt is one hundred percent positive this room belongs to Noah Puckerman.

Kurt looks around, not knowing where to even begin to look. He needs to find evidence. He needs to know the truth. He kicks through the messy clothes with his white doc martens, not wanting to touch it with his bare hands. Who knows what kinds of germs are in here? Kurt tries to brush away his disgust, but it is rather hard, and he works his way through the room. He checks in every spot and every corner. He looks under the plates, which have food plastered to them. The only way one could get the old food off, would be with a chisel. Kurt has to keep a hand over his nose as he moves throughout the room, the abhorrent smell violating his nostrils.

Kurt finally comes to the night table beside Puck’s bed. Kurt pulls open the drawer, which sticks a bit so he has to force it open. Kurt nearly falls to the ground trying to get it open. He rummages through the drawer, as the glint of silver catches his eyes. Kurt looks down at a large hunting knife with a blade so large it could gut an animal…or a person easily. One side is completely smooth coming to a sharp point. The other side is serrated, looking like the set of sharp jagged teeth of a wild animal ready to rip apart a person’s flesh.

“Oh my god,” Kurt gasps.

Is this the evidence? Is this the evidence Kurt needed to know the truth? It could be a simple mistake, right? Maybe…maybe, he has it for protection? He can’t be the killer. Puck just can’t be the killer!

The sound of a car pulling up the driveway pulls Kurt out of his thoughts. He quickly slams the drawer shut and hears the sound of the front door opening.

“Mom, are you home?”

Kurt’s eyes grow wide at the sound of his possible-attacker’s deep voice. Could he really be the person who tried to kill him last night? Footsteps can be heard coming down the hallway. There isn’t much time for Kurt to leave. He jumps to the gross, disgusting floor and holds a hand to his mouth and nose and he squeezes under the tight space under the bed.

From under the bed, Kurt can see a pair of black boots, and nothing more, enter the bedroom. Kurt can feel his heart racing in his chest, sounding like a jackhammer to his ears, threatening to give away his hiding place any second.

Please don’t find me! Kurt pleads within his head. If, if, Puck really is the killer…then Kurt is in trouble. He watches the heavy black boots stomp around the small dirty room, kicking clothes in different directions.
What is he looking for?

Kurt feels the bed pushing down onto him, the weight of Puck’s body on top of it. After what seems like hours of waiting, but was probably only minutes, Kurt finally sees Puck leave the room. The sound of door closing, and then the lock clicks, followed by the sound of a running sink.

Kurt knows he doesn’t have much time, so he quickly pulls himself out from under the bed and tip toes out of the room. As he is walking past the bathroom, he hears the sound of the hardwood floor creaking. Kurt’s heart drops as he comes to a halt. The water stops running.

“Mom? Is that you?”

Kurt quickens his pace and nearly runs into the kitchen.

Fuck! Stupid, Kurt, stupid!

There is no backdoor out of the house, but there is a window above the kitchen sink. The sound of a door opening causes Kurt’s breath to quicken and his heart to pace faster than before. He nearly jumps onto the countertop and forces the window open with all of his strength.

“Mom?”

The voice is just outside the room.

Kurt pulls himself through the window and falls to the dirt ground below. He grimaces in pain as his right knee hits the rocks of the hard ground. He pushes away the pain and he jumps up and he runs. He gets the hell away from the Puckerman home. He doesn’t know where his feet take him. He just keeps running. As his legs begin to burn and his heart feels like it is about to give out, he doesn’t stop. He just keeps running, knowing he has to get as far away from there as possible.

Everything becomes too much, building up like lava in a volcano just waiting to erupt. Kurt falls to his knees, unable to catch his breath.

Is this how I die? Because I can’t fuckin’ breath?

He leans up against the silver pole on the sidewalk, and lets the cold metal sit against this back. Kurt brings his knees up, wrapping his arms around them. He rests his knees on his forehead and finally thinks about everything that just happened. Did he really just do that? Did Kurt Hummel really just break into Puck’s house, someone who may or may not have tried to murder him last night?

Puck? Are you really the killer? No…just no. I can’t believe this. This is just too much.

Kurt pulls himself up, his body still straining against the running he did. He walks the rest of the way and ends up outside Mercedes’s house. He doesn’t want to bother her, but before he can turn away the door is torn open. Mercedes stares up at him, anger and worry written all over her face. She doesn’t say anything at first, at a loss for words. Kurt could have been hurt or lost…or worse!

“What the hell, Kurt! Where have you been? I was worried sick!”
Kurt looks away, not wanting to see the pain in her chocolate brown eyes. He hates to see his best friend hurt like this. Mercedes has always been there for him, and Kurt knows it was unfair of him to not even call her to let him know where he was.

“I’m sorry,” he says in a small meek voice, just barely above a whisper.
Quinn walks up behind Mercedes, looking equally worried. She has worry written across her big green eyes.

“Where have you been?” she interrogates.

“I…” but Kurt can’t bring himself to tell the truth, “I just went for a walk. I had to get away from that school. The way people were looking at me. I just couldn’t take it. The way I’m usually treated is bad enough, but today it was so much more. It was worse than usual. It was like I was some…monster or something…”

All the anger erases from Mercedes’s body as she look up at the hurt boy in front of her. Kurt has had too much pain in his life, so she pulls him into her house and shuts the door behind them, making sure it is locked.

“You look like you could use a shower?”

Kurt nods as the girls walk him to the bathroom. He turns on the hot water and steps under the hot spray, letting it burn his flesh, wiping him away of all the dirt and bad memories of the day. He just stands under the hot water, letting his tears fall. The water mixes with the dirt and his salty tears, slipping down the drain only to be erased. If only memories could be eliminated that easily…

Kurt meets the two teenage girls back in Mercedes’s bedroom and the three teenagers sit on Mercedes’s queen-sized bed. She wraps her arm around the pale-skinned man and holds him close to her body. Quinn looks on, looking like she just wants Kurt to be okay. The way Quinn looks on, she could pass off as his mother.

Kurt can’t help but think about everything. Why has life been so unfair to him? What did he deserve all of this shit? He was born gay and has gone through life being tormented because of the way he is. He spends every day in constant fear because of the bullies…and then Dave Karofsky, his main bully, kissed him and threatened to kill him. He is tired of living in constant fear. He wants to move on.

He breaks down and the tears fall down his soft white cheeks. Mercedes pulls him closer and Quinn puts a hand on his back rubbing smooth circles, so he knows he isn’t alone. All his life, Kurt has felt alone. He loves his friends, but no matter what he’ll always feel alone.

What did I do to deserve this? I’m so sorry Finn. I’m sorry Rachel…I’m so sorry!

Kurt just wants it all to end. He pulls away from Mercedes. As salty tears continue streaming down his face, Mercedes can see the anger building up behind his big sad blue eyes, which remind her of sapphires.

“Just fuck all of this!”

The girls gasp, never having heard sweet and innocent young Kurt curse before.

“Kurt, I’m so sorry, I really am,” Quinn begins.

“Just don’t,” Kurt cuts her off. “I’m sorry. I just want all of this to be over. I’m sick of this shit! I just don’t get why this is happening. Did I do something to deserve this life?”

The tears come faster, causing him to cough as he tries to speak.

“No, Kurt! You’re wonderful,” Mercedes says with a gentle low voice. It’s soothing to Kurt’s ears.

“Kurt, we’re here for you now. All of us, okay?” Quinn gives him a soft smile, which Kurt can’t help but return back to her. “Hey! My mom is on some Christian wine tasting cruise this week. I don’t want to be in my huge house alone tonight…so how about we just have a huge sleepover. We can invite everyone from Glee over. We’ll eat bad food and watch unrealistic romantic comedies and complain about our lack-of love lives? What do you say?”

“I’ll have to talk to my parents tonight, but I’m sure they’ll say yes. There will be about ten of us tonight.”

Kurt smiles and nods, “That sounds nice.”

Mercedes is beyond delighted to see the smile on Kurt’s face. It feels like it has been too long since she has seen a true euphoric smile resting on his cute face. Mercedes has always known the strong, stubborn, defiant Kurt…and to see him so broken, it hurts her. She reaches out to hug him closely as she looks at his sad blue eyes.

Quinn joins the two teens and wraps her arms around her friends, who have been there for her anytime she needed them. When she was pregnant, they were there for her, and now she’ll be here for Kurt, just like Mercedes is.

Kurt closes his eyes and just takes in the small moment with his friends. He wants to remember this moment, this nice small moment between friends. A moment when everything is fine and nothing bad can happen.

Right now, Kurt feels safe.