Kurt woke up disoriented on the couch the next morning. He was covered by the same blanket that had kept him warm during his afternoon nap the past day. To his displeasure he was still wearing the same clothes he had worn all of yesterday. Then again, he figured it would have been much more unsettling if someone had dressed him in pajamas instead, so he silently appreciated his family’s acceptance of personal boundaries.

“Oh good, you’re up.”  Kurt sat up to see his dad leaning in the living room door, nursing a cup of coffee.

“Is Blaine-“

“Still asleep in his room.” His father assured him before he could worry. He leaned back against the couch with a sigh, rubbing his eyes.

“There’s coffee in the kitchen, if you want any.” Burt said, taking a seat in the armchair.

Kurt shook his head. “Where did you disappear to yesterday?”

“Carole and I decided to drop in on the guys at the garage. They were really happy when Carole offered to make dinner. Apparently, Coop was the only one with any cooking skills whatsoever. I guess, I’m gonna have to send one of them to the education centre for cooking lessons.” Burt chuckled.

Kurt smiled, but he could tell his dad hadn’t just randomly decided to drop in by the auto shop on a Saturday night.

“You’re staying away on purpose.” Kurt stated, puzzled at his realization. Burt sighed, nodding. “Why?” Kurt asked with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He sat up straight facing his dad. “I thought you weren’t mad that I bought Blaine!”

“No, buddy, of course I’m not mad! You’re doing a great job taking care of him too, kid. But if I learned anything about helping new slaves settle in, it’s that the more people they have to answer to, the harder it is for them to focus on getting adjusted. Most of them are used to having one master. Until Blaine understands that he’s not a slave to us, that master is going to be you.” Burt explained calmly.

“I don’t know what I’m doing, dad.” Kurt admitted miserably. “I think most of the time I just scare him. I have no idea what to say to him at all…”

“Kurt, when your mom and I brought Jim home, we had no idea what the hell we were doing. He wasn’t as hurt or as scared as Blaine, but he wasn’t used to decent people either.” Kurt felt a pang of sympathy in the pit of his stomach.

Jim, now in his late thirties, had been the first Hummel slave to be set free. The dark skinned man had been with the family for almost 13 years now; he was a strong, intimidating guy at first glance, but Kurt knew the man was a teddy bear inside. He had a lot of fond memories of Jim babysitting him at the auto shop when his dad had to take him to work with him, because he couldn’t afford a babysitter for Kurt after his mother passed away.

“What did you do?” Kurt asked.

“It was tough at first,” Burt said. “He thought we were tricking him into a punishment when we offered him the same food we were having and he wouldn’t sit at the table with us or do anything that would put him into an equal position.”

Burt removed his cap and rubbed his head thoughtfully. “He’d just sit in a corner during meals and wait for the leftovers. We didn’t know how to make him comfortable.” A fond smile appeared on Burt’s face when he looked up and met Kurt’s eyes. “But you did.”

“What?”

“I’ll never forget it.” Burt chuckled. “You were coloring at the living room table and your mom made you a peanut butter and jelly sandwich as a snack. We were all sitting in the living room. I don’t remember what we were doing, but Jim was sitting in his usual corner, away from the rest of us. You just got up with your plate and you sat down right on Jim’s lap and held up a half of your sandwich right in front of his mouth.” Burt laughed at the memory. “I still remember his face; he was so confused, but you didn’t move until he’d taken a bite.”

Kurt shook his head, laughing incredulously.

“It got a lot easier after that.” Burt’s face grew serious again. “What I’m trying to say is: you instinctively knew what to do when you were three years old. I doubt that you could mess up now, even if you tried.”

At his father’s words, Kurt found that he was breathing a little easier. “You really think so?”

“I believe in you, kid! Always have and always will.” Burt assured him and got up from the chair. He was halfway to the kitchen before he remembered. “Oh right, almost forgot. Dr. Holland called yesterday evening. Do you think you can take Blaine to her at 9 pm?”

“9 pm? Isn’t that kind of late for a doctor’s visit?” Kurt asked.

“Well, she can’t exactly put slaves down as official patients during business hours.” Burt explained.

“Oh, okay, yes, of course. I’ll take him. Did she say anything about the test results?” He asked hopefully.

“No, buddy, sorry.” Burt said, before retreating into the kitchen.

“Thanks, Dad.” Kurt called after him, before deciding that maybe coffee wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Over breakfast Burt reminded him that Carole was working the morning shift and Finn was at football practice again. Between the two of them they decided to let Blaine sleep rather than to wake him for breakfast.

“He’s so tired.” Kurt mumbled between small bites of toast.

“Makes sense, I don’t know how long he was with that market, but I know they sure as hell don’t let them sleep much. And he’s so little, too…” Burt trailed off with a sad look on his face. “He’ll be better soon. You’ll see, and then we can figure out everything else with him. This is always the hardest part: When you get a new slave, the time it takes for them to settle in and figure out that nothing bad is gonna happen to them. Even when they’re strong and healthy to begin with, it takes time to understand that they’re actual people here. And with this kid, it’ll probably take a lot longer.”

Kurt nodded. “Can I stay home with him tomorrow?”

“Absolutely not.” Burt snorted, seemingly amused by Kurt’s suggestion.

“What? Why not?” Kurt said, probably a bit too loudly. He put down his toast in favour of leaning back and crossing his arms in front of his chest. Burt’s expression turned serious.

“How do you think that’s gonna look when people find out about Blaine? You think people aren’t gonna talk about how you bought a sex toy and the next week you stayed home from school because you were too busy with it?”

Kurt paled. “Why would people know about Blaine?”

“Oh come on, kid. Santana was at the market with you and between Rachel and Mercedes being in and out of the house like they live here, it’s only a matter of time. It’s not like Finn’s a brilliant secret keeper either. But nevermind the gossip, what about school? I’m not letting you compromise your GPA to play nurse.”

“I can’t just leave him here alone!” Kurt protested.

“Sooner or later you’ll have to. If you stay home on Monday, you’re gonna want to stay home on Tuesday too; he’s not gonna get better in half a week, so there’s no use for this nonsense in the first place.” Burt insisted, at the look on Kurt’s face his expression softened and he added “He’ll be fine on his own for half a day, and he’ll probably be asleep anyway.”

“Fine.” Kurt gave in. He’d have to come up with some way to make sure Blaine was okay, even if he couldn’t be there.

“That’s my boy.” Burt said approvingly, putting his now empty plate into the sink. “I’m gonna go get ready and then I’m gonna go to the shop. I’m kinda falling behind on the paperwork. Don’t forget, 9 pm!”

“Got it.” Kurt assured him and turned his attention back to the last bites of his toast as his father left the room.

When he knocked on Blaine’s door an hour later, freshly showered, already dressed for the day and with a plate of fresh toast and a cup of tea in his hands, there was no answer. He carefully pushed the door handle down with his right elbow and let the door swing open quietly. He smiled when he saw Blaine’s sleeping form on the bed. The boy was sleeping on his side, his front turned towards the door with a peaceful expression on his face. The blanket covered him to his ribs.

Kurt put the plate and cup down on the empty nightstand and sat down on the edge of Blaine’s bed.

The bruise around Blaine’s eye had turned a dark purple color, while the edges were turning yellow. Blaine’s lips were parted and Kurt could see that the cut on his lower lip had started to heal. Blaine’s curls were strewn wildly across the pillow and Kurt had to restrain himself from brushing a wayward curl out of his face.

His eyes fell on Blaine’s wrists which were crossed on the pillow next to his face again. The other night, he hadn’t been close enough to see, but now he could clearly make out a matching set of scars on both of Blaine’s wrists. There was no doubt in his mind that Blaine was used to sleeping with bound wrists. With wrists bound tightly enough that constant rope burn had made the tissue underneath the ropes scar. He wondered if he’d find similar scars on Blaine’s ankles too. Kurt felt a sinking feeling in his chest when he considered that being tied up was hardly the worst thing that happened to Blaine in the past.

He had half a mind to let Blaine sleep some more, but he had to get some more food into the boy; he could always let him go back to sleep after.

Kurt’s hand hovered over Blaine’s shoulder for a second, but he pulled it back again.

“Blaine?” He whispered instead. “Blaine, it’s time to wake up. Breakfast is ready.”

Blaine frowned in his sleep and buried his nose in the pillow, rubbing his face against the soft fabric for a second. A warm feeling settled in the pit of Kurt’s stomach when Blaine emitted a content sigh.

“Blaine.” He said, a little louder this time, but with a gentle tone nonetheless.

The boy stiffened as he startled awake, looking disoriented for a moment.

“Morning.” Kurt said, smiling softly “there’s breakfast for you on the nightstand. I hope you like chamomile tea.” Blaine’s eyes focused on Kurt and the confusion was replaced with a flash of delight.

“Sir! I mean- good morning, Kurt.” He said, quickly correcting his mistake.

“Did you sleep well?” Kurt asked as Blaine pushed himself into a sitting position against the headboard, dragging the duvet up to cover himself to the chest. Kurt handed him the cup of tea, careful not to spill any of it on the bed.

“I did, thank you, Kurt.” Blaine took the cup from Kurt and gave the liquid an experimental sip, eyes widening at the taste.

“Do you like it? I can make something else if you don’t.”

“No, it’s really good, thank you.” Blaine’s gaze landed on the digital clock on the shelf and he startled. “I’m sorry for sleeping so long, Kurt, I should have been up hours ago!”

“No, no, Blaine, don’t worry! Remember what we talked about yesterday, about sleep being good? I’m glad you got to sleep in, it’s good for you.” Blaine relaxed and took another sip of tea.

“We’re going to see the doctor at 9 pm tonight.” Kurt informed him, offering Blaine the plate of toast. Blaine took it and placed the plate in his lap.

“You are- erm… are you coming with me?” Blaine asked hopefully.

“Of course.” Kurt promised. “I’ll be driving you there anyway, if you want I can come in with you, but that’s entirely up to you.”

“Thank you, Kurt.” Blaine whispered, clutching the half full mug against his chest.

The remainder of the day passed, much like the day before had.

Kurt drew Blaine a bath and helped him remove his bandages and reapplied new ones after Blaine had some time to soak in the hot water.

He made a mental note to make Blaine start taking showers soon, since he seemed capable of holding himself upright for more than a few minutes by now. Then again, Blaine seemed so happy submerged in warm water that Kurt decided their water bill could handle a couple more baths.

Blaine seemed more at ease than Kurt had ever seen him before. Kurt wasn’t sure if it was due to their talk the previous night or if it was just a result of a peaceful night’s rest in a comfortable bed.

After coaxing two bowls of vegetable soup into him, Kurt sent Blaine back to bed for a nap until it was time to get ready to see the doctor.

That is how Kurt found himself on the edge of Blaine’s bed to the second time that day.

Blaine was sleeping fitfully, his wrists clutched to his chest and curled up into a tiny ball in the middle of the bed, whimpering softly in his sleep.

“Time to wake up, Blaine.” Kurt said, but Blaine didn’t react. After calling out twice more Kurt placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him gently.

Blaine twitched and the movement of his own body seemed to wake him from whatever dream he had been trapped in. He breathed a sigh of relief when his eyes fell on Kurt.

“Is it time to go?” Blaine asked. His voice was hoarse and shaky.

“Yeah, but we’re in no hurry. Bad dream?” Kurt looked at him in concern.

Blaine nodded. His eyes fell on the closet. “What would you like me to wear outside, Kurt?”

Kurt sighed, but didn’t call Blaine on his attempt of deflecting. “How about these black jeans…” He got up and pulled the pair he was talking about from the closet “…and this red sweatshirt? It’s pretty cold outside, so I’ll go find you a coat. How about you go get dressed and meet me by the door?”

“Yes, Kurt.” Blaine said, looking relieved.

A coat for Blaine was easily found in Kurt’s vast collection. He opted for one of the warmer coats he had. With the lack of insulation on Blaine’s body, he’d need all the extra padding he could get. Winter was fast approaching and the last thing Blaine needed right now was to catch a cold.

In the entrance hall Kurt remembered that Blaine didn’t even own a pair of shoes. “Blaine?” He called across the hall. “What shoe size do you wear?”

At Kurt’s call Blaine came rushing out of his room, almost tripping over his own feet. He was dressed in the clothes Kurt had laid out for him, the sweatshirt that had admittedly been large on Kurt was hanging off him like a little tent, but it was warm, so Kurt decided not to make him change out of it. The jeans however were held up by nothing but Blaine’s hands that were clutching the waistband and keeping the pants from falling to the ground.

“A size 12, Kurt.” He answered Kurt’s question.

“Okay, I think I still have some in that size from when I was younger. Wait here for a minute.”

Kurt hurried back into his room and rummaged through the collection of old shoes that were stacked neatly in boxes in the back of his walk-in closet.

“Ha!” He yelled in triumph when he found a pair of size 12 boots. On his way out of the closet he grabbed a black leather belt with a simple square metal buckle for Blaine’s pants and hurried back upstairs.

“I think I found something for you.” He called out to Blaine as he made his way down the stairs to the entrance hall.

When Blaine spun around to face him his eyes went wide. Kurt smiled and hurried over to where Blaine was waiting for him.

In confusion he watched as the color drained from Blaine’s face. The boy raised his arms, holding his hands in front of his face as if to shield it from blows. His pants dropped the moment he let go of the waistband, pooling around Blaine’s ankles. When he took a defensive step sideways, he tripped over the fabric and landed with his left side first on the floor, arms curled around his head.

“Blaine!” Kurt called out in shock, dropping the shoebox and belt to kneel down by Blaine’s side. “Are you hurt?” He asked, frantically trying to pull at Blaine’s hands, so he could see Blaine’s face.

“Please, I’m sorry.” Blaine cried out, when Kurt pulled his hands away, clasping them tightly with both of his own. “I’m sorry.”

“Calm down, Blaine, please! What happened?” Blaine was looking up at him, eyes still wide with fear and Kurt was suddenly painfully aware of how he had manhandled Blaine in his panic to make sure he was okay. He let go of Blaine’s hands, trying to give him space.

“What’s wrong?” He asked in what he hoped was a calm tone.

“Please don’t make me wait for it.” Blaine whimpered, curling up on the floor, his pants still trapped around his ankles, leaving his bare legs exposed to the cold tile floor.

“Wait for what, Blaine?” Kurt asked trying to catch Blaine’s gaze.

“The be- …the beating.” Blaine whispered.

“What beat-“ his eyes followed Blaine’s gaze and found the belt that lay discarded on the floor next to him. His heart sank. “Oh Blaine, no! No one’s getting beaten. Sweety, no! This is for your pants, to help hold them up, so this doesn’t happen.” He indicated towards the fabric trapping Blaine’s ankles.

Blaine was looking from Kurt to the belt and back as if waiting for Kurt to change his mind. Then slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position. He kept his eyes on Kurt when he pulled the pants back up over his legs.

“Let me help you up.” Kurt said, carefully reaching for Blaine. When Blaine didn’t flinch, he pulled him back to his feet with ease.

“Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself falling?” Kurt asked.

“No, Kurt. I’m fine, Kurt.” Blaine whispered, pulling his pants in place, looking at the floor in shame.

Kurt dropped back to his knees to retrieve the fallen items. “Let me help you with the belt?” He asked, now directly in Blaine’s sight, holding out the belt to him like an offering.

Blaine looked uncertain for a moment, but nodded after taking a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry I scared you.” Kurt apologized. “I wasn’t thinking, I’m so, so sorry.” He pulled the belt through the first loop, then the next. “I promised I’d never beat you and I meant it.” He could feel Blaine release a shaky breath as he reached around the other boy to push the belt through the loops on the back of his jeans. “It’s not gonna happen. Ever. I swear.” The belt went through the last loop and Kurt looked up. “Are you sure you didn’t hurt yourself?” He asked as he pulled the belt tight.

“Yes.” Blaine said, breathing deeply and Kurt could tell he was finally relaxing now that the belt was fastened around him and in no way a weapon anymore. “Thank you, I’m sorry, I’m fine.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.” Kurt assured him, pulling the boots from the box.

“Let’s see if those fit.” He helped Blaine step into the left boot and pulled up the zipper.

“Comfortable?” He asked.

“Very, thank you, Kurt.” He smiled and helped Blaine into the other boot as well.

“There we go.” He said, pulling the coat he had selected for Blaine earlier from the coat rack, holding it open for Blaine. Thankfully it was really big for Blaine as well, so he didn’t have to pull his arms back too far to slip in.

Kurt pulled on his own shoes and coat before looking Blaine over one last time, his eyes lingering on Blaine’s bare hands. He rummaged through the pockets of another coat that still hung on the rack and pulled a produced a pair of fingerless gloves from its depths.

“Put these on, too.” Kurt held the gloves open so all Blaine had to do was wriggle his fingers into them. They were really warm and a very nice dark blue, which is why Kurt had initially bought them. Unfortunately, they were too small for his hands, so he’d never worn them before, even though they were a little stretchy. On Blaine’s hands they were perfect.

“Okay then, let’s go.” He said, opening the door for Blaine and directing him into the passenger’s seat of his Navigator.

The air outside was cold, and the howling wind didn’t exactly improve that. Blaine was shivering by the time they were seated in the car.

“If you want to I can turn on the seat heating.” Kurt offered.

“What’s a seat heating?” Blaine asked, shivering.

“It erm… well it makes the car seat get warm, it’s really nice. I’ll put it on for both of us, just tell me if you don’t like it and I’ll turn it off, okay?” He flicked two switches on the control panel and pulled out of the driveway.

Half a minute later Blaine gasped in surprise and leaned forward, looking at his seat in disbelief.

“Do you like it?” Kurt asked.

Blaine smiled in excitement, leaning back against his seat again. “It’s nice.” He said with an excited tone in his voice. “It feels nice on the bruises on my back.” He added with a tone of surprise after a while.

“That’s good.” Kurt said smiling, but focused on the road.

They arrived at the doctor’s office 15 minutes early. There was no secretary at the reception desk when they entered and the entrance hall was only dimly lit. Kurt wondered if the secretary even knew the doctor was seeing patients after hours.

Blaine kept close to Kurt as they walked, his eyes firmly fixed on the ground. For a moment Kurt was tempted to wrap an arm around the other boy’s shoulders, but after what had just happened in the entrance hall at home he knew it would be a terrible idea.

“Are you alright?” Kurt asked as they made their way towards the waiting room. Blaine looked up at him startled, but nodded.

Kurt opened the waiting room’s door.

The room was brightly lit in contrast to the front room, so it took his eyes a second to adjust properly, when they did Kurt was surprised to see they weren’t the only occupants of the waiting area. Two boys were sitting in chairs next to each other on the opposite side of the room. Kurt guessed they were about the same age as himself and Blaine. They were looking at the new arrivals.

“Hi.” Kurt gave an awkward wave and received two equally awkward waves in return. Blaine was still standing next to him, looking at the ground. Kurt helped him out of his coat and hug both of their coats onto a coatrack next to the door.

“Here, sit down with me.” Kurt said, closing the waiting room door behind them and directing Blaine to a chair while taking up the adjoining one himself. Blaine sat stiffly, eyes on the floor. Kurt knew it had to be due to some sort of ‘proper slave behaviour in public places’ training, but he didn’t have the heart to tell Blaine he should stop. He could tell Blaine was nervous enough without Kurt criticizing his behaviour.

Kurt’s focus was pulled from Blaine by the sound of quiet whispers from across the room. He looked up in time to see the boys on the other side of the room look away.

Not quite knowing what to do with himself, he picked up a magazine from the chair next to his and opened it at a random page. The whispering across the room resumed as soon as he looked away.

The unsettling feeling of being watched was making him shift nervously in his seat. He looked up again and was met with the sight of the boys frantically whispering to each other again.

Belatedly he wondered if he should have been more careful with how he treated Blaine, but all he had done since they entered the room was tell him to sit. Should he have made Blaine sit on the floor? But if they were judging him for treating his slave too nicely, why were they at the doctor’s office at this hour anyway? Then again, neither of them looked like a slave, so maybe they were emergency patients or something.

He looked at them again. One of them was tall, thin looking even in his coat, with blonde hair that reminded him of Sam’s. The other one was shorter and stockier, with dark hair and currently with a  pleading look on his face. Frowning, he looked back down into his magazine.

Kurt stiffened when after another minute of whispering the boys abandoned their seats and made their way across the room.

He tossed the magazine back onto the table and stood up as well, shielding Blaine from the gaze of the approaching boys. Kurt wasn’t sure what they wanted, but he was pretty sure he could take them both in a fight if necessary.

The blonde boy came to a halt in front of Kurt, while the dark haired boy remained a step behind.

“Hi.” the blonde boy said, squaring his shoulders “I’m Jeff. I was hoping that maybe you’d allow our slaves to interact.” He pointed towards the boy behind him and now that Kurt saw him up close he could see a brand peeking out over the boy’s scarf. The boy really was a slave. What the hell was going on?

“What do you mean ‘interact’?” Kurt asked warily, crossing his arms before his chest. Jeff swallowed and looked back at the boy behind him. Kurt felt excluded from whatever sort of telepathic conversation the two of them had within the mere seconds their glance lasted.

Kurt frowned, Jeff wasn’t really treating the dark-haired boy like a slave. In fact, Kurt hadn’t thought either of them was a slave when he had looked at them earlier. Jeff interrupted his thought process.

“I would really appreciate it if you’d allow your slave to talk to mine. You see,” Jeff seemed to be thinking hard “Nick here, doesn’t get much chance to talk to another slave because we live …erm… far, far away from… erm…” Kurt didn’t know why, but the boy was failing miserably at coming up with a lie for him.

“Blaine, do you know either of these gentlemen?” He asked, turning around to face Blaine and stepping out of the way slightly, so as not to block Blaine’s view of the boys.

 Blaine looked up for the first time since they entered the room; he looked at Jeff in confusion, but then his eyes flared in recognition as they landed on the other slave.

“Nick!” He gasped, a bright smile instantly appearing on his face. Kurt sighed in relief; he had been really worried they were in trouble for a second.

“You know him.” He stated the obvious. “You wanna catch up?”

Blaine looked at him uncertainly for a moment but then nodded enthusiastically. Kurt smiled and stepped out of the way.

“Careful with his back.” He warned in the last possible second as Nick breezed past him and pulled Blaine into his arms, just in time to stop Nick from patting Blaine’s back. Blaine hugged Nick back with equal force, burying his face in the slightly taller boy’s shoulder.

Kurt tore his eyes away for a second to look at Jeff who was smiling brightly at the scene in front of him. “So I take it they know each other?” Kurt asked.

Jeff nodded. “Yeah! Oh man, I really thought we were in trouble there for a second.” He bumped Kurt’s shoulder amicably.

Kurt gave a breathy laugh. “Yeah, me too. So how do you two know each other?”

“We had the same owner for a few months.” Nick explained, still holding Blaine close. “We shared a bunk bed.” He pulled Blaine away from himself and looked at him at arms’ length, his happy grin turning into a frown and he looked at Kurt nervously and then shot a pleading look at Jeff.

“You didn’t… you didn’t do this to him... right?“ Jeff asked.

“NO!” Blaine interrupted before Jeff could finish his question, seemingly startled at his own volume he lowered his voice. “No, he didn’t.” He promised, looking from Jeff to Nick. “Kurt saved me from the market. He’s been nothing but good to me.” Blaine looked at Kurt and in a whisper added “I wouldn’t be here, if it wasn’t for him.”

Nick seemed convinced and pulled Blaine in for another hug, when the waiting room’s door opened and Dr. Holland walked in on the scene.

“Oh.” She said surprised at the scene that greeted her, but smiling softly. “Hello Blaine, Kurt. I’m glad you could make it. I see you met some friends?” Jeff nodded, bumping Kurt’s shoulder again.

Blaine and Nick reluctantly untangled themselves and turned to face the doctor.

“I’m ready to see you now, Nick.” She said, gesturing towards the door.

“Here, give me your number.” Kurt said, holding out his phone to Jeff. “And I’ll ring you right now, so you have mine. We can meet some other time if Blaine and Nick want.” Both boys nodded eagerly and watched their owners exchange phone numbers, before Jeff and Nick followed the doctor out of the room.

Blaine was looking after them with a bright smile and teary eyes for a minute, before abruptly turning to Kurt. “I can see him again?” He asked as though Jeff’s and Kurt’s conversation had only just registered in his mind.

“You can.” Kurt assured him, smiling at Blaine’s expression.

“Thank you, Kurt.”

The silence that followed was slightly uncomfortable, at least to Kurt, but Blaine didn’t seem to notice. “So… you and Nick used to live together?” Kurt asked tentatively, on the one hand not wanting to burst Blaine’s happy bubble, but on the other hand wanting to satisfy his own curiosity about Blaine’s past owner, at least one of them.

“Yes, Kurt. We had the same master.” Blaine answered and allowed Kurt to guide him back into his abandoned seat.

“What was it like there?” Kurt pressed on.

“It was great!” He said, much to Kurt’s surprise. “We got beds there and food three times a day.”

“That’s good.” Kurt agreed. “Was this with your first master?”

Blaine stiffened instantly and shook his head vigorously. “No, Kurt. He was my third master, but they didn’t tell him that at the market, they put me in with the 50% off.”

Kurt nodded in understanding. Paperwork on slaves was as good as non-existent, so it was common practice to try and sell slaves for higher prices if they could be passed off as ‘newer’.

“Would you tell me about him?” Kurt asked, watching Blaine closely.

“He was nice. There were twelve of us slaves at all times, he called us his “Warblers” and got us matching clothes.” Blaine bit his lips. “But he got bored fast and when he got bored he sold one of us and bought a new Warbler instead. But he kept me for three whole months.”

He exclaimed the last part as though it was a big accomplishment, and to Blaine it was.

Blaine’s expression had saddened and Kurt felt like hitting himself for causing Blaine to stop smiling like he had 5 minutes ago.

“I’m keeping you, you know.” Kurt said firmly. “As long as you want to stay with me, you can.”

Blaine looked at him, his face contorting as though he was in pain. “Please.” He pleaded.

“What? What is it?” Kurt asked, startled by the pain in Blaine’s eyes as the boy blinked rapidly to keep the wetness in his eyes at bay.

“I know I have no right to ask for anything, but please, Kurt, please don’t tell me things like that.” He swallowed hard.

“Things like what?” Kurt asked, confused.

“Beautiful ideas like that.”

Kurt felt paralyzed for a moment, not knowing what to do or say. The hitch in Blaine’s breath brought him back.

“I’m not lying to you.” He said, his voice shaky “I won’t sell you or give you away. I’m keeping you. You’re staying with me. For as long as you can stand me.”

“What if I don’t want to leave ever?” Blaine asked so quietly that Kurt almost didn’t hear him. He lowered his head but Kurt caught his chin softly and forced him to look back up at him.

“Then I’m never saying goodbye to you.” Kurt answered with as steady a voice as he could muster, looking straight into Blaine’s eyes.

It was like he felt something give. He could almost see it in Blaine’s eyes, but he felt it in his chest more than anything. Before he knew what he was doing he was opening his arms for the other boy and was rewarded with an armful of Blaine.

Blaine tentatively wrapped his arms around Kurt’s chest and allowed himself to be enclosed in a hug. His body felt fragile in Kurt’s arms and more than ever Kurt knew that he had to be infinitely careful with Blaine if he didn’t want him to break.

“You’re safe.” Kurt whispered into Blaine’s hair where he had pressed his face. He carefully ran his hand over Blaine’s left shoulder where he knew Blaine wasn’t hurt and dragged the fingers of his other hand gently through the curls in the nape of Blaine’s neck.

Blaine was shaking against him, so hard it almost felt as though he was vibrating. However he didn’t let go, so Kurt continued to let him muffle his sobs in his shoulder.

After a few minutes he caught himself whispering comforting nonsense in Blaine’s ear over and over. “You’re safe. I’m keeping you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

Eventually the shaking stopped and he felt Blaine draw in a deep calming breath. When Blaine loosened his grip Kurt did the same, allowing Blaine to retreat.

“You’re okay.” Kurt assured him when Blaine looked as though he might try and apologize. “You’re fine.”

Kurt’s head was swimming with relief; he could tell he gotten something right, something really important, even though he didn’t know what it was.