Blaine sat at his desk, finishing up an essay for his English Lit class. Wes had been MIA since early morning, so Blaine pretty much had the room to himself that Sunday.

While he was scanning the document for possible mistakes, Blaine’s phone rang by his bedside. He hoped that it wasn’t him mom calling again, trying to change his mind. Blaine’s dad had convinced her to keep him as a part of the family, but that didn’t stop her from constantly trying to ‘fix’ him.

He turned begrudgingly and made his way over to his bedside table.

Kurt.

Now Blaine was really confused. He hadn’t spoken to Kurt in nearly a year. The easy friendship from their childhood had faded out.

After hesitating, Blaine finally picked up the phone.

“Hello?” he asked tentatively.

“Blaine? Hi, it’s Kurt. Can we meet somewhere? “We need to talk.”

Blaine glanced over at his desk where a pile of homework stood. That definitely could wait another day.

“Sure, where did you…”

“The Lima Bean,” Kurt said before Blaine could finish his sentence. “In maybe thirty minutes?”

“Okay,” Blaine responded. “I’ll be there.”

Kurt got to the coffee shop in fifteen minutes and sat in the corner waiting for Blaine to arrive. He stirred his mocha absentmindedly and tried his best to stay calm.

Kurt calling Blaine had been a sudden thing. One minute he was sitting on his bed, dreading returning to school and the next he was calling Blaine.

The past couple of years had been tough on Kurt. He was a social outcast and bullied in school on a regular basis. He officially came out only the year before, and it certainly made matters worse—even if he was proud of who he was. His friends tried to help, but they didn’t quite understand what he was going through.

That’s when Kurt remembered Blaine. Not that he ever forgot his childhood friend, but he remembered how similar of situations they were in.

Well, maybe not exactly the same. Kurt had no idea what Blaine’s relationship with his friends and family was. Blaine was at Dalton, and he was a part of the Warblers. That was all he knew. Everything else he knew about Blaine’s life was likely outdated.

But there was a chance that Blaine could help, and that was a chance Kurt was completely willing to take.

When Blaine walked in the door not five minutes later, it took Kurt a few seconds to recognize him. It wasn’t the fact that Blaine had gotten taller, or that his face had matured some, but that his hair was nowhere near the curly mess it used to be. It completely changed Blaine’s demeanor. He walked with purpose, but not lightheartedly as he used to. There was a stiffness about him that Kurt was definitely not expecting to see. The old Blaine seemed to be hiding underneath a layer of gel and a new persona.

After the initial shock from seeing Blaine, Kurt raised his hand in attempt to flag him down. When Blaine turned to him, a grin spread across his face. That was something Kurt recognized with ease.

Blaine didn’t even bother ordering anything from the barista. He walked straight towards Kurt. Kurt stood to greet him, and was pleasantly surprised when Blaine didn’t bother with formalities. Instead of saying hello, of shaking hands, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt in a too-tight hug.

Blaine remained in that position perhaps a moment longer than usual before dropping his arms and taking a step back. He searched Kurt’s face for signs of discomfort. The hug was a spur-of-the-moment type thing, and he wasn’t sure exactly how Kurt would react.

“God I’ve missed you,” Kurt said.

That was all Blaine needed to hear. 

An hour later they were both finished with their drinks—Blaine had finally decided to order a coffee twenty minutes after he arrived—and still deep in conversation. They discussed their respective glee clubs, their new friends at school, and everything that had happened in the year between.

Blaine told Kurt about his home situation, and how things were slowly getting better. Kurt offered much needed sympathy, even if he had trouble grasping the idea of a mother who was willing to disown her own son.

Then Kurt told Blaine about the bullies. Karofsky, Azimo, Rick.

“Everyday it’s something or someone new, but everyday it’s the same. The shame, humiliation. I’ve just gotten so tired of it all.”

Blaine’s stomach twisted when he heard Kurt’s story of being shoved into his locker so roughly that he bruised. Blaine had Dalton. Kurt was basically alone in a sea of hate. With each story, Blaine became more agitated. Where were the teachers? The friends? There has got to be some way to stop this.

Kurt fell silent when he noticed Blaine’s twisted expression. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, of course not.”

“Are you…okay?”

The grimace left Blaine’s face and was replaced with a look of concern. “Yes, but you aren’t.”

Kurt sighed, “I wish I could say yes I am, but that’s not the case.”

“Have you considered leaving?”

“Leaving McKinley? Sure but I don’t really have any place else to go.”

“Dalton.”

A tiny part of Blaine just wanted Kurt to come to Dalton so that they could spend time together, but in reality Blaine knew that the boarding school could do wonders for Kurt personally.

“I don’t even know if I can afford Dalton, or leave my friends, or start a new life…”

“Kurt,” Blaine began, “if you dread waking up to go to school every day, if people try to intimidate you into hiding yourself, you should do everything in your power to get out of the situation.”

“But…”

“Look at me,” Blaine gestured for Kurt to look him in the eyes, “if not Dalton, some other school then closer to home. There are 3 other public schools in the area, but you can’t stay at McKinley if no one is willing to help you when you need it.”

Kurt bit his lip, deep in thought. Blaine decided to give him a second to himself. He stood up. “I’ll be back in a minute,” he stated, and he went to the bathroom to kill some time. 

Once he returned, Kurt was sitting back in his chair and staring into space. A napkin was in the center of the table. On it, Kurt had drawn a ladybug. Blaine sat down, confused as to what exactly it meant.

“Do you remember back when we were really little, and we spent the entire day at the playground. First you tried to build a wall out of sand around me.” Kurt paused to laugh at the memory. Blaine didn’t quite remember the day as well as Kurt seemed to, but a hazy picture was starting to materialize in the back of his mind.

“…and then another boy pushed me off the swing and you tried to make sure I was okay.”  

Blaine blinked. Where was this going?

“And after that, we went our own way to play together. I remember walking up to you while you were picking flowers and grass for… mud pies was it? Anyway, you stopped picking and started talking to a ladybug and told him how he was different but that made him special… like me.”

“I sort of remember that, yes. But how is this relevant?”

“Because Blaine,” Kurt sat back up no longer in a reverie, “even when we were little kids you stood up for me, like you are doing now. I’ve been suffering at McKinley while most of my friends are too afraid to stand beside me and show off who we are as individuals. I think I’d like to be somewhere where I’m accepted unconditionally.”

“So this means…?”

“I’m transferring to Dalton.”