Blaine woke up to see Kurt's blue eyes staring at him. He closed his eyes, hoping Kurt hadn't seen him wake up, but no such luck. Kurt cleared his throat and Blaine met his stare. He blushed, ashamed of himself for putting that look of betrayal on Kurt's face. Blaine groaned and sat up.

“I think I owe you an explanation about where I was yesterday.”

“Well, yes, along with why – when I went to put your jacket in the laundry this morning, I found over $30,000. In your pocket, Blaine.”

Blaine turned even redder. Then he put his head in the pillow and began to cry. Kurt, who had been standing with his arms crossed, tapping his foot in agitation, sat down next to Blaine and pulled the crying boy into his lap.

“I...I had to do it,” Blaine said through his tears. “They took everything from me, so I went and took the money. They'll never even notice it's gone, and most of that is mine, anyway. But I couldn't have you paying for me. Not on top of everything else you've done, Kurt. I had to do it.”

Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine's curly hair.

“Blaine, Blaine. No, you didn't. You should never have put yourself at such a risk. Never. Do you know how frightened we were? Do you?” Kurt was just short of shouting, shaking a little with his fear and anger.

Blaine felt even worse. He just didn't know what to say other than that he was sorry. “I'll apologize to the others, too. Kurt, I am so sorry. I just wasn't thinking....I couldn't sleep and I was feeling bad that all of you were having to do so much for me, and I could do nothing to repay it. I though I'd be back before noon, but when I came out into the cave I heard people on the river bank and I was scared to come out. They didn't leave until dark and I tried to sleep, but it was so cold. So I walked home.”

Kurt noticed he had called Kurt's house his 'home', and it gave him a warm feeling.

“Kurt? I'm afraid I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. I feel like I'm still twelve years old, but with a sixteen year old's body. I don't know how to act. I'm just hopeless. Are you sure you want to help me?” Blaine looked at him with those sad hazel eyes, tears caught on the thick lacy black lashes, and it broke Kurt's heart.

“Oh, Blaine. Yes, I'm sure. And I think I can speak for the others that they are sure, too. We care about you, Blaine. Okay?” Kurt placed a small kiss on his cheek, eliciting a smile from Blaine.

“Okay. I promise, next time I'll ask before I run off to do some foolish thing again.”

Kurt got up, walking over to his desk. “This was in your pocket, too.” He tossed the picture of Cooper and the harmonica over to Blaine. “You play?”

“Not for years, but I think I can still remember how..” Blaine picked up the harmonica and licked his lips, then blew a few notes. It wasn't Mozart – but it was a recognizable tune. “Hey, with a little practice, I will probably be able to play again.” And a smile bloomed on Blaine's face, making Kurt's breath hitch. Blaine was just beautiful when he smiled.

“Okay, let's go eat some breakfast. We need to get your glasses this morning and then meet the gang for lunch back here.”

Later that afternoon, Puck and the girls showed up, sitting at the table as Kurt served them homemade pizza and big glasses of milk.

“The glasses look hot on you, Prince.” Santana commented. Blaine grinned, they took some getting used to, but being able to see after so long was wonderful. He wasn't so happy about Santana calling him “Prince in the Tower”, but apparently she called everyone by a nickname and it was better than “Lady Lips”. He smiled at the people around the table. It was amazing to him how much these four cared about him. He hadn't mattered to anyone for so long. As far as he knew, nobody had even missed him. Had not one of his friends from Dalton tried to get in contact with him? These people, who he had known less than a week, were more family to him than anyone he'd known his whole life.

“I have some pools to clean tomorrow, Kurt, but I can spare you for now. I think you better stay here with Blaine. I'll give you a call when I get home,” Puck said.

“Right. That sounds okay, but I can do it if you really need me, you know. I made a commitment to work for you and I won't go back on it.” Kurt looked at Puck, trying to assess the truth, if Puck did need him but was worried about Blaine. No, Kurt decided, Puck looked like he was telling the truth.

“On Monday, maybe you can pick me up for school, Kurt, and I'll take Blaine to the school office. It would look better if I took him since he's supposed to be my 'cousin',” Santana spoke up.

“I'll be over about 6:30, we need to stop by The Lima Bean before I brave the wilds of the McKinley halls,” Kurt quipped. Blaine grinned.

“What about getting a driver's license?” Lauren asked. She had given Blaine his new 'birth certificate' with the date April 15th as his birthday. He'd looked at it and told her his birthday was actually in February, but she reasoned that since she had no way of knowing that when she got it, she had just used the date Kurt and Puck had liberated him. Blaine smiled, readily agreeing with her. Being saved from that room was almost like being born again.

“That makes more sense..my new life really did begin on that day, and I have all of you to thank for that. Kurt is teaching me to drive,” Blaine smiled. The other three all offered to help with that. After lunch, they put on some music and everyone sang and danced for a few hours before breaking up to go their own ways.

“Tomorrow is Friday and I think we should let poor Blaine have a day of rest, then my family will be home on Saturday and Sunday, so will we see you all on Monday?” Kurt asked. Everyone agreed and they filed out.

Kurt and Blaine walked into the basement. Blaine had complained of pain in his legs and back, probably from the miles he had walked after no exercise for years, and he wanted to rest. Kurt brought him some aspirin and they lay down on the bed to read for a while.

Blaine seemed to have a hard time concentrating, he was changing position, adjusting his glasses, staring into space.

“Blaine, what's wrong?” Kurt asked.

“Nothing.”

“Ah...I beg to differ. You've been twitching like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs all afternoon. Now, you can say you don't want to discuss it, but I can see you're agitated. Can I do anything to help?”

“Okay. Remember last night?”

“You were gone. I was pacing the floor. Of course I remember it,” Kurt said.

“I mean when I got home.”

“Home, Blaine? Do you think of this as your home now?” Kurt said, a little wistful.

“Ah,” Blaine ducked his head and blushed a tiny bit. “Yeah, Kurt. It seems more home to me than mine ever did. I hope that's okay to say...I'm not good at boundaries anymore, I guess, so forgive me if I say anything wrong.”

“No, you didn't say anything wrong. I'm happy to hear that you're comfortable enough to think of my home as your home, I want you to think of it like that,” Kurt said softly. He moved his hand over and took Blaine's in his.

Blaine continued, “When I got home, you helped me to bed. I was so tired, so sleepy, I hardly remember getting in bed. But I do remember what happened before I fell asleep.”

“You kissed me,” Kurt said, looking into Blaine's hazel eyes.

“Was that okay?” Blaine asked, unable to look away.

“Yeah, Blaine, it was.”

“Did you like it?” Blaine asked. “I had....well, I never kissed anyone before.”

“Yes, Blaine, I did. And you are the first boy I ever kissed, too, so I guess we can learn together. That is, if you liked it, too.” Now it was Kurt blushing.

Blaine didn't know what to say, so he sat there, nodding and looking into Kurt's eyes.

“Can we............do it again?” Blaine asked, the hope showing in his eyes.

Kurt didn't answer, he just leaned forward and very gently placed his lips on Blaine's. They both closed their eyes, and Blaine reached up and cupped Kurt's jaw in his hand – never leaving his lips. They broke apart, opening their eyes and searching each other for reaction.

“Oh....my,” was all Kurt said, and leaned forward to do it again.

The boys lay back in bed, arms around each other and kissing for what seemed like a lifetime, but was only until dinner when they realized they were hungry for more than each other, and they went back upstairs, hand in hand, to make dinner. Kurt didn't have his mind on cooking, so he just threw together some salad and grilled shrimp, Blaine setting the table and making tea. They ate in mostly silence, looking into each other's eyes and smiling.

After the wash-up, Kurt thought they were being way too serious and twirled the dish towel into a tight twist, snapping the damp end at Blaine. Blaine jumped when it stung his hip and turned to Kurt in surprise, but caught on and twirled his towel, too. They had a towel fight, Blaine proving to be the champ at snapping just the end so it made a crack like a whip as it stung Kurt's skin a tiny bit with each snap.

Kurt was laughing so hard, it was hard to defend himself, so he just lunged forward, tackling Blaine and falling on top of him on the tile floor of the kitchen and holding his wrists tightly, placing his lips firmly on Blaine's. He kissed lightly at first, then with a bit more force, licking Blaine's bottom lip and getting a startled noise in return. He grinned down at Blaine and asked, “Do you surrender?”

Blaine struggled to get loose, but Kurt was strong and had his wrists in a deadlock.

“Yes, I surrender to you,” Blaine said softly in Kurt's ear, kissing the pink shell and taking the lobe into his mouth to nibble on it. Kurt broke out in goose-flesh, shivering a little and trying to duck his head down to cover his neck. Blaine took this to be a challenge and began kissing down Kurt's neck, as far as his collarbone. Kurt made delighted sounds that went straight to Blaine's lower anatomy – so he stopped, not knowing how to proceed from here.

Kurt let his wrists go, getting to his feet and reaching out a hand to help Blaine up, too.

“I guess we're done here, and since you are officially my prisoner now, I'm taking you to the dungeon.”

Blaine stopped at that, frozen at the thought of being a prisoner, and broke away from Kurt, running and stumbling into the family room, not knowing which way to go, then heading for the back door.

Kurt realized what he had said, and, heart in his throat, he ran after Blaine, easily catching up before he could bolt out the door. “Blaine! Blaine, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm sorry...”

He made a grab for Blaine's hand, caught his forearm and held on. Blaine panicked at the touch and jerked his arm free... and went running down the hallway, Kurt in pursuit.

This time, Blaine ran downstairs, fear clutching at his throat, crawling in his belly. He wasn't thinking, just the instinct to run was driving him – so he ran blindly to the place he had felt safest. Kurt's bed. He was curled under the blankets, under the sheet in a small ball next to the wall, his head tucked close and his arms over it to ward off danger.

By the time Kurt got down the stairs, he was calmer, having given a little thought to what was happening. He knew what Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome was, and made a guess that Blaine was probably having something like that. Grabbing at him was not the answer, and as long as Blaine wasn't running out the door to who knows where, he was probably safer in the basement. Kurt entered the room, switching off the lights as he went to make it darker, though the sunlight was filtering in through the sheer curtains at the windows. He walked, calmly but not quietly, over to the desk chair – not wanting to startle Blaine. He knew in his heart this was a very important minute.

“Blaine, I want you to know I'm here if you need me. I'm sorry I scared you, but I would never hurt you.” he crooned, not thinking about his exact words, just that they were comforting and soft. “You're safe here, baby, I won't let anything happen to you. Can I do anything to help? I won't touch you if you don't want me to.” Kurt didn't know if any of this was helping, he wanted to call his dad or Carole -she was a nurse and would know what to do. But he had promised not to do that, and if he did, it would destroy any faith Blaine had in him. This was hard, so hard.

Blaine was thinking to himself: He called me BABY? Why would he do that? Does he care so much? Oh, I only wish he did. It must have been my imagination.'

Kurt began to sing. Toora Loora Loora came to mind, he had calmed Blaine with that song before, so he began to sing. After a few lines, he heard Blaine's voice: “Can you come hold me? Please?”

Ah, Kurt was relieved to hear that. He walked slowly over to the bed and climbed under the blankets next to Blaine, gathering him close, but not holding too tightly so as not to scare him. He combed his fingers through Blaine's hair, humming the tune under his breath.

“I'm sorry, Blaine. I just didn't think. You'll never be anyone's prisoner again, sweet boy. Never as long as I can prevent it. You're home, Blaine, you're safe now,” Kurt went on, rubbing gently on his forearm and carding his curly hair until he felt Blaine's muscles relax. Kurt though he was asleep, so he settled down to do the same, confident now that Blaine was trusting him again. Just as he was starting to fall into a light sleep, Blaine turned over to face Kurt.

“I'm sorry, too. I wasn't sure what happened at first, I just panicked. I felt like I was going back in the attic room, I can still hear the lock click, I can still feel the solid oak boards as I smashed my hands against them day after day after day; I can feel the cold wind at night when I huddled under the blankets, trying to get warm. I was scared, Kurt, but I'm sorry I didn't remember it was you, and you would never hurt me. Am I forgiven?” The plea in Blaine's voice broke Kurt's heart.

“Oh, Blaine..you don't need to be forgiven. You did nothing wrong, I should have been more careful in what I said to you. Let's put this behind us, it was a misunderstanding and we can make it better. If you feel afraid again, just tell me. I won't touch you if you don't want me to, Blaine. I promise,” Kurt told him, kissing his cheek in encouragement.

Blaine looked at Kurt's face, seeing the caring there. He loved this face, the first one he'd seen in three long years of torture, the face of his knight in shining armor, his guardian angel. And he leaned forward and kissed Kurt's lips, very chastely, very softly, and Kurt kissed him back, rubbing his back and sighing.

“You'll get through this, Blaine. If I can find a way, we'll get through this together.”

Blaine wished Kurt would call him 'baby' again, but he couldn't ask that. So he closed his eyes and cuddled closer to Kurt and fell asleep in his Knight's arms, safe against the world.

Friday morning, and Kurt's last day before his dad got home from Washington DC. Burt still owned the garage, but had a manager running it now because he had won the senate seat, so he was often busy in Washington. Kurt wouldn't have to go get him at the Columbus airport because Burt drove his car out there and just parked it, so Kurt expected him home sometime Saturday evening.

He had to think about what exactly they were going to do with Blaine. He could probably stay for a few weeks, if Kurt told Burt that he was Santana's cousin but the Lopez house didn't have the room. Sam had stayed with Kurt for a while when his family went home to Kentucky, but for the long run they had to figure out the exact details.

Kurt was making waffles when Blaine came up from the bedroom, stopping just inside the door to see if anyone else was in the house before he stepped into the kitchen. It pained Kurt's heart to see him so cautious, but he didn't see any way to remedy the situation. He sighed and just went on with breakfast, pouring fresh squeezed orange juice into two glasses and transferring the drained bacon onto a small plate.

Kurt usually didn't eat much bacon, but he had found out how fond Blaine was of it, so he had made it every day. Today it was turkey bacon, a lot better for a person that the pork. If only his dad wouldn't make such a fuss when Kurt made it for him. But Blaine was happy with anything Kurt made, for obvious reasons.

Blaine smiled at Kurt, offering to help, then coming up in back of him to put his arms around Kurt. Kurt hummed a little in satisfaction, he was beginning to love having Blaine touching him in such a natural and relaxed way. He knew it was mostly about feeling safe and maybe grateful, but he hoped that it was also a little because Blaine was attracted to him. Because, Kurt discovered this morning, he was attracted to Blaine. Well, he had probably known it before, maybe even from the first night, but it just really manifested itself this morning as he woke up, because Blaine had turned away in his sleep and Kurt missed his closeness and warmth. He had spent ten long minutes just looking at Blaine sleeping, thinking how good looking he was.

“Hey, that smells wonderful, Kurt. Thank you,” Blaine said in his ear, kissing his cheek.

“Thank you. I hope you like waffles?”

“Yum!”

“Butter and syrup, with bacon on the side and OJ,” Kurt told him. “Then I have to thaw something for dinner. Any ideas?”

“I know we were just going to have a quiet day, but maybe we can invite Puck and the girls...and do you have a grill out back?”

“Yes. We can go by the grocery if you're up to it. The more practice you get in public, the better you're going to deal with high school,” Kurt said, picking up his phone to call Puck.

Several hours later, Blaine was walking down the aisle of the grocery with Kurt, looking for things for the BBQ. They got New York Strip steaks, corn on the cob, a loaf of French bread to make garlic toast, and fresh veggies for a tossed salad. In addition, Kurt got some cream, milk, ice, and rock salt. It took Blaine a minute, but a grin spread across his face.

“You have an ice cream maker?”

“Yes, we do, I thought as long as we're having a cook-out we might as well make ice cream. Do you have a favorite flavor?”

“Vanilla. I know most people like chocolate, and they think of vanilla of as being a non-flavor, but it's actually my favorite.”

“Then vanilla it is,” Kurt smiled.

Puck strolled out the back door, beer in hand and his arm around Lauren. Kurt was loading ice and salt into the freezer, placing the churning mechanism and handle on the side. He started turning the handle, and Brittney came out the door behind Puck.

“Brittney!” Kurt said, a little surprised to see her. Santana was right behind, smiling an apologetic smile at Kurt and shrugging her shoulders. He smiled back at her, knowing that Britt was probably at her house and there was no convenient way to ditch her before coming to Kurt's.

“Blaine Palomo, this is Brittney Pierce,” Kurt introduced. “He is Santana's cousin, you know.”

Britt looked puzzled for a second, then said, “I thought your cousin was Ellen?”

“Yes, Britt, but Blaine is my cousin, too. I have a lot of cousins.” Santana told her, patting her hand. Britt looked at Blaine.

“Yeah, but none this pretty,” she practically sparkled and Santana gave Blaine a warning scowl.

“It's good to meet you, Brittney,” was all Blaine said, moving to take a turn at the ice cream freezer.

“I have the charcoal lit and the coals should be about ready,” Kurt told Puck. He nodded at the platter of steaks all seasoned and the corn wrapped in foil ready to put on the grill. Lauren had just returned from the kitchen with plates, tablecloth, and flatware.

The food was an unparalleled success, and everyone chatted through the meal, happy and animated. It looked like everything was ready for school on Monday morning. Kurt dished up the ice cream after dinner was over and everyone sat in lawn chairs and chaise lounges, Kurt and Blaine cuddled in the hammock together under a crocheted afghan. It was a little chilly and the ice cream was making everybody shiver, but not enough to go back in the house. Puck was sitting on the chaise, Lauren seated in front of him with his arms around her, and on the love seat Santana was holding hands with Brittney. Kurt closed his eyes for a moment, hoping that in the near future, all of them could remain this relaxed and happy. The only thing to mar his thoughts was thinking of the way Blaine had run scared from him the day before, when he had teasingly said Blaine was his prisoner. What if someone said something like that at school? He would just have to be careful and keep a close eye on Blaine.

“Blaine, can you go with Britt and get the blanket off the back of the sofa? I think Santana's getting cold.”

When they left, Kurt very hurriedly told the others about Blaine being so scared, and to watch for it when he was in their classes with them. They couldn't afford to bring that much attention to him to begin with. Blaine and Britt came back and Santana took the blanket to cuddle with Britt. Puck was kissing Lauren on the back of her neck and talking to her in a soft voice and Kurt put his arms around Blaine, bringing him very close and sighing in happiness as Blaine made a soft humming noise at the contact. Everything did seem right with the world.