Blaine noticed that since the bullying incident, Kurt stopped talking again. He seemed to pull away from everyone even more than he already had. Sure, it'd only been a few days and Kurt was still recovering – his lip was still swollen a little and he had some bruises on his face that were only just starting to fade – but he didn't seem the same as he did before. Maybe this was what Burt meant when he said that Kurt pulled away from everyone…

Blaine could help but wonder, as he sat opposite Kurt on his floor doing his homework, if this was exactly what happened before. To any regular person, seeing Kurt sitting with his back against the edge of his bed, a purple pillow clutched to his chest and a book open on his lap, it would just look like a normal thing. But Blaine knew that it wasn't. He knew that Kurt was only in that position because he felt as if he had to put a barrier up – to defend himself from everything and everyone around him.

He desperately wanted to help Kurt. He wanted to assure him that he was there for him and he wasn't going anywhere, that he didn't have to be afraid. Blaine just didn't know how he could help him when he was so defensive and pushed everyone away.

Kurt seemed to sense Blaine looking at him as he slowly lifted his head from the book he was so absorbed in, scrunching his face up a little as he so often did.

That was one of the best things about Kurt, honestly. Although he never spoke, he had a million different ways of interacting with people just through his facial expressions. The ‘scrunchy face' – as Blaine liked to call it – was his favourite. Kurt generally did it whenever he was confused or found something disgusting. He also did it when he found something cute or was blushing.

“Sorry,” Blaine laughed awkwardly, not knowing how to justify staring at his best friend. “Uh…can I see your notes for history? I forgot to bring mine with me.”

Kurt raised his eyebrow at Blaine as if to say ‘sure, that's why you were staring at me' but reached behind him to grab his notebook nonetheless, pulling a loose sheet of paper out of the middle.

“Thanks.” Blaine mumbled, accepting the paper from Kurt and lowering his head, blushing.

Kurt giggled for the first time since the incident, biting his lip at the mortified expression on Blaine's face.

“Stop laughing at me,” Blaine groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

Kurt crawled across the floor, poking Blaine's arm to get his attention. Blaine couldn't help but smile as he lifted his head at Kurt's behaviour. His smile dissipated however, when Kurt opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

Kurt snapped his mouth shut as if he'd said something completely terrible, his blue eyes filling to the rim with tears.

“What's wrong?” Blaine asked.

Kurt just shook his head frantically from side to side, tears falling down his cheeks as he darted from his room, locking himself in the bathroom and not caring who heard the slam of the door.

“Kurt!” Blaine called, chasing after the sixteen year old. “Kurt, please open the door.” Blaine pleaded, leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door.

Unsurprisingly, Burt ran up the stairs to see what was going on, Finn following behind.

“What's going on?” Burt asked.

“I don't know,” Blaine replied, feeling helpless. “We were studying and he opened his mouth like he was going to speak but then he started crying and ran out of the room.”

“Kurt, buddy?” Burt said, knocking on the bathroom door.

As predicted, there was no reply. Kurt didn't open the door, didn't answer, just continued to sob from inside the bathroom.

Neither Burt nor Blaine noticed Finn going back downstairs as they continued to try to coax Kurt out of the bathroom. They didn't notice him coming back up the stairs with a notebook either until he was making his way to the door, knocking softly.

“Kurt, it's Finn,” Finn said softly. “Can I come in please?”

Both Burt and Blaine were shocked when the door was opened a tiny bit, allowing Finn to slip inside.

“Hey,” Finn smiled, sitting on the floor next to Kurt and wrapping his arm around him, allowing the sixteen year old to rest his head on Finn's shoulder as more tears left his eyes. “What's wrong?”

Kurt looked up at Finn from his position as if he was crazy. Finn handed him the notebook and a pen, giving him time to write everything that he wanted to say before accepting it back.

I wanted to tell Blaine that I like him. I wasn't scared of him finding out like I usually am but when I opened my mouth to speak, I freaked out. I don't know what happened.

“Why didn't you just explain that to him in a note instead of running out of the room?” Finn asked.

I don't know. I just freaked out and the first thing on my mind was ‘RUN.'

“I think you should explain that to him,” Finn said, his tone still soft. “He's really worried about you. I think he thinks that he did something wrong.”

But he didn't do anything wrong! Kurt scribbled across the page, feeling guilty.

“Go talk to him,” Finn smiled. “And if you still wanna tell him that you like him then you have nothing to worry about, he's crazy about you.”

Kurt giggled, hitting Finn playfully on the head with the notebook before standing up, writing one last message on the page.

Thank you.

“You're welcome.”

Kurt slowly opened the door, his face scrunching up in confusion when he noticed that Blaine and his dad weren't outside anymore. He made his way back to his bedroom, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Blaine sitting cross legged on the centre of his bed.

Blaine turned around when he heard the door open, smiling at Kurt even though he was clearly worried. Kurt made his way over to his bed, sitting opposite Blaine and writing a message in the notebook before tearing the page out and handing it to Blaine.

Okay firstly, I'm really sorry. I know that I freaked you out and then locked myself away and wouldn't let you talk to me, so I'm sorry. Secondly, the reason that I ran out was because I freaked out. I tried to speak to you and for some reason it completely freaked me out. I honestly don't know what happened.

“Kurt,” Blaine said sadly. “You could've told me that, I would've have judged you or anything.”

I know that, honestly, I do. I just got scared and the only thing I could think to do in that moment was run, so I did.

“Was it because you tried to speak or because of what you were trying to say?”

I don't know. I think it was both but I really don't know.

“Do you think you could try writing down what you wanted to say?” Blaine asked carefully, not wanting to push too far.

Kurt sighed, picking at the sleeve of his shirt for a few seconds before nodding.

I like you. Kurt wrote across the page simply. A lot.

He tore the page from the notebook, handing it to Blaine, too afraid to look at him when he read it.

“Wait…you mean like more than a friend?” Blaine asked.

Kurt nodded, his heart sinking to his stomach. He should've known that Blaine wouldn't like him back. He was crazy to even think for a second that it was possible that somebody like Blaine would like somebody like him, why would he? Kurt was just –

“Thank god,” Blaine laughed, causing Kurt to raise his eyebrow. “I like you too, dummy.”

Kurt picked the notebook up, immediately scribbling a message across it.

You could've told me that before!!!!

Blaine laughed as he read the note, “I didn't think you liked me back. Plus you kind of had a lot going on and I didn't wanna make it worse in any way.”

Kurt frowned, hovering the pen above the page for a few moments before writing across it; we can't date.

“What? Why?”

I can't talk Blaine. I know that I've spoken before but you saw what happened earlier, I completely freaked out because I tried to say a few words. I hate talking, and I'd hate it even if I could talk. Why would you want to date somebody who can't talk? What if we go on a date and we're just sitting there awkwardly in silence because I can't say anything? Why would you want to date somebody who can't talk when you could date any other guy who is actually capable of making conversation?

“Stop doing that,” Blaine frowned. “Stop putting yourself down because you're afraid of talking. When has it ever bothered me that you don't talk? So what if we go on a date and you don't physically speak? Why can't we do what we're doing right now?”

Because it's weird. How often do you see couples sitting at a restaurant passing notes to each other?

“Why does it matter what other couples do?” Blaine asked. “We're not other couples, so why does it matter what they do? And as for the whole passing notes being weird thing, you're completely wrong. Passing notes isn't weird and you're not weird. Why can't you just see how special you are?” He asked in an almost frustrated tone.

You're mad at me. Kurt wrote, passing it to Blaine and shrinking into himself.

“I'm not mad at you,” Blaine sighed, taking Kurt's hand. “It just upsets me when you put yourself down all the time like there's something wrong with you, when there is nothing wrong with you. I hate that you can't see how special you are because you really are special, Kurt. You're special in your own cute, dorky way and I wish you could see that.” He said, smiling sadly.

Kurt crawled closer to Blaine, wrapping his arms around his neck and hugging him tightly, trying not to cry.

Blaine reciprocated the hug by wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist where he was now kneeling before him.

“Can we just try dating, please?” Blaine pleaded. “I don't think I could handle knowing that we both feel the same way about each other and didn't even try being more than friends.”

Kurt pulled back, picking up the notebook and pen and writing a message on the page.

What if it doesn't work out and it screws everything up? I don't wanna lose you...You're everything to me right now.

“Kurt,” Blaine said sweetly, unable to stop himself from smiling a little bit. “I promise you, you aren't going to lose me. I don't care if we break up the day after our first date or if we break up five years from now – you're not losing me.”

Okay.

“Okay as in…you'll go on a date with me?” Blaine asked hopefully, bouncing in his seat like an excited five year old.

Kurt nodded, grinning at Blaine and laughing when Blaine all but pounced on him, pushing him backwards and making them topple off the bed.

“That didn't exactly go as planned,” Blaine laughed, sprawled out across the floor next to Kurt, who couldn't stop himself from laughing. “I'm guessing you found it pretty amusing though.” He said, still laughing.

Kurt looked up at Blaine, laughing even harder as he rolled over and buried his face in Blaine's stomach, laughing the hardest he'd laughed in years.

So yeah…maybe their relationship wouldn't be the most normal, maybe it would take him a while to start talking again…but Kurt knew. He knew that he'd have Blaine no matter what happened between them.