“You do? Blaine, you don’t need to say it just because I did. I don’t want you to feel pressured…”

            “Stop,” Blaine laughed as he pulled himself up. He kissed Kurt on the lips and brushed his thumb gently across his cheek. “I love you, Kurt, and I’m not just saying that.” Kurt smiled down at him, his eyes brimming with tears.

            “What’s wrong?” Blaine asked, scrambling up so he was lying next to his boyfriend. He didn’t know why he was crying—had he said something wrong?

            “It’s nothing, it’s silly. Ugh, don’t look at me!” Kurt blushed, covering is face with his hands.

            “No, Kurt, what’s wrong?”

            “I just,” Kurt blushed deeper and looked down, “I just never thought I’d ever hear anybody say that to me,” he whispered, leaving Blaine staring at him, stunned.

            “What? Why not?” Blaine thought this might be a little rude, but he was truly curious. Kurt was amazing; anybody would be lucky to be with him. Of course somebody would love him.

            “I don’t know,” Kurt said as a tear slid down his cheek. Blaine wiped it away with his thumb, waiting patiently for Kurt to finish. “People have always been so mean to me, ever since I was little. They’d call me a… an f-a-g, or they’d tell me that I was going to hell, or that I was a terrible person or whatever. I thought if that’s what everyone thinks then nobody will ever love me. I mean, we live in freaking Lima, Ohio, Blaine. We’re not accepted here and I just never thought I’d find somebody. I guess I was starting to believe what everyone was saying to me.” Kurt gave Blaine a watery smile, though it faded quickly. He tried to scoot away from Blaine, shame evident on his face.

            “Oh, Kurt,” Blaine said and he pulled Kurt towards him. He was devastated that Kurt could think such things about himself. Apparently Kurt hadn’t been lying that day at the pond when he said the bullies did, in fact, get him down.

            “Kurt, no, please don’t ever think any of those things.” Blaine sucked in a breath, trying to keep his voice steady as he said this. “I never want you to believe anything they say. Okay?”

            “Can I ask you something?”

            “Anything.”

            “Why do you love me?” Kurt whispered, once again not meeting Blaine’s eyes. Blaine thought Kurt needed to stop doing that. He never wanted him to be embarrassed.

            “Okay, first of all, I want you and I to be able to tell each other anything, talk about anything, okay? Don’t be embarrassed. Please look at me.” Kurt did, though still shyly. “I love you because you’re so brave. You may not agree, but you go to school every day and face the people who mock you and I admire that. You’re so strong, and you’re smart, and I’ve never seen you be mean to anybody if you didn’t have to be. Your friends love you and they should. You took the time to get to know the shy nerd who was tutoring you when you could have completely blown him off. I love you because you see me, Kurt, even when nobody else did. I feel so safe around you, and you’ve shown me this whole new world that, like you said, I spent all of my time ignoring. I love you because you helped me and you stuck around. You’re beautiful, Kurt, and not just on the outside.”

            Kurt was crying again, and he had buried himself into Blaine’s chest. If he wasn’t so concerned he probably would have enjoyed it, but Kurt was crying and he just wanted it to stop.

            “Are you okay?” Kurt nodded and took a few deep breaths. He finally pulled away from Blaine and looked him in the eyes. He had tears still running down his face, but he had a smile on his lips and Blaine’s heart fluttered a little in his chest.

            “Thank you, Blaine.”

            “I love you, Kurt. And I’ll tell you that every day. I promise I’ll never let you forget that I love you, or why, or the fact that you’re amazing no matter what anybody says.”

“I’m sorry I screwed things up so badly yesterday. I should have just said something at the pond and none of this would have ever happened.”

“I know you are. But it’s okay. Look where it got us!” Blaine said, and he knew that, once again, he had giant cartoon hearts in his eyes.

            Kurt smiled at him and turned over, scooting his back into Blaine’s chest. They had never spooned before, Blaine realized, but he liked it. He thought they should do this more often. Like, all the time. It’s nice. Blaine hummed contentedly and kissed the back of Kurt’s neck before letting himself relax, his arm wrapped around Kurt protectively. Blaine had almost drifted off before Kurt started whispering again.

            “The first time somebody called me the ‘f’ word was in sixth grade. I was walking to science class. Some seventh grader saw me and said it, then de-booked me.” Kurt was picking at Blaine’s comforter, his voice low. Blaine knew in his gut that this was important, that this was the kind of thing Kurt didn’t tell people about. “I didn’t know what the word meant, but I was just starting to realize I liked boys, and I just had a feeling it had something to do with that. That was the only thing for a while, but everybody had seen him do it, or if they hadn’t they’d heard what he said. Everybody looked at me differently after that. The boys wouldn’t talk to me, people glared at me as we walked down the hall. Eventually, though, people started leaving notes in my locker telling me I was going to hell, or they’d whispering things to me as I walked by. The boys started hiding my clothes in the locker room so I couldn’t find them after class. They’d call me ‘homo’ and laugh at me when I got upset, or when they knew I’d be late for my next class.

            “That was it until high school, just name calling and little things. Besides that first de-booking it wasn’t ever violent. On my first day at McKinley I got thrown in the dumpster, by Puck of all people. We weren’t always friends.” Kurt took a few breaths and grabbed Blaine’s hand before continuing. “Karofsky started harassing me last year. He slushies me, throws me into lockers, calls me names. He humiliates me in front of everybody and he laughs about it. He calls me lady or a fairy or a, a—fag.” He took a shaky breath, then, and Blaine knew the tears were going to start again. He wished he was better at handling that sort of thing. “I hate him, Blaine. I hate him! He humiliates me, he hurts me and he makes me feel so bad about myself sometimes. I can’t stand it, I can’t!” Kurt was sobbing now and, if Blaine was being honest, so was he.

            He had no idea that Kurt felt like this (which made him a terrible boyfriend, he thought, but that wasn’t important right now). He wanted to hold him and tell him how amazing he was and how wrong Karofsky was. He wanted to kill Karofsky. He wanted to show Kurt how much he loved him and he never wanted him to feel bad ever again.

            “I’m so sorry, Kurt. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that and I’m sorry they treat you that way. But I don’t want you to feel bad about yourself. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. You make me so happy. Please remember that. Every time they say those things please remember that I love you and you make me the happiest person in the world.”

            “You’re so good to me, Blaine. I love you.” Blaine couldn’t help but smile. Kurt loved him. Kurt—the most amazing boy he’s ever seen, the boy he had always admired, but only from afar—loved him. Loved him. Loved him. No matter which way Blaine thought it, it all sounded amazing. He let it swirl inside his head for a little bit as he held Kurt and let him calm down in his arms.

            “I realized it last week, that I love you,” he said as he rubbed his thumb over Kurt’s hand. “I stayed a little late after school to work on some homework and as I was leaving I walked by the choir room. You were in there with everybody and you guys were singing some song, I don’t even know which one. But you were all running around and jumping on furniture and stuff. You looked so happy and so beautiful and it just hit me that I loved you. It was the most amazing feeling. I stood there and watched you guys for a few more minutes. Well, watched you rather.”

            Kurt giggled then, and Blaine had never been happier to hear it.

            “You just wanted to stare at my ass,” Kurt laughed. Blaine stilled. So Kurt did know what those pants did to him.

            “That was just a nice bonus,” Blaine replied, kissing Kurt’s neck. It was the lightest he had felt in a while. He and Kurt had never been better, and who’d have thought that after what had happened yesterday? But he and Kurt loved each other, knew they loved each other, and it just made things so easy. They laid on Blaine’s bed and talked all afternoon. No pressure, no secrets, no hidden feelings. Just love.