Kurt woke up next day at the sound of yelling and laughing. He jumped out bed, looked around the for him unknown room. Then he remembered he stayed at the Anderson's and quickly looked at his alarm clock. 11AM. Damn, I know I can sleep late in the weekends but this is ridiculous. What would the Anderson's think? What would Blaine think? Kurt shook his head. No he won't do this again to himself. He talked to Mercedes about Blaine last night. She wasn't exactly happy. She was more worried because of Kurt's past. Kurt was played before by guys who pretend to be gay and turned out to be straight so they could humiliate him in front of the whole school.

Kurt was done with humiliate himself or be played with. It was time to focus on his dreams. No time to fall in love with another straight boy who would never notice him. He needed to keep his wall up until graduation day at the end of the year. Only one year to go and then he would be off living his dream in New York. He sight. He only need to keep himself in check when he was around Blaine. He didn't want Blaine to think he was a crazy fan boy.  He walked over to the closet and frowns at his clothes. It was hot outside. Hell, he was already sweating and he just woke up. Maybe first a shower.

Kurt quickly took a cold shower to cool off. He put on long jeans, he didn't like shorts. His legs weren't exactly sun tanned.  He finally found a shirt that didn't show too much arm skin. Call him prude but he didn't feel comfortable with too much skin, besides he needed to cover up his bruises.  Kurt took one last look in the mirror and sighs.  It was going to be torture wearing this when it was so hot.

Kurt stepped outside, noticed nobody was in their rooms because it was quit. He walked down the stairs when he heard two voices. One sounded like Blaine and the other was Elise. Kurt straightened his shirt. Act cool, Kurt, stop embarrassing yourself. He opened the door and the two figures turned around.

Elise smiled at him. ‘Good morning Kurt. Want some breakfast?'

Kurt nods and Elise walked to the fridge to put something together. ‘I can do it myself.'

‘No need, Kurt, I love to take care for my boys,' Elise smiled, grabbing a pack of cereal. ‘Cornflakes?'

 Kurt nods again and turned his attention to the other man in the room. It wasn't Blaine. It was a older looking Blaine but with brown hair.  ‘You must be Kurt?' the man asks, but not walking closer to shake Kurt's hand. Kurt nods.  ‘I'm James Anderson, Elise's husband.'

‘Nice to meet you sir,' Kurt said polite, not sure how to speak to the man who didn't have to do anything to show he was the boss around here.

‘No need to be so formal, Kurt, I want you to feel at home here,' James said. ‘Call me James.'

‘Okay, James,' Kurt nods. Elise put his cornflakes on table and Kurt sat down in front of it. He was happy he wasn't alone with James. He mouthed ‘Thank You' and Elise nods smiling widely.

‘I heard you asked my son to marry you?' James asks firm. Kurt froze, his jaw dropped and he stared at the man. ‘What are your intentions with my son?'

Was he kidding? James didn't look like he was joking around. Kurt blushed. ‘Eh…'

‘Stop it, James!' Elise poked her husband playfully in his side.  ‘Don't pay too much attention to him, Kurt. He's just playing.'

James laughs. ‘you should've seen your face though. It was priceless.' Kurt relaxed a little, but not completely letting his guard down, taking a mouthful of cornflakes. ‘Now Kurt, I want to officially welcome you to this family. I wasn't around yesterday because I needed to work late.  You can go do what you do at home, even loud music is aloud here. You can even bring a girl home if you meet someone, all we ask is that you keep it down a little.' He winked smugly. Kurt tried to keep his face blank , but he was sure that there was a sign of disgust when he thought about sex with a girl.

 ‘But we have a couple of rules.' James continued.  ‘First rule and the most important one. The forest is off limits after 6 Pm. Don't come near it.  Second one is we eat all together at 5 PM, as a family.'

Elise smiled. Did she ever stopped smiling? Kurt wondered. ‘That's my rule, I want to keep my family close.'

‘Third one is, since your new here we would like it if you take someone of the boys with you if you're going into town. It's not because of danger, you're completely safe here. Everyone knows us, it's more that you don't get lost. Burt asked me to take care of you and that's what we all want to do.'

Kurt nods but couldn't help the feeling that he was treated like a five year old. He was 17 for god sake. He could manage in a town like Westerville.

‘The last rule is, we want everyone asleep by 11 PM, no snooping around,' James said firm. ‘Understand?'

‘Yes.'

James smiled, the smile reminded Kurt strongly about their youngest son. ‘Now eat your breakfast and join the boys in our swimming pool.'

Kurt perked his ears. Swimming pool? What?!

‘In the backyard,' Elise pointed out.

‘I'm off to work,' James said.

‘I'll walk you out,' Elise took his hand and they left the kitchen together.

Kurt slowly ate his breakfast. It wasn't like he was really happy about the swimming pool part. His mother drowned, he never learned to swim because he was afraid of drowning. He heard laughing again from the backyard.  Kurt decided that he could take a look and sit aside by the pool. Nobody could force him to swim.

He walked into the burning sun and almost regretted it to go outside.  He turned around the corner where he could hear the laughing and the sound of water. He stopped when he saw Blaine, Wes, David and Jeff throwing each other in the water. Abs everywhere. Damn.

Kurt quickly removed his eyes from Blaine's shirtless wet body and wet curls, he looked hot and adorable. He couldn't handle it. A part of him hoped he had dreamed what happened yesterday and Blaine turned out to  be ugly. But of course that wasn't the case.

‘Hey Kurt!'  Kurt turned around to see Nick sitting in a chair, he points to the chair next to him. ‘Come sit!'

Kurt nods and sat down. Happy he wasn't the only one who would just sit aside. ‘Thank you.'

Nick shrugged. ‘No problem.' Jeff screams a really girly scream when Blaine pulled him into the pool. Nick rolls his eyes. ‘They can be such a babies sometimes.' 

‘Aren't you going to join them?'

‘No, I need to keep up with my reputation,' Nick winks smiling.

Kurt smiles. He really liked Nick. ‘I'm sure you need too.'

‘You can take a dip though,' Nick said.

Kurt shook his head. ‘I… swimming isn't my thing.'

Nick nods, grabbing new VOGUE Magazines. He smirked when he saw Kurt's eyes widening. ‘You can borrow them, Kurt.' He handed Kurt one.

‘Really? You won't mind?'

‘I won't say it if I mind it, Kurt, just take it.'

‘Nick!' Jeff poked his head above the edge of the swimming pool, pouting. ‘Blaine pushed me in and my lip hurts. Come kiss it better.'

Nick rolled his eyes, pretend to be annoyed but Kurt saw a light blush on his cheeks. He couldn't help but smile when Nick gave in and walked over to his boyfriend. I would give anything for a love like that. Kurt looked down at the VOGUE in his hands and he planned on spending hours reading it when a voice interrupted him.

‘You know…. Normally you get to know each other a little bit better before you ask someone to marry him.' Blaine smiled at him, sitting down in his wet swim trunks in Nick's chair. Kurt blushes, not really sure what to say. So Blaine came here to rub his mistake in his face. Great. ‘We've got off on the wrong food, Kurt. Let's start over. I'm Blaine Anderson.'

Kurt stared at Blaine's hand, frowns and shakes it. ‘I'm… Kurt. Well you already know that.'

‘I do,' Blaine pulled hand back. ‘so, how is living in Ohio?'

Kurt shrugged, happy that the awkward moment was over and that Blaine still wanted to talk to him after yesterday. ‘It's okay, I guess.' Except for the bullies.

‘Which school are you going?' Blaine seemed sincerely interested. 

‘McKinley High. It's a public school.' 

‘That sucks.'

Kurt raised his eyebrows. ‘you went to public school?'

Blaine nods, bit his lip. Kurt watched closely. This was definitely a topic Blaine didn't like to talk about. ‘It was horrible. I got bullied a lot.'

‘What?!' Kurt shrieked. If someone as beautiful as Blaine got bullied there was for nobody hope. The world was doomed. How can someone bully someone as precious as Blaine? He was perfect. ‘But… why?'

‘let's just say, they didn't liked how I act,' Blaine rolls his eyes. Looking away, he made it obvious this topic was closed for him. ‘Nobody should bully someone just because they're jealous or can't accept who you are.' Kurt nods. He could understand that Blaine got bullied because of jealousy, he was Mr. Perfect after all. ‘Now I'm at Dalton, it's fun. Nobody harasses you and everybody accept you.'

‘Is that heaven?' Kurt jokes. He finds it hard to believe there was such a place on earth.

Blaine laughs. ‘Hardly, some lessons are really boring. It's an all boy school. Wes and David are complaining about it for years now. I don't understand it because they have two awesome girlfriends here at home.'

Kurt bit his lip nervously. Maybe Blaine would bring it up himself now. It would be stupid to ask if he had a girlfriend isn't? More importantly it would be more stupid if he asks if he was gay. it was none of his business.

‘So, do you have a girlfriend?' Blaine interrupted his thoughts.

Kurt blinked. He thought he was obvious, he was wearing designer clothes, he read VOGUE and he asked Blaine to marry him at their first meeting. How would Blaine react? Would he beat me up? Kurt quickly glanced over Blaine's body. Yes he was taller than him but Blaine had abs, biceps and he looked a lot stronger than him. ‘eh… not at the moment.'  He thought about Mercedes, Brittany, Rachel, Tina. If Blaine demanded a photo he could chose.

‘Really?' Blaine looked surprised.

Kurt frowned. Why was this so surprising? ‘Eh… yeah…  do you have a girlfriend?' It was weird but he felt like Blaine's answer was going to change his whole future.

Before Blaine could answer two girls walked into the backyard. A red haired girl in a bikini stroke Blaine's hair. ‘Blainey Days, you're hair is free!' She laughs when she saw Blaine glare at her. ‘Come on, give me a hug!'

Blaine smiles, got up and hugged her close. ‘Sammy Jo, I thought you'll spend the whole summer in France.'

The girl laughs. ‘I'm going in three days. Wes made me promise to take me to the festival tomorrow.' She looked at the pool, Wes was trying to get out but David stopped him to get to the edge sooner when he saw the black haired girl. Sammy Jo looked at Kurt curiously. ‘Oh, hello, you're new?'

‘Sammy Jo, this is Kurt Hummel, he's staying the summer with us,' Blaine introduced them.

Sammy Jo shook Kurt's hand. ‘Hi Kurt Hummel, so where are you from?'

Kurt immediately liked the girl, she had a really happy attitude. And by the way she spoke to Blaine, he knew him for years but her heart eyes she threw at Wes told him that there was nothing between them, that makes him like the girl even more. ‘Lima Ohio.'

‘Damn, that's like a two hour drive!'

Blaine chuckled. ‘Sammy Jo is traveling the world on a monthly basis. Don't mind her, she's crazy.'

‘Hey!' Sammy Jo glared. ‘Don't pay attention to Blaine, Kurt. He's spend his whole life living in this crap of a town.' She glanced quickly over Kurt's clothes and saw the VOGUE next to him. ‘You're in to fashion?'

Kurt nods. ‘A little.'

‘That's awesome, let me know if you want to work in the fashion work. I have my connections.' She winks.

Before Kurt could ask what she means, Wes wraps his arms around her waist and turned her towards her for a deep kiss. Kurt quickly avoided his eyes, he just wasn't used to so much affection, straight or gay. His eyes landed on Blaine who rolled his eyes annoyed at the PDA from his friends, which made Kurt smile. Blaine was adorable, sighs. Wes lifted Sammy Jo with ease and he jumped into the swimming pool, Sammy Jo giggled.

David walked hand in hand with the dark haired girl towards Kurt. ‘Kurt, this is my girlfriend Sarah. We've been dating for 3 years now.' He looks proud.

The dark haired girl rolls her eyes but exchanged her hands to Kurt, who hesitantly took her hand. This girl had a total different vibe around her then the easy going Sammy Jo. She reminded him of  one of the cheerleaders from school. A evil bitch. ‘I'm Sarah Jones. Kurt. That's an unusual name.' her eyes scanned his outfit. He suddenly felt naked.   ‘last season I see?' She quirked a eyebrow.

Kurt glares. Nobody criticizes his clothes. He was proud of his clothes, fashion was the only thing he was good at. He almost wanted to slap the girl but that wouldn't be the right decision. So he made one. He didn't want to be near that bitch… Summer was supposed to be relaxing. ‘I'm going back inside.' He wanted to walk off when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, he flinched away, imagines of jocks flashing before his eyes.

‘Easy, Kurt, it's just me,' Blaine said softly.

Kurt sighs in relief.  ‘Sorry, Blaine, I thought it was someone else.'

Blaine nods. ‘Want to talk about it?'

Kurt honestly thought about it and that was a lot. He didn't even told his dad what was going on at McKinley. He felt safe with Blaine. Like he could tell him anything and he wouldn't tell anyone else. What was it that was so special about Blaine? What was this thing between them? Kurt shook his head.

‘Please come back, I'm sorry about Sarah's behavior.' Blaine leaned closer to make sure that Sarah and David couldn't hear him. Kurt melted into the brown hazel eyes, he has never been this close to another guy before. Even Finn kept his distance. ‘To be honest with you, we all think she's a bitch but we keep up with her because of David.'

‘Oh, I thought it was me. That…. I did something wrong.' Kurt looks down at his clothes. ‘I'm last season.'

‘There is nothing wrong with you, it's her attitude,' Blaine snorts. ‘And her fake boobs.' Kurt's eyes widened. ‘Yeah, I know, she has boob jobs three times. I'm still waiting for them to explode.'

Kurt laughs, suddenly seeing the image of Sarah with exploded boobs.  ‘Thank you, for cheering me up.'

‘You're welcome, I love your laugh, You should do it more.'

Kurt blushed. Wait was Blaine flirting with me?

‘ I'm going to grab some drinks for the boys, want a glass of water or something else?' 

‘Water would be fine.'

Blaine nods and walks away. Kurt couldn't help but smile all the way to Nick and Jeff who were cuddled up in one chair. He suddenly felt hope for Blaine and him. That could be us in a few weeks. He was so caught up in his own thought that he didn't saw Sarah who wanted to jump into the water, but knocked Kurt into the water too.

Kurt's lungs fill with water. He reached for the surface but he didn't even come near the surface. His clothes were heavy in the water and he sank to the floor. He didn't know it himself but Kurt was in shock. Image's of his mother's body appeared when they found her body in the lake nearby.  He was dying.

Suddenly two strong arms wrapped around his waist and dragged him out of the water. Kurt saw hazel brown eyes. Blaine gently laid him down.

‘Loosen his clothes, it's suffocating him!' Nick voice somewhere left of him.

Kurt could hear his shirt rip but he was too busy catching his breath. He saw everybody looking at him with worried eyes.

 ‘Damn, Kurt, these clothes are way too tight!' Blaine cursed. ‘Give me a towel.' Jeff quickly handed him a towel and Blaine wrapped it around Kurt.

Kurt didn't protest. He was shirtless after all and he couldn't wait to have some kind of fabric around him again. He felt exposed. He didn't look at the others. He didn't want to see their disgust faces when they saw his bruised body. He noticed his arms were wrapped around Blaine's neck as if it was his life line and he was shaking but he didn't pull back. He needed safety.

‘What the hell happened?!' Elise's voice filled the air. The woman quickly walked over to Kurt.

‘Kurt fell into the pool and has some kind of panic attack!' Sarah said as of it was his own fault.

‘You pushed him!' Jeff said. ‘We all saw it.'

Nick nods. ‘It's time for you to leave, Sarah.'

‘What?! Are you insane?!' Sarah snapped. ‘You know him for like 2 minutes and you'll choosing him above me?!' She looked at David, who look torn between his friends or his girlfriend.

‘His mother drowned, Sarah!' Elise snaps. ‘Kurt was 8. He can't swim.'

Sarah shrugged. ‘How am I suppose to know that? He was 8. Like come on, get over it!'

Blaine growls and Kurt flinched at the sound. But before he could say anything, Elise walks over slowly towards Sarah. ‘you have 10 seconds to leave or I'll drag you back to the hell you belong too. Now go!'

‘Are you coming, David?' Sarah turns to her boyfriend, who shook his head but didn't dare to look at her. ‘Fine! See you around, Losers!' She shared one last look at Kurt before walking off.

‘Get him to his room, Blaine, he's still in shock, I'll call a doctor,' Elise commanded.

 Kurt felt himself being lifted. If it was a different situation he would laugh about this because Blaine was shorter than him but lifted him as if he didn't weight anything. ‘It's going to be okay, Kurt. I'll take care of you.' That was the last thing that he heard before he passed out.

Xxx

Kurt opened his eyes, the curtains were closed but he could still see sunlight trying to make its way through it.

‘You okay?' 

Kurt almost fell of the bed because he hadn't seen Blaine leaning against the wall opposite of his bed. Blaine walks closer. ‘I didn't mean to scare you. The doctor said you're going to be okay, I didn't want to leave your side before I knew you would wake up. So I stayed.' He looked a little uncomfortable. As if waiting for Kurt's approval.

‘Thank you,' Kurt said softly. His voice was raw, that was probably because of all the water that got in. Kurt swallows.  so this is how his mother must have felt like before she drowned.

‘Sarah is never coming near you again, Kurt. I can't believe that bitch.'

‘Most important thing is that I'm still here.' Kurt didn't want to give that girl any attention. He wanted to sit up, but noticed he was only wearing a underwear and quickly grabbed the blanket on him and pulled it up to his chin.

Blaine nods and smiles, not noticing Kurt's  discomfort. ‘I'm happy your okay. I really thought I was too late, everybody was in shock…' He stopped when he saw Kurt deep in thought. ‘Everything okay?'

The boy blushed and smiled shyly. ‘Well, I think I'm going crazy because he could swear that I heard you growl at Sarah.' He giggles. ‘Crazy right?'

‘Wait, growl? Like really growl?' Blaine teased, he loved the fact that Kurt recovered so quickly.

Kurt laughs. ‘Yes, not like a cute lion cup but like…. Really growl like a wild beast!' He leaned back and laughs, not seeing Blaine's worried face. My mind is playing tricks with me. I'm officially going crazy.

‘Eh… well, my mom called your dad.'

Kurt stopped laughing immediately and looked at Blaine. ‘What did he say?'

‘He was worried of course, he wanted to come over, my mom needed to use all her charm to convince him you would be fine.'

Kurt relaxed a little bit into the pillow.  He didn't want to disturb his dad's business trip, his dad worked hard to reach congress man, he couldn't use a teenager who can't even take care of himself for two days. ‘Good.'

Blaine nods, he gently sat down on Kurt's bed. ‘There is something else I want to talk about with you.'

Kurt frowns, wondering what the hell Blaine would want to talk about with him. Oh wait, what if this is his confession of love? What if Blaine said something about love at first sight? Could this be my moment? Probably not, they didn't know each other that well and talked for the first time today. Besides, Kurt you're hair looks ridiculous right now. ‘About what?'

Blaine sighs. ‘I don't know if this is too much or something, but I need to know. Why is your body covered in bruises? Your whole back is blue. Who does this to you?'

Kurt tensed. ‘You saw my…'

‘I needed to rip your wet clothes, they were too tight, they were suffocating you. Kurt, please answer me.'

 Kurt stared at Blaine, he saw the determination and the worry in his eyes. He knew Blaine wouldn't drop it. With his dad it was easy, he just have to snap at him and he would back off.  He swallows. ‘There isn't much to talk about, Blaine.'

‘How can you say that?' Blaine said, standing up, his eyes angry and Kurt flinched by the sudden outburst. ‘If someone is harassing you, you need to say it, Kurt, you need to talk to someone. If not with me, then talk to your dad or your friends.'

‘So they can do what exactly? Talk to the school board who doesn't give  a shit about some gay kid! Nobody fucking cares Blaine!' Kurt snapped. Suddenly realizing what he just said and snapping his mouth shut. There he said it, he just spilled his biggest secret to a strangers who is probably going to beat him up.

Blaine's eyes softened and he sits down, grabbing Kurt's hand. ‘Nobody deserves to be pushed around just because they're gay, hell even if you're purple you don't deserve it. You need to talk to your dad. Like really talk. I know you don't thrust people, I went through the same stage as you, but you might be surprised if you let people in. People can surprise you, we're not all evil.'  He squeezed his hand. ‘I care.'

‘Why?' Kurt whispers.

‘Because you remind me of me, years ago. I didn't have a voice, I didn't dare to stand up for myself, I went through hell for years. Until I ended up in the hospital. My parents realized what was going on and placed me at Dalton. You have the power to change this. You can transfer to Dalton too. You'll be safe there.'

‘I… I think about it.' Kurt said, still noticing their locked hands, his stomach couldn't help but do weird flip flops. He would talk to his dad and consider transferring. Blaine was right, he was done playing the victim. 'Thank you Blaine. For saving my life today and giving me a pep talk.'

Blaine smiled his bright smile and Kurt almost melted. ‘you're welcome. It was pretty impressive what I did today wasn't it?' He winks playfully.

Kurt rolls his eyes. How more he spend time with Blaine, how more he began to like him. Blaine was hot, nice and had even a dork side. How can this guy be real?

‘One more thing.' Blaine shook Kurt out of his thoughts. ‘There is a festival down town, the boys and I are going, wanna come too?'

Blaine probably never realized how much this means too Kurt. Yes, he did fun stuff with Mercedes at home, like shopping or watching movies but nobody ever invited him to come a long to a party or anything related like that. ‘Really, they won't mind?'

‘Of course not, they would love to show you the town. I should warn you that Wes can give you a long talk about the history of Westerville. You should avoid him.'

Thinking of Wes, Kurt sighs. ‘maybe I shouldn't go, it's my fault that he and Sarah are over. He probably hates me.'

‘Nobody hates you, it was her fault. Don't let her ruin your holiday. Come on, do it for me.' Blaine pouts.

Kurt was helpless against his pout and the big brown puppy eyes and he gave in quickly. ‘Okay.'

‘Great! I promise you won't regret it.'

Kurt smiles but couldn't help too yawn, this day was exhausting.

‘Oh that's my cue to go.' Blaine got up.

‘Oh no, I didn't mean it…'

‘It's okay, Kurt, you go get some sleep. You need to rest. Tomorrow is a busy day.' Blaine walks to the door, turns around. ‘Goodnight, Kurt.'

‘Goodnight, Blaine.' Kurt yawns, curling himself up in the blanked and closed his eyes. Blaine left the room, making a vow to himself that he would let nobody hurt Kurt any longer. He felt a strong need of protection towards the boy and he would protect him with his life.