"I've never seen my father as angry as he was that day," Kurt said, his eyes never leaving the sugar packets he had been meticulously organizing and reorganizing as he told his story. He didn't want to see the look of pity or sadness in Blaine's eyes, didn't want to see any judging looks that might be there. "He went straight up to the man that next day and punched him in the face just before the cops arrested him."

Hands reached across the table, covering his and stopping his fretful movements. He took a deep breath, squeezing back when Blaine squeezed his hands gently. "It's not your fault."

His hands clenched spasmodically as his eyes dared to peek at his friend for the briefest of moments. "What?" He had been told that before, after his father had forced him to go to therapy, but the woman he had spoken with had come off so fake that he didn't feel as though she was being genuine.

"I know that you must be feeling like it's your fault, but it's not."

"But I should have-"

"No." Just the one word, spoken so firmly, so unwaveringly, dug deep into Kurt's chest and he took a shuddering breath, his eyes burning as Blaine caught his gaze. "You were young; you thought you were doing what was best. You shouldn't have had to go through that, but you are so brave to come out like you did, to admit it to your father when he asked."

Kurt bit back a sob, squeezing Blaine's hand tightly. "But I should have said something sooner; I should have known that it wasn't right to keep that from people, I could have-"

The hand was pulled from his grasp and before he could say anything, Blaine was pulling him out of his seat and into his arms, hugging him tightly as Kurt breathed deeply into his chest. "We need to be having this conversation in private; do you want to go to my house? No one will be home." Kurt nodded, but held on tightly when Blaine went to move away, needing just another few seconds to get a reign on his emotions. When he felt slightly better, he pulled away and they gathered their stuff, throwing their now cold coffee cups in the trash on the way out.

The ride was quick and mostly silent, save for Kurt's hitching breaths and occasional sniff as he tried to calm down. This was the most he had ever told anyone of what had happened. He hadn't felt comfortable telling his father how he'd felt afterwards, not wanting to make him feel worse than he already did, and, well, he had felt weird talking to his physiatrist.

Kurt was relieved that there was only one car parked in the driveway, a beautiful classic car that he remembered Blaine telling him about rebuilding. Cherry red and shining like it had just come off the showroom floor, he promised it that he would come back to check it out later. For the moment, he let Blaine lead him into the house, taking in the tasteful but boring decor as they trekked through the kitchen and up the stairs. Once they entered what was obviously Blaine's bedroom, he sat his bag on a chair and took a moment to just breathe.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Blaine whispered, standing right next to Kurt when his blue eyes fluttered open.

"Yeah, I'm fine; it's just hard to talk about."

"You don't have to talk about it. I shouldn't have made you feel like you had to; I'm sorry."

Kurt waved off his concern with false causality. "If I didn't want you to know, I wouldn't have told you in the first place," he reminded Blaine. "I- I've never really been able to talk about it before with anyone. Nobody has ever made me feel as comfortable as you do." He chuckled dryly. "My dad still doesn't know everything, and if I have my way, he never will."

"Why? I mean, he obviously loves you a great deal, you don't think he'd turn on you at this point, do you?"

"No, no, of course not! But, I don't know, I just don't want him to know everything." The crushing weight of guilt didn't stop him from shrugging off the question as he looked anywhere but Blaine.

There was a long, heavy pause, and then, "Come on." Blaine pulled off his shoes, motioning for Kurt to do the same before they both lay down, Kurt burrowed into Blaine's side, the steady beat of his heart strong and comforting in Kurt's ear. "I don't respect you any less, knowing what I know; I hope you know that."

There are no more words, just Blaine's fingers lightly massaging the back of Kurt's hair so as to not disturb the coif, and his other thumb lightly stroking Kurt's hand where it was lying on his chest. He felt the tension slowly leaving the other boy as he relaxed into his embrace. He had gone so still and calm that Blaine was sure he was asleep until he piped up, so softly that Blaine felt it more than heard it. "Thank you."

"Any time." He ducked down and kissed the top of Kurt's head before settling back. He held him tight when the sobs finally hit Kurt, the deep kind that come about only when you've truly been hurt, the kind that are so cathartic, but so exhausting. He held him and rocked him and tried to give him as many words of comfort as possible, but they all felt hollow and empty to his ears in light of Kurt's grieving. For the loss of his innocence, the loss of his ability to openly show people affection, the loss of his mother, a childhood that was stolen from him with a blink of an eye.

Blaine knew that it had been too long since Kurt had let himself have a good long cry, knew that his friend was going to be exhausted and sore and so he held him tight, letting the salty tears soak into his polo. Anger flowed through his veins as he rocked Kurt to sleep. He didn't know what the guys' name was, had no idea where he was, but he wanted to hunt him down and pull a Sweeney Todd on the asshole. Dominating someone when they didn't need it, didn't want it, was one of the worse things that could happen. Whether they were young or old, it was a violation of their bodies and most Doms knew to back off when a sub said no, but some... Some, Blaine wanted to find and, and, and, and figure out a way to suppress their ability to produce Dom pheromones.

It took several long minutes before he realized that all of the tension had left Kurt's body and he was asleep. His mouth was slightly open as he breathed slowly, the lines on his face from crying smoothed back into the flawless perfection that was Kurt's skin.

For now, he would give Kurt every bit of comfort he could possibly manage. It was the least he could do, he thought as he settled back against the pillows and allowing tense muscles to relax until he, too, had drifted off to sleep.

888

Kurt awoke to the spicy scent of cologne and the sharp tang of raspberry hair gel, the smells achingly familiar as he nuzzled Blaine's chest, which rumbled as he said, "Good afternoon, sleepy head."

Kurt let out a little laugh and tilted his head so that he could see his friend. "Sorry for falling asleep on you; I didn't mean to."

Blaine waved him off. "Don't even worry about it." He was smiling widely and Kurt felt his lips stretch into a grin and their faces were so close together and something flickered in Blaine's eyes before...

Oh.

Blaine's lips were soft and giving on his, moving hesitantly before he shifted, wiggling down so that they were level and that just made it so much better. His hand came up to cup Kurt's cheek, guiding his movements as Blaine took over, shifting to hover over him as their lips began to move more frantically against each other. Teeth nipped and bit and collided awkwardly until they found a rhythm that worked for them. Kurt's lungs ached for air but he couldn't stop, didn't want to as Blaine's tongue licked the seam of his lips.

They parted willingly, and Kurt couldn't hold back his moan as their tongues touched. His hands came up to clutch at Blaine's shirt, needing an anchor. He let out a whine as Blaine pulled back and removed his hands, though it cut into a gasp when Blaine's fingers circled his wrists and pinned them down above his head.

Kurt arched helplessly, his half hard cock filling rapidly at the feeling of being safe, being held and cared for. Blaine's nose nudged his head until it rolled over, exposing his neck to lips and teeth, biting and sucking as Blaine settled between his spread legs. Kurt could feel Blaine's cock pressing into the crook of his leg, just as hard and heavy as his own.

"Shit, Blaine..."

"That's not what you call me," he growled, biting Kurt's neck in punishment.

Kurt knew what he wanted. "S-Sir, please," he gasped.

Blaine didn't bother replying, just shifted their hips until their cocks lined up properly and-

"Oh, god!"

Laughter vibrated at his throat as Blaine rocked his hips down, the friction causing Kurt's eyes to roll back in his head. He couldn't stop the moans tearing from him, the friction combined with the way Blaine's teeth were worrying the skin of throat causing a sensory overload that left him keening.

"Kurt, knock knock," Blaine panted against his neck.

Kurt froze. "What?"

Blaine pulled back, looking concerned. "Knock knock?"

Kurt's eyes fluttered open and he realized with a jolt that he was lying in Blaine's bed, but half on top of his sleeping friend and, ew, drooling on him. He also realized (too late) that his cock was painfully hard from where he had been rutting against Blaine's leg. That had been the most vivid sex dream he had ever had. Why, oh why, did it have to be while he was actually with Blaine? He quickly rolled away as someone knocked on the door again.

Unfortunately, he rolled too far and let out a yelp when he fell on the floor, just as the door opened and Blaine sat up. "Dad?" he asked fuzzily. Kurt could hear him moving around and was exceedingly grateful that the fall had effectively killed his boner when Blaine peeked over the side of the bed.

"Hi." God, he hoped his blush wasn't noticeable in the shadowed area beside Blaine bed.

"What are you doing?"

"Laying on the floor."

"Why?"

"I fell."

"You fell?"

"Yeah."

"Off the bed?"

"No, off the blanket."

Blaine huffed. "How?"

"I rolled."

"You rolled."

"What are you, a parrot? Yes, I rolled. It was an accident."

"Right."

"Boys?" a quiet voice piped up from the doorway. Kurt sat up as Blaine moved back and they both stared at Blaine's father.

"Hi, Mr. Anderson," he waved.

"Hello, Kurt. It's getting late and I just wanted to know if you were going to be staying for dinner so I could make enough." The way he was still so quiet and refused to look at Blaine broke Kurt's heart.

"No, sir, I should actually be getting home," Kurt replied, hoping that his burning ears wouldn't be notice as he stood up. "Uh, Blaine, could you-"

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Dad, I need to drive Kurt home; I'll be back in a few minutes," Blaine said as they both pulled their shoes on.

"Sure, son, be safe, please."

"Yes, sir," Blaine nodded and grabbed Kurt's bag, gesturing for him to go first as Andrew disappeared. The walk down to the car was made in silence and it wasn't until they were halfway to his house that Kurt spoke.

"Is he always like that?"

"My dad? Yeah, when there are Doms around."

"Even if it's just you?"

"Yeah, usually." Blaine frowned, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. "It didn't used to be so bad, but after I hit puberty, I don't know, I guess he started looking at me in a different light? Things just weren't the same."

"That's terrible." Kurt couldn't imagine his father treating him any different just because he was a sub. He had treated him with kid gloves after that whole thing last year, but that faded after a few months.

"It's the way he was trained. I've tried talking to him about it, but you know how backwards thinking they were back then. My mom is already considered odd because she doesn't require him to kneel at her feet at all times and she believes that subs should have rights. She still thinks they should be seen and not heard, but it's still a step up from a lot of my family."

Kurt shuddered at the thought of meeting them. "That's terrible."

Blaine shrugged. "That's the traditional way of thinking, and the Anderson's are nothing if not traditional."

They pulled up to his house then and Kurt grabbed the strap to his bag. "Thanks for buying me coffee today."

"Thanks for coming with me. It was getting annoying being cooped up in the house with only Tina and Cooper around half the time, sucking face. I'm glad they didn't show up today." He gave a fake shudder and grinned as Kurt laughed.

"Yeah, me too." It would have been too embarrassing to have a sex dream while there were other people in the house. Blaine's dad showing up at the end had been bad enough. "I'll text you later."

"Bye, Kurt."

"Bye!"

888

Despite insisting that he needed to stay home for the Cyber Monday sales, Kurt was forced to return to school with everyone else two days later. He was shoving his books into his locker after first period when Blaine appeared next to him, grinning broadly.

"Where did you wander off to after class?"

"Did you hear that Finn has some big news?"

Kurt frowned. "No, I haven't, do you know what it is?" Blaine shrugged as his locker clicked open. Kurt let out a hum, slamming his own shut. "I wonder..."

"No clue, but I know he was super excited about it." Blaine's locker clanged shut and his arm automatically looped through Kurt's, leading the way to the next class. "Rachel told me he was practically bouncing with excitement and almost hit his head when he walked into first period."

Kurt laughed, shaking his head as he imagined the enormous boy jumping up and hitting his head. There were a few ugly looks thrown his way from the jock Doms, but with Blaine next to him, it stopped there. He had noticed a huge decrease in harassment from them lately and, he didn't know how, but he knew Blaine was behind it.

"So is Tina going to announce that she found her soulmate today? I saw her in the office earlier today, so I assumed she was updating her information," Kurt said as Blaine dropped him off at his classroom.

Blaine shrugged again. "I'm guessing so. She and Cooper have been holed up in the hotel room every since Friday night."

The day flew by and before he knew it, they were walking into the choir room at the final bell, busy making plans for the following weekend. Blaine wanted to see some superhero movie while Kurt was arguing in favor of antiquing when Finn burst through the door, his face lit up with excitement.

"Guys, I found my soulmate!"

Kurt couldn't stop his jaw from dropping. First Tina and now Finn? He could barely pay attention as Finn excitedly told them about going to a massage parlor over the break because of his ankle or something and when the girl brushed against his Soulmark, he felt the connection. He hated the sadness mixing with the jealousy brewing inside him. He should be happy for both of them, and he was on some level, but it was tainted with the knowledge that he would probably never find his soulmate, never feel the amazing connection with someone else that the others now shared. Any thoughts of actively looking for his own were now shaded by his past experience because Kurt didn't know what he would do if he found someone with his initials, but he couldn't feel the connection, just like with Bri- him.

He knew that was because they weren't actually soulmates, he knew that, but it didn't stop the doubt creeping up on him, because what if it had been real? He would have never been able to feel the connection and the love that came with it. The feeling was supposed to be amazing, to have the other half of your soul connected to your body.

Kurt managed to pull himself out of his bitterness to congratulate Finn and Tina, who had announced that she would be going to California with Cooper after Christmas. With the amount of papers Cooper would need to sign, the tests that were conducted to confirm that they were soulmates, and moving all of Tina's things, Blaine's brother had figured it would be better to just hang around Ohio until the holiday passed so he wouldn't have to fly back and forth constantly. He would be leaving for a week to film as much as possible for the soap before waiting out the time.

Blaine seemed to pick up on his mood, as he so often did, and dragged him to a little bakery after they were released from glee practice. They sat at one of the Formica tables, hard plastic chairs uncomfortable, but not overly so. There was cheesecake and just some regular drip coffee, but Blaine was telling silly stories and his face was hurting from how hard he was smiling. Maybe he wouldn't ever find his soulmate, but at least he had Blaine.

He refused to think about the time that would eventually come when Blaine found his own soulmate and left Kurt alone once again.

888

A couple of weeks later, just before school let out for winter break, Kurt was sitting in the cafeteria with Blaine, Sam, Mercedes, and Tina when someone tapped his shoulder. Still laughing at Sam's joke, he turned and came face to face with Mr. Shue, who looked upset.

"Mr. Shue? Are you okay?" he asked, brow furrowing in concern.

"I need to talk to you, Kurt."

"O-oh, okay." He got up and followed his teacher out of the cafeteria, blinking in surprise to find Ms. Pillsbury apparently waiting for them outside of the doors. Mr. Shue ushered them into his office, gesturing for Kurt to sit.

"Kurt, it's- it's your father. They said he looks like he had a heart attack while working in the shop..."

His teacher's voice faded out as a loud rushing filled his ears. This couldn't be happening, it was all a- a lie or a mistake, it couldn't be his father, he was just fine this morning-

Breakfast of champions!

"-Kurt, are you okay?"

His chest was tight and he couldn't breathe- "I-I need to find Blaine."

He was up and out of the chair before either of them could stop him, rushing into the hallway as the terrifyingly familiar feeling of dread welled inside of him and the tingling started in the tips of his fingers. It quickly moved to his hands as he ran through the empty hallways, not even really looking for Blaine anymore, just trying to get away, to do anything to escape from the feeling like he was losing what little control he had.

He rounded a corner and sunk to the ground next to a set of lockers. He brought his knees up and wrapped his arms around them, burying his face into the bones in hopes to ground himself. He needed to calm down because he was having a panic attack and his dad wasn't around to Dom him and help him calm down and he just really needed to breathe but he couldn't nothing was working his heart was racing in his chest and chills were sweeping over his body he couldn't do this he needed someone he needed Bl-

"Kurt, breathe."

There was an overpowering flow of Dominating pheromones that came with the words and he automatically felt his breathing even out, the tightness in his chest easing as hands eased his arms away and firmly lifted his face. He blinked as his vision was filled with honey colored eyes that held his.

"Slowly inhale, that's it, good boy, now let it out slowly, good, good. You're doing so well, such a good boy, keep going, slowly, there we go."

Kurt focused on Blaine's eyes, on the warm hand caressing his face and the other resting on his throat. He unconsciously tilted his head back, baring his neck and silently asking for more.

Blaine's hand tightened slightly in reaction. "Is this okay?"

Kurt hummed as he concentrated on doing as Blaine asked, breathing slowly.

"Say it."

Another, smaller, flow of Dominating pheromones washed over him and he replied, his voice barely audible, "Yes, sir."

They stayed there for awhile, Kurt wasn't sure how long, before Blaine stood up. Kurt whimpered at the loss of contact until Blaine scooped him up, his slightly shorter stature making him stagger for a moment. "Do you mind if I take you into one of the rooms for care?" he asked, his chest rumbling under Kurt's ear where he had buried his face. His arms tightened around Blaine's neck as he began walking, finally feeling grounded in a way he felt like he'd been missing his entire life.