Thankfully the story - backed by Finn and double checked with a call to Mercedes' mother to be assured that her daughter was indeed on her way to the school to meet Kurt - worked, and Burt reluctantly gave him his blessing to leave. Kurt felt a pang of guilt, but he couldn't feel terrible about what he was doing. It was the only way. Maybe someday he could be honest with his father about it all, but for the moment, he only cared that soon he'd be with Blaine again. Kurt pulled up outside of Blaine's apartment complex and took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves and his racing heart. Praying that the vampire would be home, Kurt hurried inside and up the stairs. He rapped firmly on the door and held his breath as he waited for a sign of movement from within.

Blaine dressed and popped open a bottle of True Blood. Although Damien's blood had worked wonders on restoring what he had lost, he remained a little weak and he regretted not joining his sire in finding something more substantial than synthetic blood. He still felt guilty over Jeremiah's death. Knowing he wasn't responsible after all offered him little consolation. All the mortal had tried to do was offer his comfort, and he had paid for it with his life. Would the same thing have happened to Kurt? The worrying thought entered his mind, filling Blaine with dread. If Kurt had been with him that night, he might have been that crazed vampire's victim instead. It was highly likely, especially considering how beautiful and intoxicating Kurt was. That terrified him, and as badly as he missed and ached for Kurt, things probably turned out for the best if it meant ensuring his safety.

His head snapped up as a familiar scent reached him long before he heard the knock at the door. //Kurt...// How? Why was he here? Blaine was on his feet and rushing forward before he could stop himself. He reached for the door and threw it open, barely suppressing a whimper at the sight which greeted him. "Kurt?"

Just the sight of Blaine was enough to bring a smile to Kurt's face. He wanted to throw his arms around the vampire and hold him close, but common sense held him in check. Blaine had sent him away the night before. //I told him it was over. I don't have any right to assume...// But the light in Blaine's eyes gave him hope, and Kurt stepped in a bit closer. "I couldn't stay away. I'm so sorry for... for everything, and... I don't know if I can ever make it up to you, but I can't do this. I don't want to disappoint my dad or hurt him, but I need this. I need you. I love you, and... whatever it takes, whatever I have to do to be with you, it's worth it." Kurt stood in the doorway, uncertain and raw and praying that the words were enough to at least give them a chance.

Blaine didn't mean for it to happen. He had wanted to fight his feelings for Kurt. But he was utterly helpless, and he reached out and pulled the mortal into his arms, crushing Kurt against his chest. It felt wonderful holding him again, to feel him and to smell him and to... No, he couldn't do this. It was too dangerous. "Kurt," he started shakily, "you shouldn't have come here." Blaine forced himself to draw away, and losing contact filled him a palpable ache. "You could have been killed." Turning, he closed the door behind Kurt as he allowed him inside. "The police couldn't hold that vampire, and there's no telling where he might be."

"It... it doesn't matter," Kurt answered, though he couldn't suppress a shiver at the thought of the potential danger of the situation. The brief contact wasn't nearly enough, and Kurt moved in again, reaching out to take the hands that were retreating so quickly, closing the space between them again because he couldn't bear for it to remain. "I'll be careful. We'll be careful." He felt more sure than ever that he wasn't the only one suffering, and knowing that told him everything he really needed. Blaine didn't want to send him away. "I know you were trying to protect me last night, sending me away, I..." A niggling thought lodged in the back of Kurt's mind surfaced, and he asked hesitantly, "Why... why did you say that you did it?" He knew better than to think Blaine would ever be capable of something so cold, and the lie made no sense - especially since Blaine's panic had seemed real enough at the time.

"Because I thought I had," Blaine replied softly. He couldn't quite meet Kurt's gaze, as the guilt over having slept with someone else after the promises he had made tore him up inside. But if he ever hoped to keep Kurt safe, really safe... then, he would have to tell him everything and live with the consequences. "That night, I ran into an old friend at the bar. And... I brought him home. We were together, Kurt." The words hung in the air, cold and painful. "He let me feed, and he died soon after he left. So, you see... that's why I thought I'd killed him."

Kurt's fingers clenched reflexively around Blaine's as his mouth dropped open. "Oh," he managed in a shaky whisper. The image flashed into his mind unbidden: the beautiful blond that he'd barely spared a glance for, the one who had been sitting at Blaine's table. That was him. Kurt had broken Blaine's heart, left the scene, and all but thrown them together. For a moment he wasn't sure he could even breathe. Kurt's head spun, and he finally managed to force his lungs into action to keep from falling over. "Did... were... did you... care about him?" He couldn't bring himself to say the word love, couldn't bring himself to even think that the gorgeous man might have been more than someone to offer comfort in a time of need.

The waves of pain radiating from Kurt crashed into Blaine with the force of a hurricane. Having enhanced senses only made it worse, and the vampire physically reeled from the mortal's emotional turmoil. He managed to pull himself together, finding the whole situation even more difficult to bear. "Yes, I cared about him," Blaine murmured, again avoiding Kurt's gaze. "I made a fool out of myself over him. He was a crush, but that night was different. I should have never brought him back here." Gently pulling his hand free, he steeled himself for what he had to do. "Kurt, this--you and me--isn't going to work." Even saying the words nearly finished him, especially when all he wanted to do was embrace the teenager and declare his eternal love for him.

The words were harsher than hearing about Blaine's indiscretion had been. //And it wasn't even any indiscretion... not really... he had every right...// The rejection hanging in the air hurt all the more because he knew that it was painfully close to what he'd said to Blaine not so long before. " Immediately defiant, Kurt lifted his chin and gave a slight shake of his head. "That isn't true. It's... it's not going to be easy, but it can work. We can make it work. I know we can." Despite the fact that Blaine had very pointedly severed the contact between them, Kurt closed in on him again and reached out to lay a hand on Blaine's arm. "You love me. I know... I know you do." //He has to.// The truth was that he could suffer separation and pain and a million other things, but not the idea that what Blaine felt for him had somehow changed. He couldn't accept that something he held so close might not be real at all, that it might be the fantasy anyone with common sense would have told him it was. "Don't do this. I know what I did... it wasn't fair... to... to either of us, but... you don't have to do this."

Why did it have to be this way? Of all the terrible things Blaine had ever done since becoming a vampire, hurting Kurt was the most vile. He could only console himself with the fact that his actions were for the mortal's benefit. Because if Kurt continued to immerse himself in the world of the undead, then there was no doubt in Blaine's mind that he would share Jeremiah's fate. "It isn't anything you did," Blaine told him. "I understand why we couldn't see each other. If I were mortal and a father, I wouldn't want my son going out with a vampire either." Again, he pulled his hand free. It was monstrously painful, but Blaine soldiered on. "Kurt... Damien and I... we were together last night. After you left..." The words hung heavy in the air, like building storm clouds. "He wants me, he told me so. You have no idea what the bond between us is like." And then, lightning rained down. "I can't be with you because I want to be with him."

Kurt opened his mouth to protest. Blaine had told him that he wasn't close to his sire, that they weren't together. He swayed, uncertain whether he was going to faint or step back, and finally managed the later, an awkward, stumbling movement back toward the door. Voice sounding as dull and numb as the rest of him, Kurt whispered, "I want to say you're lying because... if you aren't... then I don't know what I can trust. Because if you aren't, I'm an even bigger idiot than I ever thought." Because no matter what Blaine said, Kurt was horrified to realize that it hurt, but it didn't change anything. A word, a gesture and he would move into Blaine's arms and be grateful for the chance. He hated that weakness. Too many people in his life already got to pull his strings and push him around for their own entertainment. This was supposed to be different. This was supposed to be better. "That's all." It was meant to be a question, but Kurt knew that it wasn't as soon as he spoke the words. It was an ending instead, and he managed to stay on his feet and walking in a straight line all the way back down to the SUV. At that point Kurt gave up any semblance of grace and finally let himself fall apart, sobbing against the steering wheel until the tears cleared enough that he could drive away.

*****

Kurt managed with difficulty to get into the house without arousing the suspicion of Burt and Carol. He called out an appropriately cheery greeting and some chatter about wanting to look for a different song selection before sprinting up the stairs. Instead of rushing to his own room, he found himself careening toward Finn's. Facing telling Finn later and stretching out the pain was too much. He'd already texted Mercedes in the car, though Kurt had ignored her attempts to follow the contact up with a call. Trembling again as he let the events of the night crash over him, Kurt knocked sharply on Finn's door. "I-it's me."

Finn didn't have to see his stepbrother to know that something was terribly wrong. He could hear the awful pain in Kurt's voice, and he was on his feet and answering his door in a protective rush. "Kurt?" Finn's heart gave an painful thud against his ribs. Kurt appeared more shattered than even he had imagined. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that things had not gone well between him and Blaine. "What happened?" he asked stupidly.

Kurt all but staggered into the room and shut the door, falling back against it. He tried his best to catch his breath and relate things calmly. Finn wouldn't understand if he fell apart again. Carefully keeping his eyes averted so that he could think, Kurt began, "He was... he seemed... happy to see me... hugged me and... I apologized... for... for leaving. He told me why he thought he killed someone. He'd... he'd brought him home. They were... they were together, and... then he left... but... it was someone else who killed him." His own voice sounded strange and distant, his whole being aching with the thought of Blaine with someone else. "I still... wanted to stay... he... told me that... that last night, he was with Damien... with him. His sire," Kurt clarified absently, "the one who... was there when we left... said that he... that he didn't want me... wanted Damien... I..." The shaking set in again, and Kurt realized his hands hurt from gripping the doorknob so hard, but he couldn't force his fingers to let go for fear his knees would buckle.

Finn tried to take it all in, only to find himself confused and strangely hurt over what had happened to his stepbrother. None of it made any sense. It was clear that Blaine loved Kurt. There was absolutely no mistaking the depth of emotion the vampire felt for him. So, why would Blaine tell Kurt he wanted to be with Damien? Finn had a million questions he wanted to ask, but he was more concerned about Kurt to ask them. The other teen looked ready to collapse, and the jock quickly took his arm to shepherd him over to a chair. He draped a protective arm around him, drawing him in a blanket of insulating comfort. A potent mixture of anger and jealousy welled up inside of Finn. Angry over his brother being in pain, jealousy over the vampires. He had desperately, obsessively wanted Damien. And then, suddenly, inexplicably, his attention had turned to Blaine. Now the vampires were together, and... Finn shook his head. He couldn't think about himself, not now when Kurt needed him the most. "I'm sorry," he murmured, "I'm so sorry, Kurt."

The comfort was worse than the silence somehow, and Kurt leaned into the gentle embrace, unable to stop the tears from flowing all over again. He couldn't remember ever feeling more miserable. "Shouldn't've gone," he mumbled against Finn's dampened t-shirt. It had been better when they were apart but Kurt still felt sure of everything between them. Now he didn't know what to believe and the idea that any of the sweet memories he held so close were lies cut him more deeply than anything else. "Why would... why..." There was no real question he could ask, and Kurt gave up, simply crying until he was too drained to do even that. Finally he drew back, sniffling and offering Finn a watery smile. "I'm sorry... I'm... I'm a mess... I..." Quietly, he asked, "Is this what it was like? When you couldn't see him? The one who... who you were with? Was it... It feels like I can't even breathe."

Finn didn't quite know how to explain it to Kurt. "Yeah, a little... it was worse, like I would've died if I didn't see him again." He sighed, and gave an involuntary shiver. "Remember in class when I was making myself bleed? That was the craziness I was going through. You're not like that, dude. Your heart's broken, and I'm sorry I ever suggested you go and talk to Blaine." He blamed himself, despite having the best of intentions. Finn had hoped things would work out between Kurt and Blaine, but it had only ended up an even bigger mess than when it started. "Damn vampires," he murmured angrily. "Why did they have to make themselves known in the first place? Things were okay before we knew they were real."

The anger was surprisingly comforting, and let out a soft sigh. "Maybe dad was right. Maybe... maybe we just aren't meant to mix with them." That still didn't feel right, but nothing really did anymore. The only thing Kurt could feel with any certainty was the pain and the loss and the lonely idea of spending the rest of his life without ever seeing Blaine again. "It's... it's still okay if I sleep in here?" he ventured. Being lonely was one thing, but Kurt knew he wasn't in any shape to be alone. He couldn't lie in the dark alone thinking about everything that had gone wrong.

"You don't even have to ask, bro," Finn replied, managing a warm half-smile. It took quite an effort on his part; more angry than he could ever remember feeling, Finn's instinct demanded that he track down Blaine and beat him to a pulp. No one hurt his stepbrother, not while on his watch. Of course, he had done his fair share to cause Kurt pain lately. Vampires, again. If Damien hadn't put him under a spell and insisted on keeping Blaine and Kurt apart, then maybe none of this would have ever happened. "C'mon, get yourself cleaned up," he encouraged, steering Kurt toward the bathroom. "I'll bring up some junk food, and we can watch some trashy TV till you're ready to sack out. Okay?"

Kurt's shoulders sagged, but he managed a smile that looked slightly more convincing. "Thank you." He disappeared into the bathroom and tried to lose himself in the ritual of it. The week had been crazy, and he'd hardly bothered to moisturize or properly condition his hair. The monotonous action helped to calm Kurt's nerves though ultimately it made him feel no better than before. Finally he dried himself off and found some pajamas before wandering back into Finn's room and installing himself on the bed. He was resolved to indulge himself in ridiculously caloric food and horrible TV until he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. Somehow, he wasn't going to think about Blaine. He wasn't going to think about anything at all.

Spending the evening keeping Kurt company only seemed to add to the weight of Finn's guilt. His stepbrother's suffering was partially his fault, but he couldn't bring himself to tell him. Kurt would hate him for the rest of his life, and that was something Finn couldn't stand the thought of. As the evening grew later, they decided to call it a night, and the jock went to bed filled with turmoil. Why would Blaine reject Kurt? It made no sense, and Finn wanted answers. His mind ticked over with ways to sneak out in order to track the vampire down. As soon as he could get away, he determined to find Blaine and find out what the hell was really going on. If he ever hoped to make amends to Kurt--whether his brother knew what he'd done or not--then he had to start somewhere. With that settled, Finn finally allowed himself to rest, but only when he was sure Kurt had managed to drift to sleep.

*****

Kurt spent the next morning in a daze. He'd slept fitfully and woken in pain both mentally and physically, his body yearning for rest he couldn't quite let himself have. Instead he managed to make himself presentable. He couldn't talk himself into putting his usual time into his hair or wardrobe. Kurt knew he looked as drab and tired as he felt. All through the drive to school Finn tried hard to make conversation, but Kurt barely managed to answer. He begged off any further attempts by his stepbrother to make things better by assuring Finn he had homework to get finished.

Instead Kurt sequestered himself in the library, skipping two classes and lunch to hide amidst the stacks. He emerged finally to go to English and ended up lingering by his locker staring down at his phone. Blaine's number on his contact list taunted him. It would be so easy to remove it. He could get rid of Blaine's number and pretend that he wasn't tempted to text him, to call just to see if his voice was on the voicemail. Instead Kurt found his focus broken by a sudden shove and the harsh bite of the metal locker door against his shoulder. He gasped at the sudden pain and looked up to see Dave Karofsky smirking and making his way down the hall.

Normally Kurt shrugged those moments off. He was too tired to do anything else. After everything he'd been through Kurt couldn't. He felt a blinding flash of rage and hissed out, "What the HELL is your problem?" before any coherent thought could stop him. Kurt stalked forward as the jock turned to face him. He caught a flash of confusion and something else, but then Karofsky just walked away. He pushed off into the locker room and Kurt was hot on his heels. The slighter boy was yelling almost at once. They seemed to be alone in the room. Normally he might have considered shutting up for his own self preservation. If he'd analyzed his own motivations, Kurt would've had to admit that he simply didn't have anything left to preserve, so he snapped at the other man without any restraint.

Kurt expected to be hit or shoved again or even ignored. He didn't expect Karofsky to grab his shoulders and kiss him hard on the lips. Kurt recoiled the moment the jock's grip went slack and let out a soft sound of alarm when Dave's hand reached out again. He couldn't hear anything over the sound of the blood rushing through his ears. Dave was saying something, yelling and then slamming his fist against the lockers, but Kurt just stared until he was gone. Uncertain of whether he was blacking out or just swimming in confusion, Kurt finally found himself on his feet. The door to the locker room had opened.

Kurt fled the scene as quickly as possible. He gave up all idea of going to class or glee practice and took refuge in the SUV instead. Finn would come out as soon as he'd finished and they could go home. They could go home and he could never come back again. When the door finally closed behind him, Kurt took a shuddering breath. Karofsky had kissed him, had attacked him. More than that, Karofsky had taken away something even more important. If Kurt was never kissed again, he'd wanted Blaine's lips to be the last that touched his own, the last that he ever tasted. The thought brought fresh tears, and Kurt prayed that the parking lot would remain empty until Finn came out to find him.

When Kurt failed to show up for practice, it had taken all of Finn's self restraint not to excuse him and searching the halls of McKinley for his stepbrother. It wasn't like Kurt, and the jock's concern ratcheted further when Mercedes confided that she hadn't seen her best friend in class. What could have happened? Several notions presented themselves one after another in Finn's mind. He wondered if Kurt has simply run off to see Blaine, only to stupidly remind himself that it was daytime and that vampires adhered to that legend about sleeping and avoiding the sun at least.

Time passed by slowly. But, when the bell finally rang, Finn was on his feet and out of the choir room door without a word to his friends. He roamed through the corridors, checking the usual places... only to come up empty and even more worried. On the verge of panicking and calling home, Finn headed out to the parking lot on instinct where--with an enormous sigh of relief--he found Kurt sitting in his SUV. "Dude!" Finn exclaimed, opening the door and piling inside. Where have you been?" He stopped. Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Kurt looked like hell, and it was Finn's assumption that the other teen had fallen apart over Blaine. "It's okay, hey..." His anger threatened to boil over, even as he tried to be a rock of support for Kurt. //Vampires...// They were to blame for everything bad that had happened. And, if if was the last thing Finn Hudson ever did, he was going to find out why Blaine had rejected and hurt his brother.

Kurt considered filling Finn in on everything, but it was too much. He didn't want to think about it, let alone talk about. "I'm sorry, I just... I think I need a little time..." He gave a slight shake of his head and wiped his eyes. They made the drive home in relative silence. His melancholy seemed to have silenced even Finn's tongue. By the time they reached the house, Kurt felt sluggish with the lack of sleep and being entirely overwrought. He forced himself to relative alertness for dinner and even tried to answer questions from Carol and his father about the day politely. Kurt could see from the watchful stare his father kept fixing on him that his attempts were weak, but the fact that he made them at all seemed to ease some of their worries.

After dinner Kurt threw in the towel. He brushed off Finn's attempts to coax him into doing homework together. "I think I'm going to lie down. I didn't sleep well last night... and... maybe then I'll try to tackle that essay." Kurt's smile looked almost convincing before he disappeared into his own room and closed the door tightly behind him.