Chapter Three

'It's your turn now.'

'My turn what?' They were walking across the nothingness again, just walking wherever seemed right. It was getting easier for Blaine to walk now; it was a bit like walking through water. 'Well, I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to, but I was thinking – I'd like to know more about you – your past and your background.'

They had been talking about Blaine's experiences for the last three days and although it was releasing and freeing to just talk, he knew nothing about Kurt except for that he was always here. And Blaine wanted to know about Kurt because – well, he didn't really know. Kurt just seemed… interesting. It wasn't as if he liked him in any way more than a friend – honestly, Blaine just didn't see him like that – but Kurt was his friend and it only seemed right that he listened as well as talked – and he wanted to listen.

'There's not much to tell. I grew up in Lima, I go to McKinley High and I'm in the Glee club there. I'm… I'm bullied a lot – because of my voice and the way I dress and the whole being gay thing – and I'm in the Glee club, and everyone who is gets bullied.'

'I know how you feel. I go to Westerville – or I used to, I don't really go to school anymore – and I was bullied every day. Homophobic students, homophobic teachers.' Blaine saw Kurt's eyes kind of light up at that – he hadn't actually said, straight up, that he was gay before. Maybe he'd never had another gay teenage friend to relate to – to understand. It made his heart ache in a way that he'd never felt before; not when he had come out to his father – not to be accepted but to be insulted, not when his mother had left, not when the only friend he'd had at Westerville moved away after being beaten to near death along with Blaine himself. 'So – what happened, if anything, before you came here?'

Kurt scrunched up his face in thought and it took all of Blaine's willpower not to squeal because if that wasn't the cutest thing he'd ever seen then it was because anything cuter than that would have made him pass out instantly and remember nothing. 'I can't remember much, honestly. I think I was at McKinley, or about to leave. The next thing I know – I'm here. I haven't been back since. I really miss my dad.'

'Just your dad? I mean, do you have a mother or-'

'She died when I was eight,' Kurt cut in. 'It's okay, I mean it was a long time ago. I still miss her but it doesn't hurt, not anymore.' Blaine reached out to him, took his hand and squeezed it. 'I'm sorry.' They stood there for a moment, just holding hands, just being close to each other. They were completely different, and yet they were both similar that they had been through hell and survived. It was the best thing either of them could have had, someone to listen as well as talk, and someone to understand. 'Kurt – is the bullying bad? Well, of course it's bad, but is it serious? Are you in any danger?' He needed to know, Kurt might be in this dream world right now, where they both seemed perfectly fine, but Blaine kept going back and maybe Kurt would go back sometime and he needed to know if Kurt would be safe when he did because he cared more about Kurt than anyone he had ever met, more than his mother who had mostly ignored him and his father who had been physically abusive.

'I'm not in any life threatening danger, if that's what you mean,' Kurt said. 'Well – there is this guy who threatened to – he threatened to kill me. If I told anyone-' Blaine looked at Kurt, shocked. 'Kurt, you have to get out of there! When you get back, you have to leave McKinley, it's not safe for you.' Kurt sighed. 'Where would I go, Blaine? I pretty much scream 'GAY'. I would get bullied anywhere, for the way I dress, for my voice. It's not safe for me anywhere. That's just how it is for guys like me.' He looked tired, like he hadn't slept for days – but maybe he was just tired of that answer.

More than anything, Blaine wanted to protect Kurt; he wanted to save him. He needed to get to Lima.

'Kurt – I think I'm-' Blaine felt himself falling – it was getting easier to tell when he was about to leave this world now.

Kurt rushed over to hold Blaine as his legs failed him. 'Keep safe, okay? I couldn't bear it if one day you didn't show up… if I didn't know if you were-' Kurt bit his lip. 'Just come back to me. I'll miss you.'

Blaine opened his mouth to say that he'd never leave Kurt, he'd stay with him every second if he could. But it was too late and he was back in the real world, grass stains and mud soaking through his now completely ruined and stinking jeans.

But now he had somewhere to go. He was going to go to Lima. He would be there for Kurt if he ever went back. For the past few days he had been walking about an hour each day, just to find a new place to sleep, and in no specific direction. Now he had a direction. He had something to do.

About twenty hours to Lima.