To Kurt's immense relief Blaine continued to easily adapt to McKinley. He quickly learned his way around the school and memorised his combination for his locker; he knew which foods to avoid in the cafeteria and which were edible, and people were no longer staring at him curiously as he passed them in the hallways. Rachel was still pestering him about joining Glee club, but she did genuinely like Blaine as a person and not just a potential duet partner and Kurt was pleased to see that she wanted Blaine to be happy at school. Blaine was also getting along very well with Sam and Mike and had even been invited to one of their gaming nights at Mike's house, news that had put Kurt in an extremely good mood for the rest of the day.

In spite of Blaine's encouraging first week, Kurt was constantly on-edge while he was at school, waiting on tenterhooks for Karofsky and his friends to strike. Blaine had gotten his first glimpse of the bullies on his second day when Kurt pointed them out from across the cafeteria, trying to ignore the unsettling feeling in his stomach from the way the group of jocks were scowling at them every now and then. He knew they would be cornered by the bullies eventually, he didn't believe for a second that whatever ‘talk' Figgins had had with them would have persuaded them to stop harassing people.

On Thursday, Blaine received a reply from NYU concerning his late application. He read the response out loud to Kurt in a shaky voice and Kurt pulled him into a hug when he learned that the school was willing to consider Blaine.

"You've got a good chance," Kurt whispered, pressing a kiss to Blaine's temple. "You're so smart and talented; they'd be crazy not to accept you."

With Kurt's encouragement, they did some research and Blaine applied to a few other colleges. Even though none of them were in New York, Kurt promised that they would make their relationship work, and insisted that Blaine not base his decision on Kurt. He wanted Blaine to go wherever he would be happiest.

With the more important issues dealt with, Kurt felt it was about time he got around to dealing with something that had been bugging him for the past few weeks - Blaine's hair.

It was a mop; there was no other word to describe it. The dark curls fell into Blaine's eyes, hanging limply over his forehead and sticking up in places at the back of his head. It had now reached that frizzy too-long stage and there was probably a lot of split ends in that curly mass. Blaine needed it cut, badly.

When Blaine came down for breakfast on Sunday morning, yawning and scratching his head so that his hair became even more rumpled than the just-out-of-bed mess it was already in, Kurt decided enough was enough.

"You're getting a haircut today," he announced as Blaine brushed a half-awake kiss to his cheek and dropped down into the chair next to him.

Blaine blinked sleepily at him. "I am?"

Reaching for the coffee pot in the centre of the table, Kurt poured Blaine a mug and pushed it towards him. "Your hair has been a mess for ages now; I can't stand it any longer."

"I suppose you're right," Blaine agreed, tugging on a curl that hung down by his eye. "I've gotten used to having it long and curly like this, it'll be strange having it short again."

"Who said anything about short? I'm only giving you a bit of a trim to tidy it up. I like the curls too much to cut them off." Kurt ran his fingers lightly through Blaine's hair with a smile.

Blaine sat up straight in his chair. "Wait, you're cutting it?" he asked, sounding shocked. "I didn't know you could cut hair."

A small smirk inched onto Kurt's face. "Well, anyone can cut hair," he teased. "But, yeah, I can. I've been trimming my own hair in between visits to the hairdresser for years now."

Blaine raised a hand to touch his curls protectively, looking uncertain.

"I won't take too much off," Kurt promised hastily. "Just a trim to tidy it up a bit so it doesn't look quite so much like you've got some kind of weird wig on."

Nodding slowly, Blaine took a sip of his coffee. "Ok."

"Ok?" Kurt repeated, brightening at the prospect of being allowed the freedom to style Blaine's hair.

Blaine met his gaze over the top of his coffee mug. "I trust you."

Hearing those words never failed to warm Kurt's heart, and he turned back to his breakfast with a soft smile. Sometimes, in moments like this, it just hit him out of the blue how far he and Blaine had come; less than six months ago he'd been taking his homework up into the attic, where he sat against the opposite wall to a wary and silent Blaine. And now they were sitting at the breakfast table together, they were in love, and Blaine had just casually kissed him on the cheek. Some days Kurt could scarcely believe this wasn't a dream.

After breakfast Kurt tugged Blaine eagerly by the hand up to his bedroom, where he sat him down in front of his vanity mirror.

"It'll be weird to lose the hair," Blaine muttered passively, running a hand through his curls again.

Kurt dug through one of the drawers, searching for his scissors. "It's just hair, it's not like it's your arm or something," he pointed out.

"Says the person who grumbled for an hour after I mussed up his hair," Blaine shot back with a grin. Kurt stuck his tongue out at him before returning to his search. Shoving an old notebook aside, he finally extracted the scissors from the depths of the drawer and set them down on the surface of the vanity along with a comb.

Blaine eyed the scissors warily.

"Be right back," Kurt told him, humming as he went into his bathroom to fetch a spray bottle - which he filled with water - along with a couple towels.

"What's that for?" Blaine asked when Kurt re-entered the bedroom. "Are you going to spray me if I don't sit still?"

Laughing lightly, Kurt set the bottle down, laid out one of the towels on the floor, and then stood behind Blaine, wrapping the other around his shoulders. "Well, maybe..." he teased, smoothing out the creases. He dipped down to kiss the top of Blaine's head before reaching for the comb. "Damp hair cuts more easily, honey."

"Oh," Blaine said absently, his eyes fixed on the mirror he was facing as he watched Kurt run the comb gently through his hair, working out a few knots carefully. He made a small noise of contentment in the back of his throat as Kurt continued, his fingers moving through the curls along with the comb.

Kurt smiled at the sound, a feeling of peace filling him, his hand briefly moving down to caress Blaine's cheek when his eyes fluttered shut.

Blaine was jolted out of his blissful contentment when Kurt picked up the scissors and spray bottle.

"Ok, how short do you want it?" Kurt asked, tugging gently at a few curls and giving Blaine a teasing grin in the mirror.

"If you make a mess of my hair I won't cuddle with you for a month," Blaine warned.

Spraying a section of hair with water, Kurt replied, "I thought you trusted me?" He set the bottle down on the vanity and shifted until he was in a better position.

Blaine was eyeing the scissors in Kurt's hand where they were reflected in the mirror. "Just get on with it."

Pulling the comb out of his jeans pocket where he'd shoved it, Kurt ran it through a section of hair, positioned the scissors and...

Snip.

A short, curling piece of Blaine's hair tumbled down onto his towel-covered shoulders. Pausing, Kurt stared down at that small lock of hair, feeling an odd, tiny pang of sadness at the sight. He really did love Blaine's hair - the way it curled against the curve of his jawbone beneath his ear; the way the soft, silky locks felt between his fingers; the tenderness that filled him when he reached over to brush the curls off Blaine's forehead and away from his eyes - and a part of him didn't want to cut it, despite a larger part of him thinking that it was too long. He brushed the curl off Blaine's shoulder, his hand lingering by the back of Blaine's neck for a moment, before he mentally gave himself a small shake and returned his attention to the task in hand.

"I won't cut too much off," he reiterated, not knowing whether he was assuring himself or Blaine.

Snip.

"Not too much," he repeated in a low mutter under his breath. He could sense Blaine watching him in the mirror and even without looking up he could picture the slightly raised eyebrow and questioning look he was sending him. Kurt forced himself to focus and cast his mind about for something to talk about while he worked, something to fill the silence. It landed on something he'd starting thinking about recently, spurred by a conversation he'd had with Blaine months ago.

"I've been thinking about your brother..." Kurt began cautiously, not sure how Blaine would feel about this topic or what he was about to suggest. He expertly cut a few more locks of hair as he awaited an indication from Blaine that he was happy for him to continue with this topic of conversation.

Blaine had tensed slightly at Kurt's words, but his voice was level when he responded.

"What about my brother?"

Kurt snagged the spray bottle. "I was wondering if you'd like to try and get in touch with him again. You haven't spoken to him in years, you said you think he has no idea what happened to you, and I think it would be good for you to at least try and get back in contact with him."

Blaine remained silent as Kurt dampened another section of his hair and started trimming it. He didn't look up at the mirror, but kept his gaze firmly trained on Blaine's hair, a little worried about what Blaine's response might be.

It was almost a minute later when Blaine finally responded.

"I- I don't know. I'd like to be able to see him again and have a family member that doesn't hate me, but- I don't know..."

He didn't sound at all enthusiastic about the idea and Kurt could see why. After the way Cooper had just walked out of Blaine's life, coupled with the way his parents had treated him, it was no wonder Blaine didn't want to take the chance of being hurt again. Kurt knew getting in contact with Cooper would be a risk - he could easily be like his parents and want nothing to do with Blaine - but it might be a risk worth taking.

Kurt ran his fingers through the thick hair on top of Blaine's head. "It's up to you, Blaine, but I think it would be good for you." As he finished trimming another section and reached for the spray bottle again, he glanced up at his boyfriend's reflection.

Blaine looked conflicted. Kurt could almost see the war raging behind his eyes as Blaine's brows knitted together and his fingers plucked at the knee of his pants. Sympathy tugged at Kurt's heart at the sight of Blaine's struggle.

"Take some time to think about it," he suggested, squeezing Blaine's shoulder briefly as he moved around to work on the other side of Blaine's head. "I know it's not an easy decision for you to make."

"No, you're right," Blaine said, giving his head a tiny shake. "Sorry," he added when Kurt jerked the scissors back to avoid messing up. "It'd be good for me. Even if Cooper doesn't want to be back in my life, at least I'll get to ask why he left all those years ago and hasn't bothered to get in touch with me since."

Pausing with the scissors and comb hovering an inch or two above Blaine's hair, Kurt met Blaine's eyes in the mirror. "Are you sure? I know I was the one to suggest it, but..." He trailed off at the determined look in Blaine's eyes.

"I'm sure," Blaine told him.

Kurt gave him a quick smile before turning to his hair. "Ok." He cut a few locks of hair. "I'm not really sure how we'll go about tracking him down, though," he admitted. He absently brushed a few chopped curls off Blaine's shoulder. "I guess we'll just start by Googling his name and seeing if anything useful comes up."

Blaine hummed in agreement. "I know what college he went to, so we could try their website - sometimes they mention what graduates have gone on to do."

"Good thinking," Kurt said with a nod. Then he frowned. "Although if your parents haven't been able to reach him then I doubt we'll have much luck."

"My parents never really tried. Once Cooper changed his phone number, moved out, and said he was done with the family that was enough for them." Blaine scowled. "They want to pretend that everything with him is perfect."

Kurt carded his fingers though the trimmed curls at Blaine's neck in a gesture of comfort and continued to cut them in silence. Blaine kept shifting slightly in his chair and Kurt would have to jerk his hands away each time, but he never told Blaine off; he knew Blaine had a lot to think about.

"All done," Kurt announced a while later, flicking the comb through some hair by Blaine's right ear and snipping at a few stray hairs he'd missed. "You no longer look like some kind of hippie."

Blinking, Blaine came out of his thoughts. "You're finished?" He leaned forwards and surveyed his new hairstyle critically in the mirror, turning his head this way and that to try and see it from all angles. "It looks great, Kurt - thanks!"

Kurt was scrabbling through a drawer trying to find a mirror to hold up so Blaine could see the back of his head. "Why do you sound so surprised?" He made a small noise of triumph and pulled the mirror out, holding it up so Blaine could see his hair at the back.

"I'm not surprised at how well you cut it, I'm just a little surprised at how much I like it," Blaine replied, still examining his hair.

"So, you do like it?" Kurt asked, needing to make sure. He tweaked one of the curls on Blaine's forehead.

Blaine grabbed his hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "Of course I do." He grinned at Kurt. "And you loved my hippie hair, you liar."

Kurt pulled his hand away and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "So, you really want to do this? You want to contact Cooper?" he asked, serious again.

Blaine sobered immediately. "Really," he confirmed.

Nodding, Kurt gathered up the towel around Blaine's shoulders, careful not to drop any hair on the carpet. "Ok, you go turn on my laptop while I tidy this up."

Blaine turned in his chair to look at him with some alarm. "You're going to start looking up Cooper now?"

Kurt paused. "I don't see why we should wait - unless you aren't ready, of course."

Shaking his head, Blaine said hastily, "No, no I'm ready. I just- No, you're right, we don't need to wait, it's been long enough." He stood up and went to fetch the laptop, Kurt's concerned gaze following him.

"Do you think we should try Google or Facebook first?" Blaine asked as he opened up the web browser. Kurt quickly finished cleaning up and joined him on the bed.

"Facebook," he decided after a moment.

Blaine opened up the website, Kurt signed in - Blaine had never had an account - and then he typed his brother's name into the search bar.

There were a number of Cooper Andersons. Blaine scrolled slowly through the list, until-

"There," he breathed, pointing at one of the Cooper Andersons. The picture showed a handsome, dark-haired man in his twenties with startling blue eyes, but all that was listed next to his picture was his location - Los Angeles, California.

Blaine clicked on the link to the main profile and Kurt's heart sunk - it was set to private.

Blaine stared glumly at the webpage. "At least we know he's still in California."

"Yeah," Kurt agreed as brightly as he could. "That should make it easier to search for him."

Google, however, gave them nothing useful, and Cooper's college's website was equally unhelpful.

"We could try contacting the college," Kurt suggested without much hope. "They might tell us what he's doing now if they know you're his brother. You said he wanted to do Law, right?"

Sighing, Blaine clicked off the college website. "I doubt they give away information like that; I could be anyone."

Running a finger absently over a row of computer keys, Kurt stared at the screen, willing his brain to come up with an idea. After a minute or two, when his laptop's screensaver had flickered on, he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face in frustration.

"The telephone directory?" Kurt suggested.

Blaine fidgeted with a raised fold in the bedding. "I thought about that, but I don't know if he'd be in it. If you're trying to stay out of your family's lives you wouldn't allow your phone number to be available like that, would you?" He shrugged. "It seems silly not to check, though."

"How do we get a telephone directory for LA? Is it online?" Kurt brushed his finger over the touchpad and his laptop screen glowed to life again. He typed his query into Google, his fingers becoming a blur on the keys when he discovered it was possible to search through the directory online. His hopes crashed again when he saw the number of people sharing Cooper's name in the LA area - there was no way they could call all of those numbers to find Blaine's brother.

"I could put an advert up online describing who I'm looking for - people do that, don't they?" Blaine suggested dully.

Kurt pushed his laptop away from him. "I think we'll save that for our last resort, it sounds a little weird." He frowned at his laptop. "We could ask my dad, he might know of something else we could try."

Sighing softly, Blaine leant into Kurt's side. "How come I've got a feeling that we're never going to find Cooper unless we go to LA and go around knocking on people's doors?"

Kurt chuckled lightly and kissed Blaine's hair, burying his nose in the soft, newly-trimmed curls. "Where is the optimism?"

When Blaine muttered something indistinct in response, Kurt put an arm around his shoulders and squeezed them gently. "We'll find your brother."

He ignored the voice in his head reminding him that they had no idea how Cooper would react to seeing his younger brother again or to learning that Blaine was gay. Finding Cooper could be another blow to Blaine or it could fill that gaping hole inside of him caused by his parents, the hole that had been stitched together by Kurt's family but not healed. He just had to hope that Cooper had that same missing piece inside of him.

As it turned out, Burt did have a few suggestions for finding Cooper, but none of them were successful. All they knew was that he lived in Los Angeles and he had completed a degree at UCLA. Not very useful.

Blaine couldn't help but be disappointed. His imagination had wistfully conjured up scenarios where he and Cooper met and fixed the bad blood between them and he became that supportive big brother he remembered from his childhood and had wished for all those years he'd shut himself in his room to avoid his parents. He tried not to let it show, knowing that Kurt would feel extremely guilty. He talked about it with his therapist, which helped greatly and reminded him that he had Kurt, Carole, Burt, Finn, and all of the people at school he was becoming friends with. He wasn't alone anymore.

A few days after this meeting with his therapist, Blaine was walking to his locker with Mike after class, looking forward to dumping his books and going to lunch, where he would get to see Kurt. The hallways were packed with people spilling out of classrooms, so Blaine didn't see Kurt standing by his locker until he was almost right in front of him.

"Hurry up, I'm starving," Kurt moaned when Blaine was close enough to hear him over the voices of dozens of students and the slams of locker doors. "I just spent the last hour writing essays in French and now my hand feels like it's about to drop off."

Mike shook his head at Kurt and continued down the hall towards his own locker, while Blaine reached for his combination lock. "What does your hand have to do with you being hungry?" he teased.

Groaning, Kurt slapped his arm gently. "I'm just really hungry, ok? And you're taking your sweet time to put a few books away."

Dumping his books on top of the small stack in his locker, Blaine grinned at his boyfriend. "If you're too impatient to be a gentleman and wait for me then go and I'll see you there in a couple of minutes."

Kurt unhitched himself from the locker he was leaning against. "How can it take you a couple of minutes? You've put your books in your locker, so let's go." He tugged at Blaine's sleeve, smiling at him in that way that Blaine swore made the rest of the world stand still for a moment.

Breathing a little irregular, Blaine closed his locker. "Well, I wouldn't want you to starve..."

What happened next occurred so quickly that even if Blaine had been looking up and seen them coming there was no way he could have prevented it.

There was a flash of red, the stumbling of many feet, and a loud, angry slam as Kurt disappeared from in front of him, sent hurtling into the bank of lockers they'd just stepped away from. There was a second in which he turned his head to check Kurt was ok, a second where panic began to unfurl inside of him like a leaf, before large hands collided with his side and he too was shoved into the hard, unforgiving lockers. The slam of his body against metal echoed in his head. He was breathless for a few seconds, the air knocked out of him by the impact, and all he was aware of was this lack of air and the noise ringing in his ears. Then he remembered Kurt. He turned his head to the side to find Kurt still slumped against the lockers, his arms wrapped protectively around his waist, his wide, worried eyes on Blaine.

"You ok?" Blaine asked him quickly.

Kurt nodded and opened his mouth to say something, no doubt to ask Blaine the same thing, but Blaine turned away; it was time to stop this.

Using his forearm as leverage, he pushed himself away from the lockers and faced down the small group of boys in letterman jackets smirking at him.

"Hey!"

His voice rang loud and clear, carrying easily through the hall, and silence spread in a wave as students stopped their muttering and chatting to watch.

The jocks stared at him with amusement. Now that he was looking at them properly, Blaine recognised the boy standing in the centre of the group as Karofsky. His resolve hardened.

"What did Kurt ever do to you?" Blaine asked them with a strength that should have surprised him. There was no surprise today, though; today he was fuelled by his anger and his need to protect Kurt; today he was just done with all the abuse and the shit he, Kurt, and others like them received for being themselves. Today he actually felt as brave as Kurt said he was.

Karofsky arched an eyebrow at him, folding his arms across his chest and smirking lazily. "What has he done to us?" he repeated. He shot Kurt a brief glance, the look in his eyes making Blaine's hands curl into fists by his sides. "None of us should have to listen to his girly voice or see him prancing down the hallway in his faggy outfits or worry about getting changed in the locker room while he's in-"

"Oh, please," Blaine interrupted, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "As if Kurt would want to look at any of you."

"We're sorry," one of the other boys whose name Blaine didn't know said. "We didn't realise Kurt liked his men... small." He said this last word with his voice loaded with meaning as his gaze flickered over Blaine.

Not taking the bait, Blaine just scowled in response. "So in other words he's done absolutely nothing, but because you're all a bunch of close-minded, ignorant, immature jerks you've harassed him even after warnings from the principal."

Karofsky's eyes narrowed. "Watch what you're saying, short-ass, or you'll find yourself acquainted with Kurt's dumpster." His sneer widened at Blaine's fuming expression. "That's right; your fairy boy's been shown where he belongs plenty of times." He stepped closer to Blaine, leaning forward like he was sharing a secret but still speaking loud enough for the large crowd of staring students to overhear. "With the trash."

Absolutely livid, Blaine took a step towards Karofsky as the other boy moved back, laughing quietly at him. A hand grasped Blaine's arm from behind.

"Blaine, please..." Kurt pleaded quietly, tugging at Blaine's sleeve. "Please don't, you'll just make things worse for yourself."

"All the more reason to make them stop," Blaine told Kurt under his breath, twisting around a little so he met Kurt's anxious gaze. "They can't keep doing this, Kurt; not to you, not to anyone." He turned back to Karofsky and his friends who were still watching him with narrowed eyes and cocky, menacing smirks.

"Does that make you feel tough?" he asked them. Confusion flickered across Karofsky's face. "Does harassing an innocent person make you feel superior? Empowered?"

Karofsky's face screwed up unpleasantly. "It makes me feel like I'm doing the right thing," he shot back. "I'm putting people like you in their place."

"What place?" Blaine wondered. He folded his arms across his chest, adrenaline still pumping through his body, making his pulse race. "And you're implying that you do all of this by yourself, but it's never that way, you've always got your cronies with you-" he waved a hand to indicate Karofsky's friends "-it's always a group of you against one person." He shook his head, letting out a small huff of unamused laughter. "Not very brave, that."

Karofsky's friends were scowling darkly now, but Karofsky's face was twisted up into a look of pure venom. He lunged towards Blaine, the crowds of students looped around them scattering backwards with a low, excited mutter in anticipation of a fight. Blaine stood his ground despite Kurt tugging on his sleeve again, and Karofsky stopped around a foot away, leaning forward into Blaine's personal space.

"Did you just call me a coward?" Karofsky hissed.

The crowds watching tittered. Blaine fleetingly wondered where all the teachers were and why none of them were intervening. He found it very hard to believe that they were all ignorant of what was happening. No wonder the school had problems with bullying.

Blaine didn't even flinch. "Stay away from Kurt," he growled, enunciating each word clearly. "If you lay a finger on him again I will make sure you pay."

Karofsky opened his mouth, the beginnings of an amused smirk twitching the corners of his mouth, but something in Blaine's expression caused him to falter and the scowl to harden as he closed his mouth again. He straightened up.

"It's your senior year, shouldn't you be spending your final days here making the most of it? Hanging out with friends and trying to get into a good college? Instead of harassing someone that in a few months, you'll never see again?"

The watching crowd seemed to draw a collective breath and hold it, falling silent as everyone stared at Karofsky, who gaped speechlessly at Blaine. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him.

The other jocks looked to Karofsky to respond, but Karofsky just mouthed wordlessly at Blaine for a moment, before starting to move slowly away.

"Stay away from Kurt, Karofsky!" Blaine called after him. "Get a life."

Still none of them had anything to say in response to this. After one last glare at Blaine, Karofsky shoved his way through the crowds - who immediately scattered - with his friends trudging after him. They were gone in less than thirty seconds.

Blaine exhaled in a whoosh, his hands and knees beginning to tremble slightly as the reality of what had just happened began to sink in.

A hand was placed on his shoulder. "Blaine?"

He turned to face his stunned boyfriend who was pale-faced and wearing an expression of disbelief.

"I can't believe- What were you- Why- I can't believe you did that," Kurt stammered. "I can't believe you stood up to them like that."

"They shoved you," Blaine stated simply, as though that explained everything - and it did, to him.

Kurt stared at him. "But-"

"Are you bruised?" Blaine asked, eyeing Kurt's left side with concern. He ran a hand ever so lightly down the length of Kurt's ribs. "How hard did you hit those lockers?"

Prodding at his side experimentally, Kurt shook his head. "I'm fine." He gazed over Blaine's shoulder at where Karofsky had been standing moments ago. "I just- You stood up to Karofsky; you did something I've never had the guts to do." His eyes focused back on Blaine. "Why did you ever think you aren't brave?"

Blaine lifted his shoulders in a small shrug. "Because I'm not really that brave - not usually; you're the one who has made me brave, it's because of you that I had the courage to do that today."

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again almost immediately, apparently unable to find the words for what he wanted to say. Instead, he leaned forward and Blaine let his eyes flutter shut, his heart leaping in anticipation as Kurt's breath ghosted over his lips...

A locker was slammed shut nearby and they jumped apart. Blaine cleared his throat, looking around for the source of the noise, annoyed at the interruption, at being yanked back to reality. Kurt adjusted the front of his waistcoat, looking slightly flustered.

"Well, uh- I don't know if what you said will make Karofsky leave us alone, but I'll tell my dad and Figgins what happened and hopefully something more will be done."

"Hopefully." Blaine checked his watch. "We'd better go get lunch before it's over."

The cafeteria was abuzz with talk of the confrontation between Karofsky and Blaine. People stared at him and Kurt as they quickly grabbed some food and sat down at their usual table, where they were immediately bombarded from their friends' interrogations. Blaine had to wolf down his food in between talking, and he found himself glad when lunch ended so he could escape the endless - and somewhat repetitive - questions.

He shared the rest of the day's classes with Kurt, which meant he wouldn't have to worry about Kurt being cornered by Karofsky somewhere. He was honestly surprised when they left school without any more run-ins.

"Do you want to go grab a coffee?" Kurt asked as he pulled out of the school parking lot.

"Yeah, alright."

They drove the short distance to the Lima Bean. There was no undercurrent of jittery nerves like there had been last time Blaine was here. Today, he had stood up for Kurt. Today, he was brave.

Once they got their coffees and were seated, Kurt immediately launched into analysing Karofsky's reactions during his encounter with Blaine and speculating why he hadn't tried to corner them at the end of the day like he'd been expecting. Blaine listened and offered up his own thoughts, but kept getting distracted by a woman seated at a nearby table who kept glancing in their direction.

"Do you know who that woman is?" he asked Kurt in a low voice when he couldn't stand it any longer. "The one in the blue sweater," he added when Kurt looked around, frowning.

Kurt shook his head slowly. "I don't think so, no." He turned back to Blaine with a curious expression.

"She keeps looking over at us," Blaine explained, continuing to watch the woman out of the corner of his eye.

Kurt took a thoughtful sip of coffee. "She's not from your old school or anything?"

Blaine took in her appearance again, seeing if anything triggered a memory at all. Nothing. "No, I don't recognise her."

Kurt shrugged. "She might not be looking at us; there are other tables around us."

"I know, it just seemed like it was us she was..." Blaine trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind, you're right. It's probably someone else." He lifted his coffee cup to his mouth. "Have you decided what essay question you're going to do for English?"

Blaine tried to forget about the woman, but he couldn't shake the feeling that she had been looking at them. The feeling only strengthened when he caught her glancing over a few more times before she left, shooting one last glance over her shoulder in their direction on her way out the door. He forced himself to forget about her - why would she have been looking at him and Kurt anyway?

Finn was waiting for them when they got home from the Lima Bean.

"I can't believe you said all of that to Karofsky!" he exclaimed, staring at Blaine as though he was seeing him in a whole new light. "Hardly anyone dares to argue with him, never mind what you did." He gaped at Blaine for a moment. "How could you do it?"

Blaine just shrugged and placed his hand on the small of Kurt's back, looking up at his boyfriend. "I did it for Kurt."