"You mean to tell me that he can harass my kid, use hers as a punching bag, and you're not going to do anything about it?"

"Mr. Hummel," Principal Figgins adjusted himself in his seat to properly face everyone in his office.  "There is no proof that it was David who did those things."

"And Blaine's black eye isn't enough proof for you?" From the couch Karofsky let out an audible sigh that was quickly silenced by a light hit on his leg from his dad.

"Anderson's a klutz. He trips all the time in practice."

"MY SON HAS NEVER-"  Soon, everyone in the room was yelling at someone else.  David and Tracy were yelling about Blaine.  Mr. Karofsky was yelling at David to be quiet.  Burt was yelling at Mr. Karofsky to teach his boy a lesson, and Mr. Figgins just sat back in his chair rubbing his hands down his face with a heavy sigh.

"Everyone! Be silent!"  All at once the voices were caught by Figgin's command.  "Mr. Hummel, Mrs. Anderson, I am sorry that I can't do anything more. But without any proof that David was the one who attacked your sons I cannot simply expel him, however, David, I cannot just ignore the allegations.  You will have to serve one week suspension from McKinley.  I will email all your teachers to give you the work you will miss.  You will also have to meet with our counselor, Mrs. Pillsbury, once a week until we see an improvement in your attitude."

"What?"

"And I would suggest..." Figgins turned to face David directly, "You stay quiet and accept the punishment.  Now, you and your father may leave."  After they left Mr. Figgins fiddled around the items on his desk knowing that he wasn't finished with dealing with the angry parents that sat in front of him, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Back at the house Kurt and Blaine were lying in Kurt's bed not really watching whatever movie they had put in.  During the night, Kurt had continuously woken up from nightmares until he finally went downstairs to wake Blaine up and join him on the couch.  Together, they sat in silence curled up under the blankets together.  Eventually, they both made their way up to Kurt's room early in the morning where Burt left them to go have a talk with Figgins.

Kurt was resting on Blaine's chest with Blaine's arms wrapped around him staring off out the window.  Every once in a while he would remember how slimy and gross Karofsky's lips felt on his and he would shudder it away.  Every time Blaine felt it, he would wrap his arms a little tighter around Kurt and pull him closer.

"How did you find me?"

"Huh?" Blaine quickly pulled himself back to the present.

"How did you find me in the locker room?"

Until now Blaine had completely forgotten about anything that happened prior to the attack.  He had been going to find Kurt because he hadn't showed up to lunch that day.  But he was nervous. Why was he nervous?

"Oh."  Kurt could feel Blaine's hold on him loosen as he remembered, "I was coming to talk to you about our.. uh...our fight that we had."

Kurt had completely forgotten that they had been fighting, also.  Something that had seemed so pivotal to him just three days ago now couldn't be further from his mind.  Blaine was right there for him.  He was there when Kurt was alone in the locker room; he was there in the bathroom when it was all over.  He was there last night when the visions from his nightmares became too much; Blaine was always there for Kurt, and he began to finally realize that Blaine was always going to be there for him in the future.  He didn't need to label whatever the two of them were because they were Kurt and Blaine and they were always going to be.  "Why don't we just forget about it."

"No, no. I wanna talk about it, Kurt."  Blaine sat up and turned so they were sitting face to face with each other.

"Fine," Kurt quickly cut Blaine off, "But I'm going to say what I have to say first.  Here's the deal, I'm sorry.  I was so wrong in everything that I said to you and everything that I tried to make you do.  I can't force you out and that's exactly what I was trying to do.  It was stupid and selfish and I won't ever say those stupid things ever again.  I'm happy with the way we are and I am more than willing to wait for you to figure yourself out."

Blaine stayed staring towards the wall letting dead air hang between them; he wasn't expecting that at all.  Kurt was giving him in out.  He could make it through school without any harassment from the football team, he wouldn't have to worry about anything with his father, and he wouldn't have to lose Kurt. Sure, the never ending parade of comments about being in glee would come, but that wasn't different from any other day.  Blaine thought about it for a long time until one single thought crossed his mind. How long was he going to let other people define him?

"I'm ready." Out of the corner of his eye Blaine saw Kurt snap his head to look at Blaine.

"No. I don't want you to do this just for me."

‘It's not, Kurt. You were just here to give me the little push I needed. You made me realize that I am just living in my fears. I don't want to do that anymore.  Give me a few days to tell my friends at school, but I will proudly walk down the hallway with your hand in mine."

"Really?"

"Kurt Hummel," Blaine reached over and took Kurt's hand in both of his, "Will you be my boyfriend?"

Before Blaine could make out what was happening Kurt had tackled him down into a hug.  They were both sprawled out across the bed with Kurt half on top of Blaine.  Soon enough Kurt was holding Blaine so tight that he couldn't breathe properly.  He managed to pull himself loose, but not completely out of Kurt's grip when he turned and realized his face was centimeters from Kurt's.

Blaine leaned over and placed his lips on Kurt's.  He could hear Kurt's sudden intake of breath and as he leaned into the kiss a little more.  Neither one of them knew exactly what they were doing but before long, Blaine's instincts, and hormones, started to take over as he brushed his tongue along Kurt's lower lip.  They parted slightly allowing Blaine's tongue to slip in as he rubbed his hand up Kurt's back until his fingers were tangled in Kurt's hair pulling him closer.  He could feel Kurt's hands trail around hi sides where they landed on his hips. 

Kurt lightly pulled at Blaine trying to bring them closer together as they tried to become familiar with each other in this new way.  Blaine pulled away from Kurt's lips and began laying light kisses across his cheek until he reached his ear.  "Is this okay?"

He felt Kurt tense for a second before he heard a shaky yes escape Kurt's lips.  Blaine sat up and pulled himself back against the headboard pulling Kurt onto his lap.  He leaned forward and began working his lips on Kurt's neck, leaving light kisses and every once in a while, when a boost of confidence came, he would lick or nip at the exposed skin below his ears.  Kurt let out a soft moan at the sensation leaving Blaine frozen underneath him.  He tried to ignore all the blood rushing to his lower abdomen as he slowly let his lips begin to work again.

From below Kurt's bedroom they heard the garage door begin to open, and both of them jumped back and scrambled away from each other.  They looked at each other with wide eyes before bursting out into a fit of laughter.

"Well... that was... just," Kurt ran his fingers through his hair trying to fix the parts Blaine had ran his hands through before his dad came in the house.  Blaine couldn't help but let out a low chuckle pulling Kurt in for one last chaste kiss before wrapping his arms around him and cuddling close like they had been watching the movie the entire time.

For that little bit Kurt and Blaine had forgotten about David Karofsky and all the bigotry at their school.  They had forgotten about the threat on Kurt or the pain that would always haunt them.  But as they settled back down and waited for their parents to come get them those feelings crept back inside their brains.  Blaine started to feel his eye throb again, as Kurt's stomach coiled at the thought that Karofsky had tried to do what Blaine had just done to him.  Not even the thoughts of each other could keep away the demons.

"That's it?" Blaine pounded his fists on the kitchen table while standing up to pace.  Kurt sat silently with closed eyes as Tracy rubbed small circles on his back.

"That's what I said, kid.  Figgins wouldn't do anything else for you."  Carole had taken the later shift that day so she could be there when Burt came home from the meeting.  She walked through the front door with a plate of cookies and a gallon of milk quietly trying not to interrupt.  Burt had obviously called her on his way home with the news asking her to come over.

"Hi everyone. Sorry I'm late."  She and Tracy hugged before going into the kitchen to get some milk for everyone.

"What now, Dad?"  Kurt's voice was soft, almost inaudible over Blaine's angry huffing in the background.

"Carole heard of this great school where you two can go.  I don't want you going back there with that kid hanging around."

"How is that school going to be any different?" 

Carole and Tracy walked back to the table with full arms.

"Have you ever heard of Dalton Academy?"  Both the boys shook their heads.  Carole pulled some pamphlets out of her purse and put them in front of them.  "It's an all boy school in Westerville. It's practically made for people like you.  It's like a safe haven for a lot of boys."

"You're going to send us to a school full of gay kids?"  Tracy glared at her son.  "Sorry."

"No.  It's actually a private school that a lot of kids go to if their parents can afford it, but they have a special scholarship type thing for those boys who need a place to go."

"And you just expect us to up and move away from our friends?"

"Blaine, we never said this would be easy."  Tracy grabbed her son's hand from across the table, "But this is the only option we have right now.  Neither one of you is safe as long as Karofsky is at McKinley and this is the only place we know you will be."

Blaine sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, obviously unsatisfied with his options.  He looked over at Kurt expecting a similar reaction, but instead Kurt had a pamphlet open in his hands and he was reading about one of its special programs they had featured.

"When can we start?"

"We have a meeting set up with the headmaster tomorrow."

Blaine had texted Mike and Quinn to meet him after school on Thursday.  It was the first day that he and Kurt decided to go back to school again, and he knew that he couldn't come out to everyone all at once, so he was going to tell his two closest friends first.  He didn't tell either of them what he needed to talk about, though, so they both showed up together with puzzled looks.

"Blaine, I thought we decided we were going to start our group project next week."

"We are. I don't need to talk to you about APUSH right now.  I have something else."  Quinn immediately caught onto Blaine's serious tone and chanced a glance in Mike's direction.  Ever since they started high school Quinn, Mike, and Blaine had almost all of their classes together.  They were the only three athletes who also took any AP classes, which meant that their friendship formed almost immediately.  At a school like McKinley it was hard to fit into more than one social group.  The three of them had spent many afternoons at The Lima Bean working on projects and simply escaping the social ladders that were obstacles at their school.  They had always shared everything with each other.  In fact, the only thing that Quinn and Mike didn't know about Blaine was what he was about to tell them.

"Is everything okay?" Mike reached across the table and patted Blaine on the shoulder.  Somehow the action reminded Blaine that they were in a public place, and he instantly began to regret their meeting place.  He didn't want to risk anyone overhearing their conversation.

"There is something I need to tell you guys.  I mean, you two are my best friends, and if I'm going to tell anybody, which I am, I want you two to know first."  Blaine had begun to go into full on rambling to himself, "well not really first because of Kurt and-"

"Blaine. Sweetie. Relax. Breathe." Quinn reached across the table and took Blaine's hand.  He looked up to see small encouraging smiles on both his friend's faces taking some of the weight off his chest.

"Okay.  Do you remember when you asked about my dad and the whole situation with that and I kept putting it off?"  They both let on a tiny nod and Mike gave Quinn a look that didn't go unnoticed.  "And do you remember last weekend when I was all upset and everything?"  They nodded.  "And then this whole attacked by Karofsky thing?"  At that both Quinn and Mike gave a confused look to each other before Blaine remembered that nobody else found out about the locker room.  "I'll explain it in a second.  But what I really want to tell you is that all of those things are connected by one small not so small piece of information."  Blaine closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I'm gay."

Mike and Quinn glanced in each other's direction making eye contact and both let huge smiles spread across their faces.  "We know, man.  We've known for a while."

"You what?"

"Oh please, do you really think your two best friends can't see the heart eyes you get every time you talk about Kurt."  Blaine sat back in his chair for a moment to just stare at his friends and it felt like the world had fallen out from under him.

"So you guys are like... okay with it?"

"Why wouldn't we be?  You've been my best friend since we joined middle school football together."

"Ya. And do you really think that either Mike or I would stop being your friend because of something like that?  I hate to break it to you, Blaine, but you're stuck with us.  Life long friends."

Mike reached across the table and patted Blaine on the shoulder again and the three of them sat back and began to enjoy their afternoon with each other.  Blaine was now worry free and felt a whole lot better about coming out to the rest of his peers. Sure, there were going to be people that didn't agree with him, but as long as he had friends like the two sitting across from him he was good.

"But wait," Quinn set down her drink and leaned forward onto the table, "What happened with Karofsky? Does it have to do with why he hasn't been at school all week?"

"Oh ya."  Blaine looked around to make sure nobody was listening before he told them about the attack in the locker rooms.  Quinn was horrified to hear that it had been happening for so long with Kurt and she hadn't seen it but Mike wasn't going to have it. 

"You can't just let that happen! Are you gonna tell Coach?"

"No. Our parents have already talked to Figgins but the most he can get is a week suspension.  Which is why he hasn't been at school all week, but come Tuesday he will be back walking the halls."

"Well we gotta figure something out."

"Kurt and I already are."

Regionals were coming up soon so Mr. Shuester called an emergency Friday after school meeting for glee club.  The football players got excused from their practice to attend.  Kurt and Blaine decided that they were going to tell everyone about their transfer then.  So far Mike, Quinn, and Mercedes had found out the day before, but the rest of them were in the dark.  Kurt felt a little pang of guilt about not telling Finn before since their parents were dating and all, but when it boiled down to it this had nothing to do with him.

"Mr. Shue? Blaine and I have an announcement.  If we may?"

"Of course."  Shuester gave the floor to the boys sitting down next to Rachel looking just as confused as the rest of the club.  In the back Quinn, Mercedes, and Mike sat together each giving a small nod of encouragement before Blaine started it.

"So, there are actually a few things that we need to lay out on the table.  The first is well..." Blaine reached down and took Kurt's hand in his own giving him the butterflies that he still hadn't grown used to.  He couldn't help but let a small smile spread across his lips.  Kurt leaned over and planted a soft kiss to his cheek.

"We're together," Kurt finished with a smile just as big on his face, too.  Everyone in the club laughed and gave an awkward clap full of ‘I knew it's and ‘told you's from different members and one very confused look from Finn.

"Wait, dude, you're gay?"  Kurt rolled his eyes and looked knowingly towards Rachel who simply patted Finn on the knee.

"Yep."

"But you play football..."

"Yep."  Finn's face looked like he was trying to figure out a hard math problem until finally he shrugged his shoulders and slouched back in his chair.

"That's cool.  I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks, Finn.  Now, for the second thing we need to tell you."  They dropped each other's hands and the rest of the members immediately caught on to the change in pace.  "We've been having some trouble at school with people, well more like a certain person, who doesn't exactly agree with us."  Kurt waved his hand between him and Blaine to emphasize his point.  He went on to explain in very light detail about how Karofsky had been harassing the two of them for years.  Their reactions were very similar to Quinn's and Mike's the day before at the coffee shop.  The boys wanted revenge while the girls all stated they were there if either of them needed to talk about it.

"But here's the deal."  Blaine finally found his voice enough to speak up, "The school board isn't doing anything about it.  On Tuesday Karofsky is going to come back to school like nothing ever happened and things are probably going to get much worse.  Neither one of us feel safe here anymore."  You could have heard a pin drop when Blaine stopped to take a deep breath.  He looked down to his shoes unable to keep eye contact with any one of his friends.  "Kurt and I won't be returning to McKinley next week.  We found this school in Westerville: Dalton Academy.  It's an all boy private school and they have an enforced zero tolerance bullying policy."  Blaine finally looked up but could only look to the back row of his friends where he met Mike's eyes.  "We've been doing a lot of research and we even went and visited them on Wednesday.  It's not something either one of us want to do but that school is like a safe haven for people like us; people who aren't exactly accepted at their own schools."

"But we accept you."  Tina could barely talk through her tears as she held Mike's hand.  "We've always accepted you."

"We know.  And we love you all for it.  You have all been so great to us, but it's just not enough anymore."  Blaine hadn't noticed that Kurt was crying, too until he heard his voice crack.

The next few minutes the choir room stayed as quiet as a tomb aside from a few of Tina's sobs or someone else's sniffle.  Kurt and Blaine hugged each one of their friends and told them they would text them later, but for now they needed to get home and pack and get ready to move into their new school. 

Sunday morning Blaine and Tracy showed up on the Hummel's doorstep bright and early with Blaine's bags packed and ready to go.  The car ride to Dalton was stiff and nerve wracking.  In the backseat Kurt and Blaine sat close to each other with their fingers intertwined letting each other be in their own thoughts.   

After they arrived at Dalton and checked in with the headmaster before getting their room assignments and going out to the car to grab their things.

"Hi."  The four of them turned around to find an upperclassmen dressed in the Dalton uniform standing there smiling at them.  "My name is Wes.  I'll be the RA for your guys' hall."

"Hi. I'm Kurt."  He walked up and hesitantly shook Wes' hand with Blaine not far behind him.

"Blaine."

Everyone quickly introduced themselves and Wes helped them move all their stuff up to their rooms.  It didn't take as long as they had all expected and everyone was moved in and comfortable by noon.

"I hate to run before giving you all the full tour but I have Warblers practice to get to.  I know your roommates will be here in a few hours, they're in the Warblers with me.  Kurt, your roommate's name is Trent, and Blaine you'll room with Jeff.  You'll love them.  How about I swing by with them after practice and we can all go get some dinner together?"

"That sounds great!"

"Ya. Thank you."

"Alright.  I'll see you guys later.  It was nice to meet you."  Wes waved a quick goodbye to Burt and Tracy before leaving them alone.

"I'm going to double check everything in Blaine's room before we leave. Come on, honey."  Tracy and Blaine went next door to his room leaving Burt and Kurt alone.

"Call me.  All the time. No matter what. Okay?"

"Okay, Dad."  Burt pulled Kurt into a tight bear hug holding his son as close as he could.

"I'm going to miss you, bud."

"I'll miss you, too, Dad."

"I love you."  Before Kurt could see him crying, Burt gave him one last pat on the back and left down the hallway towards the car.  Tracy wasn't far behind him.  Blaine and Kurt waved their parents off before both flopping down on Kurt's bed.

"Well, we made it."  Kurt turned on his side to face Blaine just inches apart from each other.

"We sure did."  Blaine leaned over giving Kurt a quick kiss.  Kurt scooted over to use Blaine's chest as a pillow.  "How are you feeling?"

"Honestly?  Relieved.  I finally feel safe."  Kurt absentmindedly began to play with the pattern on Blaine's shirt.  "This is the safest I've ever felt."