He heard a chuckle, “You really think you can hide from me, Kurt?” He covered his mouth with his hand. If he was just quiet enough maybe his tormentor would get bored. But of course that wouldn’t work. They would never, never get tired of torturing him.

“Here little kitty, come on out of where you’re hiding. I swear I won’t hurt you.. much.” Tears were streaming down Kurt’s face now, but he kept quiet hoping to survive this ordeal.

He heard the footsteps coming closer to his stall and curled himself further into the corner. All sound stopped as the man stopped in front of the stall Kurt pulled his legs closer, hoping that if he made himself small enough he would eventually disappear. The footsteps turned as if to walk away, but suddenly the door to the stall was kicked open. There stood Karofsky, in his grizzly rage, Kurt let out a tiny whimper before scrambling to stand up, it was only now that he took in the fact that he had essentially backed himself into a corner.

He opened his mouth and screamed, high pitched and as loud as he could, but Karofsky quickly covered his mouth with his meaty paw of a hand. Kurt was gagging at the smell of his breath as he leaned over him, pushing Kurt further into the wall, “Now, no need for that little fairy, wouldn’t want anyone knowing where you were.” Kurt couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t help the muffled cry he made when his eyes landed on the knife Karofsky pulled out of nowhere. He held it up to Kurt’s face, somehow smiling and glaring at the same time. “Now lets see what we can do to that faggy face of yours.”

Kurt could hear his name being called out, so he screamed again, hoping that whoever it was would get there in time to save him. Kurt couldn’t stop shaking at this point, couldn’t stop making noises so desperate that they didn’t even sound human. Karofsky inched the knife closer to his face.

Just as Karofsky made the first cut, right below his left eye, Kurt woke up.

“Kurt, baby, it’s okay. Shhhh, I’ve got you.” Kurt didn’t hear the soothing words, the only thing he could focus on were the hands on his face. Someone was in his personal space, with one hand touching exactly where Karofsky’s had been braced, holding his face steady as he cut into him.

Kurt jumped out of the bed and nearly ran out of the room before he remembered where he was. Before he realized that the hand had been cradling his head, not forcing it into place, that the closeness of the other body had actually been comforting, not threatening.

Blaine got out of bed slowly, trying not to startle him, “It was just a nightmare Kurt, I’ve been trying to wake you up for 5 minutes. I could feel the panic coming off you in waves.” Kurt took a couple of deep breaths and then fell into Blaine’s arms, taking all the comfort Blaine could offer.

Kurt felt the sob rise up his throat and he couldn’t contain it in time, as soon as Blaine heard the noise he moved Kurt to the bed, laid them down and pulled Kurt into his chest. He whispered non-stop sweet-nothings into his hair while he stroked a hand up and down the back of his mate’s neck.

Kurt’s sobs seemed to go on for years to Blaine, he started to feel actual physical pain at the sight of Kurt in so much distress, and he didn’t even know what it was about.

Eventually, though, Kurt calmed down, and his body stopped shaking. He half-heartedly wiped his face of tears by nuzzling into Blaine’s already damp shirt. “I’m sorry,” Kurt mumbled, without removing his face from Blaine’s chest, “It-it. I thought it was real. It just felt so real.” I thought I was going to die, I thought he was going to cut me to pieces, Kurt almost confessed. But it was Kurt, so of course, he didn’t.

“It’s not your fault Kurt, do you wanna talk about it?” Blaine continued stroking Kurt’s hair methodically. The action was as much to keep himself calm as Kurt.

“No,” Kurt mumbled some more, “Just wanna sleep.”

Kurt could feel Blaine nodding against his head, “Okay, go to sleep then, it’s only 4am, still got plenty of time to sleep.” Kurt turned his head and nuzzled into Blaine’s chest pressing a kiss over his heart. He seemed much less shaken now that he was in safe in Blaine’s arms.

“Love you.”

“Love you too, babe.” Blaine couldn’t sleep after that. Not without knowing what had caused Kurt to panic so much, clearly there was something he wasn’t telling Blaine. It wasn’t a normal nightmare, Blaine had woken Lizzie out of several nightmares when she was younger, and she had never had that amount of panic and and utter terror rolling off her like Kurt did. There was no way that that was a normal nightmare.

Blaine stayed awake, stroking Kurt’s hair and back. He alternated staring blankly at the ceiling and panicking with gazing at Kurt’s sleeping form by way of reassuring himself that his mate was safe in his arms. He stayed that way until the sun rose enough for light to flood his room and he could feel Kurt start to become conscious.

Blaine spent all of Sunday morning trying to convince Kurt that he could stay the night again, and just get up earlier to go to school in the morning. This idea was quickly vetoed, as Kurt didn’t have any fresh clothes, and no he wasn’t going to wear Blaine’s to school just because he had an obsession with the whole scent-marking thing.

Kurt may have been convinced that it was Blaine’s marking that made him so desperate for Kurt to stay with him again that night, but Blaine was really just afraid that Kurt would have another nightmare. He couldn’t stand the thought of Kurt waking up in terror all alone in his room, of him going through that kind of panic without Blaine.

They didn’t talk about Kurt’s nightmare, Blaine was too afraid that if he brought it up Kurt would panic again. He kept thinking of the look in Kurt’s still half-closed eyes right after he had woken up. The way he jumped away from Blaine like he had been holding a knife. The way he had held himself, so unlike the witty, confident Kurt he knew. His posture was one of defeat, of hopelessness. He couldn’t bring that back.

In the end, Blaine just kept pulling puppy dog eyes at Kurt hoping that would change his mind, “It’s not going to make me stay Blaine, so stop.” Blaine added a pout to the mix. “I have to go home now, to be there in time for dinner. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Blaine tugged Kurt into a hug burying his face against Kurt’s neck, and breathing in the perfect smell of his own scent over his mate’s, Christmas tree and lily this time.

Despite being so intent on getting home for dinner, Kurt held on to Blaine, also breathing the contrasting, but pleasant mix of Winter and Spring. It was actually Blaine who finally pulled away.

Only to dive right back in for a long, warming kiss. Kurt immediate wrapped his arms around Blaine’s neck, pulling his face impossibly closer, hoping the kiss would erase all the memories from the nightmare last night.

Kurt’s mind blanked when Blaine’s hands dropped to his hips to pull him closer, until there wasn’t a sliver of space between them. Kurt whined when Blaine tried to pull away, dropping his face to Blaine’s neck where he started mouthing along the tendon there. Blaine couldn’t contain a groan, his hand fisting behind Kurt’s neck to pull him back into another kiss.

Kurt completely shut down then, he couldn’t think whilst Blaine licked into his mouth, and mapped it out like it was his territory. Kurt’s hand grabbed at the bottom Blaine’s shirt and tugged as if to pull it off. Blaine made another noise in the back of his throat pulling away again. “If we don’t stop now, you won’t be home for dinner.” Blaine growled out, but staying in Kurt’s personal space, bending down to kiss him one last time, sucking Kurt’s bottom lip between his own and lightly biting down.

Even when the kiss ended, neither boy moved out of the other’s embrace.

“Why am I leaving, again?” Kurt asked, with his chin hooked over Blaine’s shoulder. Desperately wishing for something, anything that could force him out of Blaine’s arms and into his car.

His phone buzzed.

Be careful what you wish for.

Kurt spent all of Sunday morning carefully distracting himself. He paid unnecessary attention to little details like the smell of the parsley Blaine’s mom had put into their eggs. Or the way Jeff flicked the twins’ hair this way and that way as he tried to get his brothers’ to look half-way put together for the day.

Or the light birthmark on Blaine’s back, right below the base of his neck. It was just a blob of slightly darker coloured skin, but Kurt couldn’t take his eyes off it when he exited the bathroom to find Blaine with his pajama shirt tossed onto the bed and his back turned to Kurt, searching for a shirt for the day.

Okay so maybe Kurt wouldn’t call paying special attention to that particular detail unnecessary. Especially when after Blaine caught him, he pulled him into an earth shattering kiss, that only ended when the twins ran into the room and tried to tackle them.

Only when he was safely out of the Anderson’s driveway and about a mile down the road, where he knew he would be totally out of Blaine’s earshot, did he let all the useless details slide past him and allow himself to pull over and continue his freak out from 4 am.

As soon as the car was off Kurt was taking deep breaths trying to calm his racing heart and to keep his tears at bay. He just had that scene of Karofsky coming at him with a knife repeating in his head. It was so detailed, the whole dream felt too realistic, Kurt didn’t know how he was going to sleep tonight without Blaine.

It took him ten minutes to get himself under control, to make sure the tears were at bay and weren’t going to make a reappearance the second he saw his dad. He cranked the Wicked soundtrack as loud as he could and sung along the entire trip home, distracting himself for a few more hours.

And maybe he could continue doing that, just distracting himself for a few hours at a time until he saw Blaine again.

Kurt could tell his dad knew something was up, but he ignored the worried looks and rushed up to his room to have a shower. He texted Blaine quickly, just to let him know he had gotten home safely, as was always a worry in the alpha’s mind.

Kurt spent a good thirty minutes in the shower, scrubbing his skin clean of any of the memories of Karofsky. When he skin turned red and wasn’t fading he decided that he should probably get out and changed into some of Blaine’s clothes that he had stolen. He didn’t want to admit to Blaine that he needed him tonight, knowing that Blaine wouldn’t be able to resist coming to stay with Kurt tonight if he knew just how much Kurt wanted, needed him there. They both had school in the morning and someone had to be the responsible one, Kurt told himself.

Thinking of Blaine, Kurt checked his phone and saw that he had replied.

I’m glad you’re home safe! Call me if you need anything! Already miss you. Love youxx

Kurt felt a smile tugging at his lips, he really was gone for this boy.

Okay, miss you too, I’ll talk to you tomorrow sometime, love you too!x

With one last glance at his phone Kurt headed downstairs to have dinner with his family, it was such a quiet affair compared to the pack dinners. No one had to shout over anyone to be heard, the only similarity is that Kurt still had to be prepared to duck in case Finn threw food in his direction, although with Finn it was more likely to be an accident.

Kurt asked to be excused almost immediately after dinner, when Burt looked concerned Kurt decided to make up an excuse. “It’s been a long week dad, and I’m beat.”

Burt still didn’t look entirely convinced, “Okay, you’ve done all your homework right?” Kurt nodded his head, having completed it before he saw Blaine, “Alright head straight to sleep, you look dead on your feet.”

Kurt gulped at the poor word choice but forced out a smile before heading upstairs and flopped onto his bed. Just as he was drifting off he heard his phone buzz from where it was on his bedside table. It was another text from Blaine,

Sleep well, beautiful I love youxx

Kurt smiled and placed the phone back on the bedside table.

Monday was one of worst days of school Kurt had ever had. It was like the jocks knew that Kurt had had a wonderful weekend and they were trying to counteract all his joy by making him have an extra miserable Monday.

He was slushied in between every period, and with a variety of flavors. By the end of the day he smelled like a bizarre, rather disgusting, mix of lemonade, root beer, and a flavor that can really only be described as as “blue.”

On top of that was Karofsky’s... staring... or lurking. He wasn’t really sure what it was, but the creepy actions coupled with his dream on Saturday night, and the similar one he had the night before, were almost too much for Kurt to handle. He was fine with the hate when it was in his face, when he knew what was coming and why. He could tell that the hockey team slushied him due to their inexplicable hate for Alexander McQueen. Karofsky, however, just stared, he did nothing, he didn’t slushie him, or push him into lockers, he just watched and waited.

Needless to say, Kurt was exceptionally happy to when the last bell rang and he made it out of the building late due to getting slushied again.

Of course, Kurt wouldn’t be so lucky as to actually use his car. Kurt groaned as he stared at the slashed tires on his car.

He glanced around hoping to catch a Glee member before they were all gone, as was most the school, he picked up his phone, about to call Finn, before he remembered that he had just found out about Rachel cheating on him in retaliation for him sleeping with Santana last year (god, Kurt really hated Rachel sometimes) and Finn wasn’t actually in a state to drive.

So Kurt called the one person he wanted hear more than anyone, he knew it would be a while before Blaine could get there, but he just needed a comforting hug from his mate. It only rang three times before Blaine answered, “Hey babe! What’s up?”

Kurt took a deep breath, “So my tires were slashed, and I need a lift home, I know you’re far away and it’s really inconvenient, but I just can’t think of anyone else to turn to.” Kurt could feel the tears prickling at his eyes, God, he was just so sick of this school.

“Your tires were what?!” Blaine growled, barely concealed anger in his voice already picking up his keys to race to Kurt’s side. His movements were stopped by his father who placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. He shook it off. He knew he had Alpha training, but his mate was more important. “I’ll be there -,” The phone was ripped from Blaine’s hand.

“Kurt, it’s Mr. Anderson here, can you tell me what’s going on? And why my son is trying to skip valuable lessons?” Kurt quickly recounted his tale and Mr. Anderson immediately went about solving the problem, years of leading a pack kicking in, “Okay, Kurt just hang tight, I’ll send Sebastian to pick you up and drop you home and I can call the towing company for you, and your car should be at your place by tomorrow morning.

“Thanks, Mr. Anderson,” Kurt said quietly. He was barely keeping the tears in now.

“No problem, Kurt. Don’t worry, we’ll look after you.” There was a pause where Mr. Anderson argued with someone, “Okay, Blaine wants to talk to you for a few minutes. Sebastian has already left, knowing how much he speeds he’ll probably be there in 45 minutes.”

“Thanks Mr. Anderson, so much.” He repeated, voice stronger this time. He heard the phone being handed over and then Blaine’s voice was coming through his speakers.

“Sebastian will be there as soon as possible and I’ll call you right after my Alpha lessons.”

“Thanks Blaine, I’ll talk to you then, I’m just going to go sit in my car and listen to some music and do some homework until Seb gets here.”

“Okay babe, dad said to let you know that the tow truck will there in an hour, and to leave your keys on top of the front left tire.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“Love you too babe, stay safe.” Kurt hung up the phone, his day from hell seemingly not as bad after hearing his mates voice.

Kurt was curled up in the backseat of his car, his music playing from his Ipod quietly and a chemistry book on his lap when Seb showed up, popping his head through the open window.

“What’s up, buttercup?” Seb asked teasingly trying to lighten the somber mood that seemed to surround Kurt.

“Oh nothing,” Kurt drawled sarcastically, “just camping out in my car. It’s the new craze you know?”

Sebastian didn’t respond, instead he finally took note of the state of Kurt’s clothes, the smell of corn syrup that had practically been absorbed into his skin, and most shockingly the way his heart beat was just slightly quicker than normal, like it was still trying to calm down after a whole day of racing in fear.

“All right, spill. Something besides your tires getting slashed happened today. Tell me.”

Kurt head dropped, his chin banging into his chest, and he sighed. “It was just a bad day, Seb. Nothing’s really changed, we don’t have to talk about it.”

“Kurt. You said that you would tell me if the bullying was getting worse. You are covered in what I guess is supposed to be root beer, cherry, and-,” Seb wrinkled his nose, “what the hell even is that flavour?” Sebastian asked, disgusted.

“I just call it blue,” Kurt mumbled, eyes downcast.

“Whatever, someone slashed your tires, Kurt. That doesn’t seem worse to you?”

“Seb, I can’t call you every time someone slushied me or vandalized my property! It’s not a big deal, really! I just want to get home, shower, talk to Blaine, and I will be fine.” As much as he tried to put some bite into the last word, his voice cracked on it, tears finally spilling over.

And then Sebastian was there, sitting in the seat next to Kurt and pulling Kurt into a comforting hug.

Kurt felt safe here, he was overwhelmed with the feeling of belonging.

Kurt calmed himself down pretty quickly, holding in the rest of his tears for later.

“You okay?” Sebastian released him so he could look at Kurt’s face.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kurt answered as expected. “Just really want that shower now,” Kurt smiled evilly, “I don’t need your nasty stench covering up Blaine’s. That could cause problems for all three of us.”

Seb rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry, I don’t really think anything could cover up Blaine’s scent on you at this point. Don’t think I didn’t notice the clothes you took from Blaine yesterday, just because Blaine was too caught up in the panic of not seeing you for like five minutes.”

Kurt stuck out his tongue at him and Sebastian shoved him- gently and making sure there was no possible way he could get hurt because Blaine might actually make good his threat to rip off one of Sebastian’s arms- out of the car.

The drive to Kurt’s was quick, once Seb pulled up he put the car in park and tugged Kurt into another hug, “If you need to talk, or anything, and you don’t want to talk to Blaine, then call me. You’re family Kurt, don’t forget it.”

Kurt nodded and burrowed a little closer to Sebastian, soaking in the feeling of pack, “Okay, I have to go, I need to shower, I can feel my skin becoming part corn syrup as we talk.” Kurt pulled away and opened the door, “Thanks for picking me up Seb.”

“No problem, your heinous.” Kurt reached back and punched him on the arm.

“At least I’m not a whore.” Kurt shot back at him with a small smirk.

“I’m high class darling, it’s called an escort.” Kurt couldn’t hold in a laugh at that, “Go, shower, you reek of corn syrup and desperation, I mean Blaine.”

Kurt shook his head, “If Blaine heard you say that you’d be in the bad books for a very long time.”

“Doubt it, Blainers loves me.” Seb grinned and waved when Kurt finally got out of the car. Just talking to Sebastian for that short period of time had really perked Kurt up, he loved the feeling of protection and safety he got just being around a member of the pack.

No one was home when he got there, meaning Finn was probably at Puck’s and Carole and his dad were still working, so Kurt went straight to the bathroom and stripped off his corn syrup soaked clothes and hopped in the shower.

After 15 minutes of soaking and removing most of grime he had built up that day Kurt stepped out and immediately changed into Blaine’s clothes he had stolen, pulling his homework onto his bed where he curled up and tried to complete it before Blaine called.

He heard his family come home at around 6 just when his mobile went off signalling Blaine’s call. “Hey just a minute,” He said into his phone, running downstairs quickly, signalled to Carole that he was talking to Blaine. “Okay, I’m here, sorry Carole just got home, and I wanted her to know I was talking to you so I wouldn’t be interrupted.”

“That’s fine, sorry for it being so late, but we started late and dad insisted the whole two hours.” Blaine sighed, “How are you? I miss you, I don’t like not seeing you, and not being there for you today.”

“It’s fine Blaine, I’m fine, I mean at least I can come home and curl up in your pj’s” Kurt said, picking at the flannel pants he’d stolen from Blaine.

“You stole some of my pajamas?” Blaine asked confused.

“Of course I did. What? Did you think I was going to last a week without having you around?” Kurt murmured settling down into his bed for a long chat with Blaine.

“No fair, you didn’t leave anything for me.” Blaine paused, “I’m pouting just so you know. I feel like it loses its effect when you aren’t here to see it.”

Kurt chuckled, “Don’t lie to yourself, it doesn’t work when I’m there with you either.” Kurt heard Blaine exhale in a quiet laugh.

“God, I miss you.”

“It’s literally been 24 hours, I’m sure you can survive a little longer.” Kurt didn’t even believe himself when he said that, because he missed Blaine like a missing limb. “How was your day?”

“Before I got a phone call from you, or after?”

Kurt laughed, “Before, you asshat.”

“It was good, long, but good, would have been better if I came home to you this afternoon. I’m lucky my bed still smells of you.”

Kurt grinned, “Well next time I will bring some clothes for you to keep.” Kurt bit his bottom lip, “I wish I was there for you to come home to as well.”

Blaine sighed, “Can you just drop out of school and come be my concubine?” Blaine asked jokingly.

“No, I am not a whore like Seb.” Kurt replied, “And I really do need a high school education, I refuse to be that kid that didn’t graduate high school.”

“But it’d be so much easier. I’m not gonna lie, I’m contemplating driving to Lima right now. Just to cuddle you, because Seb said your day wasn’t too great.”

“It’s like it always is, minus the slashed tires, that was a whole new brand of crazy.” Kurt sighed, “But I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to hear your voice and talk about pointless things.”

“Fine, but you’ll talk to me if you need me right?”

“Of course. Now tell me what the twins got up to today.”

Blaine then launched into the tale of how Teddy and Alex decided that today would be the day they learnt how to fly.

“But werewolves can’t fly?” Kurt asked interrupting Blaine.

“Yes but Teddy and Alex think they are a werewolf, eagle hybrid.”

“Why would they think that?”

“Because Seb might have told them they were.” Kurt snorted in disbelief.

“I can’t believe that they believed that.”

“Well Teddy and Alex can sometimes be the smartest kids in the universe, but they are also extremely gullible.” Blaine explained snuggling into bed.

“I have to go now Blaine, dinners on. But I’ll talk to you tomorrow right? We’ll have to skype, I miss your ugly face.”

“My face is beautiful.” Blaine replied, “But okay, I love you, talk to you tomorrow, sleep well babe.”

“I love you too, night.”

“Warbler Anderson! Warbler Anderson!”

Blaine’s head didn’t stir from its resting place on the arm of the leather couch he was passed out on.

“Blaine! Dude! Wake up!” Wes finally caved, dropping the formal name and attempting to prod his alpha awake.

David snickered from behind the Council Members desk and the rest of the Warblers followed his lead when Blaine just nuzzled further into the couch.

“I got this!” Jeff said, standing up. he stood behind the couch as all the others watched and suddenly yelled “Kurt! Watch out! Run, Kurt run!”

Blaine shot up. “Kurt?! What? Where are you, baby?” He was completely awake now.

That sent all the Warblers into full-out, body-shaking laughter. Blaine looked around, realizing what had happened, and scowled.

“Oh, fuck you Jeff!” he said without much venom when his eyes landed on Nick high-fiving Jeff. Jeff giggled.

“All right! All right!” Wes gasped through breathless laughter, “I don’t think we are going to get our focus back. Warblers dismissed!”

Everyone started to leave the room as the Heirs crowded around Blaine.

Sebastian was, predictably, smirking. “Woah Blainers, I mean, I’ve seen you passed out before but never enough that a room full of laughing Warblers couldn’t get your lazy ass up.”

“Shut up!” snapped Blaine, rubbing his face. “I got absolutely no sleep last night. I was up all night worrying about Kurt. I don’t like him so far away at that school.”

That sobered them all up. Jeff sat down next to Blaine, rubbing his shoulder. “C’mon, Blaine. He’ll be fine. He’s survived this far, right?” Jeff gave him a one-armed hug pityingly.

“Yeah, he’s survived. But he’s miserable. And what if something happens, I’m not there, I can’t protect him!” Blaine pulled at his gelled hair and a few of the curls came loose.

“Well what about his Glee Club there? His brother? He seemed pretty cool on Saturday. I’m sure they’re helping him out,” Wes supplied. David went on “And this is Kurt we’re talking about. He’s not some weak damsel in distress, Blaine. He can take care of himself at least to some extent, he is pretty tough.”

“I know that. I know he’s strong. But... but there’s something he’s not telling me, something he’s not telling his Glee Club either. I can tell.”

Sebastian shifted uncomfortably and all the wolves eyes snapped to him.

“Seb, what do you know?” Blaine commanded, already getting into alpha mode.

“Blaine. Don’t do that,” Sebastian tried to resist the urge to immediately answer his alpha, “I promised Kurt. You know I have just as much as an allegiance to him as I do to you!” Sebastian continued to shift uncomfortably under his alpha’s stare.

Blaine stood up, full-on using his alpha voice now. “Sebastian. Tell. Me.” Blaine enunciated carefully, precisely. He wasn’t quite dominating Sebastian enough to actually force him to talk to Blaine against his will, but he was definitely compelling him to.

Blaine signalled and the others fell into line behind Blaine. Wes and David flanking him, Jeff and Nick standing behind them. None of them were crouched into attack positions though, not even Blaine, and everyone but Blaine had sympathetic faces aimed towards both Blaine and Sebastian.

They knew Blaine’s urge to protect his mate by any means necessary was uncontrollable. It was his first instinct now. At the same time though, Sebastian was caught in between betraying the trust of his beta, or refusing to comply with his alpha’s needs, and those were two of Sebastian’s strongest instincts.

The alpha instinct was stronger, and in the end it won out.

“There’s this bully at Kurt’s school... David Karofsky,” Sebastian recalled, “he’s... I think he really freaks Kurt out. It’s pretty obvious that he bullies, well more like harrasses, everyone but- I saw him push Kurt one time and the way he just glared at him afterwards.. it creeped me out, man.”

“You saw him push-” Blaine started to crouch down to jump at Sebastian, Sebastian took a terrified step back. He didn’t- couldn’t- move to attack his alpha. Blaine’s eyes locked on Sebastian’s panicked look and it reminded of the look on Kurt’s face just after he woke up from the nightmare on Saturday.

He took a deep breath to calm himself. “All right. Okay,” Blaine said to himself more than anyone, studying the floor. He looked up at Sebastian who was still cowering a little, “I- I’m sorry Seb,” Blaine said, ashamed. “I know you were in a tough spot, I get it.”

Sebastian nodded and have Blaine a weak smile, then went over to wrap one arm around Blaine. “It’s okay, Boss,” then he nodded towards the door, “Go get your mate, bring him back to his house and cuddle him until you calm down a bit, yeah?”

Blaine nodded tensely and ran at a slightly-too-fast-to-be-human pace back to his car.

Tuesday was even worse than Monday. And Wednesday wasn’t much better. The only thing that kept Kurt going was Blaine, they Skyped every night, and he knew that he would be seeing Blaine Friday and could spend the weekend with Blaine, soaking up his love and happiness so he could last another week with his friends.

The week however started looking up when on Thursday the hockey team was absent due to an away game. Kurt managed to stay slushy-free all day as the football team was focusing their efforts on Jacob Ben Israel instead.

Karofsky, however, seemed to be taking the other jocks’ lack of abuse for Kurt as a personal invitation to harass Kurt even more than usual. Instead of being slushied in between every class, Kurt was body-slammed into the lockers during passing times. Always by Karofsky, always hard enough to bruise, and always followed by Karofsky glare as he walked away backwards, staring at Kurt like he had the first time Sebastian had come to pick him up from school. Kurt would definitely rather take the slushies over this torment.

Glee practice wasn’t any more uplifting, Rachel and Finn were still fighting so of course they spent practice watching Rachel “Say She’s Sorry With a Song” as Mrs. Pillsbury would say. Kurt ended up leaving halfway through, he missed Blaine and he wasn’t going to sit here and watch these two unabashedly fucking each other’s lives up.

Kurt walked down the empty hallway, seething. Mr. Schuester had made sure to tell him before he left how he wasn’t being a team-player and that Rachel and Finn were going through a really tough time right now, and that they needed song to express themselves. Kurt personally thought that if Rachel just expressed some of her feelings a little bit less that the couple wouldn’t have such persistent issues.

And what about Kurt’s tough times. What about the rest of Glee Club? Sam’s family was living out of a motel room for christ’s sake! He was pretty sure Santana was having a sexuality crisis of her own. Mike was having problems with his father, even if he would only talk about it with Tina, Kurt knew. Why did stupid Glee club always have to be about Rachel, Rachel, Rachel.

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the looming figure behind him until he was almost out of the school. He whipped around, ready to scream or run or fight or really do anything to hold off Karofsky.

And then he was covered, once again, by the sticky-ice cold-disgusting-painful feeling of getting slushied.

Apparently it had been looming figures rather than just the one figure.

The hockey team had apparently lost their away game (what a surprise!) and had decided to torture Kurt some more in an effort to cheer themselves up. It worked. They all walked away, laughing and high-fiving.

Kurt stood there until they had all left, and then groaned. Fuck. He had almost been out of the school! Like really?

He walked to the locker room in a huff, but some part of him was relieved. The hockey team seemed pretty harmless in comparison to Karofsky.

The locker room was completely empty so he thought he might as well just shower here. It was better for his poor car seats anyway. He gathered up the spare clothes he had in his gym locker, set them aside and then pealed his ruined V-neck off. He grabbed his clothes off the bench and half-heartedly made his way to the shower stalls. He turned the knob all the way to hot and turned around to sit on the bench outside the stall until the water warmed up.

Only to come face-to-face with another hulking figure, this time the one he actually feared.

He jumped back into the spray, and then yelped and reflexively jumped forward when he felt the water, still freezing, hitting his back. Of course, that meant that he slammed right into Karofsky’s chest.

Karofsky still hadn’t said anything, didn’t even flinch when Kurt ran into to him, shirtless and wet.

Kurt was beyond creeped out now. Staring was one thing, but being up close and personal with Karofsky while Kurt was shirtless and wet was on a whole other level. His instincts screamed danger more than anything. Fight or Flight kicked in and, again, it was Kurt, so obviously fight was chosen.

He stepped back again, so he was in between the icy-cold spray and Karofsky, “What are you doing in here, Karofsky? There’s no football practice today.”

Karofsky remained silent, still leering down at Kurt. Kurt was starting to shake a bit, but his voice remained steady.

“Seriously, aren’t you afraid you might ‘catch the gay,’ if you stand this close to me,” Kurt hinted, desperately trying to get Karofsky to step away.

This, at least, finally prodded Karofsky into speech, “I’m not a little fairy like you,” Karofsky spat out. “I would never...,” for some reason he couldn’t finish and made a frustrated noise. “Don’t start pointing fingers just because you-you want my dick up your ass or something!”

A disgusted choking noise escaped Kurt’s mouth and he looked up at Karofsky disbelievingly. “You’re kidding right?! Oh. My. God. Ew. Just, no.”

Karofsky’s face darkened, “Why’s that so disgusting, huh?” Karofsky’s glare was suddenly at Kurt’s feet.

And then it was sweeping up Kurt’s body, coming to rest on his bare chest. Kurt crossed his arms in front him, flight was starting to kicking in.

He tried to dodge around Karofsky to make it out of the locker room and as far away from the school as possible- yeah, he was definitely driving to Blaine’s after he showered- but Karofsky’s hand brushed up against his abs as he passed and suddenly Kurt was being grabbed at his waist hard and pushed up against the wall to the left of the spray. He could feel the now burning hot flecks of water rebounding off Karofsky’s still-clothed shoulders and onto to Kurt’s face and neck. But Karofsky didn’t even seem to notice boiling-hot water raining down on him.

The only thing he was paying attention was Kurt’s lips, he was staring again. Kurt tried frantically to squirm out of the terrifyingly tight grip around around his waist. Karofsky’s only response was to push his lips into Kurt’s, slamming Kurt’s head back against the tile. Kurt saw white for a few moments before the feeling Karofsky’s meat-hands wiping sweat up his bare chest brought him back.

He grabbed Karofsky’s face and shoved it away from his as hard as he could. The motion caused Karofsky’s chin to snap up and he fell backwards, shoulders slamming into the tiles on the right side of the shower head. Kurt back himself into the corner of the stall, his hands coming up to cover his face, mouth, chest. He didn’t know what to do, he just wanted to disappear from Karofsky’s view.

Karofsky stared at Kurt for a few more seconds before his eyes widened and he seemed to realize what had just happened, it was like some kind of stupor was broken and a horrified expression contorted Karofsky’s face. He booked it right out of the locker room.

Kurt couldn’t move, in fact, his legs had already given out. He slid down the corner wall, legs sticking out into the now-only-warm water swirling into the drain and pouring down onto him from above. He couldn’t move, couldn’t think beyond his one need: Blaine.

Blaine went straight to McKinley, hoping to catch Kurt before he left glee. His eyes zeroed in on Kurt’s car, still in the parking lot. He was relieved until he parked his car and got out.

As he got nearer to the school he could sense that something was wrong. It wasn’t a scent or some telepathic voice of Kurt in his head, it was just a feeling. He quickened his pace into the school, scenting Kurt out. He grew concerned when he passed what was obviously the choir room, already empty. But Kurt’s scent kept leading him until he hit the entrance to the boy’s locker room. The scent was lost here, too much body odor and axe body spray covering it up. Blaine pushed the door open anyway.

At the sound of the door shutting behind him a cry came from on of the shower stalls, small and desperate.

And of course Blaine knew it was Kurt.

He leapt over the low locker banks to his right, forgoing all pretense of being completely human. His own safety didn’t matter right now. He turned the corner to find Kurt huddled in the corner of a still-running shower. His jean-clad legs soaked through with water, his chest was bare but Blaine didn’t even have time to ogle his mate’s perfect body because Kurt’s hands were covering his face and he was crying and shaking and muttering “No, no, no, no, leave me alone, please.”

And Blaine didn’t even have to ask what happened. His senses told him. He could see the faint red marks on his hips, could see the small trail of saliva on the corner of Kurt’s bottom lip, too small for Kurt to even notice himself, the microscopic bruising on his lips. And worst of all, he could smell the odor of some other human all over Kurt. Someone else’s acrid sweat, breath, and essence all over his mate. That’s it. Blaine was going to kill David Karofsky. Because that’s who did this, Blaine knew just from the terror rolling off Kurt’s body.

Blaine turned around and was about two seconds away from actually shifting to go find, maim, torture, and kill David Karofsky when Kurt let out another cry, this time in the form of a little “Blaine.”

Kurt had looked up from his hands and was staring at Blaine, silently begging him. There wasn’t even shock on his face at seeing Blaine, all there was room for in his expression was a desperate, pleading look.

Blaine wordlessly switched directions towards the showers because Kurt needed him here and now. He walked into the now-freezing-cold spray to turn off the water and gather Kurt up off the floor and into his arms. Then he sat them on the wooden bench outside the stalls.

Kurt was absolutely freezing, shivering from being under the cascade of unheated water for god only knows how long. He turned into Blaine’s chest, crying more piteously and with more force than he had even on Saturday, while Blaine stroked his back, hair, face, neck, trying to surround Kurt in his scent and erase all traces of Karofsky.

When he saw the bruises staining Kurt’s back, he saw red.

He wiped the imperceptible amount of spit from Kurt’s bottom lip and continued to run his thumb along Kurt’s cheek. He couldn’t help but place tiny kisses on Kurt’s cheeks every so often, replacing Kurt’s heart wrenching tears with his love.

After about ten minutes Blaine felt a tug at his shirt, he looked down to find Kurt with that same pleading expression on his face, and Blaine understood.

He lifted Kurt off his lap and set him on the bench beside him, took off his jacket and wrapped it around his naked torso. Regathering Kurt in his arms, Blaine made his way off the bench, out of the locker room, through the halls, out of the school, into his car and out of the parking lot.

Sebastian could get Kurt’s bag, car, and stuff from his locker later. Kurt wouldn’t be coming back.

Kurt was still shaking when Blaine finally pulled up in front of the Hudmel residence, judging by the cars in the driveway Burt was the only one home, which meant that Blaine could probably sneak Kurt upstairs and into the bathroom without anyone noticing. There was something about Kurt’s vulnerability in this moment that made Blaine want to hide him from the world, even from his own family.

When he opened Kurt’s car door he saw his mate’s natural flinch from the noise. Kurt was still reliving the events that led up to him crying and trembling in the shower where Blaine found him. “Babe, come on, let’s get you inside so you can shower and warm up okay?” Kurt stared at him blankly for a moment before nodding and shifting out of his chair and into Blaine’s arms.

Blaine cuddled him before he picked Kurt up bridal style, this at least made Kurt giggle a little. But then he just nuzzled his face into Blaine’s neck hiding from reality for a bit longer. Blaine carried him to the bathroom where he turned the water on and started filling the tub with warm water.

Kurt just sat on the ground and wrapped himself further in Blaine’s jacket. “Come on babe, we need to get you all warmed up, and I’ll bring my pjs in for you to wear okay?”

Kurt glanced at him and the tub, “Okay, but if I call out you’ll come in right? I’m not sure if I really want to be alone right now.”

“Of course baby, I’m just going to go talk to your dad first though,” Blaine pulled him into a hug, “I’ll be back soon, get in the tub.” Kurt nodded and pulled away allowing Blaine to leave.

As soon as the door closed behind him, Blaine sagged. From relief or despair, he didn’t know. Probably a mixture of both.

“Blaine, what are you doin’ here?” Blaine glanced up, and immediately Burt knew something was wrong, “What happened to Kurt?”

“He’s okay Burt, just taking a bath to calm down,” Blaine glanced at the door where he could hear soft music filtering out, “Can we talk about this downstairs?”

Burt nodded and once they were seated at the dining table Blaine started to recount the story, “I came to pick him up, because I don’t know if you know, but Kurt’s bullying has gotten worse. As in, on Monday his tires were slashed.” Burt’s eyes widened in shock, clearly Kurt had kept him in the dark about what had been happening. “So I came to his school this afternoon after finding out about the bullying from Sebastian, and I just knew something was wrong when he didn’t come out of the school with everyone else.”

“I went in, and followed his scent, until I found him in the locker room, Kurt had lost his shirt and was curled in a ball in the showers.”

Blaine hated that he’d failed his mate, had let something so horrible happen to him and not been there to protect him. “Karofsky had kissed him.” When Burt threw him a disbelieving look he explained, “Kurt’s lips were red and bruised, and his bottom lip was bleeding a little. Christ, he even smelled different,” Blaine fisted his hands in his curls and pulled in anxiety.

Burt looked shell shocked, “Wha- Karofsky kissed him? He kissed him?! Shit.”

Blaine just nodded, he didn’t want to repeat it.

“He- Kurt’s not hurt is he? The bastard didn’- Is he okay?” Burt finished desperately.

“He will be, once he transfers to Dalton, and I can protect him.” Blaine stated. There wasn’t a drop of question in his voice, he wasn’t going to concede this point, Kurt was going to transfer to Dalton, McKinley was slowly destroying him.

Burt raised an eyebrow, “Oh he is, is he? Does Kurt know this?”

“No, but I’m not letting him return to a school where he is terrorised on a daily basis.” Blaine said firmly, he didn’t care what Burt thought at this point, Kurt was his mate and he was going to protect him at all costs.

“I don’t think that’s really for you to decide Blaine,” Burt rubbed his head and sighed, “This is something for our family to decide on. Kurt has an opinion in this, and I know he didn’t want to transfer before and so I will stand by his wishes.”

Blaine couldn’t control the growl that came out then, “Mr. Hummel, with all due respect, I am part of your family now. I don’t think you really understand how close Kurt and I actually are. We’re not just dating, we’re not just in love. You can’t even really compare it to being married. It’s so much more than that. You can’t keep Kurt from me, and you can’t make him go back to that place.”

Burt lifted his baseball cap and rubbed his head, “Alright, kid, if, and I mean if, Kurt chooses that he wants to go to Dalton, we will look into transferring him. I think the more pressing matter here, is what to do with Karofsky, we’ll have to file a complaint at the very least. I want this boy removed from the school, he is a danger to everyone around him.” Blaine then heard his name being called faintly, and knew that Kurt wanted him.

“Can we continue this later? Kurt wants me right now.”

“You can read his mind now?” Burt asked exasperated but with a smile tugging at his lips.

“No, but I can hear him call my name from upstairs.” Blaine grinned walking out of the dining room.

Blaine climbed the stairs two at a time, desperate to get to Kurt now. When he got to the bathroom it was empty, and Blaine mildly freaked out before checking Kurt’s bedroom and seeing him curled in a ball in the middle of the bed. He looked so much smaller than the boy Blaine had seen just this weekend.

“Hey babe, are you feeling a bit better now?” Blaine heard a tiny sniffle and realised Kurt was silently crying. In two seconds Blaine was in bed and pulling Kurt into his arms, “Let it all out love, you’ll feel better after.” Kurt’s sobs increased again, it was literally tearing Blaine’s heart in two hearing how distressed his mate was. “You will not be going back to that school, not while he’s there, you’re safe now. I won’t let anything bad happen to you again.” He felt Kurt nod against his chest where he had buried his face.

“Thank you for being here Blaine, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“Shhh, I want to be here. You’re the most important thing ever. Don’t forget that.”

“You’re staying the night right?” Kurt lifted his head and pouted.

“Of course, I don’t think I could leave your bed even if you pushed me out of it.” Kurt laughed a little at that.

“Did you tell my dad what happened?” Kurt asked, now resting his chin against Blaine’s chest so he could look him in the eyes.

“Yeah beautiful, he needed to know.” Kurt grimaced, “I also brought up you transferring again, I know I said that I would let you stay at McKinley, but that was when I thought you were safe there, and you aren’t anymore Kurt, and I can’t let you put yourself in danger.”

Kurt bit his lip, “But Karofsky could be expelled right?”

“Maybe, and it’s not guaranteed, Kurt, please, I need you to do this for us.” Blaine squeezed his eyes shut, “I don’t think you realised how close I was to shifting and hunting that boy down like the dog he is, if it wasn’t for you he would dead. I can’t risk you getting hurt again, because that’s my reaction, I need you by my side where I can protect you. Do you understand?”

Kurt turned his head so he wasn’t looking at Blaine again, “I understand, I still don’t want to transfer though, I don’t want to leave my friends and family.” Blaine sighed, “Is it such a horrible thing to come to Dalton with me? Do you hate that idea so much that you would stay at a school that’s tortured and caused you so much pain than come to a school where you’ll be safe and surrounded by Pack, people who care about you?” Blaine asked, moving Kurt off his chest so he could pace the room.

“Blaine, it’s not the simple and you know it. I can’t just, like, abandon my family,” Kurt said, even though he knew it was kind of just an excuse.

“I should be your family Kurt, I should be included in that, you’re my family as far as I’m concerned, yet you seem to think that my opinions and thoughts are irrelevant.” Blaine couldn’t help the tears welling in his eyes.

“You know that’s not true Blaine,” Kurt took a deep breath, he didn’t really want to talk about this now. He just wanted to forget his day, to be with Blaine and hide from the world. “Why are you doing this now? I was just attacked and you’re standing there and picking a fight with me?”

Blaine ran a hand through his hair, “I’m sorry, I am Kurt, but can’t you see that I’m just looking out for you. You can’t see past all the negatives of leaving McKinley, that you are missing all the positives of being at Dalton.” Blaine shook his head, “If you want to stay at McKinley that’s fine, I can always transfer there I guess, I just wish you would want to be apart of the Pack as much as they want you there.”

Kurt frowned, “You’d transfer to McKinley for me?”

“Of course I would, it would be easier to move you to Dalton, but if you insist on staying in the hell hole of a school, then I’ll transfer. You’re not going back there without me. I can’t go to Dalton knowing you could be assaulted at any given moment.” Kurt then burst into tears, “Oh beautiful, don’t cry.” Blaine pulled Kurt close to him, to the point where Kurt was practically sitting in his lap.

“I’m so sorry, it’s just been such a horrible day, and I just want to curl in a ball in your arms and forget it ever happened.” Blaine made cooing noises trying to get him to calm down, “I just want to have both my new life and my old. Is that too much to ask?”

“No of course not sweetie, I would change the world for you if I could.”

“I just feel like I’m abandoning my friends. And I- I just don’t want them to forget me. They really matter to me, Blaine. They aren’t perfect, but I don’t know how I could’ve survived the last two years without them. I honestly don’t know if I would have survived...” Kurt trailed off but Blaine knew what he meant. He didn’t know whether the growl or sob. Kurt breathed out again, “I know I’m always going to have a place in the Pack, whether I’m there or not, but with New Directions it’s like they could forget me after a week, and I don’t want that to happen.”

Blaine continued to rock him, “They won’t forget you, how could they, Kurt? You’re you. When I first met you, your whole club almost attacked me in an effort to save you a little heartbreak. You matter to them too, Kurt. Do you really think they are going to just up and forget about you.”

Kurt mumbled a no against Blaine’s neck, “Also do you realise the name of your Glee club sounds like nude erections?”

Kurt let out a small laugh pulling back to kiss Blaine softly on the lips, “You’re ridiculous, you take these serious conversations we’re having and make me smile and forget everything we were talking about.”

Blaine pulled him in for another kiss, realising Kurt must have brushed his teeth because his mouth tasted minty, “That’s the point, I hate arguing with you.”

“We weren’t arguing, we were merely having a passionate debate.”

Blaine snorted, “Well whatever it is we were doing, I didn’t like it. I love you Kurt, and I’ll support whatever decision you make.” Blaine stroked a hand through Kurt’s hair, “Remember what I told you on our first date?” Kurt shook his head, “Most of all, I want you to be happy and safe, and I just don’t think you’re really either at McKinley.”

Kurt rubbed his nose against Blaine’s in an eskimo kiss in lieu of answering.

“Come on, lie down, you look exhausted. You don’t have to make a decision now, you have the weekend and then there’s only a couple days until Winter break.” Blaine picked them both up and tugged the bed sheets down so Kurt could get under. He then laid down with Kurt half draped across him, “Are you hungry or do you just want to sleep?”

“Just sleep thanks, if I get hungry I’ll wake you in the middle of the night to make me waffles.”

“Anything for you Kurt.” Kurt mumbled something in reply, and soon he was asleep.

Blaine stared at the ceiling, thinking through all the possible solutions there were. Personally he would prefer Dalton, it was easier, that’s where Pack was, and he wasn’t sure how he would function without them. But if Kurt really insisted on McKinley he was going to have to give it up.

After what felt like hours, but was really only 40 minutes the bedroom door opened and Burt stuck his head in, “Are you two coming down to dinner?”

“No, he said if he gets hungry then I can make waffles for him.” Blaine stoked a hand through Kurt’s hair.

“What about you kid?”

“I’m fine, I don’t want to leave him right now. I’ll eat when I need to.” Burt nodded before closing the door again. Blaine placed a kiss against Kurt’s forehead before burying himself into the blankets to the point where he was surrounded by Kurt’s scent and drifted off to sleep.