Kurt Hummel led a life that while many envied him for it, nobody really wanted to have for themselves. He was the only child of Alex and Everett Hummel. His mother, before her marriage better known as Alex Bailey, was a successful lawyer who had won many a case for those discriminated against, always thirsty for knowledge and never opposed to leaf through giant law codes in search for something to use to her advantage. She was determined to the point of stubbornness, a trait Kurt had, without a doubt, inherited from her.

Everett Hummel owned a little bookshop in the city they lived in. One day, Alex had walked into it by hazard, hopelessly lost in the streets of the huge city she'd come into to study. It had been only her second week and when she'd seen the store, she had decided to ask for directions before she'd end up even further away from her destination. Maybe it had had a tiny bit to do with the fact that the shop had reminded her a bit of the one her father had owned when she'd been a kid.

Everett had inherited the shop from a remote relative and jumped at the chance. His brother, Kurt's uncle Burt, had been glad to take over their father's garage, but Everett had been very much the opposite of his brother. Where Burt worked with his hands and was a realist, he lived in his own, romanticized version of the world. When Alex had walked into the store he'd still been sorting through everything and trying to figure out how to even keep a bookstore, having to open at odd hours since he was studying at the same time.

The two of them had fallen in love over their shared love for fairy tales and books in general. They'd spent endless hours discussing everything they could think of over opened books, a tea or a coffee warming their hands. No one had been really all that surprised when they'd married a few years later. Not too long after Kurt had been born and everything had fallen into place. The bookshop had been profitable by then and Alex's career had still taken off. His parents worked hard but they'd always had time for him. Kurt knew he was lucky to have them and he wouldn't change them for the world.

That was one of the things people envied Kurt for. What they didn't really want to have on their own plate, though, was the fact that Kurt Hummel was gay. And very much out. In a place that, while not as small and terribly judgemental as it could have been, was still horrible enough on everyone who deviated even the slightest bit from what was considered the norm. And Kurt digressed from that norm in practically every aspect the inhabitants of his hometown could possibly think of.

Children, being the cruel human beings they sometimes tend to be, had teased him constantly for every little thing. It started out mostly harmless but somewhere in middle school it had gotten to the point where Kurt couldn't get through a day without being harassed, humiliated and stripped of the last bit of dignity he'd clung to. And while it was a great comfort to come back to a home as accepting as the Hummel household at the end of a long school day, that hadn't made things better during.

One boy especially hadn't seemed to be able to leave Kurt alone for even a few hours. Dave Karofsky had always been one of Kurt's worst tormentors, but these days it had come so far that Kurt couldn't walk down a single hallway without him popping up out of nowhere, the encounters always ending in a locker check and slurs thrown at him. Kurt tried to be brave, tried to be the better person and get out of this with his head held high and stronger than ever, but as much as he told himself that this was the best way to deal with it, it was much harder to do than it sounded in his head.

While Alex and Everett had known of the bullying for quite some time, Kurt had avoided informing them about the whole extent of it. He knew they'd be storming into the principals office the second he told them, as they had done when they'd first heard about this. Of course, the faculty had turned a blind eye and done nothing. When his parents had offered to move, get him into another school, Kurt had declined. He'd promised them he'd make it through on his own, that kids everywhere were cruel. He couldn't possibly bring himself to be the cause of his father losing his treasured bookstore. So they had stayed and Kurt had learned to somehow deal with the daily tormenting, keeping his mouth shut to prevent his parents from worrying.

Throughout his whole high school experience, Kurt had hardly ever said anything to his tormentors. He had tried the first few months but all it had gotten him were additional dumpster tosses and at some point, he'd just given up. He'd never make himself heard, not with those neanderthals, anyway. Kurt didn't really have any friends, so no one stood up for him, either. Basically, he just felt invisible to everyone and as unappreciated as one could possibly feel.

But one day, with graduation barely a week to go and the prospect of leaving this school and the mindless idiots in it behind for good, Kurt had enough. To anyone watching it might have been nothing but another locker check, nothing unusual. But for Kurt it was the last straw, his opportunity to gain some of his dignity back.

Without spending a second thought on the consequences, he followed Karofsky into the locker room.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled at the top of his lungs, satisfied when his voice echoed back at him from the walls in its volume. It felt freeing to finally scream his rage out to the world.

Karfosky turned around faster than Kurt could react, his face tainted red with anger.

"You, that's what!" he barked back, suddenly close enough to cause Kurt to stumble back a few steps, until his back hit the wall behind him and he could go no further.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, hating the way his voice wavered in his panic. What had he gotten himself into?

Karofsky let out a bitter laugh. "And you're supposed to be the bright one:" Before he could fully comprehend what was happening, Karofsky's lips were pressed to his.

Fear and disgust paralyzed his whole body, shocking him into motionlessness. His mind was racing with thoughts, all the little things that had never made sense before so much more reasonable now. It was only when Karofsky had finally pulled back and went in for another kiss that Kurt's body caught up with his head, his hands coming up to push him away. Still incredulous, he touched his lips, unable to really process what had just taken place, eyes wide with confusion and shock fixed on the boy he'd only ever seen as the brainless monster that just liked to torment him for fun.

Before any of them could say anything, Karofsky stormed out of the room, not sparing Kurt another look. It took Kurt a long time to calm down his racing heart and ragged breathing enough to get himself to leave. Feeling colder than he ever had, he stumbled to his car, driving home as fast as he dared. Once arrived, he jumped out and raced over to the front door, closing it behind him with shaking hands before running up the stairs to hole himself up in his bedroom. He was almost glad his parents were away on some book fair for the week or he'd have had a lot of explaining to do he was anything but ready for.

The minute he'd safely locked himself away in his bedroom, he threw himself onto his bed, trying to blend out what had just happened. But the images kept coming back. He felt like Karofsky's lips were still pressed against his with almost brutal force, so much suppressed rage and fear behind that simple point of contact that it made bile raise at the back of his throat, even more so than the action itself. Just thinking about it had him up off the bed again and racing for the bathroom, brushing his teeth again and again with harsh movements just short of violence.

Once he'd rinsed so often he was convinced his gums would dissolve if he continued, he headed back to his bed, curling in on himself, trying again to unsuccessfully erase the mental images of Karofsky crowding into his personal space and forcing his rather unpleasant lips on him. Closing his eyes just made things worse and after minutes of tossing and turning, messing up his sheets and not finding the peace of mind he felt he needed right now, Kurt decided that there was only one thing that would make him feel safe again and hopefully calm him down. He slowly slipped off of the bed, tiptoeing across the room to his bookshelf as if he was afraid someone would jump at him any moment now. The trembling in his hands lessened somewhat when his fingers curled around the familiar texture of the cover of The Land of Stories.

Rationally, Kurt was aware that it was probably childish to rely on a book of fairy tales to make him feel better in a situation such as this. But this book had been in the family for decades now and both his parents, his grandmother, his great-grandmother and even his uncle had read those stories to him so often he probably could recite them backwards without having to look at the printed version once. If he tried hard enough, he might even be able to draw the pictures from memory. The well-known tales felt like home, like family. The characters were like friends to him, more so than anyone in the city he'd grown up in ever had been. He connected with them so much more than with the dull, superficial people surrounding him.

As he returned to his bed, his step was much surer just holding this treasured piece of materialized memories in his hands, the anticipation of being able to dive right back into the stories of his childhood in a matter of seconds already melting away some of the tension and shock and fright that filled him up head to toe. He made himself as comfortable as possible before leafing through the well-worn pages, opening the book at his favorite part. Rereading Cinderella had never failed to make him feel better. It always ignited the hope in him that as unappreciated and looked-over as he felt right now, it could always get better, even when you least expected it.

For the first time in his life, though, Kurt desperately wished he could be someplace else, anywhere but in this narrow-minded city, the place where he'd been tormented and ridiculed all his life. He wished he could just escape this world, this reality, and end up in a world where the good always won and the bad guys were just that and not closeted guys who were just as afraid as Kurt could remember being a few short years ago. And that was knowing that his parents would accept him without question. For all he knew of Dave Karofsky's father, he probably wouldn't be celebrating if he found out about his son's sexuality. Kurt's mother had always put emphasis on the fact that most of the time, villains were just victims whose stories hadn't been told. But for all the thought he'd given that idea over the years, Kurt had never imagined that discovering the truth could hit home this hard.

Kurt could feel himself tearing up over his racing thoughts, unable to stop them, until he couldn't read the words on the page in front of him anymore. He still hadn't turned the first page of the story. Admitting defeat for now, Kurt closed his eyes, letting the tears run freely. If not even his favorite fairy tale could comfort him right now, it probably was no use trying to fight them any longer, either way.

It took him way too long to realize that the tears were probably falling right onto the pages of the family heirloom, staining them, smudging the words and probably eating through the paper. He forced himself to open his eyes and observe the damage done but what he found was very far from what he'd expected to be met with.

Because instead of being ruined by his helpless tears, The Land of Stories had started to glow.

For a good minute or so, Kurt just blinked incredulously at the book still resting in his lap. The pages seemed to have turned into pure light, throwing fantastic shadows at the wall next to him. Ever so carefully, he reached out to touch them, jerking his hand away when it went right through what had been solid paper only minutes ago. Only when he could clearly hear the sound of wind catching in the branches of trees coming from the book (and there was no mistaking the source of it since there was not even a sign of greenery to be seen in a radius of at least three miles) did the enormity of the situation really register.

With a squeal he wasn't really proud of, Kurt threw the book off of his lap and jumped away from his bed, stumbling backwards. In his haste to get away from the offendingly glowing, humming object he had upset his bedside lamp, though. He didn't get very far before his right foot got caught on the cable, sending him reeling backwards. In a desperate attempt to regain his balance, Kurt flailed his arms and tried to stumble forwards instead, his foot catching again on the lamp, this time inevitably sending him flying forward - head first into The Land of Stories.

The fall felt like it lasted forever and Kurt had enough time to think that he now knew what Alice must have felt like during her fall down the rabbit hole. He landed surprisingly soft, something closing in around him, cushioning his fall further. It wasn't until he heard a very distinct 'oof' right next to his left ear that he realized he'd been landing on a person. Or that the things surrounding him were arms because that person apparently had tried to catch him.

Mortified, Kurt disentangled himself from whoever he had landed on as fast as possible, jumping to his own feet and looking down at his savior worriedly, needing to make sure he hadn't severely injured anyone with his involuntary trip through his favorite book. The sight he was met with took his breath away much more effectively than the impact had.

Blinking up at him was the largest pair of beautiful hazel eyes he'd ever come across, surrounded by an unfair amount of equally unfair long eyelashes. The stranger smiled up at him, the slight movement lighting up his whole face - and God, that guy was gorgeous; he reminded Kurt so much of a Disney prince that for one confused minute, Kurt thought he might have ended up in Ariel, the elegant crown on the other man's head not doing much to revoke that impression. Kurt might or might not have felt a desperate desire to bury his hands in those luscious dark curls.

"Are you alright?" the potential Disney prince asked, and Kurt had to take a deep breath to calm down his racing heartbeat because goodness, even his voice was so beautiful and soothing it bordered on painful. Why had he never met a guy like this in his hometown?

"Shouldn't I be asking you that question? After all, I practically fell on top of you just now. I'm very sorry for that, by the way," Kurt replied, stumbling over his own words. It was just his luck that the one time he actually met a cute guy who seemed to be nice enough he had to ruin it by almost crushing him. Not to mention that the situation was anything but ideal. He'd just fallen through a goddamn book for goodness' sake.

"I'm fine, don't worry," the stranger laughed. "And you are the one who just fell out of the sky, I think it is my right to be concerned. So, since you didn't really answer the first time, may I inquire once more if you are alright?"

Kurt blushed, quickly averting his eyes. "I'm fine. Thanks for catching me." He offered the man on the floor a helping hand and a grateful smile.

"It was my pleasure," Mr. Disney Prince said, smiling back as he pulled himself up with Kurt's help. "And I'm not sure if you can really call it catching you. I think it was more trying to catch you than anything else."

They just stood there smiling at each other for a few seconds, until Kurt realized he was still holding onto Mr. Disney Prince's hand. He was just about to let go with a mumbled apology when a warm hand caught his retreating one by the wrist, the touch sending sparks up and down his spine and setting free a veritable army of butterflies in his stomach. Probably because people his age, especially boys, usually had avoided touching him, or so he told himself.

"I don't think we had a chance to introduce ourselves just yet. My name is Blaine."

"Kurt."

Blaine just smiled at him, all pearly white teeth and sparkling eyes and Kurt thought his knees might have gotten a bit weak. Somehow, he managed to remain standing and smile back, this time only briefly shaking the hand offered to him before pulling away.

"So, Kurt, I hope you won't think I'm being rude or too inquisitive, but I really would like to hear the story behind that spectacular fall," Blaine inquired as casually as he could manage.

Instead of coming up with an elaborate story that would probably be more appropriate for whatever place he had landed himself into, Kurt caught himself blurting out the truth. He told Blaine about being harassed every day, about the kiss in the locker room, about running home and trying to console himself by reading through the family fairy tale book and ending up here, wherever here was, completely by accident. He couldn't even be bothered by how little impressed with him Blaine was probably going to be by the end of his story, he didn't care that it was likely nobody would believe him or that he could end up locked away in some kind of dungeon or asylum. He just had to get it out of his system, all the emotions that had weighed him down before the book had started to glow and thus effectively distracted him rushing back at him at once given the time to think about this afternoon's events.

He didn't look up until the end of his rather long monologue, surprised to find Blaine smiling at him comfortingly.

"That sounds like quite a long, eventful afternoon. I think we should get you something warm to eat to help you over the shock," he said, carefully resting his hand on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt probably should have shied away after what had happened mere hours ago, but Blaine's hand felt so comforting and absolutely non-threatening that he couldn't find it in him to be scared.

"Y-you don't think I'm lying?" Kurt asked, incredulous. He probably would have called the closest mental hospital if someone had told him all of this in earnest.

"Well, I don't see why you would lie. And you did fall out of the sky just like that, after all. I think that is a pretty sound argument to believe you." Blaine's smile widened and Kurt couldn't help but smile back hesitantly. "Also, your clothing looks pretty foreign to me, I can't remember ever having seen anything quite like it in any of the kingdoms."

"And you don't care that I'm- that he-" Kurt stuttered, unable to make himself say it just like that. Who knew how much Blaine's tolerance could bear before he'd throw Kurt into a dungeon?

"That you prefer men? No, not really. Society around here can be quite judgemental but it is not unheard of. And they are definitely not as harsh on us here as they seem to be where you come from. Though I can't speak for everyone, it is likely that I get special treatment. I don't think people are willing to insult a heir of the Charming dynasty like that."

Kurt's only response was to stare at him open-mouthed. Of course that guy had to literally be a Prince Charming. And gay on top of it.

"I'm sorry, should I have not just brought it up like that? My aunt and father always tell me to think a bit more before I speak, I'm sorry if I offended you. I hope I can still invite you into the palace for a meal and a place to stay for the night?" Blaine asked, fidgeting nervously on his feet and casually motioning towards a tall building to their left.

If he'd hoped that Kurt would answer this time, he was disappointed again. Because Kurt was much too busy staring at the giant palace rising up next to them, sharply silhouetted against the slowly darkening sky, completely dumbfounded and asking himself how he had managed to miss it up until now.