1:45am

Blaine and Kurt came back in about an hour ago, so of course it's natural for Jeff to be alarmed when he hears a door slam shut quietly. Jeff has very good hearing unfortunately it does not do them favours all the time. Nick told  Jeff to relax and that he'd check on it.

Nick looks around the room once more, and in a panic goes around to all the other rooms just to check that his eyes were not misleading him. Kurt's not here. Where could Kurt have gone? His Warbler uniform is folded neatly on the made bed as though never slept in it. He quickly and quietly goes back to Jeff's room and puts on a pair of baggy pants and a t-shirt.

“What's going on?” Jeff mumbles sleepily as Nick quickly bends down to press a kiss to his forehead. “I'm just going to look for Kurt, I didn't seem him in his room, he never mentioned anything about sleep-walking did he?”

Jeff was awake now as he sat up “No? Not that I remember..” Yawwwn “He just mentions” Yawwn “nightmares,”

“I'll be back soon!” He called as he left Jeff's room. He sneaked past Blaine's room, and went down to the lobby. He asked the front desk if they had seen Kurt and a woman confirmed she had.

“He came down about 10 minutes ago, he never told us where he was going though, and he didn't have much with him sir, so I assume he's going for a walk sir,”

“Thank you,” He said and went back up to their room on level 3.  He paced the room that was the living room connected to the kitchen when Blaine's door swung open obviously having heard the door.

“Can someone tell me what is going on? You both look in shock,” It was true. Jeff was sitting at the dining table half asleep and face full of worry and Nick was rubbing his forehead confused.

“It's Kurt, he's not here,” Jeff spoke finally.

“He's probably gone for a walk,” Blaine shrugged. He had given Kurt a spare key.

An hour goes by and still no signs of Kurt. “I don't understand this, do you think he's hurt somewhere? Someone kidnapped him maybe?” Blaine was panicking now.

Something caught Jeff's eye who was sitting at the table with a coffee in hand since he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.  He stood up and walked over to the fridge where an envelope was stickytaped to the top. Jeff pulled of the envelope and on it was addressed to ‘Blaine'

“Blaine,” Nick called to Blaine who was looking out the window to see if he could see Kurt down the street, when seeing what Jeff was holding who showed him.

Blaine hurried over to Jeff and grabbed the envelope, staring at his name. He silently opened the back. Why would he go?

10:45pm

Blaine lifts his hand away and Kurt's still got his eyes closed as though soaking it all in which causes Blaine to smile when he does flutter his eyes open and looks amazed.

“So that's what boy's lips taste like…” Kurt whispers and because he's looking so adorable with a small cheeky grin on his face and  eyeing Blaine's lips like he wants him to kiss him again, Blaine can't help but lean in again to give him another kiss. “Not disappointed I hope,” Blaine answers with his gloved hand stroking Kurt's cheek. Kurt smiles bashfully and leans into the touch, it's warm there as he whispers but also then laughs as he points towards his lap where ice cream has falling onto it “no, but you're ice cream is falling apart,”

Blaine who is now embarrassed swears as he quickly cleans of the ice cream from his Armani's men's pants and Kurt chuckles at him in the background. Kurt leaves for a second and returns after going to the lady to ask for a napkin. “Here you go, you're lucky they had wet ones, she said she keeps them for the kids,”

“You're a lifesaver, I'll pretend I didn't hear the comment about the kids though,” Blaine kissed his cheek as Kurt sat back down next to Blaine to finish his own ice-cream which was also melting “Blaine honey, I'm pretty sure you're the life saver in this equation,” When they finished their icecreams Blaine tilted his head to Kurt “Still up for ice skating?”

Blaine held out a hand for Kurt to stand up so they can put their rubbish away. Kurt took his hand and allowed Blaine to pull him up. He liked any excuse to hold the other boy's hand.

“Sure, but can we walk for a bit, I don't want to skate on a full stomach,” Blaine nodded as he put his and Kurt's trash in the bin nearby  and they began walking slowly “I think that's a good plan,”

Byrant Park was literally a 2 minute walk from Time Square, so Blaine and Kurt didn't have far to go to find the Ice Skating rink. They decided to walk in the park since it was such a nice night and many people were about so it wasn't dangerous.

There was a homeless man shuddering under his blankets that Kurt noticed when they walked. Blaine stopped grabbed a 10 dollar note and put it gently in his cap but Kurt shook his head “Someone else will take that, better to actually give food to him anywany, he might use it for something else” Kurt smiled at Blaine though because he was trying to do the right thing. Kurt kneeled down and gently tapped the man on the shoulder. He opened his eyes with alert at Kurt and sat up fast. Kurt waited till the man calm down.

“Sir have you had a good meal recently?” The man shook his head silently.

“Can my friend buy you a burger from a stall nearby?”

“Why are you helping me?” The man frowned as though they were causing offence.

“I'm homeless too, I know what hunger feels like, I know how hard it is to get someone to stop for 5 minutes of their time,” Kurt responded. The man laughed bitterly and rolled his eyes “You sure don't look homeless with that nice outfit you're wearing, and why would he be friends with you if you are” He pointed his head to Blaine as he said that “look mate I'm not interested in your charity workers trying to create peace, I don't want your damn peace, I want a house, I want a job, and since I can't have that get lost and let a poor man get some sleep,”

Kurt stood up shocked at the scowl as Blaine gently pushed him behind him. “We were just trying to help, no need to be rude,” Blaine snapped. “Come on Kurt…let's go skating, we can buy him a burger later, that's if he'll even appreciate it,”

The man's eyes were stony and long gone, he didn't look like he cared for anything. Is that what Kurt had felt like?  Kurt however looked nervous as they began walking back and was staring at the couples who were flawless, “Kurt something wrong?”

“Well, I never actually ice-skated before, I've played football and I've done swimming but-” Kurt was stuttering, and Blaine had never heard him stutter.

Blaine looked astounded “You played football?” and then added so as not to offend Kurt “I mean you just didn't seem that interested when it was on in the hotel when the guys were watching it,”

“I was kicker. I used my single ladies music to help me concentrate and helped the Titans win their game which was our team back at McKinley,”

“McKinley sounds familiar…” Blaine stated and he was impressed at Kurt being kicker, he told Kurt this but Kurt didn't take too much credit for himself as he told Blaine it was to mainly get closer to his father.  Blaine didn't ask further questions because Kurt had gone sad, and he knew it was not a topic he enjoyed talking about. He wanted tonight to be a happy occasion.

Once Kurt got on the ice though, his fears were even more apparent as he almost fell over a few times and clutched onto Blaine's arms tightly who held him.  His worried eyes searched Blaine's calm ones.

“I've got you,” Blaine promised smiling “I won't let you fall, now try again”

2:45am

Dear Blaine

Tonight was …

It was the best night of my life. You blow me away with your generosity, your ….everything.

You inspire me with your love of song, with your optimism. This is hard is harder than I thought …to write, but I couldn't just not tell you why I had to do this

Please, please try to understand. This is not to hurt you. On the contrary, I think I'm falling in love with you. Which is crazy, I know, I barely know you.

I'm damaged goods. My heart is broken. I don't have my father's love or my family's care and that…that's a hard thing to take, and seeing that man on the street reminded me of who I really am.

I can't pretend that I'm something that I'm not, and I can't let you treat me as something that I'm not. It wouldn't be fair. I did that once, and look where it got me.

Please take care.

Thank the boys for me, I'm really really sorry. Please forgive me. Please don't hate me more than I already hate myself for having to write this and say sorry to the others for me.

Kurt.

Tears were streaming down Blaine's face as he read the last few words and he shook his head madly “This can't be happening, he can't go, he can't…he's got nowhere else to go!”

“Woah, Blaine calm down,”

Jeff had taken the note of Blaine to read it himself because Nick had to sit Blaine down who was shaking.

Jeff sighed heavily “He still see's himself as a burden,”

Blaine got up suddenly “I have to find him. I have to stop him from making a mistake,” He went to grab his coat but Nick grabbed his shoulder more harshly than he intended to. “Blaine! You can't force someone to change their mind, he decided to go, so he's gone, that's it.”

“But…”

“No,” Jeff said firmly “Nick's right if he wants to go, let him go, he's a fighter Blaine, he'll be okay, if we see him, we can try convince him to come back but there's no point in searching every street if Kurt has made up his mind to fight alone,”

“But I don't want him to be alone,” Blaine said sadly. "I care about him"

I love him

 Kurt didn't go back to his original spot where Blaine had found him. He walked in a completely different direction, the point being so Blaine wouldn't find him if he did go looking for him, as it got about 3:30am and Kurt was still walking too tired to sleep now, he suddenly came to a stop.

“What am I doing?” Kurt asked. He pictured Blaine's bright face, and the Blaine secured his arms around Kurt's waist while they watched the musical and he remembered how nice his lips taste. Then there was the fact that there's a possibility that Blaine could show him love. Love like he had never known, and he was running away because he was scared?

Kurt stood in the dark street thinking this, and went to turn around “I have to get back,” he whispered. He wondered if he could make it back before any of them woke up, he could take the letter and destroy it and go back to his room. The Warblers were going to perform again.

Kurt was tired of being afraid.

Kurt wanted to be happy. He never felt as happy as when he was with Blaine…and maybe…just maybe he can call his dad or Finn at least, or Mercedes. God he missed that girl. He wondered if she missed him?

Just as he thought this though behind the dumpster he noticed 2 figures walking up to him.

It's was the guys that had gave him the cut after making him fall of the bench that time. Shit.

“Well well well…where's your little boyfriend? Not here to protect his lady? Awww…what a shame,”

“He's coming right now,” Kurt lied hoping it'd frighten them off. He appeared calmer than he actually was. “Now excuse me gentleman I have to get going,”

Kurt turned around and tried to think, what street was safest? Which one lead back to the hotel? He forgot which way he came…

“Not so fast faggot, we haven't finished with you yet,” One of them said, he was holding a brick.

“Please, I just want to get home,”

“Oh but we know you don't have a home,”

The first one reached up to Kurt and punhed him right in the stomach. Kurt screamed.

Sebastian was sitting in the pub not even caring that a cute guy was staring at him. He wanted to rejoin his group, but he didn't know how. He had made such a big commotion before about what's-his-name that they probably were glad he was gone.

“Breaking news Burt Hummel father of Kurt, the 16 year old boy who run away from home has agreed to give an interview about this unfortunate situation. We've been keeping track of this story since it first came out in Ohio's newspapers, Mr Hummel welcome to the show,”

“Thank you,” The man said gruffly. Sebastian watched the old man look towards her as a woman sat next to him on a chair.

“Now Mr Hummel, you know what we wanted to discuss on here today, we decided that we would like to hear your opinion about the matter, so the floor is all yours, what would you like to tell the viewers?”

“Yes, well um…okay. Kurt is, I known he was gay since he was a little boy,”

“Where you ashamed of him because of his sexuality?” The lady asked and Burt shook his head.

“No, god no. Kurt can be whoever he wants to be. I guess I didn't make that as clear as I should have. I love my son, and I want him home safe,”

“Tell us then what happened to make him so scared, you seem like a reasonable man, you fixed my car for free that time when I had a break down, which is why I'm finding it hard to understand why Kurt would run away?”

“Sweetie you don't have to answer that, we just want Kurt to come home and to know that he's welcomed, that we love him, that's all she had said you needed to tell everybody watching this, my son who is going to be Kurt's step-brother was also part to blame in this, and we just want a chance to make it right, Kurt…if you're watching this, just call us at the very least, just let us know if you're okay,” The woman who was sitting next to the man said. She seemed nice and the man appeared poised.

“I'm not going to beat about the bush Carole, they read the news, they'll think were hiding something. I hit Kurt, that's why he ran from home, me and his step brother and he got in a heated argument. His step brother also said some things that he shouldn't have, but I'm more disgusted at myself than I'd ever be at Kurt. I don't blame him for going, he felt unsafe in his own home and no kid should ever feel that,”

“How hard did you hit him Mr Hummel?”

“Burt is not a violent man,” Carole retorted quickly in defence but Burt put a hand on hers to calm her down. “It's okay, they asked to interview me and I agreed remember. Hard enough to make him afraid of me, and everybody that knows me knows how sorry I am for it,”

They showed a picture of Kurt then “This is the boy that's been missing since late July…his name is Kurt Hummel, the number is on the screen if you have any information on his whereabouts or go to our website to find out how else you can help…”

Sebastian looked at the picture carefully. It was definitely the same Kurt he had seen with the Warblers except only happier…Sebastian had to apologise. Hell he had been a jackass when they first met, and all because he was jealous. He put money on the counter and left the bar.

He was about to call the Warblers to ask if one of them could pick him up, but he could still hear the bar men laughing and having a good time so he walked a bit further away so he would be able to make a decent call.

As he was walking around the corner he heard men laughing. He was about to move away from the men thinking it was the usual drunkards that hang around in the middle of the night sleeping on the streets, when something caught his attention.

“I'm not afraid of you!” Their attacker yelled giving him a slight push.

Sebastian sighed. That was an idiotic move, now they were definitely going to beat this kid up.

“You're a bunch of cowards!” The voice sounded oddly familiar. A man attacked the kid from behind with a brick which caused the boy to collapse. Then the second man hit him. Sebastian was able to finally get a good look at the man's face. It was Kurt.

“Hey!!” He yelled. The attackers looked at him. “Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?”

“Oh look, there are two of them,” A third men who he had not seen chuckled when Sebastian held out his phone.

“Yeah more even the number. Look assholes I work in the pub, and I called the police, if you don't leave now you'll get your ass locked up in jail, now leave before I decide to beat you up myself! Oh and just so you know my dad's an attorney, and I have a blackbelt,”

One of the man was ontop of Kurt punching him. He had stopped when he heard Sebastian, but now continued again. Sebastian charged at them. They ran laughing as they got in their van and drove away.

Sebastian breathing heavily after pushing the man of Kurt, he bent down to the boy. He was not looking good.

“Shit…shit shit shit, double shit, Kurt?”

Kurt wasn't responding. He had a large bruise forming around his right eye.

He dialled Blaine's number immediately.

“Sebastian I'm not in the mood right now,”

“Blaine, wait don't hang up,”

“Bas, David told me you hadn't shown up at the hotel, were have you been all night?”

“I was at the pub…listen Blaine I found Kurt,”

“Wai---oh my god, is he okay?”

“No,” Sebastian was busy while he talked to Blaine. He had done first aid training for his own job in Westerville. He took of his jacket, pulled of his t-shirt “Fuck it's cold,”

“Where are you?” Blaine didn't get back to sleep. It was now 4:30 in the morning and he and the other boys had been discussing, he heard Sebastian swear and he was grabbing his own coat telling the others that Sebastian had found Kurt.

“Do you know the bar scandals? If you don't ask Jeff to drive you, he'll know where it is. Some idiots attacked him, I'm calling an ambulance, he doesn't look good,”

“Don't tell them his name,” Blaine said hurriedly “Kurt wouldn't want his family to track him down.

“I know what happened,” Sebastian answered hold on a minute Blaine. Blaine didn't have time to ask how he knew. Sebastian laid out his t-shirt like a blanket. He then called one of the guys that had been serving beer to help him move Kurt onto the material.

“Do you need us to call someone for your friend?” The man asked as Sebastian shook his head “No man, I called the ambulance thank you though,”

 He then put his own jacket back on as he dialled the ambulance and told them the situation.

They took half an hour to get there and by then Blaine, Jeff and Nick had arrived.

“Kurt!” Blaine yelled as he saw Sebastian lying on the cement with Kurt situated on top of his shirt like a blanket. He kneeled down next to the other boy as the ambulance arrived.

“Kurt's knocked out, he can't hear anything,” Sebastian told as Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand that had been flung out over the side. He noticed blood on his knuckles and he smiled sadly.

Kurt had fought back.

He brought Kurt's knuckles to his lips despite the bleeding and kissed them softly.

The ambulance arrived and Blaine tried to get in with Kurt.  “Sorry sir, we can't let you in if you're not family,”

“Please, his family isnt in New York,” He begged. The ambulance guy was losing patience. He stared at Blaine and sighed “Sorry sir we can't let you in,” They didn't have time to argue.

“Come on Blaine, we'll have to meet them at the hospital,” Sebastian was saying. Jeff was already heading to the car with Nick by his side.