Blaine headed to the hospital on his own the next morning. Aparently Kurt had rang his father first thing and asked if Blaine could come alone this morning. Burt had been reluctant at first but now that Kurt was doing better he could actually do with checking in with work. Finn already had plans to meet up with Puck and Carole said she had plenty to be getting on with at home. Burt decided it would be okay if the two boys had some time alone together and told Blaine it would be good for them to get a proper chance to talk, for some reason that comment made Blaine a little nervous. They all planned on heading back to the hospital in the afternoon.

The second Blaine walked into Kurt's room he knew something was different. Kurt looked awful, worse than when he'd first woken up in fact. His normally flawless complexion was blotchy and his eyes we're red rimmed as though he'd been crying. Blaine's heart broke at the thought.

"Blaine" the word came out as a sob and Blaine was by his side before it was finished.

"What is it Kurt, I'm here" he reassured the other boy, holding his hand tightly again.

"I remember" those two words took the strength from Blaine's legs and he sank down on the chair next to Kurt's bed.

"I need you to tell me something Blaine" Kurt caught his eye and held him locked in his gaze. "What happened after I got knocked out? Those men...did they...please tell me they didn't hurt you?"

Blaine looked the boy he loved in the eye and did the worst thing he'd ever done in his life, he lied.

"No Kurt they ran off like I already said" the relief that came over Kurt's face in that moment was worth the pain he felt in his own chest. How could he take that away from him. Kurt would be devestated if he knew the truth and Blaine just couldn't do that to him.

"Oh thank God." Kurt breathed out."But still Blaine that man.. he... kissed you and..."

Blaine smiled and reached a hand up to brush Kurt's hair out of his eyes.

"It's okay, I'm okay".

"Why didn't you tell anyone, everyone thinks they wanted to beat us up because we're gay, not because they..." he trailed off again and Blaine loved the fact that Kurt was too sweet and innocent to be able to say any of those things.

"Because it doesn't matter" this caused Kurt to frown up at him.

"Of course it matters Blaine, it changes everything."

"Why does it" Blaine found he was starting to get angry "I told you nothing happened so what does it matter what they intended to do".

"I'm sorry Blaine" Kurt tried to calm him down. "I didn't mean to upset you, this must have been so horrible for you. I mean I know you said that nothing else happened but that kiss was bad enough. I know what it's like to have something like that forced on you..."

"This wasn't the same as some silly little locker room kiss. " Blaine's voice was harsh and cruel and he wished he could stop what he was saying but it was as though he couldn't control it. He saw the hurt in Kurt's eyes and he died a little inside.

"Blaine I..." Blaine didn't even give Kurt a chance to speak.

"What would you know anyway". God what was wrong with him.

"It's okay Blaine I understand, this whole thing must have been horrible for you" Kurt's voice shook as he spoke and Blaine was horrified to realise that he'd actually scared the other boy. God he couldn't do anything right. What was wrong with him. Kurt was the one person in the world he could always be himself with and here he was lying to him and pushing him away.

"Blaine you can talk to me" Kurt pleaded.

"I'm sorry Kurt I...I just can't" Blaines voice broke on the last word and he let go of Kurt's hand abruptly. "I have to go... I can't be ..." he backed away from the bed trying to ignore the tears in the other boys eyes.

"Blaine please don't, I want to help you" Kurt called out to him, his voice was as high as Blaine had ever heard it and he knew that only ever happened when Kurt was excited or upset.

"No Kurt, I'm sorry" he wrenched the door open and ran from the room ignoring the sound of Kurt calling his name. He didn't know where he was going just that he had to get away from here. Had to go somewhere that he could think without Kurt's eyes seeing straight into his soul. Before he saw how pathetic he was.

By the time he got to the car he'd managed to calm down a little. It was okay. Kurt didn't know, he just thought that Blaine was upset about that man kissing him and groping him. He could still salvage this. He just needed to leave for a little while, to let himself calm down. He could apologise to Kurt when he came back, reassure him and maybe that would be enough. Maybe Kurt would trust him enough not to dig any deeper. He's never hated himself so much in his life.

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Finn and Puck wandered in and out of various stores whilst Finn tried to find something he could get Kurt as a get well present. The third time Puck suggested something completely innappropriate Finn realised that maybe he had been the best choice to bring along. He'd have been much better off bringing one of the girls, but then again the trip wasn't just about getting Kurt a gift, he really needed someone to talk to and despite outward appearances Puck had always been a good listener.

"So you think he's hiding something then" Puck asked as he picked up copy of Portal 2.

Finn shook his head at the game "Yes, I just can't figure out what?"

"Well it was a pretty big deal what those guys went through".

"I know" Finn sighed "That's just it, he's acting like he's okay about it. But I don't think he's handling it aswell as he's making out. I just don't get why he won't admit that".

"Some guys don't like too, he probably doesn't want to seem weak" Puck put the game back on the shelf and ran his eyes over what else was on display.

"It doesn't make him weak" Finn felt the need to defend the boy.

"Hey" Puck put his hands up at Finn's defensive tone. "I know that. I'm just saying that might be what he's thinking."

"Yeah maybe" Finn glanced around the store wondering why they'd even come into a games store in the first place, Kurt really wasn't interested in them. "Come on I give up let's go grab a drink before I head home. I need to be back soon anyway to catch a ride to the hospital".

"Okay" Puck agreed.

They headed towards the juice bar and whilst they we're waiting in line Finn spotted a familiar face. Brittany was sat at a table near the back with another girl who had their back turned to them.

"Hi guys" she called out spotting them when they walked in. The girl she was with spun around and it took Finn a minute to recognise that it was Santana. She had on a pair of jeans and what looked like an old t-shirt but even more shocking than her lack of fashionable attire was the fact that she wasn't wearing any make-up. She looked so much younger than he was used to seeing that it pulled him up short for a minute.

"Hi Brittany, Santana" Finn nodded in her direction but she looked away quickly.

"Now's your chance San, I think you should talk to Finn".

"What do you need to talk to me about Sanata" Finn really didn't have time for one of the girl's dramas right now. But what she said next made him pull his head back in suprise.

"It's about Blaine" and Finn was beyond shocked to see tears in her eyes.

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Burt sighed as he looked at the mess of paperwork on his desk, really couldn't one of the guys at least put it into some sort of pile for him. This was going to take for ever to organise and he really wasn't in the right frame of mind to deal with any of it right now. He felt like he'd just been acting on auto-pilot for the last few days and real life had just been put aside, he guessed that couldn't carry on indefinetly. It would have to wait a little bit longer though, at least until Kurt was out of the hospital and home safe where Burt could keep an eye on him.

He took his ever present baseball hat off his head and rubbed a weary hand over his face. Sighing he picked up a pile of paperwork and started to look through it. It turned out to be a waste of time when the phone rang making him drop the ones he was holding.

"Damn it " he said chuckling to himself for being so jumpy.

"Hello Hummel Autorepair" he spoke into the reciever.

"Can I speak to Mr Hummel" a vaguely familiar male voice spoke.

"Speaking".

"Mr Hummel it's Detective Davis, I'm working your son's case".

"Yes Hello, what can I do for you. Please tell me that you've caught the sons of bitches that did this" Burt couldn't contain his excitement at the idea.

"Not yet, but we think we might have ID 'd two of them. The thing is Mr Hummel there have been a couple of things that weren't adding up in Mr Andersons statement and in light of the criminal history of one of the men we think we've identified I think we really need to talk to the boys again."

"What crimal history, what are you talking about?" Burt asked and the color drained from his face as he listened to the other man talk.

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Carole busied herself all morning washing pots that had been left in the sink, catching up on bills that needed paying and making sure they had enough groceries to last them for the next couple of days. She found if she kept herself busy then she didn't have to think about everything that had happened the last few days. It was quite nice to be able to switch off for a little while.

She picked up all the laundry from Finn's bedroom floor and headed to Kurt's room to see if he had any to add to the pile. Opening the door she smiled to herself at how different this room was to Finn's down the hall. Not a thing out of place. Opening the laundry hamper she collected the couple of things that we're at the bottom. Looking around the neat and tidy room she decided it might be quite nice for Kurt to come home to clean bedding, fresh sheets always made her feel better. She stripped the old sheets of the bed and added them to the pile in the hallway. She then made her way to the spare room and the closet where she kept all the spare bedding.

She smiled to see the guest room looking just as tidy as Kurt's bedroom. Blaine and Kurt really did have a lot in common.

The smell hit her as soon as she opened the closet door. It was really unpleasant and she wrinkled her nose up in distaste. Turning the small light on she looked around for the source. It took her a few minutes but she finally spotted something tucked away at the back of the closet. Frowning she reached her hand out and pulled whatever it was out into the light.