He looked over at her with a dazed expression. He opened his mouth to speak but she didn't give him the chance.

"Get out." She said the words calmly and quietly but there was no ignoring the venom in her voice.

"What…I…what?" Bill looked surprised.

"You heard me. I said get out." Natalie started to collect the plates from the barely eaten meal.

Bill opened his mouth but before he could say anything, Natalie spoke again.

"Whatever you're about to say, I don't want to hear it. I'm going to go wash these dishes, and I expect you to be gone by the time I'm done." With that, she left the room without waiting for a reply.

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Puck liked spending time with Finn's family. Ever since he was a kid, Carole had felt like a second mom to him. Not that he didn't love his own mom, it's just that Carole was a little softer around the edges, not quite so harsh. When she'd first gotten together with Burt Hummel, Puck had thought that maybe he would lose some of the closeness they'd shared. He'd never been that comfortable with adult males, not to mention all the years he'd spent tormenting the man's son. He still wasn't sure if Burt knew about his past indiscretions, but Puck probably guessed not, because the older man had been very accepting of him. Puck surprised himself with how much he actually liked the man. Since he and Finn had gotten over their little spat about Puck knocking up Finn's ex-girlfriend, he found himself spending a lot of time at the Hummel's home. That said, he'd still been unsure about coming over to watch a movie and have pizza, and when Finn had texted him his first instinct had been to say 'no'. He wasn't sure what the atmosphere would be like there and he didn't want to intrude when everyone was still so hurting. Finn had insisted though, saying it had actually been his mom's idea, and that she thought it would be good to do something normal for a change. Puck had agreed and now that he was here, he was glad he did.

It had been a little awkward at first, especially when Kurt joined them watching the movie. Burt and Carole were somewhere in the house but they'd left the three boys to themselves watching some mindless comedy that Finn had found on Netflix. They now sat in comfortable silence, every now and then Puck or Finn laughing at something on the screen. Kurt wasn't laughing, but Puck wasn't sure if that was because he was still feeling bad or because it wasn't his kind of movie. He had a feeling it was probably the latter. Puck kept a close eye on him all the same and noticed the way he kept checking his phone.

He was just about to ask Kurt if he was okay when the doorbell rang.

"Pizza's here," Finn said, practically jumping up from the sofa. "Go grab it, Puck," Finn said as he thrust some money into his hand. "Me and Kurt will get the stuff from the kitchen."

Puck took the money and headed for the front door.

"You only just….," Puck trailed off as he saw who was stood on the doorstep.

It wasn't so much the blood on his chin as the lost look in his eyes that had Puck reaching his hand out towards Blaine, but when the other boy flinched away, he dropped it quickly. Without taking his eyes off of him, Puck shouted over his shoulder, loudly.

"Kurt!"

Kurt came down the hallway grumbling under his breath, "can't you handle a simple pizza deli-….," his words trailing off as he saw who was standing in the doorway.

"Blaine." The word came out almost as a whisper and the next thing Puck knew he was being shoved aside as Kurt desperately reached for his boyfriend. The curly- haired boy allowed Kurt to pull him into his arms, but otherwise didn't react.

Puck stumbled backwards from the scene in front of him bumping into Finn as he came to see what the holdup was about.

"What…?" Finn started to ask.

"Go get Burt," Puck replied, never taking his eyes off the two boys in front of him.

Finn looked past Puck to see what he was staring at, then without a word went to fetch his mom and stepdad.

Puck felt like he was intruding, but at the same time he didn't want to leave the two boys alone.

"Blaine, please talk to me," Kurt was speaking, and he pulled away from Blaine slightly so he could look at him as he spoke. "What happened?" He reached his hand out to touch the painfully swollen looking lip that still glistened wetly with blood, most of which had dried in a sickening trail down the other boy's chin and had stained the top half of his shirt where it had dripped down. It looked like Blaine had made no attempt to stop the bleeding or even wipe it away. In fact, until Kurt lightly touched his fingertips to the raw wound, Puck had a feeling Blaine hadn't even been aware of it. He flinched away with a flash of pain in his eyes and Puck actually felt a little bit of relief at the sight; at least he wasn't completely out of it.

Kurt pulled his hand back as if burned. "Sorry," he whispered.

"What's going on?" Burt asked as he came into the hallway, closely followed by Carole and Finn. Puck definitely felt like he was in the way now, but he was trapped with nowhere to go so he just stood with his back against the door and took it all in.

Kurt didn't say anything, just took a step back from Blaine so the others could see him clearly. Burt hissed at the sight of the blood on Blaine's chin and Puck saw Carole go pale.

"What the hell?" Burt stepped forward angrily, but hesitated when Blaine backed away slightly.

Carole pushed past her husband and gently reached her hand out to rest on Blaine's shoulder, drawing his focus to her.

"Are you okay, Blaine?" she asked in that voice that Puck knew so well, the one that had always managed to break through his own barriers in the past.

A barely perceptible shake of the head was Blaine's only answer.

"Oh, honey," Carole spoke gently. "Come and sit down and let me look at that." She reached down and took his hand, leading him into the kitchen like a small child who had lost his way.

Puck thought he should probably take the opportunity to slip away quietly, but for some reason he found himself following all of them into the kitchen. Curiosity was a bitch sometimes.

Blaine was sitting down at the counter, Kurt next to him. Carole was getting supplies out of a first aid kit that she'd placed on the counter in front of him. Finn stood in the background, looking as out of place as Puck felt. But it was Burt that attracted Puck's attention. The man stood to the side of his wife, looking on motionlessly. At a quick glance it might have seemed that he was calm, but Puck knew barely concealed rage when he saw it- he was basically the master of it himself. He could see the tension in the man's jaw, the way his fists were clenched tightly at his side, and most telling of all, the look in his eyes. The cold fury he saw there chilled him to the bone. He was suddenly very pleased that Burt had never found out about some of the things he'd subjected Kurt to in the past, because he had a feeling that having that look directed at him might just have turned him into a blubbering baby.

Carole gently started cleaning the dried blood off of Blaine's chin, avoiding his lip for now. Puck watched Kurt tentatively take his boyfriend's hand.

"Blaine," Kurt spoke his name quietly, trying not to startle the other boy. "What happened to your lip?"

Blaine didn't answer, just stared at where Kurt's hand rested on his.

"Was it…,"Puck frowned when Kurt hesitated. If Kurt knew who'd done this, why wasn't he saying it?

Kurt took a deep breath before trying again, almost in a whisper this time.

"Was it your dad?" Puck heard the sharp intake of breath from Burt and he was surprised that steam wasn't coming out of the older man's ears. If Puck thought he'd looked angry before, then that was nothing compared to now.

Blaine didn't answer, but everyone could see the trembling that started to overtake his entire body.

"Blaine….,"Kurt started to speak, but before he could say anything else he was interrupted.

"I told him I hated him." The injured boy's voice sounded flat and emotionless.

"So he hit you?" Carole's voice was incredulous.

"I just…I shouldn't have said that…,"Blaine's voice tapered off.

"That son of a bitch…,"Burt was muttering under his breath, then in a louder voice he spoke directly to Blaine. "Let me just make sure I've got this right. Your dad did this?."

Blaine nodded his head slightly and then jerked it up in surprise when Burt grabbed his keys off the counter and rushed from the room, all the while muttering under his breath.

"I knew it was mistake to leave him there….that insensitive bastard….I'm going to….," the rest of his rant unheard as Burt was already out the front door.

"Finn, go with him," Carole shouted and Finn was already running from the room to catch up with his stepfather.

"Dad!" Kurt shouted after them, stricken.

"It's my fault," Blaine was muttering under his breath, "…all my fault."

"Hey, look at me." Carole's voice was sharp and actually drew all of the boys' attention to her.

"This was not your fault Blaine. Nothing that has happened is your fault."

As Puck watched Blaine lower his eyes back to the countertop, he had a feeling that it was going to take a lot more than those words to convince Blaine.

Standing here in this kitchen, the full ramifications of what had happened to these people started to sink in for Puck. He found himself reaching for a chair as his legs went to jelly at just how big, how life- changing all this was. Part of him wanted to run from the room, back to the safety of his own house, where none of this was happening. But he knew that wasn't an option; he was part of it now and he couldn't turn and walk away. He may not know Blaine very well, but he knew that he needed all the support he could get. If there was one thing he's learnt this last year, it was how important it was to have real friends, so there was no way he could turn his back on him now.

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Finn sat beside Burt in the truck and decided to just keep quiet. Burt clearly had some things he wanted to get off his chest and maybe it was a good idea to let him rant, then maybe he wouldn't have to stop him from hitting Blaine's dad when they finally got there. Not that Finn didn't think he really deserved it, in fact he wouldn't mind a swing or two at the man himself. He couldn't believe someone would hit their own son when they were already hurting so much. That said, if he let Burt hit him and then Burt collapsed from his heart exploding, then his mom and Kurt were really going to be pissed.

They pulled up in front of Blaine's house a lot sooner than he was expecting. He hadn't really been paying attention to their speed, something he was now glad of.

Burt was out of the truck before the engine noise had really died.

"Stay here," he snarled at Finn without looking.

"Oh, hell no," Finn said, jumping out and following the older man as he stomped up the drive.

Burt didn't bother with the doorbell and instead began hammering on the door with his clenched fist, as Finn just stood by nervously.

The door swung open a few seconds later to reveal a very nervous- looking Mrs. Anderson, and Burt surprised Finn by pushing her aside and storming into the house. He shrugged apologetically at her as they both followed Burt into the house.

"He's gone," Natalie said, her voice sounding more worn down than Finn had ever heard anyone.

"Oh," Burt said, coming to a stop. Finn could practically see him deflate at the words.

"Is Blaine at your house?" Natalie's voice shook with the question.

"Yes," Finn answered, while Burt just glared at the floor.

"Oh, thank god." The older woman sank down onto one of the chairs. "Is he…is he okay?"

"What do you think?" Burt snapped.

"I'm so sorry, I should never have let…he went too far this time."

"I hope it's your husband you're talking about."

"Of course. I...I kicked Bill out." Burt raised his eyebrows at that. "I just…I don't know what to do now…I don't want to lose Blaine." Finn was pleased that Blaine's mom seemed to care at last, but she still sounded so weak and unsure he wasn't convinced that she was what Blaine needed right now.

"I think it might be best if he stays with us for a little while," Burt spoke, but it wasn't a question.

"If you think that's best. But can you let him know this is still his home and I want him to come back as soon as he's ready?"

"Of course," Burt replied, but Finn could tell he was just humoring her for now.

"We should probably get back before Mom throws a fit," Finn suggested.

"Yeah," Burt ran a weary hand over his head.

"If you wait here a minute, I'll go get him some things." Natalie seemed relieved that she could leave the room.

They didn't have to wait long before Natalie was back downstairs and handing Finn a duffel bag and Blaine's phone. Then she handed Burt a familiar looking bear.

"I know he'll want this." She seemed reluctant to let it go for a moment. Burt glanced down at the bear in his hands before turning and walking away.

"Burt?" Natalie called after them as they walked out the front door.

"Do you think everything will be okay?" Finn found himself resenting her for asking Burt that. How dare she? It was too big of a question. What right did she have to expect his stepdad to answer that?

Burt stopped next to him and gave a weary sigh before turning back to look at her.

"Honestly?" he said. "I don't know. But I think not pretending that everything was okay before is a good start." With those words, Burt turned and walked away, and he didn't look back.

Finn gave Blaine's mother one last look before climbing into the cab beside Burt. She stood watching them leave, tears streaming down her face and her arms clutched tightly around her middle. In that moment he almost felt sorry for her. He'd never seen anyone look so alone.