The two days following his conversation with his English teacher, Kurt had managed not to cut. He hadn't been clean for more than a day since, well, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gone a day without his blade. Blaine had yet to bring the subject up again and, as Kurt got ready for school that Friday morning, he foolishly dreamed that maybe his teacher had decided to leave him alone and that he could go back to his usual routine of cutting and being alone.

However, Kurt knew that the real reason Blaine hadn't brought it up was because Kurt hadn't given him the chance. Since the first day, Kurt hadn't shown up to 1st period study hall, and when he was forced to go into the classroom for AP English he'd gotten there and left as soon as the bell rang. He refused to even make eye contact with his teacher. Although he knew he was being immature, Kurt couldn't handle the thought of having to actually talk to his teacher again.

Unfortunately, Kurt hadn't noticed that his alarm went off an hour early and left the house before first period had begun. When he arrived to his second period class, he realized that first period hadn't even started yet. His original plan was to get coffee and avoid any contact with Blaine, but the Lima Bean was a little bit of a distance from the school and, by the time he got his coffee, he would be late for second period. The shop was bound to be filled with businessmen and women on their way to work, something he'd managed to avoid every day by arriving just after the shop's usual rush hour.

Kurt sighed. The only thing he could do was go to the cafeteria and sit with all of the free breakfast kids. It seemed like a better option than sitting in an empty classroom with his AP English teacher. On his way to the cafeteria, someone ran into his shoulder. They had their nose in a textbook, and Kurt shot them a glare but didn't say anything. This seemed to have actually been an accident, even though it didn't happen that much.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't- Kurt." Both men froze. Blaine seemed just as surprised to see Kurt as Kurt was to see him. "I've been meaning to talk to you, but you've been rushing out of my class so quickly and you haven't shown up for study hall."

Kurt shrugged. He didn't want to admit to have been avoiding Blaine, but he also didn't want to lie. Normally, Kurt didn't mind lying, but something about his teacher's caramel eyes made him feel guilty for every lie he'd ever told.

Blaine could see that Kurt wasn't planning on saying anything and the silence was becoming awkward, so he decided to break it. "Have you...?"

"No," Kurt responded with a simple shake of his head. He hoped that Blaine would get the point and avoid any more conversation, but he knew that that probably wouldn't be the case.

"Were you planning to eat breakfast? I really need you to talk to me, but I don't want to starve you. I have some bagels back in my room if you-"

"I ate at home."

"Okay. Can we walk back to my classroom? You can't avoid me forever, Kurt."

Shit. Despite the fact that Blaine had already brought up his scarce appearances in class, Kurt had kept a tiny piece of hope that his teacher didn't know he was avoiding him. It hurt him to see the sadness in Blaine's eyes, and it just made him want to pull his teacher into a hug and promise- No. This was why Kurt had shut everyone else out. He didn't like getting involved in other people's feelings because he always ended up hurting people, getting hurt or, as it usually went, a mix of both. All three of the results always brought pain, and pain brought cutting. It was an endless cycle.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah. I guess." That was embarrassing. Kurt had been so deep in thought that he hadn't answered.

The walk to Blaine's classroom was silent, but not exactly awkward. Both men knew what conversation was coming, and neither one of them thought small talk was appropriate in the moment. The transition from small talk into deep conversation would have been a difficult one, and Blaine decided that it was pointless to try to converse with Kurt, anyway. He was clearly shutting everyone out, and it was going to be hard enough to break that shell with deep conversation. He didn't want to make the kid feel even more awkward by attempting small talk.

When they arrived at the room, Kurt dropped his bag off in his usual seat, but he didn't sit down. He waited expectantly for whatever motivational speech that Blaine was going to force upon him.

"Come on into my office, Kurt," Blaine gestured towards the door that led to the small room. Kurt sighed and followed. At least the office chairs were cushioned.

They both sat down. This time, Blaine sat down in the chair next to Kurt without a second thought. The teacher opened his mouth to speak, but Kurt started before a sound could even escape his lips. "Mr. Anderson, I don't know what you thin-"

"Blaine." Although he felt bad for interrupting, especially when Kurt was saying more words than he'd said in the past two days, Blaine couldn't help but correct the way that his student addressed him.

"What?"

"I told you, you can call me Blaine when we're not in class. It's too formal for me, anyway. I've never liked the title of 'Mr. Anderson.'" When he saw the piercing look in Kurt's eyes, he swallowed nervously. A student shouldn't be so intimidating, and Blaine definitely shouldn't be finding that student attractive in any way. "Sorry. Continue."

"Okay, Blaine. I don't know what your angle is. I get it, okay? I get that you sign some contract when you become a teacher, I get that you have to pretend to care about every kid that comes into this room. But what I don't get is why you're risking your job for me. That contract says that you're supposed to go to the administration when a student is at risk of hurting themselves or someone else." When he sees the shocked look on Blaine's face, he rolls his eyes. "I looked it up. Any other teacher would have gone immediately to guidance if they found their student in a bathroom with a razor blade and a bloody wrist. So why didn't you?"

Blaine was, frankly, speechless. Kurt spoke with such raw phrasing and he was so emotionless when he talked about the incident in the bathroom. The expression on his face was unreadable.

"Well?" Kurt was growing impatient. For someone that liked to talk about other peoples' problems, Blaine was strangely silent.

"Is that really what you think, Kurt? You think that I'm doing this because some stupid contract says I have to? I showed you my scars, Kurt. I'm doing this because I care about you, and I don't want to come to school one morning to find out that you're... not here anymore."

"Well I'm sorry, Mr. Ander- Blaine, but that's really hard to believe. Teachers... they're paid to care." Kurt shrugged simply, as if it was a fact that everyone knew. He knew that his words were probably hurting Blaine, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't fathom why anyone would care about him. No one ever had before, well, besides his dad, but he had to.

There were tears forming in Blaine's eyes. His voice cracked when he said his student's name. "Kurt, I'm not doing this because I'm paid to. I wouldn't give some random kid my number, Kurt. I really want to help you. Will you let me?"

"No one... No one has ever wanted to help me before." Kurt couldn't believe that he was on the verge of tears. He hadn't cried since his sophomore year when Glee club ended. He thought he'd run his tear ducts dry. Blaine put his hand on top of Kurt's and gave him a reassuring smile. They should have talked more, Blaine should have said everything that he wanted to say, but he couldn't. It wasn't the right time. They sat in comfortable silence until the bell, signaling the end of first period, rang. They both stepped out of the office, but neither one spoke at first. Blaine seemed to have been given the title of silence-breaker, so he put it to use.

"Kurt, can I ask you something?"

"Mr. Anderson," Blaine didn't correct him this time because students were due to be filing in the room at any minute, "I need to get to class. It's on the other end of the building."

"I'll write you a pass. Are you busy this afternoon?"

"Well, I have an exciting English class 9th period," he smirked, "But nothing else."

Blaine chuckled and shook his head. "I meant after school. I was wondering... Would you want to get some coffee? We didn't get to talk too much this morning."

"I would love to, but... I'm not really comfortable talking about my personal life in a coffee shop." Kurt admitted that he wasn't right to make excuses, but he wasn't exactly lying, either. Anyone could overhear a conversation in such a public place.

"You're right." Blaine searched his pockets until he found what he was looking for, a pen, and scribbled something on a piece of his giant desktop calendar. "Come here after school, okay? I promise, no one is going to murder you," he added in response to Kurt's skeptical look. "That would really get me fired."

Both men laughed and stood there for a second before Blaine remembered that he had something else to do. "Right, the pass! Where are you going next period?" Kurt told him and he scribbled illegibly on a hall pass, knowing that the teacher wouldn't look it over too much since it was the third day of school.

"See you later, Mr. Anderson."

"Bye, Kurt." Blaine watched the door close after he left with a small smile on his face. Even though he knew it was probably a bad idea to give him that address... He couldn't help but be a little bit giddy that Kurt had agreed to come.

----

"Before we end the class, I'd like to announce that, next week, we'll be starting Hamlet. I'll pass out the books today, and you can read the first... twenty pages this weekend. And write me a question you have for me about the style of writing used in that particular section. I'll answer them all on Monday." A groan followed and Blaine laughed. "I know, I know. But you've got an exam to pass in May!"

He assigned book numbers and made every student sign a contract that the books would come back in readable condition, something the retiring English teacher had advised him on. The bell rang just as Blaine passed out the last book and, even though he knew it was hopeless, he shouted after the restless students. "Remember, first twenty pages and a question!" When there was no response, he sighed. "Have a good weekend, guys!" It was frustrating, but he remembered how it was to be a high school kid, especially in an AP class. Weekends were a godsend.

Kurt said goodbye to Rachel and promised that they were still on for their sleepover that night, but he couldn't come over right after school because last minute plans had shown up. She asked if everything was alright and he promised it was, just some loose ends he needed to tie up. Seemingly convinced, Rachel trotted out of the room, shouting to Tina down the hall about snacks for the evening.

Blaine smiled at Kurt's alibi, knowing that it was him preventing an early arrival to the sleepover. But a voice broke his trance. "Are we still on for this afternoon?"

"Of course. It's a Friday, so I'll just clean up a bit and meet you there. You might as well go home and pack your bags for your sleepover beforehand, then you won't have to wait for me when you arrive." Without thinking, Blaine had overstepped a boundary. He may have a special relationship with Kurt, but that didn't permit him to eavesdrop. "Sorry, I just... I heard..."

"It's okay, Blaine! That's actually a really good idea. Thank you." They both stood there awkwardly for a second. "I guess- I guess I'll see you, uh... here," Kurt pulled out the note and waved it in the air, causing them both to laugh.

"See you there," Blaine grinned and pointed to the note.

As Kurt walked out of the room, Blaine couldn't help but notice how gorgeous Kurt's ass looked in those jeans.

----

Kurt nearly ran to his Navigator in the deserted parking lot. Although he wasn't excited to discuss his personal life with his teacher, he was a little bit excited to find out what this mystery address was. He hadn't even opened the note all day. His bags were already packed for the sleepover, waiting for him by the door at home, so he threw them into his car and jumped back in.

Before he put the car in drive again, he hadn't even turned it off, actually, Kurt pulled out the note. In rushed, messy handwriting was an address with a mysterious #3W next to it. He plugged it into his GPS, surprised to find that it was only about 15 minutes away. After he'd pulled into a lot, conveniently located right next to Blaine's truck (Kurt had seen Blaine get into it as he was leaving the parking lot that day), he pulled down his shade to check himself in the mirror. He was about to meet with his very attractive teacher and, despite the depressing subject matter, he needed to look good. There were purple bags under his eyes, he hadn't slept very well the night before, but his moisturizing routine had made them barely noticeable.

Kurt jumped out of the car and checked inside the windows of Blaine's truck, figuring that Blaine was inside waiting for him. But he wasn't. He took one look at the building and gulped.

No. Even though he'd parked right next to Blaine's truck, Kurt was convinced that this couldn't be the right address. He looked at the note again, then at his GPS. The address on both of them was the same as the address outside of the building, minus the #3W. This was an apartment. An apartment that, according to the directory in the lobby of the building, belonged to Blaine Anderson.

Blaine had invited Kurt to his house. Alone.

Kurt was going to be alone, in an empty apartment, with Blaine. He began second guessing the whole situation, but before he could run, the door to the complex opened and his teacher opened the door, wearing worn sweatpants and a tee shirt. "Hey, Kurt, I saw you through the peephole. There's no buzzer, you can just come in. I'll show you where my apartment is, come on."

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.