“I--What?” Blaine breathed into the phone, his heart stopping at the words that had just been spoken to him.

After dinner with his parents, Blaine had tried calling Kurt but didn’t get an answer. It struck Blaine as a little strange considering Kurt always had his phone on him and always answered. Blaine tried to shrug it off, not wanting to make himself seem like the overly worried boyfriend. Upon returning to Dalton, Blaine began making his way towards his room, though he made a quick stop at Kurt’s dorm which was on the way there. He knocked once then twice. No answer. A third time. No answer. He even called out Kurt’s name. No answer. Maybe he was in the shower. His face twisted in to a bit of concern as Blaine stepped away from the door and slowly began making his way back to his room. It was about an hour later when he got the phone call from Burt Hummel. The phone call that had Blaine’s heart sinking into his chest, color draining from his face.

Kurt was in the hospital.

Kurt had been attacked.

He had been attacked minutes after Blaine left.

The time between Blaine hanging up the phone and driving to the hospital was a bit of a blur in his mind. The next thing he could remember was sprinting into the hospital and up to the nurse’s desk. “Kurt Hummel,” he gasped for breath. “Please. What room--He was admitted earlier this evening--” Blaine was gripping the edge of the desk until his knuckles went white. From a distance he heard someone call his name. Head snapped in that direction to see Mercedes waving him over. Without a second glance to the nurse, Blaine moved away from the desk and over to his boyfriend’s best friend.

“Is he alright? What happened? Is he conscious?”

Mercedes smiled at Blaine touching his arm gently. “Calm down,” she said before giving his arm a little tug for him to follow her. “He’s fine. His ribs are a little bruised and he has a few cuts on his face. Nothing serious. He’ll be out tonight.”

The walk to the room seemed to last forever. All Blaine wanted to do was see Kurt. Hold him. Tell him everything was going to be alright and he would never, ever let anybody hurt him again. And there was this--this rage bubbling within Blaine. He wanted to find whoever did this to Kurt. It was probably Karofsky. It had to be Karofsky, that bastard.

The moment Blaine saw Kurt lying in that hospital bed, his heart sank. It was something like what nightmares were made of. Kurt’s face and arms were battered. Bruises painted his pale, slender arms and there were a few small cuts on his cheeks. Despite his physical appearance, his face was peaceful as he slept. In the corner of the room sat Burt Hummel who smiled a little at Blaine. Blaine seemed to forget his manners for the time being, not even making the effort to return the smile. Maybe he was over reacting a little bit. Mercedes said that he was fine. Things could have been worse, but that was just it. Things could have been so much worse and he knew Kurt had been attacked because of his sexuality. Whoever had done this--Karofsky or not--had done this because Kurt was gay. And all of this just terrified Blaine because he knew what it was like. He had felt this sort of hate before and he had been attacked because he was gay and he had felt the pain Kurt must have felt tonight.

Blaine stepped up beside Kurt, eyes never leaving the younger boy. As if Kurt could feel his presence, his eyes slid open to look up at Blaine. A little smile touched Blaine’s lips right before he lowered himself to his knees, eyelevel with Kurt. “Hey, baby,” he whispered, reaching out to touch Kurt as carefully as he could manage. Blaine wasn’t really one for pet names, but the word just seemed to flow out naturally at this moment. It seemed right and Blaine didn’t care if Kurt’s dad was right there listening to him and watching Blaine lightly brush his thumb over Kurt’s cheek. None of that mattered right now.

After a few moments of just staring, Kurt suddenly flung himself at Blaine, pressing his face to Blaine’s shoulder. All of the sudden his body was shaking with sobs. He was trembling and crying into Blaine’s shoulder. And all Blaine could do was just hold Kurt. Put his hand behind his boyfriend’s head and tell him that everything was alright. That he was safe and nobody was going to hurt him. Because Kurt needed to hear this. He needed someone to tell him that everything was going to be fine. Whoever did this to him was going to get what they deserved because it wasn’t right. People didn’t deserve this kind of treatment just because they were born to love somebody of the same gender. The only thing Kurt was doing was loving and there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. He didn’t deserve any of this. He had been through so much and he thought that maybe--just maybe--he was finally safe at Dalton, if only for a little while. But these damn bastards…

----

“Do you know who did it?” Blaine was asking Mercedes as they stood outside Kurt’s hospital room as Burt spoke to the nurse.

“Just some guys that were at the mall. Kurt said he thinks he’s seem them around school at some point..”

So there went his suspicion about Karofsky.

“Dave Karofsky was the one who found him.”

“What--Really?” Blaine heart nearly stopped. Well that was the biggest shock of all.

Mercedes nodded. “If he hadn’t have shown up, things would have been a lot worse. God knows how far they would have gone.”

And, really, Blaine didn’t even want to think about those possibilities right now. He didn’t want to begin to imagine the state Kurt could have been in. That beautiful face shouldn’t have had any cuts and those flawless arms shouldn’t have had any bruises on them.

Burt continuously urged Blaine to go home and get some rest, but the boy refused. He wouldn’t leave Kurt’s side as long as he was in the hospital. Blaine hadn’t been there for Kurt when he had been attacked. Blaine wasn’t going to blame himself for that, but he would make sure that he would stand by Kurt as long as he possibly could.

Mercedes had left and Burt was standing outside at the nurse’s desk going over some final paperwork. Blaine was sitting beside Kurt holding his hand and smiling softly, thumb lightly rubbing over the back of his hand. “You’re going home with your dad tonight, right?” he asked and Kurt nodded.

“The doctor said I can go to class tomorrow but my dad won’t let me.” He pouted a little. “He says I should get some rest tomorrow.”

“He’s right,” Blaine said, raising Kurt’s hand to his mouth and pressing a little kiss against his palm before speaking against his skin. “You’ve had a rough night.”

Kurt smiled softly before lowering his gaze down to his lap. A short silence settled between them and then Kurt spoke up. “Why have you been so distant lately?” It caught Blaine off guard and it was so out of the blue. It was a question Blaine had seen coming, though he was still a little surprised by it.

Blaine did acknowledge that he had been a little distant lately. It was simple, really. He wanted to take things slow. But it was so damn difficult with Kurt. Everything about the boy was utter perfection and it was so hard for Blaine to keep his hands to himself sometimes. On several occasions he found himself just staring at Kurt during Warbler rehearsals, completely tuning out the conversation around him. Kurt was the epitome of beauty. Before Kurt, Blaine had never realized that he could find a boy so incredibly beautiful. Sure, Blaine had seen handsome and gorgeous. But never beautiful.

Blaine was silent for a few moments, refusing to meet Kurt’s gaze.

He was distant because he could hardly control himself around Kurt. This beautiful boy just made Blaine want so much and that terrified Blaine because he wasn’t sure just what was too much. Kurt deserved all of the respect in the world and Blaine didn’t want to take that away from him.

“Maybe we shouldn’t…talk about this right now, Kurt. You’ve had a rough night.”

“No,” Kurt was saying almost immediately. “Blaine.” His voice had a dangerous little edge to it.

“I promise,” Blaine whispered. “That we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

And, thank his lucky stars, the moment Blaine said that Burt was walking into the room. Blaine almost felt the need to turn around and just thank the man on his perfect timing. He refrained, though. Because that would mean that Blaine would have to explain why he was thanking him. And that meant that he would have to explain that he was trying his hardest to keep himself from doing suggestive things to his son.

That would have been quite the interesting conversation.

----

The moment Blaine woke up the following morning, he was reaching for his phone and dialing Kurt’s number. Sitting up a little, Blaine rubbed his face with a little sigh glancing at his alarm clock. It was fairly early, but Blaine knew that Kurt was definitely a morning person so he would most likely be awake.

Hearing Kurt’s voice over the phone made Blaine’s heart swell happily as he smiled softly. “Morning,” he muttered into the phone, voice rough with sleep. “How are you feeling?” Last night before leaving the hospital, Blaine half considered asking Kurt if he could spend the night at his house in case Kurt needed someone to talk to. The younger boy seemed to be taking the attack fairly well and he seemed a little more emotionally stable that Blaine expected. Not that Blaine doubted his boyfriend’s stability it was just…unusual. After Blaine’s attack in his old school his parents needed to send him to a therapist for a few weeks.

“Much better.” Blaine could practically hear the smile in Kurt’s voice and this made his heart swell even more as he sunk into the warmth of his sheets.

“I’ll be by to pick you up after school,” he said softly into the phone. Maybe then Blaine could make an attempt to talk to Kurt about the attack, though he wasn’t sure how to bring it up. Should he ease into it? Or just be blunt? “Just take it easy today, alright?”

Kurt sighed. “Yes, mom,” he drawled.

Blaine laughed quietly. “Shut up, I’m allowed to worry.” He smiled. “I’ll call you later, ok?”

“Try not to miss me too much.”

Blaine grinned. “I’ll be counting the seconds ‘til we meet again, my darling,” he said dramatically.

Kurt giggled softly. “Goodbye, Blaine.”

Despite the jokes, Blaine couldn’t wait to see Kurt. He found himself staring at the clock more often than he should have been and the day seemed to drag on. Blaine wasn’t desperate. He just wanted to be close to Kurt. He wanted to give him the comfort he needed because Blaine was almost positive that Kurt was home alone today. His parents were probably at work and Finn was at school.

Eventually, school let out and Blaine was in his car. He hadn’t even bothered changing out of his uniform, simply tossing his school bag into the backseat and quickly turning on his car.

Kurt did look much better today. His face didn’t look as drained and he didn’t look as tired. The moment Blaine had the opportunity, he placed a little kiss on Kurt’s lips. He hadn’t even stepped into the house. Simply pulled his boyfriend into his arms and kissed him, not caring who may have been watching. Soon enough, they were up in Kurt’s room, and Blaine was sitting in the middle of Kurt’s bed (which was the most comfortable damn thing in the entire world.)

Before Blaine could even get a word in, Kurt was crawling onto the bed, head in Blaine’s lap as he pulled his arms tightly around Blaine’s waist. A little smile tugged at his lips as he gently pet at Kurt’s hair. “Hey,” he muttered softly. Kurt, in response, nuzzled into Blaine’s stomach before speaking, words a little muffled.

“I’m glad you’re finally here,” he said softly. “It’s been a long day…”

Blaine continued running his fingers through Kurt’s hair, that little smile still on his lips. “I’m never going to let anybody hurt you ever again, Kurt,” he found himself saying, eyes drifting along Kurt’s bruised arms. “I promise,” he whispered.

Kurt pulled away, shifting a little to lie on his back, eyes on Blaine. “I had trouble sleeping last night,” he admitted softly. “I kept having these…nightmares about--about them…They would find me anywhere I went and just beat me…”

Blaine could feel his heart crumbling in his chest at the sound of Kurt’s voice. The things he was saying. It was so heart. He knew the horror of those nightmares haunting him and it killed him knowing that Kurt was suffering like that. He never wanted Kurt to experience the things he did in his old school. He didn’t deserve it. Any of it. These nightmares were haunting Kurt and if they continued to do so, he might have to see a therapist. Blaine knew that was a difficult thing to come to term with; admit that you needed to see a professional because of some emotional scars. Blaine hoped that wouldn’t be the case. He hoped Kurt would be able to recover easily. But sometimes life didn’t work that way as much as it pained Blaine to admit it.

“You’re safe now. I’ll make sure no body touches you ever again.” Leaning down, Blaine brushed a little kiss against one of the bruises on Kurt’s arm. Beneath him, he could feel Kurt tense up a little. “It’s ok,” Blaine whispered as he kissed his way up Kurt’s arm, shoulder and then neck. Then, he found himself kissing along Kurt’s jaw and he could hear Kurt sigh softly as he leaned his head back a little, giving Blaine a bit more skin to kiss. “I love you,” Blaine muttered against Kurt’s ear.

He wasn’t afraid to say it. Because it was something Blaine just felt at that moment. He would do anything to keep Kurt safe. If that meant putting himself between an attacker and Kurt he would do it. Because Blaine was in love with Kurt and he wasn’t afraid to admit it or show it. Sitting up, Blaine peered down at Kurt to find the younger boy smiling up at Blaine, eyes a little glassy.

“I love you too,” Kurt said finally, voice quiet as he leaned up to kiss Blaine.